"You are not fine. You were scared to death when I got here."
"Doesn't anyone in this town ever knock? And how stupid is it to leave doors unlocked? Don't you people know—"
"That there are bad people in the world? Yes. But we have a code around here."
She laughed but it was derisive. "You don't even have proper police or an emergency room or—"
"We take care of our own, Scarlett. We'll take care of you, too."
Her expression was astonishment. "Me? You don't know me. I don't know you."
"You had your tongue in my mouth a couple of minutes ago."
"That's just sex."
"Pretty damn good sex, I'd say." He found a smile so he wouldn't howl with unquenched need. "But I'd need another taste to be sure."
Her eyes met his. Temptation flirted with her, too, he could see. "I don't think my grandmother would appreciate it much." She grinned. "I know Jeanette wouldn't."
"Oh, give it a rest. I don't want Jeanette."
"She hasn't gotten the message. Think that's fair to her?"
"I've never given her one reason to believe there was anything between her and me."
"Again—she missed the memo. I think you're gonna have to spell it out, cowboy."
He prowled toward her. "Later."
She grabbed a dish towel. Flicked it at him. "Back off, bud." But her eyes were sparkling. She flicked it again.
Thank God. She wasn't afraid anymore. He could handle the spitfire just fine.
He caught the end and yanked her close, grinning. Oh, he knew they weren't going to finish what they'd started, not here, not right now.
But he was having fun playing. When was the last time he'd felt playful?
He started reeling her in.
She dropped her end and ran.
He caught her within three steps.
She squealed.
He swung her up in his arms and planted a kiss on her laughing mouth.
Again it turned scorching hot in a heartbeat. Scarlett gave as good as she got, and soon her legs were around his waist again and he'd backed her against a wall, ready to yank open those apron strings—
Instead he clenched the front of her apron in one fist and tore his mouth from hers.
Then banged his head against the wall. "We can't."
Her chuckle was shaky with unspent passion. "I know. Damn it."
That she hungered for him, too, cheered him immensely.
He straightened. Looked her in the eyes. "I want you."
So typical that her gaze never faltered. "I want you, too."
"The cafe is closed on Sunday. You'll want to spend time with Ruby, but you'll give me part of your day."
She nodded. For once she didn't say she wouldn't be here. He had no idea what that meant, but he wasn't complaining.
He knew he should let her down, but he didn't want to back away yet. Even though he was rock-hard and aching, having her against him was the best thing he'd felt in a long time.
But she'd had a long day. So had he. They would both work hard tomorrow. He loosened his grip. "What else needs doing so you can get home to bed?"
"I'm done."
He nodded. "I'll walk you over." But he didn't let go.
And she didn't either.
At last she sighed. "I wish you weren't so sexy." Before he could recover from his astonishment, she tightened her fingers in his hair and laid another devastating kiss on him.
He was halfway to tearing off her clothes when she shoved at his shoulder. "Now let me down, Hot Cowboy."
Astonished laughter burst from him. Then he frowned. "Don't call me that."
"Why not?" Her eyes were bright with mischief.
"I'm not—aw, man. That's—" He could feel his cheeks heat. "Just…stop it."
She rose to her toes and pressed a smacking kiss on his lips, then danced away, drawing her apron off and tossing it into the laundry bin. "But you are hot. And you are a cowboy. Deal with it."
She was so damn beautiful, her hair a mess from his hands, her eyes full of laughter, the body he'd so wrongly called that of a boy feeling just right in his hands…
"Don't you ever say that in public, you hear me?"
"Or what, Hot Cowboy?" She opened the back door, laughing.
He charged her, swung her up in his arms and muffled her squeal with his lips.
They lost another few minutes making out.
But at last she sighed. "Ruby waits up for me."
"She's got Arnie."
"What do you mean?"
"You never saw him there? It's the worst-kept secret in town that she and Arnie sleep together every night."
She blinked. "Seriously?"
"The man's been proposing to her for close to twenty years. She insists it's only sex."
Scarlett burst out laughing. "Wow. That's…crazy. And…sweet."
"I go with crazy. No idea why he puts up with her stubbornness."
"She's not—" Scarlett halted. "Okay, she's a little hardheaded."
"Sorta like her granddaughter." He stroked her cheek.
Their eyes locked. He lowered his head and kissed her again.
She kissed him right back. Then sighed. "I still have to go."
"I know. I've got a list a mile long in the morning myself," he commiserated.
Their eyes met. "Sunday is at least a year away," she said.
"Yeah." But he was cheered that she thought so, too.
Cheered enough that it didn't occur to him until he was driving back home after seeing her to her door—
That he'd never found out what she was so afraid of.
* * *
Scarlett crept up the back steps, abruptly sobered by what she'd done.
She'd promised Ian Sunday. Had let him kiss the socks off her. Had given back in full measure, been ready to tear off his clothes. She wanted her hands all over that lean, powerful body. Oh, my word, but the man was built—
Her lips were tender, her whole body buzzing with unrelieved need. She wanted to jump in her car, chase him down and have her way with him.
Or let him have his way with her. Either would do. Both. He was freaking gorgeous. And…fun. That was a surprise. Mr. Responsibility, the unofficial mayor of Sweetgrass Springs.
"Scarlett?"
And she was in her grandmother's house. Lusting after a cowboy, for heaven's sake. Of course, according to Ian, her grandmother had a man in her bed.
Go, Nana.
"Coming," she called out while brushing back her hair and drawing a deep breath to steady nerves that were still on fire. She stepped inside the kitchen, resisting the urge to glance around for Arnie. "You should be in bed," she said.
"I've slept enough for ten people," her grandmother grumbled from the kitchen table.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm—" Her grandmother paused. "Still a little sore."
"Maybe we should take you to a doctor, after all. How's the burn?"
"It's…tender," Ruby admitted.
"I'll get my spray."
"Mrs. Oldham treated it for me before she went to bed."
"You aren't thinking of coming back to work."
Ruby hesitated. "I miss it, but…" Her shoulders sank. "Not yet."
I have more time, Scarlett thought. Then wondered why she wasn't upset instead of feeling relieved. Or what the reasons for her relief were.
She wanted that Sunday, she realized. One day with a seriously sexy man. Just sex, that's all, but she already knew it would be sensational.
"Are you coming down with something? Your cheeks are red. Do you have a fever?" Ruby rose and put a hand to her forehead as Scarlett's mother had always done.
"I'm not sick." No way she was explaining that the heat in her cheeks had nothing to do with illness.
"You're working too hard."
Scarlett grinned. "Pot, meet kettle."
"I'm used to it."
"So am I. And I'm younger."
Ruby frowned. "I do all right fo
r my age."
"You are amazing for your age, but you deserve some rest." When she could see protest rising to her grandmother's lips, she jumped in with a distraction. "I was supposed to serve catfish because it's Friday."
"I heard you made pork chops." Ruby grinned. "Folks could use some shaking up around here. They'll live."
"Jeanette squealed on me, right?"
"Jeanette's a good girl."
She could see the conflict on her grandmother's face. Jeanette had been with her a long time. Scarlett was a new wrinkle.
"She doesn't like me."
"She's given up her life to help me out."
"And to hang around for Ian?"
Ruby nodded. "She doesn't want to see the truth."
"Ian was dumbfounded to realize she had a thing for him. How can he be so dense?"
"When you live around the same folks, day in and day out, it's easy to see them only as you first knew them."
"Does he take responsibility for every single soul in this town?"
"Pretty much. I don't know what Sweetgrass would be without him."
"He says the same of you."
Ruby shrugged.
"Tell me about the courthouse. It's an amazing space. How on earth did you ever decide to buy it?"
Her grandmother looked wistful. "An idiotic notion, that. I had some idea I would save the town, bring it back to life." The sadness and resignation in her voice were painful to hear.
Scarlett didn't like seeing her look defeated. "I hear you and Henry played ghost." She grinned.
Ruby chuckled. "It was fun, even if it didn't work out so well." Then her expression saddened again. "Anyway, it will be a moot issue soon."
"Why?"
"The note's coming due. The bank isn't inclined to extend it without a substantial reduction in principal, which I can't afford."
"Oh, Nana…" Scarlett thought about mentioning the ideas that were coalescing, but she was pretty sure they'd be expensive to implement. "I have some savings…"
Ruby's brows snapped together. "Absolutely not. It was my wild idea. I'm not taking your money."
"I wouldn't mind." She upped the ante. "We could be partners." Now why on earth had she said that?
"No." Her grandmother's tone brooked no opposition. "Not that I wouldn't love being partners with you, honey, but that's throwing good money after bad. This town can't be rescued, and I should just accept that."
Scarlett started to argue, but to offer hope she couldn't back up because her own life was such a muddle would be inexcusable. "I am so sorry."
"That's life." Ruby looked away.
Scarlett seized upon a distraction. "I met Veronica tonight."
"That girl's had a rough life. Coming from the family she did, there was never any reason for her to turn out to be such a sweet person, but somehow the meaner her dad got, the more she went in the other direction."
"Apparently her brother isn't much like her."
"Tank? You met him, too? He doesn't come in often."
"He's the only one who pointed out to my face that I cooked the wrong thing."
"Be careful of that one. He shouldn't be wearing a badge. Too much of his daddy in him."
"He and Ian don't seem to like each other much."
"That's an understatement. Tank always envied Ian and Jackson and their bunch. The Four Horsemen, everyone called them."
"Of the Apocalypse? Why?" To think of Ian in a sinister context was a stretch.
"They were tight as brothers, the four of them. It was three, originally, the sons of the town's four founding families."
"The fourth didn't have a son that age?"
"Tank was the fourth. His daddy kept them all away from the townfolks much as he could."
"Why?"
"He was…there was just something wrong with him. And his wife never said boo to him. Nobody liked him, and Tank is too much like his daddy."
"So where did the fourth Horseman come in?"
"Mackey." Ruby shook her head. "That boy was trouble from the second he set foot in Sweetgrass. He and Ian and Jackson and David became a unit after Mackey fought Tank when he was picking on a younger boy. Tank was big even then, but Mackey had lived all over the world because his dad worked in oil fields, and he'd learned to be handy with his fists."
Ruby smiled. "He was a sweet boy, though, under all his posturing. And those four…lordy, they could get into some mischief. Mackey was always the one who thought up the schemes, but the rest of them were no angels. Not bad boys, not really, just a lot of excess energy that needed better channeling. It was a good day for Sweetgrass when they all turned their attention to athletics. They were unbeatable on the football field or the basketball court. Ian was the quarterback, and Jackson was his favorite receiver, but all four of them had a real gift." Ruby's face filled with sorrow. "Then Jackson's mama died, and…well," she said briskly. "It's late, and you need to be in your bed."
"Let me ask something first. Have you heard about Ian's work day idea?"
"No."
Scarlett proceeded to explain.
"That boy is good as gold. Veronica needs the help so badly, and he's working himself to the bone trying to take care of his place and hers, too. Good for him."
"Could we close after the breakfast rush on Saturday? He asked me to cater the work day, but I thought maybe we could all pitch in, too—but it's your income I'm volunteering. Jeanette and the others might not be able to afford to skip their pay, anyway, but I've got some money and I could make up the lost receipts so they would still earn something."
Ruby put a hand on her arm. "You will not use your savings on my cafe in any way, shape or form. That said, I'm all in favor of your idea, and none of them will balk at giving up a day's wages. Around here, we pitch in. Good for you for suggesting it."
Scarlett wasn't sure when she'd ever felt the glow of pride quite like this. "Thank you."
"Thank you, sweetheart." Ruby hugged her, and Scarlett lingered in her grandmother's embrace, warmth filling her.
When Ruby released her, she pointed to the stairs. "Four o'clock comes early. You get on to bed, hear?"
It was nice, having someone fuss over her. "Snuggle up, Nana." She kissed her grandmother's cheek.
Ruby cradled her face in her weathered hands. "You are a blessing to me, child. Even if you never cooked a dish. I'll be back at work soon, though, so you don't have to put in such long days."
"Like the ones you've put in for how many years?"
"But I chose this life." Ruby sobered. "You didn't. I know you won't want to stay, but I'm grateful for every second you're here. That has nothing to do with the fact that you're keeping the cafe open, in case you were wondering."
In that moment, Scarlett wondered if she would ever be able to think of settling in a place like Sweetgrass. Right now, her life was too much a mess, and no one here would thank her for dragging them into her troubles. For the sake of this woman and this town, she would have to go soon.
But not yet.
"I love you, Nana. And I'm happy I can help. Snuggle up," she repeated.
"Sweet dreams," Ruby responded.
Scarlett took one more hug for herself. Her grandmother held on as though she needed it, too.
Oh, Nana…I will miss you so.
* * *
Ruby watched her granddaughter climb the stairs and marveled. She'd long ago given up on surprises, yet the biggest one ever had arrived just when she needed it most.
"Quite a girl, that one," said Arnie from behind her.
"What are you doing out here? Someone could see you."
He wrapped one arm around her. "I thought you might need me. You weren't sleeping."
"I never had trouble sleeping until I started taking afternoon naps."
"Because you were so weary you couldn't help yourself once you finally made it to bed, but now you have help. Good help, too—hate to say this, Ruby, but her cobbler might be better than yours."
"Old coot." But Ruby s
miled because she agreed. "The girl has a deft hand in the kitchen, that's for sure."
"You ever think about going to Paris?"
She laughed. "Never even imagined such a thing."
"What do you suppose they taught her in that fancy cooking school?"
"Not biscuits or chicken fried steak, that's for sure." Ruby grew solemn. Scarlett was meant for much more than this little town or her simple cafe, anyone could see that. She'd leave, of course, but in the meantime, Ruby thought she just might take her time recovering. She wanted every last minute she could claim.
"What are you smiling at?"
"Nothing." Except wondering what Scarlett would think if she saw Ruby climbing the stairs twice every day to build up her strength. Now that she wasn't on her feet all day and into the night, she'd discovered both an exhaustion she'd never let herself consider…and a restlessness. She wasn't used to so much leisure time.
She'd spent more time on the phone in the last two days than the last two years. She'd exhausted her friends in town, even called her great-nephew Boone to tell him about his surprise cousin. Boone, of course, had taken it all in stride, but Maddie had gotten on the phone and practically shrieked with joy.
That girl did love family. She, like Scarlett, had been all alone in the world when she'd come to Texas. She was the reason Boone had found Mitch again—and the driving force behind locating the sister they'd never known about.
Now she and Boone had two boys and an infant girl, Mitch and his Perrie had two boys, and their sister Lacey and her Dev had an adopted daughter and a baby girl, with a boy on the way.
But Maddie was already planning a trip to Sweetgrass to gather Scarlett into the fold. She'd once been a chef herself and now owned a diner in Morning Star. She and Scarlett would have cooking in common.
Besides, there wasn't a soul on earth who didn't love Maddie at first sight.
Well, maybe Boone at first, when his dad had willed his home to Maddie right out from under him…but he got over that in time.
She hoped they would be able to come, but they'd better do it quickly, she'd made sure Maddie knew. Scarlett was already eyeing the door.
Which Ruby could not help mourning, however much Scarlett was destined for broader horizons. She loved the girl, and was positive the affection was returned.
She missed her customers and the feeling of being in the thick of the action.
Texas Roots: The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs Page 14
