Chapter Twelve #2
And at one time, the thought of going back to her perfect world that made sense…no longer seemed to make the sense that she thought it did. Where was the feeling that she couldn’t wait to hear the words that she was free? Now, she feared hearing them. What was going on?
The thought of that happening did not bring the peace she thought it would.
There was something akin to sadness tinging the thought.
That was worrisome. She wanted to get back to her life.
She needed to get back to work. And now, that thought dimmed.
Going back to…what? It was a new and disturbing thought.
Her life was good. It was comfortable. It was… suddenly not everything.
She couldn’t stay upstairs in her room all day.
That would seem like something a gauche schoolgirl would do after a tiff or something with a boyfriend.
The kiss had just happened. Whatever the reasoning, it needed to be forgotten, and no discussion should be needed.
She was sure that they could agree to that—it had meant nothing.
Just as she had told herself each of the previous times.
That shouldn’t have…but did. Just leave it.
After smoothing her long hair into a sleek ponytail, applying a light mauve lip gloss, and one final check in the full-length mirror, checking the cream long-sleeved pullover and the brown slacks, she could not put off the inevitable.
She made it down the stairs, saw no one in the living room nor the dining room…
had to be the kitchen. The site of the kiss from the previous night.
She fixed a smile on her face and stepped into the room.
It was empty. But then her eyes caught a note on the center of the island worktable. Breakfast served outside.
Erin followed the direction and stepped out the back door onto the patio. And she was met with a surprising but welcome sight. Rance was not alone at the table. Cassie and Emmie were seated at the table with him.
“I’m sorry—” Cassie spoke up first “—but Emmie and I were in the area, so we brought some fresh muffins from Tillie’s and decided to drop them off.”
“It’s a lovely surprise,” Erin responded, glad for the visitors to make the moments easier when she and Rance had to face each other.
But to her surprise, Rance was the perfect host, smiling, cracking a joke with Emmie, and he even poured a mug of coffee for her and held out a chair for her to be seated.
Just as if the evening before had never happened.
Well then, if he could do that, then she certainly could.
She brushed off the feeling of displeasure that popped up at the realization the man had no such self-recriminations as she had been going through.
It really had meant nothing and did not interfere with his new day. So be it.
“Tillie is still singing your praises in the café. You realize that if she thought she had a chance, she would be on the doorstep offering you a job, right? Maybe when you retire, you might want to keep busy, and if you’re tired of the big-city life, you can appease her then.” Everyone laughed.
The banter was light, and Erin felt herself relax.
Until she reached for a banana nut muffin from the basket while Rance did, their hands bumped and the speed each withdrew from the muffin caught the sharp eye of Cassie.
She smiled but said nothing. She did not need to speak, because her gaze on each of them said it all.
“Let me help you two out,” she said sweetly without missing a beat, and she removed the muffin, sliced it in half, and placed one half on each of their plates.
“See how easy that was? Now you both can be happy. Isn’t it lovely when things work out in the most surprising ways?
We’d best be on our way, Emmie, so these two can get on with whatever they have planned for today. ” She stood, but Emmie hesitated.
“Miss Erin, I know my mom explained that you are really busy and live in Austin and all, but maybe you might not be too busy closer to the holidays,” she began, trying not to rush her words, “because that’s when our holiday musical is and I’m playing a solo on the piano and Jillie is in it too, so we wanted to invite you to come and see it. Do you think you could?”
Erin was not expecting such an invitation. But she could see how important it seemed to the young girl. It was sweet of her to want to extend the invitation. She didn’t want to let her down, but there were other things to consider. She gave her a broad smile.
“That is very sweet of you, Emmie. Thank you for such a wonderful invitation. I don’t know what my workload will look like leading up to the holidays, but I will certainly put the date on my calendar and do my best to make that happen.”
Emmie was glowing. “That is so great! Wait until I tell Jillie. The holiday fair is so cool in town and…”
“Emmie, she said she would try, and we will be late if we don’t leave now,” her mother forestalled her. “Let’s leave them in peace to eat their muffin. Bye, you two…see you later!” Cassie’s arm around her daughter’s shoulders helped steer them away to the steps and the driveway.
Erin returned their final wave as the SUV pulled away.
“Sorry about that,” Rance said, standing up and taking his half of the muffin with him. “Emmie practiced quite a bit I’m told. Of course, you’ll be too busy to make it, but it was nice of you to say you would try.”
“Excuse me? Who says it is a given I’ll be too busy?” For some reason it rankled that Rance was taking it upon himself to make a decision for her. He stopped and looked back at her.
“I assumed that you would be busy, and also you might have better things to do than drive to Destiny’s River to see a children’s holiday play.”
She stood with her empty plate in hand and walked to the door ahead of him.
She turned and looked at him then. “Both things might be true, but it will be up to me if I can make them work or not. I will do my best, because it was a heartfelt invite. And as I assume you will probably be too busy with your usual schedule, the more people who can show up for support, the better.” She turned and went into the house. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
*
Rance stood staring at the closed patio door for a few moments. So, that’s how it is going to be now? Lady Justice, using the chilly moniker that others in the courthouse often used for her behavior, was back. He should have brought his jacket.
Rance moved to the living room and then looked in the dining room and he found her, with paperwork and her laptop. She looked up when he didn’t move into the room but remained in the doorway.
“It’s best if we move back to the fishing cabin.
There are too many people in town, workers putting parts of the area back together, debris removal, and reporters.
We’ll leave in an hour. If you’ll lock the door behind me, I’m going to run to the grocery store and pick up some things.
The power was off in that area so we might need fresh food. I’m leaving now.”
She stood and followed more slowly as he headed to the front door. He stepped through the open doorway and then turned back, hand on doorknob. “And please don’t open this door until I get back.”
“Want me to cross my heart or something?”
“Just your word will do.” He turned and headed down the steps, and that’s when she noted what was different.
He had his gun belt on. He hadn’t been that conspicuous since the first day when he stormed into her courtroom.
It gave her pause. Had something happened?
A slight chill went down her spine. He turned and looked at her with a pointed stare.
She shut the door and gave the dead bolt slide a hard push. He could probably hear it.
Erin went upstairs and began packing the small bag she had brought from the fishing cabin.
Then she tidied the room. Looking around the downstairs area to make certain she was leaving nothing behind or out of place, she realized that she felt a strange sense of sadness.
Somehow, she had fit into the Primrose Inn as if it were her second home almost. It had felt that way.
And that was silly, of course. They’d been here such a short time, yet it felt welcoming and a safe port in a storm. Which it had literally become.
There was a knock on the front door, and she looked onto the porch from a side window and saw it was Rance. She unbolted the door and let him in.
“I’ll run up and get my stuff, and we’ll be on the road shortly,” he informed her as he took the stairs two at a time.
She noted that he certainly seemed in a hurry to get back to the cabin.
One step closer to getting rid of her was more like it.
Well, she could say the same. The sooner this whole thing could be in the past, the better.
Rance came back down the stairs and set about looking through the rooms and kitchen, locking up and making sure lights were off and all was ready for departure.
He held the front door open for her. She passed through and did not look back, even as they were pulling away from the house.
Goodbyes were meant to be swift with no looking back.
Her father had taught her that since she had learned to walk.
It would bode well with this detour in her life.
Thirty minutes later, they were back at the cabin. “Wasn’t there a tree there on the bank?” she asked as they stopped in the driveway.
“Yes, Matt said it was taken when the water rose so fast. He and his deputies came over yesterday and removed it. But the rest of the place did just fine. Uncle Joe was smart at raising the cabin higher than just flat on the riverbank.”
“It’s a shame,” she said, following him across the deck to the door. “It was beautiful. Those take years to grow, don’t they?”
“That one won’t grow back to the way it was in our lifetimes, if at all. Lots of cypress and other trees were lost all over the county along the riverbanks. Mother Nature can get mad and throw quite a fit at you when she wants.”
“If you’ll bring in the bags of groceries, I’ll put them away. Just in case you plan to get busy on that fishing that Cassie mentioned.”
“I’ll do that.” He went into his room, and she put her things away in her bedroom. When she came out into the living room again, the bags were on the counter. She took a glance outside and saw that Rance was losing no time on getting his line in the water.
So that was the way the rest of her incarceration was to be, she guessed. They’d be in the same room together as little as possible. Fine. She could do that.
It was just a kiss…no big deal. That’s how he was acting. And she felt the same way. They might have slipped up and kissed more than once…or twice. But each time had been just a kiss. So fine. All they had to do was wait for the phone to ring and bring her freedom.