Paradise Falls by Ruth Ryan Langan Read Free Book Online Page B

precious schoolhouse until Will finishes that porch. And I doubt he needs you to hand him the wood. Come on.” With a laugh he looped his arm through hers and led her toward the woods, leaving the boy to stare after them.
    Since he’d made it impossible to resist, she decided to relax and enjoy this charmer’s company. “All right. But only for a few minutes. I really do have work to do.”
    It was lovely and refreshingly cool as they stepped beneath the canopy of trees shading them from the sunlight. In the silence of the forest they could hear the ripple of water where the stream meandered through the woods. Low-hanging branches of trees snagged Fiona’s hair, tossing them wildly about her face.
    After a short walk she dug in her heels, determined to go no further. “What did you want to show me?”
    “It’s just up here.” Flem drew her deeper into the woods before pausing to point to the wild roses lining the banks of the stream.
    “Oh. Aren’t they lovely?” Fiona bent to inhale their fragrance.
    Flem stood back watching her with a smile of pure male appreciation. She might not be aware of the way her sweaty clothes clung to her, but he was. “I knew you’d like them.”
    When he broke off a long stem heavy with flowers she caught his arm. “Oh, no. You mustn’t pick them.”
    He seemed surprised by her outburst. “Why not?”
    “They’re wildflowers. They’ll only live a little while in water before dying. But if you leave them on the vine, they’ll live for weeks.”
    “So what?” Ignoring her protest he continued picking until he had a huge bouquet which he thrust into her arms. “If I hadn’t brought you here, nobody would have ever even seen them. Then what good would they be?” When she could think of nothing to say in reply, he gave a smug smile. “Why shouldn’t you enjoy them, even if it is only for a few hours?”
    How could she argue with such logic? Besides, now that she was holding them, she couldn’t help but bury her face in them and breathe in their perfume. For a moment she was swept back to the lovely little house in Bennett, and her mother’s roses.
    “Oh, Flem, they’re really lovely. I’d forgotten how much I love the smell of roses.”
    “You see?” He caught her arm and made a great show of helping her over a fallen log. After they’d crossed it, he kept his arm looped through hers.
    “But I still say you should have left them as you’d found them.”
    “And I say that the pleasure in your eyes is reason enough to disagree.”
    She laughed and gave a toss of her head. “You’re incorrigible.”
    “I’ll admit to that, as long as you admit that I’m right.”
    “I don’t know about being right, but you’re certainly determined to have your way.”
    “I always do. You may as well get used to it.”
    “And what do you do when you don’t get your way?”
    “I’ll tell you if it ever happens.”
    They were both laughing as they stepped out of the woods and rounded the corner of the schoolhouse, where Gray was standing beside Will.
    Heat flared briefly in Gray’s eyes as he looked at the two of them all flushed and disheveled.
    Just seeing Gray had Fiona’s cheeks turning several shades of red.
    Flem looked from one to the other, clearly enjoying Fiona’s embarrassment as much as his brother’s annoyance. He crossed his arms over his chest and casually leaned a hip against the wall of the school. “Well, well, big brother. What are you doing here?”
    “I’ve come to take Will and Fiona home.”
    “A pity you came all this way after cutting hay all day. If you’d asked, I could have saved you the time.” Flem’s smile grew in direct proportion to Gray’s frown. As if to add to his brother’s misery he said slyly, “Fiona and I were walking in the woods.”
    Fiona looked from one brother to the other, wondering at the simmering anger she could sense. What was there between them that they should be so prickly with one another? “Flem wanted