Walker Pride by Bernadette Marie Read Free Book Online Page B

tossed salad. It would be up to Eric’s reaction whether she used the chicken salad for future events.
    The china and silverware were probably overkill, but she was looking to make an impression. She wanted to know about him and she’d caught his stare last night. Did he even know? He’d watched her all night long. Certainly there must be some kind of interest. And what about that “date” he asked her out on?
    He would be her brief distraction. She just wanted to know who he was, nothing more.
     
    The meeting at the library hadn’t quite gone the way she’d planned. They wanted more food and a cheaper price. Susan just wasn’t sure she could make that work. This might be the very first job she had to turn down.
    She promised them she’d go over the numbers, but there was little she could think of to cut costs and offer more.
    The cooler in the seat next to her reminded her of the lunch she’d planned, though when she’d planned it she was more optimistic. He had no idea what she’d planned. If she didn’t show up what would it matter? No one would be the wiser. It would be her own secret.
    But by the time she’d talked herself out of going to Eric’s, she’d already turned down the dirt road that would bounce her about for the next twenty-six miles. The more bumps, the less visitors , replayed in her ears. She wasn’t going to be welcome when she got there. She was setting herself up for disappointment.
    One thing she enjoyed was risk-taking, though. It wouldn’t be like her to turn that car around. She’d settled for too many years. She was in the need for some adventure. The entire move to Georgia, going to school, and starting a catering company was her kind of adventure. Why not spice it up with a man that wouldn’t leave her mind? Again, she just needed to satisfy her curiosity.
    After nearly a half hour of being tossed from side to side, Susan saw the fork in the road that led to the main house—his parents’ house. This time she would veer right and spend another six miles of bouncing to deliver an unexpected lunch.
    Soon she saw the small house in a clearing of trees. A barn out back dwarfed the house.
    A porch encircled the small house and gave it a warm feel. She could imagine sitting there on a warm summer night looking out over the fields that rolled out like a carpet.
    Susan laughed. That was the most ridiculous thought ever. Eric was her distraction and the cousin to her roommate. There would be no dreaming of front porch sitting.
    When she made the last turn to the house, she noticed that there were three more pickups in front of the house and none of them were Eric’s.
    Had she just spent an hour driving out to his place only to find he wasn’t there?
    But just beyond the house, by the barn, she saw the battered pickup he’d driven.
    She followed the road to the barn and parked next to his truck. Waiting for a moment to see if he’d come out, she finally opened the door and stepped out.
    The air was chilled and she’d wished she’d brought a heavier jacket. Though she hadn’t thought she’d be anywhere other than in his house.
    She watched through the open door for a moment and saw a man walk to a stall. There was no reason to assume it wasn’t him.
    The enormous barn was filled with horses. Tack lined the walls and hay was stored in stacks at the other end.
    She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to the smell of animals, she’d never been around them. Though the smell of fresh hay did delight her a little.
    Susan could hear his voice now. He spoke in a low, nearly hushed tone.
    “What are you doing here?”
    When she looked up, she saw his head looking out over the gate of one of the stalls.
    “Hi.” She hadn’t answered his question and his furrowed brow begged for a different answer. “I came out to look for you.”
    “You found me. What do you need? I thought Glenda paid you.”
    Suddenly the kink in her neck and the tightness in her back, from the near hour on that