Lucy Grayson held her cell phone toward the Texas sky and prayed for reception. The prayer didn’t work, nor did her ascent, which she’d hoped would somehow get her closer to a cell tower. Just beyond the tree, Lucy’s pitiful car sat on the side of the road with a flat tire, stranded like a woman with a broken high heel.
Her whole life was packed into that car...all of her shoes, most of her clothes and everything else she could cram in. Which made the thought of clearing out her trunk in order to reach her spare tire daunting. And so not necessary. Not if she could get hold of her sister and brother-in-law and borrow their truck, loading everything into it instead of dumping her things on the side of the road.
She was mere miles from their home, so she could walk. But surely her phone was just being ornery. It had to have some reception. Another impatient glance at the screen told her nothing had changed in the past twenty seconds of her life.
Drat.
Lucy wiggled her left foot, attempting to free it from her red ankle bootee without reaching down to untie it. She certainly couldn’t climb down in these shoes. She’d slipped a few times on the way up and didn’t want to risk the same during her descent.
A look down had her stomach tripping all over itself. Lucy had climbed higher than she realized, hoping just a little more height would give her the results she wanted.
Averting her gaze to the limb directly in front of her, she shimmied out of her left ankle boot. It dropped to the ditch below with a muted thud. The sole of her bare foot met rough bark, and she started the same process with her other shoe. One final kick of her heel against the tree limb sent it flying from her foot. Perfect. Now to get down.
A yelp sounded.
At the bottom of the tree, a man stood staring up at her, his hand pressed against his forehead. Oh, no. She hadn’t...
“Is there another shoe coming that I need to be aware of?”
Lucy pressed her lips together to hold back the ill-timed amusement that begged for release. Keeping her right arm wrapped around the tree trunk, she pointed to her other shoe, which had landed a few feet away from him. “No. Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. I think.” He stopped rubbing his forehead, leaving the red mark from her boot weapon visible. “What are you doing up there?”
Now, that was a tough question to answer. Picnicking? Going for a climb? Moving to Texas? Nothing seemed quite right. And her actual answer, now that she had an audience, did sound a bit...unusual. Or for her, usual. Her family would definitely call this a typical Lucy moment.
“I was making a phone call.” Or trying to.
The man’s brow crinkled, and he continued to peer up at her with confusion. Lucy scrambled down the tree, each bough swaying under her now bare feet. Despite feeling somewhat like a monkey, the sensation of being free did give her a thrill.
She landed in front of him with a very ungraceful, un-dancer-like crash.
During her descent, he’d crossed his arms over a white-checked oxford he wore with crisp jeans and brown leather shoes that even her fashion sense approved of. He was a head taller than her, with chocolate hair and midnight-green eyes.
A wave of recognition rushed through her, causing her skin to prickle with awareness.
Lucy remembered this man from her sister’s wedding. She didn’t know his name. She just recalled seeing him that night.
At Olivia and Cash’s reception, he’d been dancing with a little girl. The small child had worn glasses and a frilly dress, and her shoes had been propped up on his toes as they’d twirled around the dance floor. Lucy had melted at the sight. After all, she was a dancer.
Right. That was what had attracted her attention. Not the fact that the guy was totally droolworthy and hadn’t noticed her for a second. Usually when guys tried to gain her attention, she couldn’t care less. This one hadn’t known she existed...although now that she’d clocked him in the head with a shoe, she’d be unforgettable. For all the wrong reasons.
Did it really matter that he was looking at her without an ounce of recognition?
It wasn’t as if Lucy wanted to follow her sister’s path and sign up for a wedding ring while in Texas. She didn’t do serious relationships. She did fun. Lucy had made the decision way back in high school, and she’d stuck to it ever since. It had taken only one experience—one moment of going gooey over a guy—to teach her she much preferred to keep things light. And it was a lesson that had served her well over the years.
“I saw your flat tire and thought you might need help.” The look of bewilderment still etched across his face had her fighting a smile. Not everyone knew what to make of her personality. But did he have to look so shocked? So he’d found her up a tree trying to make a phone call. She wasn’t acting that crazy. “Where are you headed?”
“I’m actually moving here. Right now I’m trying to get to my sister’s house, which is just—” North? East? Lucy searched for the Rocky Mountains that had declared which way was west for the whole of her life, but was only met with the low green hills that permeated Texas Hill Country. Finally, she just pointed. “That direction.”
He reached forward and removed something from her hair, tossing it to the side. Looked like a baby branch by the size of the thing. How had she not noticed that monstrosity hitchhiking a ride on the way down?
“Your sister?”
“Yeah. Olivia Maddox.” Even after seven months of her sister being married, that new last name still felt so weird to say.
“Graham Redmond.” He offered his hand, and Lucy shook it, introducing herself. “Cash is a friend of mine.”
Lucy just nodded. I know. Men. This conversation only served to support her philosophy of keeping them in the fun/friend category instead of getting overly involved with one.
“So, are you moving to Texas for work?”
“For fun.” For the most part. Lucy could also mention that she couldn’t get along with her previous employer and that the move had been perfect timing for getting away from a certain guy, but she didn’t feel like delving into those things now. Or maybe ever. “And partly for work. I have a part-time job lined up teaching dance.” Although teaching one measly dance class wasn’t enough to pay her bills. Lucy’s first priority in town was to find a job that did. Scratch that. Her first priority was to get to her sister’s house. The second would be to make sure she could pay for rent and groceries.
But at least she knew she was doing the right thing in moving. After the trouble with her old boss, she’d prayed for an out. Olivia had called about the dance-instructor opening a few days later. Moving to Texas had been an answer to prayer and just the kind of adventure Lucy craved.
She reached out and gently touched the mark on his head. “I’m sorry about hitting you with my shoe. Does it hurt?”
He flinched as if her hand inflicted more pain than her boot had. “It’s fine.”
“But it looks so red.” A perfect match for the color of her shoe. And it was forming a rather large bump. “How do you know? Maybe you should get it checked out.”
“I’m a doctor.” He tenderly touched the spot. “I’m not worried about it.”
“Okay.” She shrugged. Why did she care so much? Sure, her shoe had caused the welt, but he obviously didn’t want her interference. Fine by her.
She could say the same back to him. Since he’d so nobly stopped to help her, she would reassure him she didn’t need his assistance. He could keep heading wherever he’d been heading, and she’d figure out how to get to her sister’s or change the tire on her own.
Graham Redmond didn’t need to fill the role of dashing hero in her life. Because, as the residents of Fredericksburg would soon find out, Lucy