Tonight, he’d ruined all possibilities with her.
Twelve years ago, he’d taken a car for a joyride, been arrested and made his mother cry. Disappointed his entire family. The legal bills hadn’t helped their difficult financial situation at the time and ever since then he’d tried to be a good kid to make it up. But the debts just kept mounting, Jake being the biggest one. The one Scott couldn’t ever pay back.
More than anything, he wished he could forgive himself.
She might not understand when you pull away without even realizing that’s what you’re doing. She’ll think it’s because of her and take it personally. Wallace had said that not long ago, and he’d been right. He’d pushed Diana away because he didn’t deserve her. Far from being a reminder of bad times, she was essentially the only good and perfect thing he had left in his life. She believed in him. Heard the worst from him but he’d seen nothing but love in her eyes. No judgment or resentment. He saw enough of it when he looked in the mirror every day, and finally he’d had enough. Enough pain. Enough blame. It had to end somewhere and it might as well be with him.
In the quiet of the night, Scott could almost hear Jake’s voice.
Get over it, chump. Don’t be such a pussy. Move on, soldier. Heads up.
Jake had been referring to something else, but his words now affected Scott in a new way. More than anyone, Jake wouldn’t want him to take on the blame. He’d always said he could take care of himself. Scott didn’t know why it had happened, and maybe he’d never fully understand. But if he wanted to move on, if he wanted to live a life worth living, he’d have to let Jake go. Because letting him go and leading the life he’d been blessed to still have was the best kind of tribute to Jake.
At this hour of the evening, Starlight Hill was rolled up tight. Everyone would be at home, and so he headed back to Diana’s. He had to see her, had to make up his hurtful words to her. She’d been far more to him than he’d ever imagined she could be. But he’d been an asshole and had to make it up to her. Somehow. He was supposed to be helping her, not pushing her away. Her car wasn’t back at her house, and there were no lights on inside. When he drove back to his house, it was the same thing. No Diana. Pushing his luck, he drove on to Mrs. Paulsen’s and saw no lights on, and more importantly Diana’s car wasn’t there either.
Now he was not only curious but a foreboding sense of concern ached in the pit of his stomach. No, she wouldn’t have sought out Kyle. She wasn’t the type, and this little walk on the wild side she’d taken with Scott hadn’t worked out too well for either one of them. He had a feeling they were both sunk like two ships in deep muddy waters. At least he could speak for himself. He was in trouble because he cared far more than he should, maybe even more than he’d been allowed to care. Much more than friends, she’d robbed him of a big piece of his heart when he hadn’t been paying attention. Too busy worshipping her body, he, who’d always done so well with separating love and sex, had screwed up in an epic way this time.
He wondered what she’d do if he asked her to stay.
He drove through town like a soldier on a reconnaissance mission, searching out a blue Honda Civic. Hopefully occupied by a beautiful brunette woman who might give him another chance. Again.
Scott saw nothing but one dirty car after another. What their state needed, what they all needed, was one big dump of water to go on for days and wash away all the dust and grime. Fill up their dams and lakes.
The lake.
He drove there breaking speed limits, and damned if he didn’t see her blue Honda parked right where he’d parked his truck. The thought that she’d come out here this late at night, when the moon was still just a slice in the sky, unnerved him. It wasn’t safe, and what’s more he doubted she even had a flashlight with her. Pulling over, he took out his flashlight from the glove compartment and the thermal blanket he carried with him. If she’d come here wearing that sexy skimpy dress he’d seen her wearing earlier, by now she’d be cold. And shit, he hoped she’d had the presence of mind not to walk in her red boots or she might break her neck out here.
He’d only hiked a few feet in towards the lake when he heard her voice carrying through the quiet night air.
“Go away, Scott!”
Yeah, fat chance. “I will as soon as you tell me what the hell you’re doing here.”
“I thought I’d come for a moonlight swim. What do you care?”
He shone the flashlight in front of him following the sound of her voice. She sat on the ground, cradling one bare foot.
Even from a few feet away he could see she was scratched up and possibly bleeding. “You’re hurt.”
“And you’re a liar. You said you would leave if I told you.”
“I can’t leave you here.”
“Yes, you can. I don’t need your help.”
He reached her side and squatted down. “Let me see.”
“I’m fine. I took off my boots and tripped on a tree root. I just skinned my knee and foot.”
“Is that why your ankle looks swollen?” His hand skimmed her ankle and she jumped. “Maybe it’s broken.”
“It’s absolutely not broken!”
“Can you put your weight on it?”
She gave him the thousand yard stare.
“That’s what I thought.” He put the thermal blanket around her and lifted her into his arms, holding the flashlight in his mouth.
“My boots!” she said, and grabbed them up. “Put me down.”
He couldn’t say anything more than a mumble with the flashlight in his mouth so he kept walking, ignoring her protests. He settled her into the passenger seat and examined her ankle.
“Need to ice it.”
“What are you doing here?”
His eyes rose from her pink and swollen ankle to meet her red rimmed eyes. Shit. She’d been crying. Over his sorry ass. Not the first time in his life he’d made a woman cry, but only the second time in his life when it mattered to him. It mattered a whole hell of a lot and he mulled that over while he examined her ankle.
“I went to your house, then back to my house. Drove by Mrs. Paulsen’s house. Couldn’t find you so I drove all over town.”
He could sense her eyes probing him while he busied himself, using his first aid kit to clean up her scratches and some of the blood from a gash on her foot.
“But why?”
“Because I was an asshole earlier. A jealous asshole.” He met her eyes. “And I’m sorry.”
“You can’t help the way you feel.”
“We both know this has been about a lot more than sex. And I should have told you about Jake.”
“You should have. I wanted to help you tonight, and you didn’t let me.”
“I know, babe. It’s hard for me, to be … weak.”
“You’re not weak because you hurt inside. I know you, Scott, and you would have done anything to help him if you could.”
“But some people can’t be helped. Right?”
“You’re not responsible for the world.”
“Yeah. You know, for a while I was mad at Jake but that seemed wrong somehow. Never speak ill of the dead and all that. So I guess it was just easier to turn the hate around to myself.”
“And Megan obviously reinforced it.”
“She’s in a lot of pain. I can take the abuse. It’s once a year.”
They were both quiet for a moment, then Diana spoke again. “We all have our wounds, Scott. Maybe you think I’ve been completely honest with you, but that’s not true. When I came here, it wasn’t just to help my Gran. I was also running away from my stupid life.”
“You don’t have a stupid life.”
“Oh yeah? Maybe you don’t know me at all. You think you’re toxic? I dated my college boyfriend for six years. Six months later he was engaged to be married to someone he’d dated for eight weeks. I told myself he wasn’t ready to be married. We were too young, and then later we didn’t have enough money. We both had to get our careers established an
d the timing wasn’t right. But the point was he didn’t want to marry me. And maybe he knew before I did that we were never right for each other. I just didn’t see it then because I’m an idiot and I see what I want to see. So you might want to run far away from me before I take you with me into my land of make-believe.”
“You don’t have to tell me all this.”
“Yes, I do. Because you were supposed to be the rebound guy.”
That hit him hard. Until that moment he hadn’t realized how much he’d hoped she might want more from him from the start. “The rebound guy.”
“I wanted to go in with no expectations for the first time in my life. But as it turns out, I don’t do no expectations. I don’t do casual. I don’t do no strings.”
“Not many people do.”
The ankle. Needs to be iced. Focus on this swollen ankle and don’t get your hopes up. He’d run out of ice packs in his first aid kit, but the water in the lake was cold enough that it would do in a pinch. Her wound cleaned up and the cut wrapped, he lifted her again and carried her to the side of the lake. Holding her in his lap he stuck her left foot in the lake.
“Holy crap!” She squealed and tried to pull back but he held her ankle in place.
“Keep it here just a few minutes. We need to ice it.”
“It’s freezing.”
“And you were going for a moonlight swim?”
“You got me. I lied. I wasn’t going to swim, I’m not crazy. I just wanted to feel as good as I had the last time I was here.” She leaned back, pushing against his chest and buried her face in the crook of her elbow. “You weren’t supposed to be the guy.”
He couldn’t help it. His heart kicked into high gear. “Diana. Look at me.”
“No. This is so humiliating. First you rescue me from a fire. Next you rescue me from feeling like an amazon woman with a fat ass—”
“Hey, your ass is perfect.”
“Thank you. You just made my point. And now you’re rescuing me from a broken ankle.”
“I don’t think it’s broken.” He pulled her foot out of the water.
“Oh, thank God. I could use some good news right about now.”
“Good, because hopefully, I have more good news for you.”
“Okay, what is it?” she asked from behind her elbow.
“You have to look at me for this.” He gently grasped her wrist and brought her arm down. “Here’s what you need to know. I want to be the guy. I’ll do just about anything to be the guy. I love you, Diana. You make me feel like my sorry ass deserves to be loved for the first time in a long time.”
“You do deserve it. You’re the best man I know. I love you. So much.”
He smiled under the stars and patch of moonlight where he’d found his heart. “If I asked you not to go back. If I want you to stay here with me, would you?”
She gave him a deep kiss, and in it he found everything he’d ever need to get through the bad days. There might be a few days like today ahead of him when the pain of losing Jake again felt raw and fresh again, but with Diana by his side there would be little he couldn’t overcome.
“What do you think?”
He grinned, pretty sure if he looked in the mirror right now he’d see the same stupid grin he’d seen on Wallace’s and Billy’s faces.
Now he’d fallen in love. Hard. “What are you waiting for?”
She grinned, as understanding deepened in her sparkling dark eyes. “Kiss me.”
“Damn girl, I thought you’d never ask.”
Diana’s ankle hurt, the scratches on her knees and foot stung and burned, and she’d likely ruined her boots. Still, hands down this was the best night of her life. Ever. Scott loved her. She didn’t think if she lived to be one hundred years old she’d ever need anything more than that. When he kissed her she felt his longing match her own, their heartbeats appearing to rise in time with each other’s. He carried her to his truck and laid the thermal blanket on his backseat, then set her down. She stretched her body out, pulling him on top of her where she wanted him.
“Your ankle, babe. Don’t let me hurt you.” He shut the truck door, giving them privacy from the wildlife.
“I’m fine. Just hold me.”
“Man, I love this dress,” he said pushing the skirt up to her waist, taking care to ease her injured foot around his back.
She made fast work of helping him loosen his belt and pulling down his pants and boxer briefs. Scott used his fingers to move aside the slim patch of her thong panties and pushed inside of her, making them both gasp in pleasure. He moved with hard and rhythmic thrusts inside of her, taking her to the edge over and over again. When he moved her leg higher to go deeper, Diana moaned and asked for more. Faster. Closer. Deeper still. She couldn’t get enough of him, and for the first time it occurred to her that maybe she never would. He felt like everything she’d ever need and he’d already given her so much. When he searched her eyes with a heat that made her squirm and ache and asked her to let go for him again, she did so without a second thought. She’d never hold anything back from him. As she arched her back and shuddered, she felt him coming along with her.
Afterwards, they lay together spent, and Scott gathered her in his arms switching positions so she could rest on top of him. “You always make me feel like a horny teenager.”
“Hmmmm,” she said against his hard chest.
“How’s that ankle?”
“What ankle?”
“Good answer.” He brushed a kiss across her temple.
Diana didn’t know how much time had passed, but when she blinked one eye open, she saw dawn breaking over the valley. Not such a good thing, since she was supposed to be at the shop. Now.
She stretched and nudged Scott awake. “I’m late. I need to go open the shop for Gen.”
He groaned. “Just give her a call. Maybe she can get Sophia to come in instead. You’re hurt.”
“No, she’s depending on me. I don’t want to let her down.” Even if she had to hobble around on her foot today, she’d do it. This town and Gen had done so much for her. They’d all given her a second chance with a brand new life. A life she adored, and not just because of the man she loved so desperately.
Turned out she fit here, and with him.
By the time they reached the bakery, a line had formed outside the door. Ed had his face plastered against the front pane window. Understandable, as she was two hours late. Worse, she hadn’t done any of the prep work so either she’d have to sell day old stuff or everyone would have to wait.
They didn’t look in the mood to wait.
“It’s like a mad mini-mob,” Scott said, parking his truck at the curb in front of the store.
“I need to get in there.” She slipped on her dirty red boots and smoothed out her dress. “People around here need their coffee and their sugar fix.”
He stilled her movement with a large arm across her body. “Are you serious?”
“Of course.” She moved to open the passenger side door but his arm wasn’t budging out of her way. “They need me, and they all finally like me a little bit. I know I won’t always be doing this, but while I am I want to be the best baker’s assistant Gen will ever have.”
“Dedication,” he said, leaning back in his seat. “Here’s what we’ll do. You sit there and I’ll open the truck door for you and help you inside.”
“Scott, that’s really not—”
But he was already out the driver’s side door and in two seconds was easing her out. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned on him, trying to put as little weight on her ankle as possible. It already felt better, but she didn’t want to take any chances.
Diana heard whispers among the crowd. Someone had the guts to ask, “Hey! Are you guys a thing?”
“Yeah, we’re a thing,” Scott answered. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“Bite my head off, why don’t you,” the customer answered.
“Make way,” Scott said as he mov
ed her towards the front door.
“Sorry I’m late, everybody. I had a little accident and twisted my ankle.”
“You’re just getting here now?” Ed barked. “I thought maybe you had to run out for something. What about my bagel? I’ll be late for work!”
“You’ll get it if you’re nice about it.” Scott glared at him.
Diana opened the front door. She hobbled in with Scott’s help and everyone else filed in behind them. “Have a seat. I’ll get the coffee going,” Diana said as she put on her apron.
“Diana—” Scott warned. “I should do that.”
She faced him, hands on her hips. “Do you know how to make the coffee?”
“I’ll figure it out.” He fiddled with the coffeemaker.
Diana leaned against the register and faced the mob. “Here’s the thing, everyone. I have day-old bagels and donuts so I’ll sell those at a discount if you can’t wait. Otherwise, take a seat and get comfy because it’s going to be a while.”
Ed narrowed his eyes. “How much of a discount?”
“Half price. How’s that?” Since Gen usually gave the stuff away to friends and family, getting anything at all would be an improvement.
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” Ed said, taking out his wallet. “This is great. Gen never gives me a discount.”
“Happy to help,” Diana said and rang him up.
She was able to get rid of half of the customers with day-old goods, and the rest of them said they’d wait. Diana had to get going in the back. She caught a glare from Scott when she tried to put weight on her bad ankle, so she instead hopped to the back hanging on to the wall as she went.
“This is ridiculous,” Scott said, pulling out his phone. “I’m calling Gen.”
“Don’t!” Diana protested. “She needs her rest.”
“Then I’ll call Sophia.”
“I can do this.” She had already made her way to the back and started the mixer going.
“You need to let me help, then.” Scott moved in front of her so she had no choice.
A few minutes later, she had Scott going on donuts and she’d started on bagels. And a strange thing happened. Everyone pitched in to help in some way. An older woman named Mrs. Lewis claimed she used to own the bakery and she stood behind the register filling coffee mugs and taking orders while Diana and Scott continued to bring more trays of pastries to the front glass case.
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