by Rachel Hanna
“Tyler, be careful. You don’t want to scratch up Grandma’s beautiful floors….” Tessa said as she patted the top of his head. Adele was nowhere to be found. “Where’s your Mom?”
“She’s off with Harrison getting supplies for their big road trip.”
Noticing the empty kitchen with no food, Tessa was confused. “Okay…. I thought we were having dinner?”
“We are if you’re cooking something,” Aaron said as he sat on the bar stool. “I can help, of course.”
“So you brought us across town to borrow your mother’s kitchen?”
“Nope. I brought us across town to use our new kitchen.”
Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and leaned across the bar. “What are you up to, Aaron?”
He stood and met her on the other side of the bar. “Tessa, my mother gave me this house today.” He held up a set of keys, and tears welled in Tessa’s eyes.
“What?” she managed to breathe out. “But I don’t understand…”
“She’s not going to be here to care for it, and she certainly doesn’t need a house this large anyway. She wanted to give it to one of the kids who could use it. Kyle and Jenna already have a house and Jackson doesn’t need anything right now since he’s back and forth to Atlanta. She thought it would be a great place to start our marriage…”
“Well, I’m so thankful that she… wait, what?”
Before she could say another word, Aaron was on one knee right there in the kitchen.
“Tessa, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” he asked softly. She held her hand to her chest and sobbed.
“Yes, of course!” Aaron slipped the ring on her finger and stood. She hugged him tightly, still crying and laughing at the same time.
“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Tyler asked from around the corner of the bar.
“Oh, sweetie, nothing’s wrong. In fact, everything is right!” she said as she scooped him up and put him in the middle of their group hug.
Chapter 9
Brad’s days were spent desperately trying to concentrate at work while Ronni milled about doing her own work. Leaning into documents, he could smell her perfume. Watching her walk around the job site in those tight skirts and high heels. Man, her calves were divine.
He had a feeling that she was just as conflicted as he was. So far, they hadn’t given in to any of those desires at work, but the same couldn’t be said for night time. They spent every waking hour together, only breaking apart long enough to go to their separate homes to sleep.
The more he knew about her, the more he loved her. It was crazy, but maybe it was fate. Maybe she’d been the one God had planned for him all along. He just had to wait for her, and now she was here. Like a prize at the bottom of a cereal box.
But he was all too aware that she was still planning to go home at the end of this assignment. She had a life there. Friends, a job, a home. The thought pained him more than he could express in words. Maybe he would go with her? After all, his mother was hitting the road with Harrison soon. He was free to do what he wanted now that his mother would be taken care of. Why not follow her back to Cali?
Because he loved January Cove too. It was his home, and there was no place else on Earth that appealed to him as much as his hometown. He was one of those lucky souls who got to spend his life in his personal paradise.
Maybe he would ask her to stay with him? But wasn’t that way too soon? He didn’t want to scare her off, but he didn’t want to appear uncaring either.
“Hello?” Ronni said, waving her hand in front of his face as he sat at their makeshift conference table.
“Sorry. I was just…”
“Lost in thought?” she said with a giggle. “Yeah, I could see that. Everything okay?” She slid into the chair across from him and he reached across the table to hold her hands.
“I don’t want you to leave.” It was the most honest he’d ever been with any woman. Vulnerable and bare. And highly uncomfortable for him. He might as well have been naked walking down the middle of main street.
“What?”
“When this job is over. I don’t want you to leave.”
“But, Brad… I have a home in California. And my dream job…”
“And I can’t ask you to let all of that go for me. But I wanted you to know. My heart literally aches thinking about it,” he said, vulnerable yet again. Dang it. What was this woman doing to him?
She stood and walked around the table, sliding sideways onto his lap with her arms around his neck. She kissed him tenderly, the first time she’d shown that side of herself while they were on the job site.
“I don’t want to go either, Brad, but this is very new. These feelings, this thing between us… I can’t give up my whole life without knowing…”
“Don’t finish that sentence. I know it wasn’t fair of me to say that.”
She put her hands on his cheeks and smiled. “No, I’m glad you did. It was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
He returned her smile and leaned in to kiss her before hearing someone clear their throat in the doorway.
“Excuse me, love birds,” Aaron said with a low chuckle.
Ronni shot up like a rocket and Brad sighed. His stinking brothers always ruined things for him.
“Dude, you have horrendous timing,” Brad said, standing up and punching his brother in the arm.
“Well, I’m sorry. Just thought you might like to know that I wanted you to be my best man.”
“What?” Brad said, momentarily confused and still a little aroused.
“Surprise!” Tessa said, jumping out from behind the doorframe. She held out her left hand to showcase the modest diamond ring that now adorned the most important finger.
“Seriously? Wow! Congratulations, you guys!” Brad said, genuinely happy for his brother and Tessa. That woman had been through the ringer in her life, and Aaron adored her.
They spent the next few minutes hugging, the two women already discussing wedding details. Tessa wanted a fall wedding, so they were planning on early October, but they would move into the Parker home immediately.
“I’m so happy for you, Tessa,” Ronni said as the two women chatted over to the side. The brothers were laughing and talking loudly, as brothers sometimes do.
“Thank you. This has been a long time coming. I never thought I’d find a man like Aaron. Someone who would accept Tyler as his own, ya know? Such a blessing,” she said, stars seeming to leap from her eyes as she looked at him from across the room.
“Yeah. I know what you mean…” Ronni said, although she didn’t understand the full extent of it, of course. She had no children of her own, but she hoped to one day. If she ever found Mr. Right. But, wait. Maybe she had found Mr. Right.
Brad was unlike any guy she’d ever met or dated back in California. And moments ago, he was pledging his love for her and wishing she didn’t have to leave soon. Why on Earth was she saying she wanted to go home? She didn’t want to go back to California! The sudden realization almost made her run across the room into his arms, but she refrained.
“So I’m thinking that the weather will still be nice enough then… Don’t you?” Tessa asked, obviously in the middle of a sentence. Trying not to be rude, Ronni nodded along as if she’d been paying attention the whole time.
“Absolutely.”
“I know how hard it is to pay attention when one of the Parker brothers is around,” Tessa whispered as she leaned in to Ronni’s ear. Ronni smiled and started to turn red.
“I’m not even going to deny it.”
“You and Brad… you’ve really developed something quickly, huh?”
“We have,” Ronni said, beaming as if she’d just gotten engaged. “But, it’s scary, you know?”
“Of course. It was hard for me to trust again… after what had happened to me and Tyler. But sometimes you just know it’s the right thing. Being with Aaron is like… home. That’s the best way to describe it. Wherever he is, that’s home to
me.”
“Aw, baby, that was so sweet,” Aaron said as he snuck up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. Brad moved to stand beside Ronni and smiled.
“Well, we’d better go. Tyler is at Adele’s house, ‘helping her pack’. I’m sure he’s doing nothing but getting in the way!” Tessa said with a giggle. “Bye, ya’ll!”
Moments later, it was just the two of them again, and Ronni was glad because she had a plan.
“So, are you busy tonight, Mr. Parker?”
“Every night can be totally devoted to you, Miss Blair. Just agree not to go back to California…” he said in a singsongy voice as he slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead.
“Let’s not talk about that right now, okay? I just want to concentrate on the time we have together. This job is well underway, so I thought we could take the night off.”
“Oh, my boss is so nice…” he said as he kissed up her neck.
“Brad… We have to get back to work…”
“So bossy,” he said with a laugh. But he knew they had deadlines to meet, and the last thing he wanted to do was get her trouble with her bosses. Although getting her fired might spur her to move to January Cove, it probably wasn’t the best way to win her heart.
* * *
Jackson fiddled with the parts on the back of the refrigerator, mainly trying to look helpful and manly, but he had no idea what he was doing. Real estate contracts were his thing, but fixing an old refrigerator wasn’t.
“See anything that looks broken?” Rebecca asked, craning her head around the look at him.
“Well, you see this piece right here?” Jackson said, pointing to some silver piece of metal.
“Yeah…”
“I have no idea what it does.” Rebecca started laughing.
“You’re quite the handyman, Jackson Parker. Why did you pull this out like you knew what you were doing?”
Jackson stood up and walked back around to the side of the fridge that he knew how to operate. “I kind of wanted you to think I was a refrigerator repairman stud…” he said as he kissed up her neck to her ear.
“Oh… like a little role playing?” she asked. He picked her up and she squealed as he tossed her on the couch like a rag doll. She screamed and squealed so much that her new cashier ran upstairs from Jolt and banged on the door.
“Miss Rebecca, are you okay?” the teenage girl yelled.
“Yes, Olivia, I’m fine! Sorry! I just tripped over something!” Rebecca called back. Olivia quickly went back downstairs to man the coffee shop.
“Oops,” Jackson said laughing.
“You’re terrible!”
“Hey, you’re the one who screamed!”
“I love the convenience of living above my shop, but I really wish I had a place that was a little more private,” Rebecca said as she stood to head into the kitchen.
“Well, then why don’t you move?” Jackson asked as he followed her like the lovesick puppy that he was.
“You know I can’t afford that, Jackson. The shop is just starting to break even now, and this place is free.”
“You could rent it out, you know. It has that back entrance, so the tenant wouldn’t even have to come up through the shop. And you could lock the door at the bottom of the stairs so they can’t access it outside of business hours.”
“Still, I couldn’t afford renting a place right now. College is coming up soon for Leo, and I’ve got to sock away every bit of money I have until then.”
“Rebecca, would you consider moving in with me?” Jackson asked, an expectant smile on his face.
“I don’t know… That’s a big step…” Her hesitation worried him.
“Let me ask you something. Where do you see this going?” he asked, pointing between the two of them.
Rebecca sighed, then smiled and took his hands. “I can’t imagine my life without you. You know that.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Leo is like a son to me now, and I want to be here everyday. I want the last thing I see before I fall asleep every night to be your sweet face, and I want the first thing I see when I wake up to be that crazy hair of yours…”
“Way to ruin a romantic moment!” she said as she slapped him playfully on the arm.
“Seriously, though… I don’t want to push you into something you don’t want…”
“I want this,” she said softly. “It’s just scary. It’s always just been me and Leo.”
“I want to stand in the gap for you both. I want to support you in every way possible, and that includes financially. I want to help pay bills with you and help buy Christmas presents with you and help pay for Leo to go to college.”
“What are you saying, Jackson?” she asked, starting to tear up.
“I’m saying that I want to live with you and Leo, wherever that may be. Here, there or yonder.”
She smiled, suddenly a little upset that he wasn’t asking for more. Her face must have shown her disappointment.
“What?” he said. She shook her head, trying to shake off the feeling.
“Nothing. Hey, do you want chicken or fish tonight?” She got up and started rummaging through the refrigerator that was now pulled into the middle of the small kitchen. Jackson pulled her hand away from the refrigerator door and turned her to face him.
“Don’t lie to me, Rebecca,” he said, more serious now. Her eyes started watering, betraying her confidence.
“I just thought… we were heading for more… than living together.” She could barely get the words out, and she felt like such a sissy girl for saying that. She wasn’t supposed to need a man, right?
“Oh my gosh, Rebecca!” he said, grinning from ear to ear as he pulled her into a tight hug. Her arms hung by her sides, confusion probably evident in her body language alone.
“Huh?” was all she managed to say when he finally let go and continued grinning in her face.
“You want more?” he said, his own eyes starting to water too. She felt confused and tilted her head as she looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows so hard that she was probably causing premature wrinkles.
“What?” Boy, she was quite the wordsmith today.
“I want more too, sweetie. I just didn’t want to push you,” he said softly as he leaned down and looked at her eye to eye. “I want it all. Do you understand me?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes…”
“But I want you to be really sure because I know this is hard for you. The memories…”
Of course, he was referring to the memories of her first marriage ending when her husband was killed in one of the World Trade Centers on September 11.
“I know you had planned on a long, happy marriage and that got taken from you. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if you’d ever want to get married again, honey. That’s why I asked about moving in together. Not because I don’t want to make the ultimate commitment to you, Rebecca. I just wanted to respect the commitment you’d made before.”
She was so touched that she started to weep, pressing her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and let her cry. He wasn’t sure if she was crying out of sadness for what she’d lost all those years ago or crying because she was happy with him, but he just let her cry anyway. All of that could be worked out later.
* * *
Ronni waited for Brad to show up, anxious to surprise him. She’d texted him and told him to meet her at the theater knowing full well that he would complain about the location. After all, they worked there all day so the last place either of them wanted to be right now was at the Lamont.
But tonight she had something special planned, and the Lamont was the only place it could happen.
Brad finally appeared at the door wearing a pair of white cargo shorts and an aqua t-shirt. Against his tanned skin and dark hair, he looked sexier than any man she’d seen in California. Yep, those Southern boys just had something… special.
“Hey, good looking,” she said as she slid her hands around his waist an
d planted a kiss on him.
“Well, hello…” he murmured through their kiss. “Wow.”
She was stunning, wearing a tight royal blue dress that showed off all of her curves. Her high black heels accentuated her toned calves and newly tanned legs. She kept her blond hair down the way he liked it, straight and cascading over one shoulder.
“Come on. I have a surprise for you,” she said, barely able to contain her excitement.
“This isn’t the surprise?” he asked, teasing her as they walked and he pulled on the back of her dress. “Because I love this surprise…”
“I’ve been working on something this week,” she said as she leaned against the door to the theater. Brad leaned in and kissed her neck.
“Well, I’ve been working on something for the last thirty seconds,” he said, and she could feel what he’d been working on against her thigh.
“No, no, Brad Parker… Come on…” she said, pushing against the door with her hip. When they walked inside, Brad stopped in his tracks and his jaw dropped. Ronni stood there watching him, a huge grin finally overtaking his handsome face.
“What the… How did you find this?” he asked, pointing at the screen. There, in a still shot, was his favorite movie from his teenage years - “The Blue Alien” - a corny sci-fi flick that no one else liked and flopped majorly at the box office.
But for Brad, it was a masterpiece. He’d been talking about it for weeks, almost since the day they’d met. About how he’d seen it in theater B, and how his brothers had ribbed him for liking such a silly movie. About how he’d put his arm around Talia Booth and how she’d slid out from under it and changed seats.
Ronni smiled. “I had to make a lot of calls to find someone who didn’t burn the reel,” she said giggling. “I finally found a place in California who shipped it to me for a small fee.”
“Ronni, I can’t believe you did this for me. And we’re going to watch it?” he asked, his mouth still hanging open.
“Of course. Look, I have dinner and dessert,” she said, pointing to a table she’d set up in front of some seats in the middle where there was a wide enough walkway. She had a beautiful spread all set up with candles, chocolate dipped strawberries and even champagne.
