Stay... by Allison Leigh

Author:Allison Leigh [Leigh, Allison]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General, Historical
ISBN: 9781459281547
Google: WDKTMYzJH-8C
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2011-10-22T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Emily woke well before dawn. She pulled off her shoes and slipped out of her clothes then climbed under the blankets again for a few more minutes of sleep.

The few minutes stretched into a few hours. When she finally pushed the pillow off her head and looked around her, she knew the house was empty. Her face split in a yawn as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. Outside her window a dog barked. An engine rumbled to life.

After a hasty wash and a tug or two with the brush, she pulled on a loose pair of shorts she’d made long ago by cutting the legs off an old pair of sweatpants. She added a sport bra and a muscle-T and with socks and running shoes in hand, headed downstairs.

She was standing in the mudroom, stretching her calf muscles, when the phone rang. She went into the kitchen and picked up the phone, but someone else had already answered on another extension. Maggie, she realized and hastily, quietly, hung up before she could overhear anymore of the softly hissed, angry conversation between Maggie and the caller. Joe. Emily returned to her stretching. When she felt loosened up, she headed down the porch and jogged past the barns and the bunkhouse, slowing ever so slightly as she heard the heated voice coming from within. Seemed like everyone was arguing these days. And judging from the clearly audible one-sided phone conversation that was obviously continuing, even Maggie and Joe were.

Turning a deaf ear, Emily picked up speed and returned the way she came, heading instead in the direction of the swimming hole. She hadn’t planned on going that direction. In her mind the spot was too closely linked with Jefferson. So she kept her eyes on the ground in front of her as she thumped past the trees and bushes. Eventually, winded and sweaty, she turned and headed back. But this time her eyes wouldn’t stay in front of her and she found herself crunching through the fallen leaves and twigs to the edge of the water.

Stretching, she lifted her clinging hair off her neck and eyed the water. Yesterday, it had been freezing. But she hadn’t been drenched in sweat, either. If she had more nerve, she would strip off and dive in. After a mental shrug, she pulled off the loose T-shirt and contented herself with dunking it in the cold water and pulling it over her head. It served the purpose of cooling her down, and she began walking back to the house.

Tristan was in the kitchen, the phone at his ear, and when he saw her, he held it toward her. “Stuart,” he told her.

Emily pondered the receiver. She didn’t really want to talk to Stuart. He wanted a decision from her regarding her job, and she didn’t want to give it to him. Taking the receiver from Tristan, she covered it with her hand. “Too bad I wasn’t a few minutes later.

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.