by Shirley Jump
“We all do,” Rachel said.
The customer, a tall, thin, white-haired man, stowed the tackle box under his arm like a football. “Any idea when he’ll be back behind the counter?”
“Soon.” But the word had little conviction in it, and even from where he was standing, Colton could tell Rachel didn’t believe her own answer.
“Well, if you see him, tell him Paul says hello. And ask him if he wants to partner up on the doubles tournament this winter. I’d sure love some of his expertise.”
“I will, Mr. Allen. Thanks again.”
The customer turned away and headed for the door, giving Colton a little head nod as he passed. Rachel slid the customer’s check into the cash drawer then glanced over and saw Colton. A smile spread across her face, quick and bright, and that sent a little thrill through him.
There was such joy in her face when she saw him, he couldn’t help but feel as though he’d hit the lottery.
“Hi,” she said. “Here for another fishing pole?”
“Nope. I’m here for purely personal reasons.” He closed the distance between them. He loved the way her eyes sparkled, the way her T-shirt hugged her curves. The V-neck made his gaze drop to the slight swell of her breasts. Damn, she was a beautiful woman. “I wanted to see you again. And I couldn’t wait until tonight.”
Her smile widened, and a faint blush crept into her cheeks. “That’s very sweet. But...” She sighed. “I can’t go out to dinner tonight. My dad isn’t well, and he really needs me to be there, to make sure he eats and takes his medicine.”
“Then bring him with us. It might do him good to get out on the town.”
“Bring him with us?”
“Sure. We’ll go down to the Sea Shanty. As far as I’ve seen, that’s the most casual place this town has to offer. And the food is great. Win all around.”
“You’re sure you wouldn’t mind having my dad along? It’s not exactly a date night.”
“It is if you’re there.” God, when did he turn into a sentimental fool? He might as well be a romance novelist, given the lines he was spouting. The worst part? It was all true. He didn’t care if the entire Stone Gap High School marching band came along on their date, as long as he got to spend those hours with Rachel.
“That would be nice,” she said. “But...maybe another time. I promised my dad I’d make my mother’s meat loaf. It’s his favorite dinner.”
“Okay. I understand.” Something a lot like disappointment filled his gut.
“Do you...” She paused. “Do you like meat loaf?”
“I do,” Colton said. “Very much.”
“Then come over. My dad would love to meet you.”
He shouldn’t be this excited about being invited over for meat loaf, but he was. “Sure. Why don’t I pick you up at six?”
“My car is here. I can drive myself.”
“Or I can pick you up and drive you back to your car after dinner.” He grinned. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to grab a little alone time with you, too.”
The blush deepened. “You are incorrigible.”
“That’s what my third grade teacher said. But I turned out okay.” He leaned across the counter and placed a soft, sweet kiss on her lips. “See you at six.”
And when he walked out the door a moment later, Colton Barlow was humming.
Chapter Seven
Colton was just heading into his room at the Stone Gap Inn to change his clothes when his cell phone rang. Bobby’s number appeared on the caller ID, and even though Colton was far past the age where he should get excited about a call from his dad, that didn’t stop his heart from doing a little skip in his chest. “Hello?”
“Hey, uh, Colton, this is... Bob—” he cleared his throat “—your dad.”
Maybe Bobby was having as much trouble adjusting to the new child in his life as Colton was having adjusting to his new last name. “Yeah, hi. How are you?”
“Fine, fine.”
There was a long pause while the two of them scrambled for more small talk to fill the gap in the conversation. Colton didn’t know what to say. He knew so little about his father that he wasn’t sure how to bridge the conversational gap. “I, uh, had breakfast with Luke and Mac the other day.”
“Oh, yeah? That’s good. Real good.” Bobby paused again. The silence stretched, thick and uncomfortable. “Listen, every Sunday Della cooks this big dinner. Roast beef, or spaghetti, or something good. The whole family comes over. I wanted to...uh, invite you.”
Wow. He’d heard about the Sunday meals from his brothers, but he hadn’t been sure if Bobby would extend an invite or not. Now that he heard the words, he couldn’t wait for the meal. He wondered if it would be like he’d always imagined the father and the siblings he dreamed he had in some other life. Sort of like a modern-day version of the Waltons.
Okay, so maybe he was turning into a sentimental fool. Had to be this small town. “I’d...I’d love to come. Thanks.”
“Good. See you Sunday. And, uh, our anniversary party is that night. Just a small thing, over at the community center, with some local friends and you kids. Wanted to invite you to that, too. Assuming...” Bobby let out a breath.
“Assuming what?”
“Nothing, nothing. Just need to talk to Della is all.” Bobby’s voice sounded troubled, but Colton wasn’t sure it was his place to ask his dad what was going on.
“Well, I’ll see you Sunday,” Colton said. “Thanks for the invites.” Again, they’d exhausted their conversational abilities.
There was another uncomfortable pause, long enough that Colton thought Bobby might have hung up. “Uh, Colton...I’m glad you’re staying in town for a while,” Bobby said. “And might be staying on for good. I heard Harry offered you a job.”
“He did, but I haven’t decided yet.” Colton needed to talk to Harry first and tell him the whole story about his time in the Atlanta Fire Department. He was sure that Harry would rescind the offer after that. A fire chief wanted someone he could depend upon, and Colton wasn’t so sure he was that guy.
He’d missed his job. Missed the camaraderie, the other men, his friends. But a part of him worried that maybe the worry, the doubts, he’d felt since that day would intrude when his team needed him most.
So he’d procrastinated on that conversation with Harry. A psychologist would probably say it was because Colton didn’t want to face the ghosts that haunted his every thought. And maybe a little of the fact that Colton was trying to delay on the decision about staying here, investing in his family, or going back to Atlanta and leaving everything and everyone in Stone Gap behind.
“When to move on, or when to start over is a big decision to make,” Bobby said. “Not something to take lightly.”
It was the closest thing to advice he’d ever received from his father. The words were vague, the meaning even less clear. Was Bobby advising him to take the job or to go back to Atlanta? Maybe a little of both? “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Okay, that’s good. Well...I’ll talk to you later.” Bobby said goodbye, and the connection went dead. Colton tucked the phone away. It wasn’t quite the relationship he had come to this town to find, but it was a step in the right direction, and that was enough. For now.
A few minutes later Colton pulled in front of the hardware store just as Rachel was locking up for the night. His heart leaped at the sight of her, with her hair loose around her shoulders, her light blue T-shirt and dark-wash jeans hugging her lithe body. He hopped out of the car and pulled open the passenger-side door. A light rain began to fall, and Rachel ducked under his arm and into the car. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” He lingered a second, his arm on the door, blocking the rain from dropping onto her legs. “In case I forgot to tell you today, you look beautiful.”
She laughed. “I’m wearing jeans and a T-shirt.”
“And you look amazing in everything.” He leaned in and kissed her. The kiss was too short, too little, but it was raining and they were late, and he would have to wait for more. “Absolutely amazing.”
“You, my friend, need your vision checked.”
He pulled back and gave her a grin. “Is that what we are? Friends?”
“I’m not sure what we are, Colton,” she said, the playfulness dropping from her features. “And I’m not sure if I want more.”
Neither was he. Hell, he didn’t even know if he was staying in town. But more and more, the case for staying in Stone Gap grew stronger. For one, a new start, one far from the Atlanta FD and all the memories he had there, might be the best thing for him. Was he ever going to be able to walk into that station again and not see Willis’s and Foster’s faces? Would anyone he worked with ever forget? No one blamed him, but the way they talked about the accident, as they called it, with that little shake of their heads, made Colton feel he should have reacted faster, should have done more, should have done something.
But every time he looked at Rachel’s smile, it made him forget for a little while. It made him wonder if maybe beginning again here, in this small town with his brothers and his father, and this intoxicating woman, might just be the solace he’d been seeking.
“I don’t know either, Rachel,” he said, “but I’m willing to give it some time and try to figure that out.”
Then he came around to his side of the car, put the rental in gear and pulled away from the curb. The rain fell heavier now, and the wipers made steady squeaks across the windshield, trying to keep up.
“How was the shop today?” he asked. Because it was easier to change the subject than to circle around the one that didn’t have any answers.
She sighed. “Slow. I’m worried I’m going to have to close. Business just hasn’t been the same since my dad stopped working there. I mean, I know a lot about fishing, but I’m not him. And a lot of the old-timers came in just to chat with him. He loved that shop. Loved his job.”
“And you don’t love it.”
She pivoted toward him. “What makes you say that?”
“I see it in your eyes. Hear it in your voice. There’s nothing wrong with that, Rachel. It’s not your passion, and that’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I told him I’d keep it running, and if I let him down, the shop will die, and then what will he have?” She let out a long breath and turned toward the window. Her breath fogged a circle against the glass. “I have to keep it running.”
She sounded so dejected, he wanted to do something. But what? He sure as hell wasn’t equipped to run the place for her. His heart had always been in firefighting, in the adventure of it, the puzzle of figuring out the fastest way to tame a blaze. The never knowing what the next call might hold. He was lucky enough to be doing a job that filled his soul, but he could also understand the pain of working a job that left you feeling empty at the end of the day. “Savannah was telling me that you are a wedding planner.”
“I used to be a wedding planner. Now I’m a hammer and bait seller.” She grinned, but the smile fell flat. The rain trailed in long tracks down the windows, puddling in the seals around the door. “My business has been on the back burner for a while.”
“And you don’t have enough time to do both.”
She shook her head. “As it is, I barely have enough time for my dad. And his house...there’s always twelve thousand things that need to get done. He’s just been so sad since my mother died, and I just can’t get him to leave the house or do anything. I wish I had the magic words to get him back to his life. Maybe then...” She sighed. “For now I’m where I need to be. If I think too much about the what-ifs, it just makes everything harder.”
As if on cue, they pulled into Ernie’s driveway. Colton took in the overgrown landscaping, the weedy lawn, the peeling paint on the mailbox. The rain had stopped, leaving the whole scene sparkling with fresh water drops. But that didn’t make it look any less...sad, and definitely in need of some serious trimming. He could see how much work there was to do, and could only imagine how heavy that burden weighed on Rachel.
He knew what it was like to be the one everyone depended upon. He couldn’t change everything for Rachel, but maybe if he started with one small thing, it would ease the weight on her shoulders. “I know my way around a lawn mower and a Weed Whacker,” he said. “If you want, I can take care of the yard while you do what you need to do for your dad or the meat loaf, or whatever magic happens in the kitchen. Trust me, you’d rather have me outside than working the stove.”
She blinked at him. “Really? Why would you do that?”
He looked at Rachel, at this amazing woman who was working so hard she barely had time to breathe, and his heart softened. “Because you need someone to.”
Tears filled her eyes, but didn’t fall. To him, that was yet another mark of how strong she was, how determined. “Thank you, Colton.”
“It’s no big deal.” She kept looking at him as if he was this big hero, saving the day. He wasn’t any of those things. He was just a guy who had offered to mow the lawn.
“It’s a big deal to me. More than you know. So...thank you. In advance.” She gave him a quick, tight smile, then pulled on the handle of the door and got out of the car.
Damn it. She kept looking at him like that. What would happen to that look in Rachel’s eyes if he told her about Willis and Foster? He didn’t want to find out, didn’t want to tell her the truth. So instead of tarnishing that hero image she had in her head, he silently followed Rachel into the house to meet her father.
Rachel’s father was sitting at the kitchen table, a crossword puzzle spread out before him. He had the wiry frame of someone who had been active all his life, and short gray hair that smoothed across his head. His glasses perched on the end of his nose, secured to his neck by a dark brown chain. He took them off and let them dangle against his chest when Colton and Rachel came into the kitchen. “You brought company,” he said to Rachel.
“I brought someone who actually volunteered to tackle that weedy mess you call a yard, Dad.” Rachel leaned in and pressed a kiss to her father’s cheek. “Dad, this is Colton Barlow. Colton, this is my father, Ernie.”
“The fishing champion,” Colton said, extending his hand. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you from Harry Washington.”
Ernie got to his feet and shook hands with Colton. His skin was pale, his grip a little weak, as if he’d spent a lot of time at this kitchen table. Given the state of the yard and the fact that Rachel was running the shop alone, Colton was pretty positive the only place Ernie had visited lately was this one room. “Harry? How is that old bastard?”
“Fine, sir. Just fine.”
Ernie slid an amused glance in Rachel’s direction. “So this is the one you bought the dress and fancy shoes for?”
Rachel blushed. “Dad!”
Colton grinned. “You bought a new dress for our date?”
“I needed a new dress. That was the only reason why.”
“Don’t let her fool you,” Ernie said, leaning in toward Colton. “She was as nervous as a chicken in a doghouse. So, Colton...Barlow? I know the Barlows. How are you related to Bobby?”
Small-town living—obviously everyone who heard Colton’s last name was going to ask that same question. “Uh, he’s my father. I’m Luke, Jack and Mac’s half brother.”
“Oh, okay. Well, welcome to Stone Gap.” Ernie sat back down at the table and picked up his crossword puzzle. He sat his glasses on his nose again. Apparently, that was all he needed to know.
“Dad, Colton was going to go work on the yard. I’m going to make the meat loaf. Maybe you want to help Colton?”
Her father scowled. “I have the crossword
to do.”
Rachel started to say something, then instead let out a long sigh that said she’d been down this road a dozen times. “Okay.”
Colton could see the frustration in her eyes. He knew that feeling. There’d been times with his mother when she would sink into a deep depression, and it would be like pulling rope through a needle to get her motivated again. He’d done what he could to take over the care of his little sister, and to cover for their mother, who had often put her children second. He didn’t think Rachel’s father was like that, but he could certainly relate to the challenges she faced. “Mr. Morris, I don’t need your help, but I sure would appreciate you showing me where all the yard tools are.”
Ernie dropped his glasses to his chest again. “’Spose I can do that.” He got to his feet, tugged a key off the hook by the back door then beckoned to Colton to follow him.
As Colton passed Rachel, she gave him a grateful smile and mouthed, “thank you.” For that smile, Colton decided, he would do about anything.
* * *
Rachel watched through the window as Colton and her father headed into the shed. She held her breath, sure that in a few minutes, her father would be back in the kitchen, sitting in the same chair, holding the same pen, working on the same crossword puzzle.
But then she saw her father emerge from the shed with the hedge trimmers in one hand. He was talking to Colton as he walked across the yard and gesturing toward the edge of the lawn. Colton nodded then turned back to the lawn mower. A moment later the mower was roaring along the grass, cutting it to a fraction of its overgrown length. Her father was wielding the gas hedge trimmers like a ninja with a sword, taming the wild shrubbery into something resembling its former self.
She smiled and started humming again as she chopped vegetables then mixed up the meat loaf and got it into the oven. While her father and Colton worked on the yard, she whipped up some mashed potatoes and baked a batch of brownies from a mix she found in the cupboard. By the time the men came in, a little sweaty, a little dirty and a lot hungry, dinner was ready and on the table.