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“And how about the rest of the week?”
Tess smiled her own smug smile. “I only caught glimpses of him coming and going in his car, so there was no chance to talk to him.”
“But if he takes you up on that invitation and stops by this weekend,” Sally countered, “there’ll be no reason not to chat up a storm.”
Tess set down her empty mug and aimed for a breezy tone. “Sure, if he shows up on my doorstep, I’ll be my usual friendly, neighborly self.”
But it wouldn’t surprise her if the man in question never showed up. And if he chose not to, she would be content with that decision, Tess told herself.
Except maybe in the middle of the night, an inner voice tacked on, and she knew it had a point.
At midnight, when she’d already found her mind wandering to the moonlit house next door, contentment might be hard to come by. Hard, but not impossible.
“As intriguing as this subject is,” Sally said with a soft sigh, “I’d better head home soon. Ben’s probably close to done with the yard work by now and then we have to start setting up tables for the barbecue tonight.”
Tess brightened at the reminder that for the coming evening at least, she’d have plenty to occupy her mind. The annual party held in the sprawling backyard of the Mendoza home had become a summer tradition in Harmony. It was also good customer relations on their part. With Ben being a C.P.A. and Sally serving as his assistant, tax time had clients from all over town visiting the business they ran from their house.
“I can almost taste those Texas-style beef ribs now, Sal. Should I be there around seven?”
“Uh-huh. As usual, things start when the sun goes down.” Again a sly smile broke through. “You’re welcome to bring a date, you know. There’ll be plenty of food—even for a big man with a major appetite.”
Tess shook her head, well aware of Sally’s choice for the role. “I believe I’ll take a pass.” She pushed away from the table and got to her feet. “On the other hand, if you don’t pass on another cup of coffee, Ben and the kids may have the tables set up by the time you get there.”
“Excellent thinking,” Sally decided. “I can show up in time to supervise the decorations, which, by the way, will not include crepe paper.” She shuddered. “I learned my lesson last year after that thunderstorm blew through and left sopping mounds of it behind. This year, I’m sticking with strictly waterproof material.”
“Good plan.” Tess started for the coffeepot on the counter, then halted in midstride when the front doorbell rang. “I wonder who that can be.”
Sally arched a skillfully shaped brow. “Maybe it’s him.”
Him.
Tess’s pulse picked up a beat even as she calmly shoved the bottom edge of her striped camp shirt more firmly into the waistband of her jeans. “Not likely. It’s probably somebody selling something. Saturday mornings are great for that kind of thing.”
“Why don’t you find out?” Sally suggested, rising. “Meanwhile, I’ll pour us both another cup of coffee.”
“Okay.” Tess turned on the heel of one canvas sneaker, left the kitchen and walked down the hall, telling herself that it was ridiculous to feel this nervous about doing something so everyday normal as answering the door. It could well be a neighborhood kid selling candy to finance a school project, or an elderly resident seeking volunteers at the senior center. It could be anyone, she thought as she opened the door.
But it wasn’t anyone, she learned after one look at the person dressed in faded denim standing on the doorstep.
It was him.
“Hello, Tess,” he said in the low, rough voice she remembered all too well. “We decided to take you up on that invitation.”
We? It took her another moment and a second, more thorough look to notice that his newly adopted pet stood beside him, long ears brushing the white slats of a narrow porch floor being eagerly sniffed.
“Hello…Jordan.” She had to say more than that, she knew. She just didn’t know what. Finally she settled on action and gestured a welcome. “Come on in.”
He stepped forward with a slight tug on the dog’s leash, and spoke again as Tess closed the door behind them. “Is this a good time? I don’t want to disturb you if you’re busy.”
“It’s a great time.” A soft voice drifted down the hall from the spot where Sally leaned in the kitchen doorway, mug in one hand and a wide smile curving red-shaded lips that all but matched her figure-hugging jumpsuit. “We gals were just having some coffee.”
“Why don’t you join us?” Tess suggested, her brain kicking in at last.
His crooked smile appeared. She remembered that, too. Not to mention the thick dark hair, the keen hazel eyes and the rest of the whole potent package. She doubted she’d ever totally forget it.
“That’s fine with me,” he said, and the basset hound seemed to second the statement with a quiet woof. “Sounds like Jones agrees.”
“Jones.” Tess’s brows made a rapid climb. “You named him Jones?”
Jordan held up one hand, palm out. “Hey, don’t look at me. He picked it himself.”
Tess took a stab at making sense of that statement as she reached down and offered a hand for inspection. “Hello…Jones.” The dog sniffed her fingers but shared no clues. Giving up, she gave the dog a hearty pat, then led her guests down the hall and introduced them to Sally.
“Glad to meet you and Jones, Jordan.” Sally’s smile grew to a grin as they shook hands. “It’s so nice to know one’s neighbors. My husband, Ben, and I live a couple of blocks down the street with our two boys.”
“I recently moved in next door.”
Looking up a considerable way at the man standing in front of her, Sally’s brown eyes positively twinkled. “I know.”
“Well, let’s get you that cup of coffee,” Tess said hastily, deciding it was time to break in. The last thing she wanted was for Jordan Trask to even suspect they’d been discussing him. Which they had, of course. At length.
While she retrieved another mug from a bleached-oak cabinet, her company seated themselves across from each other at the round glass table. The dog stretched out on the misty green tile near his master’s feet.
Tess picked up the pot. “How do you like your coffee?”
“Just black.” Jordan settled back in his chair and propped one booted foot on his knee.
“And how do you like Harmony?” Sally asked as a steaming mug was placed in front of him.
It was Jordan’s turn to grin, and Tess’s turn to fan herself. She felt the urge, at any rate. What the man could accomplish with a grin should be illegal, she thought, gazing down at him. It was positively deadly to the female half of the population.
“Harmony’s terrific,” he didn’t hesitate to reply. “Strangers actually introduce themselves to you on the street, even in the busier downtown areas. It took a few times for me to expect it. Then again, one elderly, silver-haired lady didn’t say a word when she picked out a cantaloupe for me at the grocery. She just walked up, shook a few, handed her choice over and left with a brisk nod.”
“Probably Hester Goodbody,” Sally concluded. “She tends to take charge, although in the nicest way. I think it’s become second nature to her. Miss Hester taught a whole lot of us how to glue shiny stars on paper in the first grade. I think it was really a lesson in sitting still.”
Jordan chuckled. “Well, whatever the case, she certainly was friendly.”
“We’re a friendly bunch, by and large. There are some confirmed grouches around, but not too many to ignore, if we chose to.”
Abandoning her coffee, Sally leaned forward and propped her elbows on the table. She flicked a glance at Tess, now seated beside her, then returned her gaze to Jordan. “And speaking of friendliness,” she said in an offhand tone, “I know we’ve only just met, but Ben and I are a having a backyard barbecue tonight if you’d like to stop by for some ribs and a beer. Most of the neighborhood will be there.”
Tess froze with her mug halfway to her mouth, well aware that something was up. Not that she should be surprised, she told herself in the next breath, recalling the earlier twinkle in a pair of brown eyes. Sally wanted to get to know this man better—and she most especially wanted Tess to get to know him better. That was as clear as a neon sign in Las Vegas. At least it was to her. She could only hope it wasn’t as blatantly plain to Jordan.
“Tess is coming,” Sally added, oh-so-casually, placing her chin in the palm of one hand. If she caught the abruptly stern warning aimed from under her friend’s lashes, she wasted no time in dismissing it and fluttering her own. “Maybe you two could come together.”
And maybe I could strangle you, Tess thought, tightening her fingers around the mug handle.
The muscles in Jordan’s throat worked as he took a long swallow of his coffee. Then he turned his head and looked directly at Tess.
“Maybe we could,” he said. “I’d like to go. Would you go with me?”
“Oh, I’m sure she’d love to,” Sally tossed in, as though the whole thing were happily settled.
And now it was past time to choke her, Tess reflected grimly. No jury made up of single women with well-meaning friends would convict her. They’d probably give her a medal. Before she could go about earning one, though, Sally pushed back her chair and all but leaped to her feet.
“My, how the time does fly! I have to get a move on. There’s a mountain of potato salad to make and all sorts of things to do. See you tonight, Jordan. Don’t bother walking me out, Tess.” With that, she made a beeline for the doorway to the hall, sandal heels tapping the way, and turned to wave a merry goodbye.
Tess launched a steely, sidelong stare that silently said, I’ll get you for this.
To which yet another lively twinkle in Sally’s eye replied, No, with any luck at all, you’ll thank me.
Chapter Three
Jordan resumed the task of finishing his coffee, aware that his question remained unanswered. Not that he’d been expecting to ask his gardening teacher to go anywhere with him that night. His sole intention, as he’d climbed her porch steps, was to see her again.
The truth was, he hadn’t been able to convince himself to stay away any longer, not after keeping a sharp eye out for male visitors over the past several evenings and failing to see any calling on Tess Cameron. The field was clear, he’d presumed, an assumption just confirmed by her friend’s obvious effort to throw them together. She would know far better than he if another man were in the picture.
Plainly, the answer was no.
On one hand, he was glad—probably more than he should be—that his neighbor was free to consider his suggestion. On the other, he couldn’t help noting that she wasn’t jumping at the chance to take him up on it.
Jordan glanced around a kitchen as homey as the one he currently called his own. Here, rainbow shades predominated and flowers ruled, covering the chair cushions and topping the windows. More flowers were strung out in a high border at the edge of the ceiling and a short glass vase holding an assortment of the real variety stood on the counter near the refrigerator.
And there, he noticed, a new and entirely different element had won out. Displayed on the front of the tall refrigerator, held up by a bright mix of small magnets, were several crayon drawings, all of trains.
“An artist in the family?” he asked with a nod at the pictures.
Tess’s expression softened as a quick, fond smile appeared. “My daughter has her heart set on becoming a railroad engineer.”
“Hmm. Interesting.” Women did most everything these days, Jordan thought, including rocketing off into space. By the time eight-year-olds grew up, who knew what they’d be into?
“And I think she means business,” Tess added, sounding like a proud mother. “One of the first words she learned to say was choo-choo. Ali was always more delighted with the toy train chugging around our Christmas tree than the ornaments on it.”
Jordan waited, but she didn’t go on. Finally he set his mug down with a soft clunk, deciding there was no use beating around the bush. “If you’d rather go alone tonight,” he said, “I’ll certainly understand.”
Whatever he might have expected, it wasn’t the reply he got.
“If you’d rather go alone, I’ll be the one to understand,” she said bluntly. “You were shanghaied into making that offer, and I intend to see that Sally gets what’s coming to her.”
One corner of his mouth kicked up at her abruptly dire tone. “What’s the plan?”
“Boiling her in oil sounds great at the moment.” Tess blew out a breath. “Or I could be downright cruel and break one of her fingernails. They’re her pride and joy.”
“That’ll teach her.” He stretched his long legs out in front of him and the dog at his feet yawned as if the movement had interrupted a nap. Thankfully, the cat was nowhere in sight. Jordan still wasn’t sure that Jones had learned his lesson. Right now, he’d rather not put it to the test.
He had other things on his mind—mainly the answer he’d yet to get.
Reaching down, he brushed a hand over a furry head, then sat back and returned his gaze to the woman seated beside him. “Regardless of how it came about, I don’t want to take back what I said earlier. Will you go with me?”
Another silent second passed before he finally got that reply. “All right, if you’d really like me to.”
“I would,” he said, and meant it.
Trouble was, he was beginning to think he liked it too much.
“THIS IS NO BIG DEAL,” Tess reminded her reflection as she viewed it in a wide dresser mirror under the watchful light eyes of the cat stretched out in full glory on her cherry-wood queen-size bed. “It’s not a real date, not even close. We just happen to be invited to the same party, so we’re going together.”
With that thought already firmly in mind when she’d dressed for the evening, she now wore what she’d planned to wear before Jordan Trask had arrived on the scene that morning. Her sleeveless white blouse edged with lace around a notched collar was comfortably suited to the warm weather, yet fancy enough for a casual party. Likewise her short coral-colored wraparound skirt and white mid-heeled sandals. Neighbors who had known her for years, even seen her grow up, would think she looked much the same as on a score of past occasions.
Which was as it should be, she reflected, because there was nothing all that exceptional about tonight. And if she repeated that to herself a dozen more times, maybe the swarm of butterflies flitting around in her stomach would calm down.
She could only hope.
Tess was still hoping, without great success, when the doorbell rang. “No big deal,” she muttered under her breath as she headed down the stairs leading to the front entryway. Then she opened the door and the butterflies furiously flapped their way to new heights.
It was, she had to admit, a big, big deal.
Oh, not to the man who calmly gazed back at her, hazel eyes deepened to gleaming green by the jade polo shirt he wore with tan pants. Certainly not to him. But, for her, the bald truth was that this was a far-from-ordinary occasion—something, she decided, she would try mightily to keep as her secret.
To that end, she smiled a small smile and aimed for the lightest of tones. “You’re right on time.”
He returned her smile with his own crooked version. “All set to go?”
She nodded, switched on the porch light and pulled a house key from a side pocket of her skirt. “This is all I need.”
Jordan watched as Tess secured the sturdy dead bolt on the door. That she had one at all surprised him a little. The house he’d rented sported only a standard lock on the knob and he hadn’t given it another thought, not in a place like Harmony. The crime rate was probably close to zero. Hardened criminals could well be an endangered species here, a far cry from many of the places he’d known in the past.
But he didn’t want to think about the past. That was behind him.
He’d rather consider the evening to come, although he realized it would hold some challenges. Keeping his eyes off Tess Cameron’s legs was the first and foremost. It wouldn’t do his temperature any good to start imagining how that creamy skin would feel under his palms. No damn good at all.
Jordan crossed his arms over his chest as they reached the bottom of the porch steps and started down a quiet street, side by side. He was her escort for the evening, he reminded himself, nothing more. He would take her to the party. He would see her home afterward. And he would try like blazes not to think about that dream.
No garden. No fragrant breezes. No welcoming woman waiting for him, wearing nothing but a—
“Tonight seems a little warmer than usual,” Tess said.
Definitely warmer, he reflected with an inner grimace. “Maybe it will cool off later,” he told her.
He could only hope.
THANKFULLY IT DID COOL OFF, the temperature dropping fairly rapidly once stars began to blink their way into the clear sky overhead.
And Jordan managed to cool off, as well.
Then again, he hadn’t had much time during the past hour to look at Tess’s legs, he had to admit. Ever since Ben Mendoza, a raven-haired, dark-eyed, big-boned man with a smile as wide as his native Texas, had pressed a cold beer bottle into Jordan’s hand and hauled him away for a lively game of horseshoes, the woman he’d escorted had only been glimpsed in the chatty crowd milling around the spacious backyard.
Now he had another beer in one hand and a pair of long steel tongs in the other, turning ribs on one of four sizzling charcoal grills set at one side of the yard near a high stone fence and trying to look like he’d been doing it all his life. Probably no male in the history of mankind, starting with the first caveman to roast a leg of something over an open fire, had ever confessed to having less than total skill in the outdoor-cooking department. Jordan didn’t plan on being the first.
