His Town

by Ellie Danes

  Mom followed me as far as the porch. “Can you pick me up some nice, fresh cream, too? And see if the grocery has strawberries—I want to make you a treat for when you finally finish up for the day.”

  I grinned at my mother and nodded, accepting the additional orders. “I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”

  Town wasn’t too far away, but it was far enough that we didn’t usually make it out that way more than once a twice a week—at least not for any real length of time. Most of Mustang Ridge’s residents lived out in the farms, like us; even the people who had shops in town generally lived with their families out in the sticks. I saw plenty of town people, just not in town.

  I climbed back up into my truck and turned around in the driveway. The fence could at least wait until it wasn’t quite so hot out.

  Chapter Three

  Emily

  “And you see, Em—that’s how it’s done,” Dad said as we walked out of the town planning and administration offices. I tried not to cringe, because I knew that ultimately, he was right—we had, after all, gotten the town plans we needed, along with some maps and things—but the way he’d gone about it had been almost humiliating for me to watch.

  Jacob had been nodding the whole time, approving of everything my dad did, which I guessed made sense, given that Jacob was just an employee. But watching my Dad threaten some twenty-something college grad who’d been the gatekeeper for the higher-up we needed to see had made me almost wish I hadn’t come. And then, once we’d gotten into the office itself, I’d had to sit through watching his whole act.

  I knew that he got results—he wouldn’t be successful if the things he did just didn’t work—but I couldn’t help feeling like it would have been a lot easier to get what we wanted from the town managers if he’d at least started out polite and friendly. He had, in a way—he’d done the whole act of shaking hands and smiling—but almost immediately he told the town manager that if he backed out of the agreement to give him access to certain parts of the town for the sake of development, he’d bring the man to court.

  “I see what you did, Dad,” I said, more to keep things moving forward than anything else.

  “Now that we’ve got the plans and some maps, I want to scout out some locations,” Dad continued as we walked towards his SUV.

  “Do you want to see if we can convince someone to give us the local’s eye view, Martin?” Jacob asked.

  I glanced at him. How had he not been embarrassed by what Dad had done in the office? Put it out of your mind. Dad got what he wanted and surely people in offices like that expect the hard sell.

  “If we can find someone willing to do it,” Dad said with a shrug. “But mostly I want to get our eyes on the things we need to see, and start figuring out how much money to offer people for selling.”

  I nodded. “Why don’t we start out getting a look around the town center, and kind of get a feel for things, maybe see if there’s somewhere we can stop off and grab a snack. Then we can figure out where we need to check first,” I suggested, looking around. It was nearly the hottest part of the day, and the idea of tromping around near fields and farms was not exactly appealing, even if I’d specifically tried to choose clothes that were light and comfortable.

  “Let’s see if there’s a cafe or something, maybe a diner,” Jacob suggested. “We could grab a bite to eat and go over the plans.”

  I’d noticed a diner as we came into the center of town and we started off in that direction. I was looking around, trying to remember where it was in relation to the other things I’d seen on the way in—not that there was all that much to see—and I spotted the guy I’d run into about an hour earlier. He was coming out of a grocery store, and I smiled at him.

  “Hey!” I stepped closer to him, taking in—in more detail—the fact that he was actually pretty damn good-looking. “I wanted to say again I’m sorry for plowing into you like that earlier.”

  “Don’t sweat it,” he said, smiling back at me and shaking his head. “Hell, I’ve been plowed into plenty of times by people way less pretty.”

  I felt myself blushing but I managed to keep from going into the usual coy, eyes downcast, shy girl routine that I’d seen so many women fall into when a handsome man complimented them.

  “Hey, Em, didn’t you say you wanted something to drink? Diner’s right over there,” Jacob said, stepping a little closer to me than I liked.

  “I’m okay,” I said quickly. “It’s just hot as blazes today.”

  “I gotta say I was not too disappointed that I had to come back into town to grab a few things,” the handsome man from before told me. “I was not looking forward to working on my fence in all this sun.”

  “Oh! Wow, you must be a farmer then,” I said, looking at him with more respect.

  “Yep! I’ve worked my dad’s farm since I was a kid,” he told me. “Honest day’s work, every day of the week.”

  I grinned. I couldn’t help myself. “There is something wholesome about working the land,” I agreed.

  “I haven’t seen you around these parts before today,” he said.

  “You’d definitely remember if you had,” Jacob pointed out.

  “Oh, for sure,” the man agreed. “Obviously you’re not from these parts. What brings you to Mustang Ridge?”

  I glanced at Jacob, and at my dad who had come to a stop a few feet away from me. “Oh, just looking around for now,” I said. “We’re thinking of doing some building.”

  “You’re thinking of moving to town?”

  That was fairly close to what we were going to do—not exactly the truth, but I wasn’t about to show our hand to someone I didn’t even know.

  “Yeah, basically,” I replied.

  The man held out his hand. “Let me be the first person to welcome you here, then. Name’s Rhett—I can’t believe we had a head-on and didn’t even exchange names earlier.”

  I was smiling so much I was almost worried I’d split my face in half. “Emily,” I said, shaking his hand.

  “Great handshake, Emily,” Rhett said. “Where are you from originally?”

  “Houston,” I said.

  “Big change for you, coming here,” Rhett said. “But I hope you decide to stay, so I can maybe run into you again.”

  “I’m pretty sure I will,” I told him. “I’ll be back in town a few times this week, looking around.”

  “If you ever want a tour of the town, I’d be happy to show you around,” Rhett said.

  I finally remembered that I still had my hand in his, and took it back.

  “I’d love that,” I said, smiling all over again.

  “Let me give you my number,” Rhett said.

  I nodded and fumbled for a second in my purse. I blushed, remembering that that kind of thing was exactly how I’d ended up initially “meeting” Rhett. As soon as I got my phone out and my address book open, Rhett gave me his number, and I saved it.

  “I’ll give you a call,” I told him. Rhett hefted the bags in his hands and glanced over at the parking along the street in the town center.

  “I’d love to chat, but some of this stuff will spoil if I don’t get it home,” he said, and it sounded like he really did want to stick around.

  “Yeah, we should probably get moving too,” I agreed.

  Rhett smiled at me again and then turned away.

  I checked again to make sure his number was saved in my phone.

  “You might not have the full toolbox yet, but you do have some skills,” Dad said, calling my attention back to the present.

  “You always have said I’m good with people,” I told him.

  “You always have been,” he pointed out.

  “That doesn’t sound as much like a compliment as it usually does,” I observed.

  Dad grinned and shrugged. “I just hope you’re not going to get distracted charming the yokels,” he said. “That’s not why we’re here and you know it.”

  “But charming them is a good way to get things done
,” I countered.

  “You’ve just got to be willing to apply the pressure later,” Dad said. “Now I think of it, I like your idea of getting a local to show you around—and since you just happened to meet one, I think you should take him up on that offer ASAP.”

  “ASAP?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “As long as you can stay focused, it’d be a good idea to get someone who lives and farms here to show you the spots we need to scout out,” Dad said. “Give him a call and see if he’ll take you around tomorrow.”

  “I’ll call him when we head back,” I suggested.

  “No—give him a call now. That way you can get it done and we can talk over where you’re going to look tomorrow,” Dad said, with the kind of firmness in his voice—friendly as it still was—that I knew I wasn’t going to be able to argue him out of the idea of calling Rhett right away.

  “Okay, I’ll call him. Why don’t you and Jake go into the diner and get some drinks? I don’t need you breathing down my neck,” I said.

  I could tell Jacob wanted to come up with an excuse to stay behind, but I hadn’t given him one, so when Dad told him to come into the diner with him, Jacob went.

  I took a deep breath, trying not to feel embarrassed at the fact that I was about to call a guy whose number I’d only gotten a couple of minutes before. Get over it, Em. I had to admit, it was nice to have an excuse to talk to Rhett again soon—much less see him again the next day, if he was free.

  I dialed the number and Rhett answered after two rings. “Rhett speaking, who’s this?”

  “Hey Rhett,” I said, looking around me, feeling like the handful of townspeople wandering the central part of the town were all staring, even though I couldn’t catch anyone doing it. “It’s Emily. I just realized I’m actually going to be here tomorrow, and I was wondering if you were going to be busy—I’d like to take you up on that tour of the town, if you’re not.” I closed my eyes and cringed, feeling like the biggest fool in the world.

  “Absolutely! If you’d wanted the tour today I’d even put off working on the fence for you,” Rhett said, and I smiled, some of my awkward feeling beginning to dissipate.

  “No—I couldn’t take you away from your work,” I told him. “But tomorrow would be great, if you’re sure you’ll be free.”

  “I can make myself free,” he said. “Why don’t we grab some lunch at the diner tomorrow, and then I’ll take you on the grand tour?”

  “That would be perfect,” I said.

  “Just make sure you ditch that suit—it’s not going to hold up in the heat around here, much less all the dust and dirt,” Rhett told me.

  “Oh, I had no intention of dressing for the office out here,” I agreed.

  “Good call,” Rhett said. “Dress like you’re from around here.”

  “Thanks for the advice,” I said. It was something that should have been obvious—but I was glad for it anyway. “I’ll meet you at the diner tomorrow at...let’s say quarter to twelve?”

  “I’ll be there,” Rhett said. I couldn’t think of anything else to say to him, though I wanted to—so I ended the call with another thank-you for his kindness, and then got off. I would never in a million years have guessed that I’d end up getting a tour of the town from someone I’d just literally run into—but I thought that at least if I was going to be working, I’d get to enjoy myself.

  Chapter Four

  Rhett

  I was surprised at how well Emily took my advice when I got to the diner to meet her the next day, just before lunch. Instead of wearing it in a bun, she’d pulled her blond hair back into a braid tucked it behind her head. And instead of a pantsuit, she was in a pair of jeans and a light, button-down shirt. If I hadn’t known better I almost would have thought she was from Mustang Ridge—I was pretty sure she wasn’t even wearing makeup.

  “You look like a farm girl,” I said as I sat down at the booth with her.

  She grinned at me, and her green eyes sparkled. “That’s what I was going for,” she said. “This is the stuff I normally wear to go hiking.”

  “Not a bad choice,” I ducked my head under the table a bit and saw she was, in fact, wearing hiking boots. It was a good look all around, practical, and she wasn’t likely to get bitten by a snake if we went out in the sticks to look at stuff around the farm. Safe, comfortable, and easy to clean.

  “What’s good here?” She looked at the menu and I thought about the question for a minute or two.

  “Really the best thing here is the pie,” I replied. “But you’d probably want some actual food in your stomach first.”

  “I’m not lunch-hungry yet,” she said.

  “Well, then, the cherry pie is pretty great, but the best pie they make here is the lemon-meringue.”

  “That’s exactly what I’ll have then,” she said, setting the menu down. I looked around the diner, noticing that a few people were taking note of me in the place with a stranger. Someone was bound to comment, but I figured it wasn’t that big of a deal.

  Lucy, who’d been a waitress at Bill’s Diner since I was a teenager, came up to our table. “Look at you, Rhett—finally taking a girl out to eat,” she said.

  Emily grinned.

  I shook my head. “It’s not a date,” I said. “She’s looking to move to Mustang Ridge, so I offered to show her around town.”

  “Well, whatever reason you have to be out with a girl on a nice day like this, I’m glad to see it,” Lucy said. “What’ll you two be having?”

  “I’d like the lemon-meringue pie and a cup of coffee,” Emily said.

  “I’ll get the same,” I added.

  “Not a great lunch, but it’s not my place to judge,” Lucy said, scribbling down a quick note on her pad. Just as she turned to go put our order in, someone else was moving past us to leave the diner—Joe Hansen.

  “Hey, Rhett,” he said. “Sorry to interrupt your date.”

  “It isn’t a date,” I told Joe. He shrugged that information off.

  “I just haven’t seen you since you helped with that fundraiser Madeline had,” Joe said. “Wanted to thank you.”

  “It was nothing,” I said, shaking my head.

  “You drove her over to the South County Mall and stood with her the whole day—that’s not nothing,” Joe insisted.

  “I was free that day,” I told him with a smile. “It really wasn’t anything.”

  “I won’t wreck your date arguing with you about it,” Joe said, nodding to me and then to Emily. I started to tell him that it wasn’t a date—again—but he turned away and headed for the door before I had the chance.

  “I must have the right tour guide,” Emily said, even as I shook my head at how many times we’d been interrupted already. “You’re obviously pretty popular around here.”

  “It’s a small town,” I pointed out.

  “Apparently not so small that nothing’s ever happened here,” Emily said, pointing at the wall next to the cash register. A newspaper clipping was framed there, with an action photo of a football player making a catch. “Hometown Hero Makes It in the NFL. Huh—wow.”

  “Yeah,” I said, wishing Lucy would hurry it up with the pie.

  “It must have been great for him,” Emily mused. “I mean—no offense, I am sure the town is great and wonderful—but to grow up here, and then hit the big time, must have been like a dream.”

  “More people do it than you think,” I pointed out. “I did it.”

  “Why’d you come back, then?” Emily frowned in confusion.

  “Family,” I said.

  If she didn’t think much of the town—why was she moving here? Probably looking for some place she can get away from it all, some place to build a big house where it won’t cost as much, I thought.

  There was a silence between us, but before it could really get uncomfortable, Lucy finally came back with our pie, a couple of coffee cups, a carafe, and a pitcher of half-and-half on her tray. “I just realized, Rhett—you tell your mother I’m thinking
of her, and you,” she told me. “Ten years, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, just about,” I agreed. Lucy started putting the coffee and slices of pie down on the table and glanced at Emily.

  “You know, you’re a lucky girl—sitting here with a town celebrity,” Lucy said.

  “I can see he’s really popular,” Emily agreed.

  I wished that Lucy would just let it slide, but of course she wouldn’t. “No, Rhett Baxter here is a real celebrity, not just the big man in town,” Lucy said. “Played football in the pros, made his dad—all of us, really—real proud.” She pointed to my jersey and the big newspaper cover-clipping that Emily had seen.

  “That’s you?” Emily looked at me. Her face went pale and then red and then pale again.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” I admitted.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Emily shook her head, and grinning, Lucy melted away from the table to go to take care of someone else.

  “It’s not that big a deal,” I told her.

  “It is! I’m sorry for what I said earlier—I didn’t realize it was you.”

  “It’s not important,” I said, taking a bite of my pie.

  “How long did you play?” Emily took a bite of her own slice of lemon-meringue and closed her eyes, making a sound like a moan of pleasure. “You were not wrong about this pie.”

  “It’s the best pie they have,” I agreed.

  “So? How long did you play?”

  “I played for a year, until my father died,” I said. “Then I came back to town.” I didn’t feel much like talking anymore. “Let’s just finish our pie and get out of here, okay?”

  Chapter Five

  Emily

  I knew I’d somehow managed to say something wrong—even beyond pooh-poohing the town—when Rhett went so quiet. Right up until we finished eating our slices of pie and drinking our coffee, I was worried that he was going to back out of the tour. But when we finished and Lucy brought us the check, I insisted on paying for mine, pointing out that he’d been clear it wasn’t a date, and that seemed to get things back into the right gear.