Desperate Hearts

by Lani Aames

  Now it was about a month after she and Mitch had said good-bye and a few weeks into the new year and Talley found herself on the road to Shady Hollow. She had waited long enough. She had to know one way or the other. It was the perfect opportunity since Mitch was out of town.

  She pulled up the long driveway and stopped the car. Tiny snowflakes drifted lazily through the air. The same weatherman had forecasted accumulating snow at any time, but she didn't believe him.

  She got out of the car and stood a few moments. Mace had to know it was over between Mitch and her. Once again she didn't know if she was handling things the right way or the best way. She had messed up so much lately she wasn't sure of any of her actions any more. The only thing she was sure of was she had to see Mace because she was overcome by the same irresistible urge that had plagued her the day they became stranded at the old homeplace. If he made her go away, then she would. He had told her his intentions and she could only hope he still felt the same way.

  She walked up to the house and knocked several times, waiting. She knocked again, but no one answered the door. She turned and looked over the outbuildings. Maybe he was in the barn.

  The barn door opened on a creak and a swirl of snowy wind. She closed it behind her. She pushed back the hood of her coat and waited until her eyes adjusted to the dimness.

  A bright shaded bulb hung from a beam and Mace's truck sat in the pool of light. Under the open hood, Mace bent over the side, his head lost in the inner workings of the vehicle. Talley walked closer.

  “Mace?”

  He raised his head, nodded at her, then leaned back inside. She walked closer.

  “Am I interrupting?”

  “No,” he said without looking up.

  “Mace? Talk to me.”

  “No. You need to talk to me.” He grunted as he fought with a stubborn piece of metal.

  “I can't talk to you with your head down there. Should I come back later?”

  He raised up suddenly. “No.”

  She watched him as he snatched up a rag and wiped his hands. When he turned just right in the light, she saw the large bruise on his jaw. The color was more green than purple.

  “Oh, Mace, what happened?” Instinctively, she stepped closer to him and raised her hand to it.

  He tilted his head away from her touch, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. “Damnedest thing, I ran into the bathroom door during the night.”

  “Mace...”

  His voice lowered. “You won't be bothered again, Lee.”

  She had noticed Jack Sandler didn't come to the Rose anymore. She tried not to think of him at all, but when she did, she’d hoped he had been scared off by his own cowardice. She remembered Mace had threatened to take care of him, but hadn't known if he had followed through.

  “I'm sorry, Mace. Are you all right?”

  He nodded. “That door got in one good punch before I laid it out.”

  He kept his hands wadded up in the rag, but Talley reached for them and slowly pulled the rag away. His knuckles were bruised as well and cuts and scrapes had begun to scab over. Any scars that might be left would mingle with those that already marred his skin. She brought his fingers to her lips and kissed them, then held them to her cheeks.

  “Thank you, Mace, for taking care of those who get attacked by doors.”

  His hands turned over and cupped her chin briefly before dropping to his sides. He didn't say anything else. He waited for her to speak.

  “It's over. Mitch and me. Has been for a while.”

  “I know.”

  “Then why—”

  “I know what we did, Talley. It wasn't right and it wasn't good. I can swear that I'll never do anything like that again. Can you?”

  “Oh yes, Mace! I swear.”

  “Are you done with Mitch?”

  “A part of me will always love Mitch. I can't lie about that. But I won't go back to him, even if I never see you again. We're too different now. We want different things.” She blinked back the tears that filled her eyes. “For a long time, I didn't want to lose you both. If I couldn't have you, then I wanted Mitch.” She shook her head. “But not anymore. If I can't have you, I'm going to Knoxville to be with my family. There'd be nothing here for me anymore.”

  “All right then.”

  He turned his back to her and ducked his head under the hood again. She waited a few minutes, then took a few steps closer.

  “Mace?”

  “I'd like to get this finished up before dark. I have somewhere to go tonight.”

  “Oh.”

  “If I don't get this truck fixed, I know a lady who's gonna be mighty displeased.”

  She couldn't breathe. The pain that ripped through her chest made her think her heart had stopped beating. If he had given up on them, then why all the questions? Just to satisfy his curiosity? Maybe if he didn't want her, he needed to know that Mitch wouldn't have her either. She stepped back a couple of paces.

  “I'm sorry, Mace. I-I didn't mean to interfere.” She turned and ran for the door. She pulled it open and didn't look back even when he called out her name.

  The weather outside had turned as severely as the atmosphere inside the barn. The lazy, fluffy flakes had turned to fine bits of snow that whipped her face as she stumbled to the car.

  “Talley, wait!”

  He’d called her Talley and she thought she'd never be able to breathe again. The tears in her eyes flooded down her cheeks. Her hand slipped off the door handle of her car again and again as she tried to open it. Then Mace was beside her, pulling up her hood against the driving snow.

  “Dammit, Talley, don't you know what today is?”

  She shook her head and tried to pull away from him. At that moment, completely overcome by the terrible hurt she felt, she didn't know what year it was.

  “It's Saturday, darlin, it's Saturday.”

  She stopped struggling as the meaning of his words made it past the pain. She blinked up at him. “Oh, Mace...” She buried her face in his cold, snow-covered jacket.

  “Let's get inside. You can't drive in this weather.”

  She grabbed his jacket in her numb fingers. “You said you'd come to me, remember? I waited, Mace, I waited as long as I could.”

  “I know, but I wanted to give us both a little time. I didn't think a few weeks would hurt us any. Talley, I'm freezing my balls off. Let's go inside.”

  She shook her head. “Why are you calling me Talley?”

  “It's your name.”

  “You know what I mean!”

  He smiled a little and brushed snow crystals from her face with shaking hands. From the cold, she supposed, but she wasn't going inside with him until he told her.

  “I can call you Talley now because I have all of you.”

  Only then did she allow him to hustle her into the house. They pulled off wet jackets and boots and huddled on the rug in front of the crackling fire. Mace took her hands in his, rubbing them briskly. His hands were cold too, but she wouldn't say or do anything to end his touch.

  “You scared the hell out of me, Mace!”

  “Didn't mean to. I thought you knew what day of the week it is.”

  “You sounded like you'd changed your mind,” Talley said softly. “I wasn't thinking straight after that.”

  “Darlin,” he said and drew her into his arms, “I was trying not to rush it.”

  “Well, you tried too hard,” she said and looped her arms around his neck. Over his shoulder, she saw the steady snowfall out of the window. Everything was already covered in a layer of white. “I don't think I'll be able to drive home, Mace, unless you want to take me.”

  “Yeah, I want to take you. Right here, right now,” he murmured in her ear.

  Talley smiled. She had missed their playfulness almost as much as she'd missed Mace. “I don't know, cowboy. Have you gotten any better at it?”

  He snorted. “I wouldn't know. I haven't used it in so long, I think it's dried up and blowed away.”

&nb
sp; Talley pulled back enough to look up into his gray eyes. “Then you didn't—”

  “No, I didn't.”

  “Neither did I. I don't think Mitch could get over what happened. He never asked again.”

  Relief flooded his face. She hadn't realized it would mean so much to him to know.

  He kissed her forehead. “Will you marry me?”

  She frowned up at him. “You're not doing it the way you said you would. You said you'd come to me and make love to me and ask me to marry you.”

  He laughed. “I meant I'd do 'em all, but not exactly in that order. Will you marry me, Talley? All I can offer you is a broken-down farm mortgaged to the hilt. And me.”

  “Oh yes, I'll marry you.”

  Their lips met in a deep and binding kiss, and Talley let her aching need for him wash over her completely. She pressed as close to him as she could and felt the hard proof of his need for her. Mace responded by trailing kisses along her neck.

  “Will you take me now, Mace?”

  “Right here?” he asked huskily between kisses.

  “Yes...” Talley breathed and tilted her head back.

  “Right now?” he teased and planted a kiss in the hollow of her throat. His hands found her buttocks and squeezed.

  “Oh yes,” she murmured and helped him remove all the clothing that was in the way.

  Talley lay back on the plush rug, and Mace pulled the afghan from the back of the couch to cover them. He settled between her thighs as her legs slipped around his waist. His hands, flat on the rug on each side of her, held his weight, and the tip of his arousal barely touched her. He looked into her eyes.

  “I love you, Talley,” he said hoarsely as he buried himself inside of her, thrusting in as deeply as he could go.

  She arched against him on a moan, accepting him as she had so many times before. But this time was different, better. She was free to love him with her heart as well as her body. She held out her arms and Mace dropped into them while he continued to thrust in and out of her, holding her close as they moved as one.

  Then they came as one.

  Trembling, she hugged him tight as he relaxed against her.

  “I love you too, Mace,” she whispered.

  He rolled to her side and drew the afghan closer as they snuggled together. Desperation didn't drive their need anymore.

  Only love.

  EPILOGUE:

  Two years later

  Talley Holloway shifted the baby from one arm to the other then set the porch rocker in motion again. She looked down into his angelic face, eyes closed in peaceful sleep, and saw the resemblance to both the father and the son. Strange how she'd never noticed any physical similarities between Mace and Mitch, but in her son she saw some of each. The thought made her smile.

  Autumn had colored the leaves and a brisk breeze stirred a whiff of woodsmoke past her nose. She snuggled the blanket closer to Mason—Macefield Tyrel Holloway, Jr., but they called him Mason—Mace's son. The air had a bite to it and she thought it might be time to take him inside when a new Jeep Cherokee pulled off the main road into their long driveway.

  “Mace,” she called, then louder, “Mace! They're here!”

  Her son stirred in her arms, whimpered, then settled again.

  When the Cherokee stopped, Mitch got out and hurried to the other side. He opened the door and carefully helped a very pregnant Bonnie ease from the passenger side. They slowly made their way to the house, Bonnie with one hand on the small of her back and the other holding onto Mitch securely.

  Mace stepped out on the porch and squinted at his son and daughter-in-law. “Damn, did you get that big?” he said low enough for only Talley to hear. “She looks like she could drop any second.”

  Talley grinned, but said, “Hush, Grampa.”

  “Pa,” Mace decided. “I want the little one to call me Pa.”

  “Whew, what a drive! I'm so glad it's over,” Bonnie said as Mitch helped her up the steps. “Aw, Mason's asleep. I wanted to hold him.”

  “He'll be awake in a bit,” Talley assured her. “Then he'll be raring to go.”

  “Uh-oh.” Bonnie headed for the front door. “I have to go again.”

  Mitch shook his head as she disappeared into the house. “We had to stop twice on the way from Nashville.”

  Mace tapped Talley on the shoulder. “Three times the last time we visited her folks before Mason was born. She watered every bush between here and Knoxville.”

  “Mace! We stopped at service stations and you know it. Fix me a cup of cocoa.”

  “Cocoa?”

  “Yeah, cocoa. And see if Bonnie wants some.”

  Mace shook his head. “I ain't going near her. She might pop.”

  When he had gone inside, Talley looked at Mitch. “He's nervous about your visit, but he's driving me crazy. Making cocoa should keep him busy for a while.”

  “I'm nervous too.” Mitch walked over and lightly rubbed his baby brother's cheek. “It's been so long since we've spent any time together. We talk on the phone a lot, but it's not the same. Of course, we don't argue nearly as much as we used to.”

  Talley nodded. “Want to hold him?”

  “He's asleep.”

  “It's okay. Nap time is almost over anyway.”

  Talley laid her son in Mitch's arms and stretched out her legs. Crossing her ankles, she leaned back and rocked herself slowly.

  “I can't believe how much he's grown in two months,” Mitch said quietly.

  “They grow too fast. I feel like if I blink he'll be graduating from high school.”

  “I know. Bonnie's due in a few weeks. Doesn't seem like it's been that long. She wants the baby born here in Randolph. I think she just wants to be close to her mother when the time comes.” Mason wriggled in his arms and gurgled. Mitch secured him in the crook of one arm and put his fingers into Mason's hand. Mason latched onto one. “We're going to have a little girl, you know,” he said proudly.

  “I know.” She smiled. Talley didn't remind him that he told them every time he talked to them.

  “When I get a chance, I'm going to talk to Mace.”

  “About what?”

  “Shady Hollow.”

  “We're doing fine. Mace let things get away from him for a while, but he's got it all under control now. He hasn't had a drink in over two years. And he's accepted the fact that you don't want any part of the farm.”

  Mitch laughed. “Well, he had to accept that, didn't he? 'Desperate Hearts' went gold and is bringing in more money than any of us ever dreamed of. It's been optioned by a major company to use in their ad campaign. A cable movie company wants to develop it into a movie and if the movie does well, they want to make a series out of it. Add to that the merchandising, t-shirts, caps, heart-shaped keyrings...hell, even lunchboxes.” Mitch sucked in a deep breath. “It's unreal, Tal. The projected amount of money we'll be raking in over the next few years is indecent.”

  “I'm happy for you and Bonnie and the band. You deserve it. But what does all this have to do with Shady Hollow?”

  “I want to pay off the loan. And whatever else Mace needs to get this place running right. I was never interested in taking it over one day, but it's home. I know Mace and he'll refuse. I want you to talk him into it.”

  “It might help,” Talley said quietly, “if you called him Dad again.”

  Mitch's jaw clenched. He answered with a quick shake of his head.

  “What am I supposed to tell Mason when he's old enough to wonder why you call your father Mace?”

  Mitch walked the length of the porch and back again.

  “We ended up the way we were supposed to, Tal. Bonnie and me. You and Mace. You were right and I think I knew it a long time before I admitted it. Still...”

  Talley didn't say anything and waited for Mitch to finish.

  “I tried to forgive and forget. It was easier than I thought, forgiving Mace. But I can't forget. Even though it was the best thing and the right thing, I can't forget wh
at he did.”

  “He wasn't the only one, Mitch,” Talley reminded him.

  “I know. I've forgiven you too, Talley. What went on between us seems like another lifetime ago. Or like it happened to two other people. So it's easy to forget us.” Mason cried out and Mitch lifted him to his shoulder, swaying back and forth to quiet him. “But Mace is my father and that makes a big difference.”

  Talley nodded. If Mace had been any other man, it wouldn't have hurt nearly as bad and he'd have been able to put it behind him more easily. She guessed they were lucky Mitch could forgive. “You know better than I do how stubborn he is. I don't know if anything I say will convince him.”

  Mason squirmed and cried out lustily. Mitch handed him back to Talley, resting one hand on the arm of the rocker. “Tell him I'm doing it for the kid here,” he said and rubbed the back of Mason's head. “I don't want the farm, never did, but maybe Mason will make it his life. Tell him that, Talley, and Mace'll take what I offer.”

  The screen door opened and Mace came through with a steaming mug of cocoa and his own coffee.

  “Only two hands, Mitch. If you want coffee, you know where it is.” Mace handed the mug to Talley. “Better check on Bonnie. Hope she didn't drop the kid in the toilet.”

  “Mace!” Talley frowned and swatted at him.

  But Mitch chuckled and headed inside.

  Mace stepped to the edge of the porch and gazed into the distance.

  “Mitch wants to talk with you.”

  “I heard,” he said thickly.

  “How much did you hear?”

  “Enough.”

  Talley set the cocoa aside and went to stand beside him. He turned and looked at her with glistening eyes.

  “My boy has forgiven me,” he whispered.

  Talley nodded. Tears welled up and she blinked them back. “I thought he had. You two have been closer these past two years than any I've ever known.”

  “I hoped he had, but I didn't know. Till now.”

  “Accept his offer, Mace.”

  He nodded as he laid his hand on his younger son's head. He rested his forehead against his wife’s. “All right, but I ain't gonna make it easy for him.”