Built To Last (Saltwater Springs #1) (13 page)

“We need to save some for you,” he said with a wicked grin. He picked Scarlett up by the backs of her thighs so she straddled him, then turned and bent over to gently lay her on the blanket. It was soft against her skin as she sunk into it.

Luke lifted one of her legs, followed by the other, removing each of her socks. Trailing his fingers up her legs, he removed her thong and then finally released the clasp on the front of her bra and removed it, too. He sat up on his knees and took in every inch of her flesh, the same as he’d done at his house after Buckie’s party.

After a minute, Scarlett moved to cover her breasts, feeling a little self-conscious, but Luke stopped her. “No, don’t,” he said in a gravelly voice. “Perfection like that shouldn’t be covered up. You have no idea how happy it makes me to be able to sit here and look at you like this.”

She placed her hands back down by her side, knowing he meant every word he’d said. “I’m getting a little lonely down here.”

The corner of one side of his mouth tipped upward. “Well, let’s see what I can do about that.”

Scarlett nodded slowly and watched as Luke rose to his feet, then pushed his jeans and boxer briefs down his legs. The tingling in her core intensified as she absorbed every detail of his body. Once he’d removed his socks, he bent to pick up the blanket beside her and then lay his body over hers. His hard chest grazed her nipples as he arranged the blanket on top of them, and she wrapped her legs around him, unable to wait any longer.

Luke gazed down at her in the waning light and slowly sunk into her. Scarlett resisted the urge to close her eyes, not wanting to break the intimacy between them.

“Oh, Lettie. I’m so glad we found each other again.” He drew out of her and pushed back in at a languid pace…as if they had all the time in the world. And in that moment, it felt as if they did.

The twilight sky shone beyond the trees, emitting a luminescent glow over their bare skin as they made love. It felt as if they were cocooned in their own world between those blankets. When Luke rolled them so he was on his back, she straddled him and sat straight up, allowing the blanket to drop. The air was chilled as it met with her sweat-slicked skin, but it only added another level of sensation to their lovemaking.

When they climaxed together, she dropped down onto his hard chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat as she tried to catch her breath. Luke’s fingertips coasted up and down her back as he kissed the top of her head.

“Now that you’re back, I can’t believe I spent the last decade of my life without you,” he said in a throaty whisper.

“I can hardly believe it either.”

They lay for hours under the blanket, intertwined and gazing up at the stars. Scarlett was content to remain in the little universe they’d created there—the one where the past and the future didn’t exist.

T
he following week
, Scarlett had her first opportunity to return Luke’s kindness when he asked her to stop by his mom’s house to check on her. He said it would allow him to finish up what he was working on in the bakery, then stop by what, by the sounds of it, was becoming his problem project. Luke had called ahead to let his mom know that Scarlett would be coming by and had told Scarlett to enter the house without knocking to save Betty the trek to the front door.

Scarlett wrapped her hand around the familiar doorknob. As she turned it and pushed on the door, déjà vu swept over her and she felt like a teenager again. And that’s exactly what she was the last time she’d been to this home. The small, weathered bungalow was a place that held almost as many memories as the home she’d grown up in.

The door opened to reveal a scene that looked very much like the one she remembered. Though some of the furnishings had been replaced, the house still had the cozy, lived-in feel she remembered from her youth.

“Hello…Betty?” Scarlett called out.

“Back here,” a small voice said.

Scarlett removed her shoes and walked through the living room to the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Voices from a TV grew louder the closer she got to the master bedroom. She poked her head in to find Luke’s mom sitting up against the headboard in the middle of the bed.

Betty appeared frailer than she had a decade before and wore a colorful scarf wrapped around her head. Her pallor was awash with a gray tone that didn’t match the bright smile that spread across her face when she spotted Scarlett.

“You’re home. Luke told me you were, but I didn’t believe it until I saw you with my own eyes.” Betty brought her arms up in front of her, and it was clear to Scarlett that it was an effort for her. “How are you, sweetheart?”

Scarlett moved to the bed and leaned into Betty’s embrace. Her age-marked hands wrapped around Scarlett and rubbed her back. It wasn’t until that moment that Scarlett realized how much she missed the comfort that only a mother—or in this case, a mother figure—could provide. She exhaled a shaky breath and fought to keep her eyes from welling up.

“I’m okay. Better question…how are you?” She pulled away from the hug and took in Betty’s appearance again. The sapphire eyes that Luke had inherited from her were duller now and her face held more wrinkles than before.

“Pretty good for an old girl.” Scarlett tilted her head with a sympathetic look. Betty reached out and patted her leg. “Don’t look at me like I’m dying. I’m still here, aren’t I?”

The corner of Scarlett’s mouth twitched.
Same old Betty.
She was glad to see it.

“You sure are.” She smiled at the woman. “Now, what can I help with? Do you want me to do some laundry or fix you something to eat?”

“Plenty of time for that. Grab a seat.” Betty patted the space beside her. “I’m watching
Dr. Phil
, but we can visit. You can fill me in on what you’ve been doing for the past decade.”

Scarlett let a small smile trace over her features as she recalled how Betty used to record every episode of
The Oprah Winfrey Show
, binge-watching on her days off. She guessed that now Oprah was off the air, Dr. Phil
had taken her place.

She crawled onto the bed beside Luke’s mom. “Life hasn’t been all that interesting. Not much to tell.”

Betty reached over and squeezed Scarlett’s hand. “I was sorry to hear about your parents.”

Scarlett’s lungs contracted in her chest. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I was sad to hear about Brad.”

“Such a waste of a good boy. When he started with the meth”—she drew in a shuddering breath—“he became someone so different. Someone I didn’t know.”

Scarlett wrapped her arm around Betty’s shoulder and gently pulled her into her side. “Luke tells me you have a granddaughter.”

“Oh, Scarlett. She is the most divine little thing. Sometimes I think she’s the reason I didn’t fall apart completely after her daddy died. She still needs me. Luke is grown and doing his own thing, but my Gabbie, and her mom, they still need me.”

“Which is why you’re going to kick cancer’s butt,” Scarlett said confidently.

“From your lips to God’s ears, sweetie.” She patted the top of Scarlett’s hand.

They sat in silence watching the screen as Dr. Phil lectured his guest to leave a man that was bad for her. Scarlett felt as if it were old times again. Somehow she’d slipped right back to where she’d been ten years ago.

Well, not entirely. She was no longer a schoolgirl who assumed that the world was filled with rainbows and unicorns, and that everything always worked out for the best. She knew better than anyone that sometimes life sucked and you had no say in the matter. Still, the comfort Luke’s mother provided her was more than welcome. And to think, she’d been sent here to help Betty out.

Which reminded her… “Did you want me to make you something to eat?”

Betty glanced over to the clock beside her bed. “I need to take my pills soon, and it’s always better when I have something in my stomach.”

“Of course. What do you want?”

“Any chance you still make those fudge marble brownies I used to love so much?”

Scarlett smiled. “Of course I do. But shouldn’t you have something healthier than a brownie for dinner?”

“Scarlett, I’m in the fight of my life, and I’m certainly not doing it so I can be around to eat more fruits and veggies.”

She laughed. “Promise me you’ll eat a good meal tomorrow night then.” Scarlett didn’t have it in her to deny the woman.

“Cross my heart.” Betty fluttered her eyes, trying to look innocent.

“I’m going to go check the kitchen to see what you have on hand, but I’ll probably have to run to the store to grab a couple of things. Do you need anything before I go?”

Betty’s answering grin filled Scarlett’s chest with pride. She really was excited Scarlett was going to make her one of her specialties. “I’m good. You run along, because I can’t wait to taste those things. It’s been too long.”

After jotting down a quick list of all the ingredients she’d need to pick up, Scarlett headed off to the store, happy to be able to do her small part to make Luke and Betty’s lives a little easier.

S
carlett pulled
the finished brownies from the fridge—Betty’s orders, since they’d cool faster that way. She sliced them into small rectangles and arranged a bunch of them on a plate, then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and returned to Betty’s bedroom.

“I hope these are as good as you remember,” she said, placing the plate down beside Luke’s mom. Truth was, Scarlett was nervous for her to taste them, in case the memory was better than reality.

“You have a passion for baking, and when someone has a passion for something, it shines through in what they do.” Betty lifted a brownie off the plate with a look of pure exhilaration. She placed it in her mouth and chewed a couple of times before moaning her approval. When she’d finished swallowing, she said, “These are even better than I remember.”

Silly that such a small thing should warm Scarlett’s heart, but it did. She smiled and reached forward to grab a brownie for herself, then they ate in companionable silence.

A look of regret passed over Betty’s face before she placed her treat down on the plate and turned worried eyes in Scarlett’s direction.

“He was devastated, you know.”

The brownie Scarlett was in the process of swallowing felt as if it had lodged in her throat. She knew who and what Betty was referring to. How could she not?

She put the remainder of the brownie back on the plate, and her shoulders slumped as her head dropped. She wasn’t able to speak. What could she say to defend herself to the mother of the man she had hurt?

“One day when you’re a mother, you’ll understand why I need to say this…regardless of the fact that I adore you and I’m glad you’re home.” The knife already piercing her heart twisted at Betty’s words.

Scarlett raised her head and looked into Betty’s dull blue eyes, then nodded.

“I don’t understand why you left, and you don’t need to share your reasons with me. I’m sure you had them. You might have been young, but I saw you and my son together and I know you loved him.”

“Thank you for that,” she said softly.

Betty nodded. “Once you were gone and Luke realized you weren’t coming back…” She paused and took a deep, shuddering breath. “He was broken for a long time and went into a tailspin that reminded me of his father…something I’d have never thought was possible.”

The words cut deep. Scarlett rubbed her temple as if she could take away the image Betty’s words had deposited in her mind. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

Betty’s hand reached forward and took her own. “I don’t need your apology, sweetie. That’s not what this is about.” She squeezed Scarlett’s hand. “All I’m asking is that whatever is going on with you and Luke, whatever road the two of you are heading down, do it with the knowledge of what it would do to him if you abandoned him again.”

A single tear trekked down Scarlett’s cheek. “I can’t make any promises…I’ve told Luke that.”

A small smile formed on Betty’s aged face. “I’m not looking for you to tell me that the two of you will be together forever, Scarlett. I only wanted you to know what it was like for him…because I do believe you care for him.”

“I do. I never stopped.” Another tear fell, following the same path as the one prior before she wiped it away.

“Good. Then I have nothing to worry about.”

Once again, guilt stole over Scarlett because she knew she couldn’t make Luke happy—not really, not long term.

The question was, what was she prepared to do about it?

S
carlett walked
through the door to One Night Stan’s, her curiosity brimming. It seemed like a strange spot to hold a book club meeting, but this was her first one ever, so what did she know? She’d been too young to ever get inside the place before she’d left town, but the dive bar had long been a staple in Saltwater Springs. Many urban myths had been passed down about some of the antics that had happened inside these four walls.

Once her eyes grew used to the dim lighting, she realized it wasn’t at all what she’d expected. The place was relatively clean with battered wood floors and a matching wood rail bar that ran the length of one side of the building. High-top bar tables were positioned in a line directly across from the bar, and four-person dining tables dotted the floor all the way to the opposite wall. There appeared to be a small dance floor at the back, and in the corner there was an even small stage that couldn’t have stood more than a foot and a half off the ground. Stan’s wasn’t fancy, by any means, but it wasn’t the hole-in-the-wall Scarlett’s imagination had conjured it up to be.

Frantic waving caught her attention from the far corner, where Layla and the rest of the group of women had pushed together a few of the dining tables. Drinks sat on the table in front of them. As she approached with a wave, she realized she recognized most of the women seated there, save for two.

“Sorry, I’m late. Luke needed me to help him with something before I left.” Scarlett removed her beige coat and placed it on the back of the only empty chair at the table.

“That didn’t somehow involve you naked and on your back, did it, sugar?” Shelby asked. There were titters of laughter around the table, and Scarlett rolled her eyes before pulling the chair out and taking her seat.

“It’s so good to see you again, Scarlett. I’m glad you agreed to join us,” Savannah said. Scarlett hadn’t seen her since high school, but she looked pretty much the same. Though she’d greatly improved on the eyeglasses she’d worn back then, now sporting a pair of thick-rimmed, hipster, square ones that seemed to suit her. When she’d heard Savannah had become the town librarian, it hadn’t surprised Scarlett. Way back when, that girl always had her nose in a book.

“Thanks for getting Shelby to ask me,” she responded genuinely. Scarlett took another look around the place. “I was a little surprised this is where we were meeting though.” She gave a small laugh.

Savannah sighed. “Truthfully, Marlena Gibbons mentioned she wanted to join us when I ran into her. I panicked, because I knew no one would want to be part of the book club if they knew
she
was attending. So when she asked when and where the meeting was being held, One Night Stan’s just sort of slipped out.” Savannah’s face grew red and blotchy as all the women around the table laughed.

“Good idea. Marlena wouldn’t be caught dead in here,” Layla said.

“It’s not at all what I expected,” Scarlett said when the laughter had died down.

Madison finished sipping her drink, then responded. “A new owner took over the place a few months back and he’s been making changes ever since.”

“Did anyone ever find out who the new owner is?” Layla asked.

A woman that Scarlett didn’t know answered. “No one knows who it is.” She shrugged. “I know one of the bartenders, Brodie, and he says all he knows is the guy’s name and that he calls in weekly to let him know that so-and-so is gonna show up to do some work on the place. That’s it.”

“Oh my God, how rude of me!” Savannah interrupted. “Scarlett this is Dee,” she said, gesturing to the woman with curly, blond hair who had just spoken, “and this is Georgia.” She swung her hand in the direction of another blonde.

They all smiled and said their hellos when the waiter walked up to take Scarlett’s drink order. She decided on a beer, warming at the memory of the last time she’d sipped on a Budweiser…it’d been by the river with Luke.

“We’re waiting for one more,” Savannah told him. “When she shows up, can you please put in an order for a couple of plates of nachos and garlic bread for us all to share?”

“Sure thing,” he said, smiling, and then took off toward the bar.

“Who are we waiting for?” Scarlett asked.

“Mrs. M,” Shelby responded, laughing into her hand.

“She’ll sure keep things interesting,” Madison said.

“You guys, I couldn’t say no when she asked. I felt bad. She’s just a little old lady.” Savannah stuck her bottom lip out in a pout, genuinely looking like she felt bad about the situation.

“Don’t worry about it. She’s harmless, as long as you don’t say anything in front of her that you don’t want everyone in town to know about in thirty seconds flat,” Layla said.

Squirming in her chair a bit, Scarlett prayed that no one brought up Luke in front of the town gossip.

The waiter brought her drink and they all chatted until a few minutes later when Mrs. M walked through the door.

“Trouble just walked in. The party can start!” she hollered once the door closed behind her.

“I hope I’m half as much fun as she is when I’m her age,” Layla whispered as the old lady shuffled over to them. Shelby stood and stole a chair from a neighboring table while they all rearranged themselves to make room for Mrs. M. Layla helped her into her seat, and once she was settled, the bartender returned to the table.

“What can I get ya, Mrs. M?” he asked in an amused voice.

“Bring me the good stuff.” She banged a hand on the table as forcefully as a woman her age was able. “Jack on the rocks.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Savannah asked, concern pinching her brows.

“Don’t you worry about me. How do you think I lived this long anyway? It certainly isn’t just the great sex.”

All the women groaned, a few of them taking long pulls from their drinks, probably in an effort to erase the image the elderly woman had forced into their minds.

“What? Old people do it too, you know.” She threw a hand up. “God willing, you’ll all find out some day.”

The waiter laughed uncomfortably and shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Get on with it,” Mrs. M chastised in a stern voice. “I’m not gettin’ any younger.” Without a word, he bolted from the table, no doubt happy to get away from all the senior citizen sex talk.

“Should we call this inaugural meeting of the book club to order?” Savannah asked with a big smile.

“Here, here,” Layla said in a deep voice, pretending to bang down a gavel on the tabletop. Scarlett chuckled.

“I have a bunch of discussion points, but first, I’d love to know what your overall impressions of the book were?” Savannah asked.

“I damn near ran out of tissue reading this book. I whipped through it faster than green grass through a goose. Only took me a couple of days to finish it,” Shelby said.

“If an author can make me cry
and
swoon, I’m hers for life,” Dee added.

Savannah had picked the first book for the group to read—
Feel Again
by Faith Andrews. Scarlett had never really given romance novels a chance, thinking they were all sappy love stories. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

Scarlett hadn’t been able to put the book down either, and she’d even found herself shedding a few tears at some of the more poignant moments in the story. Although the character’s journey toward happily ever after was far from smooth, when Scarlett had finished reading, it had left her with hope—hope that some day she too could find happiness despite all the sadness she’d endured.

Before Scarlett could respond with her own thoughts, Mrs. M piped up. “I didn’t read the book.” When they all just stared, she continued. “What? You try to read that small print with eighty-somethin’-year-old eyes. It ain’t easy.”

“Maybe we need to get you an e-reader,” Madison suggested.

The older woman waved Madison off in disgust. “Please. I don’t want any part of your mumbo-jumbo technology. You don’t read books on a computer screen. Those things are probably half the reason everyone your age is so screwed up these days.”

“You’d find it much easier to read on,” Scarlett offered.

“I don’t need to read the book. That’s what I have you girls for. Why do you think I joined this club? I haven’t been able to read a book in years, but now you all can tell me what happens.”

Scarlett looked at Mrs. M with a sympathetic smile. It must be hard to have to give up something you love because your body refused to cooperate. Her breathing hitched as she realized that she’d found herself in the same position so many years ago.

“We’ll tell you all about it. Won’t we, girls?” she said.

Everyone else nodded and voiced their approval, and Savannah launched into a brief synopsis of the plot.

A couple of hours later, they’d finished all discussions of the book and were talking about some of the festivities the town had planned for Halloween later that week.

“If those kids toilet paper the big oak tree in Town Square again this year, Mrs. Gibbons will lose her damn mind,” Layla said, laughing.

Scarlett’s eyes widened. “They still do that?” She picked her beer up off the table and took a sip.

“Oh yeah.” Madison nodded. “Ever since your boyfriend and Buckie did it that first time years ago, it’s become a tradition of sorts.” Scarlett cringed inside at her reference to Luke in front of the older lady.

“Speaking of, how are things going with you and that stud muffin?” Mrs. M asked, pinning Scarlett with a look that said she wouldn’t accept anything other than a direct answer to her question.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said quietly.

“Unless you kids call it something different these days, sleeping together, taking his mom to her chemo appointments, and spending the weekends together constitutes him being your boyfriend. Hell, you two probably still do all the stuff you did back when you were in high school.”

Scarlett’s jaw dropped open. “How did you know all that?”

The old lady shrugged. “I hear things,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Can I get you ladies anything else?” the waiter asked as he approached their table.

“A shot of Jack.” It was out of Scarlett’s mouth before she could stop herself. Being under interrogation from the elderly lady across from her was pressure enough. What was she going to tell Luke if he pushed her for a solid definition of what was going on with them?

“One for me, too.” Scarlett knew the grin on Layla’s face only meant trouble for her, but her friend had never been one to let her suffer or celebrate on her own. She gave her a grateful smile.

“Me, too,” Madison said.

“And one for me,” Dee piped up.

“All right. Sign me up,” Shelby added.

“Looks like this meeting is finally getting interesting,” Mrs. M commented with a smile.

Pretty soon everyone around the table had decided to join her, and a half-hour later their mundane book club meeting had taken a turn into party territory. Layla yelled at the bartender to turn up the music, and when he obliged, a few of them strutted out to the small dance floor and worked it for the gathering crowd in the bar.

A
while later
, Scarlett was perched on the edge of one of the bar stools, happy to rest her feet for a minute. She watched as her friends continued to have fun on the dance floor. Layla looked like she might—yep, she fell. Thankfully, there was an older gentleman dancing with his wife nearby who bent down to help her up.

Mrs. M shuffled over from the restrooms at the back of the bar. She spoke loudly over the music. “I just tried to call Lewis on the pay phone, but he’s not answering. Probably fell asleep in his recliner watching re-runs of
Wheel Of Fortune
again.”

Scarlett leaned close to the woman’s ear. “I can get you home if you want.”

“You’re not driving, I hope.” Mrs. M did not look pleased.

“No, I’m gonna call Luke,” she said with more enthusiasm than the statement probably deserved. Truth was, she was looking forward to seeing him, and since Mrs. M knew everything anyway, there was no sense hiding it. She’d had fun here tonight, but she wanted to be near him…smell him…touch him. “You wait here while I go outside so I can hear him.”

Without waiting for a response, she hopped down off the bar stool, reaching for Mrs. M’s arm to steady herself. Scarlett’s legs felt fuzzy, almost like she was trying to walk underwater, as she made her way to the door.

Crisp autumn air greeted her as she stepped outside. She reached into her back pocket and pulled her phone from it, fumbling a bit as she found Luke’s number. It rang a few times, and right before she was about to disconnect the call, he picked up.

“Hey, babe.” He sounded winded.

“Hey babe, yourself,” Scarlett said, feeling a little more brazen than normal thanks to the addition of Mr. Daniels in her bloodstream.

Luke chuckled, and she grew warm inside from the raspy sound of it. “How was the book club meeting?”

“Oh, I’m still here. Kinda why I’m callin’…”

“Let me guess… you overindulged and want me to pick you up?”

“Give the man his prize!”

Another throaty laugh. “Only prize I want is the woman on the other end of this line.”

“She wants you, too.” Scarlett bit the end of her finger as she recalled the last time they’d slept together. It had been a beautiful night under the stars and she was anxious for a repeat.

“Well then, far be it for me to keep her waiting.” Something clanked in the background, but before Scarlett could ask what it was, he spoke again. “I have to finish something quick, but I’ll be there within a half hour.”

“See you soon,” she said softly and ended the call. Scarlett pressed the phone to her chest, unable to suppress the growing happiness inside that one conversation with Luke was able to bring to life.

“
L
uke
!” Layla screamed, raising her beer in the air.

Scarlett turned to see him sauntering over to their spot on the dance floor, his eyes roaming the length of her body as he approached. A small grin played on his lips.

Scarlett beamed back at him. “My hero,” she proclaimed when he reached her. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Here to save me from all these bad influences.” He laughed and nuzzled his face into her neck.