by A. J. Pine
“I never got dressed so fast in my life except the other night when your mama snuck in the apartment. If she’d opened that bedroom door...”
Kasey startled both of them when she leaned down between them and whispered, “Granny is being really nice tonight. What did you put in her tea, Brody?”
Both of his hands shot up defensively. “I’m innocent. I didn’t spike her tea. How you doin’, sis?”
“This is my first family reunion without Adam. It’s kind of strange. We used to sneak off to the buyer’s loft and make out.” Her smile didn’t erase the pain in her eyes. “Even after we were married and had kids.”
“I wonder how many kids we’d disturb if we flipped on the lights in the balcony,” Brody said.
“Don’t do it. Let them have the thrill that we had,” Kasey said. “It’s good to see you, Lila.”
“Hey.” Jace touched Lila on the arm. “I wanted to come on over and ask you to save me a dance later this evening.”
“Her dances are taken,” Brody said quickly.
“Hey, now!” Lila spoke up. “I’ve got an extra one right now if you want to dance, Jace.”
He held out a hand. “Yes, ma’am.”
The band was playing the very song that had been playing in her mind when Clancy was in the café—“Which Bridge to Cross (Which Bridge to Burn).”
“Sounds like maybe this is special for you tonight,” Jace said as he drew her close for a two-step. “Brody was worried.”
“Truth is I burned the bridge between me and Brody years ago. The one I burned with Clancy is still smoldering but it’s gone. I don’t care about that one but I wouldn’t mind rebuilding the one with Brody,” she said.
“I’ve got nails if y’all run out and if there’s anything I can do to help, you just call me. I like seein’ him as happy as he is right now,” Jace said.
“Thank you. Reckon you’ve got any pull with your mama?”
“Now that’s something you and Brody got to do on your own. She’s my mama and I love her but she can be a handful. Granny used to be even worse but she is mellowing since she retired,” Jace chuckled.
Brody leaned forward and put his hands on the table so he could watch them. Not because he was afraid his brother would try to steal his woman, but Brody enjoyed just seeing Lila move around the floor. The song was so appropriate for the night. He didn’t have a single bridge to burn. But Lila had two before her and it scared the hell out of him when he thought of her going back to Florida and being around Clancy.
He had eyes for only her, moving so gracefully. Jace said something and her body language said that she was very serious when she answered him. Then she smiled and nodded when he made another comment. Brody wanted to cut in and ask her what they were talking about, but he just watched from a distance. The next one and all those after belonged to him.
The song ended and Jace brought her back to the table. “I told her to make sure that you need to resole your boots when tonight is over since you’re being selfish. She dances like a dream. No wonder you always kept her to yourself in high school.”
Lila patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you, Jace.”
“You’re very welcome,” he said. “Hey, you ever think about all those crazy things we did when we were kids?”
“Happy memories.” She smiled.
“Yep, they are. Can I get y’all a beer?”
“Love one,” Lila said.
“Just leave them right here on the table,” Brody said. “We’re about to hit the dance floor if this gorgeous woman will let me step on her toes again.”
“Will do.” Jace disappeared toward the bar.
Brody led her out to the middle of the floor. “We’ll dance a couple of times and then go back to the table and drink those beers while they’re still cold. And then I’m going to kiss you.”
“Oh, so you’ve got the whole evening planned, do you? Are you trying to prove that you’re brave enough to bring the wild girl to a family reunion in spite of what everyone might think?”
“Nope. I’m trying to prove to you that I mean business this time and I don’t care what anyone or anything thinks of our relationship,” he said.
“So this is a relationship?” she asked.
She’d expected the clouds to part the day that Brody said something like that. But not even the crowd on the dance floor parted. The only way that anyone would even know what he’d said would be by the way her heart had tossed in an extra few beats. And no one could even see that happening.
He sank his face into her hair. “It’s whatever you want it to be. I’ll take what I can get.”
She looped her arms around his neck and his slid down to her lower back when the singer started Tracy Byrd’s song “Holdin’ Heaven.”
“It’s the truth. I really am holdin’ heaven in my arms.”
“You know why, don’t you?” She looked into his eyes.
“Because you’re in my arms?”
“No, sir, if you’re holding heaven in your arms, then I’m an angel, and honey, I traded my halo and wings for horns back when we had sex the first time,” she laughed.
“Then I should have a set of long horns right along with you,” he laughed.
He didn’t wait until they were at the bar to kiss her. His dark lashes closed slowly and then his lips were on hers in a kiss so hot that it would have melted the devil’s pitchfork. She leaned into it, not caring if she was at his family reunion and everyone was watching them. This night had been a long time coming and she deserved her Cinderella evening.
They were the only ones on the dance floor when the band closed out the evening at eleven-thirty with a request from Brody. “Bless the Broken Road,” by Rascal Flatts, a slow country waltz, brought Brody and Lila together in the middle of the floor.
“This was playing that year when you left,” he whispered. “But it didn’t have the meaning that it does today.”
“Do you think that God did bless the road that led me back home to Happy?”
“I do,” he said.
She laid her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart.
Home.
She’d called Happy home.
Her pretty red dress didn’t turn into rags at the stroke of midnight. His truck didn’t instantly become a pumpkin. But when he kissed her at the door, she felt as if she had truly had her Cinderella night.
“Good night, Lila,” he whispered hoarsely, desire in his voice.
“Good night, Brody.” Her whole body wanted more.
“I really don’t want to let you go,” he said.
She leaned into his arms, her face resting on his chest. She could have stood there until dawn simply enjoying that steady heartbeat. “We both know this night has to end at the door. But there’s always tomorrow.”
He brought her palms to his lips and kissed each one. The warmth of his breath, the feel of his lips on the tender part of her skin, and the slight scruff on his face against her fingertips made her wish that all time would freeze—that they could stay right there in that scene forever.
“Until tomorrow.” He dropped her hands and walked to his truck.
She watched until even the sound of the vehicle had faded, leaving nothing behind but a lonesome old owl and a coyote vying for attention off in the distance. She opened the door and made it to the living room before she melted into a chair and kicked off her boots.
“Only a few minutes late,” Daisy said from the sofa where Duke and Cora both rested in her lap. “Lipstick is gone and you’ve got a faraway look in your eyes. Valerie must have been at least halfway decent.”
“It was magic, Mama, and I held my own with Valerie Dawson.”
“Good for you!” Daisy pumped a fist in the air.
Lila could hardly believe that her mother had made that gesture.
“Don’t look so surprised. Tina has grandkids and that’s what my favorite one of the bunch does when things are good,” she said.
�
�You want grandkids?” Lila asked.
“When you’re ready but I’d really like for their name to be something other than Dawson,” Daisy said. “But if it happens to be, then by golly, I’ll be the favorite because Valerie won’t have anything to do with them. That’s the only good thing about it, though.”
Lila’s phone pinged in her purse and she took it out to find a message: H.O.L.Y.
“And that would be?” Daisy asked.
“A text from Brody.”
“More magic?”
“Just the title of a song.”
“I worry about you,” Daisy said. “Even if it was magic, I still worry that you’re trying to re-create the fun times of when you were a kid. Now you’re grown, Lila. It’s time to say good-bye to the past.”
“Tonight I did just that, Mama. I don’t want to go back but I do want to enjoy the present and look forward to the future. I don’t give a damn if Valerie Dawson hates me or if Hope threatens me,” Lila said.
“What did Hope say?” Daisy’s eyes flashed anger.
“Just that I’d better not break Brody’s heart.”
“What about all the times he broke yours? Where was she with all her threats back then? Did she tell him to ask you to the prom or not to stand you up that last night?”
Lila kicked off her boots. “Tonight was wonderful. I want to think about that.”
“So what does that text mean?” Daisy asked.
“Did you stop listening to country music when you moved away from Happy?” Lila asked.
“You know I’ve always loved jazz. Etta James and Sam Cooke. I can handle those beer drinkin’ songs but they aren’t my favorite.”
Lila found the song on her phone, turned the volume as high as it would go, and set it on the coffee table. She leaned back in the chair and watched her mother’s face as she listened to lyrics that said he was high on loving her.
“That’s pretty damned romantic,” Daisy said.
“It is, isn’t it?” Lila said. “I’m going to get a shower and go to bed. Folks will be flocking in here tomorrow morning lookin’ for gossip about the family reunion.”
“On a church mornin’?” Daisy frowned.
“Oh, yeah, and then there will be even more at noon, so I hope you fixed lots of chicken and dressin’ today.” She stooped to get her boots and stopped long enough to pet her kittens on the way down the short hallway to the bathroom.
“So”—Lila turned around—“did you have a good time this evening?”
“Always enjoy spending time with old friends, but I’m gettin’ too old for this late night crap. I’d rather spend the evening watchin’ an old movie with a shot of whiskey in my hand,” Daisy said. “I’ll see you in the morning and, honey, I figured that we’d be swamped tomorrow so I did fix plenty.”
“Love you.” Lila yawned.
“Right back atcha, kiddo. Always have and always will,” Daisy said.
The church was packed that morning with every pew full but Brody would have gladly let Lila sit in his lap if she could have left the café. He didn’t even have to close his eyes to visualize her in that cute little dress that she’d worn the night before.
“Good mornin’ and thank you to the Dawson family for draggin’ all their relatives to church this mornin’,” the preacher said.
A few giggles erupted and then there was silence.
“I’d like to talk to y’all about family this mornin’,” the preacher said, and read a few verses from the Bible in front of him on the oak pulpit.
Brody could agree that family was a good thing but that morning he couldn’t get his mind off Lila and the way she’d fit into his arms the evening before, the way she’d leaned into the good night kiss, the way she’d drank a beer with him at the bar without even glancing at all his single Dawson cousins. And especially the fact that she’d shaken her head when more than one of those cousins asked her to dance.
He folded his arms over his chest and attempted to listen to the thirty-minute sermon that lasted every bit of six hours. He nodded off twice and Hope had to poke him to wake him. Finally, the preacher asked Jace to deliver the benediction.
Jace kept it short and when he finished, the whole congregation said a hearty “Amen.”
“What is wrong with you?” Hope frowned as they stood to their feet with the rest of the crowd. “You didn’t hear a word the preacher said.”
“I was daydreaming about Lila,” he answered honestly.
“Dammit!” Valerie whispered under her breath.
“In church, Mama?” Brody scolded.
“Don’t take that tone with me and believe me when I say I’m not ready to fold yet.” Valerie shook her finger at him. “I haven’t changed my mind about that woman. She’s going to leave at the end of summer and you’ll be left with a broken heart. There are other women around here who are a lot more suitable for you and for Hope Springs.”
Brody slung an arm around his mother’s shoulders. “Mama, I love you, but I’m going to keep seeing Lila, so get used to it. I’m going to the café for dinner today.”
The truck felt like an oven when he settled into his seat. Only a little more than twelve hours ago, Lila had been sitting there in the passenger seat. And then there was that kiss—that wonderful, amazing good night kiss. He started the engine, switched on the A/C and drove straight to the café.
His step was lighter than it had been in a long time when he pushed the door open into the café. Every seat was full and every booth crowded, so he stood in the doorway for several minutes trying to decide whether to stay or go on home.
“Hey,” Lila said as she passed by him. “You stayin’ or goin’?”
“Jace is holding down the ranch for me so I’m stayin’,” he answered.
“If you’ll man the drink machine until this rush is over, we’ll have dinner together in the kitchen, my treat. Mama made chicken and dressin’,” she said.
He unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirtsleeves and rolled them up. “You got a deal.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “You’re a lifesaver.”
A low buzz of whispers started with Valerie’s and Hope’s names floating around as folks hurriedly got out their phones to call and text the newest gossip.
Chapter Sixteen
It was hard for Lila to believe that she’d been back in Happy less than four weeks that Sunday evening as she flipped through hangers in her closet. The calendar said that it was June 25, which meant she should give notice in Florida and get her résumés in soon for other jobs. The best ones had probably already been taken.
She finally chose a cute little sleeveless dress with twenty-seven buttons up the front and since it had red trim, she decided to wear her boots again. They’d brought her good luck the night before and on a whim, she applied her mother’s red lipstick. She really intended to drive her truck out to Hope Springs to get Brody for their church date but the Lila who’d kissed him in front of a packed café took one look at her Harley and changed her mind.
She got her dad’s beat-up old helmet from behind the seat in her truck and tucked it into a saddlebag. “I hope you don’t mind, Daddy. I don’t do this lightly and no one else has ever gotten to wear this but...well, I think you’d understand.”
Not a cloud floated in the summer sky that evening. The sun was sinking toward the tops of the trees, putting a glare in her rearview mirror. She had second thoughts about her decision to ride the bike as she turned into the lane for Hope Springs and rode across the cattle guard, but it was too late to turn around.
Brody was sitting on the porch with Kasey and Jace when she parked outside the yard fence. He stood to his feet and shook the legs of his jeans down over his boot tops, settled his hat on his head, and crossed the yard.
“You goin’ to let me drive that thing?” he asked.
She removed her helmet and shook out her hair. “If you leave your hat at home and wear a helmet.”
He slung his cowboy hat toward the porch. Jace caught
it like a Frisbee and laid it on the top step.
“You kids don’t stay out too late now,” he teased.
Emma ran to the fence and crawled up on the bottom rail. “Lila! Can I go with you?”
“You have to wear boots and a helmet. Mine are too big for you but when you get big enough, you can ride with me,” Lila said.
“Rustin, did you hear that? I’m goin’ to ride bulls and get me a motorcycle like Lila has when I get big.”
“Helmet is in the saddlebag,” Lila said.
Brody pulled it out and cocked his head to one side. “Is this what I think it is? Does this big B in the lightning streaks stand for Billy?”
“It does,” she said with a serious nod and moved back so that he could straddle the cycle.
“I’ll wear it with pride.” He jerked it down over his head and they exchanged a meaningful look. “It’s been a few years since I’ve been on one of these things,” he said.
“Gas is a little sensitive.” She flipped her hair up under the helmet as she settled it on her head.
He turned it around, revved it a couple of times, then popped the clutch and the front wheels shot off the ground several inches. She wrapped her arms around his waist. She doubted that riding a bull behind him would be any more exhilarating than a bike ride with him.
Her skirt whipped around her thighs as he opened it up on the straight stretch of highway from the ranch to town. When he parked it at the church and removed the helmet, his eyes were twinkling. Nothing could ever take away their need for adventure but could a relationship survive two people like Lila and Brody? Or would it burn itself out, leaving nothing behind but a pile of ashes and two broken hearts?
“That was amazing. Now I can see why you were so mad when your mama sold your dad’s cycle and didn’t give it to you.” He put the helmet back in the saddlebag.
“She was a smart woman. We’d have gotten into all kinds of trouble if we’d had a motorcycle. We probably wouldn’t be alive today, as crazy as we were then. I’m just glad that she let me keep his helmet.”
