Home for Love (An Adult Contemporary Romance) by Aneesa Price Page A

supplies?”
    “Well as your granddad is one of the few
that asks for it, I know it’s not in the main part of the store,” responded
Mrs. Stewart. “Why don’t you go look out back. It should be in the store room.
That manure sure does stink, so it won’t be kept in there.” Mrs. Stewart
pointed to the storage room leading off from the inside of the store.
    “That sounds like a good idea,” Bree
nodded relieved to be getting the stuff. She didn’t know who would sulk more -
Amber or her granddad - if she didn’t take their ‘dirt’ back to the farm.
    The storage area was really an oversized
shed located behind the store amongst many other bits of rubble and scrap
material dotting the thinning snow in a haphazard manner; as though they’d been
thrown there and forgotten. It wasn’t a sight that melded with the crisp, clean
feel of the snow nor was it a sight, she imagined, that the neighbors across
from it cherished.
    With a creek, the door gave way and she
was met with the dank smell of stale air and pitch darkness. Fumbling around on
the inside wall near the door, she finally located a light switch and flipped
it. In contrast to the outside, the shed was neatly kept. Rows of shelves lined
half of it holding various machine parts and larger tools. The other side
showcased general farming material, which was where she’d probably find her
granddad’s ‘dirt’. Determined, despite the heebie-jeebies the place gave her,
she proceeded inwards. This place must be the perfect hide-out for bugs; warm,
dark, and safe from the elements.
    She heard a squeak, let out a screech,
and jumped onto the nearest high surface, which unfortunately turned out to be
a slippery bag of something. She lost her balance and landed on her side on the
dirt-covered floor.
    “Are you alright?” A familiar voice
asked. Trust Todd to show when she least expected it.
    “Ah, sure,” Bree blushed with
embarrassment. “I thought it was a nasty.”
    “Ah,” Todd’s face split into a grin,
“still scared of bugs, huh? And you’re still calling them ‘nasties’.”
    Bree narrowed her eyes at him, “And
you’re still so smug about it.” Bree thought she heard another scuttle and
slowly, elegantly climbed up on the nearest, non-slippery surface.
    Her response and climb was evidently
hilarious to Todd because he broke into guffaws that had him gripping his
stomach as tears streamed down his face.
    “You’re being a jackass, Todd.” Bree’s
voice dripped with venom, her eyes narrowed on a guy that knew her too well
under certain circumstances. When that just made him laugh harder, she cut
through it in frustration, “Well for Pete’s sake. Stop laughing like an idiot
and help me look for granddad’s dirt.”
    Well that got his attention she thought.
Todd wiped his eyes and stood up straight, his lips curved broadly. “Sorry,
honey,” he apologized, “I needed a good laugh.”
    “Well I’m glad I could offer you your
daily dose of comedy,” Bree replied disdainfully. “Now will you help before I
kill you?”
    “I always liked it when you got all
prissy with me, honey,” Todd retorted. “It got the juices stirred up all good.”
    “Todd…” Bree warned.
    “Okay, okay,” Todd held up his hands as
a sign of a truce. “What’s your granddad’s dirt look like.”
    Bree rattled off the names her granddad
had given her and watched Todd scratch around and locate the bags of mature,
plant food, and organic pesticides. When he’d stacked them all by the door of
the shed, he went to her and held out his hand. “Coming?” he asked.
    Watching him carry the goods, as corny
as it seemed, had been quite a turn-on; there was something quintessentially
hot about a man who quietly and confidently went about his business. Oh, I’d
like to be coming, she thought, and then shook her head, mentally reproaching
herself for her lapse in judgment.
    She took his hand and felt somewhat
safer walking towards the door. With relief, she