Defending Hearts Read Online Free Page B

Gram and Alex make small talk about the cuisine in various places where he’d traveled.
    Gretchen had never heard of half the places, but it sounded like he led a pretty exciting life. She wasn’t sure why he’d want to take pictures of the Eagles practicing when he’d documented protests outside the Sudanese embassy for a big magazine, but it wasn’t really her business as long as he paid his rent.
    “What made you come back to Stewart Mills?” Gram asked, clearly not too worried about what was and what wasn’t their business.
    “I was a little burned out from the travel,” Alex said. Gretchen looked up from her plate in time to see him give a casual shrug, despite the fact that his expression was slightly more introspective. “When I was here for Eagles Fest, I really felt like I was connecting again. With . . . I don’t know. With people. With my hometown. I have an apartment in Providence, but it’s mostly a place to keep my stuff and sleep once in a while. I was on an assignment and I was tired, and it seemed like a great idea to come back and try to recapture how I felt during the fund-raiser.”
    “And you think doing a story about the town will make you some money while you’re here?” Gram asked.
    “I hope so. It’s not just about the money, though. I was looking through the Eagles Fest photos before I made the decision to come back, and the emotion in them spoke to me. The story seemed unfinished, so I’m here to finish it.”
    Gretchen stopped herself from snorting at
It’s not justabout the money
and scraped up the last of the scalloped potatoes on her plate. In her experience, people who said that had money to burn, and disposable income certainly wasn’t something she’d ever experienced.
    She really hoped her grandmother wouldn’t take that as an opening to ask nosy questions about his finances. Not directly, of course, but in that friendly and curious way small-town folks had when it came to interrogating people.
    But Gram was distracted by Alex’s almost empty plate. “There’s plenty enough for seconds, Alex. Just help yourself.”
    He made a show of patting his very flat stomach. “One’s plenty, Ida. I don’t want to have to buy new pants while I’m here.”
    Gretchen didn’t think he was in any danger of an expanding waistline anytime soon. He was tall and a big guy in general, but very fit. Of course, she wasn’t the one currently running her palm over his abdomen, but from where she was sitting, it all looked good. Really,
really
good.
    Gram made a clucking sound with her tongue. “You need a wife to fix you good home-cooked meals.”
    Alex froze just as his lips closed over his fork, and Gretchen might have laughed at his expression if she wasn’t expending all of her energy to keep herself from kicking her grandmother under the table. As soon as she got a minute alone with Gram, they were going to have to have a talk about boundaries.
    After taking his time chewing and swallowing his food, Alex just plastered a polite smile on his face. “Maybe someday I’ll try marriage again, but not anytime soon.”
    Gretchen almost groaned aloud. If he didn’t want toshare his whole life story over meals, he’d have to learn not to open the door like that.
    “You’ve been married before?” Gram asked, and this time Gretchen did kick her under the table, though gently. It was more of a nudge, really.
    “I was, but my traveling turned out to be more of an issue than we thought it would, and eventually we just went our separate ways.”
    “Ah.” Gram nodded. “Sounds very amicable.”
    Alex nodded, but there was something about the set of his jaw that made Gretchen think it hadn’t been as amicable at the time as he made it sound.
    He set his fork across his empty plate and wiped his mouth on his napkin. “If you don’t mind, I’d love to take some pictures of the farm. Maybe follow you both around a little bit.”
    Gretchen frowned. “I thought you wanted to