After Mrs. Palmer discovered her vast retail merchandising skills Kelly had been put in charge of the women’s and junior’s clothing areas. Ah, yes, ten years in the L.A. fashion district can teach you a lot about clothes. Of course she’d been a little vague about her actual experience, but the fact that she was living with Myrtle seemed to fling most doors wide open around her.
In the three days she’d worked here she’d learned enough about the Palmers to fill a spiral notebook. Paradise was alive with the sound of gossip.
Kelly walked past rows of children’s fall jumpers and rompers. Palmer’s was a family business. Will Palmer, the youngest son, ran the advertising and promotion for the store. His holiday displays were a big attraction. Even people from nearby towns would take a special trip by to see the windows.
He was about thirty-one, and his wife Ginny worked in the store. She was the same age as Kelly, fun, even though they were as different as dog breeds. Ginny had two kids and wore calico skirts.
The oldest Palmer son, Robert, acted as assistant manager. He had an obvious, but gentlemanly, interest in Kelly.
Kelly stashed her handbag and jacket in the back room and checked her reflection in the mirror. She got out her red lipstick to do a little repair, setting the scones on the shelf.
She, on the other hand, had no interest in Robert, who was a total dork and around forty, and…bird-watched.
She had no interest in any man, for that matter. She wanted to spend some time getting to know herself, getting her life in order, and starting over.
Myrtle kept hinting about Sam and her fate and all that. She just didn’t feel it. Dottie Williamson and Myrtle had been spending much of their spare time plotting, which seemed contrary to the cosmic design Myrtle claimed it was all supposed to fall under.
At the same time, the store had seen an amazing increase in bachelor business in the last three days, according to Ginny, with several grease monkey types coming in wearing their best Western snap shirts, accidentally finding themselves in women’s lingerie and practically running out of the store.
Kelly was suspicious that someone was sending a stream of men her way. Probably Mrs. Palmer. Or Myrtle, or even Dottie. Everyone in town had a hand firmly on the rudder of the good ship Destiny, didn’t they?
Myrtle had been right about one thing, though. Sam Grayson was a notch above the crowd, for sure. There was something about a man so good-looking he left you completely speechless.
She puckered up her lips in the mirror to even out the lipstick. A few calm nights and clean air had done a great deal for her complexion…and her disposition. Normally she might actually be pissed about all this meddling in her life. Somehow now it felt wonderful. Seriously wonderful.
She popped a piece of Chiclets gum in her mouth for her chew-with-the-rhythm-of-the-mark-downs ritual. Wow, could you even buy this gum in the real world anymore?
Once again she decided Paradise was a time-warp town—stuck in 1955. She took one extra piece on that thought and headed out. Seven rounder racks waited for her 20% off stickers. Preholiday sale.
Kelly settled into the routine of straightening stock, folding T-shirts, and re-sorting the round racks for mark down. It was a quiet morning.
Then he walked in. Kelly stopped dead in her tracks. Was he here to follow up on her incredibly stupid hello? My, he was actually tall, dark, and handsome…how cliché—she smiled to herself—but true. Yes, that slate gray suit was filled out with a very amazing body, too. She could see muscles outlined under the fine wool jacket.
Kelly knew her suits, too, and his wasn’t from Palmer’s men’s department. Armani, most likely.
Well, to hell with that, she thought, and stuck a sizer on the rack. Size twelve.
Money ain’t everything; it buys lots of trouble if you let it. Take rich Raymond, for instance. Take that pesky bag-o’-money under her bed.
But that suit sure did hang well off of Mr. T. D. & H. She started up her sorting again, ignoring him. Maybe he was shopping.
He smiled directly at her. She smiled back. He continued walking closer to her. His eyes were like a dark blue night sky. Her breath caught, and the gum went with it. She swallowed her gum. Badly. It stuck somewhere in her throat.
Through tears of distress she saw Sam’s compelling blue eyes widen in surprise, then change to alarm. The gum wad was lodged somewhere near her vocal cords, and all she could do was wave her arms wildly and turn purple.
With the speed and agility of a quarterback, Sam dodged display cases and straight-armed a rounder that stood between them.
“Are you choking?”
She tried to say no, but she wasn’t so sure.
One large hand took her shoulder and whirled her around. Fisting both hands beneath her breastbone, he squeezed her tightly to his tall frame and tugged upward. He jerked her off her feet with his quick move. Her gum flew out of her mouth, across the room, and stuck on a display of a half body in swimwear, somewhere around the navel area.
Kelly started to laugh in the middle of coughing her last cough. They shifted around and Sam offered his handkerchief. It was white linen with a G embroidered on it. He still had one arm around her. Their closeness would have been exciting if she weren’t trying to get a breath in. Actually, it was exciting anyway.
“Thank you,” she squeaked out. What a sight she must be. She slowly regained her composure. God, he smelled good. Her ribs hurt. She rubbed them.
“Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t hurt you,” he said, extending his hand. “Are you okay?”
“I am.” Her voice still squeaked. She wiped at the tears streaming down her face, then handed him his makeup-stained handkerchief. He took her whole ice-cold hand in his instead of the handkerchief. He had strong, warm hands, and kept hold of hers for a long time. She looked up into his eyes. He smiled at her again, a devastatingly nice smile.
Oh…my…God. Suddenly Kelly wanted a social life again. Actually, Kelly wanted Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome to take her in the back room and kiss the red sandals right off her feet, very hard and very deep. She sort of melted into his handshake.
“Are you sure you’re all right? Can I get you anything?” he said, and released her hand at last.
Yeah, he could get her a big, passionate kiss right now—to go, please. If he only knew what she was thinking. She realized her face must be seven shades of scarlet. An improvement over purple, though.
“We met in Cora’s, remember?” he asked.
Did she remember? Damn straight she did. She looked in his eyes and caught just a hint of amusement.
“I don’t usually have this effect on women.”
“Don’t get yourself too built up, there, Mr. Grayson, I often choke my way through the day.” These words kind of blurted out. She immediately wanted to choke on them instead of the wad of gum.
What was she, nuts? “But thanks for the bruised ribs.” Things were getting worse, she was definitely nuts, but he was provoking her, really he was. He looked even more amused, and there was an effort on his part not to laugh out loud at her, she could see this clearly.
“I’m sorry about that. How about I make it up to you by buying lunch? Is today acceptable?”
Is right this second acceptable? Instead she said, “That would be nice. My break is at twelve-thirty.” Well, she wasn’t completely nuts.
“Twelve-thirty it is.” He extended his hand, and they touched again. “I have a meeting scheduled with Mrs. Palmer. Is she in yet?”
Eleanor Palmer breezed into the store just in time to catch them red-handed. And Kelly, red-faced.
“Sam, you handsome devil, I see you’ve met the prettiest girl in town. Now what will I do for a boyfriend?” Mrs. Palmer’s silk chiffon scarf puffed around her in the breeze from the fan. She was a slim and fashionable woman, still very attractive.
“Kelly had a startling effect on me, Mrs. P.”
“I forgive you, and Mr. Palmer will be relieved, I’m sure.” Mrs. Palmer wound her
arm through Sam’s. “Come upstairs to my office and have some tea and scones. It was very kind of you to meet me here on a Saturday. I think better in my own space these days. Kelly, dear, you might want to freshen up a bit, then bring up my scones, will you?” Mrs. Palmer winked at Kelly, then ushered Sam toward the office stairs.
Kelly suspected a conspiracy—Myrtle, Dottie, and Mrs. P. were definitely up to something. It was no accident Sam had come to the store. After a moment of thought, Kelly decided she was willing to play along. After a few minor things were cleared up. Like her being married. Maybe Mr. Grayson was just the person to help her with it all.
“Sam.” She corrected herself out loud. She still had his handkerchief. She put it to her nose and inhaled. His clean, bar-of-soap kind of scent lingered around her.
“I think he prefers it to Henry, his given name.” Ginny Palmer came up beside her, grinning her cat-ate-canary grin. “Sam is what folks have called him since he was a child. Yikes, hon, you look…er…here—better take a look.” Ginny pointed to the back room and followed Kelly, chatting on the way.
“Hope you didn’t scare him away,” Ginny said with a laugh. “Henry Samuel Grayson Jr., attorney at law, is the best catch in town. He and his father practice together. Sam went away to law school back East, then surprised us all by coming home to Paradise a year ago. He’s a nice lawyer, and that’s a rare thing.”
Here it comes, Kelly thought. Gossip, Paradise style.
Kelly looked in the mirror and shrieked. Her hair was flying sideways from being flipped over by Sam’s Heimlich maneuver; her lipstick was smeared down to her chin; her eyes were red and teary. Her mascara? She was definitely having a Tammy Faye moment. She started some quick repairs.
“You say he asked you to lunch?” Ginny asked with a smirk on her face.
“Shut up! This is not amusing.” Kelly laughed. “Well, it is, but please take these scones upstairs while I fix myself, and then come back and help me find that gum ball I projectiled onto a bikini body, okay? Take pity on the horridly embarrassed new girl.”
“Not a problem. I kind of like you, red dress and all. Even if you are way skinnier than me.” Ginny grabbed the bag of scones and headed out. “At least you can stun him as he exits the building. Make up for it.”
Kelly heard giggles all down the main aisle as Ginny went to the stairs.
She was starting to get a feeling about Sam. He was a great guy. Too great. He was just too damn nice for her. She was a mess, and her smeared lipstick was the least of it. She’d lived a rough life. She wasn’t soft and easy like Ginny. She was complicated and hard-edged and…married. Besides all that some horrible thugs were probably looking for their briefcase full of money by now.
Shoot, that was a new thought, and it chilled her down to the bone. Whatever Raymond had planned for that money had undoubtedly gone very badly, and he’d send them her way.
But who would look for her here? If they found the car, they could only track her as far as Seattle. She could be anywhere. She hadn’t used her credit cards, and no one was looking for a Kelly Applebee. Maybe she was safe. But one thing was for sure; she needed some legal advice.
She squiggled her skirt down a little and tidied up her top, which was twisted sideways.
Ginny came back to warn her that they were almost done upstairs. They both went out on the sales floor and acted…normal.
Lawyer descending a staircase, Kelly thought as she watched Sam out of the corner of her eye. This time she was ready for him. She lifted up her chin and looked his way, smiled, then wiggled her finger at him to come to her. He got very close.
“Miss…I don’t think I got your last name?” Sam asked.
“Applebee. But you can call me Kelly. I mean you saved my life. I think that’s first name stuff, don’t you, Sam?” She hated lying about her name to such a very nice guy. He’d probably never told a lie in his life. Well, maybe. He was a lawyer, after all.
“My pleasure, Kelly.”
“I wonder if you’d mind if I turned our lunch hour into a business meeting? I have a legal matter I need to discuss.”
“I wouldn’t mind, but Mrs. Palmer told me you were free for a few hours today, so let’s go ahead and eat before we get down to it, shall we?”
Kelly held on to a forest green, size sixteen ladies polar fleece jacket to keep from falling over. The closer he got, the more she wanted to get down to it, all right. “Oh, she did, did she? Well, she’s the boss. Lunch it is, then we can walk to your office?”
“That would be fine.” Sam scratched his chin for a minute and stared at her with a smile. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Great,” Kelly answered. There was a huge, empty pause in the conversation. Okay, let’s move it along here, she thought. She couldn’t take the long pauses. Sam seemed to get the hint and started toward the door.
“By the way…” Sam said to her as he backed out the door.
“Yes?”
“You clean up great.” He smiled his dazzling smile and strode out.
He may be nice, but he’s got a streak of something in there, Kelly thought to herself. A gleam in his eye she didn’t quite trust.
Kelly and Ginny spent the next two hours shifting stock and sharing tidbits about Sam Grayson’s life. Ginny and Will Palmer had gone to high school with him. Sam was a swimmer back then and had set some state records. That was a new one.
Then the engagement story again: engaged to a girl after law school in Philadelphia, broke it off for some unknown reason. Kelly actually knew more about that one than Ginny did. Amazing.
Everyone was delighted to have him back home. He had taken the job as fill-in prosecuting attorney while Dave Newsom was on vacation for the summer, but was back to regular family law now: estate planning, property stuff, and the occasional divorce.
“Who ever gets a divorce around here?” Kelly asked.
“No one I know in the last ten years. Well, that’s about it about Sam. Thirty-two, single, rich, and mmmmmm,” said Ginny.
“Rich doesn’t matter. Money can get you troubles.”
“Get a grip, Kelly. Poverty can get you troubles, too.”
“True. I just mean it’s his heart that matters.” Kelly frowned. And maybe some guys’ hearts are too nice to break, she added to herself.
“Well, it looks like you get the privilege of exploring that area. Here he comes.”
“He’s early!” Kelly bolted into the back room, grabbed her purse and coat, and came out casually.
“Did I scare you again?” Sam asked.
“Not at all, I just went for my things. Shall we?”
“Have her back by midnight,” Ginny said sternly.
“I’ll be a perfect gentleman.” Sam smiled his bright, white, Robert Redford smile and escorted Kelly out of the store.
“You already are the perfect gentleman,” sighed Ginny to herself as they left.
Sam and Kelly sat across from each other on white wrought-iron chairs. The red-and-white-striped cushions blended in nicely with her clingy red outfit, but that was all that blended. Sitting in Van Decker’s Ice-Cream Parlor with a spiky-haired, tattooed lady just didn’t happen here in Happyville USA.
Sam knew that because he had been going to Van Decker’s since he was a kid. He used to order licorice ice cream to make his mother crazy. Old man Van Decker—the original patriarch of the clan—used to keep it in stock, special, just for him.
So what was he doing bringing Wild Thing here? For some reason he wanted to see if this woman knew her way around a hot fudge sundae.
A buzz of whispers surrounded them, a swarm of gossiping locals. When there was not much going in town, a lunch like this could make the local papers.
It was probably good they didn’t know what he was really thinking about the Lady in Red. Right now it had something to do with the fact her nipples were hard from the cold.
This Kelly thing just didn’t fit in with the wife hunt thing. Kelly Applebee clearly wasn’t t
he marrying kind. She was the other kind. His eyes slid down to her slightly exposed navel. There was a tiny gold ring in it with a glittering diamond attached. He almost dropped his menu.
Dinky Van Decker, the unmarried twenty-year-old daughter, came to take their order. She winked at Sam about five times while she scribbled.
Kelly ordered a salad and a root beer float. Sam thought that was a very interesting combination. An attempt at healthy eating, countered by some pleasure. He decided to go for a cheeseburger and make it a classic blast-from-the-past meal. Cheeseburger, Pepsi, fries, just like high school.
Dinky winked a few more times, grabbed their menus, and left. He really loved knowing everyone deep down. It was strange that coming back to Paradise was such a great experience for him. He’d been so focused on getting out of town after graduation. Now his entire focus was Paradise, and doing his part to keep good things happening here. Every community needed people willing to give back if it was going to stay a great place to live. He really was a hometown boy deep down.
Hell, even a hometown boy needs an occasional distraction. And Kelly Applebee was one hell of a distraction.
The silence was drawing out. She pulled at her skirt and showed less leg. Didn’t matter, there was plenty of leg to go around. Sam put his hand up to his temple. What was he, just starved for sex? Any man worth his salt would get to know a woman before he let himself get this hot over her, wouldn’t he?
“What brought you to Paradise?” he asked her,
“A bus.”
He leaned back and looked at her hard. She wasn’t going to make this easy. Maybe she was just nervous. Okay, he decided, let’s take another tack.
“It’s a great little town, I’d be glad to show you around.”
“Myrtle gave me the grand tour.”
Sam gave up the chitchat and took her in while she nervously sipped her water. Her long tan legs took up a great deal of the package. Boy, he was definitely a leg man. Then there was the twining rose vine running up her right one. Ankle to…wherever. Wild rose.
Talk of the Town Page 5
