Jenna's Cowboy Hero by Brenda Minton Page B

of the chapel. “This camp is something the area needs. And the community should be a part of it. Our churches need to be a part of reaching out to the children who come here.”
    â€œThat doesn’t mean you get out of the work. We’ll need your help hanging the mini blinds.” Jenna nudged Adam with her elbow, hoping to ease the tightened lines around his mouth. “You probably won’t even need a ladder.”

Chapter Seven
    A dam stood on the ladder, on the second floor of the dorm, attaching the first mini blind on the window. The older woman standing on the floor next to the ladder held the tools and the hardware for the blinds. She made a noise and he thought she might have said something.
    â€œI’m sorry?” He looked down and the ladder shook a little. He held his breath and waited for it to stop weaving. Or maybe he was weaving, not the ladder. He started to close his eyes but knew from experience that would only make it worse.
    Worse, being on the second floor, looking out the window at the ground. It seemed to be fifty feet down, and he knew it wasn’t. He focused on the floor. On the woman helping him. She shrugged and her brows arched and drew in.
    He was sure she’d said something.
    â€œWhat?” She didn’t smile.
    He started to work again and again heard her mutter. “Did you say something?”
    â€œNo, of course not.”
    â€œAm I doing something wrong?”
    She bit down on her lip and shook her head and that didn’t convince him. “No, you’re fine.”
    That tone. Of course he was doing something wrong. He wasn’t a handyman. He didn’t fix things. He played football. His home-repair skills were pretty limited.
    â€œMrs. Glenn, if I’m doing something wrong, please tell me.” He counted to ten because he was about to lose his loose grip on what patience he had left. The lady watching him, gray hair permed into tight curls and T-shirt stating that everything she did was done for Jesus, was the woman pushing him to the end of his rope. And occasionally bumping the ladder he didn’t really want to be standing on.
    â€œOkay, I don’t mean to be bossy, because this is your camp and your dorm, but it would be better if you put those blinds on the inside of the window frame, not on the outside. It’ll just look a lot nicer.”
    â€œIt isn’t easier, though.”
    â€œWell, no, of course not.” She frowned and shook her head. “Life isn’t always about taking the easy way.”
    One, two, three, four, five …Counting wasn’t helping. Adam closed his eyes and felt like he was swaying, about to fall. He grabbed the ladder and sucked in a deep breath.
    â€œAre you afraid of heights?” The pleasant voice of Mrs. Glenn, sounding a little amused and tinkly. He got the impression that his fear made her day.
    â€œNo, of course not.” He looked down and her eyes had widened and her smile beamed.
    â€œI think you are.” She pointed to the ground, and he knew she’d been waiting for an opportunity like this one. “Let me do that and you hold the tools.”
    â€œI really can do this.” He unscrewed the bracket that he’d put on the outside of the window frame. He wasa man. He could conquer a ladder. He could hang a mini blind.
    He could grunt like Tim Allen, if need be.
    â€œOf course you can.” She backed away from the ladder.
    Adam gave up. He climbed down the wobbly ladder and, when his feet touched the ground, he sighed, and he hadn’t meant to sigh. Man, he hated ladders. And Mrs. Glenn loved that fact. She smiled as she handed him the tools she’d been holding.
    â€œWe’ll have this done in no time. Now, you get the blinds out of that box while I get these brackets attached.”
    Screws went between her teeth, the tools slid into her pockets and she was up the ladder, happy as a lark. No more muttering. No more