Whisper's Edge

by LuAnn McLane

  “Sweet,” Pete said and gave Jeff a slap on the back. “You’ll pack the place, son!”

  “I hope so.” Jeff raised his bottle. “Thanks for the beer.”

  “My pleasure. Come on over tomorrow for lunch and we’ll talk details. I’m making a pot of my soon-to-be-famous chili.”

  “When are you gonna give me that recipe?” Kate wanted to know.

  “If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you,” Pete said with a low chuckle. He gave them all a salute before turning on his cowboy boots and heading back to the bar.

  Kate narrowed her eyes. “I’ve tried to duplicate that danged chili for years now but there is some elusive ingredient that I know I’m missing. I just can’t put my finger on it.”

  Savannah nodded but she was only half listening. Instead, she was pondering why she kept thinking about Tristan McMillan when she had Jeff Greenfield sitting right next to her. Although Jeff was a little bit younger, he was much more suited to her than high-powered lawyer Tristan. Jeff was a homegrown Cricket Creek son of a farmer. He drove a pickup truck and wore Wrangler jeans. He was sweet and handsome and seemed totally into her and not to mention that he could sing his face off.

  What was her problem?

  Savannah sighed inwardly. If Jeff couldn’t take her mind off Tristan, then nobody probably could. Perhaps she should redouble her efforts at flirting with cutie-pie Jeff and see where the night took her? Jeff could be just the antidote for her unrequited feelings for Tristan. Maybe a kiss would do the trick. It was worth a shot.

  Then again, perhaps she should just throw caution to the wind and follow her heart? Even though Tristan was everything she wasn’t…perhaps in the end it really didn’t matter. Ugh! Her head was spinning. She just wasn’t used to all of this man trouble.

  “Are you okay?” Jeff asked.

  Savannah looked up into his frowning face. “Sure, why?”

  “You just groaned.”

  “I did?” How embarrassing.

  He looked at her oddly and nodded. “As if you were in distress.”

  “Oh.” Savannah felt heat creep up her neck. “I…um, think I might be a little bit hungry.”

  “Well, now.” Jeff smiled. “We can fix that easy enough. What would you like to eat?”

  “How about we share some hot wings?” She wasn’t sure she wanted wings but it was the first thing that popped into her mind. Damn. Wings were messy. What was she thinking?

  Jeff nodded his agreement. “I love wings. The hotter the better. How about you?”

  “Oh, yes,” she agreed and was rewarded with one of his dimpled grins. Surely if he kissed her…

  “Sounds like a winner.” He looked over at Kate and Ben. “Y’all want to order us up a mess of wings?”

  Kate raised her eyebrows at Ben, and Savannah had to hide her smile. In all the years that Savannah had known Kate she always just answered for herself without hesitation. The mere fact that she looked to Ben for approval spoke volumes.

  “I think wings would hit the spot,” Ben said. “And maybe some potato skins too.”

  “All right, then,” Jeff said. “I’ll flag down the server.”

  “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go to the ladies room before the food arrives.” Savannah looked across the table. “Kate, do you have to go?”

  “Sure,” Kate answered, drawing a chuckle from Ben.

  “Why do y’all have to go together?” Ben shook his head at Jeff, who raised his hands in question.

  “I’ve always wondered the same thing.”

  “So we can talk about you,” Kate answered with a wink.

  “Ah, the answer to the age-old question,” Ben said. “Hurry back or I’ll eat all your wings.”

  “Don’t you even dare,” Kate warned him.

  After they reached the ladies room Kate pushed open the door. After bending over to peer beneath the stalls to see if they were alone she eagerly pounced on Savannah. “So, what do you think about Jeff?”

  “He’s cute.”

  “That’s all?” Kate turned to the mirror. She fluffed her hair and primped, which was something she probably wouldn’t have done if not with Ben.

  “He’s really nice.”

  “Nice?” Kate looked at Savannah in the mirror.

  “And talented.” Savannah tried harder. “Really talented.”

  “Oh, girlie…” Kate applied some coral lipstick and then turned to Savannah and sighed. “Fess up. It’s Tristan, isn’t it?”

  “No!” Savannah protested with so much conviction that it sounded phony even to her own ears. “Of course not,” she added adamantly, and started applying her own lipstick.

  “Then it won’t bother you that he’s here.”

  What? Savannah felt her heart rate rise, and her tube of lipstick dropped in the sink with a clank. “No, why should it?”

  “You tell me.”

  “Are you messing with me, Kate?”

  Kate blotted her lips and then shook her head slowly. “No, sugar, I’m surely not. I spotted him earlier in a booth behind us in the far corner. You had your back to him. I think he is still there.”

  “Oh, Kate, I’m with the cutest boy in town and all I can do is think about someone totally, totally wrong for me.”

  “Don’t start that he’s-out-of-my-league bullshit. I’m not havin’ it.”

  “Okay, but still, you can’t deny that we are worlds apart in so many ways.”

  “I’ll give you that.”

  “What in the world should I do? He uses words that I have no clue as to what they even mean.”

  “Follow your heart.”

  “My heart is being stupid. Leading me in the wrong doggone direction.”

  Kate gave her a tender smile. “I hear ya. Now, why don’t you give Jeff a shot, anyway? Give your stupid heart someone else to think about?”

  “I’m trying really hard.”

  Kate put her lipstick away and then placed her hands on Savannah’s shoulders. “I know I should keep my nose out of this but I care about you.” She swallowed and then shook her head. “You’re my daughter now, remember? Butting my nose in is my job.”

  Savannah felt a hot lump form in her throat. “I’ve waited a long time for someone to say that to me.”

  “Ahhh, sweetie.” Kate hugged her hard and then pulled back and tugged a couple of tissues from a box on the vanity. For a moment they both dabbed at their eyes. She chuckled. “Here come the waterworks again.”

  “I know.” She blew her nose and sniffed. “We’re quite a pair.”

  “Look, as much as I would love to see you and Jeff get together, I don’t want to push you in the wrong direction.”

  “I hear a but.”

  Kate gave her a level look. “But tread carefully with Tristan.”

  “What do you mean? Don’t you trust him?”

  Kate pressed her lips together and then said, “My instincts tell me that he’s a good person even though his grandfather is a class-A jerk. But that being said, I just have this feeling that there’s more going on than what he’s sayin’. I can see it in the boy’s eyes.”

  “Like what?”

  Kate shrugged. “I don’t know and it might just be crazy ole me being overly protective of you. Just be careful, okay?”

  Savannah nodded. “I will.”

  “Good, now we’d better tinkle and get back out there before they think we fell in,” Kate said with a laugh.

  It took all the willpower in the world not to look over her shoulder to see if Tristan was still there as she headed back to the table but Savannah somehow managed. Kate, bless her heart, gave her a discreet he’s-still-here nod, making Savannah’s heart skip a beat. The wings and skins had arrived, and although she really didn’t want any food, she accepted the little white plate that Jeff handed to her. “Thanks.”

  “I didn’t know if you wanted bleu cheese or ranch with the celery so I ordered both.”

  “I like it all as you can probably already tell.”

&nb
sp; “What do you mean?” He unscrewed a beer and placed the bottle in front of her.

  “I’m short but certainly not tiny.”

  Jeff leaned in close to her ear. “I think you look amazing, Savannah.”

  Savannah felt a blush warm her cheeks. She could certainly get used to this kind of attention.

  “I’m just stating a fact,” he said before biting into a wing.

  “Whew, holy cow these are spicy hot!” Kate reached for a stick of celery and dipped it in the cup of bleu cheese dressing.

  “Just drink more beer,” Ben advised and got a laugh from them all. Savannah was amazed at his recent transformation. He now smiled often instead of frowning all the time and Savannah said a silent prayer that it continued.

  “I like how you think.” Jeff clinked his bottle to Ben’s.

  Maybe it was the beer or the laughter but Savannah willed herself to stop thinking about Tristan and to just relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. She even tried to flirt with Jeff, but just when she thought she was succeeding his name was called to head up to the mic again.

  “Aunt Kate, did you put my name in?”

  “Who me?” She innocently put a hand to her chest. “And would I have you singing ‘Honky Tonk Badonkadonk’?”

  “Are you kiddin’ me?”

  Kate shrugged. “What can I say, I like that song. And you have that Trace Adkins kind of voice.”

  “I’ll get you back for this,” Jeff promised, but the crazy song got the crowd singing along. Savannah laughed and joined in. Jeff followed up by singing another Trace Adkins hit, “Just Fishin’,” before heading back to the table.

  “That was fun,” Savannah told him. “And you had the audience eating out of your hand.”

  “If you have something you want to hear, just let me know, okay?” Jeff gave her a big smile when she nodded and his gaze lingered on her lips. “I’ll sing it just for you.”

  “Why, thank you.” Savannah hoped that he was thinking that he’d like to kiss her and not that she had sauce on her lips. She’d just go on with her earlier plan and let him. Surely a kiss from someone as cute and sexy as Jeff Greenfield would make her toes curl like they did with Tristan. It wasn’t like she had a lot to compare to anyway. Maybe her reaction to Tristan was merely her annoying biological clock causing her to melt like cheese on a burger and want to drag him into bed and have her way with him. Well, she damn sure was going to find out if Jeff could make her hot and bothered too. With that thought in mind she vowed to devote the rest of the evening to enjoying Jeff’s company and to do her best at flirting.

  Savannah found herself relaxing and tapping her toes to the music. Kate kept them in stitches, and it did her heart good to see Ben smiling. When Jeff leaned in closer, pressing his arm against hers, Savannah smiled. “I’m having a great time.”

  “I’m glad.” His grin showed off his sexy dimple. “I’m having a blast too.” He leaned in closer to her ear. “And I’m glad that Aunt Kate is getting out. When she moved back here we thought we’d see her more often but she’s always kind of kept to herself. I hope that is changing.”

  “Oh, I think we all needed to get out and have some fun.”

  “You got that right,” Jeff agreed, and clanked his bottle to hers. A moment later someone got up and actually started singing a pretty good rendition of George Strait’s “If I Know Me.” Savannah was swaying to the song while Kate tried to talk Jeff into singing an Elvis medley.

  And then Savannah’s heart suddenly dropped to her toes and bounced like it was on a bungee cord.

  There was Tristan…slow dancing with a tall, willowy blonde wearing painted-on jeans. She was clinging to him like Saran Wrap on a tuna sandwich. Savannah wondered if they were going to have to pry her off Tristan, not that he seemed to mind one little bit.

  Savannah’s teeth ground together. Jealousy ripped through her like a tornado and she gripped her beer bottle so hard that she was sure it might shatter. She dearly wanted to take a healthy swig but her body felt frozen to the spot while she positively seethed. Savannah knew she had absolutely no right whatsoever to feel that way.

  But she did. And it wouldn’t go away.

  So she simply sat there and continued to seethe in sad silence. The only thing that made her feel a little bit better was when Ben and Kate headed to the dance floor and started swaying in each other’s arms.

  “Do you want to make him jealous?” Jeff whispered close to her ear.

  “What?” Savannah asked innocently but felt as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. With an effort she pulled her gaze away from Tristan and cling-on Barbie. “Who are you talking about?”

  “The guy that you’re staring daggers at.” Jeff nodded toward the dance floor.

  “Oh him? I’m not—” she began, but Jeff put a gentle silencing fingertip to her lips.

  And then, next to her ear once more, said, “It’s okay. Look, you were staring so hard that you didn’t even hear me ask you to dance the first time I asked.” His smile held a hint of sadness. “So, sweet Savannah, do you want to dance with me and make that dude jealous?”

  She managed a small smile. “The only thing that would actually do would be to make all of the girls in the room jealous of me. Besides, he’s the lawyer who is the new owner of Whisper’s Edge.”

  “You’re avoiding the question.”

  “Come on, Jeff, look at who he’s dancing with.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “A tall, slender, blond Barbie doll.”

  Jeff shook his head. “Wow, would you do me a big favor and come out on the back deck with me? It’s not so loud out there and I’d like to tell you something.”

  “Okay.” She’d had her fill of watching Tristan and cling-on Barbie anyway. Savannah grabbed her purse and then took his extended hand. Once they were out on the back deck the music was muted and the cool air helped to cool her anger. Because the night had grown a bit breezy, no one else was outside, giving them the privacy that Jeff had requested. He walked over to the railing and then turned to her.

  “Oh boy, Savannah.” He shook his head.

  “What?”

  “You really don’t understand how gorgeous you are, do you?”

  “Oh, come on.” Savannah rolled her eyes. “On a good day when my hair behaves I can pass for…cute.” She frowned and then blew a curl away from her forehead. “Wait. My hair never behaves. Scratch the cute part.”

  Jeff chuckled. “Why in the world would you ever want to tame those sweet-ass curls?”

  Savannah shrugged and looked down at her shoes.

  “Hey,” he said and gently tipped her head up. “Savannah, you might not be the Barbie-doll type, but girl, you are some kind of wonderful.”

  She grinned. “Wait. Isn’t that a song?”

  “Yeah, old-school Grand Funk Railroad. I can’t help it, my brain thinks in song lyrics. It would suit me just fine if life was one great big musical.”

  Savannah laughed.

  “Hey, the song could have been written about you.”

  “Really?” Savannah snorted and then started ticking off all of her flaws while pointing to each one. “I’m short, I have freckles, wild hair, pale skin, a big butt—”

  He whipped his cowboy hat off, pulled her close, and shut her up with a kiss.

  Savannah was taken by surprise and, oh, the kiss was nice…warm and pleasant. Enjoyable, even.

  But not knock-your-socks-off-bone-melting-head-spinning awesome.

  Jeff drew back slowly. “Sorry, but I did that for two reasons.”

  Savannah swallowed hard and waited.

  “First, because you are definitely some kind of wonderful but some kind of crazy too. Savannah, look, whether you believe it or not you’re gorgeous and supersexy. Not in a conventional way, but gorgeous nonetheless.”

  Savannah didn’t know what to say. This was new territory for two very different but very sexy men to think that about her but she managed a soft, “Rea
lly?”

  “Yeah, you remind me of that cool redheaded actress, um…” He paused and then snapped his fingers. “Emma…Stone. You even sound like her with that low, sultry voice and funny way about you. Damn, girl, don’t you get it? You’re the whole package and you don’t have a clue.”

  All Savannah could do was shake her head.

  “And all you women think you need to be skinny. Well, here’s a news flash for ya.” He grinned at her. “I like curves. So there, Savannah Perry.”

  Savannah laughed softly. “Are you finished?”

  “No, here’s reason number two.” But this time Jeff gave Savannah another sad smile. “Because I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment I met you, and I figured this would be my one and only chance.”

  “Now, just why is that?”

  He tilted his head toward the building. “Lawyer guy in there.”

  “I think lawyer guy in there might be a lost cause.”

  Jeff put his arms around her waist. “Is it crappy of me that I hope so?”

  Savannah chuckled. “No, flattering.” She went on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Oh no, not a cheek kiss!” He tilted his head up to the sky and groaned.

  Savannah giggled and then said, “I must be out of my ever-lovin’ mind.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.” He looked at her for a long moment and then stepped away and put on his hat. “I should get back in there and sing the Elvis medley for Aunt Kate. I told her no way but I’m sure she put my name in anyway. Do you want to make lawyer guy jealous first?”

  “No,” Savannah shook her head. “I think I’ll just head on home.”

  “I’ll walk you, then.”

  Savannah put a hand on his chest. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. There are streetlights the whole way through Cricket Creek, and Whisper’s Edge isn’t far.”

  Jeff frowned. “I don’t like you walking by yourself.”

  Savannah waved him off. “I do it all the time. And tell Kate not to worry. I’ll text her when I get home.” When Jeff hesitated she gave him a shove. “Get back in there and please your fans.”