His First and Last (Ardent Springs #1) (2 page)

Spencer had made it crystal clear that if she didn’t love him enough to stay, then he never wanted to see her again. Unfortunately, he’d shared these feelings while they were strolling through the Main Street Festival, a summer celebration that rolled into the July Fourth festivities, with pretty much the whole town in attendance.

In a fit of temper, Lorelei had lashed out, declaring to every local within hearing distance that Ardent Springs was nothing but a two-bit town filled with small-minded idiots. Then she’d thrown Spencer’s ring in his face and stormed off. The crying lasted three days, until the moment her plane landed at LAX.

But once that plane touched down, Lorelei vowed never to cry over a man again. And she hadn’t. Until two months ago when she’d learned that the man she’d hoped to marry had reached the wife quota with the one he already had. The one Lorelei knew nothing about until Mrs. Maxwell Chapel had paid her a personal visit. A moment that set off a chain of events that threatened to land Lorelei homeless on the streets of Los Angeles.

Hence, her inglorious return home.

In twelve years, there had been no calls or letters from her high school sweetheart. Not even a hello passed through her grandmother. Nothing to make Lorelei believe Spencer’s feelings had changed over time.

So she stuffed down the questions. They didn’t really matter anyway. Whatever the answers were, they wouldn’t change the past and would only bring more headaches for her present. Lorelei had enough of those already.

He couldn’t believe she hadn’t asked. She had to be curious why he’d been the one to drive all the way to Nashville to get her, especially since Spencer knew Rosie hadn’t told her who the chauffeur would be. Not that he had much of an answer. The truth was, he went because Rosie had asked him to. And Spencer would do anything for Lorelei’s grandmother. Lacking any real family of his own, he’d found a lifeline in Rosie Pratchett at one of the darkest moments of his life. Picking her granddaughter up from the airport was the least he could do.

But if he were honest, he’d admit he wanted to see her. He wasn’t the boy she’d left behind anymore. The idiot who’d thrown a tantrum when his feelings got hurt, then tossed away the best thing he’d ever had.

Life went on. People changed. Except Lorelei.

He should have known. God, she looked as beautiful as ever. The blonde hair slightly shorter. The body that of a woman, not a girl of eighteen. There had never been any doubt Lorelei Pratchett would be gorgeous, but when he spotted her sitting on that bench, it was like taking a charging bull horns-first to the chest.

He’d hovered beside a column twenty feet down the sidewalk, buying time for his heart to settle back to a normal rhythm. He couldn’t face her looking like a lovesick calf. If she knew how he felt, she’d chew him up and spit him out without a second thought.

Time may have passed, but he knew from experience that women possessed long memories. All women except his own mother, who couldn’t even remember the name of the man who’d sired him. The sperm donor had taken off long before Spencer took his first breath.

“This is probably a stupid question,” Lorelei said, tugging Spencer out of his reverie, “but anything exciting happen in Ardent Springs while I was gone?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. Just like her to believe nothing would happen in twelve years.

“Well,” he started, wrinkling his forehead in thought. “The old Miller Tavern got bought out. Now it’s Brubaker’s.”

“As in Harvey Brubaker? The grocery store owner?”

“As in.”

“Huh,” Lorelei said, watching the road ahead of them. “Why would Harvey buy a bar?”

“Because Mrs. Brubaker was spending a lot of time at Miller’s and coming home real late smelling like other men.” Spencer took the exit onto I-65 north. “Seems as good a reason as any.”

“Oh.” She remained silent for nearly a minute, then asked, “They were old when I left. They’d have to be pushing seventy by now.”

“Yep,” he agreed. “I do my best not to get a mental image on that one.”

“Good idea.” Lorelei nodded. “Anything else? I don’t suppose there are any new shopping options? Something other than the Agri Co-op?”

He couldn’t give her good news on that one. “Goodlettsville is still the only option for your kind of shopping. Nothing any closer. Yet.”

“Lovely.”

Silence loomed again. Spencer decided to fill it.

“So, are we going to keep ignoring the elephant in the truck, or are you going to ask?”

Lorelei turned around in her seat. “Elephant? Dude, that’s a dog.”

“Nice try, but I know you’re not a dumb blonde, remember?”

She righted herself, tugging down her dress as she did so. Spencer could still see enough thigh to make his mouth water. Lorelei always did have great legs.

“I suppose that’s a compliment.” She sighed. “What question do you want me to ask? Why are you here? Do you still hate me? I don’t need to ask if you’re married. Granny kept me informed on that front.”

Since she had yet to ask him anything, Spencer stayed quiet.

“Sorry about the divorce,” she added. “Contrary to what you might think, I wasn’t happy to hear about that.”

Was that sympathy coming from the passenger seat? A friendly comment without a trace of sarcasm? Maybe he’d picked up the wrong woman.

“It wasn’t fun,” he said, gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary. “Life goes on.”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?” He wasn’t sure how to interpret that one. “You’re being nice to me, so I’m guessing hate isn’t the appropriate word anymore.”

With complete honesty, he said, “I haven’t hated you since a week after you left.”

Lorelei nodded. “Right. I wasn’t worth that kind of emotion.”

Spencer shook his head in amazement. “You haven’t changed a bit, Lorelei.”

“You’d be surprised,” she said. Her head leaned back on the headrest, and she shut her eyes. “As much as I’m enjoying all of this catching up we’re doing, I’d really like to take a nap. Do you mind?”

“Nope.”

“Thanks.”

“Lorelei?”

“What?” his passenger growled, eyes still shut.

“I’ll still be here when you wake up. And we’re going to have to answer those questions sometime.”

Her eyes were open now, glaring at him from beneath perfectly shaped brows. “I’ll check my calendar. Maybe there will be an opening next year.”

Spencer knew when he’d pushed far enough. “Thank you, ma’am.”

A loud sigh was her only response. A minute later, soft snoring accompanied the radio.

Chapter 2

Lorelei woke up when her head smacked off the passenger door window as Spencer’s truck bounced through the potholes in Granny’s driveway. She’d been having a vivid dream that included Spencer, herself, and a hot tub. The memory of it hurt more than the bump on the head.

“You still snore,” Spencer said. No
good morning sunshine
. No
you’re pretty when you sleep
. Only a reminder that she snored. Jerk.

“Then I guess we’re all caught up.” Lorelei yawned, stretching her back as much as possible with the seat belt on. “I can’t believe Granny hasn’t fixed this driveway.”

“We’ve filled in the holes a couple of times, but the rains wash it back out again.”

We? What the hell did he mean
we
?

The truck stopped in front of the old garage, which looked freshly painted. Maybe
we
had painted that, too. As soon as Spencer slid the vehicle into park, Champ bolted over the side, barking his head off as if alerting the entire county to their arrival. Lorelei preferred to make a
quieter entrance, but she had to admit she
was
excited to see her grandmother.

It had definitely been too long.

By the time she’d climbed from her seat and crossed behind the truck, Granny appeared on the porch. Lorelei gave in to the urge. Kicking her shoes off in two different directions, not caring one flying fig where they landed, she followed Champ’s example and bolted across the yard, slowing enough not to knock the older woman off her feet.

Everything Lorelei needed was in that hug. Love, acceptance, joy. Even the hint of sadness for more than a decade apart made the embrace all the more honest. How long had it been since she’d felt honest contact with another human being?

Years.

“Step back and let me get a look at you,” Granny mumbled against her shoulder. Even without shoes on, Lorelei was half a foot taller than the woman who’d raised her. “You were beautiful when you left here all those years ago, but now you’re absolutely gorgeous. As I knew you would be.”

“Granny,” Lorelei said, “it’s not as if I haven’t sent you pictures.”

“Pictures don’t do you justice.” A soft hand tapped Lorelei’s cheek. “I’m so happy you’re home.” Another tight squeeze around her middle, and then the woman jerked back. “You must be starving. I’ve got the chicken and dumplings in the Crock-Pot, but let’s get you settled in first.”

Granny stepped to the side, yelling, “Spencer!” only to find him standing on the bottom step holding two suitcases. “You’re such a good boy. Would you mind taking those up to Lorelei’s room? You know which one it is.”

Either Spencer had been given a tour of the upstairs in the last twelve years, or all those nights he’d climbed the hickory tree to get in her window, he could have come through the front door.

“No problem.” Spencer wiped his boots on the worn welcome mat as Granny held open the screen.

“You’ll stay and have dumplings with us, too.” Granny smiled at Lorelei, looking very satisfied with herself. After all these years, she couldn’t think . . .

“Granny?” Lorelei crossed her arms. “Spencer and I aren’t picking up where we left off. You know that, right?”

Tiny round glasses slid down a pert nose as her eyes went wide. “I never said you were.”

She may not have spoken the words, but the message in those blue depths shone loud and clear.

“You stay here, Champ. I’ll bring your food out in a minute.” Granny tugged Lorelei inside, shuffling across the scratched hardwood floor to the kitchen. “I made a fresh pitcher of sweet tea for you. I know whatever they have out there in California doesn’t come close to my sweet tea.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Lorelei stared back at the beast breathing against the screen door. “Granny, did you say you were going to feed Spencer’s dog?”

“Sure,” she said, tittering about, grabbing a glass, then opening the fridge to fetch the pitcher and some ice. “Not that Spencer doesn’t feed him, but when he works late, I make sure Champ gets his dinner.” Granny reached for another glass. “I make sure Spencer eats, too. I swear, that boy would work himself to skin and bones if I didn’t keep on him.”

So now she was a dog sitter? And fed Lorelei’s ex on a regular basis? Something smelled fishy in Farmville.

“Where exactly does Spencer live?”

“He didn’t tell you?” Her voice went up an octave as if to show surprise, but Lorelei recognized bad acting when she saw it. Hell, according to critics, she was an expert at it.

“Come clean, old woman, and stop trying to con a con. Does Spencer live here with you?”

“In the house? No, of course not.” A tall glass of tea was pushed across the large center island. “Drink up now. Before all the ice melts.”

The half-dozen ice cubes chilling the tea would take longer than a few seconds to melt. Granny was dancing around something. Before Lorelei could press further, Spencer returned, setting his cowboy hat on the back of the couch before joining them in the kitchen. His light brown hair was cut close, with specks of blond scattered throughout.

Lorelei resisted the urge to run a hand through it to fluff where the hat had flattened it. She’d done that often when they were young.

“Bags are on the bed. Ginger was checking them out when I left, so they should be covered in white hair in no time.”

Distracted from her living arrangement quandary, Lorelei asked, “You still have that cat?”

“I do. Ginger turned seventeen this year.” Granny smiled with pride. “She’s going to be so happy to see you.”

“That cat hated me.”

“She did not.”

“She bit me. Twice. And I still have the scar on my arm from where she clawed me.”

Pulling three large bowls from the cupboard, Granny moved to the silverware drawer. Everything was still in the same place, as if no time had passed since Lorelei left.

“You were always poking at her,” Granny said. “You can’t blame her for biting you when you provoked her.”

“I never provoked that cat,” Lorelei defended, choosing to stick with her selective memory. She might have poked. Once.

“You were always poking at somebody or something,” Spencer piped in as he lifted the glass of tea to his smirking lips. “That was part of your charm.”

Instead of coming to Lorelei’s defense, Granny joined in the mirth. “That was your way of getting attention. My, you longed for attention. It’s why I wasn’t surprised when you ran off to become famous.”

“I didn’t run off to become famous,” Lorelei corrected. “I left to pursue an acting career.”

“You can’t get famous doing that,” Spencer mumbled, eliciting another cackle from Granny, who had the grace to smother the sound once Lorelei shot her a warning look.