"No...I mean, yes," Tiara said nervously.
Jayce picked up the wine, filling the goblets half way. "Maybe you can wash it down with this." Jayce passed her one. "Hope you don't mind a sweet red."
Tiara took the cup. When Tiara's fingers grazed hers, a tingling rushed through Jayce. She started to pull away, but Tiara clasped a hand in her own. Jayce didn't stop the smile tugging at her lips.
Tiara's thumb was gently stroking the back of Jayce's hand, as she said, "Yes, it's heaven. No, it wasn't what I lied about." Jayce wondered if Tiara was aware of the action of her thumb. Certainly she wasn't about to ask because the physical contact felt too good. Then Tiara finally let her go. "I lied before about letting Darla do the cooking because she needed to feel useful." Her voice dropped before she mumbled something else. Jayce craned her head forward to catch it, but couldn't make it out.
"Huh?" Jayce said, "I missed the last part."
With an exasperated sigh, Tiara said, "Really, Jayce. You could have been kind and ignored it." Tiara picked up a chicken leg and glowered at her. "I can't cook," she said, then chomped a massive bite out of the meat.
Jayce laughed as Tiara chewed indignantly and turned away. More relaxed, now that her culinary ability wasn't at fault, Jayce filled a plastic plate with food. "I thought it was important and I didn't want to miss it."
"Miss the opportunity, you mean."
"Here," Jayce said, offering Tiara the plate. "What opportunity?"
"For teasing me later, for one more thing this woman can't do, and for lying in the first place." Tiara dropped her gaze to the plate and almost spilled the food in the process.
"Wow, Red." She groaned. "Sorry. I mean Tiara." Jayce purposely gave her full attention to filling a plate for herself. She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. "I apologize that every word from my lips is mistaken for, or expected to be, a slur and an insult to you. I'm trying to make amends for earlier, and I honestly thought we moved beyond that, actually enjoying each other's company. Guess I was wrong."
Tiara squinted for a moment, and then leveled a steady gaze at her. "You're right. I should be the one asking for forgiveness." She looked down at her hands, now firmly clasped on her lap. "Even Darla mentioned I've been unfair to you." She raised her head and looked into Jayce's eyes. "I admit I came back here with way too much baggage, so much more than I left with. Though I feel some is justified, some is definitely not. Please, Jayce, be patient with me." She swallowed hard. "I want us to at least be friends again."
Jayce didn't know what to say, especially when she saw the dampening of Tiara's eyelashes. She bit her bottom lip, hoping it would hide the tremor from her own emotions. "At least," Jayce said in a whisper. "I cherished our friendship those many years ago. I'd like to get back some of those really great times."
More relaxed, Tiara said, "Me too." Then, her face took on a frightened expression.
A knot built in Jayce's stomach. "What's wrong?"
With a glare, Tiara demanded, "Promise, no horse feed baths."
SARAH GAPPED THE last spark plug and bent toward the carburetor when she heard from behind her, "Hey, Dude, know where I can find Edna or Ms. Juarez?" Barely contained wrath ready to spew from her mouth at the insult, Sarah raised herself and moved away from the engine hood, and turned. She heard the surprised intake of breath from the young blond man next door.
"Dude?" Sarah glanced down at her blue coveralls. Old and new stains generously decorated the cotton material from work she'd performed on the car. The coveralls were comfortably baggy, but she never expected to be mistaken for a man because of them.
"Ms. Juarez," he said, "I...I uh...I never..."
With a slight smirk, Sarah said, "Why does that not surprise me."
"Huh?"
"Exactly." Noting he was still confused, she shook her head in annoyance, deciding to let him off the hook. But not so far off that she acknowledged her television persona. She wanted to enjoy being herself for a while longer. He was terribly cute. "Juanita and Edna are in the house."
"Huh?"
She rolled her eyes. "Really kid? You spoke a complete sentence when you thought I was a guy." Sarah spoke slowly. "They're in the house." When he remained standing, staring at her in confusion, she extended a hand. "Sarah Marsh. I'm Juanita's body double, stunt woman, and most-times mechanic."
The introduction worked as the icebreaker she intended. He took her hand and gave a couple quick, firm shakes. "Craig Walters. I'm from the next property over. Well, Tiara's property, and we're here helping. " He leaned closer to her and whispered conspiratorially, "It's my boss on the, uh, date with the lady over here." He gave a wry grin.
Sarah wanted to wipe the grin off his face with a good hearty slap. Placing hands on hips and giving her best glower, she said, "Mr. Walters, please state your business. If you're here to insult my friends with closed minded drivel, you can leave before I do something you'll regret."
"Something I'll regret? Somehow I don't think I'd much mind anything you did to me." He ran a hand through his thick mass of blond hair. "Forgive me, Sarah. I guess that came out sounding a bit prejudiced. Wasn't what I meant."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "And what would that be exactly?"
Craig shrugged uncomfortably, actually seeming regretful for all his comments. "Starting over?" Sarah grinned at that remark. "Really, I just didn't want to upset Ms. Juarez, if she happened to overhear, since she is obviously interested in Jayce, too. I've nothing against two women going out." When she raised an eyebrow in doubt, he added, "Or caring about each other."
"Well, that's nice of you, Craig, thinking of Juanita and all. It's refreshing to meet a guy who's so open-minded," she said rolling her eyes.
He blushed as if it was a compliment. "Yeah, well, I knew there had to be something going on when Tiara wouldn't go out with me."
Sarah felt her own face redden. "And you're such a catch?
With a wide toothy smile, he answered, "Well, yeah, of course."
"State your business and leave, Mr. Walters." Sarah turned back to working on her tune up. She paused a moment to breathe deep and get control of her anger, not wanting to damage the tension hoses on the distributor cap. The sound of shuffling feet alerted her Craig had moved closer.
"What'd I say?" he asked. When she didn't respond, he finally got to his point. With a sigh, he said, "Darla would like to invite all of you to dinner tomorrow night, over at the house."
Without more than a quick glance at Craig, she said, "I'll be sure to let the folks inside know. I'm sure Edna will be calling...Darla, did you say?" He nodded. "I know Edna had some plans of her own to welcome Tiara home."
Craig grinned at that. "Great. I'll let Darla know to expect a call." He walked away and Sarah watched him leave. After a couple feet, he turned back around. "It was nice meeting you, Sarah. I look forward to a chance to make up for whatever I said to upset you." He flashed a wicked grin. "After all, I'm too awesome to ignore."
Sarah laughed, in spite of her anger at his insinuations. Cute and a sense of humor. She liked that, even if he was too full of himself. Then, she shook her head and returned to her tune-up. She didn't need an arrogant cutie-pie flirting with her so soon after Johnny. Not that flirting wasn't good for her self-esteem when applied to Sarah and not Juanita. She closed the hood and wiped her hands on her coveralls, glancing over to Tiara's place. "What am I thinking? He probably likes the idea that I look like Juanita. Besides, he looks to be barely out of high school."
Chapter Fourteen
BETWEEN THE TWO of them, Jayce and Tiara had consumed every last crumb from the basket. They leaned against the tree's trunk and watched the clouds overhead as dusk approached. Still a gorgeous day, the sky was darkening quickly, the wind picking up and carrying the smell of an impending storm. A fine example of Colorado's ever changing weather. "Gonna rain." The belief confirmed with a few stray drops. "Maybe we should head back," Jayce said.
They gathered up the picnic s
tuff and stashed it under the seat of the buckboard. Jayce helped Tiara up onto the seat, did a quick check on Arabelle's tether, jumped into the seat and picked up the reins. It was a good thirty minutes back to the Meadows. Even if she urged Buster to pick up the pace, they wouldn't make it back home before the brunt of the storm hit; and, from the smell in the air, it would be a doozy. As the raindrops fell faster, Jayce made a decision to get them out of the storm before they were soaked, and the horses spooked. Less than five minutes away was a line shack, constructed by the studios for some of their filming. Jayce tugged the reins to the left, off the main path, and toward a lesser traveled course.
"Where are we going?" Tiara asked, just as the skies opened up and released a steady, hard rain that nearly obscured the path.
"A line shack. It's too far to make it home, and I don't want us or the horses out in this, especially since night's coming and I can barely see as it is."
"We're going to be out after dark?" Tiara asked in a choked whisper.
Jayce glanced over and noticed Tiara had a death grip on the seat. Just then, lightening flashed and thunder boomed. With a squeak, Tiara flinched. Automatically, Jayce put the right rein in her left hand, reached over and put her arm across Tiara's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay."
Tiara gave a tremulous smile, scooting closer to Jayce. "Sorry, I just hate thunderstorms."
With a quick squeeze to Tiara's shoulders, Jayce asked, "Do you hear me complaining?" Jayce was able to make out the shack through the rain. She clicked the reins so that Buster pulled up in front, and jumped down, extending her arms to Tiara. "Let's get you inside, and then, I'll tend to the horses."
Because the line shack was on her property, Jayce never kept the cabin locked. She pushed the door open just as a bolt of lightning illuminated the sky and the interior. Tiara's eyes widened in fear, she gave a blood-curdling scream, and whirled around to run back into the pouring rain. Realizing her intent, Jayce barely had time to clasp onto Tiara's left wrist and pull her back into the small cabin. Panicky, Tiara slipped in the mud and landed heavily against Jayce, her arms wrapping around Jayce's waist for support.
Another blaze of lightening and Jayce was able to see a new form of trepidation in Tiara's expression from their unexpected embrace. They were both soaking wet, yet Jayce couldn't remember another time that Tiara had looked so beautiful than right at that moment. Part of her knew her next action could end badly, yet Jayce still brought her lips to Tiara's, pressing eagerly. Tiara responded, her body losing some of its tension. The soft swell of breasts pressed into Jayce. Even with the compromised material wet from rain as the only barrier, Jayce felt warmth from Tiara's skin as she pulled Tiara closer, tighter. Heat flowed through Jayce's body, and she knew she had to stop before she went too far.
As another flash of lightning, followed by a crack of thunder sounded, Jayce pulled away, but did not release Tiara. Huskily she said, "I should have warned you about the mannequin. I keep him to ward off intruders." She could feel that Tiara still trembled, so she added, "Please, just wait here, in the doorway. I'm going to let go of you and light the lantern. Okay?" With Tiara's nod, Jayce let go of Tiara's wrist.
Night fell quickly, and with the darkness from the clouds, Jayce relied more on memory than sight to lead her to where the lantern rested. Beside it was a small box of campfire matches to light the wick. Then she opened the lid on the large wooden trunk beside the mannequin, and pulled out spare blankets. Jayce turned to a trembling Tiara in the doorway. Jayce tugged her across the threshold, and toward the bunk on the left wall that was about two feet off the ground, where she turned Tiara and gently nudged her to sit, tossing the blankets alongside.
Jayce cupped Tiara's chin and raised her head until Tiara met her gaze. "You okay?" At Tiara's nod, she said, "I've got to get Arabelle and Buster under the awning, and out of this weather. Take off those wet clothes and wrap one of the blankets around you. I'll be back in a few minutes." Jayce rushed out slamming the door behind her against the onslaught of rain.
SHOOK UP AND cold from her soaking wet clothes, and minus the heat that had been radiating from Jayce, Tiara stood and undressed as quickly as possible, hoping to have the blanket around her before Jayce finished outside. Clothes off and blanket around her she sat back down on the bed and glanced around the small shack.
Behind her was a four-paned window, which she wished she'd have noticed before undressing in front of it. The bunk took up the majority of the wall, a small wood shelf at the head. On the wall opposite the door, a trunk, another window, and gazing forlornly outside from against the right wall sat the lifelike cowboy mannequin, a melancholy expression permanently marked his features. Just slightly off center in the room was a table that the lantern and a box of matches sat on, and tucked into one side a lone scuffed chair, matching the one the dummy sat in. On the wall with the door was a humble fireplace. Does it burn as hot as Jayce's kiss and embrace? Tiara felt her face heat up at the unbidden thought. She continued her inspection. A gallon sized metal tub with a meager offering of firewood beside the fireplace, a cross-stitched picture of Home-Sweet-Home surrounded by bluebells hung above in a frame of twigs. She had expected to see dust coating the shack's contents, but the furniture only had a minor coating.
The shack was a cozy place, despite the horrid storm outside. The idea of spending the night here petrified Tiara, because, in her heart, she wanted more from Jayce; and, wanted Jayce to desire more from her. After a wonderful picnic in Jayce's company, new responses flared, and memories sparked of the same ease and security Tiara had felt all those years ago when spending time with Jayce. No matter what, Tiara realized, Jayce had always made her feel safe. It was too soon to rekindle feelings, no matter how quickly they came flooding back to her. Not to mention that the thought of a relationship with anyone, especially Jayce, terrified her.
Tiara was startled from these thoughts when Jayce rushed inside, rain following in her wake until she banged the door shut against it, and dropped an armload of firewood near the metal tub. "Wow, it's really coming down out there," Jayce said, shaking her head to dispel the drops lodged in her hair, then finger combed the short length into place.
A small puddle of water formed at Jayce's feet, Tiara noticed, as her gaze traveled upward, clothes so drenched they plastered against Jayce's body. Tiara registered, even in the dim light from the lantern, that Jayce wore a black lace bra under her lavender colored shirt. Tiara's heart raced. Quickly, she looked away. "You should get undressed, too, before you catch cold." Tiara flinched inwardly at hearing the strain in her own voice, clenching her hands tighter to the blanket to fight against the perplexing impulse to reach out and touch Jayce.
"I should get a fire started first," Jayce said. "By the way, behind Hank," she pointed to the sad mannequin, "is a toilet and sink. Not fancy, but better than going outside or using a bucket." It took barely a minute for her to get a small blaze started. Then, Jayce went to the trunk and raised the lid, pulling out various items, cataloging them as she did so. "We have energy bars, twine, and bottled water. Oh, yeah, and a first aid kit in the event someone gets a boo-boo."
"Twine?" Tiara asked, curiosity helping her pulse return a bit closer to normal.
Jayce turned toward her with a smile. "If I stretch it across the cabin, we can use it as a clothes line." She, or someone, must have done this before because there were already nails placed in the walls for Jayce to run the line. "Between this and the fire, our stuff should dry. Sorry I can't offer you something more palatable for an after supper snack. Bet if I dig in far enough, I might find a can of beans." Jayce flashed a mischievous smile.
Tiara couldn't help but respond with a laugh. "I'm sure we can pass on that particular delicacy for tonight." She gave a shrug. "Besides, I'm fine. Really."
"Mm-hmm, yes, you are. Totally."
When she glanced into Jayce's eyes, she was sure that raw desire stared back. It was then Tiara realized the blanket had slid from her shoulder and left her ri
ght breast showing. Hastily, Tiara tugged the blanket closer.
Jayce finished securing the twine, and was now picking up Tiara's clothes and hanging them across the improvised clothesline. Tiara couldn't be certain, but it looked as if Jayce's hands were trembling. "You need to get undressed, Jayce. You're cold."
"I'm fine," Jayce said sharply. Once she had finished with Tiara's clothing, Jayce walked over to the bunk, snapped up the other blanket, then tossed it over the line. She walked to the opposite side of the barrier, and Tiara realized Jayce was also undressing. The blanket barrier shifted as Jayce pulled it around herself, and carefully swung her own clothes across the line. When done, Jayce dropped into the chair at the table and stared intently into the fire.
Even from the bunk, Tiara could feel the tension radiating from Jayce. It was at that moment Tiara knew Jayce was also uncomfortable with their current situation. She wanted to say something to dispel the awkwardness, but feared making the matter worse. However, Tiara had to say something because the silence, fine when alone, was torturous with someone in the room. Especially when that someone made Tiara's pulse race with her very presence, her every breath. Just keep it simple, Tiara's inner voice told her. "No cards or checkers in your magic trunk?"
"Why didn't you ever write me back?" Jayce asked in a faint tone.
Tiara blinked in shock. Where did that come from? So much for keeping things simple, she groused. "I did, after the first couple months. At the beginning it was hard to find the time." Tiara pulled the blanket tighter, though she wasn't cold anymore. "Then things settled down, and I couldn't seem to fit in at school. I wrote for news of home. I never got anything back." Tiara shrugged, but the reminder felt like a fist slammed to her stomach. "I figured no one missed me, no matter how much I missed them."
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