In Firefly Valley Read Online Free PDF Page B

the wedding. “I’m not sure where he is right now.”
    â€œLook, miss . . .”
    â€œI’m sorry. I should have introduced myself. I’m Marisa St. George.” She extended her hand in greeting.
    It was only a handshake, Blake told himself. A simple touching of two palms. Nothing more than he’d done hundreds of times before. And yet this handshake was unlike any other. For the second or two that he held Marisa St. George’s hand clasped in his, Blake knew he hadn’t been mistaken. There was a connection between them, a fundamental magnetism that sent sparks shooting up his arm. And the glint in those lovely brown eyes told him she felt it too.
    â€œI’m sorry for the confusion.” Her voice bore only the slightest of tremors. “It’s simply that my mother is catering the reception. We’re a bit behind schedule, so I was helping.”
    â€œAnd I made it worse.” She didn’t have to say it. That was apparent. “The apologies are all mine. If you’ll point me to the nearest motel, I’ll stay there tonight, and we’ll try this again tomorrow.”
    Marisa shook her head. “The nearest motel is more than twenty miles away.” She walked behind the counter and opened a drawer. “Let me grab the key and some sheets and towels, and I’ll show you to your cabin.”
    Her manner was 100 percent business, a sharp change from the harried woman who had greeted him. It was almost as if she’d donned a mask, determined to hide her thoughts. But why? Blake would have sworn she’d felt the same attraction he had, but now Marisa St. George was acting as if that had never happened.
    It had. Blake knew that.

3
    W hat’s wrong?”
    It was clear that coming back to the kitchen had been a mistake. Though Marisa had expected it to be filled with teenagers putting the final touches on the food for Kate and Greg’s reception, only Mom was there. The kids must be on one of the breaks Mom claimed were essential. That meant Marisa would have to face her mother’s version of the Spanish Inquisition when what she wanted was a chance to make sense of what had just happened. If Mom hadn’t needed her for the wedding preparations, Marisa would have taken a walk—a long walk—along the lake in an attempt to clear her mind. As it was, she couldn’t desert her mother.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” A touch of asperity colored Mom’s voice as she repeated the question.
    â€œNothing.” Everything . Marisa felt as if she’d been walking along a familiar path when the ground had suddenly shifted and she’d found herself free-falling into a chasm. In the blink of an eye, day had turned to a night filled with shooting stars and the brilliant undulating bands of the northern lights. Before she could register all the details, the scene had changed again, the darkness instantly transformed into the brightest day Marisa had everexperienced. It was almost like looking through a kaleidoscope, watching colors slide and shift as she turned the wheel, but there was no kaleidoscope. Whatever was happening was outside her control. The strangest part was that it had been exciting at the same time as it had been terrifying.
    â€œYou don’t look like it’s nothing. Sit down, Marisa.” Mom accompanied her words with a gentle push on Marisa’s shoulder. “I’ll get you something to eat.” Food was the Carmen St. George cure for everything.
    â€œIt’s not low blood sugar,” Marisa insisted. While it was true that she felt light-headed, lack of food was not the cause. The sensation that the world was spinning at three times its normal speed was due to Blake Kendall.
    â€œHere, drink this.” Knowing it was futile to protest, Marisa accepted the glass of sweet tea. “I told you you were overdoing it,” Mom continued. “Just sit for a moment and take deep