Hotter than Texas (Pecan Creek) (21 page)

Instead, Lucy would be on it in a hot white minidress, luring men to Pecan Creek, according to the good pillars of the community.

She hoped she wasn’t making everything worse.

“Sugar!”

Maggie burst in the door, wearing a huge grin.

Sugar nearly dropped the bowl she’d been stirring eggs and sugar in. “What?”

Maggie grinned, her red hair wild. She slid onto a stool, looking happier than Sugar had seen her in a long time. A bra strap peeked out of her sleeveless purple blouse, and she looked more tanned than usual. “I remembered.
Everything
.”

Sugar stared at her. “What everything?”

“All the recipes.” Maggie’s smile beamed to every corner of the room. “Every single one.”

Sugar gasped. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am.” She plunked a sheaf of notes down on the kitchen block table. “There are twenty of them. Enough to get your business off the ground, I should think.”

“This is awesome! How did you remember?”

“I think I finally
relaxed
.” Maggie looked with pride on her handiwork. “It was like I was young again. Ingredients and measurements flashed through my brain, settling in their proper compartments. And I sat and wrote them all down like a mad scientist. I learned my lesson about keeping everything in my head,” Maggie said. “I had a helluva case of recipe block, and I don’t ever want to suffer that again! I nearly forgot all my grandmother’s fine recipes, and that would’ve been a shame.”

Sugar sifted through the recipes. “We could start a cookbook with this much good stuff.”

Maggie looked pleased. “I’m so happy to have all my recipes again.”

“This is amazing. I’m so happy for you, Mom.”

“It just started coming back to me. So I sat and wrote and wrote for three days.” Maggie laughed with delight.

“I thought you were with Lassiter.”

“Well, I was,” Maggie said. “I think that was how I finally relaxed. We spent so much time in his hammock that I must have just unblocked.” She looked at her daughter. “You think I didn’t come home for three days because I was having mad sex?”

“I hope so,” Sugar said, “though I don’t need the details. I’m thrilled you’re so happy.”

“I didn’t come home,” Maggie said, “because I was
writing
. You needed the recipes for the business, and I was on a roll.”

“It’s okay, Mom. This is wonderful. I can’t wait to cook some of these up.” Sugar could tell her mother was annoyed with her.

“Sugar,” Maggie said, “I wouldn’t desert my daughters because I was having a romance. I just lost track of time.
You
try to stop in the middle when measurements are flowing in your brain and ingredients are calling for their turn. I didn’t dare stop writing. Lassiter left snacks and water at my elbow. I swear we didn’t say a word to each other for the past seventy-two hours.”

“We weren’t deserted, Mom. We’re all adults.” Sugar kissed her mother on the cheek. “Lassiter’s a good guy. We knew you were safe.”

Maggie blinked. “He is a good guy. Maybe too good.”

Sugar looked at her mother. “You deserve good, Mom.”

“Yeah.” Maggie pulled out her cigarettes. “Anyway, now you’ve got the family jewels. That’s all I’ve got. Come on, Paris. Let’s go take a walk in the grove.”

Maggie went out, and Sugar glanced down at the recipes. Then she watched her mother and Paris slowly making their way through the grove.

Maggie did deserve a great guy—but she hadn’t sounded convinced of that. And then Sugar remembered that she hadn’t told Maggie about Vivian and the PI.

Maybe there was no reason to. Maggie was happy. She’d remembered her treasured recipes.

There had to be a way to shut Vivian up.

Jake spent several hours sitting alone in his creek hangout. He drank all the beer, ate all the cookies and generally pondered his navel, as Vivian would say. When the clouds finally parted for him, he walked to the main road, pulled out his cell phone and called for an extract.

Kel, Evert and Bobby showed up in Bobby’s camo-painted truck. Bobby leaned out the window.

“We wondered where you were,” Bobby said.

“Took a long walk.” Jake got in the truck bed.

Kel slid the back window open. “Where are we going?”

“Sugar’s,” Jake said.

“Is that wise?” Kel asked. “Aren’t we swearing off the Cassavechia women?”

Jake sighed. “Tell Bobby to put his foot down on the pedal.”

“Lover boy’s in a hurry, so burn some rubber,” Kel said.

Jake looked around at the tree-lined road as Bobby drove toward the family home. He had to talk to Sugar. She had every right to be annoyed; he’d known that at the time he’d told her.

But he wanted her to know that he was on her side.

He was worried she wouldn’t care.

“Here you go,” Kel said. “Home sweet home.”

Bobby shut off the truck. All four men got out. Jake eyed his buddies. “What are you doing?”

“Going in with you,” Evert said. “You’re not the only one who likes the Cassavechias. They’re our friends too. What makes you special?”

Jake grunted. “Nothing, now that you mention it.”

Evert slapped him on the back. Jake hoped one of his lungs hadn’t collapsed. They trooped up to the front door, and Jake rang the bell, his heart thundering.

Maggie opened the door, her face lighting when she saw them. “Hi, guys!”

“Hi, Maggie,” Jake said.

“Come on in!” Maggie opened the door wide, and the four of them filed inside.

“Hey, this place looks good,” Kel said. “Looks like a home.”

“Yeah,” Bobby said. “It’s got a dog.” He petted Paris, who made her way around the men looking for attention.

“We’re, I mean,
I’m
looking for Sugar,” Jake said.

“She’s not here. Lucy’s not here, either,” Maggie said, and Jake could feel his friends practically deflate beside him.

“You know when Sugar will be back?” Jake asked.

“She went to the grocery store.” Maggie smiled at all of them. “She says we’re going to say good-bye to the last warm days of fall tomorrow and grill out. Lay in the sun a little. She bought us a plastic pool this summer. We’re going to pretend that we’re at the beach.”

Beside him, Kel stood stock-still. Jake couldn’t look at him. “That sounds great, Miss Maggie. Maybe I’ll try to catch her. Can you tell her I came by?”

“I will.” Maggie hugged him, and Jake wondered if this was how real mothers acted, warm and welcoming and like everything was always okay. She hugged Evert, Bobby and Kel, and they returned to the truck like Boy Scouts.

They waved good-bye, and Bobby drove away.

Once they hit the main road into town, the truck window snapped open. Kel looked at him.

“It’s going to take everything you’ve got not to get on their roof tomorrow,” Kel said. “Bet you wish you’d left some cracks in that tight-ass board-on-board fence you bragged so hard about.” Laughing, he closed the window.

Jake sighed. The wind blew in his face as they drove toward the Bait and Burgers, and Jake thought about Sugar lying topless in his backyard.

Something had to give. Or he was going to go slowly mad thinking about her, dreaming about her, fantasizing about hot sex with her.

The problem was, he was pretty sure he thought about hot sex with Sugar far more than she ever thought about it with him, and now that he’d opened his fat mouth and given her a peek at the Bentley family skeletons, she might prefer giving him a cold finger instead.

Sugar was standing in the produce aisle checking out the fresh veggies, trying to remember when the last time she and her mother and sister had eaten grilled veggies—maybe squash and zucchini would be good—when hell spat out a demon right next to her.

“Miss Cassavechia,” Vivian Bentley said. “If you could move your cart, the rest of us can get through the aisle.”

Sugar moved her cart. “Let nothing impede you, Mrs. Bentley.”

Vivian pushed her basket past Sugar’s. “You won’t get him, you know. He’ll figure out what you are soon enough.”

“And if he doesn’t, you’ll send a few more private investigators to convince him?” Sugar shrugged. “I really don’t care what you do, Vivian. But your battle is with me, so leave my mother and sister alone.”

“We’re not having a battle. The sooner you leave town, the better off Pecan Creek will be.”

“But I haven’t gotten pregnant yet, Mrs. Bentley,” Sugar said. “And isn’t that what you’re really dreading? That our families might become inextricably entwined?”

Vivian’s face went white. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I?”

Vivian blinked. “I rue the day my son rented you our family home.”

Sugar turned to put some vegetables in a bag. “It’s a little late to rue, don’t you think? We’re here, we’re staying, you need to deal with it before you have a breakdown.”

After a moment of glaring at her, Vivian turned and went down the aisle.

Sugar felt bad as she watched the elderly lady walk away. She was pathetic, and lonely.

She had no right to dig in our lives. My family’s been through enough.

“That was entertaining,” a deep voice said, and Sugar turned to face Jake. “I like the part where you convinced her that we’re sleeping together.”

Sugar blushed. “I’m not going to apologize. You should have stopped her from snooping in our lives, Jake. I’m not going to let her ruin my family’s happiness.”

He looked down at her, big and broad-shouldered in the middle of the Pecan Creek Grocery. “Sugar, I had to be honest and tell you what she did. I don’t care what anybody says about you, or your family, or what’s back in Florida. I’m crazy about you.”

Sugar looked up at him. “You are?”

“Yeah. I am.” He smiled at her. “I’ve got an idea how to start to solve all this.”

“I’m listening,” Sugar said.

He kissed her on the lips. “Come over tonight. I’ll fix you dinner.”

She stared at him. Smiling, he chose a large, long cucumber from the bin and laid it in her cart.

Sugar blinked.

“I remember you like them with your vodka,” he said.

She looked at the cucumber, then Jake. “I’ve never been to your house.”

“I know.” He frenched her right there in the small-town grocery, practically lifting her off her feet in front of everyone. “Let’s change that tonight.”

“I’ll think about it,” Sugar said, knowing very well that once she went down that path, there would be no turning back.

Dear Journal,

Maggie remembered her recipes. Lucy seems happy.

Jake gave me produce.

Maybe things are looking up.

Off to Jake’s.

S

Chapter Fifteen

“I’m just telling you this up front because you were up front with me,” Sugar said when he opened the door at eight o’clock that night, “I have zero intention of letting you seduce me.”

“Good to know. Thanks for bringing the strawberries. Did you get them from Dodie?” He took the basket she’d brought with her, holding it out like a shield.

“Yes.” Sugar looked around the house as they walked through to the kitchen. “This looks like a typical bachelor pad.”

“It is,” Jake agreed. “It’s where I lure unsuspecting beautiful women so I can seduce them.”

Sugar got on a barstool and admired the red chef’s apron Jake put on. The black lettering was pure Jake. “French-Kiss the Cook? Isn’t that a bit needy?”

“Maybe,” Jake said, “sometimes needy is good. So are subliminal hints.”

“I don’t believe in subliminal. That’s a lot of psychobabble.”

“Maybe.” Jake stirred the gravy simmering lightly in a sauté pan. “I thought we’d forego the vodka tonight and have sangria. I made it myself.”

She got up and looked in the various copper pots he had on the stove. “I thought you’d just bring in some warmed-up Bait and Burger.”

He laughed. “I get that several days a week. Tonight the menu is a little more varied. Grilled shrimp and steak. Surf ’n’ turf, if you prefer.”

She looked at him. “You’re making a lot of effort.”

“Yeah. I’m trying to get in your pants.” He winked at her. “Just being up front.”

Sugar grabbed a green bean out of the pot. “Mm. Fresh.”

“That’s right. Grown in Mr. McGregor’s garden. Lassiter’s quite the gardener.”

“Really. What doesn’t he do?”

Jake smiled, and pulled her close to kiss her lips. “Not much. He’s a hero. War vet and everything. I hope he’s lucky enough to catch Maggie.”

She pulled away and looked at the glasses next to a carafe of sangria chilling on ice. “Maggie’s going to be a tough nut to crack. Shall I pour?”