The Soldier's Sweetheart

Will looked at Samantha. She’d texted her friends about him? Maybe she wasn’t as put off by his appearance as she’d first appeared to be. In any case, she was definitely embarrassed now. Her face was bright scarlet, the poor woman, at the uncomfortable spot her friend had just placed her in.

Of course, they’d placed him in as equally tight a spot.

“My name is Alexis Granger. Very glad to meet you,” the blonde purred, holding out a hand for him to shake. She had a firm grip, not one of those faint finger-shakes so many women were fond of. She was dusty and dressed for riding, and Will could smell what he guessed must be horses, a distinct and peculiar scent to which his nose wasn’t accustomed.

It wasn’t bad, exactly. Just different. And it was just one of a million and one ways he’d discovered so far today how dissimilar Serendipity was from the big-city and military lifestyle he’d known in the past.

“I’m Mary,” the brunette said with shy nod. “Welcome to Serendipity.” At least she didn’t invade his personal space, although there was no doubt that she was eyeing him appreciatively. Between Samantha’s two friends, Will was starting to feel like the candy in that jar Samantha was holding.

“I’m William Davenport,” he said, shaking Mary’s hand. Her grip was softer than Alexis’s, more delicate. “Please call me Will.”

“Will is going to be staying in Serendipity,” Samantha explained. Her voice sounded high and strained to Will’s ears.

Both of her friends exclaimed in delight and high-fived each other. Didn’t they realize he was standing right here watching them?

Hello. Still in the room.

Mary and Alexis circled Samantha and launched into a garble of speech, but it was difficult for Will to make out what they were saying—and not because they were speaking in whispered tones.

Oh, no. Quite the opposite. They were chattering away like chickens in a henhouse, their voices high and staccato. Samantha held her hands up in protest and rolled her eyes.

Didn’t these people ever have visitors in their town? Or was it just the fact that he was a presumably single man that piqued their interest?

If that was what they were excited about, they were in for an enormous disappointment. Will wasn’t the least bit interested in a relationship here in Serendipity. He was here to work, and to get to know his little girl—and that was it.

No more. No less.

He’d already messed up one woman’s life with his attention—or lack thereof. He wouldn’t do it again.

“We were just discussing where Will and Genevieve will be living,” Amanda interjected, her voice a surprisingly reasonable, even tone compared to the younger women.

And he’d thought she was overly exuberant when he’d first met her.

“If he needs a place to stay, there’s plenty of room on my ranch,” Alexis offered with a flirtatious grin. “You could kick back with the stable hands. They’ve got a few extra bunks.”

“I’d invite you,” said Mary, her cheeks coloring a rose pink, “except that I live alone.”

“You’re not exactly alone with those gazillion dogs of yours,” Alexis amended with a hoot.

Mary chuckled. “What about asking Pastor Shawn for assistance?”

“Ladies,” Samuel said, toning down the conversation like a maestro controlling a symphony. “We’ve already got the details of Will’s living arrangements worked out to everyone’s satisfaction. He’ll be staying in one of our cabins along the creek and doing cabinetry work for us in exchange for room and board. Everybody wins.”

Samantha sputtered and looked like she was choking. Her face turned beet red and her mouth moved, but no words came out. Clearly, she didn’t believe everybody in this situation would win, but she caught herself and smiled at him.

Will clamped down on the emotions welling in his chest. She had no idea what her help meant to him. It wasn’t easy for him to humble his pride and accept assistance, but this wasn’t about him. It was about Genevieve, and he would do anything for his little girl.

With all he’d been through in the past months, appreciation didn’t even begin to cover what he owed the Howells for their goodwill. He didn’t know how to express it in words.

What he could do was pull his weight around here. He could shoulder some of the burden the grocery created. And he could get the B&B cabins into working condition and help the elder Howells realize their dreams.

“I’ll get moved into the cabin tonight, and then I’m ready to start work first thing in the morning,” he told Samantha.

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Tomorrow? Tomorrow is Sunday.”

“Right,” he agreed. “So?”

“So...the grocery isn’t open on Sundays.”

“Not at all?”

“Nope. The whole town rolls up at about six o’clock every night and all day on Sundays. You won’t find much of anything open around here during the evenings and half of the weekend. Serendipity is an old-fashioned town with old-fashioned ways.”

Will whistled through his teeth. “What do people do if they forget an ingredient for Sunday dinner?”

Samantha laughed. “Borrow from their neighbors or make do with what they have on hand. You’ll get used to it after a while.”

“I sincerely doubt that,” Will muttered under his breath. As if he didn’t have enough to deal with, now he was living in a town that not only looked like a throwback to the late 1800s but acted like it, as well.

“You’re welcome to come to church with us tomorrow morning,” Samantha offered. “It’s a community congregation. You’ll have the opportunity to meet a lot of the townspeople.”

“No thanks,” he said abruptly, and then realized how bad that sounded. These people had been gracious to him. He cleared his throat. “That is to say, I’m not really much of a churchgoing man. I appreciate the offer, though.”

Samantha looked stunned and a little wounded, which surprised him.

“I’ll be meeting most of the town folks here at the grocery, won’t I?” he asked, in what he hoped was a more positive tone of voice.

“Certainly. Of course. You can meet people here at the store.” Samantha smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, but surely he wasn’t the only man in town who didn’t believe in a feel-good deity who handed out free favors, or worse yet, an angry God who zapped people with bolts of lightning when He didn’t like what they were doing.

If he was going to believe in one of those, it would surely be the latter. His life hadn’t been graced with many favors.

But then again, if there was a God who punished people for their sins, he would have been deep-fried a long time ago.

Somehow, he thought there was probably more to Samantha’s request to join them at church tomorrow than just meeting folks from town. But now that he’d turned her down, he would never know.

Chapter Two

Sunday was Samantha’s only real day off. As she’d informed Will, Sam’s Grocery, like every other shop in town, was closed on Sundays. After she spent the morning playing the organ for the church and sharing a nice family dinner with her parents, Sunday afternoon was her time to kick back and relax, maybe read a romance novel or watch some television.

But today was a sunny day, and Samantha decided she didn’t want to stay indoors. Problems were plaguing her and she desperately needed some fresh air to clear her head.

Her first inclination was to go find her friends. She was certain that Mary and Alexis had plenty to say about Will. They’d probably already started making plans for landing him a wife here in Serendipity, possibly even tossing a coin as to which one of them would have the honor.

But Samantha didn’t really want to talk about Will. She didn’t even want to think about him, though unfortunately, she couldn’t seem to get him out of her head. She was still mildly resentful of the fact that he’d had been thrust into her life with no notice.

Still, thinking about Will was preferable to thinking about her other issue—the letter from Stay-n-Shop. She still had no idea how she was going to handle that matter.