intense work. His forearms and hands looked unusually strong. I was surprised to feel a
little flutter deep inside.
The train pulled away, it’s rumbling noise drowning out my rolling suitcase as I approached.
He was quite tall, and as I came closer, I could see that his short wavy brown hair, and
handsome profile framed the most lively brown eyes I’d ever seen.
He turned to me, blinking twice as he took me in. “Joanna?”
I nodded. “Hi.”
I’d always been nervous
around men, especially strangers, but I was going to be living with
these people for a whole two weeks. Yet another thing to push me out of my comfort zone.
I was going to have to learn how to deal with it.
He quickly took my suitcase with his left hand, extending his right to shake mine. “I’m Dean,”
he said with a breathtaking grin. “I’m one of the folks who’ll be teaching you how to be a
temporary farmhand.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said. His hand was warm, and slightly rough, sending another sliver of
heat through my core.
He lifted my suitcase and set it in the back of the truck so easily I nearly gasped. But I
guess he was used to hauling… Hay bales, or whatever they did out here.
“May I take your other bag?” he asked.
“No, thank you. It’s my laptop.”
He nodded, opening the passenger door to help me into the truck. “Then you certainly don’t
want that to rattle around in the back,” he smiled.
Dean took my elbow to help me with the big step, tucking me into the truck and closing the
door for me. The second he jumped in the other side, he cranked the engine and we were
off. “Have you been to the country before?” he asked.
“Not very much,” I admitted. “We camped a few times when I was little.”
He nodded, turning down a smaller side road. “This is a pretty safe area,” he said. “You’ve
missed black fly season, so you should be fine.”
He must have caught my horrified glance. “You’ll be getting used to all sorts of bugs around
here, Joanna,” he chuckled. “Most of them don’t bite though. Just those pesky black flies.”