Page 14 of Small Town Secrets

She leaned into the car and pulled Whitney from her seat, the little girl’s head lolling forward onto her mother’s shoulder without a care in the world. He stayed close enough to help close the car door, then stood in the driveway to watch Laila heft her daughter onto her front porch and into her house, but not before freeing a hand from Whitney and sending him a quick smile and wave goodbye.

The sweet parting left him with nothing to do but stroll around the short picket fence between the two houses and up his own driveway, all while lugging the weight of what had just happened. The potential. The risk.

He hadn’t thought much about his expectations with Laila. Not beyond getting her to agree to this date. Only now, an unfamiliar strain gripped at his heart and hinted at something much bigger than what his peas-sized brain had bargained on.

Something fragile. Something complicated. Something riddled with warnings. Warnings he most definitely would ignore and live to regret.

Just like any person, he didn’t know what the future had in store. In fact, more than most, he’d never really cared to find out. Except for now, when a swimming sensation took over his head and his heart, anticipation sweeping hot electricity over his skin and spurring his hurried steps to his front door.

“Hey!”

He paused at Laila’s loud greeting, taking a moment before looking at her. As bright as her tone sounded, there came that warning again…

When he did look, she stood on her landing, arm waving high above her head, her weight lifted onto her toes, as she craned her neck in a bid for his full attention. He wanted to smile at that, to level a smile as carefree as hers, but the prickling at his skin continued.

Don’t fall too fast.

Still, he wouldn’t block her out completely, and rather than round the two driveways, he ambled closer to the fence between them and waited for her to join him. “What is it?”

She jogged toward him and paused a beat, grinning up at him, before she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in. He had no time to gather his senses, before she had him snared in another kiss, one she controlled completely.

Her lips held a hungry force, and her hands held firm to the sides of his face, as if she’d had a moment to think about their last kiss and returned to tie up unfinished business.

Just as quickly as things had started, she released him on a joyful smile. Her stunning blue eyes glittered up at him, while he remained stunned, but pleasantly so.

His astonishment broke only as she turned tail and jogged back to her door, where she punched a hand into the air at her landing and released an excited squeal. All-too-soon, she disappeared back into her house.

Nine

That same night, the smell of wood and alcohol greeted Rochelle as she crossed the floor at Maynard’s and took a seat at the bar.

“Back again?” Sarah strode over, her amber-green eyes sparkling with a bemused sort of joy. She looked from Rochelle to the kitchen pass where Gordon worked, then back to Rochelle. “I’d offer to let you lodge in our wine cellar, but I hear Gordon’s already moved you into his place.”

Rochelle’s mouth dropped open while she struggled a beat. Although Sarah had a point, Richelle had stopped by Maynard’s most of the five nights she’d lingered in Harlow, she was yet to get her head around how straight-to-the-point most people in these parts were.

I thought I was the only brutally honest one.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Just as she mumbled that reply, a blonde woman in her twenties gave a little squeak to her right.

“You and Gordon are dating? Gordon has a girlfriend?” The blonde’s voice pitched upward at the end, and she bounced in her seat, repeatedly patting the arm of a man beside her in a gesture for him to participate in the conversation.

Once again, Rochelle sat dumbfounded. Once again, she wanted to utter the same reply, “I wouldn’t go that far.” But her weekend in Harlow had evolved into nearly a week of living with a man she’d met off-the-cuff, and so far, she still struggled to leave.

It was way too early in the relationship to even try to define who she was to him or tackle the challenge of living literal states apart if they did want to keep seeing each other. Perhaps not wanting to address any of that confusion came from denial. In truth, she didn’t really know what she was doing, only that she didn’t want this current escapade to end.

“Oh, gosh! I’m being rude.” The woman pressed one hand to her cheek and stuck the other out for Rochelle to shake. “I’m sorry. I’m Ally Egan, and this man beside me is Chip. My boyfriend. I’m moving into his house too. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Rochelle accepted the handshake but flattened her voice into a dry but light tone, refusing to touch the topic of her “moving in” with Gordon. “That’s not what’s happening with Gordon and me.”

Ally’s smile stilled, and her gaze dropped to the bar’s counter. After a while, she released a deflated, “Oh...” Her gaze bounced back up and her eyes lighted again before her voice took on a stronger, “Oooooohhhhh!”

Not wanting to elaborate, mostly because there wasn’t much to share, Rochelle turned to Sarah. “Give me anything with gin in it.”

Sarah chuckled, seeming to catch Rochelle’s need for a breather, and went about expertly assembling that drink. She plucked a bottle of gin off the shelf behind her and poured a measure into a glass, followed by tonic water, ice, and a squeeze of lime juice. With a practiced flourish of her wrist, she finished with an edible flower floating on top.

“On the house.” She winked and nodded to Ally. “Ally is a lot to handle, but she means well, and we’re not all so inquisitive.”

“Hey!” Even through Ally’s protest, Chip chuckled into the back of his hand, his hazel gaze connecting with Rochelle.

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