Fearless by Cleo Peitsche

Author:Cleo Peitsche
Language: eng
Format: epub

Samuel thought that if he got any happier, he might float up into the sky and be carried away by the wind. Now he truly understood the expression “walking on air” because he felt that buoyant, like all his cares had been pulling him down. Nothing could take away his good mood. He’d told Kimberly he loved her, and she hadn’t sneered, and she hadn’t given him a well-reasoned list of excuses why they couldn’t be together… excuses that ultimately meant “I could never love you.”

Bits of sunlight filtered through the trees and reflected off of her dark hair. She was animated as she recounted a story about a new coworker, some accounting prodigy who had prompted the recent spate of etiquette memos.

Samuel couldn’t concentrate on the juicy details, though. When he looked at her, all he saw was the expression on her face when he told her that he loved her. She’d been stunned, and her eyes had lit with a cautious, hidden hope.

It was his fault that she’d had to hide her feelings. Samuel knew he had a lot of atoning to do. To Kimberly and Nelson both, for putting up with his clueless, immature emotional tantrums. He’d been horrible.

They would have to talk about that. He was going to ensure that she knew he realized how terrible he’d acted.

Samuel glanced up and saw Nelson waiting ahead. He seemed preoccupied.

“Don’t worry about those kids,” Samuel said when they reached him.

Nelson gave him a funny look.

“Kids are gonna drink and smoke pot.” Samuel shrugged.

“Really?” Kimberly said. “Because I didn’t.”

Nelson raised an eyebrow. “They’re doing drugs?”

“Couldn’t you smell it?”

“No,” Kimberly said.

Nelson sighed. “I’ll have to put an end to it. I considered looking the other way, but if something were to happen, if they were to trip down the steps or climb up on the roof and slip off, I’d be liable.”

“With great power comes great responsibility,” Samuel said. He squeezed Nelson’s shoulder, felt that the man was tense. “It’ll be ok.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Nelson said dryly.

Kimberly screamed. “Bear!”

Nelson held up his hands, but he needn’t have bothered; no one was interested in getting closer to the furry, dark shape that stood in the path ahead of them.

“It’s a black bear,” Nelson said calmly, walking backward, forcing Kimberly to retreat behind him and also blocking her view. “But it’s young. Probably a yearling, striking out on its own.”

Kimberly whimpered.

“It won’t hurt us.” Nelson continued to talk soothingly. “Not sure why it’s here, so close to the house. Probably hungry and not a good forager yet—” At that moment, a dog began howling. The bear turned toward them and broke into a lumbering run.

Nelson and Samuel both grabbed for Kimberly. They scrambled out of the way just as the bear scrambled past. A moment later, an enormous bloodhound, its tongue lolling, came by. It looked at them and wagged its tail, then ran off after the bear.

“Let’s go.” Nelson herded them quickly on their way.

Adrenaline coursed through Samuel’s veins. He glanced at the deserted path behind them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.