Only You

by Deborah Grace Stanley

  She’d achieved a full academic scholarship from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, finished at the top of her class with a bachelor’s degree in library science. Against the odds, she’d been accepted to The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the top graduate program in the country for information science. But because of a couple of C’s in math, she’d been passed over for a graduate assistantship in favor of candidates with 4.0’s.

  That summer, she’d come home and worked part-time here in the library. She’d have given anything to be the director of such a prestigious library, but Josie knew her dream would slip from her grasp if she couldn’t find the money for graduate school. Mrs. McKay would never allow someone who only had a B.S. to run the place.

  When Mrs. McKay sat her down and offered to finance her graduate education if she committed to taking over for old Mrs. White when she retired, Josie couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t given the decision any thought.

  “Well, I know everybody’s glad you did,” Cole drawled, drawing her attention back to their conversation. “You’re about all this town’s talked about for years. And now that you’re back—”

  “Please,” Josie held up a hand. She couldn’t take another minute of what great things the town expected of her. Reaching back, she pulled the pins from her hair. “Let’s don’t talk about that, okay?” She shook her hair out and rubbed her scalp. It felt good to let the weight of it fall loose around her shoulders.

  “Sure.”

  Josie met Cole’s eyes. Stunned was the only adequate word to describe his expression. She opened her mouth to ask what was the matter when Dixie returned with their drinks.

  “You look like you need some fattening up, Josie Lee,” she commented as she set big glasses of iced tea in front of them and a plate full of lemon quarters. “You know, I still make those chicken salad sandwiches you used to love.”

  “I’ll have to make a point to pull myself away from work and come over for lunch.”

  “That place sure is keepin’ you busy.” She shook her head. “Well, if you can’t come by, just call. I’ll have Blake run one over to you. Like most of the town, he’s usually around at lunchtime.”

  “What’s that brother of yours into these days?” Cole asked. “Haven’t seen him in awhile.”

  “He’s contributing to suburban sprawl. You know, takin’ somebody’s farmland and turnin’ it into a subdivision.”

  Cole chuckled. “It pays the bills.”

  “It oughta be a crime,” Dixie said in that matter-of-fact way of hers, laced with the remnants of a Texan accent. “Those dumplings are comin’ right up,” she said over her shoulder as she hurried away.

  “Good to see some things haven’t changed. You can always count on Dixie for a definite opinion.”

  “I heard that!” Dixie called from the kitchen.

  Josie and Cole both laughed.

  “How’s it feel to be back after all these years?”

  Josie tucked her hair behind her ears. “In some ways, it’s like I never left. Not much has changed.”

  “People change. I bet you’ve changed a lot.”

  Josie thought for a minute. “Not really.” She’d grown older, matured from the eighteen-year-old she’d been when she left. She’d accumulated a lot of knowledge, but typically, she hadn’t experienced much outside her books.

  “Your glasses are gone.”

  Another comment she hadn’t expected. She sipped her tea. “I had corrective surgery a couple of years ago. Now I just wear computer glasses. They’re mainly to alleviate eyestrain.”

  Cole’s gaze swept her face. “I never noticed how beautiful your eyes are.”

  Josie rearranged the silverware on her napkin. “How could you? My glasses were so thick.”

  “I’m noticing now. They remind me of warm honey.”

  His husky tone ran through her veins like choice brandy.

  Josie laughed nervously. “I think you’re just hungry.”

  Their food arrived, diffusing the sensually charged moment. They turned their attention to the delicious meal. “Mmm . . . I’d forgotten what good home cooking tasted like.”

  “I’m sure you do just as well,” Cole said.

  “Oh, no. I never learned how to cook. If it weren’t for the microwave, prepared frozen meals, and peanut butter, I’m afraid I’d starve.”

  “Well, I’ll have to see to it that you eat out more often.”

  There it was. He would ask her out again. She should tell him there wouldn’t be a next time, but she couldn’t deny that she was tempted to throw convention to the wind . . . maybe even experience a real date. Cole was so different from the men of her narrow experience.

  But resisting temptation, she said, “I stay pretty busy.”

  “Bein’ as I’m your unofficial knight, I feel it’s my duty to save you from nuked frozen dinners.”

  Josie giggled. She couldn’t help herself. She sat back and stared at him. He was certainly easy on the eyes. The light above the booth made his hair shine like spun gold and highlighted the brilliant blue of his eyes. She could look at him all night. “It’s late,” she said instead. “I should be going.”

  Cole wiped his mouth on his napkin. “I’ll walk with you.” He slid out of the booth and held out his hand to help her up.

  She put her hand in his. “That’s okay. I can see myself home.”

  He looked taken aback. “I wouldn’t dream of letting you walk all that way alone at this time of night. So, don’t think to try and talk me out of it.”

  “He means it, too.” Dixie dipped her chin and wagged a finger with a polished pink fingernail at her. “You might as well not argue.”

  Josie reached for her purse. “You didn’t give us a ticket, Dixie.”

  “It’s on me. Call it a welcome home meal. Here’s you some apple pie for a midnight snack.” She winked at Josie, then looked at Cole. “Hot and fresh.”

  She handed Josie the paper bag. Dixie’s double meaning wasn’t missed on Josie. The wonderful smell of cinnamon and apples wafted up to tease her senses. “Thanks, Dixie. I appreciate that.”

  “Don’t mention it. Ya’ll have a nice evenin’ now, hear?”

  There was that wink again. Josie suppressed a groan. This would be all over town tomorrow.

  Cole escorted Josie to the door and out onto the sidewalk. It was a perfect springtime Angel Ridge evening. She inhaled deeply. A hint of roses wafted on the breeze. These pleasant evenings would soon turn to summer and hot steamy nights. That thought conjured another hot image. Josie shook her head. What was wrong with her?

  “Nice night,” Cole commented, his voice soft and low, as they walked toward the residential end of town.

  “Yes.” She tipped her head up to the sky. “Have you ever seen so many stars?”

  “Beautiful,” he agreed as they turned off Main Street onto Ridge Road, but with him looking at her instead of up at the sky, Josie knew he wasn’t referring to the stars.

  She smiled at the simple compliment, unused to this kind of attention. Most people complimented her mind, not her looks. She kept her focus on the sky. “I missed this while I was away. The stars here seem closer. Brighter.”

  “There aren’t any street lights. It makes a difference.”

  “I guess you’re right,” she agreed, looking around. “Only a few porch lights and lampposts.”

  “I love these old houses up here. Did you know Miss Estelee’s is the oldest?”

  “No.”

  “She’s not sure exactly when it was built, but best I can tell, it was probably in the early 1800s.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “At first glance, it’s a standard I design like you see in most farmhouses, but on a much smaller scale. The really interesting thing is the butterfly plan that gives the front that unusual V shape with the two wings jutting out at either side of the front porch capped by those nice bay windows. Very different from all these Victorians.”

  “
I guess I never thought about it.”

  “Well, over the years, they doctored it up with Victorian elements, like the gingerbread trim up in the eaves and on the porch posts.”

  “Now I did notice the trim. There are angel’s wings in it.”

  “No surprise there.”

  When they reached the gate in the picket fence in front of her house, she said, “Here we are.”

  Cole released the latch on the gate and held it open for her.

  “I can manage from here,” she said.

  “I’ll walk you to the door. Make sure your key works. Those skeleton locks in these old houses can be persnickety.”

  She smiled and preceded him up the sidewalk.

  “Howdy-do!”

  Josie stopped on the first step leading up to her front porch. She peered into the darkness toward her neighbor’s house. “Miss Estelee?”

  “Howdy-do, Josie,” she said.

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Right as rain. The cold’s kept me cooped up so long, I missed lookin’ at the stars, so I thought I’d rock a spell.” Her old chair creaked with the motion. “You workin’ late again?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Who’s that with you there?”

  “It’s me, Miss Estelee. Cole Craig.”

  “Oh, howdy-do, Cole. You still fixin’ things for Josie?”

  “Uh, no. Just seein’ she gets home safe.”

  “That’s a nice boy. She needs tendin’. Well, gittin’ late. Time for an old lady to be in bed.” The squeak of her rocking chair stopped as she rose slowly to her feet. Her silver-blue hair glinted in the moonlight as she peered over the porch railing at them.

  “Is there anything I can do for you, ma’am?” Cole asked.

  “Oh, no. You two young’uns enjoy your evenin’ now, hear?”

  “Good night, Miss Estelee,” Josie said.

  “Night…” her voice trailed off. The bang of a screen door announced that she’d retreated into the house. Josie wondered what Miss Estelee would read into Cole Craig “seein’ her home.” People shouldn’t get the wrong idea. She regretted the thought almost immediately. Why did she care what people thought? Just because most people on the Ridge thought that way didn’t mean she had to.

  She retrieved the keys from her purse and unlocked the door. Luckily, the lock wasn’t temperamental tonight. She opened the door and reached inside to turn on the foyer light. Josie leaned against the doorframe, not inviting Cole in. She held the bag containing Dixie’s apple pie between them like a buffer.

  “So, what are you doin’ tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Working. What else is there?”

  “You know,” he trailed a finger down her cheek, “there’s a whole world outside books just waitin’ for you to explore it.”

  Her cheek tingled where he’d touched her. She liked the feeling. Explore the world. For the first time in her life, she’d been thinking the exact same thing, but she wouldn’t admit it. Thoughts like that led to distractions she couldn’t afford. Not now.

  “Maybe I’ll get to that some day.” Her voice sounded weak.

  Where was her resolve? All she could think was that it wouldn’t take much for him to lean down and kiss her. In fact, the way he focused on her mouth seemed to indicate that was just what he intended. If he did, she had a feeling it wouldn’t be nearly as disgusting as when Martin had kissed her. Cole’s kiss would be unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

  Cole rested a hand on the doorframe near her head bringing his tempting body even closer to hers. “After you deal with your problems at the library?”

  Problems at the library? She nearly missed his meaning when all she could think about was what it would be like if he did kiss her. “Yes . . . library . . . problems . . . yes.”

  He smoothed the backs of his fingers from her cheek down to her chin. “You’ll work it out, Josie. I have no doubt.”

  Mesmerizing. He had the most mesmerizing eyes.

  “And when you do, I’ll expect you to take me to dinner. Since you didn’t have to buy tonight, you still owe me.”

  “Mmm.” She moistened suddenly dry lips with the tip of her tongue.

  Finally, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. A too brief caress that ended almost as soon as it began. “Goodnight, Josie Lee.”

  She watched him turn and walk away. Disappointment left a hollow feeling inside her. She shifted from one foot to the other. She didn’t want him to go, but she knew he should before she lost all sense of any kind of resolve she might have a tenuous grip on. Still, she called out, “Cole?”

  He stopped on the bottom step and looked back up at her. Silhouetted in the glow of her porch light, he looked like an angel come down to earth.

  She held out the bag of pie. “Why don’t you take this?”

  “You keep it. For those nights when you forget to eat supper.”

  She nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate all you did for me today.”

  He flashed an easy smile and said, “Anytime.”

  Alone on her porch, Josie touched her fingers to her cheek. She’d been right. Cole’s kiss was nothing like Martin’s.

  Sleep was a long time in coming that night. Every time she closed her eyes, instead of trying to work out the problem with her cataloging program in her head, all she could see was Cole Craig’s face so close to hers. She remembered the warmth of his body brushing against hers as he leaned in to kiss her. In her fantasy, it wasn’t a chaste kiss on the cheek.

  He’d pull her up against his chest and with a hand in her hair, he’d touch his lips to hers . . . .

  At last, she cupped her hand against the cheek his lips had caressed and faded off to sleep.

  Chapter Three

  “Mornin’, Dix.”

  Cole slid onto a stool at the counter of Ferguson’s Diner. The lunch rush was just coming in to take advantage of the daily special despite the fact that some still lingered over their morning coffee.

  Dixie turned with a steaming pot of coffee in her hand. “What happened to you? You look like ten miles of bad road.” She set a cup in front of him and poured.

  The clattering hurt his aching head. “Nice to see you, too.” He scanned the room. “Is it more crowded than usual in here?”

  “About three or four van loads of seniors are spendin’ the day up at the library. Researchin’ their family history, combin’ through the special collections, you know. Typical stuff around here now that the weather’s turned nice.”

  Cole nodded. He’d know that if he was around more. Mention of the library brought Josie to mind. He ought to go up and see her. He scrubbed a hand across the stubble covering his chin. He really should have shaved, but he’d been so tired when he got up, he’d been afraid of slicing his throat if he’d attempted it. Maybe he’d go by after he’d had a chance to go home and clean up.

  Dixie just smiled and plopped an order pad on the counter in front of him. “So, it went well with Josie last night?”

  Cole frowned. He couldn’t say how it had gone. To say the town librarian was sending mixed signals would be a gross understatement.

  Dixie crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the counter in front of him. “Must have gone real well, judging by the looks of you.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Guess you didn’t make it home last night.”

  He felt heat climb up his throat to his cheeks. He looked from left to right to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. “You got a dirty mind, Dix. I saw her home. That’s all.”

  “Really?” Skepticism laced her words.

  “Yeah. Gimme a break. She just…We just—”

  “So what kept you up all night, if not . . . that?”

  “I just didn’t get much sleep.”

  “I’d say that’s pretty clear. Which brings us back to the original question. What kept you up?”

  Thoughts of Josie and a project deadline, but he wouldn’t admit either to Dixie. She’d just lecture. They’d known
each other since they were kids. Hell, her brother Blake and he had been pretty good friends once. They were both too busy these days to get together much anymore. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d shared a beer and a game of darts at Heart’s Pool Hall.

  But even though Dixie usually gave pretty good advice, he wasn’t ready to spill his guts about his interest in Josie or anything else. Not to Dixie or anyone.

  “You know, just restless I guess.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” She leveled him a look that saw right to the heart of the matter. “I’d say something or someone has got you all in a dither.” She laughed. “I never thought I’d see the day. Who’d have thought it’d take a woman with a Ph.D. to whip Cole Craig.”

  He glanced around again. “Could you keep your voice down?”

  Ignoring that, she asked, “So, what’s your plan?”

  Cole sipped his coffee. He winced as the hot liquid scorched his throat. “Plan?”

  “For wooing Josie.”

  “I’m flyin’ by the seat of my pants here, Dix. There’s no plan. Hell, I’m just hopin’ she don’t decide to kick me to the curb.”

  “We don’t have curbs in Angel Ridge. City ordinance against it.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Dixie leaned in close and spoke in hushed tones. “What are we talking about here, Cole? You just mildly interested in Josie, or is there more to this?”

  He hoped his shrug was non-committal.

  No dice.

  She slapped the counter causing a few heads to turn. Cole closed his eyes and groaned.

  “’Bout time. All right, then. I’m gonna help you out here.”

  He held his cup up. “Just keep the caffeine comin’, would ya?”

  Dixie topped him off. “I’ll do that and more. If memory serves, Josie’s particularly fond of my chicken salad.”

  “So?”

  “So,” she intoned, “it’s lunchtime.”

  “It is?” He looked down at his watch and noticed he’d forgotten to put it on. Great.

  Dixie jerked a thumb at the clock. It was going on twelve. “Beautiful day for a picnic, wouldn’t you say?”