Falling for Rain Read Free Page B

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    “Get down here!”
    “I'm busy!”
    God, he’s infuriating , she fumed. He must know what she’d come for.  She climbed the narrow steep steps to the hay loft, careful not to let her suit touch the walls. Rain was sitting on an old kitchen chair holding a large baby’s bottle for a small wobbly calf in one hand and a book in the other. The calf sucked eagerly on the nipple, bunting it impatiently from time to time as if to increase the flow of milk. Emily looked at the calf, remembering suddenly how she used to love to feed them, not even minding when they nudged her with milky mouths when the bottle was done.
    “Cute, isn’t he?” Rain said, looking up from his book. “I’m minding him for a neighbour. The mother died, and he didn’t have enough time to bottle feed, so I’m helping out. The little guy goes back this afternoon. I’m going to miss him.”
    “What the hell do you think you're doing?” she said angrily, looking away from the calf.
    “What do you mean?” he said, sounding genuinely confused.
    Two thoughts passed through her mind simultaneously. One was that he was without a doubt the most attractive man she had ever known. The second was that he was doing this little innocent routine to deliberately annoy her. She ignored the first thought and focused on the second.
    “You know what I'm talking about!”
    “Can't say that I do.”
    “For heaven's sake, Rain, don't play this stupid little game with me. You know what I'm talking about. Your little trip to the lawyer this morning.”
    “Oh, that,” he said as if it were the furthest thing from his mind. “Just looking out for my own interests. I figured you'd be looking out after yours.”
    “Damn right. You've got a lot of nerve after I've let you stay here.”
    “What? As a hired hand?”
    “Have you ever been anything else?” She regretted the words the moment they left her mouth. Why couldn’t she just do what she’d come to do?  Why did it have to be so complicated?
    Rain closed his book carefully and set it on the floor beside his chair. “I was more than that to your father.”  His voice was low and intense. “I was like his son.” He looked deep into her eyes. They were cold with fury. “Especially after you deserted him.”
    When she spoke, her voice was full of the dark hardness of her eyes. “You're fired. As soon as I find someone else.”
    The silence hung on the air between for a moment. He shattered it with a bitter laugh. “You’re kidding, right? I’m not waiting around until you find someone else.  I'm out of here. I can't wait to see you out here mucking stalls.”
    God. She'd done it now. But she wasn't going to let him see the fear. “Fine. Have it your way. Leave me a list of feeding details, and start looking for a new home.” She turned and raced down the loft steps, his laughter ringing in her ears, her eyes blurring with tears of frustration. When her five-hundred-dollar jacket snagged on a nail head protruding from the wall, she barely noticed. 
    She forced herself to walk steadily across the yard to the house. She was sure he was watching her from the loft, and she didn't want to supplement his amusement by tripping and sprawling headlong into the mud. But once inside, she threw herself on the living-room couch. Why had she behaved so rashly – even childishly? She had been so enraged, she had shot back without thinking. She had imagined this meeting with Rain a hundred times before coming, and not once had she imagined Rain laughing at her. In her fantasies, he had been fully aware of her superiority, looking at her with awe and respect.
    Damn him! she thought, pulling herself up from the couch. But if this was the game he wanted to play, she'd beat him. How did that saying go? Something about losing the battle but winning the war. She'd show him.
    There was no question of getting a hotel now. She was stuck here with the dust, cobwebs, cold water, and ghosts. First, she went down into