by Liz Talley
And yet at the same time, she felt a bit like the Grinch, as if her heart had grown three times its size. Jack was here. If she wanted to, she could reach out and touch him. He would be warm, alive, not just a wispy ghost of a dream, haunting her with silky laughter and sensual kisses. And what had happened in Vegas hadn’t stayed in Vegas. He was here. Her heart leaped.
Nellie watched his progress as he prowled across the room, yanking the woman with him. He ignored the other people in the diner. No one else called out to him other than Bubba. Jack stopped right beside Nellie’s chair. She could feel the heat from him, smell the citrus cologne mixed with fabric softener, and see the worn cowboy boots beneath the faded hem of his jeans.
Bubba extended a hand. “Hey, buddy. You found the hangout okay, huh?”
Nellie lifted her eyes. Jack stared at her even as Bubba pumped his hand. “No problem, Bubba. Don’t think I would have missed it.”
His voice sent shivers down her spine. Half of her wanted to throw her arms around him and cry like a child. The other half of her just sat there, kind of like her cold hamburger.
“Jack, this here’s my friend Nellie,” Bubba said, nodding toward Nellie. “She’s about the smartest, prettiest girl in Oak Stand.”
At this, she should have blushed and looked pleased, but she was too busy concentrating on breathing. Jack stretched a hand toward her. “Can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Nellie.”
Bubba looked confused. The woman with Jack lifted one perfectly shaped eyebrow.
Nellie stared at his hand before slipping her own into his. She felt disconnected until she touched him. A jolt of electricity raced up the length of her arm. She blinked. This was not happening. She wasn’t shaking the hand of the man she’d fallen so hard for. She wasn’t shaking the hand of the man who’d made her burn. She wasn’t shaking the hand of the man who’d…come after her? Wait. Was he here for her?
She glanced up. His expression was guarded. “Uh, nice to meet you—”
“Darby. Jack Darby.” He sounded like James Bond, though he looked much better than 007. His striped button-down shirt made his shoulders outrageously broad. The faded jeans hung from his hips, and his sunburned cheeks made his eyes turn cobalt. No wonder Livy Wheeler had dubbed him hot. He could have burned up half of Oak Stand with his tight buns and sexy smile. Not that he was smiling. Nor could Nellie see his buns. But she remembered. Man, did she remember.
She pulled her hand from his.
“Y’all gettin’ something to eat?” Bubba blurted, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
An “ahem” sounded from behind Jack. He snapped awake. “Oh, right. Uh, this is—”
The woman behind Jack stepped forward. She looked like Salma Hayek—golden skin, loose wavy brown hair and soft luminous eyes. “Hi, I’m Jack’s sister, Dawn. I’m helping him get his house in order. You know bachelors. They can’t pull it together without a woman.”
Nellie felt the question in Dawn’s eyes. Only Bubba seemed oblivious to the awkward exchange between Jack and her.
“I beg to differ.” Bubba grinned, shoving a toothpick in his mouth. “I like my milk crate bedside table and beanbag chairs.”
Dawn snorted. “I suppose you have one of those wooden spool things from the phone company as your coffee table, too?”
“How’d ya know?” he said.
Dawn laughed. Jack forced a smile. Nellie sat there like a puddle in the road. Doing nothing except being.
“Well, we’d better get to the counter,” Jack said. “Looks like business is picking up.” Nellie could feel his eyes on her. He waited for her to say something, to show she knew him. But all she could do was stare at the ketchup squeeze bottle. Her tongue wouldn’t move, so she pressed her lips together and studied Dawn’s cute cork-wedge sandals.
“Yep. It’s Saturday night in Oak Stand.” Bubba stretched back in his chair. Nellie thought she heard the legs groan.
Dawn took that as a cue to make the standard “nice to meet you” platitudes. Jack said nothing, just lasered her with his eyes. Nellie sat stone still, managing only a smile. That was all.
As they walked away, she slumped against the vinyl chair. She felt like crying but knew it would draw more attention. But maybe not. Everyone with the exception of Beverly Tyner, who was fussing at three of her kids, stared at the two newcomers as they wound their way through the diner, stopping to chat and shake hands with many of the locals. They looked like movie stars, benevolently bestowing their glow on each individual, but they were totally unaware of the power of their presence.
Bubba wasn’t watching Jack and Dawn. He stared at her as if she’d suddenly grown two heads. He wisely didn’t ask any question other than, “You ready to go?”
She nodded and reached for her purse. She felt numb, shocked and outraged this was happening to her. She headed for the exit, stiff and proud. At that moment, she was exceedingly glad she was a Tucker. No one could throw their shoulders back and go through the motions like one of her clan.
Nellie shoved the swinging glass door open, and took several gulps of the humid night air.
Bubba trudged along behind her, holding the door for a couple of teenagers who’d just walked up.
“What the hell?”
The voice came from behind her. It wasn’t Bubba. It was Jack.
She tried to pretend she didn’t hear him. Maybe he would go away. Everything would go away.
“Nellie!” Wish not granted.
She turned around. Jack stood in front of the Dairy Barn, hands on his hips like an irate parent. Bubba stood behind him looking confused.
“What?”
“That’s what I get? A total brush-off?”
She couldn’t see his eyes clearly in the shadows of the night, which made her uneasy. “I…uh…what are you doing here?”
He didn’t move closer to her, just folded his arms across his chest. “What do you think?”
She could feel emotion tightening her throat. She needed to get home before she lost it in front of the people looking out the plate glass windows of the Dairy Barn. Before she made a spectacle of herself in front of everyone she knew. “I really don’t know.”
He shook his head. She couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or perturbed. “I guess you’ll find out.”
She waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. Just nodded to Bubba and went back into the diner.
She turned around and started walking. What else could she do? Go back and confront him? People had already seen him beeline for their table and then follow them outside. She could only hope they’d think he wanted to speak with Bubba, not her.
So she headed back around the square toward home. Bubba followed, kicking a small stone the whole way like a schoolboy. The scuff of his boot and the resulting tumble of the rock were the only sounds in the darkness, but she could tell he was waiting for her answer.
Nellie stepped onto her front walk. “I know Jack.”
Bubba parked a big boot on her porch. “Figured that out. I’m smarter than I look, remember?”
She walked to the porch swing, kicked off her sandals and tucked one foot underneath her. The swing creaked as she set it in motion. “I met him in Vegas.”
“Why’s he here?” Bubba asked, eyeing the small rockers lining the porch before sinking down onto the steps.
She shrugged. “Don’t know. I never even told him my real name.”
“Why?”
Hell. Bubba was no Kate. Kate ranted, filled in blanks. She didn’t ask open-ended questions that required the rehashing of one’s motives. Nor would she have waited as patiently as he had. “Because I wanted to be someone else for the weekend. Someone glamorous, free, uninhibited. I made up a name and had an affair.”
“With him?”
She swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
“Shoot,” Bubba said. “That sounds like something Kate would do.”
“Yeah. It does, doesn’t it?” She managed a smile.
“Well, whatcha gonna do?”
She shrugged. That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? And the answer? “Nothing. I don’t know why he’s here. I guess it could be coincidence. He’s starting a horse farm or something, right?”
“Un-uh.” Bubba shook his head. “He came here ’cause you was here.”
That ill-spoken observation nearly shook her from the swing. Jack had come for her?
“But that doesn’t make sense, Bubba. Why not just pick up the phone? Call me and talk to me? I don’t know what to think. The way we ended…”
“I guess I don’t know how you left it. But that man thinks he’s got somethin’ to prove. That’s how we are, I mean, as a breed. If we want something, we want it. I guess ol’ Jack didn’t think a phone call would do it. He’s got a plan, I reckon.”
Nellie stared at the sweet olive bush beside the porch. It made the summer night sweeter with its fragrance. Stars winked from under the moss-decked oak branches each time the swing arced back. Crickets chirruped and june bugs thumped against the screened windows. She should have been at peace.
“A plan,” Nellie echoed, allowing her toe to drag against the faded boards beneath her, her stomach churning at the portent of two simple words.
“Mmm.” Bubba lurched, stiff legged, off the porch stairs. “I guess I gotta get. I told Momma I’d watch the news with her tonight. She’s havin’ one of her good days.”
He pulled his cap out of his pocket and shoved it onto his head.
“You’re leaving? We’re just figuring this out. I need a man’s opinion.” Nellie wrapped her arms around herself and threw him her best puppy-dog look. It didn’t seem to work because he started digging his truck keys out of his pocket.
“You ain’t gotta do nothing. Just wait.”
“Wait?”
“Well, it’s like this, Nellie. You know when you go fishin’?” Nellie nodded. “Well, you know there’s fish there, right? In your case, it’s a big one. You gotta sit back and see if he’s gonna nibble or just take the whole thing in one big gulp. Then I guess you gotta decide if he’s a keeper.”
Kate would have never talked in fish analogies, but Nellie totally got where he was going. She just had to watch the cork. Of course that made her bait. It was a bit disgusting to think about herself as a wriggling worm on the end of a hook.
“See ya,” Bubba called en route to his truck.
“Bye, Bubba—thanks,” she called over the chirrups of the cicadas. He lifted one hand.
Not a man of many words. But those few words made sense… She sighed.
Bubba’s big truck roared to life, interrupting the tranquility of the night. Nellie swore she could feel the swing vibrate. He backed out and hit the curb. The truck lurched as he gave it gas before shooting off down the street.
Bubba Malone. How had an ice cream sundae bestowed out of charity led to such a friendship? And she really liked him, felt totally comfortable around him even if his eyes often dipped to her chest.
But he was a man, after all.
Men. Who could understand them? She had such little experience with them. Was Bubba right? Did Jack have a plan? And did it involve wanting her?
Time to cast her line and see what happened.
JACK DIDN’T HAVE A PLAN. Not one single idea of what to do. He’d just walked into the Dairy Barn on a Saturday night and there sat Nellie.
And what was her reaction?Nothing.
She’d sat there like a wart on a toad. Okay, she looked better than a wart on a toad, way better. And she did seem a little panicked. But he saw no affection, no sign of gratitude, no glimmer of love. Shouldn’t she have done something? Acknowledged they knew each other? Marvel he was there? Nope, she sat like a corpse, pressing her lips together in a tight-assed smile. And then when he’d confronted her, she’d been so perturbed. Not what he’d expected at all.
“Okay, what the devil’s going on?” Dawn slid into the truck with two greasy bags. Damn, he knew the awkward exchange wouldn’t go right over his sister’s head. She had eagle eyes and a nose for trouble. Lord knows she’d gotten herself in a good bit of it over the years.
He glared at her. “Nothing’s going on.”
“The hell it isn’t,” she said, returning the glare and slamming the truck door. She stabbed one finger at the Dairy Barn. “That in there was something going on.”
He said nothing, just fired up the engine and pulled away from the diner. He didn’t have to explain anything to Dawn. He wanted her here to help him with the house, not repair his love life. After all, she’d done a bang-up job on her own, marrying the ass who’d knocked her up then spending the next thirteen years of her life pretending he wasn’t a worthless excuse for skin.
He could feel his sister studying him. Women. They just couldn’t let it go.
“She’s why you’re here,” Dawn said. He could hear the astonishment in her voice. “Oh. My. God. You’re in love with her!”
Jack swung around the square, switching lanes so he could turn north. He shot Dawn a don’t-go-there look and gritted his teeth. She thought this was amusing.
Case in point—she started laughing. “I wondered why you picked this town. I thought you and Dad had settled on somewhere closer to Houston. Now I get it.”
He remained silent.
She stopped laughing. Jack could tell she was chewing on the situation. A few seconds passed.
“She didn’t know you were coming,” she said at last. “I mean, I could tell she was stunned. You came here and didn’t even call her?” Dawn’s mouth fell open as she studied him in the scant light of the streetlamps. “Oh, wow. You don’t have a plan, do you? I mean, that was awkward.”
He gripped the steering wheel so hard he thought it might shatter. He wanted to tell Dawn to shut her mouth and get out of his truck, but she was right. Man, did he hate it when his sister was right. So he simply nodded his head.
“Oh, Jack, what have you done?”
“What have I done? I rearranged my whole life for her. I left Vegas and moved to a town I don’t know squat about for her. I rolled the dice for her.” Jack spit the words out. Even as he said them, Dawn shook her head.
“Now what?” she asked, rooting through the paper bag and snagging an onion ring. She popped it in her mouth and then offered him one.
He took it. “I don’t know. Something.”
“Good plan. I always thought ‘something’ was underrated.”
“Don’t be a smart-ass.”
She laughed. “Can’t help it. I am my mother’s daughter.”
“Amen,” he said.
“Well, I’ll tell you this, Jack. I would give my right arm for a man to do for me what you’ve done for her. She’d be the stupidest woman in the world to turn down someone like you. And I don’t say that because you are my yucky little brother.” She leaned over and smacked a kiss on his cheek.
“Bluck! Sister germs.”
She laughed. “Don’t wipe it away or I’ll give you another.”
A comfortable silence settled as he tore through the city limits sign heading for his new place. Andrew, who hadn’t made it to his dad’s for the weekend, waited on them, probably not patiently, to deliver his chicken sandwich and Tater Tots. Jack and Dawn had agreed to leave him so he could program the newly installed satellite system. God willing, Jack would be able to catch Sports Center that night. Thank goodness for teenagers and their vast knowledge of all things electronic.
Jack made the turn into his pitiful excuse for a driveway. He had to think about how he would handle Nellie. How did someone shake things up in this town? Climb the water tower and spray paint I love Nellie onto the side? Throw rocks at her window until she appeared like some celestial creature? Of course, he had the perfect weapon tucked deep in the pocket of his suitcase, but that would be sophomoric.
Yet it would provoke a response.
Jack looked over at Dawn. She looked like a bobble-head. He had to get those potholes fixed. He’d get Bubba on th
at Monday before he shattered every tooth in his head. And he wasn’t paying for his sister’s dental work.
“I may have a plan.”
“Heaven help that girl” was Dawn’s only response.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Pay attention. You never know when the Lord might be trying to tell you something.
—Grandmother Tucker to Nellie when she caught her writing notes to Kate in church.
THE NEXT MORNING when Nellie walked into the sanctuary of the Oak Stand Baptist Church, she nearly tripped over Perla Hightower’s walker.
And it wasn’t because Perla stuck the contraption with a horn and tennis ball feet into the aisle. And it wasn’t the sunlight pouring through the beautiful stained glass windows temporarily blinding her.It was because the devil himself, along with his sister and a teenage boy, sat in the second pew. In her spot. The spot where the Tuckers had sat for generations.
Didn’t he know visitors sat in the back of the church?
Nellie tried to tamp down her grumpiness. It wasn’t very Christian after all. But where in the devil was she supposed to sit? She couldn’t sit next to him. And what about Cousin Ned? Her cousin only came twice a year—Christmas and Easter—but if he did get a sudden case of religion, he was out of luck too.
Nellie glanced around. Several people gave her a shrug. It wasn’t as if they could explain to a visitor that the second pew belonged to the Tucker family. Because it really didn’t. It was just an unspoken rule.
Nellie slid into the back pew next to Shirley Fisher, who had bladder problems.
As the service began, she tried to focus on the announcements and prayer requests, but it was difficult with Jack’s head in her line of vision. The man had been on her mind all night and she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Fortunately the dark circles beneath her eyes happened to match her gray dress.
Not only had the man invaded her thoughts and dreams, he’d invaded her world.