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The spell around them was broken and Sarah pushed against him as he lifted his head. He let go of her waist and wrapped her face in between his hands. He tilted her so he could see in her eyes and studied her for a long moment in silence. His expression was dark and unfathomable in the night. She had no idea what he was trying to see.
He leaned down, and softly kissed her on the forehead. The touch was brief, but not so brief that she didn’t feel its impact. It was a tenderness unlike any she had seen from him before, and confusion hit her square between the eyes as he took her hand and began leading her back to the sidewalk.
She followed him in silence to the car, her heart beating loudly as he kept her fingers laced through his.
He ushered her into the car and when he sat back down behind the wheel, he didn’t look at her or say anything more.
But he lifted her left hand and entwined her fingers through his and rubbed her bare ring finger back and forth with his thumb. His hand didn’t still on hers for many miles; he continually caressed her fingers between his, rubbed her palm, and slid the pads of his fingers over the flesh-toned polish on her nails.
The big SUV ate up the miles as his hand continued to learn the contours of hers. Few words were spoken between them. He asked her if she was cool enough, he pointed out the moon rising in the sky.
She answered him softly, too stunned at his actions to form a decent reply. His anger seemed to have dissipated and disappeared completely and in its place was a man she didn’t recognize. A man she didn’t recognize, but a man she was very much afraid she wanted to get to know better.
****
“What?” Jaime’s voice held a tone of stunned surprise as she asked Sarah to repeat the question.
“Do you know who John Garrett is?” she asked for the second time.
“Sarah—” Jaime’s voice dwindled off and by her reaction, Sarah realized that her friend knew exactly whom she was asking about.
“I’m going to take that as a ‘yes,’” Sarah said.
“Yes, and the answer is don’t even think about it.” Jaime’s voice was adamant.
“That bad?” she asked.
Her friend paused only momentarily. “That bad and more so. Where did you meet him?”
“I’ve met him several times. We went to San Antonio last night for dinner.” Sarah tried to inject a tone of lightness to her voice.
“No, you did not.” Shock, pure and simple bled from Jaime’s voice.
“Yeah, we did—”
Jaime cut Sarah off. “What about Randall? Seriously, the guy is laid-back but I’m not sure he’d actually like you dating another man.”
“It wasn’t really a date. I broke it off with Randall this morning.”
Stunned silence came from the end of the phone. Sarah waited for the explosion that she knew was coming.
She wasn’t wrong.
“You can’t date John Garrett, Sarah. I’m glad you broke it off with Randall. I’m not saying I’m not. The guy doesn’t deserve you and I’ve never thought y’all were a good match. But you cannot start up with John Garrett. I forbid it.”
“You forbid it?” Sarah found humor in that incredulous statement.
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, tell me what you know about him,” Sarah said in a resigned tone of voice.
“I know he’s a player. But he’s worse that that. He’s a user. He’s a man slut, Sarah. He’s rich, he always gets what he wants, and he’s gone through every woman in a hundred mile radius.”
Sarah had an unappetizing suspicion. “Have you slept with him, Jaime?” She held her breath and just went ahead and asked the question that was uppermost in her mind.
“No! I’ve never even spoken to him. And you shouldn’t, either. Do you know who Susan Ralls is?”
The name seemed vaguely familiar to Sarah but she couldn’t place her. “No.”
“Well, about six months ago, she started seeing him. They dated a few times, and she was head over heels. I mean head over heels. He slept with her three times and then dumped her. She was crushed. And Sarah, seriously, she’s pretty, intelligent—”
“I get the picture.”
“Do you? He’s bad news. After his wife died—”
“His wife died?” Sarah’s breath caught in her throat. The idea that he’d been married before hadn’t occurred to her. She was agitated by the sliver of disturbing discomfort she felt at the knowledge. And did he have children, as well?
“Yeah. Three or four years ago. She was in a horrible wreck and died on impact. He’s been a different person ever since. They must have been seriously in love. He turned into a hermit, and practically didn’t leave the house for a year. Everyone said he was devastated and rumor had it that he was being true to her. But all of a sudden, in the blink of an eye, and for no apparent reason, he went on the make. And it’s been that way ever since. He told Dolan Carver that he’d never marry again, and Dolan told Savannah Henderson.
Sarah shifted restlessly as she digested the information. “Does he have any kids?”
“No, none that I know of.”
Sarah didn’t respond and Jaime continued, “Seriously, Sarah, you can’t start up with him. Greg already messed you up enough. Now you’ve just broken it off with Randall. Nothing good can come from this. Don’t be stupid.”
A moment of silence pulsed between them and at Sarah’s continued silence, Jaime asked, “How’d Randall take it?”
“He tried to talk me out of it,” Sarah said.
“No doubt. God knows how long it took him to find a woman who couldn’t see through his deception.”
“What deception?” Sarah asked.
“That closet door he keeps his homosexuality hidden behind.”
“He’s not gay,” Sarah said.
Jaime let out a breath. “I don’t care if he’s gay or not. Just sayin’ that gay men don’t make the best husbands.” She paused and then altered her statement. “For women, anyway.”
“I’m not going to argue with you about it. It’s a moot point since we won’t be getting married.”
“So tell me about the date that wasn’t a date.” Jaime turned the conversation back to John Garrett and Sarah had little problem keeping up with her.
“It was basically a business meeting. I’m trying to get him to fund the retirement home.”
Jaime knew all about Sarah’s relentless pursuit to help the school. “Oh. My. God. I can’t believe you had enough nerve to ask him. That’s going to take a shit ton of money. How’d he react?”
“Pretty much just like that. He wanted to know why I thought he should spend that much money on Top Hill when he doesn’t live here. And the only answer I could come up with was that it was the right thing to do.”
“So he didn’t promise the money?”
“Not yet.”
“And that’s it? That’s the way the whole evening went?”
“Well, that and him demanding I break my engagement and trying to—”
“He’s why you broke it off?”
“Are you just now putting two and two together?” Sarah asked. “I’m not saying I want to start up anything with him, but he made me realize that it wouldn’t work with Randall.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
