Page 10 of A Summer Mismatch
She turned back to Logan and tried to figure out how to extract herself from what would definitely be an awkward conversation. She tossed out:I’m suddenly starving. AndI still owe you for the shirt.
Luckily, his radio chirped and he answered it.
A crackly voice sounded. “Hey, Ryan stepped in to help with Raza, and now he’s acting up.”
Logan groaned and pressed the talk button to reply. “I’ve told Ryan not to mess with him if I’m not there.”
“Ryan thinks he knows better,” the staticky voice replied in the kind of tone that let Julia know he didn’t agree.
“I’ll be right there.” He tucked the radio back into his utility belt and turned to Julia. “Raza is the bull elephant I’m working with.”
”Is Raza ill?”
“Injured,” he replied. “He’ll be okay, though, with some time and care. And if Ryan will leave him alone.”
“Who’s Ryan?”
“One of the keepers here. Elephants require respect and sensitivity, and Ryan is…” His voice trailed off.
“None those things?” she finished.
“Pretty much.” He gave her a sardonic head shake that made his brown hair flop over his forehead. “I’d better go take care of this.”
“Good luck with a tricky situation.”
“You know, it’s not so bad,” he replied with a direct smile that she felt zing all the way to her toes. “My day is looking up.”
She was in a coma, and she’d mentally transplanted herself into one of Allegra Winters’s books. There was no other explanation for everything happening inside of her right then. It could not be possible that one smile had the power to steal the air straight from her lungs.
He waved as he jogged off, and since she was in a coma and none of this was real, she allowed herself the pleasure of watching him. Who knew scrubs could show off so much delicious flexing? Apparently being a veterinarian to large animals required a lot of muscle in all the right places.
One man shouldn’t be allowed to look so good; it wasn’t fair to all the other men out there.
He turned a corner, and she finally allowed herself let out the happy squeal she’d been holding in. How lucky was she?
Something warm plopped onto her head. She glanced up to see a bird nestled on a branch above her, a mocking glint in his beady bird eyes. It cawed victoriously and flew off as she slowly touched her hair and her hand came away white.
“Seriously!” she yelled up through the branches, startling several other birds into taking flight. Okay, so not in a coma. Something like this would never happen to one of Allegra Winters’s characters.
Nope, embarrassing herself in front of a hot—and even better, kind—man, and seconds later scrubbing white bird poop out of her hair with a wet wipe was, unfortunately, just a normal Tuesday occurrence for Julia Peters.
CHAPTER SIX
Winnie
Winniespreadherhandsover the soft fabric of the quilt she’d finished just that morning while Horace played golf. It was a cream and silver star quilt, a pattern that made up like a dream but looked complicated. She recalled that Lydia Byrd had always loved simple, classic decor and hoped her taste hadn’t changed. Winnie tied a pale blue ribbon around the folded quilt and attached a “welcome” note card.
The back door to the Byrd’s bungalow was already open when she arrived, but no one was in sight. She tentatively knocked.
“Come in, Logan,” Lydia’s familiar voice called from down the hallway.
Winnie’s heart pounded. “It’s not Logan. It’s Winnie. Rees,” she added haltingly.
Lydia came around the corner with a shocked expression. She’d aged decades, both physically and emotionally. Her grief was so apparent and raw, it opened a wound Winnie’s heart.
“Winnie.” Lydia placed her hands on her hips and then clutched them behind her back like she didn’t quite know what do with them. “How did you know we were here? We just moved in today.”
“Horace and I live in The Palms, too. You didn’t know that?”
