Seeds of Desire by Karenna Colcroft Read Free Book Online Page A

take shape.
Occasionally, their arms brushed against each other or she caught him glancing
at her, and each time she tingled. What the hell is going on here?
    Jared made small talk with some of the adults on the site,
while Cassidy admired the work the children showed off. As the workers set more
saplings in the ground, the area began to resemble the woods that had occupied
the space before the ice storm, albeit with much smaller trees. The greenhouse
workers had mapped out the site to avoid the chance of artificial rows, instead
ensuring that the scattering of trees looked natural.
    The atmosphere became that of a celebration as the barren
site took on shades of green. Everyone cooperated with one another. Cassidy
even saw a few of the JaBro men sharing coffee and snacks with some of the
townspeople, since JaBro’s corporate headquarters hadn’t seen fit to provide
refreshments for the planting as they had for the meeting.
    As she and Jared walked over to see a sapling a little girl
wanted to show them, Cassidy tripped. As the ground rushed up to meet her, her
heart pounded and she threw out her hands to catch herself. Of all the
clumsy, stupid— She didn’t react fast enough and landed flat on her stomach
with her face gashed on the sharp edge of a spade that had been left lying on
the ground.
    Fuck, it hurts! She groaned and tried to stand until
the pain sent a jolt of dizziness through her. “Cassidy, lie still,” Jared
urged her. “You’re bleeding. We’re calling 9-1-1.”
    “No, we aren’t,” someone else contradicted. “Cell phones
don’t work out here.”
    Cassidy became dimly aware of a child crying nearby. The
little girl who’d wanted to show her the sapling, probably. “Take the kid
away,” she mumbled, her words slurred by pain and her position.
    Jared turned and relayed her order. “Take that kid out of
here. She doesn’t need to see this.”
    “I’m sorry!” It sounded as if the child was standing right
beside Cassidy. Without being able to turn her head, Cassidy didn’t know for
sure. The child sobbed, “Daddy told me to pick up the shovel. I didn’t mean her
to get hurt.”
    “It isn’t your fault, sweetheart,” Jared said gently.
“Accidents happen. I’m not telling you to go away because I’m mad at you. It’s
just that this is kind of scary and I think you probably shouldn’t see it.
Okay?” He kept his voice calm and soft.
    It impressed Cassidy, even through the pain haze, and she
revised her belief that he didn’t like kids.
    “Okay.” The little girl sniffled.
    Hoping to reassure the child, Cassidy again tried to rise.
This time, hands held her down. “Lie still, damn it,” Jared murmured. He gently
brushed a strand of hair from her face, taking the sting from his tone. “You’re
hurt. Just wait a minute.” He raised his voice. “Hey, if cell phones don’t work
around here, how the hell do you call an ambulance?”
    “Most of us have them old-fashioned landline phones,”
someone muttered. “Why don’t you try having one of your drivers radio?”
    “Yeah.” Jared sounded distracted. “Good idea. Cassidy, if
you try to move, I’ll fire you. I’ll be right back.”
    “Stay with her.” The mutterer sounded a little more
sympathetic now. “I’ll go.”
    “This is uncomfortable as hell.” Cassidy shifted her weight
a bit, careful not to move her head even though most of the discomfort focused
there. “Damn thing.”
    “Your face is on a shovel,” Jared said, sarcasm tingeing his
voice. “More to the point, you’re bleeding on a shovel.” Taking her hand, he
spoke more kindly. “We can’t move you, Cass. I can’t tell how bad you’re hurt,
and since it’s a head injury, if we let you move, the paramedics would probably
have our hides.”
    “No paramedics up here,” someone corrected. “EMTs, mostly.”
    “And let me guess, the nearest hospital’s an hour away,”
Jared snapped.
    “Pretty close,” the other voice said evenly. “More