by Arlene James
Before Kylie could even push back her chair, Zach said, “Don’t worry about her. I’ll run her home later. After we’ve had our dessert.”
To his immense satisfaction, Kylie relaxed and smiled up at her parents. Gene grinned and guided his wife away. “Come on. Let’s leave the youngsters to their sweets.”
“Speaking of sweets,” Zach said, getting up. “I’m eating two pieces of that cake.”
Everyone laughed, but he meant what he said. In fact, he wound up gulping down two and a half pieces, since Kylie proclaimed herself unable to finish hers. The luncheon ended all too soon, but Zach didn’t mind having Kylie all to himself on the drive out to her parents’ place. She seemed content to ride in silence, but he did not mean to let another opportunity pass by him.
“I like your dress,” he told her. “Almost as much as the first one I saw you in.”
She laughed. “Thanks. I’d just as soon forget the first one, though.”
“I never will,” he told her. “I think you made the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”
The smile she gave him set his heart racing. “Thank you. I’m just glad I made a bride and not a wife. At least, in that case.”
He couldn’t have agreed more heartily. “That makes two of us. If you were married, I couldn’t ask you out to dinner again.”
“And if I were married,” she replied, “I couldn’t accept.”
Zach had to grin. He hadn’t even said when they might go to dinner, yet she’d already agreed. “How’s Tuesday sound? Gabe and Brooke have invited me over. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind including you.”
“Good. I’ll make sure when I go in to work tomorrow that I get Tuesday evening off.”
“Okay.” The Jeep shuddered as it passed over the cattle guard at the end of the drive at the Jones place. “I’ll pick you up here around six then.”
“I look forward to it,” she said as he brought the vehicle to a stop. She opened her door, but then she paused. “Oh, and while I’m thinking of it, I never did thank you for helping Dad clean up the truck. Actually, I didn’t realize all that you’d done until Dad told me.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Glad I could help.”
“You didn’t have to,” she told him. “It’s certainly not in your job description, and I do appreciate it.” Then she leaned over and pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek.
If his lungs hadn’t suddenly stopped working and his brain hadn’t frozen, he’d have turned his head and brought his lips to hers, but by the time he could function again, she’d slipped away. That kiss would have to hold him for another two days. Somehow, he thought it would do, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be seeing her in the meantime.
From here on out, he had every intention of not just seeing Kylie but of courting her. And if Vincent didn’t like it, that was his problem.
For the first time, Kylie understood that old saying about walking on air. Despite her misgivings and the threat to her cherished dreams, she could not contain her delight and excitement at the prospect of going on a date with Zach. Even as she feared falling in love with him, she felt absurdly happy and hopeful. Mariette noticed first, followed by their parents. Erin noticed, too, and drew some erroneous conclusions.
“Wow, this secret admirer of yours has certainly put a smile on your face.” Unfortunately, she made that remark in the diner in front of one of Vincent’s friends, and denying it did Kylie no good.
“Those flowers were somebody’s idea of a joke, nothing more.”
“Some joke,” Erin quipped. “Wish someone would play that kind of joke on me.”
“No, you don’t,” Kylie muttered, glancing at Vincent’s buddy, whose ears might as well have been twitching. He’d leaned so far over the counter that his behind couldn’t possibly have been touching his stool.
A few minutes later, Erin invited Kylie to join a group of her coworkers the next evening for a “movie night” after the diner closed. The staff of the Cowboy Café did this fairly regularly, and Kylie always brought the popcorn and others provided soft drinks and chocolate. Vincent had hated that she would go without him, but “staff only” was a hard and fast rule of these gatherings. Kylie had never considered ditching her friends and coworkers just to please him. This time, however, Kylie had no problem telling Erin that she had other plans.
Erin stared at her in shock for all of two minutes. “A joke, she calls it. Well, I guess those flowers have you laughing with somebody special.”
“No, really,” Kylie insisted. “He didn’t send those flowers.”
“Ah-ha!” Erin cried gleefully. “I knew there was someone! Spill, girlfriend. Who are you seeing?”
Kylie glanced at Vincent’s friend, who appeared to be taking his jolly good time over his lunch plate, and snagged Erin by the sleeve of her Western-style shirt, hauling her to a far corner, where she whispered, “It’s Zach, okay? But keep it to yourself, will you?” She went on to explain her suspicions concerning the flowers and the brooch delivered to the Feed & Supply.
“That’s pretty sneaky, even for Vincent,” Erin said, sounding a bit doubtful.
“There’s no other explanation,” Kylie insisted. “He’s trying to make the men in this town believe I’m already seriously involved with someone so they’ll keep their distance.”
“He’s obviously not succeeding,” Erin pointed out with a waggle of her eyebrows. “Zach’s apparently interested.”
Kylie had to smile. “Maybe. Time will tell.”
That afternoon, however, time did nothing but crawl. Despite working a busy double shift that day so she could take the time to go out the following night, Kylie felt antsy and impatient. She spent the evening deciding what to wear for her dinner date with Zach, settling on a pair of brown jeans and a matching tank top worn beneath a short, fitted, turquoise-blue jacket.
She had apparently chosen well because when Zach arrived to pick her up for their date, he looked her over with obvious appreciation, saying, “No wonder turquoise is your favorite color. It looks great on you. But then, what doesn’t?”
Laughing, she thanked him. Her father turned from his television program then and invited Zach to sit down for a visit, but Zach politely refused.
“Gabe was heating the grill when I left. We wouldn’t want to keep those T-bone steaks waiting too long.”
“Think maybe I’ll join you for dinner,” Gene teased.
“Think again,” Kylie and her mother chorused. Everyone laughed. As Kylie and Zach slipped out of the house, Lynette explained that Gene’s cholesterol wouldn’t allow him to eat “slabs” of steak.
Kylie noticed that Zach looked great in dark jeans and a pale blue shirt worn with the collar open and the sleeves rolled back. Moreover, he seemed to be in a great mood, laughing and teasing. When they got to his house, they didn’t even go in, just walked across the backyard and through a gap in a hedge to Gabe’s patio. He tended the grill while Brooke laid plates on a round, glass-topped table and A.J. stared, enchanted, at the twinkle of fireflies in the gloomiest corner of the yard nearest the creek.
Immediately after the adults greeted each other, Zach went to A.J. and, crouching down beside the boy, spoke to him softly about the tiny lights flashing in the dusky darkness. After a moment, A.J. wound a little arm around Zach’s neck and leaned against him. The big, tough deputy sheriff really had a way with kids. He would, Kylie thought, make a great dad. As if to underscore that idea, Zach caught up the boy and rose, turning with him to face the group.
“Book, Book,” the boy called, pointing over Zach’s shoulder. “Is bugs!”
“I know,” Brooke said, going to chuck A.J. under the chin. “Maybe after dinner Uncle Zach can take you down there to catch some.”
“I’m a lightning bug chaser from way back,” Zach said, patting the child on the head. He winked at Kylie.
Grinning, she impulsively challenged him. “I say I can catch more fireflies than you can.”
“Well, we’ll just
have ourselves a lightning bug hunt right after dinner then.” Pretending seriousness, they shook hands on it, then a grinning Zach turned to Gabe. “Anything I can do to help get that cow on the plate so I can put this beautiful braggart in her place?”
“You’re doing it,” Gabe told him, nodding at A.J.
Zach lifted A.J. over his head, declaring, “Finally, I’ve made ‘designated player’! I knew all that slacking would pay off someday.” Zooming like an airplane, he dipped and whirled. A.J. put out his arms and giggled with delight.
Kylie watched from the corner of her eye while she helped Brooke get the rest of the food on the table.
“He’s always been good with kids,” Brooke told her softly. “You should have seen him with our baby sister Lucy.”
Kylie’s head jerked around. Brooke had never mentioned Lucy to her before, certainly not in so easy a manner. “He’s certainly good with Macy,” she managed, “but I’ve never seen him like this.”
“Happy, you mean?” Brooke adjusted the placement of the salad bowl. “You’re at least partly responsible for that, you know.”
“Me?”
“He’s been so much more relaxed since you got him to open up about what happened in Miami.”
“Oh, but I didn’t do anything,” Kylie protested, “except listen.”
Brooke lifted an eyebrow. “I can name half a dozen people who would be willing to listen to anything Zach might have to say, myself included, but you’re the one he could talk to.”
Kylie didn’t know what to say to that, but she couldn’t help smiling. Could it be true? Did Zach find it easy to talk to her about the things that mattered most to him? If so, what did it mean? And why did the idea please her so much?
She had never felt this spurt of satisfaction and delight at pleasing Vincent. Shame filled her because she knew that she had never felt for Vincent what she should have. She’d wanted to marry him for all the wrong reasons, selfish reasons. God had shown her the error of her ways, and then He’d promptly brought Zach into her life. But what did that mean? Could God be so good as to bring her real love this time?
She didn’t doubt that she could love Zach, but could he love her in return? She shocked herself by hoping so. Maybe the time had come for a new dream.
Chapter Ten
Kylie smiled all through dinner. Afterward, while she and Zach raced around with A.J., and somehow managed not to catch a single “li’tin’ bug,” Kylie laughed until her sides hurt. Finally, A.J. crawled into his daddy’s lap, exhausted. Kylie collapsed into her chair, while Zach dragged his away from the table so he could sit down and stretch out his long legs. Within minutes, the boy fell asleep. Gabe held him for perhaps half an hour while the adults joked about this season’s particularly swift and cagey fireflies. Eventually Zach confessed that he hated to put any live thing in a jar, especially something so beautiful. Kylie admitted that she, too, enjoyed chasing the tiny insects more than catching them.
“You know what we have here,” Gabe teased. “A pair of frauds.”
“Well, they’re a pair anyway,” Brooke put in.
Kylie couldn’t resist glancing at Zach. He’d put his head back and closed his eyes, but his lips curled in a private smile. Kylie lowed down to hide her own. The thought of being paired with Zach filled her with joy. She knew intellectually that indulging these feelings was asking for trouble, but she couldn’t regret these moments of sweet bliss. Where they would lead, though, only God knew.
When Brooke and Gabe rose a few minutes later to put A.J. to bed, Kylie and Zach kept their chairs. Neither said a word, each lost in their own thoughts. As the night gathered around them, Kylie became aware of a sense of peace. She watched Zach, who all but reclined in his chair, hands folded just above his belt, head back and eyes closed.
Earlier, Brooke had described him as happy, but Kylie now realized that went for her, too. She hadn’t felt really happy in so long that she almost hadn’t recognized the emotion. She said a quick, silent prayer of gratitude. When she glanced his way, she found Zach staring at her, almost as if he sensed that she had approached the Throne of Heaven in prayer. He put out his hand, and without hesitation, Kylie placed her own in it. Squeezing her fingers, he readjusted his position and closed his eyes again. Kylie smiled, utterly content.
Around ten, after an evening of lively if inconsequential conversation, Zach drove Kylie home. To her surprise, her father appeared in the front doorway even before Zach brought the vehicle to a stop. Calling out to them, he insisted that Zach come inside. Kylie rolled her eyes. He’d pulled that same trick with Vincent, but it had come weeks after they’d started dating. She couldn’t say so, though, without embarrassing both herself and Zach. For his part, Zach just chuckled and shrugged.
“A few minutes won’t hurt, I guess.”
They went inside, but Kylie stayed on alert, ready to head off her father if he so much as hinted that Zach might have “intentions” toward her. Her mother, as usual, had turned in early, and Mariette chatted on the phone with one of the girls assigned to her dorm room at college. Thanks to social networking, the two were well on their way to becoming fast friends before they could even meet face to face. Gene shut off the television, invited Zach to sit on one of the denim-upholstered chairs that flanked the quilt-covered sofa and asked how their night had gone.
Zach entertained him with stories of A.J. and the great bug chase before asking, “So, no more vandalism issues?”
“Nope. Maybe he got it out of his system.”
No one had to name the “he” in question.
“Maybe so,” Zach said. Personally, Kylie doubted it, but she said nothing. “Well, I need to pound the pavement before starting work tomorrow,” he went on, rising, “so I’d best turn in.” Zach patted his taut belly. “Gotta run off that scrumptious T-bone.”
“Rub it in, why don’t you?” Gene groused good-naturedly.
Chuckling, Zach bade him good night.
“I’ll walk you out,” Kylie said, getting to her feet.
They stepped onto the porch. Light fixtures mounted on either side of the front door illuminated the immediate area.
“I had a great time tonight,” she told him.
He grinned. “So lightning bugs are your thing, huh?”
“Fireflies,” she countered, playfully thumping him on the chest.
Loosely looping his arms around her, he half propelled, half danced her into the shadows at the end of the porch, saying, “Fireflies, lightning bugs. Sounds like six of one and half a dozen of another to me.”
Breathless with anticipation for what she sensed coming, Kylie managed to quip, “In other words, a rose is a rose by any other name?”
“More like, a lightning bug is a lightning bug by any other name.”
Kylie laughed, but the gleam in his eye quickly sobered her. Smoothing his hands over her back, he gently pressed her closer and bent his head. Carefully, he fit his lips to hers, kissing her with patient, detailed thoroughness. When, at length, he broke the kiss, he simply held her, lightly pressing her head against his shoulder. She didn’t recall wrapping her arms around his waist, but obviously at some point she had. It felt so good to be held by him, so safe. But that could be an illusion.
“Do you really think Vincent has moved on?” she asked quietly.
Zach didn’t answer right away, but then he said, “No. That’s not how my cousin operates.” Lifting his hands, Zach tipped up her face, adding, “I don’t want you worrying about him, though. It won’t change anything. All it would do is make you miserable, and that would make everyone around you miserable. Including me.”
Kylie smiled. “That’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Glad to hear it.” He pressed his forehead to hers, the tips of their noses meeting, and closed his eyes. She let her eyelids drift down, and they stood in silent contentment for several seconds before he slowly pulled away. “I really ought to go.”
“Thank you for a lovely evening,”
she told him.
“No, thank you,” he returned, backing away. “See you tomorrow?”
“Hope so.”
“Tomorrow then. Sleep well.”
“You, too,” she whispered.
Bestowing a final smile, he turned away to stride quickly to his vehicle. He paused just before dropping down behind the steering wheel. Kylie waved, and he lifted a hand before starting up the Jeep and driving away. She watched until the red dots of his taillights disappeared into the distance before she went inside.
On his way to bed, her dad stopped to kiss her cheek and say teasingly, “The stars aren’t just in the sky tonight.” He tapped a forefinger between her eyes, patted her head and went on his way.
Perhaps she did have stars in her eyes, Kylie thought. What girl who had been out with Zach Clayton wouldn’t?
It came as no surprise that Kylie dreamed of Zach that night, reliving every moment of their time together. She woke the next morning with the certainty that her feelings for Zach had grown by leaps and bounds. What ultimately came of them was up to God, but Kylie accepted that she had no choice but to see where they led her. She felt surprisingly upbeat about that. In fact, she felt downright giddy until she arrived at work the next morning to find Erin and Zach standing in front of the Cowboy Café, shaking their heads.
Kylie didn’t have to ask why. It had been written on the diner windows in big, bold strokes with white shoe polish.
“I love you, beautiful Kylie! Be mine forever!”
“Oh, no!”
“Now, don’t make more of it than it is,” Zach said, coming to wrap his arms around her.
“Zach, you have to make him stop,” she pleaded, horrified that her friend’s property had been defaced because of her.
“We don’t know that it’s Vincent, Kylie.”
“Of course it’s Vincent!” She fumed. “He’s behind it, at least.”
“But we have no proof.”
“Who else could have a reason for doing this?” she demanded, pulling away.
