by Amy Lillard
Finally she got it open, but JD was there as well.
“Elizabeth.” He laid a hand on her shoulder.
She stopped, but she didn’t turn around. Because if she did she would once again dissolve into him.
The events—everything—from that summer should be left safely in the past. They were two different people now. They had different lives. They’d had their chance, and it was over. They could not pick up where they had left off. Now not. Not ever.
“I—” he started, but she couldn’t let him finish.
Still facing the car, she shook her head. “Don’t say anything else.”
And this time when she made the move to leave, he let her go.
Chapter Four
JD quietly let himself into the house, not at all surprised to see the flicker of the television despite the fact it was almost eleven o’clock at night. Everybody in his house was an early to bed kind of person. Ten—ten fifteen max—and everyone was well on their way to dreamland. Only Bethie Grace McGee could keep him out this late. That in turn had Rosie dozing in front of the TV set waiting for him to come home.
He hated to wake her, and yet he couldn’t leave her there until morning.
“Rosie.” He gently shook her shoulder. “Rosie.” This time a little harder. Harder still until she blinked her eyes open and blustered as if she had been awake the entire time.
“Johnny, you’re home.” She pushed herself up a little higher in the armchair. “I was just watching Andy Griffith.”
“Uh-huh.” He knew full well that if he said otherwise a war would ensue on how she was not asleep and not waiting up for him.
He smiled to himself. She was the closest thing to a mother he had. And she was the only person except for his father who was allowed to call him Johnny.
“Mallory get all of her homework done?”
Rosie nodded. “That girl. She’s too smart for her own good. And too pretty too, I think. You should lock her up now and keep her that way until she turns eighteen.”
Or thirty. “She’s a handful all right.”
“You shouldn’t have to work such late nights, Johnny.”
He agreed, but tonight wasn’t about business. He’d wanted to go somewhere and be alone, to sort through this afternoon with Bethie Grace. He should have known that in a town the size of Loveless he would run into her. Her first night in town, he should have known her friends would want to take her out. Since there was only one nighttime hangout in their one-horse town, he should have known she would be at Barney’s.
So why was he there?
He only had one answer.
He wanted to see her. Deep down inside, he didn’t feel like things were over between them. That was why he needed to stay as far away from her as possible. After all, he had Mallory to think about. Yet he’d kissed Bethie Grace like there was no tomorrow.
“Mijo,” Rosie started. “Sit down. I want to talk to you about something.”
Now? “Uh, sure.” JD perched on the edge of the sofa, not knowing why he suddenly felt so guilty.
“My sister called from New Mexico. She’s having a surgery next week, and I want to fly out there and help take care of her while she gets better.”
“You’re coming home though, right?” Something in her tone made him think otherwise. Maybe it was the seriousness in her dark eyes or the grim, yet vulnerable, slant of her mouth.
“That is what I really wanted to talk to you about. You see, she has this room in the back of her house—”
“Like the one you have here.”
Rosie nodded. “But this would be for me alone.”
“Are you unhappy here, Rosie?”
“No, no,” she said. “But I’m thinking maybe it’s time for me to move back with my family, Johnny. Your father was a good man, and he was good to me. You are a good man, and you are good to me. But I have nothing of my own here.”
That was ridiculous, but he managed not to say as much. “Of course you do.” He considered the house they lived in just as much her home as his. What was it about his world that made it pick today to completely fall apart?
“Listen, Rosie. I’ve got a big day tomorrow. Can we talk about this later?” Maybe later she would be able to see how she belonged in Loveless just as much as he did. “Why don’t you go out for the surgery, and we’ll play it by ear from there.”
She didn’t look happy, but JD knew she couldn’t refuse him anything except for seconds on dessert. Somehow he’d talk her into staying. He owed her that much.
“You will take me to the airport on Friday?” Rosie asked.
“You know I will.” He rose and pulled her to her feet, watching as she made her way down the hallway. “Good night,” he called after her.
“Buenos noches,” she said as she disappeared into her room.
JD let out the breath he had been holding. He shook his head and tried not to examine it too closely as he made his way to Mallory’s room.
Cautiously, he opened the door and peeked inside the pale pink and lavender room that his daughter called her own space. Only at night when she was asleep did he venture into this study of girlie. Ruffles and flowers with flowers and ruffles accented with softball and soccer trophies. She got her mother’s femininity and his athleticism. It was a winning combination, and JD dreaded the day when she started to date. As Rosie had said, Mallory was too smart for her own good and too pretty for his peace of mind.
His baby girl was sleeping on her side, one hand dangling over the edge of the bed. Her pink cell phone lay on the floor as if she had been talking, then just drifted off, letting it fall where it might.
He wanted to go over and kiss her one more time, feel her soft cheek beneath his lips, but he didn’t want to disturb her. So instead he blew her a kiss and quietly shut the door.
With her sleep needs taken care of and Rosie on her way to bed, JD headed to the master bedroom. It was late, and he had an early day ahead of him. How he was going to get any sleep was a mystery. Bethie Grace’s scent was all around him. Not just that designer perfume she wore, but her. That smell had clung to him for years. Tortured him later when he realized what would never be.
With a small sigh he shut the door behind him crossing the room to the bench that sat at the foot of the bed.
He’d had the room redone a couple of years ago, and now it served him well for rest and sanctuary. Walls painted a washed out version of the Caribbean Sea, sand colored carpet, and bedding of rich dark chocolate. The bedroom had been designed to be peaceful and calming, and right now that was just what he needed.
He’d hired Holly Carter, one of Bethie Grace’s best friends in high school, to update both this room and Georgia McGee’s house.
Bethie Grace McGee’s house, he corrected. The house she was going to sell, the house that the pair of them had practically grown up in.
JD loved the old house. He had been thinking about buying it, but after seeing Bethie Grace in it today, he wasn’t sure there was a room without ghosts. He had enough of those to last a lifetime.
He pulled off his boots and his shirt, then headed for the bathroom. First a shower to cleanse her scent from him, then he’d lie down and try to sleep.
With any luck, he could forget tonight as easily as she had forgotten him all of those years ago.
****
Elizabeth woke with a start, sitting bolt upright, covers falling around her hips. She blinked a couple of times looking around, trying to gain her bearings. Sunlight streamed through uncovered dormer windows. Dust particles floated in the beams. Hardwood floors, a headless dress mannequin, and Eldon McGee’s steamer trunk from WWII.
Then she remembered.
She was in Texas, in Loveless, in the attic of her grandmother’s old house. On the creaky old wrought iron bed that had once been painted white but was now peeling so badly it could barely be called shabby chic.
JD Carmichael kissed her last night.
A dull pain pounded behind Elizabeth’s eyes.
She flopped to her stomach and pulled the covers over her head to block out the accusing sunlight.
Being in her grandmother’s house after all these years was both poignant and haunting. When she’d arrived back at the house the night before, she’d climbed the stairs to the third floor attic room and crawled underneath the covers.
Not that going to bed right away did anything for her. She’d tossed and turned long into the night, playing and replaying the scene in the parking lot until she had rewritten it in her mind six ways to Sunday.
She’d kissed JD, and it was even better than she remembered.
With a low growl, she flung the covers back and kicked them to the foot of the bed. She needed to get up, get going with her day, and not let her mind wander to the ‘what might have beens’.
Before she could so much as set her feet onto the planked wood floors, a sound rattled up from below. She stopped, cocked her head, and listened again.
What was it JD had said last night? Loveless wasn’t as safe as it used to be?
She shook her head. She was just being paranoid. All thanks to JD.
She slipped from the bed. The noise sounded again.
There was someone in the house.
Her heart leapt into her throat, and her mouth went instantly dry.
She grabbed the nearest thing she could find, and as quietly as she could, she eased down the stairs.
The sounds became easier to identify as she hit the second story landing. Someone was rifling through cabinets. Opening drawers and pilfering. No doubt positive the house was empty.
She crept closer to the door, a million options whirling around in her head. She should call the sheriff, JD, somebody, anybody but instead, she crept toward the violated room—the kitchen—her weapon trembling in her hands. Cautiously she pushed open the door to the kitchen.
A man stood next to the counter, a tall man.
She raised her weapon to strike if he came nearer. Instead, she almost dropped it as he turned to face her.
“JD,” she yelled, the parasol she held clattering to the tiles beneath her feet.
He looked at the frilly umbrella, then back to her face. “You were expecting someone else?”
“What are you doing here?” She clamped a hand to her chest where her heart beat out of control.
“I work here.” He shot her a rueful smile.
“I-I…” She stopped. “I didn’t know you would be here.”
“Where else would I be?” His gaze dropped to somewhere below her chin.
She glanced down at herself, only then realizing that a thin layer of lace and satin hid her from his navy gaze. Her robe was upstairs laying uselessly across the foot of her bed. Why, oh why, had she felt the need to sleep in something sexy and decadent? Why couldn’t she have packed a stained pair of yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt?
She crossed her arms, blocking as much of his view as she could.
A smile twitched at his lips, but he managed to keep it in check. Then he raised a brow as if expecting her to answer.
What was the question again?
Where else would he be?
“At another job? Or home, or…I don’t know.” She flicked one hand around, then realizing she was giving him visual access to her uhum…She wrapped her arm around herself once again.
Like he hadn’t seen it before. Many times before.
“Well, this is my primary job right now, and I thought you might like some breakfast.” He held up a paper sack and two to-go cups of coffee. “Unless you’re still planning on shading me to death.”
He sat the coffee on the table and picked up the parasol.
“You brought me breakfast?” she asked.
“Just a muffin from Cupcakes.”
“Ginger’s bakery?”
He nodded.
Elizabeth shifted from one foot to the other, trying to decide if she should sit down as if nothing were amiss or get her butt back upstairs and as far away from JD as humanly possible.
“Are you going to eat?” He nodded toward the chair directly in front of her.
“JD, I—”
He sighed and propped his hands on his hips. “Stop making this so complicated.”
“I’m not making it anything. It is complicated.” She spun on her heel. “I’m going to get dressed.” Better than standing there half-naked and wanting to jump his bones while being so angry with him she could spit. Why could he still do this to her after all of these years?
He was still right where she left him when she returned to the kitchen fifteen minutes later. At least now she felt a little more in control. At least now she was dressed and expecting him when she rounded the corner.
“I waited for you,” he said as she picked her way across the room.
She eyed the to-go cup of coffee and felt herself cave. She had been too distracted yesterday and hadn’t remembered to get coffee when she was at the store. As much as she heard about Cupcakes last night, she was eager to try one of Ginger’s creations.
How she wanted to just sit down across from JD and let the past go. And not even for the coffee. She thought she had made her peace years ago, but seeing JD made all the heartbreak rise to the surface.
With a resigned sigh, she pulled back a chair and sat down. She didn’t miss the smile that flashed across JD’s lips as he pulled out his own seat.
They sat in silence for a few moments. Elizabeth had to admit that the muffin was fantastic. Not that she was surprised, Ginger had been the one to get them all through Home Ec.
“Just so you know the painter will be here first thing Friday,” JD finally said.
“Okay. Good,” Elizabeth replied.
“I don’t want you to be alarmed when he arrives.”
She nodded. “And you will be…?” She held her voice steady as if it didn’t matter to her one way or the other where he might be. But it did. In more ways than one.
“I have another project to oversee.” JD smiled, but the action didn’t reach his eyes. “I hired a decorator to help with the painting and such. Well, it’s Holly Carter.”
“Yeah?”
“She really knows her stuff, but you might want to make some adjustments. After we eat, I’ll show you the samples she’s chosen.”
Elizabeth shook her head. That wasn’t why she was here. “I’m sure whatever she’s picked out will be fine.” Being back in her grandmother’s house without her grandmother there was a chore in itself. She was still adjusting to the ghosts around her; paint color would have to be someone else’s job. Who better to leave it to than her long ago friend?
“I was thinking, maybe you should call your brothers and sisters and have them come help.”
He hadn’t even finished the suggestion before Elizabeth spoke. “Everyone’s so busy these days. I’ll do it.”
“Maybe they would want to help.”
“Maybe,” she murmured, but their father had left the house to her. She should be the one to take care of it.
“Suit yourself.” He took the last bite of his muffin, licked his fingers, and stood. Elizabeth watched as he gathered the wrappers from their breakfast and threw them in the trash.
He shifted from one foot to the other. For the first time since she’d returned he didn’t appear so confident. “About last night…”
She shook her head. “Last night was—” she hesitated. Amazing. “A momentary lapse of sanity.”
He looked almost hurt, then the emotion disappeared. “Right,” he said, the one word clipped. He gave her a quick nod, then started for the back of the house.
He stopped and turned back to face her. “There’s…there’s not much that I can offer these days—”
She shook her head. “I don’t—”
“Just hear me out. I can’t offer you much. And you don’t owe me anything, but can we at least be friends?”
“Friends.” She mulled over the word as if it were as foreign as Chinese.
JD met her gaze, his steady and true. “I�
��m not going to say that I deserve your forgiveness or that we should let bygones be bygones, or any of that horse manure people say, but since we’re going to be working in the house together for the next couple of weeks, it’d be best if we could at least get along.”
The next couple of weeks? She almost choked.
“You’re right,” she finally managed. What else could she say? She had forgiven him long ago. She had to in order to move forward with her life. Despite the poignant memories that floated around them, JD was part of her past. Not her future. And that was something she’d do well to remember.
“I’ll try to stay out of your way today, but if you need anything, let me know.” Then he turned on his heel and started through the house.
She watched him go, a hitch in her breath.
She didn’t want to be JD’s friend. There was too much hurt that stretched between them. Hurt she thought she’d buried long ago. But what else was there?
It didn’t really matter. She had a life in LA, a career to return to. And she would, just as soon as she got the call. As soon as she got the loan.
It was her dream come true, a posh little French bistro on the edge of Hollywood, where the pains and the ghosts of the past couldn’t reach her.
Despite her success, she couldn’t keep her thoughts from drifting back. Once upon a time, even in this very room, she’d expected her life would be different. She would marry JD, have a ton of babies, and live the small town life. It had been the stuff of her dreams.
Back then things had been different. She had been different. Another girl. The saucy cheerleader who wasn’t concerned about anything more urgent than whether or not she had the right color of lip gloss in her purse.
Bygones aside, Elizabeth had the feeling JD could be working in the next county, and she would know precisely where he was.
****
As promised, JD stayed well out of her way, and just as she had known she would, she knew exactly where he was. All. Day. Long.
She had begun her day by sorting through the closets. She started with the linen closet and worked her way through the house, saving her grandmother’s things for last. She knew it would be the hardest to sort. She gathered everything that she could into plastic bags and labeled them to go to charity.
