Chapter 6
Chapter Six
It wasn’t the first time Cheyenne had said she hated him and Cal figured it wouldn’t be the last. But no matter how much he knew she didn’t mean it, the words still cut straight to his heart.
He thought about going after her. But when she passed the front window and glared at him, he figured it would be best to let her cool down before he attempted to talk to her.
Besides, he had already kept Jolene waiting long enough.
He placed his jacket and hat on the hook at the end of the booth and slid into the seat across from her. “I’m sorry I’m late. I had a Ford with a busted fan belt show up right when I was leaving. Nathan’s on lunch break so I had to deal with it.”
“That’s alright. I read while I waited.” She glanced out the window. “Cheyenne seems pretty upset. Maybe you should go after her.”
“I will, but I’ve learned that I need to let her cool off first. Otherwise, she just does a lot of yelling and screaming.”
Jolene looked at him. “Maybe she has reason to be angry.”
He squinted. “Are you trying to interfere in my parenting again, Miss Applegate?”
“I can’t see anything wrong with going to a harmless party.”
He cocked his head. “Harmless? Obviously, you haven’t been to many high school parties.
If it were kids her age, I might feel differently.
But Joey’s a senior. And when you were a sophomore would you speak up to a bunch of seniors if they were doing something you were uncomfortable with—like drinking or taking drugs? ”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have said anything. But I think Cheyenne would. She seems to have much more confidence and courage than I did.”
“I don’t know about that. I heard all about you standing up to Malcolm Taylor when he was bullying Teddy Clark in middle school. I was even too scared to go up against Malcolm.”
“Malcolm was a horrible bully, wasn’t he? I think the only reason he listened to me was because I loaned him school supplies.”
It surprised Cal that she had helped Malcolm. He hadn’t thought she’d noticed people who lived at Lucky Lane Trailer Park.
“That was nice of you,” he said. “The Taylors were pretty bad off. Mr. Taylor was a drunk and Mrs. Taylor was hooked on prescription drugs. It was no wonder that Malcolm acted the way he did. Or that he ended up in jail for cooking meth.”
Jolene nodded. “Parents play such a major role in how we turn out.” Her eyes held compassion. “You taught Cheyenne well, Cal. You need to trust her.”
“I do trust Cheyenne. It’s boys I don’t trust.” He watched and made sure Cheyenne was safely in the hardware store before he turned his full attention to Jolene.
She looked different today. Her eyes looked bigger and bluer. And her lips pinker and fuller. The color reminded him of cotton candy. It took sheer willpower not to lean over the table and see if they tasted sweet and sugary.
He hadn’t lied when he told Jolene that he wanted her.
He wanted her badly. And kissing her in her library had intensified his need.
He’d expected her to be shy and hesitant.
Instead, she’d turned out to be assertive and passionate.
Beneath the prim and proper facade was a fiery woman.
He wanted to see more of that woman. Much more.
But he wasn’t sure how to bring up the topic. So he made small talk.
“How’s your tire holding up?”
“Fine. Thank you again for fixing it.”
“No problem. It’s a nice car.”
“Thank you.”
He drummed his fingers on the table as he searched for another conversation starter.
He had never been much of a talker and it was even harder when he only had one thing on his mind.
But he couldn’t just jump into a conversation about sex.
Especially not with a woman like Jolene.
He was about to bring up the weather when she spoke.
“Yes.”
He looked at her in confusion. “Yes?”
She rolled the pearls on her necklace through her fingers and cleared her throat. “Yes, I’ll have a secret affair with you.”
The blunt words took him by surprise. They also made him laugh.
She blushed. “I guess I was too direct.”
“There’s no such thing as too direct. I much prefer people who get to the point to people who take the long way around.” He released his breath and sank back against the seat. “All I can say is thank God. I was worried you’d change your mind.”
“Change my mind? I didn’t exactly agree to an affair.”
“Not in words.”
Her eyes widened, and he thought she would blush again. Instead she smiled. It was a pure confident woman smile. It made him want to kiss her even more. But before there was any more physical contact, he wanted to make sure they were on the same page.
He rested his arms on the table and leaned closer. “Before we take this any further, I think we need to talk about expectations. I don’t want you to expect something I can’t give.”
“Like marriage?”
He nodded. “I don’t want to get married again. I don’t even want a girlfriend. I just want . . .” He struggled to find the right words and was completely surprised when Jolene supplied them.
“Sexual gratification?”
Maybe there was such a thing as being too direct. He felt like he couldn’t answer the question without appearing to be a sex-crazed caveman. Fortunately, she didn’t wait for an answer.
“You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Daily. I’m not interested in marriage either.”
He squinted. “Are you sure? I saw how happy you were when you caught the bouquet at Boone and Emma’s wedding.”
She shrugged. “I got a little caught up in the excitement of competition. But believe me when I tell you that I’m not interested in you for anything other than sex.”
That should’ve made him happy. Instead, he couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed.
Of course, an Applegate would never be interested in marrying a poor Daily.
He didn’t know why he’d even worried about that.
Or why he was so mad. This was the perfect set up.
There was no way she would ever fall for him. He was too far beneath her.
“Then I guess we have the same expectations,” he said dryly. “It will just be sex. No attachments. No strings. No emotions.”
She nodded briefly and held out a hand. “No attachments, strings, or emotions.”
He took her hand to seal the deal. As soon as he touched her, heat rolled through him like a hot prairie wildfire. She seemed to be experiencing the same reaction. Her face flushed and her pupils dilated. His name came out of her lips in a soft, needy whisper.
“Cal.”
He wanted to answer that need. He wanted to pull her over the table and hungrily kiss all the cotton candy pink right off those parted lips. But that would set the town gossips to talking. So he released her hand and sat back in the booth.
“Damn,” he breathed.
“Damn,” she echoed him.
He grinned. “I didn’t think Applegates cussed.”
“We cuss. But only in private.”
He winked. “What else do you do in private?”
She hesitated for a moment before answering. “Have secret affairs.”
He laughed and she joined in. She had a nice laugh, musical and lilting. It made him want to touch her again. Instead, he sobered and spoke softly. “Meet me tonight.”
Her smile faded. “Tonight?”
He hadn’t planned to choose tonight for their first rendezvous. But after being with her, he couldn’t wait. “Yes. I need to see you tonight.”
She hesitated for a moment and glanced around. But no one was watching them. Not even Luanne Riddell, who was sitting with Nathan and the rest of her family a couple of booths down. It was like people didn’t even consider that anything gossip-worthy could be going on between them.
Little did they know.
“Where?” Jolene asked.
He’d given a lot of thought to the question and had finally come up with a perfect answer. “The pink house.”
Jolene’s eyes widened. “Emma’s pink house?”
He nodded. “I told Boone that I would help him fix the place up before he puts it on the market. I got a spare key from him this morning and stopped by to check it out. It’s mostly empty.
But there’s a bed in the guest room.” When she hesitated, he figured she didn’t like the idea.
“If you’d rather, we could get a hotel in Abilene.
I just figured the pink house would be more convenient. ”
“No. The pink house is fine. But won’t people notice our cars parked in front?”
“You can park yours one street over and come in the back door. If they see mine, they’ll just think I’m working on the house.”
She nodded. “What time?”
That was a trickier question. He hadn’t yet figured out how to get away from Cheyenne. If he mentioned he was going to work on the pink house, she’d want to come along and help him . . . and probably spend the entire time trying to talk him into buying the house.
“I’m not sure when I can get away,” he said. “Can I text you?”
“Of course.” Jolene glanced at the expensive-looking watch on her wrist. “I’d better get back to work.” She slid out of the booth, and he quickly followed. They stood there awkwardly.
“Then I guess I’ll see you tonight,” he said.
“Tonight.” She started to leave, but then stopped and turned back to him. “I’m assuming you’ll bring . . .” Her cheeks flamed almost as red as her hair and he figured he knew what she was talking about.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said.
“Thank you, Mr. Daily.” It was funny, but she only seemed to remember to call him Cal when he was touching her.
She turned and walked out of the soda fountain.
Once she was gone, he thought about heading into the pharmacy to buy some condoms. But he couldn’t very well do that if he wanted to keep their affair secret.
So he decided to make a quick trip into Abilene.
He stopped by the Riddell’s table to give Nathan a key to the garage and tell him to keep an eye on things until he got back. Then he headed to the hardware store to talk with Cheyenne. He didn’t get to do much talking. As soon as he stepped into the back room, she started in on him.