Vegas Two-Step (15 page)

As she dug the money out of her wallet, Brent sauntered over.

“What’s up, Nellie? Bubba?” He still wore his dusty jeans and boots. Guess Livy didn’t mind him talking to Nellie because she followed him over.

Bubba grabbed his diet coke and shoved past, giving Brent a hard glance. Nellie smiled at Livy. “Hey, Brent. Livy, how’s your momma?”

“She’s doin’ better.” Livy Wheeler glowed with youth. Curvy, brunette—she was a sweet kid, way too sweet for Mr. “Grabby Hands” Hamilton. Her mother had recently undergone a mastectomy and her prognosis was good, unlike Bubba’s mother, who had stage three breast cancer.

“That’s great,” Nellie said. Bubba inclined his head at Livy but said nothing.

Livy averted her eyes briefly before turning back to Nellie with a smile. “Hey, you hear about the new guy who bought the Henderson place? Oh, my gosh, he’s like so hot.” She cast an apologetic glance toward Brent. He looked perturbed. “Sorry, Brent.”

“Really?” Nellie wanted to smile at Livy’s offhanded comment, but something gnawed at her. A hot guy named Jack at the Henderson place. Maybe she could get a description. “You saw him?”

“Only at a distance. At the grocery store.” Livy turned a full-wattage smile on Brent. “But he’s not as hot as Brent.”

Livy’s voice turned singsong. Brent leered. Nellie snorted. Charlie Mac shoved a plastic number her way.

She felt stupid. No way it could be her Jack. Just a coincidence. Coincidences happened all the time.

“Well, gotta go. Y’all enjoy your night.” She slid past both Brent and Livy, glad she’d hadn’t talked herself into going out with her contractor. He was a slimeball.

Nellie wound through the dining section, heading to the large table Bubba anchored—no doubt to hold the vast amount of food she’d just ordered.

“Hey, Nellie,” Hannah Bloom called as she walked by. “You hear about the Henderson place being sold? Ted’s gonna put up a new barn for the guy who bought it.”

Nellie paused at Hannah’s table. Hannah came into the library almost weekly. She was a mystery junkie, eating up Sue Grafton and Elizabeth Peters books like a guilty dieter. Hannah had been worried about her husband Ted, who’d experienced a business slump after he’d broken his leg on a job. “That’s terrific, Hannah. I know Ted must be happy about the job. Probably be a big one if the guy’s raising horses.”

“Yep.” Hannah popped a fry into her mouth. “He’s celebrating with a chocolate milk shake.”

Ted Bloom came up behind Nellie. She’d known him since he’d peed on her front lawn when he was six. “Hiya, Nell. I see you’re with Bubba again. Y’all datin’?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Just friends.”

Lord, she thought. Couldn’t two single people go out and about without people wanting to know where they’d registered their china pattern? She changed the subject. “Hannah told me about your job over at the Henderson place. You’ll be seeing Bubba over there. He was hired to do cleanup.”

“Yeah, that fellow’s hired a couple of folks. Gonna be a big operation, I reckon.”

Nellie caught one of the diner workers weaving her way. She motioned him over to the back of the diner where Bubba sat. “There’s my order. Y’all have a good evening. Congrats on that job, Ted.”

She waved to a few other patrons as she made her way over to her table. She could hear snippets of conversation peppered with “Bubba” and “Henderson place.” When she got to the table she saw Bubba had waited on her like one dog waits on another. His mouth was full of cheeseburger. He pushed out a chair with his foot. “Mfff. What took you so long? Everybody’s lookin’ at me just like at Jupiter.”

Nellie tucked her skirt under her and wiped a smear of ketchup from the laminate table. Nothing like fine Oak Stand dining. “Sorry. Ted’s going to be working out at the Henderson place too.”

“Oh.” He took another bite of the colossal cheeseburger. “I swear it’s got everybody talking as much as when Mrs. Holtzclaw got her niece to do the chairs in the choir loft and Mrs. Monk fell off and everyone saw her girdle.”

Nellie chuckled as she pulled the pickles off her burger. “It’s not that bad surely. Wait. Me and you hanging out or the new guy coming to town?”

“Both, I guess.” Bubba shrugged and attacked the cheese fries.

Nellie guessed a dowdy librarian turned sex goddess going around town with a backwoods Bubba and the news of a “hot” guy moving to Oak Stand definitely called for unchecked gossip.

As she ate her hamburger, she glanced around the busy diner. She knew just about all the customers. Everyone, from her second-grade teacher to the guy who sold her honey, thought they’d known the simple Nellie Hughes.

But she had surprised them. In Oak Stand, each person had a slot. Nellie had slid out of hers when she came back highlighted, plumped and, well, different. All the towns-folk whispered, wondering what happened to the not necessarily homely, but certainly not fabulous Nellie Hughes.

“People’s lookin’ at us again,” Bubba mumbled, tearing her from her contemplation of the room and reminding her that if she wanted some brownie sundae, she’d better grab a spoon.

“Maybe because you have chocolate sauce smeared on your cheek,” Nellie said. Bubba took a swipe at it with a wadded-up napkin. “Besides, as my grandmother always said, ‘Let ’em look.’”

“Your grandmama sure was somethin’. She thought the sun rose and set on you.” He blocked her spoon with his and stole the cherry off the whipped cream.

Nellie blew out an exasperated breath. “You think so?”

“I know so.” Bubba shoved what was left of the sundae toward her. “She was hard on you, sure, but she loved you somethin’ fierce. She wanted lots of things for you. I could see that. I mowed your yard every week, so I saw what you couldn’t.”

She tilted her head. “What do you mean? She barely let me go to college.”

“Yeah, but she was just scared, is all. Everybody left her.”

Nellie had never thought about it in that light. From the loss of her first child to her husband falling down an abandoned well to Nellie’s mother going crazy, Grandmother Tucker had cause to squeeze Nellie tightly. “Bubba, you’re much smarter than you look.”

“That ain’t exactly a compliment, is it?” He leaned back, folding his arms over his generous stomach.

“It’s a compliment.”

Nellie plopped the last fry into her mouth. The diner was still crowded. Every now and then a couple of people would chance a peek at Nellie and Bubba and look quickly away. She thought it was amusing. And annoying.

She had just reached for her purse when near silence descended on the restaurant. She glanced up. And that’s when the room rocked, tilted, and turned upside down like a roller coaster. She didn’t know whether to scream or throw up.

Because Jack Darby was standing in the doorway.

She thought about grabbing a menu and hiding behind it, but there were no menus on the table. The Dairy Barn was strictly counter service.

She felt panicky, sick, confused and every other feeling ever known. All at the same time. It was a kind of drowning feeling, like her head going under water. Now everyone would know. She’d gone to Vegas, and what had happened there hadn’t stayed there the way it was supposed to.

“Well, I’ll be. There’s the fellow that hired me. You can meet him.” Bubba waved one hand in Jack’s direction.

“Stop that!” she hissed, tugging at her friend’s arm.

“What?” He looked at her, confused. “Don’t you want to meet my new boss? He’s a nice guy, even if he is a Cardinals fan.”

Nellie closed her eyes. Maybe Jack hadn’t seen Bubba. Surely he hadn’t. The place was packed. But then again, Mount Bubba was hard to miss.

Oh, shit. Why was he here?

And more importantly, why was he here with a beautiful woman?

“What’s wrong? You look kinda sick.” Bubba leaned forward, his expression concerned. “Was your hamburger bad?”

She felt the cheese fries backing up on her. Bathroom. She needed to get to the bathroom. Unfortunately, it was at the front of the diner. Just to the left of Jack.

Oh, God! What was he doing here? She couldn’t have been more surprised if the Queen Mother had strolled into the Dairy Barn.

“Nell? Hey? You okay?” Bubba rose and headed around the table.

She waved him off. “Nothing. It’s nothing. I’m okay.”

But then she saw Jack heading her way, pulling the brunette behind him.

Oh. No.

She actually contemplated running. Leaping over the table and making a beeline for the door. But there were too many people. Too many obstacles. Plus, she’d never been athletic. She was liable to fall and break her neck.

“Hey!” Bubba crowed, waving again toward the door before dropping back into his chair. “Jack, over here.”

Jack met Nellie’s gaze and held it. His blue eyes seared her, piercing her skin and razoring right to her heart. She tore her eyes from his. She didn’t want to see what lurked in their blue depths. She wanted to pretend this was not happening. That Jack wasn’t here, moving toward her.

And yet at the same time, she felt a bit like the Grinch, as if her heart had grown three times its size.
Jack was here.
If she wanted to, she could reach out and touch him. He would be warm, alive, not just a wispy ghost of a dream, haunting her with silky laughter and sensual kisses. And what had happened in Vegas hadn’t stayed in Vegas. He was here. Her heart leaped.

Nellie watched his progress as he prowled across the room, yanking the woman with him. He ignored the other people in the diner. No one else called out to him other than Bubba. Jack stopped right beside Nellie’s chair. She could feel the heat from him, smell the citrus cologne mixed with fabric softener, and see the worn cowboy boots beneath the faded hem of his jeans.

Bubba extended a hand. “Hey, buddy. You found the hangout okay, huh?”

Nellie lifted her eyes. Jack stared at her even as Bubba pumped his hand. “No problem, Bubba. Don’t think I would have missed it.”

His voice sent shivers down her spine. Half of her wanted to throw her arms around him and cry like a child. The other half of her just sat there, kind of like her cold hamburger.

“Jack, this here’s my friend Nellie,” Bubba said, nodding toward Nellie. “She’s about the smartest, prettiest girl in Oak Stand.”

At this, she should have blushed and looked pleased, but she was too busy concentrating on breathing. Jack stretched a hand toward her. “Can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting
Nellie.
”

Bubba looked confused. The woman with Jack lifted one perfectly shaped eyebrow.

Nellie stared at his hand before slipping her own into his. She felt disconnected until she touched him. A jolt of electricity raced up the length of her arm. She blinked. This was not happening. She wasn’t shaking the hand of the man she’d fallen so hard for. She wasn’t shaking the hand of the man who’d made her burn. She wasn’t shaking the hand of the man who’d…come after her? Wait. Was he here for her?

She glanced up. His expression was guarded. “Uh, nice to meet you—”

“Darby. Jack Darby.” He sounded like James Bond, though he looked much better than 007. His striped button-down shirt made his shoulders outrageously broad. The faded jeans hung from his hips, and his sunburned cheeks made his eyes turn cobalt. No wonder Livy Wheeler had dubbed him
hot.
He could have burned up half of Oak Stand with his tight buns and sexy smile. Not that he was smiling. Nor could Nellie see his buns. But she remembered. Man, did she remember.

She pulled her hand from his.

“Y’all gettin’ something to eat?” Bubba blurted, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

An “ahem” sounded from behind Jack. He snapped awake. “Oh, right. Uh, this is—”

The woman behind Jack stepped forward. She looked like Salma Hayek—golden skin, loose wavy brown hair and soft luminous eyes. “Hi, I’m Jack’s sister, Dawn. I’m helping him get his house in order. You know bachelors. They can’t pull it together without a woman.”

Nellie felt the question in Dawn’s eyes. Only Bubba seemed oblivious to the awkward exchange between Jack and her.

“I beg to differ.” Bubba grinned, shoving a toothpick in his mouth. “I like my milk crate bedside table and beanbag chairs.”

Dawn snorted. “I suppose you have one of those wooden spool things from the phone company as your coffee table, too?”

“How’d ya know?” he said.

Dawn laughed. Jack forced a smile. Nellie sat there like a puddle in the road. Doing nothing except being.

“Well, we’d better get to the counter,” Jack said. “Looks like business is picking up.” Nellie could feel his eyes on her. He waited for her to say something, to show she knew him. But all she could do was stare at the ketchup squeeze bottle. Her tongue wouldn’t move, so she pressed her lips together and studied Dawn’s cute cork-wedge sandals.

“Yep. It’s Saturday night in Oak Stand.” Bubba stretched back in his chair. Nellie thought she heard the legs groan.

Dawn took that as a cue to make the standard “nice to meet you” platitudes. Jack said nothing, just lasered her with his eyes. Nellie sat stone still, managing only a smile. That was all.

As they walked away, she slumped against the vinyl chair. She felt like crying but knew it would draw more attention. But maybe not. Everyone with the exception of Beverly Tyner, who was fussing at three of her kids, stared at the two newcomers as they wound their way through the diner, stopping to chat and shake hands with many of the locals. They looked like movie stars, benevolently bestowing their glow on each individual, but they were totally unaware of the power of their presence.

Bubba wasn’t watching Jack and Dawn. He stared at her as if she’d suddenly grown two heads. He wisely didn’t ask any question other than, “You ready to go?”

She nodded and reached for her purse. She felt numb, shocked and outraged this was happening to her. She headed for the exit, stiff and proud. At that moment, she was exceedingly glad she was a Tucker. No one could throw their shoulders back and go through the motions like one of her clan.

Nellie shoved the swinging glass door open, and took several gulps of the humid night air.

Bubba trudged along behind her, holding the door for a couple of teenagers who’d just walked up.

“What the hell?”

The voice came from behind her. It wasn’t Bubba. It was Jack.

She tried to pretend she didn’t hear him. Maybe he would go away. Everything would go away.

“Nellie!” Wish not granted.

She turned around. Jack stood in front of the Dairy Barn, hands on his hips like an irate parent. Bubba stood behind him looking confused.

“What?”

“That’s what I get? A total brush-off?”

She couldn’t see his eyes clearly in the shadows of the night, which made her uneasy. “I…uh…what are you doing here?”

He didn’t move closer to her, just folded his arms across his chest. “What do you think?”

She could feel emotion tightening her throat. She needed to get home before she lost it in front of the people looking out the plate glass windows of the Dairy Barn. Before she made a spectacle of herself in front of everyone she knew. “I really don’t know.”

He shook his head. She couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or perturbed. “I guess you’ll find out.”

She waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. Just nodded to Bubba and went back into the diner.

She turned around and started walking. What else could she do? Go back and confront him? People had already seen him beeline for their table and then follow them outside. She could only hope they’d think he wanted to speak with Bubba, not her.

So she headed back around the square toward home. Bubba followed, kicking a small stone the whole way like a schoolboy. The scuff of his boot and the resulting tumble of the rock were the only sounds in the darkness, but she could tell he was waiting for her answer.

Nellie stepped onto her front walk. “I know Jack.”

Bubba parked a big boot on her porch. “Figured that out. I’m smarter than I look, remember?”

She walked to the porch swing, kicked off her sandals and tucked one foot underneath her. The swing creaked as she set it in motion. “I met him in Vegas.”

“Why’s he here?” Bubba asked, eyeing the small rockers lining the porch before sinking down onto the steps.

She shrugged. “Don’t know. I never even told him my real name.”

“Why?”

Hell. Bubba was no Kate. Kate ranted, filled in blanks. She didn’t ask open-ended questions that required the rehashing of one’s motives. Nor would she have waited as patiently as he had. “Because I wanted to be someone else for the weekend. Someone glamorous, free, uninhibited. I made up a name and had an affair.”

“With him?”

She swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

“Shoot,” Bubba said. “That sounds like something Kate would do.”

“Yeah. It does, doesn’t it?” She managed a smile.

“Well, whatcha gonna do?”

She shrugged. That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? And the answer? “Nothing. I don’t know why he’s here. I guess it could be coincidence. He’s starting a horse farm or something, right?”

“Un-uh.” Bubba shook his head. “He came here ’cause you was here.”

That ill-spoken observation nearly shook her from the swing. Jack had come for her?

“But that doesn’t make sense, Bubba. Why not just pick up the phone? Call me and talk to me? I don’t know what to think. The way we ended…”

“I guess I don’t know how you left it. But that man thinks he’s got somethin’ to prove. That’s how we are, I mean, as a breed. If we want something, we want it. I guess ol’ Jack didn’t think a phone call would do it. He’s got a plan, I reckon.”

Nellie stared at the sweet olive bush beside the porch. It made the summer night sweeter with its fragrance. Stars winked from under the moss-decked oak branches each time the swing arced back. Crickets chirruped and june bugs thumped against the screened windows. She should have been at peace.

“A plan,” Nellie echoed, allowing her toe to drag against the faded boards beneath her, her stomach churning at the portent of two simple words.

“Mmm.” Bubba lurched, stiff legged, off the porch stairs. “I guess I gotta get. I told Momma I’d watch the news with her tonight. She’s havin’ one of her good days.”

He pulled his cap out of his pocket and shoved it onto his head.

“You’re leaving? We’re just figuring this out. I need a man’s opinion.” Nellie wrapped her arms around herself and threw him her best puppy-dog look. It didn’t seem to work because he started digging his truck keys out of his pocket.

“You ain’t gotta do nothing. Just wait.”

“Wait?”

“Well, it’s like this, Nellie. You know when you go fishin’?” Nellie nodded. “Well, you know there’s fish there, right? In your case, it’s a big one. You gotta sit back and see if he’s gonna nibble or just take the whole thing in one big gulp. Then I guess you gotta decide if he’s a keeper.”

Kate would have never talked in fish analogies, but Nellie totally got where he was going. She just had to watch the cork. Of course that made her bait. It was a bit disgusting to think about herself as a wriggling worm on the end of a hook.

“See ya,” Bubba called en route to his truck.

“Bye, Bubba—thanks,” she called over the chirrups of the cicadas. He lifted one hand.

Not a man of many words. But those few words made sense… She sighed.

Bubba’s big truck roared to life, interrupting the tranquility of the night. Nellie swore she could feel the swing vibrate. He backed out and hit the curb. The truck lurched as he gave it gas before shooting off down the street.

Bubba Malone. How had an ice cream sundae bestowed out of charity led to such a friendship? And she really liked him, felt totally comfortable around him even if his eyes often dipped to her chest.