Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Pushing her shopping cart, Sage strode up and down the aisles of the local Piggly Wiggly, checking things off her short list as she found them.
She was only getting the necessities since it would be another few weeks before the first foal was sold, with the second one going shortly after.
Most of that money would have to go toward the past-due mortgage payments, so every dollar counted right now.
While she always felt sad saying goodbye to the horses, her family needed the money more than anything. Such was life on a farm.
As she made her way through the Health & Beauty aisle, she slowed when she reached the family planning section.
Condoms weren’t on her list and hadn’t been since she’d first gotten married.
But thoughts of Adam — and how their private encounters had grown increasingly passionate lately—brief but intense—made her wonder when they might take things further, and whether Adam would even think about needing protection.
She was getting to the point where taking things slowly was becoming increasingly difficult.
Each brush of his lips against hers, each heated stare when no one was watching, and each touch that was far from innocent left her wanting more.
She knew he was unaccustomed to romantic relationships, and they’d agreed not to rush things, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be prepared in case they both decided the time was right.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mrs. Davidson, the church organist, coming her way, so Sage quickly shifted her attention to the mini-pads and tampons next to the condom display. No need to give the notorious gossip fresh fodder for the rumor mill.
They exchanged pleasantries, but thankfully, the old biddy moved along without her usual chitchat.
As soon as Mrs. Davidson turned the corner at the end of the aisle, Sage snatched a box of condoms from the shelf and glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before hiding them under a loaf of bread in her cart.
Thank goodness the store now had several self-checkout registers, so she wouldn’t have to hand them to a clerk.
After quickly locating most of the items still on her list, Sage headed down the dairy aisle and stopped short.
Standing a few feet away, Mrs. Davidson was conversing with Missy Brooks and Shelly Barrett, who were closer to Sage’s age, and it was clear from their startled expressions she’d caught them off guard.
Eyes widened and mouths dropped as they stared at her.
Even if she hadn’t heard the words “shacking up with an ex-con” fall from Missy’s lips, it wasn’t hard to figure out she’d interrupted their bull session concerning her and Adam.
Her eyes narrowed at the three gossipmongers as she crossed her arms. “Please don’t stop talking on my account.
I’m dying to hear all about the ex-con I’m shacking up with.
I hate getting news third hand, especially when it’s about me and I should be the first to know.
Tell me, how far has the rumor mill gotten?
Are there any facts involved, or are you just making it all up as you go? ”
Mrs. Davidson gasped and brought her oh-so-holy-and-innocent hand to her chest as all three women blushed. The church organist was the first to recover. “W-Well, I never—”
“Maybe that’s your problem, then. You might be a lot happier if you spent less time worrying about everyone else’s life and more time enjoying your own.
Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Sage pulled the box of condoms out from under the bread and waved it in front of their shocked faces. “…my ex-con and I have plans tonight.”
Without giving them a chance to respond, she shoved her cart forward, forcing the women to jump out of her way. “Have a nice day, ladies.”
Anger surged through her, and she fought hard to keep it under control. Pelting the women with containers of yogurt and sour cream like she wanted to would only be childish and give them more to talk about, no matter how satisfying it would be.
Damn it. She should have known she and Adam would become the talk of the town after the barn raising when she’d kissed him in front of everyone, but it still bothered her—not that she’d let anyone know it.
She’d gone from being Mark Hammond’s poor widow to the town floozy in a scant few weeks, despite the fact that her relationship with Adam hadn’t yet been consummated.
Grabbing two gallons of milk and the string cheese Jenna loved, Sage checked that she had everything on her list. She then headed toward the registers without a backward glance at the three witches, who probably already had their cell phones out and were texting or calling their rumor-mill contacts.
Well, it wasn’t the first time she’d been in the line of fire of small-town gossip, and she doubted it would be her last.
She had always thought of herself as strong and confident, and when Mark died, she had thankfully been able to draw on that strength.
Before the children came along, she’d worked side by side with her husband on the ranch and learned everything she needed to run it efficiently, from caring for the animals to balancing the books.
She’d made plenty of contacts in the breeding world, so when she began making the calls to promote the new bloodlines herself, people already knew her, and she’d earned their respect.
However, with Adam easing his way into her heart, she was getting used to having a man around again—a strong man she could lean on when times got tough.
Someone who would hold her at night and make her feel cherished.
A life partner she could love and grow old with.
But was he really that man? Or would she wake up one day and find him gone?
Maybe it was time to find out.
She could no longer deny she wanted him in her life.
She would always love Mark, but he wouldn’t have wanted her to spend the rest of her life alone and mourning him.
If there really was an afterlife with conscious thought, maybe her husband had sent Adam to her because he couldn’t be there himself.
Well, whatever the reason Adam was there, it was time to let him know how she felt and find out if he wanted the same things she did.
Sage, darlin’, it’s time to up the ante. If you want the man to stay, maybe you should give him a reason to.
Wiping his brow, Adam grabbed two bottles of water from the cooler in the bed of Evan’s truck and poured one into an aluminum bowl for Benji, who’d been lying in the vehicle’s shade.
It was ninety-six degrees outside, a week before the Fourth of July holiday, and forecasters expected another row of storms to roll through soon.
The sky was growing darker, and Adam estimated he had about fifteen minutes before he needed to pack up and head back to the barn.
He and Evan had spent the morning repairing the fence between Sage’s property and Bart Sherman’s, about sixty yards from where the land began sloping up into the tree-covered hills. It was the last section with older wooden posts that needed replacing after recently showing signs of rot.
About an hour ago, after Sage returned from the supermarket, Maddie had driven the boss’s truck out to where the men were working and picked up Evan.
He had an appointment for his annual checkup and, according to his wife, would have conveniently forgotten about it if she hadn’t dragged him there herself.
Apparently, the older man hated doctors.
Downing the entire bottle of water, Adam screwed the cap back on and tossed it into the truck bed next to the cooler as he eyed the approaching clouds. Their angry color reminded him of a conversation he’d had with Evan a few days ago.
“Do we get many tornadoes around here?” he’d asked. “I noticed the outdoor cellar behind my cottage and assume that’s what it’s for.”
Evan had shaken his head. “Thankfully, we don’t get many in this area.
The last one that even came close to here was about twenty years ago, and it was still fifteen miles away.
Maddie and I were actually lucky that day.
We were in Walmart when the sirens went off.
Everyone huddled in the back of the store when we heard that monster roar in.
The building shook but stayed standing. And just like that, it was over.
When we got outside, all the stores on the opposite side of the highway were destroyed.
On our side, there was a ton of debris in the parking lots but no damage to the buildings.
I always said it was like God flipped a coin, and the other side of the highway lost. By some miracle, only two people died. It could’ve been a lot more.”
Adam had heard similar analogies before. People found it hard to understand how someone standing in the wrong place at the wrong time could die while another person two feet away was spared.
This would be the third round of bad weather within a week.
Thankfully, the skies had remained clear for Jenna’s dance the other night.
The elementary school cafeteria had been transformed into a pink, white, and purple fantasy ballroom for the young girls and their fathers or father figures.
It also gave Adam a chance to socialize with other men in town.
He’d met quite a few during the two-day barn raising and others had introduced themselves to him at the dance.