One Day in Apple Grove Read Online Free Page B

sir.” Apple Grove seemed smaller by the day.
    With a sigh she drove back to town. When she stopped in to pick up more supplies, she realized that Grace had added the cold shoulder to the silent treatment. Just because Grace was without a car for the day—as if her sister couldn’t walk anywhere she needed to go in town.
    Little sisters could be such a pain.
    Feeling a little bit better now that the F1 was in Bob’s capable hands, but not quite ready to face her father—she really hated to disappoint him—she took the long way home. When an oldie came on the radio, she sang along and felt the day’s problems start to unravel. The ship’s mast Mr. McCormack used in place of a scarecrow came into view. Approaching the McCormack farm, she slowed down. Peggy and Kate’s dad had been in the fields plowing earlier, and Cait drew in a deep breath, comforted by the scent of fresh-turned dirt.
    More kids than she could remember had snuck out in the middle of the night to climb up to the crow’s nest on a dare—her older sister, Meg, included. Thinking about how much trouble Meg had gotten into that time, having been rescued by the then-deputy Mitch Wallace—his first juvenile delinquent rescue, according to Mitch—made her feel just a little bit better.
    Dusk lent a certain mystical quality to the air. Driving past the newly planted fields, she could just imagine faeries flitting about, waving magic wands over the earth, pond, and trees as vines, flowers, and buds burst into bloom. Letting her imagination wander, she almost didn’t see the car parked at the side of the road until she was just about to pass it.
    Only one car in town had a paint job like that: Doc Gannon’s Jeep. Meg told her his friends had painted it in army camo as a joke to welcome him home after his first tour.
    Why had he stopped? She pulled off the road in front of his vehicle, got out, and started to look for him.
    “Hey, Doc—where are you?”
    The silence had her gut icing over before she chastised herself that people only parked their cars and disappeared in the movies…like the one she’d watched while trying to unwind after a long night in her woodshop.
    She called out again, “Do you need help?”
    When he still didn’t answer, she pulled out her cell phone. If anyone had gotten sick out on Eden Church Road, Peggy would have heard and would let her know. She was about to hit the speed dial when she heard a deep shout coming from across the road.
    Turning toward the sound, she was knocked off balance by a small, black, fuzzy missile. Wrapping her arms around the animal so it wouldn’t get hurt when she landed, her backside took the brunt of the impact—and so did her phone when it hit the pavement. Luckily, it was still in one piece.
    “Hey,” she said, as she looked down at the quivering puppy in her arms. “Where did you come from?”
    The puppy’s tiny pink tongue bathed her face, and he nipped the end of her nose. When Cait laughed, the puppy did it again. She snuggled him close and reached for her phone.
    “Don’t let go of him!”
    His deep voice grabbed her attention. The tall, broad-shouldered man moving across the road toward her looked worried. Cait remembered how upset the whole town had been to hear of his injury. Reverend Smith had even started a prayer chain. Had Doc aggravated his wound somehow by chasing the puppy? She took in his broad shoulders and tall frame. Yes, he was limping but trying to ignore it.
    She’d known Jack Gannon all her life—well, a younger version, before he enlisted—but for some reason, she didn’t remember him looking so ruggedly handsome. Had she only seen what she expected to in those brief glimpses of him those few times he’d been home on leave? There was definitely more here than she remembered.
    Coming to stand beside her, he stared down at her for a moment before holding his hand out to her. “Are you all right?”
    She had to clear her throat to answer. “Yes, I’m fine.