Love Inspired January 2014(4)

                Lucy laughed despite feeling off-kilter and uneasy. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, and then he was gone. The unease didn’t leave with him.

                After the betrayal and nightmare she’d been through with her ex-husband, she was stunned by the buzz of attraction she’d felt toward her new neighbor.

                Especially since he’d admitted being a reformed rowdy cowboy. Reformed—that alone was all the deterrent she needed to keep her distance. Fuzzy warm feelings or thoughts of cozying up to cute cowboys hadn’t crossed her mind. Even to feel attraction at all was startling to her. Then again, the man had swooped in and saved her from breaking her neck—maybe that explained away the attraction.

                The thought had Lucy breathing a little easier. She’d come here to find the joy again. Joy in her life and in her painting: things she’d lost and desperately needed to find again. She was praying that God would help her and show her the way. What she wasn’t praying for was romance, relationships or attraction. She’d learned the hard way that there was no joy to be found there.

                None at all. Nope, this ole girl was just fine on her own, swan diving out of the hayloft and all.

                * * *

                The day after he’d caught her falling out of the hayloft, Rowdy drove up Lucy’s driveway again as Toby Keith played on the radio. He had a ranch to run and horses that needed training, so what was he doing back here?

                Making sure she wasn’t dangling from the roof. He chuckled as the thought flashed through his mind.

                Stepping out of his truck, he looked up at the eaves just to make sure she wasn’t doing just that.

                All clear; nothing but a rooster weather vane creaking in the breeze.

                Looking around, the first thing he noticed was a large pile of barn wood a few yards from the barn. It was after five and, by the looks of the pile, she’d been busy.

                He had work to do, but he hadn’t been able to get his new neighbor off his mind. True, he couldn’t get those pretty eyes out of his head or that cute figure he sensed beneath that oversize shirt she’d been wearing, but mostly he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her over here ripping her property apart all by herself.

                He shouldn’t have left the day before without offering to help, and that he’d done just that had bugged him all night. He’d been taught better by his nana; buying the property for himself had vanished with Lucy showing up. And though he hated that, he didn’t hold it against his new neighbor— Well, maybe a bit. But that shouldn’t have stopped him from helping her.

                He was headed toward the barn when Lucy came out of the back door carrying an armload of Sheetrock pieces. She wore her protective goggles again and another long-sleeved work shirt. Her jeans were tucked into a pair of low-heeled brown boots. How could a woman look that good in that get-up? He must be losing his mind.

                Tucking a thumb in his waistband, he gave her a skeptical look. “So I’m thinkin’ you have something against walls.”

                “Yup.” She chuckled as she strode past him to toss the load in her arms on the pile with the other discards. “I like open space. Don’t you?”

                “Yeah, but you do know a house has to have some walls inside it to hold the roof up?”

                She paused. “I’ve left a few.”

                “But have you left the right ones? Maybe you should hire some help. I know some contractors who could do this for you. Safely.”