[Desert Roses 03] - Beneath A Harvest Sky Read Free

company.
    She wanted to bury her face in her hands and pretend it had been a mistake. Maybe if I pretend to read the menu . . . then I won’t seem so desperate . She picked up the menu and considered her choices.
    “It was very kind of you to invite me to join you this evening.”
    Rainy looked up to meet Duncan Hartford’s deep brown eyes. She swallowed hard. “I hope it didn’t seem too . . . well . . . forward. I mean . . . we know each other . . . pretty well, and my brother will be watching—I mean, he’ll be joining us.”
    He laughed and the sound was deep and throaty. He pulled back the chair while the Harvey waitress filled their glasses with ice water. Rainy felt rather silly. Her words seemed all jumbled, and while they made perfect sense in her head, they didn’t seem so accurate when they came out of her mouth.
    “Would you like to order now?” the Harvey Girl questioned.
    “My brother should be joining us shortly,” Rainy indicated. “But I’d very much like to go ahead and start with some tea.”
    “That sounds good to me,” Duncan replied.
    The waitress disappeared, leaving Rainy feeling rather uncomfortable in the silence. She’d long admired this man, but how could she make that clear without sounding like one of Sonny’s young admirers?
    “Oh, there you are,” Sonny suddenly said, coming from behind her. “I can’t stay. I need to help a friend of mine get his car running. Do you mind?” He looked from Rainy to Duncan.
    Rainy swallowed hard. When she’d thought Sonny would be a part of their company, she hadn’t felt quite so awkward. “You still have to eat.”
    “I’ll grab a sandwich at home,” Sonny replied. He extended his hand to Duncan. “You’re Mr. Hartford from the Indian museum, right?”
    Duncan shook his hand. “Yes, but please call me Duncan.”
    “I’ve seen you at the museum, but since I generally wait with the touring car, I haven’t had much of a chance to get to know you.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m sorry, Rainy. I really need to get over there.”
    Rainy nodded and unfolded her napkin to keep from having to meet Duncan’s expression. “That’s all right. You have a good night and I’ll see you in the morning. Oh, and Mrs. Rivera is leaving you some sopapillas on the back of the stove.”
    “God bless that woman. She always seems to know just the right way to work herself into my heart.” He gave a little wave and hurried out of the dining room.
    Rainy could only think to smile and apologize. “I’m really sorr y. If you feel it inappropriate to stay . . .”
    “Not at all. We’re both adults and we’re obviously both hungry,” he said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
    “So is Sonny not staying?” the Harvey waitress asked as she passed their table.
    “No, he had to tend to another matter,” Rainy replied.
    “We’re ready to give you our orders if you like,” Duncan added. He looked at Rainy with an expression that almost seemed sympathetic.
    Maybe, she thought, he understands how I feel. Wouldn’t it be marvelous if a man could just look at the situation and comprehend the details of the matter without having to ask a lot of questions? Rainy had often enjoyed the quiet companionship of her parents. They worked so well together and almost seemed to read each other’s minds.
    “And what will you have?”
    Rainy broke free from her thoughts. She looked up to find both the waitress and Duncan watching her quite intently. “I’ll have the beef,” she murmured without bothering to look at the menu.
    The waitress wrote down their orders, then went off to tend her other tables. Rainy felt the discomfort of not knowing what to say. She knew Duncan Hartford from his work at the Indian Museum and Art Gallery, but she didn’t know him all that well. What she did know was that she thought him one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen and she enjoyed his kind and gentle nature when he dealt with the demanding tour