Free The Sheriff Catches a Bride by Cora Seton Page A

place—so why were Cab and Rob designing it? And why couldn’t she stop them?
    Because she couldn’t do so without being rude—without hurting their feelings. And she always put men’s feelings ahead of hers. She couldn’t stop Emory, couldn’t break the lease on the carriage house, couldn’t tell Jason she wanted to go to art school… couldn’t split up with him.
    The truth of the matter hit her like a two-by-four to her forehead; she lived her whole life in fear of stepping on anyone’s toes. But the more she pulled herself back and tried to make everyone happy, the closer they all crowded in and until she had no space for herself.
    Hence the need for a cabin in the first place.
    The cabin now being overtaken by the men.
    “I’ve got to go get started,” she squeaked and fled the room. As she shrugged on her jacket and boots she was aware of the silence she’d left behind her. She bolted out the front door and over to her truck where she briefly considered hopping in and driving away.
    No. She needed that cabin and once it was built everyone would leave her alone. She only had to put up with a little more interference while she cut the boards. As long as she stuck to her guns, she’d get what she wanted.
    By the time the door opened behind her, she’d hauled her circular saw out of the truck bed, along with some lumber. She had a sheet of paper that listed all the lengths she needed to cut. She’d planned everything down to the last board. Hopefully once she was finished here she wouldn’t have to come back.
    “Are you okay?” Cab asked, coming up behind her as she set up her newly-purchased sawhorses near the Big House’s outside plug.
    “Sure,” she said.
    “You left a little abruptly.”
    He wasn’t going to let it go, was he? She turned around. “Look, it’s nice that you guys want to help, but I want to do this alone. That’s the whole point.” Cab was silent, but his gaze was on the sawhorses. “What?”
    “The cord of that saw isn’t going to reach the outlet. Ethan’s got an extension cord. Want me to get it? He’s got a table saw, too. It’ll do a better job for you than that one.”
    Rose counted to five. He’s only trying to help , she told herself. “Why?”
    “With a table saw you can line up the cut and you have something to guide the wood against. That circular saw requires you to cut freehand. You probably won’t make the cuts as straight as you’d like.”
    Really? She hadn’t known that.
    “It’ll only take me a minute to get them,” Cab said.
    “Okay,” she said and knew she’d been beaten again.
    Cab walked to Ethan’s workshop with a light step. He’d worried for a minute there he’d gotten on Rose’s nerves with his attempt to design the shed, but now that he’d prevented her from using the wrong saw things were back on track. He’d show her his design a little later, when she realized how much he knew about woodworking. He was glad he had the afternoon off. He couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than doing a project with Rose.
    Building a shed together. It wasn’t quite the same as building a house, but it was similar. Maybe she’d come to see he was a better partner for her than Jason…
    Whoa, time to pull back on that train of thought. He wasn’t trying to undermine Jason. He was only being a good friend. A friend who was somewhat concerned about the idea Rose was building a shed at all. He wondered exactly where she planned to put it. If she was building on Emory’s lot, that meant she expected to stay there a long time. Which meant she had no plans to leave Jason.
    Ten minutes later, he set up the table saw, plugged it into the extension cord and turned to Rose. “Okay, what’s first?”
    She frowned. “I’ve got it from here, thanks.”
    “Just hand me a board and tell me the dimensions you need. I’ll make the cuts for you.” He held out his hand.
    “No,” she said, sounding annoyed. “I’ll do it.” She pulled a