Hud gave her a long look, which she of course ignored.
Still avoiding Hud’s gaze, Bailey sat. And then, unbelievably, she beamed down at his plate and picked up the blueberry muffin, slowly peeling back the paper and taking a bite like she was starving. “Thanks for the offer of breakfast and the ideas you all emailed me,” she said around a bite. “Carrie had some wonderful ideas as well. She’s incredibly artistic. I’ve got a sketch to show you.”
Temper warred with something else within Hud, something he didn’t want to acknowledge. He’d heard this woman talking to his mom before she’d known he was listening. She’d been patient with her. Patient, kind, and… sweet.
Dammit.
She was different if not special, and he felt an odd tug of affection for her, one he absolutely did not want to feel. “I’m sorry,” he said to her. “But as I already told you, we’re not commissioning a mural.”
“I know,” she said. “And as I told you, I’m doing it for free.”
“What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” she said. “It’s on my list.” She fanned a hand in front of her face. “Whew. It’s super hot in here, isn’t it? I think it’s the altitude. I’m not in sync with it yet.” She reached up to shove off the hood on her jacket and her cap came off with it. While she twisted around to get the misbehaving cap out of the hood and slip it back on her head, Hud felt his heart hit his toes.
Clueless to his reaction, she picked up a fork and started in on his eggs.
The rest of them sat in startled silence for a beat before purposefully all turning back to their food as well.
Not only did he not have his food, Hud couldn’t move. He considered himself an unflappable, stoic, pragmatic sort of guy, not easily rattled.
But beneath her ski cap, she’d nothing but short blond peach fuzz. Not the kind of short you got from a new, cool style, but the kind of short you got from being sick.
Really sick.
Chapter 5
Like the others, Hud did his best not to react to the sight of Bailey’s bare skull, but he was having a hard time with that. His heart felt lodged in his throat as things suddenly started to make some sense.
Why she’d felt so frail to him.
The list she’d referred to a couple of times. Jesus, he really hoped it wasn’t a bucket list…
Beneath the table Gray kicked Hud—hard, dammit—and gave him a look that said, Do something.
And if Hud had known what, he would have.
“She’s right,” Penny said smoothly. “It’s most definitely warm in here. And by the way,” she said to Hud’s breakfast thief, “we insist on paying for supplies.” Her expression and tone were perfectly normal.
How the hell did she do that? How could she not want to cup Bailey’s face and make her assure them that she was okay?
“That’d be great,” Bailey said. “I do need scaffolding. Carrie thought maybe you had some here somewhere. Does anyone know if that’s true?”
Penny turned to Gray, who nodded. “It’s in the storage container,” he said.
Wasn’t anyone paying any attention? Hud wondered wildly. Bailey was still fighting with her sweater, which she couldn’t get unzipped because it’d gotten caught. He actually reached out to help but she swiveled and sent him a don’t-even-think-about-it glance, so he shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them off her. Message received. She was fine and completely capable and wanted to ignore what she’d clearly been through, and he was to pretend to see no vulnerability. Got it. “You can’t do this for free,” he said.
She blinked those baby blues, leveling him, and he realized the problem. She thought he pitied her, which was actually the opposite of the truth. He admired her.
But he still didn’t want a mural.
“Why can’t I do this for free?” she asked.
Yeah, genius, why not? “Because…” Again he turned to Gray.
But Gray was very busy licking some butter off Penny’s finger, the asshole.
“Because,” Hud finally said, “it’s not only crazy, it’s not—” He broke off when his phone buzzed. “Excuse me,” he said, and pulled out his phone, staring stupidly down at a text from… Gray. Lifting his head, he sent his brother a look across the table.
Gray jerked his chin to the phone.
Hud blew a sigh and accessed the text.
What the fuck, man? She’s got a LIST. You can’t call a dying woman crazy!
Hud quickly thumbed a response.
We don’t know anything about her.
It was Gray’s turn to work his thumbs, and a moment later his response came through.
Penny wants this, so don’t fuck it up or I won’t get sex for a month.