Dakota Heat (Book 3 - Dakota Hearts) Read Online Free PDF

methinks.’”
    “Wow, you didn’t strike me as a fan of Shakespeare.”
    “I’m a man of many mysteries. I think my passion for his work is the only thing that helped me graduate from high school. Shocked the hell out of my father.”
    Now Summer was impressed and more than a little intrigued.
    “Who would have thought?”
    Sam got up from the chair slowly and silently placed it back at the workstation he’d taken it from.
    “The color has returned to your face,” he said quietly, giving her a thoughtful look that caught her off guard. “Whatever ghost you saw has vanished.”
    Her heart hammered in her chest. “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “Sure you do. If it comes back, whatever it is, I’ll be here. You’re not alone.”
    As Sam walked away, tears filled Summer’s eyes. Based on what Adam just told her, her ghost still hadn’t been found and that’s what chilled her to the core.
    People were laughing outside her window. She’d kept the window open to catch some of the cool breeze blowing over the field. She’d lived in the city so long that she’d forgotten the smell of clean, wide open spaces. Now she wanted to shut herself inside.
    What scared her more than anything was that she didn’t want Sam McKinnon to walk away.
    # # #
     

Chapter 5
     
    “Sam?” Summer ran down the steps of the dispatch office, pulling her light spring jacket on as she ran.
    The sun was setting behind Sam as he walked to his SUV in the parking lot. When he heard her calling, he stopped and waited for her.
    “Did I forget something?” he asked.
    A little out of breath from running, she said, “You mentioned last week that you had a… friend who could help me find a rental in the area. I was wondering if you could introduce me to her.”
    “Ah, the lady friend.” Sam smiled down at her in that way he did when he was teasing. It grated on Summer’s nerves more than she wanted to admit, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing how he got to her.
    “Yes. If you have her number, I can call myself.”
    “That won’t be necessary. You’ve already met her.”
    Her eyes widened. “I have?”
    “Sure. It’s my mother.”
    A smile pulled at Summer’s lips despite the realization that Sam had indeed been playing her.
    “My mother knows everything going on in this town. She owns the diner. That’s akin to being a bartender or psychiatrist in a small town. People tell her everything. You should hear the stories she’s told us at dinner.”
    Summer laughed.
    “Come on. I’m heading home for dinner now. She’s always up for setting an extra plate at the table.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Of course. But…”
    “What?”
    “She’s also determined to marry off her single boys. And since both Logan and Hawk are both off the market, she’s turned her attention to me and my brother, Ethan. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
    * * *
    “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ethan said, accepting a bowl of mashed potatoes from his father and then dropping a big spoonful in his plate. He passed the plate over to Summer and then continued talking about the damaged areas of forest surrounding the river. “It looks as if a tornado ripped through the area. Trees are flattened and if a tree is still standing, the limbs are gone.”
    Donald McKinnon shook his head. “All my life I’ve never seen anything like it either. That’s the power of all that flood water and everything it took down the river with it.”
    “That’s why this area is so vulnerable right now,” Sam said. “So much of the debris is compacted. It’s like a tinderbox. It only needs the heat of the sun or a small spark to ignite it. It needs to be cleaned up before the summer heat or a lightning storm strikes or we’ll have wildfires all over the place.”
    Kate sat down at the table with a sigh now that the last bowl of food had been placed in the center.
    “You look tired, Mom,” Sam said.
    “Worried. After what happened to all