Rescued by the Farmer Read Online Free

comments to whatever task they were doing at the moment. He was pleasant and upbeat but didn’t go out of his way to make her talk to him.
    Most people took her long silences as either rude or evidence that something was bothering her. It was nice to meet someone who understood her reserved nature and accepted it for what it was.
    At one point, he fetched them each some bottled water. After a long swallow, he stopped long enough to call someone named Mike. “What can I say, big brother? They need a hand down here, and I’m sure you won’t miss fighting with me all that much.” After a pause, he chuckled. “Yeah, it’ll earn me some brownie points with Erin, too. Don’t think that didn’t occur to me. See ya later.”
    He pocketed his phone and turned back to the straw he was pitching into several stalls set aside for larger animals. In the section he’d referred to as the nursery, three goats and a wide-eyed fawn watched him from their temporary quarters in a storage area with a Dutch door. They looked to be assessing his work, and despite the odd turn her day had taken, Bekah felt herself smiling at the image.
    She hadn’t done much of that lately, she realized. There hadn’t been all that much to lift her spirits the past few months, and when she thought about it, meeting Drew was the highlight of her year. Pathetic, but true. He’d been so nice to her, she decided she should make more of an effort to be sociable. What better topic to start with than the woman he’d just mentioned wanting to impress?
    “So,” Bekah commented in what she hoped came across as friendly interest. “Is Erin your girlfriend?”
    He gave her the blankest look she’d ever seen in her life, then broke out laughing. “Not even close. She’s my little sister and the bane of my existence. If I can do something to get on her good side for a change, I will. So a little extra work is totally worth a few days of peace from her.”
    Watching him banter back and forth with Sierra had made it plain they were nothing more than friends. For some reason, Bekah was ridiculously pleased to discover this incredibly charming man was unattached. Not that it should make any difference to her, she told herself sternly. She wouldn’t be in town long enough for it to matter whether he was single or not. She was just making conversation. “So, this place was your sister’s idea?”
    “Yeah. It’s her pet project.”
    He angled his head to glance over at her, and she saw humor twinkling in his eyes. When she got the joke, she groaned. “That’s a terrible pun.”
    “Doesn’t mean it’s not true,” he assured her with a shameless grin. Spreading more straw, he asked, “So, what kind of job were you interviewing for over in Rockville?”
    “The kind that pays.” Hearing the angry bite in her tone, Bekah winced. “Sorry, that was rude. There was some light factory work I thought I could manage. I’m sure they’ve filled the spot by now.”
    “Where are you staying?”
    In my car , she nearly blurted before realizing that was more than he needed to know. Beyond that, it made her sound pathetic, and she didn’t want him feeling sorry for her. As her feisty Grams used to say, she was down but not out. At least not yet. “I’m looking for a place that doesn’t break the bank. Do you have any recommendations?”
    “I might. Depends on you, I guess.”
    What a curious thing to say. In spite of herself, she had to admit he’d snagged her interest with that one. She stopped cleaning the water bottles that hung in the cages for smaller animals and looked over at him. “What do you mean?”
    Resting his arms across the handle of his pitchfork, he explained. “You seem to like the animals here.”
    “Definitely,” she answered with a nod. “To be deadly honest, I like animals better than people.”
    “Yeah? Why’s that?”
    “They don’t judge you or make you feel stupid when you mess things up.” One of the scruffy pygmy goats went