Hometown Courtship. Diann Hunt

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СКАЧАТЬ her coffee and muffin in hand. She didn’t care that it was raining and her hair had gone flat. Let the lightning flash and the thunder rumble. The misty air rejuvenated her. In fact, she didn’t even care that she was holding a fat-free muffin. She took a deep breath. Nothing like a spring rain to make her spirit soar. Absolutely nothing could ruin this day—not even the smell of lumber, which personified her dad and magnified the ache he’d left behind.

      When she stepped up to the circle of people, she noticed a man standing in the middle, his back to her, talking. A Lab sat on his haunches as though listening intently to the man. It tickled Callie to watch the dog. Maybe he was a service dog who actually helped build houses. She stifled a giggle, nibbled on her muffin and took a sip from her coffee cup. He led them into a simple prayer for the day, then dismissed them for coffee and donuts. She’d remember that tomorrow—though she didn’t want to miss another opportunity of possibly running into the hunky guy at the bakery. Maybe Aunt Bonnie could tell her if he was a regular customer. On the other hand, she didn’t want to encourage her aunt’s matchmaking schemes.

      She went to the obvious crew leader to apologize for arriving late. “I’m sorry I’m—”

      The man swiveled around. His dark eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

      Her pulse kicked into full throttle, and she decided right then and there this was the best day ever. Obviously, her aunt had been praying extra hard for her today. “Well, hello. Looks like we meet again.” She gave her most pleasant smile to the man from the bakery.

      His eyes lit up and a grin that put her heart on hold spread across his face. “Well, hello.”

      “Callie Easton reporting for duty.” She stretched out her hand to him.

      His heart-stopping grin faltered.

      Maybe her aunt should try fasting next time.

      He looked at his clipboard, then back at her. “You’re Callie Easton?”

      She wasn’t sure whether to smile or apologize. Call her optimistic, but she could think of worse things. “That’s me.”

      “Brad Sharp. I’m overseeing this project,” he said, his words suddenly tight and professional. He probably had to be that way in front of the others. Okay, she’d play along.

      She wanted to get out a pen and jot down his name, but one look in his eyes told her she would never forget it. All at once she realized her hand was still hanging out there between them, suspended, lonely and cold, while he ignored it completely.

      “I see you got your coffee.” His tone told her he hadn’t gotten his.

      Thankful she had taken the time to polish her nails, she lifted her cup and smiled. “Yes. Everyone will be happy I got it.” She leaned toward him. “I’m not fun to be around if I haven’t had my morning coffee. Especially on a Monday.” She winked. What had gotten into her? She never winked at a man—well, not one she’d known for only less than an hour anyway. But he had rescued her keys, after all.

      His gaze landed on her nails. He stared. And stared. It was as if he were in a trance.

      “Coral.”

      Her comment visibly jarred him.

      “The polish.” She wiggled her fingers. “It’s not a color you hear about much, you being a guy and all.” And what a guy, at that! “You like it?”

      With a blank stare he said, “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but as you can see, we serve coffee and donuts here—”

      Yes, she had noticed and was ever so grateful.

      “—so if you skip your trip to the bakery in the morning, you might actually make it here on time.”

      Her happy day paled a bit. “Is it the nail polish?” She studied her fingernails. “Admittedly not a great color for me.”

      He said nothing. She suddenly noticed the people around them, the number of which was growing by the second. She looked back up at him to find his gaze drilling into her.

      For a moment she wondered if she should give her coffee to him. Some people had been known to snap without it. “I’ll skip my trip to the bakery in the morning,” Callie said. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” He no doubt was a busy man, and she didn’t want to take up all his time. At least not yet.

      “Wait. I’m not finished.”

      “Yes?” she asked.

      “So, you’ll be here by eight-thirty tomorrow morning, right?” Noticeable edge to his voice here. Okay, she had to admit his attitude was causing a teensy stir in her stomach, like a simmering pot on the stove.

      “Callie?”

      Why was he pressing her this way in front of everyone? Wait. Did his foot just tap with impatience? She was pretty sure she saw that. Thoughts of her elementary-school principal, looking down at her over black-framed glasses, came back to her. She’d been in trouble that day, too.

      The simmering in her stomach worked up to a full boil. It took a lot to get her riled but when she did—well, someone should warn him.

      As the crowd grew, Callie’s heart pounded so hard against her chest she was sure it would break through and beat this man half to death. She’d always heard there was a fine line between love and you’d-better-run.

      “Right.” She smiled again, but could feel it falter under the weight of her anger.

      “Good.” He then explained the program to her, but she didn’t hear a word of it. She couldn’t imagine how this rude, arrogant, man was the same suave, debonair man she’d met at the bakery.

      “You need a hard hat.” He pointed to her gym shoes. “And boots. Hard-toed boots.”

      The way he stared at her shoes made her feel as though she had a bad pedicure. She wanted to hide her feet. “No one told me.”

      He blew out a sigh. A very manly, husky sigh. She ignored it. No one messed with her toes and got away with it.

      “There’s a pair of women’s boots in my truck over there. Best put them on.” He strode away without so much as a backward glance.

      She couldn’t believe she’d given up a perfectly tasty peach scone for this jerk. It wouldn’t happen again.

      

      “So how did your morning with the parking ticket dodger go?” Brad’s sister-in-law asked as she placed a bowl of chili in front of him on the table.

      “Now, Brianna, let the man alone. He’s no doubt had a hard day on the job,” Ryan teased.

      “Yeah, like you ever leave me alone.” Brad had indeed had a hard day. He hadn’t meant to sound so harsh at the job site. But people were watching and if he hadn’t used Callie as an example, he’d have total chaos on the job. Though they were volunteers, he still needed people to be punctual and treat the project as a real job or they’d never finish on time or produce a quality home.

      Ryan shrugged and sprinkled shredded cheese over his chili. “Yeah, you’re right. So how did it СКАЧАТЬ