Take Me Back To Texas

by Amy Lillard

He shook his head. “You were lucky to have her.”

  Mallory mumbled something unintelligible, then turned her attention back to her barely touched breakfast.

  He pulled the coupons from the Gazette and laid them to the side. He’d been doing the same thing for years, separating the paper so that Rosie could clip the ones she would use when she went shopping. He liked his life just the way it was. Why did it have to go changing on him now?

  ****

  Attending church with JD and Mallory was almost like stepping back in time. The building smelled the same, like furniture polish, new carpet, and the lilies at the altar.

  And just as she thought, it was too intimate by far.

  They garnered quite a few whispers as they made their way up the aisle to find their seats in the third pew from the front.

  Elizabeth said hello to those around her and thankfully no one was tactless enough to outright ask if they were back together. The whole town knew he was working on her grandmother’s house and that Elizabeth now lived in California and was putting the house up for sale. Surely they were smart enough to read between the lines.

  She enjoyed sitting sandwiched between Mallory and JD as she listened to the young preacher, sang hymns that brought back memories of her grandmother and happy times in Texas.

  All too soon, they had the closing prayer and were dismissed. The congregation milled around, folks she hadn’t seen since she had been back in Loveless stopping to say hello and asking how long she would be in town.

  “I’m leaving Tuesday,” she told Mrs. Waters who lived across the street from the candy colored Victorian. She had told the little old lady the same thing yesterday and the day before, but she couldn’t seem to get her head around it.

  The sweet woman was Holly Carter’s grandmother, and Elizabeth wondered if her friend knew how she was struggling with her memory. Elizabeth made a mental note to call her friend before she left to make sure she was aware.

  “That’s him right?” JD’s question broke through her musings. He nodded toward Jeremy and an older woman, presumably his grandmother.

  “Yeah,” Mallory mumbled.

  “I think I should go over there and have a little chat with him.”

  Mallory stomped one foot. “Dad. Don’t.”

  “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t.” He crossed his arms and shot her that ‘father look’ Elizabeth had seen on her daddy’s face too many times to count.

  “Because you’ll embarrass me.”

  JD raised one dark brow. Not exactly a persuasive argument, but the option was taken from him as Jeremy spotted them and walked over.

  “Can I uh…talk to you for a second?” he asked Mallory.

  To her credit, she adopted a cool, mature expression as she pushed her hair back over one shoulder and turned toward Jeremy. She looked back at her father and Bethie Grace once before responding, “Anything you have to say can be said in front of my family.”

  Elizabeth’s heart soared at being called one of the family, but she squashed that reaction. She couldn’t get used to it.

  He nodded, but shuffled around and stared at his feet. “Did you get my text?”

  Mallory shook her head. “My dad has my phone.”

  “Listen,” he started. “I heard what Joni did to you yesterday and…well, I had nothing to do with it. Me and the guys were at the movie. I kept waiting for you.” He shrugged. “You never showed, and when Deb Campbell told me what Joni had done…I went out to the river, but you weren’t there.”

  “You came to find me?” Mallory’s voice flowed like melted butter.

  Jeremy nodded.

  Elizabeth cut her gaze to JD who seemed not to notice. Or maybe he was pretending not to.

  “I mean, Bethie Grace came to get me.” Mallory stiffened her voice and raised one brow as if to prove her indifference.

  “I truly am sorry,” Jeremy said.

  “It’s not your fault.” Mallory tucked her hair behind one ear.

  “Maybe we could meet at the movies sometime.”

  JD cleared his throat as if about to say something. Elizabeth laid a hand on his arm. The muscles were tense and hard beneath her fingers but to his credit, he relaxed a bit.

  Mallory turned her eyes to Elizabeth. She didn’t say a word waiting for the teen to handle the problem on her own. “I don’t think so,” she finally said.

  “I understand,” he said. “I really am sorry.” He turned toward JD and reached out a hand to shake.

  A nerve in JD’s jaw jumped, but he clasped the boy’s hand in his and gave it a hard pump. Then Jeremy backed up a couple of steps, then turned and headed toward his waiting grandmother.

  Bethie Grace wrapped one arm around Mallory and hugged her close. “I’m very proud of you,” she said where only the teen could hear.

  Mallory squeezed her hand and gave a small smile. “I realize now that I have a little bit of growing up to do.”

  “A little bit?” Elizabeth asked with a chuckle.

  “Okay, a lot.” She held her hand a bit tighter. “Thanks, Bethie Grace. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  Something else flashed through her mind. You would have done something else.

  She returned Mallory’s smile with one of her own. “Glad I could be there for you,” she said, meaning every word.

  She released the girl and turned to find JD staring at her, the light in his eyes unidentifiable.

  ****

  JD pulled his truck into Georgia McGee’s drive and killed the engine. He’d left Mallory at home in order to bring Bethie Grace back to her house. Now he wondered just how much time he had with her before Mal sent out a search party.

  “Are you coming in?” Bethie Grace asked.

  “Of course.” He wanted to spend time with her. Wanted her by his side, but he knew all too soon she would be leaving Loveless for good.

  He made his way around and opened her door, then followed her up the porch steps.

  “I thought I told you to lock the doors,” JD admonished as she let them into the house.

  She pulled an apologetic face. “Habit, I guess.”

  “You better get a handle on that before you get back to the big city,” he said, moving past her and into the living room. He perched on the edge of the couch and waited for her to join him.

  He wasn’t exactly comfortable talking about her leaving. He knew it was coming, but he couldn’t help thinking that she was making a mistake. She belonged in Loveless just as much as he did.

  “You don’t have to leave you know.” Who said that?

  “What?” She let her purse strap slide from her shoulder, then she tossed the bag on the bureau.

  “Why are you so adamant about leaving?”

  She sank down into the loveseat opposite him and eyed him warily. As if he were somehow a danger to her. “My life is in LA. My job, my car, my apartment.”

  “Aren’t those all just things?”

  She drew back as if he had threatened her. “I would hardly call my job ‘just a thing.’”

  “That’s not what I meant.” His hold on this conversation was slippery at best.

  “Then what did you mean?”

  He shrugged. “Ginger needs help at the bakery. You did a good job there. Why not stay and—”

  She shook her head before he had even finished. “I’ve worked really hard to build my reputation in the culinary world.”

  “And scones are beneath you?” When had this turned into an argument?

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “What then? What’s so terrible about Loveless?”

  Her brown eyes locked on his. “There’s nothing for me here.”

  His heart stilled in his chest. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

  “Me either.”

  He reached out and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. She melted into him, pressing against him as his mouth moved over hers.

  The kiss was poignant, and he wanted it to last for
ever. He knew it couldn’t. They both did, which made it all the more bittersweet.

  He trailed little kisses from the corner of her mouth, down the column of her throat, and to the pulse beating at the base of her neck.

  She tilted her head back allowing him better access to her soft, sweet skin. A tiny moan slipped from her lips as he nipped at her collarbone.

  He wanted her. It was that simple. Well, he wished it was.

  He released her lips to take her hand and led her up the stairs to her attic room.

  No words were needed as he slowly undressed her, kissing every inch of skin he exposed as he stripped her down and laid her on the bed.

  He wanted to tell her how much he loved her. That somehow everything would work out, but the words stuck in his throat.

  He shucked his clothes, tossing them to the floor in his haste to join her on the squeaky iron bed. He kissed his way from her lips to her toes, telling her without words that he cherished her. And when he entered her, she wrapped herself around him, answering his call.

  He held back his desperation, tempering his need. Yet with each thrust, thoughts of her staying in Loveless, staying with him, in his bed, forever, kept coming back to him. Kept whirling into his mind, pushing him to brand her to him, showing her everything they could be together. Always.

  He could think of nothing else as he gave one last thrust pushing them both over the edge of ecstasy.

  Sweat glistened on his skin as the last of the tremors subsided. He pulled her close, rolling to the side, to collapse with her half sprawled on top of him. She was as breathless as he was.

  Words of forever pounded through his veins as he tried to get his heart rate and his thoughts under control.

  “That was—” she started.

  “Yeah,” he agreed pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

  Her phone chirped from the bedside table.

  She jumped as if she had been poked in the side and reached for it.

  “Hello? Yes. Oh, hi, Margie.” Her gaze caught his and held. “It’s been a busy couple of days around here.”

  Who was Margie? He hadn’t heard her talk about any of the people she knew in California. Perhaps that was why he was having such a tough time letting her go. What really waited for her in Los Angeles?

  “I did? That’s fantastic.”

  He continued to monitor her. Her voice held anything but a note of excitement.

  “I will. Uh-huh,” she continued. “Tomorrow. Okay, see you then. Bye.”

  As she hung up the phone, his heart started to pound once again. His mouth went dry, and the words of forever turned to ash.

  “The loan went through,” she said. “The bistro is mine.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “That’s terrific.” Despite the sinking feeling in his stomach, he pulled her back to him and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close for too brief a moment, then released her. He had to before he decided to never let her go.

  “Yeah,” she said with a stiff nod. “It’s what I’ve been waiting for.” She stood, wrapping the sheet around her. Suddenly she seemed anxious to get dressed.

  “Yeah,” he repeated. He stood and found his jeans, pulling them on as he searched for his shoes. “We should go out to dinner to celebrate.”

  She bobbed her head in response. “That’d be great.”

  “You want us to swing by and pick you up?”

  “Sure.”

  When had the conversation turned so awkward?

  He swooped down and as if he couldn’t resist, planted a quick kiss on her cheek. “See ya about seven,” he said, then let himself out of the house.

  ****

  Elizabeth watched JD pull away from the front window of the rambling Victorian. As if sensing her gaze, he paused and waved before heading back down Lady Bird Lane.

  She had the loan. Oui Café was hers. This was what she had been waiting for, dreaming of, so why didn’t she feel on top of the world?

  It had just been a day, she told herself as she slipped her phone back into her purse.

  But how long could she stay in Loveless before their stunted relationship got the better of her? A month? Maybe two. How could she stand to see him every day and know that all they had between them now was all they would ever have?

  And what of her career?

  The idea of working at the bakery with her friend sounded intriguing indeed. She had loved helping the customers, even if the cash register had her wanting to pull out her hair. It had been fun serving the good people of Loveless, people she hadn’t seen in a number of years. She had enjoyed the slower pace, the familiar faces and the general feeling of community. But that didn’t mean she belonged here.

  She shook her head at her fanciful thoughts. What she had told JD was true: she had a life in LA, definitely different than the one she had been living the last couple of weeks here in Texas, but it was her life. Her real life. And it was time she got back to it.

  ****

  “I’m home,” he called as he entered the house. “Mallory?”

  “In here,” came the muffled reply.

  He found Rosie and Mallory sitting at the kitchen table, a plate of cookies resting between them.

  “This looks serious,” he said, glancing from one of them to the other. He snatched a cookie to give his hands something to do.

  “Sit down, mijo. We have something we want to talk to you about.”

  “Oh.” He bit the cookie in half and pulled out a chair. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like where this was going. “What’s up?” he asked, looking at each one of them in turn.

  Mallory caught his gaze and frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me Rosie was moving?”

  To her credit she sounded a lot less like a petulant teenager and more like a hurt young adult.

  “I…” he stammered. “I thought maybe I could change her mind.”

  Rosie shook her head. “I’m sorry, Johnny. This is something I need to do for myself.”

  A lump formed in his throat. “I know.” He gave a little cough to clear it.

  “I’ll stay through the end of next week. That’ll give me plenty of time to pack.”

  “Which means she’ll still be here through the last day of school,” Mallory added.

  And once summer hit, what was he going to do with his headstrong daughter?

  “That should give you some time to make arrangements for Mallory.”

  Technically she was able to stay by herself, but after this weekend’s debacle, he wasn’t sure if the idea was sound.

  Mallory reached over and squeezed his arm. She had never known life without Rosie, for that matter he could barely remember a time when she wasn’t part of his family. She had joined the Carmichael household just after his mother died. He had been eight and more than a little confused about death and the impact it was having on his life. His dad was sad, but seemed determined to keep his son’s life as normal as possible.

  “I’m going to miss you,” Mallory said, her voice thick.

  Rosie reached out and covered Mallory’s hand with one of her own. “I’ll come visit when I can.”

  But he knew how few and far between those visits would be. Everyone had good intentions, but life seemed to always get in the way.

  “We can go out there some,” he added, willing his words to be the truth.

  Mallory smiled, though her eyes were filled with unshed tears. “That would be great.”

  Rosie nodded.

  These ladies represented two of the most important people in his life. The only one missing was Bethie Grace. What he wouldn’t give for things to be different and for her to be sitting there with them, planning out trips for the future.

  “Enough sadness.” JD stood and pulled them to their feet. “We’ve got just enough time for a game of Scrabble before we have to go pick up Bethie Grace.”

  Normally Mallory would have protested at playing a game that was too much like homework, but they both knew it was Rosie’s favori
te. For once, Mallory Jane was more interested in doing something for someone else than she was for herself.

  His little girl was definitely growing up.

  ****

  Just before seven, Elizabeth answered a knock at her door. JD stood on the other side looking even more handsome than he had that very afternoon. What a fool she had been to think she could make love with him and then walk away. A naïve fool. Mallory stood next to her father, expectantly peeking around her.

  “Hey, Bethie Grace.” Mallory’s smile was infectious. “Can I come in and see the house? Dad talks about it so much, I want to see it for myself.”

  Perhaps the last thing she expected from a young teen, but then again, there was something special about Georgia McGee’s house.

  “Sure. Make yourself at home. I just need a minute more.” She gestured toward the couch as they maneuvered around the stacks of cardboard boxes.

  She headed back up the stairs to the second floor bathroom as JD started pointing out things to his daughter.

  A little brush of mascara, another swipe at her hair, and she would be done.

  The father daughter pair was in the kitchen when she made it back downstairs. “Are you ready to go?” she asked.

  They looked at each other, then turned their attention back to her.

  “You aren’t ready to go?”

  “I thought it might be fun to stay in. You know, the restaurants are going to be busy with the after church crowd and…” She trailed off with an innocent smile.

  Elizabeth was sure this was some type of match-making ploy on Mallory’s part, but JD didn’t seem to mind.

  He shrugged.

  “I could cook something here,” Bethie Grace said.

  “That sounds like a great idea.” Mallory clapped her hands together. “We can go shopping. Will you make a list?”

  “Sure,” she said. “But first you need to figure out what you want to eat.”

  “Pork chops,” Mallory said emphatically. “Scalloped potatoes, corn on the cob, and those yeast rolls from the freezer section.”

  “It’s okay for you to take your time and give it some thought,” JD said dryly.

  She shot him a cheesy grin. “I’m good.”

  “Got it,” Elizabeth said.

  “That’s too much,” JD protested, but she had already pulled out a pen and paper and started a list. “Bethie, you can’t make all of that.”