by Joanne Rock
A breeze blew through the nearby trees, casting shifting shadows over her face and stirring the scent of fall leaves.
“And what about that night on the bleachers? We didn’t follow the impulse then, or later when we parked the car and seriously considered climbing in that backseat.”
“I’ve been trying so hard not to be impetuous and make another mistake with you.” She stared at a point in the water and he could almost see the thoughts racing through her head as she weighed his words.
His cell phone buzzed again.
“Maybe this time our mistake will be not being impetuous.” He reached for the oar next to him and then slid an arm behind her to grab the one near her. “And ironically, while you’re struggling to be more deliberate with your decisions, the years since Vince’s death have had the opposite effect on me.”
She shifted to the seat across from him, studying him with wary gray eyes. “What do you mean?”
Dipping the oars in the water he leaned hard on one to get the boat turned around. They needed a new direction.
“Losing a friend showed me that life is too precious not to make the most of every second.” That’s what had finally pushed him to leave Heartache. And it was the drive behind his business success at a young age. “I’m not second-guessing myself these days, Nina. We can’t possibly think through all the consequences of our actions when the future is impossible to predict.”
“You’re right.” She nodded, her eyes shiny with unshed tears.
Damn it, he hadn’t meant to upset her, and he definitely hadn’t meant to talk about Vince.
“I didn’t mean to bring that up.” Frustration threaded through his muscles and pulsed at the base of his neck. “The past has stolen too damn much from both of us.”
“Not anymore.” She met his gaze with a level one of her own. “I’m not any happier when I drive myself crazy worrying about a decision before I make it.”
“What are you saying?” He didn’t want to jump to conclusions about what that might mean for them, but his nerve endings were already humming at the possibilities. He leaned harder into the oars, driving them faster toward the shore.
“That I’ve decided you’re right. I’m ready to enjoy the right now.” She arched back to look up at the sky and lifted her hands in the air like she was on a speeding roller-coaster ride instead of a rowboat. The wind tossed her hair and fluttered through her blouse, making her smile and exposing a patch of skin just above the waist of her jeans. “I’m ready to live in the moment.”
His mouth dried up at the sight of her.
“Then come home with me tonight.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NINA CHECKED HER watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. She was back at the main convention building at the fairgrounds. Now that she’d made her decision to be with Mack, the clock’s movement had slowed to a crawl. She wondered if she could push the second hand to make time speed up so she could steal him away and have him all to herself.
“Everything okay, Nina?” Bethany asked from a spot at one of the sinks in the kitchen. She’d dropped by to help with the catering prep while Nina had been out in the rowboat. Nina had put her to work cleaning and sorting navy beans once she returned. “You seem distracted.”
Understatement of the year.
“Just trying to make sure I’ve got all the necessary components for the catering,” she fibbed as she cleaned a vat for a brine to soak the brisket. “The kitchen is fairly well stocked, but we’ll have to bring in the right spices and condiments, plus serving items and a generator...” She set aside the large kettle and dried her hands. “I’ve got a list going somewhere.”
Country music played through an outdated PA speaker as someone tested the fairgrounds’ sound system outside while volunteers set up a smoker for brisket. No matter how much Nina’s food service volunteers cleaned the kitchen, dust continued to be swept in from the parade of trucks delivering supplies to the kitchen and all the extra traffic on the main driveway from farmers donating hay bales for the straw maze. A couple of groundskeepers for the fair property had dropped in during the afternoon to make sure Nina had everything she needed, but right now the kitchen was quiet except for Bethany, Nina and Gram, who shuffled to the sink to take over Bethany’s bean-sorting duties.
“Do you have enough volunteers?” Bethany zeroed in on Nina’s half-completed list that she’d left on a countertop. “I can tap some friends if you need more hands in the kitchen.”
Nina only listened with half an ear. Her mind was on this evening and being with Mack again. Would she have time to change? At least the underwear she was wearing was nice, a fact she was foolishly grateful for. If only she had perfume. And what about condoms? It had been two years since she’d been with a guy, so she would have been rattled anyway.
But this wasn’t just any guy. This was Mack, and that somehow made the stakes higher at the same time it seriously ramped her up.
He’d convinced her not to overthink it. What had her caution-first policy done for her anyway? Lately the more impetuous decisions she’d made—coming home, deciding to stay—had been the best ones of her life. Plus, she’d been agonizing about him—and the consequences of being with him—for so long, it wasn’t exactly an impulsive decision. So she was okay with this. She wouldn’t think about his whole “no kids” boundaries right now. Being with him now wasn’t about a future together. It was for fun. For pleasure.
“Nina?” Bethany stared at her.
“Oh, er, sorry.” Embarrassed, she tried to remember what Bethany had been saying. “Extra help would be great.”
And it would be. Aside from this crazy idea to be with Mack, she was also in over her head with the work at the Harvest Fest. She wouldn’t let Mack down, of course, so she would pull it together by the weekend. But perfecting cupcake décor was a focused art she knew well, whereas creating specialty seasonal dishes for the whole town felt daunting.
“Great.” Bethany pulled a pencil from the back pocket of her slim-fitting khakis. “I’m adding wood to the list of items you’ll need as soon as possible since the brisket takes a long time to cook in that smoker. I can have one of the guys from the shop deliver some tonight to make sure we don’t run out.”
“That’s very generous of you, but I don’t want to put you to work when Mack is in town to give Scott a break and to help you two spend more time together.” Nina remembered that she might be inadvertently thwarting his efforts to bolster Scott and Bethany’s marriage. “You could both use a vacation.”
Gram didn’t look up from washing the first colander full of beans as she said, “Marriages need tending, just like anything else you want to grow.”
“I’m fine.” Bethany hardly glanced up from Nina’s list as she continued to make notes. “I’m right where I want to be. Working.”
Nina couldn’t ignore the unhappiness in the other woman’s voice.
“Bethany.” Nina strode closer and gently pried the list from her friend’s fingers. “No one wants to work this much. You’re wound so tight I’m worried about you.”
Gram shook the water off her hands and turned her walker toward them. “She’s not the only one.”
“I hate being at home,” Bethany admitted. “Scott’s never there anyway.”
“You tell him he has to be there.” Gram frowned. “Remind him that marriages don’t fix themselves. You have to put in the work. Obviously, the two of you don’t have a problem with that. You just have to put all your effort into the marriage instead of stores and politics and volunteering.”
Nina silently cheered her grandmother for effortlessly putting into words what would have been so difficult for Nina to say. Plus, Gram’s age gave her an authority Nina couldn’t hope to match. For a second, the only sound in the kitchen was the twang of the steel guitar over the PA system.
Nina was a romantic at heart. She’d been cheering on happy-ever-afters since her parents’ divorce had devastated her. She’d gotten into a business called Cupcake Romance because she loved the weddings and being part of a bride’s special day. So she couldn’t help rooting for Scott and Bethany. She’d always envied them and the solid foundation they’d built for their daughter. She wanted to build that kind of life for herself and her children one day, too.
But Bethany’s eyes were shadowed when she met Nina’s gaze.
“I’m honestly not sure anymore, Nina.” She shook her head, her shoulders drooping. “I just don’t know.”
Her hurt was so palpable, Nina felt it, too.
“Talk to him,” she urged, unsure what else to say. But then she remembered Mack’s words from earlier in the day about seizing the moment and taking more chances. “Don’t let a marriage slip away without at least seeing if there’s some spark still left.”
“You should kidnap him and be sure to wear your sexiest, do-me-baby underwear,” Gram suggested with a straight face.
“Gram!” Nina tried not to be scandalized that her grandmother was thinking along the same lines as her. Bethany let out a surprised laugh.
“I’m serious.” Gram pushed the walker closer, moving with a little more ease today than she had the week before. Maybe her new meds were making a difference. Her physical therapist had said she’d noticed some improvement when she’d come over the day before.
“Kidnap a grown man?” Bethany twisted her long, dark hair into a makeshift bun and jammed a pencil through the knot. “Against his will?”
Gram harrumphed and tsked. “What grown man resists his wife when she promises to have her way with him?” She wiggled her eyebrows in a way that would have been amusing if Nina hadn’t wanted to bury her head in the sand. “Tell him you packed lingerie and that he’s driving wherever you tell him to go.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into her,” Nina stage-whispered to Bethany, shielding her face in mock-embarrassment.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Bethany admitted. “If only we didn’t have to talk.”
Nina’s jaw fell open. “Okay, you two. I’m clearly way too virginal for this conversation.”
Gram peered down her nose at Nina. “You’ll fool no one with that talk, missy. As for you,” she turned to Bethany and then leaned forward on the arm supports of the walker “why do you need to talk?”
“You did say I should talk to him,” Bethany reminded them, fanning herself as the noise level increased outside.
Through a side window, she noticed a construction crew had started working on a second stage that Mack had pitched to the Harvest Fest committee as a way to bring in more performers. In fact, she could see Mack in a hard hat talking to a guy running a forklift.
The hard hat did nothing to detract from his appeal, although it did seriously beg for him to take off his shirt to complete the Hot Construction Guy fantasy Nina was having.
“Well, if you’re not ready to talk, then sex and lots of it is your best bet.” Gram winked. “That counts as communication as far as I’m concerned.”
With the visual of Mack still sizzling Nina’s insides, Gram’s wisdom suddenly had a whole lot of appeal for her, too.
“Whatever works,” Nina added, hoping she’d put in enough hours on the Harvest Fest prep today to justify leaving shortly. She was more than ready for more with Mack. “That is, I think you should try it, Bethany. I’ll finalize the details on the Harvest Fest. You take your man and run.”
Bethany tilted her head and seemed to weigh the idea. “Ally did text me to say she’s staying overnight at her grandmother’s house tonight.”
“See? It’s like this plan was meant to be.” Nina grabbed her list from Bethany and tucked it in her pocket before putting the sorted beans in a kettle to soak overnight. “Out the door you go and leave the rest to me.”
Both women stared at her.
“What?” She cleaned off a counter with a paper towel and tossed it in the trash. “I’m a romantic. What can I say?”
“You sure came around in a hurry, honey. That’s all.” Gram fished in her purse that was strapped around a bar of the walker and came up with her cell phone.
“I’m going to try this.” Bethany picked up her car keys from a spot on top of a chest freezer. “Wish me luck, ladies.”
“Good luck!” Nina peeked out the window again, hoping for a glimpse of Mack. She wanted to find him before she lost her nerve. Or her mental image of him without a shirt. “Gram, are you ready to go?”
Smiling down at her phone, Gram shook her head. “No need to worry about me. Harlan is on his way to deliver another load of hay for the maze and he said he’d take me out for ice cream afterward.”
“Really? You’re sure you’re not too tired?” Nina didn’t want to neglect her granddaughter duties now that she was finally back in town to help out more. “Your therapist said to build up slowly to longer outings.”
“A new man in her life puts a spring in a woman’s step.” Gram arched an eyebrow. “You ought to know.”
“No comment.” Nina kissed her grandmother’s cheek. “Why don’t you sit out in the front of the building until he gets here at least? There are more comfortable chairs there.”
She backed through one of the swinging kitchen doors and held it open for Gram as she pushed her walker into the main gathering area of the hall.
“Well, look who’s here!” Gram cast Nina a sly glance as the front doors opened and Mack strode through, a hard hat under one arm.
A surge of longing hit Nina so hard she nearly tripped.
“Are you almost ready?” he asked, his voice a sexy rumble in the room that made her blood run hotter.
“All set.” She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he kicked aside a small throw rug so it wouldn’t get in Gram’s way.
“You two run along.” Gram settled in her seat with her phone and gestured for them to leave. “Harlan will be here any minute.”
Nina exchanged a look with Mack and just that shared glance set her body on slow burn.
“Okay, Gram.” Nina wasn’t about to argue. She looped her hand around Mack’s arm, not caring who saw or what the town thought. She needed to touch him. “Would you mind driving?” she asked him.
His molten stare made every one of her nerve endings come to life.
“I thought you’d never ask.” He pushed open the door for her and held it as they walked out into the purple light of the sinking sun.
Nina couldn’t help but remember her grandmother’s advice to Bethany as they hurried toward the Eldorado and the privacy they’d wanted all day.
She’d definitely be communicating with Mack a whole lot tonight.
* * *
MACK PUT THE old V-8 engine to the test on the way home.
Nina in the seat beside him, casting him looks that provided excellent motivation to channel his inner Dale Earnhardt. The prize at the end of this ride beat any race winnings, that much was for damn sure.
He would have gotten her back to his place faster, but he had to make a drugstore run for condoms. Amazing how the purchase still seemed illicit, especially when he had to buy them from the same old guy who used to sell him root-beer barrels when he was ten. The package of condoms rested inside Nina’s purse now, even though she’d been too chicken to enter the corner store with him.
He pulled into the access road that led to the converted barn at the back of his family’s property.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.” Nina stared up at the turn-of-the-century white dairy barn that used to be a part of the Finley farm as he parked the car on the gravel driveway. “I’d forgotten how pretty these o
ld barns are.”
“Are they?” Mack noticed only her. Could think about only her.
He levered open his car door and jogged around the hood to get her door while she stared up at the massive structure in the twilight.
“They really are. Look at the big shutters and sliding doors. And the stone foundation adds a lot of character, too.” She took his hand and he drew her out of the car, her long, lean body a feast for the eyes.
“I’ve got a better view right here.” He wanted to kiss her then and there, to lay her down on the long hood of the Eldorado. He’d love to see her like that, her honey-blond hair spilling over the white paint.
“Oh?” Nina twirled a strand of hair around one finger. “Keep talking like that and we’ll never make it to your room.”
His thoughts exactly.
“Come on.” He slid an arm around her waist and walked her to the main doors. There was a regular entrance to the building on the other side, but he let himself in the side by sliding one of the huge doors on the metal track.
Her vanilla scent went straight to his head. She wore some kind of lightweight, gauzy blouse that had distracted him all damn day, his eyes roaming the fabric for hints of her skin beneath.
“Wow.” Nina’s eyes went wide in the dim glow from a cast-iron pendant lamp, her voice echoing in the empty expanse of concrete flooring and wooden walls. “Where did everything go?”
“Scott sold most of the equipment.” Mack stepped around her toward the door which led to what had once been the field hand’s quarters. “It’s odd to think the dairy barn was built for cows but hasn’t had an animal in here besides Luce for over fifty years.”
“This would make a great bar, wouldn’t it?” She spun in a slow circle, staring up at the massive wooden frame of the building beneath the tin roof. “You’d put Lucky’s to shame with this place.”
