A Curvy Girl for the Cadet: A Perfect Fit Novella (2 page)

“But I didn’t like him. I still don’t. I just happened to fall madly in love with him. It was an accident really.” She stepped behind the counter and began loading a large paper bag full of stuff that hadn’t sold that day. There wasn’t much. Even though
Sweet Eats
had a slow start, it was the most popular bakery in town, so popular that local grocery stores started selling Alex’s cakes. In the past year he had to hire three additional bakers just to help him with the demand.

“You’re crazy, Mags.” He shook his head. “Why don’t you come stay at my house for the next few days? I don’t want you here by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine.” She came out from behind the counter. “Just because I’m having a baby, I’m not in any more danger than I was when I was single.”

“I know, but I would feel better if you weren’t here alone.”

“So would Mom.” She rubbed her belly. “She called an hour ago and ordered me to stay with her.”

“Ordered?” He nodded. “That sounds about right. You’re carrying her first grandchild. I’m surprised she didn’t lock you in a cage as soon as she found out.”

“No, but I think she loves my unborn child much more than she loves me. She calls me every morning to make sure I slept well the night before and every afternoon to make sure I had a nutritious breakfast and lunch and she stops by every evening to bring me food that’s supposed to be good for pregnant women.”

Clayton winced. His mother was lovely and generous, but she could be a bit much. He had been the recipient of such attention since he left the military. “How is Alex taking it?”

“He loves it.” She rolled her eyes. “They call each other just to talk about my pregnancy. Baby names. Nursery ideas. You’d think he was the one who was knocked up.”

“He’s excited about it.” Alex had lost his mother at fourteen, and he was an only child. Clayton knew how important family was to his friend, that’s why he was glad to see he was starting one with his sister.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I’ve never seen a man who wanted to be a daddy more than him. That’s why I can’t wait to tell him there are two babies in here.” She rested her hand on her tummy.

“What? Twins?” He felt happy for her, even though he couldn’t bring himself to smile, he felt happy for her. They’d had a difficult childhood, with parents who stayed in a bad marriage twenty years too long, but Maggie seemed to have gotten through it with her optimism intact.

She was the opposite of him who’d rather stay in war ravished countries than deal with all the bullshit that came with his parents. Things had calmed down between them, in fact everyone seemed much happier now, but Clayton still had a hard time escaping those nagging bad memories from his childhood. “You’re going to be a good mom, Maggie.”

“You think so? I worry sometimes. That’s a lie. I worry all the time. Mom and Dad were happy before things turned to shit. What if things turn to shit with Alex?”

“They won’t,” he said knowing he spoke the truth.

“Why not? Because if they do, you’ll bash Alex’s head in?”

“No. If he hurts you I will, but I know because you and Alex aren’t Mom and Dad. End of story.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” She saluted him. “I’m glad you’re back, Clay,” she told him softly. “I want my babies to grow up with their uncle here.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to make promises that he couldn’t keep.

“Drop me off at Mom’s place? My feet are swollen like sausages, and I forgot where I put my car keys.”

“Yes, sure. No problem.”

“I’ve got pregnancy brain. I keep forgetting to give Mom the flowers that Alex got her for being his guinea pig while he tried out his new Independence Day recipes. They’re over there.” She motioned to the big bouquet of yellow sunflowers by the window. “Can you grab them for me?” She hoisted a large pink floral printed duffel bag over her shoulder.

“No. Give me the bag.” He took it from her. “You grab the flowers.”

Thirty minutes later and after three attempts by his mother to feed him he arrived back at his place. He lived in a little cottage that was one of Ambrose’s rental properties. It was falling down around him when he first moved in, but Ambrose let him live there rent free in exchange for his carpentry services. He had been fixing it up for over a year, making it into a place that would be a nice home for someone else. It was in a good location, walking distance to the local swimming hole and not too far from a playground. It would be a great place for a family.

Not a place for a single guy with no attachments like himself. But he was finding that out all the places he lived, this one was his favorite and if he took Ambrose up on his offer it could be his. It could all be his.

He got out of his truck, turning to get his tool belt out of the back, when he noticed the sunflowers Maggie had once again forgotten to give to their mother. He was tempted to leave them there, but they would never survive in his truck with the unseasonable heat they were experiencing that early June, so he took them out and that’s when he noticed her. That little girl with the big brown eyes that always seemed to be there whenever he came or went. She was sitting in the yard, under the shady oak tree, a book in her lap.

She had long chestnut hair, a round face and chubby cheeks. She smiled at him sometimes, a shy smile, that reminded him so much of Maggie when she was a kid, Maggie who also had chubby cheeks and always seemed to have a book in her lap. He and Maggie were close as kids. She was his pain-in-the-ass little sister, but they were close, but no one else had any idea what it was like being raised by an angry demanding man and a woman who was in constant fear of displeasing him.

He shook off the memory that was beginning to invade his mind, the one of his mother weeping when she thought she was alone. He didn’t want to think about that. Or the night he almost killed the man who brought him into this world.

He wasn’t sure what made him do it, but he pulled one of the flowers out of the bouquet and walked over to the little girl under the tree.

“Here.” He handed it to her and watched her eyes go wide.

“For me?” She pointed to herself.

“For you.”

He turned to walk away when he saw the girl’s mother standing on the porch staring at him. There was something about that woman. Something about her that made him want to get a little peek of her whenever he came and went. The only way he could describe her is wildly beautiful, wildly outrageously beautiful. She had long dark hair that hung down her back when it was loose, and big almond shaped eyes that made her look a bit exotic. She was tall.

She was thick.

In Clay’s mind he knew that most women didn’t like to be described that way, but she was. Thick like the best piece of chocolate cake. Thick like a juicy steak. Thick like something he would enjoy sinking his teeth into.

She was interesting too. He had never said more than hello to her and yet he knew she was interesting. Not like most mothers around here. She drove a black Mustang. She wore cutoff shorts and tube tops when she gardened and she had a tattoo. Daisies on her lower back that he saw when she was bent over in her garden.

She wasn’t his type. He didn’t go for women like her. Women who looked kind of wild. Women with baggage. But there was something about her. Something that gave him a jolt every time he saw her. And it was damn annoying.

He kept eye contact with her for a long time before he nodded at her and went into his house, once again putting her out of his mind, just like after every time he saw her.

Chapter 3

Daisy didn’t know if Clayton knew she was standing on the porch when he walked over to give Aubrey the flower. She had come outside when she heard the truck pull up. She came outside whenever she heard any car come down their quiet road when Aubrey was outside alone. Part of her hated the idea of letting her play outside without her. Daisy wanted to be there with her every moment, making sure she was safe. She hadn’t grown up like that. Her parents were older when they had them, permissive. They were allowed to roam the neighborhood freely. No curfew. No rules. Freedom to explore. Daisy had never wanted kids, but she thought if she had them, she would be like her parents. But she wasn’t. She was the opposite. So afraid that something might happen to her kid that she sometimes was overprotective. She had to work hard not to be.

She had to give Aubrey her space. Because Aubrey wasn’t a baby anymore and she deserved some freedom. But Daisy still checked on her. And when Clayton pulled up she checked on him. She was surprised to see him get out of the car with that bouquet of flowers. Especially since they were hers, from her shop. She could tell by the way they were wrapped in plain brown butcher’s paper and tied with twine. Her shop mostly worked with corporate clients. She supplied for most of the inns, and hotels in the area. She had a contract to do all the local country club’s events. She even did a few weddings here and there, but she didn’t sell many bouquets like that and she wondered how he’d had got them. He hadn’t come into her shop. She would have known.

Somebody must have given them to him. Somebody had given the big scary bearded man flowers and he had just given one of them to her little girl.

It was a sweet thing to do. On the surface just plain kind. She saw how Aubrey’s face lit up when she received it. A mix of surprise and pleasure that she hadn’t seen often from her kid. And then he looked up at her, looked her in the eye, and for the first time she saw beneath that shaggy hair and bushy beard. His eyes were piercing and a kind of blue she could only describe as icy, but not exactly cold. In fact the way he looked at her without breaking contact kind of made her heat up and it had nothing to do with the upcoming summer weather.

And then he nodded at her. One slow nod before he went into his house. She wasn’t sure what to think about the exchange, what to think about him giving Aubrey that flower. But she knew she was feeling less than comfortable about it.

“Mama, did you see?” Aubrey came running up to her, grinning after Clayton shut his door. “The scary man gave me a flower. I told you he was nice.”

The scary man was nice.
Such an odd thought.

“It’s a nice flower, Cookie.” She smoothed her hand over her hair. “I don’t think you should call him that anymore. His name is Mr. Calhoun.”

“Mr. Calhoun? How do you know?”

“Because we got some of his mail by mistake.”

“Oh.” She turned thoughtful for a moment. “I think we should invite Mr. Calhoun over for dinner. It’s what neighbors do.”

“Is it?” She grinned at Aubrey. “Maybe later in the summer. Mr. Calhoun seems like a man who enjoys his alone time.”

*

Summer was coming. Daisy could feel it in the air as she drove to her flower shop two days later. She had so much planned for her and Aubrey. Trips to the beach, and mini vacations to amusement parks, a road trip out west to see some of the country’s beautiful national parks. It could be a great summer of sleeping in late and vegging out in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal, and staying up really late playing beneath the stars, if she had had that kind of kid.

Aubrey wanted to go to camp. An all-girls tech camp at the local university and then a sleepaway camp in Maine that one of her friends was going to. Daisy was fine with the tech camp in fact she was thrilled with the idea of her little girl being so into science and technology already, but sleepaway camp?

No.

It was too much. Not for Aubrey, but for Daisy. She was really looking forward to a lazy summer. Too bad Aubrey was just like her mother. Jane never allowed herself any downtime. Every minute of her life was scheduled. Never a vacation. Hardly any weekends free. Daisy hated to blame her sister for the distance between them, but it was part of the reason they hadn’t seen each other in the year before she died.

Daisy shook off her sadness as she entered her shop. She had just moved her shop here when they outgrew one in the bordering town. She was glad they moved. Durant was a funky little college town with a bustling downtown and plenty of green spaces. There was a mix of green haired artists and business suit wearing entrepreneurs to give the town a mix of interesting people. She felt like she fit in here, like Aubrey fit in here. It was the perfect place for her to grow up.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she heard a woman with a thick Brooklyn accent say.

“Good morning, yourself,” she said back to Loretta, her mother-in-law, who was seated at the computer behind the counter. Or maybe she should say former mother-in-law. Danny had been gone for two years now. But Loretta was a lifelong fixture. Daisy would have probably never married Danny if Loretta hadn’t been his mother. “You want to come over for dinner tonight? I’m making chow mein casserole.”

“No thanks. I still haven’t recovered from the last time I ate at your house.” She didn’t look at Daisy as she said it, but the look of disgust on her face was clear.

“I didn’t burn it, or undercook it. Nobody got sick. I only tried to poison you the one time and that was seven years ago. You should probably forgive me.”

“It was zucchini lasagna with no noodles, sauce or meat!” She looked away from the computer screen, her black lined eyes sparking with heat. “You served me rabbit food and had the nerve to call it dinner.”

“It wasn’t that bad and we were having our no carb week. Plus it was meatless Monday. You know I have to switch things up for Aubrey. I know she would love it if I let her live on French fries, but I’m trying to be the responsible adult social services thought I was when they gave her to me.”

“Eating healthy is one thing. What’s the matter with a nice bowl of macaroni and some good homemade gravy? Or how about some meatballs with some broccoli rabe? And never,” she shook her hands skyward, “has anyone ever found anything wrong with a sweet Italian sausage. I could show you how to make my sausage and tortellini soup. My Danny loved it.”

“Aubrey loves my food. She helps me plan the menu.”

“Chow mein casserole.” She shook her head. “Whoever heard of such a thing?”

Daisy knew she wasn’t going to win that argument so she decided a change in subject might be good. “Did the deliveries come in?”

“They’re in the cooler. The mayor’s office called. They would like one of your famous lemon vases and they only want you to do the arrangement.”

“Really? Why?” She walked over to her work station and began pulling out her supplies. She could have worked in the back, but they didn’t get much foot traffic in the store since they mostly worked on contract with the local businesses. “I learned most of what I know from you.”

  “You’re better than me, kid,” she said without hesitation. “You’ve got vision that I don’t. That’s why I’m probably going to be eating meatloaf for dinner while you’ll be preparing eyeball stew.”

“I have never eaten an eyeball in my life. Unless you count those little gummy ones they give out at Halloween and those are delicious. But then again I find all candy delicious. I even like candy corn, which gets a bad rap and I don’t know why.” She pulled out her bowl of lemons and started slicing them. “Danny used to make me a candy corn drink every year, did you know that?”

“Knowing my son he threw a handful of the stuff in a red cup full of vodka and called it a night.”

“No.” Daisy laughed. “He made it with orange sherbet and pineapple rum. His bartending skills were something he took great pride in.”

“It was probably the only thing he took pride in. I loved the boy, but I still get so mad at him for leaving you and that pretty little girl alone.”

“He died,” Daisy reminded her softly. “It’s not like he ran off with another women.” But sometimes she wondered if he would have been happier if he had. After he was medically discharged from the marines things had gotten really bad between them. His partying had increased. His behavior became more erratic. If Danny hadn’t died, Daisy would have divorced him, but she had never told Loretta that. She couldn’t bring herself to.

The door to her shop opened and she was expecting to see her delivery guy walk in, but it wasn’t Eric. It was her neighbor, the one she hated to admit she thought about long after he walked away from her last night.

“Good morning, tall and delicious,” Loretta said, a predatory smile curling on her lips. “How can I help you this morning?”

“Loretta,” Daisy hissed. Her mother-in-law had a thing for younger men. They had a thing for her too because she didn’t look anywhere near her sixty years and she was a dead ringer for Jennifer Tilly, bountiful curves and all.

“What?” She looked over to Daisy. “I was just greeting our customer. He’s cute, isn’t he? I usually like ‘em a little more clean cut, but he’ll do as long as his beard doesn’t scratch me.”

Clayton walked over to her, ignoring Loretta’s brazen come on. “You’re my neighbor.” He studied her face with those icy colored eyes and she felt like she was being inspected.

“I am. And you’re in my shop.”

“What’s your name?” he asked her, apparently not one for small talk.

“Daisy Lee Gracen.” She extended her hand. He looked at it for a moment as if he didn’t trust it, but then he shook it. She was no petite flower, but his hand swallowed hers. It was warm and rough. The hands of a working man. His grip was firm and for some reason heat traveled up the back of her neck, she could feel the little hairs on it stand at attention. Such a weird reaction for a handshake from the scary man who lived next door. “You must be Clayton Calhoun. I get your mail sometimes.”

He nodded. “You have daisies on your lower back. Now I know why.”

She blinked at him for a moment, not sure she had really heard what he had said. “Excuse me?”

He didn’t look apologetic or embarrassed, but his words weren’t exactly smarmy either. Just matter of fact. “You garden. Our houses are very close. I’ve seen them.”

“You’ve also seen my ass then.”

“I’m not complaining about it.” There was no hint of humor in his eyes. No laughter in his voice, no smirk curling his lips, but she smiled. He had made her smile. The pressure of his hand increased just a little bit more and she realized that they had never ended their handshake. She pulled her hand away from his, still feeling the heat radiating through it.

She cleared her throat. “Was there something I could help you with?”

“You’re a florist.” It wasn’t a question.

“And you’re a scruffy bearded man in my shop.”

He raised his brows slightly. “What’s with the lemons?”

“It’s for an arrangement I’m doing.” She had a smaller square vase inside of a larger round one and filled it up most of the way with water before she started arranging the lemons inside of it.

He watched her work silently for a few moments. She had worked in a flower shop for ten years, a floral designer for eight of them, and had done thousands of arrangements, but this time she was nervous. Having him watch her, even though she knew the flowers wouldn’t be for him, made her nervous.

“Hmm,” he said after a while. “I need flowers for my mother.”

“Were the flowers you had yesterday supposed to be for your mother?”

“Yes.”

“But you gave one to my kid?”

“Yes.”

“And now you have to replace them.”

He nodded once. There was something about him she couldn’t put her finger on. He was a mess. Wild hair. Thick beard. Paint smeared clothes. But the way he held himself… Tall. Confidently. Like he was always in command. The beard and hair just seemed to be hiding it all.

“You want sunflowers again?”

“And daises,” he said looking her in the eye. “Put daises in there.”

She stopped the arrangement she was working on and did what he asked with her best sunflowers and tiny white daisies as accents. He watched her as she worked again, not saying anything, never making an attempt at small talk and she wondered what was going through his mind.

“Is this okay?” she asked when she was done.

He just nodded again. “How much?”

“No charge.”

“I want to pay.”

“Too bad. Consider it a neighborly thing to do.”

“Thank you, Daisy.” He extended his hands to hers and she took it, but this time he just squeezed her fingers slightly before he took off.

“Well…” Loretta said.

“Well what?”

“Somebody has a thing for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s just my neighbor. He didn’t even know my name until today.”

“He didn’t have to know your name to admire your ass.”

Daisy shook her head and sighed. Clayton Calhoun was going to be hard to get off her mind today.