Harvest Moon (Brook Haven Romance Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

nodded at him and watched him go. She had no idea why this
guy caused her emotions to go from one end of the spectrum to the other in no
time flat.

 

CHAPTER FOUR
    Drake stepped into his
uncle’s small but obsessively neat house. Mac was unable to use his legs, but
he was very good with his arms and hands, and he kept his house immaculate. He
also had a little shop out back where he made hand-carved statues to sell at
the market. The shop was as neat as the rest of the house.
    “Hey, Uncle Mac, here’s
your club.”
    Mac rolled out of the
kitchen and smiled at his nephew. “Thank you. You’re a good boy.”
    “Well, I owed it to you
after what my adopted children put you through today.” Drake sat down and Mac
began unwrapping his sandwich.
    Mac grinned. “It was a
little touch and go there for a while. Did you talk to Brooke?”
    “Yeah, she had dinner
with me. I thanked her. I’m sorry I didn’t hear the phone the first few times
you called. I must have had the sander on.”
    Mac was chewing and
just waved his palm at his nephew. He swallowed and said, “You were at work. I
wouldn’t have even called, but I couldn’t stand the idea of you coming home to
find two dead little kits. I’m glad Brooke was available. She came right out.”
    “She said they didn’t
know how to … go to the bathroom?”
    Mac laughed. “Yes,
apparently it’s something they have to be taught—who knew? The poor little
things were swollen and just miserable. Brooke massaged their little bellies
until they finally did their business and they looked so relieved. They curled
up and went to sleep right afterwards.”
    “Where are they?”
    “In the kitchen,” he
said.
    “The kitchen?”
    “Yeah, the heating pad
was a good idea, but Brooke also wanted them underneath a light. The one in the
kitchen is the brightest I have.”
    “Okay … maybe we can go
into the vet business with Sam after this.”
    Mac laughed again. “No
thank you. I’ll leave the animal business to you.”
    “Brooke said you did a
great job with them.”
    “Not a problem,” Mac
said. “I hope I didn’t cause you any problems with your new client.”
    “I think it’ll be okay …
but it’s not your fault anyhow.”
    “You think? Was she
angry? Damn, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called—”
    “Yes, you should have.
I don’t think she was angry … she’s a hard one to figure out. She looks like a
porcelain doll. Everything about her is intriguing. She was so excited and
positive the first couple of times I talked to her, but today she was just … maybe
stressed out or something. I’m not sure …” Mac was grinning at him. “What?”
    “You like her.”
    Drake laughed. “I’m not
in fifth grade, Uncle Mac.”
    Laughing too, Mac said,
“You know what I mean. You should have seen your face when you just talked
about how pretty she is. You have a little crush on the lady boss.”
    Drake rolled his eyes, but
the truth was that Mac was right. In spite of the fact that he couldn’t figure
out if the lady liked him or not, she set his insides on fire.

 
    ****
    For the rest of that
week and the entire week that followed, excluding Sunday when he went to the
market, Drake worked from sunup to sundown at the Harvest Moon Inn. He finished
the front porch, repaired the steps on the stairs, and started replacing some
of the fixtures throughout the house that were broken or not working. He was
exhausted when he got home at night and he still had his own chores to do
around the little farm. Hooter missed him a lot, and so did Mac.
    Mac understood that it
wasn’t forever—Hooter didn’t. He’d taken to chewing things up and bringing his
“hunting trophies,” like the heads of field mice or the tails of garden snakes,
up on the front porch and leaving them there for Drake to find when he got
home. He hoped that once his schedule returned to normal, his relationship with
his dog would as well.
    He was thankful that
Mac seemed to be really