His First and Last (Ardent Springs #1) (28 page)

But then he remembered that Lorelei had walked away from him once upon a time. And he hadn’t loved her enough to go with her. Stupidity really did run rampant at that age.

“I’m sorry,” Lorelei said, her voice so low he barely heard her.

“For what?” he asked.

“For leaving you twelve years ago,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. “For having a father I can go talk to when you don’t. For being a bitch in the past, and for the times I’m sure to be one in the future.”

Spencer focused on the last word she said. “Does that mean you’re going to stick around for the future?”

She dropped her feet to the floor, rose off the swing, and turned to face him. “How about we enjoy the present and not worry about the future for a while?” she said, taking him by the hands and pulling him close. “Twelve years ago, I spent too much time thinking about the future to appreciate what I had. I need to learn how to focus on the now, and this seems like a good place to start.”

Tightening his arms around her, Spencer nodded. “I have to admit,” he said, “right now
is
feeling pretty good.”

“And it’s about to get even better,” she whispered, dropping a kiss along his jawline. “Granny made a pecan pie.”

Lifting Lorelei’s feet off the ground, he bellowed, “Why didn’t you mention that sooner, woman?”

The delicious smell of fresh pie filled Spencer’s senses as he entered the old farmhouse with Lorelei in his arms.

Chapter 24

Lorelei sat at an empty picnic table on the north side of the town square—which ironically enough was round—ignoring her basket of fries while toying with the stuffed brown dog Spencer had won for her. He’d proven he still had solid pitching skills by knocking down the six stacked bottles on his first try. As any smitten girl would do, Lorelei applauded and rewarded her beau with a kiss on the cheek.

At which point Spencer had dragged her to the back of the game tent and coaxed her into the longer, wetter, and hotter kiss he felt he deserved. Lorelei obliged willingly, as she’d been doing a lot of in the last four days.

It had been an odd week. So different from the many, many weeks before. Lorelei was getting to know Mike as her father, which would have been weird on its own, but she was also spending her nights in Spencer’s bed, enjoying a rather satisfying form of getting reacquainted. In some ways, they were once again teenage lovers, in a rush to rip each
other’s clothes off and get to the good stuff. But as adults, they were also enjoying the quiet moments, lying together after the lovemaking, content to cuddle and talk with no need to break apart and race home to make curfew.

The freedom lent a leisureliness to their moments together. Lorelei had set out to live in the now, and the now was definitely holding her attention. There were moments when she thought about the future. About spending her life in Ardent Springs, building a home and a family with Spencer. But then her chest would grow tight, as if the air were being squeezed out of her, and she’d distract her mind with memories of the night before. Or even the morning hours, when they dressed and readied for their day in perfect harmony.

It hadn’t taken long for Lorelei to move her necessities into Spencer’s bathroom. There was no reason to scurry back to the house in the wee hours of the morning when the garage apartment offered a perfectly good shower. Especially when the apartment also held a rather sexy man willing to help wash her back.

And her front.

“That’s an awfully big smile on your face,” Mike said, stepping up to the table and taking a seat across from Lorelei. “Almost as big as the one you walked into the office with this morning.”

“I’m a happy girl, I guess,” she said with a wink, which was completely out of character for her. She blamed Spencer for the change. “A little hungry there?” she asked, watching Mike maneuver a cheeseburger and fries, funnel cake, and giant soda onto the table.

Mike tucked a napkin into the collar of his dark blue T-shirt. It was odd to see him looking so casual, since he wore Western button-up shirts to work every day. They’d had dinner on Tuesday evening to talk about their newly discovered connection, and discussed whether or not to share the information publicly.

Both had agreed that keeping the truth to themselves would be best until they’d gotten to know each other better. Though Mike had been
less adamant about keeping the secret, Lorelei had convinced him that the locals might start treating him differently if they found out. She wouldn’t let that happen.

And in the end, it was really none of their business.

“At my age,” Mike said with a fry in his mouth, “a man can’t eat like this often unless he wants to buy stock in an antacid supplier. Festivals and fairs are the only times I let myself splurge, and if I’m going to suffer, it might as well be worth it.”

“You make yourself sound ancient.” She didn’t want to think of Mike as old. That implied she might not have much time with him, and she’d lost too much already.

Taking a large bite of the burger, his eyes closed as a look of ecstasy crossed his features. “So good,” he murmured, once he’d swallowed. “I’ve still got a good bit of years left in me, but you’ll learn soon enough. At a certain point, you can’t eat like a kid anymore. At least not all the time.”

Lorelei eyed the fries in front of her. She’d gone without the bad-for-you stuff for years out in LA. Heaven forbid she put on a pound, or get a pimple the night before an audition. There were no auditions to worry about now, and if her chance to enjoy some edible decadence was running out, then she’d better take advantage of the time she had left.

After dipping two fries into the dollop of ketchup, Lorelei popped them into her mouth. Mike was right. Splurging now and then was totally necessary.

“So why are you sitting here all alone?” Mike asked, looking around the area. “Shouldn’t you be eating with Spencer?”

She hadn’t mentioned what was going on between her high school sweetheart and herself, but everyone seemed to know anyway. It could have been the fact that they’d spent the last two nights taking in the festivities while barely keeping their hands off each other. Their public displays of affection had earned them some hard looks, but others appeared genuinely happy for them.

“Alas,” she said, “Spencer is answering the call of duty. He’s working the Ruby Restoration booth trying to recruit new members to the cause.”

“Speaking of that, did you ever come up with a good fund-raising idea?”

“I did.” Lorelei dipped two more fries in the ketchup. “I suggested we throw one of these,” she said, waving the fries to indicate what was going on around them.

“A festival?” he asked, wiping a drop of mustard off his cheek.

“Yep. But this one in the fall and located at the Ruby. I still have to put a presentation together, but I can practically see it all in my mind.” Wiping her hands on her napkin, Lorelei propped her elbows on the table. “I’m hoping to bring in a performer from Nashville. Someone who could draw a crowd, but that we could still afford without losing all the money we manage to raise. You have any connections that could help me out?”

Mike sipped at his drink while contemplating her question. “I could make some calls, but the only acts you could afford are likely to be unknowns. Which means they won’t pull in much of an audience.”

Not the answer she’d been hoping for. “That wouldn’t do us much good then. No better-known-but-partially-retired types?”

Her dinner partner’s face lit up. “There’s Wes.”

“Wes who?” Lorelei asked.

“Wes Tillman. He lives up here now.”

Lorelei’s jaw dropped. “
The
Wes Tillman lives in Ardent Springs? How have I not heard about this before?”

“Technically, he lives outside the town limits, but still in Robertson County. He married Harley Dandridge last year and moved up this way.”

“A country singer married our small-town radio DJ?” Come to think of it, that wasn’t such a big surprise. “I guess that makes sense, but how did they meet?”

“Wes played the county fair last August. I guess they’d known each other years before, at the start of his career, so it’s a bit of a reunion story.”

Kind of like Lorelei and Spencer. So maybe a second time around could work out.

“I jammed with him a couple times this past winter. He does an acoustic set at Second Chance Saloon once a month. Harley’s cousin owns the place, so Wes brings in the occasional crowd and gets a chance to dust off the cobwebs.”

“Color me impressed.” Her father played music with Wes Tillman. The long, tall cowboy of country music. Not that Lorelei was a huge fan of the genre, but everyone knew who Wes Tillman was. “Do you think he’d do it?”

Mike shrugged. “He wouldn’t have to go far, and seeing as it’s for charity, I don’t see why not.”

“Could you call him for me? It would be incredible if I had a go from a big-name performer when I give the presentation.” She could picture Jebediah Winkle swallowing his own tongue when she received approval from the committee. No way would they turn down the idea if she already had a top headliner ready to play.

“I’ll give him a call tomorrow,” Mike said, digging into his fries.

In a fit of excitement, Lorelei hopped out of her seat and rounded the table to throw her arms around Mike’s shoulders. As he gave her arm a squeeze in return, she couldn’t help but smile. She’d have hugged him no matter what at the news that he would help get Wes Tillman for her festival, as she’d begun thinking of it, but the fact that she was also hugging her dad was pretty cool, too.

“I knew it,” screeched a voice from somewhere behind Lorelei.

She and Mike both spun around to find a seething Becky Winkle pointing an angry finger and barreling in their direction.

Life was good. Or so Spencer thought, until he spotted Mayor Winkle heading his way, with Grady Evans right behind him.

“We need a word with you, Boyd,” the mayor said as he reached the Ruby Restoration booth.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Grady said, like some kind of lapdog cheerleader there to wave pom-poms behind his trusty leader’s head.

As he was speaking to a possible new recruit for the committee, they would have to wait. “One minute, gentlemen.” Taking his time, he continued explaining to Jacqueline Forbes, a woman who looked to be in her midthirties who’d recently returned to town, the mission of the committee. Though tentative and somewhat shy, she showed interest and agreed to attend the next meeting.

Spencer didn’t have time to enjoy the small victory as the Bobbsey twins were waiting impatiently when he turned their way.

“How can I help you, Mayor?” he asked, ignoring Grady completely.

“We have an issue with this fund-raising festival Ms. Pratchett has proposed.” Jebediah locked his hands on his hips, and Grady imitated the stance behind him. Spencer struggled not to roll his eyes.

“Mayor, we’ve been over this. There hasn’t been an official proposal. How can you have an issue with something that doesn’t exist yet?”

“Well,” Winkle started, nodding toward his brainless puppet, “Grady has brought it to my attention that a fall event could conflict with our county fair. That fair is a big earner for our local 4-H club, and we don’t want to cause them to lose out for a restoration that might never happen.”

Good to know what little faith the mayor had in their efforts. “The county fair covers ten days in September. The festival would last two days, according to Lorelei’s suggestion last Friday, and I’m sure there wouldn’t be a problem scheduling it around the fair to prevent any conflicts.”

The two men looked at each other as if searching for another point to argue.

“We’re not moving the fair,” Grady said, as if Spencer had suggested they should.

“Didn’t expect you to,” Spencer replied. “So the issue is settled then. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Turning to an older couple standing near the far corner of the booth, he dismissed the pair from his mind. Only they didn’t take the hint.

“Now wait a minute,” Jebediah said. “What about parking?”

This time Spencer did roll his eyes before turning back around. “What about parking?”

“Where are people going to park?”

Leaning his hands on the table between them, Spencer lowered his voice. “I’m going to say this one more time. The official presentation for the festival has not been seen or heard yet. If you want to ask questions at the meeting once Lorelei has shared the plans, that’s fine.” Staring hard into Jebediah’s eyes, he added, “But if you think you’re going to run interference on this idea simply because you have some ungrounded grudge against the person who came up with it, you won’t only find yourself off this committee, but I’ll do everything in my power to get your self-righteous ass out of office. Do we understand each other?”

A flash of comprehension crossed the mayor’s face. He knew Spencer wouldn’t make an empty threat, and he also knew he lacked the popularity he’d enjoyed at the beginning of his term. The economy was down, and contrary to his campaign promises, Jebediah had done nothing to change that. The people would tolerate his lack of action for only so long before looking for another potential savior.