For the Love of God by Janet Dailey Page B

deepened the corners of his mouth as he met her startled look.
    “Oh.” This small response was all she could manage, since he had confirmed exactly what she had guessed they’d be thinking.
    “We lunched together, had pizza one evening, and now we’re going on a picnic together,” Seth reminded her. “It isn’t unlikely that an outsider would jump to that conclusion.”
    “I know.” Abbie nodded.
    With calm deliberation, Seth walked around the counter-bar and took the sack of sugar out of her hands, setting it on the countertop. Her protest died when his hands moved over the bareness of her upper arms with caressing ease.
    “Why bother to deny it?” Seth challenged softly while he looked deeply into her eyes. A shiver of sensations slivered through her veins. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
    “I—suppose.” The whispered admission was hesitant; she was wary of declaring too openly the feelings that were growing stronger with each meeting.
    He tipped his head to one side, bronze lights darkening his hair. The expression on his roughly carved features mildly taunted her for her cautious reply, while his hands continued their slow, lazy kneading of her arms.
    “You don’t sound too sure,” he said. “If this isn’t the start of a romance, what else would you call it?”
    “I don’t know,” Abbie admitted with an uncertain smile.
    “What’s the matter?” Seth asked. “Why does it bother you to admit it?”
    “I guess I’m not used to being so candid,” she suggested, then deliberately tried to sidetrack the conversation. “How did the Coltrain sisters find out that you knew about their manuscript?”
    The faintly mocking glitter in his eyes informed her that Seth knew why she was changing the subject. “They invited me to dinner Tuesday night. I mentioned that we had been together the previous night and that I’d read a couple pages of the manuscript you were typing without revealing that I had recognized their handwriting,” he explained. “They were so eager to find out my reaction that they confessed they had written it and asked what I thought.” His smile became more pronounced. “So they don’t think that you betrayed their secret.”
    “I wondered,” she acknowledged.
    “I also promised them I’d write a letter to some friends of mine in the publishing business and see what I could do to help them when it’s finished.” He let his hands come away from her arms and turned to look in the grocery sack. “Is there anything else in here that’s perishable?”
    “No, I’ve already put those items away.” There were only some canned goods left.
    “Then, let’s leave the rest and go on our picnic,” he stated.
    “Okay.” Abbie had the feeling she would agree to almost anything he suggested.
    Within minutes after leaving town, Seth turned off the main highway onto a graveled county road that twisted along the ridges and hollows. Abbie was completely lost, having no idea where they were going. She’d never done that much exploring of the countryside to be familiar with all the hill roads.
    The August heat had seared the grasses a golden brown to intersperse the thickly forested hills with patches of bright color. Abbie turned her face into the blowing force of the wind generated by the sports car, kicking up plumes of dust on the graveled road.
    An azure sky contained a scattering of powder-puff clouds, drifting slowly while the golden sun-ball blazed above the earth with its light. Overhead, a hawk circled, floating effortlessly on the air currents. They were riding on a ridgeback, the Ozark Mountains undulating into the distance like ocean waves.
    There was a change in the powerful hum of the engine as Seth eased the pressure on the accelerator slowing the car. A fairly straight stretch of road lay before them with no roads branching off it. All Abbie could see was a short lane leading to the gate of a fenced field, but it appeared to be Seth’s destination as he braked the