by Jessi Gage
God, he was attractive.
He made his way back up to the house, forehead creased in concentration, probably because he was calculating her estimate.
She slid open the door to the deck in welcome.
As he met her gaze, his face transformed. Concentration yielded to warm recognition. His smile took away her choice in the matter; it was inevitable. She was going to have her way with Emmett Herald.
They would have a date or two, hop in the sack, spend a few months digging each other, then lose interest and go their separate ways. She would just have to get her friend-fix wherever she ended up working.
“So, what’s the damage?” she asked as his boots thumped up the deck stairs.
Hooking his thumbs in his pockets, he summarized the pricing for the front yard only versus front and back together. He even gave a detailed estimate for a full-service fertilizing and mulching treatment, listing the steps it would take to get her lawn lush and green by October. It was all very professional, yet she couldn’t stop mentally undressing him.
She forced her attention to lawn care. The full treatment was tempting. A beautiful, green lawn like Grandma Nina had always kept would be nice, but she had to be careful with money until she knew what kind of job she’d be able to find.
“I don’t have a mower, so, how about just a quick trim front and back. I think I can manage the rest myself, since you were kind enough to let me know exactly what to do.”
“Oh, I see how it is. All right, all right. Quick trim it is. And maybe—” He held up a hand to intercept her teasing grin. “Maybe I’ll let you know what kind of seed and fertilizer to buy at the Agway if you let me take you to church on Sunday.”
Her brain made that sound like when a needle scratches a record. Mr. Adonis just invited her to church.
In her experience, church people could be categorized one of three ways. There was the eager and preachy model that liked to tell her she was going to hell with a smile on their face. She thought of them as scripture-quoting Golden Retrievers. Her freshman roommate had been one of those. There was the dour, judgmental model like old Mrs. Bagley, who lived down the hall from her friend and coworker, Maxi. Mrs. Bagley liked to tell her and Maxi they were going to hell, and she never did it with a smile. Then there were the fun ones who paid their dues on Sundays but did whatever they wanted the rest of the time. She didn’t mind them so much, but she didn’t get them. Why spend an hour every week feeling guilty about who you are?
Which model was Emmett? She would have pegged him as one of the fun ones, because there was no way a guy this sexy and flirty followed all the rules all the time, but the fun ones didn’t ask people to go to church with them. In fact, they usually got embarrassed if the topic of religion came up.
At her silence, his dimples disappeared and his eyes hardened like he was pissed at himself. But his voice was relaxed when he said, “Never mind.” He waved a dismissive hand. “My sister says I’ve always got my needle buried on friendly. You’re new in town, and here I am overwhelming you with invites. How about we just pick a time for me to do that quick trim?”
“Sure, yeah,” she said. Disappointment plucked at her stomach. So much for having her wicked way with him. He probably had all kinds of religious hang-ups about sex. Oh, he had it, she was sure, and he’d be damned good at it. But he probably felt guilty about it the next day. And if he knew she’d stripped to earn her way through school, he’d probably treat her differently. He would still hang out with her, but not around his church friends.
Ten minutes ago, she couldn’t decide whether to be friends or more with Emmett. Now it looked like neither option was in the cards. She wasn’t going to be anyone’s dirty secret or pet project.
On the bright side, she’d bet her prized pair of thrift shop Louboutins her flirty church boy was a shirts-off kind of mower. If all she could do was look, she was going to look her ass off. They settled on Thursday, and she began plotting how she would get her money’s worth out of Herald and Son Lawn Service.
* * * *
Emmett pulled the sweeper’s door shut and thumped his forehead on the steering wheel. “Gee, incredibly hot girl who I just met, wanna go to church with me? I’ll carry your Bible for you.”
What a dork. He should have asked her on a real date. Gorgeous Boston girl like her would probably like Billy Bob’s. The vibe was country-western, not the hip-hop she was probably used to, but there was pool and dancing. He’d have to be deaf, blind, and stupid to miss the fact she was flirting with him. She would have said yes.
Damn.
Now whenever she saw him, she’d think he was some kind of one-dimensional proselytizer. Even he got uncomfortable when they came knocking on his door. He wasn’t ashamed of his faith, but there was more to him than that. Unlike a lot of the folks he went to church with, he drank and cursed when the occasion called for it, and he loved loud, “worldly” music. He and the Lord got along fine while he did those things. After all, the Bible was filled with Christians dancing, feasting, and drinking wine. Christians should spend more time enjoying life and less time criticizing how others liked to have fun.
But Jade wouldn’t know he felt that way. To her, he probably came off as a judgmental Bible-thumper. He could tell from the way her hazel eyes had dulled that she’d lost interest the second he’d mentioned church.
He would just have to be content to have her business.
He started the sweeper. It was better this way. The second she’d opened her door and he’d seen her wide, made-up eyes, glowing tan skin, silky, brown hair, and that little green gem nestled in the perfect dimple of her belly button, he’d forgotten he was there to check out her lawn. He’d gotten a boner right there on her porch. Thank God she hadn’t looked down.
He should be counting his blessings he’d blown his chance with her. Girl like Jade could be his Kryptonite. His virginity vow wouldn’t stand a chance with her.
Would it be such a bad thing to be deflowered by Jade Alderwood? whispered a little voice in his head.
It was temptation talking. He’d had lots of experience tamping down that voice. And when it got too loud to tamp down on his own, he could count on his buddy, Nick, to keep him accountable. Nick was the one guy who had taken a virginity vow alongside him and, like him, had stuck to it. Emmett had almost broken it at least a dozen times, but two things had kept him honest: prayer and thinking of how disappointed Nick would be if he gave in.
He threw the sweeper in gear and backed up so he could pull around Jade’s car. Maybe he’d be better off sending Theo to do her lawn Thursday.
Movement out of the corner of his eye made him look toward the house. Jade was jogging up the brick walk in her bare feet. She waved at him and he forced his gaze not to trail down to the tantalizing sway of her breasts under her shirt. He stared determinedly at her face and lifted his chin in what he hoped passed for cool acknowledgment as she approached his window. He cranked it down as she lifted her hand and jangled her keys.
“Let me get my car out of your way.”
She said car like cah and out of your way as one quick word: atta-yaway. Most folks around Dover had a gentler version of the New England r-dropping accent, but Jade’s brash city accent made him smile.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just go around.”
“It’s no problem.” She beamed up at him, and he forgot how to breathe.
But something was wrong. It was either a trick of the shady maple overhead or she had a bruise around her left eye. He hadn’t noticed it before, talking to her in her dark hall, but in the daylight, he saw a hint of purple peeking past her make-up. Looking back and forth between her eyes, he noticed her left eyelid was swollen compared to her right. The thought of anything coming into contact with her delicate face hard enough to bruise it had his knuckles white on the gearshift.
“I’ve never parked in the driveway before,” she was saying, her eyes on the tan sedan tucked neatly into the bib of driveway between the lawn
and the hedges. “It feels weird. The driveway is for the people who live somewhere. Visitors use the street.” Her gaze came back to his. “But I guess I live here now. I should get used to parking behind Grandma Nina’s car.” She shrugged a slender shoulder. “It’s not like she needs to get out or anything.”
There was a vulnerability beneath her brazen beauty that tugged on something way down deep in him.
“Not for a while, anyway,” he said lamely.
“Jeez, listen to me. A regular chatter box this morning.” She backed away from the sweeper, looking uncomfortable.
He had the craziest impulse to hug her long and hard and tell her she could chatter all she wanted.
“Well, see you Thursday,” she said, and she got in her car. Her brake lights came on as she started the engine. A warm shiver whispered up his spine at the thought of her bare feet on the pedals.
He shook himself and started the brooms while she swung her car into the driveway. When she got out of her car and waved goodbye, he responded with a salute. Easing the sweeper forward, he continued tidying Little Turnpike Road, resisting the urge to watch her walk back to her house in his rear-view mirror.
But her image rode along with him, ensuring he swept with a semi in his Levi’s most of the day. When he made it home, he found Theo shutting up the shop. “Got a job for you on Thursday,” he told him. “House next to the McIntyres’ on Little Turnpike.”
Chapter 6
Pink bikini top, check. White Daisy Dukes showing off her tan legs, check. Lounge chair perched on the deck with a perfect view of the back lawn, check. Pitcher of lemonade chilling in the fridge, ready to quench the thirst of a sweaty grass-scented male, check.
Jade had spent the last two and half days dutifully applying for assistant positions at every library in the area and cleaning Grandma Nina’s house from top to bottom. She was ready for her reward: a front-row seat to Chippendales, lawn edition.
The doorbell gonged, and she rushed to answer it.
Her smile fell when the handsome face above the forest green Herald and Son polo shirt wasn’t Emmett’s.
“What’s up?” the man said with a masculine nod. “Name’s Theo.” He was talking to her rack.
“What happened to Emmett?”
He took his sweet time making it up to her face. “Had somewhere else to be. Looks like you’re stuck with me.” This, followed by a lazy grin.
Any other time, a buzz-cut muscle head with lust-glazed eyes would propel her into flirt-mode, but not when she’d been looking forward to a golden Adonis with friendly dimples and blue eyes that shone with genuine concern when they looked at her.
“Goody,” she said, sans enthusiasm. “Well, there’s the lawn.” She waved her hand. “Front and back, please. Have fun.”
He winked. “I plan to.”
She shut the door on him, refusing to let the weight of rejection settle on her shoulders. It was no big deal. Emmett was probably busy, what with his two jobs and everything. And his dad, whom she assumed was the Herald in Herald and Son, was probably the one to schedule the workers. It’s not like Emmett was avoiding her.
She dashed up the stairs and put on some jeans and a T-shirt. She’d been visiting Grandma Nina every afternoon, timing her visits after Betty’s and before her grandmother’s dinner time. Today, she had planned to go after Emmett left, but she didn’t really want to hang around and ogle Mr. Wonderful in His Own Head. Looked like Grandma Nina would get her a little early today.
Before getting in her car, she found Theo weed-whacking around the base of one of the purple maples. He stopped the whacker when she approached, lowered the bandana protecting his mouth and nose, and grinned, lazy and inviting.
“Don’t get all excited,” she said, holding out his check. “I’m going out. Here.”
He took the check with one arched eyebrow and tucked it in his pocket. “Alrighty, then,” he said. “Have a good one.”
She got in her car and drove to Senior First. Betty was walking out as Jade strolled in, and they greeted each other in passing. She almost thanked Betty for the referral to Herald and Son Lawn Service, but since she didn’t know yet whether the quality of their work matched the hotness of the employees, she held off.
Inside, she found a male nurse in teal scrubs kneeling to help Grandma Nina tie on her cross trainers.
“Going somewhere?” she asked.
Her grandmother had a lip-sticked smile for her. “Javier is going to help me make a loop around the hall. Want to come along?” She pronounced her nurse’s name with all the exotic flare she could muster, obviously pleased she would get to monopolize the handsome nurse’s time for a while.
“Is that safe? Are you sure you’re up for it?”
Javier looked up. He had warm brown eyes and a kind, mid-forties face. “I’ll be with her every step of the way. It’s time to get your grandmother up and moving.”
“Did you know risk of blood clots goes up the longer you stay in bed?” Grandma Nina said. “Besides, I’m wasting away just lying here. Look at me. I hardly have any breasts left.”
Jade shook her head as Javier choked back a laugh.
Grandma Nina winced as she stood up and planted her hands on the walker, but by the time Javier had her out the door, she was chatting happily and scooting right along, asking Jade about the house.
“I had the lawn done today,” she said.
“Oh, are you using that service Betty and Joe use? Betty tells me the young man who does their yard is quite the stallion.”
“Grandma!”
“What? We’re old. Not blind.”
Jade shared a look with Javier, who had his lips pressed in a tight line while his eyes danced with laughter. She changed the subject. “I talked to Jilly this morning. She’s on a bus to some tiny village that needs a new well. She sounds happy.”
When Grandma Nina didn’t respond, Jade peeked over at her. The skin was tight across her cheekbones. “Grandma?”
Javier stepped in front of her. “Easy does it, Nina. I think that’s enough for today.” He put an arm around her waist and turned her around, aiming her toward her room.
“Is this normal?” Jade asked him, not caring for the way her grandmother’s skin looked like ash all of a sudden.
Before Javier could answer, Grandma Nina clutched her sweatshirt over her chest and swayed. Javier caught her. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her back to the room, calling to a wide-eyed nurse in pink scrubs, “Get the cart.”
Jade grabbed the walker and followed. Fear coiled in her stomach as staff began crowding into Grandma Nina’s room with machines and monitors. No one told her to leave, so she stayed where she was, backed against the dresser, watching her grandmother get CPR.
Don’t let her die, don’t let her die, don’t let her die.
She didn’t know who she was pleading with, but she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t lose her grandmother. She just couldn’t.
After several minutes, a woman in a white coat said to her, “Are you family?”
Jade nodded, looking around the woman to where Grandma Nina lay blinking in the bed like a disoriented owl. “Is she okay?”
“We’ll know for sure after some tests. It could be a blood clot. They’re not uncommon after hip fracture.”
They took her grandmother to the hospital in the back of an ambulance. She followed in her Jetta and sat in a waiting room, biting her nails and listening to music on her phone. Dinner time came and went, and still no news. She called Jilly, and the sound of her sister’s voice took the edge off her worry.
“She’ll be okay,” Jilly said, the thousands of miles between them disappearing. “Can you imagine anything keeping Grandma Nina down for long?”
A few weeks ago, no. But now... “Yeah,” she said. “She’s a tough one, all right.”
She got off the phone with Jilly to go find a sandwich and a coffee in the cafeteria. As she walked the hospital’s halls, she wondered what Emmett would think if she called and
asked him to pray for her grandmother.
* * * *
Emmett chewed on a candy bar while he recorded the day’s earnings in his spreadsheet. It was eight o’clock on Thursday night, long after dinner time, but he didn’t want to stop until he got the deposit bag to the bank so he could plan purchases over the weekend. Just a few more checks to enter, and he’d be ready to make the trip to the night deposit box. Then, dinner.
His eyes froze on the pink check in his hand. Jade’s name appeared in the upper left-hand corner along with a Boston address. She’d given Theo a fifteen-dollar tip. Had she given him her phone number too?
A crinkling sound made him look at the candy bar in his other hand. He’d crushed it. Tossing it in the trash, he entered the amount and stuffed the check in the bag. It was none of his business. As long as Theo didn’t make a move during business hours, that is. Maybe he should call Jade to make sure Theo hadn’t been inappropriate.
He shook his head. Jade was a big girl. She could take care of herself.
But he couldn’t help wanting to check in with her. Did she miss him when he didn’t show up today? Did she even notice?
After he made the trip to the bank, he found himself taking a different route home, one that took him past Little Turnpike. Might as well stop by number 169. Make sure Theo did a good job on the lawn.
Emmett parked his pick-up on the curb outside Jade’s house, noting with disappointment her car wasn’t in the driveway. Girl like her probably had a life. Places to go, people to see.
“Lawn looks like hell,” he muttered. Not that Theo hadn’t done a good job, but in the light from the street, he could see patches where dandelion leaves marred the cropped, brown grass. The place needed a good weed-n-reseed. And the shrubs lining the walkway were as overgrown as they’d been on Tuesday, when he’d stopped the sweeper to meet the girl who hadn’t left his thoughts since.