Safe at Home (Warm Springs Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

hands and knees and inhaled deeply, admiring the mix of red, yellow, and orange flowers. They were bright and welcoming. She hoped they would help ward off the loneliness that always seemed to be lingering just on the edges of her new life.
    He found her in the backyard, with her head leaning against a tree and her eyes closed. The faintest of smiles tugging at her mouth. Her beauty struck him like a punch to the gut. He couldn’t explain what it was at that moment that made his heart skip a beat.
    Her hair was up in an untidy knot on top of her head. There was dirt on her face and she was wearing a tank top and shorts, but something in him stirred at the sight of her. Maybe it was because she looked so peaceful. Or, it was the way she looked perfect there in the yard surrounded by flowers. Whatever it was made him reluctant to break the silence.
    He studied her a minute longer, trying to put his finger on what it was about her that made him look twice. She wasn’t his usual type. He doubted he would find her in a bar all dolled up in skinny jeans and sky high heels leaning over a pool table. Nevertheless, he liked what he saw and wasn’t sure why he hadn’t noticed before.
    Spencer cleared his throat and took another step forward. “The flowers look nice.”
    Sam sprang off the tree and whirled around, almost spilling her drink. “Thanks, I’ve been working out here all day.” She touched her hair and then brushed at her shorts. “I needed a break from the indoors.”
    He took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair. “I usually don’t work on Sundays, and you probably have a lot you want to get done, so I’ll make this quick. I was wondering if you’d be interested in joining me and my brother Jake and his family for dinner next Saturday?”
    Sam’s lips parted, but no sound came out, and then her lower lip curled inward as her teeth captured the sun-kissed rim. The backs of her fingers brushed against one of her escaped curls as she glanced away.
    Was she stalling? Lord, she was killing him. He already felt like an idiot, and now it seemed as if she was just going to stand there all afternoon and try to think of some excuse why she couldn’t come. He didn’t care how pretty she was, he wasn’t going to beg. He could kill Jake and Ann for putting him up to this.
    “Look, if you’re busy or something, it’s no big deal.” He put his hat back on and started to leave.
    “No, I . . . well, it’s really sweet of you to ask, but I . . . Wait, did you say, Jake?”
    “Yeah, my brother’s name is Jake. I usually refer to him that way. What’s the problem?” But, before the last word crossed his lips, he knew the real question she was asking. “You’ve met him I think, in town.”
    “I think I have. So, you grew up here?”
    The look on her face said it all. The rose color in her cheeks vanished and she took a step back from him, nearly tripping over a tree root. She seemed to retreat into some sort of invisible shell. Spencer tried to fool himself into wondering what the big deal was, but he knew better. “Yeah, I grew up here.” It sounded lame even to him, but he didn’t know what else to say.
    “Why didn’t you say so?”
    “I didn’t see the point.”
    “Didn’t see the point? You grew up here, it was your parents’ house, and I come in and make all these changes. All the things I’ve said about things needing work and things being neglected.” Color flooded her cheeks.
    “Look, I didn’t lie.”
    “It’s called lying by omission.” Sam marched past him and up the ladder leaning against the house where she started attacking the gutters.
    “I should’ve told you, but I didn’t see the big deal, okay?”
    Sam’s shoulders tensed and through clenched teeth she said, “No, it’s not okay. I’m not interested in liars and as far as I’m concerned, that’s what you are. So, thanks, but no thanks for the invitation to dinner. I’m afraid I can’t make it.”
    Without looking