chapter Four
Noelle flipped open her book at the folded-over page and curled her feet beneath her. The words blurred in front of her. She blinked a few times and then tossed the paperback on the cushion next to her.
That J.D. had impeccable timing. Impeccable muscles, too. She’d even felt them through his jacket when she’d thrown herself into his arms. After the scare of finding the disordered items in the house, those arms had been a welcome refuge.
Alex had never made her feel safe, up to and including the night he was murdered.
She bit her lip as if that could stop the traitorous thought.
Creak. Creak.
Noelle froze, her bottom lip still caught between her teeth. Her gaze darted toward the front door. Someone was on the porch.
She half rose from the couch, her hands clutching the folds of her robe. When Sheriff Greavy and then J.D. had left, she’d pulled her dad’s shotgun from the closet and loaded it. It rested against the wall by the front door.
Time to see if it still worked.
She scooted from the couch and tiptoed to the door.
A man shouted, and she grabbed the gun. A scuffling sound replaced the creaking and something or someone crashed into the front door, shaking it on its rotting hinges. More shouting. And cursing.
Another man yelled and the door reverberated with his pounding. “Noelle! Noelle! There’s a crazy dude out here.”
She hitched the shotgun under her arm and threw open the door.
Her half brother, Ted, blood spouting from his nose, stretched across the porch, his fists poised for another assault on her front door.
Beyond the crumpled mess of her brother, J.D. loomed, hands bunched and a coil to his body that looked ready to spring.
“Stop!” Noelle held up her own hands. “This is my brother, Ted.”
Her words did nothing to cut through the ferocity coming off J.D.’s tense frame in solid waves. What had happened to the easygoing cowboy?
Brushing past Ted, she stepped between the two men. “Really. This is my brother. He’s harmless—well, sort of.”
Ted gasped and gurgled behind her. “Can I get some help here? Dude broke my nose.”
J.D. flexed his fingers, and Noelle noticed a smear of blood on one knuckle.
She shuffled forward and stopped, still wary of the danger glittering in his hooded eyes—even though that danger wasn’t directed at her. “Did you hurt your hand?”
“Yeah, he hurt his hand—on my nose,” Ted wailed and stumbled into the house.
Noelle held J.D.’s gaze, feeling drawn to this man who had gone to battle for her. It had been a long time since someone had been there to protect her.
Bit by bit, J.D. came down from the ledge. He flexed his fingers again. Blinked. Rotated his shoulders. Puffed out a breath.
“It’s nothing.” He rubbed his knuckles against the thigh of his jeans and tipped his chin toward the open door. “Sorry about your brother.”
My brother.
As if coming out of a trance, she covered her mouth with her hand and spun around. “Ted!”
“About damn time.” Ted shot her an accusing glance over the hand clapped over his bleeding nose.
“I’ll get you some paper towels and ice.”
J.D. had followed her into the house and approached Ted, who held up one hand. “Stay away from me.”
“Sorry, man. I thought you were an intruder. Someone broke into your sister’s house earlier.”
“It wasn’t me.”
Noelle pulled open the freezer door and scooped some ice into a bowl. Did J.D. think it odd that her brother had to make that denial?
“Didn’t say it was. Sit.”
As Noelle carried the ice into the living room, Ted sank to the edge of the couch. She crouched beside him and handed him a wet paper towel. “Clean up the blood first, wrap this paper towel around some ice and put it on the bridge of your nose.”
Ted dragged the paper towel across his nose, keeping an eye on J.D. hovering behind her. “So what did they steal? The people who broke in, I mean?”
“Some prescription meds.”
His eyes widened. “Wasn’t me.” His gaze shifted to J.D. “I’m clean, have been for seven months.”
“Congratulations. Weird coincidence, though—someone breaks in, steals some drugs and then you show up.”
“Would I show up if I’d just stolen from you?” He tossed a bloody lump of paper towel on the coffee table.
“Pick that up.” She wrinkled her nose. “I never know what you’re up to, Ted.”
“Not stealing from my sister.”
“Not anymore?”
“Okay, okay.” He pointed past her shoulder. “Who’s this guy, anyway?”
“This is J.D....” She trailed off. Had he ever given her a last name? “J.D., this is my brother, Ted.”
J.D. shoved his hands in his pockets and eyed Ted’s bloodstained hands. “Don’t take it the wrong way that I don’t want to shake your hand.”
“Hey, what’s a handshake when you already busted my nose?”
“It’s not broken.”
Ted peeled the soggy paper towel from his face. “How do you know?”
J.D. shrugged. “I didn’t hear it crack when I punched you.”
Pinching his nose again, Ted said in a nasal voice, “Are you a friend of Noelle’s or her watchdog?”
“A little of both, I guess.” He raised one brow at Noelle, and her insides turned squishy.
“H-how’s your hand? Is it still bleeding?”
J.D. inspected his knuckles. “Never was. That was Ted’s blood.”
Ted snorted and then coughed.
“Ted, do you want some water? Something stronger?” She half turned toward the kitchen. She had to keep busy around J.D. or she’d end up staring into his whiskey-colored eyes and falling into a trance again.
“I told you. I’m on the wagon.”
“Booze, too?”
“If you get off one, you have to get off the other. That’s what my sponsor told me, anyway, and he has a point.”
“I’m glad you’re taking this seriously. Water, then?”
“Or a soda—anything with caffeine.” He shrugged. “I can’t give up all my vices at once.” He tapped a hard carton in his front pocket. “Back on the cigs, too.”
“Not in the house.” She crossed one index finger over the other. “I have some cola. J.D.?”
“Just some water.”
She moved toward the kitchen and then tripped on the leg of a barstool as a thought that had been niggling the edges of her mind slammed full force into her brain.
She gripped the edge of the counter and turned. “What were you doing out there, anyway, J.D.? You’d left almost a half hour before.”
He sauntered toward the kitchen and parked on the edge of a barstool. “Since I was out this way anyway, I drove up the road to have a look at a place for rent. On my way back to town, I saw your brother walking his motorcycle onto your property. After what happened earlier—” he spread his hands “—I thought I’d check it out.”
Noelle released her breath in short wisps, so J.D. wouldn’t realize she’d been holding it waiting for his answer.
Sounded plausible. Or he was a great liar.
“Checking it out is one thing. Tackling a guy and pummeling the life out of him is something else.” Ted lifted the ice from his nose to aim a scowl at J.D.
“Your actions were suspicious. Why didn’t you just walk up to the door and knock? Why were you creeping up the porch and peering through the window like some sort of Peeping Tom?”
Ted placed the ice pack back on his face and answered in a muffled voice, “Just wanted to make sure Noelle was here. I’d heard you were back in town, sis. Wanted to see if it was really you first.”
“Who else would be here?” She slid a glass of water toward J.D. and rolled her eyes. Then she clinked the can of soda on the coffee table in front of Ted.
“How the hell would I know? You don’t keep me apprised of your property.”
Noelle pressed her lips together. It could’ve been your property, too, bro, if you hadn’t traveled a path of drug addiction, gambling and petty crime. At least that’s what she’d told herself over the years. Maybe she should have shared the ranch with him.
“Sounds like someone’s keeping you apprised since you came out here to see me.” She folded her arms and wedged a hip against the kitchen island. “Spill.”
Ted buried his face farther into the ice pack. “I still have a few connections here. Word gets out.”
“Tara? Have you been in touch with Tara?”
“Now and again.”
“Her mom’s going to be real happy about that.”
“Maybe she will. I’ve changed, Noelle.”
“Actions speak louder than words. What are you doing back in Buck Ridge? Are you planning to stay here at the ranch?”
J.D. knocked over his water glass, and the clear liquid spread across the tile. “Oops. I’ll get that.”
He hoisted his tall, rangy frame off the stool and swiped a kitchen cloth from the oven door handle.
Ted dropped the ice pack from his face and straightened his shoulders. “I was hoping I could stay here or even in the guesthouse. I’ll get a job and pay some rent, of course.”
“Of course.”
“Or...I could do some work around the ranch in exchange for room and board. God knows, the old place could use some sprucing up.”
Bam. Noelle knew that was coming. Ted would camp out here free of charge, eating, hanging around the house and not doing one lick of work. In fact, the old place would end up looking a lot worse than it did now.
Her gaze settled on J.D.’s strong hands mopping up the water on the counter. She sucked in her bottom lip and raised her eyes to his. She gave him a wink.
“That’s not necessary, Ted. J.D.’s going to stay in the guesthouse in exchange for sprucing up the ranch.”
* * *
J.D.’S HAND ALMOST slid off the counter. Getting close to Noelle Dupree had been easier than he’d expected. He’d figured he’d have an uphill battle, and here she was inviting him to stay with her.
Her brother—half brother—looked him over from head to toe with his shifty eyes. His and Noelle’s eyes obviously didn’t share the same half. J.D. could get lost in Noelle’s deep blue, almost-violet eyes. Dreamy. Soulful. Her half brother’s brown eyes had a hard edge. They measured, assessed.
J.D. didn’t completely believe Ted didn’t have a hand in the break-in. He’d like to believe that instead of the alternative, anyway. Something about the guy was off. J.D. had taken him for a thief the minute he’d seen him skulking around Noelle’s porch.
Noelle nudged him with her foot, and he swept the dishcloth from the counter and tossed it into the sink. “That’s right. Noelle hired me on today. I’m moving into the guesthouse tomorrow.”
Hell, he hadn’t even known this ranch had a guesthouse.
Ted narrowed his eyes. “Weren’t you just looking at a place to rent up the road?”
The guy might be a former druggie, but he didn’t miss a thing. “For a friend.”
“Right.” Ted pushed off the couch, gathering the bloody paper towels in his hands. “My other offer still stands, Noelle. I can get a job at the ski resort and pay you rent in exchange for a room in the house...maybe even my old room.”
She snorted. “Come off it, Ted. You never really had a room here. You lived with your mom in Buck Ridge most of the time.”
He dumped the paper towels in the trash can. “Will you consider it?”
“Get the job first.”
“I will. I’m good for it, Noelle. I’m a changed man.”
“Glad to hear it. Do you have a place to stay tonight?”
Ted smiled, the charming smile of a con man. J.D. could recognize it a mile away. “You’re not so hard after all. I thought that thing with Alex had changed you, turned you into your mother. But maybe you’re getting back to the sweet girl I grew up with.”
Noelle’s chin jutted forward. “You mean the one you scammed all the time?”
“Aw, I wouldn’t put it like that.” Ted shrugged into his well-worn jacket. “Anyway, as luck would have it, I do have a place to crash tonight and for the next few nights. But I’d like to stay in my family home.” He held up his hands as Noelle opened her mouth. “I’ll get that job first, sis.”
She snapped her mouth shut and nodded. “You get that job, and we’ll talk.”
She walked Ted to the door, and he gave her a hug, which she returned with one arm. He waved to J.D. “No hard feelings, man. I probably would’ve done the same thing in your place.”
“Yeah, sorry about your nose. It’ll be okay.”
This time, Ted didn’t walk his bike off the ranch silently. The engine roared to life and he fishtailed down the drive, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Noelle sighed beside him. “You must think I’m a terrible sister, but the family put up with a lot from Ted. He’s had his share of problems—most of them self-induced.”
“I know the type, and I think you handled it great. You’re no enabler.”
“Not anymore.” She folded her hands behind her and leaned against the doorjamb. “About our deal.”
“Uh-huh?” His gaze dropped to her mouth and he dragged his attention back to her eyes, which darkened to a violet hue.
“I just said that so I didn’t have to offer the guesthouse to Ted. You don’t really have to work on the ranch in exchange for room and board, but thanks for playing along.”
“I wasn’t playing.”
“What?”
He had her right where he wanted her, or at least had himself right where he wanted to be.
“I wasn’t playing any game, Noelle.”
“What do you mean? I wasn’t really making you that offer. I just came up with it at the spur of the moment to get Teddy off my back.”
He took one step closer to her, close enough to inhale her fresh scent. “But you made the offer—in front of a witness—and I’m taking it. I’m moving into your guesthouse, Noelle Dupree.”