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All he could do now was grab a rag, a brush, and a bucket of soapy water. There was no telling how long it’d take to clean this mess up, but he needed to get it taken care of before the morning. The last thing he wanted was for the city to take note. No more negative attention on him or Megan.
No more feuding.
CHAPTERTEN
Megan stretchedand let out a groan of relief. It had been a long, nonstop sort of day and she was ready to just head home and relax. A small part of her wondered if Daniel was done with his work for the day and left already or if they’d cross paths on their way home.
A quiver of excitement over simply seeing him threw her off guard. There was no reason for her reaction. From the start she’d known he wasn’t interested and that was fine. She’d just do her own thing and maybe one day they’d get to the point where they could be friends.
She grabbed her keys then headed for the door. It wasn’t until she shut off her lights that she could tell there were still some lights on in the back of Daniel’s coffee shop. He might be working late, or he could have forgotten to turn them off. Either way, she was tempted to go across the street and tell him he should turn in for the night.
Meh, they weren’t close enough for that, no matter how believable of an excuse it would have been. She exited her shop and that’s when she was able to see him.
He was crouched down in front of his building, his shoulders moving along with his hands.
From her vantage point she couldn’t see much, but it looked like he was trying to clean something from the bricks out front. Her hand still on the door, she considered just walking to her car. Her previous thought that they weren’t close enough for her to go snooping around came back to her.
Daniel grunted then muttered something unintelligible. He could probably use her help one way or the other. Didn’t she want the community to see her as someone who belonged? Walking away and letting him deal with whatever it was would do the opposite for her.
Besides, she had this deep-rooted feeling. She wanted to spend more time with him. Megan sighed and pulled the door shut all the way before locking it up. Then she looked both ways and crossed the two-lane street.
Her shuffled footsteps echoed, bouncing against the brick buildings and the sidewalks that lined the street. Daniel stiffened but he didn’t turn to see who was coming. He probably could already make an educated guess.
Once she was closer, she could see exactly what was going on. Spray paint, splattered eggs, and some kind of white pasty-looking substance was everywhere. She gasped, finally drawing Daniel’s frustrated gaze.
“What do you want, Megan?”
“I was coming over here to see what you were doing and to offer to help.”
He snorted.
“Why make that sound? I didn’t do this.”
“Didn’t you?”
She gasped again and her face flushed. “You know I wouldn’t do it.”
Daniel got to his feet with a grunt, faced her and crossed his arms. “I know you wouldn’t have done it. But you were right there across the street and you didn’t see anything? Didn’t bother stopping it? I have a hard time believing you didn’t know this was being planned. It reeks of the work the kind of people who support you would do.”
Megan took a step toward him, hand on her hip. “I would never condone destruction of property. First of all, it’s beneath me. Secondly, I would rather not get arrested.”
Their stares battled one another, neither one relenting. Finally, she took a deep breath and released it. “So, are you going to give me a rag and a bucket? Or do I have to go back to my place and get my own?”
His hard gaze seemed to soften slightly, but only just.
“Come on, Daniel. We both know I had nothing to do with this. And I’m sitting out here offering to help you when I could have just gone home to a warm bed. You’re not going to make me beg you to clean up this mess. That’d just be ridiculous.”
Daniel’s arms dropped to his sides. His focus darted to the mess and he groaned. “Fine. You can help. But only because it’s late and I have to open tomorrow morning.”
She grinned. “Let me just put my stuff in your shop. Do you have another bucket for soapy water?”
He shook his head. “But don’t worry about getting one. I think one will suffice.”
Megan nodded. “Okay.” As promised, she deposited her purse and keys in the shop and returned with her sleeves rolled up and a rag in hand. She dropped down beside Daniel and they set to work, neither one speaking. It was sorta nice to have something to keep her mind and hands busy. Ever since their short stay in that cabin during the storm, she couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel and what he was putting himself through. She’d observed him enough to see that he far preferred being at the ranch than working in his coffee shop—not that he didn’tlikeit. He just had allowed himself to fall into his plan B.
She glanced toward him a couple times, not surprised that he stayed focused on the work at hand. Daniel was nothing if not a hard worker. He knew how to dig in and get stuff done. It was the sign of a true cowboy in her opinion—and a trait she admired.
If he actually loved this shop as much as she loved her bookstore, then he would be putting that drive and then some into running it. If only she could help him understand that there was more to life than simply surviving.
