Read Online Sweet Serenade (Riverbend Romance 3) by Valerie Comer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Valerie Comer
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, series, Spirituality, Religious, Christian, Inspirational, Bachelor, competition, Novella, Faith, Forever Love, Single Woman, River Guide, Riverbend, Canadian Town, Canoe Builder, Bonfire, Water-Sport, Cedar Strip Canoe, Painful Past, Running Rapids, Summertime
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“It’s been nearly a month since we met.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Twenty-six days, to be precise. It seemed like much longer. She’d never been more comfortable around a guy. Well, more comfortable might not be the right term. He also unsettled her like no one else ever had.
On how many of those twenty-six days had they spent the evening together? Wandering the park, taking his canoe out to the lake, or hanging out with the group? Most of them.
Now Carly squeezed through the crowd at the farmers’ market, clinging to Reed’s hand. “There must be eighty vendors here. They’ve got everything.”
He leaned closer so she could hear him. “The Sandon Valley is one of the few pockets of agricultural land in the interior of BC. We do grow practically everything. Haven’t you been to the market here before?”
She shook her head as they found an eddy in the stream of people. “I’ve worked Wednesdays and Saturdays when the market is on, but I didn’t know what I was missing.”
“Nice of Neil to give you Canada Day off, and handy it’s a Wednesday this year.”
She swung Reed’s hand, barely missing the head of a kid dashing by, hot on the trail of who-knew-what. “He’s just too cheap to pay me double time to work on a holiday. We had requests for tours today.” She eyed Reed. “Didn’t you guys?” Sometimes it was weird knowing he worked for the competition. Was the competition.
“My uncle has no trouble saying no. He’s on the committee that organized the Canada Day events.”
“It looks like they kept busy with their planning then. The day’s agenda looks jam-packed.”
“And for that we need sustenance.” Reed winked and grinned.
That dimple. She reached up and slid her finger across the crease of it. The crowd drifted away in a gray fog.
Reed’s intense eyes burned into hers for a long moment and his fingers tightened their grip on hers. Then he blinked and broke the spell. “Yellow Bus has great food. Hungry?”
Carly swallowed hard and looked down. What had just happened there? “Sure. Sounds good.” Even her voice came out a little shaky.
She’d wanted to trace that dimple for the longest time. Probably twenty-six days. Why had she gone and done it here on the edge of a crazy busy farmers’ market, with live music blaring over the crowd’s chatter and a million jumbled aromas swirling past them? Where half the population of Riverbend surged by on their way in or out of pathways lined with white tents tucked beneath tall trees?
“You okay?” Reed’s voice came through a long tunnel.
Barely. She wanted to kiss this man, right here, right now. Crowd notwithstanding. Twenty-six days. He was right, though. They knew each other a lot better than they had, but it was all still so new. Maybe she’d have the rest of her life to kiss him. Now that was a daring thought to have about someone she’d met less than a month ago.
One of Dad’s favorite stories had been how he’d seen Mom sitting across the classroom from him in twelfth grade English Composition. He’d taken in her red hair tied up in a ponytail and her bright happiness with her friends. Then she’d glanced his way and time held still. Right then and there he’d decided this was the girl he was going to marry. Yeah, they’d waited three years out of high school, but he’d known.
Could Carly know Reed was the right man? If her dad’s story was true, she could have known it at the very first bonfire.
“Here’s a spot in the shade, Carly. Sit down and catch your breath. You sure you’re okay?” Reed’s concerned face swam back into view as he slid an arm around her.
She leaned against him. “I’m fine.” I think. “Lunch sounds good. Where’s the Yellow Bus?” She looked around. Duh. Right across the street at the edge of the parking lot sat a bus. It was yellow and had a sign above an open service window. “What do they sell?”
“They serve a variety of sausages from Clark’s Custom Cuts in
Her heart skipped a beat. Twenty-six days, to be precise. It seemed like much longer. She’d never been more comfortable around a guy. Well, more comfortable might not be the right term. He also unsettled her like no one else ever had.
On how many of those twenty-six days had they spent the evening together? Wandering the park, taking his canoe out to the lake, or hanging out with the group? Most of them.
Now Carly squeezed through the crowd at the farmers’ market, clinging to Reed’s hand. “There must be eighty vendors here. They’ve got everything.”
He leaned closer so she could hear him. “The Sandon Valley is one of the few pockets of agricultural land in the interior of BC. We do grow practically everything. Haven’t you been to the market here before?”
She shook her head as they found an eddy in the stream of people. “I’ve worked Wednesdays and Saturdays when the market is on, but I didn’t know what I was missing.”
“Nice of Neil to give you Canada Day off, and handy it’s a Wednesday this year.”
She swung Reed’s hand, barely missing the head of a kid dashing by, hot on the trail of who-knew-what. “He’s just too cheap to pay me double time to work on a holiday. We had requests for tours today.” She eyed Reed. “Didn’t you guys?” Sometimes it was weird knowing he worked for the competition. Was the competition.
“My uncle has no trouble saying no. He’s on the committee that organized the Canada Day events.”
“It looks like they kept busy with their planning then. The day’s agenda looks jam-packed.”
“And for that we need sustenance.” Reed winked and grinned.
That dimple. She reached up and slid her finger across the crease of it. The crowd drifted away in a gray fog.
Reed’s intense eyes burned into hers for a long moment and his fingers tightened their grip on hers. Then he blinked and broke the spell. “Yellow Bus has great food. Hungry?”
Carly swallowed hard and looked down. What had just happened there? “Sure. Sounds good.” Even her voice came out a little shaky.
She’d wanted to trace that dimple for the longest time. Probably twenty-six days. Why had she gone and done it here on the edge of a crazy busy farmers’ market, with live music blaring over the crowd’s chatter and a million jumbled aromas swirling past them? Where half the population of Riverbend surged by on their way in or out of pathways lined with white tents tucked beneath tall trees?
“You okay?” Reed’s voice came through a long tunnel.
Barely. She wanted to kiss this man, right here, right now. Crowd notwithstanding. Twenty-six days. He was right, though. They knew each other a lot better than they had, but it was all still so new. Maybe she’d have the rest of her life to kiss him. Now that was a daring thought to have about someone she’d met less than a month ago.
One of Dad’s favorite stories had been how he’d seen Mom sitting across the classroom from him in twelfth grade English Composition. He’d taken in her red hair tied up in a ponytail and her bright happiness with her friends. Then she’d glanced his way and time held still. Right then and there he’d decided this was the girl he was going to marry. Yeah, they’d waited three years out of high school, but he’d known.
Could Carly know Reed was the right man? If her dad’s story was true, she could have known it at the very first bonfire.
“Here’s a spot in the shade, Carly. Sit down and catch your breath. You sure you’re okay?” Reed’s concerned face swam back into view as he slid an arm around her.
She leaned against him. “I’m fine.” I think. “Lunch sounds good. Where’s the Yellow Bus?” She looked around. Duh. Right across the street at the edge of the parking lot sat a bus. It was yellow and had a sign above an open service window. “What do they sell?”
“They serve a variety of sausages from Clark’s Custom Cuts in
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