Her Small-Town Refuge by Jennifer Slattery

Author:Jennifer Slattery
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-10-29T13:36:58+00:00

Chapter Ten

The next morning, Stephanie hustled to work, anxious to check her voice mail from the night before. Her phone must’ve fallen out of her pocket during her tour of Caden’s property. She hadn’t realized this until she’d gotten into her car. While she’d wanted to go search for it, by then Maddy had been well past her limit.

Thankfully, Caden had offered to find it and bring it to the clinic.

Hopefully, he had. They’d crossed a lot of ground.

What a lovely evening they’d had! Phone loss and all, she was glad she chose not to back out. She was tempted to believe Caden enjoyed their time together just as much.

Was she fooling herself to think that maybe something could develop between them? He was her boss. Obviously, the boss-employee relationship could complicate things.

And if she worked elsewhere, perhaps with the mobile vet?

With all the animosity Caden seemed to hold for Dr. Elkins, something told her that would be a bad idea.

Was she really evaluating job options based on her feelings for Caden? And if so, was that wrong? After all, this situation was nothing like what she’d experienced with John.

Smiling, she reflected on the laughter and conversation that had swirled around the Stoughtons’ dinner table. It reminded her of when she’d joined her third-grade best friend for her family’s Fourth of July celebrations out on her grandparents’ farm. There’d been so many people, so much food and so much joy.

While she adored her mom, having been an only child raised by a single parent who often needed two jobs to pay the bills, many times Stephanie’s home had felt too quiet. Lonely.

She doubted any of the Stoughton kids had ever felt that way.

Her heart warmed as she thought of how sweet Caden had been with Maddy—pushing her on the swing, listening to her chatter about flowers and bugs as if her every word were the most fascinating thing he’d heard all evening.

He’d make a good father.

Why wasn’t he one already, or at least married? Because of his job?

Probably. With how many hours he worked, the man clearly didn’t have time for much else.

Common sense told her to resist her growing attraction.

Only her feelings were more than that. Much more.

She checked her reflection in her rearview mirror, grabbed her things and stepped out of her vehicle. The early-morning air still held that fresh, after-a-midnight-rain scent.

She paused. Her phone! Had it remained outside and gotten drenched? If so, it’d be ruined, and a new one would practically eat her entire paycheck. That wouldn’t be a huge deal, considering she had so few bills, if she knew the Herrons would let her stay longer and she had a full-time job waiting.

She sighed and scanned the parking lot.

Apparently Lisa was late this morning. Odd. Assuming the front doors hadn’t been unlocked, she entered through the back.

“Lisa, is that you?” Caden’s voice drifted down the hall and broke through her mental wrestling.

“No. Stephanie.”

“Oh.”

He sounded disappointed. Had she misinterpreted their evening together? Those moments when it’d

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