AT LONG LAST (The Playas Series - Book 4)

by Brenda Jackson

  Claire couldn’t see any woman thinking that a man who looked like Logan would be boring. She knew from talking to Lance that as the oldest Montgomery child, Logan had had to grow up fast. Because his father had worked a lot, Logan had become his siblings’ caretaker. So, it stood to reason, he likely still had caretaker tendencies.

  “Well, I don’t think you’re boring. I’m really enjoying spending time with you.”

  He smiled over at her. “And I’m enjoying it too.”

  They then continued to hike in silence.

  10

  JEREMIAH

  Thea Manchester stood near her living room window and watched Jeremiah pull his truck into her driveway, then moved away from the window before he saw her. There was no need for him to know she’d been waiting anxiously for his arrival. He was on time, but then again, she’d known he would be. They were old school and knew the value of being punctual.

  All three of her girls had called her already. They hadn’t thought inviting a strange man to her home had been a good idea. After all, she didn’t know anything about him. But she had waved away their concerns. There was something about Jeremiah Montgomery that told her she had nothing to worry about.

  She smoothed her hands down the front of her slacks and blouse before glancing at her reflection in the huge mirror on the wall. A lot of people said she didn’t look her age, but today she felt all of her sixty years. It had taken her a long time to try to remember the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of dating. She’d gotten married at twenty and embarked on the life of a military wife. And she’d had no regrets.

  She nearly jumped at the sound of the doorbell. After drawing in a deep breath, she moved to open the door, a genuine smile on her face. “Who is it?” she asked, although she already knew.

  “Jeremiah Montgomery.”

  His voice was as deep and throaty as she remembered. Opening the door, she saw Jeremiah standing there, a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Yes, he was definitely old school and she loved it! “Hi, Jeremiah. Please come in.”

  “Thanks, Thea. These are for you,” he said, handing her the flowers.

  She drew in a delighted breath as she looked down at them. “They’re beautiful.”

  “I’m glad you think so. They came out of my own garden.”

  She raised a brow. “You grow your own flowers?”

  He nodded. “I have a vegetable garden, as well.”

  “But what happens when the snow comes?” she asked, leading him further into the living room.

  “I have a heated greenhouse in my backyard. I’d like to show it to you one day.”

  It didn’t go unnoticed by Thea that although they hadn’t yet shared dinner together, he was already establishing another date. And she did consider it a date. “I’d love that.”

  “Wonderful. You’ll be surprised to see what I have growing inside there.” He then glanced around. “You have a nice home.”

  “Thanks.”

  “This is also a good neighborhood. It’s well-established and has been here for years, just like the one I live in. Luckily, when the original home owners pass away, the people moving in are keeping up the neighborhoods. And Gary has a good police force.”

  “That’s what I heard. I want to get involved and join my homeowner’s association.”

  “That’s a good idea. It’s always better to have a say in what goes on around you.”

  She smiled. “That’s my philosophy.”

  There was a short silence. Then Thea said, “Dinner is ready. You can use that bathroom off the hall to wash up.”

  “Thanks.”

  She watched Jeremiah walk off before hurrying to the kitchen to take the roast out of the oven.

  “Need help with anything?” Jeremiah asked, entering the kitchen. One of the first things he’d noticed was that the house plan was similar to that of his home. Even the kitchen looked the same. But the main differences were how she’d decorated, giving the place a warm, womanly touch with frilly curtains and pretty furniture. For years, he’d had blinds on all his windows. Low maintenance. All one color--an off-white. His furniture had been bought for stability, not looks.

  “No, everything is ready. I hope you’re hungry.”

  “I’m starving.” He had intentionally eaten a light breakfast, anticipating the meal he would share with her. From the smell of things, he had a feeling she was a good cook. He hadn’t been much of a chef, until after Edwina had up and left. But with three sons, all with hearty appetites, he’d had to learn his way around a kitchen real fast.

  “Then please have a seat.”

  He sat down and watched her move around the room, filling their glasses with ice for the tea, and then sitting platter after platter of various foods on the table. He should have known, with her being a southern girl, that she would prepare the foods he only ate when his first-cousin Dora, who’d been raised in a small town in Georgia, would come to visit. Every time, he’d think he had died and gone to heaven. Dora could throw-down when it came to preparing a real southern meal. And from the looks of the platters being placed on the table, Thea could throw-down as well.

  “Who taught you to cook?” he couldn’t help ask, both impressed and delighted. There was a plate of potato salad, mac and cheese, collard greens, okra and tomatoes, corn on the cob, cornbread and the prettiest golden-brown fried chicken he’d ever seen.

  “My grandmother. My grandparents owned a restaurant in Birmingham that was a popular eating spot. I will never forget the times Martin Luther King Jr. would drop by and eat there whenever he was in the area. I have several pictures taken with him when I was a child.”

  Jeremiah was impressed. “Everything looks so good, I don’t know where to begin.” However, he intended to get samplings of everything.

  She smiled over at him, her eyes sparkling. “Will you say grace, Jeremiah?”

  “I most certainly will.” When he’d finished, she began passing the food around. And just as he’d promised himself, he put a little bit of everything on his plate.

  After a few bites, he had to extend his compliments to the chef. “I don’t think I’ve had a better meal. This food is incredible.”

  “If you’d like, I can send some home with you. I tend to cook far too much food. Since there’s only me, I usually pack up what’s left and take it to the homeless center on Monroe Street.”

  Jeremiah was familiar with the place. He volunteered in their kitchen at least twice a week. When he told her, she said, “I was thinking of volunteering there myself, but didn’t know anyone.”

  He grinned over at her. “Now you know me.”

  She grinned back. “Yes, I do.”

  Jeremiah bit into a piece of cornbread and immediately started moaning. Her cornbread was even better than Dora’s.

  “I’m going to have to invite you back, Jeremiah. You’re good for my ego. But I remind people that I have sixty years under my belt. It’s hard to win me over with sweet talk.”

  Jeremiah stopped, his fork full of potato salad half way to his mouth. “Are you saying you’re sixty years old?”

  She grinned again. “Yes. In fact, I’m closer to sixty-one. My birthday is Valentine’s Day, which is less than six months away.”

  Jeremiah chuckled. “My birthday is on the fourteenth as well. December fourteenth. Next one I’ll be sixty-five.” He shook his head. “You honestly don’t look sixty, Thea. You barely look fifty.” There was no need to tell her that he’d almost called to cancel because he’d started to suspect there had to be at least a fifteen-year difference in their ages. To find out there was barely a five-year difference certainly made his day.

  “Thanks. I’m often taken for younger than what I really am,” she said.

  “I bet.” He could also add that she was a very beautiful woman. She had the prettiest skin, all smooth and a creamy, rich cocoa, without a wrinkle anywhere. She hid her age well, where he was certain he looked every bit of a man nearing sixty-five years, and then some. Raising three sons,
and being both mother and father to them, had had its challenges. He knew most of the grey hairs on his head could be attributed to Carrie, when she had moved in with him when she was a teenager. But he hadn’t minded. It was more important that he’d gotten his daughter off the streets and into a loving home.

  “Tell me about your family, Jeremiah.”

  He glanced across the table at her. “I have three sons and a daughter. Logan, Lyle, Lance and Carrie.” He took a sip of his iced tea, and smiled. “Logan is my oldest. He’s forty and lives in Tampa, Florida.”

  “What does he do?”

  “He’s a plastic surgeon. Lyle is right behind Logan, at thirty-eight. He lives in Houston, Texas and is a heart surgeon.”

  “Oh my,” she said. “Two doctors in the family. You must be proud of them.”

  Jeremiah beamed. “Lance is my baby boy. He’s thirty-six. He has his PhD in clinical psychology. So does his wife. They come from totally different backgrounds, and their courtship was anything but smooth, however, they’ve found a way to make it work. A few years ago, they decided to create the Montgomery Marriage Institute, which specializes in working with couples in crisis or on the brink of divorce.”

  Thea lifted a brow. “Hey, wait a minute. Were they featured in Essence magazine earlier this year?”

  Jeremiah nodded, smiling. “Yes. And if you read the article, then you’d know those two were the least likely pair to ever get together.”

  Thea chuckled. “Yes, I read the article and found it interesting. I also remembered the books your son wrote as a single man. I didn’t have a need to read them, but my daughters did. Let me tell you, they were fired up about it. Most women were.”

  Jeremiah grinned. “I know. That’s why it did my heart good when Lance finally settled down. He and Asia have my only grandchild, a seven-month-old son name Leland. They live in Chicago part of the year, then spend the rest of their time on their tropical island near the Bahamas called Paradise. That’s where their institute is located.”

  “Sounds nice.”

  “It is.” He bit down on his lip. Why had he almost told her that he would take her there one day? “Lyle and his wife Monique told me a few days ago that they’re having a baby sometime next summer.”

  “That’s wonderful!”

  “I think so, too.” He smiled and then said. “My daughter Carrie is the baby in the family. She’s twenty-seven and is a social worker at the veterans’ hospital here in town. She’s married to a great guy name Connor and they are expecting twins in the early spring.”

  “Twins are wonderful. My oldest daughter and her husband have three-year-old twin boys who are adorable. But of course, as a proud grandmother, I’d think nothing else.”

  He chuckled, watching her take a sip of her tea and enjoying seeing her mouth in motion, whether it was talking, drinking, eating or smiling. He’d never been one to pay much attention to a woman’s mouth before. Nor had he ever gotten pleasure staring into a woman’s eyes the way he was doing with Thea.

  “So, all your kids are married?”

  He shook his head. “My oldest isn’t. But I have a feeling that will change soon.”

  Her eyebrow went up. “Oh? He’s dating someone seriously?”

  Jeremiah released a deep chuckle. “No. At least not yet.” At Thea’s questioning look, he explained. “Right now, he and Claire are just friends. In fact, she’s Lance’s wife’s sister.” He took another sip of his tea. “We’ve known for a while that he’s been smitten with Claire, but he hadn’t made a move. Now he intends to let her know how he feels. The way I see it, it will only be a matter of time. My boys are nothing if not determined.”

  “Umm, that sounds romantic.”

  “So tell me about your girls, Thea.”

  While they continued eating, she talked about her three daughters. He could tell she and her family had a close relationship and that she was happy with the men they’d married. Her only worry had been their attitude when she’d decided to move to Gary, instead of relocating close to one of them.

  “Kim is thirty-five and my oldest,” Thea was saying. “She and her husband live in West Palm with their two sons. They have an accounting firm there. Libby’s my middle child at thirty-two. She and her husband Richard own a huge spread outside of Dallas. He comes from a ranching family and somehow turned my very prissy daughter into a cowgirl.” Thea grinned and shook her head. It seemed she was still having trouble believing that one. Then she continued. “And finally, there’s Danielle, my youngest at thirty. She lives in San Francisco and works for a huge corporation there. She’s not married, but she and her boyfriend, Steve, have been going out for years. I’m hoping they decide to marry soon.”

  “How do they feel about you dating again?” he asked. He knew girls could be possessive when it came to their parents.

  She chuckled. “They were all for it. In fact, they even suggested I try online dating,” she said. “I told them when I decided to move here that I have to do what makes me happy. And that’s what I’m doing.”

  Jeremiah recalled telling his sons and Carrie the same thing more than once. “Good choice.”

  She then told him about her job with the Birmingham school system and how after becoming a principal, then later a school superintendent, she’d missed being in the classrooms. “I’ve signed up to fill in as a substitute principal this school year,” she said. “Just to stay busy.”

  “A substitute principal? I didn’t know the board had such a person,” he said. “I just figured an assistant principal would fill the role.”

  She smiled. “In most cases, that’s how it works. But in some states, and Indiana being one, new education reforms are being passed and one of them requires a substitute principal to cover those situations where the principal may be out for a long period of time, like on medical leave or military duty.”

  They took their time finishing up dinner, enjoying the easy conversation between them while getting to know each other. She’d been the only child with no siblings and her parents were deceased. The aunt who’d left her this house had been her father’s only sister, and she fondly remembered visiting her, during the summer months, when she was young. This would be her first winter in Gary and wasn’t sure how she would manage. Indiana winters would be a lot different than the ones she’d experienced in Alabama. Already, she was trying to prepare for it.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure you have plenty of cut wood for your fireplace…that is, if you don’t mind me doing it.”

  He wasn’t the type of man to railroad his way into any woman’s life. He liked Thea and had a feeling she liked him, which was a start. He hoped the words he’d just spoken, along with his earlier invitation for her to see his greenhouse, did more than hint at the fact that wanted to see her again.

  “I would appreciate it, Jeremiah, but I wouldn’t want to put you to any trouble.”

  “You won’t be.”

  “Thanks, then. Hungry for dessert?” she asked, standing.

  “Dessert?” he repeated, wondering how he would manage to put away another bite when he was so full already.

  “Yes. I baked a cake. A butter pound cake. And I don’t want to hear anything about you being too stuffed to eat a slice.”

  Lordy. Of course, it had to be his favorite type of cake. A soft chuckle rumbled in his chest. Could this woman get any more perfect? When she quickly walked off to the kitchen, he couldn’t help but think how wonderful this evening had gone. The food was excellent, and the company, superb. He really liked Thea…a lot.

  Moments later, she came back with huge slices of cakes and a coffee pot. She sat down the plate with the cake on it right in front of him.

  “You’ll enjoy the cake a lot better with coffee,” she said, pouring him a cup.

  He did. The moment he’d slid a piece of cake into his mouth, a smile touched his lips and tender appreciation filled his insides. This woman was a jewel--and not just for her cooking skills. “Thea?”

/>   She’d taken a seat and was pouring her own cup of coffee. “Yes?”

  “I’d like to get to know you better,” he said, hearing the huskiness in his own voice. “I haven’t taken a woman out on a date in years, but I was wondering…would you go the movies with me this week?”

  She smiled and nodded her head. “I would love to.”

  11

  LOGAN

  It was close to ten that night when the tour bus returned Logan and Claire to the lodge after a full day at the Grand Canyon. Tomorrow would be a rest day and then on Saturday, they would do a tour of The Wave and Antelope Canyon.

  They had done a lot of walking and Claire was ready to take a shower and crash into bed. Just like the night before, when they entered their suite, it was to find the fireplace blazing, music playing softly, and the lights dimmed. Only unlike last night, it was the last thing she needed.

  She had enjoyed today, but it had come with challenges she hadn’t expected. More than once while hiking, she’d found herself checking out Logan in ways she’d never looked at him before. And it had nothing to do with the fact that while shirtless, he’d caught the eyes of several female hikers. And those women hadn’t been ashamed to show they were staring. She’d even been able to decipher a few scandalous fantasies in their eyes.

  This was the longest they’d ever been in each other’s company, and now she could understand a few of those same scandalous fantasies. That wasn’t good. The best thing to do would be to part ways with him so she could gather her senses before she lost them completely.

  “Would you like to share a glass of wine again tonight?” he asked, breaking into her thoughts.

  She glanced over at him. “I’m too tired to do anything but shower and get in bed,” she said, then faked a yawn. “We did a lot today.”

  So, after bidding him good night, she headed toward her bedroom. She was tempted to glance back over her shoulder at him, only she knew that no matter how tired she was, if he gave any indication he wanted to kiss her goodnight or hold her in his arms, she would have gone to him. The very thought of her doing such a thing was crazy, but it was also a truth she had to accept.