Season of Dreams. Jenna Mindel

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СКАЧАТЬ for what her boyfriend Todd had done. There was no easy way of getting over that kind of betrayal.

      Eva made another vicious chop, but cutting off her memories wasn’t as easy as trimming a cherry tree. Mistrust lurked deep in her still, ruining any hopes she’d had of dating. It was easier to keep guys at a safe distance. She stayed in control that way.

      Eva blew out a breath of pent-up air. But then Adam Peece barged into her controlled world and lingered in her thoughts far too often. Working long hours beside him was bound to be more difficult than she anticipated.

      What if she grew to care for him? Not likely, but working together for months in the field, who knew? Still, Eva wasn’t cut out for a guy like Adam Peece. And someone like him wouldn’t give her a serious look. Not in a thousand Sundays.

      Shortly after noon, Ryan pulled up on his four-wheeler. “I’m hungry, Eva, what’d you bring to eat?”

      “Stuff.” She trudged toward her ATV, stepladder in hand. Her brother had eaten a huge breakfast before they came out, but it was tough keeping that six-foot-two frame of his filled. “Come on. I guess a break’s in order. Bring your crate to sit on, Peece.”

      Adam had caught on to pruning quickly, making clean cuts and moving on. She’d checked his work repeatedly and was more than satisfied with what she saw. She didn’t want him to enjoy this. She wished he’d go back to his canning kingdom in Detroit and let her do the work in peace. She’d make a good farm manager, but hands-on teacher? Right.

      She opened her basket and drew out three thermoses. “Here’s tomato soup.”

      “Come on, Eva, that won’t fill me up,” Ryan whined, perched on his four-wheeler.

      “And chicken salad sandwiches.” She offered one to Adam before handing the plate to her brother. “There’s hot chocolate, too. Well, it’s probably lukewarm by now.”

      “Cherries?” Adam looked up from his sandwich.

      “She puts them in everything,” Ryan said.

      Eva made a face. “If you’re going to complain, you can make your own lunch.”

      “I’m just stating a fact.” Her brother laughed at her.

      Eva knew she’d overreacted. Just because Adam got under her skin was no excuse to take it out on Ryan.

      “How long will pruning take?” Adam blew into his gloves.

      “On these trees? A few weeks.” Eva smiled. If he skipped the rest of it, Eva might get more work done with Ryan’s help and his two interns. Most of them knew how to trim a fruit tree as part of their agricultural education.

      “That long?”

      “Sometimes longer. Depends on the amount of help.” Eva took a drink of warm soup.

      “Your dad said he had two sons. Where’s your other brother?” Adam sipped from his thermos.

      Eva glanced at Ryan. “He’s out on the mission field.”

      Her brother snorted. “Wasting time, if you ask me.”

      “Ryan!”

      Adam looked confused. “He’s a missionary?”

      Eva nodded. “Sin’s an ordained minister, but he’s more into education. He’s training native missionaries in Haiti.”

      Adam tipped his head. “Your brother’s name is Sin?”

      “Short for Sinclair.”

      “Ironic nickname for a minister.”

      Ryan laughed. “Not if you knew him.”

      “Just stop it.” Eva bit into her sandwich. It hurt that her brothers hardly spoke. They were both hardheaded and sticking to what they thought were noble principles. Sinclair punished himself for his part in an accident that took the life of Ryan’s girlfriend. Ryan blamed himself, but he resented Sin’s absence. He’d had to face Sara’s folks alone.

      After lunch, Eva grabbed the long pruning loppers to tackle another row of trees. Within hours, the snowflakes grew fatter and more insistent. They stuck to her eyelashes and blurred her vision. She brushed them away.

      She glanced at Adam on his milk crate. He’d slowed down considerably from this morning and kept blowing into his gloves. “Are you cold?”

      “Just my hands.”

      She searched the wagon. Pulling out another pair of heavy-duty work gloves, she walked toward him. “Try these.”

      Adam tucked his expensive-looking ski gloves into his coat pockets. The tips of his fingers were white with a purple hue.

      Eva grabbed his hands. “Let me see.”

      Adam tried to pull back. “They’re fine.”

      “No, they’re not.” Eva took off her gloves and touched his frozen skin. “We have to get you back to the house.”

      “Give me those and I’ll be fine.”

      “Nope. You’ve got frostbite starting on your fingertips. Time to call it a day. I’ll let Ryan know.” Eva looked at Adam’s face. The tip of his nose had turned white, too. The most important thing was to get Adam back home where it was warm.

      Adam sat in Eva’s cheerfully decorated kitchen once again. Antiques mixed with brightly colored modern-looking fabrics but it blended well. The place had life. Vibrance. This time his hands were plunged into bowls of warm water while Eva built a fire in the woodstove. The snap and crackle of igniting wood cut the silence. And Adam felt like an idiot. Obviously he needed better gloves, and he’d have to pick up a fleece balaclava to protect his face if he planned to work an eight-hour day alongside the formidable Eva Marsh.

      “So, I take it your family are churchgoers, to have a brother in ministry.” Adam couldn’t take the quiet. It was too much like when he was in grade school and sent to the principal’s office.

      “Yup.”

      “I went to church when I was a kid.” His mother used to take him to Sunday school and church every week. A few years after she’d died, when he’d hit his teens, Adam took a detour away from everything he’d been taught about honoring God. He stayed on that road too long, making choices he wasn’t proud of now that he’d given his heart back to the Lord.

      Eva shut the woodstove doors. “Do you attend now?”

      “When I can.” He wanted to settle in somewhere and go regularly. He needed a home church to call his own. A place to grow.

      After attending a Christian concert with his sister over the holidays, Adam hadn’t anticipated God grabbing hold of him, but he was grateful for the second chance. Another puzzle piece of his life found its place. Adam might not have all the pieces locked in yet, but he was on his way.

      He looked her square in the eye and wanted her to know he’d changed. “I recently came back to my faith.”

      Her СКАЧАТЬ