What The Heart Finds (4 page)

“Well,” she
said, instead, attempting a cool smile. “It’s lucky
everything here is in walking distance,” she said, moving away
from him. “At least I don’t have to be stranded with
you.”

Eric laughed, spreading
his arms out as she kept backing away. “Awe, but baby… I
would make it so worth it.”

Lena shook her head,
turning her back on him and walking quickly away.

--

It had been ages since
someone new came into town. Eric sat down in his office, propping his
feet on top of the mounds of paperwork on his desk. Stars Landing
wasn’t exactly the kind of place people thought of when they
wanted to go on vacation. They got the occasional inn enthusiasts,
and out of town relatives to townspeople… but never someone
just there to spend a few days in a small town.

There hadn’t really
been a new face around since Annabelle, Eric realized, closing his
eyes and pushing the thought away.

And of course the first
eligible, attractive woman to cross his path in months was some big
city broad, all sharp edges and pretentiousness. Eric sighed, running
a hand across his forehead. She might be a royal pain in the ass, but
he would really enjoy knocking her off her high horse.

Besides, he had never
been the kind of man to back down from a challenge.

And she was gorgeous in
her cool, guarded way. Her white-blonde hair looked like it was long,
despite being mercilessly pulled into a tight bun. She had one of
those faces: pretty because it had perfect, fine-boned femininity.
Her eyes were ever changing, jumping from green to brown depending on
the light. Or her mood. Which generally seemed to lean toward serious
and impatient. Like she had a million other more important matters to
attend to. He wondered fleetingly if that was actually the case, or
if she just used it as a front to keep people at a distance.

Her with her personal
space, he smiled, rolling his eyes.

She was going to be stuck
there for at least two weeks. He would wear down all those defenses
and see what was lying underneath. A woman that tightly coiled had to
be a powerful force of passion underneath. And he would be all too
happy to help her explore that side of herself.
He doubted any
man had ever been up to the job before.

Four

She woke up the next
morning feeling over-heated and frustrated. She hadn’t been
able to get any kind information the night before. She had gotten
back too late in the afternoon for a tour, Emily suddenly nowhere in
sight. Her replacement, a younger man with horn-rimmed glasses and a
charming face stayed at reception, casually thumbing through
something on his phone. There was no way she was going to be able to
get into the computers.

Dinner had been
uneventful. The food simple, but good. Nothing interesting to report
back to EM.

She went back up to her
room feeling restless with nowhere to direct her energy. It hadn’t
quite occurred to her much before just how much of her life was spent
at work. She was always there before anyone else and usually left
after everyone, including EM himself. There was always something to
be done. A project to tweak. Mail to answer. Even when she went home,
she would sit with her laptop open, going over spreadsheets or
businesses plants. In an attempt to make herself indispensable to the
company. In an effort to prove her worth.

It had left very little
personal time. She didn’t have any friends outside of work. And
she hadn’t had a serious relationship in more years than she
cared to consider. She couldn’t even quite remember the last
time she had a real date. Aside from the man she had dragged to a
business gathering at EM’s house where she spent most of her
time hobnobbing with important people and abandoning him. She wasn’t
actually quite sure how he even got back home that night.

Lena shook her head. It
felt wrong for her to have nothing to do. She wasn’t the kind
of woman who could just… relax. What did that even entail?
Reading a book? Watching hours of mindless television? Going to some
kind of spa and getting pampered?

She tried to comfort
herself with the notion that one day, when she finally had a stable,
good paying job, that she could actually take off on her weekends…
go places. See things. Get some kind of life.

But that wasn’t
important. What was important was becoming successful. Being stable.
Not ever having to worry about money again.

She thought back suddenly
to her mother, sitting at the card table that they used for dining,
bills spread across the surface. She had her arms on the table, her
head laying on them and sobbing. Because the rent was already a week
late and the electric company was going to cut the lights off in
three days. And the debt collectors were calling every five minutes,
the phone in the living room letting out a shrill cry that made her
mother jump and look over at it with dread-filled eyes.

Lena stood up, scrubbing
her eyes with the palms of her hands. It didn’t do any good to
dwell in the past. She had been doing everything in her power to put
distance between that helpless little kid and the woman she was now.
She didn’t have to worry about bills. She made sure they were
on a strict schedule, sitting down every Tuesday to pay the ones she
had planned for that week. There were no late payment fines. No
collectors hounding her day and night. She had it all worked out.

Except when a wrench got
thrown in the works, she reminded herself with a sigh. An engine
rebuild was going to set her back in more ways than she cared to
consider. If she put it on her credit card, she would accrue untold
amounts of interest before she paid it off. Besides, that wasn’t
an option seeing as she was trying to keep her business affiliation
secret in the town. So her only option was to take the money out of
her savings. Which was going to take months to replace.

But, she reminded
herself, grabbing her purse, it was the only choice. And she was just
going to have to live with that.

The town was almost
eerily quiet. The stores were all dark, despite it only being a
little after ten in the morning. There were hand written signs on the
door announcing a late opening because of the tasting at Sam Flynn’s
farm, along with directions to where it was.

Lena felt a sudden jolt
of disappointment. At being the odd man out. Of missing out on
something. Which was absurd seeing as it was just a silly little
tasting event.

“Girl, I’ve
been looking everywhere for you,” Maude’s voice called,
sounding a bit out of breath. Lena turned, watching the woman quickly
coming up the sidewalk. “Whoosh,” she said, holding her
chest. “you walk too fast. Come on,” she said motioning
for Lena to follow her.

“Come where?”
Lena asked, her brows drawing together.

“To Sam’s,”
Maude said as if that should have been obvious. “I know you’re
having a bit of car trouble so I figure I’ll take ya. No reason
you should be missing out, you know?”

Lena had a split second
of doubt, her instinctual distrust of strangers rearing up before she
pushed it away. Maude seemed harmless. Maternal almost. “Right.
That would be great. Thank you,” she said, offering her first
genuine smile in days.

Sam Flynn’s farm
was situated on the very outskirts of town, past another small farm
with a small square house. His farm was situated on a massive piece
of land. A large white colonial met them as they parked…
across the road, completely blocking it.

Maude got slowly out of
the car, linking her arm with Lena’s in a familiar way. She led
her around the back of the house where on a large wooden porch was a
DJ playing loud, chart topping hits.

She didn’t quite
know what she had been expecting. Maybe a few tables set up with
various cheeses to sample. She certainly hadn’t been expecting
what was equivalent to a small town fair. There were games set up:
dunking booth, shooting games, fishing games, whack-a-mole type
games. Empty save for a few children too young for school age.

“It’s a bit
slow now,” Maude supplied, taking in the group of adult
residents. “Once the school lets out, this place will be
swamped.”

There was half a dozen
baby goats set up in a temporary pen, jumping around happily behind a
sign that said “Pet A Billy”.

Further off to one side
were four long catering tables with elegant white cloths. Various
cheeses were set up on immaculate butcher blocks next to piles of
crackers and fruit. But the way it was situated almost implied it was
just an afterthought, not the main attraction.

“This is quite the
event,” she remarked, wincing at the formality of her tone.

“Oh all the town
events are. We know how to go all out,” she said, winking at
her as she led her toward a small group of people. “Sam, you
handsome devil,” she called to the group as they got closer.
“come meet my new friend.”

Sam turned around, an
easy, lopsided grin spreading across his face. He was all charm, six
feet of warmth and shaggy blonde hair. He had on casual blue jeans
and a red and white flannel shirt open in the front. Lena
self-consciously looked down at her slack and stiff starched white
peplum blouse. She was sticking out like a sore thumb in this place.

“Hey how are you?”
he said, coming up and reaching for her hand. “Welcome to Stars
Landing Miss…”

“Edwards,”
she supplied, smiling. “But please call me Lena.”

“Lena,” he
repeated, his smile still in place. “I’m Sam.”

“You have a lovely
home,” she remarked, always quick with formal small talk.

“Thank you,”
he said, sounding genuinely pleased at the compliment. “I know
it is slow right now but please… wander around, eat some food.
Have a good time. People will start showing up soon.”

Maude excused herself a
moment later, moving to talk to a gorgeous middle aged man and who
looked to be the town sheriff.

Lena wandered around
aimlessly for a while, looking at the games, the bobbing for apples
barrel, the baby goats. She followed the colorful flags that lead in
and through the barn. She walked out the back of the breezeway doors
and froze.

Because there, standing
next to a tractor that was pulled open at the sides, revealing it’s
inner workings… was Eric O’reilly.

She tried to retreat,
stepping back silently on the concrete floor. But the movement must
have caught his eye and he turned, a big sly grin creeping across his
face.

“Well you certainly
didn’t walk all the way here,” he said, standing up
straight, looking too good in blue jeans and a tight black t-shirt.
“What’s the matter, baby, cant stay away from me after
all?”

“Sorry I cant
stroke your ego,” she said, wondering why she was even engaging
with him. “I’m here for the little fair.”

Eric chuckled, a deep
throaty sound that made her uneasy. “Baby, it’s not my
ego I want you to stroke.”

“Seriously,”
Lena burst out. “what is wrong with you? Who ever taught you it
was okay to speak to women like…”

“Hey Eric,” a
female voice broke in, all honey. “Being your usual charming
self, I see,” she said, walking up and handing him a lemonade
with mint leaves in it.

She was lovely in all her
delicate, bird-like build. Her velvet brown hair fell straight to her
elbows around her sweet, open face dominated by large green eyes.
“Hi, I’m Anna,” she said, smiling genuinely.

Eric was looking down at
Anna, a look of reverence in his eyes, almost painful in it’s
intensity. “I’m Lena,” she said, smiling back.

“Eric,” she
said, turning back to him. “Maude would like to speak with
you,” she said, the words heavy with some unknown meaning. He
walked past Lena, so close his shoulder brushed hers. He looked down
at her and winked. “Maude is the town psychic,” Anna
informed her, watching Eric’s retreating form. “Eric has
been her little pet project for the past few years.”

“She has a long way
to go I’m afraid,” Lena said, shaking her head.

Anna’s face
softened a bit. “I know he seems like a real tool at first
meeting…”

“And second. And
third,” Lena agreed.

Anna laughed, the sound
airy and musical. “He has an awful reputation with women…”

“Are you going to
try to tell me it isn’t true… because… just look
at the man.”

“Oh no,” Anna
said, grinning. “it is all true. But he’s not a bad man.
I actually dated him briefly before I got serious with Sam.”

“Oh,” Lena
said, realization hitting her. “you’re Annabelle Goode.
With the amazing soap.”

“Yes, that’s
me,” she agreed, standing up straighter. “I’m glad
you like them.”

“So tell me,”
Lena said, moving to stand next to Anna by the tractor. “how
does someone date Sam and Eric simultaneously? They’re so…”

“Different,”
Anna finished, shrugging. “I was new in town. Sam was my next
door neighbor. And Eric was… well… he was Eric,”
she said with a wicked glint in her eyes.

“Alright. You got
my attention,” Lena said, feeling an attachment to the woman
she had just met.