Free Cottage Country by JL Edwards Page B

lounger with a glass of wine and her book and that is exactly what she did after loading the rest of her supplies into the cabin. She didn’t want to waste one second of that sunset.
     
    She laid a blanket over the sun lounger, pulled a small table up beside her and plunked herself down in the position that she planned to stay in for the next couple of hours. She hadn’t made a lot of time lately to read for pleasure so she was looking forward to diving into a good romance novel or two over the next couple of days. She sipped her wine and fingered through the pages of her book while a very light breeze twirled around her. This was exactly what she needed after the stressful past couple of months that she had gone through nursing her father back to health.
     
    A splashing sound caught Stacey’s attention from down by the lake in front of the cabin. She lifted her head and peeked over her book to see what was making the noise and big goofy golden retriever was bounding into the water after a stick that his owner had thrown.  She smiled and sat up to watch him bounce playfully, encouraging his owner to throw the stick again and again. What a handsome dog she thought to herself. And his owner wasn’t too bad either.
     
    Stacey put her book down, picked up her glass of wine and stood up so that she could watch the two playing. She leaned on the railing admiring the fun that they were having together.
     
    “Come on Max. Come get it.” The handsome dog owner taunted playfully.  “Good boy!”
     
    Stacey didn’t know who the good-looking guy was but she guessed that he must have been staying in the Harper’s cabin, which was just through the trail and down the shore a little bit. She and her family had spent many of nights playing checkers and barbequing with the Harper family and as far as she knew, they still owned the cabin.
     
    “Come one Max, let’s go.” The guy called out trying to get his lively dog to come out of the lake and follow him down the beach.  Instead, the silly dog made eye contact with Stacey and began bounding towards her. He was soaking wet with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth and he was determined to pay her a visit.
     
    Stacey could see what was happening and she placed her glass down on the small table. She braced herself for the impact of the big canine and prepared to get very wet.
     
    “Max no!” His owner called out running up the beach towards Stacey’s cabin. But the dog was not listening and he was almost to the stairs. Stacey had a huge smile on her face and she opened her arms to welcome the dog. He didn’t jump on her he just rubbed his wet body all over her legs and wagged his tail, very happy to be meeting her.
     
    “Oh aren’t you a handsome boy!” She said in an octave or two above her normal voice. “Yes you are.” She scrubbed her hands behind the dog’s ears causing him to stop and enjoy her attention.
     
    “Oh my god, I am so sorry about that.” The handsome guy said out of breath from running after his defiant dog. “He is just a pup and he is still learning his manners.” The man said grabbing Max by his collar and forcing him to sit down at his side.
     
    Sidney wiped her wet furry hands off on the butt of her jeans. “It’s no big deal at all. He is lovely,” she smiled.
     
    The good-looking guy stuck his hand out to shake hers and she reluctantly extended her wet hand. “I’m Brandon Turner,” he smiled. “I just bought the cabin next door.”
     
    Stacey returned Brandon’s smile and introduced herself as well. “My name is Stacey Miller. This is our family cabin that we have owned since I was a kid,” she explained.
     
    “Well it’s nice to meet you Stacey Miller. This is Max…the naughty puppy.” They both laughed.
     
    “I have a soft spot for retrievers. We had one when I was a kid and he used to play on that exact beach and chase sticks just like your Max.” Stacey smiled remembering her old family friend that