All Chapters of The Saddle Creek Series: Chapter 211 - Chapter 220

John sat on the couch on the end, he really wanted to loosen his jeans, he was so full of a fabulous dinner. He sipped his coffee and then set it on the side table. He patted the seat beside him. "Come on over here. That's enough work. Bring your coffee and sit with me."Susan sat in the middle of the couch. This had become a routine: eat dinner, clean up, snuggle on the couch with coffee. One or both of them would fall asleep. He carried her to bed and then lay down beside her. He always left before she woke. But, tonight, he had other plans."You wanna watch TV?" Susan asked."No, not really. Probably nothing on anyway.""What do you want to do?" Susan moved closer to him."I know this is a surprise, but I want to talk. To you. Just you and me," John explained.Man, he was nervous. What if she didn't like his ideas? She'd tell him, and that would be the end of that."Okay, what about? You begin." Susan put her mug on the coffee table with his."A number of things, act

After a much-needed long nap, at about five am something, maybe a loud noise woke them. "I can't believe we slept the entire night." She shook her head."Me either." John swung his legs to the side of the bed. "I'm going to see what or who woke us up." And he left the room.A minute later, the front door open and close. She lay in bed, missing his body heat, which reminded her of the headache with the heat pump at the diner, which led her to facing another bank meeting with the loan officer, Janet Trumpey.Oh dear, what a mess I've made. This was supposed to be a simple upgrade, so what happened? John had no control over the dishwasher or the extra party/meeting room, or the heating issue. Nor did she. She hoped and prayed the customers would come back and bring all their friends and family.The door opened and closed again. "John, is that you?""Yes, it is." He stuck his head through the bedroom doorway."Find anything?"He shook his head. "It may have been a car backfir

Sheriff Mitch Rogers held his wife's hand as they went over to talk to John and Susan. "I sent an old friend over. He's a little younger than us." He pointed his head toward the kitchen. "Anyway, he's looking for a job, and I told him about you. Did he happen to stop in?""Yes, he did, and he got the cook's job. He's had more experience than I've had," Susan said. "No, I'm kidding, but he does have a lot. We think he'll fit in fine.""Are you ready for opening, then?" Chase joined Mitch.Susan said, "Yes, next Sunday we'll be open all day. Six am to ten pm, the usual hours. And meatloaf is the main feature."Yay," Elliott carried his daughter to the front.Drew stood with Chase and Lauren and made a point to get Susan's attention. When he did, he pointed to Lauren's middle. "There's a baby in there too."Lauren concurred."Congratulations!" Susan leaned down to Drew's height. "My goodness. What are we going to do with all these babies?""Love them. That's what I'm going

Edie Benner parked in front of the Saddle Creek Dress Shop. The sign above the door read, Founded in 1939. "I sure hope the original owner isn't still running the place," Edie said while she checked her makeup in the driver's mirror. She touched up her lipstick then stepped out of the car. As she approached the store, she smoothed the wrinkles from the front of her dress pants and fluffed her hair. The front windows had a display of beautiful summer dresses in light flowery prints. She liked them all.She paused, cleared her throat, and opened the door. A little bell jingled, and a small elderly woman came out from the back."Hello, can I help you find something?"Edie wasn't impressed with her. She had a sour look on her face, and that didn't help sales. The typical medium build, middle-aged woman wore a dark mid-length skirt with a beige sweater. Her dull, brown hair was held at the nape of her neck with a barrette, and her tired bloodshot eyes were hazel. Deep wrinkles in her

When Tom parked in front of Edie's house, she wasn't sure what to do. Did she just get out and walk in the house? Would Tom see her to the door and come in, have sex. That's not going to happen."I'll walk you to the door, make sure you get inside." Tom jumped out of the driver's side, walked around the car, and opened her door. They walked to the porch side by side.Approaching the front door, Edie said, "Thank you so much for a nice time. I really enj - "Tom covered her mouth with his. She quivered as chills ran down her spine. Her heart pounded so loudly she thought he would hear it. His lips were soft and tender and tasted of wine. When he pushed his tongue into her mouth, she felt a spark deep down inside her core. Her arms encircled his neck, and she ran her fingers through his thick hair.When he finally broke the kiss, she was breathless and speechless.Tom turned away then back to her. "I'm sorry. I never meant for that to happen. I-I just couldn't resist. Your lips