Rum and Raindrops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance by Jean Oram Read Free Book Online Page A

Do you have a copy of my registration?”
    “Yes.” He pulled out a photocopy.
    Feeling hopeful, Jen pulled her chair closer so their knees almost touched and leaned over the sheet. She could smell his woodsy aftershave. Manly. Real. She liked it.
    She pointed where she hadn’t checked off a campsite number on the sheet. “If you’re going to the clearing, you leave it blank. The old forms used to have a place to check for the clearing. It used to be called Local’s Point. Because of the locals. But, they changed the forms a few years back because people kept getting lost trying to find it. So, they left it off, but people still camp there. It’s a local’s nuance.” She pushed her chair back and looked at him, figuring this would clarify everything.
    Which, judging from the way he was chewing on his lip again, it evidently didn’t.
    “Shouldn’t Scott have known where you were camped? He didn’t say you were at the clearing.” He gave her a sidelong glance as if she wouldn’t notice that he was sizing her up. Again.
    She forced herself to be patient. “He probably didn’t think to mention it. It’s easy to forget that not everyone knows about the clearing. He’s only filling in as a forest ranger since the last guy retired. They’re looking for someone new.” She didn’t want to diss Scott as he was a friend of Amber and Mandy’s and she’d hung out with him here and there. But he wasn’t exactly enthralled with his added duty of babysitting forests, and it kind of showed.
    Rob narrowed his eyes and said, “How do I know you’re telling the truth? What if you’re covering your tracks? What if you started a fire down in the main sites, but say you were in the clearing?”
    Okay, suddenly this guy wasn’t so cute. And definitely not stupid. She met his eyes and leaned forward. “I am not a liar.” She held his gaze until he looked down. “I love that park.” She poked herself in the chest. “And I did not start that fire.” She bit her bottom lip, biting back the anger.
    “Did you see anything suspicious?”
    “No.”
    “Anyone else camping or hiking?”
    “No.”
    “Lightning?”
    “Clear skies.”
    He watched her for a long moment before turning back to his notes. “Did you make another fire that day, Saturday?”
    “Yes.”
    He looked at her, waiting.
    “For supper. I put it out before I went to bed, then made another one in the morning so I could make breakfast.” She leaned back, crossing her arms.
    His job must really suck sometimes. Just like her life.
    “What methods did you use to put out the fire?”
    She explained the process for putting out her fire as well as answered a few questions about weather conditions before he stacked his papers and capped his pen. “I might need you to show me the exact site where you camped since it is in question.” He gave her a look as though being stuck hiking for hours in a burned-out forest might not be the highlight of his week.
    Ditto on that one, His Holy Major Not-So Hotness.
    “I need to inspect the burn areas first, but I’m sure I’ll have more questions later.”
    “When?”
    “After the fire is out, which shouldn’t be too long if the wind continues in this direction. There will be nothing for it to burn when it doubles back on itself.” Rob spoke into the recorder and was about to turn it off when Jen suddenly reached out to stop him.
    “The truck in the parking lot!”

    * * *

    Jen yanked her hand off Rob’s warm forearm as he turned to look out the staffroom’s window that overlooked the store and, if you lined your sights right, out beyond to the street.
    “I can’t believe I forgot the truck!” She bounced in her seat, eager for Rob’s attention. “It was old. A bit rusty around the fenders.” She scrunched her eyes shut. “Blue, I think. Or maybe green…” Why couldn’t she have a photographic memory?
    “I’m not following,” Rob said.
    “There was a truck.” Jen rubbed her forehead as though