Free A Chance Mistake by Jackie Zack Page B

maybe Kory would have a chance. What if she went for the creative, intellectual type? Ah…help.
    Help. Help. Help.
    Dafina stirred something up in him that only few women did. She intrigued him, attracted him, took him off guard. There was definitely something about her, and he was probably making the biggest mistake of his life by not finding a way to get to know her.
    He could easily imagine living his life with her. Buying their own pet goat to butt the neighbor’s goat away.
    All he had to do was explain from his heart. “Dafina, have you ever felt that you were destined to be with someone? I’ve never in my life felt about anyone the way I feel about you.” Then she’d say, “Are you having me on? That’s the craziest thing I’ve heard. You must think me a fool.” She’d give him a big frown and cross her arms over her chest. Griff would growl and bite his ankle.
    He stopped jogging and dropped to his knees before he reached the center of the intersecting paths. To the right was the village he’d never seen. Left—Dafina.
    Taking time to get a quick drink, he pondered. Sadly, he turned right and the heavens let loose with another round of rain.
    He walked briskly on autopilot and comforted himself. It was perfectly normal to think about nothing. He needed to do it more often. His internal cruise control got out of hand a couple of times, trying to make up for lost time. His foot smacked into a hard, rigid bump in the path, and before he knew it, he went airborne, half imagining dark shapes ready to grab him as he landed in wet, slippery mud. He wiped his chin with a water-logged sleeve, rain still zinging down. He righted himself and set off again, forcing his imagination away.
    Just minutes after chiding himself to be more careful, he slipped going downhill and ended up in the mud once more, this time covering his backside. He stifled a growl of complaint and was more than ready to call it quits. But there was no quitting. No apartment to head to with a hot shower and warm bed. Would a hotel even accept him? Probably not.
    The rain abruptly stopped. So much for any chance of the dirt being washed away.
    He kept a good pace for what seemed like hours. The clouds parted in places to show a night sky with stars. As he wondered how much longer he’d have to travel before arriving at his destination, the surroundings seemed familiar. How could it be? It looked like Hoover’s house in the distance. Had to be coincidence.
    Several minutes later, the path widened into a dirt road. Dafina’s house stood within sight. So—that had to mean the first path he’d taken at the conjunction was right. It had only looked like the other path with the blackened tree trunks. Or more than likely the fire had spread to the other trail to give it the same appearance as the other. He wiped a tired, dirty hand over his face.
    The lights were on in her house—she was still awake. Certainly she’d be okay with letting him stay another night in the stone cottage.
    He stumbled by a black car parked behind hers. Oh, no. She had company. He hated to interrupt, but what else could he do? Way too exhausted to try to walk to town, he heaved his tired body up the steps and knocked on her door.
    Footfalls sounded by the other side of the door and the curtain moved. She probably wondered who was stupid enough to be on her porch at this time of night. The door opened, blinding him with light for a second. Through squinted eyes, he made out her smiling face and a rather stunned face of an older woman.
    “Darling! There you are! We were worried about you.” Dafina took hold of his arm, pulling him in and gave him a warm lovely kiss on his dirty lips.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
    There was something about Dafina, and it included her kiss. A few seconds longer and Kory would’ve seen fireworks. Dafina pulled him through the door while the older lady looked him up and