Finding Home
Page 33
Jim grinned and Lilly couldn’t help but grin back, though her head was swimming with the reality, the possibilities. It was no less than those men deserved. And no doubt BD and Madame deserved what they got. She glanced at Polly, wondering who had killed them, and why, but she didn’t want to know. As long as they were out of her life forever, that was all she needed to know.
“An informant slipped us the info that they followed you here,” Polly continued. “We’ve been tracking them but lost them until Marcus called me about Jim’s gate being tampered with, and the mention of dung on the field. That was Fat Eddie’s fingerprint. He has an obsession with animal feces.” She pointed to the ambulance where the bald man was being treated. “Fat Eddie is the one you knee knocked by the way,” she said with pleasure, looking at Jim.
Jim smiled. “Good. Wish I’d known. I’d have given it a little extra kick.”
Polly smiled and glanced at her watch. “Daylight is burning, guys. I wanna see my team win tonight.”
Numbly Lilly stared at them all. “It’s over? They’re dead and it’s really over?”
Polly smiled. “Looks like. We’ll still keep eyes and ears open, but I’d stake my badge on it.”
Jim pulled her into his arms for a snuggling hug, which was wonderful. She needed the support. She looked up at him, humbled. “You would have given it all up for me.”
Jim kissed her nose. “Easily.” He searched her eyes. “You would have done the same. You were leaving me.” When she started to protest he shook his head and placed a finger over her lips. “I’m not stupid, Lilly, and you are incredibly easy to read at times. You were giving us up because you didn’t want me hurt.”
She couldn’t lie. “My heart would have been with you. Always. I love you so much.”
Jim kissed her again then looked at his team. “In the bus, guys. We have a game to win for my lady.” He lifted her hand and kissed the fourth finger of her left hand. “And after we win this one, I want a National Championship ring for my future wife.”
Lilly jumped into his arms and kissed him soundly. “When I came to Legend all I wanted was a normal life, or as close to a normal life as I knew. But I got so much more.”
She looked around as townsfolk re-boarded the buses, cars and trucks. “An entire community of friends. A kick-ass football team to support. And you. It’s not every day a girl gets to claim a living legend as her own.”
Epilogue
Six months later…
“Well, he was a man with a plan. He knew what he wanted and damned if he didn’t make it happen.” Suzie smiled at her husband who in turn patted her still-growing tummy. “With a couple of twists, that is.”
“Well, you’ve gotta have a plan, men, that’s all I can say. You gotta have a plan.”
The men in the crowd chuckled and the women batted away their macho-ism with a flit of their Southern belle eyelashes. They had gathered for an impromptu celebration. A month earlier was Suzie and Brad’s Tennessee shotgun wedding at the Mountain View Hotel in Gatlinburg, no less. Not to mention, the hotel renovation was ahead of schedule. Suzie and Brad had felt like entertaining, so they invited over their friends for an early spring barbecue by the lake.
“So you really didn’t think you could get pregnant?” Jane picked at a cookie then held out something to her. “Here, I brought a book for you from my bookstore. Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Childbirth. It is a bestseller.”
Suzie took the book. “Thanks, Jane. You’re a doll.” She leaned over and hugged her. “But wait, are those Cowboy Cookies! I didn’t know you had the recipe!”
Jane smiled. “Yep. I recently acquired the original.” She smiled up at her fiancé, Graham.
“No way!” Suzie took a bite and visibly relaxed. “Oh, these are soooo good. Tastes like childhood.” Then she added. “No, I had no clue about the baby. I mean, with Cliff and me…well, we never got pregnant so I thought…”
Brad stood and hefted up his pants, broadened his shoulders. “Well, it only took me one time so that wimp of an ex-husband of yours…”
Suzie sat up in her chair and shot Brad a startled look. “Brad Matthews! Stop that.”
Everyone laughed.
Suzie settled back in her chair. “Well, I suppose Cliff really was a weenie.”
“Would you say he was teeny-weenie?” Jim butted in.
Suzie threw her empty paper cup at him.
Lilly poked her head out of the back screen door of the B&B. “Suzie, where did you put the watermelon?”
“In the basement, sweetie. The big fridge. But let one of the guys get it. It’s a heavy sucker.”
Lilly gave her a thumbs-up and then crooked her finger at Jim, who promptly rose to do his wife’s bidding.
“Yeah, man with a plan,” Suzie chuckled. “Brad, baby, pull that big ol’ Adirondack over here for me please? I need to put my feet up.”
“Yes, dear.”
Everyone in the crowd chuckled.
The baby was due in July and Suzie felt full with life. The little munchkin growing inside thrilled her to no end. The husband sitting to her right fulfilled her every dream. And the backyard filled with friends who came to celebrate their growing family, rounded out her simple life.
“How’s the renovation coming, Brad?” Martin sat on the arm of another Adirondack chair, his arm draped around Midnight’s shoulder.
“Great! I was so amazed. Seems that it’s actually a prime candidate for a federal historic building. The bank didn’t want to put the money into it to remodel according to federal specs, so they claimed it was condemned and unworkable. The new architect I hired took one look at the place and said we were fools to tear down the landmark.”
Suzie elbowed him. “I told you so.”
Brad grinned. “Lesson learned. Have a plan, but listen to the woman.”
The crowd erupted in guffaws again. “I’ll echo that.” Graham leaned closer to Jane and kissed her cheek. “Not really sure I knew my plan was to come back to Legend and stay, but in the end, it was what I needed all along.”
Jane beamed as she peered up at him.
Brad went on. “The lodge is solid though, and probably not as costly as I thought. It will take a year or so but will be worth it.”
“At least the baby will be here before then. Oh Brad, the contractor came earlier about the addition to the house. Forgot to tell you.”
“You’re building another room on the B&B? A baby room?” Lilly joined the group and grabbed Suzie’s hand to pull her up off the chair. “C’mon girl, we got plans to make. Show me where this new room is gonna be, and then we’ll talk about everything you need to put in it.”
Shrugging, Suzie looked back at Brad and gave him a smile and a little finger wave good-bye.
Lilly tugged her along. “Midnight? Jane? Y’all come too. This is a group project.”
Brad chuckled. “Do they ever not do anything in a group?”
Jim slapped Brad on the back. “Rarely, it seems of late,” he chortled. “Welcome to the rest of your life, Mr. Matthews.”
Brad tipped his beer bottle in the men’s direction. “I’d say that statement pretty much covers the lot of us. Can’t say I’d have it any other way though.” He set the beer down on a small table. “Now, let’s go check on the pit. That pig smells mighty good. Suzie whipped a new dry rub and some crazy hot and spicy chipotle sauce I’ve been dying to try…”
“Yeah, we hear your hot and spicy, Matthews.”
He turned and looked at the men, feigning clueless. “What?”
“The girls talk.”
“Oh. Oh!”
Jim snickered and slapped his back. “Give it up man, there’s nothing those four don’t know about any of us. God forbid the man who doesn’t toe the line…”
All four men shuddered, then headed off toward the pig. Martin glanced up at the quartet of women entering the house. “Wouldn’t even think about straying,” he said. “Everything I need is right here.”
&n
bsp; They all paused for a moment, following his gaze.
“Like I said,” Jim added. “Welcome to Legend.”
THE END
More Books in the Ladies of Legend,
Legend, Tennessee Series
www.legendtennessee.com
Beauty and the Beast (novella)
by Janet Eaves
Harvest Moon (novella)
by Janet Eaves
Murder on the Mountain (novel)
by Maddie James
Where Her Heart Is (novel)
by Magdalena Scott
Santa’s Kiss (novella)
by Jan Scarbrough
Home for the Holidays (novella)
by Maddie James
The Christmas Gift (novella)
by Janet Eaves
Christmas Collision (novella)
by Magdalena Scott
Home Sweet Legend (novel)
by Magdalena Scott
A Groovy Christmas (novella)
by Jan Scarbrough
The Christmas Heart (novella)
by Janet Eaves
Under the Mistletoe (novella)
by Magdalena Scott
Through Her Eyes (novella)
by Janet Eaves
Not Quite Christmas (novella)
by Jan Scarbrough
The Holly and the Ivy (novella)
by Magdalena Scott
And The Matchmaking Chef Spin-off Series
by Maddie James
www.suziecooks.com
Janet Eaves
As is the way with writers of fantasy, Janet Eaves has always lived in other worlds. From the beginning of her memories to this day, she has taken pleasure in those moments when nothing stands between her and that flight of the imagination which rolls scene after scene, carrying her to uncharted places and introduces her to previously nonexistent people that only she hears and sees, until, blessedly, she has the privilege of harnessing the magic and sharing her visions with others through the written word. Janet is the author of several books in the Legend Series.
Visit Janet at her web site, www.janeteaves.com
Magdalena Scott
Magdalena Scott lives in her own fantasy world of Magdalenaville, Indiana, and spends her time writing stories with small town settings. As a lifelong citizen of small town America, Magdalena knows that life in a “burg” is seldom dull—if you’re paying attention. There is mystery, romance, scandal, and the occasional unexplained occurrence. Step into Magdalena’s fantasy world and find out what’s hidden just below the surface of those tiny dots you can barely see on the map.
Visit Magdalena at her website, www.magdalenascott.com
Jan Scarbrough
I’ve dreamed of being a writer since I reported on freelance writing for a career project in the ninth grade. After majoring in English at Western Kentucky University, I taught high school English for five years. Since 1982 I’ve made my living as a writer—a technical writer—but I didn’t have the nerve to make my dream come true until after a life-threatening illness in 1988. I’ve enjoyed my process of becoming a published author. A member of the Romance Writers of America, I’ve been active in my local Kentucky RWA chapter and am a member of Novelist, Inc. My best friends are fellow writers. Who else will check a point plot for me or understand GMC and POV?
Visit Jan at her website, www.janscarbrough.com
Maddie James
Multi-published author Maddie James writes contemporary, paranormal and romantic suspense novels, and is the author of the popular Matchmaking Chef series. She lives quietly with her muses, Calliope and Clio, who often masquerade as her cats.
You can visit her at her web site and blog, www.maddiejames.net, or learn more about the Matchmaking Chef series at www.suziecooks.com
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