Leaving Liberty (22 page)

           
In a few hours the trees would hide the sun on the wooded trail, but for now
the ground shone bright and the air was balmy. Maybe this place wasn’t so bad.
She just hadn’t seen all of it before. The old bicycles wheels hummed as she
pedaled, marveling at the abundance of birds in the area. She hated to admit
it, but Fresno in any season couldn’t hold a candle to summer in Liberty. The
concrete chaos of the city had become normal to her. Now the Rockies and bright
blue sky reminded her of what real beauty looked like. It took her breath away.

           
The sight of the small cabin filled her with a relief. Time for some peace and
quiet, some cold tea and warm sunlight. She parked the old Schwinn bike at the
side of the cabin and flopped into one of the rough-hewn deck chairs. The rain
would be back, probably within hours, and she just couldn’t pass up the moment.
Her heart rate slowed, muscles eased, the warmth of the sun as soothing as a
hot bath. She shifted a little, thinking she could head inside to change her
shirt and get away from the itchy tag, but she was too relaxed to get up.
 

           
The sound of car tires on the gravel road behind her brought Daisy’s head up
with a snap.

Somehow
her short stop on the porch had turned into a nap. She struggled to sit up
straight in the deck chair, muscles stiff, brain groggy.

           
Lane’s old red pickup emerged into view and Daisy felt her heart rate double.
He’d mentioned they would want to start working in the garden, tilling the soil
and planting the early crops.

Maybe her father was in the truck, maybe
it was just Lane. Either option did nothing to calm her nerves. Seconds later,
Lane angled out. Flannel shirt open over a T-shirt and jeans, worn baseball
cap, and heavy work boots said he was ready to get started on the garden. That
brilliant smile said he was glad to see her.

           
Daisy swallowed. Just a crush. Nothing she couldn’t handle.  She would
just keep repeating those words to herself until she believed them.

           
“You’re back early,” he said.

           
She stood up, her feet a bit numb from sitting. Sleeping, actually. Marie used
to close her eyes on a slow day at the library for a little power nap to get
her through the afternoon. She probably looked about the same, blinking into
the sunlight. “Long day at the office. Nita sent me home.”

           
 “Feeling okay?” His tone was cautious, worried.

           
Her cheeks went warm. She hadn’t been fishing for sympathy. He was probably
worried she was going to sob into his shirt again. “I’m fine. A lot of paperwork,
a lot of time on the phone. I’m not used to it.”

           
“The kids probably keep you pretty active during the school year.” He was
standing at the foot of the steps, looking up at her, hands stuffed into his
jean pockets. He looked completely at ease, as if they were just two old
friends. She sure wished she could see him as a just a friend. It would make
her time in Liberty a whole lot easier. A memory of the warmth of his hand in
hers flashed through her mind and she pushed it back.

“They do. In the summer I usually travel
around, visit college friends, find new favorite places.”

           
A shadow crossed his face. “Not this summer.”

           
She paused. Her comment probably sounded like a dig at the fact she was stuck
in Liberty. But she hadn’t meant it that way. “I’m finding some new favorite
places here, too.”

           
“The cabin?”

           
She nodded, coming down the steps toward him. “And the path through the woods.
I took the back way to the library this morning. I saw two rabbits, a wild
turkey, and a deer.”

           
He grinned and she felt her breath catch in her throat.
Just a crush.
 She’d seen some gorgeous smiles. Maybe even a pair of perfect dimples
just like that. But his megawatt smile was completely free of anything but
happiness. It was as if he didn’t know he was the cutest guy around.

           
She switched her gaze to the towering mountain peaks in the distance and felt
the sharp edge of the tag at the back of her neck again. She rubbed the painful
area, leaving her hand in that spot. She needed to get inside and change. Or
inside and out of the range of that smile.

 “I have bug spray of you need it.”

Daisy blinked. “For the ride to town?”

“I thought you were itching.” He
motioned toward her hand clapped to the back of her neck.

“Oh, no, it’s this tag. It’s been
driving me nuts all morning. A new wardrobe sounds really great until you
realize how much you loved all your old clothes. I can’t wait to get back to my
well-loved t-shirts.”

 “Do you want me to snip it?” He
held up his key chain, Swiss army knife dangling from the ring. He flipped it
open showing her a tiny pair of scissors.

“Um, well…” It was hard to concentrate
when the skin on the back of herneck was being punctured. “Sure.”

Daisy obediently turned around. He
brushed her long hair back, fingers warm against her neck. She didn’t know what
she was expecting but the gentleness as he turned out her collar made her weak
at the knees. Daisy squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on something
other than the feather-light movements.

“Right about this moment my sister would
be reminding me not to poke her in the neck.” His low voice came from a few
inches behind her right ear.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “I have
every confidence in your ability to use a small pair of scissors.”

She could feel him working, tugging and
snipping at the label, careful not to make a hole in her shirt. She willed
herself to relax, staring up at the forest, watching a bird flit from one tree to
the next. Maybe he did have a hero complex but it was sort of nice in a way.
She should have refused and insisted she could take care of her own annoying
tag but she hadn’t. It didn’t bother her one bit. Relying on him was so easy. A
jolt of surprise went through her at the realization and she instinctively
wanted to move away, away from his gentle hands and quiet protectiveness.

“There.” He straightened her collar and
held up a small piece of fabric for her to see. “The perpetrator has been
apprehended.”

She turned, reaching a hand to her neck,
soothing the irritated place. She felt stunned, off-kilter, searching for
something to lighten the moment. “Thank you. Seems when it comes to saving me
from criminal tags,” she looked up, laughing, “you’re the man.”

The moment after the words left her
mouth should have been filled with an amused laugh an off-hand response. But it
hung in the air between them, filling the space until it seems to press against
her chest in a physical way. He hadn’t stepped back. She had to tip her face up
to meet his gaze.

           
“Anytime.” His blue eyes darkened as he spoke. It was just a word, but in it
was a volume of meaning. Something about the set of his mouth, the angle of his
body, it all told her what he was thinking. And those thoughts weren’t confined
to friendly assistance.

           
Her heart was pounding, her breath came shallowly. Fight or flight, her brain
supplied the term but she didn’t want to do either. She wanted to lean forward,
just a few inches. That’s all it would take. As he raised a hand to brush her
hair back from her face, all the reasons she hated this place seemed to melt
away. Her eyes went half-closed as his fingers touched her skin.

           
“Daisy.” His voice was soft, like a warning. For her? For himself? “We
shouldn’t -”

           
The next moment he disregarded his own advice and slipped his hand behind her
head, pulling her forward. She didn’t need any direction, already meeting him
half-way, eyes falling closed. She had wanted this for days, weeks. From the
moment they’d met, she’d wondered about how his lips would feel against hers.

           
His mouth slanted over hers, soft, gentle. It felt like being given back a
piece of herself she didn’t know was missing.

He hesitated, as if waiting to see
whether she’d pull away and she murmured against his mouth. She didn’t want the
moment to end, not yet, after she’d waited so long. He sucked in a breath and
wrapped an arm around her, dragging her closer. As the kiss deepened the world
contracted to the space between them, the feel of his hand splayed against her
back, the warmth of his lips. She could feel every touch, every brush of his
lips against her skin. It could have been seconds or minutes, she had no way of
telling. The kiss was like breathing the purest air after being shut inside for
too long.

He pulled back, his eyes bright with
surprise.

           
“Oh, boy.” His voice was rough and he swept a thumb over her cheekbone,
expression a mix of wonder and surprise. In the next moment, he let his hand
slip from the back of her neck, reluctance in every line of his face.

His gaze dropped to where her hands had
fisted into the front of his flannel shirt. She quickly uncurled her fingers
and stepped back.

           
Daisy cleared her throat, blinking away the confusion. What had they been
talking about when kissing in the middle of the driveway had seemed such a
better idea? Hadn’t she just been telling herself he was a crush, nothing she
couldn’t handle? She put a hand to her mouth, still feeling the pressure of his
lips. Obviously, she’d been wrong.

           
“Well.” She had no idea what to say. Sorry I kissed you when you know we have
no future? Or sorry you kissed me when I obviously drive you crazy?

           
For some reason, he started to laugh. Daisy put her hands on her hips, feeling
the irritation bloom in her chest. What was wrong with this guy? Fighting,
kissing, laughing. She didn’t get him at all.

           
But then again, she didn’t get herself right now either. It took two to do all
those things. “We need an intervention.”

           
“And a chaperone.” He grinned down at her, his eyes still bright.

           
“I don’t know anybody willing to take on that job.” Maybe Rhonda, maybe Jamie,
certainly not Nita.

           
His grin turned to a smile, then faded. “Honestly, Daisy, I hope you’re not
offended. I didn’t mean to… I wasn’t trying to…”

           
She waved her hand, impatient with what he was trying to say, irritated with
the fact he had to say it. “Lane, please. Don’t make me out to be some helpless
woman who gets grabbed and kissed without her permission.”

           
He looked down at her, lips quirking up. “No, I’d definitely say that was with
your permission.”

           
A flashback of their kiss hit Daisy with such a force it was almost like a
repeat performance. A rush of heat went through her and she shot him a glare.
She was well aware of she’d reacted like a woman who had been wanting that kiss
for weeks. Which was true and now he knew it.

           
“No big deal, right?” Daisy brushed her hair back from her face and gave him a
saucy smile. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a summer fling. Just might
be fun.”

           
Her words hit their mark. “I’m not a summer fling type of guy.”

           
She pretended to ruminate on that for a moment, then shrugged. “Too bad. We’ll
have to chalk this up to a learning experience.” And with those final words she
turned and walked back up the porch, her knees shaking. She grabbed the handle
of the porch screen door and swung it open with such force it banged against
the wall.

           
Cringing, she managed to secure the screen door and give a bright wave before
shutting herself safely inside the cabin. Resting her head against the thick
wooden door, she breathed raggedly. That last image of him standing there in
the driveway, dark gaze leveled at her, hands stuffed in his jeans pockets, was
almost enough to break her resolve. Almost, but not quite. She had to stop this
romance dead in its tracks before she got her broken heart handed to her on a
platter.

Chapter Eighteen

           
Summer fling. Lane wanted to stomp up the cabin steps and bang on the front
door. He knew some women liked a light–hearted summer romance, no commitments,
no baggage but Daisy wasn’t one of those women. She’d lied right through her
teeth and then walked away. Nothing got his temper up faster than a shameless
lie, especially if it came on the heels of one of the best kisses in recent
memory. Maybe even
the
best kiss.

           
He yanked the ball cap off his head and ran a hand through his hair. Rocky
would be here any minute, ready to work on the garden. They had planting to do,
setting up the drip lines for the corn, and a lot of weeding. He didn’t have
time to try and figure out what Daisy was thinking.

           
Turning on his heel, he strode toward the back garden, willing his shoulder
muscles to unclench. She had a reason for pulling a stunt like that, but he
just didn’t know what it was. He couldn’t even guess.