A Temporary Courtship. Jenna Mindel

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      The only seat left was the front passenger seat, next to him. She climbed in and glanced his way, but he was busy counting heads.

      When he finished, she asked, “So, where are we going?”

      “State land not far out of town.” He didn’t sound annoyed and concentrated on backing out.

      Breathing easier, she asked more questions. “Do these black mushrooms grow out in the open?”

      “In the woods.”

      “Oh.” She glanced at her brand-new light gray flats and frowned.

      Obviously she hadn’t dressed right, but then, she wasn’t an outdoorsy kind of gal. Her idea of a hike was walking the shoreline here or her parents’ neighborhood in Royal Oak. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it outside, but living in Detroit didn’t exactly invite running wild outdoors. She’d spent a lot of time inside practicing, where her imagination ran wild within the confines of a music room.

      She noticed Darren’s hands as he gripped the steering wheel. They were strong hands with scrapes and calluses. Nothing like the spotless manicured hands belonging to Philip. Darren was very different from the professionally polished man she’d dated far too long.

      Another bomb she’d soon drop on her parents. She’d not only quit her position with the symphony to accept a music residency out west but also discarded her parents’ chosen husband for her. The seemingly perfect man, but Bree knew better. He wasn’t perfect for her.

      The chatter and laughter behind them grew louder as they turned off a main road onto a dirt one. Bouncing along, Bree grabbed the handle on the door and glanced at Darren. His face looked carved out of stone. Obviously he wasn’t having fun.

      “Do you do this often?”

      “What?”

      “Give these kind of classes.”

      “This is my first.” He drove slower and concentrated on the pathway ahead. He took another turn onto what couldn’t really be called a road but had tracks proving vehicles had traveled it before.

      Real chatty guy.

      Bree bit her bottom lip and stared out the window. It was pretty here in the woods. The tender green leaves were just beginning to unfurl, way behind the spring growth downstate. She spotted a small tree with buds bursting into a white flower here and there. “What’s that tree blooming over there?”

      Darren looked where she pointed. “Juneberry tree.”

      “Oh.”

      “The fruit is edible.”

      “So, where’d you learn all this?”

      Darren shrugged as he took another turn. “My grandmother taught me what to look for when I was a kid.”

      Bree melted when she thought of this big, gruff man as a small boy following his grandmother around, learning about wild food and where to find it. “Neat.”

      He grunted agreement, slowed the van to a stop and turned in his seat toward the passengers in the back. “After you get out, please stay near the van for instructions.”

      Amid grumbles from one of the elderly men, Bree peered through the windshield. They’d stopped in a small clearing surrounded by trees. The vehicle path went deeper into the woods, but evidently they were here, wherever here was. And it was bound to get interesting scouring the area with this group of rowdy seventy-year-olds.

      Bree turned when she felt a pat on her shoulder. Looking into Stella’s eyes, she chuckled when the elderly woman wiggled her eyebrows. As if she and Darren had hit it off. More like she’d made him angry, considering the way he barked orders.

      She glanced at him, shocked to find him watching her. “What?”

      “You getting out?”

      Of course she was getting out. What did he think, after they’d come all this way she’d stay in the van? “Yes. Why?”

      “No reason.” He shrugged and exited the vehicle.

      Bree watched him walk around the front. He tapped lightly on the hood as if dreading this. She knew irritation when she saw it. What was his problem, anyway?

      Bree pocketed her phone and grabbed her bag. Maybe she should try to find out.

Chapter Two

      Darren glanced at Bree as she slid from the passenger seat of the van, and he shook his head. She was dressed in light-colored cropped pants and shoes that were barely more than slippers. He’d be surprised if she stayed clean. Unless she was the prissy type that wouldn’t get her hands dirty. She’d go home empty-handed if that were true.

      She looked nothing like his ex-girlfriend, but Bree came from the same place. Overdressed for roaming around outside, she might as well have been cut from the same cloth as Raleigh.

      He had ten people to look after. He needed to quit focusing on one. It was up to him to show them respect for the woods. And that meant staying alert. “Gather around, please.”

      Darren passed out plastic whistle lanyards to each person as they stepped close. “Stay in pairs at all times, and if you get turned around, just blow your whistle. I’ll find you.”

      He waited for them to slip the whistles over their heads, and then he held up the wild edibles pamphlet. “Open your booklet to page three, and take a good look at the picture of the morel mushroom. Notice the pattern and the shape, with the bottom closed around the stem. That’s what we’re looking for. Stay away from the blobby-looking ones. They’re false morels. There are also caps that are open on the bottom like an umbrella. They’re edible, but use caution. They make some people sick. I’ll go through what you find before we leave to make sure they’re all safe. Any questions?”

      Stella raised her hand.

      “Stel?”

      “We shouldn’t eat them now, right?” She knew that but was trying to help him out.

      He hadn’t even thought about mentioning it and appreciated the reminder. These people didn’t know what they were doing. This was a novelty. A vacation treat. “Right. They need to be cleaned of grit, and there might be a rare stowaway bug inside. Morels are way better cooked, in my opinion. I’ll show you how to clean them when we return.” He checked his watch. “Okay, we’ll meet back here in forty-five minutes.”

      “Darren, will you find the first morel for us before we split up?” Stella asked.

      He noticed everyone nodding in agreement. Okay, maybe he wasn’t so good at leading this class. They had no clue what to look for and where. He’d almost sent them away without showing them. All because he’d been in a hurry to get rid of them. Especially Bree.

      He gestured for them to follow and headed for a wooded area, keeping his gaze focused on the ground. “They’re dark, a blackish-tan triangle. Look around these ash trees. See the gray bark?”

      He СКАЧАТЬ