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Chapter 27.2
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2022-09-27 20:14:05Related chapters
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 28
“You’re back,” Riley noted, sounding slightly surprised. “You weren’t gone very long.”Amy hung up her coat and stuffed her bag under her desk. “Longenough to grab a slice of pizza. Did anything exciting happen while I was gone?” she asked them.The elderly woman winked at her. “Riley came in. That’s always exciting.”“Fanny,” Riley drawled, “you keep up that sassy talk, you’ll turn my head. Next thing I know, Albert will be calling me out for making time with his wife.”Fanny tittered like a young girl. “Oh, go on with you. You better watch this one,” she told Amy. “He’s a sweet talker, he is.”“I’ll watch him. Did you get that problem taken care of this morning?” she asked him.“Turned out to be a simple misunderstanding. Maryann thought we were forgetting her laundry room.”“You can’t forget a lady’s laundry room,” Fanny stated. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”Amy mentioned the pile of paperwork that she had moved from thesurface of her desk into the hanging files and asked what Riley
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 28.1
He gave her a cheesy grin. “None taken.”If Amy thought she and Riley might be more comfortable with each other after that exchange, time proved her mistaken. Over the next days, shefound herself going out of her way to avoid eye contact, and making sure she didn’t put herself within touching range of him. She stepped over tolook out the window or looked down to study the contents of a drawer more times than she cared to count.By the time she realized what she was doing, she realized that he seemed to be pulling the same avoidance maneuvers. Of course, for her to realize he wouldn’t meet her gaze, she had to look at him. If anyone was watching the two of them, they were probably getting a good laugh. There they were, two grown people, so uneasy with each other that they scarcely talked, never got near each other, wouldn’t look at each other, used anyone handy—poor Fanny got it most often—as a go-between. And she looked suspiciously as if she was about to burst into laughter at any
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 28.2
It took a good thirty minutes for his heart rate to settle.But when he slept that night, he dreamed of her. She came to him in his sleep and smiled. “I hope you like the present I sent you.” Then she waved good-bye and left.When he woke he realized he felt good. Cheerful. Usually when he dreamed of Brenda, he woke sad and lonely.By the time he and the girls were ready to leave for the day, he remembered that he’d dreamed of Brenda, but couldn’t remember what it had been about.All he could do was put it aside and face the new day. To that end, when he got to work he decided that this close to Christmas, no one should have to be alone. Including his sergeant.“What are you doing tomorrow morning?” he asked Amy. “Uh, tomorrow’s Saturday, right? My day off?”“I’m not talking about work. The girls and I are picking out our Christmas tree tomorrow morning. Why don’t you come with us?”She stood there and stared at him, her eyes blinking, looking as if she might be calculating the nation
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 28.3
It took a good thirty minutes for his heart rate to settle.But when he slept that night, he dreamed of her. She came to him in his sleep and smiled. “I hope you like the present I sent you.” Then she waved good-bye and left.When he woke he realized he felt good. Cheerful. Usually when he dreamed of Brenda, he woke sad and lonely.By the time he and the girls were ready to leave for the day, he remembered that he’d dreamed of Brenda, but couldn’t remember what it had been about.All he could do was put it aside and face the new day. To that end, when he got to work he decided that this close to Christmas, no one should have to be alone. Including his sergeant.“What are you doing tomorrow morning?” he asked Amy. “Uh, tomorrow’s Saturday, right? My day off?”“I’m not talking about work. The girls and I are picking out our Christmas tree tomorrow morning. Why don’t you come with us?”She stood there and stared at him, her eyes blinking, looking as if she might be calculating the nation
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 29
The early-December Saturday morning was bright and sunny, cool andcrisp, with a bit of a bite to the south wind. The Christmas-tree lot took up the outer quarter of the grocery-store parking lot. Several cars were parked nearby. A young couple walked hand-in-hand through the rows of trees,along with a family of four and an elderly couple.As Riley pulled into a parking space he cautioned the girls, “Don’t go wandering off. Stay together and stay with me.”The girls were busy staring out the window at the Christmas trees, commenting on which ones they liked best.“I’ll take your promise on that,” Riley added. Still no response.“Girls.”“Yes, Daddy,” Jasmine said. “We’ll stay together and stay with you. We promise. Don’t we?” she added under her breath for her sisters.“My little peacemaker,” Riley murmured as he killed the engine.They all piled from the truck and made their way to the tree lot. The salesman greeted them, then stepped back out of their way and let them wander.Amy t
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 29.1
“What have you got there?” Riley asked.She had to blink the moisture from her eyes before she could look up at Riley standing over her. “It’s beautiful.”“Yes.” He took the ball from her and held it gently in the palm of his hand. That was the dichotomy of the man, right there. Big, tough, calloused hands gently cupping a ball so delicate that he could crush it with a harsh look, but it was his family, precious and safe in his protection. The hard protecting the delicate, delicately. A strong man with a softness to capture a woman’s heart.“Is it us, Daddy?” Pammy asked, breaking the spell. “It’s us,” he said softly.“Lemme see,” Cindy cried.“Me, too.” Jasmine stretched sideways to see around Cindy.Riley knelt and held out the ornament so all his girls could see. Then he stood. “Now, where should we put it?”“Right here.”“No, up there.” “Over here.”“Okay,” he said with a chuckle. “Now that we’re all agreed, I’ll just put it right here.” He chose a spot halfway up, facing the room
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 29.2
His brow arched and his lips curved upward. “Glad to hear it.”Oh, yeah, she should have kept her mouth shut. He looked at her now as if she were the last morsel on the plate and he was starving.She quickly moved away, toward the girls. Away from temptation. “Amy, look at me.”Amy looked at Cindy as instructed. The child held a sprig of mistletoe over her own head and beamed up at her. Amy gave her an exaggerated frown. Folding her arms over her chest, she tapped one finger against her own lips.“Do you know you’ve got leaves sticking out of the top of your head?” Cindy giggled, then hiccuped. “It’s not leaves, silly, it’s mistletoe.You’re supposed to kiss the person under the mistletoe. It’s a costume.” “Custom,” both her sisters corrected.“Really? Well, if it’s a custom…” Amy leaned down and kissed Cindy on the nose, making the girl giggle and hiccup again.They took turns, with Cindy finishing up her turn by getting kisses from everyone else. Pammy held the mistletoe over Jasmin
Last Updated : 2022-09-27LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 30
Amy was glad that Monday was so busy at the office. Neither she norRiley had time to say more than ten words to each other, and those were all business.Tuesday proved more of the same, until four o’clock when Marva and the girls descended on the office with boxes and bags in tow.Amy was delighted to see the girls, and they her.As for Marva, this was only the second time Amy had seen her. She wasn’t expecting warm hugs, and it was just as well, because she barely got a civil nod as Marva passed her desk and headed in to see Riley.There being no such thing as privacy in the office, outside of the restroom or the storage closet, Amy couldn’t help but overhear when Marva explained the reason for their visit.“I hear you finally put up your Christmas tree at home,” the woman said to Riley.“Yes. We did it Saturday. You’ll have to come by and see it.”“Yes, well, I drove by this place and noticed you haven’t done anything here, at least nothing that’s visible from the street. So we’ve
Last Updated : 2022-10-18
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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
