Betting on Love Read Free Page B

of them. I guess her mom had to work a lot of hours. Nick said he thought things were kind of hard for Melody.”
    Anger washed across Wyatt’s face as he handed the receipt to Drew. “As long as I have breath in this body, I’ll do everything I can to take care of Gracie and our son. I’d never leave her to fend for herself. I don’t understand a man who could do that.”
    Sobered and feeling thankful for his mother and father, Drew grabbed his bag off the counter. “I’ve got to head on over to the homesite. I’ll talk to you later.”
    His heart felt heavy as he made his way back to his truck. He loved the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. At least he’d always believed he did. Sure, he knew he was a bit competitive and could be a bit mule headed at times. He wasn’t perfect, but he always wanted to be sensitive to God’s guiding and what God wanted from him.
    After turning the ignition, he prayed silently as he started down the road.
God, Wyatt’s right. I have been defensive when it comes to Melody. I don’t know what it is about her that rubs me the wrong way. Forgive me, Lord. Help me be a better witness for You.
    He slammed his brakes when a small mutt ran into the middle of the road. The contents of the hardware bag fell out onto the floor of the truck. He saw the spark plugs, and an idea popped into his head.
    He groaned as he lifted his cap off his head, wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, then placed the cap back on. “God, isn’t there some other way?”
    His heart felt as if it had been nudged again, and Drew cringed as he took the cell phone out of his pocket. “God, I wouldn’t do this for anyone but You.”

    Hands filled with various vegetable seedlings, Melody followed her aunt Renee outside to the newly tilled garden. She felt like a fish out of water helping her aunt with plants and flowers. Melody knew everything there was to know about cleaning a house, doing laundry, and even fixing all kinds of things from televisions to microwaves to car engines, but she’d had absolutely no experience messing with Mother Nature.
    “Okay, Melody.” Aunt Renee set down the plants then pointed to the right side of the huge garden area. Melody followed her lead and placed her plants on the ground. “I’m going to have you put the cucumbers over there. They need plenty of room to spread out.”
    Melody nodded. “Okay. Which ones are the cucumbers?”
    Aunt Renee picked up a tray with six plants. She handed them to Melody with a wry grin. “The ones with the picture of a cucumber on the tag.”
    “Make fun of me all you want, Aunt Renee.” Melody smiled as she gently touched the dainty green leaves on the plants. “You’re the crazy one for letting me touch these poor things.”
    “You’ll be fine.” She handed her a small shovel. Melody had never seen one so small. It was kind of cute. “Plant them about a foot apart.”
    Melody nodded. She headed to her spot then surveyed the area where she was to plant the cucumbers. A foot apart seemed awfully far, but she didn’t know anything about gardening, so she’d have to trust her aunt.
    Melody knelt down and touched the soft earth. It actually felt nice and cool and squishy between her fingers. Her aunt had fussed all morning about getting the garden out about a week and a half later than she normally did, but Nick and Addy’s wedding had taken precedence over the garden.
    Might as well get to it,
Melody chided herself. She wasn’t sure how deep to dig. She glanced over at her aunt, who appeared quite busy with what Melody believed were the tomato plants—although she had no idea why her aunt was placing circular wire contraptions over the small plants.
    She shrugged. If the plants had to be a foot away from each other, they probably needed to be around a foot deep. She gazed at the small plants. But the cucumber seedlings were probably only six inches tall at the most.
    Just do it. If I can fix an