A Wedding in Apple Grove

by C. H. Admirand

  She shook her head. “Of course not.”

  “Then why are you dressed to kill and going out to eat with Pat and his friend?”

  “I made a promise to Honey B. to watch her back when she began the online dating. I can’t back out now.”

  He scrubbed his hands over his face.

  She looked up at him and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. Did she do that on purpose to torment him? Damn it!

  “Hey, Dan,” Pat called out. “My friend Mike here and a few of the guys are going to drive over to Apple Grove next week. Did you get a group of guys to play us yet?”

  The tension left Dan by degrees—and with it, his jealousy. “Yeah,” he said, looking from Meg to where the others were still standing. “How’s Thursday sound?”

  Pat and Mike were smiling at him. “Be ready to lose.”

  Dan didn’t think it was possible, but he laughed. Shaking his head, he looked at Meg. “Can I come over tonight? There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

  “I’ve got another full day tomorrow. I’m not planning on staying up late.”

  “It won’t take long,” he promised. “I’ve got a couple of things I need to tell you.”

  Meg leaned in close and whispered, “Are you going to try to talk your way into my bed tonight, Dan?”

  He grinned. “Actions speak louder than words, Meg.”

  She smiled at him. “I should be home around ten o’clock.”

  “I’ll be waiting for you.” He reached out and grabbed a hold of her hand and squeezed it. “Thanks, Meg.”

  “Hungry over here,” Pat called out, making Meg laugh.

  Dan’s guts tied themselves into square knots. He wanted to be the one to make her laugh… and make her sigh. He knew how to do the latter; now he had to learn how to do the former.

  The next few hours were the longest of his life—not counting the night he’d spent waiting for his ex to show up, but he tried not to relive that night too often. He’d have to bring it up when he and Meg sat down. A look at his kitchen clock told him he still had some time, but he was restless and needed to do something or he’d lose his mind. Grabbing his keys, he headed for the back door and was in his car heading to town before he could decide whether or not it was a good idea.

  “I’ll look like a dork waiting outside her apartment for an hour.” He had time to kill and no one to spend it with. Needing to do something with his hands, he decided to stop at the diner for a cup of coffee. Now might be as good a time as any to talk to the McCormack sisters about their piecrust.

  He opened the door to the diner and smiled. The two ladies in question were behind the counter serving up coffee and pie.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t the coach,” Peggy drawled. “Heard Apple Grove played a good game today. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks, Peggy. The guys played well.”

  “What’ll it be?” Katie asked, bringing a full pot of what had to be fresh coffee over to where he sat at the counter.

  “I’m back for another slice of your pecan pie.” When Katie and Peggy smiled, he did too.

  “Whipped cream or ice cream?”

  Now that was a choice he hadn’t considered. “I’ll have it plain this time.”

  Peggy grinned. “Planning on coming back for more, now that’s a plan I can get behind.”

  He added milk and sugar to his coffee, blew across the top of it, and sipped. “Good coffee.”

  “So we’ve heard,” Katie said, serving up his pie. The sisters stood there waiting while Dan slid his fork into the pie and scooped up a bite. The decadent flavor hit his tongue all at once, so that his taste buds were momentarily stunned.

  The pie was the perfect consistency—not runny—and the pecans were in perfect halves—not chopped. Add in the flaky piecrust and he was in heaven. He savored, chewed, swallowed, and immediately took another bite.

  “Get his picture, Katie,” Peggy said. “I want to post it on the Internet. It’ll be great for business.”

  Dan swallowed his second mouthful and drank some coffee. “Ladies, that is one amazing pie. I like to cook,” he told them. “My grandmother taught me a few things about baking that my mom didn’t know. One of them is her super-secret piecrust recipe.”

  Katie had taken two pictures of him and was busy posting them to the Internet, so Peggy asked, “How does it stand up to ours?”

  He shook his head. “Yours is good, but I think my grandmother’s recipe is better. From the first bite though, I can tell you it was delicious.”

  “Why don’t we put your pie to the test?” Peggy suggested.

  Dan shrugged. “I’m game.”

  “We always bake the pies for the turkey supper the church puts on every November. Why don’t you donate a couple and we’ll have a taste testing? I think that would add a nice touch to the supper this year. Rally the town around the local favorites—my sister and me—and the new hometown hero—you.”

  He smiled and felt his competitive self pumping his fist in the air. “I’d love to. I’ll wager my mom’s apple pie, my grandmother’s buttered pecan pie, and her sweet potato praline.”

  Peggy held out her hand. “Deal.”

  Katie smiled and put her hand on top of their joined ones.

  No one noticed the group of teenagers standing in the doorway or the fact that their phones were recording the moment for posterity—that and the front page of the Apple Grove Gazette.

  “Hey, Miss Peggy,” one of the girls sang out as she walked inside with her friends.

  “Hello, ladies,” she answered. “The usual?”

  They smiled and nodded. “We’ll take it to go, though.”

  Dan noticed the look of surprise on Peggy’s face but got distracted when Katie asked him if he wanted more coffee. He declined.

  Fifteen minutes later, he was back in his car and sitting in the driveway waiting for Meg.

  The knock on the window startled him; he must have dozed off waiting. He rubbed his eyes and rolled down the window. “Hey.”

  She smiled. “Hey, yourself. Have you been waiting long?”

  “What time is it?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure; I need a battery for my watch.”

  He looked at his and frowned. “It’s a quarter to eleven.” No wonder he’d fallen asleep waiting. “I’ve been here over an hour.”

  “Oh… sorry. We got talking and lost track of time. Honey B. and I were talking about it and we think we should introduce Pat and his friend Mike to Caitlin and Grace. What do you think?”

  He nodded. “Sounds promising.”

  He paused and she asked, “Do you still want to talk to me, or would you rather wait until tomorrow?”

  He was so tired his eyes were having trouble focusing. “I’d like to get it over with.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized that wasn’t the best way to put it, but he was tired, damn it.

  “Sounds ominous.”

  When he didn’t respond, she motioned for him to follow her. He got out and stretched before heading up the stairs. She already had the coffee brewing by the time he reached the top step.

  “Isn’t it too late for coffee?”

  She grinned. “It’s decaf and I needed something warm to drink.”

  Meg stood on her tiptoes to reach down two mugs. Dan couldn’t help but appreciate the subtle curves of her body. He wanted to get his hands on her but knew they had things to sort through first. He had to look away because the temptation was too much.

  She filled the cups with the steaming brew and asked, “Milk and two sugars, right?” When he didn’t answer right away, she looked over her shoulder. “Are you OK?”

  He ran his hands through his hair to hide that fact that they were shaking. “Yeah, just tired I guess. Milk and
two sugars is great. Thanks.”

  She turned around and he couldn’t help but get sidetracked by her soft blue eyes.

  He’d lost his mind; it wasn’t such a short trip after all. “Meg, I’m really tired and can’t stay long. Do you mind if I just say it outright?”

  She sipped from her mug and nodded.

  “I was engaged to be married a couple of years ago.” When she didn’t do more than raise one eyebrow, he continued, “I guess it was fortunate that I found out she was cheating on me… the unfortunate part was that it was with my best friend.”

  Meg set her cup down and reached for his hand. Grasping it in her much smaller one, she said, “Dan… I’m so sorry.”

  “Well, that’s part of what has my head in a spin, Meg. I want you so bad it hurts, but I’m not sure I’m ready to get involved again—it’s too soon for me. Besides, my grandfather is only just now starting to talk to me.”

  “I see. Was he very fond of your ex-fiancée?”

  “What? Uh… no. It was the Mickey Mantle rookie card.”

  “My dad mentioned something about a baseball card the other day, but what does a baseball card have to do with your ex?”

  He sighed and pulled out a chair for her to sit on and then his own. “I have to sit down for this.” When they were seated across from one another he set his cup down and wiped his palms on his thighs. He knew it was a nervous reaction—hell, he could feel the tension ramping up inside him. He had to just spit it out before he lost his nerve.

  “I couldn’t afford the ring my ex wanted, so I pawned the Mickey Mantle rookie card my great-grandfather had given to me before he died with the understanding that I’d be making payments to the pawnbroker until I could pay to get the card back.”

  “What does that have to do with your grandfather?”

  “I’m getting to that.” He drew in a deep breath. “My grandfather wanted that card, but he’d argued with his dad and to spite him, my great-grandfather gave the card to me—not to my father or my grandfather, but to me.”

  “I guess that caused a bit of a problem at the time.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, but not as big a problem as when I went back to make the last payment on the card and found out the pawnshop had sold it for more than I’d pawned it for!”

  “Oh my God! What did you do?”

  “I saw my life flashing before my eyes and knew I was a dead man.”

  Meg scooted to the edge of her seat. “Don’t keep me in suspense. What happened?”

  “Because the guy stiffed me, he told me the name of the person who’d purchased my card. I figured I’d go after the guy and try to make a deal to buy the card back.” His shoulders slumped forward as the memory of that day swamped him. “It was my ex–best friend—”

  “The one who stole your fiancée?”

  He swallowed against the lump of emotion clogging his throat. “Yep.”

  “Did he let you buy it back with the money you got for her ring?”

  He snorted. “Hard to do when she flushed the damned ring down the toilet.”

  Meg’s mouth opened and then closed. “She flushed the ring instead of giving it back?”

  He sighed. “She figured she should keep the ring. I told her she figured wrong. I guess she showed me.”

  “I guess you never really know someone until their back is to the wall.” She got up and walked over to him and cupped her hands on either side of his face. “The real losers are your ex and your ex-friend.” She brushed her lips across his.

  He felt the electric charge all the way to his toes. “I’m hoping he’ll see reason if I keep badgering him to buy the card back.”

  As if she sensed he was done talking about it, she slid onto his lap and wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. “Mean people suck.”

  He laughed so hard he had to grab Meg to keep her from falling off his lap. “Hey, are you OK?”

  “You’ve got a great laugh,” she said. She was staring at him and he had no idea what she expected to see. “There are so many great things about you aside from your laugh.”

  “Really? My ex only thought about spending my money, until she realized my ex-friend had more. So she drained me dry and made sure it would take me a year or so to recover.”

  “The bitch.”

  “Pretty much covers it.”

  “So you came to Apple Grove to forget her?”

  Dan shrugged. “And to start over. I couldn’t see myself living in the same town, running into her at the grocery store or the bank—it would be a constant reminder of the way she and my buddy raked me over the coals.”

  Meg kissed the end of his nose and pressed her cheek against his and sighed. “I’m sorry for the reasons that brought you out here but am so glad you’re here.”

  He eased back and put his hands on her face. “Meg, I want so much from you, but I can’t be wrong again—it would destroy me.”

  She lifted her lips and he took what she offered.

  When he came up for air, he had to pull back or else he’d toss her over his shoulder and kidnap her. “You taste amazing.”

  She hugged him tight. “You’re addictive.” She drew in a breath and said, “There’s something else you need to know about Jimmy.”

  He rested his chin on top of her head and waited.

  She sighed. “I thought I was going to marry him.”

  “Weren’t you in high school at the time?”

  “Yes, but I had lots of friends who got married right out of high school.”

  “Still… did you really know your heart at sixteen?”

  She stiffened in his arms and he thought she wouldn’t answer him, but gradually, she relaxed again. “I’d been so in love with him for so long. It took years to get over the fact that he wasn’t coming back or going to ask me to marry him.”

  “It must have been hard.”

  “No one in town was surprised when the Bengals made him an offer, but they were when he decided he preferred city living. Everybody thought he’d be back during the off-season.” She buried her face in his neck and confessed, “So many people were trying to console me that it had the reverse effect—I retreated from the dating scene for a long time.”

  “I know I don’t have the right to ask, but before the other day… how long had it been since you’ve been involved with anyone?”

  She pushed against his chest and glared at him. “How long has it been for you?”

  His lips twitched. “Fair enough, Mulcahy.”

  She stood up and straightened her skirt. “I’ve got an early morning, Dan, so either come to bed or leave.”

  Every ounce of spit in his mouth dried up, making it hard to speak. “I… uh… maybe we could—”

  “I promise not to jump your bones, unless you beg me to. Come on.” She tugged on his arm and he followed her to her room.

  Meg undressed quickly. Standing before him in an itty-bitty scrap of black lace, he wondered if he’d spontaneously combust. But she slipped an ancient T-shirt over her head and put her hands on her hips. “You’re overdressed and I’m going to bed.”

  She slid under the covers and watched him. He wasn’t hung up on his body or anything, but having her watch while he undressed felt weird. “Maybe you could close your eyes.”

  “And miss out on the striptease? Not on your life.”

  He tried not to be charmed by her open appreciation and failed. “Brace yourself, Megan,” he warned right before he toed off his shoes and drew his shirt over his head. He let his fingers linger on the button to his jeans before he worked it through the buttonhole. Her eyes told him how much she enjoyed the show he was putting on, so he amped it up, by slowly sliding the zipper down one half inch at a time.

  Meg’s eyes widened as he tucked his thumbs
in the waistband and shoved his jeans to the floor.

  “Those boxers are seriously sexy the way the hug your… um… thighs.”

  He was grinning as he pulled off his socks.

  She flipped back the covers. “About that promise…”

  He pulled her into his arms and tucked her against his heart. “I’m holding you to it for the next few hours. I’m exhausted.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and sighed.

  He pressed his lips beneath her ear and whispered, “But I might let you change my mind come morning.”

  “If I have to keep my hands to myself, you have to keep your lips to yourself.” She turned around and scooted her backside until it was cuddled in his lap.

  “Megan Mulcahy, you are a dangerous woman.”

  The last sound he heard before sleep claimed him was Meg’s lilting laughter.

  Chapter 12

  Meg opened her eyes and reached out to trace the tip of her finger along Dan’s jawline. Whiskers darkened his face and were surprisingly rough to the touch.

  “Not a dream.”

  He didn’t move, so she gave in to temptation and touched his bottom lip, outlining the shape with her fingertip. She didn’t want to wake him just yet… she wanted to revel in the fact that a gorgeous hunk of man had spent the night in her bed and held her—all night.

  Easing back just enough to free her other arm, she let her fingers do the walking and lightly followed the broad span of his shoulders.

  Unable to resist, she brushed her hands over his pecs, marveling at the strength that she knew he possessed but wasn’t obvious while he lay sleeping. She placed her hand over his heart; the strong, steady beat reassured her that he was here… for now.

  “Are you going to break my heart?” Meg hoped he wouldn’t but knew that one didn’t always have a say in matters of the heart. “You’ll still be worth it.” With a sigh, she leaned forward to kiss him and her world turned upside down as Dan wrapped his arms around her and flipped her onto her back.

  She narrowed her gaze at him. “You’re not asleep.”