Page 80 of The Cowgirl's Chosen Love
Lisa’s eyes lit up. “I’m betting one hundred percent.”
He headed toward the grocery store while Lisa busied herself sending a text to Tamara.
There was only one issue. Josiah eyed Ollie.
To hell with it. She’d just have to come along for the ride.
Lisa had been sentinto the liquor store with orders to buy a bottle of red or white, whichever she wanted—with one caveat. Screw top only.
To be contrary, she bought both. If he was able to constantly surprise her, she figured it was fair to reciprocate.
As soon as she was back in the truck, Josiah disappeared into the store, coming back ten minutes later with two full grocery bags he placed in the back seat. “Ready for an adventure?”
She eyed him carefully. “I don’t see any cue cards.”
“You’re not looking close enough,” he teased. “Open your notebook.”
What? She pulled it out of her bag to find a thin strip of burlap being used as a bookmark. “Creative.”
“Desperation,” he countered. “Sonora is way too tidy. In any other office, I would have been able to find a scrap of paper.”
Lisa laughed as she opened to the designated page and saw her notes on France. Or that’s what it had turned into. On the left side of the page she’d drawn a rough sketch of the Eiffel Tower with a list of bullet points opposite to it. Below she had writtenvisit the Eiffel Tower or some other huge landmark and enjoy a delicious meal.
Josiah turned off the highway and train tracks rattled under the truck wheels. “You know a shortcut to France? Because that’s gotta be one heck of a tunnel,” she said.
He grinned. “I don’t have the time to fly you to France, but I can certainly take you to an important landmark for a delicious meal.” He pulled to a stop outside the old Heart Falls grain elevators.
She shuffled out the door after him, staring up at the paint-worn buildings. “They’re in slightly better shape than the ones outside of Rocky.”
Which wasn’t saying much.
Ollie took off ahead of them to explore. Josiah grabbed the groceries in one hand and her fingers in the other, bringing her with him to the door at the base of one of the towering structures. “She’s sound inside. And I happen to have a key and permission to go in anytime I want.”
She wasn’t quite sure why anybody would want this privilege, but his enthusiasm was huge and that alone was attractive. She took the bags from him so he could open the door. When he flicked the switch, a set of LED lights came on in the passageway and they waited for Ollie to join them before shutting the door.
Lisa glanced around, but he hadn’t been exaggerating. She thumped her knuckles against the sturdy posts rising upward in the three-story building. “Wow.”
“There’s not much to offer wear and tear in this neck of the woods. They’re built to withstand the snow and wind. The outside looks terrible because of the sun and weathering, but in here, there’s the potential for so much more.” He glanced at the dog. “Wait here. We need one more thing.”
He was outside and back in no time flat, another grocery bag stuffed to the brim with what looked to be a blanket tossed over his shoulder.
“This way.”
Josiah grabbed a flashlight off the shelf and handed it to her. He took a second one for himself and then, leading the way, headed up a set of worn wooden stairs.
He stepped briskly, causing an occasional groan from the wood, but with him marching so confidently, Lisa had no reason to hesitate. They rounded a corner for the sixth time, the space to her left once again opening up into a wide room with wooden flooring.
She paused, suddenly uncertain. “I’ll just stay here until I can see where I’m going. Or at least more than two feet ahead of me.”
Josiah put his bags down and returned to her side, grabbing her hands and examining her face closely in the dim light reflecting through the window. “Is this okay?”
She nodded. “Just a teeny bit wary of heights when I’m not certain of the floor stability.”
He linked their fingers together. “I’ve got you,” he promised, his voice quiet yet intense, telling a whole story in one sentence as he brushed their lips together briefly. “You can protect me from the spiders.”
Something inside her tumbled hard. “I can do that.”
He took the flashlight from her gingerly, placing it on the floor by the window sill and aiming it toward the ceiling. He took his a few steps farther and did the same thing before going to his secret bag, shaking out a blanket, and laying it on the ground.
