Finding Home

by Maddie James

  “Right. Double jeopardy.” Graham began to pace the room. “I can imagine the emotion and the conflict in a small town. The sympathy for the widow.”

  “And imagine the internal conflict in the lawyer who won the case, later to discover his client lied,” Jane said.

  Turning back to her, Graham grinned. “I like it. You’re a natural at this.”

  Jane returned his smile, her eyes sparkling. “I can probably find the newspaper accounts of the case.”

  “And I want to talk to the lawyer.”

  “I can put you in touch with him too.”

  Graham took a deep breath and surveyed Jane’s eager expression. He noted the flush in her cheeks and the subtle lift of her chin. He felt a connection. Like old times. He stepped nearer, so close he could see the tiny laugh lines around her eyes.

  “You know,” he said, his voice low, “I have no idea what path my life will take from here. My agent tells me I’m a writer, not a lawyer. I disagreed with him, but when I get excited about a story, a new idea, I know he’s right.”

  Her eyes were wide. “Sometimes it takes a while to discover what we’re meant to do.”

  Graham felt the spark between them. It was like a living thing, drawing him to her. He yearned to reach out, touch her cheek and cup her chin in the palm of his hand. Yet he was afraid to touch her as Jane.

  He took another breath before he spoke. “But I need to be realistic. When I finish this book, I should go back to work. As much as I may want to, I shouldn’t count on writing to make a living.”

  “I understand.” Jane’s expression was grim. “Often reality collides with our dreams and often our dreams don’t come true. But it doesn’t stop us from trying.”

  Her optimism jarred him. Somehow it seemed right coming from Jane. “I thought you believed dreams were better than reality.”

  Jane shrugged her shoulders and gave him a wistful smile. “Right now I’ll settle for reality.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Well, here’s the deal, Lilly.” Suzie fingered a lacey baby bonnet at her friend’s new store, wondering why she was even there. A baby store, of all places. Everything was cute and pastel as she and Lilly sat in the cozy corner. “He wants a family. And I can’t give him that.”

  Amazed that Lilly could pull things together so quickly, Suzie marveled at the inventory coming in the door. All Lilly had said when asked how she pulled this off was that “she had good connections.”

  Suzie shrugged and didn’t questions. Just another mystery about Lilly that she assumed would be answered in time.

  Lilly, her eyes wide and her gaze full of compassion, looked up from a pile of baby clothing she was tagging. “Why not?”

  Suzie shrugged. “I can’t get pregnant.”

  “Oh, sugar!” Lilly raced to her and held her close. “I didn’t know that. What happened?”

  Twice in one week, Suzie fought back tears. Oh hell. Why not let them fall? “Nothing happened, really, it’s that I can’t get pregnant. Cliff was always pissed about that, too. And look at him now. Nice little young wife, ripe as a plum, spitting babies out like there is no tomorrow. Did you know Chelly is pregnant again?”

  Lilly’s eyes widened in shock. “Again? I thought you said they recently had a baby?”

  Suzie nodded. “They did. In fact, you should get them on your mailing list. Way she’s going, she’ll be spending a lot of money in here. She got pregnant again when the baby was two months old.”

  “That little bitch. How dare she?”

  They burst into laughter. Suzie nodded in agreement. She loved Lilly Peach with all her heart. She was like the sister Chelly never was.

  Lilly looked at her. “So what did Brad say when you told him?”

  Distracted by inspecting the lace on the bonnet, Suzie hesitated. “When I told him what?”

  “That you couldn’t get pregnant.”

  “I didn’t tell him.”

  Lilly remained silent.

  Suzie glanced up from the bonnet. “What?”

  “You didn’t tell him?”

  Tossing the bonnet aside, Suzie rose and paced a few feet between the store window and where Lilly perched on a soft white wicker chair. Stuffing her hands in her back jeans pockets she returned, “What would I say? Oh, one thing about your plan here, Brad, the big dream of your life? I can’t have kids. So hope you don’t mind that little detail.” She swiped at her nose. “Besides, he’s too young for me.”

  “Pshaw. You look younger than you are and you’re in great shape.”

  “I’m pudgy.”

  Lilly laughed and stood. “You are not. You’re beautiful.” She placed her hands on Suzie’s shoulders and shook her. “Now get yourself out of this funk, you hear me? Go tell him what’s going on with you before he turns tail and runs. Because when he’s gone, you’ll up and change your mind and mourn after him for the next thirty years. As your official best friend, I’m here to tell you I don’t need to hear any of that whining for the next three decades. Okay?”

  Suzie shrugged and sighed. “I suppose.”

  Lilly hugged her. “Sweetie? Are you sure you can’t get pregnant? What did the doctor say?”

  She turned to look at her friend. “I never went to the doctor about it. I know. Cliff and I never used protection and I never got pregnant. We tried and tried.”

  Lilly exhaled and smiled. “Maybe he’s not good sperm material. Or maybe he wasn’t doing things right for you.”

  Suzie laughed. “I love you Lilly Peach.”

  “You better. Now go get things fixed with that man.”

  “You think?”

  “I think.”

  Suzie still wasn’t convinced. The baby thing was just one issue. The whole hotel mess was something else entirely.

  ****

  “What the hell?”

  Jim stared at the large smelly mounds of animal feces covering a very large portion of his football field. “Call Patsy and tell her to get Marcus and his deputies out of bed, then call the boys and tell them practice is being moved but we don’t know where or when yet, so sit tight ‘til they hear from us.”

  “Looks like horse shit to me.”

  Jim nodded. “Yeah. Smells like it, too.” He turned to Bobby Filmore, his first assistant coach. They had arrived early, just past daybreak. His joy at driving the topless, brand-spanking-new Jeep, filled with all kinds of new sports equipment which was to have been a surprise for the team, melted like a candle in the sun.

  The surprise was on him. “Has that Larkstone smell all over it.”

  Bobby blew out a breath that ended in a fit of coughing. “Yep.”

  The two men eyed each other. Bobby pulled the kerchief he used as a penalty flag during practices from his back pocket and covered his nose and mouth. “How do we clean this up?”

  Jim studied the problem for a moment. “We don’t. We’re going to let Marcus take care of it.”

  Bobby snort-laughed behind the cloth barrier making it fly up. “Pissed at him or something?”

  Jim grinned. “Nope. Payback. He gave me a ticket last week just because I wanted to see how fast the Infinity would go around the lake. This should make us even.” Jim pinched and released his nose. “Naw. I figure he’ll make a call or two and Larkstone will deny they know anything about it. We’ll have to get Taylor Tucker out here and see what he can do. Most likely it’ll stink until we get a few good rains.”

  Both men eyed the sky, sighed, and then glanced at each other. They were already several inches behind on the annual rainfall scale and the sky couldn’t have been clearer. Bobby took a few steps to head to his truck. “I’m off, then. I gotta get the Boosters’ phone team going before the boys head this way.”

  “No!” Jim looked over the field again and came to a decision. “Don’t call them. Let them come and play in this mess and let’s see who has killer instinct come Friday night.”

  Bobby whistled a long and steady note. “Damn, Jim. They’ll have us up
on murder charges.”

  Jim nodded in satisfaction. “Yep!”

  Bobby whistled again, only this time it was a wolf whistle. “Who is that?”

  Jim followed Bobby’s gaze to the parking lot. He actually felt his heart knock against his chest cavity. There she was. Lanky, lean, and looking all business. Her tiny but long frame complemented the charcoal suit. The casual stride made a gentle bell-ringing motion of the slightly-above-the-knee skirt showing off those gorgeous legs. Her gaze was locked on him, unwavering, unreadable. That mouth, every luscious inch of it, was pressed together in determination? In agitation? He didn’t know. He just wanted those lips on him.

  “Well, now. Looks like I’m not needed at the moment. I’ll take care of those calls for you.”

  Jim nodded without taking his eyes off Lilly. Seconds later he watched as Bobby and Lilly acknowledged each other, and then her eyes focused on him once more. She strode the last hundred or so feet as his pulse spiked, his heart pounded, and the rest of him went on full alert. The scene on the field, the scents that had offended only seconds before, and the anger that had rocked him to the core dissolved at the sight of her.

  “Get over it.” Lilly walked into his arms and took his lips with her own.

  Jim didn’t know what it was he was supposed to get over, but that, at the moment, was the least of his concerns.

  Up close she took over every one of the five senses he possessed.

  She smelled like sin. At the breaking of a new day…and she smelled like sin. Wonderful, spicy, hot, sexy sin. And he couldn’t get enough of it. She felt like woman. Not just any woman, but the woman his arms were supposed to hold. He couldn’t get enough of that either.

  A niggle of sanity, or sports-superstition, tried to remind him of all the reasons he should pull back but he couldn’t and wouldn’t let any of those thoughts form. Both awake and asleep (when he actually got a chance to sleep), he dreamed of holding her, devouring her, and making love to her until neither of them could walk, or talk, or breathe.

  He wanted to take her here, now, while they were both lost in the passion of the moment. Because she was just as lost as he was.

  Her breath rasped as she alternately sucked his tongue and chewed on his lips, pulled his hair and squeezed him close. Moans, purrs, and growls radiated from her throat as her body gyrated against his, and his body reacted in the only way it could. He was beyond full arousal, nearly bursting, actually bordering on agony as he tried to hold back.

  Sanity and superstition had no place now. The need to please, to pleasure, to give Lilly whatever she needed, wanted, craved, was his only goal. His mission.

  ****

  His mouth was everything she remembered. Everything she needed. Nearly everything she craved. His hands were everywhere; her face, her throat, her shoulders, her breast, and on he went as if taking inventory, assessing, storing, adoring.

  He lifted her and held her tightly against him, kept her lips locked to his, as he headed in the direction of the parking area. He stopped at the passenger’s door-less entry to his white Jeep, and allowed her to slide down his incredibly aroused body before releasing her lips. He studied her, his breaths as agitated as her own. That slow slide of a smile appeared, and Lilly smiled back.

  “Your place or mine?” Jim asked.

  “Yours.”

  “Good.”

  Jim kissed her lightly and handed her a step up into the Jeep. Its sparkling clean interior and exterior as well as the plastic-covered floor mats indicated its newness.

  “Buckle up. It’s going to be a hard ride.”

  Excitement, nerves, and need had her nearly shaking in her seat as Jim slammed the Jeep into gear. She placed one hand on the padded dash and the other grasped her seat as they rocketed from the high school’s parking lot onto First Street. Jim followed the path she took going to Suzie’s B&B. As they turned onto Lake Road she looked at Jim for the first time since leaving the school’s grounds. “I want to go to your place. Not the B&B.”

  Jim flashed her a grin, although it looked a little strained. “Don’t worry. We are. I have no intention of going to Suzie’s house. I’m on down about a quarter mile.”

  Lilly exhaled, relieved. She didn’t want this to be for anyone else’s eyes either. This was going to be for her and him. Them alone. No one else need ever know. It wasn’t like she had any expectations beyond the moment. She wasn’t ready to put herself out that far since it was crazy, even ridiculous to expect Jim to want more from her than sex. She didn’t really know if she would ever want more from him. They didn’t know each other. But there was no harm in enjoying what they both wanted today. What she needed, today.

  She barely registered the dark sedan approaching them as they drove past the entry gates in front of Legend’s Landing Bed & Breakfast. There was too much pleasure to be had as the cool wind ruffled her hair and the artistic beauty of the unchanging pine trees and their vividly colorful companions. Wildlife in the form of three deer waited politely at the side of the road at the next driveway, so still she wasn’t certain if they were real. There was no reason to look back to see if they moved once Jim passed by, she didn’t care, nor did she want to think, only to experience.

  Every sensation.

  The energy of the wind, the scents of fresh country air, the sounds of life awakening, the feel of this man’s hands on her. His lips on her. His body covering hers as he brought to completion all that his former actions promised. Yes, every sensation!

  On the lake side of the road a solid rock fence broke the serenity of the naturally forested roadway. Jim slowed as he pressed a series of numbers on a little black box to the right of his steering column. Lilly’s mouth fell open as they approached two very large, intricately decorated, arched iron gates which slowly swung outward.

  Jim glanced at her, one eyebrow arched, his eyes alight with amusement. “Home.”

  Lilly snapped her mouth closed and turned to stare straight ahead. She was speechless as his house came into view. Unlike the gates, the house belonged in its setting. The two story, porch encircled, humongous ranch style log cabin with the freestanding eight car garage off to its back and side, surrounded by a large front yard that was both cleared in places and heavily wooded in others, made several statements about the man at her side. He was male. He was very wealthy. And he didn’t apologize for it.

  Lilly slid him a glance. “Wow.”

  Jim laughed. “Thanks. I like it.”

  ****

  Slick, clean, and huge.

  That was what she noticed as she stepped though the front door. The wild passion that carried her from the high school to his home had leveled off some. Not completely, but enough for her curiosity to take over.

  The sheer size of everything was mind-boggling. The sixteen foot bluish-grey with streaks of rust slate walled entryway sparkled on both sides with a cascading waterfall that fell behind six-foot tall glass aquariums. Each aquarium spanned the length of the foyer, a good ten feet, and was packed with aquatic plants and animals of such variety and color there was no way to catalogue them as they swam and swayed.

  Jade trees, potted elephant grass, and a variety of hanging vines transformed the Under the Sea world into bright sunshine as the foyer led to a large open room whose domed thirty-foot ceiling converged into a sky-lit peak. The skylight had a variety of plate size shapes scattered throughout the glass in the form of stars, a moon, comets, and planets. They reflected deep toned blues, purples, greens, reds, and yellows against the highly polished oak log walls and drew the eye to the mezzanine style walkway which she assumed lead to bedrooms.

  Bedazzled and a little dizzy, Lilly lowered her gaze to take in the vast sunken living room area which could easily seat twenty or more guests, and was obviously the entertainment center of the room. Two long brown leather sofas shared an equally long slate coffee table between them. They faced each other and had two matching leather recliners at each end. The table had a three inch slit down its center
that held a wide, two-sided flat-screen television that was currently up and playing a football game, visible on each side. Small surround-sound speakers were strategically positioned throughout the room so one could hear the action no matter where they were.

  The highly waxed oak floors, nearly the same shade as the highly waxed oak log walls, gleamed. The room also boasted a master kitchen done in stainless steel appliances with a monster grill island and a long bar, with matching stools, that separated the kitchen area from the living room. There were other tables and other chairs placed around the vast room as little conversation nooks. All in all the space was larger than she had seen in many of the more upscale hotel lobbies, and certainly could pass as a winter ski lodge that catered to wealthy guests.

  “Drink?”

  Lilly blinked and turned to Jim, embarrassed that she’d been gawking as she moved about the house. “Yes, please.”

  “Preference?”

  Lilly crossed to the bar as Jim entered the kitchen. She sat on one of the tall stools and ran her hands over the more polished surface that otherwise matched the foyer’s walls. Shaking her head, awed yet again, she placed her chin on her fist.

  “Wine?” Jim asked, grinning sheepishly. “Don’t drink it much myself, but Pita, my housekeeper, keeps it stocked for me. Or if you prefer, I have other drinks. Keep those in stock, mostly for the boys when they descend out of the blue, which happens often.”

  Lilly shivered, not from cold but from the realization that she’d found such a wonderful man when all she’d been expecting from the town of Legend was a place to exist in peace. He was a leader of men, an unassuming legend in a town made up of really nice people, and a mentor to young men on the verge of manhood. Until now, she had never known such a man existed.

  Maybe not a chill, Lilly considered. No, it was tingle—with a little nervous zing thrown in. Not an unpleasant sensation at all.

  Jim opened a set of camouflaged double doors, which looked as if they were a natural part of the log walls, to reveal a large collection of horizontally placed wine bottles along the top tiers of a refrigerated wine cooler. The lower levels held pullout drawers that held a variety of plastic water bottles, sports drinks, and juices. “Preference?” he asked again.