His First and Last (Ardent Springs #1) (36 page)

Spencer grew still. “You let him pay for your apartment? Did he live with you?”

“Not technically, though he did stay often. There were signs I should have picked up on. I couldn’t call him, I could only text. I could never see his place because he had roommates that were messy.” She hopped off the truck in agitation. “I mean, what thirty-three-year-old man has messy roommates?”

Spencer seemed to catch on that the question was rhetorical and held silent.

“And he traveled, of course,” she continued. “That’s like the age-old lie, right? I wouldn’t see him for a week or more at a time because he had to be out of town on business.” Lorelei jammed her left hand into her hair, which got caught on the new ring. “Ouch,” she yelped.

“Hold on.” Spencer extracted the hair from her ring. “You okay?”

“See?” she said, spinning the ring as if trying to take it off. “It’s a sign. Your wife cheated on you, and I helped a man cheat in California. That means I’m no better. And you deserve better. Much better.”

“You said you didn’t know.”

“But I should have known. Blind ignorance isn’t much of an excuse.”

“Lorelei,” he said, taking her hands to stop the spinning. “You didn’t willfully hurt anyone. If anything, you were as much a victim of that jerk’s infidelity as his wife was. None of this changes the fact that I want to marry you. If anything, I’m thankful that he turned out not to be the one for you.”

Lorelei let Spencer pull her into a hug and squeezed him tight, thankful she’d fallen in love with the most patient man ever. “I should have known,” she repeated. “You were always the one for me, Spencer. The only one.” Pulling back, she asked, “But are you sure you want to be stuck with me forever? Faults and all?” she added with one raised brow.

“Faults and all,” he agreed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

After a long kiss to seal the deal, Lorelei traced her thumb along his jawline.

“Now do you understand why I didn’t want to think I’d spoiled two marriages?” she asked. “I know I’m not the best person in the world, but that would have been too much, even for me.”

“The fact that it matters so much to you is proof that you’re a better person than you think. And then there’s always the fact that you took in my pregnant, abused ex-wife when most people would have looked the other way.”

“There was no choice,” Lorelei argued. “I couldn’t leave her to be beaten, or abandon her when she had no place else to go.”

“Exactly,” he said, dropping a kiss on her nose. “Some would, but you couldn’t. That’s why I love you, Lorelei. Because deep down you’re just a softie with a heart of gold.”

Shaking him, she said, “If you tell anyone that, I’ll never forgive you. I have a rep to protect.”

Spencer laughed. “Then how about I take you home so you can show me what a bad girl you are?”

Unable to hold in her own laughter, she said, “Spencer Boyd, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me. How fast can you drive?”

“Pretty fast.” Spencer dragged her toward the passenger-side door. “But if we can’t wait,” he said, lifting her onto the seat, “we can always find a secluded place to park.” Wiggling his brows, he added, “I’ve got blankets behind the seat.”

Before Lorelei could reply, he’d closed her door and was running around the front of the truck to his own. How had she ever thought to put this man out of her life? Clearly a case of temporary insanity. Thank goodness she’d been cured, because she never intended to endure another day without him.

Epilogue

The first Saturday of October dawned warm and clear, relieving a smidgen of the anxiety Lorelei carried for the day ahead. Ardent Springs had endured massive storms for several days, threatening to drown out her big day. After all she’d been through, Lorelei would scream if Mother Nature put the Restore the Ruby Festival underwater.

In three months, the five-person planning committee of Lorelei, Nitzi Merchant, Jacqueline Forbes, Mabel Handleman, and Carrie Farmer (with the help of several minions, as Lorelei liked to call them) organized what was sure to be a highly successful event.

Or so Lorelei hoped.

Along the way, Lorelei had outed herself as Lulu, but only to her small group of committee members. She was determined to sell her treats during the festival, and instead of reserving a booth anonymously, she revealed herself as the mysterious baker. To her relief, the confession was met with support and encouragement. She only hoped the
festivalgoers—meaning her fellow Ardent Springs residents—would react the same way.

“You’re robbing me of the bestselling product I carry,” Snow said as she surveyed Lorelei’s booth twenty minutes before the gates were scheduled to open.

“It’s only for this weekend,” Lorelei replied, spreading her pumpkin spice cookies around the ceramic pumpkin that would hold the cider. “And you don’t even sell my stuff on weekends.”

Once Carrie had taken over at the construction office, Lorelei had used the time on her hands to up production to five days a week. Sunday through Thursday she turned out a wide variety of cookies, brownies, and breads, which Snow then sold Monday through Friday. Thankfully, the locals could not seem to get enough.

“I plan to in the spring,” Snow said. “In fact, I’m giving you an entire section of the store. It’ll be Lulu’s Home Bakery inside Snow’s Curiosity Shop. Kind of like when they put a coffee shop in a bookstore.”

Lorelei stopped what she was doing and looked up. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, ma’am. We may have to renegotiate the split, but there’s plenty of time for that.”

Ignoring the issue of money, Lorelei said, “So I’d have my own counter that I’d man myself? I could even have a display case?”

“We could set up tiny tables, too, for people to sit down,” Snow said with a grin.

Not only would Lorelei have her own business, but now she’d have her own place to operate that business. She could maybe even rent an entire space all her own someday.

“I’ve seen that look,” Spencer said as he joined them at the booth. “What evil schemes are you planning?” he asked, snatching a cookie off the tray she’d painstakingly arranged.

“Spencer Boyd, you touch another one of those and you’re going without for a month. And I don’t mean without cookies.” Lorelei shifted others to fill the void he’d created. “I was thinking about the future,” she
said, unwilling to speak her dream aloud quite yet. Maybe when they were home and could talk about it in private. She didn’t want Snow to know she was thinking of abandoning her before they’d even gotten started.

“Does that mean you’re ready to set a date?” he asked, hope alight in his eyes.

Lorelei hadn’t been able to decide if she wanted a spring or fall wedding. She’d also been too busy planning the festival to wrap her brain around planning their nuptials. It wasn’t as if it mattered. He’d put a ring on her finger and agreed to keep her forever. To Lorelei, that was as good as any vows spoken in front of a preacher.

“One event at a time,” she said, leaning forward for a kiss to appease her fiancé. “I’ll make up my mind by Christmas. I promise.”

Spencer took the offered kiss as Snow said, “Whatever you do, don’t go to Vegas. That was not a good idea.”

Lorelei and Spencer locked eyes before Lorelei asked, “Snow, are you married?”

“What?” she said, jerking her focus from the cookies to the cookie maker. “Why would you ask that?”

“Um . . .” Lorelei hedged. “You just said going to Vegas
wasn’t
a good idea. As if you knew from personal experience.”

Snow’s cheeks grew pink as she shifted from one foot to the other. “No, I mean that’s what people say. You run off to Vegas and the next thing you know you’re at some little chapel taking vows and the next morning you wonder what the hell you were thinking.” Waving her hand around as if she were being flip and nothing more, she added, “That’s what I hear, anyway.”

The explanation revealed an important truth about Snow Cameron. She was a horrible liar.

“Okay,” Spencer said into the awkward silence. “We were thinking of something more local, so no worries about running off to Vegas.” Turning to Lorelei, he said, “But if you don’t agree on a date soon, I
will
drag you out there and find one of those chapels.”

“You don’t have to look far,” Snow said. “The dang things are everywhere.”

Definitely a terrible liar.

Squirming like a four-year-old forced to sit through a long sermon, Snow said, “I’d better get up to my own booth.” She glanced at her phone. “Ten minutes and this place is going to be packed.”

“That’s the hope, anyway,” Lorelei said. Mention of the gates opening sent butterflies swirling through her stomach. “Good luck, lady. And thanks for buying a booth.”

“Happy to do it,” Snow said, giving a quick wave as she walked off.

Waiting until she was out of earshot, Lorelei turned to Spencer. “She’s totally married. Or was once upon a time and doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“If she is married, I wonder where her groom is?” Spencer said. After Lorelei scooted a slice of nut bread an eighth of an inch to the left, he stilled her hands with his own. “Hon, you need to relax. You’ve seen to every detail of this festival, and if something does go wrong, there are plenty of people ready to fix it.”

“You think something will go wrong?” she asked. As if she weren’t nervous enough already, now Spencer believed the whole day would be a bust.

“That’s not what I’m saying. Breathe, Lor. It’s all good.”

She did as ordered, even if he hadn’t meant the words literally. Breathing in through her nose, she let the air exit over her lips as she closed her eyes. It took two more tries to quell the panic rising up her esophagus.

“Better?” he asked when she looked at him again.

“It’s always better when you’re around,” she admitted. A sappy statement she never would have uttered three months earlier. Being hopelessly in love and happy had done wacky things to her brain. Or maybe it was her heart. “Now go walk around and make sure everything is good. Especially the stage. I don’t want any issues when the entertainment starts this afternoon.”

They’d lined up enough local acts, as well as unknowns from Nashville looking for any chance to play for an audience, to fill six hours before Wes Tillman would perform at eight. Mike had been instrumental in filling and creating the lineup. For once, Lorelei was relieved to be wrong about something. No one batted an eye when they’d learned Mike was her father. Some even remembered Mike and her mother being an item, and admitted they never thought she was the kind of girl that some had portrayed her to be.

Even that small measure of support had meant a lot to Lorelei.

She watched Spencer make his way through the food vendors, stopping to chat with each one. All gave a smile or a nod, shaking his hand and welcoming the visit even though they were busy preparing for the impending crowd. It wasn’t the first time Lorelei had noticed how much Spencer was respected in the community. If she wasn’t careful, someday she might end up as first lady of Ardent Springs.

Wouldn’t that be something? The girl who’d once told the entire town to go to hell sitting at the top of the Ardent Springs hierarchy. She’d hate it, of that she was sure. But for Spencer, she’d play the part with as much class as she could muster. That’s what a girl did for the man she loved. And how she did love him.

Spencer progressed farther down the lane, and then Lorelei caught a glimpse of something in the distance and couldn’t believe her eyes. Arching directly over the Ruby Theater was a gorgeous rainbow. If that wasn’t a sign, she didn’t know what was.

Today was going to be just fine. And so were the rest of her days.

Don’t miss
Our Now and Forever
,
the next Ardent Springs novel by Terri Osburn

Coming Fall 2015

Chapter 1

The moment of reckoning had come.

Snow Cameron’s heart sped to a dangerous level as fear and joy lit through her system like lightning slicing through an ancient oak. The fear was no surprise, but the joy was so unexpected she was forced to grip the edges of the cash register on the counter in front of her to keep her balance.

In stunned silence, she stared into the face she’d been avoiding for nearly eighteen months.
How had she ever forgotten how beautiful he was?

Caleb McGraw was tall and lean. The perfect combination of Greek god and good old boy, his perfect jawline was made for marble, while his eyes were the shade of a blue clear sky. She’d like to say the eyes were the first thing she’d noticed when she’d nearly tripped over him at a New Year’s Eve party nearly two years ago, but the shoulders had been the first draw.

Snow had always suffered a weakness for a strong set of shoulders, and Caleb’s were broad and strong. Perfect for holding on to while they . . .

Sex is what got you into this mess, young lady. Do not go there.

“You’re a hard woman to find,” Caleb McGraw said with the soft drawl of a Louisiana native.

Glancing around, partly to break the spell but also to gauge their audience, Snow was relieved to see few customers present, and none seemed to notice the handsome stranger in their midst. At least not yet.

“Well,” she said, “my name
is
over the door.” Snow evoked every ounce of control to remain calm, hoping the panic shooting up her spine didn’t show on her face. “What are you doing here?” she asked, which may have been the most idiotic question ever, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Except maybe,
How did you find me?
Or,
Why didn’t you love me?

Though Snow had spent endless hours contemplating exactly what she’d do were this unwelcome reunion to occur, she hadn’t considered how her brain cells would scatter and her knees would threaten to cease working. Thankful to have the counter between them, she waited for his answer with growing dread.

Crossing his arms, Caleb smirked. “I’d think that was obvious.”

Snow studied his face, struggling to read his thoughts. Neither anger nor pleasure showed in his features. Though he loomed above her, six feet three inches of solid muscle, as she knew all too well, his stance didn’t feel threatening. If she’d spent as much time learning his mind as she’d devoted to studying his body, maybe interpreting his expression wouldn’t be so difficult.