A Need to Protect by Susanne Dietze

Author:Susanne Dietze
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-01-26T16:29:06+00:00

Chapter Ten

By early afternoon the next day, Clementine wished she’d worn different shoes for the second day of the festival.

Sure, her turquoise boots were her favorite, complementing her best jeans, white button-down blouse and colorful beaded necklace. But after running around last night with the kids and spending the morning on her feet selling her products at the vendor fair, she wished she’d sneaked a pair of memory-foam slippers into her bag. No one could see her feet behind the table anyway.

Except for Liam, who’d come behind the table to deliver her a hot dog for lunch half an hour ago and hadn’t left. Marigold and Rex had come with him, looking mighty cozy to Clementine, and offered to treat the kids to lunch, followed up by a visit to the art fair. She’d readily agreed, knowing the kids would be happier doing something other than the activity books she’d brought for them.

She was also free to focus on her business, but truth be told, it was a struggle to think about sheep-milk soap with Liam beside her.

His dark gaze flickered down to her feet. “Those turquoise boots are something.”

Right there, it was worth the discomfort of standing in the boots all day.

“Thanks. Yours are...the same as the ones you wear every day.” She laughed.

“Yeah, well, they’re comfortable. I don’t really have any shoes that go with the whole gold rush theme.”

“No 1850s ensembles?” She wolfed down her last bite of hot dog topped with mustard and relish. Liam remembered how she liked them.

“I left them in my closet at the casita,” he teased. “Actually, I think the people who dressed up in period garb look great. Faith and Tom, Gretchen, all those historical guides. I filmed a lot of them this morning for next year’s festival promotion.”

“I’m so glad you could do that. It’ll really make the website pop.” She wiped mustard off her finger with a napkin.

“Hey, guys.” Leah Dean came up to the table, hand in hand with her fiancé, Benton. “I’m in the market for soap.”

“You’ve come to the right place.” Clementine reached across the table to hug her friend. They spent a few minutes chatting while Leah and Benton examined the bars.

“Sweet Clementine. Cute name and I love the citrus scent.” Leah set aside a few bars. “I liked the Magi one you had at Christmas. Frankincense and myrrh. Ooh, this one’s nice, too. Lemongrass. Benton, what do you think?”

Benton sniffed. “I like it. Reminds me of Marigold.”

“Grandma is a huge fan of lemongrass, for sure.” Liam tapped the stack of Patchouli Cedarwood bars. “This one’s my personal favorite, though. One use, and I was convinced Clementine’s soap is better than anything on the market.”

Benton investigated the bar. “I’m sold.”

Grinning, Leah added three of the cedarwood bars to her purchase pile. “Maybe you should hire Liam, Clementine. He’s quite the salesman for Honeysuckle Farms products.”

The idea of Liam staying in town both thrilled and terrified Clementine, but it was silly to even think about. He

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.