Free Haunted Hearts by Tanya Stowe

1
     
    One thousand one. One thousand two. One thousand three.
    Suzy Bennett stopped counting her steps for a moment and glanced up at the Angelina Forest on each side of the trail. Signs of fall exploded from the dark green of the forest in bursts of yellow, burnt orange, and gold. The crisp air, scented with the musk of falling leaves, was perfect for a brisk walk. Suzy needed a fast pace to work off the tension of the day.
    The quarterly financials were due and landing on her desk for approval with depressing speed. No time for a break today, she’d barely had time to breathe. Accounts and numbers still danced through her head…along with the changing count of her steps.
    One thousand ten. One thousand eleven.
    This trail, skirting the forest near Suzy’s Heart’s Haven bungalow, was a lifesaver. She walked this path almost every day, to enjoy Angel Falls’ wonderful, temperate weather, to watch the forest change, and to burn off steam…even on days like today when she’d left work late. The sunny blue sky was already sliding into lavender and shadows hung at the edges of the trees. What would she do when winter came and she couldn’t get out and clear some of the numbers from her head? These walks kept her going. Well, the walks and the hope that she might see her Rochester.
    He was Suzy’s deep, dark secret.
    If her sisters ever found out that she walked miles every day just for a glimpse of a handsome, dark stranger, she’d never hear the end of it. They’d laugh themselves silly over the notion that Little Miss Suzy had romantic ideas about anyone.
    All three of her sisters had inherited their mother’s dark-haired beauty while Suzy ended up with their dad’s mousy brown hair, fussy ways, and head for numbers. Growing up, they’d had a storybook about a little brown mouse that constantly cleaned her house and fretted. Little Miss Suzy .
    In spite of her best efforts, Suzy could not rid herself of the nickname her sisters still used to irritate her. Never mind that she had starry-eyed yearnings and read every classic romance ever written over and over again. No one believed she had wild romance in her heart…not Little Miss Suzy. The fussy, brown mouse image actually began to fit when she was promoted to head accountant at her firm, and her life settled into a never-ending pattern of work, home, and more work.
    Then one day she saw him , walking across the clearing. Rounding a bend where this portion of the trail was elevated over a ravine, Suzy could see all around her. In the distance, he had left the edge of the forest to cross the small open meadow, moving toward the trees on the other side. His jean-clad legs cut the distance with such purpose as his brown, wavy hair blew away from his face. He swayed slightly as he walked, confident, sure. With his short-sleeved, white T-shirt tucked in and clinging to his muscular shape, his arms swung naturally. He worked out. Definitely.
    From a distance, Suzy noted balanced, appealing features. So many attractive qualities, but the thing that most captured her attention was his purposeful stride. He was so determined, so certain, as he cut across the open meadow, like a hero from a romance. She could easily envision a long dark coat, flapping at his legs as he moved toward his lady love.
    From there, Suzy’s long-suppressed imagination had taken flight.
    He became Heathcliff, hurrying across the moor. She was Cathy, who gingerly picked her way down the incline of the trail…it seemed her clumsiness wouldn’t leave her even in her daydreams…and then ran across to leap into his arms. But frankly, she couldn’t quite see herself making the leap either without some sort of mishap.
    Better yet, he was Rochester to her mousy Jane Eyre.
    Rochester. She wondered where he came from, how he made his living. How did he get that taut waist and those muscular arms? In a gym or training for a joust? Did he move with such purpose because he was meeting someone, a woman