~*~
Susan sat at her desk in the corner of the living room. Her computer was a vivid display of colorful spreadsheets and lists.
She’d meet with the head of the library at eleven. Then she had plans to take lunch to Eric. If that went well then she’d go to Costco on her way home and pick up the items for tomorrow’s job.
If the drop by at Eric’s didn’t go well—she didn’t want to think about that. She had a curiosity about the man and it just needed to be satisfied.
She could just ask Bethany, who still hadn’t climbed out of bed and it was nearly ten o’clock, but what fun would that be? There was a story behind the little lines on Eric Walker’s face and Susan wanted to find out what it was.
When the front door opened, she nearly fell back in her chair.
“Oh, did I scare you?” Bethany walked toward her. Her long red curls were pulled back in a ponytail and her iPhone was strapped to her arm.
“Did you go running?”
Bethany nodded, still catching her breath.
“I thought you were sleeping.”
“Heavens no. I’ve been running for nearly two hours.”
“Why?”
Bethany laughed. “You can’t even get looked at for movie roles if you don’t keep up your body. I keep healthy. Some of those girls are just skinny because they don’t eat and they live on coffee.”
“You look great.”
She smiled. “Thanks. I need to get a shower. What are you doing today?”
How much did she want to tell her? “I have a meeting in an hour, then some shopping to do. I have a corporate event to cater tomorrow. Are you free to help and learn the ropes?”
“Free as a bird.”
Bethany gave her a brilliant smile and then ran up the stairs. Susan wasn’t sure after two hours of running how you’d have enough energy to even get up the stairs let alone run them.
She turned back to her spreadsheet. There were enough jobs planned for the next month to get a little money into savings. Tuition for summer semester was going to be a little tight if she was paying Bethany to help. But in the long run, it would all be worth it.
She’d paid her dues married to a man who hated every idea she’d ever had. Now she was forging her own life, doing what she wanted to do. That restaurant she’d build wasn’t too far down the path, she thought. Every day the reality of it grew closer and closer.
Susan looked at her watch again. She needed to head out for her meeting.
Turning off her computer, she gathered her paperwork and headed to the kitchen. On the counter was her cooler with everything she’d need for lunch at Eric’s—china, silverware, and glasses. Of course, a lovely chicken salad she was trying out. She’d pack herself a nice tossed salad. It would be up to Eric’s reaction whether she used the chicken salad for future events.
The china and silverware were probably overkill, but she was looking to make an impression. She wanted to know about him and she’d caught his stare last night. Did he even know? He’d watched her all night long. Certainly there must be some kind of interest. And what about that “date” he asked her out on?
He would be her brief distraction. She just wanted to know who he was, nothing more.
The meeting at the library hadn’t quite gone the way she’d planned. They wanted more food and a cheaper price. Susan just wasn’t sure she could make that work. This might be the very first job she had to turn down.
She promised them she’d go over the numbers, but there was little she could think of to cut costs and offer more.
The cooler in the seat next to her reminded her of the lunch she’d planned, though when she’d planned it she was more optimistic. He had no idea what she’d planned. If she didn’t show up what would it matter? No one would be the wiser. It would be her own secret.
But by the time she’d talked herself out of going to Eric’s, she’d already turned down the dirt road that would bounce her about for the next twenty-six miles. The more bumps, the less visitors, replayed in her ears. She wasn’t going to be welcome when she got there. She was setting herself up for disappointment.
One thing she enjoyed was risk-taking, though. It wouldn’t be like her to turn that car around. She’d settled for too many years. She was in the need for some adventure. The entire move to Georgia, going to school, and starting a catering company was her kind of adventure. Why not spice it up with a man that wouldn’t leave her mind? Again, she just needed to satisfy her curiosity.
After nearly a half hour of being tossed from side to side, Susan saw the fork in the road that led to the main house—his parents’ house. This time she would veer right and spend another six miles of bouncing to deliver an unexpected lunch.
Soon she saw the small house in a clearing of trees. A barn out back dwarfed the house.
A porch encircled the small house and gave it a warm feel. She could imagine sitting there on a warm summer night looking out over the fields that rolled out like a carpet.
Susan laughed. That was the most ridiculous thought ever. Eric was her distraction and the cousin to her roommate. There would be no dreaming of front porch sitting.
When she made the last turn to the house, she noticed that there were three more pickups in front of the house and none of them were Eric’s.
Had she just spent an hour driving out to his place only to find he wasn’t there?
But just beyond the house, by the barn, she saw the battered pickup he’d driven.
She followed the road to the barn and parked next to his truck. Waiting for a moment to see if he’d come out, she finally opened the door and stepped out.
The air was chilled and she’d wished she’d brought a heavier jacket. Though she hadn’t thought she’d be anywhere other than in his house.
She watched through the open door for a moment and saw a man walk to a stall. There was no reason to assume it wasn’t him.
The enormous barn was filled with horses. Tack lined the walls and hay was stored in stacks at the other end.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to the smell of animals, she’d never been around them. Though the smell of fresh hay did delight her a little.
Susan could hear his voice now. He spoke in a low, nearly hushed tone.
“What are you doing here?”
When she looked up, she saw his head looking out over the gate of one of the stalls.
“Hi.” She hadn’t answered his question and his furrowed brow begged for a different answer. “I came out to look for you.”
“You found me. What do you need? I thought Glenda paid you.”
Suddenly the kink in her neck and the tightness in her back, from the near hour on that dirt road, made themselves present.
“She did pay me. That’s not why I came out.”
“Why then?”
Once again she remembered that bumpy roads kept visitors out. This must have been why.
There was no reason not to be straightforward with him. She’d promised herself it didn’t matter what he said.
“I brought you lunch.”
Eric nodded slowly. “Leftovers?”
Susan shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “No. I actually created a meal for you. I was trying to be nice. I can see that I’ve interrupted you and I’ll just take my lunch and head back to town.”
She turned to walk away, but she heard him walking toward her so she slowed.
“Wait,” he called after her and she stopped. “I’m sorry. I’ve had a crappy morning and I’m not very good company.”
She wasn’t sure he’d ever be that.
Susan turned to face him. “I can just leave the cooler and get it some other time.”
“You didn’t come this far just to bring me lunch.”
“No. I didn’t have a very fine morning myself, so this was supposed to be my highlight. I was wrong.”
Eric lifted his hat from his head and ran his hand over his hair before replacing it low over his
eyes. “I’m afraid with me you’ll always be disappointed if you’re looking for good company. I’ve never been known for that.”
“Then let’s just consider this payback for last night’s dinner. We can dismiss it as that.”
Susan turned and walked back toward her car with him in tow.
“Do you want to go back to your house and eat?”
He looked past her toward the house. “Looks like my family is making themselves at home today.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to go back there. Besides, I’d guess you only brought enough for two. There are at least four other men sitting in my house eating my food. Let them suffer with what’s there.”
She laughed. “Where do you want to eat?”
“Bales of hay make for great tables.”
Eric took the cooler from her as she pulled it from her car. Their hands had brushed and it sent that same jolt through him as it had when she’d so innocently touched his arm the day before.
He hadn’t expected to see her, but he couldn’t help but feel a little more at ease with her there. Perhaps it was just a distraction from what was going on—and hadn’t he wanted that?
Perhaps she’d have been a welcome distraction if all he had to think about was losing his home. But now that it included losing his mother all over again—that was different.
“Are you okay?” Susan asked and he realized he’d walked in front of her without a word. “If this is a bad time…”
“I’m just a little distracted today.” He set the cooler on a bale of hay. “Let me get a blanket.”
He went into the small room off to the side which he used for an office and gathered two blankets from the chair in the corner. She’d opened the cooler before he’d returned.
“You even brought plates?”
“I must have known something was going to come up.” She smiled at him and that dimple on the corner of her mouth winked at him. Damn!
“It’s not very warm in here.”
She rested her hand on his as he began to unfold one of the blankets. “It’ll be fine. It’s just a quick lunch.”
Why was it that every time this woman touched him his temperature rose at least ten degrees? And why was it that she made him forget about the crap going on around him for that instant?
There was an attraction. Okay, he could admit that the woman made things stir in him that no one had in a very long time, but this wasn’t the right time for this. But his body certainly didn’t care. Why at a moment like this did thoughts race through his head that certainly weren’t appropriate—especially with a woman he’d only met the day before.
Eric spread the blankets out over the hay and Susan set out what was probably the most elegant lunch he’d ever seen.
China, silverware, and stemmed glassware. This was the kind of set up a guy put out when he was going to propose, not just have a quick lunch.
“I knew it was the middle of the day, so I brought a sparkling cider to go in the glasses.”
There was no holding back the smile that had pushed through to Eric’s lips. “You thought of everything.”
“If I had I’d have a table and chairs. But this is much cooler.”
“Why did you do all this?”
She looked at the elegant—unique—table she’d just set then shifted those deep blue eyes up toward him. “I just thought you’d enjoy it. I owed you a meal. And,” she took a deep breath, “I wanted to get to know you better.”
“I’m not a great deal of fun.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Something tells me there’s a lot to you. Maybe I’m interested in finding out who you are.”
Eric pursed his lips. “Why? What do you gain by knowing me?”
“So far I’ve netted a few catering jobs, a roommate, and dinner. If we stop talking I’ll have had a lunch date and a nice drive before I have to head back and get to work.”
He smiled again. She was something.
“I’m thinking I’ve made out better,” he said as they both sat down on the blanket covered hay bale. “I’ve eaten nicely for a few days and was inspired by your art.”
“Inspired?”
“Inspired to ask you why the picture of your hands, with your mother’s and grandmother’s, had a wedding ring.”
Her eyes quickly lost their sparkle. “You were thinking too hard about the art. Focus on the fact that you ate well for a few days.”
“I think this is the fanciest chicken salad I’ve ever seen,” he said as she spooned a serving onto his plate.
“This is nothing.”
“Maybe you could show me something else someday.”
She nodded without looking up at him, but he could see the dimple that came about when she was happy.
“So,” he picked up his fork. “The picture.”
Susan picked up the container with her salad and her fork with a loud sigh. “Did that photo keep you up last night?”
“Yes.”
“Liar.”
He’d let her think that, but in fact it had.
“I was married for ten years. There you go. I’m a recently divorced woman who fled her home state to make something new of herself. Story over.”
“Nah, there’s more.”
Susan stabbed a piece of chicken and bit it noisily off her fork. “Why is your house full of relatives and you’re in the barn hiding?”
“Because that’s a hell of a lot more fun to me. Besides they’re not just visiting. We had drama. I don’t do drama, so yes, I’m hiding.”
“Someone contesting the will?”
“Why’d you leave Colorado?”
Her lashes fluttered when she was humored. Her eyes grew deeper blue when she was flirting. “It looks like perhaps we’ve been on each other’s minds. I have my own set of questions and you have yours.”
“Looks that way.”
“This could take a long time to sift through.”
“I don’t have dinner plans.”
Her eyes flew open wide and then she smiled. “I have to prepare for a job tomorrow. I don’t have time to cook dinner.”
“What time is your job tomorrow?”
“Four until six.”
“So you have time for breakfast?”
The smile faded. “You want me to stay the night, here?”
Eric wanted to laugh. Was it fair to think she was as cute when she was irritated as she was when she was flirting?
“That wasn’t really what I was thinking, but I’ll let you decide that.” He saw the color rise to her cheeks. “I was thinking you could come out here for breakfast. I’ll cook.”
“You cook?”
“Breakfast.”
“You’re bribing me with breakfast to tell you why I left Colorado?”
Eric shrugged. “You’re bribing me with lunch just to get me alone at my house.”
Again, he’d managed to shock her with his words, but he figured she was on to him. The shock quickly eased back and a smile—perhaps a little seductive—formed on her lips.
“Do most women chase you?”
“Most women can’t handle me. I’m a man with a lot of pride. That seems to get in the way of things.”
“If I want something I get it,” she said as she took a grape from her salad and popped it into her mouth with her fingers.
“You want me?”
“Didn’t say I did. But you seem to think that I’ve come to get you alone in your house.”
Eric nodded as he took a bite of his salad. “Is it fair to say we’re just two adults who find the other interesting?”
“That’s all I would say.”
“No hidden agenda?”
“None.”
“Have breakfast with me?”
“How could I refuse?”
It was settled. He’d see her again. Now, if only he could focus until she arrived the next morning. And damn it, there better not be any relatives in his house by tomorrow morning.