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Chapter 10.3
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2022-09-08 03:43:02
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LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 11
Winter 2003New York, New YorkThe dream came again, as it did most nights. Never let it be said that Nick Carlucci made it through a week without the horror of it. The blinding,choking dust and ash. The flames. Rubble so hot that it melts the soles of your boots.The frantic search for survivors. Any survivors, but especially his father and brother, please God.Then the moan, the hand that moves. Frantic digging. Hold on! I’ve got you, man. Spirits soar. Breath rasps. Dig faster!Then he has him. The man speaks. Elation!A minute later, the stranger dies in Nick’s arms.He tries to hang on to the man’s lifeless body, but others take it from him.Failure. He’d failed to save that man.Search more. Dig more. Shout. Maybe someone can hear.Then the beam, still smoking from the inferno, twisted now into a grotesque shape. It sways.Look out!They don’t hear him, the men standing in the path of the deadly steel.With arms outstretched, he leaps, knocking the men out of harm’s way.Pain!
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 11.2
“Kidding.”“No.” She shook her head.He swore. “You followed me across half a damn country?”It was difficult, considering lust still fogged her brain, but she managed a shrug. “You wouldn’t return my calls.”“So you followed me?” She shrugged again.“Did it ever occur to you that I didn’t return your calls because I didn’t want to talk to you?”She couldn’t do this, Shannon thought. She couldn’t push or cajole him into an interview when she was still so off balance from this unreasonably fierce attraction that still gripped her.“Look,” she said, struggling to keep her voice even. “I know this is a bad time. I’ve caught you by surprise at your job.” She took a step backward. “I’ll be in touch later to set up a time that’s more convenient for you.”And she fled. For the first time in her life, she fled from a man, from an interview subject. From herself.Nick stood in the hall and watched her go. He could have stopped her. Part of him wanted to. But the smart part ruled. He turned awa
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 11.3
“All right, yes. Did you find that man you needed to interview?” “I did, for all the good it did me,” she confessed.“He wouldn’t talk?” her mother asked.“No, but I haven’t finished with him.” In more ways than one, Shannon thought.“I would hope not. It wouldn’t be like you to go after a story and not get one.”“Oh, I’ll get a story out of him. Nick Carlucci,” she vowed, “has met his match.”The man in question spent his day as he did every weekday, maintaining the Tribute High School buildings and grounds. He changed the flickering light-bulb he’d found first thing that morning before that Malloy woman had found him.Just how the heck had she done that, anyway? Who could have ratted him out?Wade Harrison. If that son of a—No, Wade wouldn’t have told anyone how to find Nick. Would he?Nick shook his head at the idea. If a story on the whereabouts of Nick Carlucci was such a hot idea, Wade would have done one himself and gotten the scoop on all the big-city papers and tabloids with
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 12
On Tuesday, Shannon regrouped and readied herself to take another run at Nick Carlucci. This time she would wait until he got off work. Assuming he got off about the time school let out, she slept in—clear till nine—and felt like a woman of leisure. Or the lazy bum she’d never had a chance to be.After a lengthy shower, she set out on foot to explore the thriving metropolis of Tribute, Texas, population 2,793. Her first stop, about four blocks down Main from her motel, was a place called Dixie’s Diner. The smell of bacon drew her inside.As she entered and took a booth along the far wall, she wondered if the place took its name from a person, or from the fact that it was located in the South. Her answer came a moment later when her waitress brought her a tall tumbler of ice water and a menu. The waitress’s name, according to the red-and-white plastic tag pinned above her right breast, was Dixie. Mystery solved.After a breakfast guaranteed to test the strength of the button on her sla
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 12.1
Nick shuddered to think what the boys would do if they didn’t like him.At times, working at school was a great deal like attending school.“I’ll ask anyway.” Shannon said, drawing his attention back to her.“What’s with the overalls?” She nodded toward his chest, covered by the denim bib of the overalls in question.He slipped his hands behind the bib and tapped his fingers against his chest. “What’s wrong with overalls?” he demanded.“Nothing,” she said quickly. Boy, the man was touchy. “I just wondered why so many people, including you, are wearing them.”“It’s Farmers Day,” he told her.“Oh.” Shannon frowned. “Why?” “What do you mean, why?”Shannon glanced around at the dozens of people, in addition to Carlucci, who were wearing overalls. “I get the connection between farmers and overalls, but why do you have a Farmers Day? What’s the purpose?Local custom? Is the football team called the Tribute Farmers? What?”He almost smiled. “The Tribute Farmers? You’ve got a great imaginatio
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 12.2
Nick burst out laughing. Considering what he thought of reporters, and the way he had continually dodged this one for months, he couldn’t believe how good it felt to joke and laugh with her, and had no idea why he was doing it.“How many times,” she said, “did your mother try to fix you up with some girl who sewed her own clothes and had a great personality?”He rolled his eyes. “It was my dad and my brother, but it was more times than I care to count.”“Save us all from our well-meaning families,” she said with a chuckle. “You, too?” he asked.“Oh, yeah. My dad was a cop. A guy had to be pretty sure of himself to knock on my door to pick me up for a date.”“I can imagine. What’s he do now, your dad?” Nick asked.Her smile turned sad. “He died in the line of duty, on 9/11. Same as your dad and brother.”“Ah. Sorry. I didn’t know.”She shook her head. “No reason you should have. Is that why you left New York? Because your dad and brother were gone?”Whatever openness he felt around her
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 13
With Tribute being such a small town, it shouldn’t have surprised Nick that the first words out of his aunt’s mouth when he got home were “Well, well, sweetie, you going to tell me who she is?”To her credit, Beverly wasn’t usually a nosy woman, especially for a relative. A female relative, at that. She wasn’t demanding information. She was smiling eagerly, hoping, Nick knew, that he’d finally met someone. As in…Someone.He should have realized that word of a strange woman in town—awoman specifically seeking out Nick—would have arrived home ahead of him. He had not only stood in front of the high school with her, in plainsight of half the town, he’d also introduced her to a trio of big mouths. After that, he had walked her right up to Main Street, for the other half of town to see.Nothing on earth or in the universe traveled faster than the speed of gossip, and he’d provided plenty of grease.And dammit, more people than Aunt Bev were going to wonder whoshe was and what she was do
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 13.1
Shannon walked along the granite wall, reading of one heroic deed after another. The most recent event was a man who’d donated his organs and, upon his death, had saved the lives of several people and greatly improved the lives of more.Suddenly she recalled that this was the monument Wade Harrison had erected to honor the organ donor who’d saved his life, as well as other locals who’d made a difference.Shannon turned and found a wooden bench nearby and took a seat, suddenly wanting to talk to Deedra. At this time of day, her best friendwould be at home. Shannon pressed the speed dial button on her cell phone, and a moment later the connection was made.The two friends wasted no breath on small talk. As was their habit, they jumped right into whatever was on their minds.“I thought you’d be home by now,” Deedra complained.“I would be—should be—but this guy is being difficult,” Shannon admitted.“What? You can’t get a guy to talk to you?”“Don’t overdo the I’m so shocked tone,” Shan
Last Updated : 2022-09-27
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LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 36.1
“How…? When…?”“Brenda had the photo with her. She knew she wanted to do something, but all she could think of was to blow it up. I ran across a guy on the Internet who does oil paintings from photos. I thought she would like that.”“What is it, Daddy?” Jasmine asked. He couldn’t move.“It’s us,” Pammy cried. “Mama and us girls in the backyard.”It had always been one of Riley’s favorite pictures of Brenda and the girls. In fact he had a copy of it right now in his wallet. Brenda, sitting in the grass, with Pammy and Jasmine on either side and Cindy in her lap. He had taken the picture himself just before Brenda shipped out, nearly two years ago.The artist had enlarged it and copied it in oil. It was perhaps the most beautiful portrait he’d ever seen. His vision blurred.“Lemme see, Daddy, lemme see,” Cindy cried.When he finally looked up at Amy, he didn’t know what to say.She leaned toward him and kissed each of his eyelids, then his mouth. “Merry Christmas, Riley.”Amy was gratif
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 36
The rest of the week until Christmas passed in a blur. Amy spent much of it with Riley and his girls.There were errands to run. There was more shopping to do, both in town and beyond. There were videos to rent and watch and a movie to see in Waco. There were friends and neighbors to meet.Amy wondered what those friends and neighbors thought of Rileyshowing up with her, but they were all friendly. They were especially nice when Riley told them that she had served with Brenda. That served as a good, acceptable reason for them to be together without too much overt speculation.They were seldom alone, she and Riley. There was little time for it with the girls always around. But Amy didn’t mind. There was always time for a few heated kisses when they weren’t looking, or after their bedtime if Amy drove herself home.She had her own last-minute Christmas things to take care of, too.Things she could not do around Riley or his girls. But with a few phone calls, a quick trip here and there
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 35.1
“Okay, bring them to the den. We’ll let him sit in his recliner while we doctor him,” Amy suggested. She craned her neck to peer down the hall.Seeing no sign of Riley, she led the girls a few feet away into the kitchen and gave them a conspiratorial wink.“Here’s the deal, girls. Your daddy’s barely hurt at all. No more than one of you falling off your bicycle and getting a few scrapes.”Pammy poked out her lower lip. “Are you sure?”“I’m sure. I was there in the hospital when the doctor checked him over.He does have stitches on the side of his head, but not much else. But the thing is, guys are different than girls. Guys are bigger and stronger than we are. At the same time, when they get the least little scrape, or catch a cold, they turn into helpless babies. They need help with every little thing.”That got a round of smiles out of the girls.“I’m telling you this so you won’t worry about your daddy just because he moans and groans now and then over his aches and pains. It’s jus
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 35
All the way to the hospital on the hill at the south edge of town Amy kept her mind blank. She couldn’t allow herself to think. She scarcely allowed herself to breathe. An accident. Riley. Deer. Truck. Ditch. The words hurled themselves at her one after the other, like heat-seeking missiles.At the last stop sign before the hill, she hit her brakes too hard and her tires slid across the intersection. She was lucky no other cars were coming. She held her breath until the car straightened out, then eased up the hill and skated into the parking lot of the hospital.With a prayer on her lips, she rushed into the hospital and demanded to see Riley.They told her she should sit down. They told her it shouldn’t be long.They told her she had to wait.She told them, “Point me toward Riley Sinclair right this minute and you might live to see the end of your shift.”“Security!”“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Amy said as she started down the hall. “If you’ve got a security guard here in the middle of
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 34.2
“Good morning.”She barely bit back the shriek that threatened at the scare his voice gave her when she hadn’t realized he’d come in. “Good morning,” she managed. She stared at her computer screen and typed in her password to log on.His footsteps crossed from the door to her desk. He stopped there. “I called you last night,” he said quietly.Amy’s stomach clenched. “Did you?” “Several times.”She could see his hand resting on the edge of her desk. “I must have been out.” Heaven help her, she’d turned into a liar, she thought with dismay.“Amy, will you look at me?”She had to. She knew she had to. She even wanted to. Maybe. Sort of. She swallowed, wishing she knew what to do, what she wanted, what was best for them. If there was a them.Slowly she raised her gaze. “Riley, I…”“Don’t, Amy. If it’s this hard for you even to look at me, I guess we have a bigger problem than moving too fast.”“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do. I’m driving myself crazy here.”H
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 34.1
“I’m going to be tied up most of the day,” Riley said. “So I don’t know if I’ll be able to call you until late.”She smiled sadly. “You don’t need to call me. We’ll see each other at the office Monday. I’m not that insecure that I have to hear your voice and know where you are every day.” Ha. Liar.“Are you telling me you don’t want me to call?”With a groan and a laugh, Amy shook her head. “I guess I deserved that, but no, that’s not what I’m saying. If you want to call me and have time, I’d love to hear from you. If you don’t have the time, or merely don’t want to call, I promise not to take your lack of calling as a personal rejection. How’s that?”He chuckled. “I think you’re right. I think we don’t know each other as well as we thought we did. I’m going to leave now, before I make an even bigger ass of myself.”Amy sighed and watched him through her window until he drove out of her parking lot. Then she slid to the floor, exhausted. She had gone from letting Marva’s beauty consul
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 34
Amy regained her wits as she did her breath—slowly. The warm weight of Riley Sinclair anchored her where she lay. Was he the anchor she’d beenseeking all her life? The person with whom she could put down roots?Her heart, so recently slowed to normal, gave a leap. She wouldn’t make the mistake she’d seen so many of her friends make, that of thinking one night of good sex—okay, mind-numbing sex—meant happily ever after.She tightened her arms around Riley’s shoulders, still not sure of her own emotions, let alone his.“You’re thinking too hard.” She gave a start. “What?”He pushed himself up onto his forearms and cradled her face in his hands. “I guess I know you better than I thought. Right now you’re trying to decide if this means we know what we’re doing.”“Home builder, child rearer and now mind reader?” She ran her hands up and down his arms. “Or are you thinking the same thing?”“I won’t be capable of rational thought for a while yet.”She smiled and stared at his chin to avoid
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 33.2
She chuckled at his thick Gypsy accent. “Good point. However, they never predict a woman will meet a man who’s short, pale and ugly, either. He’s always tall, dark and handsome.”By tacit agreement, the talk did not return to the subject of we. They finished their dessert, then drove to a nearby multiplex movie theater. They couldn’t decide which movie to see. In the end, they nixed the love story, the romantic comedy, the family Christmas movie, the war epic, and went for the movie with no elements that spoke to their personal situation—a safe, sensible science-fiction action thriller.It was just their luck that there was a hot, erotic love scene near the end of the movie. The kind of scene that sent hot blood pulsing in intimate places. Riley and Amy both stared studiously at the screen, each making certain not to catch the other’s eye. But they would probably have bruises from the tightness of their grip on each other’s hand.They were silent on the way home. Not even the radio br
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 33.1
“I’m learning that,” she said. “Ernie the mailman says Jack over at the hardware store drank too much and wrecked his daddy’s car last week.”“Yup. And he had Ernie’s cousin’s daughter with him. Which explains why Ernie’s telling everyone in town. Jack’s lucky that Ernie doesn’t have a shotgun.”“Considering what Marva thought of me this time last week, I’m pretty glad she doesn’t, either.”“So,” he asked a moment later. “This isn’t what Marva helped you pick out, is it?”“Yes, it is. I know nothing about style or fashion. She and Darnelle basically had their way with me,” she added with a slight shudder.Riley laughed at her. “Maybe Marva’s getting smarter with the years. I would have thought she’d go for ruffles and bows and lace.”“She might have, but I reminded her I’m a crack shot with an M-16, and I know where she lives.”Riley laughed, then shook his head. “I wish Cindy had something like that she could hold over Marva’s head, and that she’d use it.”“Cindy? Why?”“I’m afraid s
