“He said he doesn’t want to go.” Taylor stepped forward, gently pushing Sam behind his legs. “I think we established before that Cherry has the law on her side.”

  Reed sneered up at Taylor. “I think she has one law man on her side.” He lowered his voice to a commanding tone. “Sam, I’m not messing around here. Get in the car.”

  “No. I’m staying.” Sam’s voice was shrill with alarm, and Rex must have picked up on his distress because the dog whined then circled close to the boy. He dipped his head, and his lips pulled back in the slightest of snarls.

  Reed took a step back. “Hey, tell that dog to calm down.”

  “He’s my dog,” Sam said. “And I’m not going anywhere without him.”

  Olivia bristled. “You are not bringing that muddy mutt in my car.” She had always talked with her hands and waved them wildly around as she spoke, which set the dog into a frenzy.

  Rex must have thought they were either playing or that Reed and Olivia posed a threat because he raced wildly around them, nipping at Olivia’s heels. She shrieked at the dog, hopping around and trying to kick her foot at it.

  “Rex, come here, boy.” Sam must have known the dog’s behavior would not help his case, and he ran after the dog, trying to grab its skinny body. He passed by Olivia, leaving a big smear of mud across the side of her dress.

  Olivia screeched in horror, and the more she hopped around and the shriller her voice became, the more the dog raced about and barked.

  Taylor leaned down, making a grab for the dog. “Dang it.” In his haste to snatch his body, he got his hand too close to his head and as the dog barked, his teeth grazed Taylor’s hand.

  “That mongrel bit you,” Olivia cried. “It probably has rabies.”

  “It’s nothing,” Taylor muttered as he wiped his hand on a semi-clean spot on his shirt. Cherry grimaced as she saw the red smear of blood he left behind.

  “He’s not a mongrel.” Sam finally caught the dog and plopped to the ground, cuddling the furry creature in his lap.

  Rex settled down and licked the boy’s face.

  Bea’s face wrinkled in disapproval. “Make that mutt stop licking your face. That is disgusting.”

  “He’s not disgusting. He’s my best friend.” Sam’s voice took on the shaky quality that Cherry recognized as him trying not to cry.

  Reed opened the back door of the car. “Sam, I’m serious. Let go of that dog, and get in this car right now.”

  “That boy is not going anywhere.” A new voice joined the mix, and the frenzy calmed at the sound of Russ’s deep and authoritative tone.

  The group turned as one to watch Taylor’s dad walk down the front steps of the porch. “He’s staying right where he is. Come over here, Sam.” He held out his arm, and Sam ran to him and threw his arms around his waist. Rex followed and lay down next to Sam’s feet.

  It warmed her heart the way Sam had bonded with Russ.

  Of course, she was the only one that knew Russ was actually the boy’s grandfather. What would Russ think of her if he knew the truth?

  If he knew that Cherry had given away his grandson and never given him a chance to get to know the boy. She shuddered at the thought.

  But right now, she was just thankful for Russ’s presence. Something about him spoke of strength and calmness. She recognized the same qualities in Taylor as she inched closer to stand by his side.

  “Who the hell are you?” Reed asked.

  “I’m Russ Johnson, Taylor’s dad. This is our ranch.” He narrowed his eyes at Reed, not the least bit intimidated by the lawyer. He scolded him as if he were a teenage boy. “And I’d appreciate if you didn’t swear in front of the boy.”

  Reed huffed with indignation, obviously not used to other men telling him what to do. “Look, Mr. Johnson, I don’t know who you think you are or what right you think you have to even be a part of this conversation, but Sam is my nephew. He’s my family.”

  Reed’s condescending tone did nothing to rankle Taylor’s dad. Russ smiled at him as if they were just having a friendly, neighborly chat. “Well, he’s about to be part of my family, too. Once these kids get married.”

  “Yeah, right. If they’re even really engaged.” Olivia’s voice held a snide tone of disbelief. She turned to Cherry. “We’ve been asking around, and no one in town seems to have even known you two were dating, let alone engaged.”

  Without a moment’s hesitation, Russ spoke up before Cherry had time to formulate a response. “I’ve known about it for months. They reconnected before he came back to town. Why do you think he’s here? Do you know anyone who would take a small-town sheriff job if he didn’t have something bringing him to the town?”

  Olivia seemed to mull over Russ’s explanation. “Then why doesn’t anyone else know about it? We can’t find one person who has seen them together.”

  “You know how small towns are. Everybody in everyone else’s business. They were keeping it quiet until they knew if they were really serious. They didn’t want to get the rumor mills started until they were sure.”

  Taylor took her hand. “And now we’re sure.”

  She listened to these two men talk about their engagement so easily, she almost believed it herself. If she weren’t the one they were talking about, she would have completely bought their story.

  Unfortunately, Olivia wasn’t as easily swayed. She pursed her lips as she scrutinized Taylor and Cherry. “Then why don’t they tell everyone now? If they’re so serious, after all.”

  Her grip tightened on Taylor’s hand, but she didn’t have to worry. Russ came to the rescue again.

  “They were just about to. They’re throwing an engagement party in town next weekend. They’ve been planning it for weeks.”

  They had?

  “Yeah, we’ve had the band scheduled for a month now,” Taylor said.

  Geez, these guys were so good, she caught herself wondering what band they had booked.

  Wait. There was no band because there was no party.

  Well, I guess there is now.

  Bea had been unusually silent. She stood against the SUV watching the group talk. “If you have been planning this big party, why had we not received our invitations? We are your family, you know. Or weren’t you planning on inviting us?”

  Olivia narrowed her eyes at Cherry. “Yeah, it’s funny that you’ve been planning this so-called party for weeks but no one in our family knew anything about it.”

  “I’m pretty sure I heard my mom talking about it on the phone with Cherry.” The group all turned to Sam as he spoke up.

  Why that little fibber.

  Did he know this was all a lie, and he was just playing along because he knew it would help to keep him with Cherry?

  Or had he maybe heard her and Stacy talking about some other party or event, and Sam just assumed it was the same thing?

  “We were getting ready to send out the invitations when the accident happened,” Taylor said. “We’ve actually been considering postponing the event.”

  “Oh, by all means, don’t postpone on our account,” Bea said. “We’d be happy to come to this engagement party. Wouldn’t we, Reed, dear?”

  Reed nodded. “Yeah, we would. We’d love to come to this party and celebrate the happy couple. Where did you say you were having it again?”

  “Here at the ranch. Next Saturday night. About six,” Russ said.

  “We’ll see you then.” Reed opened the door and helped Aunt Bea into the back seat. “And that crazy dog better be gone or tied up somewhere because I don’t want to see it again. You better get that bite looked at. Who knows what kind of diseases that mutt could be carrying.”

  Sam pulled the dog closer to him, and Russ put a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder.

  Reed and Olivia climbed into the SUV and slammed their doors. The car pulled a U-turn then took off down the driveway, leaving the mud-splattered group in the dust.

  Taylor put an arm around her shoulder. “You okay?”

  She smiled up at him. “I am now that they’re gone.” She crossed to Sam and knelt in front of the boy. “Are you okay, Sam?”

  He nodded. “I don’t want to go anywhere with them.” He put his arms around her neck and hugged her tight. “I want to stay with you.”

  She looked over Sam’s shoulder at Russ and Taylor. “Well, it looks like we’ve got a party to plan.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Taylor swung the hammer and pounded the last nail in. He’d been working on replacing the drywall in the diner’s kitchen for the last two days.

  Zack and Cash had stopped by to help the day before. They’d hauled away the rest of the debris and cleaned out the space where most of the fire damage had been.

  The griddle top was shot, but Cherry had to wait for the insurance money to come through to get a replacement.

  A lot of the work was labor and cleanup of the smoke and water-damaged area. One of his deputies had shown up to help him haul a load to the garbage dump, and his dad had stopped in that morning with fresh sheets of drywall.

  One of the great things about small towns was the way that everyone pitched in to help.

  Cherry had been working in the front of the diner, and a steady stream of women from the town had dropped by to help clean or bring food.

  Stan worked at restocking and getting the kitchen back in order. He supplied the positive attitude and always had upbeat music playing in the back.

  Sam and Rex ran between the front of the diner and the kitchen, usually taking care of odd tasks that someone had given them.

  Sam was learning where things went, and Cherry had shown him how to run a few of the appliances behind the counter, like the coffee pot and soda machine.

  His main job was to make sure the coffee pot stayed full. He’d found an order pad and took drink orders from anyone helping with the repairs in the diner. He was turning out to be a pretty good waiter.

  He’d told Cherry he was practicing so he’d be able to help her once the diner was re-opened.

  The boy had a goofy grin but was smart as a whip, and Taylor caught himself smiling more when the boy was around. He hadn’t been around that many kids before, but something about Sam touched his heart, and the kid was really growing on him.

  It was probably just because he’d lost his own mom as a kid, and Taylor connected with the child who had lost a parent too young.

  He could hear Sam telling a joke to Cherry. The rich peal of her laughter floated on the air and made him smile.

  That woman had a great laugh. Actually, she had a great everything.

  He grinned as he thought about the night before with her. Having Cherry in his bed every night had turned out to not be so bad.

  Especially now that Charlie had brought Cherry her own clothes. Charlie had used some special detergent she got from the fire department to get the smoke smell out. And she’d washed everything twice and hung it outside on the line to dry.

  Cherry seemed more at ease in her own clothes. She didn’t have much, but they were her things, and they fit better than anything of Taylor’s. Especially her jeans.

  Yeah, her jeans fit really well.

  And he’d been right about that red lace bra. It was definitely his favorite. Especially when it was lying on the floor of his bedroom.

  Cherry and he had been each other’s first in high school, and he remembered a lot of fumbling, frenzied teenage sex with her. Which was amazing to a teenage boy.

  But what they had now was beyond amazing. Cherry’s body was all lush curves and soft skin that smelled like soap and fancy lotion.

  And lord have mercy, that hair.

  Visions of her hair spread out on the pillow filled his head, and he thought she looked like a red-haired angel. A naked red-haired angel.

  Okay, maybe an angel wasn’t the best description. Because she certainly wasn’t an angel in bed.

  Full of fiery passion, she displayed a fierce hunger for him. As if she were starving and he were her last meal. The way she kissed him? Damn. Almost as if she were tasting him, devouring him. Feasting on him.

  And lord help him, he loved it.

  He matched her hunger, meeting her every need with a lust of his own. His appetite for her seemed to be insatiable, and he couldn’t get enough of her.

  The sex with her was wild and intense, and he loved the way she fought to keep her passionate sounds quiet so they wouldn’t wake up Sam or his dad.

  The night before they’d barely made it into the bedroom before he’d had to have her.

  She’d closed the bedroom door, and he’d pressed her back against it, taking her mouth in an onslaught of kisses.

  He’d lifted her legs, wrapping them around his waist as he held her against the door. He filled his hands with her lush bottom. She squirmed against him, driving him crazy with desire as she clutched at his back.

  He couldn’t get her out of her clothes fast enough, and he’d ripped the collar of the T-shirt he’d been wearing as he jerked it over his head.

  All he’d wanted, all he’d needed, was to have her naked and underneath him, her bare skin pressed against his.

  “You doing okay? You want me to get you a soda or some tea?” Cherry stood at the doorway of the kitchen, interrupting his thoughts, and he felt a blush creeping up his neck.

  She must have seen it, because her lips curved into a naughty grin. “What were you thinking about?”

  He smiled. “The same thing I’m thinking about right now, babe.” His eyes traveled over her body, skimming her curves.

  She wore a pair of khaki shorts and a tight blue Henley T-shirt. The T-shirt hugged her breasts perfectly, and the top button was open, teasing him with an occasional glimpse of her cleavage.

  All Taylor wanted to do was rip open that T-shirt and bury his face in her breasts.

  These were the kinds of crazy thoughts that had been filling his head the last few days.

  He’d never spent so much time thinking about tearing the clothes off a woman and tossing her on the bed.

  “Are you just going to stand there and eyeball my boobs, or are you going to tell me what you want?”

  He took one step forward and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her close to him. He leaned down, inhaling her scent as he laid a trail of kisses along her neck. “You, woman,” he said into her ear and was rewarded with her quick intake of breath. “You’re what I want.”

  She tilted her head up and pushed him into the kitchen, away from the eyes of the women from the Methodist church who had brought over ham sandwiches and were polishing everything to a bright gleam.

  “Then take me.” Her hands were in his hair, and her lips crushed his. She pressed against him, and he ran his hands down her back then filled them with her curvy behind.

  His brain turned off, and his body took over, his every instinct filled with having this woman.

  Her lips were so soft, and she tasted faintly of lemon meringue pie. She kissed him with a fevered passion, and he couldn’t get enough of her. Couldn’t get close enough. Couldn’t touch enough. Taste enough.

  His hands slid under her shirt and up her rib cage. Her skin was so smooth, and he groaned against her mouth.

  His hands cupped her ample breasts, and he could feel her pert, tight nipples through the fabric of her bra as he grazed them with his thumbs.

  She gasped at his touch, at the contact to the sensitive area, and her back arched into him.

  He lifted her to the countertop, and she wrapped her legs against his waist.

  This woman was literally going to kill him. He wanted her so bad.

  His manhood bulged against his jeans, and he felt like he might explode. What was it about this damn red-haired woman that sent him into such a tailspin?

  What was she doing to him that he was ready to take her on the counter of the diner, with six women from the Methodist church within earshot?

  “Are you gonna need me to bring in those extra two-by-fours, dude?” Stan pushed through the kitchen doors then held his hands up at the sight of him and Cherry in mid-makeout. “Sorry, dudes.”

  Taylor stepped back, and Cherry yanked her shirt back into place.

  Stan looked at Taylor, and a grin split his face. “Nah, dude, I don’t think we’re gonna need those two-by-fours. It seems like you got plenty of wood already in here.” He busted up at his own joke, bending forward and hooting with laughter.

  Taylor ignored the chuckling cook, adjusted himself, then helped Cherry down off the counter. “Sure, some iced tea would be great.” He grinned at her, his breath still coming in ragged gasps.

  She smiled back, that secret smile that lovers shared. “I’ll grab it for you right now. One iced tea coming up.”

  “You better make it with lots of ice, please,” he called after her. He watched her bottom wiggle as she walked out of the kitchen then looked up to see Stan shaking his head.

  The diner cook chuckled. “Dude. You got it bad.”

  Boy, did he.

  “Here’s your iced tea.” Sam pushed through the swinging door, carrying a tall glass. Rex followed at his heels. “And Cherry told me to tell you she put in lots of extra ice. Not sure why.” The boy crinkled his forehead as he looked at Taylor. “Were you hot or something?”

  “Dude.”

  “Get back to work, Stan. Cherry’s not paying you to stand around all day,” Taylor ribbed the cook good-naturedly. He took a big drink of the cold tea.

  “Cherry’s not paying me at all,” Stan said. “Is she paying you?” A wicked grin crossed his face. “Never mind, don’t answer that.”

  “I’m getting paid,” Sam said. He pulled a handful of dollar bills out of his pocket. “Cherry said I could keep any tips I made.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially. “One of those ladies from the church gave me five dollars, and all I did was bring her a root beer.”

  Taylor smiled down at the boy. “Remember that lesson. Always be nice to people, and you never know how you will be rewarded. Sometimes you’ll be graced with a smile or a kind word, and sometimes it will seem like nobody notices at all. But other times, you might end up with a new friend or a new job.”

  “Or a five-dollar bill.” Sam grinned.

 

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