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“Yes, really.” She swatted him with the dishrag. “Besides, I need to know I can do this on my own. Not Daddy or Tommy, but me. I need to do this. I pay rent and everything.” Her stubborn chin lifted and she looked him in the eye.
He definitely understood wanting to prove yourself, but she might be going a bit overboard. “So the steps falling in on you or the kids are part of your plan for independence?”
“I noticed they rocked a bit. I thought it was just because they’re old.” She hesitated. “Can you show me how to fix them?”
“Vickie, I’ve been known to build and repair whole houses. I think I can manage your steps.” He leaned his elbows on the yellow-tinted counter. “It’s because they’re so old, they probably need to be replaced. I can get it done in less than a day.”
“No, I can do it. Just tell me what to buy. On second thought, don’t bother. I’m sure I can find instructions online and Dannie at Bergmann’s Lumberyard can help me.”
“Vickie, don’t be stubborn. I can give you a list of supplies and one day next week when we’re both off I can show you how to build steps. I think Seth should help. Where is he, anyway?”
“He’s with my dad in the horse barns. They should be back any moment.” She cleaned the same spot she had already wiped several times. With a heavy sigh, she brought her gaze back up to his. “I’m not sure Seth wants to go to the football thing. I’m kind of making him.” She turned away and opened the worn cabinet, gathering two tall glasses in one hand.
The clinking of the ice hitting glass filled the silence. Vickie pulled a pitcher of lemonade from the green refrigerator. She finally started talking again while she focused on pouring the drinks. “Tommy could be...well, not the most encouraging person at the best of times. But when it came to Seth he was...”
She wouldn’t look him in the eye as she passed the full glass over to him.
“Remember, I know Tommy.” He covered her hand with his, holding her in place until she met his gaze. “Don’t make excuses for him.”
Pulling her hand back, she shook her head. “I just don’t want Seth to get hurt.”
“No worries there. Between Pastor John, Rhody and me it’s more about fellowship and having fun.” He grinned as he swirled the glass, watching the liquid form a tornado with the ice. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re guys, so it gets competitive, but the egos stay home. Seth’ll be fine. It’s flag, so no tackling or hitting.” Jake took a sip of his drink. “Now, what about those cookies cooling by the stove?”
“What cookies?” She blocked his line of vision and held the spatula up like a weapon. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, come on, you’re killin’ me.” He knew they would still be warm and gooey. “You know how much I love cookies straight from the oven. I’ll let you build the steps all by yourself, and I’ll just watch from a distance. Please?”
Squinting, Vickie told herself not to look into his eyes. Whenever he’d managed to make eye contact, she’d never been good at telling him no. “These are for Ashley’s horse club.” She turned with a sigh and slid one on the stainless-steel spatula. Holding it from him, she glared. “Just one?”
He nodded. “Just one, promise.”
She watched him take the chocolate chip cookie. His smile warmed her heart in a way no one else ever could.
He closed his eyes and softly moaned as every morsel disappeared. His jaw worked slowly as her gaze followed the movement of his throat.
He looked back at her. “That tasted amazing.” He stood and moved next to her in the small kitchen. Reaching across the stove put him right in her space. “What about one...”
She popped the back of his hand with the spatula. “You promised.”
He gave a sigh and stepped back as if he had made a great sacrifice. “Yes, I did.”
“I used your mother’s recipe.” Feeling awkward, she moved to the sink and dumped her ice down the drain. “We ate a great deal of her cookies at this counter or in the barn when you managed to steal some.”
Chuckling, Jake nodded. “She refuses to make them for me anymore. Not until I give her grandchildren. Parental emotional blackmail at it’s worst.”
“Why don’t you?”
“What?” He blinked.
Whatever. She knew better. Today she was in the mood to push him. He’s the one that left her and then never got married. “Start a family of your own? You’d make an awesome father.”
He shrugged, intensely focused on his drink. “Never felt right. I was on the move with the marines, and then focused on my law-enforcement career. Now working with the church keeps me busy and there seems to be a great deal of kids without fathers in their lives.”
Well, that put her in her place, since her own kids were pretty much fatherless. She started stacking the cookies in an airtight container.
She stopped and turned to the radio. A giddy feeling made her heart bubble. “Jake, it’s our song!”
His brows shot up in a question. “I didn’t know we had a song.”
Hands on her hips she shook her head at his cluelessness. “As chair of the prom committee, I selected the song for the king and queen dance. I knew we had received the most votes.” A sad smile formed. “I picked it for us.”
His forehead wrinkled. “You danced it with Tommy.”
“’Cause you never showed up.” She pointed the spatula at him. “You had the most votes. You were voted king. Because you weren’t there I had to dance with Tommy.”
He dared raise his eyebrows and give her a stunned look. “I didn’t show up? I waited for two hours under the bridge. You told me you would meet me at Second Crossing Bridge. I was so worried I finally went to your house. Your mother took great pleasure in telling me you went with Tommy. What did you expect me to do?”
“Mother surprised me with Tommy and a limo.” She turned away from him and looked out the window. She had been such a coward. She needed to stop blaming her choices on her mother. “I didn’t tell her I was meeting you. She never told me you came by the house. It should’ve been our dance.” The last sentence dropped to a whisper, her chest tight. Silence and sadness surrounded her. The ticking of the old clock erased the years.
She felt the warmth of his presence as he moved closer to her. He stopped two steps away from where she stood.
“We could dance it now.” His voice low.
She looked over her shoulder. The half grin eased the hardness of his face and the pain in her chest.
“Miss Victoria Lawson, may I have this dance?”
She turned toward him. He stood so gallant, hand out to her, waiting. One heartbeat, two, she hesitated. With a deep sigh, she made a step forward and put her hand in his.
One quick turn and he had them out of the kitchen and in the living room. An arm placed at her waist gently guided her through the small gap. His strong hand intertwined with her fingers. He led her in a tight circle around the old coffee table.
She closed her eyes and the dingy trailer slipped away. A million tiny white lights filled the new space in her vision. The soft material of her long gown swirled around her legs.
Hanging on to the moment, she took in all the details of the night they should have experienced. “Why didn’t you come to the dance?” she whispered, afraid to break the mood but needing to know the answer.
“I did.” His voice low and hoarse. “You were dancing with Tommy.” Another turn as the music faded. “I figured you’d made your choice.”
It was her fault? “I think Mama might have known I was going with you and set it up to make sure I went with Tommy, instead. I thought I would ditch him and find you.” They stood face-to-face in the current reality, no music to transport here to another time. “When you didn’t show, I thought you had given up on me.”
He pressed his forehead against the top of hers.
Vickie remained still, listening to him breathe. Afraid, she kept her eyes closed, head down. “Do you ever wonder where we would be today if I had stood up to my mother and gone with you?”
Jake’s strong hands cupped her jaw and brought her gaze up to meet his dark chocolate eyes. “We were so young.” He gave her his best half grin. “And maybe a bit dumb. I don’t know what would have happened.”
She leaned forward and closed her eyes. “You left town, and I was so impatient and couldn’t wait to start my family. Now I’m a full-fledged, messed-up adult with two kids to raise. We can’t get this right, can we?”
Jake held her face in his large hands, tilting her head up. He studied her eyes with the most forceful look she had ever seen in him. Her throat went dry as he moved in closer. His stare now focused on her lips. She stopped breathing, his head lowered. His breath, sweet from the lemonade caressed her skin.
Ashley threw the front door open and burst into the room. “Mommy! Mommy!”
Jake jumped back and coughed.
Vickie couldn’t stop the giggle that sprang from her wrecked nerves. She blinked a couple of times to refocus.
“What is it, sweetheart?” She wrapped her arms around Ashley’s shoulders as her daughter collided into her. Determined to settle her stomach down, Vickie forced a smile.
“Papa Jack’s favorite mare had its foal last night and we got to see it and touch it. It has a blond coat, like me. She is so pretty. I’m so in love with her.”
“I imagine she fell in love with you, too.” She stroked her daughter’s hair back from her face.
“I think she did. She tried following me out. Her legs are so long.” Ashley turned and faced Jake, now sitting on a bar stool at the counter. “Hello, Officer Torres.”
Seth followed a bit slower and much to Vickie’s surprise, he almost wore a smile, reminding her of the boy she used to know. “Hey, Seth, so did you enjoy the horses, too?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, Papa Jack said he can start teaching me to rope. If it’s all right with you.”
Her father walked in behind the kids with a concerned look on his face. “Vickie, why didn’t you tell me the steps were about to collapse?”
“Daddy, they’re not that bad, and I’m taking care of it.”
Crossing the small room, Jackson Walker Lawson, the fourth, called J.W. by everyone but his daughter and grandchildren, shook Jake’s hand.
“Crazy, stubborn girl. I should have come over earlier to make sure it was livable.”
“It’s livable, Daddy. It just needs a little work.” She waved a hand toward Jake without looking at him. There was no way she could make eye contact with him now and not fall apart. “Jake has offered to teach Seth and me to build steps.” She turned to Seth. “Doesn’t that sound fun, building something with our own hands?”
He shrugged again. “I guess.”
Jake stood. “Hey, Seth, are you ready to play some football?”
Seth shoved his hands in his pockets and dropped his head. “I don’t know. I’m not very good. The whole throwing or catching the ball thing seems to be too hard for me.”
Jake stood. “Hey, me, too.”
Seth shot him a classic teenager skeptical glare. “Really?”
“Yeah, that’s why I like chasing down the guys with the football.”
Confusion shadowed his eyes. “If you don’t have the ball, why bother playing?”
Vickie bit her lip. That sounded every bit like Tommy’s glorious words of self-righteous wisdom.
Jake’s jaw went hard. “Football is a team sport, Seth. You don’t have a real game without protectors and defenders.”
J.W. walked over to Seth and patted his back. “Don’t worry about what your dad said, son. You’re almost twelve and growing fast. At your age I could barely walk without tripping.” He gave Vickie and Ashley a hug. “I’m heading out. Call me if you need anything. Love you.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “Love you, too, Daddy.”
“See you later, Jake.”
“Sir.” Jake gave him a nod. After the door closed, her childhood friend stood with his hands in his pockets, keeping his gaze on Seth. “Well, I guess we’ll head out. I should have him back between four and four-thirty.”
“I’ll come pick him up, no need for you to drive all the way out here. What time is it over?”
“We’re usually done before four, but it’s pretty informal, so he can leave whenever you get there.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
They stood there like idiots not wanting to leave but not having any reason to stay.
“Are we going or not?” Insolence laced Seth’s voice.
“Seth!” Embarrassed at his attitude, Vickie sent an apologetic glance to Jake.
“It’s okay.” Jake patted the sullen teen on the back. “I’m ready for some football.” With a wink to Vickie, he followed Seth out the door.
That wink made her feel things she needed to pack away with her homecoming mums. She wanted to be independent. She needed to be independent. Instead, he made her consider giving it all up to hide in his arms. Coming home, she would have never guessed Jake Torres would be the biggest threat to her sanity and heart.
Chapter Six (#ulink_f46459b7-fe9f-5fe6-a4b1-96c50f3da789)
Vickie pulled into the gravel parking lot of the unfinished youth building. Her daughter leaped out of the car before she shut off the engine. Racing across the field, Ashley stopped at the sideline and started jumping up and down, cheering for her brother. Vickie chuckled at the look of horror on Seth’s face.
With a smile, she grabbed the extra cookies she and Ashley had made after Jake had left with Seth. Making her way across the dry field, Vickie kept her gaze on Jake. She stopped next to her daughter.
A mix of men and boys ranging in age from twelve to fifty made up the teams; her son looked to be the youngest. Seth crouched down next to Jake, his fingers in the dusty ground as they made up the line. His stare fixed on her boss, Rhody Buchannan. The Mercantile owner played quarterback for the other team. The ball snapped, and Vickie held her breath. Seth looked so small out there with the men and high school boys.
Rhody handed the ball off to Derrick De La Soto, a teenager in the youth band. Jake cut him off, forcing him toward Seth. Her heart froze, and she shot a quick prayer for her son. Seth pounced and gripped the bright yellow flag from Derrick’s hip. He jumped up with the flag high in the air. Ashley yelled his name and clapped.
With a huge sigh of relief, Vickie released the death grip on the container of cookies. Pastor John blew a whistle and called the game. The teams started mingling and shaking hands. Seth ran toward her, his hair sweaty and plastered to his skin.
“Mom, did you see what I did?”
His blue eyes sparkled in a way she had not seen in the last two years.
“Yes, I’m so proud of you.” I will not cry.
Pastor John walked over and patted Seth on the back. “Great job today, Seth. I’m glad you joined us.”
“Thank you for letting me play. Mom, I got five flags.” He bounced on the balls of his feet.
“I think we might have created a defensive monster,” the pastor said.
“Yeah, they couldn’t get through us. We built a solid wall. I love football, Mom. Dad just had me in the wrong positions.” He glanced at the box in her hand. “Can I have a cookie?”
“Oh, yes. Here, Pastor. I brought your favorite, chocolate chip pecan.” She held out the container, allowing each to take one.
“Can I take them to the teams?”
