His thumb fiddled with the Saran wrap. “You must be Grace.”
“I am.” She frowned.
He cleared his throat. “I’m Sloan Jackson. Allison’s brother.”
Her frown deepened and she crossed her arms. “I’m guessing she told you what happened.”
“Yes, she did. “
“It wasn’t Allison’s fault. I didn’t look before I crossed the street.” She tightened her arms around her chest. “I didn’t even use the crosswalk.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” His gaze drifted down her body looking for visible signs of damage. He couldn’t see through her snug faded jeans and navy T-shirt for injuries, but he certainly enjoyed the view.
“I’m fine, Mr. Jackson.”
“Allison should have called the ambulance or taken you to the doctor to be checked out.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m perfectly fine and I didn’t want to get her in trouble.”
He barked out a laugh. “Allison seemed to misplace her worry. She should have been more worried about you. I’ll have to speak with her about that.”
She grabbed his arm. “No, don’t do that. I assure you she was very worried about me. Please don’t say anything to her. I don’t want to make her feel worse than she already does.”
His gaze drifted down to her small hand lingering on his arm, warming his skin. His heartbeat sped up and suddenly his mouth was very dry. “Allison made this for you, to welcome you to town.”
Her lips parted in surprise. “She didn’t have to go to all that trouble.”
“She wanted to do something nice for you.” He ran his hand across the back of his neck. “She taped her address and phone number on the bottom of the plate in case you need anything.”
She placed the cake onto a small table in the foyer. Judging from the age and amount of dust, Sloan guessed the table had come with the house.
“Please, thank her for me.”
“I will.” He looked over her shoulder. “So you bought the old Hadley place. It’s going to take a lot of work to get it back into shape.”
“The house has good bones. I don’t mind a little hard work. With the nice weather we’re having I hope to get some of the furniture outside to air out.”
“Do you need a hand? I could help move some stuff outside for you.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Thank you. I can handle it myself. The furniture that’s left is small and not heavy.” She reached for the door. “Thank you for dropping this by, Mr. Jackson.”
“Call me Sloan.” He stuck out his hand. She hesitated a moment before taking it. He smiled at the touch of her petite hand in his larger one. Though her face was flawless, her hands told a different story. She might look like she belonged on the cover of a magazine, but her calloused hands suggested Grace was a hard worker.
Still holding her hand, he grinned. “Grace, do you have a last name?”
She blinked. “Yeah, sorry. It’s Witherspoon.”
“Grace Witherspoon.” He nodded. “Well, Grace it’s nice to have you in our little town. I’m sure you’ll find we are pretty friendly, whenever we are not trying to run anyone over with our cars.”
A melodious laugh bubbled out of her mouth. He couldn’t help himself as his grin grew. “So where did you move here from?”
She pulled her hand away and her smile faded. The cop in him alerted to the fact that her guard was up. “I moved from Idaho.”
“Idaho. That’s quite a change.”
She nodded and averted her gaze. “I got tired of the winter weather and thought I’d give living in the south a try.”
“Did you grow up in a small town there?”
She shook her head. “No, I grew up in Boise.”
“Ah, you’re a city girl. Things are a lot different out here in the country. It may take some getting used to.”
“I think I’ll acclimate very quickly. It’s peaceful and quiet. I like my solitude.” She brushed a stray hair out of her eyes. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to cleaning.”
He knew when he was being dismissed. “Just let me know if you need any help.”
“I won’t need anyone’s help,” she murmured.
He stopped halfway down the steps and turned before she had a chance to shut the door. “Everyone needs help at some point in his or her life, whether you ask for it or not. Believe me, there are no secrets in a small town.”
***
Standing in the overgrown front yard, Grace wiped her hand across her sweaty brow and stared at the house looming before her. Sloan was right when he said it needed a lot of work. She wasn’t going to hold it against her home. She needed a lot of work too.
She ran her hands up and down her arms, shivering as she thought back to Sloan’s parting words.