A Suitable Wife: A Sweetwater Springs Novel Read Online Free Page A

breath.
    He stuffed his hands in his pockets, his gaze darting about the room. “You’ve gotten a lot done in here. Thanks.”
    “Did you want me?”
    “What?” Sam’s incredulous tone wasn’t exactly flattering.
    “I mean, you . . . you came in here. You must’ve had a reason.” They were back to staring, and Rosie could feel the heat in her face. She’d never been able to hide a blush on her fair skin.
    “Right.” He broke eye contact and swiped a hand across the back of his neck. “J.T. said he’s going to raid your fridge for lunch. I thought you might be ready for a break, too.”
    “Good idea. I’ll be right there.” Between that last box and their collision, she needed a moment to collect herself.
    Sam reached the doorway before he stopped and looked back. “If I haven’t said it before, thanks for . . . all this. It means a lot that you’d take time away from your business to help me get moved in. Now I can get back to writing and make my deadlines. It’s more than I expected.”
    The normalcy of that statement brought their situation into focus. He was trying to bridge the awkwardness between them. The least she could do was meet him halfway.
    “I don’t know why. Friends help each other.”
    “Well, it means a lot. If it weren’t for all this, I’d lose more writing time, which would mean sixteen hour workdays in my future.”
    “Can’t have that. Lorelei needs your attention, too.”
    “True, but I’ve imposed on you too much already. You’re not expected to feed us too. I’ll run into town and grab us all some burgers.”
    Rosie adopted a look of mock horror. “And have it spread around that I don’t take care of my guests?” She stepped past him, dismissing the idea.
    “I’d forgotten about the Busy Biddy Brigade. Still meddling, are they?” He referred to the label he and her brothers had given his grandmother’s peers years ago. No matter where the boys went or what they did, they hadn’t been able to hide anything from her eagle-eyed friends.
    “Some things never change.”
    “I’ll take them any day over reporters dogging our steps.”
    Reporters ? How naïve of her not to realize such things had become a part of his life. It made sense they’d shadow a well-known author and his celebrity wife—especially in a high-profile city. No wonder he’d returned to his roots.
    “Let’s go see if J.T. saved us any leftover roast beef. I could use a sandwich.”
    Sam groaned. “Homemade? The way your mom used to make it?”
    “Is there any other kind?”
    “My stomach will think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” he said as they crossed from his small combination kitchenette and dining room into her much larger eat-in kitchen.
    “A short trip from God’s country,” J.T. wisecracked before digging into a mammoth sandwich.
    “Don’t tell me you can’t get roast beef in New York.”
    “Oh, you can get anything you want.” Sam hesitated. “But somehow it never tasted the same.”
    With J.T.’s mouth full, the conversational ball was back in her court, but Rosie couldn’t think of a proper response. She surveyed the room. “Where’s Lorelei?”
    “Playpen. She’s sleepin’,” J.T. offered between bites with a hitch of his chin toward Sam’s apartment.
    She noticed Sam had left the adjoining door open between his half of the downstairs and hers. “Should we wake her to eat?”
    “I gave her a snack earlier. She’s fine. Sit. Relax. J.T., back away from that roast.”
    Rosie washed her hands and eased into a chair, smiling at the nostalgic bickering that ensued while she quickly slapped together a thick sandwich with mayo and sharp cheddar on wheat and slid the paper plate across the table.
    Sam stared at the offering, his lips parted.
    “What’s wrong?” Had his preferences changed?
    “Nothing. It’s just that . . . no one’s done things for me like this since Gran died.” He shook his head, obviously pleased. “I can’t believe you remembered.