Closer To You (Tales of the Sweet Magnolia Book 1) (13 page)

Lilly swallowed the lump in her throat, vowing to hold a brave face in light of Angel’s clear fortitude.

“She left with him one morning in spring. Left me a letter with her reasons why and enough money to stay on at the hotel for a week, but after that I would have to find my own way, just as she had to find hers.”

Lil clenched her fists, pretending to flex her fingers for playing when in her mind she wanted to deck that selfish bitch for leaving her daughter in the middle of nowhere. “You are probably the bravest woman I’ve ever met, Angel. May I ask, when was the last time you heard from your Pa?”

Angel gazed at the sheet music as though doing the math in her head. “The day he left me, seven years ago, I think, maybe eight. When my money ran out, I needed a place to stay and I heard the Magnolia was looking for young women.

That’s when you took me in.”

“Have you ever given thought to doing anything else?” Lil asked as though they were seated in a modern day coffee shop and the woman had endless possibilities available to her. The reality of it was that Angel had very little hope of ever leaving Deadwater, much less the Magnolia. Like so many of the “soiled doves” in the old western towns they would grow old, eventually losing their allure and those that didn’t find marriage or hole away a bit of money, often died alone and destitute. The thought of that happening to Angel turned Lil’s stomach.

Angel looked at Lil then and though a measure of sorrow glittered in her beautiful blue eyes, there was still a spark of hope. “I suppose if things were different, maybe I’d have someone like your Sheriff Sloan, or a piano man who writes pretty words to music—a husband and a home. I always wanted a little girl.” She smiled wistfully.

Lil cupped Angel’s cheek, wanting to tell her that Jake wasn’t “hers,” and that truthfully, he belonged to the town. Instead, she chose to address Angel’s hope. “It’s important to hold on to your dreams. No matter how dark the skies get sometimes.” Lil realized that she was advising this brave young woman when she needed to be taking her own advice. Since it didn’t appear that she was going anywhere soon, perhaps she could afford more patience and a little more gratitude that she had a man like Jake in her life, if only for now. But beyond that, Lil needed to look around her at the opportunity to make a difference where she was. Would she change the course of history? Out there in a God-forsaken desert town, the likelihood was mighty slim. But she could stop wallowing in her own problems and see what she might do to make life a little easier for those that for now, she called, “family.”

“Okay, we’ve got the basic chords. Let’s do this thing.” Lil hugged Angel’s shoulder and situated herself at the piano. “Are you ready?”

Lil jumped as Angel’s arms clamped around her and the young woman laid her head on Lil’s shoulder. “Sometimes I don’t understand a word you say or the funny way you say things, but thanks, Lil, for letting me have a dream.”

Lil patted her hand. “Someday, Angel, your prince will come or you may have to strike out in faith to find him, but for now, you hold onto your love of music and don’t go changin’ to please anyone, but yourself,” Lil sang off key. “You hear me?”

Angel nodded.

“What’s all the ruckus going on down here? A fella can’t get any sleep.” Paddy shuffled behind the bar, his suspenders hanging over his baggy pants, and a button missing on his undershirt.

“Listen, Paddy, Lil’s taught me a song on the piano!” Angel piped up unable to contain her excitement.

“Grand, another one ‘ta keep me up till the wee hours of the mornin’.”

Lil committed this family-like moment to memory.
Maybe Jake was right, maybe all any of us are given for sure, is the moment we’re in.
“Paddy, before I forget, I want you to take this and put it in a safe place. It may never be needed, but you have it just in case.” She handed him a paper with her old apartment address, the library’s address, and her phone number.

Paddy eyed her warily, but accepted the note, turning it over in his hand. “Heard tell once of a man who did the same thing with the coordinates of a gold find that he wanted no one else to locate. Asked the barkeep to hold it for him and the next thing you know, the barkeep is living high on the hog and the man had disappeared.” Paddy peered at her with a narrowed eye. “This anything like that?”

“Not anything close,” Lil quickly responded. “Trust me.”

Paddy sat back with a satisfied smile and tossed back his finger of whiskey. “Ah, good then, I know just the place to put it.” He slid it under a vintage whiskey that he refused to open.

Two hours and a number of Billy Joel songs later, Angel went up to bed and Lil shook Paddy’s shoulder after he’d fallen asleep at a table, using his folded arms as a pillow. He looked up at her with a groggy, whiskey-induced smile. “Sweet dreams, Miss Lilly.”

She hoped they would be. Lillian patted her charming old Irish barkeep on the shoulder and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Thanks, Paddy, for staying down here with us. Go on now, I’ll see to locking up.”

It was close to one in the morning before the tenants of the Magnolia were settled. And still no sign of Jake. Lil strolled through the kitchen, sampled a bit of a pie that Cook had cooling on the table, and sauntered back to the saloon where she played a few hands of Solitaire in an attempt to keep from locking up. With a sigh of resignation, she finally tossed the cards on the table and walked reluctantly to the front door. Lil stepped outside and looked up at the wash of stars across the desert sky. In view of her new vow to be more appreciative of the moment, she gave Jake the benefit of the doubt that he was likely just busy and that’s why he hadn’t come by to see her. She crossed her arms over her chest and stood at the top of the steps, listening for the sound of a horse racing down the lane, but none came.

The shrill cry of a desert hawk pierced the silence, startling her. While the desert was beautiful at this hour, there were many unknown dangers that lurked in the darkness. Like the gunman who’d gotten away on Jake’s horse. Her thoughts pushed her back inside, and she locked the door, shoving the second deadbolt into place with a firm push.

***

Lil opened the window of her second story bedroom, something that a real parlor house madam would never do at night under normal circumstances for fear of lawless men sneaking in without paying for the service. But the fresh air, she hoped, would help her sleep. Her eyes drifted shut as she listened to the sounds of the night wind whistling around the edge of the house. She dreamed in a half state of consciousness about Jake—bits and pieces of their conversations over the past few days, snapshots of their lovemaking—how he looked into her eyes before he kissed her.

“I came as quick as I could, sorry,” his low-timbered voice whispered through the misty fog in her brain. Lil wasn’t positive she wasn’t still dreaming until his lips, still cool from his ride through the night, touched her mouth with consummate tenderness and desire, obliterating all question that he wasn’t a dream.

She smiled sleepily and curled her arms around his neck. “Where you been all my life, cowboy?” She greedily accepted his mouth to hers again, relishing in the taste. He’d already undressed before waking her, and Lil relished in how well she knew the firm muscle beneath her hands, the taste of him, the musky male scent of his skin. 

“Now, that’s a nice hello after a long day,” he spoke softly against her lips.

Tenderly urgent, his mouth moved over hers and she complied readily when his knee nudged her open for him. She welcomed their joining, wrapping her legs around his back, arching her hips to meet his. His breath blew warm against her shoulder, his lips pressing kisses to her flesh and Lil embraced heaven in her arms, her bones turning to ash with each slow thrust.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” he said, leaning up on his elbows to look at her as his body pushed hers toward mindless bliss.

“I was dreaming about you,” she confessed.

“Was it good, Lil, this dream?” He reached down, gripping her thigh and pushing to the hilt.

She loved him deep inside her. “Not as good as reality.” She cupped his face, covering his mouth in a fiery kiss. Determined, they clung to each other, lost in timeless rhythm, driving each other with an intensity that demanded, appeased.

The weak old iron headboard slammed against the wall in unison to his thrusts. Lil drew her knees up, wrapping around his waist, her body riding the crest of their shared shattering climax. Breathless, Lil brushed a kiss to his unshaven jaw and tasted the dewy taste of passion on his flesh.

He rolled over scooping her under his arm, tucking her close to his side. “I think I like waking up with you in my arms.” He let out a contented sigh. “I think my body actually craves you.”

Lillian rubbed her hand over his chest, hugged him, and kissed his muscled shoulder. “Did you really think about me today?” Perhaps it was absurd for her to be so giddy of the idea that she could invade his thoughts. Certainly he’d been on her mind most of the day and even in her dreams. 

“Well, now, Miss Lillian, if walking around half the day hard enough to drive nails ain’t enough for you, I guess I’ll have to find some other means to convince you.” He shifted to face her, his dark eyes glittering by the light of the full moon streaming through her curtains. His hand slipped over her hip, drawing her close.

It struck her suddenly that he’d gotten in, but how? “Jake?” She leaned back to look at him. “The doors are still locked, aren’t they?”

“Far as I know, darlin’.” He slid his hand over her breast, caressing her gently, turning her brains to mush.

Lil touched his face, tracing his lower lip. “Well, if that’s the case, then how did you get into my room?”

“Do we need to discuss this now, Lil?” He rolled her to her back, his mouth replacing his hand.

“It concerns me, if you found a way in, someone else might.”

He pulled back to look at her. “Then you best make sure your bedroom window stays shut tight.”

“But I barely had it opened a crack. How’d you know to even check? Better yet, how’d you get up there?” She held her hands to his chest, curious to hear his explanation and at the same time wanting to appease her lust, aware of the rigid treasure resting against her thigh.

“I didn’t know, but I was a desperate man.” He leaned down with one tempting kiss. “And a desperate man will do anything to get what he wants.” His grin shone in the semi-darkness, enough to heat Lil’s blood. “Besides, it’s part of my job as sheriff to know these things.”

Lil drew her hand over his hardening erection, holding his gaze, victorious when he breathed in sharply, trying to maintain control.

“I can see how desperate you are,” she teased. “What I want to know is how many windows have you climbed through in the name of duty?”

He knelt back, drawing her up to face him. “I ought to turn you over my knee and paddle you for thinking such things.”

“Promises, promises.” Lil pressed further, watching his eyes turn smoky. He tugged her forward in a quick kiss, dotting her shoulder, her ribcage and the curve of her back similarly and before she realized it, she lay curved like a cat over his lap.

“I have a better idea.” He eased her face down on the tangled sheets, his lips moving over the curves of her body. The cotton sheets felt warm against her cheek, the scent of their bodies in the fabric adding to the passion rising insider her. His gentle finger slipped between her thighs, stroking insistently bringing her up again. She squirmed, pushing to her knees, her body craving him again. His hands rested on her hips as he slid easily into her heat.

“For the record, yours is the only window I’ve ever entered.” He filled her and withdrew, slow and steady driving her to the brink of insanity. “And you’re the only one I want to enter, again…and again.” He punctuated his words with each purposeful thrust, causing Lil’s body to tremble with need. She pushed to her hands, head lowered, pushing against him in a divine erotic dance. “Tell me that you believe me, Lil, when I say I want no one but you.”

“Oh Lord, yes…. I believe…. I do.” Her body fell apart with an explosive orgasm that rolled wave after wave, causing a peel of delighted laughter to escape her lips.

Jake pushed deep with a sigh as he followed with his own release. He flopped down on his side next to her, gently rubbing her back. “It’s one hell of an incentive when you know what woman waits in that second story window.” He kissed her temple.

The sound of his voice, so loving and the touch that was now familiar to her, caused her imagination to run rapid with the notion of growing old together.

“Are you going to let me sleep at all tonight?” she whispered, turning her head to look at him, her cheek at rest on her arms.

“Well now, that depends on whether I’ve been convincing enough.” He grinned and brushed back the hair from his face.

“You won’t leave me wondering whether or not I’m just dreaming, will you?” Lil teased. This was how she wished it could be always. Unhindered by rules, by the future—like Jake said, living for the moment and she wanted to store up as many of them as she could.

“I promise there will be no doubt in your mind just how real it is.”

“Sounds a bit like a challenge.” Lil turned to her side and propped up on her elbow. The sheets lay in a tangled heap at their feet and they were bound to get more so.