Page 7 of A Rainfall Promise

“Everyone can come on up to the house.”

His body said he was pissed, but his eyes, the one part I loved the most, said he was grateful.

Chapter 5

Jose

Istared at the people in my kitchen, having a beer on my account. And normally, I would have a problem. I should havea problem. But I don’t. Because if they hadn’t stepped up today, I wouldn’t have my cattle. There was no way those posts were going to get done.

It’s not perfect, but it will hold until I can really do it. And though I was loath to admit it, I owed a huge thanks to Vicky for getting everyone here.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I would have done without her.

With that thought, my eyes drifted towards her talking to Tim. I was never a jealous sort, prided myself on giving my women their space, and it wasn’t like Vicky was mine, but seeing her talking to Tim was really lighting something under my ass. Even worse when I always claimed I didn’t like that personality of hers; the one that was bubbly and friendly. How many people would have stepped up if I asked versus her asking?

“Go talk to her.”

I turned my head to look at my dad who had a smirk on his face.

“Why would I talk to her?” I asked.

“Because you’ve been staring at her since you walked through those doors. And now that the rain has ceased, and everyone will be leaving soon, it wouldn’t hurt to say thank you.”

I rolled my eyes at him, but I found my legs walking towards her. I licked my lips and set my beer on a counter, lightly tapping her on her shoulder when I stepped behind her.

“Hey, Jose. Everything okay?” she asked, turning around and offering me a smile.

I shouldn’t feel that down in my chest, but I did. In fact, I wanted to see that smile a whole lot more than I should. That couldn't be good, right? This went against everything I was as a grump. And certainly, as a recluse.

“Everything is fine. Just wanted to say I owe you, Vicky. Thank you.”

“Say what? He said something nice to me.” she teased.

I rolled my eyes at her, but her laugh kept me in place when I wanted to leave. Again, this was

not a good thing.

“I’m not always that grump,” I muttered, making her laugh all the more.

“You are, Jose, but it’s okay, maybe it’s something I like about you? And you’re welcome. It’s what a community is for, getting help when we need it the most, even if we don’t want to say anything.”

“I know. My dad would have asked.”

She tilted her head as she regarded the man who was talking to a few people before looking back at me.

“Why would you want to do life alone rather than having a few friends help you?”

That was an excellent question, and one I didn’t have an answer for.

“How about I take you to dinner and we can talk when everyone leaves?”

Her brow raised in question, but her lips lifted up into a smirk that I wasn’t sure I wanted answers to or not. But like everything else, it did something to me and I was trying to figure out how to get more looks like that out of her.

Thirty-five minutes later, as we sat in the diner, I wished I could take back what I thought. That smirk was doing things to me that I shouldn’t be thinking.

One, still a recluse.

Two, she was how much younger than me? But I couldn’t ignore that something was making me shift in my chair and I didn’t quite know what to do with it.