Freedom's Treasure Read Online Free Page A

real estate office Anna had visited earlier. Hunter sat in his usual booth and watched her make her way through the maze of tables in the center of the room. She moved with a contained energy he found he wanted to release. She’d be a powerhouse, he was sure.
     
    Her electric blue eyes met his across the room and he felt a jolt in his stomach. He dropped his eyes and they landed on a full lower lip, a stubborn chin and a long, graceful throat. He shifted lightly in his seat, rose when she reached the table and waited for her to sit.
     
    Anna had thought long and hard about what she would say to Hunter when they reached the diner. How do you talk to a man you had seen naked before you knew his name? Every opening line she practiced had a double entendre attached and that was so not where she wanted her mind to go. With those sexy eyes, carelessly disheveled dark hair and, oh my, broad hands, she knew she could be lost before she started. Thankfully, he began.
     
    “So, what brings you to Baldwin, Anna Mylan?” He waved a casual hand and a young girl brought over a pot of coffee, filled their cups and scurried back to the kitchen, blushing the whole way. Hunter could commiserate.
     
    “A change of pace,” she answered shortly, surprised by the husky edge in his whiskey rough voice. He certainly hadn’t sounded like that standing naked in her new living room. She took a deep breath. “Sorry. I should have expected that question. I’m in the process of moving from Grand Rapids. I wanted peace and quiet to write a book.” Some process, she thought, having moved all of her belongings into the cabin already.
     
    “I see. And how did you pick here, of all places? We’re a tiny dot on a medium-sized map,” Hunter idly stirred his coffee and tasted tar he was sure was left over from the lunch rush but he’d take it. Lord knows he’d had worse.
     
    Anna smiled wryly. “You should write for the tourist boards. We used to come here when I was a kid. My parents owned a cabin on a small lake.” She named the lake and he nodded his head.
     
    “Over by the Price place?” he could picture it in his head.
     
    “Does every house have a name? I’ve heard about the Martin place, the Lucas place, and now the Price place.”
     
    “That’s the charm of our town. Everyone knows everyone else. The Martins haven’t actually lived there in about 20 years. There have been three owners since but it will always be the Martin place.”
     
    “And you don’t own that one? But you own my cottage?”
     
    “The family chose to retain ownership and we take care of the rentals for a fee. The last of the Lucas clan died off a while ago but they made a pretty big impact on the town. Half the businesses were started up with money from them. I bought the property about five years ago and we’ve been renting it out since. It has historical significance, don’t you know.” An exact parody of Elisa, Anna laughed. “Technically the A-frame isn’t the Lucas place, it should be the Belvette place.”
     
    “That’s because they took it over for Samuel when he went back South. When he never returned they kept it, right?”
     
    “That’s right. Elisa must have been feeling chatty today,” Hunter shouldn’t have been surprised. Elisa couldn’t help herself. A comfortable silence descended.
     
    “So you’re a landlord and gardener. You buy thoughtful gifts for your mother and you prefer to be clean. Anything else I should know about you, Hunter Williams?” she kept her eyes on him and wondered how she’d write him into her book. Would he be a main character or a secondary character? Perhaps he’d have the elusive clue that would give her heroine the answer to a puzzle. What that puzzle was, she hadn’t quite hammered out yet. 
     
    “Really, doesn’t that say it all? I believe in leaving some mystery. What about you? I know you’re here to write a book. What’s it about?”
     
    Hunter again waved to the waitress and