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CHAPTERNINE
Lee reminded himself of all Rosalie had said last night. She wanted to be with him, and until he proved to her that she’d be better off alone, he was going to be cool and confident. Despite the urgency in his stomach to find a bathroom and throw up, Lee managed to help the gorgeous woman into his truck and then get behind the wheel.
“Have you been to The Southern Bakery?” he asked as he secured his seat belt.
“Several times,” she said.
“Are you from here?” He glanced over at her as he backed out of the parking stall. No one ever seemed to be at her office, and he wondered how she could stand being between walls all day long—alone—every day.
“No,” she said. “I grew up in Dallas.” She looked over to him, and Lee held the weight of her gaze just fine thanks to his internal self-talk on the way to her office. “You’re from here.”
“Generationally,” he said. “My great-granddad started the dairy farm, oh, at least a hundred years ago.” He chuckled. “That used to be a joke, but it’s actually true now.”
“It’s pretty amazing,” she said.
“My sister applied for the plaque and everything, and we got it up earlier this year. We’re officially a Century Farm in Texas.” His chest swelled with pride, because he could still see Daddy’s face when Clarissa had presented him with the plaque. Daddy didn’t cry very often—Lee had seen it only two or three times in his life—but he’d definitely had tears in his eyes when he’d gazed at the gold plaque that now rested on a stand near the highway turnoff to Sweet Water Falls Farm.
“Do you love it?” Rosalie asked. “It sure seems like you love it. The farm, I mean.”
“I do,” Lee said, flicking a quick glance in her direction. “It’s all I’ve ever known, and it’s all I’ve ever wanted to know.” He swallowed, suddenly unsure about spilling such a thing. “What about you? Why’d you come to Sweet Water Falls?”
“James—my ex-husband—got stationed just down the coast. He was in the Navy. Is.” She reached up and scratched at something on her face. “He is in the Navy. He just lives in California now.” She turned away from Lee, and he’d seen this tactic before. Something stormed mightily in his chest, and he knew he’d go home kissless tonight unless he said something.
He didn’t want to ruin anything with Rosalie, because the whole relationship felt so delicate already. He shifted in his seat, his mind spinning and screaming at the same time.
“Rosalie,” he said, practically strangling the steering wheel. “I just have to ask somethin’, okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
“You’re over your ex-husband, aren’t you?” He wished he didn’t have to focus on the road, so he flipped on his blinker and pulled over. He faced her fully, glad she’d turned away from the window to look at him too. “You’ve only talked about him twice now, which I get.We’restill new.” He gestured between the two of them. “But every time, you seem so sad. So…withdrawn. It’s like you’re still missing him.”
Rosalie blinked, and Lee didn’t like that she didn’t jump to deny what he’d said.
“If you’re not ready for a relationship.” Lee cleared his throat, unable to volunteer a break-up. He didn’t want to stop seeing Rosalie. He didn’t even want to suggest it. Maybe he could just wait until she was ready. He didn’t need to get married right away or anything. Between the two of them, they had two kids already.
So he let the words hang there, knotted as they were. Rosalie finally opened her mouth and said, “I can admit I didn’t want the divorce.”
Lee just nodded, his heart sinking all the way into his liver. “All right,” he said.
“James got injured on a ship,” Rosalie said. “There was an explosion and he lost part of one leg and feeling in the other. He’s in a wheelchair, and he couldn’t do what he used to do on the ship. So he came home, and I don’t know. He wasn’t the same.”
Lee had never been through anything like that, so he just sat and listened. He looked down to give her a chance to breathe, and he picked at a thread on the seat cover.
“I still loved him,” Rosalie said. “He didn’t want to ‘saddle me’ with his care for the rest of our lives.” She took a deep breath in, and Lee lifted his head enough to watch her do it. She seemed to strengthen right there in front of his eyes, and he’d never found anything or anyone so attractive in his whole life.
“He was here for a while,” she said. “He’s a great dad, and he took Autumn all the time so I could build Curious Kids.”
“That’s great,” Lee said, the frog he’d apparently swallowed on the drive into town still in his throat. He’d been ribbiting everything he’d said for the past twenty minutes.
“He got a good opportunity in Navy Intelligence in California,” she said. “He moved a few months ago.” She moved her hand closer to his and covered his fingers with hers. “I’m over him, Lee. You’re the first man I’ve dated since the divorce, and yes, maybe the idea of kissing someone else hadn’t occurred to me until Thursday night.”
Their eyes met, and Lee offered her a small smile.
“Maybe I panicked,” she said. “But I’m over him. I want there to continue being an us.”
“I’m not in a hurry, Rosalie.”
“Okay,” she said. “But are we in a hurry to get to something at The Southern Bakery?”
