The Wedding Audition Read Online Free PDF

and showed off his boy skills as he watered a tree. Heath halted near the big barn on their way back toward her car. “And yes, I need the background check. I’d never give somebody keys to the gate out front without making sure there’s not a criminal record or bad credit report.”
    He studied her closely, as if he could see past the good girl exterior to her terribly wayward character beneath.
    “Sure. No problem.” She would brazen it out and see what happened. Maybe Anna Smith would come up clean. Or better still, maybe her would-be landlord was just bluffing to see if she gave anything away. What backwoods Alabama farmer did background checks anyway?
    Liking this theory tremendously, she stuffed her wallet back in her purse and fished for a pen instead. She would fill out whatever paperwork he produced.
    His beeper went off before she could flick her Bic in his face. He reached for the device attached to his belt, which she decided didn’t look quite like a beeper after all.
    “There’s somebody at my gate.” Frowning, he pressed a button that must have been wired to the same intercom system she’d used when she arrived. “Yes?”
    “Mr. Lambert? This is Gus from down at the service station. Did a young lady happen to stop by yet today? She was looking for a place to rent.”
    A bad feeling tickled her spine as Heath glanced her way.
    “Actually, I’d rather you not spread the word that I have a place, Gus. I haven’t decided if I want to rent it out.” He paused, staring at her, and for a moment Annamae thought she was off the hook. But then he clicked the talk button on the radio device. “And the woman is here now.”
    A chorus of other voices could be heard behind Gus when he came over the intercom again. Oh God. She’d been careful. So careful.
    “Well damnation, Mr. Lambert, your guest is a bon-a-fide celebrity.” He stretched the phrase out into exaggerated syllables.
    Apparently not careful enough. How long before her parents showed up? She felt sick to her stomach.
    Gus continued while Heath scowled, “Do you mind if I bring a few friends around to meet the Acting Up star who just dumped her baseball playin’ fiancé on the radio, no less? I brought along some folks who are long-time fans of Annamae Jessup and her TV show.”
    Heath didn’t bother to answer. He shook his head and clipped the intercom radio back on his belt.
    “Anna Smith was it?” His hard eyes glittered with passing judgment. “I think you’d better take your fans and be on your way, Ms. Jessup .”
    “They’re not my fans.” She gulped. Swallowed. Hoped he didn’t throw her to the dogs. That is, the lovely people gathered at his front entrance. If they snagged a photo of her, it would be all over the Internet before she could sneeze out gone viral . “I mean, there’s been some mistake.”
    “I’m sure. But I prefer my privacy.” He turned on his heel and stalked back toward her car.
    Panicking, she wondered how to salvage this mess. How she could convince Heath she would be a quiet, excellent tenant. Maybe a tactical retreat was in order. She could go find her grandmother and think about a Plan B. Because she was determined to stay here, in this fortress of an apple orchard. She would live off stolen fruit and a handful of shelled pecans if she had to. No one would get inside those gates. She felt at peace here—for at least a little while—in a way she couldn’t remember feeling in a long time.
    “Maybe you could think about it overnight,” she suggested, stopping short as they neared her convertible VW Bug. “Oh, look at them!”
    Bagel lay on the hood of the VW convertible Bug. Beside him, the half-eared cat lounged, tail swishing like a whip while it glared out at the world with hooded eyes. Bagel’s tail thumped the hood as he spied her, his ears standing up straight.
    Without a word, Heath strode over to his cat and plucked it from the hood, sending it off toward the smokehouse with a