Sweet Tomorrows by Debbie Macomber Page A

if you left now,” he said, cutting her off. “And even better if you don’t come back.” He pointed the way, just in case she forgot.
    “You’re being a jerk about this.”
    He didn’t deny it, but it was necessary. “If I see you on my property again, there will be consequences.”
    “Okay, fine, if that’s what you want.” She glared at him, her eyes dark and brooding.
    “It is.”
    She shook her head as if she had a hard time believing anyone could be so insolent. “You’ve got a rotten attitude. I came here wanting to be a friend—”
    “I don’t need friends.”
    “I believe you made that point clear.”
    All Nick wanted was for her to leave so she would stop messing with his head. He’d done his best to make sure she had no desire to set foot on his land again. Turning back, he headed to the house, expecting Elvis to come with him. Traitor that he was, the German shepherd followed her to the property line, and then, with his head hanging low, he reluctantly returned to the house.
    Nick reached down and rubbed his head. “Sorry, boy, but it needs to be this way.”
    Elvis whined as if he’d lost his best friend and followed Nick into the house.

I was still so angry that I barreled breathlessly through the back door of the inn, startling Jo Marie. “You won’t believe what just happened!” I blurted out, filled with frustration, as I tossed my hands into the air.
    “Whatever it is has clearly got you riled,” she said as she poured orange juice into a glass and handed it to me.
    I was too upset to think about eating or drinking and answered with a quick shake of my head. “I just met the most unfriendly…arrogant…mean-spirited man in the universe.” Flustered as I was, I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth fast enough.
    Jo Marie blinked twice at the vehemence in my voice. “What happened?”
    I paced the kitchen, unable to believe even now the things that dickhead had said to me. “This man…this Neanderthal, demanded that I get off his property.”
    “Who?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t know his name.”
    “Where?”
    “The house. You know the one—with the orchard. The very one I mentioned I was interested in buying?” I flopped my hands against my sides. “I stopped by last week to ask if he minded me going through his orchard, and even though he was home, he purposely didn’t answer the door. Then, this morning, he kicked me off his property. He wasn’t polite about it, either. And do you know what he said?” The question was rhetorical. “He said that if he saw me on his property again there would be consequences.”
    Jo Marie blinked again, as if she, too, was surprised by the man’s attitude.
    “His dog is friendlier than he is. I am so angry I can hardly think straight.” I knotted my fists at my sides as righteous indignation seeped out of my pores. I hadn’t hurt anything. There simply was no reason to be so bad-mannered.
    Jo Marie tucked her guests’ empty juice glasses into the dishwasher. “Looks like you’re going to have to change your route,” she said. Her look was sympathetic even if her words weren’t.
    “There was already a path through the orchard, and yes, it was overgrown, but it was there, clearly visible to the naked eye.” I didn’t know why I continued to ramble on, other than it helped me deal with the knotted-up fury in my chest. And my disappointment. For whatever reason, he’d taken an instant dislike to me. That bothered me, too. I was friendly and generally didn’t have problems getting along with others. What irritated me was the fact that I knew I was trespassing.
    “Take several deep breaths and calm down,” Jo Marie suggested.
    I couldn’t seem to stop moving. I paced from one end of the kitchen to the other, burning off my agitation. “I’ve never been an angry person.” I really wasn’t. Usually I was able to handle an uncomfortable situation with a cool head. Not this time. I was fuming at him and at myself,