AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she expected to see her mama waiting to give her a list of things that needed to be done before her sisters got there.
She did not expect to see Decker Carson.
He no longer wore a pressed sheriff’s shirt.Now he had on a faded western shirt that molded to his body as well as his jeans did.Without the hat and sunglasses, she had a clear view of his face in the evening light spilling in through the windows.
Jace had always been the better-looking Carson.The golden boy.
But things had changed.
Decker might not have hair that reflected the sunlight like a gold coin, but his thick dark brown hair caught the light like the rippling surface of a moonlit lake.While Jace’s eyes were a dark midnight blue, Decker’s were the same color of the pictures her roommate had shown her of the ocean around the Caribbean islands—translucent turquoise with a splash of sandy shores around his dark pupils.They held her gaze as if she was his sole focus, making her feel like she did when she was sitting on stage in a single spotlight—vulnerable and completely exposed.
“Good Lord, Sweetie.”Her mama hurried over to Sweetie who was still standing frozen on the last stair.“You look like you just stepped out of the eye of a tornado.”She finger-smoothed Sweetie’s hair, then licked her thumb and wiped at the corner of Sweetie’s mouth.
Sweetie felt her face heat.“Mama!”She stepped off the stair and self-consciously swiped at her mouth before glancing at Decker.
“What are you doing here?”
“Sweetheart Mae!”Her mama swatted her on the butt.“Mind your manners.Decker was nice enough to stop by to take you to get your car.”
“I don’t need his help.”
Her mama rolled her eyes at Decker.“Forgive her, Deck.She’s always grumpy when she first wakes up.I’m sure she appreciates your kindness.And if you’ll wait here just a second I’ve got something for you.”She hurried into the kitchen.
When she was gone, Sweetie turned to Decker.“Thanks for coming, but my mama can take me to get my car.”
“It sounds like your mama has enough to worry about getting ready for your sisters and taking care of your daddy.”He hesitated.“How’s your daddy taking y’all coming home?”
“Just peachy.”
Again, he hesitated.“He might not act like it, but I know he’s happy to have y’all here.”
“Thanks, but I don’t need you to tell me how my daddy feels.”
He pinned her with those piercing turquoise eyes as Mama hustled back into the room.
“Here we are.”She held out an aluminum foil-covered pie tin.“If I remember correctly, you always loved my gooseberry pie, Deck.”
Gooseberry?
Sweetie’s eyes widened.That was her pie Decker was accepting with a smile that would have stunned her if she hadn’t already been stunned about her mama giving away her pie.Was it her imagination or was there a knowing twinkle in his eyes when he said, “Thank you.Gooseberryismy favorite.”He pushed open the screen door and held it for Sweetie.“After you.”
She was about to decline when her mama shoved her purse at her and pushed her out the door.“I’ll keep your supper warm!”She closed the door in Sweetie’s stunned face.
Sweetie stood there for only a brief second before she turned to Decker and glanced down at the pie plate he was palming in his oversized hand.“That’s my pie.”
He followed her gaze.“It sure doesn’t look that way.”
“Well, looks can be deceivin’.”She swept past him and down the steps of the porch.She froze when she reached the bottom.She’d expected to see his squeaky-clean sheriff’s SUV.Instead, a mud-splattered old Ford truck sat at the end of the path.
A truck she remembered well.
It was the same truck Jace had driven in high school.The same truck they’d first kissed in.The same truck she’d thrown up in after drinking too many sloe gin fizzes at the junior prom.The same truck she had refused to get into the night she had broken his heart.Instead, she had remained in the parking lot and caused a scene in front of the entire town.All because she felt like if she got in that truck, she would be trapped in Wilder forever.
“Is there a problem?”
Decker’s words brought her out of her thoughts.She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she wasn’t a scared teenager anymore.She was an adult.An adult who could leave Wilder anytime she wanted.
“No problem.”She pulled open the door and climbed in.Once inside, there was a moment of déjà vu.But it quickly passed when Decker slid into the driver’s side.
