Candis Terry - [Sweet, Texas 01]

by Anything But Sweet

  What was wrong with the red-and-white-striped candy store? Reno frowned. One look at the place, and you knew exactly what you’d find inside.

  “Third on the list,” the way-too-eager designer continued, “is Sweet Pickens Bar-B-Q. You had the right idea, Mr. Carlson. We’ll just help you refine it a bit. Next is the Harvest Moon Mercantile. Mr. Bodine, we know this store is over a hundred years old and has been handed down through the generations. We want to make sure it stands for another hundred.”

  Then Fancy Pants got an even bigger smile on her face, if that was even possible. “For a special surprise we’ve chosen . . . Town Square.” A raucous cheer from the crowd lifted the roof. “We plan to give you a new gazebo, benches, picnic tables, and we’re going to add a playground in the northeast corner.”

  That announcement brought the folks to their feet. Reno relaxed. Guess she’d gotten his not-so-subtle hint that he wanted no part of her makeover shenanigans.

  While the crowd rejoiced, Charlotte Brooks stood at the podium, looking quite pleased with herself. She didn’t understand what she was doing, and it wasn’t Reno’s job to educate her. But he sure wished someone would before it was too late. Drastic structural changes couldn’t be as easily undone as switching your lunch order from a burger to a BLT. And God knew that a small number of tourists passing through could be beneficial, but an entire slew of them would disrupt life as they knew it.

  Finally, the crowd quieted, and Ms. Brooks began to fold the plan of attack in her hands. Abruptly she looked down and reopened the pink sheet of paper. “Oh!”

  Uh-oh.

  “I almost forgot.” Her coffee-colored gaze skimmed over the crowd until it landed on him like a heat-seeking missile. “Last but not least, we are super excited to include in our makeovers, Wilder and Sons Hardware & Feed.”

  Shit.

  A smirk lifted the corners of those full pink lips, and a spark flashed behind those brown eyes. “Congratulations, Mr. Wilder.”

  Anger spread through his chest in a hot flush.

  “Well, big brother . . .” Jesse clamped a hand over his shoulder. “How about we make that a whiskey instead of a beer?”

  Reno narrowed his eyes at the brunette standing at the podium with a grin a mile wide that proclaimed she’d just declared war.

  While everyone in the hall stood and began to mingle and chat excitedly about the changes to come, he and Jesse gave their mother a good-bye hug, then headed toward the exit. The closer he came to the metal doors, the more he felt her eyes on him. Reno glanced over his shoulder to find the troublemaker still at the podium. Smiling.

  Damn city girl.

  He shook his head and shoved open the steel door.

  She’d learn quick enough not to mess with Texas.

  Or him.

  Hours later, Charli passed through large rock columns and an ornate, electric, metal gate. She drove up the gravel drive through a canopy of live oaks that shaded the road and cast shadows on the tall meadow grass. Within moments, she’d parked near a big barn and stepped down from the Hummer.

  The day had been long, and she looked forward to a hot shower and a good sleep. She grabbed her purse and Pumpkin off the passenger seat, then turned to look across the wide driveway at the ranch-style home. It wasn’t a huge house, but she could imagine a family of four or five living there comfortably.

  A rock face gave the home an immediate sense of character. Dormer windows dotted the second story, and a covered veranda held gorgeous glazed pots brimming with red geraniums, bluebonnets, and yellow lantana. Two crimson rocking chairs on either side of a small rustic table tempted her to sit and unwind. Though exhaustion drained every muscle in her body, she could think of no better time to thank her hostess for the temporary housing.

  The woman she’d spoken with on the phone had been warm and friendly and more than happy to loan out the little apartment over her barn. Charli knocked on the front door. When no one answered, she figured her hosts must still be at the post-announcement punch-and-cookie reception. Though she’d missed an introduction there, she’d make sure to meet them and offer her gratitude as soon as possible.

  Initially, she’d been given the choice of several places to stay—a couple of bed-and-breakfasts, even the six-bedroom home a few of her crew had chosen. But the idea of a little space and privacy after working side by side with her crew and the community every day, six days a week for six weeks, sounded more appealing. When the small apartment had popped up in the mix, she’d reached out and grabbed it.

  Shading her eyes against the setting sun, she scanned the area surrounding the house where dozens of cows in assorted shades of black and brown grazed in the tall grass. Live oak and elderberry dotted the landscape at the back of the property in a picturesque pattern. The entire landscape was pretty enough to photograph and display. No makeover necessary here. The place was nicely done and well loved.

  With Pumpkin snuggled in her arms, she walked around back and found another covered veranda equally inviting as the front. A nice-sized backyard spread out to where an arbor and a weathered grape-stake picket fence as well as an eight-foot wire fence enclosed a sizeable garden. Charli kicked off her shoes and walked across the neatly mown lawn to the wooden gate that hung between the arbor posts.

  She inhaled the freshly turned soil and the crisp scent of foliage topping zucchini, peppers, onions, and an assortment of other delicious vegetables. She’d always wanted a garden, but it had never been in the cards. First, as a kid, she’d moved around too much. Now her job required a good amount of travel for long spurts at a time. She was rarely home at her ultramodern Studio City apartment anymore. To even attempt keeping a single tomato plant alive would be futile.

  “It’s pretty here, isn’t it, Pumpkin?”

  Her dog gave a girly bark.

  “Good thing there’s a fence, though. Otherwise, you’d be up to no good.” She gave the dog a little rub on the head. “Let’s go check out our temporary digs, shall we?” Charli went back to the Hummer, grabbed her suitcase, then climbed the stairs on the inside of the barn. She set aside dog and suitcase and, as instructed, retrieved the key from under the HOWDY doormat.

  From the moment she opened the front door and set down her suitcase, she felt right at home. Pumpkin trotted into the living area—a space decorated with soft leather furniture. Big enough to be roomy but not overly large so as to feel cavernous. Granite countertops highlighted the open kitchen and island bar. Above the room were exposed beams that gave the whole place a country vibe. Although there were no deer heads or stuffed jackalopes—which apparently were a bit of inside Texas humor.

  She wandered down the hall to find a large master bedroom with a king-sized bed and heavy but tasteful furniture. Past the master, she discovered a smaller bedroom surprisingly decorated in happy shades of pink and purple. A toddler-sized bed adorned one side of the room, while a toy chest overflowing with stuffed animals and Barbie dolls occupied the other. The large back wall had been embellished with a mural of a stone castle with golden turrets set in a field of bluebonnets. A white pony with a flowing mane stood on a grassy hilltop, while a smiling goldfish jumped from a bubbling brook. Also on that grassy hilltop stood a fairy princess in a sparkly pink gown and her Prince Charming, who was properly outfitted in a suit of shining armor.

  Charli walked up to the mural and trailed her fingers lightly across the surface. “Ahhhh. Hand painted.” Not like the mass-produced products they purchased for the show. Whoever had created this original art had amazing talent and obviously loved the little girl who lived in this room very much. While Charli hoped she wasn’t putting a child out of her home, she couldn’t help but let a small sigh whisper from her chest.

  The princess-themed room struck a chord. It was exactly the type she’d dreamed of as a kid. But her father’s military career meant they were rarely in one place for very long, and making a military house into a permanent home had been a senseless effort. Or so her father had said. Until
she turned eighteen and set out on her own, Charli had become like the walls she lived within—beige and bland.

  For most of her life, she’d been invisible to her United States Marine Lieutenant General father. From the moment her brother Nicholas had been born a mere eighteen months after she’d come into the world, the situation deteriorated. When her mother died, it had become even more apparent.

  Charli had been only eight at the time, and the loss had devastated her. Her mother had been her safe haven in a world of heavy boots and sharp-spoken words from a father who barked orders instead of engaging in conversation.

  For years, she’d played to her father’s whims, pretending to be a good little soldier, doing whatever she could to get his attention. She might as well have saved her energy. Her father was either never home or never there. One removed him from her physically for months at a time. The other removed him from her emotionally.

  She didn’t know which was worse.

  At the end of the day, she didn’t know much about the man who wore a hard expression on his handsome face. She only knew that the military had not made him that way. He’d brought that cold, hard heart with him when he’d enlisted. Which always made her wonder what her whimsical mother had ever seen in the man. Her mother had been the only one who could cajole away his bad moods. When her mother was gone, there’d been no one for the job. Still, Charli had tried.

  Inarguably, men were complicated creatures. A detail she’d determined at the age of ten, when her father had come home from a yearlong deployment and merely patted her on the head. Yet later, at the welcome-home party their nanny had thrown, he’d proceeded to tell his fellow officers what a wonderful little girl his Charli was.

  How did he know?

  Did he really care?

  And maybe it didn’t matter as long as he paid her any amount of attention.

  Sadly, she realized that even now, at the age of thirty-one, she was still vying for her father’s attention and approval. And, much like her mother, she’d often sought the company of men whose hearts were voluntarily unavailable.

  Miraculously, her brother—now a lieutenant deployed to Afghanistan—had grown up to be much like their mother. He had a beautiful heart and soul and a smile that lit her up on the inside.

  Charli turned away from the adorable little bedroom and went back into the master, where she hung her clothes in a walk-in closet beside stacks of jeans and freshly laundered shirts. Men’s XL shirts. Other than some tutus tossed on the little toddler bed in the next room, there was no women’s apparel to be found.

  Though curiosity nibbled at her imagination, the accommodations weren’t hers to question. She was only grateful for the king-sized bed and fluffy comforter that awaited her. The one on which her dog had managed to curl up and currently snored like an old man.

  Desperate to join her pooch in a nice sleep, Charli went into the roomy bathroom to take a hot shower. Tomorrow’s activities included a 5:00 A.M. wake-up call and some demolition on the senior center. Since the seniors had been the ones to initiate contact with the show, she felt they deserved the first swing of the hammer. And as she’d learned several years ago when she’d turned an old hospital into retirement apartments, a happy bunch of senior citizens meant a happy working crew. Bless their hearts for all the homemade cookies and steaming pots of coffee.

  After several minutes of standing beneath the hot stream of water, Charli reluctantly got out and dried off. She tossed the towel on the nearby hamper and pulled on the fuzzy pink robe that always gave her a sense of home even if she was thousands of miles away from her apartment near the Hollywood Hills.

  While the summer night outside might be hot and humid, the air in the apartment was cool and crisp. The perfect sleeping temperature. She couldn’t wait to snuggle down beneath that comforter and catch some badly needed Z’s.

  She’d just pushed Pumpkin over to make room for herself and turned down the covers when someone knocked on the door. Anxious to meet the lovely woman with the deep Texas drawl she’d spoken to on the phone, Charli padded barefoot to the door. She quickly unbolted the dead bolt and swung the door open wide.

  At the click of the dead bolt, Reno turned toward the door. Everything inside him froze, then heated back up like he’d been tossed into an electrical storm.

  Great. Looked like Jackson had already put the moves on the new girl in town. His younger brother rarely hesitated to use his charm and movie-star looks to turn a pretty head. Fancy Pants had obviously succumbed quicker than most.

  Her smile slipped, then just as quick pushed back up into place. “Come to collect your money?”

  Her warm brown hair was pulled up into a messy tumble of damp curls on top of her head. A coconut scent that made him think of hot tropical beaches danced across the air between them. And she was wrapped up inside a big fluffy pink robe that made her look as delicious as a marshmallow peep.

  Was she naked under that robe?

  “Well?”

  He lifted his gaze from her painted pink toes to those smoky eyes. “What?”

  “The money. For the shirt Pumpkin piddled on?”

  Piddled?

  Okay, there was a word he’d never used in his entire life. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  She braced her hand on the doorframe, which inadvertently thrust out one slender hip. “I could ask you the same, Mr. Wilder.”

  He leaned in and glanced around the empty living room. “Where’s Jack?”

  “Jack?” Her head tilted. A long dark curl escaped the tangle on her head and draped along her cheek. “Who’s Jack?”

  “My brother.” He folded his arms and rocked back on his heels. “Since you’re standing in his apartment half-dressed . . . I’m guessing he’s somewhere inside . . . half-dressed.”

  “Excuse me?” Tinkling laughter escaped those perfect, plump lips. “Are you actually standing there accusing me of jumping into bed with your brother—whom I have never even met?”

  “Why else would you be standing in his place . . . half-naked?”

  Without warning, she whipped open the robe, revealing a snug white tank top and short shorts. The cooling night air hit her fast, and the hard pebbles peaked beneath the soft cotton left no question that she did not wear a bra.

  That jolt of lightning hit him again.

  “Not half-naked, Wilder. And for your information—not that I owe you any explanation—I’m here because a very nice lady loaned me this place for the duration of my stay.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Which nice lady?”

  “I only caught her first name. Jana.”

  “Shit.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “That’s my mother.”

  “Then why is she loaning out your brother’s apartment?”

  Reno shook his head and dropped his gaze to the scuffed-up toes of his boots. “Good question.” When his head came back up, a smile played about the corners of her mouth.

  “And from your total lack of enthusiasm, my guess is this presents a problem for you.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Which would explain why you’re looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?” he asked. “Like I want you to leave?”

  “Yes.”

  “Because I want you to leave.”

  “Well . . . you didn’t invite me here. Besides, it’s late. I’m exhausted. And I have a six o’clock start in the morning.”

  He rocked back on his heels. “Not my problem.”

  “And it’s really not your problem that I’ve been given permission to stay here while we’re shooting.”

  “You might not want to mention shooting. This is Texas, after all.”

  “Filming then. And it’s really none of your business where I stay, is it?”

  He leaned in, just slightly, and caught another whiff of tropical beaches. “Now that is where you’re wrong, Fancy Pants.”

  One manicured hand slid to her hip. “Fancy Pants?”

/>   Heart pounding like an oil rig, Reno turned and headed down the stairs.

  “Hey. You don’t need to be so rude.” She stepped out onto the landing. “Where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  “Which is where exactly?”

  He kept walking and pointed toward the open barn doors.

  “The ranch house is yours?”

  He could almost feel the rush of air push from her lungs and sweep across his back. “Yep.”

  “Crap.”

  “Exactly.” When his boots hit the gravel he kicked a rock across the drive.

  “Have a nice night, Mr. Wilder.” The hint of laughter in her tone coiled around his spine.

  He turned and glared up at her standing in the doorway of the apartment he rented out to his brother. “You still owe me twenty bucks,” he said. “And rent’s due on Friday. If you’re here that long.”

  “I’ll be here. And I’ll gladly pay.”

  He gritted his teeth and turned. You bet your fuzzy pink robe you will, sweetheart.

  Chapter 4

  “What the hell were you thinking?” Frustration tightened the pit of Reno’s stomach early the following morning while his brother leaned back in their mother’s kitchen chair casual as you please.

  “Any of us ever win an argument with Mom?” Jackson asked, popping open a can of Dr Pepper and taking a good long slug.

  “Not that I can recall,” Reno answered.

  “Then why would I start trying now?” Jackson tipped his chair back on two legs and forked a hand through his brownish blond hair. “Mom had Southern hospitality written all over her face. I might like the occasional adrenaline rush—”

  Reno lifted a brow. “Occasional?”

  Known for his act-first-think-later nature, Jackson laughed. “Like I said, I might like the occasional adrenaline rush, but I do not have a death wish. Me standin’ in the way of Mom’s opportunity to show her sweet side? Uh-uh.” He shook his head. “Ain’t going to happen. You like tangling with a tiger so much, you tell Mom the lady isn’t welcome.”

  “Tell who, what?” Their mother chose that moment to pop into their conversation. Not that she hadn’t heard them squabbling all the way from the back of the house. It wasn’t unusual for them to gather in her kitchen for a meal. Though they all had their own places spread out across the large ranch, none of them were foolish enough to pass up their mother’s cooking.