Missionary Daddy Read Online Free Page B

business?”

     
    Samantha’s smile faltered. She felt the chill of Eric’s greeting clear to her bones. Disdain, cold and condemning filled his dark chocolate eyes, eyes that had followed her all over the world. But those same eyes that had once admired and welcomed her had grown icy. Her fear in Africa had been justified. Now that he knew who she was and what she did for a living, he didn’t approve. She wasn’t surprised, but she was disappointed.
    “I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye in Africa. Our shoot wrapped early and we had to catch a plane.”
    Her reasons, apparently, didn’t impress him much. She tried again. “I’ve thought a lot about Africa since then.”
    “I’ll bet you have.”
    Now what did he mean by that?
    After one life-changing day at the orphanage with Eric, she’d thought of little else. She even dreamed about the profound despair and the selfless missionary with the teasing smile and the handsome face. Her life since that day had seemed empty and unfulfilling. Most people would think she was crazy, but with her career at its zenith, she’d come home to rethink her future. What did she want to do with the rest of her life?
    “I’m on hiatus,” she said, straightening her smile so that only she knew it was no longer real. Obviously, Eric wasn’t as pleased to see her as she was to see him.
    “That’s nice.” Eric glanced toward the clutch of gathered teenagers and motioned toward an open door. “Head for the meeting room, guys. Time to start planning.”
    And then he turned his back on her and walked away.
    The next two hours were both miserable and wonderful for Sam. She liked the kids in the youth group. At first, they seemed intimidated or awed by her, something she hated. But after a bit, they opened up and began tossing out ideas in earnest, no longer focused on the celebrity in their midst.
    Scribbling the latest brainstorm on a yellow pad, she glanced at Eric from the corner of her eye. He had not warmed up in the least. With the kids, he was friendly and funny just as he had been in Africa, but with her he was as cold as Antarctica. What had she done, other than be who she was, to warrant his unfriendliness?
    “Let’s see, we have nominations for a concession stand, a space walk and pony rides. Does anyone know where we could get ponies?” Eric pointed a pencil at Caleb, who’d sat in on the meeting. “You know most of the townsfolk better than I do. Any ideas?”
    “I’ll ask around and get back to you.”
    “We have to choose something simple that can be put together easily but will still make plenty of money,” Sam said.
    “The concession sounds easiest to me,” Eric answered. “We could make a schedule, work shifts, assign different ones to collect the supplies.” He looked around the table. “What do the rest of you think?”
    “Sounds cool to me,” Nikki answered. Of all the teens, Goth girl Nikki was the most outspoken. “I’ll make the schedule of workers.”
    Several of the others groaned. Nikki was a tough taskmaster.
    “Is there any reason why we can’t run two activities?” Sam asked as an idea hit.
    All eyes turned to her, including Eric’s dark chocolate ones. “What do you have in mind?”
    “How about a dunk tank?”
    “Yes!” Jeremy said and punctuated his approval with a fist in the air. “I can think of a million people I’d pay to dunk. Starting with the school principal.”
    A chorus of excited voices pitched in, adding opinions. Sam wrote them down as quickly as possible, feeling pretty good to have come up with a popular possibility. When she glanced at Eric, he was watching her. She smiled. He didn’t return it.
    This voluntary position was going to be harder than she’d imagined.
    After they had hashed out the initial ideas and responsibilities, Eric announced the next meeting date, then leaned back to gaze around the table. A cute smile danced at the corner of his lips. “Anybody hungry? I brought