Nearest Thing to Heaven (Maverick Junction)

by Austin, Lynnette

  Sophie pouted. “Why not? I’ve never been there.”

  “Tell Ty to take you.” Seeing the instant look of regret on Sophie’s face, Maggie said, “What’s wrong, honey? Did you and Ty have a fight?”

  “No.” Sophie shook her head. “Just the opposite, actually.”

  “The opposite? Make love, not war?”

  Sophie laughed.

  Cranking the car’s stereo system down a notch, Maggie slipped in a Christmas CD. “If that’s the case, you really should be doing cartwheels today. I’m wondering why you aren’t. You gonna share?”

  “I will. A little later. A lot’s tumbling around in my head right now.”

  “Are you okay?” Annelise asked from the back seat.

  “I think so.”

  Annelise nodded, and Sophie breathed a sigh of relief, understanding both women would give her time. Would let her talk when she was ready rather than nagging her into it now while her head was a combat zone.

  The sun shone brightly. The wide open Texas sky was bluebird blue and virtually cloudless. Patches of snow still clung to a few tufts of grass along the road’s edge, but the roads themselves were clear and dry.

  The cool, forty-degree temperature made it perfect for Christmas shopping. It gave the illusion of winter without a person suffering frostbite. And as much as she missed the hustle and bustle of Chicago, she didn’t miss that frigid wind whipping off the lake.

  “By the way, Maggie, Ty says thank you very much.”

  “For?”

  “My little pink and black undies. He enjoyed them last night.”

  “Now you’re bragging.”

  “Maybe. A little.”

  Maggie’s eyes twinkled. “I think, then, a new item deserves top billing on our shopping list.”

  “Oh?”

  “Another set of tear-them-off-me-please undergarments.”

  “I don’t know.” She stared at the passing scenery. “I’m not sure there’ll be another night with him.”

  “Well, tell you what. Why don’t we think of them as an emergency pair. A just-in-case pair. Like all good scouts, we’re always prepared.”

  “You’re bad.”

  “I know.” Maggie whipped around a slow-moving car. “Isn’t it fun?”

  *

  Sophie had to hand it to the woman. Maggie knew all the best shopping places. No big stores for her. They stopped in little, hidden-away shops. And in every one, the owners greeted Maggie by name. The girls drank eggnog, ate sugar cookies decorated in red and green, and sang along with holiday music in the stores.

  And they found not one, but two absolutely perfect sets of undergarments. One was the same deep brown as her eyes. She’d never have considered that color but, after trying them on, she had to have them. The other set? Pale, pale blue. She fell in love with them. Even if she had to eat Ramen noodles for a month to cover their cost, she’d count them worth every penny.

  Maybe. If she and Ty ever got together again. If he had the chance to slowly undo the bra, peel away the panties. The dressing room’s temperature spiked ten degrees, and she smiled. Heat could be good. Real good.

  The girls’ stomachs finally cried foul, forcing them to find something other than cookies. Again, Maggie came through with flying colors. The little restaurant she pulled up to billed itself as a tea shop, but Maggie insisted they had the best salads and sandwiches in the state.

  The outside looked like a little English cottage that had been plopped down in the heart of Texas. Two steps inside, Sophie stopped and grinned. “This is fantastic!”

  “Isn’t it, though?” Maggie asked. “I found it on one of my buying trips and fell in love.”

  The floors had been hand painted to mimic garden stones, complete with ivy trailing over the stones and up stenciled trellises. Flowers rioted over the walls. With brush, paint, and a whole lot of skill, the place had been transformed into an English garden. The artist in Sophie sighed. She wished she’d been the creator of this magic.

  “The owner did all this.” Maggie waved a hand at the artwork.

  “I need to meet her.”

  “You will. She’s also the cook.”

  The lunch rush ended, and Sophie and Gail Brisbane, the owner, had a great chat over tea and dessert. Gail, familiar with Sophie’s work, couldn’t believe she was here in her shop.

  “What I do is nothing compared to this,” Sophie said.

  “And we have ourselves a mutual admiration society,” Maggie drawled.

  Everyone laughed, and they left with Sophie and Gail promising to stay in touch.

  Outside again, Maggie headed the car toward the next shopping destination.

  “So are you going to tell us, Sophie, or do I have to beat it out of you?” Annelise asked.

  “Oooh.” Maggie glanced at Annelise in the rearview mirror, one brow raised. “Now here’re some interesting family dynamics. Who’d have thought a little rich girl could be a bully?”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Annelise said. “Spill, cuz.”

  “Okay.” Sophie pulled at her seat belt, suddenly feeling hemmed in. She decided to tackle her problems one at a time and told them about the flowers first. About Nathan.

  “Did you let Ty know?” Annelise asked.

  She shook her head.

  “Tell me you called the cops.” Maggie shot her a sharp look. “Jimmy would have taken care of the problem.”

  “And tell them what? That a guy in Chicago sent me flowers, so I want them to fly up there and lock him up? Last time I checked, sending roses wasn’t against the law.”

  “No, but he’s stalking you,” Maggie persisted.

  “Not really.”

  Annelise shook her head. “You always did have your head in the clouds, Soph. You insist on looking at the silver lining and miss all the rust on the outside.”

  “That’s not true. I realize I need to keep my eye on Nathan. I made absolutely certain I locked my door when I left this morning. But I’m trying to keep things in perspective.”

  She fiddled with her sunglasses. “And speaking of that.” A big sigh escaped.

  “Here it comes,” Maggie said. “Ty.”

  “I spent yesterday with him and the boys, and we had an incredible time. We made a gingerbread house, then strung popcorn for the tree. Do you remember doing that, Annelise?”

  “Every Christmas Eve. We still do.”

  “You’re off-topic. We were talking about Ty,” Maggie reminded her.

  “Oh, boy, you’re tough.”

  “I can be tougher—and will be if you don’t spill.”

  “Geez, who’d have thought I was heading out this morning with a pair of thugs?”

  Sunglasses pushed down her nose, Maggie cut a quick glance at Sophie and scowled.

  “Okay, okay. So after we were done decorating, Babs stopped by and picked up the kids for an overnighter.”

  “Ahhh,” Annelise murmured.

  “There’s no ahhh. She thought it would be nice if Ty and I had some time alone. Went out to dinner and talked—without the distraction of triplets.”

  “Smart lady.” Maggie turned left onto a narrow two-lane road.

  “We never made it to dinner.”

  “Really?” Maggie hesitated a second, glanced back at Annelise. “I’m not sure what you know about Ty’s situation, but he hadn’t so much as dated since Julia. Until Sophie. And now, what? Second, third date?”

  “Wow, so this is pretty big,” Annelise said.

  “Maybe.”

  “Maybe?”

  “I mean, yes, it is a big step for him.” Sophie scooted in her seat so that she sat nearly sideways and could see both Maggie and Annelise. She grimaced. “I’m confused. I feel like one of those crazy women playing the daisy game. He loves me, he loves me not.”

  “Ty is a good man,” Maggie said.

  Annelise agreed. “You can fight it all you want, cuz, but it won’t help. When it happens, it happens.”

  Dread rose in S
ophie’s throat. “This, all of this, isn’t what I expected. It isn’t what I wanted.”

  Annelise smiled at her. “Join the club.”

  “But you’re happy.”

  “Yes, I am.” Annelise reached over the seat and laid a hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “I have to admit, though, that I wasn’t thrilled, either, when I first realized I was falling for Cash. This is so removed from the life I knew.”

  She sat silently for a few seconds, then added, “The place grows on you. Mel at the newspaper, Sally at the café, Stella at Sadler’s. They’re great people.”

  “I know.”

  “The thing is, Sophie, this is my life now. Cash is my life. And I’ve never, ever been happier. Sometimes you have to let go of those preconceived ideas. Let yourself wander outside the box.” Her smile grew. “It’s incredible out here, out of that box’s confines.”

  “Good advice, Annie.” Maggie shook her head. “Sometimes we hold on to the past so tightly, we don’t leave room for the future.”

  Eyes narrowed, Sophie studied her friend. Was Maggie talking about Sophie and Ty or herself and Brawley? She sure wished she knew what had happened there.

  Right now, though, she’d follow Maggie’s earlier advice and stay focused. She hesitated, wondering if she really wanted the answer to her next question. As much as she dreaded what she might hear, it had to be asked.

  “All right. So, what’s the story with Julia? I mean, there are times when Ty almost seems angry over her death. And I suppose that’s natural when someone’s taken from you way too soon. But this almost seems more than that, and he won’t really talk about her. He opened up a little bit last night, but there’s something I’m missing. Something he’s still holding back. Something important.”

  Annelise shrugged. “I can’t help you on that front. It all happened before I got here. I’ve noticed it, too, but nobody talks about it.”

  The two women looked at Maggie.

  “Even in a small town, everyone has a few secrets.” She shrugged. “It’s not my story to tell, Sophie. You’ll have to wait till he’s ready.”

  “What if he’s never ready?”

  “Then I guess you’d have your answer to the other question. The how do you know? He has to be willing to share.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of.” Sophie rubbed her forehead. “Well, if he’s putting up barriers, I have to, too. I can’t…Oh, God, I can’t give my heart to him if he can’t give his back.” Panicked, her eyes flew to Annelise’s. “I’ve already given this Texas cowboy my heart, haven’t I?”

  She laid her head back against the seat. “I’m doomed.”

  “Worse things could happen,” Maggie said.

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah. He could hand that heart back to you all minced up like chopped liver. But Ty? He won’t do that.”

  “I’m not so sure. I know he’s got the power to.”

  Maggie turned up the volume on her CD player.

  The conversation was over. Had they cut too close to the truth about Maggie and Brawley? She seemed to have everything so together. But beneath it all, did she hurt?

  Love was a strange animal.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Dusk had draped its mantle over the earth by the time she and Maggie dropped Annelise off and pulled into Dottie’s drive.

  The house threw shadows into the yard and gave the colorful gardens an almost eerie edge. Glancing up at the landing, Sophie realized she hadn’t turned on her porch light.

  “Let me walk you in.” Maggie reached for her door handle.

  Sophie shook her head. “Don’t be a ninny. I’m perfectly capable of getting myself safely inside.”

  “But with Dottie gone—”

  “I’m fine. Believe it or not, I manage quite nicely alone in Chicago. Get going. You’ll be late for that dinner with your folks if you don’t.”

  Maggie checked the car’s dashboard clock and frowned. “You sure?”

  “Positive. Now that you’re staying in Lone Tree with your grandpa, I doubt you see your mom and dad nearly as much as they’d like. Go. When I’m inside, safe and sound, I’ll flick the porch light on and off. And I’ll lock up right behind me.”

  She slid from the car, gathered her festive bags from the back seat, and held up a couple. “Good shopping trip.”

  “It was, wasn’t it?”

  “The best. Night.”

  “I’m waiting right here till I see that light flashing.”

  “Got you.” She turned and headed toward the stairs. The soft glow of the nightlight Dottie had left on in her kitchen shown through the window but did little to alleviate the darkness.

  Despite her reassurances to Maggie, she suddenly felt uneasy. “Silly,” she mumbled. Tonight was no different from any other night.

  It was those damn flowers. The e-mails and phone calls. They’d planted crazy thoughts in her head and left her spooked. Exactly what Nathan had intended. Next time she saw him, she’d give him a good piece of her mind.

  Anger seeped in to replace worry.

  Cursing herself for forgetting to leave the porch light on that morning, she set her packages down on the landing and fished in her purse. She fumbled with her key ring and finally found the right one.

  She unlocked the door, and it creaked open. Tomorrow, she promised, she’d oil the hinges. Dropping her bags on the kitchen counter, she flashed the porch light. On, off. Then she locked the kitchen door and watched through the window as Maggie backed out of the drive and headed to her folks’.

  What a wonderful day!

  A small sound behind her broke the silence. Her heart hammered so hard she thought it would explode. Then, relieved, she remembered she didn’t live alone anymore. That would take some getting used to.

  “Hey, Lilybelle.” She half-turned toward the sound.

  “That your cat’s name?”

  Nathan. Every ounce of blood drained from her body. Run! Run! her mind screamed.

  Her feet refused to cooperate. It was as though she stood on flypaper, waiting to be gathered up and tossed away. The hair on her nape stood on end.

  Her hand dove into her pocket for the phone she prayed was there rather than in her purse. She’d call for help. Ty, Annie, the police. Anyone!

  Before she could pull it free, his hand clamped over her mouth. Her eyes flew wide as she found herself dragged back against him, clawing and kicking.

  Reflected in the kitchen window over the sink, Nathan Richards glared at her.

  Oh, God.

  *

  Restless, Ty considered calling Sophie. He missed her. Today was her day with the girls though, so he dialed Brawley instead.

  “What are you doing?” he asked when Brawley answered.

  “Not much. I’ve put in a long day here with Doc Gibson. Or rather at Doc Gibson’s. He left early this afternoon. The man can’t keep up with this practice, Ty.”

  “I know, and I don’t have the foggiest idea what we’ll do without him.”

  “You bored?”

  “I am. The kids are sawing logs, and I’ve been around the TV dial ten times now.”

  “It’s Sophie.”

  Ty grunted in response.

  “You know it is.”

  Because they’d been friends forever, he said, “Yeah, guess so.”

  “I’m gonna stop at her place on my way home. I ordered an ID tag for her cat’s collar. Thought I’d drop it off, surprise her. Anything you want me to tell her?”

  “What? Like passing a note in seventh-grade study hall? Jeez, Brawley, I think we’re past that, don’t you?”

  He could almost hear his friend thinking. Finally, he said, “Nope. Don’t know that we are.”

  “Well, maybe you’re not, but I sure as hell am.”

  “Okay, that’s fine. I’ll tell her you didn’t want to say hey.”

  “Now you’re being a jerk.”

  “Probably. Want to grab a beer at Bubba’s and talk about it? You think Haley’l
l keep an eye on the kids?”

  “I’m sure she will. I have a standing invitation for that. I’ll give her a call and meet you at Bubba’s in, what? Thirty, forty minutes?”

  “Better make it closer to an hour. I need to clean up here, then make that stop at Sophie’s. I’m gonna check Lilybelle’s leg while I’m there.”

  Ty hung up, still on edge. His gut was telling him something was wrong.

  *

  Panic ripped through Sophie. What did Nathan want? Why was he hiding in her darkened apartment?

  Then a wave of relief surged through her that Maggie hadn’t come upstairs. Who knew what Nathan would have done? Although she couldn’t believe he’d actually hurt her…or anyone for that matter. A harmless pest, right?

  No, she couldn’t buy that anymore.

  He’d followed her clear to Texas. Broke into her apartment. He’d crossed a line. A huge one.

  She nearly gagged when he started to drop wet kisses on the back of her neck, in her hair. She struggled against his hold, but one arm wrapped around her waist like a steel band while his other hand covered the lower half of her face.

  This wasn’t the Nathan she knew. This was a darker, dangerous Nathan. Would either of Dottie’s elderly neighbors hear her if she screamed? Maybe. But then she’d put them at risk.

  “I’ve missed you, Sophie. Why’d you stay away so long?”

  She tried to talk, but his hand held fast.

  “I don’t want to hurt you. I love you.”

  Her heart thudded in her chest. This was like something out of a bad movie. But it was real. She smelled stale sweat. Felt his breath on her neck.

  “You didn’t take my phone calls. Didn’t call to thank me for mailing your package.” He chuckled. “I need to thank Dee again for that. I’d never have found you without her help. Damned uppity Madison wouldn’t say boo.”

  His head swiveled right, then left. “Did you like my flowers? I don’t see them.”

  Again, Sophie mumbled, praying he’d remove his hand. Barely able to breathe, she struggled to remain conscious. Maybe if she quit fighting, he’d lower his guard.

  Willing herself to go completely limp, she relaxed her muscles and went lax against him.

  “There you go, Sophie. Knew you’d be glad to see me, but I scared you, didn’t I? Wasn’t me you were fighting. You thought some stranger had sneaked into your house. Made myself a copy of that spare key you hid under your planter.”