Where She Belongs (9 page)

“You talked to her.”

A wan smile barely lifted the corners of her mouth. “Mostly she talked to me.”

“What did she say?”

A long pause bound them together, the only sound the quiet hum of the fridge and the distant noise of a television. Shelby bit her lip, reminding him of Gran the day he'd read Shelby's letter to her. Biting her lip, gripping his hand. “Find a way,” she had urged. “The house belongs to Shelby.”

Shelby finally spoke. “She said what I needed to hear.”

He shook his head, puzzled, desperate to know. “What?”

“It's my memory. I've never told anyone.”

“She wanted you to have this house. It was all that mattered to her at the end.” He blinked as the remembrance of Gran's final moments stung his eyes. “It eased her last days to know you were fixing it up. Making things right again.”

Shelby faced him, the moment wrapping itself around them as if time had no meaning. He held her gaze, willing her to share this hidden fragment of Gran's life with him.

“When did she die?”

“About three weeks ago.” He swallowed past the lump pressing against his throat. “I got a call after we left the Dixie Diner. It was a couple days later.”

“But I was here then.” She sounded confused.

“Yes.”

“Uncle Richard didn't tell me. If I'd known . . .” She reached for his hands, her gentle touch unsettling him even more. “I'm very sorry. I know how much it hurts.”

The lump thickened in AJ's throat, making it impossible for him to speak. His eyes ached with the dam of unshed tears pushing against them. He stared at their hands, his and Shelby's, clasped warmly together.

He didn't want her to ever let him go.

H
olding hands with AJ wasn't right, but Shelby didn't want to move. Sympathizing with his grief, she had impulsively reached out to him. But when her hands touched his, something clicked within her heart, and an unexpected thought burst into her mind.

This is where I belong
.

No. That couldn't be true. AJ was a nice guy, but he was still the grandson of the ruthless monster who'd stolen her grandparents' farm.

Still, she was unwilling to end the moment. Despite the thunder and the raindrops pelting the kitchen windows, an intimate silence lingered around them till she believed she could hear the beating of her own heart.

“Shelby.” He breathed her name, his voice husky and soft.

She lifted her eyes. His were rimmed in the red of sorrow but narrowed with longing. He stepped closer and bent his head, his gaze flickering to her lips. His hands moved to her waist, and, scarcely aware of her movements, she rested hers on his muscular biceps.

He moved closer, and panic seized her stomach as her conscience demanded to be heard.
What would Gary think?
And then, as if
that might not be enough reason to push AJ away, her conscience flung up another thought.

What about Brett?

As if on cue, the ring of her phone shattered the fragile moment. She jumped back with a nervous giggle as if she'd just been caught doing something wrong. Grabbing the phone from the counter, she checked the display.

Brett.

Perfect timing.

She tapped the ignore button and sent the automated text message saying she'd call back in a few minutes.

“A friend.” She stuck the phone in her pocket and absentmindedly picked up the dish towel. “I'll need to call him back soon.”

“Him?”

She nodded, biting her lip.

“Friend, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“I see.” He seemed to wait, probably wanting some clarification. But she had none to give him. She liked Brett, and she didn't like AJ. What had almost happened between them was no more than two hearts who had both known sorrow wrapped up in the romance of a thunderous rainstorm.

Because everyone knew there was nothing more romantic than eating grilled hot dogs with two children and a wet dog. She flung the dish towel on the counter.

“Guess I should go so you can return that call.” AJ picked up his ball cap from the table. “Where do you suppose I can find my dog?”

“This way.”

Shelby led the way through the hallway past a couple of rooms and the stairs to Nanna's parlor. Except she had transformed it to their family room. The girls cuddled with Lila on a kid-friendly leather sofa as they watched television. The Labrador raised her head when AJ entered but didn't budge.

“Sorry about her being on the furniture,” AJ said. “I guess I've let her get away with bad habits.”

“It's okay. I imagine the girls encouraged her.”

“Time to go, Lila.” AJ patted his leg. “Come on.”

Lila didn't move.

“She likes us,” Elizabeth said, hugging the dog.

“I'm sure she does, but we need to get home. C'mon, Lila. That's a good girl.”

Lila stretched and slowly stepped from the couch. Elizabeth and Tabby got up too, bestowing hugs on Lila and AJ both before Shelby could stop them.

“Thanks for helping me fish.” Elizabeth swung his hand. “It was fun.”

“Thanks for the cookies. And the cocoa. And riding in your Jeep. And the . . .” Tabby tilted her head, trying to come up with more to say.

“That's enough,” Shelby said, gesturing to the door that opened to one end of the curving patio. “You can go out this way.”

Bending down, he adjusted the plastic wrap he'd used to protect Lila's bandages from the rain. “I guess we're all set. Thanks for supper.”

“It was the least we could do after you saved us from the storm.”

“Rescuing lovely damsels in distress is what I do best.” His mouth smiled, but not his eyes. “Night.”

Head bent against the downpour, he and Lila disappeared into the dusk.

Shelby pulled the screen door closed and locked the latch. Rain slanted through the mesh, dampening her hair and face. But she didn't move away or shut the wooden door until the Jeep's taillights disappeared.

What happened in the kitchen couldn't happen again. It mustn't.

She plopped down on the couch, one arm around each of her girls. Holding them tight, she kissed one dark head and then the other.

“Mr. AJ's nice, isn't he, Mommy?”

“Yes, he is, Bitsy.” Too nice.

“I like him.” Tabby emphasized the
like
.

“He likes us too, doesn't he, Mommy?”

“I think he does.” Too much.

The girls watched the rest of their show in silence, then put up the usual fuss about going to bed. When Shelby finally had them settled, she retrieved her phone and returned to the family room. Now she could enjoy a conversation with Brett without interruption.

A little thrill tingled her spine in anticipation of hearing his voice. He'd say “It's you” in that special tone he always used when she returned his calls, as if nothing was more important than talking with her. That greeting would wipe away her heart's traitorous preoccupation with Anderson John Sullivan the Fourth.

Curling up in a wingback chair by the empty fireplace, she looked down at her phone and groaned.

She was still wearing AJ's clothes.

Which reminded her. One more thing to do before calling Brett.

It took some searching, but finally she found what she was looking for on a Vermont antique store's website. A ceramic calico-cat-in-a-basket cookie jar. She dug her credit card from her wallet and placed the order, spending the extra for express delivery. It couldn't replace the one Tabby broke, but this was the best she could do. AJ had hidden his feelings well beneath his concern for Tabby's injury, but seeing the pieces of his mom's cookie jar scattered across his kitchen floor had to be hard for him. Especially since he seemed to have so few heirlooms. His biggest collection appeared to be OSU ball caps. At least a dozen dangled from the wall rack.

Must be a guy thing.

Her phone rang, and she stared at the screen with dismay.

Brett
.

How could she have forgotten to return his call?

A
s AJ and Lila got out of the Jeep, Elizabeth came running out of the kitchen door. Her pixie face beamed as she raced down the stairs toward them.

“You're here.” Throwing her arms around Lila, she giggled as the dog got in a kiss or two.

“Were you expecting us?”

“I hoped. But Mommy said you wouldn't.”

“Did she?” Dropping by uninvited was a calculated risk, but one he'd decided to take. Something had happened between Shelby and him yesterday. She might choose to ignore it, but she couldn't deny it.

The screen door thwacked, and Shelby walked to the edge of the patio. “Hey, there. What's going on?”

“They came.” Elizabeth dashed across the yard while Lila limped behind.

“I see that.” Shelby joined AJ at the Jeep. He opened the rear hatch and lifted out the wagon. The insulated tote and blanket were inside.

“I would have called, but I don't have your number. Thought you might want these.”

“You went out to the willow?”

“Yep.” He closed the hatch and casually leaned against the bumper. “I wanted to see the 'gagement tree.”

“I suppose you looked at the initials.” With a sheepish smile, she sat on the bumper beside him.

“I did.” Glancing at her profile, he caught the whiff of a delicate floral scent. “My favorite was S. L. and J. O.”

She buried her face in her hands. “I should never have told you about that tree.”

“Let's see. S. L. probably stands for Shelby Lassiter.” He nudged her arm. “That's you, isn't it?”

She nudged him back.

“And if I were a betting man, I'd bet J. O. is, drum roll, please . . . Jason Owens.”

“You think you're so smart.”

“So you and Jason planned to marry?” he teased.

“We were kids. Best friends.”

“What happened?”

“I left the country.” Her somber tone shifted the mood away from playful banter. “He wrote to me, but I never wrote back. Eventually his letters stopped coming.”

“Why didn't you write him?”

“Too angry, I suppose.” She dug the toe of her shoe into the gravel. “I couldn't have explained it then, but now I think it was because his letters reminded me of what I was missing. Not just this place, but all the things I had taken for granted. Going to football games on a Friday night. Sleepovers with my friends.” She smiled. “Pizza.”

“Sounds like you had a tough time.”

“I did. And I didn't handle it well.” She hesitated, as if needing time to form her thoughts into words. “My parents had always dreamed of serving God as missionaries. Misty Willow, the family legacy, hindered that dream. They came to see losing the farm as a blessing. But I couldn't accept that. I still have a hard time accepting that.”

AJ didn't respond. Instead he let her words settle around them. She'd given him a gift by sharing her heartache. He didn't want to ruin the moment by saying the wrong thing.

The peacefulness of the summer day was broken only by Elizabeth's laughter and Lila's occasional bark as the two played a game only they understood.

He ached for moments like this one. A tiny taste of what it would be like to belong to this family, this house. To be a father. A husband.

“I'm glad you didn't marry Jason.”

Shelby's eyebrows furrowed. “Why?”

“Because then you'd be living down the road instead of here. You belong here.”

“I think Jason's happy with the way things turned out. He and Cassie are perfect for each other.”

“But are you? Happy with how things turned out, I mean.”

“There are things I wish had been different. But I try to trust that God has a plan for me.” She stood suddenly and faced him. “How about you?”

“What about me?”

She bent her head as if giving him the once-over. “You're a decent-looking guy. Thoughtful. Caring.” A teasing smile brightened her face. “Why isn't there a Mrs. Fourth?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I guess I don't want to make the same mistakes my parents did.”

“What mistakes?”

“Mistakes.” He shrugged. “Forgetting they once loved each other.”

Her smile faded, but her eyes studied him. “I don't think you would.”

“I haven't been willing to take that chance.” Until now. But he couldn't tell her that. Time to change the subject. “Where's Tabby? I'm surprised she hasn't come outside.”

“She's napping. We had a busy morning clearing up branches from last night's storm.”

“Did a bit of that myself. So what's with the stakes out front?” He'd noticed the sticks when he drove in.

“Eventually it will be a flower garden. My grandmother had a variety of lovely irises planted in that area.”

“Before long this place is going to look just like it used to.”

“Not exactly. I plan to add a few special touches of my own.”

“Like what?”

“Perhaps a trellis or a sundial. Or maybe a small gazebo. I haven't decided yet, but I'm gathering ideas and photos for inspiration.”

“Sounds like quite a project.”

“But a fun one.”

“Gran grew irises at her house. 'Course, when she moved there, she wasn't able to do much of the planting herself, so that privilege was mine.”

Shelby grabbed his hand and examined his thumb.

“What are you doing?”

“Just checking to see how green it is.”

“Not very. But I'm real good at following Gran's directions.” His stomach tightened, and he stared across the amber wheat field to avoid Shelby's sympathetic gaze. “Least I was.”

Shelby released AJ's hand as she considered how to respond. And to figure out what in the world she was doing. When she said there couldn't be a “next time,” she'd meant it. But her pulse had unexpectedly quickened when she saw his Jeep parked in her drive. Instead of saying thanks for the wagon and sending him on his way, she had actually flirted with him.

And enjoyed it when he flirted back.

Now the rawness of his grief scraped her heart. When her grandparents died, too many people avoided talking about them in her presence. Even as a young teen, she had been hurt by their misplaced compassion. Ignoring her grandparents' existence didn't lessen the pain of her loss.

“Tell me about her.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Something special. When you weren't planting irises, what did you do together?”

“That's easy.” A casual grin spread across AJ's face. “I think we've seen every movie Cary Grant ever made a dozen times.”

She widened her eyes. “Me too. Nanna adored Cary Grant.”

“‘Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.'”

“I love that line.”

“How about this one. ‘Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.'”

“
Arsenic and Old Lace
.”

“That's one point for you.”

“My turn. ‘Not that I mind a slight case of abduction now and then, but I have tickets for the theater this evening.'”

“Too easy.” AJ smirked. “
North by Northwest
.”

“We're tied. One point each.”

“So it's a competition now?”

“For biggest Cary Grant fan.”

“Okay. Try this one. ‘There must be something between us, even if it's only an ocean.'”

“Every woman in the world knows that one.”

“Then what is it?”

“
An Affair to Remember
.” Shelby sighed dreamily. “And you can't watch that one without watching
Sleepless in Seattle
.”

“Another of Gran's favorites.”

“Did you really watch all those movies with her?”

“Sure did. About once a month or so on a Sunday afternoon, we'd have a movie marathon.” His eyes softened as he revisited the past, then he grinned. “Sometimes I drifted off to sleep. So did she, but we both pretended we didn't.”

“Sounds like a pleasant way to spend a Sunday.”

“It was.” His grin widened. “Two to one. Your turn.”

Shelby thought a moment, her mind sifting through Nanna's favorite movies. Only one quote came to mind, but she hesitated to share it.

“Can't think of any others?” AJ teased. “I'll do another.”

“Not so quick.” With unaccustomed boldness, she touched the cleft in his chin. “‘How do you shave in there?'”

Surprise brightened the gold flecks in his brown eyes, and her head spun as he held her gaze. Her hand slipped from his chin to his chest, and he covered it with his own. A palpable charge electrified the space between them. Stepping back, she withdrew her hand and broke the connection.

“Shelby, I . . .”

“Give up?” The question spilled out too quick. To cover her embarrassment, she pasted on a broad smile.

Thankfully, he allowed his mood to follow hers.

“Never.” He stressed the final syllable in a teasing growl. “But that's not a Cary Grant line.”

“Still a Cary Grant movie.”

“Audrey Hepburn.
Charade
.”

“One of my favorites.”

“Mine too.” He checked his watch. “Guess we'll leave it two to two. Lila has an appointment at the vet to get her bandages removed.”

“Is she all better now?”

“I hope so.”

“Me too. And thanks for getting the wagon. I was trying to figure out the best way to bring it home.”

“Just being neighborly.”

“That reminds me. I washed and dried your clothes. I'll be right back.” She hurried into the house, grabbed the bag of folded sweats and socks, and rushed out again.

Elizabeth stood beside the Jeep while AJ coaxed a reluctant Lila to get inside. Finally he picked her up and placed her on the seat.

“Will you come again tomorrow so we can play?”

“Afraid not, sunshine.” AJ bent over, hands on knees, and chucked her chin. “I'm going on a weeklong camping trip with a couple of buddies in the morning.”

“Is Lila going too?”

“She sure is. Though she won't be able to do as much hiking as she usually does.”

“I want to go camping.”

Shelby put her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. “Someday we will, Bitsy.” She handed AJ the bag. “Enjoy your trip. And thanks again for everything.”

“Anytime.” He climbed into the Jeep, waving as he drove away.

A week. She should be glad he wouldn't be dropping in unannounced—at least not for the next seven days. Instead, an emptiness settled around her.

“I like Mr. AJ.” Elizabeth snuggled close to Shelby. “He listens with his eyes.”

Puzzled, Shelby looked down at her daughter, then at the disappearing Jeep. “What do you mean?”

“He looks right at me when we talk.”

“He does, doesn't he?”

“You like him too, don't you, Mommy?”

“Yes, I do.” Maybe too much.