“Small town politics?” Rocky grinned
“Yes, it is . . . ain’t it grand?” I winked.
“How do you remember all of it? If I lived her twenty years, I’d still be trying to figure out all the ins and outs.” He combed back his perfect dark hair with his finger tips.
I nodded sympathetically. “When I was in Florida, I would pass someone on the strand, and I couldn’t say, ‘good morning Mary Ruth, how’s your new granddaughter?’ because I didn’t know a soul down there. This is home. I know the Spensers. Millie and Granny canned pickles together. I know all five of their sons. Momma dated one of them before she fell in love with Ashley’s daddy. But I don’t know the people in your world. And if we’re totally serious, Rocky, can either of us leave the comforts of their background to go to a place they’re not suited to. If you ever came here permanently would you someday resent me for it? I don’t want to live anywhere but right here. It’s something we’d better think about before we let our emotions dictate our common sense.”
“But what do we do about the fireworks when you lean across the desk and kiss me? Tell me, Jessica, how do we convince our hearts that our bodies don’t want to cooperate?”
“I don’t know but we’d better figure it all out before we both have broken hearts.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I locked the office door at five o’clock and Rocky drove me home. “I’ll be ready when you get back.” I leaned across the console and kissed him on the cheek.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“This is my surprise, so you have to do what I say, and not ask any questions.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded. “My fate is in your hands.”
Peeta was fed and I’d packed a few things inside a huge straw purse. I changed into a pair of faded jeans and a tee shirt then tucked my small make-up kit from the bathroom into the purse. I locked the door and sat down on the porch to wait. Rocky’s truck rumbled into my driveway a few minutes later and I jogged out to it, not giving him time to get out. He had changed into jeans like she was wearing, a pair of athletic shoes and a knit shirt with three buttons at the neck.
“Turn left at the next corner and head north out of town,” I told him.
We drove for five miles in comfortable silence. He was sure a trusting soul. I could have been taking him to the woods to kill him and bury him and yet he was obeying my commands.
“Where are we going?” he finally asked.
“We’re almost there. Make the next right.” I could see a big two story farm house in the distance, sitting alone, like a silent sentinel set back in a grove of pecan trees.
“Who lives here?” he asked.
“I do.” I smiled at him. “At least when I want to. This is my grandparent’s place. They left it to Mama, who left me the house since I loved it so much, and the five acres it sits on. The rest of the farm belongs to Ashley. She and Danny run about a hundred head of angus out here.”
I hopped out of the truck and met him at the gate. Taking his hand, I tugged it toward the house. “Come on. I can’t wait to show you the inside.”
“Do you do this often?” He asked when I produced a key and opened the front door.
I stopped abruptly in the middle of the foyer floor. “No, Rocky, I don’t. I come here pretty often on weekends and bring Peeta. We pretend we’re back in civil war days and this is our plantation. But no, this is the first time I’ve ever brought a man to this house, if that’s what you’re asking me.”
“Thank you,” he said simply. “Are we cooking here tonight?”
“We’re having spaghetti, French bread, and Asti wine. Then we’re having strawberry shortcake for dessert with real whipped cream. After that I planned on a movie.” I dropped my purse on the foyer table. “And you can help me cook.”
He looked around at the huge country kitchen with a heavy, round oak table, surrounded with six matching chairs, in the middle of the blue tiled floor, shining with a thick coat of wax. Double windows looked out over the back yard and wooded area where two white tail deer fed on the green grass.
He pointed and whispered, “Do you see that, Jessica?”
“They come up most evenings. Peeta likes to fuss at the squirrels in the pecan trees. They think this is their territory and he’d like to eat them for supper. They’re lucky there’s glass between him and them.” I took a skillet from the cabinet and threw in a tablespoon of butter. When that melted I diced onions and peppers straight into it. “You can set the table. We’ll watch the wild life while we eat.”
He slipped his arms around my waist and kissed me on the neck. “Why do you live in town, when this is here?”
“I always thought I’d move out here after Grandpa died, but my house is so close to work. Maybe I will move someday.” I loved his warm breath on my neck but if he didn’t take a step back, we weren’t going to have supper at all. We’d wind up in the bedroom and forget all about eating and I needed strength for what I planned for the rest of the night.
“Dishes are in that cabinet. When you get the table set, go look around the place. The living room is across the foyer. The den is behind that. Sun porch is wonderful this time of evening if you want to unwind and watch the deer and squirrels. There are four bedrooms upstairs. One for Granny and Grandpa, one for Ashley, one for Mama and the yellow one is mine.”
“You lived here?” he asked.
“Until I was about four and Momma bought her own place in town. Ashley was old enough to watch me in the summers by then, and Granny’s health was beginning to fail so I guess I was too much for her to keep up with.” I added meat to the sizzling onions and peppers and put a pot of water on the back burner.
He gave me a butterfly kiss on the cheek and quickly set the table. I could hear doors opening and shutting as I finished up the simple supper. It was dusky dark, the twilight of a summer evening, when we finished dessert and Rocky pushed his chair back.
“That supper was amazing and the view both inside here and out the window is priceless.” He reached across the table and covered my hand with his. “Now, does the maid come in and do the dishes, or can I help with them?”
“I never turn down help.” I answered. “But we’ll just put them in the dishwasher. Granny insisted on all the modern conveniences, and even Grandpa, as gruff as he could be would never cross Granny. Cause if Granny wasn’t happy, wasn’t nobody happy.”
“Well, we can’t have an unhappy granny. Do you realize this would be the absolute perfect place to raise a family?”
Love.
Family.
The things I wanted most in life and was too afraid to even say the words out loud. “Of course it would. Mama was raised here and so were we up to a point.”
I carried dishes to the cabinet. He rinsed them and put them into the dishwasher. Then he circled my waist with his arm and together we went to the living room to watch a movie. I would have rather gone straight up stairs but tonight it was about us being together as much as having wild, passionate sex.
I slid the movie into the VCR and sat down beside him on the couch, snuggling down into his shoulder with a sigh. This was the way I’d like to spend all my evenings—a nice dinner after work, maybe a movie, or when it wasn’t so hot, we’d sit on the porch while the kids ran out the last bit of a day’s worth of energy, then sleeping together in one of the bedrooms upstairs. It was a fairy tale but it was my story and that evening I could tell it any way I wanted.
When the movie ended, he tipped up my chin and kissed me. How could I have ever disliked this man? He was sweet, kind and ultra romantic. Or was it just a ruse so he could have a good vacation. When he went home to Florida would he even remember me?
“I don’t want to go back to the motel,” he whispered. “But tomorrow is a work day and it’s after ten so I suppose we should lock up and leave, right?”
“I thought maybe we’d spend the night,” I told him.
“I didn’t bring my jimmies,” he teased.
“Neither did I. Does that mean we…”
He scooped me up like a bride—as if I weighed less than a feather pillow—and carried me up the stairs to my old bedroom. I’d forgotten how small that regular sized bed was until he laid me down on it and began to slowly remove my cloths, taking time to kiss my body as the pieces came off.
Fire—that’s what my insides felt like every time his lips touched my skin. I was breathing as hard as if I’d just jogged three miles by the time he removed my bikini underwear, one inch at a time. I wrapped my arms around his neck. In the scorching hot kisses, I tasted the flavor of wine and strawberries with just a faint whiff of spaghetti behind it at the same time I felt my knees go completely weak.
“Mmmm,” I groaned.
I’m not sure how he got out of his clothing but suddenly he was stretched out beside me on that small bed, one naked body against the other. I touched his face, trailing my fingertips from his eyes to his mouth, and then on down to all that soft, soft black hair on his chest. I’d always thought love at first sight was a myth but right then I wasn’t so sure about my conviction. I hadn’t actually fallen in love with him the first time but less than two weeks since then might come close to qualifying.
“I want to make love with you. That’s what I want more than anything else in the world tonight. I want to feel your body next to mine and I don’t want to stop until we’ve satisfied this craving,” he said.
My fingertips felt hot as I ran them through the soft dark hair on his chest. The night before hadn’t been nearly this heady so what was the difference? Could it be that we had had sex the night before and tonight we were making love?
I pulled him on top of me and again, we fit together so well that it seemed as if we’d been doing this for years. When it ended and I could do nothing but pant, I simply laid there with my long legs entwined with his, hoping the feeling would never end.
“Rocky, I’m not this person. I don’t jump into relationships and go to bed with guys I’ve only known a few days,” I said when I could speak.
“I know, darlin’,” he said softly. “But I’m sure glad you made an exception for me, especially when we got off to such a horrible beginning. You know, I think I was in love with you that night that you tripped me.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Rocky had been in Jefferson for a whole week that Friday. How could that be possible? He’d gone to show a local house that morning and she was working on the agency website, taking out sold properties and putting in the four new ones they had acquired that week when the bell above the door rang and a woman walked in the front door. She wore a pair of bright red flowing pants and a little white cotton shirt. Long, dark hair fell into curls, floating on her shoulders and her big blue eyes flashed a lot of anger.
I pasted on a smile. I didn’t even know the girl so if she was angry it couldn’t be or something I’d done. “Good morning. What can I do for you?”
“I’m here to see Jessica Graham.”
“Do you have an appointment?” I asked.
“I don’t need an appointment. This is personal,” the woman snipped.
“I see. I’m Jessica. Now what can I do for you, Miss . . .”
“Sabrina O’Dell. Is Rockwell still here?”
“Who?”
“Rockwell Rycroft?”
“Oh, you mean Rocky?” At first I thought maybe she was his sister but the woman I saw in the restaurant had much shorter hair than this one and her shoulders weren’t as wide.
“Yes, I mean Rocky. God, I hate it when people call him that. It sounds like a nickname for a cartoon character. His name is Rockwell.” Her chin shot up and she looked down her nose at me. “Of course, in a place like this where everyone calls everyone else by stupid names, I suppose he’d be called Rocky. I’m here to tell you that it’s time Rockwell comes home where he belongs. This hole in the road isn’t his style. I don’t know what hold you’ve got on him, but honey, it won’t last long. He’s played the field a few times before, but he always comes back to me,” she said brazenly.
“Are you his wife?” I asked.
“No, but I will be by Christmas. It’s time for him to settle down. It was decided years ago that we would be together.” Sabrina flipped her hair to one side. “I’ve been in Europe for a month. When I got home yesterday, Uncle Jake told me where he was and how it all started. So this is his last fling, and now he’s going to get married and make a good partner in the firm.”
“You seem real sure of yourself,” I said.
“Tell him Sabrina has been here. She’s home from Europe. She’ll be at the hotel in Tyler tonight and she’s expecting him at seven,” Sabrina stood up to leave.
“I’m not telling him jack squat. I am not your hired help.” I said without raising her voice.
“Oh, yes you will, or I’ll track him down and tell him myself,” she threatened.
I pulled a piece of business stationary from the desk drawer, wrote on it and handed it to her. “He’s showing a house at this address. And while you are there, could you ask him to pick up a dozen chocolate chip cookies from the bakery. It will save me a trip.”
“Oh, honey, you’re playing with the big dogs.” Sabrina snatched the piece of paper right out of my hands.
“If a woman can’t play with the big dogs, then she’d better get off the porch, right?” I stood up, towering over her. “This happens to be my porch. I can play with the big dogs and I haven’t lost a game yet. So chase your happy little butt on out to that address and see who wins today . . . honey.”
“You are a big, dumb, blonde bitch. Rocky won’t even come back to get his belongings, let alone bring home a cookies.” Sabrina sniffed loudly as her high heels stomped across the floor, losing the effect on the plush carpet.
“One.” I held up a finger.
“What?” Sabrina turned around.
“One time you get a warning for calling me a bitch. The second time you get your teeth rearranged. The third time there won’t be a Sabrina left to hassle anyone else about Rocky.”
“Don’t threaten me.” She hissed.
“No threats. Just solid cold facts. You got the warning. Now go see Rocky and drive real easy on your way out of town. If you break one little speed limit law; if you don’t slow down for a stop sign or forget to wear your seat belt, you might end up in jail, and wouldn’t it be a shame if there wasn’t a lawyer in town to represent you or even a bail bondsman willing to get you out. Here in the backwoods we take care of our own.” I told her.
She slammed the door hard enough to rattle the paintings on the wall.
* * * * *
“Good morning,” Ashley poked her head inside the door thirty minutes later. “I am not at work but we are home. We had a wonderful time and I’ll be back at work on Monday.”
“It’s been a crazy morning.” I told her all about the visit from Sabrina.
Ashley sat down in one of the chairs across from my desk and nodded at all the right places. “What you should do, is get in your car and go to that property for sale to kiss her feet. She has brought this whole thing to a head for you. Either he’s serious or else it’s over. Either it’s a relationship or it was a fling. Either way, at least you’ll know.”
“I don’t want it to be over,” I groaned.
“News flash, little sister,” Ashley grinned. “Just before Danny proposed to me, there was another woman—a cute red haired girl from up around Smithland. She came over here one Saturday night with a bunch of her girlfriends looking for me. I got word that they were asking about me, so I found them and asked what the deal was. Same story. Different age. Different type. She said she’d been sleeping with him for a year and was going to mop up the streets of Jefferson with me if I didn’t bow out,” Ashley laughed.
I got up and paced around the room. “I never heard this before. What did you do?”
“Told Mama. She told me the same thing I just told you,” Ashley said.
“But you wer
en’t sleeping with Danny?” I said.
“Oh, yes, I was,” Ashley giggled. “But I didn’t tell Momma that. When I gave Danny a chance to explain he admitted that he’d gone out with her three months before but had broken up with her to date me.”
“What will I do if he goes with her?”
“Get over it,” Ashley said. “That’s the only option you have.”
“I will not!” I clenched both hands into fists. “I will fight that hussy every step of the way. Remember what Mama always said? Anything worth having is worth fighting for.”
* * * * *
“Anybody home?” James popped the door open minutes after Ashley went home. “Jessie? Rocky?”
“Back here,” I yelled from the utility room where I was hunting down a roll of paper towels to clean up a cup of coffee I’d spilled. “James is that you?”
“Where’s Rocky?”
“He’s showing a house and hopefully putting an old girlfriend packing.”
James hiked a hip on the edge of the desk. “Oh, I hear a story. I’ve got an hour before time to be in court. Spill it. I came by to tell you that I’m putting my house up for sale and looking for a place with maybe five acres or ten. You want to sell me your farm house.” He slapped his forehead with a palm. “I’m getting ahead of myself. Tell me your story about this old girlfriend thing.”
I wasn’t sure my nerves could tell the story again, but it came tumbling out as I paced around the desk half a dozen times. James frowned and then laughed and then frowned again.
“You should’ve knocked her through the plate glass window. I would have defended you and gotten you off the assault charge and you’d have felt a lot better right now. Can we talk about my house or do we need to discuss this some more?” He asked.
“Why are you putting your house on the market? You’ve loved that little cottage ever since you bought it two years ago.”
Small Town Romance Collection: Four Complete Romances & A New Novella Page 61