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“I knew you would.” She patted his shoulder and stepped away to leave but stopped. “You’re a good man. Meg is lucky to have you in her life.”
“Thanks. I think she’s pretty great, too.”
Rachel smiled and walked away.
Chet turned his attention to Meg who was swinging a hay bale on top of another. Those things were heavy. She was tall and lean, but the woman had muscle as well. He watched her for a moment, processing what Rachel said. It wasn’t a surprise to hear that Meg kept things close to the vest and her heart behind a plate of armor.
It surprised him a little, however, that she had opened up to Rachel. And yet, Rachel had that way about her. He’d found himself spilling his guts half the time when she was around, only to realize she’d never once asked him a question. Just sat down beside him and hung out. Before he knew it, he laid out things to her he didn’t even know he was feeling.
As he made his way over to where Meg and Tyler and Morgan were working, he said a mental thank-you to Rachel for saying what she did. From the beginning, his intentions were to handle Meg with care, but with his friend’s warning, he now knew just how fragile things really were.
“Hannah said you all could use some help over here.”
Meg put her hands on her hips and took a second to catch her breath.
“You’re putting these guys to shame.” Chet added teasingly as Tyler and Morgan came up beside her.
“Nah. Tyler could lift one hay bale on each shoulder if he wanted to,” Meg said.
“Hey! What does that say about me?” Morgan whined.
“That you need to step up your game, Probie.” Chet crossed his arms as he addressed the other fireman.
Morgan looked like he wanted to respond but shook his head and walked away.
Tyler and Meg chuckled. “Go easy on him, Chester. He’s a good guy,” Meg said.
Chet lifted an eyebrow toward Meg. “Chester, huh?”
“Is that your full name?” Tyler tilted his head as if sizing up the name to see if it fit.
“No. It’s not.”
“Then what is it?”
If it weren’t for the fact that the teasing had put a huge smile on Meg’s face, Chet would have backed down and blown them off. But since she was enjoying it so much, he decided he didn’t mind taking the hit.
“Winchester.”
Meg attempted to hold in a laugh and lost. Tyler crammed his lips together to fight back a smile.
“I’m guessing your middle name isn’t something simple like Robert,” Meg teased.
“It’s Augustine.” He said it, then walked over to a hay bale and lobbed it onto his shoulder. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”
Meg and Tyler continued to chuckle throughout the afternoon, all at Chet’s expense. But as they hauled hay bales around in the design Meg had come up with, she looked almost happy. That made it all worth it. He watched as she looked over the design with Tyler and laughed at something he said. This. This was the Meg he wanted to get to know better. Unguarded. No fences. Rachel made it clear there were good reasons forthose fences, but Chet was more determined than ever to help Meg take those down.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Morgan struggling with a hay bale. It wobbled, and before Chet had time to react, it flew out of Morgan’s hands and straight at Meg. It hit her in the leg and knocked her to the ground. She winced as she went down.
Chet was by her side in three strides. “Are you okay?” He crouched down beside her.
Pushing herself up with her hands, she bent her legs and winced again. “I’m fine. Just my pride is hurt.”
“Let me look and see.” He went to move her pant leg, but she pulled back as if he’d bitten her.
“I said I’m fine.”
“Okay.” He took the hint and raised his hands in surrender.
