Page 40 of Where It All Began
He picked up his pen and sighed. “I can feel you staring at me.”
“What are you writing about?” she asked in a stage whisper.
“You sure you’re not from around here? You have the nosiness nailed.”
“Come on! Tell me.”
“I’m writing about what a big fat liar my grad student is.”
“Damn it! Iknewyou were going to throw it in my face,” she screeched.
“Are you even in grad school, or was that another lie? Is your first name really Allen?”
“You would have sent me home if I told you the truth!”
“You’re damn right I would. And I can’t wait for you to have a kid that uses that excuse on you so you can hear how ridiculous it is.”
“You know I needed this.”
“Enough to lie to my face and then beg for my help when your big fat lie blew up in your face.”
She put her head down on the table. “Things were so much easier when you were the one wrong about everything.”
“You know what’s funny?” he asked, savoring the upper hand for once. You’re all ‘female empowerment’ until daddy shows up, and then you revert to a twelve-year-old.”
“Force of habit. The man groundedmefor two weeks when I was sixteen because my best friend got caught sneaking a boy intoherbasement to play seven minutes in heaven. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to chase off Melvin yet.”
“You’re an adult,” he reminded her. “Don’t you think it’s childish and manipulative to still be lying to get your way?” It was like poking a hysterical bear.
“You donotunderstand what it’s like to grow up with disappointing your parents being the worst punishment available.”
Yeah, he did. But that’s what good parents did.
“You lied to your parents, you lied to me, and then you forced me to cover for you.” He shook his head. “I’m disappointed in you, Phoebe.”
She groaned, looking to the ceiling as if wishing for divine intervention. When none came, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry for lying to you and making you pretend to be married to Elvira and stealing children. Happy?”
He grinned. “Yeah. I’m pretty happy.”
“You’re the worst person to apologize to,” she grumbled.
“I’m sure it’s just the first of many times,” John said cheerfully. “You’ll get better at it.”
Chapter Sixteen
Mrs. Nordemann had gotten to her. Scared the hell out of her to the point that she was dreaming about the woman reciting the virtues of marriage. It had taken the fun out of her game, and Phoebe had put the brakes on her full court press of John, retreating into a sulky silence.
She’d been certain that she and John could survive a roll in the hay with their hearts intact, but if there was even the slightest chance that he could start eyeing her up as the future Mrs. John Pierce making her hurt the man who had opened his home to her and done his best to help her with her thesis? Well, then it was better to stay fully clothed and far, far away from him.
Unfortunately, her sudden reversal appeared to have piqued John’s curiosity.
He was asking her half a dozen times a day if she was okay, and she’d caught him sneaking up on her to check on her. She assured him brightly that everything was just fine and he had nothing to worry about and then promptly went back to pretending he didn’t exist.
Ironically, she’d made it to John’s 4thof July deadline without a whisper of trouble. He apparently hadn’t decided to send her home. He seemed to have finally accepted her ability to do pretty much anything on the farm that he asked.
With Murdock tagging along, they worked through the humidity of the morning and into the afternoon, checking crops, painting the north side of the barn, and now setting posts for a new fence line. Melanie would soon have a second pasture all to herself unless John fell for another homeless farm friend.
