Love Notions (3 page)

Riley balanced the worn leather Bible on his knees as he flipped through the pages and the warmth of his voice told her they were really here together in Mrs. O’Leary’s living room, enjoying melt-in-your-mouth chocolate brownies a la mode and sweet tea while he prepared to read from Romans. The scents of vanilla and lemon, homey and cheerful, drifted.

“OK, then…” Riley shifted in his seat and skimmed a finger across the page as he began. His voice held steady and sure as the words sang. “‘
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’”

The verse from Romans washed over Jami, touching a place deep in her heart. Had Riley been tested over the past decade? Is that what had brought about this change in him? Was she being tested as well—here? Now? What did it all mean?

Riley continued.
“‘For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.’”

“That’s a beautiful passage,” Mrs. O’Leary broke in, her filmy gray eyes glancing their way. “And quite relevant, don’t you think?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Riley handed her a second brownie from the platter on the coffee table. “Would you like more tea?”

“No, this is plenty.” Mrs. O’Leary nibbled the sweet and dabbed her lips delicately with an embroidered cloth napkin. “Just give me more words.”

“OK, then.” And Riley continued through Romans chapter two as Mrs. O’Leary leaned forward in her rocker, drinking in every word.

****

“How long have you been going to visit her?” Jami asked as she and Riley pulled through the entrance to the Heart’s Haven complex.

“Almost two years.” Riley switched off the radio and inhaled. The scent of pine mingled with lilac from a flurry of bushes that lined the length of the drive. Above, moonlight spilled over a lush Angelina Forest, turning leaves to a shimmer of silver. He caught a glimpse of Andrew Hart strolling hand-in-hand with his new wife, Vivian, along the walking trail that skirted the forest’s edge. The crusty old codger had found love again in his twilight years. Lucky guy, as Riley wondered if he himself would ever manage to discover it for the first time. “I ran into her in the grocery store the week I returned here and she asked me to help her decipher something on her list. She’d forgotten her reading glasses.”

“I can hardly imagine Riley Hunter pushing a shopping cart along the aisles of Breyer’s Grocery Store.”

“How else am I supposed to eat?” He shrugged. “Anyway, Mrs. O’Leary and I got to talking, and she told me that her daughter had just been offered a job in Dallas. She was pretty torn up over the prospect of being separated from her grandson and fretting over how she’d make it to the store without her daughter’s assistance. She said her vision was failing due to macular degeneration. I felt bad for her, so, I offered to help.”

“Just like that?” Jami snapped her fingers. “No questions asked, no hesitation or worry about what your posse of football friends might think?”

“I’m not eighteen anymore, and my posse of football friends has long dispersed.” His sigh turned to a grimace, her apparent shock like daggers to his heart. “Yes, I agreed, just like that. I thought I was helping Mrs. O’Leary but the truth is, she helped me. It shames me to admit that the first time she asked me to read to her from the Bible, I flat out refused. By my way of thinking, I didn’t have time for such a fantasy world. I had never been much of a believer. I figured, so why start now, in my mid-twenties?”

“And you poked fun of me for ‘kind of’ being a vegetarian when you were just ‘sort of’ a believer?” Jami dipped her chin, frowning at him. “Funny how your words come back around to kick you in the teeth when you least expect it.”

“I suppose I deserve that.”

“So, what happened?”

“Well, you know from sitting through Mrs. O’Leary’s calculus class just how feisty she is. I swear the woman eats nails for breakfast. She wouldn’t take no for an answer, so I finally relented. I dusted off the Bible and by the end of the first chapter, I was hooked.” He turned into Jami’s drive and parked. As the engine silenced, quiet enveloped them like a downy blanket. Riley rubbed a hand along the thigh of his jeans as he remembered that afternoon—the way everything looked greener, crisper…cleaner as he’d driven away from Mrs. O’Leary’s cozy little house toward Heart’s Haven and his new cottage, still cluttered with unopened boxes. “I can’t even express what I felt. Relief and a kind of peace I’d never experienced before. I wanted to devour that book like an endless buffet. I’m not ashamed to admit that on the way home that first evening, I broke down and bawled like a baby.”

“You…cried?” Jami touched Riley’s hand as her voice hitched and softened. With her free hand, she lifted an index finger. “Wait. Give me a minute here.”

“Take your time.” Riley’s gaze shifted, capturing hers. He hadn’t cried the night he’d bulleted an interception during the final minutes of the championship football game their senior year, cementing a painful and irrevocable loss, or when his folks announced the following spring that they were getting divorced. He didn’t even cry when his dad passed four years later, only days before his college graduation. But he’d cried that night he left Mrs. O’Leary as if the dam had finally cracked wide open. “I know it’s hard to believe this tough guy would ever shed a tear. But I did.”

“Now it’s my turn to weep.” Jami dipped her head, breaking his gaze. She swiped one eye with an index finger. “That’s the most amazing thing, and now my words have circled ’round to kick me. I’m guilty.”

“We all are.” He shifted his hand, twining his fingers with hers. “But it’s OK.”

“I didn’t know…didn’t realize…” She pressed a palm to her lips, and her voice was muffled through her fingers. “I’ve been judging you unreasonably. You’ve…changed, Riley.”

“Yes, I have. We both have.” He nodded slightly and again felt a measure of warmth as he sent up silent thanks for the grace he’d experienced. “Against all odds. God sure is good, isn’t He?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.” Tears pooled and spilled over to run freely down her cheeks. “I feel…”

“I know.” He grazed a finger along her jaw, capturing a tear. “Let me walk you to the door. I’ll haul your bike to my place and see if I can doctor the tire.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Of course I don’t. But I want to.” He slipped from the car and rounded the hood to grab her door. “Let me get it for you.”

“All right.” Jami stood and turned to face him. “I’ll find a way to repay you.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Of course I don’t.” She smiled through her tears, lobbing Riley’s words back at him. “But I want to.”

“I have a meeting in the morning, nine o’clock, over at the complex. I’ll stop by and drive you to your shop.”

“Meeting?” Her eyes flashed in the shimmer of moonlight, and Riley noticed a hint of wariness. “Is it about…?”

“Yes.” For some reason, he suddenly couldn’t bring himself to say the word he’d been salivating over for weeks now. But she could.

“The buyout.” Her brows knit together as a cloud darkened her gaze. She backed away from him, swiping her eyes as she sniffled. “I almost forgot.”

“Like I said before, it’s just business, Jami.” He reached for her, but she turned away and strode up the walk toward her door. Riley heaved a sigh. So much for a truce. By the set of her shoulders, the December freeze had blown in once again. He started after her, calling, “You’d do the same thing if you were in my shoes.”

“No, I wouldn’t.” She spun to face him, hands firmly set on her hips. Tears glazed her eyes as she continued. “I’d consider the situation from all sides—including its impact on others.”

“Like you’re doing now, right?” Even as the words came, he regretted his sharp tone. Yet, the words continued to spew like molten lava. “You’re considering all sides at this very moment, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. I’ve dreamed of owning a bookstore since I was a little girl. It’s my passion, Riley, my dream. You…you just want to destroy it, and for what?”

“Do you care…really care?”

“I care that I promised Nana I’d be wise with her money, that I’d grow it into something special to remember her by. I’ve sunk a lot of money into this venture, and to give it up would be failure. I can’t do that. I
refuse
to do that. I plan to keep my promise.” She fumbled through her purse for her door key, tried to jimmy it in the lock with shaky hands. Riley couldn’t blame her for being upset. He couldn’t expect her to understand his point of view without sharing some of his—and he wasn’t ready to do that.

“Let me.” Gently, Riley took the key from her. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry.”

“You should go.”

“I’ll go, but this conversation is far from over.” He gave the door a slight push and reached around to flick on the light switch. A soft glow flooded the porch, bathing them. The way Jami gnawed her lower lip and stood stiff as an oak, fumbling with her purse strap and fighting the urge to cry again, turned him inside out. Why did things have to be so complicated? Why did he have to care about what she thought or felt? The very fact that he
did
care unnerved him and sent his heart to new and unchartered territory. God certainly had a sense of humor. After all this time, his feelings for Jami were bubbling to the surface. He had no idea where to go from here so he simply said, “I’ll be back for you in the morning.”

“Don’t bother.” Jami’s chin came up as she wrapped her arms around her slim mid-section. “I’m leaving early.”

“Then you’d better brew some coffee. I like mine heavy on the cream, and don’t skimp on the sugar.” Riley gave her earring a nudge as he repeated, “I mean it. I’ll be back for you in the morning.

4

Jami poured coffee into a go-cup as headlights flashed through the living room window of her cottage. Daylight dawned slowly, mirroring the sluggish beat of her heart. Her vision blurred, the result of a restless night in which sleep refused to come. She grumbled under her breath as she stepped over to the window and watched Riley turn his truck up the short drive. He sure was persistent—and stubborn. She’d give him that much. Light shimmered over grass kissed with dew as he killed the engine. Jami sighed and reached into the cabinet for a second coffee cup.

Might as well get with the program. She tamped down a niggle of guilt as he wheeled her bike up the walk. Her heart tugged just a bit at the sight of the rear tire, fat and round with air. She’d been a little hard on Riley yesterday, even by her standards. Caught up in a past that no longer existed, she denied herself a future that had yet to be lived. She wished she could take back her words…at least
some
of them.

“Mornin’, Jami,” He called as he rapped on the door. “I know you’re in there. I can see the light. I hope you made coffee.”

“Coming.” She rushed to open the door. He stood there slouched against the frame, dressed in a navy suit and crisp, white shirt. A splash of red tie brought it all together—the aura of power, primed for his oh-so-important buyout meeting. Jami swallowed a biting remark, stroked a hand through her hair, still damp from the shower, and offered him the go-cup. “Here, I just poured this and added a healthy splash of cream and a boatload of sugar, as you requested.”

“Thanks.” He took the cup from her, sipped. “Ah, that’s just perfect. Hits the spot. What is it, vanilla?”

“With a splash of hazelnut flavoring. I like to experiment.”

“Nice combination.” He sipped once more, smacked his lips before motioning to the Schwinn. “Your bike is all patched up. Where’d you like me to put it?”

“There, beneath the porch overhang, will be fine.” Jami motioned as he wheeled it over, propping the frame against the wall. She smoothed her peach-colored cotton blouse and leaned one hip against the doorjamb. Oh, the sight of him pushing her battered pink bike brought on a flash of heat. What was wrong with her? Was she losing her mind? She cleared her throat and gathered her senses. “Thank you, Riley. I really appreciate you fixing it.”

“No problem.”

Fanning herself with one hand, she turned to reenter the living room. “I have a chocolate-glazed donut to go with that, if you’d like.”

“I hear it calling my name.” He winked and cupped a hand along one ear. “Yep, there it is again.”

“Come on inside.” She laughed and stepped aside to allow him entry. “Donuts are always better warm. I’ll pop it in the microwave for a few seconds.”

****

Riley crossed the threshold and followed her through the modest living room toward the kitchen. The aroma of chocolate and sticky-sweet glaze mingled with fresh coffee waking the hungry monster in his belly.

“Those donuts look amazing. Anderson’s Bakery, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I have a frequent flyer reward card from there…buy a dozen pastries, get one free.”

“Me, too.” She plucked a donut from the bakery box and plopped it onto a floral dessert plate before sliding it into the microwave. “I’m still finishing off my first dozen—plus one.”

“See, that’s where we’re different.” Riley leaned against the counter as the microwave whirred and dinged. “It took me all of an hour to polish off my first baker’s dozen.” He rubbed his gut. “I think I’m still recovering.”

Jami’s laughter tinkled like glass as she removed the donut from the microwave and waved it in front of his face. “Maybe I should polish off this one for you. I wouldn’t want to cause your digestive system further distress.”

“No way.” Riley snatched the plate. Drizzled chocolate, warm and gooey, nearly reduced him to tears. “I’ll suffer through.”

Jami leaned against the counter and watched him devour the donut with minimal bites, her blue eyes huge over the rim of her coffee cup. “Still have that meeting this morning?”