Fencing You In (7 page)

“Probably.” Tess followed her and looked through the peephole. She took a deep breath. “Yep.”

“I want to open the door.” Jenny reached for the bolt lock and turned it, then turned the lock on the doorknob. She hurried to open the door.

Gage stood there, looking so sexy in Wranglers, a dark blue T-shirt, and a western hat. His T-shirt stretched over his biceps and fit his chest just right. How could any man look that hot?

“Hi, almost-Uncle Gage,” Jenny said with a big smile.

He grinned. “Hi, Jenny.” He met Tess’s eyes and gave her a smile that she knew was meant only for her.

There went those damned belly flutters again.

Tess swallowed. “Come on in.” She introduced him to Glenna whose cheeks reddened as he gave her a smile and touched the brim of his hat. Tess had never seen the teenager appear tongue-tied or shy before.

“Ready?” Gage asked Tess.

She nodded. “Kiss?” Tess held out her arms to Jenny who ran toward her and gave her a big kiss on the cheek and hugged her. Tess kissed Jenny’s cheek in return. “Be good for Glenna.”

“I will.” Jenny took Glenna’s hand. “We’re going to play Barbies now,” she said to Gage.

“Have fun,” he said to the girls. Glenna blushed again and Jenny beamed before she started to lead Glenna to the bedroom.

“You look great,” Gage said to Tess when the girls had disappeared into Jenny’s bedroom.

She looked down at her own T-shirt and jeans. “I take it I’m dressed okay for mud?”

He laughed. “Perfect.”

“Hold on.” She grabbed her keys and the small woven purse she’d decided to take with her to hold the few things she might need. They headed out and she locked the door behind them before she dropped the keys into her purse.

“We need to stop by my place and then we’ll head on out,” he said as he helped her into the passenger side of his truck. He went to the driver’s side and climbed in.

When they were on the road she found herself almost as tongue-tied as Glenna had been. “So what are we doing?” she managed to ask.

“Ever been out on an ATV?” he asked.

“No.” She shook her head. “It always looked like fun but I’ve never had the opportunity.”

“Well, now’s your chance.” He looked at her. “I’m glad you’re here with me, Tess.”

She found herself smiling. “I am, too.”

It wasn’t too far to his place. He had a small ranch but had a sprawling home that from the outside looked to be over three thousand square feet.

A huge building sat on some property set back from the house. “I run my well and pump service business out of that building and keep my heavy equipment there,” he said as he drove to the building. “We’re so busy that we work weekends, too. I managed to arrange to have some time off today.”

“I’m glad,” she said and he rewarded her with a quick grin.

They went around the back of the building. A trailer with a strapped down four-wheel ATV was behind the shop.

He backed up the truck to the neck of the trailer and parked. Before he could climb out, his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of the holster on his belt, checked the caller ID screen and answered with, “Hi, Joe.” After a moment, he frowned. “Damn, I’m sorry to hear that.” His brow furrowed as he continued to listen. “No, you’re right, we can’t leave Mrs. Johnson without water. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take care of it.”

When Gage disconnected the call, he blew out his breath and looked at Tess. “One of my men’s uncle was in a car accident and he needs to get down to the hospital. He was heading out to put a new pump in Mrs. Johnson’s well when he got the call. She’s a sweet little old lady who lives on the other side of Prescott, down the road from where I grew up.”

“And she needs water,” Tess said. “I understand.”

“If you still want to get muddy, why don’t you come out with me?” he said. “It’s possible it won’t take too long and we can still do something this afternoon.”

“Sure.” She nodded. “I’m up for muddy one way or another.”

“Good.” He started the truck again and started driving it around the shop. “We need to take the pump rig.” He nodded in the direction of a big truck. “It has all the tools I’ll need, and the right pipe is already loaded. But I’ll have to load a new pump for her well.”

Tess jumped out of the cab when he parked again and offered to help with whatever it was he needed.

“In the back of the truck is a small cooler with our lunch in it,” he said. “Also a bag with chips and a few other things. Why don’t you grab that?”

She started toward the rear of the truck. “I’ve got it.”

When everything was taken care of, and he had changed into a work shirt and put on work boots, they headed off to Mrs. Johnson’s place.

Tess found herself feeling more relaxed. It was like the pressure of a first date was washed away now that they weren’t actually going out. They laughed and talked on the way to the job and it felt like they were in Nectars, flirting, only the bar wasn’t between them.

Just like he’d promised. That thought gave her a little pause but she easily fell back into their conversation. He’d also promised that they could go at her pace and she was going to hold him to that.

Tess was having so much fun that the drive seemed to go by in no time. Soon they were turning up a maintained dirt road toward an older home on a fenced-off piece of property.

Mrs. Johnson lived on an acre set back away from the main road. She had a nice place with a little house and a flower garden in front and a greenhouse in the back.

They pulled up to the house and Gage parked the truck and killed the engine. He was out of the truck and to her side as usual to open the door for her.

“My squash, tomatoes, and green beans need water,” Mrs. Johnson said when she came out to greet them. “I was planning on watering them today. They’re looking a little limp.”

“We’ll have you taken care of in no time.” Gage had switched his western hat for a ball cap and he pushed it up as he talked with the elder woman. “Just sit tight and we’ll get those vegetables watered.”

“I’ve always liked you, Gage McBride,” she said and patted him on the arm. She looked at Tess. “He was always a little devil but a good kid.”

Tess laughed. “I don’t think he’s changed much in that regard.”

With a grin, Gage said, “I’ll get to work on it now.”

The water well and pressure tank were in back of the greenhouse and Gage backed the pump rig up to it.

“What do you need to do?” she asked.

“First I need to check the electrical wires for the pump to see if they’re going to ground.” Gage went up to the well and started his inspection. “Yeah, it’s gone bad,” he finally said after a few moments.

She stepped out of the way as he backed the rig closer to the well, got out of the truck, and then raised the mast. The hydraulics made the loud hum of heavy machinery as it went into place.

Tess didn’t have a clue when it came to anything remotely related to his occupation and she was fascinated by everything he was doing.

“Next the plumbing to the pressure tank and the house need to be undone.” Gage pulled on a pair of work gloves and grabbed tools he needed.

After he’d finished with the plumbing, he centered a cable from the mast over the well. He explained to her what he was doing as he unscrewed the plug on top of the pipe to use some kind of pipe puller at the top to pull out the pipes.

She felt kind of useless as she watched him work. “What can I do?”

He gestured to the truck and pointed to one of the toolboxes built into the side. “In that toolbox are some rags. If you can grab those for me, it would be great.”

She walked around the pump rig to the opposite side, opened up the toolbox he’d indicated, and grabbed the rags he needed.

“If we’re not careful, this could be messy.” He took the rags from her and put some down. “The joints are going to have gunk on them and water will be in the pipes.”

When the water rushed out of the pipes, Tess stepped back to avoid getting her athletic shoes wet, but water still splashed on her jeans.

It wasn’t long before her head was spinning with everything he had to do. Wire the first pipe to the second, secure the second with a pipe clamp, then unscrew the first joint and repeat until the pump was out of the ground. It was a deep well, so it took some time to get the pump out. She helped him with little things like handing him tools when he needed them.

While he worked they talked. She learned that he’d been at this business for fifteen years and his business had grown to spread across northern and central Arizona. When he was young, Gage had worked summers for an older man who taught him the trade. When the man retired, Gage had taken over the business. She liked learning about him as well as watching him and the ease with which he did his job.

They paused long enough to eat the lunch that Gage had packed. He’d filled the cooler with ham and cheese sandwiches, and had brought BBQ potato chips and a package of chocolate chip cookies. He’d also brought along a large thermos of iced tea and a gallon jug of water.

“We’ve been talking about me and what I do,” Gage said as he replaced the old pump with a new one and rewired everything. “I want to know more about you.”

She shrugged. “Not much that you don’t already know. You already know that I have a wonderful daughter. I own a share of the family business and work there regularly. Before taking over managing the restaurant, I worked as an administrative assistant. Other than that, my life isn’t very exciting.”

He finished wiring the new pump. “Has there ever been anything else you’ve wanted to do than work in the restaurant business?”

She hesitated. “Yes. But it’s just a dream.”

“What is it?” he asked.

For some reason she felt a rush of embarrassment. “It’s silly.”

He paused in his work, resting one hand on the rig’s mast. “I doubt that, Tess. Unless you want to be a circus performer.”

She laughed. “How did you guess? I want to be a trapeze artist.”

He grinned. “Come on now. Tell me.”

She looked down and turned the toe of her shoe in the dirt. When she looked back up at him, she said, “I’ve always wanted to write a book.”

“What’s silly about that?” He studied her. “I think that’s great.”

“I don’t know if I have the talent for it.” A breeze caught locks of her short, curly hair and blew them in her face. She brushed the strands of hair aside. “I excelled at writing in school and I have a good imagination, but that’s not enough.”

“You won’t know if you don’t try.” He looked serious as he spoke. “You’ve got to give it a shot. Otherwise you’ll end up with regrets when you look back on your life.”

She slipped her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and slowly nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am.” He gave her a teasing grin. “Have you written anything?”

She shook her head. “I’ve jotted down ideas in a journal for a mystery, but I really don’t know where to start.”

“How about books on writing?” He moved to a switch on the rig. “Or researching more about it on the Internet?”

“That’s a good idea,” she said with a smile.

She felt warmth and a kind of hesitant excitement inside her. No one had ever shown an interest in her dream in the past. Her mother had told her when she was growing up that wanting to be a writer was silly and impractical, and she’d never make any money doing it.

Eventually, she’d buried her desire to write deep inside. Talking with Gage about it was beginning to stir those desires to life again.

“I think I will start exploring what it takes to be a writer.” She smiled at him. “Thank you for encouraging me.”

“I have faith in you,” he said.

He pressed the lever on the rig and the sound of machinery filled the air again. When he had lowered the pump inside the mouth of the well, he stopped the rig. He started reversing the process, putting in new pipe to replace the old. She handed him couplings to connect joints and other things he needed. He told her that they didn’t always need to replace the pipe but that the existing pipe was particularly old.

They fell into easy conversation about his childhood, growing up with four brothers, and his huge extended family. They talked about her childhood and growing up with one sister and her mother and father.

“I almost forgot.” Tess tilted her head to the side. “You said you’d tell me why that Nandra slapped you.”

Gage looked sheepish like he had that day in the bar. “I slept with her twin sister.”

Tess’s back straightened as she looked at him with incredulity. “What?”

“It’s not exactly what you think.” He shook his head. “Nandra’s identical twin sister, Sandra, decided to pay back Nandra for some fight they had. Sandra pretended to be Nandra and we slept together. I didn’t know it was Sandra until afterward. Nandra was ticked at me because I didn’t notice the difference between them.”

Tess couldn’t help herself. She wanted to laugh while at the same time she felt a surge of jealousy at him being with other women. Which made absolutely no sense at all because any women he’d slept with were a part of his past.

It was late in the day when he’d put the above ground plumbing back together and they finally finished and had everything packed up on the pump rig.

They stopped by Mrs. Johnson’s home to let her know they were finished.

“Wonderful.” The elderly woman was clearly delighted to have water to her home again, not to mention in her greenhouse. “Why don’t you come in for some homemade coffee cake?”

“Thank you, Mrs. Johnson.” Gage gave the woman a smile. “But we’ve got to get going.”

“I insist you take it home with you, then. You deserve it.” The woman turned back into her home. “Stay right there,” she said over her shoulder.

Gage turned to Tess as they waited. “When we were kids, my brothers and I loved to ride our bikes or horses over here because she’d feed us one great treat or another. I think she kept goodies on hand just for us. She’s always been a great lady.”

A few moments later, Mrs. Johnson returned with a huge slab of coffee cake on a paper plate and covered with plastic wrap. “Here you go. You two enjoy it.”