Give Em Pumpkin To Talk About (Pumpkin Patch Mysteries Book 1) (14 page)

Kathy and Ben were one of those couples. Even David was dancing with a teenage girl.

Sarah panicked when she and Jack actually got in the middle of the wild dancing. “Really, I appreciate it, but I don’t think I can do this.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the tempo of the music changed to a slow dance. Kathy quickly pushed herself against Ben’s chest, and his arms went around her. David hurriedly left the dance area followed by the girl who tried to call him back.

Some of the older couples returned to sway slowly to the music under the silver crescent moon that was hanging in the sky above them.

“How about this?” Jack asked before she could leave the dance area.

Feeling a little trapped, Sarah nodded, putting one hand in his and the other on his shoulder. She knew how to waltz. Most of the people around them were kind of standing in one place and swaying back and forth. She could do this, and then she’d go to the hotel.

Jack didn’t press her to get closer. She was grateful for that. Even so, she felt awkward and uneasy. There was no explanation for it. When she traveled with Clare, she was required to handle dozens of social situations that came up. Normally that wasn’t a problem for her. This was different somehow. She didn’t want to think about why.

“You’re a very good dancer,” he said in a muted tone. “I don’t know why you got so shy.”

“Not shy.” She glanced up the few inches to his face. “I’m never shy. I couldn’t do my job if I was.”

“Less social then,” he amended.

“It’s usually not personal.”

“Personal?”

She thought about not replying but finally blurted out. “It was all that talk about my bones.”

Why did I say that?

“I think you have very nice bones,” he said. “Don’t pay any attention to Ben. He thinks Kathy is attractive.”

“She is attractive,” she said. “Don’t you think she’s attractive?”

“Sure. I like her.” He smiled. “I just don’t want to dance with her.”

The fiddle and banjo players were joined by a guitar player, and the trio played another slow song. Jack didn’t seem in a hurry to get away from the dance, so Sarah stayed too.

Just one more dance, and I’ll head back to the hotel.

“The barn looks good.” Sarah searched for something to say.

“Yes. Just like a barn.”

“It was a lot of work,” she continued.

“It always is.”

She sighed. “Why did you shave your beard and get all dressed up to build a barn?”

“I knew the dancing came after.”

“So you wanted to dance with someone.”

“With you.” His gaze was steady on her face.

“Oh.” She looked away, hoping to catch Kathy’s eye so she could wave to her or something that would break the tension she was feeling. “That was really sweet of you.”

“Sweet?” The word rolled off his tongue as though he had no experience with it. “I suppose you could say so. Is that what you really think?”

“I wonder how long this song is.” She glanced at the musicians. “I’m not really familiar with the tune.”

“I’ll love you forever.”

Sarah swallowed hard. “What?”

“The name of the song.
I’ll Love You Forever
.”

She stared at him, suddenly wondering who he really was. She’d thought of him in so many different ways in the past few days—squatter, possible killer, crazy person, and maybe someone with PTSD. She had the urge to really figure out who Jack was and why he was there.

The tempo of the music changed again, back to the energetic dance that had the kids howling as they jumped down from the porch to join the party again.

“That’s it for me,” she said. “I’m exhausted. I have to go. Thanks for the dance.”

“I’ll see you to your car.”

Sarah started to protest and tell him it wasn’t necessary, but something about his voice and the determined way he’d said it made her believe he was going to do it whether she wanted him to or not.

And what could it hurt? It was barely dark and there were dozens of people in the yard. She wasn’t afraid of him, just nervous. It was probably everything that had happened since she’d come back to Misty River. A walk with him to her car was nothing. She could handle it.

People called out to her as they saw her leave. A few thanked her for the pumpkins she’d brought that Mary and Gray were distributing to their workers as a way of saying thanks for their help with the barn. The ringing voices lasted halfway down the drive, almost until they’d reached her car.

“Have you ever really thought about keeping the farm and the pumpkin patch?” he asked. “You could claim the land for yourself.”

“You mean so I’d be able to find the gold?” She made light of his question.

“You know what I mean. You loved it here as a child. Why would it be different now?”

“I’m not a kid anymore.” She turned to him as they reached her car. “I don’t want to swim in the river or pick pumpkins. That was a long time ago.”

“I see.”

“What about you, Jack? You’re the one who needs to start looking forward. Monday, the land will belong to Leland Drake. He’ll probably take down the house and barn. Think about what you’re going to do. Kathy is offering you a job. Maybe you should take it.”

He shrugged. “I guess we’ll see what happens on Monday. Goodnight, Sarah. Thanks for the dance.”

She hoped that didn’t mean he had something else planned to mess things up.

Sarah watched him disappear into the shadows that surrounded the house and barn, skirting the edge of the lights and the party. She wanted to call him back and talk to him. There was more behind those blue eyes and wry smile. Part of her wanted to know what it was, to know the man himself.

Part of her said that was stupid.

She squared her shoulders as she got in the car, started the engine, and headed toward the hotel.

Chapter Thirteen

Sarah spent the rest of the evening washing clothes and taking care of other problems she’d put off. She decided to keep the clothes she’d taken from her mother’s closet. They would be a souvenir of the last few days.

She called her mother to make sure she’d gotten home safely. She talked to her father who wanted to know why Sarah wasn’t home already.

“Haven’t you talked to Mom?” she asked.

“She told me some kind of story about the two of you getting drunk out there and not being sure about selling the property.”

“She did?” That surprised Sarah. “I wasn’t drunk. And I’m getting everything together to meet the buyer Monday and close the deal.”

“It’s about time,” he said. “I don’t know why your mother dropped the ball on this. If I’d known it was such a big deal, I would’ve handled it for her. I’ve never known her to be so emotional about selling a piece of land.”

“It’s not just a piece of land,” Sarah argued. “This was her home. Grandma and Grandpa disappeared from here. It’s a lot more than just a random tract of land. Of course she was going to be emotional.”

“If Bess and Tommy wanted her to know where they’d gone, they would have told her.”

The same argument he’d always made about their disappearance.

“It’ll be over Monday,” she told him. “No one will have to worry about it after that. I’ll talk to you later, Dad.”

She put the phone down with a shaky hand. She didn’t like arguing with her father, especially about this. He’d been the big push behind getting it taken care of. It was different for her mother—she could see that now.

Sarah checked her email to take her mind off the sale of the property and everything else. Clare had sent her several messages about an upcoming fundraiser that she was worried about. The group holding the fundraiser had some very different opinions about state government than Clare’s platform espoused. She was worried that some of her voters might take the event the wrong way.

It was a good opportunity to spend some time doing research for her job. It meant she didn’t have time to think about Jack, George Burris, gold, or selling the property to Leland Drake.

An hour later, she reported her findings back to her boss—the fundraiser would be fine as long as she was careful with her remarks during the dinner.

After she was done with that, Sarah stared at the large screen TV in the hotel room. She didn’t even realize that she hadn’t turned it on for thirty minutes. At that point, she got up and walked around the room a few times.

Why did she feel bad for Jack? He had to know this day was going to come. He had a job offer. He didn’t have to leave the area if he didn’t want to. She didn’t understand why he was so stubborn about it.

Some of her original thoughts about him surfaced—he had PTSD and couldn’t face the real world, he only wanted to be there to guard the property from gold hunters, or he had other issues that he needed help with.

None of those answers went along with the man she was beginning to know. Everyone knew him and liked him. She could see how they treated him with respect, wanted his help, and valued his advice. She’d listened to him while he was talking to Gray about building the barn. He was well-spoken and clearheaded.

Possibly the biggest problem was that she couldn’t get him out of her thoughts. The images of him with the huge beard that obscured his face and the ripped up, dirty clothes were directly opposite from the images of the man she’d danced with.

Why had he made that transformation? Was it something he did on a regular basis? Kathy and Ron had been surprised to see the change. There had been others there, too, who hadn’t even recognized him.

So why had he done it?

His answer about being able to dance with her after the barn-raising made sleep impossible. Not knowing what was in his mind was driving her crazy.

Around midnight, exhausted from the hard work and getting up so early that morning, she climbed out of the hotel bed, got dressed, and headed back out to the farm. Maybe she could surprise him for a change. Maybe she could get some answers.

All the way to Misty River, she kept telling herself to go back. She didn’t need to know what Jack was thinking. What difference did it make why he made himself presentable for a day? He might have thought he could convince her not to sell the land. Maybe he even thought she might find him attractive.

Do I find him attractive?

She hadn’t been staring at his butt all day as Kathy had described physical attraction. Her marriage to Alan was finally over. She wasn’t interested in having anyone in her life. Ron was just about having something to do until she went home. She knew without anyone telling her that Jack was more serious than that.

Sarah drove past the pumpkin patch sign that had been hanging on one chain. The car headlights picked up the repair that had been done on it. It looked new. Someone had painstakingly repainted it and hung it again.

Jack.

He didn’t believe her when she said she wasn’t staying. He still thought he could convince her to save the farm. She had to find a way to make him understand that this wasn’t the life she wanted. Even though she’d thought she’d made it clear, there had to be something more that she could say.

She drove the car into the dark drive and parked. Jack would be in the barn. The chances were good that he wouldn’t be looking for her and not expecting her back that night.

Before she left the car—eager to sneak up on him—the intelligent, reasoning part of her brain told her to leave. There were no answers here that she really wanted. She had to stay on track until Monday when she could hand over the land to Leland Drake and go home.

But something uncontrollable in her heart whispered,
stay
.

Sarah had rarely ever allowed her heart to dictate to her brain. She’d always known what she wanted and what she had to do to get it. She’d never had time for anyone in her life who wasn’t as disciplined and didn’t know what he wanted. Alan was even more like her—driven and ambitious.

What am I looking for, a roll in the hay with the first boy who ever kissed me? Is that what this is about?

If she wanted to have a short fling with a man, Ron would certainly be her best bet. If not him, then a dozen other men that she knew back home. It wouldn’t be a man who lived in a barn and only cleaned up every few years when he went to a dance.

But even as she argued with herself, she got out of the car and then steadily passed the quiet house, walking toward the barn. There was a thin sliver of light coming from under the barn door as she approached.

She knew Jack was in there. The tractor he’d brought back was outside. She put her hand on the rough wood.

One last chance to leave before he sees you. You could still go back to the hotel without him ever knowing.

Her rapidly beating heart won the argument. She pushed open the barn door with a trembling hand. The mother cat glanced up to see what was going on, her babies sleeping around her. The light had been coming from a lamp over the rough bed on the far side of the barn from where she stood.

Two dark figures were lying on the hay-covered floor. A large gun was between them.

“Jack!”

Chapter Fourteen

Sarah ran unerringly toward him. He wasn’t moving. The dim light showed her an ugly, red wound on his forehead.

She went to the old sink where her grandfather used to clean up before he went inside. There was a clean t-shirt hanging there. She grabbed it and got it wet before she went back to him.

The cold water revived him as she put part of the wet shirt on his face and dabbed at the blood.

“Sarah?” His eyes barely opened. “What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know.” She moved the wet cloth so she could get a better look at the wound. “That’s going to need stitches.”

He groaned and glanced around. “What happened?”

“I just got here. And there’s someone else.”

“Get behind me.” He tried to sit up and couldn’t do it.

“Don’t worry. He’s not moving either. Can’t you remember?”

Jack finally sat up slowly. “I remember. I heard a noise and went to check on it.”