Read Online Straddling the Fence by Annie Evans - Free Book Online Page B

ring
again.”
    Kai slapped her left hand down on the table. The afternoon
sunshine streaming through the front window of the store landed like a
spotlight on the ring, sending refractions of color streaming off the stones,
creating a miniature disco ball. Set in platinum, a fat oval-shaped emerald was
the center attraction, surrounded by smaller diamonds trickling down to line
the band around her finger.
    “It’s gorgeous.”
    “And naturally, it had to have at least one green stone to
satisfy Fritz. I think if he could’ve found something in corn colors he
would’ve bought it.”
    “There are yellow diamonds, you know.”
    “But yellow diamonds paired with emeralds?” She scrunched
her nose. “Not my style.”
    “Then he chose well.”
    “He chose very well.” Kai stared happily at the ring for a
few more seconds. “So, what did you think of the samples?”
    Bellamy straightened from her chair. “I’ll take one of each,
please.”
    Kai beamed, clapping her hands. “I love customers like you.
Browse until I get you ready to go.”
    While Kai wrapped each item in red-and-white checked tissue
paper, Bellamy meandered around Homegrown, perusing the fresh seasonal produce,
artisan crafts, and other items she hadn’t noticed on previous visits. “Oh, I’m
almost out of honey too.”
    “With the comb or without?”
    “With. I eat it on toast.”
    “Got it,” Kai said, grabbing a jar off a shelf.
    “Seems rather quiet in here for a Friday afternoon.”
    “The kids are trick-or-treating tonight in town, so I’m sure
folks are at home getting ready for that screaming sugar-fest. The elementary
school and some of the local churches hold fall festivals to coincide with
Halloween as well.”
    Bellamy picked up a handmade carving board, running her
fingers across the smooth surface. The piece was done in alternating strips of
light and dark wood, with curving handles on each end. It was pretty enough to
do double duty as kitchen art in addition to being functional. The price tag
made her eyebrows climb her forehead, so she carefully placed it back on the
shelf.
    “I almost forgot this weekend is Halloween. I should carve a
pumpkin or something fun,” Bellamy mused aloud. “Although no one would see it
but me since the house sits so far back off the road.”
    “You shouldn’t let that stop you, and I just happen to have
a few pumpkins left out front. I’ll even toss in a couple beeswax votive
candles for the inside once you get it carved.”
    “Jesus, girlfriend. You’re really good at this retail stuff.
But yes, I’ll take a pumpkin.”
    Kai just laughed and added it to the tab.
    When Bellamy stepped over to the counter to pay for her
purchases, a painting on the wall behind Kai’s head caught her eye. Done in
oils or acrylics on canvas and framed in what looked to be old barn wood, it
was of a paint horse grazing in a field near a small pond. The detailing was so
precise, she could see the delineation in the muscles of the animal’s shoulder
and hip. Trees and wildflowers dotted the landscape surrounding the beautiful
animal. Wispy clouds drifting through a bright blue sky were reflected on the
surface of the water.
    The paint’s markings were primarily sorrel, with splashes of
white across its barrel and neck, with more white from its knees down to its
hooves. The head was mostly dark with a blaze of white between the eyes and
ears. A tobiano pattern, if her memory served.
    Looking at it made Bellamy’s heart squeeze. She’d always had
a soft spot for paint horses, and sadly, since she’d taken over her uncle’s
practice, she had yet to receive a single equine call. For Pete’s sake, didn’t
anyone in or around Serenity own a horse?
    Kai stopped placing items in a bag, her gaze swinging from
Bellamy’s upturned face to the painting on the wall. “Pretty, huh?”
    “It’s amazing. I’m assuming it was done by a local artist.”
    “I only carry local, so yes.”
    “He or she is certainly