Ain't Misbehaving (9781455523801)

by Cannon, Molly

  Was he happy that the last tie to his father was gone? Or sad? Maybe she’d ask him next time she saw him. She usually tried to avoid heavy subjects that might evoke anything uncomfortable or scary like feelings. But then again, she had promised Theo.

  Christmas was only a couple of weeks away, and since she had Mondays off, she’d promised her mother they’d have a girls’ day—shop, do lunch, shop, have tea and pie at Bertie’s, treat themselves to a pedicure, and then maybe shop some more.

  She showed up early, noticing that her dad put the Christmas lights up over the weekend. Garlands of greenery draped the porch rails, and a wreath of fresh pine decorated the front door. The whole family would gather on the weekend to decorate the tree, but Marla Jean hadn’t done anything to get into the holiday spirit. Maybe she should pick up a small tree for her apartment and put some lights around her front window. That might be fun.

  She entered the house, greeted by the welcoming scent of cinnamon and bacon. It smelled like her entire childhood. A mild current of longing for things past rippled through her, but she blamed it on the upcoming holidays and the fact that this would be her first Christmas in her new apartment.

  “Is that you, Marla Jean?” her mother called from the back of the house.

  “It’s me, Mom.”

  “I’ll be ready in a minute. Oh, there’s a letter for you on the front hutch. It looks official.”

  “Thanks.” She picked it up and turned it over, not immediately recognizing the return address. Opening the envelope she realized it contained a check. It was from Bradley’s lawyer in the full amount he owed her for their house. She hadn’t expected to get the money without a messy fight and inconvenient court dates. Maybe Libby was already proving to be a good influence on her ex.

  Her mom walked in adjusting her earring. “What was in the letter, if I’m not being too nosy.”

  Marla Jean flapped the check around in the air. “It’s my house money.” She did a little jig. “Bradley sent a check for my half of the house. Hot dang, Christmas just came early.”

  “Well then, I say lunch is on you, kiddo. Does this mean you’re going to look into buying the Brown house again?”

  Marla Jean stopped in her tracks. “The Brown house? I don’t even think it’s for sale anymore.” That was a chapter she’d closed along with any idea of having a relationship with Jake. “I know he had another interested buyer at the same time.”

  “Well, that’s a shame.” Bitsy slipped on her coat, grabbed her purse, and pulled Marla Jean out the door. “Let’s go. I have a long list, and I don’t want to miss the sales while you dawdle around here daydreaming.”

  Marla Jean followed her out the door. “Hey, I was here early. I don’t think I’m the one dawdling.”

  Her mom dug in her purse and pulled out a giant ring of keys. Jangling them at her daughter she said, “Watch your manners, missy.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” she said contritely. The Christmas wreath on the front door bounced as she pulled it closed behind her.

  Marla Jean stuck her fork into her lemon meringue pie and twirled it this way and that, destroying its pie-like shape without ever taking a bite. She sat in a booth, staring out the diner’s front window, all her attention focused on Jake’s Home Remodeling Service across the way. Lucinda was parked out front, so she knew he was in his office. The big fat check in her purse was the perfect excuse to get up, walk across the street, and ask Jake about the old Brown house. Just to satisfy her curiosity. Not that she wasn’t perfectly happy in her new apartment. But it couldn’t hurt to ask, could it? Who was she kidding? She was curious about the house, but if she was honest, what she really wanted was a good excuse to go see Jake.

  While she was at it, she could talk to him about Sadie. Somehow, the time had never seemed right to take her to the new apartment. The puppy seemed so happy with Jake. But she’d put down the pet deposit, for Pete’s sake, and she couldn’t expect him to keep her forever.

  Another good reason to go see Jake.

  Her mother was in the middle of a spirited discussion with Bertie about the pros and cons of including leeks in her potato soup recipe. They’d moved onto the merits of split peas, so she figured Bitsy would hardly notice if she stepped out for a minute. She could zip over to Jake’s and be back in plenty of time to go have their toes done at Durinda’s Sweet Feet Spa before they hit the outlet mall on the highway.

  She took a fortifying bite of pie for courage, stood up before she could change her mind, and declared, “I’ll be right back, Mom.”

  “It’s not for sale.” Jake hardly looked up from the paper he was scribbling on when she walked in the door. If he was happy to see her, he was doing a mighty fine job disguising his glee.

  She sat down in front of his desk. “Oh, so I guess you sold it to Bud Gailey after all? That’s what I figured, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to check.” Disappointment welled up inside her chest. She’d tried not to get her hopes up, but once the Brown house became a whisper of a possibility again, she’d been a goner all over again.

  He put down his pen and looked straight at her. “I didn’t sell it to Bud.”

  “Oh, well then, someone else made an offer?” She didn’t even want to imagine who was living in her house now.

  “Actually, after I sold my folks’ house, the need to unload it wasn’t so pressing. My lease was up on my apartment, so I decided to keep it for myself.”

  “You did? But I thought you said it was too much house for you. That it needed a family, and all that.” Maybe he’d changed his mind about wanting a family. The very idea of him living in her house with some woman now or anytime in the future had her clenching her fists and grinding her teeth.

  “I’m actually living out there now. Sadie’s having a grand time exploring.” She noticed he didn’t address his change of heart about the house.

  “Gosh, Jake, that’s great.” She didn’t mean it. Not for a minute. Jake and Sadie living in her house, while she was all alone in a cracker box of an apartment in Derbyville. What was wrong with this picture? “I guess you’ve got all sorts of plans for it. Oh, of course you do. You showed them to me, didn’t you? Well, I’ll rest easy knowing it’s in good hands.” She was babbling, but she felt herself getting unexpectedly weepy. She was acting like an idiot, working herself all up over something that was never hers to begin with. And she wasn’t just talking about the dumb old house.

  He didn’t seem to notice her distress. In fact, his whole body lit up with eagerness as he started talking about the house. “I’m just getting started, but you’ll have to come out and see what I’m doing to the place when you get a chance, Marla Jean. Your approval would mean a lot to me.”

  His big brown eyes met hers, and she felt her insides melting like butter cream icing spread on a cake fresh from the oven. The afternoon sun streamed in through the front window, playing across the planes of his face, gilding each strand of his dark hair with golden light. Why did he have to look so freaking perfect? Why did he have to look like a man who needed to be hugged? Where had that idea come from? She was used to having lust-filled thoughts about him, but this was more of an “isn’t he adorable, and grand, and wonderful” kind of feeling. Her heart couldn’t afford to keep entertaining those kinds of thoughts about Jake. Especially if he had plans to move some other woman into her house.

  She tried to listen as he rambled on, looking more animated and alive then she could ever remember. You’d think he was the one with childhood memories of the place tattooed onto his heart.

  She swallowed hard and nodded. When she spoke her voice was brittle and wobbly. “I’d love to come see it, but I’m sure it will be wonderful. Really, wonderful, Jake.”

  “Are you okay, Marla Jean?” His tone changed to one of concern.

  She found a smile. “Oh, sure. I’ve just been thinking about Sadie, lately. You’re probably ready for me to take her off your hands.”

  He stood up, looking genuinely troubled. “Oh. Of course
. I thought I’d let you settle into your apartment before I mentioned it. But I guess you are settled now, right? It’s been almost a month.” Now he was the one babbling.

  “I appreciate it, but yeah, I’m as settled as I’ll ever be.”

  “Well then,” he said. “Come by tomorrow night, and I’ll make dinner.”

  “Oh, you don’t need to go to any trouble.”

  “It’s no trouble. I haven’t started tearing up the kitchen yet. And I’m a pretty good cook.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

  “All right. It’s a date. Well, not a date.” She shrugged, thinking she should stop talking altogether.

  “Great. I’ll have Sadie’s stuff all gathered up and ready to go. So, say, seven?”

  “Seven it is.”

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Jake juggled the bags of groceries while he unlocked the front door. Sadie met him in the entry, her tail wagging madly while she bounced around his ankles, barking, telling him about her day.

  He laughed at her antics even as he nearly tripped over the dog, and made his way to the kitchen. “Sadie, you’re gonna cause me to break my neck.” He put the bags on the counter and scooped the dog into his arms. “Guess who’s coming to dinner? Your mom. We’ve got to get this place spiffed up, and you’ve got to be on your best behavior, okay?”

  She yipped her agreement.

  “You don’t want to go live in Marla Jean’s old cramped apartment, do you? That wouldn’t be any fun. We need to convince her you belong right here.” Convince her that she belonged here, too. Sadie licked his chin and blinked at him with big brown eyes. He stroked her tiny head, suddenly feeling choked up, trying not to think how empty the house would be if she left.

  After he put up the groceries, he walked to the back of the house and looked around at the room he was remodeling. The talk he’d had with Theo before he left town had given him a lot to think about while he was tearing down walls and putting up new ones. He realized that despite everything some part of him still loved his dad, and he’d been so mad when he died that he’d never mourned his passing. He finally allowed himself to grieve the way a son should when he buries his father. As a result he’d started letting go of the anger and hurt he’d carried around all those years. It had given him a whole new outlook on what really mattered.

  Like the way he felt about Marla Jean.

  About how hard he’d fallen for her, and how that wasn’t going to change just because she’d moved off to Derbyville. And about how he wanted a chance to make a life with her if she’d ever consider having him. But she’d made it clear that she didn’t want to talk about what happened at the barber shop. So, he wasn’t going to push her. Not yet.

  But he’d gotten this crazy notion that he could move into the Brown house, fix it up, and once it was finished, once it was perfect, he’d present it to her like a jewel, like a pledge. She’d see that he loved her and just maybe, she’d be willing to give him that chance.

  Once the idea had taken hold he couldn’t let it go. So for weeks now, he’d been working on the renovations day and night. But then she’d jumped the gun. She’d barged into his office yesterday, and before he realized what he was doing, he’d invited her to dinner. As soon as she walked out of his office, he panicked. He was an idiot. It was too soon. The house wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready. And now Marla Jean was coming over tonight, and he only had a torn-up, half-finished house to try and win her heart.

  Not wanting to seem too eager, Marla Jean waited until five minutes after seven before getting out of her car and walking up the front pathway to Jake’s house. She opened the screen door and caught her breath as she stepped up onto the sky blue painted porch. From the moment she’d stepped out of her car she’d been blown away by the work he’d already done on the house. The yard was manicured, the house was freshly painted, and the shutters no longer tilted crazily at the windows.

  And now this. The porch, sky blue, just as it had been when she was a child.

  Before she could ring the doorbell the carved wooden front door opened. Jake stood in the entryway, dressed casually, in jeans and a T-shirt, but just the sight of him made her heart flutter like a sheet hung out to dry on an old-fashioned clothesline. Someday her pulse would stop racing at the sight of him, but apparently today wouldn’t be the day.

  “Hey, Marla Jean, come on in.” He smiled a casual, good buddy smile and waved her inside.

  She braced herself to face the emotional toll of spending an evening in his presence. Brightly she said, “Jake, the place looks wonderful. And the porch, you remembered.”

  “I remembered.” He helped her with her coat and purse, hanging them on an old arts and crafts hall tree.

  The sound of tiny claws clattering across the wooden floor got her attention and Marla Jean turned just as Sadie scampered into the entryway. “Hey, Sadie, you’ve gotten so big since the last time I saw you.” She reached for the puppy and hauled her up into her arms. “What are you feeding her, Jake?”

  Jake smiled at the two of them. “She’s very particular. She’ll only eat grizzly bear and frog legs. You’ll have your work cut out for you with this one.”

  “He doesn’t spoil you or anything, does he?” Sadie settled a paw on each of her shoulders, panting happily.

  “You’ll notice I haven’t done much to the front part of the house yet,” Jake said as he pulled her into the living room. The spacious room seemed to dwarf the furniture from his old apartment scattered here and there. “I’ve got some major rebuilding planned for the back of the house first, and in the meantime I’m making do.”

  “I can’t wait to see what you have planned.”

  “Why don’t we eat first, and then I’ll give you a tour of the house.” Jake took Sadie from her arms, settling the puppy in her doggie bed where she turned in two and a half circles, then lay down with her head on her front paws and went to sleep.

  “Sounds perfect. I could eat a horse.”

  “A healthy appetite has always been one of your many charms, Marla Jean. I made enough to feed an army.” He took her elbow, guiding her toward the dining room.

  The mere touch of his hand set off quivers of desire trampling through her body, but she schooled her expression to hide the traitorous reaction. Back in the safety of her apartment she’d vowed to remain unmoved and unaffected in his presence. She’d been here five minutes, and she could already wash that promise down the drain.

  A massive walnut table with ten heavy carved chairs filled the room. A hutch set against a wall, though the shelves were mostly bare. “Aunt Libby insisted on giving me this table. Since she moved into Brad’s house she didn’t have any use for it, and my mother gave me the hutch. Said it was taking up room in her storage shed.”

  “Nice. You’ll have to take up entertaining.” What a dumb thing to say. She didn’t want to encourage him to bring other women here.

  He seemed embarrassed. “It’s not really my style, but I think they’re convinced if they load me up with enough furniture it will domesticate me. And it made them happy.”

  “You’re such a pushover. And here I thought you were dead set on anything resembling domestication.”

  He didn’t answer, but guided her to a chair and pulled it out for her. He’d already set the table with placemats and dinnerware. In honor of the season a potted poinsettia sat in the middle of the table surrounded by dozens of flickering candles. “You sit, and I’ll be right back.”

  She watched him disappear through the swinging doors, amazed by the cozy atmosphere he’d created. He seemed so comfortable here, as if he’d already turned it into a home. In minutes he was back with two bowls of beef stew. He set them down, and slipped back into the kitchen, returning with a basket of hot cornbread and a butter dish. “It’s not fancy, but I thought it might hit the spot since the temperature dropped twenty degrees since yesterday.”

  She took a bite of stew and moaned her approval. “Man, this is good. Since I moved I haven’t done much
cooking. I tend to live on crackers and cheese.”

  “I figured you still ate at your parents’ house most nights.”

  “I try to limit myself to one or two meals a week. Otherwise, what’s the point of moving away? Speaking of which, how do you feel about selling your old house? I saw the new owners when I took Mom home last night.”

  “I can honestly say it’s been a relief. I’ve never been one to dig around in my head, analyzing my feelings, but I was holding on to a lot of garbage about my old man. Before he left Theo made me see what a dead end my life was headed down, and when I realized I loved—” He broke off suddenly like he’d nearly said too much. “Anyway, it was all tied up in that house, and when I let it go, I was able to let him go, too.”

  Reaching over, she touched his forearm. “Good for you, Jake.” She asked if he’d heard from Theo lately. He asked about the classes she was teaching. They covered all the latest gossip, and any other topic they could safely discuss.

  After they finished eating they stacked the dishes in the sink, and she nodded when he asked, “Are you ready for the tour?” He took her down the hallway toward the bedroom first. “As I said before, I haven’t done much to the front of the house yet, as far as renovations. But I did paint the bedroom, and I did some work on the side porch.”

  She walked into Patsy’s old room, noticing the old wallpaper was gone, and the walls were painted a soft sage green. A big four-poster bed filled one wall, but her attention was drawn immediately toward the screened porch. She opened the French doors and stepped outside. “Hammocks? And wooden gliders?” Again just like she remembered. It was as if he was stealing her dream and recreating it for himself. Letting her see it, but not share in it.

  He came out behind her, standing too close.

  “I can’t tell you how much time I spend out here. This is my favorite spot in the whole house. But, come on. Let me show you what I’m doing in back.”

  In a daze she followed him down the back hallway, looking this way and that as he pointed out the rooms where he’d started tearing down walls, the back bathroom he’d torn out so it could be updated. Then he grabbed a flashlight and took her outside down the back steps and across the yard. He flashed the light on the old structure that didn’t look so old anymore. “The chicken coop, remember?”