Free Rescued by the Farmer by Mia Ross

heard a quiet nicker and the shuffling of hooves as a couple of horses moved around in their stalls. Crickets and frogs chimed in with their routine nighttime chorus, accented by the yip of a coyote off in the distance.
    Familiar and comfortable, those sounds represented the life he’d always known. Did he want to hang on to them? he wondered as he trudged up the back-porch steps. Or did he want to open himself up to the possibility of something else?
    The choice was simple enough: stay or go. But he recognized that he was too exhausted to make such an important decision tonight. He was impulsive by nature, so the delay didn’t sit well with him, and he prayed that putting it off wouldn’t turn out to be a worse mistake than jumping in too quickly.

Chapter Four
    T he next day, it was still dark when Bekah walked up the lane that led to the Kinley farmhouse. There were a few muted lights on inside, so she moved quietly toward the kitchen door, which was unlocked just like Drew had told her it always was. Bekah couldn’t recall ever living in a place where people didn’t use locks, dead bolts and alarms to keep their homes safe. Quiet little Oaks Crossing was about as far from those rough city blocks as she could possibly get.
    When she stepped inside, she tiptoed through the huge kitchen and back hallway to the bathroom Maggie had generously offered to let her use. When she came out, she stopped abruptly when she noticed what was seated at the breakfast bar. Or rather, who she saw there, slurping cereal from a bowl while pawing through an actual printed newspaper.
    Seeing her in the dim light, Drew grinned and saluted her with his spoon. “Morning.”
    “Good morning.” Clutching her backpack tighter for some reason, she recovered enough of her wits to register that he was wearing the same jeans and T-shirt he’d been in when she last saw him yesterday. “Did you sleep here?”
    “Yeah,” he replied with a yawn. “By the time we got done with everything, it was almost ten, so I crashed on the couch. How was your night?”
    “I haven’t slept this well in weeks,” she answered truthfully. “It’s so peaceful here, I dropped right off and didn’t move till that old alarm clock woke me.”
    “I’m glad to hear that. Sometimes settling in to a new place can be rough.”
    He had no idea, she thought bitterly. Catching herself headed down the same path that had led her to no end of trouble, she shook off the gloomy mood with determination. Those days were behind her, and she’d been granted an opportunity to leave them a distant memory. Somehow, she’d find a way to make things different for herself.
    Because quite honestly, she didn’t have a choice.
    Then she heard herself ask, “Would you like some eggs?”
    “Don’t tell me you cook, too,” he teased, giving her that charmingly crooked grin that had put her at ease during their difficult first meeting.
    “I’m not exactly a gourmet, but I can crack open an egg and make it edible.” Setting her bag on the floor, she opened a fridge whose contents rivaled some small markets she’d shopped in. She glanced over her shoulder and said, “Your mother’s got everything in here. What would you say to a Western omelet?”
    “Howdy?”
    This grin had a mischievous quality, and she laughed. “Very funny. I meant, would you like one?”
    “Sure, but only if you show me how to make one. That way, I won’t be totally helpless in the kitchen anymore.”
    She had a hard time envisioning this tall, capable man being helpless anywhere he might find himself, but the idea of them cooking together appealed to her for some reason. Even if it was only a simple breakfast. “Okay, but I’m in charge, so you have to listen.”
    Where had that come from? she wondered, shocked by the teasing note she heard in her voice. Out of lifelong habit, she was normally a very serious person. The only explanation she could think of for the lapse was that Drew’s lighthearted