Somewhere My Love Read Online Free Page A

teaches .”
    It crossed Will’s mind that he should have hired two young women and housed them both in here so she’d have company. But he didn’t really need two. “So this is your first tr ip without your sisters ?”
    “Now you’ll think me an utter infant.”
    The thought had occurred to him, along with how on earth did anyone live this way , but he adopted an assuring tone. “No. Of course not. You’re j ust very inexperienced. I t’s quite brave of you, really, to travel all this way alone. ” Exceedingly so , when she’d practically grown up in a convent.   “ Julia, w hy are you here?” he asked, unable to resist using her first name .
    “I had to come , you see. It’s time. ”
    She was the strangest most intriguing girl. “For what , exactly ?”
    “ To be here , at Foxleigh. I just knew, though not exactly why. Don’t you ever just know things?”
    Treading with care, he met the appeal i n her eyes. “Not as you seem to.”
    “ Are you put out with me for coming ?”
    “Quite the opposite.” 
    Her mouth curved in a sm ile that cut through him like a red-hot sword drawn from the blacksmith’s forge –– and he couldn’t say why, only that she evoked a volatile mix of light and shadows.
    “M ust you go quite yet? Won’t you stay awhile and h a ve so mething to eat first ?”
    C l earl y , she was in need of consolation or companionship . It should be innocent enough as long a s he refrained from offering too much of either . “I’d like that . Let’s see what Charlotte left us.”
    E yes glowing like twin jewels , Julia bounded to her feet . “ Soft drinks , beer, sandwiches, fruit, milk... I l ooked while you fetched my bags, ” she said, darting to him. She caught his arm and drew him inside the room before he could change his mind . “Charlotte even baked dark chocolate brownies! ”
    He chuckled at her zeal . “On a school n ight?  I ’d better have your share.”
    She smiled and whipped the quilted throw off the back of the couch . Giving it a flap, she spread it on the floor before the dark ened hearth. “ S it down. I’ll bring the food and we’ll have a picnic . Unless –– you’d prefer we eat at the table?” she faltered , as though suddenly worried about breaking house rules. 
    “A picnic it is.” Will lowered himself to the blanket. 
    Julia launched at the kitchen. In the space of a mom ent, her demeanor had transformed from lost kitten to whirlwind. She quickly reappeared with an armful of frosty bottles and a pre cariously balanced tray piled with mammoth sandwiches , fresh fruit , and whatever goodies she’d laid her hands on .
    “Let me help you.” Will sprang up and took the drinks and tray before they tumbled to the floor and set them on a low table .
    Jul ia charged back into the kitchen, emerging again with paper plates, na pkins, and brownies heaped on sprigged porcelain. “An eclectic blend of old and new, ” she said, cradling the delicate platter securely.
    Like her. Julia was refreshingly old -fashioned and yet, engagingly modern .
    A loud rap on the door dis rupted their festivity . “Expecting anyone?” he asked.
    She quirked an eyebrow at him . “ I d on’t know a soul here yet.”
    Annoyance ran through him . “Maybe it’s a visitor unable read the sign on the locked gate saying we’re closed for the day .” He turned the black knob and opened the door.
    A Viking waited outside –– at least, he looked very much like one –– except for the white T-shirt, worn jeans, and leather work boots . Will ’s thoughts ran to the pistol under his mattress. Not that he was in the habit of shooting s trangers considering the throng of daily visitors , b ut he was glad of his own bulk as he surveyed the strapping figure with reddish h air pulled back in a ponytail. F ur of the same hue covered the fellow’s brawny sun-tanned arms and he ’d flung a knapsack over one massive shoulder. No wonder Vikings once held sway over the seas,