“When she’s facing me?” Dora continued her questions.
“Yes.” Sue Ellen paused a beat before adding the kicker. “Maybe only
true believers
are able to see it.”
“Well, now that I know where to look, it does resemble a face . . .”
“Enough already!” Julia had had it. “Sue Ellen, I want you to tell all these people that you made a mistake and they should go home.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Because you’re all trespassing on private property. Why isn’t my mother out here? Where is she?”
Sue Ellen shrugged. “She said she was going inside to meditate.”
“Maybe you should sic Toni the Biter on them.” The suggestion came from Luke, who appeared out of the blue at Julia’s side.
“What are you doing here?”
He gave her that slow grin of his. “Enjoying the circus.”
“Who’s Toni the Biter?” Dora demanded. “Some mob enforcer?”
“She’s my four-year-old niece,” Julia replied.
Dora frowned. “Your niece is named after a mob enforcer?”
Julia gritted her teeth. “There is no mob enforcer.”
“But Luke just said—”
“Listen, everyone . . .” Julia waved her hands in the air to get the crowd’s attention. “Just go on home. There’s nothing to look at here.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Luke countered.
“So you see the image, too?” Sue Ellen said.
“I see a pile of crap,” he said bluntly.
“That’s not possible,” Angel said as she emerged from the house. “Llamas are excellent digesters. They leave pellets, not piles. Or so it said on the Internet.”
“Either way, there’s nothing pretty about llama shit,” Skye stated as she joined them. “Trust me, I know. I’ve had to clean it up more than my fair share.”
“It can be used to fertilize the garden,” Angel said.
“Not my garden,” Julia said, already noticing the odiferous cloud arising from her backyard.
“What are you doing here?” Angel asked Julia. “I thought you had to work today.”
“I did. I looked out the library window and saw that a crowd was amassing around my house so I came home for my lunch hour.”
“Is the sheriff standing by to call for reinforcements and crowd control?” Luke asked.
“Of course not.” Julia gave him a warning glare. “And don’t you say anything to make things worse.”
Not the least bit intimidated, Luke had the gall to actually grin. “How can they get worse?”
“Ten dollars to see the image of Jesus today,” Skye suddenly called out to the crowd. “Last chance to behold this miracle!”
“Stop that!” Julia hissed, grabbing her sister’s arm. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to make some easy money. You said you wanted us to contribute to the household income.”
“By legitimate means.”
“Well, my belly-dancing class doesn’t start until next week, so I won’t get any money from my students until then.”
“I never said you should promote this kind of thing,” Julia protested.
“That call for dollars thinned out the crowd some,” Luke noted.
Skye nodded. “Of course it did.”
“You should try charging twenty tomorrow,” Luke suggested. “Makes it seem like a more valuable experience.”
“Stop that.” Julia was so aggravated she smacked Luke’s leather-clad arm. She didn’t care if he was a hottie biker-man, he was aggravating her beyond belief. “Do not encourage them. They’re perfectly capable of starting a riot all on their own.”
“I told you, that incident in Orange County wasn’t entirely my fault,” Angel said. “I didn’t realize things would get out of hand that quickly.”
“I don’t want to talk about that,” Julia said, instead focusing her attention on Luke. “You.” She jabbed her finger at him. “Inside.”
“I just love it when you speak librarian to me,” he drawled.
Once they were alone in her kitchen, she barely took time to notice how incongruous Luke looked—tough and sexy in her warm and cozy kitchen with the heart-stamped canisters that had been a gift from the town welcome wagon—before asking him, “What are you really doing here?”
“You ordered me inside.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I heard about the riot and had to come check it out.”
“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes. “Like you care what goes on in this town.”
“When it involves you, I do.”
“Why? So you can have a good laugh at my expense?”
“Well, that’s part of it, sure.”
“I’d prefer if you just left me alone.” It was all she could do not to grimace at how prissy and Marian the Librarian she sounded. She needed a Pop-Tart. Pronto.
She still had a hidden stash that her health-maniac mother and sister hadn’t found.
But no way she was stuffing her face in front of Luke.
“And I’d prefer not to leave you alone,” Luke replied, reaching to slip a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.
Help. She was coming completely undone here.
And okay, so it wasn’t entirely Luke’s fault. Her family was playing a huge factor in her unravelling. But Luke wasn’t helping matters any by tempting her to do something she’d regret.
She could still feel the warmth of his thumb brushing her lower lip from the night before. Feel his fingertips grazing her jaw. Both were minor incidents that didn’t merit the attention she’d given them.
He didn’t seem the least bit affected by her presence. Not that her outfit—khaki pants and navy polo shirt—would impress anyone. But he appeared to get a kick out of pushing her buttons, out of making fun of her. Was she just some big joke to him? Was that it?
“I don’t care what you prefer,” she said, belatedly getting back to his previous comment.
He raised one eyebrow. “No?”
“No. I’m tired of being pushed around in my own house, in my own backyard. If I say I don’t want something, then that’s what I mean. And if I say I like Cool Whip, then that’s also what I mean.”
“I like Cool Whip, too.” His voice turned rough-and-tumble sexy. “Spread all over you, it would be especially sweet.”
She had no comeback for that comment.
Which was the only reason it was quiet when her sister popped her head in the back door and said, “I hate to interrupt you two, but the media has arrived.”
Julia blinked. “What media?”
Skye shrugged. “Looked like the local CBS affiliate, but I didn’t pay that much attention to what was written on the side of the TV van. The reporter is a Diane Sawyer wannabe right down to the haircut and black turtleneck. She’s chatting with Sue Ellen now. She’s already spoken with Angel.”
“No!” Julia raced outside.
The glare of the spotlight pinpointed the reporter’s location immediately. She was speaking into the microphone. “The holidays are fast approaching. And here in Serenity Falls, a miracle may be unfolding.”
“This is my daughter Julia,” Angel told the reporter. “She’s a librarian.”
“Really? In that case, how would you
classify
today’s events?”
“As fiction.”
“You aren’t a believer, then?” the reporter asked.
“I
believe
this is all a big mistake.”
“There you have it.” The reporter returned the mike to her perfectly lip-lined mouth. “Two sides of this llama legend. A miracle? Or a mistake? This is Sondra Delaine, reporting from the small town of Serenity Falls. Back to you in the studio.”
“How did you get out here so fast?” Julia demanded.
“I faxed them a press release this morning.” Sue Ellen proudly buffed her acrylic nails against her hot pink angora sweater.
Julia gave the Diane Sawyer wannabe an accusatory look.
The reporter just shrugged. “What can I say? It was a slow news day.”
Julia didn’t have to wait long for the reaction to the segment on the noon news to set in. The first call came within minutes from Fred, a reporter with the
Serenity News
, wanting an exclusive interview . . . with the llamas if possible.
The next call came from Walt, and he quickly made his opinion known. “Did you see that segment on the noon news?”
“No.”
“Well, I did. The story depicted us as wacky. The station called me, asking if I knew that Sue Ellen was referred to as ‘Our Lady of the Outlandish’ in town. I’m telling you Julia, we do not want the description
outlandish
attached in any way, shape, or form to Serenity Falls. The Best Small Towns in America judging committee isn’t looking for wacky or outlandish. There’s no place for that on their form. No place at all.”
Walt only paused long enough to draw in a breath before barreling on. “To have the llamas as possible prognosticators is one thing. I mean we already have the precedent of the groundhog over in Punxsutawney and even the woolly worms in Lewisburg. But to bring Jesus into this . . .” Walt almost wheezed in the middle of his hissy fit. His voice lowered to a semi-whisper. “People take religion very seriously. I know I do, and I certainly don’t want anyone thinking we’re committing blasphemy or anything like that. People are very touchy about these things.”
Julia sighed. “I realize that.”
“Then how could you allow this to get so out of hand?” His voice was booming once again.
“Me? I had no idea Sue Ellen was faxing out press releases to the media this morning. In fact, I didn’t even realize until this morning that she knew I had llamas in my backyard.”
“Oh, please. Everyone in town knows you have the llamas. They have to go.”
“I agree. Everyone in town needs to go home.”
“Not the townspeople. The llamas. They have to go.”
“Again I agree. There isn’t enough room in the backyard. My mother plans to move them within the next day or two.” Angel didn’t exactly work on a time schedule.
“No, I mean they have to go
now
. Before midnight. Before more media shows up.”
From where she was standing in the hallway, Julia could see out the front picture window that two television vans had just pulled up. “It may be too late for that.”
“I don’t want to hear that.”
“I’m not real thrilled with the news, either.”
“The news? More television crews? Oh, no. Hold on. I’ve got another call.”
Julia walked into the kitchen with the cordless phone and stood on her tiptoes. Pop-Tarts. She
had
to have Pop-Tarts.
Now
. She didn’t care who saw her scarfing them down at this point.
“Here.” Luke placed a balancing hand on the curve of her hip, his thumb brushing her bare skin at her waist where her polo shirt separated from her khaki pants. “Let me help. What do you need?”
What did she need? Him. Touching her. Skin to skin. Mouth to mouth. Tongue to tongue. Tongue to skin. Mouth to skin.
The possible erotic combos made her go all warm and squishy inside. She suddenly yearned for the pleasure Luke promised her with every teasing touch and seriously hot look. She wanted him to tumble her to the kitchen floor—or better yet lift her to the kitchen counter—and have his wicked way with her. Maybe then this powerful need would stop burning deep within her.
She glanced over her shoulder, fearful that she might be conveying her thoughts to him like some kind of blinking neon sign glowing on her forehead.
Uptight librarian wants you. Take me now
.
Almost afraid of what she would see in those eyes of his, Julia was surprised to find a similar passion there and a matching confusion.
What did
he
have to be confused about? The fact that she wanted him? Or that he wanted her?
And he did want her. He let her see that, but he kept so many other things secret in his increasingly complicated gaze.
Julia stared at him, at his mouth, at the tiny scar along his jaw, at his mouth again.
His fingers branded her bare skin with their warmth as he moved her closer to him. Was he going to kiss her? Have his wicked way with her?
The moment was shattered by Walt’s bellow over the phone she’d forgotten she still had pressed to her ear. “Disaster! Julia, are you there?”
“Yes.” Her voice was unsteady. So were her knees. But she managed to grab the foil packet of Pop-Tarts anyway and rip it open.
“That was the
National Enquirer
. They want an exclusive.”
“Too late. I already gave an exclusive to Fred.”
“Fred?”
“Over at the
Serenity News
.”
“You don’t understand. The
National Enquirer
is calling me. This is totally unacceptable! Do something!”
“Like what? What am I supposed to do?”
“You could always send Luke streaking across the front lawn.” Skye joined them with Toni in tow. Her suggestion was accompanied by a wide grin in his direction. “That might provide an interesting distraction.”
“Is Luke there?” Walt demanded. “I should have known he’d have a hand in this.”
“He didn’t have anything to do with it,” Julia stated.
“I wouldn’t put it past him to put this entire idea into Sue Ellen’s head.”
“She was called Our Lady of the Outlandish long before Luke returned to town,” Julia pointed out.
Walt ignored her. “The important thing now is to do some spin control.”
“Fine. You send the Serenity Falls spin doctors right over.”
“As mayor, I’m also head of the publicity committee.”
“Then it looks like controlling the media is your job, not mine.”
“You’re on-site, so you’ll have to do it. It would take me too long to get over there. They’re your llamas. You deal with it.”
“There not my llamas.” But Walt had already hung up. Julia’s aggravation was building, had been building since the moment she’d looked up from “New Releases” in
Publishers Weekly
and looked out the library window. “Okay, fine. Everyone out of my way!”
“Uh-oh. She’s got that look in her eye. Better watch out,” Skye warned Luke. “She’s really pissed now.”