Chapter Two

Dylan

Dylan carefully stacked the last of the clean dishes from the sink and set them in the cupboard. It had taken him almost an hour to get through them since the industrial dishwasher for the camp had broken down. He’d washed them all by hand so that the camp would have clean dishes for breakfast tomorrow.

It wasn’t his job to do dishes. Technically, he didn’t really have a true position at the camp, but he was here to help out. The owners Carter and Mia were his friends, so when he’d asked for something to do, they’d given him free range on the ranch. He fixed cars, taught classes, worked with kids, and helped out with whatever repairs the ranch needed. Today, the ranch needed a dishwasher.

He drained the sink and chuckled at his dishpan hands. Who would have thought that a billionaire would be doing dishes? It felt good though. Working at the ranch with the foster kids and actually making a difference in their lives felt better than earning money ever did. He felt lighter here. Doing dishes was better for his soul than sitting at his computer.

He went to the kitchen with a clean washcloth one last time to make sure it was ready for the morning. Chef would be pleased with his work. Thunder rumbled, and rain beat against the roof. He was glad he was inside tonight. The storm outside sounded terrible.

He almost didn’t hear the knock on the kitchen door. He most certainly wasn’t listening for it, but he managed to hear it over the din of the storm. He figured it was probably just a foster parent on the wrong side of the camp. It seemed like once a week someone would miss all the signs pointing to the pickup area and end up at the kitchen door.

He opened the door, ready to tell them to turn around and head back the way they came. He had no desire to fight with the locked gate at the East entrance to the ranch to let them out. They could go back the way they’d come. He pulled back the door to see a woman standing on the porch.

“Pickup is on the other side of the ranch,” he said. “The kids aren’t here right now.”

The woman blinked slowly, as if she didn’t quite get what he was saying. She was absolutely drenched. That was the first thing he noticed. The second was that she was possibly the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her dark blonde hair was plastered to her head and ran down her back in silky rivulets. The thin t-shirt she had on hung to her curves like a second skin.

“I’m not a parent,” she explained, looking up at him with dark brown eyes that did something to his chest. “My car broke down a couple of miles that way. I don’t have any cell service out here. Is there a phone I can borrow?”

The wind howled past the pine trees, and a fresh sheet of rain fell from the sky. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself a little tighter. There was no way he could let her go back out in that. She had to be freezing.

She needed to get warm and out of the storm. The desire to protect her warmed in his chest. He pulled the door open wider.

“Come on in,” he told her, stepping off to the side.

She looked at him for a moment, as if deciding what to do. He hated that she would even think that he might hurt her, but then again, she didn’t know him. She sighed and stepped into the warmth, making him smile.

He led her through the kitchen and out into the eating area where he knew Mia and Laura were discussing plans for the week. The two women would make her feel at ease, and they would know better what to do with a soaking wet woman than he would.

Mia and Laura were fast at work at one of the big tables generally used for eating. They had all sorts of papers spread out among them; their heads bent as they figured out their plans. Mia’s hand reached out to rock the car-seat with her sleeping baby next to her. He still couldn’t believe how big little Mirelle was getting. She had such joy and life to her that it was hard to believe she’d only been on the planet a few months.

“Dylan, are you still cleaning up?” Mia asked without looking up. “If you keep this up, we’ll have to pay you or something.”

Laura chuckled and turned to look at him. Her eyebrows went up as she took in the soaking wet woman behind him. “Who’s this?” she asked, surprise in her voice.

“Her car broke down on No-man’s Road,” he explained. The woman shivered, and he wished he could wrap his arms around her and warm her up, but towels would be better. “Where do we keep the extra towels?”

“You poor thing,” Mia said, hopping up from her chair and hurrying over. “Here have a seat,” she told the woman, ushering her toward the table.

“I’ll grab the towels,” Laura said, already halfway to the storage area.

“Thank you,” the woman stammered, her teeth chattering from the cold.

“Dylan, will you go grab her a cup of tea?” Mia asked. “We have some water on the stove already.”

“Of course,” he replied quickly, angry that he hadn’t thought of it himself. As he hurried off to the kitchen, he heard them continue to talk. He saw the pot on the stove, so all he had to do was grab a mug and a teabag.

“I’m guessing you went out in the rain since your phone doesn’t have reception up here,” Mia said. Dylan nearly dropped the mug in his haste to get it out of the cabinet.

“I’m just glad I saw the lights of the house. I was about to turn around,” the woman replied. “Where am I, by the way?”

“You’re at Mountain Hope Ranch in Silver Springs,” Mia replied. “We’re a camp for foster kids to come learn life skills and make great memories in the process.”

Dylan quickly dropped a chamomile tea bag into the cup and poured the hot water over it, scalding his hand in the process. He soldiered on, wanting to get back to their guest.

“I’m Mia Williamson. I’m the director,” Mia continued in the other room. “This is Laura. She is our barn manager. Let’s get you dried off.”

He realized Laura must have appeared with the towels as he set the teapot of hot water back on the stove. He picked up the mug and hurried back out to the cafeteria to see the woman wrapped up in fluffy towels. She looked warmer and most certainly happier.

“And of course, you’ve already met Dylan, our resident handyman,” Mia added motioning toward Dylan.

The woman looked over and smiled at him as he set her tea down on the table in front of her. Now that she was warm, her smile was softer and less forced. It made his heart flutter. If just a small smile could do that to him, he wasn’t sure what would happen if she really smiled at him. He was fairly sure he’d die of a heart attack.

He smiled back and took a seat off to the side. He didn’t want to intimidate her. She’d already had a rough night, but he did want to hear her story. He found himself wanting to know everything about her. Thunder rumbled outside, and he had to wonder what he’d brought into his life with this storm.