Wander and Roam (Wander #1) Read Online Free PDF

hide his laugh. “If you’re going to be working out here, you’ll have to get used to the pollinators. They’re everywhere in the garden, but that’s a good thing. Too many places are losing their bee populations.”
    I wipe at the spot the bee grazed, and my cheeks warm in response. I haven’t looked at another guy since meeting Robbie, yet I allow myself to go all speechless and mindless whenever Sage gets close to me.
    Maybe that’s normal when you’re attracted to somebody.
    Attracted. The word makes me want to run for my backpack. I yearn for my notebook so I can write my confession. I want to be loyal to Robbie, but I can’t even get through a melon-sniffing lesson with Sage.
    “I’m going to take care of the tomato plants.” Sage hands me two empty baskets. “Fill one with watermelon and the other with the rock melons. I usually leave the full baskets at Susan’s kitchen door.”
    I can’t remember how to tell the ripe ones from the not-yet-ready ones. My boy-addled brain has completely failed me. I quickly fill the baskets, choosing random melons from each bed. The one with the prettiest colors, the roundest one, the largest one. Hopefully, my picking criteria will suffice.
    Besides, as soon as I deliver these safely to Susan, I will be free to take a break. I’m in desperate need of my backpack, stationery, and a pen. I have another confession to write, after all.

T HE NEXT evening, I’m calmer as I hike to dinner. I managed to select solitary tasks all afternoon. Forget hand-over-hand vegetable picking or fruit-sniffing lessons from too-cute boys. I spent the afternoon with an empty garden bed and a shovel.
    Sage offered to complete that task, as it was the most physical of the options, but when I noticed the single shovel, I made my choice. Anyone can dig up dirt, after all. With every muscle in my body aching and sore, I could only focus on the job at hand. I abandoned thoughts of Sage, and of Robbie, to the lift, tug, and swing of the shovel.
    The moment I set the shovel down, though, they all returned. I ran my hand once over the sweaty mess that used to be my hair and booked it for the shower. I wasn’t coming to dinner smelling like the inside of a boys’ locker room.
    I sit down at the table, across from Sage. His curls are still damp. They frame his face more closely when wet, without their normal lift and bounce. He looks hot both ways. I’m not sure which I prefer.
    “I didn’t want to come to dinner smelling like a cow’s behind.” He grins.
    “What’s for dinner?” I glance around the still-empty table.
    “Susan must be running a few minutes late.” No sooner does Sage finish his sentence than Susan crunches up the trail.
    “So sorry I’m behind tonight.” Susan sets two covered bowls on the table. She lifts the cover of the first. “I made a quinoa salad with fresh, garden veggies.”
    “My favorite.” Sage piles two large scoops on his plate. “Susan, you are too kind to me.”
    “I try.” She smiles but shakes her head as she uncovers the second bowl. “I’m sorry about the melon. These melons still needed a few weeks to ripen. It’s fairly bitter, but I couldn’t bear to waste food.”
    “Bitter?” Sage takes a bite but can’t hide his nose wrinkling.
    “That bad, huh?” Susan frowns at the cantaloupe. “Sage, could you give Abby a lesson on how to select ripe melons tomorrow?”
    “No problem.” He puts down his fork before taking another bite. “I started the lesson yesterday, but she was a little distracted…”
    My cheeks blaze.
    “A particularly bothersome bee interrupted us, right, Abby?” He winks at me.
    Sage knows exactly what preoccupied me. I should be vehemently opposed to any more lessons that involve Sage and me in close proximity together, but I find myself nodding in agreement.
    “Sorry about the melons,” I say. “Sage was a great teacher. I just got a little overwhelmed…”
    Sage’s grin widens. “Yeah, all those fruits