LOVE in a Small Town

by Janet Eaves

  This new life was confusing.

  He glanced down the tree-lined street in the small town. He could have done worse, he guessed. This was a far cry from where he’d come. His back bristled with an unexpected chill. Yeah, he could have done a lot worse.

  His steps scraped against the crumbly concrete walk as he approached the porch. His thoughts turned to the last few minutes of school, and his face again felt hot.

  I’m not gonna like having no cop around. Mrs. C. now, she’s okay, I think. But not the cop. Never.

  The front screen door slammed behind him as he entered the dark, musty house and took the hallway to the kitchen. Maybe he could get a glass of milk and something to eat before the high school kids got home. He knew Mrs. Elliston would have some chores for him to do before supper.

  The old refrigerator door squeaked as he opened it wide. He blinked as his eyes hit the shiny gold can, and he nearly reached for it. It was like a habit…or used to be anyway. Sweat trickled down from his hairline. He slammed the door.

  I didn’t reach for it… I didn’t pop the top… I didn’t swizzle it down.

  He left the beer alone. Danny smiled, then almost as quickly, his lips fell into a frown. He didn’t trust them Ellistons. Always testing him.

  Chapter Five

  “God. Come on, Kate!” Patti Jo Baker stuck her head in Kate’s classroom door. Best friends since kindergarten, Legend Elementary, they now both taught there, side by side. Patti Jo taught fourth grade, Kate fifth. “Let’s take a break.”

  “I really want to finish this bulletin board.”

  “Let me help. I’m finished. Want to go out later?”

  She looked at Patti. Why not? She had nothing else to do. It was just that for the past twenty-four hours she’d not been in much of a mood to be social. Of course, it had absolutely nothing to do with her frustration with one Tennessee State Trooper or the entire situation that she’d been thrust into the day before. Even though she’d managed to finally diffuse her anger about all that, nagging worry still chipped away at her and she wasn’t quite sure how she would handle the situation. It never quite left her mind.

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go home and finish grading papers. I’ve got a frozen dinner in the freezer.”

  “Crap, Kate, gimmee a break. Why don’t you just roll over and die.”

  The words stung. She stopped mid-motion while attacking a construction paper letter with a stapler. She knew what was coming next. “Don’t start.”

  Patti bit her lip. Kate stopped her stapling and crossed the room to her desk, methodically putting away the stapler, construction paper, and scissors. “I’m tired. I’m going home.”

  “You’re living like a nun.”

  “I am not.”

  “You are.”

  She squinted. “No. I am not!”

  “It’s been over two years. You’re only twenty-nine. You need to get out every once in a while. Do something besides stay home all the time grading papers, before it’s too late.”

  “Too late for what?”

  “Too late for—”

  Kate pushed her hands up in the air, palms facing outward. “Stop right there because I know what you’re going to say. That I’ll never fall in love again if I don’t get started. That I’ll never find anyone to replace Rob if I don’t get out now and then. I know. I’ve heard it a thousand times. Not only from you but from my parents and everyone in Legend except for Geraldine Weismueller down at The Piggly Wiggly, which is pretty darned weird since she’s the town busybody. Everyone seems to have an opinion. What you all don’t understand is this—I don’t want anyone else.”

  “Jonathon Wells asked about you the other day.”

  Kate turned and walked away.

  “Damn. I’m sorry. I hate to see you like this.”

  “Like what? What is it with you, Patti? Do you think my life isn’t complete without a man in it? Is that it? Do you need a man to make you feel complete?”

  Patti, whose major pastime was seeking out potential husbands, but who never seemed to catch one, stared at her friend and answered, “It helps.”

  A sigh hissed through her teeth. “Well, that may be fine for you, but not me. Look, my life is great. I have my home, my students, my parents are close by, and I have you for a best friend. Please Patti, back off where my love life is concerned.”

  “I thought that…maybe you, oh nothing. Fine, I’ll drop it, okay?

  “Great.”

  “All right.”

  But she stepped closer, placing her fisted hands on her hips. “I want you to think about something, though. When was the last time you went out? Were kissed? Had sex, for cripes sake? When was the last time you even talked to a man?”

  Lord, make it stop. “Yesterday.”

  “Yesterday?”

  Flustered, Kate turned, picked up her purse, slung it over her shoulder, and walked toward the door. “Yes, yesterday.”

  For once she may have bested her friend. Patti’s mouth still hung open as she grinned and left her standing there with a quick goodbye wave. Patti didn’t need to know that she’d only talked to the man. Though she thought he’d wanted to kiss her. Right there in her classroom.

  And sex? Well, Patti also didn’t need to know that she’d spent most of last night wondering what it might be like, to indeed have sex with a man like Michael Lehmann.

  Not him, of course, but a man like him. Sort of.

  Somehow, all of that pent-up anger she’d had for him yesterday turned to later thoughts of how attractive he really was, and how long it had been since she’d been with a man.

  Too bad it would never happen. Michael Lehmann, she was sure, was very nice. But there was no room in her life for any man who wore a brown uniform.

  Never would be.

  ****

  Around midnight, Kate tucked herself into bed with a book, denying that her life was truly boring. Heck with Patty Jo and her silly notions. She liked boring. So much easier to live with boring.

  She’d had enough drama in her life already, living with the specter of a dead husband looking over her shoulder. The terror of his death and the numbness had left long ago, but what remained were the memories, the questions, and the emptiness. With him still hovering, the likelihood of getting involved with any man again was impossible.

  Maybe when they find his killer, and the reason he was murdered, she could let Rob rest and get on with her life.

  Maybe.

  She propped another pillow under her head and hoped that the novel she’d picked up at her friend, Jane’s, bookstore would take her mind miles away tonight, a feat she would welcome. Jane had recommended it as a real thriller, sure to suck her into the story and keep the pages turning. That’s exactly what she needed tonight.

  Escape.

  Tucked in with her paperback, she snuggled beneath the thick comforter, a fall night’s chill creeping in from her open window. Once the book was set aside and the light turned off, however, the demons snuck in, and sleep made itself scarce.

  Her eyes adjusted to the blackness and she panned the room.

  A lone portrait of she and Rob, their wedding photograph, sat on her dresser. She stared at the outline of the antique frame and could clearly make out the picture as moonbeams cast a golden glow about the room. Shivering, she traced the outline of Rob’s uniform with her gaze.

  An uncanny feeling passed over her as her thoughts turned to Trooper Lehmann. The uniform he wore was the same as Rob’s, but he was entirely different from her husband. Rob was headstrong and decisive, not that Michael wasn’t, she suspected, but Rob always knew where he was heading and made no bones about it. Their whirlwind courtship proved that. He had informed Kate they would marry on the night they met. Within a few months, they had.

  His obstinate attitude put him in control of most every aspect of their lives. And although Kate sometimes rebelled against his ideas of partnership, in the end he was good to her and made her feel safe and secure.

>   What woman doesn’t want that?

  Michael didn’t seem to have that strong a need for control. From what she could tell, he was the type of man who got what he set out after, that seemed obvious enough, but his methods were perhaps a little more thought out than Rob’s.

  What a bedtime pastime, she mused, comparing the two men. And why, even, would she do that?

  “Because you’ve been thinking about Michael Lehmann way too much,” she muttered, turning onto her side and fluffing her feather pillow. “Way too much.” Thing was, she’d had enough time to consider why he’d made her so damn angry the day before, and she’d figured it out pretty quickly. He was the first man since Rob she’d felt some sort of attraction to.

  That felt bad, somehow. And made her feel guilty.

  Worried.

  And wondering… Could it be possible that she’d ever find love again?

  Not with Michael Lehmann. She would never, ever, get involved again with any sort of law enforcement officer. The risks were too high. To him, and to her heart.

  “So that settles it,” she muttered. “Done deal. No more cops in your personal life. Ever.”

  She sank further into the nest of pillows and comforters and finally closed her eyes tight against reality, and drifted…

  “Help me, Kate,” came the whispered plea. “Help me.”

  She was thrust into the center of the murder scene. Standing away from Rob, she could see the murderer’s face. He was laughing. A hideous, sadistic laugh. The gun was in his hand. The two men argued, and then struggled. Kate attempted a scream, to warn him of what was about to happen, but she couldn’t. Her mouth stretched wide as she tried to force the scream from her throat. Useless. Her mouth wouldn’t work, her legs wouldn’t move.

  Powerless.

  A gunshot cracked through her silent cry. A cold and clammy chill ran the length of her spine. Silence. Again, she could not move. She watched Rob fall to the ground. The silver-blue lights of his cruiser reflected off the black Tennessee night, the mountain an eerie backdrop. Pain wracked his face.

  Then she was kneeling. A bloody halo around his head laying in her lap, on her snow-white wedding gown; the bright electric blue of his eyes stared blankly up at her. Scarlet ripples of blood trailed down the length of the stained dress. All she could do was sit and scream.

  Finally, she could scream.

  Rob’s body abruptly burst into flames, his face melting in disfigurement.

  She jumped away.

  “No!”

  Kate bolted upright. Perspiration ran down her hot back in the chilly room. A crack of thunder and a shaft of lightning pierced the night. Thunderstorm. Cold rain slanted into her bedroom.

  She raced to shut the window as electricity flashed against the night. Thunder rolled as she ran to the other windows on the second floor, slamming them closed.

  Shivering, she hugged herself to warm her bones and ease the chill on her skin and in her heart. She rushed down the hallway and back into her room, jumping under the sanctuary and warmth of her comforter. She lay there for the rest of the night, listening to the storm and thinking.

  About Rob.

  About how she would live the rest of her life.

  She refused to think about Michael Lehmann.

  ****

  The next morning, Kate answered her front door to find Michael Lehmann standing on her porch. His body filled her doorway. Broad shoulders stretched from one side to the other. His tan face smiled and his hair shone a dark blond halo in the morning sunlight. He held something behind his back.

  Her stomach lurched.

  A boyish grin swept across Michael’s face. Out of uniform, he looked, well, rather nice, if she cared to admit it, and she almost didn’t recognize him. The jeans, black t-shirt and boots did a lot to show off his athletic build. It also helped to calm her jumpy nerves even though he was the last person she expected to see on her stoop mid-way through a Saturday morning.

  She didn’t want him here.

  Why was he here?

  “Trooper Lehmann? What—?”

  His hands stayed behind his back. “I’m not in uniform and you’re not in school, Kate. Call me Michael?”

  That took her aback. “I… I don’t understand.”

  “It’s just a name, Kate.”

  Puzzled, she said, “Of course. I’m just surprised. Is there something wrong?”

  “No.”

  He smiled and paused, and she wondered if he was waiting for her to react, or something. “So, okay…Michael. Why are you here?”

  He edged closer. “I want to apologize for my behavior. I was out of line more than once. I thought that, well, if we’re going to work together, maybe we need to get to know each other a little better.”

  She stared at him.

  “What do you think?”

  Crap. What is going on?

  Getting to know each other a little better was not in her game plan. “Probably not a good idea. You’re only coming to my classroom for two hours a week. It’s not like we need to be best friends or anything.”

  Then he swept a colorful bouquet of fresh cut flowers from behind his back. Daisies and assorted carnations woven together with baby’s breath, surrounded a huge red rose, all wrapped in green tissue. He thrust it through the open door.

  “Truce?”

  What in the world? She was a sucker for flowers, dammit. Hesitantly, she glanced up to meet his gaze, then reached out and took them. She was a tad bit in awe at the moment and not quite sure what he was up to. She fingered one of the daisies, and then leaned over to sniff the fragrant mixture.

  “So, what do you say?”

  “Why?” She squinted up at him.

  He stepped back. “Honestly, I’d like to get off on another foot. The right one.”

  She looked over the flowers and took in the sincerity of his gaze and decided to swallow her pride. And tamp down a flurry of niggles in her brain telling her she was going in a direction she vowed she didn’t want to go. “Okay. Sure. For the children.”

  Michael nodded. “Of course.”

  “Well, thank you very much. The flowers are beautiful.” She stepped back and laid a hand on the oak door beside her. “I guess I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

  He cleared his throat. “Wait. Um, I was wondering…”

  She stayed put.

  “I know this is probably a long shot, but are you busy? I was thinking about a drive into the mountains. The color is beautiful today. Would you like to join me?”

  You’re living like a nun, Kate.

  Swallowing hard, she had to negotiate a mental three-sixty. This sounded a tad more personal than for the kids.

  Am I up for this?

  “To get off on the right foot.”

  No. Definitely not up for this.

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  ****

  Michael’s farm sat nestled in a valley on the other side of Legend Mountain, closer to the foothills of the Appalachians and not far from Pigeon Forge. They drove into the Smokies via Gatlinburg, and if she were honest with herself, had to admit she enjoyed their conversation as well as the scenery. Now, however, they were driving back toward Legend from the east, and Michael asked if she minded stopping off at his place for a few minutes.

  He parked between the old farmhouse and the barn, and went inside to pick something up for Matt Branson, he’d said, one of Legend’s local police officers. Kate watched him disappear inside the house, then decided to stretch her legs.

  Stepping from his pickup truck, she drank in the sights and smells of the country. Rob’s parents had lived on a farm, but it had been quite a while since she had been there. A hint of sweet-smelling hay mixed with the sharp scent of tobacco curing in the barns drifted her way. She heard the whinnying of horses somewhere close, the chirping of birds overhead, and the distant put-put-put of a tractor. The early afternoon sun, crisp against a robin-egg sky, warmed her skin.

  Why am I here?

  It was
enough to deal with the physical arousal she felt when she first met Michael in her classroom, let alone trapped on his own turf. The fact that she was attracted to him, worried her. Nothing could come of it. She’d caught herself thinking of him in ways she shouldn’t, and old, familiar feelings stirred within. Feelings she’d not felt for a while. And the worst part was that when that happened, she forgot all about Rob.

  Pushing her hands deep into her pockets, she lifted her face to the sky and once again breathed in the fresh, clean country air, in an attempt to clear her brain.

  “Um, smells so good out here,” she said softly.

  “I think so.”

  Turning toward his voice, she found herself eye to eye with Michael. For the first time, she realized a physical reason why he made her so…uncomfortable. His eyes. They were the softest, most tender shade of brown, like nutmeg.

  Sexy and come-hither. Drawing her in.

  For some crazy reason she wished he would take her into his arms and hold her against that warm and inviting chest of his.

  He smelled like a man.

  And that was something she hadn’t experienced in such a long time. Smelling a man.

  Her stomach tightened as the skin bristled up her back. She swayed away, breaking the spell. The smell and sight of him so close, too much.

  She backed away. Michael moved to the truck tailgate and lowered it, laying a large envelope on the bed. He leaned against the gate, feet crossed at the ankles.

  “Have you always lived here?” She had to find anything to talk about so her brain wouldn’t wander.

  He glanced about and nodded. “Since I was a child. Born and raised a country kid. My parents moved to Arizona a year ago, a business move for my dad. I’m taking care of the farm. What about you?”

  “Town kid. We moved to Legend from Knoxville when I was three. I like Legend. There’s such a closeness among everyone, but I’ve always loved the country.” Her eyes closed momentarily and silence drifted around them.

  “What are you thinking?”