Key Of Valor by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online

tables, even on the color of the towels she would use. Everything in her salon would have her touch, reflect her vision, and be created by her own two hands.
    And there was Bradley Charles Vane IV busily sawing the board for one of her counter stations.
    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    Nobody heard her, of course. Not with Brad’s saw buzzing, and Flynn’s nail gun popping, and the damn music blaring.
    She might as well not even be there. Well, she would fix that, right this minute.
    She marched over until her shadow fell across the board and the template Brad was following. He glanced up, gave her a little head jerk to indicate she was in his light.
    She stood her ground.
    â€œI want to know what you’re doing.”
    â€œHold on a minute,” he shouted right back at her, and finished running the blade through the board. He turned off the saw, shoved up his safety goggles.
    â€œYour laminate came in.”
    â€œI want—my laminate?” The thrill of that had her spinning around in the direction he pointed. And there it was,that wonderful bold green. “It’s perfect. I knew it would be perfect. It wasn’t supposed to come in until next week.”
    â€œGot in early.” He’d put a rush on it. “We ought to be able to have a couple of these done today.”
    â€œI don’t expect you to—”
    â€œHi, Zo.” Flynn set the nail gun down, grinned up at her. “What do you think?”
    â€œI think it’s really nice of you to pitch in this way. Give up your Saturday and all. But I can do this if you want to . . . do something else.”
    â€œWe’ve got a good start on it.” He glanced past her. “Where are the big dog and the small boy?”
    â€œThey’re out back. I didn’t know what to do with them.”
    â€œPlenty of room to run around out there. I’ll go check on them.” Flynn got to his feet. “Want coffee when I come back?”
    â€œOnly if you didn’t make it,” Brad told him.
    â€œIngrate.” Flynn gave Zoe a wink, then left them alone.
    â€œI don’t want you to—”
    â€œYou’ve got a good design,” Brad interrupted. “For your stations. Neat and simple. It’s easy to follow your plans, get a good sense of what you have in mind.”
    She folded her arms. “I didn’t expect anybody would have to follow them.”
    â€œYou do good work.” He paused a beat while she stared at him. “Careful planning, good choices, a flair for design. Any reason why you have to do everything yourself?”
    â€œNo. You just shouldn’t feel obligated, that’s all.”
    He lifted an eyebrow. “Ingrate.”
    Defeated, she let out a half laugh. “Maybe it’s more that I know what kind of work I do, but I don’t know if you’re any good.” She walked around the base of the counter he was finishing for her. “I guess you do okay.”
    â€œMy granddaddy’d be so proud to hear that.”
    With the wood between them, she gave him a quick,easy smile. “I want to cut the laminate myself. I just want to be able to . . .”
    â€œTo look at it when it’s finished, to look at it a year from when it’s finished and say, Hey, I did that.”
    â€œYes. That’s it exactly. I didn’t think you’d understand.”
    He shifted, stood hip-shot, and angled his head. “Do you know why I came back to the Valley?”
    â€œI guess I don’t. Not really.”
    â€œAsk me sometime. You want to get that nail gun? We’ll knock this thing out.”
    Â 
    SHE had to admit they worked well together, and he didn’t, as she’d assumed he would, treat her as if she wasn’t capable of handling tools. On the contrary, he took for granted that she was capable.
    He did tend to be bossy about certain things. If she started to lift something he deemed too heavy, he