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“Don’t even think about it, Hal.”Cloe took her sister’s arm.“Now let’s go before Decker changes his mind and tosses us all in jail.”
“Y’all go on,” Sweetie said.“I need to talk to Deck.”
The last thing Decker wanted was to be alone with Sweetie, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it when Hallie and Cloe were already heading across the parking lot.
“What did you need, Sweetheart?”he asked, hoping to get whatever she wanted to talk about over quickly.
But she didn’t seem to be in any rush.
She tipped her head and studied him.“Did you know I’ve never liked my name?Sweetheart sounds like something your granddaddy calls your grandma.”
“You need to go on home with your sisters, Sweetie.”
She shook her head.“I don’t like that name either.Sweetie sounds like something you’d call a tiny pet dog.Now Sweets.Sweets sounds like something special ...something that’s hard to resist.”She leaned closer.“Did you struggle to resist me, Deck?”
He had.
He still was.
“You’re drunk.”
She nodded.“Yep.And I’m sure tomorrow I’ll regret everything I say ...and do ...tonight.”
“Then go home so you don’t regret too much.”So they both didn’t.
“You’re probably right.”But she didn’t leave.And neither did he.They just stood there staring at each other until Decker noticed the drop of blood on her bottom lip.
“Your lip is bleeding again.”He pulled the handkerchief from his back pocket and held it out.
She took it and studied the poppies embroidered along the edge before she pressed it to her lip.“What’s with you and flowered hankies?Is there something you haven’t shared with the townsfolk, Sheriff Carson?”
“There are a lot of things I haven’t shared with the townsfolk.”
“Like secret crushes?”
He didn’t lie.“Yes.”
She stared back at him.“Who?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret.”
“I guess not.”She lowered the handkerchief and ran her tongue over her plump bottom lip.He had to close his eyes and count to ten.When he opened them, she was staring at him.“So why flowered handkerchiefs?Do you just have a thing for Texas spring flowers?Or were they a gift from a woman?”
“I guess you could say they were a gift from a woman.”
“Viola Stanley?Mimi told me you were dating her.”
He didn’t deny it.Maybe if she thought he was dating Viola, it would end this conversation.“Viola doesn’t embroider.She bakes.”And not well.
“So she prefers baking for her man.”
Since it looked like nothing was going to end this conversation, he told her the truth.“The handkerchiefs were my mother’s.After Nana and Gramps passed, I found them in Nana’s dresser drawer when my aunt and I were boxing up her things.Carrying them around in my pocket makes me feel like my mama’s still with me.”The pain of losing his parents and grandparents was there again, nestled right beneath his ribs like a sore ache that wouldn’t ever completely go away.
Sweetie’s eyes softened.“I remember your mama.She was beautiful.I remember trying to fix my hair like hers after y’all had come to visit your grandparents.”
Decker took in Sweetie’s long, golden locks.They had always reminded him of his mama’s.
“I was sorry to hear about your grandparents passing,” Sweetie continued.“They were good folks.Every time I came over to visit Jace, your grandpa would tell me about how he met your grandma while your grandma tried to teach me how to knit.”
