by Jill Sanders
“It’s an ongoing fight between Haley and Wes.” He chuckled.
“Really?” She smiled and when Haley walked in, she asked her about it.
Haley laughed. “Yes, it’s also my way of telling the two apart.” Her smile fell away. “But if you tell their father that, I’ll deny it.”
Melissa laughed. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, all cleaned. At least until they decide to throw more food at me.” She reached over and took Cooper from her, giving him playful kisses on his chubby cheeks. The boy’s laughter was contagious.
“Where are you two…four, off to today?”
“Shopping,” Haley broke in. “Missy’s rented Sheriff Miller’s place. She moves in tomorrow.”
“Sheriff Miller moved?” He frowned, trying to remember where the man lived.
“Now that he’s living with Jamella, the old place downtown is empty. It’ll be good to have someone in it again,” Haley said, putting Cooper into his carrying seat. The kid played with the toys dangling down in front of his face.
“Is it the dark green place on the corner of Magnolia and Center Way?”
“Yes. I couldn’t believe my luck when I bumped into the Sheriff,” Melissa said.
He started to put Conner into his matching seat, but Conner was having none of it.
Haley took the wiggly boy from him. “You have to bribe him.” She pulled out a cracker from her bag and handed it to him. “There, now we’re all ready.” She picked up one carrier then moved to grab the other one.
“Hold on there, Xena.” Reece grabbed the carrier before she could break her back. “Sometimes you just need to ask for help.”
He helped them out to Haley’s SUV and Melissa was happily shocked when he leaned over and kissed her on the lips right in front of his cousin. She tried not to look out the side mirror at the image he made standing in front of the big barn, his worn jeans ripped at the knee and his Stetson low on his head. Damn, she was in trouble.
“Sooooo,” Haley said as they pulled out of the driveway. “Are you going to tell me all the juicy details?”
Melissa laughed. “There aren’t any…yet.” She relaxed in her seat and prepared to enjoy a day shopping with a good friend.
Reece stood in the dirt and looked at the little patch of green land. He knew with some sweat, he could make it work for him. The house that sat in the middle of the twenty acres needed some TLC, but it would keep the rain off his head. The question was, could he afford it?
In the last few days, he’d checked and rechecked his bank account. At first he thought there had been a mistake, but after the clerk told him his balance for the third time, he realized that years of being on the circuit had been kind to him.
He was sitting on enough money to buy a piece of land, maybe even one with a house on it, and he might still have enough left over to get a couple horses of his own. He turned to the realtor, Mike Coalfield, who had driven him out to the place a few miles outside of Fairplay.
“What’re they asking?”
The man looked down at his nails and sighed. “Well, here’s where we might hit a snag. The Joneses want one-eighty, but I’ve been telling them that the most they’ll get is one-fifty.
He calculated in his head and nodded. “Make an offer for one-forty-five.” He turned and looked out across the land again.
“Are you sure? You don’t want to look at the house some more before you make up your mind?”
“The land is where I’ll be most. Besides”—he turned and looked at the four-bedroom ranch home—“I can tell the place has good bones. Anything else can be fixed.”
“It’s your dime.” He shook his head and started walking towards his car. “It’ll take a few days. The Joneses are in Florida now. Went off and retired and are living the dream.”
Reece shook his head. “The dream is right here.” He nodded to the field and smiled when the sun chose that moment to peek out from behind a cloud, blanketing the grass in its bright light.
He drove back into town after signing a few papers at the realtor’s office and decided that a celebratory dinner was in order. He headed to the best place in town to get a home-cooked meal and smiled when he saw Melissa’s car out front.
It was only a day before their next date, and he’d been trying to think of a million excuses to drive by her new place. He’d even bought her a bottle of Champagne but had been too busy to swing by and drop it off, so he’d decided to keep it for their picnic instead.
He walked into Mama’s and realized that he hadn’t been there since it had been remodeled after the tornado. When the bell chimed on the door above his head, several guests stopped talking and glanced towards the door to see who had walked in, one of them being Jamella, Mama herself.
The woman hadn’t changed in all the years he’d known her. She wore the same teal outfit and white apron as she had always. Her hair was still short and hung in soft curls around her face and she was still as large as life.
“Who dat?” she asked as she handed a pitcher of water to the patron she’d been serving. “Is dat my boy?” She walked over, her eyes squinting as she looked him up and down. “I heard you was back in town.” She stopped right in front of him, her hands poised on her large hips. “But then I thought, no way dat boy would have come up here and not seen his mama before too long.”
He glanced at his feet. “Sorry, I’ve been kinda busy.”
“Yes, sir, I heard dat too. Being thrown off a horse and landing on your head.” She made a tsking sound and shook her head. “Boy, I thought you known’d better den dat.”
He laughed and looked at her. “Are you going to give me a tongue lashing all day or do I get a hug?”
He watched her face melt into a smile. “Fine, but next time you come here first.”
“There won’t be a next time. I’m fixin’ to stay.”
“Ohhh, weeeee. Dat does deserve a hug.” She clapped and when he felt her arms wrap around him, he knew he was home.
Chapter Five
“You did what?” Melissa sat across from Reece and frowned at him.
“I made an offer on the Jones’s place.”
“Howard and Barbara Jones’s place on Old Airport Road?”
He nodded and she couldn’t help it, she started laughing.
“What?” he asked, now frowning.
“Oh, that’s just rich,” she said between laughs.
“What?” he asked again, looking at her like she was crazy.
“Nothing.” She shook her head and tried to stop laughing.
“Missy, if you don’t tell me what’s wrong with the Jones’s place right this instant—”
“What?” She stopped laughing, then leaned forward and whispered. “You’ll spank me?” The beer she’d had after dinner had relaxed her enough that she was coming out of her shell.
His frown fell away as she saw his eyes heat.
“You’re asking for it,” he said in a low voice, and she felt a shiver run up the back of her spine. Her smile froze on her lips as she leaned back and watched him, her entire body heating under his gaze. Someone’s laughter in the crowded room broke the spell and she shook her head.
“Missy?” She tilted her head. “I like that. No one’s ever called me that before.”
“It suits you.” He smiled and leaned back in the booth. She nodded. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong with the Jones place?” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. Before she could answer, Jamella walked over and sat a huge plate of food in front of him.
“Thanks.” He smiled up at her. “I’ve been looking forward to your fried chicken since the last time I was here.”
She smiled and patted her hair. “Well, if’n you need more…”
He nodded as she filled up his ice tea.
After Jamella walked away, he turned to Missy without touching his food. “Well?”
She smiled. “There is nothing wrong with the Jones’s place other than the fact that it backs up to t
he Douglas’s place, which is the main reason the Joneses left in the first place.”
He frowned at her and picked up a piece of his chicken. “Douglas?” She watched him sink his teeth into the tender meat. She’d finished her plate of the golden goodness less than five minutes before he walked into the diner, yet her mouth still watered at the sight.
She nodded. “John and Ruth Douglas and more important, their daughter…”—she paused for effect—“Savannah.”
He chuckled. “Is she really as bad as everyone says?”
Melissa nodded. “Worse, I’m sure. Actually, she’s been banned from Mama’s after a rather suspicious dine-and-dash incident.” She leaned forward and whispered, “I’ve heard that the sheriff was called.”
“No,” he whispered back as he smiled. She nodded and took another sip of her warm beer.
He watched her, then nodded towards the almost empty glass and asked, “How many of those have you had?”
She shrugged. “One, but tomorrow is my day off and after spending all day yesterday moving, and then pulling a double shift, I needed it.”
She leaned back and drank the rest of the golden liquid. “Besides, I live just two blocks from here now and can easily walk home.”
He nodded. “Just the same, I’ll walk you there once I’m done with dinner.” He shoveled a big spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. She watched as his eyes rolled and then closed on a moan. “I don’t know how she does it, but these are the best mashed potatoes in the world.”
“Garlic and lots of butter,” she said, smiling. When he looked up at her, she shrugged her shoulders. “I asked her once. When will you know if the Joneses accepted your offer?”
“Sometime next week. I think the place is just right for me.”
“Oh?” She looked down at the empty glass and wondered if she could handle another beer.
“Sure. The barn looks like it had some work done on it recently. Mike seemed to recall them putting a new metal roof on it just a few years back. It looks like it’s in great condition. There are several corrals that will work perfectly for what I have in mind, and there are plenty of green fields for horses.”
She giggled and when he looked up from his food, she continued, “Did you even look at the house?”
He replied with a shrug.
“I mean, you do plan on living there. Right?”
“Sure, I guess.” He frowned as he took a bite of a sweet roll.
“If I remember it right, it’s a brick ranch.” When he nodded, she continued. “I think I spent the night there once when their daughter Jenny and I were friendly in grade school. I believe there is an old stone fireplace in the middle and the rooms are near the back.” He nodded again and continued to eat. “I remember the kitchen the most. Mrs. Jones baked the best carrot cake. Jenny and I would sit at the stone bar and wait for the buzzer on the stove.” She closed her eyes and remembered the richness that had melted in her mouth.
When she opened her eyes, she motioned for Jamella to come over.
“Jamella, do you have any carrot cake?”
She laughed. “No, honey, but Willard did bake up a batch of brownies. I can get you a piece.”
She nodded her head and vowed to learn how to make carrot cake in her new place.
“That sounds good. Bring me a piece, too,” Reece said, setting his empty plate aside.
After eating their brownies, they walked towards her new place. The streetlights had come on and hummed overhead. Almost everyone in town was at home or in the diner, so the streets were dark and quiet.
Half a block down, he reached out and took her hand in his. She felt his warmth spread up her arm and throughout her entire body. It had been too long since she’d felt this way about someone.
“Did you get all settled in your new place?” he asked when they reached the first corner.
“Yes. It’s a very small place, but I like that it’s within walking distance to the clinic.”
“It was quite a shock about the sheriff and Jamella, huh?”
She laughed. “And they weren’t the only ones with a secret. I remember when Lauren and Chase sprung it on everyone that they’d been married for seven years.”
He laughed. “Yeah, that even surprised us.”
They stopped in front of her new place, and she looked at the front porch. “It’s really a cute place, isn’t it?”
He turned and looked at the small green classically styled house. “It looks like something out of a fairy tale. You know, you expect Little Red Riding Hood to come bouncing out with her basket of goodies.”
She laughed. “There are a few homes like that in town. I’ve always liked this one and the one just around the corner that looks like Hansel and Gretel would chow down on it.”
He laughed and she turned towards him. “You really didn’t look at the Jones’s home?”
He shrugged. “If I don’t like it, I figure I can fix it up. Maybe even tear it down and rebuild, if it came to it.”
She shook her head. “I suppose that’s the difference between men and women.” His eyebrows shot up in question. “I wouldn’t rent this place until I saw the inside. The outside is cute, but until I walked inside, I wouldn’t have lived here for free if the Sheriff had told me I could.” They stopped on the lit porch and she reached in her jean pockets for her keys. “Would you like to come in for some coffee?”
He thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head no. “I’d better not.”
“Oh?” She frowned.
His fingers pulled her chin up until she looked into his eyes. “There is nothing that I’d like to do more than to come inside, but I think you and I have different ideas as to how the night should end, and I don’t think you’re ready for that…yet.”
She thought about it and nodded slowly.
“But I have no objections to sitting on that swing with you for a while.” He nodded towards the front porch swing and she smiled.
Reece tried to keep his mind off the images he’d conjured up of them together. Something had stopped him from taking her up on her offer to go inside. He knew that if he walked through the door of the little place that he wouldn’t walk out until sunrise.
He didn’t know if it was the respect he felt for her or the fact that everyone in town would have known that he stayed the night. He didn’t care what others thought of him, but he did care what they thought of her. She had been a respected member of the town for her entire life. Hell, her parents lived just a few blocks away.
“You’re awfully quiet,” she said, sending the swing rocking again.
He looked down at her and smiled. “I was just thinking about our picnic tomorrow. They say we might get some spring rain, but I’m sure it’ll be clear for our ride.”
“Oh,” she frowned a little.
“What? You’re not thinking of backing out, are you?”
“Of course not.” She quickly turned her head towards him and gave him a defiant look.
“Good, because I have it all planed.”
“I was just wondering where I put my boots.”
He laughed. “If you can’t find any, I’m sure my cousins have a few pairs lying around that ought to fit you.” He glanced down at her feet. She was wearing a pair of black and white sandals that sparkled brightly in the light of the front porch. Her toenails were painted a deep red, making him think of a very juicy apple. He wondered if they tasted as good as they looked.
“What?” She glanced down at her toes with a frown on her face.
He shook his head clear and decided it was high time he headed home, since he couldn’t keep his mind clear. “I like your toes.” He chuckled and started to get up from the swing, but before he could, she leaned closer and wrapped an arm around him, holding him still.
“You know, I had hoped to sit on my couch and neck for a while, but I guess the front porch will have to do.” She leaned in closer and gently put her warm lips on his.
All thoughts of going home cle
ared from his mind. His fingers tightened and he gripped the bottom of her shirt. Relaxing his hands, he pushed them up until he touched her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Her mouth wouldn’t stop moving over his, and her tongue rubbed against his erotically, causing his mind to be lost in the moment.
She moaned. He moaned. Her hands had moved up to grip his hair in an almost painful fashion, but now they were starting to roam over his shoulders and chest.
His fingers dug into her hips, crushing her to his side. When he felt her move against him, he gasped for breath and pushed her back. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt like he had to take it slow with her. He wanted too.
It was hell, but he finally pulled back from her. He waited until she blinked a few times and looked into his eyes.
“I’d better be going.” He brushed a finger down her cheek to feel the softness of her. Her blue eyes were foggy and he knew without a doubt that he was doing the right thing by taking it slow.
She nodded and leaned back. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Around ten?” He nodded. She turned towards the front steps, but then turned back towards him. “Listen, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression.”
His eyebrows shot up.
“You know.” She crossed her arms over her chest, but then quickly uncrossed them and started pacing the small porch. “About me. I mean, that I’m…” She turned and looked at him. “You know.”
He shook his head no. “No, sorry.” Then he chuckled. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“About us. This.” She motioned to the front swing. “I’m not the kind of woman who jumps into bed with anyone,” she finally said, causing him to almost burst with laughter.
“Of course you’re not. If you were, I’d have no problem carrying you over that threshold, and I wouldn’t give a damn who knew that I’d spent the night in your bed.” He walked up to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Like I said, my mother died when we were young, but she did teach us a few things before going.”
