“I promise, I’ll prove myself,” Presley Ann said confidently.
Lydia had serious reservations about that. “I will be working alongside you at times, but you are going to have to do the work. No more shirking,” Lydia said as she turned and walked back toward the kitchen. She caught the nasty look Presley Ann gave her in the mirror hanging on the wall.
She turned to look back at Presley Ann, but she had already schooled her facial features into the same innocent wide-eyed look. “I promise I’ll do better.” Lydia knew exactly what she’d do better at.
“Please redo the vacuuming then dust downstairs. We’ll do upstairs after lunch, which will be in about twenty minutes.” Lydia planned to supervise Presley Ann much more closely up there, which would mean getting a late start on supper preparations.
Returning to the kitchen, Lydia couldn’t help but ponder Presley Ann’s real purpose in being there. Her aunt must have seen this as Presley Ann’s opportunity to snag a rich husband. She wondered how Chance and Clayton would react to her.
Her phone went off as she was about to turn the mixer back on. She looked at the message from Chance.
“How is your house help working out?”
She typed her response. “Disappointing so far. I’m not sure she is going to work out. I gave her a week, but I doubt she will last more than a day or two.”
Moments later his next message arrived. “Is she slow?”
“A little lazy. Entitled. I’m not sure she came to work at all.”
“What do you mean, baby?”
“You’ll see.”
“If she doesn’t work out, we’ll find someone who will. We’ll be at the house in about twenty minutes.”
She smiled at his thoughtfulness. “See you then.”
* * * *
Chance could sense Lydia’s frustration the moment he walked in the back door and laid eyes on her. Her hair had been pinned up neatly, out of her way, when she’d delivered their morning snack earlier, but it looked like it had slowly unraveled over the course of the morning and she hadn’t noticed.
Except for the fact that she was obviously in a snit over something, he thought she looked even more beautiful. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes snapped with anger as she stalked back into the kitchen from the dining room.
“Hey, baby. You okay?”
“Oh!” She jumped and put her hand to her lips. “Hi, Chance. I’m sorry.” Her shoulders slumped wearily as she came to him. “My mind was elsewhere.”
“You didn’t sound pleased when I texted you,” he murmured before pressing a kiss to her temple. He brushed a curl from her forehead as he looked into her eyes.
“I guess I’m not good at supervising the help. Every time I turn my back she’s sitting down or goofing off. We didn’t accomplish near what I wanted to this morning.”
“First-day jitters?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. If I could get any work out of her I might be able to tell. I’m sorry, if you can give me another five minutes, I’ll have lunch on the table.”
Chance smiled at her and rubbed her tense little shoulders. “That’ll give me time to check my e-mail in the office. You take your time. We’re not on a strict schedule around here.”
“Okay.” Lydia smiled up at him and said, “Maybe I expected too much from her on her first day. There was some confusion, too. She thought she was going to be staying here on the ranch.”
“Huh?”
“Yes. She asked to be shown to her room.” Lydia did not look happy about that.
“I doubt that was what she was told, but I’ll ask Clayton about it. He should be in any minute.”
“I’ll tell him you’re in the office.”
Seeking to reassure her, Chance pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “Give it some time, baby. Maybe she’ll settle in okay.”
Softly, she replied, “Maybe so. I’m happy to see you.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. He liked very much that she went to him for comfort. He squeezed her close and smiled broadly when she tipped her face up for a kiss, which he gladly gave. Her warm hands slid up his back, and she felt delicate in his arms as she yielded to him, allowing him to take the kiss a little deeper. A tremor rippled through her as he held her, and he sighed as she melted against him. Being near her was comfort for his soul.
Any challenges they’d had that morning, including the confrontation with Kade Parker, were nothing when compared with holding her close. He and his brother had approached Kade, knowing something was up when the man never came to get a kolache from Lydia’s basket. There had to be a reason he’d avoided her in their presence. There was something shifty about Parker that Chance was beginning to wonder about.