Blue Ribbon Summer (The Baltimore Banners Book 3) (2 page)

Kayli Evans hummed along with the country music blaring from the radio, dumping the feed into a bucket then walking over to the water trough. She turned the faucet off then rolled up the water hose, dragging it back to the barn. The only thing left to do this morning was take a round bale down to the field.

Then get ready for the twins and help them get ready for the fair.

She glanced at her watch. It was barely eight-thirty, plenty of time left. She brushed at the streak of mud on the side of her leg then yanked the gloves from her back pocket.

"Hey Lori!" She poked her head into the chicken house attached to the barn and spied her niece teasing one of the barn cats with a piece of straw. The girl glanced up, a look of guilt on her face. Kayli rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. "Tell your dad I'm taking a round bale down, will you?"

"Okay, yeah."

"And Lori? Don't forget about the chickens, okay? I'm really counting on you to help out."

A heavy sigh followed Kayli out the door, and she bit back her grin. She, more than anyone else, understood Lori's frustration at having to work on such a gorgeous summer day. And she knew that it wasn't easy for any fourteen-year-old girl to give up part of every summer day to work on a small farm--not when she should be spending all of those days with her father.

Thankfully, Lori adjusted well, and was proving to be more than helpful. Kayli made a mental note to tell her that later tonight, when everyone had a chance to sit down and relax.

She walked around the side of the huge barn and pulled open the heavy door, standing in the entranceway until her eyes adjusted to the dim interior light. She climbed up onto the old Farmall and pushed the button, sending up a small prayer of thanks when the engine cranked over with a loud rumble.

Kayli had the round bale loaded and was backing out of the barn when the sound of a horn caused her to jump. The blaring continued, loud and insistent, and she slammed the tractor to a stop before turning around in the seat to see what was going on.

She blinked several times, having trouble believing her eyes. The rear tractor tire was less than two feet away from the hood of a shiny black convertible. An expensive shiny black convertible.

Muttering under her breath, she jumped down from the tractor and walked around to the rear, ready to yell at whoever was stupid enough to drive up on private property and pull in front of a barn.

Her mouth closed with a snap and her heart thundered in her chest when she saw a dark head leaning over the steering wheel. For a brief second she wondered if the tractor had somehow hit the car, if the man driving had somehow been injured. But then she noticed the two young girls bouncing in the back seat, laughter lighting their faces. She recognized them immediately, and felt a welcoming smile spread across her face.

"Hey Sara, Shelly. How's it going?"

The girls unfastened their seat belts and climbed over the side of the car, paying no attention whatsoever to the paint as they jumped out and ran over to her. They gave her a quick hug, then fired questions at her so fast she had trouble understanding them.

Kayli finally laughed and shook her head, holding her hand up to stop them. She had never seen them so wound up before. "Whoa, hold it! Slow down. What has gotten into you two?"

With choreographed precision, both girls immediately stopped talking and stood up straighter, the picture of well-behaved innocence. Kayli looked at them with raised eyebrows, again wondering what had gotten into them.

"Can we go see the chickens?"

"Please?"

She watched them for a minute longer then offered them a smile and pointed behind her. "Go ahead. Lori could use the help collecting the eggs. But be careful!" She called after them, wondering if they even heard her as they took off at a run around the barn.

"How did you do that?"

Kayli started at the deep voice and slowly turned, suddenly remembering the man driving. Dark piercing eyes met hers and she had to stop herself from taking a step back at their intensity.

The man's eyes weren't the only thing that was intense. His whole presence was intense...and he was still sitting behind the wheel. If the rest of him looked anything like what she could see...

His dark shaggy hair was windblown, swept back from a high forehead. His face was all square angles: high cheekbones, sculpted jaw, and a generous full mouth. A neatly clipped van dyke beard and mustache framed the entire package, making him look even more delectable.

And dangerous. Like an eighteenth century rake bent on debauchery. If not for the bewildered look on his face, Kayli may have felt threatened.

Instead, she felt...intrigued. And just a little bit curious.

"I'm sorry. Excuse me?"

The man shook his head, almost as if he was trying to clear it, then pushed open the door and stepped out of the low-riding sports car. A BMW, now that Kayli looked closer at it. What kind of idiot drove a BMW uphill along a rutted drive?

The man stepped around the front of the car toward her and Kayli had to force herself not to look him up and down. Apparently the same kind of idiot who wore dark slacks, a tailored polo shirt, and expensive leather loafers while driving the aforementioned BMW. And yes, he may be an idiot, but he was a tall, muscular, well-dressed idiot. And gorgeous. Yeah, the idiot was drop-dead gorgeous.

And so out of place she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Especially when he motioned after the girls with a bewildered look on his face.

"How did you do that?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure--"

"The she-devils. How did you get them to listen to you?"

Kayli frowned and looked behind her, wondering who he was talking about. She shook her head and took a hesitant step back. "The she-devils?"

"Yeah. The twins. Sara and Shelly. They haven't stopped going since Bonnie and Danny left on vacation." He turned his gaze back to her, his eyes clearing as he finally looked at her. Kayli's stomach did a little roll at all that intensity focused on her and again almost took a step backward at the look in his eyes.

Realization of who this must be dawned on her just as he stepped forward and offered her his hand, a grin splitting his face and dancing in his eyes. "Sorry. I should probably introduce myself. Ian Donovan, the she-devils' uncle."

"Kayli Evans." She pulled her gloves off and wiped her hand on her shorts before shaking his hand. His grasp was firm, warm...and sent a jolt of awareness shooting up her arm before he released his hold on her.

So this was Bonnie's famous hockey player brother. Well, at least now she understood the car and the clothes. But not why he was here.

"Um, is there something I can help you with, Mr. Donovan?"

His grin faded, losing a bit of its wattage as he looked at her then motioned around them. "Bonnie said something about the girls and animals. I just came to drop them off. I'm sorry if we're a little early but they were pretty excited and...what's wrong?"

She apparently hadn't done a very good job of hiding her smile or swallowing her chuckle, because he was now looking at her with something that almost looked like fear in his eyes. Kayli looked away and cleared her throat, then turned back to him, doing her best to keep the smile from her face.

"The early part isn't a big problem. But I'm afraid there was some misunderstanding about everything else."

"Misunderstanding?"

"Um, yeah. First, we don’t work with the animals here. I mean, we do, but down the road. You missed the driveway about a quarter mile back."

"I did?"

"Yeah. That one's actually paved, and not quite as steep." Again Kayli bit back her smile, trying not to laugh when he turned back to his car with such a forlorn expression on his face that she almost felt sorry for him. She couldn't even begin to imagine how many times the sleek Beemer must have bottomed out coming up the gravel drive to the barn.

He turned back toward her, the laughter in his eyes all but gone by now, replaced by something that looked very much like dread. "You said 'first'. I'm guessing that means there's a 'second'?"

This time Kayli did laugh. She couldn't help it, not with the expression on his face. Thankfully he didn't seem to mind, just waited with one brow raised, as if he was expecting the worst. "Yeah, there's a 'second'. This isn't a drop-off kind of thing. The girls need to have an adult with them to help out with the animals."

"Help? With the animals?"

"Yeah." Kayli paused, eyeing him with even more curiosity. "Didn't Bonnie explain what this was for?"

Ian glanced up toward the sky, as if he was seeking answers to silent questions before looking at her and shaking his head. "Well, I thought she did. But I'm beginning to think she left out a few things."

An expectant silence stretched between them and Kayli almost felt sorry for him, but was still unable to hide her smile. "The girls will be getting their cattle ready for showing at the fair. But you need to stay and help, because you'll be showing with them."

#

Ian ended the call then slipped the cell phone back into his pocket. He was at a complete loss on where to go from here, now that his golf game was cancelled and going home was out of the question.

He threw one last longing look at his car, trying not to wince at all the mud, dust, and...shit. A dent. He squinted and looked closer. Damn, it was definitely a dent, right there at the bottom of the passenger door. Of course there would be a dent--he had just bought the damn car not even two months ago. It figured.

At least it hadn't been flattened by the tractor backing out of the barn.

He leaned down closer and ran his hand along the door. Maybe he could take it into the shop and they could--

Ian straightened at the sound of a loud engine coming from behind him, and all thoughts of dents and body shops left him as he watched a huge ATV slide to a stop in front of him. Well, maybe there was a thought or two of body shops, but not the kind that had anything to do with cars.

He watched as Kayli cut the motor of the four-wheeler and just stared at him, her hazel eyes clear, bold, and assessing. Ian was grateful that she couldn't see his own eyes behind the dark lenses of his sunglasses, because he was certain she would have slapped him if she could.

Who would have ever thought that seeing a woman straddle a four-wheeler could be a turn-on? Although maybe that wasn't such an odd thing, not when the woman looked like Kayli.

She was shorter than he was, about five-ten, which would put the top of her head right about to his chin. Perfect, as far as he was concerned. And she was blessed with just the right amount of curves in just the right places. Those same curves filled out the soft denim of her shorts and pushed against the cotton of the tank shirt she was wearing beneath an open short-sleeve work shirt.

The clunky, dusty work boots he could have done without but, somehow, they worked with the outfit.

Probably because she was working.

He watched as she reached up and tucked a wayward strand of honey-colored hair behind her ear, mesmerized at the fluid movement. Then he found himself staring at her lips, full and sensuous, tilting up at the corners in a small smile.

"Mr. Donovan!"

Ian gave himself a small shake, realizing she had been talking to him while he had been staring. No, he amended, while he had been caught staring. He cleared his throat and focused his gaze over Kayli's shoulder, concentrating on the weathered siding of the barn behind her.

"Mr. Donovan, would you like to follow me back, or do you think you can find it okay on your own?"

It took a full minute before he could make sense of her words, a full minute that left him feeling like a dimwit. She was talking about driving back to the main house, where the she-devils were already heading.

For play time with farm animals.

He was going to have such a long talk with his sister when she got back.

Ian glanced back toward the rutted, washed out driveway he had bounced up earlier. He did his best not to shudder at the thought of going back down the same way, wondering if the car could handle the return trip without further damage. But it wasn't like he had much choice.

He also didn't remember seeing any other driveway on his way up. "Maybe I should follow you. I'm not sure where I'm going and--"

Kayli started the four-wheeler with a grin, revving the throttle to somewhere just below a loud roar. Ian took that as his signal to leave, and quickly climbed into the car and started it up. His teeth jarred in his mouth as he turned the M3 around and followed her down the driveway, each bump and dip a physical blow.

The one good thing about following the four-wheeler down was that he couldn't really hear the scrape and grind of the undercarriage as it hit.

And, yeah, Kayli's rear view as she straddled the behemoth ATV helped improve his outlook as well.

He followed her down to the road, and sure enough, there was another driveway on his left. And yes, thank God, this one was paved. Kayli turned into it, pausing to wait for him, then motioned ahead of her, pointing to a shaded area large enough for several cars to park. He waved to indicate he understood, then watched in appreciation as she kicked the monster into gear and took off, shooting across the driveway and into a field toward several smaller outbuildings.