The Rancher Next Door Read Online Free Page B

from college, and I’m a licensed EMT.”
    Well, he wouldn’t find better credentials than that through the church.
    His gaze darted to his daughter, whose pleading expression froze the rest of his resistance. He couldn’t tell her no again. If spending time with Caley made Ava happy, he’d find a way to survive the next few weeks. How hard could it be? At least he’d get a hot meal without having to order pizza every night for the next month. And who knew—maybe he and Caley could be friends.
    Just friends.
    “Okay, you’ve convinced me.” Brady held up both hands to fend off Ava’s excited squeal as she jumped up and down. “Caley, you can start Monday. Ava is out from school the first half of next week for teacher conferences, so she can show you the ropes at the house. And to be fair, I’ll pay you what I was paying Mary.” He named the figure, and Caley nodded with approval.
    “I’d have done it for less.” She winked, and Ava laughed out loud. Brady bit back a groan. He was in trouble, all right. Trouble with a capital C.
    Yet as he caught the two blondes’ excited high five, he decided trouble couldn’t come in a cuter package.

Chapter Three
    C aley really hoped she didn’t regret this.
    She stared up at the beautiful, sprawling Double C ranch house and paused before knocking on the solid oak door. Birds chirped a welcoming chorus she wasn’t certain Brady would agree with. His hesitation at hiring her had caught her off guard. Was it just because she was a near stranger? If he was worried about that, though, he wouldn’t have let Ava help her unpack for a few hours. So if not safety or trust, then was it her ability? Maybe he doubted her capability in the house. Well, she’d show him. She might not be a gourmet chef, but she’d learned some good recipes over the years of her life on the go, and she obviously knew how to wield a duster.
    She straightened her spine and knocked. For her first day, she’d whip up Nonie’s secret-ingredient chocolate chip cookies. That’d show him.
    But why she felt such a strong urge to prove herself to Brady—impress him, even, if she was honest—she couldn’t say.
    The door flew open, and Ava’s beaming smile swept away Caley’s insecurities. She wasn’t here for Brady, cookies or not, approval or not. She was here for this sweet little girl who needed quality care and a positive female influence in her life. As long as she remembered that, they’d be just fine. She’d get a paycheck while waiting to hear about a job from the fire department, and Ava would get plenty of girl time.
    Brady would probably just get a headache, but that was his own fault.
    “Come on in!” Ava practically squealed as she grabbed Caley’s arm and pulled her through the doorway. “I cleaned my room. Dad told me I had to. I think he didn’t want to scare you off before you even started.”
    She giggled, and the enthusiasm in her expression made Caley almost want to go back and agree to babysit for free, after all. But she enjoyed electricity and food.
    “Sounds good. Let’s go see it.” She squeezed Ava’s hand and followed the girl toward the straight staircase leading up to the second floor. On her way, she cast a quick glance over the nearly suffocatingly pristine living room. Full bookshelves surrounded the TV on both sides, the top shelves reserved for an obviously cherished collection of bronze horse and cowboy statues. The furniture, while not new by any means, seemed as if it’d been kept up neatly. Caley made a mental note—no snacking in the living room. A worn but clean rug covered the hardwood floor under a dark-chocolate-colored coffee table, yet hardly any art decorated the walls besides a lone school picture over a side table near the front door. Talk about a man’s domain.
    A neat-freak man, at that.
    Ava’s room was a different story. In fact, Caley would have loved to have seen it before she cleaned it. It would’ve been like viewing a train