It had been a long couple of days. She still had one more day before she had to head to work. It would be light duty because of her foot but she'd already checked in with the other inspector and she had several thumb drives of pictures and a stack of lab results waiting for her so she'd stay busy.

Getting around the house had proved quite the task. It had taken 4 trips, scooting up and down the stairs on her rear end, to get her things put away since her suitcase was too heavy. Three cups of coffee and a couple of hours had gotten her mail sorted and the bills filed away. The rest of the day had been devoted to weeding the garden and getting all the little things in order.

That morning Brenna decided gratitude was owning an automatic vehicle that could be operated with one foot. She'd gotten a few looks maneuvering around the grocery store in their motorized cart. Her neighbor Karen had come by just in the nick of time to help her unload the car and even picked a few peaches for her before they settled down onto the porch to drink iced tea and review Brenna's trip photos. Her eyes had gotten wide as saucers when she'd seen a picture Derek had taken of Mac carrying Brenna out of the ER after her stitches.

"Who is that? Please tell me he is single and into older women?"

"That is Mac. He's Pete's buddy who came on the trip. He is single. I have no idea about his age preferences. He'll be here in a few hours if you want to ogle the real deal." Her friend's jaw visibly dropped.

"Hey now! Shut that dirty mind down. He offered to come mow the lawn for me, in exchange for a home cooked dinner, since I'm slightly disabled at the moment." She took a drink of her tea. "He admitted to not being a cooker and I think he got spoiled during the trip."

"Uh huh." Karen just stared with the most infuriating smirk.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh geez!" Brenna rolled her eyes.

"Well I have to get home and feed the horses and dig out my binoculars so I can spy on you and the hunk later." She winked at Brenna. "Remember that I'm old now and don't get much action these days. Take pity on me and make it good."

Brenna found the most useful use of her crutches yet to swat at her neighbor and friend as she scurried off the porch laughing.

A little while later she stood in front of the kitchen window letting the small fan she had there cool her down. It was a nice mild day outside. The gas oven did a great job of heating up her kitchen and it had been running a couple of hours. On her counter stood two golden, flakey crusted peach pies. They'd have one for dessert and she'd pack one up for him to take home.

The oven now held a homemade chicken pot pie. She'd figured if she had to make pie crust she'd better make it worth her while. She'd just opened a bottle of wine to breathe when the door bell rang.

She could see him standing on the other side of the screen door. She'd thought he looked good in shorts and a tank top but there was something crazy sexy about a man in a well fitting t-shirt and tactical pants. Reego charged into the house the moment she opened the door.

"Sorry about that. He's been in work mode all day and lost his manners." She just smiled and waved it off as she scrubbed the dog's ears. "I missed him. Come on in. Do you want some iced tea?"

"Sure. I'm just going to use your bathroom to change if you don't mind and then if you'll show me to the lawnmower?"

She motioned to the first door on the left down the hall and retrieved a glass of tea from the kitchen. When he emerged he'd changed into worn Carhart's and a slightly less close fitting gray shirt. It wasn't bad in the least but she still mourned the loss of the uniform. She handed him the glass of tea and they made their way outside.

"So how was your day?" she asked as she hobbled along. She'd gone with a mid calf broomstick skirt and a tank top with flip flops. She'd braided her dark hair back from her face and secured it at the nape of her neck. She was surprised to have only suffered a brief moment of fear about exposing so much of her back to him but reminded herself he'd already seen it.

"It was long. Reego was a little over exuberant today." He rolled his eyes and looked at his dog. "We got a good track though and Reego got a bite, so overall it was a success."

"If you are too tired I understand." She felt guilty this man had worked all day and now he was here to help her. "The grass can wait."

He stopped her gently with a hand to her elbow just outside the shed. She turned his way in question.

"You smell like peaches and cinnamon." He moved in closer and she could smell his aftershave. It was a nice clean, manly smell and made her wonder what kind of underwear he wore. She shook her head a little to clear it. "If your pie tastes half as good as you smell, it will be worth it."

When she looked up there was a small smile on his lips and a look in his eyes that made her blush. Unsure of herself she turned to the shed and pulled it open. She couldn't be sure but she'd almost swear she'd heard him chuckle softly.

"It's a riding mower so that makes it a little easier. I only mowed twice with a regular push mower before I decided that was ridiculous. Greg called me a pansy." She pushed a stray hair behind her ear and looked up almost guiltily. "Anyways, it should be all gassed up. It's really simple. Forward is go and backward is reverse. Pedal at the top is the brake. If you aren't pushing it, it will move." She finished with a sweep of her arm.

"Got it. I'll try not to run over anything that looks like a flower or food." He chucked deeply and she blushed for no reason she could think of other that his voice did that to her.

"Ok. Well I'll be inside finishing up a couple things. Call me if you need me."

He sat on the mower and turned the key. It roared to life and she smiled at how silly he looked. All he needed was a straw hat to complete the picture she thought to herself.

She began her hobble back to the house but screeched in surprise when a strong arm wrapped around her and pulled her onto a warm lap. It was all she could do to hold onto her crutch.

"I'll drop your off." He was grinning from ear to ear. There was little room to move so she just settled in with a laugh for the short ride to the porch and did her best attempt at a curtsy with her bandaged foot held behind her good one. He tipped his imaginary hat and set out for the large expanse of green grass to the east of her house.

***********************************************

A little over an hour later she heard the lawnmower returning to the shed and then shut off. A few minutes later a light rap on the screen door preceded the thump of boots on the wooden floor.

"In here!" Brenna yelled from the kitchen. Suddenly his large frame filled a good portion of the archway to the open kitchen. She hooked a salad bowl under her free arm and disappeared through the French doors on the porch. A second later she reappeared. "It is so nice outside. There is a breeze now. I thought it would be nice to eat outside."

He watched her intently. It was a little unnerving. She grabbed the bottle of wine and pointed to two glasses. "It's ready if you wouldn't mind bringing those along."

He followed her out the door and pulled her chair out after setting down the glasses. The look on her face showed surprise and pleasure. She sat and he scooted her in before sitting himself.

"Well it smells miraculous." She smiled with pleasure as the compliment.

"Dig in." She encouraged. They ate companionably sharing their days events. When the meal was done she brought out coffee to accompany their pie and they sat in the twilight chatting softly. He moaned with pleasure as he made his way through his first and then second piece of pie.

"That is probably the best peach pie I have ever eaten in my life." Mac leaned back a little. He had gorged himself a little but it had all been too good to pass by. "I don't think I did enough work to warrant this high quality of dinner. I probably really only earned macaroni with little hot dogs in it."

She couldn't help laughing. "I'll remember that if I ever need to punish you for some reason." She pulled her legs up under her skirt. "It's cooling down."

He cursed himself for not realizing she was likely getting cold. "Let me help you get all this inside so you can get warm." He stood up and started gathering the plates and forks.

He started into the kitchen with them before she could protest. By the time she made it to the kitchen he'd rinsed the plates and placed them in the small dishwasher. She brushed by with the remains of the pie precariously balanced in her hand. In easy silence they brought in the rest of the items and put everything away. It was full dark out when they were done and she stood leaning against the counter in the soft light of the bulb above the sink.

"Do you have work tomorrow?"

She shook her head. "I go back Friday. I have one more day. You?"

"Yep. Reego gets to catch more bad guys tomorrow. I get to chase after him." He smiled with pleasure.

"Thank you so much for the help. The lawn looks great. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out."

"I enjoyed it actually. It's been many years since I've mowed a lawn and I got fed well for it. The company was incomparable."

She blushed. He moved in a little closer and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "The company was actually the best part." She shivered at the unexpected brush of his fingertips and the warmth emanating from his body.

He was so much closer than she'd willingly allowed anyone to be to her since Greg. A part of her wanted to close the gap and to feel his warm arms enclose around her, the other part wanted to shuffle out of range. Her body and her emotions were in chaos.

He seemed to understand something was up. Softly he planted a single kiss on her hairline and backed away a step. The warm softness of his lips and the simple intimate gesture almost destroyed her. All of a sudden she couldn't breathe.

She wanted more than a small kiss. She needed to know she was still attractive, still sexy, wanted, needed. This man made her body come alive in ways others had not. His presence in such close proximity stimulated a response that both exhilarated and terrified her and yet she couldn't keep telling herself it was a physical response alone.

Sitting in the darkness of the porch and sipping coffee to the sound of the crickets she had been at peace for the first time in a long time. A man she knew essentially nothing about made her feel comfortable and familiar.

"Do you need to go or are we in for one more cup of coffee?"

"No more coffee for me," her heart sank a little at the rejection. "But if you have something without caffeine I'd be interested."

"Chamomile tea?"

"Sure. Whatever that is, I'm sure it will be great." She smiled and turned to put water in the kettle and place it on the burner. A small smile planted itself on her face that he wanted to stay.