AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Abigail's eyes widened and she stifled a laugh.
Minnie sighed. "I agree, Violet. What a person sees on the surface is one thing, but the inside is quite another."
Jake whispered, "Jeez, don't they know heathens have more fun?"
"I thought that was blondes?" Abigail whispered back.
"Yeah, blond heathens have double the fun."
"I know," Abigail said, wiggling her eyebrows obviously because her new fiance was very blond and quite possibly a heathen.
"Why are you letting those old hussies get away with talking bad about you?" he whispered, trying to peer out behind the door.
"Because I don't give a rat's ass," Abigail said with a giggle. Then she stepped out of the closet and shut the door loudly before sashaying into the dining room.
"Oh, hello, ladies," Abigail trilled. "Have either of you seen Hilda? My mama wants to cut the cake soon."
Jake could almost feel the two old gossips' guilt slink past him. Five seconds later the ladies themselves slunk past him, giving him a quick hello, before trotting off toward the back patio, where Hilda's seventieth birthday party was in full swing. Of course, no one would mention that they'd been celebrating her seventieth birthday for the past three years.
Abigail sauntered by, slapping him on the shoulder and giving him a knowing grin. Jake laughed.
To think his once socially conscious, uptight sister got a thrill about being gossiped about made his heart warm. Yeah, Leif Lively and love had made Abigail a lot more pleasurable to be around.
"Hey, there, Jakey," his father said, coming around the corner, holding a glass of fizzing, fussy punch. "Your mama's been looking for you. She said some thing about Eva."
His stomach fluttered. "Is Eva here?"
"No, she sent her regrets and a gift for Hilda. She already opened it. One of those kinky firefighter calendars. Eva sure has a strange sense of humor."
And beautiful eyes. And soft lips. And breasts that would... Jake stopped right there. Because that's where his thoughts had kept tripping for the past twenty hours. Okay, seven of those he'd been sleeping, but still. He was in trouble. 'Cause he'd upset the apple cart. He'd lifted the rock and looked beneath to find the creepy crawlies. He'd spun the chamber and pulled the trigger. Too late now because every shade of gray muddled his thoughts. And it was his own damn fault.
Or at least most of it was.
"Son?"
"Oh, sorry. My mind went somewhere it shouldn't."
His father frowned. "Everything okay? You haven't been yourself these past couple of months."
''Nah, I'm fine. Did Mom say where Eva is?"
"I think she had to go to Baton Rouge. No, maybe it was New Orleans."
Jake didn't know whether he was sorry Eva wasn't there or relieved. He had to get his feelings under control, and as of 3:11 p.m., which was the current time reflected on Hilda's antique clock, he'd failed to get a grasp on that damn kiss.
He had thought it would be funny to kiss Eva like he'd kissed almost half of the eligible female population in Magnolia Bend, but it had backfired and blew up in his face.
Because it hadn't been amusing in the least. On the contrary-the kiss had been hot. And it had rocked him to his core, even though afterward he'd pretended it hadn't.
Three years ago when Eva had strolled into the station with her no-nonsense braid and her chin jutted in determination, he'd drawn the line. Black-and-white. Now everything was concrete. Slam-his-head-against-concrete-gray. That should be a new Sherwin Williams paint color.
Hilda appeared at his elbow. "Hello, Jake, dear. Something to drink?"
Jake dutifully kissed her cheek. She smelled like Paris... the expensive part with the fancy perfumeries. "Happy seventieth, cuz."
Hilda blinked and then smiled. "Yes, I can't believe that many years have already passed. I feel positively twenty years younger."
Dan barked out a laugh. "I hear seventy-five is the new twenty-five, right?"
