Betting on Love Read Free

swatted her hand. “Aw, Drew’s a great guy. He just always wins at everything. After a while, you can’t blame the guy for simply expecting it.”
    Melody remembered the mixed expression of shock and horror on Drew’s face when she sank the corn kernel–filled beanbag into the hole for her first win. “Then I’m glad I could help him get a taste of losing.”
    Gracie lifted her fork in the air and shook it back and forth. “Be careful, Melody. You know what the Bible says—pride comes before a fall.”
    Melody tried not to roll her eyes. She didn’t know what the Bible said, and she really didn’t care, either. It had been abundantly clear in the months she’d spent living with her aunt and uncle that they were Holy Rollers. Evidently, years before, when her mom and dad were still married, before her dad skipped out on them, her mom had been religious as well. But Melody had very few remembrances of church or the Bible or God. Her mom worked too hard and too many hours to worry about spending time with Melody, let alone fret about going to church. Her mom had given up on God and everything else when her dad left, so He must not be that great.
    Melody pointed toward Drew. “You saw how the overgrown boy acted. He practically stomped off after I beat him the second time. He hasn’t even so much as looked at me since. No ‘good game,’ ‘congratulations,’ or anything.”
    Gracie pushed a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear. Melody felt a niggling of jealousy at Gracie’s beautiful light hair, eyes, and complexion. Everything about the woman was feminine and dainty. Though she was on the short side and she had a small frame, Melody felt like a dark-haired, dark-eyed workhorse beside her new friend. “He has definitely been acting strange the last few months. Probably because his little sister just married one of his best friends.”
    “Or maybe he’s just a male chauvinist pig.”
    Gracie frowned. “You have Drew pegged wrong. He’s a good Christian man.” She took a drink of her sweet tea. “By the way, are you planning to come to church tomorrow?”
    Melody wrinkled her nose. Church seemed to be all everyone in this town ever talked about. She’d agreed to go a few times with her aunt and uncle, but she didn’t really care much for it. All the preacher ever talked about was having a personal relationship with the Lord. Well, she’d done just fine without that personal relationship for twenty-four years. Why would she all of a sudden have to have it now? “I don’t know.”
    “Afterward, you could come over for lunch then take a look at our car.”
    Melody squinted. “I thought Christians were supposed to rest on Sunday.”
    Gracie leaned toward her. “Will I be able to convince you to come to church if I promise you can look at my car?”
    Melody grinned at Gracie’s sneaky motives. “Possibly.”
    Gracie smacked her leg. “Then by all means, after church you can come look at my car.”
    Melody shook her head. Since she’d moved to River Run, she’d been working as much as she could to build up her name as a trustworthy mechanic in the area, and Gracie knew she’d like to have the good word of the owner of the town’s hardware store. “Fine. I’ll be there.”

two
    Drew grabbed the supplies for the house he was going to build then walked up to the counter of the hardware store. In just a few more days he’d have the ground leveled; then he and his friends could start working on the foundation. Having bought the land from his dad several years before, Drew had finally saved enough money to build a modest home.
    After fixing up the cabin Nick had built on his land, Drew had no doubt he and his friends had the know-how to build a small home. Unlike Nick, Drew wasn’t in a rush. They could work on it a bit at a time until it was done. He’d have his own place and no debt. He could use his money as God guided instead of forking it all over to a bank.
    “This all you need?”