Read Online Welcome Back to Apple Grove by C.H. Admirand - Free Book Online
Authors: C.H. Admirand
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yeah. Right behind you.”
He sprinted to catch up. Joe and Grace were already in the barn, walking toward the back. “I was sure I’d left it here,” Joe was saying while he and Grace poked through piles of what looked like car parts to him.
“Are you looking for the grill?” Grace asked. “I thought you kept it on the other side of the barn, by the building supplies.”
Joe looked up when Pat entered the barn. “I used to keep it there, but it seemed easier to store it here.”
Grace was shaking her head and looking behind crates stacked along one wall. “I didn’t think you’d want anyone coming this close to the Model A now that it’s been restored.”
“I don’t,” Joe answered. “See that you don’t bump into it.”
“Yes, Pop.” Grace moved further along the wall.
“Joe?” Dan called from the doorway. “Cait’s on the phone for you.”
“Coming.” Joe hesitated and stared from Patrick to Grace and back again. “You two keep looking. This call might take a while.”
And that’s when Patrick knew he was being reeled in and set up, but Grace wasn’t going along with her father’s plans. “Oh, can I talk to her first? I just have a quick question for her—”
Joe was already halfway to the door. “She’ll be over later. You can talk to her then.”
“But I—” Grace began, but when her father passed by the tarp-covered antique car he and her brother-in-law had lovingly restored and kept going, she whirled around and glared at Pat. “What’s going on here?”
He held his hands up and struggled not to smile. “I have no idea.”
She stalked toward him and drilled her finger into the middle of his chest. “You’re lying.”
He clenched his jaw and tamped down the instinctive reaction those words always caused—like a match to a stick of dynamite—but he refused to lose his temper with her. “I don’t lie.”
Her face paled and her hand dropped to her side. “I’m sorry, Patrick—it’s just that I’ve been…” Her words trailed off and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what she’d been about to say. Someone had lied to Grace, someone important enough to have hurt her.
The need to pound the living daylights out of whoever had left such a deep mark on Grace filled him. It was a struggle to keep silent, but he sensed that his reaction to her words was important.
He wanted to reach out and touch her but shoved his hands into his pockets instead. “There are usually two reasons people lie.”
Grace’s eyes filled. “There’s never a reason to lie.”
He took his hands out of his pockets and clenched them at his sides. He almost lost the battle against his will not to touch her—yet.
She wiped the tears with the backs of her hands and lifted her chin, daring him to contradict her.
He eased a half step closer, all the while watching her expressive eyes. “In my experience,” he said slowly, “people lie because they are afraid to tell the truth for fear of hurting someone’s feelings.”
He pressed a finger to her lips and felt their trembling in his gut. Need filled him, want nearly had him on his knees, begging. He felt his throat constrict as desire for Grace slashed through him. Strengthening his resolve, he said, “And they lie because they don’t care enough to tell someone the truth.”
His mother had been right when she’d told him that the eyes were the windows to the soul. He saw so much in the grass-green eyes watching him. A long-ago hurt she struggled with—from her childhood when she’d lost her mother or more recent than that? Had the guy she’d brought to Meg and Dan’s the last time he’d seen her done something to hurt her?
A tiny spark of hope flickered in the depths of her eyes. He moved to close the gap between them. He wrapped his arms around her and fought not to groan aloud as her soft curves fit against him. Did fate and destiny have more in mind for him now that he’d stopped running from his past?
He sprinted to catch up. Joe and Grace were already in the barn, walking toward the back. “I was sure I’d left it here,” Joe was saying while he and Grace poked through piles of what looked like car parts to him.
“Are you looking for the grill?” Grace asked. “I thought you kept it on the other side of the barn, by the building supplies.”
Joe looked up when Pat entered the barn. “I used to keep it there, but it seemed easier to store it here.”
Grace was shaking her head and looking behind crates stacked along one wall. “I didn’t think you’d want anyone coming this close to the Model A now that it’s been restored.”
“I don’t,” Joe answered. “See that you don’t bump into it.”
“Yes, Pop.” Grace moved further along the wall.
“Joe?” Dan called from the doorway. “Cait’s on the phone for you.”
“Coming.” Joe hesitated and stared from Patrick to Grace and back again. “You two keep looking. This call might take a while.”
And that’s when Patrick knew he was being reeled in and set up, but Grace wasn’t going along with her father’s plans. “Oh, can I talk to her first? I just have a quick question for her—”
Joe was already halfway to the door. “She’ll be over later. You can talk to her then.”
“But I—” Grace began, but when her father passed by the tarp-covered antique car he and her brother-in-law had lovingly restored and kept going, she whirled around and glared at Pat. “What’s going on here?”
He held his hands up and struggled not to smile. “I have no idea.”
She stalked toward him and drilled her finger into the middle of his chest. “You’re lying.”
He clenched his jaw and tamped down the instinctive reaction those words always caused—like a match to a stick of dynamite—but he refused to lose his temper with her. “I don’t lie.”
Her face paled and her hand dropped to her side. “I’m sorry, Patrick—it’s just that I’ve been…” Her words trailed off and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what she’d been about to say. Someone had lied to Grace, someone important enough to have hurt her.
The need to pound the living daylights out of whoever had left such a deep mark on Grace filled him. It was a struggle to keep silent, but he sensed that his reaction to her words was important.
He wanted to reach out and touch her but shoved his hands into his pockets instead. “There are usually two reasons people lie.”
Grace’s eyes filled. “There’s never a reason to lie.”
He took his hands out of his pockets and clenched them at his sides. He almost lost the battle against his will not to touch her—yet.
She wiped the tears with the backs of her hands and lifted her chin, daring him to contradict her.
He eased a half step closer, all the while watching her expressive eyes. “In my experience,” he said slowly, “people lie because they are afraid to tell the truth for fear of hurting someone’s feelings.”
He pressed a finger to her lips and felt their trembling in his gut. Need filled him, want nearly had him on his knees, begging. He felt his throat constrict as desire for Grace slashed through him. Strengthening his resolve, he said, “And they lie because they don’t care enough to tell someone the truth.”
His mother had been right when she’d told him that the eyes were the windows to the soul. He saw so much in the grass-green eyes watching him. A long-ago hurt she struggled with—from her childhood when she’d lost her mother or more recent than that? Had the guy she’d brought to Meg and Dan’s the last time he’d seen her done something to hurt her?
A tiny spark of hope flickered in the depths of her eyes. He moved to close the gap between them. He wrapped his arms around her and fought not to groan aloud as her soft curves fit against him. Did fate and destiny have more in mind for him now that he’d stopped running from his past?
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