This Time Forever. Carol Steward

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ the modest ranch house his grandparents had built in the early forties. Climbing the narrow stairs to the attic bedroom, Adam found it odd to think he had his first guest staying in his new lodge. Even more perplexing that it was Lisa.

      He spent half the night awake, wondering how to protect his heart from the unwelcome woman at the tip of Cupid’s arrow. Despite recent efforts by many well-meaning friends and relatives, no woman had caught his eye since Alex and Katarina’s wedding. He and Lisa had spent the better part of the blizzard sipping hot chocolate and telling stories about their brothers and sisters. He immediately discovered Lisa wasn’t an easy woman to get to know. She didn’t like talking about herself, her accomplishments or her feelings.

      Why the drifter had made such an impression on him, he wasn’t sure. It was more than her looks, as there were plenty of good-looking women in his life. With each tidbit he picked up about the youngest Berthoff sister from his brothers, Adam realized he stood a better chance of surviving a stampede than he did falling in love with Lisa. She wasn’t his type. Wanderlust was in her blood, and he was more than content in his own corner of the world.

      Lisa was a journalist. Her job came first. After all, that’s why she was here. She hadn’t come to see him, or even her sisters. It was a story she was after. A story about a romantic getaway. That means big trouble for the ranch, and me.

      It had taken him long enough to find where he belonged, and he’d be sure that no one—especially not a woman with no ties to family or land—came between him and the dreams God had called him home to.

      Adam didn’t need or want his life turned inside out by a stubborn woman who didn’t believe in promises, or God, or slowing down long enough to see exactly what she was missing. A loner like himself had no business tying anyone else down to his obligations.

      Keeping Lisa around in the confines of his lodge was definitely asking for trouble. Regardless of her familial connections or her charming personality, the beautiful drifter couldn’t stay. Wouldn’t, even if he’d be foolish enough to ask her to.

      While he wouldn’t exactly call his ranch secluded, it was a far cry from the hub of activity Lisa was accustomed to. Just yesterday, she had started her day with plans of whale-watching, and by the end of the day she was in Colorado to write a totally different story on a bed-and-breakfast. The world was her playground, and this ranch was his world.

      While his brothers had followed in their father’s footsteps of the construction business, Adam had counted the years, just waiting for the day his parents would let him spend summers helping his grandparents run the ranch. Now he had that chance. Whispering Pines was all he had to remember his grandparents by and he would do everything within his power to maintain the legacy they had left behind.

      This was his dream. His destiny. His calling. And if he couldn’t make a go of the guest ranch, his cousin would be more than happy to put his own name on the deed. Chance had offered to buy the MacIntyre cousins out in the very beginning, and still did on a regular basis. At the going price of land in the area, and the rate of population growth, they all knew their opportunistic cousin probably had investors lined up to divide and develop the entire ranch.

      Lisa’s mission stirred up fears and shadows, from the list of unfinished detail work, to decorating the place, to the warning that mixing business and romance was a lethal combination. While it helped that he knew Lisa’s family, trusting any woman with his business image would always bring back caustic memories of all that Amelia’s betrayal had cost him.

      As usual, all it took was one inkling of a reminder of that dark time in his life to ruin the entire night’s rest. He tossed and turned, barely catching a wink of sleep before he heard the alarm clock’s dutiful “cock-a-doodle-doo.” Back to work.

      Adam stepped into the house a few hours later, followed by a chilling gust of wind. To his surprise, Lisa was sitting by the window enjoying a cup of coffee, reading the morning newspaper, seemingly oblivious to the vehicles driving up the lane. “You think the entire family can convince me to go along with this?”

      Minutes earlier Adam had seen Kevin’s SUV pull through the Whispering Pines gate, followed by Alex’s truck. If his brothers were coming to work, they’d have driven out in one vehicle, which meant this was a family visit, not business.

      She looked up from the paper. “Good morning to you, too. Now what have I done?”

      Without a word, Adam pointed out the window. “Face it. This idea of my sister’s backfired. End of subject. You may as well take your matching set of luggage and head on down the road to the next golden opportunity.” He pulled a mug from the cupboard and poured a cup of coffee.

      “You’re even crankier than usual this morning. Didn’t you sleep well? I suppose that’s my fault, too.” Lisa took a sip of coffee and turned back to her newspaper.

      As a matter of fact, it is.

      She glanced out the window, then stood up and placed her hands on her hips. “Adam, I didn’t call anyone. I wasn’t sure I’d even be here long enough.”

      “You’re right about that.” He lifted the mug to his mouth. “You’d like me to believe the whole family just happened to show up out of the blue on a Saturday morning?” Without thinking, he took a drink.

      “That’s hot. Be—” she winced “—careful.”

      He spit the coffee back into the mug before he realized what he was doing. “Phew.”

      He set the mug on the counter and opened the freezer. He dropped two ice cubes into the steaming brew. “I should have known. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing, I guess.” From the feel of his burned tongue, it would be a long while before he’d make the same mistake.

      “Believe what you want about my sisters, Adam. I had nothing to do with it.” She shook her head. “I don’t know why they’re here, but I can’t think of a better way to prove my innocence to someone as…as…bullheaded as you.”

      He walked closer with quick, long, purposeful strides. Adam cocked his head questioningly. “Bullheaded? You sure you don’t want to add cad to that? If my memory serves me correctly, that was the word of choice at the church after Kat and Alex’s wedding. You sure you don’t want to come up with a few more names for me?” The words slipped from his mouth before he thought about the implication, that he’d been thinking of that darned bouquet.

      Lisa folded the newspaper and neatly put it back into the copper boiler next to the small Franklin stove heating the kitchen. “I think that will do fine for now. Given time, I’m sure I could come up with a few more that fit your sour disposition.”

      Thankful that she hadn’t seemed to catch his slip, Adam returned to the entry. He slid the heel of his cowboy boot into the wooden boot jack and tugged first one foot, then the other from the fitted leather.

      “It’s no wonder you’re still an eligible bachelor if you’re always this charming,” she muttered.

      “I heard that, and I couldn’t be happier.” Adam stood at the doorway to the great room and waited. “Must be all that running that makes you so miserable.”

      Car doors slammed on the opposite side of the lodge, and Adam returned to the coffeemaker, pausing long enough to add a spot of hot coffee to the overly cooled liquid. “Come on.” He nodded his head toward the front door.

      “Whatever makes you think I’m miserable?” Lisa’s feet were СКАЧАТЬ