Country Love

Chapter Five

"I like this place." Sara said happily as she skipped down the street in front of Isabelle.

"I do too." Isabelle replied. It was almost one and the two of them were on their way to the diner to eat lunch with Trisha. They had spent the morning at the park and the library and visiting all the tiny stores and shops. Isabelle found everything about this town to be charming and all the people she met seemed to be very kind and welcoming. She was starting to believe that maybe she and Sara had finally found the place they'd been searching for.

They walked into the diner and Trisha's eyes lit up when she saw them.

"I'm so happy you could come!" she said leading them over to the same booth they'd sat in the day before. The diner was once again empty and as Trisha went to go get the three of them something to drink and order their food Isabelle let Sara put a couple quarters in the old juke box. Isabelle selected several songs, all of which were by Brad Thompson, apparently a lot people in this town liked his music, and then she and Sara began to dance around the diner.

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Bradley put his truck in park in front of the diner and wondered what the hell he was doing. He should know better than to waste his time with any woman his sister picked out for him but he was desperate.

When he'd been down at his fishing hole the night before he had kept remembering the way Sara had looked so scared in the moonlight when she'd walked up on him. He kept hearing her tiny little voice singing Twinkle Twinkle as loudly and as off-key as she possibly could.

He had left his fishing hole long before he had planned because he was irritated by the way his heart was reacting to the thought of that little girl. He had never liked kids. He didn't even like his own nieces and nephews. He loved them, of course, but he didn't like them. So why did he want to see those pretty blue eyes and blond pigtails again? Why did he keep smiling when he thought of the way she had scolded him and made a face when he'd broken the runny part of her egg?

And stepping into his house that night had not improved his thoughts. It had simply made them worse. And when he had sat down on his couch in front of the fireplace he had smelled Isabelle's perfume still lingering there and his blood had suddenly been on fire. It didn't make any sense. He was not the type to daydream about a woman. Hell he hadn't even been with a woman in over a year.

Like he had told Trisha, he was perfectly happy alone…. So why had he suddenly, after thirty years of not needing anyone, felt so damn lonely sitting on his couch in the dark with no one around?

He stepped out of his truck and slammed the door. He readjusted his baseball cap on his head and walked toward the diner. He was determined to forget about Isabelle and Sara. Hell the two of them had only been passing through anyhow and were probably long gone by now. Best way to forget them would be to have a little casual fun with whoever his sister had him set up with.

But when he looked through the window of the diner his heart stopped beating in his chest. There she was. The woman he had thought about all night…. He had actually slept on the couch just so he could smell her perfume.. Not something he would ever tell anyone else about of course. She was laughing and dancing around the diner with Sara in her arms and Trisha was watching and clapping happily.

Bradley leaned in closer to the window and he could hear his own voice coming out of the juke box and he could also hear Isabelle's voice clear and strong as she sang along. He had already known she was beautiful but right now he was sure he was looking at an auburn haired angel.

Bradley thought about turning and leaving. The last thing the eternal bachelor in him needed was to spend any more time around this woman and that little girl but Sara spotted him and jumped out of Isabelle's arms. Bradley sighed and opened the door. Sara jumped up into his arms and threw her tiny arms around his neck.