Currant Creek Valley - By RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,33
banks of the creek.
The day before, Caroline had supervised from the patio while Alex took some perennial starts from her friend’s yards. Caroline, the expert gardener, had also offered some solid planting advice about what would work best for the soil she had.
Alex had big ideas for growing fresh herbs she could use in some of the dishes she wanted to serve at the restaurant and she couldn’t wait to get started.
Still, she found herself turning up the steep Main Street toward Brazen. She would only stop for a moment, she told herself. Just to prove to both of them she wasn’t running scared of him.
Clouds still hovered around the rugged mountaintops but the weather appeared to be clearing. In the wake of the early morning rain, everything looked clean and new, saturated with color, and the air smelled sweetly of spring growth.
She waved to Prudence Clover, riding down the hill on her cruising bike with the big straw basket in the front, and then to Darwin Leeds, who was out replacing a broken slat on his fence.
As she neared the restaurant, she told herself the little skitter in her chest was just happiness that she lived in such a beautiful place, surrounded by friends.
It certainly had nothing to do with anticipation about seeing Sam twice in one morning, only anticipation at seeing the familiar old fire station coming back to life.
The freshly painted wide red doors that had once opened for water tankers and ladder trucks gleamed a welcome in the morning light with their replacement windows. She couldn’t wait to open them on summer days and put seating on the flagstone patio so people could sit and look out at the charming, bustling town below. It would be a beautiful place to enjoy the summer sunshine and the evening stars.
When she pushed open the side door, raucous classic rock music competed with the buzz of power tools. The smell of sawdust and wood glue filled the air.
She saw Sam first thing. His back was to her as he worked a board through some kind of big saw hooked up to a power compressor. He wore black ear protectors, which probably masked the sound of her arrival. From behind, his T-shirt accentuated those wide shoulders that tapered down to slim hips and the muscled biceps that flexed with each movement, complete with that very sexy tattoo on his right arm.
Nerves curled in her stomach, glittery and bright, and she tightened her grip on the dog’s leash. This was stupid. He was just a good-looking man she happened to have kissed. Quite passionately.
Ignoring the clamoring impulse to just turn around and walk right back down the hill, she forced herself to wait a moment more until he turned off the power saw, then she cleared her throat.
He turned around, his brown eyes and long dark lashes magnified behind the clear safety goggles he wore.
“Alexandra! Hi. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.” He set the board aside and pulled off all his protective wear then headed toward her.
“And Leo. Hey, there.”
She knew she shouldn’t be charmed by this big, tough-looking construction worker bending down to give a stray dog the love, but a traitorous warmth trickled through her when he rubbed Leo’s ears and throat.
“It stopped raining and he needed a walk anyway,” she explained quickly. “I’ve been trying to exercise him whenever I can in public areas in the hopes that somebody driving by might recognize him.”
“How’s that working out for you?”
She held up the leash. “He’s still with me instead of where he belongs.”
“Maybe with you is where he belongs.”
She made a face. “He has a home somewhere. I’m sure they’re missing him. I don’t mind watching him temporarily but once the restaurant opens, I won’t have time to take care of him very well.”
Saying that aloud made her sadder than it should. Already, the dog was seeping into her heart. She couldn’t allow that. It would hurt too badly when he left.
“Have time to give me a quick tour so I can check out the progress?” she asked quickly, eager to change the subject.
He shoved work gloves in his back pocket. “Sure. Love to.”
Did he sense the currents sparkling between them like dust motes in a beam of sunlight? she wondered as he showed her around the kitchen.
Eventually they circled back around to the spot where they had started. Alex planted her hands on her hips and gave a long look around at the total