But the hard ache in his body let him know that though his mind had let her go, the rest of him hadn’t. And there she was again, he thought in disgust. Right back in his thoughts, front and center. He closed his mind to the memories and focused on the now.
There were a few dawn-to-dusk lights around the play area and he took a second or two to look it over. He and Jake had dug out the wide area beneath the playground equipment and then poured enough fine sand to sink an aircraft carrier. It had taken the two of them nearly two weeks to get everything set up and finished off for safety, but knowing his niece and nephews loved it made all the work worth the effort.
Made of sanded, polished wood—to prevent splinters in tiny hands—the climbing gym sprawled across the pristine lawn as if it had grown in that spot. Jake’s five-year-old twin sons and their two-year-old sister loved climbing on it and especially enjoyed the castle-like room at the top. Gave him a good feeling, seeing the next generation of Battles clambering all over the structure, hooting and hollering at each other, just like he and Jake had done when they were kids. It also made him remember that if things had turned out differently, his own child might have been playing here as well.
He shook off that disquieting thought and buried it under another long drink of his beer.
Jake slapped one hand against the swing set and blurted, “So, how’s Amanda?”
Nathan almost choked on his swallow of beer. When the coughing ended and he could breathe again, he looked at his younger brother. “How the hell did you know I went to see her?”
Jake shrugged. “Mona Greer was walking that tiny excuse for a dog of hers and saw you going into the diner apartment. She called Sarah Danvers, Sarah talked to her daughter and Amelia called Terri a while ago.”
The Royal hotline was already buzzing.
“Well, hell,” he muttered. So much for keeping his private life private. He hadn’t seen a damn soul around the diner. Mona Greer should look into a career with the CIA or something. Even at eighty, her eyesight was damn good and she clearly had a sneaky streak.
Jake laughed. “Seriously? You thought you could slide in and out of Amanda’s apartment and nobody would catch on?”
“A man can dream,” Nathan mumbled.
Jake laughed even louder and Nathan told himself there was nothing more irritating sometimes than a younger brother. “Did you come out here just to bushwhack me with gossip then laugh at me?”
“Of course,” his brother said with a good-natured shrug. “Not every day I get to give you grief over something.”
“Glad you’re enjoying yourself.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m glad to see Amanda back. Glad to see it bugs you.”
“Thanks for the support,” Nathan told him and took a drink of his beer. His gaze moved over the play equipment. In the moonlight, the slide gleamed like a river of silver and the pennant flag on the castle top fluttered in the hot Texas wind.
Irritation swelled inside him. Three years he’d been sheriff. He had respect. He had the admiration of the townspeople. Now, he was just grist for the mill.
“You want support? Go back to the TCC and talk to Chance. Or Alex.” Jake toasted him with his beer. “From family, you get the truth, whether you want it or not.”
“I don’t.” Nathan leaned against one of the posts as visions of Amanda roared into his brain again. He shouldn’t have gone to her. But how could he not have? They’d had to talk. But then, there hadn’t only been talking, had there?
“I know you don’t want to hear it but you’re going to anyway.” Jake paused, ran one hand over the heavy chain from which one of the swings hung. “So here it is. You missed your chance with Amanda back in the day.”
Nathan snorted. “I didn’t miss a thing. Trust me.”
Shaking his head, Jake said, “You know what I mean. You let her get away.”
“I didn’t let her do a damn thing, Jake,” Nathan said tightly as he pushed away from the heavy wooden post. “Her decision to walk.”
Jake was unaffected by the anger in Nathan’s voice. “Right. And you didn’t try to talk her out of it.”
“Why the hell should I have?” Stalking off a few paces, Nathan’s boots slid in the sand he and his brother had laid beneath the swing set. This was his place. The home he’d grown up in. The town where he’d carved out a spot for himself. Damned if he’d let the past jump up and ruin what he’d built.
At the far end of the play equipment, Nathan turned to look at his brother. Jake looked relaxed…amused, damn him.
Well, why wouldn’t he be? Jake had everything he’d ever wanted. He ran the ranch. He was married to his high school sweetheart and they had three great kids plus another on the way. Everything was riding smooth in Jake’s world—not that Nathan begrudged his brother’s happiness. But at the same time, you’d think Jake could manage a little sympathy.
“I’m not going to beg a woman to stay with me.”
“Who said anything about begging?” Jake shot back. “You could have asked.”
“No,” Nathan said, shaking his head and looking away from his brother’s too-sharp eyes to stare out over the moonlit lawn. “I couldn’t. There were…reasons.”
Reasons he’d never talked about. Never even mentioned to Jake, and Nathan was closer to his brother than to anyone else on the planet. Those reasons tried to push into his mind now and Nathan resolutely pushed them out again. He’d dealt with them all years ago. He wouldn’t go back, damn it.
“You listened to the gossip. You believed the rumors instead of talking to Amanda about them.”
His head snapped up and his gaze locked on his brother like a twin pair of dark brown lasers. “What do you know about the rumors?”
Jake took a sip of his beer. “Chance told me what was going on—” He held up one hand to keep his brother quiet. “And don’t blame him for it. You sure as hell didn’t bother to tell me. You’re my brother, Nate. You could have said something.”
He shook his head and squelched the burst of anger struggling to come alive inside him. “I didn’t want to talk about it then—” He paused and added for emphasis, “I still don’t.”
He didn’t like remembering those days. Remembering how he’d felt when Chance told him what people were saying. Nathan had been in the police academy in Houston, unable to get to Amanda. Hell, he hadn’t even had time for a damn phone call. And when he had finally been able to go to her…
Shaking his head, Nathan mentally closed the door on the past. It was done and he wouldn’t be revisiting it anytime soon.
“You always were the hardhead in the family,” Jake said on a sigh.
Nathan managed a short laugh at that. “Seems to me your Terri might argue with you there.”
“Probably,” Jake admitted with a wince. “Nate, I don’t know what happened between you two seven years ago—” he held up a hand again “—and I’m not asking. I’m just saying, she’s home to stay now and you’re going to have to find a way to get past whatever happened so long ago. You’re going to have to deal with her. Maybe the two of you should actually try talking about what happened to break you guys up.”
Nathan grimaced, took a pull at his beer and let the icy froth cool down the temper that was still simmering inside him. “Where is all this talking, share-your-feelings stuff coming from? Is Terri making you watch Dr. Phil again?”
“No.” Jake looked embarrassed. “But I’m not an idiot any more than you are and I know you know you have to make your peace with Amanda.”
Another sip of ice-cold beer slid down Nathan’s throat as he thought about what his brother said. And then a fresh memory of Amanda, molding her body to his. The heat of her kiss. The scent of her filled his mind. The feel of her beneath his hands again. His body stirred and he winced at the ache that he had a feeling was going to become all too fam
iliar.
“Jake,” Nathan said softly, “you don’t get it. I learned a long time ago, where Amanda’s concerned, there is no peace.”
Four
One thing Amanda had always loved about living in Royal was the big farmers’ market held every weekend in the park.
Ranchers and farmers from all over the county showed up to sell fresh vegetables, fruit and preserves. There were always craft booths as well, with local artisans selling everything from jewelry to ceramics and handmade toys.
At barely 9:00 a.m., the sun was already a hot ball of misery glowering down on the town. By afternoon, the only people not huddled in an air-conditioned room would be the kids. But for right now, the park was buzzing with activity. The busiest vendors in the park were those who had claimed a spot beneath the shade of a live oak.
Amanda had the day off and she was determined to enjoy it. But, as she wandered through the market, it was clear that the Royal rumor mill was in high gear.
She felt the speculative glances thrown her way as she passed and she lifted her chin defiantly in response. No point in hiding, she told herself. Instead, she would just ignore the fact that whispered conversations would stop when she got close and pick up again as she moved off. Clearly, someone had seen Nathan at her place the other night and it hadn’t taken long for tongues to start wagging.
Amanda stopped at a booth displaying hand-thrown pottery and idly picked up a kiln-fired, sky-blue pitcher.
The artist, a young woman with waist-length blond hair and bright green eyes, smiled at her. “I’m running a special today on the cornflower-blue pottery.”
And if she’d picked up one of the earthenware jugs, Amanda thought, that would have been the special of the day. But she couldn’t blame the woman for doing her best to make a sale. Besides, she was going to be looking for a house in town soon and she’d need to furnish it, wouldn’t she? Smiling, she said, “It’s lovely work. How much?”
“Only thirty-five.”
“Sold,” Amanda told her and set the pitcher down to reach for her wallet. She probably could have haggled, but it was beautiful and she really did want it.
Purchase made, Amanda left a satisfied artist behind her, tucked her new pitcher into the cloth shopping bag slung over her shoulder and wandered off toward the next booth.
“Amanda, hi!” Piper Kindred waved her over with a wide grin. Piper’s curly red hair was drawn back into a ponytail and her green eyes were shining. “Haven’t had a chance to talk to you since you moved back home.”
“I know. Things have been so busy, but we have got to get together soon.” Amanda had known Piper most of her life and seeing her friend now made Amanda realize again how much she’d missed being a part of Royal.
“I hear you and Nathan are getting cozy again…”
“Of course you did,” Amanda said. A few days ago, Nathan had shown up at her apartment and kissed her senseless. Ever since then, she’d had dozens of customers who spent most of their time at the diner watching her. Including Nathan, she reminded herself. He made time to come in at least once a day. He’d order coffee, sit at the counter and watch her as she moved around the room.
Nerve-racking on all fronts.
“Anything you care to share?” Piper teased.
“Not a thing,” Amanda assured her old friend, then abruptly changed the subject. “So,” she asked, stepping back to read the sign strung across the front of the booth Piper was manning, “what’re you selling?”
“Raffle tickets,” Piper told her and used her thumb to fan a stack of them. “We’re raising money to help pay for the new child-care center at the TCC.”
Grinning, Amanda said, “I heard the motion passed. Beau Hacket must have been purple with fury.”
“By all reports,” Piper assured her. Then she sighed. “I only wish I’d seen it myself. You remember Shannon Morrison? She tells me she came within a breath of hog-tieing the old coot just for the hell of it.”
Beau was possibly the last living true chauvinist in the world. He liked women fine, as long as they stayed in their “place.” Amanda had never been able to figure out why a woman as nice as his wife, Barbara, had married the man in the first place. “Sorry I missed it.”
“More and more women are becoming members of the TCC now that Abby Price paved the way.” Piper paused. “I’m not a member or anything, but I wanted to help with this raffle. How many tickets are you going to buy?”
Shaking her head, Amanda reached for her wallet and laughed. “Give me five.”
“Atta girl.” Piper peeled off the tickets and waited while Amanda wrote her name and phone number on the stubs. When she was finished, Piper dropped the stubs into a steel box and said, “The draw’s in a week. Who knows? You might win the grand prize.”
“What is it?”
“A weekend getaway in Dallas.” Piper shrugged. “Personally, I’d rather win the free dinner at Claire’s.”
“Hey,” Amanda countered, in a mocking insulted tone, “how about you come eat at the diner instead? We’ve got lemon meringue pie tomorrow.”
“Now you’re talking,” Piper said. “I’ll come in around lunch. Maybe we can sit and talk over pie. You can give me the real story behind the gossip.”
“You’ll be disappointed. There is no story.” Except for that kiss, Amanda thought. She waved a goodbye, then moved on. She was still smiling when she caught the scent of fresh-brewed coffee along with a delectable aroma of cinnamon coming from nearby. Marge Fontenot had probably brought in her homemade cinnamon rolls to sell in the coffee booth her husband ran. Amanda’s stomach growled in anticipation as she headed for the vendor cart with the long line snaking in front of it.
“Doing some shopping?”
She stopped and looked at Alex Santiago as he approached her.
“I am.” As the sun shone down on her, she was grateful she’d tucked her hair into a ponytail that morning. But Alex looked cool and comfortable in khaki slacks and a short-sleeved white shirt. “Living in the city, I really missed farmers’ market days.”
His gaze swept across the crowded park. “I admit, I enjoy them as well. Last week I bought a new pair of boots….”
She glanced down and nodded in approval at the hand-tooled brown leather boots he wore. “Very nice.”
“Thank you. And just now, I’ve purchased what I am told is the—” he paused to reach into a paper bag and draw out a jar long enough to read the label “—world’s best huckleberry jam.” He shrugged and gave her a smile that could probably melt ice at a hundred yards.
Amanda just chuckled. “If you bought that jam from Kaye Cannarozzi, I guarantee it is the world’s best. She’s won prizes for her jam every year at the state fair.”
“Good to know,” he said and folded up the bag again. “You can find just about anything here, I’ve discovered.”
Amanda watched him as he looked around the park. He was dark and gorgeous and his accent made every word sound like seduction. Alex was also nice, funny and, except for his dubious taste in friends—Nathan for example—he was pretty much perfect. Too bad for Amanda that the only bell he rung for her was one of friendship.
“Hmm,” Alex mused. “I’m curious as to what put a frown on your face just then. Dark thoughts?”
She forced a smile and shook her head. “Not at all. Um, I’m headed for the coffee wagon over there.” She pointed and asked, “Would you like to join me?”
“I could use some coffee as well, so, yes.” He fell into step beside her. “I’m looking forward to the Fourth of July celebration. I hear it’s quite the event.”
“Oh, it’s great,” Amanda told him. “Most of the town gathers right here for an all-day party. There are contests and games and the fireworks show is always amazing. If I do say so myself, we put on a terrific Fourth.”
> Funny how good it felt to say we.
“Sounds as though you’ve missed it.”
“I really did,” she admitted, glancing around the park at the people wandering from booth to booth. Kids raced away from their parents, laughing as they headed to the playground. Dogs on leashes strained against their owners’ restraining hands and a hot summer wind kicked up out of nowhere.
Royal was home. There was no other place like it and she’d never really been happy anywhere else. “You know, I told myself while I was gone that I was fine. That life in the city was better, somehow. But now that I’m back, it’s like I never left.”
“Going home isn’t always possible,” he mused. “I’m glad you’re finding it easier than you’d thought.”
Amanda looked up at him and saw that while his stare was fixed on the distance, a slight frown was etched into his features. She didn’t know Alex well, but she sensed something was bothering him. Before she could offer to help, though, he spoke again.
“I’m pleased to see that the gossip hasn’t upset you.”
She sighed. The downside to small-town life. She’d already had several people stop her in the park that morning, asking questions, giving her sly winks and knowing smiles. Nathan and she were the talk of the town and until something really juicy came up, that wasn’t going to change.
“You’ve heard it, too?”
He gave her a rueful grin. “I think you would have to be on the moon to miss it.”
“Know anyone who could give me a ride?”
“Sadly, no.” He shrugged and added, “Though a beautiful woman shouldn’t let loose talk from small minds worry her.”
Amanda stopped, cocked her head and looked up at him. “You really are perfect, aren’t you?”
His mouth quirked. “I like to think so, though I’m sure others would disagree.”
Rumor Has It Page 5
