Free The Bachelor's Brighton Valley Bride (Return to Brighton Valley) by Judy Duarte - The Bachelor's Brighton Valley Bride (Return to Brighton Valley) Page B

Johnson was the last man in the world she needed to find attractive.
    He wasn’t from Brighton Valley, which was where she’d set down permanent roots. And he would be moving on soon, which she really ought to be thankful for since he could cause both her and Don to lose their jobs.
    Trouble was, on top of the problems at work, she had enough to juggle these days, what with keeping up the family homestead for her mom and stepdad while they were traveling and running her side business venture of making and selling jams and preserves.
    Then there were the ongoing single-mom worries of trying to raise a daughter with learning disabilities and a son who was not only being bullied at school but who’d reached adolescence and was no longer as happy and as forthcoming as he’d once been.
    But now that she’d gotten outdoors and away from the hunky accountant, she was thinking a bit more clearly and feeling more in control.
    The phone call to Tyler had certainly helped. He’d assured her that he’d picked at least two crates of plums from the tree—and that he hadn’t fallen off the ladder while doing so. He’d also promised her that he’d stayed off the computer and that he’d completed his long list of chores. He should be okay by himself until she got home after picking up Lisa from school.
    So now all she had to do was finish her shift at the store, which required working with Peyton for another couple of hours.
    She just hoped that bringing in lunch would be enough of a distraction to get them through the next hour or two before Don returned to the shop, which meant she had to be alone with the hunky corporate accountant for only another two hours—tops.
    “I’ll take two tuna salads and two unsweetened iced teas, to go,” she told Sally.
    “Oh, honey. Don doesn’t ever order our tuna salad. Says we don’t use enough mayo.” Sally had a pencil tucked behind her ear, but she never seemed to need it when writing down an order for the locals. She’d been working for Caroline for so long that she knew everyone’s preferences by heart. “I swear that man could be a poster child for the risks of high cholesterol. He has the worst diet. And with poor Cindy going through all that chemo business, Don’s little heart must be working overtime with all the stress and what not. Maybe you should just get him the grilled chicken breast.”
    “Oh, it’s not for Don. He went home to make Cindy’s lunch.”
    “Not the cheesy broccoli soup again, I hope?”
    “I’m afraid so.”
    Sally tsked. “I’ve told Don a hundred times that he’d do better to open up a bag of chips and try to pass off that greasy stuff as dip at his Rice University tailgating party. Poor Cindy’s sensitive tummy can’t handle something that heavy and spicy. I’ll have Armando run her over a cup of the chicken-and-rice soup we made fresh today.”
    Megan looked at the busboy Sally was nodding at and was reminded of why she loved small-town life. All the neighbors looked after each other. They might know everyone’s business and gossip from time to time, but they pulled together to take care of their own.
    “So who’s the other tuna salad for? That eye candy those bigwigs at Zorba’s sent over to help y’all out?”
    “You mean Mr. Johnson?” If Megan were going to concede that Peyton was any type of candy—for the eyes or otherwise—he’d be those deceptive little chocolate truffles. They might look pretty and chocolaty on the outside, but when you bit into them, gooey cherry cordial gel shot out all over the place.
    No, those kinds of candies, sweet and yummy as they might look, could make a real mess of things.
    “Of course I mean Mr. Johnson,” Sally said. “You don’t have any other handsome hunks working over there, do you?”
    “No, it’s just that I see him in a more professional light since I’m his coworker.” Maybe if Megan could convince Sally that she hadn’t noticed Peyton’s physical attributes, she could