Hometown Girl by Courtney Walsh

Author:Courtney Walsh [Walsh, Courtney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542045636
Publisher: Waterfall Press
Published: 2017-09-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Monday morning, the beginning of their fourth week of work, Beth sat in her car in the parking lot of Willow Grove Community Bank, replaying the meeting she’d just had with Linda Dorset, the loan officer she’d been working with for years.

A loan officer who knew her personally as well as professionally—Whitaker Mowers did a lot of business with the bank. Why, then, had Linda chosen now as the time to get stingy?

While a loan was just about the last thing in the world Beth wanted, she’d owed it to herself to at least explore the possibility—only she’d discovered it wasn’t one at all.

Drew had been working at the farm for two full weeks, and he’d done just about everything he could on his own. They’d had a steady stream of volunteers, but he’d politely asked for skilled help. She’d agreed, and as with everything else he did, Drew wasted no time assembling a crew of possible workers, many of whom she knew.

But she had no idea how she would pay them. And no idea how to break it to Molly that while Jerry had given her a loan, Beth couldn’t get another one for the same project. “Too risky,” Linda had said. “We just don’t see it as a good investment.”

Beth’s heart had plummeted as Linda spoke her greatest fears aloud.

To make everything worse, Beth seemed to have been bitten by the frivolous-dreamer bug. (Too much time spent with Molly, perhaps?) Instead of coming up with easier and quicker ways to raise money, she’d become obsessed with the idea of bringing back the Fairwind Market.

She drove to the farm and knocked on the kitchen door, the same way she had every day since Drew had moved in, but when she pushed it open, she found him standing at the refrigerator wearing nothing but a pair of jeans frayed at the bottom.

“Morning.” He pulled a carton of orange juice out and shut the door.

She tried not to notice that his hair was still damp and he smelled clean, like soap. Nothing fussy about this man. He hadn’t even shaved. Probably in a couple of days.

It suited him.

“Morning.” She handed him the coffee. It had become a ritual.

“You know you don’t have to bring me coffee every day.” He set it on the counter. “But thanks.” He picked up a soft gray T-shirt that was draped over one of the kitchen chairs and pulled it over his head, covering his muscular torso and tanned skin.

She was relieved—seeing him shirtless was incredibly distracting.

She set her slouch bag down on one of the kitchen chairs and found her idea notebook lying open on the table. Somehow in the last two weeks, her portfolio had been replaced by an old sketch pad. Somehow in the last two weeks, her usual thoughts had been replaced by daydreams. She’d tried to deny it, but her mother wouldn’t let her.

“I never thought I’d live to see the day when you were researching how to build a chicken coop,” she’d said, reading Beth’s computer screen over her shoulder.

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.