The Long Road Home. Lynn Patrick

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      Prissy. Priscilla clenched her jaw. She’d thought she was done with that nickname. Obviously, Sam wasn’t going to let her forget it. But if she made a big deal of it, he undoubtedly would do the same just to tease her. Since they were entering a pretty, hilly area she’d never seen before, she decided to just relax and enjoy the ride as best as she could.

      * * *

      HAPPY TO SEE the only person he’d regretted leaving behind when he’d fled Sparrow Lake, Sam smiled as he watched Prissy thump-thump in the saddle as Logan picked up the pace of the ride. They settled into a slow jog along the trail that Sam had created through several pastures and alongside a big patch of woods. Compared to a mountainside, the rolling, sometimes timbered hills were gentle, yet Priscilla was trying real hard to keep her seat. But she made no complaint. Just like old times. She rode out whatever might be bothering her. A quiet do-gooder, she’d been nice to everyone, but he remembered the guys on the football team making fun of her because she wasn’t one of the “cool” girls. She’d never seemed to care about fancy clothes or new hairstyles, she hadn’t worn eye makeup under those big, thick glasses she’d worn back then. She might not have heard the comments behind her back, but Sam was certain she’d known. He remembered how she’d always held her head up high when she’d passed them in the school hallway. He’d always given her credit that she’d had the guts to be herself.

      And he remembered the night that had changed the way he’d felt about Priscilla Ryan, too. He’d asked the bespectacled, mousy librarian’s daughter to the prom on a bet with some of the guys on the team. Not that he hadn’t liked her, but she’d been quiet and hard to get to know. Truth be told, he’d felt sorry that his friends had been ragging on about a girl who’d never done anything or said a mean word to anyone, and he’d taken the bet knowing that, if he didn’t ask her to the prom, no other boy would.

      What a surprise he’d had when she’d opened the door on prom night. He still remembered feeling gutshot just looking at her, all gussied up and without her thick glasses. Her long, bright red hair released from her usual ponytail swirled around surprisingly pretty green eyes and brushed the delicate green fabric surrounding her slim, silky shoulders. What a bigger surprise she’d been on the dance floor. It was as if the music had freed her, had allowed her to blossom. She’d simply glowed with happiness. He remembered joking with her. And laughing. And smiling more than he ever had with anyone. He hadn’t been sorry he’d taken that bet, not one bit.

      It had been the best night of his teenage life.

      A sappy smile curving his lips when he glanced over at her, he asked, “So how has life been treating you, Prissy? Do you have a house filled with kids?” He hadn’t missed that she’d brought a couple of girls with her. “Or is it just the two?”

      Her brow puckered. “Two?”

      Sunlight squeaking through the trees dappled the area they rode with bits of brightness, making her red hair glow as if on fire. Mesmerized, he simply stared at her.

      “What are you talking about?” she asked, jerking him out of the moment.

      He indicated the mounted girls both ahead of them, the older one in the crazy boots practically pressing her horse against Logan’s. “Those two. Your daughters.”

      Appearing thunderstruck, she snorted. “Those are my nieces! They just flew in from New York this morning, and I brought them out here because Mia is horse crazy.”

      Hmm. The little one had the same red hair, the reason he’d drawn that conclusion. “But you do have kids, right?”

      “Uh, no.”

      “Why not?” Interest he couldn’t quite define shot through him. “Did that biological clock of yours get stuck or something?”

      Now she gave him an intent look that made the flesh skitter down his spine when she said, “Doesn’t matter when I’m not married.”

      “Not married,” he echoed softly. “Really?”

      “Really.”

      Hard to believe no man had ever snapped her up. He eyed her tan jeans and T-shirt. She might not be flashy on the outside, but, as he remembered so well, she had hidden depths.

      “Why ever not?” he asked.

      “Maybe I never met a man I could stand long enough to take on full time.” She arched an eyebrow as if that included him.

      His turn to snort. “Didn’t remember you had such a way with words.”

      She simply shrugged.

      He wanted to ask if there was any man in her life other than her father, but he figured he’d better stop being so direct or he might offend her. Besides she might not want to talk to him at all. Still, he really wanted to know more about her.

      “So what have you been doing all these years if not starting a family?”

      “I went to college, studied American Literature, then got a job in the big city that had nothing to do with my degree.” She shrugged. “Pretty much like most everyone else I knew.”

      Sam frowned. Of course she was educated. He’d been in too much of a hurry to get away from his old man to worry about finishing high school. He’d gotten his GED a few years back, but college...that would have been a luxury when he’d been breaking his back just to scrape by.

      “But you returned to Sparrow Lake.”

      She flushed a little, and looked straight ahead rather than at him. “Our parents aren’t getting any younger, are they?”

      And in his own case, not any less judgmental. “So you live with them?”

      “No, not with them, just close by if they need me. I have an apartment above The Main Street Cheese Shoppe.”

      “I would have figured you for a pretty little house with a white picket fence.”

      “Maybe someday if the cheese shop really takes off. I, um, own it.”

      Surprised, Sam stared at her. “So you started your own business, too.” They had something in common, after all.

      “Last year,” Priscilla said. “I learned enough working at Milwaukee Cheese Mart to start my own mini version of the business. But Sparrow Lake is small potatoes, even with the visitors we get. I’ll have to expand selling on the internet like the Mart does if I want to go big.”

      “You’re ambitious.”

      “Not so much. But I am realistic. I don’t have anyone looking out for me, so I have to do it myself.”

      So, no man in her life, either. Sam couldn’t quite say why, but as they circled a large field where cows grazed and headed back to the barn, he couldn’t stop grinning.

CHAPTER THREE

      WHY IN THE WORLD was Sam grinning like a fool? Remembering how the town boys used to make fun of her, Priscilla sat straighter in her saddle. She probably looked ridiculous, since she had never been a horseback rider. But Sam wasn’t like that. He’d never been, she reminded herself. СКАЧАТЬ