Love Me Again

by Jaci Burton

Loretta would never keep Hazel from her father. And even though she knew he'd only spend the briefest amount of time with her during that visit, she e-mailed her attorney and told him she'd make sure Hazel was there. Since school was out for the summer, it was an ideal time for Hazel to make the trip. Even if she wouldn't spend as much time with her father while she was there that Loretta would like her to.

  Tom was a cold man. It hadn't started out that way, but it sure had been that way for the last five years of their marriage. Tom was all about building his political career. One would think he'd want to show himself as a family man, at least outwardly. Instead, he liked to pretend his daughter didn't exist.

  Probably because the new family he was setting up for himself was so much better suited for his future in politics. Better political connections. More money. And with his new wife, Melissa, already pregnant, the visibility factor of a smiling, socially appropriate pregnant woman would be well accepted by the voters in his congressional race.

  Loretta ignored the pang in the vicinity of her heart. The way Tom treated Hazel, as if she was a political pawn to be dressed up and paraded around only at certain times that benefited him . . .

  No. She wasn't going to go there. Instead, she called Hazel into the kitchen, and the two of them set about making dinner.

  At nine, there were some things Hazel couldn't do in the kitchen yet. Not that you could tell her that. Her daughter had an independent streak the size of Oklahoma, and Loretta didn't want to discourage her, so she very cautiously watched while her daughter learned the fine art of frying chicken. Something every Southern girl--and boy--should know how to do.

  They even cut up the broccoli together, and if there was one thing Hazel liked to do, it was wield a knife. She knew how to be careful, because Loretta had told her that if she treated handling a knife with anything but seriousness, her days cooking with her mama were over.

  Hazel had taken that instruction to heart, and she was always focused and methodical as she sliced.

  Before long, dinner was ready, which was good, because frying chicken made Loretta hungry.

  They ate at the dining room table, a ritual from their former life--the one rule of Tom's that Loretta had wholeheartedly agreed with. No cell phones and no television. This way, they could talk to Hazel and find out about her day. It had been the one time her daughter had had her father's undivided attention. Loretta had enjoyed those times, and she intended to continue them with Hazel.

  "I heard from your dad today. He wants you to come to Texas this month."

  "Really?"

  Seeing Hazel's eyes light up caused a mixture of joy and pain in Loretta's heart.

  "Yes."

  "I wonder if we'll go camping."

  And there went the tight squeeze in her stomach. "Actually, he's doing some fun things for his political campaign."

  "Oh. That doesn't sound fun."

  "But you'll still get to see him. Won't that be nice?"

  She poked the broccoli around on the plate. "Sure. I guess so."

  "I'll talk to him and see if he can squeeze in some fun things for you two to do together."

  Hazel shrugged. "He'll just say he's busy with his politics stuff, like always."

  One thing she gave her daughter credit for was that she knew her father, and knew him well. She never gave up hope that maybe one day he might want to see her just to spend time with her and have some fun, but she knew it was typically to drag her around for campaign stops.

  Smart girl. Loretta didn't want to give her false hope.

  But she'd still call Tom tonight, as much as she did not want to speak to her ex.

  So after dinner, when Hazel was outside kicking around the soccer ball, Loretta took out her cell phone and tapped Tom's number.

  He answered on the third ring.

  "Hello, Loretta."

  "Tom. I heard from my attorney today that you want Hazel for a week this month."

  "Yes. I have important campaign stops in Houston and Austin."

  "It might be nice if you visited your daughter according to the terms of our divorce decree."

  He paused before answering. "I'm very busy."

  She rolled her eyes and swallowed the retort that hovered on her tongue. "I know you are. But she misses you and wants to do something fun with you. Maybe you could carve out some time that week for something that doesn't have to do with your political career? Even if it's just to take her out for ice cream?"

  "I'll have my assistant check my schedule. Otherwise, I'll e-mail you the specifics of when we'll be there to pick her up."

  Uh-huh. "We" being either his personal assistant or a hired nanny. Tom would never take time out of his "busy schedule" to come fetch his daughter himself.

  "Great. You do that."

  She hung up, then threw her phone across the table.

  Waste of time. She knew the entire week would be filled with political appearances and Hazel would come home Sunday night grouchy and once again disappointed in her father.

  Loretta made a note in her calendar to do something fun with Hazel after she got back from that week with her dad.

  Tom might be a shitty parent, but Loretta wasn't. And she'd do everything in her power to make sure her daughter was happy.

  Chapter 3

  * * *

  DEACON AND HIS crew had spent three days doing demo on the old building. That was two days longer than he had expected it to take. But there was more crap in there than he'd realized, and hauling it out had been a bitch. Which meant they were already behind--and this project was still in its infancy.

  But now that they had the old place cleared out and swept from top to bottom, they could really start working. The first thing they had to do was put up a few temporary support beams on the main floor, because load-bearing walls were coming down and those upper structures needed support.

  So he was outside measuring and sawing when he caught sight of Loretta's daughter. She was standing just on the edge of the bookstore property, studying him. He lifted the saw and took off his safety glasses.

  "Hey," he said.

  "Hi. I'm Hazel Simmons. I'm nine. My mom owns this bookstore. She told me you're Deacon Fox and you're going to be working on this building for a while."

  He was surprised Loretta had told Hazel anything about him other than to stay away from him. "Nice to meet you, Hazel. Do you like to read?"

  She nodded. "I read a lot. But that's not all I do. I'm really smart."

  He resisted the urge to grin. "Is that right?"

  "Yes. My last report card I got all A's."

  "That's great. What's your favorite subject?"

  She shrugged and stepped onto the porch. "Math. Science is pretty fun, too, I guess. Hey, what are you doing with that thing?"

  "This is a table saw. I'm cutting wood with it."

  "What are you gonna do with it?"

  "I'm going to use several pieces just like this to hold the beams in the ceiling steady. Then I'm going to take a wall down."

  Her eyes widened. "Really? Can I watch you do that?"

  "I don't know. You'd have to ask your mom."

  She nodded. "She'll probably say no and that it's dangerous."

  "She's probably right. It's not a place for kids."

  "I like to build things. And I like to draw. I'm good at sports, too. Oh, and I'm getting a dog this week."

  He loved kids' minds, the way they could contain multiple topics at once.

  "You are, huh? What kind of a dog?"

  "Don't know yet. We're going to the shelter to pick one out. Mama told me I could have any dog I wanted."

  "Well, aren't you lucky?"

  Hazel grinned, and her smile reminded him of Loretta's. "Yeah. I am."

  "Have you thought of names for your dog yet?"

  Hazel shook her head. "I have to see him or her first. Then I'll know."

  "You're very smart."

  Hazel laughed. "I already told you that."

  Just then Loretta
came out of the bookstore, looked around, and saw them. She walked over.

  "Hazel, what did I tell you?"

  "About what?"

  "You know what I'm talking about. You're supposed to stay on the porch."

  Hazel looked down at her feet. "I am on the porch."

  Loretta rolled her eyes. "Don't get smart with me. Go on inside the bookstore."

  "Did you know that Deacon is taking a wall down, and he's going to use that wood to--"

  Hazel looked at Deacon.

  "Brace the beams in the ceiling."

  "Yeah, that. Do you think I can watch him do that, Mama?"

  "Not on your life. It's too dangerous."

  Hazel turned to Deacon. "I told you she'd say that."

  Deacon's lips curved. "Yup. You did."

  "Okay, well, I gotta go. See ya later, Deacon."

  "See you, Hazel."

  After Hazel disappeared inside the bookstore, Loretta turned to him. "Please don't encourage my daughter."

  "Encourage her to do what? Be smart? Be curious about learning new things? She came over here and started asking me questions, Loretta. What was I supposed to do? Tell her to get lost?"

  "I . . ."

  He waited, but he knew she didn't have a position here.

  "She's a great kid."

  Loretta sighed. "Thank you. I know she is."

  "And I told her it was too dangerous to be inside the building when the wall came down. But if she's interested, she can watch it from outside the window here. Maybe you could let her? It's actually kind of cool."

  Loretta looked over at the window on the porch, then back at Deacon. "She's bored here, but I don't want to leave her with a sitter."

  "She said she likes reading."

  "She does. But she needs more activity."

  "I could put her to work. She looks tough. I'll bet she could wield a hammer."

  "Funny. And she probably could. But no."

  "Okay."

  He waited for her to leave. Instead, she hung out on the porch with him.

  "What time are you taking that wall down?"

  "It'll take a couple of hours to measure all the wood, cut it, then brace the wall. So probably not until after lunch."

  "Okay."

  He knew what she was asking. "I could come get Hazel and let her know when we're ready to bring it down. If you're okay with her watching."

  She waved her hand. "No. You're busy."

  "Not that busy that I can't walk a few steps across the porch and into your store, Loretta."

  "If you're sure it's no trouble."

  "It's no trouble. I'll come get her."

  "All right. Thanks."

  "Sure."

  She lingered a few more seconds, then said, "I guess I'll let you get back to work now."

  "Okay."

  She turned and wandered off and he stared at the spot where she'd just stood.

  He'd hated every second of their exchange. It had been stilted and uncomfortable and not at all like their conversations when they'd been together all those years ago. Back then, they'd found anything and everything to talk about.

  But that was the past, and this was now.

  And now sucked.

  "That was awkward."

  He turned to see Reid McCormack standing on the porch steps. He hadn't even seen Reid drive up.

  "When did you get here?"

  "About five minutes ago. I parked in the back. Walked in through the rear door. Saw you talking to Loretta out front, so I didn't want to interrupt you. I came out the side door to get something out of my truck. I couldn't help but hear the tail end of that conversation."

  "Yeah. It was awkward, all right."

  "You two are like strangers. And from what you've told me about your prior relationship with Loretta, which admittedly isn't a whole lot--you aren't strangers."

  "No. But there's a lot of history between us."

  "Some of it was good, though, right?"

  "A lot of the history between Loretta and me was good--until it wasn't. And then it was really bad. It's the really bad part that presents itself when we have conversations now."

  "I'm sorry, man. Maybe we shouldn't have taken this job."

  "Hey, I'm fine."

  Reid arched a brow. "Are you?"

  "Yeah, I am. I'll be even more fine if we talk work, and not my past with Loretta. So let's go inside and I'll show you what's going on."

  "Sure."

  They went over the details of the demo, and Deacon walked Reid through all three floors. They discussed the schedule and manpower as well as the materials Deacon had ordered.

  "Sounds like you have it all under control," Reid said as they made their way down to the main floor. "I don't see anything that might pose a problem."

  "Yeah, no ancient elevators like you had in the building next door."

  Reid laughed. "Thank God for that. And we already know plumbing, electrical, and HVAC will all need to be replaced here, which was included in the bid, so we shouldn't find any surprises."

  "Hopefully. How's your project going?"

  "Good. Working out final design specs with the group. Doctors are on-the-spot decision makers when it comes to medicine. Get a group of them together to decide on a building, though? That takes forever."

  Deacon laughed. "I imagine a lot of that has to do with X-ray departments and lab departments and exam rooms and outpatient surgery and whatnot."

  "Yeah. A lot of that. But I should have final approval from them by the end of the week, then we'll be able to get started."

  "Good."

  They talked over a few other projects they had in the works, then Reid headed next door, where the main company office was located on the third floor. Deacon also had an office there, but he didn't use it all that often. Mainly because he was used to running an office out of his truck. He was on the go from job site to job site all the time, so he had a laptop and a netbook that contained all the job information and blueprints. What else did he need?

  He and Reid argued about that all the time. Reid repeatedly reminded him that their company occupied a large portion of the third floor of the old mercantile building, and when they had gone into business together, Reid had set up a great office for him.

  Unfortunately, Loretta had leased the entire first floor of the building around the same time. Seeing her every day hadn't been on his list of fun things to do, though occasionally Deacon did have to attend meetings with Reid and new clients at their offices.

  So far he'd managed to avoid Loretta.

  It didn't look like he was going to have a lot of success in the avoidance department now that he was working on the building next door.

  *

  LORETTA WAS ON her knees stocking shelves in the nonfiction section when she heard her name called.

  It was busy this summer--something she was grateful for. She'd had to hire two new employees, Kendra and Camila, which gave her a great amount of joy. She knew that Kendra was up front at the register, but it wasn't her voice that had called out, so she got up and headed toward the front of the store, smiling when she saw Chelsea Palmer.

  Chelsea was having a whirlwind summer so far. She'd gotten married, found out she was pregnant--not in that order--and was currently in baby-planning mode.

  "Oh, hey, Chelsea."

  "Hey, yourself. I hope I didn't interrupt you."

  "You didn't. I was stocking."

  "I came by to grab some books since I'm not teaching summer session."

  "Great. What can I help you with?"

  Chelsea rubbed her belly, which was starting to show with a slight baby bump. "I want to browse the childbirth and parenting sections. I've already been to the library, and Jillian helped me out there. But I want to buy some books I can make notes in."

  "Sure. Let's go take a look."

  They browsed the childbirth section first. Loretta made some recommendations. She pulled one book out and handed it to Chelsea. "This one was my bible during pregnancy.
I read it cover to cover and made notes."

  Chelsea scanned the back cover copy, then flipped through the table of contents before nodding. "I can see why. It looks very no-nonsense. A lot of books are filled with fluff about pregnancy. I need the real deal."

  "This one is the real deal. With pictures."

  "Awesome."

  "Now let's move down to the parenting section."

  Again, Loretta made some recommendations, sticking to infancy for now. Chelsea selected two books, and Loretta carried them to the counter and told Kendra to put them on hold, while Chelsea made her way to the comfy chairs at the back of the store.

  "Would you like some tea?" Loretta asked.

  "That sounds really good. Though wine sounds better. I miss wine."

  Loretta laughed. "I imagine you do." She poured two glasses of tea and handed one to Chelsea, then took a seat in the chair next to her friend.

  Chelsea sipped the tea. "My OB allows me a couple of glasses of wine per week, so it's not like I feel all that deprived. But sometimes after a particularly stressful day I just want to stop in at Bash's bar and down several glasses."

  "You'll be able to do that after the baby comes."

  "I know." Chelsea rubbed her belly. "And she's worth waiting for."

  Loretta raised a brow. "She? You know the sex already?"

  Chelsea grinned. "Not yet, since it's still a little early. I'm just hoping it's a girl. Bash is sure it's a boy, but I think secretly he's hoping it's a girl, too."

  "So you plan to find out?"

  "Yes. We thought about waiting, but I want the nursery decorated to the hilt. If it's a girl, Bash expects pink glitter everywhere, but honestly, my plan is to be more understated than that. Though right now I'm torturing him with thoughts of pink glitter."

  Loretta's lips curved. "Of course you are. Not-so-secretly, I hope it's a girl, too. I can tell you that having a daughter is one of the best things ever."

  Chelsea looked over at Hazel, who currently sat on the other side of the room reading a book. She sighed. "I can't wait. But honestly, I'm so happy about this baby I don't care what sex it is. I don't even care if it's a giraffe."

  Loretta laughed. "I don't think it's going to be a giraffe."

  "I don't think so, either. I can't wait to find out at next month's OB appointment."

  "We're all excited for the big reveal." Loretta smiled.

  "I'll be sure to let everyone know. I wish I could find out before book club so I could let everyone know at once, but since book club is next week, it's a little early."

  "Too bad. We could celebrate with pink or blue cupcakes. That Megan would of course make for us."