A Heart's Desire - Book 1 of the Crossing Midian Series - A Christian Romance

Chapter 2

A few minutes later, Anna was walking down the road towards town. She didn't have her own car, and she couldn't drive her dad's truck because he insisted that he might need it to go somewhere, so she braved the rain with her trusty umbrella. Thankfully, it wasn't storming, but because they had had so much rain over the last few days, the walk to town was much more muddy and slick than usual.

She had walked for about half a mile when she heard the rumbling of an engine from behind her. Anna moved further off the edge of the road to stay far enough out of the way, but it was no use.

As the truck went by, it drove through a large puddle of rainwater, sending it splashing up against Anna in one massive wave. She gasped in shock as the water suddenly drenched the entire left side of her body.

She dropped her umbrella and was attempting to wipe water from her eyes when she caught sight of the familiar red pickup truck that had pulled over onto the side of the road.

"Way to go, Anderson!" She called out as Wesley opened the truck door and jumped out.

She watched him race over to her, rain quickly soaking through his light blue jacket.

"I'm so sorry, Anna. Are you okay?" he asked, picking her umbrella up off the ground and holding it out to her.

Her eyes narrowed as she lifted the sleeve of her jacket and rubbed it against her face, trying to dry the water from it. "I'm just peachy," she said sarcastically as she snatched the umbrella from Wesley's hands and moved to walk around him further down the road.

"Hey, where are you going?" Wesley asked, following her.

"To work," she answered shortly, without looking back.

"Do you want a ride?"

"Oh, no. I think you've done enough." Anna laughed bitterly and shook her head. She continued to trek along the roadside, her foot slipping off the edge and into the thick mud.

Wesley frowned. "I said I was sorry. It was an accident. There's no sense in you walking another mile and a half if you don't have to. I can take you wherever you need to go. You don't even have to talk to me."

Anna stopped near the hood of the old Ford and turned back to him. He really looked sorry, standing there with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans, looking down at her with those big, puppy-dog brown eyes. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine. But only because I don't want to be even later than I already am."

Wesley grinned and opened the passenger side door for her to climb in. He sat behind the wheel again and turned the heat on, hoping it might warm her up some.

"Do you want me to take you home first so you can change?"

"No," she answered quickly, and he looked over at her, eyebrows raised in question. "I mean, that's okay," she added, her tone softening. "I keep extra clothes at the bookstore since I walk all the time. It's not my first time being caught in the rain."

Wesley nodded. "Okay, then. Here we go."

The silence in the truck's cab was deafening as Anna stared out the passenger side window. She gripped her purse and umbrella in her hands and concentrated on keeping her breathing steady. It had been years since she had been in such close contact with Wesley and to say that she felt out of her element was an understatement.

There was a time when the two of them were inseparable; two parts of the Three Musketeers. But that was before.

Before Anna's mom had gotten cancer in her freshman year of high school.

Before Wesley had gotten too busy to pay her any mind.

Before he hadn't bothered to show up for the funeral two years ago.