Miracle Man Read Online Free

Maybe
watching all of those movies had finally caught up with her. Maybe she was
starting to act like a character in some B-grade romantic comedy. Verbal
showdowns on bridges. Spying on naked men from bushes. Accepting dinner
invitations from strangers, even if he had saved her from the river, and even
if he was her new neighbour, and even if he was incredibly good looking and
scrambled her brain just by looking at her with those amazing eyes. Maybe she
ought to just turn back and say she couldn't come to dinner, she had other
plans for the evening, and be done with it. Well, maybe she would have, but in
her mind she could already see his naked form climbing out of the water, as
slick and shiny as the car he drove, and she knew that to turn back and see
that would not be good, not good at all, because the things she'd already seen
had made her mind and pulse race like they never had before, and the last thing
she needed was a man to complicate her life, just when things were going so
well and she was feeling like she was finally beginning to achieve some of the
things she'd set out to achieve, but here she was and she couldn't go back and
she was supposed to be having dinner with him at seven o'clock and what the
hell did “dress casual” mean anyway, like he expected her to roll up at his
door in an evening gown or something, yeah right!
    Lahra locked the glass
verandah door behind her and went back into the kitchen to get another glass of
water. Her hand trembled slightly as she looked out to the river. Try as she
might, she couldn't see him. Marcus was gone.

TWO
     
    The Doyle River was a wide,
deep waterway that cut jaggedly through the expansive plains of the Charlotte
Valley, originating in the mountains to the east, and fed by the smaller
Severence River (or the Ulonga-Bola River, as the young Lahra Brook had dubbed
it). The two merged at River Fork, where the hills greeted the plains, and
Lahra steered the Jeep past the junction for the second time that day and onto
the main road that led into Riverbank.
    Riverbank was a fifteen
minute drive from the foothills where Lahra's family home was nestled. A large
and growing town that was born during the gold rush and founded on the banks of
the Doyle River, it was now a regional centre of some importance. This was
largely due to the Riverbank Campus of Charlton University. Its influence on
the community ensured the town had a vibrant atmosphere; restaurants, cafés,
clubs, sporting facilities. As the Jeep rounded the campus, Lahra fondly regarded
the buildings in which her parents had lectured. It was a shame she never got
tostudy at Riverbank.

 
    Before long Lahra approached
Main Street, and she tingled with a resurgence of anticipation. She missed the
place even more than she thought. Everything about it. The interesting blend of
Victorian and Art Deco. The grassy strip that ran down the centre of Main
Street. The statues, fountains and pretty park benches. And of course, the
Miracle Cinema.
    As much as Lahra was tempted
to drive straight to the other end of town and see the Miracle, first things
were first. Her fridge and cupboards had been without supplies for almost a
year, and the supermarket beckoned. She parked, gathered her purse, and headed
inside.
    The first thing she noticed
was that the checkouts were all new. Streamlined, chrome plated, laser scanning
technology had replaced the old line of tills. A shame, she thought. The old
stuff had a certain charm about it. The shopping trolleys were all new, too.
She selected one and it veered unexpectedly to the left. At least some things
never changed.
    Half an hour later, Lahra
had a trolley full of most of the things she'd need for her month in the
country. As she stood at the checkout listening to the 'blip-blip-blip' of the
scanner, something nagged at the back of her mind as if the shopping list
inside her head wasn't complete. What was it she'd forgotten?
    A tinkling noise behind her
interrupted her