CHAPTER 38
Tally
“You ready?” Walker is leaning against the door as I come down the stairs, his keys in hand, his Wranglers on, along with a black T-shirt that molds to his broad chest. He’s not wearing a hat, and his jaw is freshly shaved.
The man had me spread out in the kitchen last night and has taken me in almost every inch of this house and the farm. Yet my stomach still swoops in excitement the moment I lay eyes on him.
I feign indifference. “For what?”
He sighs as he pushes off the door. “The town meeting.”
“You’re going?”
He levels me with another one of his no-nonsense stares. “Are you ready?” he asks again.
I smile. “Are you asking me on a date?”
I’m wearing a new navy dress that I bought in town last week when Rosie and I forced my sister to take a break and go shopping with us. I’ve got my pink cowboy boots on, and my hair is down and styled.
“It’s a goddamn town meeting, Tally. You think for our first date I’d take you to hang out with a bunch of busybodies who fight over what color Mr. Simmons paints his mailbox and how many different ways we can celebrate spring before it’s summer?”
I shrug. “Is that what happens at town meetings?”
“How the fuck would I know?” he practically yells.
I fold my lips into my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Of course that’s what happens at town meetings. “Fine, Cowboy. I’ll not go on a date with you to the town hall meeting tonight.”
He runs his hands through his hair, which looks freshly styled, exposing some of his beautiful muscular forearms.
“I really like seeing you flustered.” I push on. “You get this little flare in your eye, and eventually you take it out on my body.”
He stalks toward me, his swagger slightly exaggerated. “Christ, woman, you’re goddamn perfect. Better get out of here before I change my mind and do exactly that.”
—
“Oh, I didn’t know you were going to be here!
” My sister cheers the second she sees me before looping her arm in mine and leading me to the front of the room.
While I’ve had plenty of time for heart-to-hearts with Walker, I haven’t had any real conversations with my sister or my mother since arriving home.
Maybe it’s because I’m afraid to admit how much I wish I could stay here.
Afraid they’ll be disappointed in me for staying away so long when my dad was alive and for giving up a plan I was hell-bent on for so long.
I glance behind me to make sure Walker is following, but he’s already been waylaid by Mr. Simmons and I’m pretty sure he’s giving Walker an earful about the photos his wife sent Walker last month.
My cowboy is holding up his hand and shaking his head, and I swear I can almost hear him say he didn’t want to see them, though the crowd is louder with their clacking of hellos and gossip.
“Incoming,” Penny mumbles as I’m tugged to a stop and return my focus to the front of the room. Nothing I can do to help Walker right now.
“Oh, I’m so excited you both could make it,” Babs says as she and Ruby block our way to the chairs.
I thumb toward the back of the room. “Looks like your husband is having a word with Walker, Mrs. Simmons. You might want to go handle that.”
She waves her hand. “A little jealousy keeps the men young and virile.”
“Not sure that’s how it works,” Penny mutters.
“You know my son is a doctor,” Babs cuts in, a twinkle in her eye.
“Isn’t he married?” I ponder aloud.
Ruby shakes her head. “We don’t like the wife.”
“She doesn’t eat meat,” Babs explains. “Or vegetables or fish. No pasta, no chocolate, no gluten, no sesame. I’m sure if you show me a food, she’ll tell you a reason why she doesn’t eat it.”
My jaw drops as I try to figure out what she can eat.
“Exactly.” Babs points to my face. “Which means we’re on operation divorce. You want to be a mistress?”
My eyes pop. “Me?”
Babs grins. “My oldest always thought you were cute.” Penny snorts, and that draws Babs’s attention back to her. “What about you? Ever consider being the other woman?”
“Oh my God,” I mutter.
“Think about it.” Babs grins as she and Ruby head over to their next unsuspecting victim.
“Why are we sitting at the front?” I ask Penny as she guides me to the first chair opposite the lectern. I place my purse on it and move to sit on the second one, but Penny pushes me down farther so I’m seated beside Fletcher, who’s staring at a note-covered paper on his lap. “Hi, Fletcher.”
He grins a hello before I turn my attention back to my sister who merely shrugs. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
“You don’t want to miss our neighbors arguing over complete nonsense? Or trying to set you up with their married sons?”
“I know the small-town thing isn’t for you, Tally. But I love it. Minus the matchmakers. And as a business owner, it’s important to get involved.”
“Whoever said small-town living wasn’t for me?” I mutter.
“Up.” Walker appears out of nowhere and stands in front of me, arms crossed, glaring.
I raise an unimpressed brow. “We leaving already?”
“I’m only staying if you sit next to me, so like I said, up.
” He motions for me to stand, and I giggle as I wait for my sister to move down a seat so I can sit next to Walker.
He takes the seat on the end, where he’ll garner the most attention, and his knee bounces as he sits and waits for me to settle beside him.
My sister leans over. “Is this a date?”
I plop into the seat between them. “Nope. Walker was very clear. This is not a date.”
Walker lets out an aggressive sigh, but when I cross my legs and rub the bottom of my pink boot against his calf, his bouncing leg comes to rest. Marginally.
Penny twists so she can look at Walker. “Why won’t you ask my sister on a date? You just stringing her along like all the other men your age?”
My lips fold in on themselves again as I stifle a laugh. Walker sinks deeper into his frown before his eyes narrow. “Why’s your mother up on the stage?”
I glance up, and sure enough, my mother is up there, along with the rest of the town council. I shrug, but Penny leans across me with an answer. “Every owner of the big businesses in town has a shared seat on the town council. They alternate monthly.”
“What?” The waver in Walker’s voice makes me turn and study him.
Penny nods. “Yeah. Rosie, Eli, Babs. I’m sure there’s others. Not me, though. The bookstore isn’t big enough.”
“Yet,” I say with conviction. “The bookstore isn’t big enough yet.”
My sister gives me a soft smile. “Thanks, Tal.”
“You say it like you want the position.” Walker scowls.
“Everyone wants that position,” she explains, and the pride in her tone takes me aback.
My sister really does love this town. I always knew she loved the store and her books, but this passion for the community?
It’s shocking. A bolt of something akin to jealousy hits me because I want to feel that way about my career.
“Not me,” Walker gruffs.
I smile and pat his thigh. “Then it’s a good thing you don’t own anything.”
He swallows heavily, and I ignore the niggle of a worry that bubbles in my stomach. “Remember, Walker, you love this town and the farm. You are so excited to be the next grand marshal. Now sit up straight. Everyone’s watching you.”
It’s a torturous two hours. Fletcher can barely get through his list of agenda points without someone interrupting him every five seconds.
When the meeting finally ends, Walker grabs my hand and drags me from the meeting before another person can stop and say “Hi, Walker.” Now that he’s running for grand marshal, he has to respond, and I think it’s driving him batty.
“You done peopling?” I ask with a smile as he tugs me out onto the sidewalk.
April has brought with it slightly warmer weather and flowers on almost every stoop.
There are trailing petunias in wicker baskets hanging in a cascade of colors and wreaths bursting with greens and yellows welcoming the new season.
I can’t help but feel slightly nostalgic seeing our town all dolled up and ready for the spring parade.
I’d forgotten that this time of year is by far my favorite.
Walker lets out a grunt as he stops under a street lamp and turns to face me. As he runs his hand through his mop of hair, my fingers twitch to do the same. “You want to maybe grab dinner downtown? Or go for a walk? Check out some of the stores?”
I try to hide the way his simple question, asked with a lilt of vulnerability, makes my heart swoon and my lips curve. “That sounds oddly like a date.”
He shakes his head. “Not a date, I promise.”
“So we’re just two people who like to kiss—”
“I like to more than kiss you,” he mumbles as his hands flex by his sides.
“And we’re just going to grab dinner and walk around town?”
“I’ll probably ask you questions, and you’ll drive me nuts and do that girly giggle thing a lot.”
“That tracks,” I say, nodding along as my stomach swoops again.
“We’ll probably split an appetizer or two, and if you get something I like, I’ll probably eat from your plate.”
My heart picks up as this crazy pull has me taking a step closer to him. “What about dessert?”
“I’d let you order whatever you want.” One brow lifts as he waits for my next challenge.
“And then when the check comes?”
He lets out a ragged breath and grumbles, “If you touch the damn check, I’ll turn your ass red as soon as we get home.”
I smile. Absolutely giddy. “Right, so you’ll pay for my dinner—”
“And your dessert.”
“And I’ll be ending the night in your bed?”
His chin dips quickly in acknowledgment.
“So what keeps it from being a date, Cowboy?”
He shakes his head slowly as he stares at my lips like this one thing will kill him. I lick them, waiting for a response.
His eyes fall shut on a curse. “Because I won’t walk you to your door and kiss you good night.”
“Oh.” It comes out as a whimper as I imagine him doing just that—walking me down the gravel of my long driveway, holding my hand, stroking his thumb back and forth.
It’ll tickle but leave me hungry for more.
I’d walk up the steps and pause by the door.
He’d brush a stray hair from my cheek, and his lips would lift at something I said.
And then there’d be that moment, right before our lips pressed together, when the possibilities of what happens next feel endless.
When hope and excitement bubble together to create that swirly feeling in my chest.
“I think I’d like you to, though,” I admit.
Surprise flares in Walker’s eyes, and he takes one small step closer. His fingers flex again, and his lips curve up, just like I imagined they would.
He reaches out his hand to me. “Okay, Tally. Would you like to go on a date with me?”
I grin right back at him and accept the gesture. “I thought you’d never ask.”