AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Have you ever been around goats before?”
“No. Why?” she asked curiously.
“Never mind, then. They’re wonderful creatures.”
Alanna was finally catching on that Silas was teasing her, as he had caught on to her nervousness.
“Is there a reason why only a woman can milk the goats?”
“Nope. None at all, other than the goats prefer a woman’s touch. Ginny will show you how.”
“Okay.” She didn’t know much about animals and had never been within ten miles of a goat. They looked cute in pictures. She couldn’t imagine it being hard to do.
Coming out of the trees, Alanna saw a trailer set in a small clearing.
“It doesn’t look like much,” Silas went up the three steps to open the metal door.
Haltingly, she went up after him to enter the trailer. She was out in the middle of nowhere, with a man she knew little to nothing about. If not for Greer Porter, she would have askedSilas to drive her back to town. She’d lived in huge cities her whole life. Treepoint presented one culture shock after another.
The small trailer sitting alone, removed from neighbors within shouting distance, had her pulse leaping in fear. She was a city girl at heart, so living here was going to be an adjustment.
Stepping inside the trailer, she was immediately struck by how homey it felt.
“Jody moved in with Jacob so you’d have your own place.”
The trailer was farther away from the road, so unless anyone was familiar with the Colemans’ property, it would go unseen. The con was it was even more isolated than she had expected.
“Thank you. I don’t want any of you to be displaced from your home just to accommodate me. I would be perfectly happy anywhere—”
“Jody doesn’t mind. He’s usually over at Jacob’s, anyway. Let me show you around. It’s small, but should have everything you need. If you do need something, just let me know, and I can order it for you. Might take a couple of days, unless you need it quicker, then I can go to town.”
“You don’t go to town first?”
“Not unless I have to. Most of businesses or people in town aren’t very friendly toward us. I’m afraid once people hear that you work for us, the welcome mat won’t be coming out.”
Alanna was tempted to ask him why, yet didn’t want another reason to ask him to drive her back to the cell at the sheriff’s office. Besides, probably everyone in town assumed she was guilty of the charges pressed against her anyway, and they had hired her. She wasn’t exactly in any position to throw stones at anyone.
The living room had two plush sofas, a wide screen television hanging on the wall, and Alanna noticed an electric fireplace.
“The space is much roomier than I expected from the outside.”
“That’s why Jody bought it,” Silas said, coming to a stop at the kitchenette. “The refrigerator and freezer are full. Ginny checked to make sure you had all the staples. Tomorrow, I’ll show you where we keep our supplies. You can take anything you want if you find nothing that appeals to you here.”
Moving past the table with four chairs, they went down a small hallway. A pretty vase had been filled with a variety of flowers and sat in the middle of the table.
“The flowers are beautiful.” Alanna paused long enough to touch one of the delicate blooms.
“Ginny must have brought them when she was here,” he said before moving on. “This is a half-bath.” He didn’t open the door as he walked forward another couple of steps to another door. Opening it, he entered to turn on the light. “Jody emptied the dresser and closet for you.”
“I don’t need that much space. I actually don’t have any clothes other than what I’m wearing.” She might as well be honest about it, she told herself. It’s not like Silas and his family members wouldn’t begin to notice when she showed up to work each day wearing the same pair of light denim slacks and blue lace sleeveless top.
Silas was unfazed by her admission. “Diamond took care of that for you. She said you didn’t have any of your own things, so she picked out a few things to tie you over until you’re able to go shopping. Said just to call her when you want to go shopping, and she would arrange it with the sheriff so you wouldn’t get in trouble with the judge.”
“I’ll have to call and thank her.” Looking at Silas, she lowered her pride enough to explain, “I’m afraid I don’t have any friends where my things are, or I could have asked them to send me a few of my clothes. The majority of my time was spent working.” Alanna felt herself turn red. Several of the men and women whom she had worked with had made attempts to becomefriendlier , which she had sidestepped with a variety of excuses to keep a distance between them.
She hated the thought of Silas thinking she was a total loser.
He gave her an understanding smile, which soothed her ruffled pride. “Diamond said you live in Ohio?”
