Bluestone Song (20 page)

“It’s good that you’re happy.”

But something in his voice shamed her. “I
wasn’t unhappy before.”

“But you weren’t happy. And I thought keeping
my distance was the right thing to do.” He glanced toward the
stage. “I see now I should have pressed.” He looked back at her.
“But I guess it wouldn’t matter. I’d lose you to him anyway.”

Pain stabbed through Beth. Did he really
think so?

He must have seen her expression because he
leaned back. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. If I know
anything about you, I know you’re loyal.” He rose slowly, pulling
out his wallet to pay.

She didn’t know what to say. She could hardly
say she hoped he found someone too, since she hadn’t allowed
herself to believe she and Maddox were headed for a happily ever
after. She hadn’t let herself wonder what their future would be
like. Nashville or Bluestone? Leaving Bluestone had been her dream
for years, but now she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

Dale leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I
hope you can let him love you, Beth.”

Before she could respond, he walked out of
the bar.

Thankfully, Quinn kept her hopping the rest
of the night. She had no time for the reporters who kept placing
orders so she would wait on them and they could ask her personal
questions. And she didn’t have time to worry about spending a
sanctioned night with Maddox.

And then the bar was closing up and Quinn
shooed her out before she could do her sidework.

“Just don’t make it a habit,” he muttered,
closing the door behind her before she could point out that he was
the one preventing her from doing her work.

Then she looked down and saw Maddox waiting
for her by his truck. All she could think as she approached, her
steps dragging, was that she didn’t even own a pair of sexy
underwear.

But the look in Maddox’s eyes as he
straightened made her think maybe he didn’t care. He caught her
midstep, one hand around her back and the other under her hair, and
he kissed her.

She leaned into it a moment before she
remembered the reporters who had dogged her all evening. She
pressed her hands against his chest. “Let’s get out of here.” Her
own breathlessness surprised her.

He stepped back, his lips curved, and handed
her into the truck.

***

She had just been here last night, so why was
she so nervous now? Maybe because he hadn’t stopped touching her on
the drive, his fingertips tracing patterns on the back of her hand.
Funny how that simple caress made every cell in her body think
about sex.

Her pulse was thundering when he stopped the
truck. He turned and grinned at her, and the next thing she knew,
he’d scooped her into his lap, sliding from beneath the steering
wheel at the same time. Before she could catch her breath, his
mouth was on hers, his hands gripping her hips, dragging her
forward against his erection. She moved against him until he
reached for the button of her jeans, then she pushed against his
shoulders.

“Inside.”

“Trying,” he said with a chuckle, working her
zipper down.

“The house. Inside the house.”

He dropped his hands and gestured for her to
lead the way, but the moment they were inside, he turned her
against the door, catching her mouth in a kiss as he peeled open
her jeans and shoved them down. She gasped into his mouth when he
lifted her against him, guiding her legs around his hips. He turned
and she giggled when he started up the stairs.

“You can’t carry me.”

“You doubt me?”

“I don’t want you to miss your concert
because you’re in traction. I’m almost as tall as you are.”

He let her slide down his body, holding her
close, hip to hip, as he backed her up the stairs like a long slow
dance, his jeans rasping against her bare legs. Her entire body was
ready to burst into flames when he turned her into his bedroom. He
didn’t release her right away, but swayed with her, moved with her
to music only he could hear. She followed, enjoying the sensuality
of being half-dressed in his arms, of the way he was looking at her
like she was the only woman in the world.

She slid her hands up over his chest, feeling
his chest hair beneath the soft cotton. Jesus, how could she be so
turned on? He trailed his fingertips down the side of her throat as
he flipped her hair over her shoulder.

“God, you’re gorgeous.” He followed the
caress with his lips, then straightened to look into her eyes. “I
love you, Beth.”

She jolted, and he kissed her mouth, as if he
knew she couldn’t say it back, and didn’t want to hear her stammer
out an excuse. But a moment later she forgot all about his reason
for kissing her and lost herself in it, in him, the way he tasted,
the way his hands felt on her body, stroking up the small of her
back, beneath her top, unhooking her bra. In a moment, she was
naked, leaning into the heat of him, pulling his shirt free of his
jeans, then off.

Then she was on the bed, legs hooked around
his jean-clad hips, moving against him as he kissed his way down
her body, whispering those same words against her collar bone, her
breast, her belly. With a few well-placed strokes of his tongue, he
sent her screaming over the edge, then carried her higher as he
entered her in a single stroke.

He held still for a long moment, curving his
hand around the back of her neck, tilting her head so she looked
into his eyes as they began to move. She didn’t need to say the
words back to him, knew he could see the truth of them in her gaze.
Every instinct made her want to close her eyes, but she didn’t. He
smiled, as if he understood the battle she fought with herself. He
laced his fingers through hers on the mattress, and showed her what
love was.

Beth arched her back and squeezed her eyes
tighter as a tickling touch trailed down her spine. She twisted her
head and opened one eye to squint at Maddox. Her stomach dropped to
see that he was already dressed—though the reason she slept so
soundly was because he’d kept her up half the night making love to
her. Beyond him, she saw his duffel on the wide rail of the stairs.
Even though she knew he’d planned to leave, the sight of the
duffel, and his cream-colored hat sitting on top of it, took her
breath. He said he was coming back. He said he loved her. And she
wanted to believe it, especially after everything they’d
experienced last night. But she couldn’t let herself hope.

“Hey.” He tilted her chin so she looked at
him. “It’s just for a few weeks. I’ll be home soon, probably sooner
than you want.”

She swallowed her fears and rolled onto her
back. His eyes darkened when his gaze flicked to her bare breasts.
“No doubt.”

He groaned and cupped a breast in his hand.
“You can come with me.”

“I can’t,” she said, though her reasons for
saying no had eroded—Linda was done with summer school, Adam was in
town. Only the money she needed to earn for her father stood in her
way.

“Then I’ll be back. But first, I need to get
you home so I can get to the airport.”

She would not cry as she got dressed. She
wouldn’t cry as he locked up the lake house.

“You and Linda and Jonas can feel free to
stay out here,” he said. “Not a lot more room, but a change of
scenery.”

“I couldn’t stay here without you,” she said.
God, what was wrong with her? He’d told her he loved her. She just
couldn’t take any more from him. “Besides, I couldn’t walk home
from Quinn’s.”

He dipped his head to kiss her, then put on
his hat and guided her down to the truck. They drove to her house
in silence, and when they turned on her street, she was surprised
to see more cars than usual. Reporters, she realized, and tensed.
Everyone would know she’d spent the night with him.

But their appearance didn’t faze Maddox. He
turned off the engine, walked around the truck to take her hand and
lead her to the porch, then pulled her full against him for a
good-bye kiss that melted everything in her—and left no doubt in
anyone’s mind what they’d been doing last night.

“I love you, Beth,” he said again, lifting
his head to look into her eyes.

The kiss, the words made her forget they were
being observed. She touched her fingertips to his jaw and opened
her mouth to say them back to him, the first time she’d said them
to a man since he left fourteen years ago.

Instead, she managed only, “I’ll miss you.”
She turned into the house and burst into tears, wishing she could
erase the hurt she’d seen on his face.

The next few days were a whirlwind of
preparation for Trinity and Leo’s wedding. Beth barely had time to
sit, much less mourn Maddox’s absence. The church needed to be
decorated, and the bar where the reception would be held, much to
the dismay of Trinity’s parents. But no place else in town was big
enough. Beth dragged Linda along to help, needing to keep busy
herself, and wanting to keep Linda out of trouble.

Saturday morning dawned bright and cool, a
gorgeous day for a wedding. But by the afternoon it clouded up, and
when it was time to get dressed, Beth was rethinking the cloth
sandals she’d bought for the occasion. Water ran in the streets,
thunder boomed, lightning flashed.

But no one was going to miss this wedding.
Adam drove them down to the church, dropped them off in front
before he went to park. Jonas had been fussy all day with the
thunder, and Linda jiggled him against her shoulder to calm him. Of
course he puked on her dress, so she had to duck into the bathroom
to clean both of them up, leaving Beth on her own to find a seat.
She took one near the back, still not quite feeling like she
belonged here. For goodness sake, she hadn’t even been to church
since her mother died. Probably they should think about getting
Jonas baptized, because her mother would want that, but she didn’t
know the first step there. Maybe Trinity could help.

The gloomy weather outside made the stained
glass windows appear dark, and Beth shivered at the next rumble of
thunder. The flowers on the altar, all white, didn’t seem like
Trinity at all. Beth expected more color. Adam came in, drenched
despite his umbrella, dragged a hand through his hair and joined
her in the pew. Linda brought Jonas just as the maid of honor, Lily
Prater, stepped onto the white paper runner, wearing a lovely blue
satin dress. Beth had never seen Lily in a dress. She craned her
head to see that, yes, Lily was wearing sandals and not her usual
work boots. If Beth wasn’t mistaken, her toenails were even
painted.

Trinity didn’t have a large wedding party,
just Lily. And Leo split best man honors between his son Max and
Quinn, which Beth thought interesting, since Leo had just returned
to Bluestone a few months ago. The doors to the vestibule closed,
then opened after a ceremonious moment, and Trinity stepped out on
her father’s arm.

Her dress was a silky ivory, so old-fashioned
Beth wondered if it belonged to someone in her family before. Her
blonde hair was swept back in an elegant chignon, and she wore no
veil and no flowers in her hair, though she carried a bouquet that
draped over her hand. Her expression was full of anticipation,
though her father’s was stern. No wonder Trinity was happy.

Beth stretched on the pew to look at Leo, and
wished she’d sat closer. Still, it looked like he had eyes for no
one but Trinity, as it should be. He stepped down to take her hand
and lead her onto the altar in front of her brother.

The wedding proceeded as tradition dictated,
and was fairly short because of it, which was good because Jonas
was squirming and starting to fuss. Linda was growing impatient and
Beth took him, settling him down for a bit, at least as long as it
took for Trinity and Leo to have their first kiss, then invite
everyone to Quinn’s for the reception.

The bar and grill was across the lawn from
the church, but the rain hadn’t let up, so the people bottlenecked
in the vestibule. Beth took her opportunity to hug Trinity in
congratulations. She saw the strain around her friend’s eyes.

“Can you believe, after all the planning, it
rained?” Trinity said.

“It washes away everything from the past. It
gives you a fresh start,” Beth said.

Trinity’s eyes brightened at that. “What a
lovely way of looking at it. I love the rain!”

“And it didn’t stop anyone from coming,” Beth
added with a grin. “Your dress is gorgeous.”

“It was my grandmother’s, from the forties.
The only one that fit across my boobs.”

One of the church ladies turned to give her a
chiding glance at her use of the word, but Trinity just smiled.

“Our car is here,” Leo announced. “We can
take four with us over to Quinn’s.”

When Beth, Adam, Linda and Jonas arrived at
Quinn’s, the man himself was behind the bar, his suit ditched, his
hair plastered to his head, his white shirt clinging to his
skin.

“Did you run over here?” Beth asked.

“Yep.”

“Need a hand?”

He looked over the bar at her shoes. “You’re
here as a guest. We’ve got it covered.”

“And you’re best man. Don’t you have to give
a speech or something?”

Quinn scowled. “You don’t think they’ll
forget about that part, do you?”

“If they do, I’ll remind them. Let me know if
you need help.”

“You do the speech, and I’ll pay you.”

She laughed and walked off.

The catered meal was laid out along one wall
in serving platters that kept the food hot. Beth hung back until
the line died down before she went to fill her own plate with
Swedish meatballs, grilled zucchini, breadsticks and veggies with
ranch dip. The cake was at the end of the table, a beautiful
two-tiered cake the same color as Trinity’s dress, but with Fourth
of July streamers surrounding it on the white tablecloth. The
wedding was very simple, necessitated by their quick planning and
Trinity’s pregnancy. Now word of that hadn’t gotten around, had
it?