Colorado Cabin in the Pines (Peakview series Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

much rest last night.
    A few minutes later, she gave up. She smiled, remembering the feel of Luke’s body against hers. She was too wound up to sleep. She pulled her furry friend closer and buried her face in his soft coat. What was she going to do about Luke Walker? After all, she had a life and a boyfriend in Chicago. Darrell’s face popped up in her mind. Oh my God, what had she done? In her twenty-two years of life she had never cheated on anyone—never even considered it. But now here she was having spent a wonderful night with someone from her past. And the bad part—it didn’t feel wrong. When she awoke to his kiss her world felt right. Right for the first time in four years.
     
    ***
     
    Luke watched her ride away. He turned and walked back into the cabin, picking up his flannel shirt and pulling it on. He grabbed a Coke from the small cooler and headed back out to the porch. He popped the tab as he slid down with his back up against the pine rail. The sun was now fully visible in the eastern sky, casting a warm, red glow over the summer dawn.
    Despite the night he spent with Penny snuggled in his arms, a deep stab of loneliness pierced at his heart. What had he been thinking? This—him and her—wasn’t real. She’d made it clear that her home was in Chicago. Why did she come to him last night? Did she want a summer fling? Well, that wasn’t his thing. He loved her, as he loved her every day since junior high when she found him in the barn. He lost his heart that day and never got it back, even in the four years she’d been gone. What happened last night was his dream come true, but was it hers? He needed to talk to her, find out once and for all if there was anything more than memories between them. Yeah, the physical attraction was definitely still there, but was that all? He needed to find out.
     
    ***
     
    Penny winced. That last step always creaked as you walked into to kitchen.
    “Good morning sweetheart. I didn’t hear you come in last night. Were you enjoying the full moon?”
    Thankful her mom’s back was turned to her, she felt her checks warm with the thought of what she’d done in the moonlight.
    “It was a beautiful night.” She replied as casually as possible. Reaching for the pot, she poured herself a cup of coffee and changed the subject. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
    “I’m headed out to the garden to do some weeding before it gets too hot. Would you care to join me?”
    “I’d love to. The main reason I came home is to spend some quality time with you and Dad.” Had she subconsciously wanted to spend some time with a certain sexy cowboy, too? “I’m afraid once I’m teaching full-time that it’ll be harder to get back here.”
    “We’ll have to make more trips to Chicago to see you then.”
    Penny smiled. Her mom meant it, but her dad was a fish out of water in the big city. Doubting that even her persuasive mother could get him to visit often, her heart clench with sadness. She tried to envision Luke coming to visit. Nope that wasn’t going to happen. She had known better than to invite him to visit her at college, he’d have hated everything about the Windy City, and they’d have ended up fighting. She’d been right to end things when she did. There was no other choice, despite how he made her tingle.
    Penny hooked her arm in her mother’s. “Come on. There are weeds waiting to be destroyed.”
    Working in the dirt with her mom always brought a sense of peace to Penny. She was only two or three years old when Mom first starting letting her come out and help. At that age, she pulled out as many vegetables as weeds, but her mom never got mad or impatient. Mom started with an 8x8 patch of soil outside the back door. Over the years her “little garden” grew to almost an acre. Penny didn’t know anyone with a green thumb like her mom. Everyone loved her fresh veggies and came from all over Peakview County to get her produce when she set up her roadside