Summer's Moon

by Lacey Baker

  Chapter 11

  Savannah Lynn Cantrell was a supermodel. Sure, she’d been in Sweetland for the last five months, helping to run the B&B her family now owned and getting on her older sister Michelle’s nerves, but she was a supermodel in every sense of the word. If Drew thought Delia was beautiful—quirky, but still beautiful—then Savannah could be described as nothing less than stunning.

  She had a light complexion, lighter than both of her sisters, but the three of them shared the same high cheekbones and soft jaw. Savannah had great eyes, expressive and wide, and a smile as bright as the sunshine. Drew had heard some men at The Crab Pot saying that about her one night when they’d been more than halfway drunk. She remembered turning to see Savannah, Raine, and Michelle at their corner table, picking their own crabs and oblivious to the attention. Raine said something quietly, Michelle shook her head and smiled, and Savannah laughed. The man, however drunk, was absolutely right: Her smile was like sunshine.

  For as pretty as Savannah was, she was just as moody, if not more so. One minute she was laughing and joking, and the next she was sullen and sarcastic. This evening she was stuck somewhere in the middle, playing with the food on her plate and participating distractedly in the conversation.

  “Why didn’t you mention you’d slept with my brother?” Savannah said suddenly.

  Drew almost choked on the raspberry tea she’d been drinking. They’d been talking about Sherry Oglesby’s Labor Day outfit—blue- and white-star-covered booty shorts and a red-striped halter top. Savannah hadn’t been very chatty all through dinner, but they’d all silently decided to ignore it and not press her for a reason. This outburst took the three of them by surprise, and they looked at her strangely.

  “What?” Savannah asked, staring around the table. “I’d like to know when my friends are sleeping with my brothers or if they’re using me just to get close to my brothers. Heaven, you don’t count, but the Nikki and Quinn thing definitely took me by surprise. And Drew, I didn’t think you were interested in men period.”

  “What?” Drew asked, feeling about to choke again, only this time on nothing because she hadn’t gotten over the last words that fell from Savannah’s lips.

  “I mean, I thought you were like confused or something. Trying to figure out if you were gay or not.”

  “Savannah!” Heaven squeaked. “Are you serious?”

  “What? Why’s everyone looking at me like I’m the three-headed monster?” she exclaimed, slamming her palms onto the table.

  Another thing Savannah Cantrell was good at was temper tantrums. Normally, Drew thought these acts by anyone over the age of eight or nine were immature, but with Savannah it was like a bad reality show on a channel you couldn’t change no matter how much you wanted to.

  “First off, I’m not gay, Savannah,” Drew whispered.

  There were other customers in the restaurant, and the last thing she wanted was for them to hear this conversation.

  “And second, I don’t have to talk about my sex life with you or anyone else.” Drew thought that may have sounded a bit harsh, but she was feeling a little bruised and embarrassed by Savannah’s accusation, so she also felt justified. “And it’s not like it was an ongoing thing.”

  “She’s right,” Delia added. “One night stands don’t count. And honey, if you’re gonna request that every female come and ask your permission before jumping into bed with one of your brothers, you’d better come up with some sort of database to keep track of that information.”

  “Well, Preston’s off-limits, so she doesn’t have to worry about keeping stats on him,” Heaven added. “And so is Quinn.”

  All eyes fell to Drew, who couldn’t say the same for Parker.

  “We slept together once and I got pregnant,” she said in defense. “The next time was just a fluke, and I’m sure it’ll never happen again.”

  The minute the words were out, Drew realized her mistake.

  “You slept with Parker a second time?” Heaven asked.

  Delia was shaking her head, long gold dangly earrings slapping the side of her face with the motion. “You didn’t tell me that.”

  “Oh, so it’s okay for the both of you to expect full disclosure, but I should just sit back and wait for information to flow my way?” Savannah asked, sitting back in her chair with a huff.

  Now she was slipping into indignant mode, her lips turned up slightly at the ends as she eyed Drew.

  Drew dropped her head into her hands and seriously considered getting up and running all the way home. Then she thought better. These ladies weren’t the enemy. Unlike the friends she’d thought she had back in Stratford, Delia and Heaven had been on her side since day one. They were open and friendly and helpful and hadn’t judged her when they’d learned she was pregnant by the infamous Double Trouble Cantrell brother. Savannah, on the other hand, well, for the most part Drew thought she was a nice woman. She thought she had some emotional problems that manifested in fits and screaming matches, but she seemed nice enough. If ever there was a time she needed female friends, now would be it.

  “Yes. We slept together last night,” she admitted.

  “Did he leave before you woke again?” Delia asked as she motioned for the waitress to bring her another Scotch on the rocks.

  “Probably. Parker’s never liked sleeping with anyone, not even Preston when we went on the camping trip that one year. He slept on the cold floor of the tent with only a small fleece blanket because he’d left his sleeping bag home and refused to share the double one Preston had purchased.” This was from Savannah, in a tone much lighter than the one she’d been using. She’d been reminiscing a lot lately, getting a faraway look in her eyes whenever she talked about her family and their past adventures.

  “But things are different now. There’s a baby involved,” Heaven countered. “I think he’s going to stick this time.”

  That might have been music to Drew’s ears coming from someone else, but Heaven had been in Sweetland and a part of the Cantrell family for only a couple of months; she could hardly be considered knowledgeable on what Parker might or might not do.

  “He didn’t leave before I woke up. Well, I think he may have if Rufus hadn’t come in to say good-bye,” she offered.

  “So that’s where Rufus ran off to yesterday.” At that, Savannah chuckled. “Michelle was about to call the state troopers in to look for that stupid dog.”

  “Yes, Rufus has been showing up at my doorstep and then Parker follows,” Drew admitted.

  “You think it’s planned? If so, that’s a whole lot more original than the stunt Deputy Do Nothing pulled today,” Delia replied. Her drink arrived at that moment and she took a sip.

  “Deputy who? And what stunt?” Heaven asked.

  Drew shook her head. “No. I don’t think Parker is making Rufus come to my house just so he can follow. And what Carl did was just ridiculous.”

  “Carl Farraway’s hitting on you, too? Girl, I guess I was wrong and you’re not gay,” Savannah said with a smile.

  “Gee, thanks a lot for that vote of confidence.” Drew picked up her glass to take another sip just as Parker walked into the dining room.

  “Morning Stud Muffin at three o’clock,” Delia stated from beside Drew as if Drew hadn’t already seen him.

  As Savannah and Heaven were sitting on the other side of the table from them, they both turned to watch him stride across the floor.

  “Hey, brother dear, we were just talking about you,” Savannah said in a sugary-sweet voice that Parker seemed to ignore.

  “I’ll just bet you were. Can I borrow Drew for a second, ladies?”

  “You can borrow her all night if you promise to cook her breakfast in the morning,” Delia replied. “She’s partial to waffles and cheese scrambled eggs.”

  “Stop it!” Drew chided, embarrassed that Parker not only knew they were talking about him, but now, thanks to Delia’s comment, undoubtedly knew that she’d told them about last night.

  She
stood and followed him out onto the deck, because she wanted to get away from the conversation that she knew was only going to get more out of control. Not because she expected any type of apology from Parker for his rude behavior.

  But that’s exactly what she received the moment they were alone.

  “I’m really sorry for the way I spoke to you this morning. It was uncalled for and way out of line. I’ve just been under a lot of stress lately and apparently not doing a good job of keeping it under control.”

  He stood in front of her, thrusting his hands into his pockets as he talked, as if he didn’t know what else to do with them.

  Well, Drew didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t imagined this would happen and was accordingly taken off guard.

  “I know some great yoga positions for stress relief,” was her ultimate reply. Of course, she figured that was the absolute wrong thing to say, but there it was.

  He sighed, then smiled. “I might take you up on that sometime. Right now, I just wanted to make sure we were cool.”

  She nodded. “We’re cool.”

  “Good. So you’ve already had dinner, I see.”

  “I did, so you don’t need to order me a meal tonight,” she replied with a smile.

  It seemed a little easier to smile around him now. Since he knew about the baby and hadn’t accused her of trying to trap him or, worse, said it wasn’t his, she’d felt much more at ease. Being betrayed by a man and the subject of his lies and a town’s ridicule wasn’t an easy thing to get over, and for the last four months she’d been hoping and praying she wasn’t about to go through that all over again.

  “In that case, can I walk you home?” he asked, taking her by surprise when he stepped forward and brushed a few strands of hair from her forehead.

  It was still humid, so if she took the band from her hair, it would explode like a giant puff ball. Keeping the wisps around her face at ease hadn’t been easy, and the product she’d applied so generously had apparently been no help at all.

  “I came to have dinner with them. Sort of a girls’ night out,” she said.

  “And by ‘them’ you mean the ones that are getting up from the table and heading out the front door,” he commented with a nod of his head toward the window.

  Drew turned, watching in mild annoyance as Heaven, Delia, and Savannah all stood up to leave the restaurant. On their way, Savannah turned to give Drew a wave and another one of her brilliant smiles—the one that made you want to wrap your hands around her neck and squeeze.

  “Guess I’m not having a girls’ night out after all,” she said, reaching for the nonchalant tone over the slightly confused one.

  “Then I’ll walk you home.” He extended a crooked arm to her.

  She looked at it for a moment, debating whether physical contact with Parker was wise after last night. Then she decided to go with her gut, since they were in a public place and couldn’t possibly end up in the sweaty throes of sex as they’d done in the past. She linked her arm with his and walked beside him.

  “Would you rather a ride home? I only have my bike, but Preston’s on host duty tonight so his SUV’s parked out front. I can grab his keys.”

  “I like the bike,” Drew said quietly. She had been on her feet at the shop all day, getting the flowers together for Albert Hammond’s retirement party. Add that to the walk over here for dinner and she was feeling completely wiped out.

  “Ahh, now I see what the real plan was. You and Delia walk over here, she leaves you, and like magic you get another ride on Sexy Susan,” he told her as they walked through the grass at the backside of the inn.

  It was quiet back here, only the rustle of the water sounding in steady intervals. Night had draped the town, tiny little twinkles in the sky serving as stars. And she was walking hand in hand with Parker. All seemed very well in the world.

  “Wait,” she said, stopping and almost pulling her arm from his hold. “Who’s Susan?”

  Parker’s lips spread into a full grin. “Jealous?”

  She did yank at her arm then, trying to step away from him, but he held on tight.

  “Just kidding, Susan’s what I call my bike. She’s sweet and sexy and always treats me right, no matter how many mistakes I make.”

  He chuckled when she continued to stare at him, questioning what he’d said a little longer.

  “Come on, you’re being silly. Why would I mention another female when I’m with you?”

  Drew couldn’t help it: She shrugged and admitted, “Because you’re Parker Cantrell. You have women lined up to be with you here in Sweetland and I know in Baltimore, too. It’s highly likely there’s a Sexy Susan somewhere in the line.”

  He stopped walking then and turned her so that she faced him. His hands went to her shoulders, rubbed down her arms, then back up again.

  “You’re first in every line, Drew. Whenever you think about who I am and what everyone says about me, I want you to remember that.”

  Parker looked so serious, even in the dark of night. His eyes bored into hers as if he were trying mentally to burn the words into her mind. His fingers had tightened on her arms as he waited for her response. Did she believe him? Could she afford to put herself in the position that believing him would undoubtedly do?

  “Are you serious?” was her response instead.

  “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life,” he told her, then moved in closer so that their bodies were touching.

  His hands moved up to her shoulders, then grazed over her neck, making their way to her face, which he held gently, tilting her head slightly.

  “There’s never been anyone like you,” he whispered as his lips lowered to hers.

  Drew brought her hands up to his wrists just as their lips met. She’d been thinking about pulling away but hadn’t been quick enough. Or maybe it was fate that had slowed her movements, made her think twice about resisting the inevitable.

  The kiss was so soft and as gentle as the evening breeze. Parker expertly coaxed her lips to open, her head to tilt, as he took them deeper. And Drew felt herself falling. In her mind she was treading water, trying desperately to stay afloat, but it was pointless. Her hands ran the length of his arms, over his muscled shoulders, and to his back as she pulled him closer. His tongue stroked hers longingly and she moaned, her knees going weak.

  When he finally pulled back slightly, they were both out of breath. He rested his forehead against hers, and they stayed that way for endless moments.

  “I don’t know what this is, Parker. I wasn’t looking for anything with you, I didn’t plan to get pregnant,” she began.

  Parker shook his head. “You don’t have to say that,” he told her, hating the tortured sound in her voice as she spoke. It was as if she was apologizing for what was going on between them, apologizing and keeping her distance at the same time. This was new to Parker, maybe because in the past he’d been the one staying far away, keeping all he had safely locked away, not willing to share even an inch of his soul with a woman.

  Now, he felt unwilling to let this woman walk away believing he felt anything different.

  “Sometimes things don’t go according to a plan,” Parker heard himself saying. He almost shook himself after those words, because they sounded more like something his grandmother would have told him. Come to think of it, she probably had at some point in his life.

  Drew pulled back, looking up at him. “Do you really believe that?”

  “I really do,” he replied without a second thought.

  “Come on, let’s get you home. It’s getting chilly out here,” he said, taking her hand. They walked until they were in front of the house, at the curb where his bike was parked.

  He grabbed the helmet from the backseat and placed it gently on her head, admiring how cute she looked wearing it. This was another first for Parker. He loved his bike and rode it as much as possible in the city, but whenever he went out with a female, he drove his Expedition. Drew was the first female to grac
e Sexy Susan’s backseat. This was her second time riding with him, and damn, she looked good doing so. Parker smiled as he watched her lift a leg and slide onto the seat as if she’d been riding there every day of her life.

  He took the long way to her house, heading toward the dock instead of turning in the opposite direction on Duncan. He figured she didn’t mind by the way she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and laid her head on his back as he drove. The humidity was lifting a little, and a thunderstorm had been predicted for later tonight. He could smell it in the air, the soft, dewy scent that accompanied a good summer shower.

  “I love this,” she said, speaking loudly over the wind as he turned the corner so they were now riding right alongside the dock. It wasn’t yet nine o’clock. Charlie’s, The Crab Pot, and Amore stayed open until ten, so lights were on and cars were in the parking lot. Some of the decorations from the Bay Day festivities were still there—the large Sweetland banner rippled in the breeze, while puffy red, white, and blue balls still hung on the lampposts. And Sexy Susan purred through the night.

  “Hold on,” he told Drew over his shoulder.

  She did. If it was possible, her arms tightened around his waist even more, her body scooting even closer to his. Normally Parker would have been driving much faster, loving the feel of the wind cutting across his cheeks as he drove. But tonight he was carrying a special package and she was carrying a package even more dear to his heart. So he drove with caution, but with enough energy to satisfy them both on some level.

  He finally came to a stop in her yard, pulling up beside her car once more. It was becoming a familiar parking spot for him, but Parker didn’t give that any more thought than was necessary.

  She hopped off immediately, pulling the helmet from her head. Her hair always seemed tousled, unruly, gorgeous. He’d been with primped and fancy women more times than he could count. He’d also been with women with professional careers and some whose professional careers were to find a man with a good job to marry and train. But he’d never been with a woman who owned her own flower shop in a small town, worked part-time at her uncle’s crab shack, collected salt and pepper shakers, and snored softly when she slept.