them back tonight," he called, "but you can charge me for the full day."
"You can bet your shabby shirt I will!" she returned without a backward glance, and disappeared into her lair.
He glanced down at his bare arms, grinned, and thought, all right, so we're even, young fellow.
Inside the office, sitting cross-legged again with the book on her lap, Emily found her concentration shattered. Her stomach was jumping and her tongue ached from being pressed so tensely to the roof of her mouth. Damn his insufferable hide! When she tried to read, his criticism seemed to superimpose itself upon the words in the book. Infernal, distasteful man! She heard him cluck to the team, heard their hooves clop across the hard dirt floor and move up the street. When the sound disappeared she sat with her head against the wall and her eyes closed, agitated as no man had managed to make her before. Where was he taking the horses without the wagon? And how dare he criticize her papa, whom he didn't even know! His own manners left plenty to be desired!
Twenty minutes later she'd managed to refocus her attentions on her studies when a screech distracted her. She cocked her head and listened—it sounded like metal on stones. Metal on stones? Suspicion dawned and she tore outside, halted at the wide double doors, and gaped at the jarring sight of Jeffcoat leveling a lot not a hundred feet down the street on the opposite side. He had rented Loucks's steel grader, a monstrous affair painted parsley green that kept the town's streets bladed during summer and plowed in winter, and made Loucks some fairly decent rental money with each lot he sold. The implement had a long-nosed frame upon which the metal blade was tilted by a pair of upright wheels and attached cables. Jeffcoat stood between the wheels on a railed metal platform driving his team like some misplaced Roman gladiator.
Emily was marching toward him the moment her outrage blossomed.
"Just what do you think you're doing, Jeffcoat!" she bellowed, approaching him as the rig moved away from her, rolling dirt to one side.
He glanced over his shoulder and smiled, but kept the team moving. "Leveling my land, Miss Walcott!"
"In a pig's eye!" She stomped along off his right flank while he rode three feet above her.
"No, in J. D. Loucks's grader!"
It was a toss-up who screeched louder, the rocks or Emily. "How dare you pick this spot right on top of my father's!"
"It was for sale."
"So were twenty others on the outskirts of town where we wouldn't have to look at you!"
"This's prime land. Close to the business section. It's a much better buy than the ones out there."
He reached the far edge of his site and brought the team about, heading back toward Emily.
"What'd you pay for it?" she shouted.
"Now who's sticking their nose into other people's business, Miss Walcott?" While he spoke he concentrated on adjusting the two huge metal wheels. His muscles stood out in ridges as the cables groaned and the blade tilted to the proper angle. When he drove past Emily the blade sent a furl of soil cascading across her ankles.
She jumped over it and roared, "How much!"
"Three dollars and fifty cents for the first lot and fifty cents each for the other three."
"Other three! You mean you bought four?"
"Two for my business. Two for my home. Good price." He grinned down at her while she stalked along beside him, shouting above the screech of steel on stone.
"I'll buy them all from you for double what you paid."
"Oh, I'd have to get more than double. After all, this one's already been improved."
"Jeffcoat, stop that blasted team this minute so I can talk to you!"
"Whoa!" The team halted and into the sudden silence he said, "Yes, Miss Walcott," flipped the reins around a flywheel, and bounced down beside her. "At your service, Miss Walcott."
His choice of words, drawled through his insufferable grin, made her agonizingly aware
"You can bet your shabby shirt I will!" she returned without a backward glance, and disappeared into her lair.
He glanced down at his bare arms, grinned, and thought, all right, so we're even, young fellow.
Inside the office, sitting cross-legged again with the book on her lap, Emily found her concentration shattered. Her stomach was jumping and her tongue ached from being pressed so tensely to the roof of her mouth. Damn his insufferable hide! When she tried to read, his criticism seemed to superimpose itself upon the words in the book. Infernal, distasteful man! She heard him cluck to the team, heard their hooves clop across the hard dirt floor and move up the street. When the sound disappeared she sat with her head against the wall and her eyes closed, agitated as no man had managed to make her before. Where was he taking the horses without the wagon? And how dare he criticize her papa, whom he didn't even know! His own manners left plenty to be desired!
Twenty minutes later she'd managed to refocus her attentions on her studies when a screech distracted her. She cocked her head and listened—it sounded like metal on stones. Metal on stones? Suspicion dawned and she tore outside, halted at the wide double doors, and gaped at the jarring sight of Jeffcoat leveling a lot not a hundred feet down the street on the opposite side. He had rented Loucks's steel grader, a monstrous affair painted parsley green that kept the town's streets bladed during summer and plowed in winter, and made Loucks some fairly decent rental money with each lot he sold. The implement had a long-nosed frame upon which the metal blade was tilted by a pair of upright wheels and attached cables. Jeffcoat stood between the wheels on a railed metal platform driving his team like some misplaced Roman gladiator.
Emily was marching toward him the moment her outrage blossomed.
"Just what do you think you're doing, Jeffcoat!" she bellowed, approaching him as the rig moved away from her, rolling dirt to one side.
He glanced over his shoulder and smiled, but kept the team moving. "Leveling my land, Miss Walcott!"
"In a pig's eye!" She stomped along off his right flank while he rode three feet above her.
"No, in J. D. Loucks's grader!"
It was a toss-up who screeched louder, the rocks or Emily. "How dare you pick this spot right on top of my father's!"
"It was for sale."
"So were twenty others on the outskirts of town where we wouldn't have to look at you!"
"This's prime land. Close to the business section. It's a much better buy than the ones out there."
He reached the far edge of his site and brought the team about, heading back toward Emily.
"What'd you pay for it?" she shouted.
"Now who's sticking their nose into other people's business, Miss Walcott?" While he spoke he concentrated on adjusting the two huge metal wheels. His muscles stood out in ridges as the cables groaned and the blade tilted to the proper angle. When he drove past Emily the blade sent a furl of soil cascading across her ankles.
She jumped over it and roared, "How much!"
"Three dollars and fifty cents for the first lot and fifty cents each for the other three."
"Other three! You mean you bought four?"
"Two for my business. Two for my home. Good price." He grinned down at her while she stalked along beside him, shouting above the screech of steel on stone.
"I'll buy them all from you for double what you paid."
"Oh, I'd have to get more than double. After all, this one's already been improved."
"Jeffcoat, stop that blasted team this minute so I can talk to you!"
"Whoa!" The team halted and into the sudden silence he said, "Yes, Miss Walcott," flipped the reins around a flywheel, and bounced down beside her. "At your service, Miss Walcott."
His choice of words, drawled through his insufferable grin, made her agonizingly aware
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