He shook his head, and she didn’t think she was imagining his regret, though he sounded definite. “I told Molly I would join them early. I guess I’d better get some sleep first.”
Frowning, she searched his face. “That’s a pretty lame excuse.”
He sighed. “I know. I just…well, I don’t want to rush into anything here. There are quite a few things you and I don’t know about each other yet.”
“I wasn’t proposing a long-term relationship,” she said shortly.
“I know. You’re looking for a diversion,” he said, repeating the term she had used before.
She shrugged. “That’s all I can even consider at the moment. My life’s in too much chaos right now to even think about anything more. But if you’re not interested…”
He caught her arm when she shifted toward the door. “You know better than that.”
She told herself that she would probably be relieved tomorrow that he’d declined her suggestion, but just then she was still irked. She really hated when someone made a decision on her behalf, “for her own good.” Always had.
“I’d better go.”
He trailed his fingers down her arm. “Okay if I call you tomorrow?”
Reminding herself that she was too old to pout, she nodded. “Yes, I suppose so. Don’t bother walking me to the door,” she added, when he reached for his door handle.
He dropped his hand. “Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then. Sleep well, Natalie.”
Even as she closed the passenger door behind her, she suspected he knew exactly how unlikely it was that she would sleep at all well that evening. If there was any fairness in life, he would do some tossing and turning himself that night, she thought grumpily.
Chapter Eight
N atalie carried her coffee out to the deck the next morning. The air was a little cold, but she threw a jacket over her sweater and jeans and she was comfortable enough sitting in a rocker, sipping her coffee and looking out over the vista spread ahead of her. Low clouds shrouded the mountaintops, giving the illusion of gray smoke that had earned the range its name.
She had a long day ahead. She could do some research, hoping to discover something she hadn’t found before on one of the many names on her suspect list. She could go to the grocery store and pick up supplies for the next few days. She could drive into Pigeon Forge and browse through some of the outlet stores, though she didn’t need to spend a lot of money until she had another job lined up. Or…She looked thoughtfully at the ladder still propped against the side of the cabin. Casey had said he was going to wash the cabin windows next. There was no reason at all she couldn’t do that. It would take a while—the back wall of the cabin was almost all window to take advantage of the spectacular views. But it wasn’t like any of her other options were any more appealing. And she could feel useful again.
In preparation for the chore, Casey had left a bucket with a telescoping squeegee and a reeled garden hose with a spray nozzle tucked beneath the deck. She gathered a couple of bath towels, a roll of paper towels and a bottle of detergent from inside, donned the driving gloves she had been using for work gloves and propped the ladder securely in front of the first window.
She had just set her foot on the bottom rung when she realized she was not alone. Looking down, she smiled. “Hello, Buddy.”
The stray had materialized out of nowhere. Sitting only a few feet away from the ladder, he wagged his tail and gave her a doggie smile in return.
“I’ll get your food and water.”
He made a rumbly sound that was somewhere between a whine and a soft bark. It was the closest he’d come to making any noise around her, she realized.
He let her come very close to set the bowls on the ground. While she knelt nearby, he gulped down part of the kibble and lapped some water. And then he walked over to her and rested his head on her knee, gazing up at her with a soulful look that put a lump in her throat.
“You’re welcome,” she said huskily, patting his head. “You know, you could really use a bath. I don’t suppose you’d let me wash you while I’m washing windows.”
He wagged his tail against the ground and made another friendly sound that told her nothing about his openness to being bathed. Giving him another pat, she straightened. “I’m going to start washing windows now. If you decide you want me to wash you while I’m at it, let me know.”
The dog sat near the base of the ladder when she went back up. She set the bucket of soapy water on the top shelf of the ladder and got to work, swabbing the glass of the nearest window with the telescoping squeegee. She didn’t know if this was the most efficient way to do the job, but the windows would be clean when she finished.
She’d been working for well over an hour when she took her first break. Sitting on one of the steps leading up to the deck, she sipped from a bottle of water and eyed a few clouds gathering on the horizon.
“Looks like it could rain this evening,” she commented to Buddy, who sat beside her, leaning against her leg. “Where do you take shelter when it rains, Buddy? Under a tree out there? That can’t be fun.”
The dog made that funny sound again, making her smile. “You know it’s going to be winter very soon. The forecasters say this moderate weather’s going to end in a few days. They’re expecting some pretty low temperatures by the end of next week.”
Buddy yawned.
“Yes, well, that’s easy for you to say, but it gets cold here in the mountains in the winter. Snow, ice, freezing rain. Maybe you survived one season like that, but there’s no guarantee you would survive another. You need a home.”