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Jolie came out of the kitchen with a tray laden with cookies and two cups of coffee and tipped her head toward the round oak dining room table. “Here, or would you rather be on the sofa?”
Taking a cup, he headed for the sofa and settled at one end. After setting the tray on the half-log coffee table, she took her own cup and sat at the other end of the sofa, one leg curved beneath her.
“Did the furniture come with the place?”
“How did you guess?” Her smile brought a flash of sunshine into the room. “The owner—Fred Walters—was here for years and years, and he apparently liked to buy things that would last. It would take a tow truck to drag some of these pieces out of the cabin.” She gazed at him uncertainly. “Was there something you needed to talk about?”
He’d done a lot of thinking on it, before deciding to come here. But this wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d thought.
“Yeah. Charlie’s probably already planning his escape, and who knows when the girls will wander in.” He took another sip of coffee, then cradled the mug in his hands. “How is your dad?”
Jolie gave him a wry grin. “There are people in this town who would say he’s too tough, too mean to ever die.”
Matt silently agreed. Ed had told him about Boss Maxwell long ago, but since then Matt had heard a lot of tales around town.
The man had too many connections, too many people who owed him, and crossing Maxwell had spelled disaster for more than one businessman in town. Loan applications failed...zoning proposals didn’t go through...subtle, supremely effective retribution that could never be traced back to Robert.
Matt shook off his thoughts. “Thanks again for taking care of my daughter after that incident at the drugstore.”Good move, Dawson. First you talk about furniture, and now this?
“What did Rafe say?”
Matt gave a rueful chuckle. “The lecture he gave Annie could have blistered paint, but in the end I think he believed her. The store owner couldn’t remember ever being suspicious of Annie before, so I think we’ll be okay.”
“And the other kids?”
“They’re talking to the judge this week. I’ve tried to warn Annie about the dangers of hanging around those kids after school.”
Jolie raised an eyebrow. “Restrictions on friendships might work with grade-schoolers, but some teens run on hormones and the drive to rebel. And that’s entirely another matter. What did she say about that?”
“It didn’t go over very well,” Matt admitted. “And when I tried to discuss that massive amount of ice cream she ate, she hit the ceiling—she said she wasn’t going to let some stupid disease ruin her life.”
“Diabetic education isn’t a one-shot deal,” Jolie warned. “Most teens think they’re immortal and have trouble graspinglong-term diabetes consequences. But with good support from you and close medical supervision, she should be fine.”
“I’ll do everything I can.”
Jolie started talking about something else... Was it Charlie? The llama? He only half heard her words.
It had been so long since he’d been in this situation. A lifetime, it seemed. But looking at Jolie, with just a foot or so between them, he suddenly found himself as tongue-tied as a kid in school.
She’d dressed in a black turtleneck, the color a perfect contrast to the waves of strawberry-blond hair that she’d casually tucked behind her ears. The knit fabric fit her trim form perfectly, and he found himself wanting to move a little closer...
“Is something wrong?”
“I didn’t come to talk about Annie or Charlie.”
She worried at her lower lip with her teeth. “Then what?”
Though words failed him, instinct was happy to take over. He draped an arm across the sofa, then drew her closer and lowered his mouth to hers.
She stiffened and laid a warning hand against his chest. But then she softened in his arms.
“Thatiswhat I remembered,” he said softly, brushing a kiss against her forehead as he pulled away. “I’d decided maybe it was just my imagination.”
She swallowed. “I’d figured it was just mine.”
In her eyes, he saw reflections of past pain and past disappointments. A hesitance born of trust given too freely and relationships gone wrong.
But if anyone had ever walked away from this sweet, beautiful, intelligent woman, they must have been completely mad.
