Lead Me Home (22 page)

Aurelia barely had time to take stock of her surroundings, an elegant room furnished in greens and browns, before Matthew answered.

“Sarah?” he said. “Is there a problem with Houdini?”

“It’s not Sarah.” Aurelia’s heart beat so loudly she hoped she’d be able to hear him over it. “It’s me.”

“Aurelia?”

“Did I wake you? I have no idea where you are, and I—”

“I’m in Jackson.”

“Jackson,
Wyoming?
”

“Yeah.” His voice was soft and very warm. “I knew you were leaving tomorrow, and I hoped…” He took a deep breath. “I hoped to hear from you before you left.”

“You’re in Jackson?” She still couldn’t quite comprehend that. She’d been so certain he’d be out of the country by now.

“I’m sitting in a restaurant eating a meal that doesn’t hold a candle to anything you’ve fixed.”

“Did you want to finish it, or…would you consider…”

“I’m on my way.” The line went dead.

Aurelia’s hands shook so much she was afraid she’d drop Sarah’s phone. She laid it on the polished dark wood of the nightstand and wrapped her arms around her body to try and stop the trembling. He was coming back. She had another chance.

Knowing he’d hung around waiting in case she changed her mind loomed huge. He hadn’t written her off and gone about his life. He’d stayed in hopes that she’d reconsider.

She’d read his book and knew he was tenacious when it came to working with horses. Apparently he was tenacious when it came to wooing her. And that’s what he was doing, wooing her. She was being pursued by a man who could have any number of women simply by snapping his fingers. But he wanted her.

Head spinning, she walked back down the hall. At the curved staircase she paused, longing to go upstairs, away from the crowd of people, while she waited for Matthew.

Sarah must have been watching for her, because she excused herself from the group and hurried over. “Did you get him?”

Aurelia nodded.

“And?”

“He’s in Jackson. He’s driving back here.”

Sarah’s face lit up. “That’s wonderful. I’m so glad you called him.” She paused, as if considering. “Go wait for him on the porch. You’ll have more privacy there.”

Aurelia sighed with relief. “Thank you, Sarah.”

“What’s going on?” Mary Lou walked up next to Sarah. “Did you get in touch with that horse trainer?”

“Yes, I did.”

“He was in Jackson,” Sarah added. “He’ll be here soon.”

“That’s great.” Mary Lou lifted her wineglass. “Well done, niece of mine. Well done.”

“Aurelia’s going to wait for him out on the porch.”

“Good idea,” Mary Lou said. “I’ll sit with her, keep her company.”

“Oh, that’s okay, Aunt Mary Lou,” Aurelia said quickly. “I’ll be fine out there on my own.”

“No, you won’t,” Mary Lou said. “You’ll be jittery as a June bug. I’ll refill my wine and bring you one. You go ahead. I’ll be right there.” She took off.

Aurelia glanced at Sarah.

“She’s a force of nature.” Sarah gazed after Mary Lou. “I’ve known her for almost thirty years, and I’ve never felt as if I had the upper hand. You might as well go along with her plan.”

“All right, but when Matthew gets here, she’ll need to make herself scarce.”

Sarah laughed. “When Matthew gets here, you won’t even notice that Mary Lou’s around.”

Moments later, Aurelia sat in one of the porch rockers with a glass of wine and her aunt beside her giving advice about men.

“Don’t go along with whatever they dream up,” Mary Lou said, “but keep in mind that sometimes they actually might have a good idea. I would never have taken a cruise because our family’s been conditioned not to travel, but am I glad Watkins insisted. We’re already making plans for the next one.”

“But what if I’m not like you? What if I hate traveling?”

Mary Lou patted her arm. “Honey, men who like to travel make great lovers. You won’t hate traveling if you’re getting some every night.”

“Aunt Mary Lou!”

“I’m just sayin’.”

“So what are you girls doing out here?” Watkins came through the door with a beer bottle in his hand.

“Girl talk,” Mary Lou said.

“Nice out here.” Watkins sat down in the rocker next to Mary Lou’s. “No wonder you wanted to sit outside.”

“Hey, where’s the bridegroom?” Jack Chance appeared on the porch. “Oh, there you are. What’re you doing out here?”

“It’s a nice night,” Watkins said.

“It is,” Jack said. “Think I’ll sit a spell, too.” He took the rocker next to Watkins.

When Jack’s wife, Josie, came out holding little Archie and looking for Jack, Aurelia had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. The parade continued like that, until the porch rockers were full and the buzz of conversation melded with the chirp of crickets.

“This is nice,” Mary Lou said.

“Yes, it is,” Aurelia agreed. She wasn’t sure how Matthew would react to the welcoming committee, but knowing him, he’d roll with it.

Eventually headlights appeared on the road leading to the ranch.

“I think that’s him!” Jack called out. “He made damned good time, too. He might’ve beat my record.”

“Maybe he’s better at spotting the cops than you are,” said his youngest brother, Gabe, the father of little Sarah Bianca.

“I’ve framed all my speeding tickets,” Jack said. “I consider them a badge of honor, a testament to my manhood.”

“I consider them a testament to your inability to locate the fuzz before they locate you,” Gabe said.

The teasing grew more raucous about the time that Matthew pulled into the parking area to the far left of the house. Aurelia wasn’t sure whether to stay where she was or go meet him in the parking area. She started to get out of her rocker.

Mary Lou put a hand on her arm. “Let him come to you, sweetie,” she murmured.

“But everybody’s sitting on the porch like some kind of reception line. He has to run the gauntlet.”

“From the way everyone’s talked about him, he can handle it.”

“You’re probably right.” She remained seated.

Matthew approached the house. She could see the moment he noticed that the porch was filled with people, because he hesitated for a split second. Then he straightened his shoulders and continued toward her.

At the bottom of the steps, he stopped and took off his hat. “Good people of the Last Chance,” he said, as if beginning a speech.

“That’s us!” Jack called out. He’d obviously been enjoying his beer. “How’re you doing, Matthew?”

“Not so good,” Matthew said. “It seems that I’ve lost my heart to a certain Aurelia Imogene Smith.”

Aurelia gasped. She would never have guessed he’d make a public declaration like that.

“Does that mean you’ve come for her?” Jack asked.

“Yes,” Matthew said. “If she’ll have me.”

Jack rocked forward and leaned over to peer down the line of chairs. “You want this son-of-a-gun, Aurelia? Because if you don’t, we can run him off. We have the manpower to do it.”

“Or the womanpower,” Mary Lou said.

“I want him.” She stood on shaky legs, put her wineglass on the porch floor, and walked down the steps toward Matthew. She looked into his eyes. “I’d follow this man anywhere.”

Amidst cheers and wolf whistles, Matthew smiled and pulled her into his arms. “I’m really glad about that, because I love you, Aurelia. I should have told you so before.”

“I wouldn’t have believed you before.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “But I do now.”

“So is it mutual?”

“Extremely mutual. I think I’ve loved you from the minute I saw you.”

“And I’ve loved you all my life.” He held her close. “It just took me forever to find you.” He kissed her then, amid cheers and catcalls from the porch sitters. But as Sarah had predicted, Aurelia forgot that anyone else was even there.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt of
Blazing Midsummer Nights
by Leslie Kelly!

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1

S
OMEONE ONCE SAID
that the course of true love never did run smooth. As Mimi Burdette watched two of her good friends sway together in a romantic dance, however, she had to disagree. Because the true love between this couple had been obvious to everyone who knew them, almost from the moment they’d met.

“They look like a prince and princess,” murmured Anna, her neighbor, friend, landlady and tonight’s hostess.

“Considering the setting, maybe a fairy king and queen.”

She wasn’t kidding. The woods surrounding the backyard of the old plantation house just outside of Athens had been turned into a mythical forest. As dusk fell and a thousand twinkle lights began to gleam in the night, everyone at the engagement party slowed to appreciate the beauty all around them.

A trio of musicians softly strummed their instruments, the lyrical notes riding a warm, summer breeze. The Spanish moss hanging from the live oaks gleamed silver under the evening dew and the firefly-soft lighting. Magnolias the size of dinner plates dotted the trees, looking like a thousand full moons, filling the air with their evocative scent. Lanterns hung from the lowest branches of the graceful pines, and the arches of a dozen arbors were draped with writhing, sweet-smelling jasmine and heavily laden grapevines.

Okay, the vines and fruit were fake. But what an effect!

“You
really
outdid yourself,” Mimi said to Anna, who stood watching the proceedings, wearing a smile.

The older woman, dressed as always in colorful, flowing robes, merely shrugged. “Setting the stage for romance is easy when the people involved are meant for each other like Duke and Lyssa.” She chuckled. “Of course, it didn’t hurt that I’m helping with the costumes and props for the downtown theater group’s production of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
”

With her filmy, billowing clothes, and her long ash-gray hair, loose and wavy and entwined with flowers, Anna looked more like a hippie than a retiree. So maybe it wasn’t so surprising that she could take a normal backyard, ringed by normal Georgia woods, and turn it into something out of a storybook.

“Anyway, it was just a few lights, some fabric—easy.”

“Maybe for you, but other than advertising, the creative wiring was left out of my genetic code. To me, this looks like pure sorcery and magic.”

The soon-to-be bride and groom deserved a magical wedding. They were wonderful people, and she already missed having them as neighbors. They’d already moved into their new house, but until a week ago, had lived right across the hall from her own first-floor apartment in this grand old estate home.

Anna and her husband, Ralph—dubbed Obi-Wan because of his love for all things
Star Wars
and his sage, all-knowing demeanor—had bought the place decades ago and raised their family here. Once the kids were gone, they’d divided the three-story mansion into six small apartments, figuring the rental income would keep them nicely provided for in their retirement.

With the unit across from Mimi’s vacant, and another unrented one on the second floor, the big house was feeling empty. Plus, Anna and Obi-Wan’s volatile marriage was on the rocks again. Obi-Wan’s one fault was his jealous streak. He was always accusing other men of being after his wife. His latest accusation had angered Anna enough that she had moved into one of the vacant units to teach him a lesson.

In this economy, three rentals not bringing in any money was not a good thing. She had to wonder where Anna had come up with the funds to throw this engagement party for her former tenants. Mimi had offered to help pay—she could certainly afford it and would have loved to help—but Anna’s pride wouldn’t allow her to accept. The most she would allow was the use of Mimi’s nice discount on much of the food.

Sometimes it really paid to be the daughter of the owner of a chain of grocery stores. Not to mention being the head of marketing for said grocery store chain, with an express ticket to the executive offices of her family’s business.

Some people wondered why she lived here, in a small apartment in an old house, when she could afford to buy her own home, or sponge off her parents at their estate. But Mimi loved this place, loved the history of it. More importantly, she loved the sense of community she found here, where she was free to be herself and didn’t have to wear the socialite hat, or the business executive one. She could just be Mimi.