She followed him inside. “For what?”
Scott closed his eyes a second before he started smearing putty again. “I’m helping Caitlyn move tables and big pictures around tonight for her holiday open house. Basically, I’m helping out for your sister’s showing.”
Shelby frowned. “Funny she had to wait ’til dark.”
“I’m making her wait ’til dark.”
“Ooh.” From the dining room, plastic and cardboard rustled as Hector unpacked the intricate wrought-iron wheel supporting electric candles Shelby had ordered.
“Seems like she’s calling on you more and more. Doesn’t she have a dad or something? Or does she like to just play the ‘I’m all alone in the world’ card? Maybe I should’ve tried that. Being a widow should elicit more sympathy than being divorced.”
When Scott widened his eyes and blinked at her, Shelby pinched her lips shut as though realizing she’d said too much. To this point, Shelby had attempted to veil her dislike of Caitlyn. Done with that now, apparently. The hot bunny costume must have put her over the edge.
“I’ll be her dad,” Hector said. “Her sugar daddy, that is.”
Shelby ignored him, narrowing her gaze on Scott. “You know she likes you, right? You’re not actually doing this because you feel sorry for her?”
“I’m doing this because she needs help. And so what if she likes me?”
“Um, maybe I’ll just come back tomorrow.” Hector eased the chain of the chandelier back onto the floor and backed away with a wave. “Night, night, y’all.”
Barely noticing the employee’s retreat, Scott rounded on Shelby. “What do you care, when you’ve made it clear you’re keeping things professional? You think you can boss people around like you did in high school, just snap your fingers and they do your bidding. Just because you don’t want any love in your life, you don’t want anybody else to be happy either? Well, maybe this is my second chance, whether you want one or not.”
As he spoke, Shelby shook her head, and her eyes filled with tears. Everything in him screamed he was settling for cheap laminate when two-hundred-year-old heart pine stood right in front of him. But what choice did Shelby leave him?
He quieted his voice. “Or maybe you just don’t want one with me.” Scott placed the spatula atop the putty bucket. “I’m done here too. See you tomorrow. Or if it’s not too much to ask, maybe you can stay home so I can complete my work in peace.”
On the way out, Scott grabbed his jacket from the stair post. He walked as fast as he could away from the second-class way Shelby Dodson still made him feel. A half-moon rose over Augusta, adding its light to the street lamp where his truck waited. But before he got there, steps pounded on the front porch, and Shelby called his name as she ran after him.
Hands in his pockets, he turned around with an expression of exaggerated patience. He prepared himself for another apology, because no matter how often “the special people” climbed over others, they never wanted to look bad doing it.
“You’re wrong. I do want a second chance at love. And … I want it with you.”
His mouth fell open as Shelby continued, her words running together.
“I’m scared, and I feel guilty, because, because … I feel more for you than I was ready to. Honestly, more than I felt for Chet. And what kind of wife betrays her husband that way a year after he dies? And I can’t believe you’re for real, because people just aren’t that good. But now I see you are for real, because otherwise you’d never be interested in that prissy little—”
Shelby didn’t get any further because Scott did what he’d wanted to since high school. He reached out and pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. They tasted just as sweet as he’d always dreamed, and they yielded to the searching pressure of his before firming in a very encouraging passionate response. With a hand at the soft curve of her waist, he held her close, savoring the way her slender form fit against his.
But the next second, Shelby sprang away, shaking her head. “Oh no. Oh no, oh no!”
Scott drew back in alarm. “What?”
She turned her head from him. “Dang it, that was really good. I was afraid it would be.”
As the full meaning of her words hit him, he started laughing in relief. “You don’t make any sense, woman.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ve always known my own mind, but now … I’m finding I didn’t know my heart.”
“But I knew it. Ten years ago, I knew it. I just couldn’t get your attention long enough to tell you.”
“Well, you have my attention now.”
And that was an invitation for another kiss if he’d ever heard one.
Above Shelby’s hissing gas logs in the fireplace, the mantel clock struck nine.
Scott barely sat down before she exclaimed, “I can’t believe I ran after you like that!” Wanting to disappear into the sofa cushions, Shelby covered her face with the sleeves of her sweater.
“I can’t either.”
“I couldn’t take it, the thought of you going off to that, that …”
Scott smiled and pulled Shelby’s arms down. “No name calling is necessary.”
Shelby sighed and reached for the Bible she’d left on the coffee table next to a tray of hot chocolate and shortbread cookies. “You’re right. I was trying to settle myself down after I got home, and I was reading in Romans 12. It really hit me. Listen to this.” Shelby raised the Bible to read out loud. “‘Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. … Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.’”
Scott nodded. “That’s a great passage.”
“One I’ve been terrible at.” Shelby put the Bible back on the coffee table. “You’ve been right, I’ve been selfish most of my life. When Chet died, I felt like everything I’d worked for could be stripped away. That insecurity made me worse. You’ve called me on it. I don’t offer Angelina and her friends hospitality. I get annoyed with people like Betsy Lou. And Caitlyn …”
“You don’t exactly want to bless her, do you?” Scott tilted his head and gave her a teasing but understanding smile. When Maltie trotted into the room, he held a hand down close to the floor and snapped his fingers.
Shelby ignored her dog licking Scott. “No. I was a mess the whole time you were with her tonight.” Shelby couldn’t help herself. She leaned forward, and the questions popped out. “What happened? Are you still going on that date with her?”
Apparently put off by Shelby’s intensity, Maltie hopped onto Scott’s lap and sat looking at her with a smug expression. “No, I am not going on that date with her.”
As Shelby released a breath of relief, Angelina jogged down the stairs in Augusta State sweats. “Hi, guys.”
“Hi,” Scott said.
Shelby frowned, then caught herself and laughed. “Hello, dear sister.” Scott offered an encouraging nod at her response, then continued his explanation as Angelina walked behind the couch. “I moved the stuff she wanted me to move, then when she asked about where we should eat after the Builders’ Expo, I explained there was something between you and me, and I needed to back out of my plans with her.”
“Speaking of between you …”
To Shelby’s dismay, her little sister launched into speed mode, darting around the coffee table and depositing herself on a leg of both Scott and Shelby until they wiggled over to make room for her. She looked between them, then fixed on Scott. “Hi, friend.”
He attempted to shift away from her. “I already said ‘hi.’”
Angelina draped an arm around Shelby’s neck, then Scott’s. Shelby got a face full of red curls as Angelina said to him, “So. I hear you kissed my sister tonight.”
“I … uh …
”
“Angelina!” Shelby wrenched a hand under her sister’s arm and pried with all her might. “Get! Out!”
Angelina popped up like a jack-in-the-box. “I just wanted to say … good job. High time. And high five!” She swiveled around and held out a hand to Scott. Mouth in a flat line, he gave it a smack. “Now, I’m going to get my ice cream and watch Netflix in my room. But don’t forget I’m here. I could show up at any time.”
Shelby swatted her sister’s bottom as she passed.
Angelina almost upset the hot chocolate. “Oops.” She did a little dance. “I’m sorry.” Shelby shook her head once the troublemaker disappeared into the kitchen and they heard the sound of singing accompanying the squeak of the freezer door.
“Don’t apologize. I like her a lot.”
“Well, that’s a relief, because she could be a deal-breaker.” Shelby settled back onto the sofa. “So you were saying, about Caitlyn …”
Scott gave a half laugh. “Well, I’m guessing you’re back to doing the stenciling.”
“Okay by me. And she won’t be setting up shop next to Culpepper’s?”
“I dare say not.”
They both fell silent as Angelina passed by, digging a spoon into a generous serving of moose tracks. “I promise I won’t leave the bowl upstairs this time.”
“For tonight, you can, if it means you won’t come back through here.” Shelby sent her a teasing smile. “And you can ask your friends over too. Friday or Saturday. I’ll be decorating for the big reveal. I’ll even make lasagna and leave it in the fridge.”
Angelina’s eyes popped open wide. “You will? Sweet.”
After her steps sounded on the floor above, Scott grinned. “Way to apply that Scripture.”
“Thanks.”
“I always got the feeling the real Shelby was hiding under there. I know I pushed you too hard at times. Man, I really wanted you to notice me.”
“Well, I did. But when I started to …” Her voice trailed off. “You’re just so different from Chet. It scared me when you brought out things about me that he never did. How I liked things about you that … he didn’t have.”
When Shelby’s chin dropped, Scott shifted, putting Maltie on the other cushion. He slid an arm around Shelby and lowered his voice. “I’m picking up on the fact that life with Chet might not always have been as glamorous as it looked from the outside.”
Shelby bit her lip. “The flip side of possessing all that charisma can be tumult. Or silence. Or both. Chet had high expectations … a lot like my dad, come to think of it. Not like you, wanting me to be my true self. Like wanting me to always be more. Perfect. It was exhausting. But don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of good too. Laughter, romance, adventure. And I know he loved me very much. Life with him was always exciting.”
“Of course, and those are things you can always treasure.”
“I will, but it feels disloyal to speak badly of him.”
“To speak badly of him, maybe, but you do know it’s okay to learn from the past and choose some things differently in the future, right?”
There was that maturity and wisdom again. She could only guess it came from lots of time alone with the Lord. “The fact that I wanted different things in my future felt like a betrayal of my marriage to Chet.”
“I can understand that.”
Shelby offered a shy smile. “I really admire how you put people ahead of business, ahead of money, ahead of appearances.”
“I try.” Scott squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry I gave you mixed signals.”
“Having been married before, you’re coming from a place I’ve never been. I know you need time, and I can give that to you. Maybe we can just try not to get our wires crossed again?”
Scott’s hand sliding up and down her forearm fed a lonely void in Shelby’s heart. She’d missed this. And now that she trusted it, she didn’t want to ever let it go.
Shelby grabbed his hand and kissed the work-roughened fingers. “I won’t cross my wires, because I know what I want now, and I know it’s okay to want it. I think I’m falling in love with you, Scott Matthews.”
“Shelby Holloway.” He got her attention by using her maiden name, even before he leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m already there. I already love you.”
Her heart might melt and overflow her chest. Shelby hooked her hand at the back of Scott’s neck and pressed her lips against his, letting the kiss make promises she still felt too shy to speak. She ran her fingers over the sandy stubble on his jaw and pushed them into the soft hair at the back of his neck. Everything about him felt different but so right. Close to him, she fit into a place she’d been looking for her whole life.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Shelby worked into the wee hours of the morning on the scheduled reveal day. After a check of every light, she sent Hector off. After Todd helped Scott bring in the island and the dining room table—both finished more beautifully than Shelby had even hoped—she sent Todd off. After Scott brought soup and gourmet sandwiches from the Boll Weevil, she gave him a peck of a kiss and sent him off as well. But Linda Culpepper she kept. For the first time, she had someone who could actually help her decorate.
Shelby returned to her four-square in a state of exhausted excitement. She knew better than to attempt sleep. Instead, she hit the shower, blew her hair dry, and applied fresh make-up. She selected a rust-red, cable-knit sweater dress, accented by a topaz pendant necklace and brown boots. But she paused over her jewelry cabinet. In the light of early morning illuminating the scarlet-tinted oak out her bedroom window, the diamonds of her wedding set winked at her.
Time seemed to stop. Breathe in, breathe out. Choose to embrace the future.
Slinging on her watch with the click of the clasp, Shelby tiptoed to the door. A day like today called for not only a cinnamon latte but a whole grain muffin from Buona’s. Drawing her coat tight around her, Shelby headed for her car. Just as she unlocked the door, Scott’s black Chevy pull into her driveway.
When Scott jumped out, she stepped forward to greet him. “Is everything okay? I thought you were picking up Lester and Ruby this morning.” On the chilly air, her breath formed a little white cloud.
“I am. No worries, we’ve got time. Man, you look gorgeous. I’m so glad I can say that out loud now.” Grinning, Scott slid a hand under her coat and pulled her to him.
A second later, his warm lips covered hers. She relaxed against him and kissed him back. Dressed in slacks, a sweater and dress shirt, and an overcoat, he smelled like aftershave and looked considerably better rested than she imagined she did, despite his compliment. “Well, I’m not complaining, but why are you here?”
“Come sit in the truck a second. It’s freezing.”
“Okay, but I’m on my way to Buona. Did you want to go with me?” Just smiling, Scott held open his passenger side door.
When Shelby got in, she realized why. Steam curled from the slitted lids of two coffees waiting in the cup holders, while a paper bag rested on the dash. She reached for it with a squeal. “You are too good to be true.” She opened the bag to discover not only a muffin but a slice of quiche, still warm. “You brought me breakfast.”
Scott slid in behind the steering wheel and shut the door. “I figured we should celebrate a job well done.”
“Mm.” Shelby agreed as she sipped the rich, foamy cinnamon latte. “Thank you so much.”
As the truck heater spewed toasty air into the cab and the radio played a soothing praise song, they dug into the food. After a minute, Scott said, “Mom told me how well things went last night.”
“She did? You didn’t stop by and look, did you?”
“No, although I was tempted.”
“Good, I want you to be surprised right along with Ruby and Lester.”
Scott crumpled his bag. “I know you worked your magic.”
“Your mom stays so focused. She calms my jitters and gives me new ideas.” Shelby opened the lid of her coffee
to better savor the flavor.
Scott smiled. “You think you might need an assistant in the future? Because I believe she’s up for the job.”
“Really? Oh, I’d love that. I’m just not sure how soon I could pay her.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
Before Shelby could ask what he meant, Scott scooped up her fingers. He stared at the bare fourth digit before looking at her and asking in an amazed, almost fearful, voice, “Shelby?”
She curled her fingers in a protective fist while a fierce blush swept her cheeks. “I thought it was time.” Sudden, nauseating fear swirled in dizzying waves, making her question if Scott would consider her decision premature, hasty. If he might feel pressured.
His gentle laugh alleviated her doubt. “Well, I have to admit I’m relieved. I didn’t want people to think I was dating a married woman.”
She reached over to swat him.
“I’ve got something else for you. Look in the glove compartment.”
Cocking her head, Shelby released the lever on the compartment, then reached for the small, brown paper-wrapped item inside.
“I’ve had it since the River Market, but your distaste for gifts and bribery kept me from working up the courage to give it to you until now.”
“What …” Shelby opened the bag and pulled out the delicate leather bracelet with the hammered bronze cross she’d admired at the jewelry booth back in September. “You didn’t.”
“You’re right, I didn’t. I actually texted Caitlyn that day to pick it up for me, and I paid her later. Even though I didn’t tell her, I’m pretty sure she knew it was for you.”
Shelby’s mouth dropped open. “Maybe that was what amped up her competitive juices.”
“Maybe.” Scott took the bracelet and put it around her wrist. “Looks good on you. Doesn’t exactly take the place of a wedding band, but for now …” He gave her a shy smile.
“It’s a great start. I can’t believe you bought it for me way back then.” Twisting her arm from side to side, Shelby admired just how perfect the piece of jewelry was for her now—quality, without being pretentious. “Thank you. I love it.”
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