Free JustOneTaste by Sami Lee

backward, his work boots stirring up the
dirt beneath his feet. Resting his hands on his narrow hips, David assessed her
as though she were a touch insane. “I don’t get you, Sarah.”
    “What’s to get? You produce something that I sell. If
there’s no acrimony here, there’s no reason we can’t come to some kind of
arrange—”
    “I stocked that cheese in the back fridge, Dave.” A young
woman with a smooth chestnut ponytail emerged from the cellar door,
interrupting them. She wore jeans that appeared almost as dusty as David’s and
a flannel—hers in blue and black. She also carried a baby on her left side. “I
gave everything a good wipe down and stocked the change till… Oh, I’m sorry. I
didn’t know you had company.”
    The woman glanced between David and Sarah with open
curiosity. Sarah stared at her and the child she carried. He wore a pair of
denim overalls and a floppy Thomas the Tank Engine hat. He stared at
Sarah with huge brown eyes and smiled, displaying two solitary teeth.
    “Kerri, this is Sarah.” David introduced them with obvious
reluctance. Sarah’s attention returned to him with a snap at his disgruntled
tone.
    “Oh, hi, Sarah.”
    Turning back to the woman, Sarah tried for a smile but it
was shaky on her lips. Her stomach had taken a nosedive and she didn’t like
where her thoughts where headed, especially when Kerri handed the baby over to
David as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Would you mind holding
Jaxon for a sec? I’ll be right back. Nice to meet you, Sarah.”
    The other woman returned to the interior of the shop,
casting one last curious glance back at them. Sarah stared at David, at the man
she’d invited to her bed three weeks ago. He held the baby capably in his arms.
Her stomach roiled as the suspicion formed in her mind, insidious and
sickening. Tell me no. Tell me it’s nothing that repugnant.
    But Kerri of the matching flannel shirt had obviously been
setting up the shop for weekend trading, and she’d handed the baby over
readily, trusting David completely to care for him. And David was obviously
unhappy about Kerri and Sarah coming face-to-face.
    Because no man wanted the fling he’d had in the city to meet
his wife and child .
    Dear God, Sarah. When are you going to stop being so
naïve when it comes to men?

Chapter Eight
     
    David finished strapping Jaxon in his car seat and gave his
chubby belly a scratch before closing the back door of the four-wheel drive. He
said to Kerri, “Thanks for your help today. Say hi to Phil for me.”
    “I will. Should I tell my husband you’ll be at the pub
tonight to watch the rugby or do you have other plans?”
    David scowled at Kerri’s faux innocent expression. “I
haven’t made other plans.”
    “He’ll understand if something better has come up.”
    When Kerri wiggled her eyebrows, David rolled his eyes.
“Sarah’s a…business thing.” That was all she wanted there to be between them apparently.
“But it might take me a while to sort it so tell him not to expect me.”
    “Business thing, right.” Kerri lowered her voice to a
whisper. “It’s about time you met someone, David. Melissa’s been gone almost
nine months. Is she nice, this one?”
    Kerri had never come right out and said so, but David had
sensed her dislike of Melissa and her refusal to even try to fit in with the
locals. Melissa had been a city girl, through and through, and she’d never
adapted to the rhythm of life in the vineyards.
    He had to think Sarah would be of the same ilk. But as he
turned, following the line of Kerri’s gaze, he saw Sarah bending down to pet
Buster without care for the stray hairs that may land on her once-pristine
suit. Then she retrieved the mutt’s revolting stick and threw it for
him—something that even David was disinclined to do—and David wondered if he’d
pegged her wrong. Despite her attire and the expensive European car, Sarah
didn’t appear out of place playing with the dogs