Read Online Learning to Fall by Jillian Eaton - Free Book Online Page A

said automatically. I’d gone to California once on a student exchange and had disliked nearly every minute of it. The slow pace wasn’t for me and there had been an abundance of people. 
    “Can’t argue with that.” John pointed to a small deli across the street. A hand-painted sign hung from the front window proclaiming they had the ‘best lobster rolls in the state’. “Think I’m going to grab a quick bite to eat before heading home. Care to join me?”
    “I would, but I really do have a lot of work to do.” Seeing the corners of John’s mouth tighten, I quickly added, “But maybe next time. I still haven’t had a Maine lobster roll.”
    “Next time then. See you tomorrow, Imogen.”
    “See you tomorrow,” I echoed. “Thank you again for the coffee.”
    He lifted an arm above his head as he crossed the street. “Don’t mention it!”
    We went in opposite directions, John to the deli and me back to the college where Roo was still parked. Plagued by the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, I looked over my shoulder… and caught Maddy staring at me through the coffee shop window, her blue eyes filled with contempt.

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
    Poppy’s
     
     
     
    The scent of damp soil and autumn leaves filled my nostrils as I jogged out of the house and turned right, following the sidewalk that led away from town. My sneakers slapped against the concrete in time with my breaths as I settled into an easy rhythm, arms swinging loosely at my sides.
    After completing my first official week as a professor, this was exactly what I needed.
    I’d never been a competitive runner - even though my high school cross country team had tried to recruit me on more than one occasion - but I did enjoy it. Besides curling up with a book (historical romance set in the time of Jane Austen and Mary Shelley was my own special brand of catnip), running was the only way I could turn my mind off and forget, at least for a little while, the papers I needed to grade and the syllabi I needed to write and the stack of non-fiction books I needed to read. Unfortunately I was often too busy to jog after class, but on the weekends, particularly in the mornings, I always tried to get in a few miles.
    Stretching my stride out, I pushed a little harder than normal, sneakers blurring in a streak of orange and white as I left the village behind and headed out into the country, exchanging asphalt for dirt as I veered left onto a dead end road. No one ever came out this way. At least not this early in the morning.
    Barbed wire, rusted brown with age, held in dozens of black and white cows on either side of the road. A few looked up as I jogged past, their dark brown eyes following me before they swished their ropey tails and resumed grazing, completely unimpressed with my exercise regime. For the fifth time - or was it the sixth? - I made a mental note to bring a bag of apples on my next run.  I didn’t know if cows ate apples, but I did know I wanted to try to make friends with the homely looking beasts and from everything I’d witnessed so far (mostly that they never stopped eating) it seemed food would be the quickest way to win their affection.
    I’d always wanted a pet growing up, but a relentless schedule coupled with a mother who was allergic to dander had made it impossible. I was weighing the pros and cons of going to the shelter and adopting a well behaved, mature cat. I hadn’t mentioned anything to Whitney yet, but I didn’t think she would mind as long as she didn’t have to clean up after it.
    Slowing to a walk as I reached the end of the fence line, I pulled my arm up behind my head in a long, slow stretch as my mind methodically sorted through the why’s and why not’s of feline ownership.
    Of all the household pets I’d researched, cats were the most self-sufficient. They didn’t require the attention or the exercise of a dog. They were quiet, well groomed, and I’d read countless studies that showed