Lost and Found (4 page)

She didn’t want to cry, but it was
coming.

Arianna moved to her and touched her
shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“
I lost my mom this past
year. I don’t have any brothers or sisters or even cousins, so your
generosity is a bit overwhelming.”

“
You sent her into tears?”
Eduardo asked as he came around the corner. “Listen, I did that
this morning. We’re not winning her over very well, and I already
hired her.”

Darcy laughed. “I’m fine. This is
amazing. In one day, I hated you and then got a job, lunch, a
house, and now all this.”

“
Oh, yeah, that’s how we
work.”

“
I see that.”

John took the sheets from her. “I’ll
put these on. Sorry we don’t have a frame, but by tomorrow…” he
said as he disappeared into the bedroom.

Arianna took the bag of groceries from
her. “I’ll put these in the kitchen.”

“
I can’t believe you all
did this.”

Eduardo’s forehead wrinkled when he
lifted his brows. “You said that.”

She sighed. “Thank you.”

Eduardo tucked his thumbs into the
front pockets of his jeans and rocked back on his heels. “Before
they fill this place, do you have furniture coming?”

The smile that had permeated her lips
disappeared. “No. My dad is sending some money, but…”

“
Okay, good. As soon as I
told one person in my family that I had a renter, suddenly all
sorts of items became available. Assume, if you don’t mind him
having the key, that by the time you get home from work tomorrow
your house will be furnished.”

The tears were back, and Eduardo took
a step back.

“
Sorry. I was telling your
aunt I don’t have a big family. It’s only my dad and I now, so this
is very overwhelming.”

“
I see.” Eduardo rubbed the
back of his neck. “Since you’re new to town I’d assume you don’t
have any plans tonight?”

“
None.”

“
There’s the bar-b-que
place I’ve had a hankering for. Interested in getting a bite to
eat?”

“
Are you sure you want to
take your assistant out for another meal? I don’t want you to think
I’m needy.”

He laughed. “Let’s just say I still
feel guilty for spilling on you.”

“
It wasn’t your
fault.”

“
I know.”

She let out a grunt.

For the second time in a day, Darcy
was seated in the big truck, next to a man she just met, who was
going to be her boss, but she had yet to do any work. The South was
supposed to be slow. Things were known for moving at their own
pace, but not with this Keller family.

And she felt perfectly at ease with
him—and his aunt and uncle.

“
So have you ever lived
anywhere else but Kentucky?” Eduardo asked as he merged onto the
highway.

“
My father was a military
doctor when I was born. So we lived in a few places, but I wasn’t
old enough to remember.”

“
Like where?”

She gave it some thought. “Germany and
Japan.”

“
That’s cool.”

Darcy turned in her seat slightly to
get a look at the man who had changed her life. There was an exotic
look to him. He was dark, his eyes were mysterious, and if she
thought about how his T-shirt stretched around his biceps once
more, she’d pass out. This was her boss. Not a man to want or to
lust over. He was her in at Benson, Benson, and Hart. She needed
him so she could find what she came for and then get
out.

“
What about you? Ever lived
anywhere else?”

Eduardo shook his head. “I lived with
my parents. Then when they got divorced, I lived between them. One
week here. One week there. Then when they got remarried, I lived
with them again. Did my time in a college dorm. Then I lived in the
house you live in now, but upstairs for a few years. And now I live
in the house my grandparents lived in for fifty years.”

“
Is that your way of saying
you never left Tennessee?”

“
Yup.”

She settled back against her seat and
laughed. “So your parents divorced and remarried? Each
other?”

This time he chuckled. “Yes. I was ten
when they split. They just weren’t getting along anymore. Mom
married Dad’s best friend. Then Dad got engaged when Matt, my
stepfather, left my mom and she found out she had
cancer.”

“
Oh. My mother died of
cancer,” her voice dipped.

His head snapped to her, and his eyes
had gone sad. “I’m so sorry.” She knew it was instinct and a trait
of a caring man when he reached across the cab and gave her hand a
squeeze. “When did she pass?”

“
Last year.”

“
I can’t imagine losing my
mother. Though in my head, I did it a million times that year to
prepare myself.”

“
How is she
now?”

He smiled. “Healthier than
ever.”

“
So, how did they get back
together?”

“
Oh, yeah.” He checked his
mirrors and exited the highway. “Well, it was an interesting few
years. They got divorced and mom remarried, but she and my dad were
always great friends. When she got sick, he was right by her side.
It blossomed after that. But it was his new wife, of one day mind
you, who sent him to get my mom back. Even she knew they should be
together.”

“
Your dad was married for
one day?”

He nodded. “Kathy. She was a nice
lady, but not perfect for dad. She knew it. But now she’s married
and has three kids. That was what she wanted. I’m happy for
her.”

“
You said you live in your
grandparents’ house. Did they pass?”

“
No. They moved into a
retirement home about ten years ago. They are in their nineties, so
having someone around all the time is good for them. But you
wouldn’t know they were that old. They play cards every day. Go for
walks. My grandpa, now that we’re all older, tells the dirtiest
jokes, but I don’t think grandma knows he tells us.”

“
Wanna bet?” She laughed,
and he turned to look at her. “Old women let old men have their
way, but they still have the power.”

“
Experience?”

“
Older parents.”

“
I see.” He pulled the
truck into the parking lot of Steve’s BBQ Pit and Beer.

“
This is where you wanted
to take me for dinner?”

“
Trust me, you’ll be
begging for me to take you again.”

He turned off the engine and jumped
out of the truck. Darcy gathered her purse, and by the time she
turned to open the door, Eduardo pulled it open and held out his
hand to help her down.

“
Why do southern men have
big trucks?”

“
So we look like gentlemen
when we help ladies out of them.”

“
Rather than see us
fall?”

“
It’s never pretty,” he
said as he shut the door, and they walked toward the
restaurant.

Darcy was met with an array of smells.
Stale beer and bar-b-que were top note scents and next came fresh
bread. She’d been hungry, but now she was starving.

Country music played on a jukebox. It
was old country, too. Patsy Cline. Her mother loved Patsy
Cline.

The walls were decorated to the hilt
with garage sale finds. Some items still had price tags.

The hostess sat them at a booth and
set both sets of silverware and the menus on one side of the
table.

“
I guess she assumes
we’re
together
,”
Darcy said.

“
It would be a common
thought. A man and a woman out to dinner. We certainly aren’t
dressed for talking business.”

He motioned for her to take a seat,
and then he sat on the booth across from her, pulling the menu and
silverware wrap toward him.

“
Are you up for ribs?” he
asked.

“
Sure.”

“
They have a dinner for
two, if that’s okay.”

Darcy set the menu down. “Sounds
fine.”

“
Also comes with a pitcher
of beer. But you can have whatever you want.”

“
Beer sounds
fine.”

When the waitress came to collect
their orders, Eduardo ordered for them and then sat back against
the booth and looked around as though he were taking in the
atmosphere.

“
Do you come here a lot?”
she asked.

“
Nah. Once in a great
while. But my dad brought us when I was about eleven. Uncle John
had brought him. It’s an old BBH tradition, I guess.”

“
BBH?”

“
Benson, Benson, and
Hart.”

“
Oh.” She eased back in the
booth. “Did your dad work there, too?”

“
Just for a short time.
Aunt Regan got him the job when he was between teaching
positions.”

“
Your dad is a
teacher?”

“
Yep. Well, he was. He’s a
school district administrator now.”

“
That sounds
official.”

The waitress brought their pitcher of
beer and two frosty mugs. Eduardo moved in and pulled the mugs
toward him. “Do you mind if I pour?”

“
That’s fine,
thanks.”

“
Some women are very
independent so I don’t want to step on any toes.”

“
Well, as we’re not on a
date and I like a tad bit of chivalry anyway, you don’t have to
impress me, and I appreciate the gesture.”

Eduardo poured their beers and slid
hers to her. Then he lifted his mug as to make a toast. “To our new
working relationship. May you be able to keep up with my
demands…”

“
And may you not seem too
demanding,” she finished the toast.

They tapped glasses and each took a
sip from their mugs.

Darcy set hers down. “I’m still trying
to learn this family of yours. So your uncle owns the
company?”

He smiled. “My uncle Zach owns the
company. His grandfather started it, and it was passed to his
father and then to him.”

“
But now you run
it?”

“
No. I run some of the
builds. It’ll go to his sons someday. I consider it that I’m just
helping to sustain it until then.”

“
And Uncle Zach is married
to?”

“
Aunt Regan. She was his
assistant. In fact, they met the morning she was supposed to start
her new job. She was soaking wet from a flash rain storm and had to
take the bus because my dad was fixing her car. Well, he had run
home that night, literally. He’s a big runner.

“
So he was on the bus, too.
But when the bus jolted, she fell right into his lap.”

“
That’s how they
met?”

“
Yep. Then he brought her
here for dinner on one of her first nights that they were
working.”

She felt an uneasy similarity
happening between them, and she wasn’t sure she liked that. She
quickly lifted her beer to her mouth and took a big
chug.

“
How long have they been
married?”

Eduardo calculated in his head.
“Twenty-three years, I think.”

“
Guess it worked out for
them,” she said as she took another sip of her beer.

“
Well, the marriage did. He
fired her.”

Darcy choked on her drink and set the
mug down as she coughed. “He fired her?”

“
She lost him a big
contract.”

“
Oh.” Panic took over her
body, and as she reached for her beer, she noticed her hand was
shaking. She pulled it back. “How did she do that?”

“
She didn’t really. It was
a bad business deal, and she got caught in the middle. But, as a
family joke, we say that’s how it went down.”

Darcy wasn’t sure she understood. “All
of these aunts and uncles are from your dad’s family?”

“
Yep. My mom’s not as close
to her family. But the Kellers—they’re a tight bunch.”

“
Sounds that
way.”

The waitress came back with their
plates of ribs and bread.

Darcy’s eyes widened when she saw the
amount of food before them.

“
Is this normal? Did you
invite anyone else?”

He laughed. “No, this is it. We’ll box
up the leftovers, and you can take them home for
tomorrow.”

Darcy smiled as Eduardo handed her a
roll. She liked him. It was a far better feeling than the one she’d
had that morning. But then again, her luck seemed to be changing
the longer she was around him. Maybe it would be good to be his
assistant and get to know the rest of the Kellers. They might not
be her family, but until she found what she was looking for, she
sure could use a dose of friendship from one.

As Darcy finished getting ready for
the day, she heard a knock on the door.

For not having any friends in
Tennessee, she sure received a lot of visitors.