Blue Ribbon Summer (The Baltimore Banners Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

he had been leaning. She turned to get another one and stopped in surprise.
    Ian had grabbed a second bale and was now walking toward her with it. He raised his brows and nodded toward the first bale. "Do you want this on top of that one?"
    Kayli reached out to take it from him, surprised even more when he side-stepped her and set the bale down. "Mr. Donovan, I appreciate it but I really don't need--"
    "It's Ian."
    "Whatever. Listen, I appreciate it but I really don't need your help so--"
    "I don't mind."
    "No, really. Thanks but..." She waved her hands in front of him, motioning to his clothes. He was dressed in khaki linen trousers and a loose-fitting buttoned shirt that looked more appropriate for boating than hauling hay bales. "You're really not dressed for it and we wouldn't want you to get your clothes all dirty. So thanks, but I got it."
    Ian's grin faded a bit with her biting comment, and she thought there was a flash of something in his dark eyes--irritation, maybe?--but she ignored it as she went to get another bale. Her last comment had come out sharper than she had meant it to, and she knew she should probably apologize, but she was too hot and irritated to fall back on good manners. And unnerved. What was it about Bonnie's brother that made her so...nervous? And jumpy.
    The conversation with Jake from two nights ago came back, as clear as if it had just happened.
    Probably because she couldn't forget it. And every time she remembered it, she became more irritated.
    With Jake, for putting foolish thoughts in her head.
    With herself, for just thinking those foolish thoughts.
    She heaved the bale and turned, and this time she really did walk straight into Ian, with enough force to send him stumbling back a few steps. Kayli bit down on the retort that sprang to mind, and nimbly stepped around him. She expected him to say something but he didn't, he just picked up the fourth bale and fixed her with a look she didn't really understand. He tossed it on top of the pile and kept looking at her.
    "And again, I really don't mind. I've been dirty before. Do you need the others moved?" He kept her pinned with that unreadable look, long enough to make her feel uncomfortable...or like he was waiting for an apology. So she took a step back and let out a sigh, wondering what had gotten into her, wondering why she was being so rude. She tried to smile, or at least not frown so much.
    "No, that's it. Thank you. Um, like I said before, we're done here so--"
    A chorus of screeching mixed with giggles interrupted her, and Kayli hurried to the door to see what was going on. She was nearly run over by the twins racing into the barn, followed by a laughing Lori.
    "Uncle Ian, can we?"
    "Please Uncle Ian?"
    Kayli turned to see both girls jumping up and down in front of their uncle, their wild curls bouncing around identical faces as they looked up at him with pleading eyes. Ian looked from one upturned face to the other, bewilderment clear in his eyes.
    "Can you what?"
    "Can we go?"
    "Lori said she'd take us!"
    Kayli turned toward her niece, her own eyes silently questioning the young girl. Lori shrugged, still laughing.
    "I just asked if they wanted to go down to the pond and feed the ducks, that's all. I didn't think they'd go all nuts about it."
    Kayli bit back the smile she felt trying to break free. Feeding ducks wouldn't have been at the top of her list for excitement, but she wasn't a seven-year-old girl who didn't get to see ducks very often. She glanced over at the trio, at the girls still silently pleading with their uncle, then at Ian, who looked so lost that he had no idea what to say or do.
    No, she didn't want to invite him to stay, not when his presence did nothing but throw her off-track and make her skittish and uncomfortable and a bunch of other different things she didn't want to acknowledge. But that was her problem, nobody else's, and it wasn't fair to disappoint the two young girls just because their uncle made her