3. Meeting the Neighbors
CHAPTER THREE
Meeting the Neighbors
O wen sat on the edge of the faux leather couch. His foot tapped on the tile floor in rapid fire, the cold Amstel in his hand the only thing keeping him sane. He put the beer between his legs and cracked his knuckles one by one.
This wasn’t his scene—the piano music in the background, the trio of elderly women pelting him with questions, a tray of color-coordinated veggies on a glass plate on the table in front of him. Eggs of a questionable nature ingested whole by damn near everyone.
But then he’d look at her . The guest of honor.
When she’d arrived, none of the questions, or questionable food, bothered him one bit. She’d walked in, paused with her eyes shut, her lips parted in a smile, and he was no longer hungry, for food at least.
All he saw, heard, comprehended, was his new neighbors’ daughter, Paige.
The world had slowed down for him the way it did in a firefight. Each hand gesture was an exaggerated movement that took on significance, each facial tic analyzed and acted upon.
Her sharp inhale of breath as she registered the people there for her.
A small bead of sweat on her brow.
Watching it trickle down till it got lost in her manicured lashes.
He inhaled her scent like prey he hunted. It was the first time since he’d left Afghanistan that he’d had a moment like this, the flooding of his senses that alerted him to a different kind of danger now.
A white-haired lady who couldn’t be younger than seventy sat beside him and put her hand on his knee, blocking his view of Paige.
“I heard you were in the service, son. My husband was, too. Army for more than thirty years. Vietnam, Korea—he saw it all.” Owen smiled the grin he’d mastered for public ceremonies.
“Well, thank you for his service. Yours, too.”
“I’ve always said it’s harder on you fellas now, though always heading off to fight, leaving family behind. I’ll bet you’ve got some stories, don’t you, hun?”
“None that you’d find interesting,” he said, his voice steady. He wasn’t being coy; he just really didn’t want to discuss that part of his life anymore.
He let the woman bring him a beer and a glass of water mostly so she wouldn’t notice how he couldn’t take his eyes off Paige. He’d caught her staring at him after she’d said her obligatory hellos but couldn’t tell whether Paige’s icy appraisal meant he didn’t fit the bill. He surprised himself with how much he actually cared.
It was so unlike him for a woman to turn his head this literally that he wondered if he was coming down with something. Because something he’d never ascribed to was the idea that a person could fall head over boots at first glance.
One of his sergeants told him if the Marine Corps wanted him to have a spouse, they would have issued him with one. He didn’t disagree. His buddies had come home from a seven-month deployment to a wife three months pregnant. Others were served divorce papers by wives who’d come to the homecoming with a boyfriend in tow.
Maybe at one point he’d have bought into the fairy tale. But the Corps had made him a new—not necessarily better—person. He hoped leaving it would change him as well, especially when it came to his nightmares.
He was so close to moving past the trauma of the Marines—only the nights haunted him still, woke him in sweats as he recalled the horrors his brain pushed back to his subconscious during the daylight hours. As soon as he fell asleep, he ran the risk of being assaulted by his demons.
Something unexpected had occurred that morning, though. The shadows slunk back to the dark recesses of his mind, lying in wait, but otherwise unthreatening. Only the shadow of the weight from his rifle and a killer scar across his right shoulder reminded him of his past life. Even that weight lightened each day.
That morning he hadn’t reached for his weapon when he’d swung his legs out of bed for his daily pre-dawn run in the hills behind his farmland. It was progress, no matter how small.
Just not good “tea talk” with gossiping old ladies. He needed some air. And better food.
His stomach grumbled something fierce, and the overwhelming desire for a hamburger, a juicy quarter pounder dripping with oil, ketchup, and mayo, hit him. Maybe some bacon, too. His mouth watered, joining the mutiny of his body against his brain.
“Are you having fun?” the host, Julia asked. He hadn’t seen her approach which shocked him considering the waft of perfume that overwhelmed his nostrils now that she was close. Expensive. Classy.
The fact that she’d gotten by his normal defenses both worried and excited him. It meant he’d relaxed his vigilant scoping of the terrain, keeping his back to any walls, his eyes and ears opened to any lurking danger. Progress.
“It’s a nice party, ma’am. Thank you for the invite.”
“Did you get any food? I could bring you some deviled eggs if you’re hungry.”
Deviled eggs. So, the abominable food had a name to match. She hovered over him a little too close for comfort, perched on the arm of the couch. He had no escape route carved out with the older redhead beside him, her thigh against his. He was trapped.
“Thank you, I’m all set,” he said, patting his stomach. It had better not betray him by grumbling again. He took a pull from his now-warm beer, trying not to think about a slab of red meat sandwiched between two buttered buns.
“So, where did you say you came from?” Julia asked him, her hand on his bicep. Her eyes narrowed. The smirk on her lips spelled trouble.
“I didn’t,” he replied. This woman was probably hell on wheels if she didn’t get what she wanted, so he threw her a bone.
“I did my latest stint in Hawaii with the Third Marine Division. Before that, all over. Pendleton, Lejeune, Abu Dhabi. It’s been quite a ride, ma’am.”
“Call me Julia,” she said. “Do you ever miss any of it?”
“Not sure what you mean, ma’am,” he said.
“The adrenaline, the adventure of combat.” She had a flush to her cheeks as she said this. He couldn’t give her the satisfaction when she was clearly baiting him.
“Combat is many things, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an adventure, ma’am. A lot of good men and women lost their lives so you could go adventuring, and I assure you it wasn’t a pleasant death.”
Her cheeks went pale, and her eyes got big.
The weight of a black, metal bracelet he wore on his right wrist, three names of his fallen brothers etched in silver, felt heavy. It told the story of war not shown on TV. The true cost he’d paid. He rubbed it, considering it a talisman of sorts.
“I see. I’ll be sure the women from the salon bring you some more eggs. Enjoy the party.” He chuckled. Julia was a firecracker, the kind that got you in trouble if you let your hands get too close.
Shaking his head, he realized he somehow allowed himself to get cornered by a new pair of older women, this time asking about his social life. Fitting.
“Are you seeing anyone special?” one of them asked, her hand on his flexed forearm. His gaze settled on Paige walking through the crowd, her legs crossed at the ankles when she stopped to talk to her brother, showing off her long, taut thigh muscles.
He raked his hands through his hair before hiding it back under his backwards cap, feeling as cornered as he’d been in the Afghan base when the RPG had rocketed over the wall.
“I’m not. I just moved to town and want to get settled before I think about adding a distraction that might derail my home improvements.” It was the truth, but knowing grins crept up on the lips of the two women. He was pretty sure all they’d heard him say is “I’m single.”
When wallet-sized photos of eligible granddaughters and nieces materialized in front of him, he knew he’d screwed up. He smiled and excused himself to grab another drink.
Jesus. The whole town was relentless.
Paige paced the small back porch end-to-end, and he sighed. She’d be hands off, now. He definitely hadn’t figured on contending with meddling like this when he’d decided on country living. The small town gossip was like living on base again, his arrival a curiosity that could only be sated by machine-gun-firing questions his way that he could dodge or let hit him with all the force of an actual .45. It was lose-lose.
He dug around until he found an amber, and with one move, twisted the top off on his forearm and took a pull from the longneck.
While he sipped his beer, he watched Paige outside with her brother. His imagination went rogue, picturing her compact frame beneath him, his head bent down to kiss her…
Fuck. He shook his head, feeling the altitude and a light beer buzz. This was the wrong fucking time and the wrong fucking place to get interested in a woman.
He turned to leave for real this time—it was high time he started the repairs the owner had ungraciously left for him—when the patio door slid open. Warm air brushed against his cheeks reminding him of the heat that he’d be working in.
Did he really want to start work like that?
Brad walked through the door, a wane smile on his face, his puffy eyes damp and lined with red. Paige followed behind him, longneck in hand, and grinned at Owen when their eyes met. It was all he could do to keep his eyes on hers and not trail his gaze down her body.
Brad cleared his throat, cutting the tension.
“Hey, Brad.” Owen called back his military-to-civilian training. State your name, your purpose. Give them a chance to do the same. “Not sure if you remember, but I’m Owen Johnson. We met last week at your folks’ place.”
“Sure. Former Army, right? Good to see you again.”
Owen shook Brad’s hand. The guy was stronger than he looked, like he’d done some work on a farm himself. Owen was pretty sure Brad said he was a teacher last week, but now Owen couldn’t recall. He’d met a lot of folks over the past six days.
“Marines, but yeah. Decided whether I could fight a few wars, how difficult could farming be? Boy, was I wrong.”
Both men laughed. Owen’s heart skipped a few beats with the way Paige looked up at him. Her eyes twinkled independently of the fluorescent tube lights that lined the ceiling, reminding Owen of the small fireflies he’d seen at dusk on a training op in Georgia.
“You should ask my dad for help. He’s a nice guy, and he’s forgotten more about farm life than most of us will ever know,” Paige said, sidling up next to her brother, her hand extended to Owen. He shook it, and marveled at how soft her palm was despite her strong grip. Both of these siblings surprised him, something that didn’t happen often in his line of work.
“I’m Paige,” she added, “Brad’s sister. His much younger sister.” She bit her bottom lip, and his heart beat against his rib cage. When she broke out in a grin, a swelling pressed against his jeans.
Granddaughters and barn walls evaporated from his thoughts.
“I’m Owen.”
He didn’t let go of her hand until she released his. The indescribable need to be close to her, to feel her skin on his, overwhelmed him and no amount of self-checking his priorities could make that feeling dissipate.
He was, as his Marines would say, fucked.
“I heard,” Paige said, her cheeks pink atop the tan. “Welcome to the neighborhood.”
When she slid her hand through her short hair, he imagined what it would feel like to have those soft, spiky tendrils tickling the space between his fingers.
Jesus.
His guys would eviscerate him if they heard his internal monologue. They’d already called him a pussy for getting medically sepped from the Marine Corps. He couldn’t let civilian life infiltrate the places the service had made him strong.
But when she smiled up at him, then bit her lip, all of that went to shit.
“So, what do you think of our humble town?” she asked. “I’d be happy to show you around while I’m here if you need a guide.”
Though he couldn’t imagine not being able to navigate the one-stoplight town on his own, he found himself agreeing to her proposal. That he was at half-mast after a few words with her didn’t hurt the situation.
“I’d like that. A welcome back is in order, I hear,” he said, waving his arm over his head towards the gaudy pink banner above them proclaiming, “Welcome home, Paige!”
He got the impression she didn’t appreciate the party much either, especially when she rolled her eyes at the banner.
“Yeah, I guess so, but it isn’t really a ‘welcome back.’ It’s more a quick visit to see family before the next adventure.”
Just like that, Owen’s erection faded along with a hope he didn’t know he was clinging to.
She was leaving?
So soon?
To where?
So what if she is? He’d already decided he needed to concentrate on his farm for at least this year, and being distracted by a woman, even a breathtaking distraction like Paige, would go against that self-directive.
“That sounds awesome. Where’re you headed next?” he asked, pulling from his beer so she wouldn’t see through to the disappointed look on his face.
“Aw, my kid sis actually doesn’t know,” Brad interrupted with an awkward laugh. “The world traveler has been flummoxed by the world, and I think she’s staying here, finally. She just doesn’t know it yet.” Owen knew emotion and what flashed across Paige’s face was anger.
“I am not,” she huffed. “When I have a free second to get on the damn internet, I’ll track down a clinic that needs help, and be gone before you can miss me.”
“Didn’t you say you weren’t sure you’d find anything in the car on the way over? I just want you to be prepared if there isn’t anything for you, Paige. I don’t want to see you disappointed.”
“I won’t be. That’s the beauty of having low expectations, Brad,” she said. Owen swore Paige looked right at the host of the party, Julia, when she said that.
Brad’s eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms over his chest. This family had some interesting dynamics. He wished Paige would be around long enough that he could find out just how interesting.
“I’m gonna grab another beer,” Brad said, his voice coming out a little gravely now. “Want anything?” he asked Owen.
“Nope, got one here. Thanks.”
“There’s a great big world out there, Connors,” Owen told Paige when her brother was out of earshot. “Don’t give up yet. You’ll think of something.”
He didn’t know what made him side with her, especially when she wasn’t sticking around. Not to mention the fact that he didn’t even know what job she was looking for.
He didn’t have a clue whether her brother was right about her not being able to find whatever she was looking for, but she needed his support. The way her face reflected her heartbreak when her brother struck the obviously sensitive trigger of her staying in Banberry told him that much.
“Thanks. I know I will, regardless of what this clown thinks,” she said as Brad shuffled back towards them. He looked as tired as his sister. “Um, Brad, do you mind taking me to Mom and Dad’s? I think I’m gonna take you up on that apartment subterfuge with a nap and a shower. I’m sorry,” she said, putting her hand on Owen’s, “I don’t mean to be rude.”
Owen got it—the girl had only been home a couple hours and was stuck at a gathering that frankly looked more like a retirement home shindig than a welcome-home party for a jet-setting woman in her late twenties.
Still, if she left, it would mean she’d have to take her hand from his, and he liked it there.
Without thinking twice about it, Owen let the part of him at half-mast again get in the way of the plans he’d made for his afternoon.
Food. Maybe work on the barn. Another beer on his land.
“Why don’t I take you? We’re neighbors after all, and I was just heading that way myself.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all. It’d be my pleasure. Besides, isn’t that what neighbors are there for?”
She didn’t pick up on his lie. There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d have made the same offer to one of the old ladies who’d all but betrothed him to one of their granddaughters.
“Great, I’ll tell my folks.”
Owen shook Brad’s hand, accepted his thanks for taking care of his sister so he could co-host the party, and tried not to take too much offense when Brad reminded him that his sister would be leaving again in a few short days.
Owen understood. Her life resembled the one he’d led the past fifteen years, too dictated by the here and gone again to be strapped down to a town, or a man. But that didn’t stop him from wishing he’d met her when she yearned to slow down a bit, plant some roots. When she might have been on the same page as him, no longer a nomad.
When they got to his truck, he helped heft her into it. He gulped back an urge to run his hands down the smooth, tanned legs on display, shutting the door on them and his lust.
“So, why’d you come back to Banberry at all?” he asked her when they were both buckled in and heading south down the road towards the farms.
Though he had to fight to keep his eyes on the road and not on her, he sensed her gaze boring into him.
“I feel like I owe them,” she replied.
“Your folks?”
“And Brad. We’ve always been close, and even though I know he’d be happy for me if I found a way to keep practicing medicine abroad, I know he loves catching up face-to-face. To be honest, I love that, too. He’s always been my rock.”
So, this stunning, sprightly woman sitting in the passenger seat of his truck, filling the cab with the scent of the islands and making it impossible to think, was a physician? Jesus.
“I liked him,” Owen said, referring to her brother.
He risked a glance over at her, her legs tucked up under her, her chin on her knees. The warm smile on her face made his erection sneak back. He moved his right leg to cover it from her line of sight. The last thing he wanted was to scare her away with his half-hard penis that came to life anytime he looked at her. It was like a bad horror movie.
“Me, too,” she echoed.
“So, what do you practice?”
“I’m in pediatrics. I was working as the chief of a small pediatric clinic in Caicos, and before that wherever I was needed. West Africa most recently.”
“Sounds like they were lucky to have you,” he said.
“Thanks. I like to think the same thing about the islands. I was lucky to be there, to have been all the places I’ve been able to call home, to serve. Now it’s just a matter of finding the next place I’ll be fortunate enough to go.”
“Is it the place that calls you, or is it here that pushes you away?” he asked.
He almost stopped the truck, pulled over to the side of the road when he heard her sharp intake of breath. A quick glance said she was okay, but the smile on her face was gone, replaced instead with pulled-together brows and teeth that bit her bottom lip.
Blood flowed to his groin and he groaned inaudibly. Was there nothing this woman could do that his body wouldn’t react to?
“That’s a question I haven’t heard before,” she whispered. He couldn’t be sure she wasn’t talking to herself just then. “I don’t know, to be honest. I hadn’t considered the possibility that it could be more than the world calling to me.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Owen told her. She nodded, but her gaze remained locked on the land in front of them.
“You didn’t, but you did give me some things to think about,” she said. She put down her legs, and straightened her back, her breasts pushing out as she stretched.
He was glad he was driving and had the distraction of keeping them safe so he didn’t ogle her, his now-pulsing member behaving like a horny teenager. He was acting like an asshole. As they pulled up to her driveway he found himself a little bummed she didn’t live farther from her brother so he could spend more time with her.
“We’re here,” he announced, immediately wanting to smack himself for pointing out the obvious. She knew where she lived.
“I see that,” she said, nudging his shoulder with her fist. He pretended it moved him more than it did, swaying towards his door.
“Don’t get out,” she said. “I’ve got this. But thanks. For the ride and the conversation. I’m glad you’ll be next door while I’m here.”
Now his arms erupted in goose bumps, and he was thankful he’d chosen a long-sleeved flannel and jeans despite the heat. At least she wouldn’t see how much each word she said mattered to him. He was glad she was close, too, earlier promises to forgo women and distractions forgotten completely.
“It was nice to meet you, Paige,” he told her, whispering the sentiment in her ear when he leaned over to open her door for her. Her breath hitched and he got chills on more than just his arms as he realized he had the power to do that to her.
He held in a chuckle when she stammered a “You, too,” before sprinting out of the cab. Just before she got to her door, she turned and looked back at him with wide eyes and those damned parted lips he wished he could explore.
Maybe, even if it took a while to figure out the business of farming, he’d made the right decision in coming here.
That, or it would be the death of him.