Read Online No Place Like Home by Debra Clopton - Free Book Online Page B

It works great. Smells a little strong.” He made a face, crinkling up his nose and lifting his eyebrows.
    Dottie laughed, and slapped his shoulder with the dishrag from hers. “I think I’d better get you a piece of candy before I make you leave.”
    â€œLeave?”
    â€œYes, for misbehaving.” She pried the top off of alarge candy tin and removed two pieces of chocolate with a napkin and placed them in front of him.
    â€œYou know, you might not ever get rid of me if I like this. I’ve heard rumors that it’s unbelievable.”
    She smiled warmly, relaxing somewhat. “Then I guess I’m stuck with you because it is very unbelievable.”
    He laughed loudly and looked at her in disbelief. “Kinda full of yourself, are you?”
    It dawned on her how her statement would have sounded to him and she blushed. “No! Not at all,” she gasped, smiling despite her embarrassment. “The praise goes to my grandmother. This is her recipe passed down with careful training. That tiny piece of candy you’re holding has won every blue ribbon it could possibly win at every county fair within ten counties of my hometown, not to mention all the state fairs it’s won.”
    â€œIs that so.” He turned the cluster over and studied it, his expression perplexed. “Exactly how old is this particular piece of candy?”
    Dottie rolled her eyes, tempted to pop him with the towel again. “Anybody ever tell you that you’re a wise guy?”
    â€œYou’d be the first.”
    â€œI don’t believe that for a second. Wise guy.”
    Dottie was a breath of fresh air and he was a crazy man! Brady watched the way expressions played across her face and he was incapable of not teasing her. She’d been on his mind all night, good thoughts. One look at her this morning, with her sparkling eyes and soft smile,had him wondering how he’d even entertained darker thoughts about her.
    Teasing her came naturally. It achieved a reaction that he liked…the way her eyes twinkled when she caught on that he was pulling her leg. He liked the way she adapted to the teasing. He kept remembering the look on her face when Stanley played the April Fools’ joke on Applegate. She’d been so sure the two were really fighting. It had been priceless.
    He took a bite of the candy. First the chocolate, then the caramel, so thick and rich, melted in his mouth. It was superb. “Okay, so how much for about twenty pounds of this stuff?”
    â€œFind out about Cassie, and twenty pounds of candy is yours for free.”
    He swallowed the candy and studied the scene outside the window. Jake and Cassie were helping Esther Mae and Hank Wilcox get the inflatable play gym set up. The rest of the crowd had moved to other duties in preparation for the weekend. As he watched, Cassie placed her hand on Jake’s arm and smiled up at the young cowboy, who responded with a smile that made him resemble a lovesick puppy.
    â€œI’m expecting a fax from Austin. There was a report filed yesterday about a missing nineteen-year-old. She’s been missing for four days.”
    Dottie’s expression saddened. “I just don’t get it. What would make a kid like Cassie leave her home?” Twisting the dishrag with both hands, she sat downcarefully across the table from him and watched the kids through the window. “She’s a great kid—young woman. I mean, at first I thought she was going to be a pain, but I think that was just her fear of being picked up by the wrong person on the highway. I mean, she was fascinating, the way she talked about Mule Hollow all the way here. She adores this place, but surely the girl didn’t run away from home just to find a husband. Look at her. She’s as cute and fresh as they come.”
    â€œHey…Dottie…” Brady reached and covered her increasingly agitated hands with his. Immediately she ceased