“That’s my sister.” Who shouldn’t be out in this storm, and certainly not with her baby in tow. But Emily had run wild on her own for years. Their father had been long on smiles, jokes and unkept promises, but short on maturity, structure and follow-through. He didn’t give a damn what his kids did so long as they didn’t make any demands on him.
Guilt kicked at Jacob all over again for not taking Emily along when he’d left. But the state wouldn’t pull her out of her father’s care to stay with a military brother who was deployed most of every year. His job hadn’t changed, and he needed to figure out some way for a seventeen-year-old unwed mother to care for herself and her baby. “She uses our dad’s old truck to clear driveways and side roads before school for extra money. School’s canceled and she shouldn’t even be out at all. No help for you there, I’m afraid.”
He needed to move this woman along and have a talk with his sister. Emily avoided discussing the future as if somehow that would make their problems disappear.
“Oh.” Dee’s blue lip quivered as Emily’s truck disappeared around the office to clear the back lot.
As much as he needed to move on, he couldn’t just walk away, not when tears hovered on the edges of her eyelids. “Hey, now, are you okay?”
“I’m not crying.” She sniffled.
“Right. Of course you’re not.”
“I’m not!” The starch layered back into her voice and spine.
“Okay!” His hands raised in surrender.
Icy sludge from the plow gathered and slapped to the side. Dee drew her feet in, tucking Jacob’s coat around her ankles. Trim, delicate ankles, like the rest of her.
A slow burn started inside him.
She was prettier up close than he’d originally thought, not that he planned to do a thing about it beyond admiring the view. “I can give you a ride when the storm passes, but you’re probably stuck here for at least another night until the roads clear.”
Her eyes fluttered closed. “How much are the rates?”
“If you need a loan—”
“No handouts. But thank you.”
He wanted to tell her pride had a way of biting folks when they least expected it. He’d been so busy flying around the world to save people in other countries he’d let down his own sister. “I can give you a ride into town later.” He held up a freezing finger to stop her. “Just think it over and get back to me.”
Why was he so hell-bent on settling this woman’s problems? He had enough responsibility in that truck. Let the mystery woman snag a nap and come to her senses. She would either find someone to help her or accept his offer for a ride. No sweat either way.
Jacob pushed to his feet. He had better things to do than freeze his butt off for someone he didn’t even know.
But first, he would shovel the walkway one more time. Just to wait for his sister to finish so he could help with her baby daughter. Right?
Damn.
He kicked through the snow and yanked free the shovel embedded in a four-foot drift. Ouch. Just what his healing arm needed. The gunshot wound was six weeks old, the fractured bone about healed, but the incision from surgery still pulled like hell.
His muttered curses filled the air with puffy clouds. Jacob scooped a trail along the walk and flung it to the side, burying the spot where she’d thrown up. He kept shoveling, losing himself in the mundane task.
Dee didn’t move. The wind kept howling down from the mountains.
Jacob shoveled past her and stopped, resting his arms on the handle. “How bad are things?”
“The worst.” She dabbed her face with the tissue again, grandma-style.
He believed her. Hell, he’d been there in this very same place. Which made him wonder where she was from. Somewhere close by? He tried to recall what state the Suburban plates had sported, but he couldn’t remember having read what Mr. Smith wrote on the check-in form. He’d only made sure all the boxes were filled out. Regardless of how close or far away she lived, how damn sad to be this alone.
Jacob let the icy air clear away the bitterness. He couldn’t be like his old man and turn a blind eye to other people’s needs.
“I have a job open here to tide you over for a few days. Doesn’t pay much, but you can have a room to sleep in and all the Continental breakfast doughnuts you can eat until you figure out what to do.”
She opened her mouth. “But—”
“Wait before you answer. The job’s nothing glamorous. You’ll be cleaning rooms. It’s dirty, hard work, even when there are only a few rooms filled. You’ll earn every penny I pay you.”