Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger (24 page)

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Authors: Lori Copeland

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Westerns, #test

BOOK: Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger
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Page 175
en that still held the smells of the fried chicken Mrs. Houseman had fixed for her dinner that evening. There was a covered plate sitting on the table, still containing pieces of the golden-brown, crispy meat.
''If you're hungry, I'll fix you a plate, Jessica," she was saying. "I know how you've always loved my chicken." She smiled proudly. "Just sit down and help yourself."
Jessica couldn't resist the temptation, so she reached for a fat drumstick, bit into the tender meat, and rolled her eyes up toward the ceiling. "This is fantastic! I don't know how you do it. I've tried fixing it just as you told me, and it doesn't taste nearly this good," she said reverently.
"Oh, it's just always a treat to eat someone else's cooking, dear, that's the only difference." She beamed, setting a plate with a blue willow design down in front of Jessica as she pushed a bowl of fresh green beans, from her summer garden, toward her. She opened the refrigerator and took out a plate of thick slices of juicy red tomatoes, removing the Saran Wrap that was covering the plate. "The tomatoes didn't do so well this year," she fretted. She reached over and put a thick slice on Jessica's plate. "The garden just dried up from lack of rain. I tried to water it, but it just made my water bill run too high." She sighed.
"I know," Jessica sympathized, munching on her chicken. "It was dry everywhere this year."
Jessica ate the remainder of her dinner engaging in pleasant small talk, with Mrs. Houseman hovering over her, offering her more than she could possibly eat.
Jessica pushed back from the table, taking her plate over to the sink and running water over it. She noticed all her plants lovingly arranged on a table in front of one of the kitchen windows. Mrs. Houseman had been caring for them while Jessica was gone, and they all had such a green healthy appearanceher tiny baby's tears was thick and full in its pot and the bridal veil bloomed in gay profusion. The large yellow "pocketbook" plant, as Jessica had al-
 
Page 176
ways called it, was blooming in glorious bright colors, its fat little ''pocketbooks," speckled with red, hanging lightly on the stems. The love Mrs. Houseman had given the plants was very apparent.
"Mrs. Houseman," Jessica said suddenly, "would you mind keeping these plants forever. I'm afraid if I move them now, they'll not do as well. I can always get new starts."
Mrs. Houseman's face lit up in a bright smile. "Why, I would love to keep them, Jessica. If you're sure," she added. "I've become quite fond of them. They're almost like my children now." She grinned sheepishly. "That one philodendron and I have a long conversation over breakfast every morning," she confessed.
Jessica smiled tenderly. "I couldn't think of a nicer home for them to 'grow up' in. Please take them with my blessings."
Mrs. Houseman crossed over to the plants sitting happily on the table. "Well, now, see what I told you, children. Everything always has a way of working out for the best!" she said elatedly.
Jessica let herself into her dark apartment, reaching for the light switch as she set her bag inside the door. The three-room apartment came to life as the light from the lamp flooded the small area. Jessica walked over to open the window, letting the fresh air in the stuffy room, and continued on into her bedroom, turning on the bedside lamp and sinking down on the bed. As she lay on her back looking up at the white ceiling and thinking of Jason, a sense of loneliness crept over her. He was nearly seven hundred miles away from her now! She closed her eyes, remembering the feel of his arms and his kisses the night before. She bit her lip to keep the tears from falling, which was something strange for Jessica. Until she had returned home for Aunt Rainey's funeral, she had never been one to burst into tears at the drop of a hat, but for the last few
 
Page 177
months that was
all
she had done. How could you love someone so much and be so miserable?
The apartment was beginning to lose its musty smell as she sat back up on the corner of the bed. What she needed now, she surmised, was a hot shower and a good night's rest. She hadn't gotten over having just three hours of sleep the night before.
I'll bet Jason's' tired tonight,
she thought as she unpacked the things she had brought with her. She would have to send for the rest of her belongings later.
Jessica released a long sigh as she stepped into the small blue-tiled bathroom for her shower. She would have to try to get through one day at a time, but for right now she was too tired to think. Maybe tomorrow would be brighter.
Up bright and early the next morning but dreading to face the long day ahead, she dumped out a bowlful of the cornflakes Mrs. Houseman had sent over, poured the donated milk over them, and made herself a cup of instant coffee from the supplies she still had in her cabinet. After eating the simple meal she washed the bowl and cup and set them in the dish drainer to dry. It was going to be a long, long day.
She picked up the phone to call Mr. Samuels, the principal where she had taught school. Jessica proceeded to tell him that she was back and available for her old job when she was needed.
Mr. Samuels sounded flustered as he said kindly, ''I'm afraid it will have to be after the Christmas break, Jessica. Quite frankly we didn't expect you back."
"I know that, Mr. Samuels," Jessica assured him, "but I decided to come home after all."
"What about your farm?"
"It's being taken care of," Jessica told him.
"Well, enjoy yourself, Jessica. Take advantage of this little rest. You'll be thankful for it when you come back," he cautioned with a chuckle.
 
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''Thank you, Mr. Samuels, I will," Jessica murmured, replacing the phone in its cradle, overwhelming sadness washing over her. How she longed to be back home with Jason right now.
She dressed in a pair of jeans and pulled on a blue T-shirt, tied her hair back in a ponytail, and let herself out of the apartment to go down to the garage directly below. She swung open the heavy door and saw her little red Datsun sitting patiently waiting for its mistress to return.
"Boy, have I missed you," she assured it lovingly. "I've got a truck I want you to meet someday. You're not going to believe it," she told her car seriously.
She sat down on the familiar seat, started the engine with no difficulty, backed it slowly out of the drive, and headed toward the local supermarket. She returned an hour later with the little car overflowing with supplies for the kitchen.
Well,
she thought optimistically that evening as she sat alone in her newly scrubbed apartment,
I've used up one day of the rest of my life without Jason
. She looked around the lonely room, a tight knot forming in her throat. One day! And it seemed like a week. How could she ever make it? Grabbing a light sweater, she ran out of her apartment, intent on a long walk which would make her so tired she wouldn't be able to even think afterward.
Two hours later a weary Jessica let herself into the apartment, took a hot bath, then stared misty-eyed at the dark ceiling for the rest of the night . . .
The next few days blurred together for Jessica. She was barely able to control her emotions, bursting into tears at odd moments of the day. She had gone down to the local drugstore one evening looking for a new paperback to readanything to take up the empty hours of the endless lonely days. She had selected the book and was idly looking over the large display of colognes when out of the
 
Page 179
corner of her eye she glimpsed the aftershave display. With faltering steps she walked over slowly and picked up the dark amber bottle, holding it with reverence in her hands. She removed the top of the bottle and inhaled deeply, breathing in the rich masculine scent . . . the one Jason always wore. A river of tears cascaded down her face as she stood cradling the aftershave, her hands trembling violently. Dragging a Kleenex out of her purse, she wiped her eyes and replaced the lid on the bottle. She started to put it back on the shelf but paused, then carried it to the check-out counter along with her book. It was a small comfort . . . but at least it was something.
She drove home with tears still in her eyes and let herself into the small apartment just as the phone rang.
Jessica's heart leaped into her throat as she snatched it up swiftly, praying silently to hear a deep manly voice begging her to return home. Instead she found herself explaining irritably to a persistent salesman that she didn't
need
aluminum siding for her houseshe didn't
have
a house.
Jessica had been gone eight days. Had it been eight thousand she couldn't have been lonelier as she stood at her window looking out at the approaching twilight. The dark night was beginning to take on a stormy appearance, the promise of much-needed rain hanging heavy in the sultry air. Jessica could hear the distant roll of thunder and smell the faint scent of coming rain in the muggy breeze blowing in her window. A sharp streak of lightning briefly lit up the living room as the storm drew closer to the city. Jessica cringed as a loud clap of thunder shook the small apartment. She looked down into Mrs. Houseman's yard. Some of her webbed lawn chairs had been turned over from the wind, which was beginning to gust strongly. She could see the little patch of garden with its beans hanging limply on their vines from lack of water.
Jessica stood there absently massaging hand cream into
 
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her hands, her mind wandering back to Jason for the thousandth time that day. ''I wonder what he's doing right now," she muttered longingly. Had he missed her even a tiny bit? She laughed a short, ironic laugh. "Probably not." He was no doubt enjoying a return to sanity from the life he had led the last few months.
She heaved a deep sigh. Today had not been one of her best days, what with the annoying little problem she had had with the Datsun on the way to the market this afternoon. She wished now she had walked the short distance. Then she wouldn't have had to be without her car for the next couple of days.
She pulled the window down a little before going to her bedroom, glancing once more at the approaching storm. Maybe it would just be a good rain this time instead of a storm, she wished hopefully.
Sliding between her sheets, she picked up the paperback from the nightstand by the bed and for over an hour tried unsuccessfully to concentrate on the hero and heroine. Finally she threw the book back down on the table in disgust. How could she expect to read about a man's hot, passionate lips taking control of a woman's trembling, vulnerable lips, their eyes meeting in bold, smoldering desire, and keep her mind off Jason?
Switching off the bedside lamp, she settled down tensely, listening to the mounting fury of the coming storm. There was no doubt left in her mind nowit was clearly going to be a full-blown storm. Being more fatigued than she realized, she drifted off quickly into an uneasy sleep, one ear tuned to the wind, lest it take her roof off.
Jessica had been asleep for only a few minutes when her subconscious mind registered a loud pounding noise. She turned irritably at the disturbing sound, snuggling deeper into her soft pillow. The persistent banging became louder and louder. Someone was obviously trying to beat a wooden door down with his bare hands.
"
Jessica!
"
 
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Jessica's mind slowly came to the surface. That was
her
door they were trying to beat down!
''Jessica, damn it, you'd better be in there!" a deep voice threatened, almost hysterically, the banging increasing in intensity.
She sat up, her heart pounding as she put her feet on the floor, fighting to overcome her grogginess. She staggered into the front room, groping for the light switch. If this was Avon calling, they had gone berserk.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Jessica mumbled. "Just hold on a minute!"
She reached the protesting door, which was now groaning under the battering assault. As she reached up to slip the chain off the safety lock, she demanded, "Who is it?"
"Dammit, Jessica, you'd better open this door
NOW!
"
"Jason?" she asked in astonishment.
She quickly pulled the chain off and flung the door wide open, the warm rain blowing in on her.
"Jason," she repeated blankly.
Jason was standing there in the doorway, his clothes plastered to his body, rain running in rivulets off the brim of his hat, his large frame sagging weakly against the doorframe. His face was lined with fatigue, and heavy dark circles smudged his eyes. He heaved a deep sigh. "Damn, Jessica, I was beginning to think you weren't in there," he said in a weary voice.
Jessica was still too stunned to make any kind of reasonable response to him. "Jason, what's the matter? Is something wrong at home?" She studied his troubled face for a moment, then exclaimed, "It's Tabby, isn't it? She's had her kittens!" It was the only reason Jessica could think of at the moment for Jason to be standing here in Austin at her front door.
Jason looked at her in dumbfounded astonishment. "Had her kittens?" he asked, flabbergasted.

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