Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set

by Grover Swank, Denise

  “And I guess a part of me always thought she’d be the one to get married first,” Ruby Grace continued. “That she’d be the one to find a husband like our father and make the grandkids I know my parents want.”

  I was nodding, realizing my instinct had been true until she mentioned the word grandkids.

  I stiffened. “Are you already thinking about kids?”

  “I mean… not immediately, but, Anthony wants to have them sooner rather than later.”

  My blood boiled a bit at her statement. “And do you want to have them sooner rather than later? Or at all?”

  “Of course, I want children,” she defended. “But, I admit, I thought I’d be much older when I had them. I thought… well, it doesn’t matter.”

  Tank neighed, as if he spoke my thoughts before I got the chance. “It does matter, Ruby Grace. What did you think?”

  She fiddled with the reins that I’d let her take over. “I don’t know… I just always thought I’d graduate, maybe do a year or two in AmeriCorps before I settled down.”

  “AmeriCorps?”

  “Yeah, it’s like the Peace Corp, but specifically here in the states. You can be a teacher or camp counselor or even work in wetland restoration.” She shrugged. “I’ve always loved to help others, to volunteer my time, and I thought it’d be a great way to do that before I got married and had kids of my own.”

  I gritted my teeth against the urge to tell her she still could do those things — married or not. Just because she was committing to this man as his wife didn’t mean she had to lose her identity, surrender what she wanted for all that he wanted, but I knew it wasn’t my place to say any of that.

  Then again, it probably wasn’t my place to have her ass rubbing against me, but I wasn’t doing anything to change that at the moment.

  “But,” she said after a long, awkward pause. “That’s what’s so great about marrying Anthony. He’s a politician, and as his wife, I’ll have so many opportunities to help the communities we serve in. And when he’s president, I’ll be the first lady. I’ll be able to create and manage whatever charities and organizations I want. I’ll be able to make a difference.”

  I nodded, but I still didn’t agree with it. “Well, that’s good, then.”

  “Yeah,” she said, and for a moment, she seemed lost in her own thoughts before she came back to the moment with me just as I grabbed the reins from her, turning Tank around to head back toward the stables. “What about you?” she asked.

  “What about me?”

  “Do you want a wife, kids?”

  “I do,” I answered.

  She waited, and when I said nothing more, a soft laugh escaped her lips. “Well, please don’t tell me too much. After all, I didn’t share anything personal with you.”

  I smirked, shrugging. “There’s nothing more to really say, is there? I do want to get married and have kids one day.”

  “You’re twenty-eight,” she pointed out. “What are you waiting for?”

  “The right woman.”

  The answer rolled off my tongue so easily, but it shocked both of us. I stiffened behind her, aware of the space of vulnerability I’d put myself in, and Ruby Grace glanced over her shoulder, like she wished she could see my eyes after saying that.

  “Oh,” she said after a while. “Well, that’s nice, Noah. That’s really nice. And I’m sure you’ll find her.”

  I cleared my throat, ready to change the subject, but she beat me to it.

  “What else?” she asked. “What else do you want in life?”

  I shifted. “Honestly, not much. I just want to make whiskey barrels. I’m a pretty simple guy.”

  “Why do I feel like that’s the first time you’ve lied to me?”

  Her question surprised me, and I swallowed down the discomfort building more and more rapidly the more the conversation was focused on me.

  “It’s not a lie. I’m a family man, I want to be here for my brothers, my mom, and, someday, my future family, too.”

  I paused, and she waited, wanting me to keep going even when I didn’t know what else to say.

  “I guess I kind of feel like a dad already, in a way,” I confessed. “Jordan and I really stepped up after my father died, and we’ve been taking care of Mom and the house and our younger brothers ever since. And now, Mikey is going into his senior year. He’s going to move out of the house soon after he graduates, and then Mom will be on her own, and I’m not sure what she’ll do then. If we sell it, put her in a smaller place, it’d probably be better for her. But then again, I can’t imagine us not having that house to go home to.”

  Ruby Grace pulled Tank to a stop, turning enough so she could look at me. “So, it seems that where I feel smothered, you feel a little lost, huh, Noah Becker?”

  I smirked. “I guess so, Ruby Grace.”

  “Well, I’ve heard some of the best adventures come from finding yourself a little lost,” she offered.

  “Oh, who told you that?”

  “The wise Betty Collins, of course.” She smiled, shrugging. “This older woman I care for down at the nursing home. We’ve become good friends over the years.”

  Looking at Ruby Grace in that moment, I didn’t see a girl. Her fair, young skin and wide, innocent eyes glowing in the moonlight told me she was still a girl, but her heart that volunteered her time to the elderly told me she was more of a woman than most I’d slept with.

  “Well, if she’s got more wisdom like that, you’ll have to introduce me to her sometime.”

  Ruby Grace smiled at that. “I just might.”

  We were quiet the rest of the way back to the stable, and when we both hopped down and I took all the riding equipment off Tank, I gave him a treat, patting his butt affectionately before Ruby Grace and I made our way back toward the party.

  “Thank you,” she said, tucking her hands in the back pockets of her shorts. “For tonight. I haven’t felt that kind of peace in a long time.”

  “No problem,” I said, coming to a stop. She turned, brows furrowed. “Figured I’d let you walk up first, go find your friends. I’ll come up in a bit, that way no one thinks we were together.”

  She rose one brow. “I’m pretty sure they already know.”

  “Well, then, let’s fuck with them,” I said. “Give them something to make them doubt it all when they’re gossiping in the morning.”

  Ruby Grace smiled even wider at that, and before I knew what she was doing, she crossed the space between us and threw her arms around my neck. I opened my own just in time to catch her, to feel her tight little body pressed against me as she gave me a hug.

  “Stay out of trouble, Noah Becker.”

  “Never.”

  She chuckled, letting me go and waving at me over her shoulder as she strutted back up the hill toward the bonfire.

  Chapter 6

  Ruby Grace

  My first thought was that my skirt was too short.

  It was Sunday afternoon, and church had let out on a beautiful day where Dad had some time blocked off for his daughter being back in town. He’d insisted we go golfing — much to his delight and my disdain — and so here we were at the Stratford Country Club golf course.

  The Stratford Country Club golf course only existed because Dad had insisted the town needed a proper country club back when he was running for his first term as mayor. He’d worked with the wealthiest families in the town to bring it to life, and then they’d made the requirements to get in so specific and the spots available so limited that it was pretty much just a place for him and his friends to hang out and play golf.

  Daddy was lining up his shot on the fourth hole, his pot belly stretching the light pink fabric of his polo as he tightened his grip on the club. He’d picked that shirt so he could match me — a daddy-daughter-duo. Dad was a big man, standing six-foot-three and close to two-hundred-and-fifty pounds. He had a smile that took up his entire face — one that Mama called his “mega-watt” smile. She swore it was how he won elections
.

  I favored my mother, but I did have my dad’s hazel eyes.

  It was a gorgeous day, mid-seventies with big, puffy white clouds rolling over us, giving us a brief reprieve from the sun before it’d beat down on us again. For all intents and purposes, it was the perfect day to be on the course.

  But, I hated golf.

  I respected it for the tradition it had in the sports world, and I figured that, had I been raised differently, I might have found joy in watching it or playing from time to time. But, as it was, Daddy had taught me as soon as I could hold a golf club that business deals were made on golf courses, and I needed a strong game to represent the family — especially once I was a politician’s wife.

  Or, a politician myself — which Daddy had said he’d have been just fine with, too.

  So, golf for me had always been a chore. It started with the pressure of learning, then, the pressure to be good. And once I’d achieved that, once I could hold my own with Dad and his buddies on the course? Well, by that time I was just so tired of golf I didn’t want to be there at all.

  I hated golf.

  But, I loved my dad.

  So, when he’d asked me to spend the afternoon with him, I was excited — even if it was to play golf. Daddy was always busy, running around the town of Stratford and making sure every wheel and axle was in place. Any time I could steal him for more than a twenty-minute conversation at dinner, I was thrilled.

  “How come your ears are steaming over there when I’m the one lining up a shot?” Dad asked, glancing at me with a quirked brow before he took a practice swing, stopping the club right before it hit the ball.

  I tugged on the hem of my skirt — which was plenty long enough, by the way — with my eyes on the group of four older women eyeing me and whispering from the seventh hole.

  “Mrs. Landish and her gaggle of geese are looking at me like I’m not a member,” I said. “Or like my skirt is so high my tush is showing.”

  Dad followed my gaze, smirking as he turned back toward the ball. “Well,” he said, squaring up his feet and lining up the club with the ball. “You know they’re always looking for something to talk about — and you skipping off with Noah Becker in the middle of the night is worthy gossip.”

  He swung, smacking the ball down the green. It flew high and arched, about two-hundred feet before it came back to Earth, and Daddy turned, a toothy grin of pride on his face.

  My jaw was hanging — and not from his shot.

  “What do you mean that I ‘skipped off with Noah Becker’,” I scoffed, neck heating.

  “I don’t know,” Dad said on a shrug. “I just heard them saying something about you and Noah Becker at the Black Hole when we were checking in for our tee times earlier.”

  “We were at the same bonfire party, yeah. But, so was half the town.”

  I glanced at Mrs. Landish again, who shook her head with pursed lips, saying something to her passenger seat rider before cruising off in her golf cart of gossip.

  I rolled my eyes. “Honestly. And Mrs. Landish wasn’t even there.”

  “She doesn’t have to be — not with the way news travels in this town.”

  “News,” I spat, plucking my driver from my bag and stepping up to the tee. “Stratford needs a craft fair or something to keep them entertained.”

  Dad chuckled at that, putting his own driver away before he leaned an elbow on our golf cart, watching me line up my shot. “Don’t worry about them. Someone else will do something equally as innocent and have them drawing other dramatic conclusions in no time.”

  I smirked.

  “But, just to be clear… you didn’t skip off with Noah Becker in the middle of the night… right?”

  I stopped where I was lining up my shot, leaning one hand on the butt of my driver as I leveled my face at my father. “Dad.”

  He put his hands up. “I was just checking. You know the reputation those boys have. Gotta make sure my little girl is safe.”

  I smiled, shaking my head as I got back to my shot.

  My pulse ticked up a bit at the lie I’d told my father as I took a practice swing. Daddy was right — the Becker boys did have quite the reputation. But, if I was judging only by the Noah I was with Friday night, I would never understand why.

  He was kind. And patient. And funny.

  My smile widened remembering how focused he looked as he brushed his horse down and got him ready to ride. But, as soon as he’d popped into my mind, I shoved him back out.

  Smack.

  My own ball went flying down the green, landing about twenty-five yards shy of where Dad’s had. He cheered, clapping me on the shoulder as we watched the ball roll a bit.

  “That’s my girl! Come on, you drive.”

  The rest of the afternoon slid by easily, but I didn’t miss how Daddy was checking the time on his watch often. If I knew him, he’d likely scheduled out the precise amount of time it would take to get in a round of golf before he had somewhere else to run.

  I was his daughter on his time, but it didn’t bother me. I knew I wasn’t the only one who needed him. When you’re the mayor of a small town in Tennessee, you’re pulled a million different directions. And, if I was being honest, he inspired me. He was the reason I’d gotten involved with volunteering, the reason I hadn’t stopped at just showing up there, but took it into my own hands to make our nursing home the nicest in the county.

  Dad was a doer, and he’d raised me to be one, too.

  “So, how is my little girl?” he asked when we were riding out to the ninth hole later that day. “Ah, I don’t even know if I can call you that anymore, now that you’re an engaged woman.”

  I smiled, taking my sunglasses off to wipe the lenses as he drove. “I’m alright, Daddy. And I’m still your little girl — even after you walk me down the aisle.”

  “Wow,” he breathed, and if he wasn’t wearing his own sunglasses, I’d have bet those hazel eyes of his were glossy. “It sounds so real when you say it like that.”

  “It’s pretty real,” I mused, putting my glasses back on. “I bet you’re tickled pink that your baby girl is marrying a politician, just like you always wanted.”

  Something in Dad’s demeanor changed then, and he cleared his throat, switching hands on the steering wheel. “Yes. Anthony is a good man. He’ll do right by you.”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  We both fell silent again, and I watched him carefully, wondering why the sudden shift in his mood. But, as soon as he parked the cart, he was out and lining up his last shot. He glanced at his watch as soon as he’d hit the ball, turning back to me with a smile that told me he was cutting it close.

  “Daddy, it’s okay,” I said, plucking my driver out of my bag again. “We’re almost done here, anyway. If you need to go, go.”

  His brows folded together. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course.” I smiled, leaning my club against the cart before walking over to give him a hug. “I’ll see you at dinner sometime this week.”

  He sighed when I was in his arms, wrapping me in a bear hug with a gentle kiss pressed to my hair. “You’re the best kid ever.”

  “I love you, too, Daddy.”

  I insisted Dad take the cart so he could get back faster, assuring him I wanted the walk. We weren’t far from the club house the way the course was lined up, anyway. And once he was gone, I swung my driver a few times behind where the tee was set up, preparing for the last long shot of the day.

  As I lined it up, my thoughts drifted first to Dad, to his reaction when I’d brought up Anthony. He loved Anthony — he and Mama had both made that very clear just after one dinner with him. And, provided that he’d just asked me to marry him a month ago and we were six weeks out from the big day, it was safe to say they both approved.

  So, then, why the odd response?

  I shook it off, cracking my neck and focusing on the ball. But as I squared my shoulders, my thoughts drifted again, this time back to Mrs. Landish and her cackling cre
w.

  Which then led my thoughts to Friday night.

  To Noah.

  I wondered if he saw it that night at the bonfire — the stress I swore I was wearing like a choker. Annie didn’t seem to, nor did anyone else. But Noah… it was like he saw right through me.

  I swallowed, let out a long breath as I cleared my mind once more, and hammered the ball down the green.

  * * *

  Noah

  Everyone knew not to talk to me that Wednesday.

  I showed up to work an hour early, desperate to get my hands dirty, my muscles fired up, my mind on anything other than the anniversary of my father’s death. That day marked nine years of him being gone, and I thought with time, that sting would fade. I thought I’d become immune to the pain, to the anger, to the aching emptiness I felt that no justice had ever been served in his honor.

  But I’d been wrong.

  Most of the week, I’d been fine. It was a normal weekend, a little partying and a little relaxing with the family. Church happened on Sunday, just like always. Once Monday arrived, I was back in work gear. And through all of that, my thoughts had been occupied by the Mayor’s daughter.

  I didn’t like that Ruby Grace was on my mind, that when I was playing cards with my brothers on Saturday evening, I thought about the way her hair smelled as she sat on that saddle in front of me. I didn’t like that when I saw her at church, prim and proper in her lavender dress, I thought about how much I liked her better in the jean shorts and tank top she’d worn. And I definitely didn’t like that when I woke up on Monday morning, I had a hard-on the size of a sledge hammer after having a dream about her.

  I wanted her off my mind. She was someone else’s fiancé. She was also nearly ten years younger than I was.

  But now that my mind was taken over by thoughts of my father’s untimely death, I wished it was just her in my head again. I wished I could think about anything other than how badly this day would always hurt, for the rest of my life.