Read Online Almost A Bride (Montana Born Brides) by Sarah Mayberry - Free Book Online

there was always something that needed to be done, and that the growth cycle of the orchard dictated so many aspects of their lives.
    “ I don’t know what you want me to say.”
    “ I want to know that you’re not going to regret it if we sell,” his mother said, her gaze very direct.
    “ I don’t have a simple answer to that question,” he said.
    Because the truth was, he hadn ’t hated helping out this past year. In fact, a lot of the time he’d enjoyed it, working in the outdoors alongside his father. As a teenager, life had been elsewhere. As an adult, he appreciated the fresh air and sunshine, the simple straight forwardness of the work.
    “ I appreciate that, but I told Hank I’d get back to him soon, so we all need to think about this.”
    “ Only because he’s made an offer. In real terms, there’s no reason why you couldn’t hire people in to do some of the work once Dad doesn’t feel up to it anymore,” Reid said.
    “ We could, but it would just be putting off the inevitable.”
    She was right, but it didn ’t stop him from feeling a twinge of angry resentment that she was forcing him—them—to this decision point now, when it wasn’t strictly necessary.
    They walked in silence the rest of the way back to the house.
    “Are you joining us for dinner?” his Mom asked when they reached the point where he needed to peel off toward the barn.
    “ Thanks, but I’ve got something to do,” he said.
    She caught his arm as he turned away. “I know you don’t want to face this, Reid, but it’s not something we can all just ignore. I’m not asking you to make the decision for us, but I am asking you to make it with us.”
    Reid stared after her as she headed into the main house. One thing about his mom, she had always been great at nailing a person to the wall. She always called a spade a spade, and never bullshitted when the truth would do.
    Tara was like that, too. Straight up and honest, even if it was sometimes to her own detriment.
    Reid dumped the ladder against the barn wall, aware that his thoughts had once again drifted to Tara. She’d been in and out his head all week, even though he hadn’t heard from her since she finished her shift on Sunday. Sergeant Crawford had given her two weeks off, and he’d been doing single-car patrols in her absence.
    He ’d missed her, though. She always had something to say, and usually it was funny or interesting or both. He missed her light touch, too. No one was better at defusing a tense situation; there was something about Tara’s calm common sense that kept people grounded, himself included.
    Most of all he missed the sense of having her nearby, and knowing that he had only to turn his head and she ’d be there, ready with a pithy comment or a laugh or a smile.
    Better get used to that. If you get that Klieg job, you ’ll see her once or twice a year, if that.
    And when he did see her, she ’d probably be with some new guy, because it wouldn’t take long for some smart bastard to snap her up. She was gorgeous, she was hot, she was funny and smart.
    Pretty much the perfect woman.
    Jesus. Can you hear yourself? Next thing you know you’ll be writing bad poetry and singing beneath her bedroom window.
    His dad had left the toolbox near the apple press, and he hefted it back to the workbench where it belonged, dusting his hands on the seat of his jeans when he was done.
    It was fruitless to spend too much time brooding over Tara. He ’d made that decision long ago. It wasn’t just that she’d been in a relationship with Simon the entire time he’d known her—although that was definitely a contributing factor. Tara was a Marietta girl, through and through. She loved the town, the people, the weather. She was content here, saw her future here. More importantly, her family were here, too, and they meant the world to her.
    Whereas he ’d had itchy feet ever since he’d opened his first atlas and understood how big the world was.
    Even if she