Candis Terry - [Sweet, Texas 01]

by Anything But Sweet

  “I—”

  “Hell no they wouldn’t. Dad would kick your ass if he knew you’d practically quit breathing the day he died. Jared would call in the noogie patrol until your head burned.” Jesse let go of his shirt and clamped his hand over Reno’s shoulder. “You busted your ass your entire life to prove you were one of us. But, Reno, you’re the best of us.”

  His throat went dry.

  “Do you remember when you first came to live with us, and you’d have those nightmares and wake up screaming?”

  “Hard to forget.”

  “Do you remember how we’d all lie down on the floor together to protect you from whatever haunted you in the night?”

  “Yeah.”

  Jesse’s grasp on his shoulder tightened. “We’re still there, man. And we all want to see you move past what’s holding you back. Your life started out rough. We want to see you live the rest with a smile on your face.”

  Reno took in his brother’s words—let them sink deep down into his soul. Without warning, emotion sprang up into his eyes and misted his view of the brother who’d seemed to grow wiser when he hadn’t been looking.

  “Give yourself permission to exist, big brother,” Jesse said. “You deserve to live. Even if others can’t.”

  Like Charli had said about her mother, he felt lucky to have had Diana in his life. He glanced across the field and could picture her riding her horse at breakneck speed, lasso overhead, smiling as she chased down a wayward calf at branding time. She’d been the quiet one at family dinners. The thoughtful one on special occasions. His confidant. His friend. His lover.

  And when she’d died just a few months after his father, he’d wanted to die too.

  Living was one thing. But Reno knew a woman like Charli deserved better than him.

  Nobody wanted—or needed—damaged goods.

  Chapter 12

  The grass in Town Square tickled the bare bottoms of Charli’s feet as she walked over to the gazebo area and approached the man who stood with one booted foot propped up on a picnic bench. Overhead, the grackles gathered in the trees, fluttered their wings, and bombarded her with squeaks and whistles.

  “I know we’re on a mouse-sized budget, Sam, but I want elephant-sized results.”

  Sam, the landscape manager, bent his head over the plans and rubbed his brow with a free hand. “I can’t—”

  “No. No. No. I don’t want to hear ‘I can’t.’ I want to hear”—she lowered her tone to sound like a man—“wow, Charli, this is a really astronomically impossible feat, but I’ll make damned sure you get what you need.”

  He chuckled. “Does anyone ever tell you no?”

  “Well, they try.” She grinned. “But the results can be really ugly, and I’d rather not discuss the messy details.”

  “Fine.” Sam gave a huge man sigh. “Then you’ll have exactly what you want—providing that elaborate gazebo you ordered gets done on time.”

  “This morning I brought the workers donuts. Later, I’m hitting up the bakery for cupcakes,” she admitted. “If I see a weak link, I have a stash of energy drinks in the cooler.”

  “You are one determined young lady.”

  “I know you’ve only been here for a couple of days, Sam, and you haven’t gotten to know the community yet, but there’s more than just a park here. It’s more than just a place where people picnic or sit beneath the stars to listen to a band. This is the conduit for keeping the community connected. It’s the place where couples are united. Where lives are celebrated.”

  “Sounds like an old-fashioned movie.”

  “Maybe it is. But I’m quickly learning that sometimes keeping tradition alive is what keeps people going—even when they want to give up.”

  He shrugged. “Makes sense I guess.”

  She could tell he wasn’t fully convinced, so she told him Paige and Aiden’s story and how they would have their wedding there in just a few weeks. Sam, being a vet who’d done time in Desert Storm, quietly nodded. “I get it now. You’ll have your vision. I promise.”

  When Sam went back to his projects, Charli took a slow look around the square. With all the activity going on and progress being made in each project area, she nearly cried with relief. When it all came together, it would be a spectacular place for the residents of Sweet to enjoy for years to come. One day, she hoped to come back and see it all for herself. Maybe she could even make it back during the Sweet Apple Butter Festival. She heard that was quite the party.

  “There you are.”

  Charli turned toward the friendly voice. Jana Wilder—hair and makeup perfectly groomed—walked toward her, lugging a large plastic beverage cooler and a bag of red Solo cups. Beside her on a sparkly leash, Miss Giddy displayed a perky blue satin ribbon around her neck.

  “Hi. What are you doing here?”

  Reno’s mother smiled. “I was on my way over to the assisted living center. I take Miss Giddy there to visit once a week—animals being a good source of therapy and all. I just couldn’t think of y’all being out here in this hot sunshine without some sweet tea to cool you down. So here I am.”

  “That’s so nice of you.” Charli’s thirst went into overdrive. “And hello to you, Miss Giddy.”

  The goat said “Meh-eh-eh” in return, and Charli laughed.

  “How about we go over there to that table under the tree and call everyone over.” Charli relieved Jana of the cumbersome, heavy cooler.

  “That’ll do,” Jana said. “It’ll give me the chance to invite them all for the barbecue this weekend.”

  “Are you sure you want everyone there? That adds a lot of people to your list.”

  “Oh, sugarplum, don’t you worry. The whole town’s invited.”

  “The entire town?” As they walked across the lawn, Charli’s eyes widened at the prospect.

  “You bet. Joe started the tradition to celebrate Jared’s first birthday.”

  “But—”

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Jana said with a wistful smile, as Charli set down the cooler. “But after that first gathering, the party took on a meaning other than just a birthday party. When each boy was born after that it became a celebration of life. When Joe and Jared died, nobody wanted to have the party anymore. I insisted. I wasn’t about to quit celebrating how much they meant to me, or how much they’d given me in the years I had with them. There will always be loss. And there will always be new life—like my granddaughter Isabella. So the party goes on—in their memory and for the memories yet to be made.”

  Charli felt the warmth of the woman’s smile and sincerity all the way into her heart. “You have an amazing outlook on life.”

  “Not always. I won’t lie and say I don’t get lonely. Or mad as hell that those I love have been taken away from me.” She shook her head. “But each day I wake up, and I make myself find something new to be thankful for. And that gets me through. Now, if I could just get my son to feel that way.”

  “Which one?”

  “Reno.”

  “Ah. He’s a tough one.” Charli hesitated, knowing most things about people’s lives were private and meant to stay that way, but more than just a little something about that man drew her in and made her care. “I hate to pry, but—”

  “What happened to him?” Jana finished.

  Charli nodded. “He briefly mentioned that another woman gave birth to him.”

  “Well now.” Jana’s head went back, and her eyebrows lifted. “Isn’t that interesting.”

  “What is?”

  “My boy doesn’t share that information with many people outside of those who already know him. He must feel comfortable around you.”

  “Oh no. Far from it, I’m afraid.”

  “He doesn’t trust easy.” Jana’s bright eyes darkened. “If he knew I was telling you any of this, he’d skin me alive.”

  “I promise I won’t say a word.”

  “I know you won’t. I told my boys what a good girl you were from the moment I laid eyes on
you.”

  Jana softly patted her cheek, and Charli felt honored that someone who didn’t even know her could see that she always tried to do the right thing. Even if sometimes she took the long way around.

  “Reno’s birth mother was Joe’s youngest sister,” Jana said. “She’d always been a wild child and let anyone who’d listen know how, as soon as she got old enough, she planned to escape anything to do with cattle or small towns or the family who’d raised her.” Sunlight danced through the leaves overhead and across Jana’s turquoise blouse as she opened the bag of cups and pulled out a stack. “No one heard from her for a few years. When her parents finally got a call, it was from the Las Vegas police. They’d arrested her on drug charges and prostitution.”

  Charli’s heart sank right into the pit of her stomach.

  “She did two years behind bars. Everyone hoped that would give her time to think. But the minute she was released, she disappeared again. Six years later, Joe and I received a call. Seems Angela had gone on a binge and taken off with some guy. Until that moment, we didn’t even know Reno existed.”

  Jana paused, bit her lip as though remembering the emotion she’d felt that day.

  “She left Reno all alone in her apartment. When neighbors didn’t see her around for a few days, they called the police.”

  “Oh my God. How old was he?”

  “Just five.” Her eyes watered. “Makes me want to cry just remembering what he went through.” She waved her hand in front of her face a few times to dry the tears.

  “He’d been alone in that filthy apartment for four days with only a half-empty jar of peanut butter and tap water to drink. He was such a smart, brave little boy. He kept himself clean. Made sure he ate small amounts in case she didn’t come back for a while. And he stayed inside where he considered it safe. When the police came, it took them hours to convince him it was okay to open the door and let them in.”

  Jana paused again and gathered up the emotions obviously tearing through her at the memory. “Two hours after Joe and I got the call, we headed to the airport to go get him. He was such a sweet little thing. So grateful to finally have someone to look after him. But also so scared he would lose us and end up right back where he’d been. He feared Angela would come get him and drag him back to that mess.”

  “What about his father?”

  “No one knows who he was. Angela never told. I’m not sure she even knew. Or cared.”

  “Poor baby.” Charli felt sick inside. All this time, she’d been complaining that her father hadn’t given her any attention when Reno had literally been abandoned.

  Jana nodded and began pouring sweet tea into the cups. “Six months after he came to live with us, we started the adoption process. We weren’t about to give Angela any leeway to come back and snatch him away. We loved him like our own. And from the moment he walked through our door, our boys accepted him as one of them.”

  Charli laid her hand over Jana’s arm. “He was so lucky to have you.”

  “We were the lucky ones.”

  “What happened to Angela?” She refused to call the woman his mother. Dogs treated their babies better.

  “About a year after the adoption was final, she called, looking for him.”

  “She didn’t know he was missing for over a year?”

  “She didn’t care. Why all of a sudden she had a change of heart we don’t know. And it didn’t matter. He belonged to us. There was no way in hell we’d give him back.”

  Charli had heard the term Mama Grizzly before, and when she looked at Jana Wilder, that’s exactly what she saw. Someone who would defend her family to the death.

  “Angela died when Reno was fifteen. When we told him, he just nodded. He never shed a tear. But inside, I knew he cried. For years, he blamed himself for what had happened. Thought he wasn’t lovable. Didn’t deserve to be loved.”

  “How could he do that?” Charli asked, stunned. “He was just an innocent little boy.”

  “Sometimes, the brain has trouble catching up with the heart. No matter how many times you tell someone it wasn’t their fault or how much you love them, it just takes a little longer to get the message.”

  Jana called out to the team of workers and production crew, who put down their tools and headed in the direction of a refreshing drink.

  Miss Giddy gave a vocal “Meh-eh-eh” and began to dance around the closer they came. Obviously, Miss Giddy was a goat with good knowledge that she’d soon be the center of attention.

  Before the crew arrived, Jana took Charli’s hand and held it tight. “I know my boy’s got eyes for you,” she said.

  The statement surprised her. “Oh, I don’t think—”

  “He’s my son. I know him better than he knows himself.” She gave Charli’s hand a squeeze. “Don’t you let him push you away. He’ll try. And he’s damned good at it. But that wonderful soul of his could use a little breather. And, sugarplum, you just might be it.”

  Stunned to the toes of her worn sneakers, Charli watched as Jana turned toward the workers and began to hand out cups of sweet tea. Then she glanced across the expanse of grass and landscape construction to the hardware store across the street.

  At that moment, the man in question came out the door with a huge bag of feed tossed over his shoulder. He slung it down to the ground and leaned it against the wall by the front window. As if he could sense her watching him, he looked up. While her heart played Skip to My Lou, and for what felt like an eternity, they both stood there watching each other not move. Finally, he broke the spell with a two-finger salute to the brim of his cowboy hat and went back inside the store.

  In that moment, Charli dove headfirst off the man-ban wagon.

  She waited until her heartbeat slowed back to normal before she joined her crew for a quick break. But she could not keep her gaze from straying to that dilapidated-looking building and thoughts of the man inside.

  She wished she knew a little practical magic. Had a little mystical power. But the only thing that seemed to have any chance of working on a man who seemed to have put his heart in solitary confinement was pure, undiluted, feminine power. She’d always been inventive when it came to design; now she needed to put that creativity to good use.

  Reno might need a little breather, but Charli planned to make him breathless.

  A person could call himself ten kinds of stupid and still not listen to reason. As Reno headed over to Town Square, he figured he might have lost a few more brain cells between leaving the door of the hardware store and the curb on the other side of the street.

  He had no business leaving the store for even a moment. There were accounts to review. Orders to place. Customers who wanted to make purchases. Packages to deliver. Which was what he was about to do, and that was his total lame-ass excuse for walking across the grass toward the woman he wanted nothing to do with and whom he also couldn’t get off his mind.

  To further prove his stupidity, he fully realized he could have and should have waited for someone from her crew to come pick up the boxes of landscape lighting. But noooo. He had to take it upon himself to deliver.

  He’d always had a level head. Always been the one to pull his wild brothers out of scrapes and catastrophes. Always been the brother everyone relied on. Because he had good common sense.

  What a load of bullshit.

  At the moment, his common sense was the size of a sunflower seed and stuck so deep in the ground, it had no chance of growing.

  The grass beneath his boots was dry and crunched with every step. Ernie McGreavy must be having nightmares about his carefully tended carpet of green. There were holes everywhere, not to mention the craters created by a backhoe currently riding across the lawn and doing further damage.

  Nothing looked like the old Town Square.

  The gazebo had been torn down. In its place was a new foundation and piles of two-by-fours. The picnic benches had disappeared. And a border of bright yellow plastic CAUTION tape surrounded the entire block.<
br />
  Somehow, he avoided getting in the way of workers and machinery as he walked toward a pair of Daisy Dukes and the shapely owner, who was currently on her knees digging in a flower bed, planting drought-resistant shrubs.

  He tilted his head for a better look, feeling not in the least like a total stalker, just a man who appreciated a nice view.

  Or at least that’s what he told himself.

  As he came up behind her, he noted the haphazard way she’d pulled all that silky brown hair into a messy knot on top of her head. He took in the way the muscles in her legs flexed as she leaned forward and dug in the rich, dark layer of soil. Appreciated the sheen of perspiration that dampened the back of her slender neck. The tops of her shoulders were turning a painful shade of red. And as she jammed her trowel into the ground, she mumbled beneath her breath.

  “You forget your sunscreen?” He set the boxes down behind her.

  She sat up and turned, looked up at him, and squinted against the bright sunlight. “What?”

  “You’re getting burned.” He pointed to her shoulders, trying to ignore the drip of sweat trickling between her breasts.

  She glanced down. “Oh. Thanks. Sorry. I don’t mean to be cranky, but it’s pretty hot out here.” She swiped the moisture from her brow with the back of her arm and left a streak of dirt across her forehead.

  He wasn’t sure why that was so sexy, but well, it just was.

  Tearing his gaze away from the front of her tank top, he looked at the work going on around the park. “Doesn’t look like there’s a chance you’re going to be done in time for Aiden and Paige’s wedding.”

  “I know you hope I’ll fall flat on my face and fail.” She looked at the activity around her—the backhoe scraping off a layer of grass to create an area for the new playground, the hammering of nails going into the elaborate Victorian gazebo, the studs being cut for the braces on the new picnic tables. “But I guarantee it will be done on time. I’ve never let anyone down before. I’m not going to start now with your friends.”