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“Yeah,” he mumbled. “That would be great.”
She hopped up and headed back toward the barn, her steps quick and sure-footed.
Elijah stared at the tools in his hands again and shook his head. He wasn’t even sure Annabel knew what these were. She was more interested in working with the animals. And Charlie was more interested in the kitchen. Only the men in his family had a good handle on the equipment and how to repair it.
Scarlett only continued to surprise him, which was making it increasingly difficult to maintain the prejudice he had against her—a prejudice he deserved to keep.
She returned with the sparkplugs in hand. “I found some, but I’m not sure they’re the right ones. Can you tell?”
She held out the box, covered in a thin layer of dust and a smudge of grease. He shoved the gap spacer into his pocket to take the box from her. Turning it over, he glanced at her briefly. “I didn’t realize you knew so much about fixing stuff like this.”
“You never asked.”
He bit back a smile. There was no need to ask something like that from someone who could barely be called an acquaintance. He dropped his focus down to the box and found the specs. “Unfortunately, these aren’t going to work. We need something else. I’m going to have to run into town—”
“I’ll go with you.”
This time, he laughed. “Pass.”
“Pass? Did you seriously say that?” Scarlett crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “I have to go to town, too. My dad needs groceries, and there’s a few things that I need to replace out in the barn. I don’t think he’s gone shopping since…” Her voice faded and her expression faltered. “I’m going with you,” she repeated. “And that’s final. I’m not going to let you pay for anything that we will inevitably end up owing you. Heck, I told my dad I’d rather pay you out of my own pocket than let him put together this stupid little contract. But when we’re back on our feet, that will be all over.”
He couldn’t move. There was something about her understanding of how everything would go that made him feel even more guilty than he had before. Carlos hadn’t told her the whole truth about their contract. Elijah couldn’t be sure of what she knew, and he didn’t want to get on her father’s bad side.
Telling Scarlett any details would ensure he didn’t have a chance at buying the farm. So he kept his mouth shut. As far as Scarlett was aware, they were only using the farm as collateral.
Elijah placed the tools into the tool bag and then wiped his hands on his pants. “Fine. You can come with me, but I’m leaving now and if you don’t have your list—”
She whipped out her phone with a flourish. “Don’t you worry about that. It’s all on my app.” Her fingers tapped madly on the screen, and then she glanced up at him. “When you took the tour, did you notice anything else we might need? Feed for the animals? Supplies? I’m not one hundred percent certain I got everything on my list.” Without preamble, she shoved her phone into his hand.
Their fingers brushed against one another. Her skin was as silky soft as they came—definitely not the hands of a rancher. There were zero callouses, zero scars. While her nails were trimmed short, there wasn’t a speck of dust that gathered beneath them. These weren’t the hands of someone who knew hard labor.
Scarlett wasn’t going to last a month out here.
“Well?” she demanded. “Is there anything I’ve missed?”
He focused on the list, scanning it just to see how much shehadnoticed. Surprisingly, he couldn’t think of a single thing he needed on top of what she’d come up with. Scarlett was nothing if not thorough.
Elijah handed it back to her. “I think you’re good for now. We’ll get this to start with, and if we find we missed anything, it’s not a big deal to make a run.” He moved to the side of the tractor to retrieve his hat. Once he had it on his head, he brushed past her.
From the time she’d come back into their lives, she had managed to throw him off guard more times than he’d like to admit. He’d found himself feeling bad for her, being impressed by her, and being infuriated with her all at once.
Now, he had one more strange reaction he couldn’t understand.
When her fingers had grazed his, he’d felt a strange sort of connection. It was like there was something about her that spoke to him. He had never noticed another woman’s hands like that before—not even the girls he’d asked out on dates. He found himself glancing toward them after Scarlett had climbed into the pickup.
She had her hands clasped in her lap as she stared resolutely out the front window. There was a wall between them, but that didn’t surprise him at all. They’d built that wall with their arguments and prejudices. Suddenly, he wasn’t so sure he wanted it to remain.
Something must be wrong with him. He was getting soft. Scarlett didn’t mean anything to him. She was Anna’s friend, and as such, the only value she had was in keeping Anna happy.
Annabel was who he needed to worry about. He wasn’t sure how easy it would be to derail his sister’s progress with her AA program, and he didn’t want to find out.
Elijah started the truck and they drove the short distance to the grocery store. When he pulled to a stop, Scarlett reached for the door handle and then paused, her suspicious gaze darting toward him. “Are you going to come inside with me?”
He shook his head. “I’m going to the hardware store.”
She pulled the door shut with finality. “Then that’s where I’m going.”
Stifling a groan, Elijah bumped his head against his seat. “Why?”
