Shoe Strings Read online

  She was everywhere, from the flowers that lined the stone walkway to the pink and white dogwood trees just springing to life under the larger oaks and pines. She’d spent weeks planting those trees when Jesse was young enough to want to follow his mom around and do whatever she was doing, be wherever she was. If he’d known how much he was going to miss her later in life, he’d have followed her around more often, instead of chasing girls and getting into trouble with his buddies.

  The door was unlocked and Jesse stuck his head inside. “Dad,” he called. He got no reply, save for the ticking of the mantle clock in the living room. He pulled the door closed behind him and walked down to the storage shed. The building was open, as were all the buildings on the property, but sat dark and unoccupied. Damn. Jesse scratched the hair at the back of his neck, made a mental note to get a haircut sometime soon, and let out a big breath. He was still hungry and now that he’d stood still for a moment, he realized he smelled like a big rubber flotation device.

  He decided to grab a shower before heading back to town and he made his way to the small cabin. He threw his keys on the counter and walked to the bathroom.

  ***

  Angelita knew she’d overbought at the grocery store. She confirmed it when it took her three trips to unload the bags from the car and up the stairs to the cabin. She was heaving for breath as she set the last bags down and put her hands on her hips. She was wondering where to store all the food as she began placing items in the fridge.

  When she was done, she had enough supplies to easily last two weeks and the time to indulge in one of her much loved pastimes, cooking. Cal had been right. The grocery had a wide selection of all kinds of food and, much to her delight, carried her favorite brand of coffee. It was the last item she stored, in the cupboard right above the automatic coffee maker. She turned to the sink to wash her hands and realized she’d forgotten soap. Oh well, there had to be some in the bathroom.

  She’d just rounded the corner to the hall and had her arm outstretched to grasp the knob of the door when it opened and Lita found herself face to face with a wet, nearly naked man. “Ahhhhh,” she screamed and backed into the wall behind her, knocking a framed picture onto the floor and shattering its glass.

  “Damn it,” the man said as he tightened the towel around his waist. “You scared the shit out of me.”

  Lita backed into the kitchen and positioned herself along the counter nearest the block of knives should she need to use one in defense. She’d startled the man and, despite the fact that he hadn’t made a grab for her, she didn’t want to be careless. “Who are you and what are you doing in my cabin?”

  “Your cabin?”

  “I’m renting this cabin from Calvin Bloodworth. He carried my bags up just this morning.”

  The man ran his hand through his sopping wet hair, a disheveled mop whose ends curled around the base of his ears. “Hell, I didn’t know he had a renter.” He placed his hands on the ends of the small towel, pushing it dangerously low on his narrow hips. “I’m Cal’s son, Jesse. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Oh.” She loosened her grip on the counter. “Well…” Not that his explanation made much sense, but it did relieve her nerves. “What are you doing here?”

  He smiled and she saw it then, the same crooked smile as his father, the nearly identical chiseled jaw. He ducked his head in an aw-shucks move. “He’s not home and he keeps the better shampoo over here,” he said with a quick jerk of his shoulder.

  She shouldn’t have done it. She shouldn’t have let her gaze follow the droplets of water as they slid from the hollow of his neck, past two very impressive pectoral muscles, down to bounce over his six pack abs like skiers on a moguls course. For a woman whose libido had been in hibernation for the better part of two years, her reaction to him was practically feral. Lust, in its purest, most basic form, caused her mouth to go dry and every coherent thought to fly out of her head. “Oh…”

  He’d seen the change in her, smelled it like a male dog smells a female in heat. She could see the smirk on his lips, feel the heat of his hazel eyes on her body. When he zeroed in on her face, she knew it was beet red.

  “I’ll just put some clothes on and be out of your way.” She nodded and waited for him to turn and walk back down the hall. Lita angled her head to take a good look at his retreating backside and was caught when he turned back around. “There’s a broom and dustpan next to the refrigerator. If you’ll set them out, I’ll clean this up for you.”

  When the door closed behind him, Lita let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Please, God, she prayed. Let him be stupid, so incredibly dim that she couldn’t possibly be attracted to him. Because of all the reasons she’d stepped away from her life at the drop of a shoe, falling head over heels in lust wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t even in the ballpark.

  ***

  Cal Bloodworth strolled along the path that led from his garage to his house, whistling and swinging the bag full of miscellaneous supplies he’d picked up at the hardware store. That’s when he spotted Jesse’s Scout. Shit. With one impressive toss, the bag landed neatly on the front door mat as if he’d gently placed it there and Cal sprinted toward the cabin and the lovely Ms. Barros.

  He knew she was home, as he’d just parked next to her SUV. But even without the car, he’d have known she was around. She smelled good, like flowers and woman, all wrapped into one and her perfume lingered in the air around the cabin. He’d been thinking on his stroll toward his house how nice it was to have a woman around again, how it seemed to make the flowers brighter, the budding leaves of the trees perkier, and the air almost cleaner.

  And now all he could think was, “Holy hell.”

  He gave a quick, but hardy knock on the back door and tried to rein in his breathing before opening the door an inch and peeking his head around. “Hello?” he called before moving inside and flashing his most innocent grin. “Angelita?”

  She jerked around from the hallway holding a broom and dustpan. “Cal. Oh, you startled me.”

  “Sorry about that. I saw your car and wanted to be sure you found the grocery and got everything you needed.” He inched further inside the room, all the while casually glancing around for any sign of Jesse.

  “Yes, I got everything. Listen, Cal, I…broke one of the beautiful prints you had framed in the hallway.”

  “No, she didn’t.” Jesse stepped out of the bathroom with steam and the fresh scent of soap in his wake.

  Good Lord, he was too late.

  Jesse reached over and gently took the broom and dustpan from Lita’s hands. “Well, I guess technically she did, but it was my fault.”

  Cal closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. Jesse spoke to him, but he didn’t for a second take his eyes off Lita. Couldn’t say he blamed the kid, and Lita didn’t seem annoyed by it, but the last thing Cal wanted was for his son to scare away the first and only renter of the season.

  “I see you’ve met my son, Jesse.”

  “Yes.” Lita’s face appeared flushed.

  Was she embarrassed, Cal wondered, or had something happened between them already? How long had he been gone?

  “I’ll clean this up,” Jesse said. “And I apologize again about the shower and the scare.”

  Lita nodded up at Jesse and made her way into the kitchen where Cal stood tongue-tied. She wouldn’t look him in the eye and he had the sudden urge to bolt. “Well, I guess I’ll be going then. You holler if you need anything. Jesse,” he called, purposely loud, “I could use your help with something before you go.”

  “Be right over,” Jesse said and with that Cal smiled at Lita and walked slowly back to his house. Christ, maybe it wasn’t so nice having a woman around after all.

  ***

  “Good as new.” Jesse replaced the broom and dustpan in their spot along the refrigerator. He turned around and blessed his dad for having enough smarts to leave them alone. “Angelita, is it?” What a name, but it fit. It was the kind of
name that could only work on a Vegas stripper or a gorgeous woman. And considering the amount of blushing she’d done in the last fifteen minutes, he knew she had to be the latter, despite the spiky-heeled sandals and fancy clothes.

  “Um hum,” she said and watched him with the deepest, darkest chocolate brown eyes he’d ever seen. “I hate to take you away from your smelly shampoos, but I’ll be here for awhile.”

  “That so?” There truly was a God. “How long?”

  “Two weeks, maybe longer.” Her voice was deep, too, and thick, like rich caramel syrup drizzled over ice cream. But despite her exotic and definitely foreign look, there wasn’t any trace of an accent coming out of her pipes.

  “Well, I guess I’ve got some time to make a better impression.” He stepped an inch closer and had to fight the urge to reach out and run his hand over the dark brown curls swirling around her shoulders. Everything about her was dark and touchable.

  “It can only go up.”

  He’d made her uncomfortable; just that tiny step forward and she’d reached around to grip the counter like she had when he’d first popped out of the shower and found her screaming at him. He wondered what made a woman like her, a woman who packed a punch with just a glance, so vulnerable? “I’d better get out of your hair. It was nice to meet you, Angelita.”

  “You too.” She followed him to the door. When it shut quickly behind him, he heard the distinct click of the lock that hadn’t been engaged in, well…ever, as far as he knew.

  Jesse patted the knotted muscles of his stomach. Lord have mercy. Seemed driving up the old logging road wasn’t the only teenaged behavior he was indulging in today. He hadn’t had that kind of reaction to a woman, or from a woman, since Kerri Ann performed her cheerleading dance to “Flip Fantasia,” looking him directly in the eye during the half-time show at county finals when he was thirteen. He’d had to borrow Bryce Jenson’s jean jacket to spread over his lap until he’d gotten things under control.

  Thankfully he’d learned to regulate that particular area of his body, but that didn’t stop his heart from damn near leaping out his chest. What a looker. It was like someone, maybe the God he occasionally prayed to, put all his favorite parts of a woman together in one unbelievable package—and dropped her right into his lap.

  The mass of curling dark hair, the shimmering olive skin, the strong straight nose, and those full red lips. But it was her eyes--deep set, molasses brown, and slightly turned up at the ends--that did him in. And what the hell had she been wearing? He hadn’t seen clothes like that since he’d been clubbing in Atlanta and women were dressed to lure and tease.

  He must have been dreaming. But no, when he turned back around, there she was, peeking through the blinds. He had to stifle a cocky grin. He’d caught her looking twice now.

  Jesse was so mired in thoughts of the mysterious and beautiful Angelita, he didn’t even realize his dad was calling to him from the porch.

  “Jess, are you deaf, son?” Cal called and let the screen door slam behind him.

  “Huh?”

  “What the hell were you doing in the cabin or do I even need to ask?”

  “Oh, I was, ah…”

  Cal stepped off the porch and met Jesse halfway down the stone walkway, reached his hand out to feel the damp ends of his hair. “Is that strawberry-kiwi I smell? Damn it, Jesse. If you’d ever bother to answer your cell phone, you’d have known I had a renter.”

  “Now you tell me.”

  “She just got here this morning.” He put his hands on his hips and closed his eyes. “Did she see you naked?”

  “No, but she damn near gave me a heart attack when I came out of the bathroom.” He patted his heart. “But the bigger jolt was her looks. Where’d she come from? You been rubbing bottles and asking genies for wishes?”

  Cal smacked Jesse affectionately on the head. “Atlanta. She called this morning and now she’s here. And I want her to stay. Haven’t had any rental income since October.”

  “Believe me, Dad, I want her to stay too.”

  “Then find somewhere else to shower and take a nap. If she bolts, I’m going to have to start paying Ty in IOUs.”

  Jesse cocked his head and put his hands on his hips. “I don’t ever remember you paying me to do work around here.”

  “That’s because you lived here. Ty’s my grandson and he’s a teenager. If I want to see him, I’d better make it worth his while.”

  “Well,” Jesse looked back toward the cabin, “I hope you’re prepared to see a lot of me because Angelita’s made putting up with you worth my while.”

  Cal ran a hand over his face. “I don’t even know her story, son. For all I know she could have a husband coming up on the weekends.”

  “Did you ask her?”

  “No.”

  “Find out for me, would you?” He punched his dad in the shoulder and made his way to the Scout. “God knows you love to pry.”

  “Where’re you going?” Cal asked with an exasperated sigh.

  “Getting Ty from school. He works for me for free.”

  Chapter 2

  Kerri Ann Bloodworth was pissed and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. She’d spent three years, three solid years, nursing a grudge against Jesse for not being around to help with Tyler. And now, even though he’d been back for years, when he called and announced he’d swing by the school and pick him up, let him work at the raft shop for a few hours, and then bring him home after dinner, she was pissed.

  Not that she wasn’t just wishing she didn’t have to stop working on the books for the thirty minutes it would take her to pick Ty up and bring him back to the restaurant. That was beside the point. The point was…what the hell was the point?

  She pushed back from her desk and rose to look out the second story office window. She could hear Emilio and Frank laughing and telling stories in the kitchen below as they restocked supplies and mixed up more dough for later that night. With the mood she was in, it looked like she was going to take a break anyway.

  Some days, when she was feeling like this, edgy and restless and completely unable to concentrate on the numbers in front of her, she’d wander down and go head to head with the guys in the kitchen on whatever subject they were discussing. It was usually women or sports, two topics she considered herself an expert on. First and foremost, she was a woman. Second, she’d spent half her life either cheering on every sport under the sun or helping Ty with the finer points of his sport of choice. Pitching, catching, hitting, football, in-line skating, how to hold a lacrosse stick, the varied rules of hockey—these were all typical dad responsibilities. But just when Ty was old enough to start participating in sports, Jesse decided he’d had enough and went running for a better life in Atlanta. So it was either give in to the depression that swamped her most days or pick herself up by the bootstraps and be both mom and dad to the little boy whose presence had immeasurably altered her life.

  And wasn’t it just a pisser that Jesse was back, had been back for over five years, and she was still in a funk about him butting his nose into Ty’s life without her permission? She’d told him to go, damn near begged him to when their fighting was at its worst and she’d find Ty crying into his pillow.

  A sharp knock at the door had her whirling around and clutching a hand to her chest in surprise. “Come in.”

  Bryce Jenson poked his head in the door and Kerri Ann watched his smile fade when he took a look at her face and saw her brooding. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

  She didn’t even try to hide her scowl. Bryce always could gauge her temper lightning fast. “I’m not in the mood for you right now, Bryce.” She leaned against the window. “I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just telling you like it is.”