Read Online Mountain Sanctuary by Lenora Worth - Free Book Online Page B

call you when dinner is ready.”
    She closed her eyes, weariness seeping through her bones. “I guess I might as well. You seem to have everything under control in the kitchen.”
    He nodded. Then he said, “Next time, I’ll ask first, okay?”
    “Okay.” She finished putting away the groceries then headed up the hall to her tiny bedroom. “I’ll just take about fifteen minutes.”
    “Take all the time you need. The longer this simmers, the better it’ll be in the end.”
    Stella took that statement to heart. That was exactly what she was so afraid of—if she let this attraction keep on bubbling and simmering, she might not be able to stop her feelings in the end. And she knew there would be an end.
    There always was.

     
    Stella woke up with a start, surprised to find it full dark outside. How long had she slept? Glancing at the horse-and-carriage clock on her nightstand, she groaned. She’d been asleep over an hour! Jumping out of bed, she straightened her blouse then went into the bathroom to wash her face and comb her hair. Not one to be lazy, she was appalled that she’d taken a nap when she should have been busy with her daily tasks. She was almost out the door, when she turned and rummaged through her scant supply of makeup to find her lip gloss. Only because she looked so haggard, she told herself.
    Or maybe because she wanted to be presentable for Adam Callahan, that voice inside her head responded. Well, couldn’t a woman try to make an effort? She’d been so whipped when they’d gotten home, she hadn’t even bothered combing her hair. Being exhausted was no excuse for ignoring good grooming, after all.
    Her stomach growled with a loud demand as she entered the kitchen. Where was everyone? Then she heard laughter coming from the backyard. Noticing the spaghetti pot still on the stove, she went to the back door and looked out.
    Adam, Kyle and her father were all sitting at the picnic table, eating away. “Another nice picture,” she whispered, thinking Adam Callahan seemed to fit right in around here. Astonished at how that notion dueled inside her brain between being good and being bad, Stella grabbed a plate and slapped a pile of steaming spaghetti onto it, then grabbed a buttered slice of bread to add to the spaghetti. Finding a glass, she poured iced tea, then kicked open the back door and headed out to join her family.
    My family?
    Her mind was sure playing strange tricks on her with all its wishful thinking. I do have a family, she told herself. I have Daddy and Kyle. And that is enough for me. But when she glanced up to find Adam’s eyes on her, she thought adding one more to that list might not be such a bad idea.

     
    He liked the way she moved. Even with a big plate of spaghetti held high in the air in front of her, she was so ethereal, so dainty, that he had to remember to breathe. Stella didn’t seem to cater to the whims of the modern woman. She mostly let her hair either hang in loose, curling waves, or she piled it high up in a ponytail. Her clothes looked like consignment-shop castoffs, but they somehow seemed to suit her artsy side. But her eyes, oh, those eyes always looked so direct, so practical that Adam was awestruck with the paradox that she seemed to be. Maybe the free spirit inside of Stella was at war with the responsible woman she presented to the world.
    And how could a man reconcile the two? he wondered. Or worse, how could she ever reconcile the two enough inside her own soul to become complete?
    “Hey, there,” she said, all smiles in spite of those determined eyes. “Did y’all decide to start the party without me?”
    Kyle nodded. “Papa said to let you rest.”
    “That was mighty considerate of Papa,” Stella replied as she sank down in one of the old wrought iron chairs across from Adam, her gaze flittering with dragonfly precision right over him. “This sure looks good.”
    “It’s great,” Kyle said, tomato sauce all around his mouth as he slurped