Sizzling Summer Nights

by Debbi Rawlins

  That would be a miracle, Seth thought, as he felt her body go rigid beside him.

  “You don’t speak for me, Madam Mayor,” Jasper said, in a mocking tone. “Hell, you don’t speak for anybody. This town never had a more useless person in office.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Mayor,” Sherwood assured her with a smile. “I certainly am not.” He turned to Hannah. “I must get on the road for another appointment, but it was nice meeting you.”

  She made a point to smile big. “Nice meeting you, too. Safe travels.”

  “Thank you,” he said, then he picked up his briefcase and a leather overnight bag, nodded at Seth and left.

  Jasper glared at the man’s back. “That’s right, mister government man, go. We don’t want your kind around here.”

  “Oh, shut your damn mouth, Parsons.” Sadie looked pissed, her face red enough to be of concern.

  “And take your goddamn permits with you,” Jasper shouted, though the door had slid closed and Sherwood couldn’t hear him.

  Patty, who Seth vaguely knew from years ago, stood behind the front desk, watching with an expression of shock.

  An older couple, who’d come out of the elevator, gave Jasper a wide berth on their way out of the building.

  Seth turned his back on the old man, and smiled at Hannah. “Why don’t we go get some breakfast?”

  “Sure.” Her hands shook slightly as she picked up the coffee and food she’d left on the table.

  “I’ll get rid of that,” Seth said, holding out his hand. He figured it was taking every bit of her willpower not to go after Jasper. Knowing Hannah, she thought this was her fault. She didn’t understand that Jasper didn’t need an excuse to be an ass.

  With a grateful smile, she handed him the cinnamon bun and some crumpled napkins. She blinked. “Oh, wait.” She snatched back a napkin that had writing on it. “Thanks,” she murmured, glancing around the lobby, then dropping her cup and muffin into a wastebasket.

  Sadie and Jasper were going at it, and Seth couldn’t see leaving her here with the bastard. “Excuse me, Mayor?” Seth waited for her to look at him. “Would you like to join us?”

  “What?” At least her face wasn’t so flushed anymore. “Oh, no.” She shook her head. “But thanks.”

  Seth hesitated when it seemed Jasper wasn’t going anywhere.

  Patty had every right to call the sheriff’s office and have him removed from the premises. But it didn’t look as though she planned on doing anything but stare.

  “I don’t know what to make of you, boy.” Clearly, Jasper was speaking to him. “I surely don’t.”

  Seth had just taken Hannah’s hand, intent on heading for the elevator. And he couldn’t decide if he wanted to acknowledge the stupid bastard. If it meant he’d leave, then Seth would play along, but he doubted it.

  “I thought you’d learned your lesson. I truly did. But you’re just bound and determined to shame your family right into the dirt. Turn the Landers good name into mud.”

  Hannah and Seth both stopped in their tracks.

  Inhaling a slow deep breath, Seth started to count, giving the red dots clouding his vision time to clear.

  Not Hannah, though. She spun around to face Jasper, her tension practically bouncing off the walls. She looked as though she wanted to tear the man apart.

  In a weird way, her reaction helped Seth find his calm.

  He tugged on her hand. “This is between Parsons and me,” he said in a low steady voice.

  “But this is all my—”

  “Hannah.”

  She bit her lip, her eyes watering as they met his gaze. She looked down, gave him a small nod and let her hand fall limply to her side.

  Sadie had gotten directly in Jasper’s face and was trying to force him backward to the door. Not a bad thing, since Seth realized he needed more time to calm down. The bastard had the goddamn nerve to bring up his family? He didn’t give a shit that the man was over thirty years his senior. Seth wanted to plaster him to the goddamn cement.

  Sadie managed to get him to the exit, then glanced toward the front desk. “Patty, do me a favor, call Grace.”

  Jasper laughed. “You let your womenfolk do your fighting for you, boy?” Jasper, the prick, was enjoying himself, trying to dodge Sadie, angling right and left to see past her.

  Seth hadn’t known what he would actually do if he got within striking distance. A part of him wanted to think that he wouldn’t have used violence. But he sure as hell hadn’t expected to start laughing.

  14

  HANNAH FELT SICK. She pressed a hand to her stomach, hoping the elevator ride didn’t finish her off. “What just happened?”

  Seth still had a weird smile on his face and he hadn’t quite stopped laughing as he shook his head. “That dumb ass was eating up the attention. I didn’t want to really hit him, but if I had, I would’ve been the one locked up. Probably exactly what he was hoping for.” He paused. “Nah, I did want to hit him. I’d still like to punch him. Dumb bastard.”

  The elevator came to an abrupt halt. Her stomach did a flip.

  “You okay?”

  “Um, not really.” She let him take her hand and usher her out of the elevator. “If I were to hit him, would they lock me up?”

  Seth smiled at her. “You’re not going to hit anyone. But thanks for wanting to stick up for me.”

  “Well, who’s Grace? Does she get to punch him?”

  “He pisses her off enough, I’m sure she’ll find a way.” He got out the key card. “Grace is the sheriff.”

  “Oh.” Hannah hadn’t expected that, but now a couple of things made sense. “That’s why you laughed.”

  “Actually that’s when I realized he was trying to goad me into doing something foolish. My womenfolk,” he muttered.

  They got to their door and he unlocked it. “I did something I probably shouldn’t have...” she began as she entered the room. She turned to watch his expression. “I extended our stay for another night.”

  Seth’s face lit up and he put his arms around her. “I planned on doing the same thing.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “Even now?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, staring down at her. “You don’t still think what happened was your fault.”

  Hannah wasn’t thrilled about him studying her so closely. Lowering her lashes made it easier to break away. In her heart, she knew she did share some of the blame. He didn’t understand because he didn’t know everything.

  “Listen to me,” he said, touching her chin gently, raising her face until he could see into her eyes. “Jasper and Avery are part of the package in this town. They’re miserable, greedy and vindictive old men. Nothing you did caused Jasper to be that way. He was a bastard long before you got here.”

  She had to smile at that, even though she knew Seth was just being nice. And then she remembered his laughter. Maybe she hadn’t been at the heart of the problem. But she’d been part of it, no matter the history of the town curmudgeons.

  Looking up into Seth’s kind face, she wanted to kiss him. No, she wanted to lose herself in his kisses, and that was different. Tempting. Instead, she thought about telling him everything. Just putting it all out there about her father, the poor state of the ranch, her idea to help...

  “You okay?”

  She nodded, grateful when he pulled her close so she could rest her head on his strong, safe chest.

  The thing was, it had been a real stroke of luck that she’d run into Sherwood this morning. He’d brought up a few concerns about her plan. It truly was a complicated matter, crossing state lines with livestock, and for all she knew, her next foray into the law and the practicalities might scotch the whole deal.

  The last thing
she wanted to do was make Seth’s life more complicated if she didn’t have to. Not that she thought he’d be angry. He’d said straight out he didn’t care about the grazing permits. But he cared a whole lot about causing his family grief. And Jasper was the catalyst that could blow up everything.

  So maybe she was splitting hairs, but she’d rather wait and make sure of her position before she filled Seth in.

  Instead, she ran her hands up to the back of his neck and buried her fingers in his hair. For a second she simply soaked up his warmth as the connection between them sizzled. Nothing like that had ever happened to her before, and she wanted to memorize every second of it.

  By the time they did kiss, she’d let all thoughts of Jasper and blame float away. She could still taste the hint of peppermint on Seth’s tongue, and when he moved just so, his stubble scratched the side of her cheek. But she didn’t mind.

  As she rubbed his chin with the pad of her thumb, his stomach rumbled so loudly they both started laughing.

  “So, I really should have hurried with that cinnamon roll, huh?”

  “To be honest,” he said, rocking them both gently from side to side, “I’m hungry as a bear. I was thinking we could go to the diner. And after we eat, I thought I’d finally take you for that tour of the ranch I’ve been promising.”

  “Really? I’d love to...”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” She grabbed her purse from the bedside drawer and slipped the napkin with her notes and Sherwood’s business card inside. “Now that we don’t have to pack, let’s go eat.”

  * * *

  HANNAH HAD ONLY suggested they stop by Abe’s Variety store for lip balm because she was finally certain that Seth wasn’t still stewing over Jasper or Avery or anything to do with grazing permits. No one who was worried could have put away that much food so quickly.

  “You know, we can stop by the Cake Whisperer and pick you up something,” he said, as they walked down the packaged goods aisle.

  “I’m fine.”

  “On that tiny breakfast you had?”

  The way she’d felt, she was lucky the dry toast had stayed down. At least now her tummy had settled. “Oh, my God,” she said, spotting a familiar tin. “These are Walnettos. I haven’t had these since my aunt died fifteen years ago. And look! Allsorts! I hated these when I was a kid.”

  “Glad to see they’ve cheered you up.”

  She was happy to be focused on something other than grazing permits. “My tastes have matured,” she said, stashing the bag in her basket, along with the Walnettos tin. “Oh, wait, I want to check out the kitchen gadgets.”

  His grin made her feel the most at ease she’d felt since the ugly scene this morning. It seemed Seth had a gift for doing that.

  “Gadgets, huh? Is that the technical term?”

  “No, you’re thinking of doodads. Or thingamajigs. You can look it up.”

  He surprised her with a kiss on the temple before they went to the next aisle. Even if he did think she was nuts, he didn’t seem to care.

  She was pretty sure she could have found a store like Abe’s Variety in Texas, but most of the fun was being here with Seth, and not to be discounted, being on neutral ground. Recapturing the joy they’d shared that day at the swimming hole, before all the other crap had gotten in the way.

  As they ambled closer to the front of the store, she could hear the women who’d gathered by the cash register. Not that she was purposely listening but the group had grown since she and Seth had first arrived and met a pair of twins, elderly women dressed in matching cardigans, introduced as the Lemon sisters. Abe, the owner, had implied they were quite the infamous pair.

  They’d looked her over as if she might be carrying the plague, and one of them proceeded to tell Abe that he’d better watch his inventory now that the Sundance visitors liked to come to town so often. With a long-suffering sigh of disgust, her sister contradicted her every word.

  Hannah had quickly grabbed a shopping basket not daring to look at Seth for fear she’d burst out laughing. When she’d finally risked a glance, she saw that it hadn’t fazed him in the least. Guess he really was used to small town chatter.

  A minute later, glancing back, Hannah realized Seth had stopped to look at car wax. So she kept perusing the array of interesting stock, and half-heartedly listened as the ladies up front continued to chat. It sounded as if every single sentence ended in a shocked exclamation point. Even the fact that one of the lights outside the sheriff’s office had burned out proved newsworthy.

  “Can you hear them?” Seth asked, keeping his voice low as he came up behind her.

  She nodded, and they exchanged smiles.

  “I told you. That’s how it is around here. Drama around every corner, real or not.”

  “It must be exhausting.”

  “Yeah. But since there’s no movie theater...”

  Hannah leaned into him and grinned. “You’re adorable.”

  “Just what every man likes to hear.”

  After kissing his chin, she got caught up trying to figure out a Gilhoolie jar opener. She’d thought she wanted one, but now wasn’t so sure.

  Seconds later, Abe joined them, and he and Seth started talking. The proprietor seemed like a nice man. He was in his early sixties with a receding hairline and a ruddy complexion. And, apparently, he’d been sweet on Sadie for years. The fact that Hannah had learned that scrap of extraneous information her very first night in town told her so much, now that she thought about it.

  Turning back to a butter churning jar, something interesting occurred to her about Blackfoot Falls. It wasn’t that the town was so quaint, but it demonstrated how her own hometown was so utterly lacking. Their only store had been an ugly old warehouse without a single surprise to be found on the dusty, packed shelves. Even as a kid, she’d felt an oppressive sense of ennui. Or maybe that was just her family.

  Abe had gone back to the register and Hannah continued her foraging. The bell over the door rang, which stopped the conversation of the Lemon twins and company, but not for long.

  “Well, good Lord, Louise, you look like you’re ready to burst a pipe,” someone said.

  “Or lay an ostrich egg,” came the high-pitched wavering voice of one of the twins.

  “Well, you just wait till you hear what I have to say,” Louise said, and paused.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Louise, don’t be so dramatic.”

  “I’m just trying to catch my breath, you old biddy.” After a prolonged silence and a loud sniff, Louise continued, her voice trembling, presumably with excitement. “Any of you heard about what happened over at the motel?”

  “Yes, that’s old news. Besides, I doubt anyone is surprised that Avery made a fool of himself.”

  “Ladies,” Abe said. “Would you please keep it down?”

  “It wasn’t Avery,” Louise said. “Who told you he was at the motel?”

  Taking some comfort in the gossips being unable to get their facts straight, Hannah risked a glance at Seth. Shaking his head, he raised his gaze toward the ceiling.

  “Avery was at the meeting last night but he wasn’t at the motel.”

  “Better yet,” Abe said, more sharply this time. “Go to the diner and talk all you want. This isn’t the place.”

  The women laughed.

  “Anyhow, that’s not even the best part,” Louise said. “That government man from the BLM was there this morning, and guess who he was getting all kinds of information from?” She paused. “Seth Landers, of all people.”

  Hannah froze and her stomach clenched so hard she thought she might be sick. Seth closed his eyes. He might have recognized the different voices, but she supposed it didn’t matter.

  “And that little floozy he’s been cozying up to, turns out she’s a government spy.
”

  They all gasped.

  “You know they’re both here right now,” said one of the twins, her whisper meant to be sotto voce, but it carried far enough.

  “No!” A pronounced silence followed.

  “I don’t care,” someone said, her quieter tone belying her claim. “Doesn’t that Landers boy look like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. What his poor family must be going through.”

  Why in hell had Hannah said that crap to Avery? She was so used to being flip, it hadn’t crossed her mind that there could be ramifications. That it would all crash down on Seth.

  “Okay, that’s it,” he said, although he didn’t sound angry. Just tired. “You done?”

  She put her basket down where she stood. “Am now.”

  He held out his arm, and she took it, like they were going to the prom. Seth nodded at the whole group as they passed. Abe couldn’t even meet their eyes, but the gossips had no remorse whatsoever. If they did, it was overrun by their curiosity.

  As soon as they were outside, Seth said, “Look, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing I’m not used to.”

  Which was precisely the problem. He’d told her last night how much pain he’d caused his family, and with her stupid, thoughtless comments, she’d stirred up a huge hornet’s nest.

  “Can I say something?”

  “What’s that?”

  “What if I were to go back inside and swear to them that I’m not a government spy and spreading that around just makes them sound like big fat idiots?”

  Seth smiled. “I’m not your keeper. You can do whatever you want. But if you’re asking me if it would do any good? Not a chance.”

  They started walking toward the truck.

  “I could also tell them that Rachel and I are old friends and she’ll vouch for me.” She glanced at Seth when he didn’t respond, and only then did she realize he was more upset than he’d let on. She doubted he’d even heard her.

  “You know the thing that gets me? All that stuff with the DUI happened ten years ago. Back when I was just a stupid college kid. But to the people around here, it might as well have happened last month.”