Her Passionate Plan B by Dixie Browning Page A

storm and collected whatever Faylene and I could drag out to the road. We cleared off the porches and the driveway, but we never got around to doing anything more.”
    â€œYou do the yard work, too? I thought you were a nurse.”
    She shrugged. “As long as I’m living here rent free, I try to earn my keep. Anyway, it’s easier to do things myself than try to find someone else to do it, especially now.”
    Especially now after the hurricane? Kell wondered. Or especially now that she was out of a job? “What about gutters?” he asked, remembering the one he’d seen dangling when he’d first driven into the yard.
    â€œGutters,” she repeated. “Well, shoot. I told Egbert they needed repairing, but he said repairs could wait until the estate was settled.”
    â€œWhich will be…?”
    â€œSix months, I think. I’m not sure—Egbert needs time for any creditors to come forward, anyway, or any other—” She broke off and he finished for her.
    â€œOr any other claimants. Don’t worry, I’m not.” She shot him a skeptical look—she had it down pat. Kell didn’t bother to set her straight. “Place is a mess, isn’t it?” he mused.
    She flashed him a smile that disappeared almost before it could register. The tip of her nose was still slightly pink, but it didn’t affect the impact. Funny, he thought, because he usually liked his ladies groomed to a high polish. She was anything but.
    â€œIf it was a chunk of gutter banging up against the side of the house, I might be able to reach it and pull it down.” He knew damned well she didn’t want him here. The thing was, the more she wanted him to leave, the more determined he was to hang around. “So why don’t I take care of it now?”
    Right. Magee to the rescue. He knew what gutters were for, everybody knew that. He even knew roughly how they were attached to a house. The rest he should be able to figure out.
    Shielding his eyes from the low sun, he stared up at the dangling section of gutter. If he’d needed an entrée,this just might be it. He could offer to tack up hanging stuff and saw off whatever couldn’t be nailed back up. Men’s work, he told himself, unconsciously bracing his shoulders.
    When it occurred to him that researching his family tree might not be the sole reason he wanted to hang around for a few days, he was quick to deny it. No way, he told himself. The lady was…interesting, but not his style. Besides, he didn’t do overnighters.
    â€œOh, yeah, that definitely needs to come down,” he murmured as they stood shoulder to shoulder and gazed up toward the eaves. “Lucky thing it didn’t hit that window with all the stained glass.”
    Nodding, Daisy turned toward the back door where Faylene waited with a market basket of assorted hand tools. “Told you that thang weren’t gonna stay up there if the wind shifted.”
    Kell reached for the basket, but Daisy beat him to it. Faylene said, “Want me to help you get the ladder out? While you’re up yonder, you might want to whack off that big limb hangin’ over the screen porch.”
    â€œWhere’s the ladder? I’ll get it,” Kell said, all but flexing his muscles to prove his prowess.
    â€œI know I’ve seen you summers before,” the housekeeper said thoughtfully. “You weren’t one o’ them bachelors on the TV, were you?”
    He grinned and shook his head. “No, ma’am, not in a million years, Ms. Beasley.”
    Granted, he was a bachelor, and he’d definitely been on TV, but never in the context she’d mentioned. Before the housekeeper could recall where she’d seen him heturned away, pausing only when he reached the bottom step and hesitated.
    â€œI wondered if you knew where you were going,” Daisy said dryly. “The shed’s around back. The ladder’s