Winning Heart. Laura Browning

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СКАЧАТЬ she look like any more of a kid?

      “Have you eaten anything today?” The question caught her off guard. She looked up to find his gaze focused on the empty juice bottles and nabs wrappers on the passenger side. He turned those dark intense eyes on her. “And don’t lie.”

      She shut her mouth.

      “Well?” he asked again.

      “I—I ate some chips.”

      “You haven’t left here today, so where did you get those?”

      “None of your…” She saw the sudden glare and continued, “Out of the trash.”

      “Christ!” he exclaimed and waved his hand at the trash in the truck. “Nabs and juice, and chips you got from the damn trash? Is that all you’ve eaten since you started work here?”

      Wynter bristled. “And if it is? What business is it of yours? You’re my boss, not my father. As long as I do my work, what’s the big deal?”

      “I’ll tell you what the big deal is,” Anderson snapped. “You’re as thin as a rake. You have dark circles under your eyes. Yes, you work hard. Thomas and I have seen that, but you can’t keep this up, Wynter. You’ll make yourself sick, get hurt, or hurt a horse or another person because you can’t perform. Thomas was ready to send you packing tomorrow because he’d pretty much decided the job was too much.”

      “No! Look, I can do it! Please give me a chance. Once I get paid tomorrow, I’ll be able to get some food an—and I’ve found a room not far from here.”

      “That’s enough, Wynter.” He looked so forbidding.

      “No. Really.” Panic made her voice shake. She couldn’t go back now, not when she had everything lined up. It would all work, but she needed this job. Without it, there was no way to pay her living expenses so she could attend Duke.

      “I’ll work harder.” Wynter hated begging. Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them away. “I can handle the job. Please!”

      He grabbed her shoulder with his free hand and shook her. “Wynter. No one’s firing you. Do you hear me? You can stay.”

      She sucked in a deep breath and felt her cheeks burn again. Never had she experienced so much embarrassment in such a short period of time. And still he watched. She struggled to calm down. When the panic receded, exhaustion took over. It was late. She needed sleep to be back at work before dawn.

      “Help me to my car, Wynter,” Nelson ordered in a tone that brooked no argument. “I’m taking you to the house. You will eat something and then you can bed down on a couch tonight. We’ll figure something else out tomorrow.”

      She was too tired to argue.

      Wynter noticed the Rolls Royce came equipped with hand controls to accommodate his bad right leg. She swallowed. She’d assumed he had suffered a fall or something, not that he was crippled. She stared out the window while they made the short trip up the drive.

      The house stood on a hill behind the barns. It was screened from both the road and the barns by a grove of tall pine and cedar trees, so she had yet to get a good look at it. In the dark, she still didn’t, just the impression of its large outline as they rounded a bend in the driveway. Anderson pulled the car around a circular drive.

      After he shifted the car into park, he said very matter-of-factly, “I need your help, Wynter.”

      She scrambled out of the car and hurried around to the driver’s side. He leaned on her while he pulled himself up. She kept hold of his elbow while he negotiated the short ramp added to the front of the house. Tension radiated from him. Getting help must bother him a lot.

      Her eyes widened when they entered the front hallway. Its vaulted ceiling opened to the second floor with a winding staircase curving up along the right side. As she stared, she felt like Little Orphan Annie with Daddy Warbucks. The steps were wide enough for three or four people to walk abreast. In the dim light from a lamp resting on a sideboard, she saw the black and white marble tiles that covered the floor. Family portraits hung around the hallway and lined the stairs. Wynter had never seen anything this ornate. Even the Southards’ and the Butlers’ homes were nothing compared to this house.

      “Damn! It—it’s so big!” Wynter exclaimed before halting with an awkward grimace. “I’m sorry. That was rude.”

      Her boss smiled for the very first time, and it transformed his face, making him look years younger and much, much kinder. She stared at him. “You’re not old! You’re young!” she accused then gasped.

      This time, he didn’t smile, he laughed. It was a rusty sound, as though he hadn’t done so in a long, long time.

      “Oh! I’m so sorry. Ma’s forever telling me to keep my mouth shut.”

      “Don’t worry about it, Wynter. We’re both tired. If you’ll go straight through the hallway you see in front of you, the kitchen’s at the back of the house. Help yourself. Mrs. Caudle always leaves plenty of sandwiches in the fridge. I’ll find a pillow. There’s a big couch in my study. It will be the door at the end of the hallway on your left when you leave the kitchen.”

      “Thanks, Mr. Anderson.” She hurried past him, almost running down the hallway. She heard his slower, stilted gait and the tap of the cane while he followed as far as the hallway leading to the study.

      She stepped through the doorway and into the kitchen. It was almost as big as the whole trailer she and her mom lived in. Because the overhead light cast only a slight glow over everything, Wynter thought it must work off a dimmer switch. Nowhere in the house was anything left dark. Was that because of Anderson’s limp?

      She looked around. What her mama wouldn’t give for a kitchen like this. Stainless steel appliances gleamed in the work area, including one of the biggest refrigerators she’d ever laid eyes on. When she approached it, she ran tapered fingers over ice-smooth black marble countertops, and her gaze roamed warm, light oak cabinets. Her growling stomach reminded her of the true reason for the visit to the kitchen.

      Wynter opened the refrigerator. Just as he had promised, a tray of wrapped sandwiches sat on the middle shelf. She grabbed one then made herself slow down. Ma would kill her if she saw her do such a thing. A pitcher of milk sat on the top shelf. She took it out and set it on the counter while she found a glass. She was already on a second glass and a second sandwich when Anderson stepped into the kitchen.

      Her cheeks tingled with heat when his glance moved from the half pitcher of milk to the two sandwich wrappers lying next to a plate.

      “Feel better now?”

      She nodded, mouth full. At least she had remembered not to speak with food in her mouth. That was another thing Ma was always getting on her about.

      “I’ll leave you. There’s a bathroom off the mudroom by the back door. Good night.”

      Wynter gulped the bite of sandwich. “Thank you, sir,” she mumbled. “For everything.”

      He nodded and limped away. What an odd man. He’d be a real hunk if he smiled more.

       Chapter 3

      Nelson СКАЧАТЬ