Dances Under the Harvest Moon (Heartache, TN 3)

by Joanne Rock

  “Didn’t you tell your sister?” He’d always pictured them as having a close relationship.

  “You see why I’m so determined to leave Heartache?” she grumbled. “Everyone in your business.”

  Digging in a small satin purse that matched the dress she’d worn at the wedding, Heather found her keys while Zach went back to the car for her suitcase.

  She flipped on her house’s interior light as he arrived at the threshold.

  “Where should I put it?” It weighed a ton. She must have packed enough stuff for two months.

  Or might that be two years? There was a very real chance she might not return if the American Voice show executives liked her. He hadn’t given that much thought since it seemed like a one-in-a-million kind of thing, even though he knew she could sing if her pregame “Star Spangled Banner” efforts were anything to go by. He knew her music students all thought she was talented.

  “By the door is fine.” Kicking off her flip-flops, she sank her toes into the living room area rug.

  In the lamplight, he spotted the violet shadows around her eyes. She looked so exhausted he couldn’t allow himself the luxury of checking her out in that sexy dress again.

  “Anything else you need?” He glanced around at her small house, a loft bed visible in a low ceiling over the lower-level living space.

  “No. But thanks.” She rubbed her hands along her bare arms to warm them. “It was lucky for me you happened along the highway so soon after I ran out of gas.”

  “Lucky for me, too.” He’d wanted to talk her out of leaving town and fate had settled the matter for him.

  At least temporarily.

  He said good-night and left her to get some sleep. Zach stepped out onto the front porch and stared up at the stars stretching endlessly in this quiet part of town. He’d wanted Heather to stay in Heartache so he could sweet-talk her into the mayor’s gig. He didn’t have time to run the town. He needed to focus on something more important. Two months ago, someone on the town board mentioned a rash of incidents around the old quarry where his sister had been attacked—the same one close to where Heather had been stranded tonight. And ever since, Zach had been consumed with the need to investigate things quietly.

  The mayor’s job made that tougher to do, and he’d genuinely thought Heather might be a good fit to take over the role.

  But she’d drawn him in tonight more powerfully than he’d expected. And although she gave off the vibe that she didn’t need anyone, Zach had the feeling something was wrong. Something she was doing her damnedest to hide. He planned to keep an eye on her in case she needed him.

  And not just because there’d been that moment when he’d felt her heart rate speed up as he touched her.

  Sliding into his car, he already couldn’t wait to see her again.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “THREE, TWO, ONE, SMILE!” Heather shouted the next morning from her cramped position in the photo booth. Her oldest brother had rented it for the wedding breakfast at the farmhouse. She adjusted a tiara on her head, the only prop remaining after her siblings had taken all the other toys to play dress-up for goofy photo-booth pictures.

  The flash lit up the space with an accompanying pop!, making it sound like an old-fashioned bulb.

  “No fair!” Heather’s niece, Ally, protested as she adjusted a blue feather boa on her neck. “Dad did rabbit ears behind my head.”

  “I had an itch on my nose,” Scott argued with his daughter while his wife, Bethany, reset the switch for another series of pictures. “You hit me in the face with that feather duster you’re wearing.”

  Four of the Finley siblings were crammed into the booth along with Scott’s family and Mack’s fiancée, Nina. Heather had invited their mom for the photo, but she was keeping a low profile today, tired from the strain of holding herself together over the course of the weekend.

  Heather understood that feeling more clearly than ever. Her joints were better today, but she was feeling plenty of strain herself. Health issues were exhausting to manage. Thinking and worrying about hers was draining. Mentally, she’d already left Heartache. But since her car wouldn’t be fixed until Monday at the earliest—and TJ Elliott said in a text he “wouldn’t hold his breath” on that one—Heather was still very much physically present. And that meant being here for Erin today.

  “Let’s do a funny photo,” the new Mrs. Remy Weldon suggested from her seat on the groom’s lap.

  “Or a ‘kiss the bride’ picture,” Remy returned, his Cajun twang setting him apart from Mack’s and Scott’s voices as they shouted their own suggestions.

  “We can flex.” Scott was already showing off his biceps.

  “Or stage a brawl.” Mack pantomimed hitting Scott in the face.

  Heather took an elbow in the shoulder. And wasn’t that just a reminder of what it had been like growing up at her house?

  “Whoops.” Mack quit fighting and steadied her. “Sorry, sis.”

  “We should do what Aunt Erin says,” Ally ordered as the booth got stuffier by the second. “She’s the bride.”

  Heather took charge. “On the count of three, we all blow kisses at the camera while Remy kisses Erin. Got it?”

  The Finleys—thank you, God—fell in line with nods and affirmatives all around.

  “Good.” Heather got ready to press the button. “Let’s do that for the first couple and then just—do whatever on the last two. Ready? Three, two, one...”

  She hit the button and the family kissed on command.

  For a few seconds at least. Things fell apart after that—more elbows flying as Scott pretended to choke Mack, Ally and her mother did a Charlie’s Angels pose. Erin and Remy—surprise—kept on kissing. Their obvious attraction made Heather think about Zach and the surprise of his touch the night before.

  When the last flash went off, she blinked and tried to shake off the memory.

  “Okay! Done!” Heather sidled her way out of the booth none too gently, needing air.

  Stumbling out of the curtain and into the daylight, she searched for a spot to regroup on the sprawling lawn outside her mother’s house. She needed to leave a message with the doctor’s office in North Carolina that she wouldn’t be able to make the appointment she’d set up for tomorrow. She only had a little left of the anti-inflammatory medicine the doctor in Austin had given her and she was anxious to try something stronger. Or an alternative that wouldn’t be quite as draining as some of the other medications that were available for the disease.

  Heather’s stomach rumbled as she searched for a quiet spot on the lawn. She’d been too busy greeting guests to eat properly before. The backyard was filled with small tables and chairs, white linen tablecloths fluttering slightly in the warm morning breeze. The caterers had disassembled the majority of the breakfast buffet, but had left the coffee and juice bar along with muffins and fruit. A few kids played underneath a table nearby, heads peeking out now and again to see if anyone would notice them stealing muffins to bring back to their home base.

  Obligingly, Heather didn’t notice them even when she went to help herself to a bottle of sparkling water from a cooler.

  “Ms. Finley?”

  Heather turned to see one of her music students dressed in the catering company’s black-and-white uniform, her long blond ponytail tied with a gray bow.

  “Megan! So nice to see you.” Heather had been working with the younger woman for only a few months, but she knew that Megan Bryer was a talented guitarist. “I didn’t realize you worked with the catering company.”

  “I waitress at the Owl’s Roost, and sometimes the caterers pick up servers from the restaurant.” She shrugged as she refilled a tub of ice with bottled water. “I needed the extra money.”

  “Saving up for that new acoustic you saw online?” Megan had been excited
about the upgraded instrument when they first talked about it last spring. She’d told Heather she was making her homecoming dress herself so she could save money for the guitar.

  “I wish.” The younger woman’s expression clouded, her mouth drawn tight.

  Before Heather could ask her if everything was all right, Zach appeared at her side.

  “Looks like you have a thief at work here,” he announced, staring at the wavering white tablecloth that hid the muffin-stealing boys. “Maybe I should call the sheriff.”

  Giggles floated from under the table and the tablecloth flapped some more. One scuffed tennis shoe made an appearance.

  “I’d better go,” Megan muttered, darting away before Heather could introduce her.

  Watching her leave, Heather hoped she’d find time to speak to the girl before the breakfast ended. Now she turned toward Heartache’s intriguing mayor, her eyes wandering over Zach’s perfectly pressed khakis and dark jacket, his white dress shirt with the top button undone—the only nod to the less formal occasion.

  “It just so happens the sheriff is right over there.” Heather pointed out Sam Reyes.

  More giggles and then three small boys shot out from under the table, trailing muffin crumbs and crumpled napkins in their wake.

  Zach laughed as they watched them go.

  “Score one for the local Neighborhood Watch.” He turned his brooding, lazy stare toward Heather, his tawny brown eyes warm with a look that hummed over her skin. “Another thing to love about life in a small town.”

  Something about his assessing gaze had her mouth going dry. He’d told her last night he wanted her to stay in town and the words had circled around her brain ever since. What she didn’t understand was—why now? His response to her seemed sudden. And while she wouldn’t take him for the kind of guy who found a no-strings relationship appealing, she had to wonder if his interest had to do with the fact that she’d be gone soon.

  All the more reason to be cautious, since she was far too curious about him. She had no business daydreaming about his clean-shaven jaw, the strong column of his throat or the fact that she knew if she leaned close, she would smell the scent of bay rum on his skin. The way he’d touched her the night before had really scattered her thoughts.

  “I didn’t know we were making a list.” She cracked open her bottle of water and took a long sip.

  She peered around the wedding breakfast, where everyone seemed content to visit as the waitstaff circulated with trays of mimosas and Bloody Marys. No live music today, just someone’s iPod plugged into the speaker system the DJ had rented to them for an extra day.

  “We are absolutely making a list. I thought I made that clear last night when I briefed you on my future goal of keeping you in town.”

  She’d shut down that conversation fast the night before, confused, flustered and not trusting herself to make sense of what he had been saying.

  “I think I was a little roadweary from the wedding,” she admitted. “I couldn’t imagine why it would make a difference to you. Unless you were thinking of taking up piano?”

  A cheer erupted nearby, distracting her from a question she really wanted answers to. A bunch of teens—her niece, Ally, and her friends—were all playing a video game projected on a pull-down screen under one of the leftover canopy tents from the reception. A few of them were high-fiving and carrying on. Heather’s eye sought Megan, wondering if she would feel sad to miss a chance to hang out with her peers. But the girl was on the other side of the party with her back to the group.

  “Do you have a minute to talk, maybe over there where it’s quieter?” Zach pointed at a pair of bright red Adirondack chairs between two old pine trees on the far side of the lawn. They were there for decoration more than anything, marking the property line between her mother’s house and Scott’s place.

  “I have a minute.” Even though she was wary of wherever this was headed. “But I’ll warn you—my own family tried their best to talk me out of leaving town. I feel like I’ve put off my own dreams for too long.”

  “I get that.” He greeted a few people as they edged away from the crowd. “I felt the same way after school—I needed to leave Heartache. Remove myself from the family drama.”

  She wasn’t about to throw her family under the bus and admit to any problems there. Even now, her mother remained inside, her tolerance for so much company having worn off the night before. In fact, Heather hadn’t gotten a goodbye from her when she’d knocked on her door the night before.

  Not that she’d ended up getting far out of town anyhow.

  “I earned my degree online.” She’d been trying to balance helping her mother with helping Erin launch her online business. Since there were no colleges nearby, taking credits online had seemed logical at the time. “I learned a lot, but I missed a chance to see someplace else. Meet other people.”

  “It’s good to see what else is out there.” When they reached the chairs in the small clearing, he produced a handkerchief from his pocket and ran it over the wooden slats of one red seat. “But that doesn’t mean you need to move permanently.”

  “It’s hard to say that with any certainty when I haven’t seen what else is out there. Up until last spring, Erin did all the buying trips for the store.” She settled her water bottle on the wide arm of one chair as she sat down.

  A scuttling in the bushes nearby caught her attention and she saw her mother’s black Lab, Luce, wagging her tail from a spot in the shade. Like a windshield wiper, the tail swiped over dried leaves, clearing a half circle around the dog.

  “I’ll tell you what’s out there.” He frowned and ticked off items on his fingers. “Congestion, pollution, noise, corruption and no sense of community. Here you have clean air, hassle-free traffic, easy parking, a short commute to work and your whole family.”

  She took another long sip of water and then tossed the empty bottle to Luce to play with. The old dog gnawed happily with the bottle pinned under one dark paw.

  “You’re really good at these campaign speeches.” She smiled. “I feel like you could win Heartache some kind of ‘best small town in the US’ award, you make it sound so good.” She studied Zach’s strong profile, his skin deeply tanned above the white collar of his shirt. “But I’m still not sure why you’re trying to sell me.”

  His expression became serious, the flirtatious glances nowhere in sight now.

  “You should be running this town.”

  The words took a moment to sink in.

  “Excuse me?” She wondered if it was too late to bolt from this conversation.

  “You realize who tied with me for most write-in votes when no one wanted to run for mayor after your dad’s death?”

  She’d heard, but she’d been hurting at the time. And something about the news had felt like an ironic slap in the face since the Finley patriarch had never wanted his family involved in his public life. For Dad, the town meant everything—including an escape from a home life that overwhelmed him between five kids and a demanding wife with serious health issues.

  So many times she’d tried to be a part of his world, to help him with things related to the mayor’s duties. But unless he needed a cute kid for a ceremonial ribbon cutting, he kept his family far from his work.

  “You can’t seriously be suggesting I...” She shook her head. “I can’t even guess. You run the town, Zach. And you do a great job at it.”

  He nodded. “I took the job because the council didn’t want to approach you so soon after your father died. But you’ve lived here all your life and you know the demands of the job. You have experience building a successful business from the ground up—”

  “Whoa.” She stiffened in her chair, unable to absorb what he was saying. “I’m going to stop you right there. I’m flattered, and I think this is kind of you—”

  “It�
��s not kindness, Heather. It makes sense.” He sat forward on his seat, too, his knee brushing hers briefly.

  The warmth of that small contact stole through her, reminding her of the confused mix of feelings from the night before. Had he only been nice to her to talk her into this? Taking over the mayor’s duties?

  She’d suspected him of romancing her for some kind of short-term fling. She sure hadn’t expected a political proposal.

  “Maybe to you it makes sense, but it doesn’t to me. And I don’t want to be guilted into yet another reason to stay here.”

  He frowned. “Guilted?”

  She swallowed, wishing she’d kept that thought to herself.

  “I mean—I’ve got everything packed. I’ve put a lot of thought into pursuing my dream. I don’t want to feel like I’m letting you down or letting down the whole town by leaving. This decision came with a lot of difficulties, and that’s before you threw all this on it, too. I feel bad enough I’m leaving so many of my music students.” She remembered one of the articles she’d read online about stress making her condition worse.

  She so didn’t need another flare-up because of Zach’s pressure. If she could just get out of town for a couple of months and get things under control, things would be better.

  “I’m not suggesting you take the mayor’s seat to pressure you.” He laid a hand on her forearm.

  It was a social touch—the kind of touch a person used to convey something heartfelt or important. But coming from Zach, it stirred a fresh wave of warmth that rattled her to her toes.

  She stared at that connection. Just a hand on an arm. But the feel of it shook something inside her that she hadn’t felt in her last relationship. Her pulse pounded.

  “Maybe not, but that’s the upshot.” She shrugged. “You’re doing a great job. I can’t imagine why you’d want to hand it over. A small-town mayor has lots of perks and prestige.”

  “It requires far more time than I realized when I first accepted, and I think you’re really well suited for the job.” His gaze dropped to where he touched her before he slid his hand away. “But I definitely don’t want to pressure you. If you truly have dreams to chase, Heather, you should.”