High heels clattering on the sidewalk with every step she took toward the newspaper office, she walked so fast her long earrings slapped against her cheeks. She didn’t dare pause to give herself time to change her mind. Advertising for new clients would put her decision in writing for everyone to ser. If she failed now, it would become public knowledge, but she had to try.
When she met Mr. Grange halfway down the block, she uttered a brisk, “Good morning,” and kept walking. She had reached the street corner before the barber’s mumbled words, ‘Precious, just precious’ registered in her brain.
One thing she knew for certain, the barber wasn’t talking about J.T. Knight. No one could call him precious. Teeth clenching, chest heaving, Edee ignored the spring blossoms opening to the warm April sun, and tuned out the happy songs of birds enjoying the deep blue sky. All around her, the season revealed energy and beauty, but she heard only the words circling in her head.
You have a couple of days before you need to get out.
And that was after he had taken back his offer of a job. J.T. Knight had waltzed in her office, wearing jeans that fit like a second skin and ripped her world apart.
She had promised she would join her grandmother’s business. Now, it was up to her to save the business and prove she could take care of herself. She didn’t need the extra expense of finding a new office.
Why couldn’t J.T. Knight buy another building? Why did a man as easy-going as J.T. buy an office building, anyway?
Questions…and more questions filled her head so her brain was in a spin by the time she shoved through the door to the newspaper office and handed over her ad over to advertising.
Drained from the tension that had taken over her emotions since J.T. had left her office, she turned determined steps toward the diner, her pink skirt swishing in the soft breeze.
“What for you, hon?” Stella called as Edee rushed in.
“I need a Pepsi.” Edee flopped in the booth, as Stella zipped away. A tall soft drink would cool her down. But what was she going to do about the office?
“What’s wrong, hon?” Stella demanded as she slipped in the booth.
Fighting the urge to bawl like a baby, Edee blinked hard and muttered. “I’ve been evicted.”
“Who would do such a thing?” Gum pop, pop, popped. “I know the owner of that building. He hasn’t changed anything in thirty years.”
“He sold the building.”
“Who’s the new owner?”
Edee took a swill from the straw. “J.T. Knight.”
“J.T. bought the Beasley building?” Snap, pop, pop.
Edee nodded, but managed to stop the flow of words wanting to tumble from her lips. Pauline Morgan’s advice from days earlier came back to her. Live your own life, girl.
She was trying to live her own life.
Okay, so she was trying to fill her grandmother’s role.
But J.T. had ruined everything.
Oh, it wasn’t his fault that the bookkeeping service was dwindling, but he was the one forcing her to let go the past and move on.
Pauline’s words rang with truth, and so did Stella’s advice to, Let go the past.
Could she work from home and concentrate on building her web page client list without the hassle of pretending to run the bookkeeping business and make this work?
The idea appealed to her, and without J.T.’s insistence that she vacate the office, she wouldn’t have considered going against her grandmother’s plans. Still…
“I can’t believe—” Stella’s gum popped as she jerked her head jerked toward the sound of a familiar voice. “Pauline, come here.”
The mayor’s wife arrived in a swirl of navy and green, a dress the same style as the one Edee wore. Eyes bright, Pauline nodded her gray head in greeting. “Stella, Edee, how are—”
“Did you know J.T. bought the Beasley building?”
Stella’s popping gum filled the silence around the table as Pauline’s mouth dropped open. Getting a second wind, the mayor’s wife said. “No, I didn’t.” She turned to Edee. “When did this happen?”
Edee shrugged. “I’m not—”
“He evicted Edee.” Gum popped.
Pauline stared for long seconds, before turning away with a huff. “I’ll see about this.”
Despite the morning’s events, Edee grinned at the tone of Pauline’s words.
Stella got to her feet. “Don’t you worry, hon. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” She turned away. “I’ll bring you a burger right off the grill. That’ll make you feel better.”
Sitting with her back to the room, mulling over her plans, Edee was so lost in thought she didn’t hear tongues wagging around the diner, nor did she see the looks aimed in her direction.
Working on web designs, with no pretense of another job, appealed to her, but she needed a paying job to survive and the fee from a few clients wouldn’t go far.
The clink of silverware and the sound of voices faded as an idea popped into her head.
Grabbing a notepad from her purse, she scribbled down the idea before she forgot. If J.T. Knight was new to town, he definitely needed a web page to advertise his business.
Even with worries hanging over her head, the idea of J.T. being her first client, even if he didn’t know it yet, made her giggle. But her moment of enjoyment disappeared when she looked up to find several people gathered around her booth.
“We’re outraged about your eviction, Missy. Ms. Emma would roll over in her grave…sorry, dear.”
Edee nodded at the kindly woman, sensing that the urge to comfort had led to her unthinking remark. “Thank you for your concern.”
“That young whippier snapper’s gone too far this time.” A grizzled looking man took his cap off and scratched his head. “Always been in a passel of trouble. Why, he took the engine out of the principal’s truck back when he was in school. Got himself chased out of town. Can’t think why he’s back.”
Edee’s throat tightened. This wasn’t the reaction she had expected, or wanted. She didn’t like hearing people put down. J.T. had been nothing but kind in their meetings, even with his eviction notice. But it hadn’t taken long to stir up ill will in town, had it?
Why? She knew nothing about the past, but Edee doubted any of these people knew how much J.T. loved this town. But they were criticizing him because of her.
Why, why had she opened her mouth? She wanted to keep things the same.
J.T. wanted to remodel for the future…could they both be right?
Stella slammed a platter of food in front of Edee as she opened her mouth to defend J.T. but the group had scattered.
She didn’t really know J.T., but he made her aware of emotions she had ignored in the past. Being around him made her feel like a real person, not a shadow, and he made her laugh.
Was that enough reason to defend him against a roomful of people who had known him for years? Did they really know him?
Something about J.T. made her feel a connection to him as if they had a common bond.
Maybe it was the shadow in his eyes when he thought no one was looking. Regardless, she found the thought of sharing something with him unsettling. Just the idea made the hair on the back of her neck stand-up.
But one fact she knew for certain, J.T. Knight hadn’t done anything wrong. He owned the building. He had the right to ask her to leave.
The sudden silence in the diner penetrated her thoughts and she glanced down. Her plate was empty and she didn’t remember taking the first bite. What else had she missed?
Glancing over her shoulder at the sudden silence in the room, she saw J.T. stroll toward an empty booth.
Every eye in the room focused on his long-legged gait. She swallowed. Faded denim did something for long legs and trim hips. Thoughts of cowboys and honor popped into her head as she watched J.T. approach and her insides turned to mush.
J.T. Knight could have been one of the strong men from the old west, but she wasn’t sure if he would have w
orn the good guy’s white hat…or the bad boy’s black hat.
“Why are you doing this to Ms. Emma’s granddaughter?” The harsh words came from the same grizzled old man that spoken at her table.
Glancing at the other diners, Edee saw several heads nod in agreement to the man’s words.
Her gaze darted back to J.T. in time to see him straighten his shoulders and hook his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans. The line of his jaw bulged with bunched nerves. Then he spoke in a normal tone that forced every person in the room to hold their breath so they could hear.
“I bought the Beasley building to help restore Redbud’s downtown area.”
Mumbled comments responded, along with frowning looks.
“J.T., come sit with me.” Edee was on her feet before she realized what she was doing. In the blink of an eye, she reached J.T.’s side and hooked her arm through his.
When had she started thinking of him as J.T.?
Not when he asked her to move out, and certainly not when they first met.
It was the sight of him standing there, facing the whole room alone, that made her feel close to him. How many times had she faced a crowded lunchroom as the new kid in school?
That old feeling of being the odd man out made her stomach twist in a knot. Thoughts of how this must make J.T. feel added to her tension. He had faced a giant hurdle when he returned home. Couldn’t these people offer him a welcome?
Whirling to face them, she said in a loud voice no one could miss.
“J.T. didn’t evict me. He asked me to move out.” Edee batted her lashes at the surprised man at her side.
When his mouth opened, she squeezed his arm tight, and turned a bright smile on the group.
“He’s going to up-grade the wiring so the whole building has high speed internet.” She was standing so close she could feel him inhale and heard the sound of his breath hissing in reaction to her words. Sensing he was about to dispute her exaggerated comment, Edee pinched his arm and looked up at him with a smile. “Isn’t that right, J.T.?”
He battled with emotions turning his eyes dark and she felt a moment of regret for her actions. A man like J.T. Knight did not want a woman fighting his battles for him. But the past had taught her one lesson, everyone needed help, sometime.
J.T. stared down at the female pressed against his side and forced his mouth open, but the stinging graze of her nails against his arm, threatening another pinch, made him swallow his objections.
Did Redbud even have a high-speed internet provider? “Yes, ma’am, I’m going to up-grade the building to code.”
“And you’ll have me back in that office soon as possible?” Through a fake grin, she mumbled, “I want that job.”
J.T. frowned, ready to set the record straight in front of the whole diner, but the buzz of whispers made his stall. Actually, it was the buzzing voices and the pain from Edee pulling the hair on his forearm that caused him to clamp his lips shut on any denial.
Knowing defeat when it stared him in the eye, J.T. nodded his head. “Yes, ma’am.”
Dang, but that female knew how to torture a guy. Even without the warmth of her curves pressed against his side, or the scent of peaches and vanilla he noticed when she was near, she made him have second thoughts, but words kept tumbling out his mouth.
“You have my promise on that, ma’am.”
Voices rumbled around the room, but one grizzly voice rose above the others. “What good is your word, boy?”
Every nerve in J.T.’s body went rigid.
Nostrils flaring, he tried to control emotions roiling in his gut. He turned in the direction of the gruff voice. He wasn’t sure who had said those words, but reactions from the other people in the room told him they agreed with the speaker.
Pain slashed through his forehead. His mouth opened, but no sound emerged.
A tight squeeze on his arm drew his attention. He frowned as he stared into eyes warm as hot chocolate and just as soothing, and he gave up. Shoving resistance aside, J.T. latched on to Edee’s unspoken offer of support like a drowning man grabbing a life raft.
Feasting his gaze on her gentle smile, he felt muscles in his neck start to unknot. The pain behind his left eye receded. A slow grin pulled at his lips, and finally, he tore his gaze from Edee’s face and looked toward the area where the gruff words had come from.
“My word is—”
“J.T.’s word is good enough for me, ain’t that right, Edee.” Stella appeared on J.T.’s right and hugged his free arm. “Now, take a seat, J.T. You’re holding up the lunch crowd.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Landing in the booth as his legs gave way, J.T.’s muscles felt like cooked noodles. He had known coming back to Redbud wouldn’t be easy, but he hadn’t expected it to be this hard.
He hadn’t expected a confrontation with half the town at one time. Hands clenched in fists, he rested his forearms on the table, and frowned as Edee slid in the other side of the booth.
“What did you do that for?”
When she pinned him with a startled glance, he ran a hand through his hair, releasing his pent up breath like a steam kettle.
“I appreciate what you tried to do, but don’t you see the trouble you’re in now? You took sides with the town’s bad boy.”
Edee picked up her glass. Watching her lips pucker around the straw like rose petals, his good intentions landed in his stomach like a boulder. He didn’t want her to start off wrong with people in this town. But man, oh, man, he liked having her clinging to his arm, and being close to her.
Memory of the warmth of her body pressed against his side while cold stares bored into him from the rest of the room, made his head spin. She had faced them down for him.
Okay, so he had noticed Edee Cutt before today. What man wouldn’t? Her dark hair glistened like the pelt of a healthy mink. And her brown eyes sparkled with humor or turn frosty as a lump of coal when she was irritated, but he couldn’t let his interest go farther. Men in his family didn’t do permanent relationships.
“I’m a big girl. I can make up my own mind.”
Holding her steady gaze, J.T. noticed her brow arched in a challenge, and he blew out another sigh.
Yeah, she was a big girl all right. Every nerve in his body responded to the memory of her curves pressed against his side. But she wasn’t the type to play around with, Edee Cutt was a keeper. Only trouble was, his track record was littered with temporary connections.
“Two hours ago, you were as riled at me as they are. What changed?”
Her lashes flickered as she looked down at the table. One nail, the same pale pink color as her dress, traced a circle in the ring of moisture left from her glass.
“I’m new in town, just like you are.” She looked up and met his intense gaze. “oh, you grew up here, but I get the impression your departure wasn’t on a good note.” She lifted one pink clad shoulder. “I thought we should stick together.”
Trying to ignore the way her dress hugged shapely feminine curves, J.T. realized he was getting in real danger with this woman. Noticing Edee’s womanly attractions distracted him from business. He had taken risks all his life. He didn’t dare take a chance on Edee and have her end up alone like his mother.
Shrugging, he crossed his arms on the table and noticed the red patches on his arms. Who knew Edee could fight dirty when it suited her? Still, she was better off staying away from him.
“Things change.”
Edee tossed a glance at the room. “Maybe…but when the newspaper comes out with my advertisement for new clients, I might need a reference.”
Throwing his head back, J.T. let his tension escape in a deep laugh, and relaxed for the first time since he had entered the room.
“So, you’re hedging your bets?” His brow arched. “You think siding with the town’s black sheep is a good bet in case you need reinforcements.”
Her eyes glittering, her laugh mingled with his. “You look strong enough for the job.”
Stella plopped a brimming platter of food in front of J.T. and refilled his iced tea. “Here ya go, hon. Sorry about all the uproar.” She motioned with her head. “Some folks don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.”
“Don’t worry about it, Stella.”
“Hon, you know folks are pleased to have you home.”
He swallowed the bile in his throat and aimed a grin in her direction. “Yeah, I know.” As Stella whirled away, he wondered how many people in this town echoed her sentiments.
“It’s not a battle, you know.”
His glance jerked back to Edee’s face. The knowing look he found there drew his frown. Her melting brown eyes saw too much. “How, so?”
Her shoulder lifted. “You don’t have to prove yourself to them. Be the best you can be and they’ll accept you.”
His glance roamed over her face one feature at a time as he chewed on a French fry. “And you know this how?”
Brows arching she smiled. “That’s what my mother always told me the first day in a new school.”
“You moved around a lot?”
Rolling her eyes, her gaze dropped to her glass. “You could say that.”
“Military?”
“Nothing as honorable as serving in the military.” She looked deep in his eyes. “Always looking for greener pastures.”
“You didn’t like moving?” He hadn’t moved until he left home after graduation, and he hadn’t felt like he had a real home, since. He didn’t envy her the baggage she must have.
Chin quivering, she blinked furiously. “I hated it.” His chest tightened as she continued in a tear roughened voice. “That’s why I agreed when my grandmother asked me to move to Redbud.”
“Any regrets?” He chewed a bite of hamburger, thinking how surprising this conversation was. When he had walked in the diner, he had expected a cold shoulder from her. Instead, she had flown to his defense against people he had known half his life.
It felt as if he was walking a beam at a construction site and one end wasn’t anchored. He wasn’t used to having anyone take up for him. Especially not someone who made his insides twist in knots, and made him long for things he usually avoided. But even if Edee showed interest, his track record proved he couldn’t return her feelings.
A Bride For Mr. Right (Redbud Romance Book 2) Page 6
