Authors: Annie Jones
“
Good.
”
She nodded.
“
Good.
”
He put his hand to his neck, then pulled it away and frowned. He moved toward her.
“
One thing we need to do first, I think.
”
He was going to gather her up in his arms and kiss her senseless...and she was going to let him do it despite her brave bargain to be just friends.
Which only went to prove she
’
d already lost most of her common sense.
Riley took another step.
Her heart raced. She raised her chin.
He reached his arm out.
Dixie braced both hands behind her on the worktable.
Riley stepped close, he shifted left then right.
How sweet that he felt so unsure. She went up on tiptoes just enough to show she would not reject his advance.
“
Ah, that
’
s it,
”
he murmured, then lunged forward and grabbed a paper towel from the work table to wipe the water from inside his collar. He narrowed his eyes at her.
“
Okay, then, friend, we
’
d better get this paper on the wall. And while we
’
re doing that, maybe we should go over some ground rules.
”
“
Ground rules?
”
Embarrassment and confusion, not emotions Dixie welcomed, clashed in her mind. She snatched up the red cap Riley had taken off her head just before he
’
d kissed her and jammed it down low, until it grazed her eyebrows. Maybe the brim would hide the blush on her cheeks with its shadow.
“
Ground rules for what? For hanging paper?
”
“
For our friendship.
”
He lifted the wet folds of paper in his arms and strode to the alcove.
“
You
’
d better hold this while I get up this ladder.
”
“
Yes, of course.
”
She hurried over and when he got to the rung that enabled him to reach the top of the wall he held his hands out. She helped him apply the sky-blue paper dotted with white, fluffy clouds, her thoughts and feelings stormy.
“
Okay.
”
He kept his eyes on his work.
“
For instance, no kissing.
”
“
Of course!
No
kissing.
”
She grabbed a wide brush with stiff, yellow bristles and began to work the bubbles out from the center of the wallpaper sheet.
“
And no jealousy allowed, either. You know, in case one of us would want to go on a date with someone else.
”
He laughed.
“
You got your eye on someone?
”
“
What do you mean me? You could just as easily—
”
“
Nope.
”
He moved his own brush over the carefree clouds in long, even strokes.
“
I
’
m in no position to start
any
new relationship right now, even if I wanted to. But I am flattered that you
’
d be jealous if I did.
”
“
Me? Ha! I could care less who you see or date or even talk to.
”
She flicked her wrist and ended up splattering tiny droplets of watered-down paste everywhere. She ignored it and went on working, saying aloud what she truly, sincerely, almost nearly had convinced herself she believed in her heart.
“
So I guess that makes the jealousy issue a moot point, old buddy of mine, because I
’
m sure not going out man-hunting anytime soon. Like I said before, I don
’
t exactly have a terrific track record with things working out.
”
“
Fine, then.
”
He seemed totally absorbed in working out a
long, rippling crease over a particularly fat, cottony cloud.
“
Fine.
”
Well, what more had she hoped for, she asked herself as she worked her sticky fingers over the textured paper, checking for imperfections. That he
’
d deny the validity of her statement? That he
’
d rush to reassure her that many, many of the things she attempted worked out very well indeed, things that mattered far more than rotten romances? How could he, in good conscience, do that? What, in the little more than a month that he
’
d known her, had worked out right for her?
She still had not convinced Fulton to meet with Miss Lettie or to even let Dixie tell the dear old woman that she
’
d found her grandson. Guilt over that had slowed the work on Lettie
’
s birthday book to a halt—not that Dixie had gotten anything much done on it beforehand, either. In fact, with time running out, it was likely she
’
d have to abandon the whole idea of writing Lettie
’
s life story entirely. Chock up yet another monumental flop for Dixie.
She gritted her teeth and swiped her hand across her faded blue overalls to get rid of some wayward paste.
The downstairs phone rang. Peachie Too barked. General commotion ensued.
Nothing out of the ordinary there. Aunt Sis will handle it.
Above her on the ladder, Riley was putting the finishing touches on a near-perfect job. It did not surprise her that his first effort at hanging wallpaper had turned out flawless. Riley did everything well.
She put her fingers to her lips...
Everything
.
“
Ready for the next panel.
”
His feet landed on the carpet with a cushioned thud.
“
Mind if I
cut and measure this one?
”
“
Please do. I
’
m sure you
’
ll do a better job than I ever could.
”
“
I didn
’
t mean it that way, I just wanted to try to do it for myself. You
’
ve done a great job, Dixie. I hope you didn
’
t think I wanted to bully my way in and take over.
”
“
I know.
”
She waved him off. Riley did not need to bully his way into taking over anything, he simply threw himself into the work so thoroughly that there wasn
’
t any need for anyone else. At least that
’
s how it was fast becoming at work.
In their first week at it, Fulton and Riley had straightened out the mess her daddy had left. It only made sense the two of them could do that since most of it, she had quickly learned, either related to the deal Daddy wanted set up with Riley or was falsely created by Greenhow to convince Dixie to let him take over the management of the business. Dixie still ran the furniture manufacturing plant and oversaw the outlet store, but the deeper they got into things, the more she saw why her father had always kept running the businesses as a one-man operation.
After thirty years, Fulton
’
s Enterprises was pretty much a well-oiled machine, the kind of thing Riley could run on his own and still be home for dinner every night by six, just like her father always had been. Dixie
’
s contribution amounted to very little at work, and since Sis had everything under control on the home front—
“
Riley! Riley? Hon, do you still have your little phone up there with you?
”
Aunt Sis called up the stairs with all the timbre and sophistication of an operatic cow bellow.
“
Yes, ma
’
am.
”
Riley had the decorum to walk to the doorway so that he didn
’
t have to holler through the hallways.
“
Well, pick it up, won
’
t you dear, you have a phone call.
”
“
A...?
”
He looked to Dixie, pointing.
“
It
’
s right by your knee in that tarp. Do you mind?
”
She scrambled to locate the small black phone in the layers of canvas tarp.
“
Aunt Sis, how do
you
know that I have a call on my phone?
”
He turned his attention back downstairs.
“
Because I answered the phone down here and the person asked to talk to you.
”
“
She must have given whoever it was your cell number.
”
Dixie gave it a gentle underhanded pitch.
“
Heads up!
”
“
Thanks.
”
He held his hands open and caught it with great ease. He also dropped it with great ease. But it did appear to Dixie that he had some amount of trouble holding in what he really wanted to say about that as the phone bounced on his toe, then onto the floor, then went skidding out onto the hardwood floor of the hall.
Dixie couldn
’
t see what happened from there but she heard the
thunk-a-thunk-a
of something tumbling down step after step, then the clatter of plastic reverberating in the high-ceilinged entry way at the foot of the stairs.
“
Is this the cell phone you were talking about, dear?
”
Riley sighed.
“
Yes, Aunt Sis.
”
“
Then I
’
ll just answer it myself.
”
Dixie looked away so Riley wouldn
’
t catch her laughing.
“
Hello? Hello? No wait, that
’
s not right. There now. Hello?
”
Sis
’
s struggle carried up the stairwell, loud and clear.
“
Riley, honey, is it supposed to be in three pieces?
”
“
I heard a crash. Is everything all right?
”
The Judge
’
s voice carried upward.
“
Everything is just fine, Smilin
’
Bob-Busybody, I have everything under control. I
’
m taking care of things just fine.
”
The tremor in Sis
’
s voice belied her confident claim.
“
Now why don
’
t you go on back to your naptime?
”
“
I
’
ll have you know I was in my office doing important business,
”
Dixie
’
s grandpa blustered.
“
Do you think what I do around this house isn
’
t important? You think I wouldn
’
t much rather be heading my committees and chairing my boards and generally seeing to the cultural well-being of my beloved Fulton
’
s Dominion than trying to juggle the schedule of a house full of—
”
“
Would you two pipe down in there? Wendy and I are trying to get Miss Lettie caught up on her stories in here,
”
Riley
’
s mother, Verdi, called from one of the downstairs bedrooms.
Peachie Too barked.
Sis wailed something about not being appreciated.
“
Even my own precious princess puppy-toes has turned against me!
”
“
I had to drive to Jackson to get that phone, you know.
”
Riley said it too softly for anyone but Dixie to hear, not that they would have heard or cared as they squabbled quite blissfully on.
“
I
’
m sorry. I never should have thrown it.
”
“
Hey, your throw was impeccable. It was my catch that stunk.
”
His gaze met hers.
“
I guess I was distracted.
”
By me?
“
You know, worried about who
’
d be calling me here.
”
He answered as though he
’
d known what she was thinking, then raised his head, drew a deep breath, and stepped into the hallway.
“
Aunt—oh, you
’
re here.
”