Synopsis: When aspiring novelist Belle French rents a laborers apartment, at a peaceful picturesque Californian farm, she thinks she’s found the perfect writing retreat. She hopes for a few months free of distractions. However, what she didn’t count on was her neighbor – Lachlan MacAldonich.
Note: This fic has been nominated for the TEA’s in the category Events: Monthly Rumbelling (Non-Smut)!
Thank you so much to everyone that nominated it, I’m really honored. I’m also stunned, especially because it’s still very incomplete. This chapter fought me tooth and nail hence the delay, sorry about that. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
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When Lachlan had told her that his alarm went off at 4:20am,
and they left the farm by 5am, Belle had nearly balked. She knew it was a long
drive to Los Angeles,
and that the farmers market opened at 7am, but she’d never really registered
what that meant. Some of Lachlan’s middle of
the night banging around made more sense now, and she certainly had more
sympathy. Having agreed to go before she heard the time, Belle didn’t really
feel like she could then refuse, especially as Lachlan
did it every week.
She second
guessed that decision when the alarm jolted her awake, at what really should be
the middle of the night. Groaning, Belle rolled out of bed, abruptly realizing
it was still dark outside, and that she didn’t even have power to make a cup of
tea. She groaned again, honestly it was enough to make a grown woman cry. She
staggered to the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water. Fifteen
minutes later, still bleary-eyed, Belle strolled over to where Lachlan was loading the truck with the help of another
man.
“Morning
Belle,” Lachlan greeted her wearily, looking
about as awake as she felt.
Belle yawned.
“Tell me we can stop for tea on the way?”
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I’m glad that she called him out loud on his drinking, and not wanting to be a ‘drunken fumble’. It might make him think twice about how much he has to drink next time. Not to mention playing second best to Beau – Belle’s smart to recognise that if who he is doesn’t hold up to his physical attraction, then it’s not going to be worth pursuing anything with him.