"What has Arnold done to deserve this kindness?" Leah grabbed the plastic bag and threw it away in the kitchen.
Shane ignored her sarcastic question and proceeded to the backyard to release Princess, who promptly pranced toward the beagle. "This ought to keep him occupied."
"I didn't realize you were so concerned about Arnold." Leah watched as her pet lying on his back, rolled his head to follow Princess's approach. He allowed her to sniff him before he rolled his head back and continued his nap. Princess lay down next to him. Another male taking a female for granted.
"As you well know, this is for me. I don't relish spending the whole evening fending off the likes of that hound or listening to his growling."
"And what do you have in mind?"
Shane turned toward Leah and backed her into the kitchen, slamming the door with his foot. After depositing the bottle of red wine on the counter, he took her hands in his and stared into her eyes with a heart-melting look. "Some of this. Some of that."
She glanced down at their clasped hands. "I know what this is, but what is that?"
"Stick around and you'll find out," he said with a grin and a wink, then sauntered toward the living room.
Leah released a deep breath, then another. Whoa. Her anticipation continued to mount with thoughts of what "that" was. No strings attached. Nothing beyond the moment, she told herself as she gathered her fragile poise and headed for the living room.
Leah paused in the entrance just behind Shane. Her grandfather and Margaret were sitting on the couch, not an inch between them. They were talking in lowered tones, so it was hard to hear what they were saying.
Shane speared her with a look. "I definitely think four's a crowd. Let's go back in the kitchen. I'll help you with dinner."
"Dinner is almost done. All that is needed is for the steaks to be grilled. I have the fire started."
Leah sent one last glance at the pair on the couch. They didn't even know she and Shane were in the same room. There went her chaperones for the evening. They probably wouldn't surface to acknowledge the presence of other people, let alone protect her from her own feelings. Leah smiled, though, at the thought of her grandfather having found someone after all these years. She was happy for him, even if it meant she had to entertain Shane O'Grady the whole evening by herself.
In the kitchen she scanned the area for something to do. The salad was made and in the refrigerator. The scalloped potatoes were in the oven and the bread was on top of it, ready to be put in when the steaks were nearly done. The table was set and the counters were spotless. Nothing to do but talk, she thought, and turned toward Shane, racking her brain for a subject that was neutral, safe.
He was a breath away. She stepped back and bumped into the counter. He placed both arms on either side of her, effectively trapping her against him and the cabinets. Her heart tripled its beat and her head spun as though she had been twirled around and around. Strange sensations fluttered in the pit of her stomach, and she thought she was going to faint. She closed her eyes.
The next thing she felt was his lips feathering hers, and the sensations in the pit of her stomach burst forth to every part of her, leaving her weak and clinging to him. His mouth settled against hers, his tongue seeking entry. She parted her lips to allow him inside and hung onto him tighter while her world reeled. When his arms locked about her and pulled her even closer, she felt as though she dissolved into him as he nibbled a path to her ear.
"While you're eating tonight think about this," he whispered, and nipped at her lobe. "You taste delicious."
"Is this the 'that'?" she managed to ask as her muscles continued to liquefy.
"Oh, no. That you have to wait for."
"I don't like surprises. I'm the type of person who peeks at the gifts under the Christmas tree."
"Do you read the last page of a novel first?" His mouth scored a fiery trail from her earlobe to the hollow at the base of her throat.
"Always," she murmured, the word a husky appeal to end the sweet torture. The spinning sensation accelerated, and she clung to him even more.
Joey's voice shouting above Sam's loud one penetrated her dazed mind, and she barely was able to dislodge herself from Shane's embrace before the boys burst into the kitchen, arguing.
"Mom, do I have to be in the same class as my kid brother?" Sam asked, jerking his thumb at Joey.
Leah struggled to compose herself enough to answer her eldest. Her mind was functioning at half speed, and she was vividly aware of Shane next to her, so close that the fine hairs on her arm stood out. "I'll talk with the school on Monday. Maybe they will change teachers for one of you."
"Good, because I'm tired of him following me around. He went to the baseball field this afternoon and actually tried to tell the other boys why they were swinging wrong. Something about aerodynamics."
"But the force—"
Sam cuffed Joey on the arm. "I don't want to know about that. No one does!" he shouted, tears welling in his eyes.
Leah moved toward her oldest son. "Sam, you can't do that"
"Yes, I can!" He whirled about and raced from the room.
Stunned by his actions as well as his fierce scream, Leah watched Sam leave.
"He's just mad because the kids made fun of him. I heard them laughing after I left." Joey looked around. "When's dinner?"
Leah blinked. Joey wasn't usually this callous. Sometimes he was oblivious to what was happening around him, but most of the time he and Sam got along fine. Something was going on here that she had to get to the bottom of, and fast
"Shane, would you mind checking to see if the grill is ready, and then putting the steaks on for me? They're in the refrigerator," she said, as she quickly followed Sam.
She found her eldest in his room, lying on his bed, staring at the far wall. She sat next to him and didn't say anything for a few minutes while she tried to decide how to start
"Sam, we need to talk about what just happened." When she laid her hand on her son's back, he shrugged it off and twisted around to look at her.
"Why does Joey have to do everything I do?"
"Because he loves you. You know he doesn't make friends as easily as you do."
"Yeah, no one likes a nerd."
"Joey is gifted, but so are you."
"Joey is a fathead that can't tell one end of the bat from the other."
"Sam!"
"That's what the kids were calling him when he left the field today. They weren't laughing at me. They were laughing at him." Tears made her son's eyes shine.
Leah's heart contracted at the all too familiar scenario. In town after town she had had to deal with Sam being thrust into the middle, wanting to be accepted by the other children but at the same time wanting to defend his unusual kid brother. She didn't know what to do. "Some things come easy for Joey. Some things don't. He doesn't know how to relate to kids his age. That's where you come in. He looks to you for help because you get along with everyone. That's one of your gifts."
Sam swiped at a tear that rolled down his face. "Mom, I'm tired of moving, having to start over making new friends. Can't we stay this time?"
She hadn't thought it possible for her heart to twist any more. But it did. "I hope so," she said, her voice shaky as she fought her own tears. Swallowing several times past the lump in her throat, she rubbed her son's arm and continued, "Dinner will be in fifteen minutes. Remember we have guests tonight No fighting with Joey. No yelling."
"Mom, I'll try to help Joey, but he doesn't always listen to me."
"Then you'll have done all you can. Joey will have to learn his own lessons."
She left Sam in his room, knowing her eldest had to have time to compose himself. He was much like she was in that department. She took a few minutes in the hallway to pull herself together, something she was doing a lot of lately, ever since she had met Shane. He had a way of disarming her with a look or a touch. That had never happened to her before. How was she going to survive when he walked a
way? No strings attached. No long-term commitments. Her stomach roiled with those thoughts. She would have to double her efforts to stay emotionally unaffected by the man.
When she reentered the kitchen, she stopped inside the doorway and stared at the pair at the table. Shane's head was bent over a piece of paper as he sketched something on it. Joey's attention was riveted to what Shane was drawing.
"Yeah, that could work. Thanks, Dr. O'Grady." Joey grabbed the paper and folded it before stuffing it into his back pocket. "Mom, Dr. O'Grady was showing me how to alter the design on my flying device so I could stay up in the air longer."
"He did?" Leah shot Shane a look that she hoped conveyed her displeasure while she stuck the bread in the oven. "We'll be eating soon. Go wash your hands." When Joey headed for the kitchen sink, she added, "In the bathroom."
Confused, Joey glanced first at her, then at Shane, before he grinned. "Oh, of course."
When her youngest left the room, Leah turned on Shane. "I can't believe you did that. I have forbidden him to fly. And besides, what do you know about flying? What if he tries your suggestion?"
"Before I went to medical school I studied to be an aerospace engineer. There was a time I wanted to be an astronaut, along with every other boy I knew."
"When did you have time for all this? You can't be more than thirty-two or three."
"I'm thirty-four, and I graduated from high school at fifteen."
"Oh, so that's why you relate to Joey."
"Your son has a lot of potential, but I do know some of the rough road he'll travel over. I did have the advantage of growing up in the same town, however. People forgave me for a lot of the things I did." He grinned. "It helped to be the only son of the only two doctors in the area."
"Blackmail is always effective."
He moved toward her. "Now, I wasn't that bad."
For his every step toward her she took one backward until he had again cornered her against the counter. "I can just picture the little imp that you were."
"Who, me?" A look of pure innocence descended on his face.
He was so close that she was sure he could feel the increased fluttering of her heart. "What made you change your mind about being an astronaut?" she asked, trying to divert her thoughts and his away from what happened earlier, when he had her up against the counter. Her lips still tingled from the remembered kiss.
"I love to fly, and I did learn how, but I also love being a doctor. I used to pretend after hours at the clinic. One day I decided I didn't want to pretend anymore. Besides, the town needed me."
The town needed him. What a wonderful feeling, Leah thought as she drank in the scent and sight of him, so tantalizingly near that she itched to reach up and run her fingers through his thick, black hair. She fought the urge, and tried to think of something else to say.
"I can't have Joey trying to fly again. Look what happened the last time."
"What if I help him and make sure everything is safe? I can teach him about hang gliding and help him build a glider to use. I've done it before, and he'll be fine. That ought to cure him of the need to fly."
She chewed on her lower lip, indecision warring in her. Knowing her son, she realized he would soon forget his promise to her and try again. Like her, Joey didn't give up easily, especially when it was such a passion with him, a passion that went beyond reason. She looked up into Shane's eyes and knew she could trust him to keep her son safe. "Okay." She breathed the one word and prayed she had made the right decision.
Shane leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "I'd better get the steaks before they're charred."
As he left the kitchen Leah gripped the countertop to steady herself. Even though the kiss was really only a peck on the mouth, she felt it to her core. Her grasp tightened to keep her legs from giving way. She was practically putty in this man's hands, and they hadn't even gotten to the "that" yet.
By the time she had herself under control enough to push away from the counter everyone had descended on the kitchen, hungry, talking all at once. She was thankful for the family mayhem, because she was forced to shove everything into the background while she and Margaret put the meal on the dining room table.
Seated, Leah finally relaxed as the food was passed from person to person. For the first ten minutes peace and quiet reigned while everyone satisfied his hunger.
That all changed when her grandfather put down his fork and announced, "Girl, Margaret told me that Ned is having trouble getting the signatures he needs for his petition."
"What petition?" Joey asked.
"Don't you know anything? The petition to drive us from town," Sam answered.
"No one is going to drive us from this town." Leah took a long, fortifying sip of her drink.
Sam sent her a look that said her lie wasn't working. He wasn't reassured.
"Of course no one is, Sam. People can live wherever they want." Shane cut a piece of his steak and ate it.
"But, what about—"
"Sam, would you please get the dessert? It's pecan pie, your favorite," Leah interrupted before her eldest told Margaret and Shane about the other towns they had lived in. Leah knew they could have stayed in those places if they had really wanted to, but who would want to live where they were not wanted?
"But, girl, no one is through with their dinner yet"
Leah knew the smile that graced her mouth was quivering from the strain of trying to maintain it No one in her family was cooperating. "I know that. I thought we could stare at it while we finish up our steaks."
Sam shook his head. "Fine. I'll get the pie, Mom, but it won't change the fact there's a petition going around that demands we leave Shady Oaks."
"No, but we don't have to talk about it at dinner. I won't let Ned disrupt this family anymore than he already has. Is that agreed upon?" She speared each member of her family with a look of determination.
Joey, Gramps, and Sam nodded. Leah returned to her drink and took another sip. Her stomach constricted with the thought of the petition circulating around town. The food before her suddenly lost its appeal. She hated the idea that the Shiplocks had the power to cause trouble even when they weren't around.
"This really is good, Leah," Margaret said as she scooped up a forkful of scalloped potatoes. "I must get this recipe."
With that statement the conversation turned to more mundane topics, and Leah was finally able to put the petition and the Shiplocks out of her mind.
* * *
After the last piece of pecan pie was eaten, Gramps and Margaret volunteered to take care of the dishes with the boys' help. That left Leah standing in the middle of the dining room staring at Shane, with nothing to do. She suspected that was what Gramps had figured on when he had spoken about cleaning up. He hardly ever stepped into the kitchen except to eat something she had prepared. And she couldn't remember the last time he had cleaned up a dish. The world must be coming to an end. Leah shifted her gaze away from Shane's strong profile.
When all the dishes were cleared from the table, everyone else cleared the room, as well. Leah was acutely aware of Shane's presence only a few feet away. She had dated so little that she actually wasn't sure what to do next. Watch TV? Play cards or some kind of board game?
"Let's go for a ride," Shane announced, taking the choice away from her.
"Where?"
"I have a place I want to show you."
Suspicious, she narrowed her eyes and looked into his face, which told her nothing. "What kind of place?"
"I used to go there a lot when I was a little boy. It was my secret hideout."
Alarms went off in her brain, but for the life of her she couldn't say no. She heard the underlying promise in his husky voice, and it sent a shiver down her spine. The gleam in his dark eyes implied much more than a stroll down memory lane for him.
"I'll just tell Gramps where I'm going, then we can leave."
"Mom already knows."
One of her eyebrows arched. "She does?"
"
Well, not exactly where we're going, but that I want to take you for a ride. You're the first person I will have shown my secret hideout to."
Leah couldn't help the pleasure that his words brought to her. "The first?"
His gaze connected with hers. "Not even my wife."
Her throat tightened. "Knowing the knack my family has of getting into trouble, don't you think we should tell them at least where we're going?"
"No. I have my cell phone if anyone needs to reach us."
Excitement—which for the life of her she wished she didn't feel—hummed in her veins as Shane backed out of his driveway and turned toward the wooded area not far from her house. "What kind of secret place is it?"
"You really don't like surprises, do you?"
"Nope." She looked toward him, but the shadows of dusk had fallen, and his features were obscured.
"It's a place I used to go to think, to work through my problems. Frankly, I haven't been there since I was a teenager."
"Why not?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that I don't have big problems to work through?"
"You'd be the first person I met who didn't."
"Truthfully, I forgot about the place until Arnold and Princess ended up in the woods. Our little romp reminded me of my secret hideout."
Shane drove his car into a grove of trees and parked it, then retrieved a flashlight from his glove compartment. Climbing out, he came around and opened the door for Leah. "It's not far."
She didn't move. "The last time I was in a wooded area I ended up in a patch of poison ivy."
"There's a cleared path. My secret hideout is a popular place."
She fit her hand in his and allowed him to lead her along a path that twisted through a thicket of trees. Darkness engulfed them, and Leah wasn't sure this was a good idea. As her doubt surfaced, however, they emerged from the woods into a clearing. The sound of a stream filled the night silence, and from the almost full moon she could see why the place had been special to Shane.
"I'd like to come back sometime in the daylight."
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