Sugar Springs

by Kim Law

  “But I don’t mind.”

  “But I do.” Her tone suggested this was not an argument he was going to win. “I take care of my responsibilities, and this one is mine. I’ll work tomorrow. You bring me baked goods.”

  Son of a gun. Looked like he was going to the fund-raiser.

  He couldn’t believe he’d been there less than twenty-four hours and had already been shanghaied into attending a large community event. He slumped in the chair in resignation. Nothing about small-town living was easy, not even avoiding people. “Fine. I’ll bring you baked goods. Anything else you want while I’m there?”

  With a small smile, Keri heaved herself from her chair and slid a twenty across the desk. “A lemon tart bundt cake from Larissa Bailey, please. I’ll call her tonight and ask her to save me one. You’ll know her from her white-blonde hair and purple-rimmed glasses. She’s a bit younger than you.”

  He scooped up the twenty and held it out for her. “Take your money back. I can get it.”

  “I’m sure you can, but I can also pay my own bills.” She made her way to the door, both feet pointing slightly outward to accommodate her stomach, and he wondered what her story was. She had some serious pride issues going on.

  Not willing to argue with her and make it worse, he shoved the twenty into his front pocket and stood to follow her out to the now-empty waiting area.

  When she got to the front door, she turned back, her round face brightening. “I almost forgot. When you get the cinnamon rolls, will you say hello to Lee Ann’s girls for me, please? I probably won’t see them again before the baby comes. Tell them I look forward to seeing them after Eli is born.”

  She left, the glass door swinging closed behind her, and Cody’s entire body turned cold. Lee Ann had a kid? Kids? Girls.

  Well, hell. Didn’t the questions just keep rolling in?

  Lee Ann turned her back to the crowd and dug out another batch of cinnamon rolls. Her rolls were famous in Sugar Springs and this year’s batch was apparently living up to the hype. The few remaining pastries, along with the other tables’ dwindling offerings, ensured the committee would surpass its goal and close the gap on the money needed for the trip.

  As she settled the box on the table, taking the opportunity to enjoy the unusual lack of customers, she scanned the crowd scattered throughout the gymnasium. Her mom had disappeared to purchase items to take home, and Candy was outside finishing up her turn holding up the sign to beckon customers in. Kendra was also out there, helping her out. Not that the entire town wasn’t already aware of the event, but the planning committee had decided years ago that it would go a long way toward developing the kids’ responsibility if they were required to work, as opposed to relying solely on their parents to do it.

  Spotting her mother in the crowd as she purchased what appeared to be a red velvet cake, Lee Ann knew the girls would enjoy the treat after decorating Reba’s yard. Lee Ann returned to her task and began strategically placing the individually wrapped treats along the table.

  Worn brown boots came into her line of sight, causing every muscle in her shoulders to tense. Surely he hadn’t shown up here.

  Lifting her head hesitantly, she scanned over the same hard body she’d checked out only the morning before, continuing to go up until she finally came face-to-face with Cody. Yep, he’d shown up here. And just like the day before, taking in those penetrating eyes and square jaw made her heart skip a beat.

  It surprised her, honestly. No matter how much she’d once hated him—or how much she still loathed him—her body apparently didn’t remember. Instead, it remembered how she’d also wanted him. The bad boy and the good girl. It had been a fantasy from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him.

  She had to get this ridiculous reaction under control. And she had to get him the heck out of there. She did not need the “big family reunion” to happen in front of half the town.

  “You can’t escape me so easily this time.” His deep voice vibrated over her, reminding her how she and her friend Joanie had once made up excuses simply to get near enough to hear his low timbre.

  She took a deep breath to calm her nerves before glancing toward the gym doors the girls would soon be coming through. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

  He stared into her eyes for several seconds, then hitched up the corners of his mouth. It didn’t feel like a friendly smile.

  “You never were a good liar, Lee Ann.” He picked up a cinnamon roll and began peeling the plastic away. “I’ve heard rumors about you this week.”

  The end of the roll disappeared between his teeth as he bit off a large chunk. When she caught on to the fact that she was standing there like a teenager gawking while the man chewed her pastry, she flushed and dropped her gaze. Sweet Jesus. Why had he come back now? She did not need this distraction in her life.

  And why in the world was he affecting her this way?

  Wait...What had he said? She peeked back up at him. “What are you talking about? What rumors?”

  “Wow.” He moaned and licked his lips, ignoring her questions. “This really is as good as Keri said. No wonder she sent me up here for them.”

  He scooped up four more in one hand, then finished off the first in two more bites. Again, she stood there and watched him chew.

  When the last crumb disappeared, he pulled out his wallet. “Never would have believed you could learn to cook like that.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve learned a lot of things over the years.” Like how easily the supposed love of your life could turn his back on you. And his kids.

  He went quiet as he pulled out some bills, then he handed the money over with a grim face. “I assume you’re implying that at least some of the things you’ve learned came from me and my behavior.”

  She raised her eyebrows at the casually spoken words, anger suddenly spurting through her veins, instantly clearing any fascination she had with the way he chewed. Absolutely it had to do with his behavior! She hadn’t intended to learn anything about raising kids until her early thirties, and yet here she was with soon-to-be teenagers. She’d never had the desire to waitress beyond her high school years, yet...doing it still today. Again, his fault. And she certainly had never intended to find hidden talents in the fine art of portraits. Yet, look at her now.

  Yeah, she’d say that she’d learned a heck of a lot of things because of him and his actions. Dang it. Who did he think he was waltzing in here in the middle of everyone, chatting as if they were nothing but old buds?

  She glanced at her watch. The girls would be back any minute and she did not want this jerk talking to them. Not today, maybe not ever. Holding up the bills he’d handed over, she gave him a tight smile. “Thanks for helping out the team.”

  She turned her back, making it clear it was time for him to leave. A low laugh hit her ears and a shiver streaked to her toes.

  “Good to know not everything about you has changed, Lee.”

  She jerked around. “What are you talking about?”

  With a tilt of his head, he said, “You’re still here in Sugar Springs when you shouldn’t be, you’re running a junior high fund-raiser when you should be out opening at art galleries instead, and you’re waitressing down at the diner. None of that is who you were supposed to be. But that temper...” The grin started slow and ended up covering the whole bottom half of his face. “That temper is just as I remember it. It was the only thing about you that wasn’t sweet and polite. Though very few people ever got to see it.” He winked. “I was one of the lucky ones.”

  That temper was about to throw her across the table and have her clawing his eyes out. The man better not have plans to have anything to do with her kids. He was not deserving of being their father.

  “It’s time for you to go, Cody. The basketball team thanks you, but we’d appreciate it if you’d find somewhere else to spread around the rest of your money.”

  He nodded. “I’ll go. In a minute. First we need to talk.”

 
; Her heartbeat faltered. He was going to press to meet the girls now? Right here? Fear pressed in on her as she squeaked out, “I don’t think so.”

  “Doesn’t matter what you think. It’s what’s going to happen. So, now or later? We could have dinner outside of town, where we could have a private conversation.”

  “I don’t want to have dinner with you.”

  Color stained his ears. “Yeah, well, fine. Can’t say as I blame you. But that doesn’t stop the fact that we’re going to get together in some fashion.”

  She swallowed. She wouldn’t be able to avoid the conversation forever, no matter how much she’d like to. “You cannot just show up here and tell me what I am and am not going to do. I haven’t needed you for the last thirteen years. I don’t need you now. Why don’t you go on back to the clinic and hide out there for the next six weeks? We’ll all just pretend you don’t exist. That way, you can go on about your business when the job is over. And never look back.”

  Oh, please say yes.

  But she knew he wouldn’t. She could tell from the anger that tightened his features. He’d come back for a purpose, and she suspected the least he was going to do was disrupt her perfectly ordered life.

  “Nice speech. It’s not going to work. I took this job for one reason.” He paused, and some of the fire leaked from his words. “It was because of you, Lee Ann. I know this is years late, but I owe you an apology. An explanation for my behavior that day.” His throat rose and fell with a swallow. “I intend to make sure you’ve heard it.”

  Relief washed over her before being immediately replaced with astonishment. That was all he wanted? Seriously? He wasn’t even going to bring up the girls? Well, she could end this right now. “Cody, really, don’t worry about the past. It’s over. We were kids. I don’t need an apology from you.”

  He opened his mouth.

  “Honestly, I’m over it.” The girls entered through the far gym doors and glanced her way. Their gaze landed on Cody and their feet turned in her direction. “I forgave you years ago.”

  Not quite, but it was close enough to the truth. She’d accepted what he’d done and moved on years ago. That should be good enough.

  Her breathing picked up as the distance between them and the girls shrunk. He narrowed his gaze on her. “Then why not give me fifteen minutes to clear my own conscience?” He shook his head. “No, sorry. This one I insist on doing. Tell me when and where we can meet, and I’ll leave you alone.”

  “Please, just go.” Her voice came out no stronger than a whisper. “There’s no need for this.”

  Cody turned and scanned the crowd. “What’s got you so upset all of a sudden? Is someone talking about us?”

  Uh...yeah. Of course.

  But she didn’t reply. That wasn’t the immediate problem anyway. Instead, she let out a harsh breath when her mother took stock of the situation and reached out to stop the girls as they passed. Lee Ann focused on breathing normally, but she wasn’t fast enough. Cody followed her gaze and zeroed in on her family standing together about thirty feet from them.

  “That must be your kids.”

  She blinked. Her kids? No words could have surprised her more.

  She shook her head, amazed by his audacity. “Could you leave, now?” Her words came out low, fury making it more than difficult to contain her temper.

  “I’ll leave after they get over here. Keri asked me to pass along a message to them.”

  She counted to five as she pulled in a breath. “Give it to me and I’ll pass it along.”

  “Nah. I’d like to meet them.”

  His words had come out clipped, and she pulled her gaze from the girls—who were once again heading in their direction—to study him. His features had closed down, as well as his voice. About time he dealt with the fact that he helped create those children. She just hoped he kept the information to himself until the two of them could have that talk.

  “Fine,” she gritted out. “Meet them and then go. You and I can talk later. Come by the diner at the end of the breakfast shift one day this week and we’ll have a chat. I don’t believe the vet’s office opens until ten, so we should have enough time.”

  Kendra skidded to a stop a second after Lee Ann finished speaking, red velvet cake in her hands, wide brown eyes glowing. “You’re the new vet, right?”

  Candy was only two steps behind, carrying Reba’s basket of goodies. She set the basket on the floor and shrugged out of her coat, a suspicious look flitting across her face. She didn’t trust as easily as Kendra.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” he said, carefully taking in both of them. “I am.”

  “I knew it!” Kendra breathed. She took a step closer and bounced a bit on her toes. She was the cheerleader of the family. “Everybody at school was talking about you yesterday. They said you have a huge dog. What kind is it?”

  Candy stepped to her sister’s side but didn’t join the conversation.

  “A Great Dane.” Cody peered carefully at both of them, then over at Lee Ann. It wasn’t awe for the children who’d been spawned from him that she was seeing, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was, either.

  What did strike her was the complete emotional distance she picked up on between him and the girls. It was almost as if he wasn’t aware he was talking to his own kids. Yet that was impossible. Stephanie had not only told him she was pregnant, but when she’d told him she was dying, he would have known that either Lee Ann or her mother would raise the girls if he didn’t come back and do it. And if he’d been thinking at all, he would have known it would be her.

  Either way, he knew he had kids, yet he still didn’t act in the slightest like he was accepting of that fact.

  She keyed back into the conversation while Kendra continued to ask questions a mile a minute about his dog. When she finally slowed, Cody shot one more look in Lee Ann’s direction, then picked up the cinnamon rolls he’d set down and took a step back.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you two. I was asked to pass along a message from Dr. Wright.”

  “Yeah?” both girls asked, Candy finally perking up.

  Keri was a good friend whom the three of them had “taken in,” as she had no family close by but the baby she was carrying. In return, Keri encouraged Kendra’s love of animals by letting her spend many Saturday mornings at the clinic helping out where she could. Candy didn’t care about the animals so much but had been promised the chance to babysit when the time came. She couldn’t wait.

  “Yeah,” he said. “She’s working today, but asked me to tell you ladies hello from her, and that she is looking forward to seeing you both after the baby is born.”

  Identical grins bloomed on their faces as the oddest look passed through Cody’s eyes.

  With a hurried good-bye, he turned and headed across the gymnasium floor to the now-empty table of Larissa Bailey. She was the local librarian, and her whole body seemed to smile when he leaned down and spoke to her. Even from this distance, Lee Ann could see the blush touching her cheeks. Hard not to be flattered when someone like Cody turned his attention on you. Even furious with him, she could admit that. The man simply radiated testosterone. At that moment, every woman in the room was turned to watch him.

  Larissa surprised her by pulling one of her lemon bundt cakes out from under the table to pass over to him. She’d saved one for him? Wow, he worked fast. She wouldn’t have guessed he’d even met her in the two days he’d been in town. Larissa spent most of her time either at the library or her own house. She didn’t get out and around too much.

  Cody said something else as he took the cake, and that made Larissa laugh out loud, her cheeks growing darker. The man hadn’t changed. He could charm the pants off anyone.

  “You dated him, right?” Kendra’s words, followed by a dramatic sigh, infiltrated Lee Ann’s mind, and a tight pinch pulled at her heart. Dated? Right. The one big date they’d been saving up for had never happened.

  “Where did you come up with that?”
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br />   But she knew. The whole town shared everything they knew with whoever would listen, and too many people knew she’d once done some serious mooning over him back in the day. Not to mention that she and he had once spent months hanging together every afternoon. At first as friends, but then the friendship had grown.

  Of course they were being talked about now.

  She peered into Kendra’s eyes and had no doubt what she was thinking. She was too much like her grandmother, the dreamer. What surprised her was the matching look in her sister’s eyes. They’d both recently gotten it in their minds that she needed a man, and they’d been on the hunt since. It seemed they’d come to the unanimous decision that rekindling an old flame was the solution.

  She laid a hand on both their arms. “I’m sure since you heard rumors about him and me, you also heard about what he did to the original statue up on the square?”

  They nodded, so she continued, “Then surely you can see that he’s not someone I’d want in my life. He’s trouble. Plus he’ll be leaving at the end of the year.”

  “But—” It was Candy who started.

  “Do not get any ideas,” Lee Ann insisted.

  Both girls grew pensive as they emptied the contents of the basket into one of the canvas bags Lee Ann had used to tote the cinnamon rolls to the sale. Finally Candy spoke, her voice questioning. “I thought you believed in giving people a second chance.”

  Lee Ann dropped into her chair. The whole day had been nonstop go from the beginning, then add on the stress of Cody and she felt as if she’d run a marathon. And the simple fact was that some people didn’t deserve a second chance. But how did she explain that to her children?

  A steady stream of customers arrived before she could form a reply, so she remained seated, content to let Candy and Kendra do the work.

  Lee Ann snuck a glance at Cody and found he was now on the opposite side of the floor, leaning down to speak in Holly Marshall’s ear. They were turned away from her, so she couldn’t miss his hand pressed possessively against the lower section of Holly’s back. Lee Ann’s stomach clenched. He still had the ability to attract every woman in sight. The fact shouldn’t bother her at all, as her only concern pertaining to him was to figure out if he was the right kind of person to be in her children’s lives, but she found herself filled with another emotion she was honest enough to admit. Jealousy. And she hated herself for it.