Summer Love in the Country (Summer Instalove)

continued peppering Ryan with questions about his weird adventures, as I heard the

farmhands gathering in the dining room.

With the salad finished, I ran out to set the table, and saw that Dean was sitting between

Gus and Chuck. A pang of disappointment struck me as I realized I wouldn’t have his hand

on my knee throughout most of our dinner.

I ended up sitting next to Miriam’s husband Mike, asking him endless questions about farm

life. Ryan was on my other side, and seemed more interested in learning about how to get

up super early in the morning, and survive on less sleep.

Although it was another wonderful chatty dinner, I couldn’t catch Dean’s eye to smile at him.

A chill ran through me as I wondered if he’d changed his mind about us.

As I slowly ate my small slice of strawberry rhubarb pie, I couldn’t make sense of it. Dean

was such a solid man. He wouldn’t lead me on. I didn’t think he was the type to make up his

mind one minute, and change it to next.

Maybe he’d gotten some terrible news? My blood ran cold. Dammit. Maybe Miriam and

Mike had found out about Dean and I, and were upset with him? Another shudder ran

through me, and I couldn’t control it.

“Joanna, are you cold?” Ryan asked. He took his jean jacket from the back of his chair and

draped it around my shoulders.

“Thanks,” I smiled at him. Finally, Dean looked in my direction, but his normally expressive

eyes were blank.

He left as soon as dinner was finished, and I noticed that even Miriam shot him a funny

look. Trying to put it out of my mind for the moment, I simply got to work, gathering plates.

I brought a load of dishes into the kitchen, accidentally catching Mike give Miriam a sweet

kiss before he disappeared. She watched him leave, wiping her hands on her apron before

turning to me.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I said.

“Don’t you worry. We have to get a little sugar whenever we can, right?”

Giving the plates a quick rinse before placing them in the dishwasher, I tried to tilt my hair into my face so that she couldn’t see me blushing.

Glancing up, Miriam was staring at me strangely. Then she laughed. “Don’t you think for a

split second that I don’t know every single thing that goes on around this place. I know