Love's First Bloom by Delia Parr

Author:Delia Parr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2010-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty

Time was running out.

Although Farrell had left on the morning stage, Jake knew the man would be back. The only question that remained unanswered was how soon that would be. He did not know what, if anything, the reporter would learn from the Garners while they traveled together to Forked River, but he knew the middle-aged couple well enough now to be certain they would continue to protect Ruth and Lily from the man who posed such a threat to them.

In point of fact, Jake was much more concerned about his relationship with Ruth. She had been cool, if not distant with him at the church picnic, and she had not returned to her garden since then, which made it abundantly clear that he had lost much-needed ground in his attempt to earn her confidence. With the Garners out of town, as well as Lily, he could ill-afford to waste this opportunity to regain Ruth’s trust.

Snorting his frustration, Jake climbed the ladder to the sleeping loft for the last time to see if Ruth was on her way here. When he caught sight of her clomping down the path just beyond the bend, his mind raced with one overwhelming thought: time for the drama to begin!

He slammed the window shutter closed, charged across the loft, and practically slid down the ladder, earning a huge splinter in the palm of his hand for his hastiness. As soon as his feet hit the dirt floor, he ran to the cabin door, unlatched it, and cracked it open before he lay down, flat on his back, at the bottom of the ladder. With his heart pounding, he shut his eyes and took several long, deep breaths to ease the band of anticipation that tightened around his chest. Mentally, he imagined Ruth slowly rounding the bend, her face flushed.

Soon he heard her footsteps approaching the cabin, and he wondered if that pesky turkey was standing guard, as usual.

“Mr. Spencer? Are you home? It’s me. Ruth Malloy. I’ve brought some food for you,” she said and uttered an exclamation of surprise when the door slowly creaked open from the pressure of her knock. “Mr. Spencer?”

A short pause. A rustle of skirts.

“Mr. Spencer!”

“I’m not dead. Just … incapacitated.” He gritted his teeth and moved his arms just enough to prove his point.

A little color erased the pallor on her face, but she pulled the covered pail she was holding with both hands closer to her. “Is it your back again?”

He closed his eyes for a moment for effect and stared at the open rafters overhead when he opened them again. “Yesterday, today, and probably every day I have left to spend in this world,” he grumbled. “Yes, it’s my back. I had the foolish notion that I should try to fix the leaks in the roof during the rainstorm last night, which I actually managed to do. Unfortunately, I was heading back down the ladder a few hours ago after making certain the repairs were still working when my back seized up.

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