Candis Terry - [Sweet, Texas 01]

by Anything But Sweet

  She took several deep breaths, then curled her arms around his neck. “Then what are you waiting for?”

  He probably needed to find a method of communicating, so she could have her say, and he didn’t freak out. But for this moment in time, as he slid his hands up beneath her soft blouse and touched her warm bare skin, he couldn’t think of a better way to have a heart-to-heart conversation.

  Chapter 19

  Call it what you wanted, but come Monday morning, the Wilder and Sons Hardware & Feed Fire Sale was kicking some major booty.

  Charli stood back, watching the community line up with money in hand to cash in on some amazing deals and add to the coffers of the Wilder family’s favorite charity.

  Mrs. Duncan had even shown up and bought the yarn she’d ordered once upon a time. Seemed at half-off the original price, it was just the right color.

  While Reno manned the cash register with a smile and small talk for everyone, Charli thought back on the past two amazing days they’d spent together. Not that they hadn’t had amazing days and nights before that, but something special had happened. She knew how difficult it was for him to go through with the renovations. The more she’d pushed, the more he’d backed off. As soon as she’d agreed not to talk about the hardware store makeover until Monday, he’d relaxed. They’d ridden the horses out to the creek to have a picnic-style breakfast. They’d gone to a movie, where, in the dark, they’d held hands, and she’d laid her head on his shoulder.

  They felt like a real couple.

  If Charli had any reservations about being in love, they’d all been erased. The only question that remained was how deeply he felt about her.

  His emotions bounced higher and further than she could keep up with. It was clear he cared about her, and he seemed happy to be settling into a relationship with her. They had fun. They could be joking one minute and discussing a serious subject the next. And their lovemaking was off the charts.

  But love?

  She didn’t know if he was moving in that direction. Neither of them had spoken the words. While she knew it might be a little early to expect that from him, she did hope to feel a little more secure. Then again, hadn’t that always been her problem in the past? Expect too much too soon? Or expect and not receive at all?

  She glanced across the store to where he stood at the cash register handing back change to Chester Banks for the rope halter he’d just purchased.

  Reno was the whole package.

  And there was the essence of the problem.

  Was he too good to be true?

  Was she just setting herself up for another fall?

  As easily as she could look at him and see herself spending the rest of her life with him, she didn’t want to end up like her mother. She didn’t want to have to continuously cajole the man she loved into loving her. She wanted him to give his love freely. Openly. And often.

  Maybe that was just asking too much of him.

  Maybe he’d never be able to move past his fears.

  Maybe he’d never be able to break the habit of keeping others at bay for his own self-preservation.

  Maybe he’d never let her get close enough to fall in love.

  A long sigh slipped past her lips.

  All were exactly the reasons she’d hesitated to tell him of her dream to move to Sweet and open up shop with his mother. He didn’t look like he was in any hurry to promise her forever. And though she wanted nothing more than to be a part of this community, it was a very small town. She could be as boastful about picking up her life and moving to Texas as she wanted to be, but she wasn’t sure she’d be so brave if Reno didn’t want her in his life.

  And so she’d wait.

  Until the store renovations were finished.

  Until they had nothing standing between them but the possibility of a future.

  “Can’t believe you got him to agree to this.”

  Charli’s head came up to find Jackson Wilder standing beside her in dark blue pants and a shirt that bore the SAFD insignia. Even without the fire department uniform, Reno’s younger brother was a stunner. A man more than one of her girlfriends back home would jump—literally—if they had the chance. His short hand-combed hair and suggestive smile would turn any woman’s head. Any woman except her. Hers had already been turned.

  “Believe me,” she said, “he didn’t agree easily. I had to use everything in my powers to get him to come to the dark side. And I wasn’t beyond using bribery.”

  His head tilted. “Is that what they call it these days?”

  “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “You tell me.”

  Her spine stiffened. “Are you accusing me of using my body to get him to agree to the makeover?”

  “I don’t make accusations. I’m just keeping an eye out for my brother.”

  “You don’t need to protect him from me.”

  Big, strong arms folded across the front of his shirt. “You sure about that?”

  “Damned sure.”

  His chiseled lips lifted into a cautious smile. “Just checking.”

  “How did you even know there was something going on between us?”

  “The smile he’s been wearing. And . . . because he told me.”

  “He did?” Happiness leaped in her heart.

  “ ’Bout killed him to admit it.”

  And happiness was down on the mat.

  “Look. I know you don’t know me well, but I promise there is no way I would ever do anything to hurt your brother. I think he’s been through enough.”

  “He has.” Jackson nodded. “I guess that’s why I keep my eye on him—not that he needs it. He can kick my ass sideways if he wanted to. He’s a good man. I just want him to be happy.”

  “I want that for him too,” she said.

  “And yet . . .” His brows pulled tight over dark blue eyes. “You’re leaving in seven days.”

  And didn’t that just drop a bomb on everything.

  Bare walls. Dusty floors. Empty shelves.

  Reno stood inside his store and swallowed down the streak of panic clawing up his throat. In all the years he’d been in Sweet as a member of the Wilder family, he’d never seen the place barren. Echoes of his father’s jolly laughter and heartfelt salutations had disappeared with each item removed.

  Logic told Reno he was a grown man who shouldn’t allow himself to be overrun with emotion, but there was still enough young boy left in him to be hit with a tidal wave that threatened to bring tears to his eyes.

  “Are you okay?”

  He turned at the soft touch on his arm and managed a nod.

  “No, you’re not.” Charli wrapped her arms around him, enveloped him in her warmth. She looked up at him, gave him a tenuous smile. “I know this is extremely difficult for you. All I ask is that you trust me.”

  “I’ll give it my best shot.” Even to his own ears, his voice sounded raspy and unsure.

  “Maybe it’s best if you don’t come around until it’s finished.”

  “Are you locking me out?”

  She reached up and cupped his cheek with her palm. Her dark eyes took on a seriousness he’d yet to see. “Yeah. I am.”

  “Wait a minute.” He dropped his arms. Backed up a step. The sound created an echo in the cavernous room. “First you tell me you’re going to change everything. Then you tell me I have to sell everything to pay for it. Now you’re telling me I can’t even be here?”

  “Pretty much.”

  The smile curving her pretty mouth made Reno reach deep to keep the incredulity burning. “That hardly seems fair.”

  “I know. But you leave me no choice. A little birdie tells me that you will thwart all my efforts, and nothing will ever get done. So as much as I hate to, I’m giving you the boot.”

  He ran a hand through his hair and grabbed hold, trying to keep the top of his head from exploding. “Shit.”

  “You can do this, Reno.” Her hand rubbed his back. “I know you can. And I promise, if you
don’t like the results, we’ll put it back exactly the way it was minus the items we sold at the fire sale. And the dust.”

  “You will?” The tension in his face eased.

  “Yes.” She pointed a finger at him. “After the reveal is taped.”

  He let that ramble through his head a minute, surprised to realize that her offer calmed his nerves. Somewhat.

  “Okay. Then we have a deal.”

  “We do?” Her head tilted slightly as if she didn’t believe him. “And I didn’t even have to promise sexual favors?”

  He gave her a smile. “Those come without saying.”

  Her laughter danced over him and lightened the weight in his heart.

  “Lucky for you I’m only too happy to comply.”

  He wrapped her in his arms. “Lucky for us.”

  A kiss seemed appropriate to seal the deal, but no sooner had their lips met than Jesse barged through the door.

  “Whoa.” He came to a halt and backed up a few steps. “Bad timing.”

  “Actually . . .” Charli grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into their circle. “You have perfect timing. I was just about to kick your brother out of here and lock the door.”

  Jesse ran a hand through hair that needed a cut months ago. “You okay with that, big brother?”

  “She’s not giving me a choice.”

  “I promised him sexual favors.”

  “Sweet.” Jesse chuckled.

  “Way to break the news that we’re seeing each other,” Reno said.

  Charli clamped her hands on her hips. “Oh, like he and everyone else doesn’t already know.”

  “Everyone?”

  “Before you go,” she said to Reno, “I need you to do something.”

  Reno turned to Jesse. “See how she orders me around?”

  “Yeah.” Jesse’s brows lifted. “And I can tell you really hate it too.”

  Reno had no choice but to smile.

  “Follow me, please,” Charli said, leading them through the storeroom and out the back door. “See that stack of lumber right there? That’s for you.”

  “What am I supposed to do with that?” Reno asked, wondering what the woman had up her sleeve now.

  “Those wooden barrels next to the lumber are going to be used as a display. I need you to build a stand for them.”

  Reno laughed. “And now you have me working for you?”

  “No.” She flashed those straight, white teeth. “I’m giving you a project to do so you’ll feel included and so you won’t go crazy over the next couple of days.”

  “I can build that in an hour,” Reno protested.

  “Jesse? I’m charging you with making sure he takes his time and stays out of my way.”

  Jesse shrugged. “Might have to feed him a beer or two. Or take him out and tie him to a tree.”

  “If you tie him to a tree, do it toward dark, and give me the GPS location.”

  Jesse turned to Reno. “Lucky bastard.”

  Reno just smiled.

  “And on that note, big brother, we are out of here.”

  Reno didn’t fight the large hand that landed on his shoulder and led him out the front door. He was too busy imagining all the hot things Charli could do to him if he was tied up to a tree.

  No sooner had he and Jesse crossed the street than an eighteen-wheeler pulled up in front of the store and parked, obscuring his view of the entire store.

  “What the hell?” Reno stopped in his tracks.

  Charli appeared around the front of the big truck’s steel grille. “This is so you can’t peek. It will be parked here all week.” Her hands waved. “So consider this area off-limits.”

  Jesse laughed. “She knows you pretty well.”

  “Yeah. I’m getting that.” As his brother led him away, Reno went right back to the tree fantasy she’d planted in his imagination.

  Day two of the store renovations arrived, and Reno watched Charli grumble as she rolled out of bed at o’dark thirty. He’d kept her up late. Not to be mean but because he knew their time together was drawing to a close, and he wanted as much of her as he could get. What he planned to do after she left? He had no idea. Didn’t even want to think about it.

  He’d learned the hard way that when people quickly disappeared from your life, their images in your mind began to fade. He didn’t want Charli’s smile to disappear. Or the look of passion in her eyes when he made love to her. Or the quiet peacefulness that settled on her face as she slept.

  While she took a shower, he let the dogs out, then made a pot of coffee. When she came into the kitchen, wearing nothing but a towel, it was everything he could do not to unravel it and take her back to bed. He thought back to that first night, when he’d knocked on the apartment door and she’d answered all wrapped up in a fluffy robe and looking like a marshmallow peep. That night seemed so long ago, when in reality it had only been a little over five weeks.

  How things had changed since then.

  He’d started out wanting her gone. And now . . . he just wanted her to stay. Even if there was still that ever-present fear in the back of his mind.

  “How’s the barrel display coming?” she asked.

  “Piece of cake.” He poured her a steaming cup of coffee. “How’s my store?”

  “Icing on the cake.” She rose to her tiptoes, clutched her towel together, and gave him a kiss.

  “You know,” he said, “if you drop that towel, it will make breakfast a whole lot more interesting.”

  “Last night was interesting. Who’d have thought you could get so much mileage from a bandana?”

  He curved his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Stick with me, and I’ll show you a million different ways to use a lariat too.”

  “Do tell, Cowboy.”

  At least she hadn’t come back with a warning that she wouldn’t be here long enough to find out.

  He handed her the cup of coffee, which she set down on the table before securing the bath towel by tucking the tail between her breasts. Too bad. There went any hopes of its coming undone somewhere between coffee and biscuits.

  “Is this a waffle morning? Or eggs?” he asked.

  “Coffee and granola bar, I’m afraid. I need to get to the store early. It’s a big day.”

  “Why?” Panic struck. “What’s going on?”

  “Well . . .” She sipped her coffee, filling the air with an uncomfortable pause. “For starters, we’re tearing out the back wall to expand the square footage, then we’re ripping the roof off to make a second story, and—”

  “No tearing and no ripping. I never agreed to that.”

  “Really?” She batted her eyelashes. “Did you read the small print in the contract?”

  “Holy shit, Charli.” His heart raced. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

  “I’m kidding.”

  He checked her expression, which told him nothing. “You swear?”

  “Cowboy, if I told you what we were doing to the store, you’d have an opinion a mile wide. I told you if you didn’t like what we’d done, we’d put it back the way it was. How could we do that if we tore out walls?”

  When he leaned over her to refill her coffee, she curled her fingers into his T-shirt and pulled him down to eye level.

  “Trust me,” she said.

  He made an effort to do just that.

  And then he took her back to bed.

  In the course of a morning and afternoon, Reno learned that with the exception of the garden—which had taken a midsummer turn from dry to scorched—and riding out to check the herd, there was little to do around his place. After he rode back to his mom’s house, he found her flitting around like a butterfly, singing to herself. Giggling at some private joke.

  Weird.

  It didn’t take long before she sucked him into helping her move this or that. She’d asked him his opinion on whether a wreath would look better on the wall or a picture. If a red or gold candle looked better in an old lantern she’d rescued y
ears ago from Shorty Blackstock’s farm.

  He’d finally escaped out to the barn, so he didn’t have to help her hang curtains. Or break up little sticks and pieces of bark to decorate a wall mirror. Or, for crying out loud, make a silk flower arrangement. His penance was he had to suffer the ever-curious and amorous attentions of Miss Giddy, who today sported a bright yellow ribbon around her neck.

  As the day crawled on, it seemed like he looked at his watch about every ten minutes. After several hours passed, he figured the term stir-crazy was probably a description that fit him well. Then again, so would the word fearful.

  What would he do if he walked into the store and found everything that reminded him of his dad, gone?

  How could he go in there every day and not feel his father’s spirit? Hear his laughter? The memories faded more and more with each passing day. He didn’t want to lose it all. Just the thought made him sick to his stomach.

  He needed to keep busy. Keep his mind occupied, so it didn’t have the chance to freeze with fear. But that didn’t mean he wanted to help his mother inside the house.

  Around three o’clock, he couldn’t escape when she came into the barn, where he’d kept busy by restacking hay bales. The job was dusty and itchy, but at least it kept his mind off what was going on at the store. Or Charli’s leaving once it was done.

  “Sugarplum, you’ve been out here for too long without something to drink.” She held up a bottle of Shiner.

  He pushed the bale of hay into place, ran the long sleeve of his shirt across his forehead, and accepted her offering. The ale went down cold, crisp, and refreshing.

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  She joined him by plopping down on a bale and sipping on a bottle of root beer. “I know you’ve been avoiding the house because of all the changes I’m making. I just thought maybe it was time.”

  Admittedly, he didn’t like seeing all the comforts of the home he’d grown up in taken down piece by piece, but that was only part of the reason he’d stayed outside.

  “Or maybe I figured you’d have me sewing aprons and arranging flowers.”

  She chuckled. “I’d never dream of asking you to do anything froufrouish.”

  “Figured if you had something heavy you wanted moved or something put up you couldn’t do by yourself, you’d ask.” He pulled down a bale and sat beside her. For a moment, the only sound that rustled through the barn was the cooing of a pigeon who’d taken up residence in the rafters.