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.""You’re a good guy, do you know that?" She was studying him intently when he glanced over at her.The compliment was unexpected, but made him feel light as air."I really can’t take the credit, all of that goes to the Good Lord and your in-laws.""And to you, for continuing in the ways they taught you, I’ve known many men who were raised in church and with good families, but they do things…make choices that would make your skin crawl.It’s a choice you make as an adult, too." She looked out the window as if she were embarrassed at her compliment, and embarrassed for reveling too much.The more he got to see the soft, tender side, the more the walls came down, the more beautiful she was to him, he was more and more drawn to her all the time.He ached to know her more, to understand her hurt and take it away.As they rounded the last corner toward home, Brian saw Todd Erickson headed their direction, so he slowed to a stop and waited for him."What are you doing? You can’t just stop in the middle of the road!""Why not, three people live down this way, us, Will, and he’s in town, and the Erickson’s, and Todd’s headed toward us now, I need to talk to him." Just then Todd pulled along side them and lowered his window, Brian followed suit."Hey buddy, I just left your place, Thunder and Jax are both well fed and happy, Will must’ve plowed your drive, too, I was going to do it for you, when I heard you were back in town, but he beat me to it, beat me to ours too," he said with a shake of his head."Yeah, I saw Will in town.Thanks, I really appreciate it, here you go." Brian handed him a few bills he had set aside when he asked Todd to watch his place while he was gone."You’re kidding right? After everything you do for us? No way am I accepting that, this is just what friends do.""You’re right, friends help friends, and when one friend has a house full of kids and a farm and takes time away from that to check on the other’s house and animals that friend owes him much more than this, now take it."Todd leaned forward to address Aria, "Your husband is one stubborn man, do you know that? No sense in arguing anything with this man, his bullheadedness combined with his lawyer jargon and smooth talking, makes every argument a losing battle, you may as well just give up while you’re ahead." He gave a mock grimace and shook his head."You’ve heard about our marriage?" Aria asked, her voice rising."Oh yeah, Tasha called Anna crying, saying she always thought you’d come to your senses and all that," both Todd and Brian busted out laughing.Aria was clearly confused."She’s been chasing him since they were in middle school, poor girl can’t take a hint, even after two failed marriages.""That makes sense," she nodded, her brow furrowed."Anyway, congratulations, guys, don’t let Tasha get to you, she’s a good girl, just lonely and restless.I won’t keep you any longer, I’m sure Anna will come pay you a visit soon, Aria, if that’s okay, she’s excited to have another woman so close, especially an adult one," he added with a laugh."That would be great, it’ll be nice to have a female friend out here.Tell her I look forward to meeting her, and all of those kids I’ve heard about." He just nodded, waved, and went back on his way.Brian did the same, and within minutes they were pulling up their driveway.Suddenly Brian was nervous again.He’d always loved this house, the farm, the country, and everything about it, but what if she reacted like Kara? What if she hated it and was completely miserable? Only time would tell.Lord, if it be Your will, let her find the peace, security, and love in You I find so readily out here…and please, Lord, help me to be the husband You need me to be for her.He silently prayed as he hit the button on the opener and pulled into the garage.5"Here we are, home sweet home.""We live in a garage? Here I thought we lived in a house," she mocked him with a broad smile, she couldn’t believe how easy it was to fall back into her old self, a self she hadn’t know since she was a child, with Brian, she hadn’t laughed and joked with anyone since before her mother died.It was terrifying and wonderful all at the same time."Very funny, let’s just take in the refrigerated groceries for now, I’ll give you the grand tour, and while you decide which room you want I’ll haul in everything else, sound good?" She nodded, and looked out at the garage as Brian made his way to the back to grab the cooler they had put the perishable groceries in earlier.She stepped out and looked around, they were pulled in next to a large, dark blue pick up truck, darker than the Durango, but still a beautiful color blue, Brian wasn’t kidding when he said it was his favorite color.She noticed a set of wooden stairs leading up into what she assumed was a loft, at one end of the garage, and three large chest freezers along the far wall, accompanied by an old refrigerator, next to that was a door leading to what she assumed was the back yard.A large black and gray dog climbed threw a doggie door she hadn’t noticed, and immediately ran to Brian, who sat the cooler on the ground and squatted to pet it."Hey, ya, Jax, I missed you, too, buddy.See the pretty lady? That’s your new mommy, her name is Aria," he talked to the dog, scratching behind his ears, but smiled at her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]