He’d startled her. But her reaction was too intense for the situation. It seemed to take an effort on her part to smooth away the scare.Just who was Phylis Leander?She tilted her head expectantly.How could he answer her question?He looked down at the paper in his hand. It was the kind of list he’d make himself. The big jobs were listed first, the smaller ones last. And it was short. Did that mean there were jobs she hadn’t listed? Or that she didn’t know? No. She’d proven earlier that she knew her way around a cattle ranch, but he still had doubts.“Did you hear me?” she asked.He looked up from the paper in his hand into large anxiety-filled eyes.His plan had been to come home, make sure his mom was well, then leave. Not complicated at all.Only it was. Even though he’d expected either she or Dugan would hire someone to tend the ranch, he hadn’t expected it to be a woman. Certainly not one who lived in the house with a kid who acted right at home—and certainly not one who seemed frightened out of her wits at the slightest provocation.He cleared his throat.
