Chapter 4
Posy
Morning Star is calling my name. I need something sugary sweet after last night’s craziness.
Yawning, I walk down the sidewalk until I get to the door, waving at people here and there that smile at me.
It’s odd though. I don’t know all these people but they seem like they know something I don’t.
Slipping inside the door, I groan as my eyes drift down the display case. I need a donut like you wouldn’t believe.
I get in line and after a few minutes of people looking at me strangely and whispering, I finally make it to the front of the line.
I recognize Callie’s smiling face and I grin back at her. “Hey. What’s up?”
“What are you doing here so early? Considering how late you were out last night and all that excitement I figured you’d be sleeping in.”
Her sparkling eyes make me groan. “And this is why I sometimes don’t like small towns. Seriously? It hasn’t even been a whole day.”
Oh, Ma Jacobson has already been in town to do her weekly shopping.
She’s been talking all over town about how you and your fiancé have been keeping it quiet for so long but the cat’s out of the bag now!
Congratulations! How long have you two been together and sneaking around? Is that why you moved here?”
My brow wrinkles and I cringe. “What the heck are you talking about? I’m not engaged.”
“Still trying to keep it quiet? I get it. But I don’t think it’s gonna work anymore. Everybody knows you and Stone are engaged. Do you know when you’re gonna have the wedding? I’d be happy to put together something special for you two. Stone loves my donuts too.”
“Can I get a chocolate-frosted original, please?”
“Sure.” Her lips turn down but I don’t know what to do. I’m not engaged and I don’t want to lie to people.
Smiling when she hands me my bag, I hand her my card and wait until she runs it. She hands it back and I smile. “Thank you, Callie. I really appreciate this.”
By this I don’t just mean the donut. I mean the warning too. Now I know why everyone’s been snickering behind my back.
A young woman catches my eye and then she whispers behind her hand to her friend and both of them laugh loudly.
I have a feeling they aren’t happy about my good fortune in finding the man of my dreams…supposedly. I think those two could cheerfully rip my hair out by the roots.
Skittering away and out the door, I fight to keep my chin up. Now that I know what’s going on, I can see the people who wish me well and the others that are wishing for me to disappear.
Taking a deep breath, I slip into the front seat of my car and head home. I need to think.
But before I get more than a block away, an older woman flags me down and I pull over, worried that she needs help.
Glancing around, I wonder if she needs the police. I don’t see anyone around her though.
Rolling down my window, I smile back at her when she shoots me a wide smile that glows from her bright green eyes. Cocking my head I wonder why she looks so familiar.
“Hello? Did you need help? The police station is back that way. I’m not sure what help I can be.”
“You’re Posy right? Posy Barker?”
Ice trickles down my spine. “Yes? Do I know you?”
Just as she opens her mouth, I realize why she looks so damn familiar.
“Yes, I am. Is there something you need?”
Like she’d been waiting for me to ask, she shoots me a quick, wide smile.
“Why, I’d love for you to come over for dinner, Posy!
I’ve heard so much about you from my boys.
Especially my Stone. He’s been singing your praises all over the place.
Posy this and Posy that. I wanted to get to know the girl better that has my boy so flustered and fascinated. ”
Those are two words that I would never use with Stone Jacobson.
“Ummm. I don’t know…”
She taps my door and grins, backing away. “Don’t you worry, I’ll send Jules after you. We’re not fancy for dinner so wear whatever you want. About six? We eat fairly early. Gotta get some sleep before the next day’s work you know.”
She’s still talking when she turns around and walks away so fast that I don’t even get another chance to answer her.
Shaking my head, I reach over and pull the donut out of the bag, groaning when I sink my teeth into all that sweet, doughy goodness.
“So good,” I mutter under my breath and start my car.
I honestly don’t know how the hell I make it back home without wrecking. My little cottage on the outskirts of town is surrounded by drought-resistant landscaping and it’s so cute that I usually get a charge every time I get home and lay eyes on it.
But today I’ve got some issues of my own. Namely the woman who invited me over to her place tonight.
Stone’s place. A frisson of heat curls in my belly and I groan, banging my head off the steering wheel after I park.
This same woman has been telling the whole town that I’m engaged to her son and I’m guessing he doesn’t have a clue.
Briefly I wish I was as clueless as him. It’d be so much safer.
Because a crazy thought keeps running through my mind. What if I was engaged to Stone?
My heart sings before I shove that thought down. I’m not and I never will be.
I’ve heard about Stone and there’s some reason he doesn’t like women. And then there’s the way he kissed me and then told me to get home.
He doesn’t seem like he’s interested in me at all.
And if he is, he doesn’t want to be.
I think Mrs. Jacobson is going to have to look somewhere else for her son. I don’t think he wants me at all.
Strangely, that’s the thought that makes tears spurt to my eyes. I’ve been alone a long time and it feels like I always will be.
I almost wish I really was Stone’s woman. Just to feel like I belong somewhere and that someone really wants me.
Slamming into the kitchen I start my coffee pot and wait impatiently for the black gold to stop running.
I have a feeling I’m gonna need all my faculties later today to keep from blurting out to the handsome man that I’d like to go on a real date and not with his whole family either.
Those are pointless wishes though. Nothing ever changes for me and it never will.
And that’s as it should be. Soon I’ll move on again and I’ll think about this place sometimes with a smile.
Tears sting my eyes again as I try to convince myself more than anyone else that I’ll be alright as I am.
I don’t have a choice.