The Bachelor's Brighton Valley Bride (Return to Brighton Valley) Read Online Free

Peyton got any ideas. It was bad enough that he was going to be spending the next day or so looking over their old accounting system and seeing how bad things had gotten. But having him spending nights here, too?
    “You know,” Peyton said, “I think I’ll give the office a call. It would be a lot more convenient to just stay here. And if I can get my job done sooner, I’ll be saving the company money in the long run. They’ll surely see the savings there.”
    As Peyton pulled out his cell phone and prepared to dial, Megan’s heart sank. She’d hoped that she could lock him out of the shop each evening, knowing that she’d be present whenever he uncovered the problems facing the store—and that she could explain and maybe soften the blow.
    But how could she do that if he had access to the office when she wasn’t around to protect Mr. Carpenter?
    She wanted to snatch the cell phone out of his hands, but she’d been raised better than that. So she stood there pretending to smile gamely, feeling absolutely powerless and at her wit’s end as she shot a glance at the one man who had the ability to turn her life upside down once again.
    It had taken her three long years after the divorce to put her life back to rights again, and she was finally seeing some light at the end of a very dark financial tunnel. Then in walked Peyton Johnson, who had the ability to jerk the rug out from under her and shake up all she’d fought so hard to build.
    But she was up for the challenge. There was no way she’d stand by and let another man dash her dreams again without putting up a fight.

Chapter Two
    C lay pulled out his cell and called Zoe, his executive assistant, who knew where he was and what he was up to.
    “This is Peyton Johnson. I’m at the Brighton Valley store, and it’s come to my attention that there’s an apartment over the shop. I’m not sure how that will pencil out for the corporate bean counters, but it would sure be more convenient if I could just stay there. That motel you reserved for me is clear across town.”
    “You own the building,” Zoe told Clay. “I don’t have to clear anything—”
    “You’ve got that right, ma’am. So would you mind checking into that for me?”
    “I...uh...” Zoe paused. “So this phone call is just for show?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “And all I’m really supposed to do is listen while you speak?”
    “That would be the case. Yes.”
    “Very clever. I’ll have to add an extra line to my job description. The executive assistant must be bilingual in both English and in reading the boss’s cryptic telephone conversations.”
    “Something tells me that could come in handy, especially while I’m in Brighton Valley.”
    “Then I’m on it. Looks like you’re in luck, Clay— I mean Peyton. I can assure you, or rather everyone at the Brighton Valley store, that corporate will approve of anything you suggest.”
    “It certainly would be in their best interests to do so.” Clay smiled. “Thanks, Zoe. Then I’ll just wait for you to check into that. How soon do you think you can call back?”
    “Would five minutes be a believable response time?”
    “That works for me.”
    “All right, then. You got it, boss. Clock is ticking.”
    Before Clay could hang up, he spotted Megan pushing her son away from the computer workstation and shoving the worn green backpack into his arms. Then she pointed at the counter in the front of the shop.
    Clay placed the cell phone back in his pocket as she muttered something that sounded like, “Not while he’s here, you’re not.”
    Tyler looked at Clay, then shuffled his thin-framed adolescent body in the direction his mother was pointing.
    So what wasn’t Megan allowing her son to do while “Peyton Johnson”—or rather, a corporate rep—was here?
    When Clay glanced at Megan, she flashed a smile at him. It was a pleasant smile, but it seemed a bit forced.
    What made her so uneasy?
    “Why don’t I show you around the