by Amy Lillard
He released her, loving the dazed look in her eyes. Yep. The good Lord willing, they would be just fine.
* * *
Jessie watched Seth beneath half-closed lids and tried her best to pull herself back together. His kiss held some magical quality that made her forget where she was, who she was, and everything she was supposed to be doing. Once his lips touched hers, he was all she could think about. And she wanted the kiss to last forever.
She managed to scrape together the shreds of her self-control and turned back toward the water. It was better by far if she didn’t look at him. Every time she did she relived that afternoon in the truck and wondered how different it might have been if Seth had known that she had never been with Chase.
Or was that even important to him?
“I should be going through Meemaw’s things,” she said. Though wading through the remains of her grandmother’s life was the last thing she wanted to be doing, it beat reliving that afternoon for the umpteenth time in only a couple of weeks.
It was difficult enough to know that she was gone, but to have to sort through the keepers and the throwaways . . . well, it was hard. Getting rid of even the basics, her liniment and ashtrays, was proof that Naomi McAllen was never coming back.
“Relax a while, Jess. I’ll help you with all that.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your job.”
“I’m your future husband, and I say it is.”
Husband. Marrying Seth was one thing, but she had never even thought about the fact that he would be her husband. Someone to share all the good times and the bad. She had lost her family a couple of weeks ago. Yet in another odd twist of fate she had gained a new one. Seth and the baby, living with her as a family.
“About that,” she started. “I still haven’t said yes.”
“Well, get on with it, because I’m not taking no for an answer.”
Because he was too noble to allow his child to be born out of wedlock. As old-fashioned as it was, Jessie knew that was the reason. What else could it be? “I guess we should pick a date. You know, before—”
“Before you start getting fat.” He shot her a mischievous grin. So cute and crooked she had to pretend to be upset with his comment.
“Seth Langston! What a thing to say.”
“I’m just playing.”
Jessie returned his smile. “I know.”
“So you are going to marry me?”
Like he had any doubt. “Yes.” Like she had any choice.
“Two weeks from today.”
“T-two weeks,” she sputtered.
“The quicker we become a couple, the quicker everyone will start to accept us as a couple, and the quicker we can really become a couple.”
He wanted to be a couple with her? The thought warmed her from the inside out. Or maybe that was just the lingering aftereffects of his kiss.
“Marrying me means staying in Cattle Creek.”
She nodded.
“Forever.”
“I know.” It was both the worst and the best part of their arrangement. She’d had it in her head that she was getting out as soon as she could, but the thought of staying there—with Seth—put it in a different perspective. With one major problem.
“What about Chase?”
“I’ll call him this week.” His mouth turned down in a serious line.
“Maybe I should call. I mean, after all, this was my fault.”
He shook his head. “It takes two, Jessie.”
“But—”
“We’re in this together.”
“Then maybe we should call him together.”
He unclipped his phone from his belt and handed it to her. “I get pretty decent reception out here.”
She took it from him as if it were a snake about to strike. She could do this. She had to do this. She thumbed her way through the contact list until she came to Chase’s name. She punched the call button and bit her lip as it started to ring.
From the other end of the line, the phone picked up. She took a breath, not sure what she was going to say, and then his recorded voice came on, telling her in that Chase way of his to leave a message and he’d call back.
“Chase, it’s Jessie.” Could she sound any more nervous? How about stupid? Of course it was her. What other female would be calling him from his brother’s phone? “I need to talk to you. Can you call me back? Thanks.” She hung up, knowing that it was the worst message ever left, but she couldn’t tell him over the phone that she was pregnant with someone else’s child and she was marrying that man in two weeks. Oh, and by the by, it’s your brother Seth.
Nope, that was almost as bad as the action itself.
“He didn’t answer.”
“I gathered.”
“He’s probably out celebrating.” She wondered if his party companion was a blonde or a brunette. Crazy enough, the thought didn’t fill her with heartache and pain.
Probably because she had so many other things on her mind. But she supposed that was to be expected when she was having a baby and had two weeks to plan a wedding acceptable for the Langston family.
Jessie handed him back the phone. So much was going on inside her head she thought she might explode.
“Where are we going to live?” she blurted. It might not be the most pressing question, but it was the one that jumped to the forefront first.
“I’ve talked to Jake and he said we could move out to the ranch house.”
Jessie shook her head. Moving in with the prying eyes of his family was the last thing she wanted. “I can’t move in there with your mother.”
“The original ranch house.” He shot her a smile as if he had come up with the best plan ever.
The small white house sat off the road and far enough away from the big house that no one would just walk over. It would afford them a bit of privacy as well as keep them close to the family. As much as she hated to admit it, she loved the idea. Plus, with her grandmother’s reverse mortgage she only had a few more weeks to stay in the house before it was put on the market.
“Okay.”
Seth studied her expression, though what he was looking for was beyond her. “That’s another reason why we need the two weeks. Are you up to getting it ready? I know Mama and Jake will help. Of course, I’ll be there when I can.”
“I have to work.” She might only have the one job now, but it was important to her. How was she supposed to get the money to leave if she—
Her thoughts skidded to an abrupt halt. She wasn’t leaving town. She was staying, marrying Seth, and dealing with the consequences of her actions.
“You don’t have to work anymore. In fact, I don’t want you to work at all.”
Her hackles were up in an instant. Somehow she managed to control her fighting side. Seth was just looking out for her. For the baby. “What if I want to work?”
He sighed. “For once will you just let me take care of you? Is that so hard?”
It was impossible, but she could try. She would try. She was only making things harder for them. But it was all she had known. She had struggled to fit in, struggled to make ends meet, struggled to be a part. Now she would have all that and more as Seth’s wife. “Okay.”
“Good, because I already called Chuck and told him you wouldn’t be coming back.”
She was on her feet in a heartbeat. “You what?”
He wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled her back into her seat. “Calm down, Jess. I was thinking of you at the time.”
“I can see that.”
He shook his head. “I thought you were going to let me take care of you.”
“That was before I knew you had already gone behind my back and resigned me from my job.”
His handsome face pulled into a frown. “You lost me.”
Tears ro
se into her eyes. “Everything’s happening so fast.” Way too fast. All her plans had changed. Everything. She was staying in Cattle Creek, getting married, having a baby. Her life was no longer her own.
“Shhh . . .” He pulled her to him. “You shouldn’t be working that hard. You’re pregnant, remember?”
She sniffed. “How can I forget?”
“It’s okay,” he murmured. “It’s all going to be okay. I just don’t want you to have to worry about anything. You can understand that, right?”
He gently rocked her back and forth. She loved the feel of his hand as he smoothed her hair. More than anything she wanted it to be okay. But her life had spun out of her control. First her grandmother. Now this. Early on in her life she’d had to learn what was within her control and what wasn’t. She couldn’t stop the vicious rumors and all the talk about her family. That was one thing that got to her from time to time, but that she had learned to largely ignore.
But her job, where she was going to live, and who she was going to marry had all been things she used to identify as her own. Now all that had been taken from her as well.
Yet she had lost her desire to fight it all. Or maybe she was just tired.
“Yes.” She sniffed.
He pulled away and wiped the pad of his thumb against her cheek, capturing the last lingering tear. “Let me worry about providing for us and where we’re going to live and you just worry about getting together a wedding and growing a baby. Deal?”
She nodded even as fresh tears stung her eyes.
“Don’t cry, Jessie. We’ll get through this. Together. I promise.”
She wanted to believe his sweet words, but she knew that Seth would make the best of the situation he had been presented, whatever that situation might be. And she would have to do the same. But she was under no illusion that he loved her. He had gotten her pregnant and he would make it right.
Chapter Eleven
There is, uh . . . one thing,” Seth said as he drove through town. Their afternoon together had been wonderful. More amazing than she could have imagined. But she couldn’t read anything into it. That was just Seth, an all-around good guy.
Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with him long ago instead of Chase? It would have made things a whole lot easier, but then, when had her life ever been simple? Never, that’s when.
“What is that?” she asked as he pulled in front of Nita Calvert’s.
Seth cut the engine and gave her a rueful look. “Come on,” he said, sliding from the seat. “I have someone I want you to meet.”
“The fireworks are going to start soon,” she said, looking through the windshield at the quickly darkening sky. They had heard a couple of rounds of firecrackers go off as they drove past the park. The only place anyone was allowed to set them off was on the asphalt basketball court to keep down the fire hazard. In order to help keep the code easy to follow, the City Council set up a huge fireworks show every year.
“We have time,” Seth countered. “Now come on.”
Jessie got out of the truck and went around the front to stand next to him. “I’ve already met Nita.”
He shook his head. “Just come on.” He led her around back to the doorway that led into his apartment.
She tried to remember a time when she had come here with Seth, but she couldn’t think of any. Strange she felt so close to him yet she had never seen where he lived. Or maybe it was that she had always pictured his home as the Diamond.
Seth took out his key and unlocked the door. From inside the apartment, a dog started to bark.
He shot her one more unreadable grin, then stepped inside. “Sadie,” he called, then crouched down as the dog answered his summons.
“Jessie. I’d like for you to meet Sadie. Sadie, Jessie.”
“Pleasure,” Jessie said, only briefly remembering that she was addressing a pooch. A four-pound pooch judging from the size of her.
It was the tiniest dog she had ever seen. Or maybe it only looked that small because of the way Seth cradled it in his big hands. “Is that a . . .”
He nodded, looking only mildly embarrassed. “Yorkie, yes.”
Despite all the seriousness of the last couple of weeks, Jessie’s lips started to twitch. “And how exactly did you come to have such a sweet little puppy?”
To her amazement, Seth planted a quick kiss on the top of Sadie’s tiny head. “Chase brought her home last year. I never found her a home, so I ended up just keeping her.”
Jessie nodded. “And how is it that I’m just now seeing her?”
He shrugged and placed the dog on the floor between them. “No reason.”
“Dogs like Sadie have to be groomed, you know.” Evidently he did. Sadie had a tiny pink bow tied between her ears. Surely he didn’t . . .
“Yeah,” he admitted. He propped his hands on his hips, clearly a defensive gesture if she had ever seen one.
She mimicked his pose and continued. “I’ve never seen you take her into Wag the Dog.” Cattle Creek’s only pet groomer sat two doors down from the Chuck Wagon on the opposite side of the sheriff’s office. He would have to be sneaking the dog in for her not to have seen him carry Sadie to the groomer’s. Unless . . .
A slow grin worked its way across her face. “So that’s how Wanda keeps getting out of those parking tickets.”
“Let’s just say that Wanda and I have come to an agreement.”
Jessie cocked her head to one side. “Huh,” she said. “I would have never guessed that you would compromise your police integrity in order to get your sissy dog groomed.”
“Hey,” he protested. “Sadie and I find that comment unnecessary and offensive.”
“But true.” She laughed.
Seth scooped Sadie back into his arms. “Sadie, sic ’em.” He held the dog close to her and Jessie got a lick on the nose.
She took the dog from Seth and scratched her behind one ear. Sadie let out a doggy sigh of pleasure.
“That’s right,” Jessie crooned. “We girls gotta stick together. But”—she turned her gaze back to Seth—“one false move on your part and I’ll tell the whole town you own a girlie dog.”
Seth threw back his head and laughed. “Fine,” he said. “As long as you don’t tell them I carry her around in a designer bag.”
Jessie snuggled Sadie close and surveyed the man she was marrying in two weeks. “Okay, cowboy, but that will cost extra.”
* * *
Come on or we’ll miss the fireworks,” Seth said. He parked his service vehicle and got out.
“We’re going to miss it anyway if we’re here.” Jessie stopped on the sidewalk outside the sheriff’s office and held her ground.
“Don’t you trust me?” His words were a challenge, he knew, but he couldn’t do this alone. It took two to make a marriage and he needed her by his side, not pulling away every chance she got.
“Yes,” she said.
The one word shouldn’t have filled him with so much joy, but it did. “Then come on.”
He led the way around the back of the two-story brick building to the side entrance. Once upon a time, the building had been a library and the entrance was for deliveries and such. Now it was just one more door to make sure was locked.
“Did I know this was here?” she asked, peering in the entrance.
“I don’t know. It’s not like something we talk about a lot.” He turned on his flashlight app and shone it up the concrete staircase off to their right.
“Are you sure you’re not bringing me someplace dark and secluded so you can take advantage of me?”
“Is that a possibility?”
Jessie didn’t respond. One minute she was playful and the next she was putting her guard up. He was beyond ready for her to trust him with all the faces of Jessie McAllen. The real ones.
“Be patient,” he sa
id. “You’ll see.” He started up the stairs, careful to shine the light where she could see as well. He couldn’t have her falling.
“Is this it?” Jessie asked, looking around at all the stacked boxes and cobwebs. He really needed to get someone in here to clean.
“Nope. This is.” He opened the door with a flourish and gestured toward the flat roof.
Jessie gasped.
Down in the direction of the river, the first explosion of fireworks burst into the sky. He couldn’t have timed it better if he’d tried.
“Come on,” he said, taking her arm to lead her over to the lawn chairs he’d set up.
Their chairs faced the show and since they were up a little higher, it seemed as if the fireworks were going off right in front of them.
Seth alternated his attention between Jessie and the actual fireworks celebration. Her expression of awe and appreciation was more beautiful to him than the actual show.
“Would you like a lemonade?” He opened the cooler between the chairs and offered her the drink.
For a moment she took her eyes from the spark-filled nighttime sky to focus on him. “Thanks, Seth.”
He wanted to lean in and steal a kiss, but years of holding himself in check kept him in place. “You’re welcome, Jessie.”
She turned back to the fireworks, and somehow Seth knew. Things were changing between them. The circumstances surrounding their evolving relationship might be a little unusual, but they had a chance.
They just might make it after all.
* * *
Hey.” Jake stepped back to allow Seth room to enter. “What brings you out today?”
Seth removed his hat and moved past his brother farther into the house. “Oh, you know. I was out this way.”
“Mama’s not here,” Jake said.
“I know. She took Jessie to San Angelo to buy a wedding dress.”
Jake stopped and eyed him in a way only older brothers can.
“I thought I would stop by and call Chase,” Seth finally said.