Vibrant Heart: Book 1 in the Great Plains Romance Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

from the hotel have enabled them to update the old, pothole-filled road here with a wider two-lane road, complete with stately street lamps reminiscent of a bygone era.”
    “I’m surprised they get much business, though. Bender isn’t exactly a center of tourism.”
    Jake nodded. It was a comment he’d heard hundreds of time. “Yes, but tourists aren’t the only people who use hotels. Bender’s at the crossroads for two major highways, and the nearest hotels along either of those highways are an hour away. For anyone driving through—”
    “It’s like an oasis!” She chuckled. “Smart investors.”
    He noted the ease in her voice as she took in the familiar sights. She swiveled around, looking for the places she knew. Her curiosity was mesmerizing for him. She touched his arm to draw attention to her childhood friend’s home and the corner where she helped plant daisies as a city beautification project. She clapped in excitement at the tall white flowers welcoming her home. He nodded to each of her comments, but he couldn’t take his eyes from her excited expression. The intensity of her anger had driven him mad with desire, but the sincerity in her animated movements now stirred something much deeper than his passion, something he had never experienced before.
    He headed toward the business district—all two blocks of it—and pulled up alongside the curb at the end of the street. He turned off the truck, pointing to a large brick building with giant tinted windows. “The hotel investors also contributed to the new library.”
    “Seriously?”
    “You like it?” The building looked like it had stepped out of the pages of a fancy architecture magazine.
    “It’s beautiful. When I lived here, the library was a tiny one-room building that was barely bigger than my bedroom.”
    Jake put his arm along the back of the seat and ducked his head to look out the passenger-side window, wishing she hadn’t mentioned her bedroom. “Yeah, the owners of the new hotel offered some matching funds, and the townspeople really rose to the challenge. It was just supposed to be updates to the old building—a new roof, an air-conditioning system, some new computers—but they raised the money for this.”
    “I just can’t imagine.” Melanie’s voice trailed off for a moment. “Is it open? Can we go inside?”
    He chuckled at her excitement. “Sorry. Not many people visit it on Saturday afternoons.”
    “No, of course not. Although they always had to kick me out at closing time.” She giggled and leaned back against the window. “I used to drive my parents crazy just so they would want me out of the house. On more than one occasion my mom was all too happy to drive me into town and drop me off.”
    “You led quite the rebellious life. Although that explains why you got the writing bug.”
    Melanie shrugged. “I suppose.”
    “Strange.”
    Melanie raised an eyebrow in a silent question.
    Jake smiled. “Most authors are all too eager to point to reading as the spark that set them on their lifelong path.”
    “For me it was more about escapism.” She leaned against the door, closing her eyes as the sun washed over her face. “Reading told me what the big wide world out there was like, and all I wanted was to be out in it, away from here. But of course, if I hadn’t been so quick to run to the library all the time, I might have seen how much trouble my parents were in.”
    “Was it all you thought it would be?”
    She opened her eyes halfway and looked at Jake, who was now looking out the driver’s side window. “What do you mean?”
    “The big wide world.”
    “Oh.” She gave him a half smile and a shrug. “There is so much I love about the city—the energy and vitality of all those people coming together in one huge mass of intensity—just like I love the freedom of driving down country roads in the summer, the windows down and the wind running through my hair. But is anything ever as perfect as you