Her Pretend Amish Boyfriend by Rachel J. Good

Author:Rachel J. Good [Good, Rachel J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zebra Books
Published: 2023-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Noah ran a hand down Rosie’s neck, and she nosed him to get the apple he’d tucked in his pocket. He’d brought a treat to give her between his two jobs today. Now he’d lost one of them. Would the other soon follow?

He had to get out of the parking lot before Fred discovered him still here. Noah had no doubt Fred would call the police to get rid of a criminal. In fact, knowing his boss, Noah wouldn’t put it past Fred to make up a crime. He could easily accuse Noah of stealing things from the auction.

At least Fred hadn’t overheard Caroline saying Noah had killed a man. He didn’t even want to imagine how Fred would react to that. Right now, though, it would be in Noah’s best interest to get off market property as rapidly as possible.

Still, he didn’t want to rush Rosie. He drew out the apple and held it on his palm. As Rosie snuffled his hand, an ache started in Noah’s gut and spread until it filled his chest and constricted his throat.

“I’m going to miss you.” He choked the words out before the lump in his throat completely blocked off his words.

He’d miss a lot of other things too. The peace and seclusion of the campground. The joy of auctioning items and watching smiles blossom on buyers’ faces when they won. The neutral expressions on people’s faces as they walked by him because nobody knew about his past.

He’d lost that privacy now. Soon the rumors would fly around the market, and everyone would look at him askance the way they had in Fort Plain. If they branded him a murderer, they’d fear him and skitter away. He’d have no future here.

Once again, he’d be on the run, searching for a place to start over again. He had no idea where he’d go. He only knew it would be far from Fort Plain and even farther from Lancaster. That knowledge added to the deep pain inside. When he’d listed all the things he’d miss, he hadn’t focused on his greatest heartbreak. Leaving Caroline.

She represented everything he admired in a woman—generous, caring, strong, capable, courageous, and most of all, completely honest and transparent. Until now, he’d never met any woman who’d touched his heart and soul in this way. Even though he’d cautioned himself he’d be making another major mistake in his life, he’d been drawn to her like a hummingbird to a beautiful flower. When he left the area, he’d be ripping his heart in half. Why had he let himself get entangled with a woman, especially an Amish woman, when they could have no future together?

During his years in jail, he’d learned to erect a concrete wall to seal off his emotions. He tried to do that now, but tiny tendrils of plants snaked through, crumbling his defenses, cracking the solid block, like flowers poking through sidewalks. If he had to label those buds, he’d call them hope and love. And only one person—one special woman—had planted those seeds.

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