Chuckling, Heath greeted their slobbery guest with a pat on the head. “Hey, Boyd. How’re you today?”
The bloodhound woofed, licking Heath’s hand while his tail wagged enthusiastically. When Heath noticed him eyeballing Tess, he warned, “Behave yourself, dude. The lady’s had a tough morning.”
In response, the dog sat politely and reeled in his tongue, even though his head was still hanging over the seat. Apparently, that was as good as it was going to get. “Tess, I’d like you to meet Boyd. The story is he found your cousin Paul at a lumber camp in Oregon and followed him home. Personally, I think it was the other way around.”
His comment had the intended effect, and she uncoiled herself from the corner to give the hound a cautious once-over. Thrilled with the attention, Boyd let out a quiet woof and cocked his head in what even a committed dog-hater would have called a friendly gesture.
“Pleased to meet you, Boyd,” she finally said, patting his forehead. “You’ll have to excuse my manners, but you scared me half to death.”
The hound woofed again, and Heath reached over to ruffle his floppy ears. “See? He’s sorry. He’s the welcoming committee around here, and he was just doing his job.”
“Very well, too,” she added, scratching around his collar with a smile. “Paul found himself a real gem of a sidekick, didn’t he?”
Her gooey tone was totally at odds with her hard exterior, and Heath couldn’t help admiring how quickly she’d shifted from terrified city girl to down-to-earth animal lover. Apparently, she reserved that cool, distant manner of hers for humans. It probably should have bugged him, but in reality it was a relief.
During the short time they’d spent together, he’d learned that Tess had a sharp mind and a tongue to match. He was fairly well traveled, and experience had taught him to steer clear of women like her. They were always one step ahead of him, and eventually he got tired of trying to catch up.
His conversation with Tess hadn’t changed his opinion in the least. In fact, he was determined to give women like Tess a wide berth, now more than ever.
After Tess recovered from meeting the very exuberant Boyd, she got out of the truck and took a few moments to absorb her surroundings. A sparkling creek flowed through the nearby woods and under the wide cobblestone bridge that led from the rutted dirt lane to the lumberyard. Once the stream reached the dam and collected in the mill pond, it was ready to be harnessed to power the waterwheel her cousin Paul had restored to grant their ailing grandfather’s wish to see the long-shuttered mill up and running again before he died.
Of course, she hadn’t known all this before, she groused. Over the weekend, Gram had filled her in on the family history that had been a complete blank for Tess until a month ago. For the hundredth time, she wondered what possible reason her father had for leaving his charming hometown and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge his roots.
Or his own father’s death.
Thinking about the grandfather she’d never met still made her misty, especially when she was standing here in the middle of the property he’d cherished so much. She’d learned that it hadn’t been easy to keep it in the family, with developers drooling over the acres of untouched woods around the picturesque Sterling Creek. If he’d given in and sold out, he and Gram would have had enough money to travel wherever they wanted to go. Instead, they chose to hold on to the land and live more modestly in this sleepy little town that didn’t warrant even a dot on a state map.
“Something wrong?”
Heath’s voice broke into her musings, and she glanced over at him. She was about to give her customary “no” when something stopped her, and she frowned. “I’m not sure. I was just thinking about how my grandfather never wanted to give this place up, even when people offered him a ton of money for it. My father always thought Granddad was crazy.”
“Sounds like you agreed with him.”
“I know it sounds disrespectful, but yes, I did.”
Heath rested an arm over the railing on the front porch steps and cocked his head with a curious look. “And now?”
“I think I get it, at least a little.”
As the breeze rustled through a nearby stand of trees, she admired the spectrum of colors waving along the branches and caught the flash of a white tail as a deer bounded back into the woods. Add in the chiming of dozens of birds and the telltale scent of wood shavings, and her appreciation for the Barrett legacy deepened. Peaceful but teeming with life, this place was a lot more than a chunk of prime real estate. And it was infinitely more valuable than even her brilliant father could possibly fathom.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to meet Will,” Heath said gently, as if he’d picked up on her melancholy train of thought. “He was one of the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever known.”
She knew Heath meant for her to view the comment in a positive light, but it only made her choke up again. Pulling herself together wasn’t easy, but for both their sakes she dredged up a halfhearted smile. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I was fine at the cemetery with Gram yesterday.”
“That’s ’cause he’s not there. He’s here.” Heath nodded in the general direction of the rushing water.
The rugged mechanic didn’t strike her as the philosophical type, and she eyed him with curiosity. “You really believe that, don’t you?”
“Sure. I know it’s not a big, exciting city, but for most of us, this little swath of land beats them all, hands down.”
He said it without hesitation, but something flickering in his eyes made her suspect that for him, there was more to it than mere loyalty. Since neither of them had the time for a story right now, she opted to let it go. “Since you said you were dropping off that old truck, I’m guessing you need a ride back into town. Did you want to come in and say hello or get going now?”
“No hurry,” he replied with a grin. “This is Barrett’s Mill, remember?”
Yes, it was. She still wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but she was looking forward to finding out. She and Heath climbed the steps together, with Boyd lumbering up behind them. When Heath pulled open the door, the dog eyed the lobby then turned his large brown eyes on Tess as if he were waiting for her.
“What nice manners you have,” she cooed, patting his head on her way past. Paul was standing inside, and she teased, “Did you teach him to do that?”
“Yeah, right,” he laughed before hugging her. “So, whattya think of the old place?”
“It looks fabulous, just like you described it.” The praise came easily, because even a totally non-mechanical person like her could tell how much effort had gone into bringing the archaic family business back to life.
“Thanks.” Shaking hands with Heath, Paul added, “How’s the old beast running these days?”
“Are you kidding me?” Heath growled, although the proud twinkle in his eyes gave him away. “She makes a Swiss watch look like a clunker.”
“That’s great, ’cause the lease just ran out on one of our trucks, and we could use another delivery vehicle around here.”
What he wasn’t saying, Tess noticed, was that he hadn’t renewed the lease. Which meant finances weren’t in the best shape right now. Maybe she could do something about that, she thought, relishing the idea of using her college education for something more worthwhile than catering to wealthy customers. She couldn’t