Sarah laughed and moved to Eliza’s side. “Oh, now, Mama, I told Owen he’d have at least until after dark before you sent men with torches out after us.”
Owen shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned at her impertinence. From the indulgent look her mother gave her, Eliza didn’t mind the teasing one bit.
“It’s time I head back up the mountain,” he said.
“Not without a flashlight, surely. Sarah, go up to my room and get that big flashlight out of the dresser.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Eliza waited until Sarah was safely in the house before she moved to stand a couple of feet away from Owen. She studied him intently in the light shining out from the kitchen. “Mind if I ask what your intentions are toward my daughter, Owen Campbell? She told me that the two of you had some words over her trespassing. Which she never should have been doing, by the way.”
“No, that argument was my fault. I shouldn’t have come down on her for being over there.” He tried to figure out what to say to reassure Eliza, but he didn’t have the words. Finally, he settled on what was as close to the truth as could manage. “I like Sarah. I like her a lot. She’s… not like anyone I’ve ever met. And I want to see what that means, if it means anything. If she feels the same way. And I won’t take advantage of her. That’s all I can promise you right now.”
“Sarah is a very attractive young woman. I’m sure you’ve noticed that.”
As much as he tried, he couldn’t meet her gaze. He kept remembering the minutes on the path when he’d held Sarah close and the way his body had reacted. He cleared his throat. “It hasn’t escaped my attention.”
Eliza laid a hand on his arm, and Owen glanced down at her. She was grinning, looking so much like Sarah that it almost hurt.
“Your mother was a very nice lady, Owen. From the way she talked about you, I gather you were her favorite. God rest your brother’s soul. I can’t imagine that Lucy could raise you to be anything other than a gentleman. And I know you’ve protected Sarah in the past.” She gave his arm a squeeze, then crossed her arms over her chest. “I give you my blessing to court my daughter. I know you’re young, and I know how powerful attraction can be, especially if it’s more than physical. But if you hurt Sarah, I will take it out of your hide. Do we understand each other?”
“Yes, ma’am. We do.” Owen wasn’t sure whether to ask her more about what she knew, or not. He didn’t get the chance, though, as Sarah returned with the flashlight.
“I’m going to head back inside now. Sarah Jane, don’t stay out here too long. Owen, stop by any time.”
Owen waited until Eliza was inside before saying, “So as to this date…” He let his voice trail off as Sarah handed him the flashlight.
“Yes, as to this date,” Sarah responded. “When would you like to… that is to say, what did you have in mind?”
“Uh, I hadn’t really thought much beyond whether you’d say yes or no, to tell the truth. I’ll probably be at the library tomorrow, doing research again. We could maybe grab lunch together, if you aren’t busy. But that’s not really a date.”
“I wouldn’t mind having lunch with you,” Sarah said.
“In addition to the date?”
She moved one shoulder. “Maybe. Depending on how the lunch goes.”
Surprised by her coy response, his jaw dropped.
Sarah laughed. “Oh, your face.”
Owen narrowed his gaze and stepped closer to her. Very slowly, he reached up and tapped her on the nose with his index finger. “You, Miss Browning, are an imp.”
She grabbed his hand and held it. “How long did it take you to figure that out, Mr. Campbell?”
“Oh, about five minutes. So why don’t we plan on lunch tomorrow, and we’ll figure out what to do about our date then?”
“Okay. I usually take lunch at noon, if we don’t get too busy.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” Raising their hands, which were still joined, Owen kissed the back of hers. Her eyes softened and heated, and it was all he could do not to pull her into his arms right then and there.
“Be careful going home,” she said.
“Always.”
Before the temptation grew too strong, he turned and headed toward the woods. He heard Sarah give a soft sigh behind him, and he groaned inwardly. Somehow, he doubted he’d get much sleep that night.
“A nice, cold dip in the pool on the way home might be in order, old man,” he told himself. Adjusting the fit of his pants to accommodate his arousal more comfortably, he sighed. “Definitely, a cold dunk is in order. A long one.”
Sarah stood on the porch and watched Owen go into the woods. She didn’t go inside the house until she could no longer see the light from the flashlight. When she did, her mother was at the refrigerator, getting some milk. She waited until Eliza had set the milk down, then squealed like a little girl on Christmas morning and jumped up and down.
“He asked me out, he asked me out, he asked me out!” She threw her arms around Eliza, who stumbled against her weight.
“Well, gosh, I wonder what you said,” her mother teased. “I’ll bet you turned him down.”
Sarah laughed. “Oh, Mama. He asked me out. We’re having lunch together tomorrow. Can you believe it? He asked me out!” She did a boogie around the kitchen.
“Oh, I can believe it. Given the way he was looking at you, I feel like we need to start planning your wedding.”
“Mama!”
“I do. I’m guessing the two of you settled whatever differences you had, if tonight was any indication.”
Sarah forced herself to calm down. “We did. But I wasn’t expecting this. Oh, my Lord, what am I going to wear?”
To her surprise, her mother started laughing so hard she had to hold on to the counter. “Oh, Sarah. You don’t know how long I’ve waited to see you this excited over a boy. Well, a man, really. It’s about time.” She met Sarah’s eyes, and they both started giggling.
“He’s so handsome. There, I said it. I couldn’t hold it in any longer.”
Eliza agreed. “He is that. He looks very much like his father did at that age. The two of you would make lovely babies.”
“Mother! I’ve not even gone on a date with the man. It’s a little soon to be thinking about what your grandchildren would look like, don’t you think?”
“It’s never too soon for a woman my age to be thinking about grandbabies. Now, let’s go find what you’re going to wear tomorrow. I’m thinking something blue to match your eyes.”
Later that night, Sarah lay awake, staring at the ceiling. The way Owen’s muscles had bunched and tightened when he caught her, the solidness of his body when he held her, the warmth of the man, all made for an enticing memory. Heat settled in her breasts and between her legs as she thought about how he’d touched her.
Sarah knew about sex, both the crude descriptions her peers had come up with and the more accurate scientific data. Additionally, her mother had been frank and forthcoming when Sarah had reached a certain age. Eliza hadn’t wanted Sarah to have to learn about intimacy the way she had, on her wedding night. Her mother had explained things the summer Sarah turned fifteen, while they were canning green beans. Kathy had just gotten married, and Eliza felt the conversation was necessary, given that Kathy was already pregnant.
“I was very lucky that your father is the man he is,” Eliza had told her. “If I’d had to rely on your grandmother’s advice, I probably never would have had Kathy, much less all three of you. I’d have run screaming into the night when I saw my first aroused, naked man.”
Sarah had been very uncomfortable with the discussion at the time, but she appreciated her mother’s forthright attitude, especially after some of the descriptions her female classmates at college had given of the act. Her roommate
during her last semester had obtained a book that would have shocked her mother had Eliza known about it. They’d devoured the book, The Kama Sutra, and her roommate had given it to Sarah when she’d left school in November.
Closing her eyes, she let her hands drift down her body, imagining Owen’s hands doing the touching. As she let her fingers rest on her breasts, her nipples tightened into painful points, and she moved restlessly under the sheets.
She tightened her legs against the ache building between them. She tried to ignore her arousal, but images from the erotic book kept dancing through her mind. Sarah’s imagination was vivid, and she could all too easily picture Owen doing the things depicted in the book. After a long, uncomfortable time, she gave in and touched herself intimately. It didn’t take much for her to achieve completion. She hid her face in her pillow as sensation overtook her, and finally, she was able to drift into sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Two
WHEN SARAH GOT TO THE library the next day, the first thing she did was find Shirley and pull her aside. She had woken up in a panic at five that morning, unable to get back to sleep as she realized what implications dating Owen might have for her job.
“I need to ask you about the non-fraternization policy. Does it apply if you knew the person prior to starting work here? Even if you barely knew them? Like because they were your neighbor?”
Shirley frowned. “Who are we talking about?”
“Owen Campbell. He asked me on a date.” Sarah bit her lip nervously as she waited for Shirley’s response.
The older woman winced. “Oh, Sarah. When did this happen?”
“Last night. He came down to the house, and we went for a walk, and… I don’t want to lose my job, but he’s, well…”
“He’s Owen. I understand. I honestly don’t know. Let me talk to the director. When is this date?”
“He’ll be here today doing research, and we were going to have lunch together.”
“The boy doesn’t waste time when he moves, I’ll give him that,” Shirley remarked dryly. “Let me see what I can do. You might have a tough decision to make here, though.”
Sarah nodded her acknowledgement. “I know.”
For the rest of the morning, Sarah waited on tenterhooks for Shirley to let her know what the decision was. She’d again been assigned to the children’s department. Owen had arrived an hour earlier and gone straight to the genealogy room. His smile had been a little more personal when he signed in, but he didn’t mention their lunch date. Sarah was grateful. She hadn’t wanted to explain the situation to Nellie. When the phone rang at ten-thirty, she jumped.
“Children’s desk, this is Nellie.” She shot Sarah a questioning glance. “Oh, okay. I’ll send her down. The director needs you downstairs,” she said as she placed the receiver back in its cradle.
Drawing in a shaky breath, Sarah stood and thanked her. She hurried downstairs, but stopped at the bottom, taking a minute to send a quick prayer heavenward. Shirley was busy at the front desk, and Sarah couldn’t read her friend’s expression. She reached the back of the library and went to the director’s office. The door was open, so she knocked softly.
When the woman looked up, Sarah asked, “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes, come in. Close the door and have a seat.”
After Sarah was perched on one of the chairs in front of her desk, the director took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I understand that you’ve been asked out socially by one of the library’s patrons, Ms. Browning.”
“Yes, ma’am. I have been.”
“Shirley tells me that you and the young man in question are neighbors? That you had a previous association because of that?”
Sarah hesitated. “I knew of him, and he’d seen me out and about. But we did meet for the first time here. I won’t lie about that.”
A little smile appeared at the corner of the woman’s mouth. “Shirley told me you’d be honest. I’m happy her faith in you wasn’t misplaced. Still, that leaves us with a bit of a predicament. The library has a no fraternization policy, which I am told you are aware of.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Mr. Campbell is a frequent visitor to our facility, and he’s been a very generous benefactor at times. I don’t want to endanger that relationship, either by forbidding you from dating him, or from having your romance go sour. You see the problem this presents, I hope.”
Sarah swallowed and had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I do.”
The director heaved a sigh. “That said, I spoke with Mr. Campbell when he came in a little while ago. I expressed my concerns to him. He made it very clear that he would not be deterred, unless you also agreed that was the best course of action. He also emphasized how unhappy he would be if you were to lose your job because the two of you are seeing each other. I don’t like being put in this position, Sarah. I don’t like it at all.”
Stunned, Sarah couldn’t speak for a minute. “I’m sorry. I didn’t ask him to do that. I’ll talk to him.”
“That’s up to you. In the meantime, here’s where we are. You need this job, I understand. Shirley and Nellie both sing your praises. Even Callie hasn’t been her usual critical self. As far as I’m concerned, you and Mr. Campbell knew each other from being neighbors, and the romance, if that’s what it turns out to be, was well underway prior to your starting this job.” She stopped to take a sip of coffee. “Whatever happens with this relationship, you do not let it interfere with your job or this library. If you do, Owen Campbell’s preferences be hanged, I’ll fire you. Otherwise, keep your head down, do your job, and we’ll go on as we are. Do we have an agreement?”
“Yes. Thank you. I wasn’t expecting this to happen. I’ll do my best not to let you down.”
“You’re excused, Ms. Browning. Leave the door open when you go.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sarah left the office and went back down the hall toward the main room. She ducked into the women’s restroom and stepped into a stall. For a couple of minutes, she stood there, heart pounding, and let the relief wash over her. If the director had forbidden her from dating Owen, she didn’t think she’d have been able to keep that promise.
Chapter Twenty-Three
OWEN WAS A NERVOUS WRECK as he waited for someone to show up in the genealogy room and let him know what was going on. Shirley had waylaid him as soon as he walked in the door and taken him to the director’s office. The woman explained the library’s policy, a barrier Owen hadn’t been expecting. Though he felt he’d made a good case for why he and Sarah should be allowed to see each other, he wasn’t certain the director agreed.
Finally, after he’d been there an hour and hadn’t heard anything, he left the room and went to the desk. Sarah was gone, and for a moment, his heart stuttered.
Before he could ask anything, Nellie said, “She’s downstairs talking to the boss. Should be back soon, I’d imagine.”
Owen’s brow furrowed. “How did you know…?”
Nellie smiled. “I’ve worked here too many years to not be able to read people pretty well by now.”
He leaned against the desk. “I don’t want to get her in trouble or get her fired.”
“Hopefully, it won’t come to that, son.”
When the elevator dinged, Owen straightened and took a step to the right so he could see who was getting off.
The rolling cart emerged first, and Callie stepped through the doors. The buxom blonde smiled wryly when she saw him. “Gosh, I don’t know when someone’s looked at me with such disappointment. I feel like I kicked your puppy.”
“Sorry. It’s not you. I guess I’ll head back into the genealogy room.” Once there, he tried to concentrate on his research, but he couldn’t focus. After a few minutes, he stood up again and started pacing the small room.
“Why hasn’t
she come back here? She should know something by now.”
Just when he had himself worked up and ready to go track Sarah down and demand answers, a tap sounded behind him.
“Hey,” Sarah said. “Are you ready for lunch?”
Owen caught his breath. “You’re okay? You aren’t in trouble?”
“No. The director isn’t happy, but we are officially authorized to see each other, if that’s what we want.”
He stepped closer to her, but kept a proper distance between them. “And is that what we want?”
Sarah smiled. “I do, yes.”
Blowing out a long breath of pure relief, Owen returned the smile. “Thank God.”
“Are you coming back here to work more after we eat?” she asked as he packed his bag.
“I thought I would. Unless you dump me over lunch, in which case, I’ll slink back home and cry.”
“Well, I can’t rule that out, but if you’d like to put your satchel in my locker, you can. Where were you thinking of having lunch?”
“The drugstore has a good hot plate special. If that’s okay with you.”
“Sounds good.” She led him to the employee lockers, where she got out her purse and let him stash his bag. They left the library and walked down the hill to Main Street.
“I didn’t realize you might get in trouble for seeing me,” Owen said. “I’m sorry.”
“Yes. The director isn’t really happy, but from what I understand, you didn’t leave her much choice in the matter. I’m not sure how I feel about that, to be honest.”
He stopped her on the sidewalk outside the drugstore. “I probably came down a little harder than I should have. But I wanted you to be able to make the decision to see me or not, without having to worry about losing your job in the bargain.”
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