Page 40 of Love’s Silver Bullet

Sheridan’s eyelids fluttered closed as she thought about Jake’s kiss like she’d done a hundred times since—the tight clutch of his arms, the press of his lips, possessive yet tender, the hoarse groan of desire when his husky words had feathered her ear.

“God, please give me strength—my heart can’t take this …”

Her lids popped up as she stared at her aunt with wide eyes. “Yes, Aunt Libby, I … I really do. Not just because of the kiss he gave me, which more than proved he was attracted to me, but because of the prayer he whispered in the throes of that kiss. He said, ‘God, please give me strength—my heart can’t take this …’”

Maggie shook Sheridan’s arm. “Wait—you didn’t tell me that!”

“Because I just now remembered it. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was almost like he was thinking it instead of saying it outright, you know? Which is probably why I didn’t remember it, I suppose, almost as if I dreamed it. But I sure remember it now—the barest of whispers warm in my ear before he literally kissed the daylights out of me.”

Maggie snatched her handkerchief back from Libby, commencing to doing a little fanning of her own. “Sweet chorus of angels, Sheridan, that’s enough to make me go back to my room,” she muttered.

Sheridan grabbed her aunt’s hand, cupping it with both of her own. “Oh, Aunt Libby, don’t you see? Why would Jake pray for strength not to kiss me if he didn’t want to?”

“Well, he is a man, Sheridan, and you are a very attractive woman.” Crossing her arms, Libby propped a fist to her chin, face scrunched in thought. “So, it is possible he didn’t want to take advantage of the attraction from a moral and loyalty standpoint, I suppose …”

“But he did say his heart couldn’t take it as well, Libby,” Maggie volunteered, her train of thought apparently in stride with Sheridan’s. “So, to me that suggests his heart is involved as well, doesn’t it?”

“It would certainly seem so,” Libby said, “but what on earth is stopping him, then?”

Maggie met Sheridan’s gaze before she arched a brow at Libby. “Our husbands, I suspect. We all know how overprotective both Blaze and Finn have been with Sheridan, practically keeping her under lock and key. They simply refuse to allow her to grow up as a normal young woman who interacts with young men, which is downright wrong.”

“Agreed,” Libby said with a firm nod of her head. “Which is why going to Vassar will be so valuable for her.” Her eyes softened as they met Sheridan’s. “But I certainly understand your hesitation to leave, sweetheart, because I felt the very same way when I was eighteen.”

Her smile was soft as her gaze wandered into a faraway look. “Goodness, I remember being so smitten with your uncle the summer of my senior year when we’d worked together as festival volunteers, that I tried to talk my mother out of my going to Vassar at all. I even begged to go to Mill’s Ladies College north of San Francisco to be closer to home, but my mother would have none of it because Vassar was her alma mater.”

Her smile suddenly flattened as her lovesick look disappeared in a wry twist of her lips. “Which turned out to be a godsend because Finn ‘McShame’ as I often referred to him back then, stood me up for the festival dance by taking Jo Beth instead.”

“Oh, Aunt Libby!” Sheridan put a hand to her mouth. “What an awful thing to do!”

“I thought so.” Libby expelled a heavy sigh. “But your uncle used to be a bit of a womanizer back then, I’m afraid—and nothing like sweet, easy-going Jake, for pity’s sake—so I can certainly empathize with your hesitation to go away. It’s no secret that in the past, I’ve never been a great judge of men, but I have to admit that Jake certainly seems like a safe bet.”

Libby ducked to offer a gentle smile. “And I do believe every woman deserves the right to make her own choices instead of having her bull-headed uncle and brothers dictate whom she may see.” She patted Sheridan’s leg. “But if Jake doesn’t comply before September, keep in mind he’ll still be here when you come back, honey, for Christmas and after you graduate.”

Against her will, tears hit Sheridan like a flash flood, swelling beneath her lids. “Maybe not, Aunt Libby,” she whispered, quickly swiping at her eyes. “He told me he’s been seeing Megan Joy.”

“What?” Aunt Libby blinked. “Since when? I just spoke with Debbie Burdzy a few days ago, and she never said a peep about it, and we all know she’d print it in the Territorial Enterprise if she could.”

“Or her daughter would,” Maggie said with a playful pinch of Sheridan’s arm, obviously hoping to lift Sheridan’s spirits.

Sheridan offered a wobbly smile of thanks to her sister-in-law before she turned back to Aunt Libby. “Even so, I know Jake. He hates to lie if he can avoid it.” Her lips skewed off-center. “Even though I know he was lying through his teeth when he said he only sees me as a little sister.”

She sighed. “But Blaze and Dash always used to make fun of him because he had such a lousy poker face, they claimed he couldn’t lie to save his soul. Like one time when the boys went fishing and Blaze teased Jake because he refused to fish with worms, ribbing him mercilessly about being a scaredy-cat.”

A faint smile pulled at Sheridan’s lips at the memory. “Apparently some mean neighbor boy once dumped a whole bucketful of worms down Jake’s pants when he was just three or four. Anyway, to shut Blaze up, Jake claimed, ‘scaredy-cats don’t eat worms,’ then insisted he’d done so many times before, which certainly put an end to the teasing.”

Sheridan’s teeth tugged at the edge of her smile as she glanced from Libby to Maggie and back. “Until he was so riddled with guilt that he had to make it right by swallowing a worm whole right in front of Blaze, Dash, and me.”

“No!” Aunt Libby gaped with an open-mouth smile while Maggie giggled.

“Yep.” Sheridan grinned and shook her head at the memory, tone softening whenever she thought about what a man of integrity Jake was, which just made her love him all the more. “Sweet, sweet Jake. The poor guy puked and heaved the rest of the night, which just made the teasing all the worse, I’m afraid.”

She drew in a deep breath, her smile dimming when she slowly expelled it with a sudden slump of shoulders. “Which means if Jake told me he’s seeing Megan Joy, Aunt Libby, I’m pretty sure he has every intention of making it right by doing just that.”

Her aunt’s voice was soft. “Which is why you want him to admit he cares for you before you go away.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Sheridan dropped her head back against the headboard while more moisture rimmed in her eyes. “What am I supposed to do, Aunt Libby? I won’t be able to focus on my studies if I’m worried about losing Jake, and Maggie and I have prayed about it too. But we thought in the meantime maybe Clay could light a fire under Jake. But not if Uncle Finn and Blaze refuse to allow him to call on me.”

“Mmm …” Aunt Libby shifted to sit beside Sheridan, following suit with her head resting back as well. “I see your dilemma,” she said, finger to her chin as she stared straight ahead, eyes squinted in thought. “Well, I suppose I could talk to your Uncle Finn, convince him to let Clay teach you to shoot.”