Emily texted back seconds later. OMG! Yay! Wait…Do you love him? Yes, I’m nosy. Get used to it!
She didn’t hesitate to answer. LOL. YES!
Emily didn’t text back right away. She showered, dressed, and was fifteen minutes into baking before she received another text from Emily.
Okay, now the whole town knows.
Elisabeth called her.
“Hey,” Emily said just above a whisper.
“You sound awful.”
“Thanks,” Emily said. “Headache.”
“Tell me about it. Why did you tell the whole town? They don’t exactly like me yet.”
“Oh, shut up. We love you and that’s all that matters.”
That made Elisabeth smile.
“I didn’t really tell anyone. I stopped in at the diner for coffee, and I ran into Wes. Sorry it took so long to get back to you.”
“You had me worried.”
“I’m sorry. You know Margie. She can talk forever, and when Wes showed up, he gave me a hard time about last night. The bugger. Like he’s never gotten shitfaced before. I’m happy for you and Ross, but a little jealous. I’m starting to think I’m destined to be single forever. Maybe I should borrow some of Alice’s cats.” Emily laughed.
Elisabeth finished mixing the beer batter for the cakes she was making and held the phone against her shoulder while she poured it into a bowl. “I think love finds us when we don’t even know we’re ready, so don’t give up. Whether you find your true love here or in Italy, it’s bound to happen. You’re too amazing for it not to.”
“You’re so nice, Elisabeth. Daisy and Callie roll their eyes at me and tell me to start dating.”
“Well, that would help, but I’ve never been big on dating, so I don’t think that’s the answer. The first time I saw Ross, I knew. You know how you get a flutter in your chest, and your stomach starts to do little flips? Ross made my entire body wake up and go weak at the same time. He was so in control when I turned his office upside down with my noisy piglet. He didn’t even get upset with me, or snappy or anything. He just looked at me and said, It’s okay. Take a deep breath. I could barely breathe looking at him. He—”
“Okay, okay. Brother. Remember? I get it, so there’s probably hope for me yet.”
“Sorry. I was gushing.” She slid the cakes into the oven. “Are you guys really going to help me at the fair tomorrow?”
“Of course. It’ll be fun. What should we bring?”
“Nothing. I’m making beer cakes, puppy cookies, and pies. We should be good. Oh, maybe bottled water? That would be good. Ross is going to put up the awning and help me with the refrigeration unit I rented. I’ll set up a grooming station and we’ll be all set.”
“How are you going to do everything that you do when everyone suddenly wants you to care for their pets? I mean, think about it, Elisabeth, the pet massages, grooming, picking up and dropping off dogs, not to mention baking and delivering pies. My mom said Jade’s clients are all talking about you, too, which means your business is likely to really take off.”
Just hearing there was a possibility of her business taking off made her pulse speed up. “Not all, just three. I’m not sure. I’ve been thinking about it and I’ll probably have to figure out a way to bring my grooming supplies and do what I did in LA, a mobile grooming van or something. I sold mine before I moved, but eventually I can get another one. That would give me a way to be a little more organized and not have to waste time running back and forth.”
“I’m exhausted just listening to all you do. I’ve got to go figure out how to get through a meeting with a blinding headache. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.”
They ended the call and Elisabeth eyed the box by the wall. She knelt beside it, feeling much stronger than she had the last time she’d looked at its contents. She withdrew a few pictures of her aunt and closed the top flaps. Packing away Robbie was easy. She had no qualms or emotions about saying goodbye to their past, but packing away the letters from her aunt, and the few knickknacks she’d received from her over the years, was more emotional. But she wasn’t shutting her aunt or her aunt’s memories away. Aunt Cora was everywhere. This was her house Elisabeth was living in, her furniture, her photographs on the wall. Elisabeth used her aunt’s recipes to facilitate the business her aunt had grown from nothing more than an idea and a warm heart. She looked around the kitchen and sighed. It was time to start her own life. To put Robbie away for good and to put the heartache of her aunt’s passing behind her.
As she carried the box to the hall closet, she mentally put away the comparisons of her mother to herself, and all the doubt and worry that went along with it. She was in the town she always knew would be her forever place, with a man who was her forever love. How could life get any sweeter?
ROSS HEADED INTO his house to take care of the dogs and work out after work. The house was quiet without Elisabeth there. Knight stuck to his side, following him as he went upstairs to the bedroom, as if he missed Elisabeth, too. He hadn’t realized how used to her being there he’d become. He changed into his workout clothes, then texted Elisabeth before going down to his home gym.
Just got home. Doing a quick workout. Then I’ll shower and come over. Okay?
He was setting up his weights when she texted back.
Want to stay at your place? My head is better. I can bring dinner. Xox.
Damn, he’d forgotten the xox.
He returned her text. Sounds good. Extra xox from me.
He’d felt lighter since he’d told Elisabeth he loved her, freer, stronger. He’d always hoped that at some point he’d find the right woman, someone to build a life with. Someone he would love and protect and who he knew would love him for who he was and not for his money. Elisabeth was better than any woman he could have ever dreamed up, and loving her felt damn good. He’d liked taking care of her last night, and this morning, with the exception of how sad she’d looked about him not being the first man she said she loved, but Ross didn’t fret over it. He believed her when she said she loved him. He saw it in her eyes and felt it in her touch. He added extra weights to his bench press bar and turned on ESPN, then pushed through a rigorous workout. He was just finishing his last set of sit-ups, drenched in sweat, feeling strong and exhilarated, when he heard the dogs barking. He flicked off the television and headed upstairs.
“Lis?”
“In here.”
He found her in the kitchen juggling a casserole dish and a basket of bread with Knight, Ranger, and Sarge rubbing against her legs. Her back was to him, her beautiful back bare to her waist in a white halter dress. Her hair was tied back with a red silky ribbon.
“You took such good care of me that I thought I’d take care of you. I made your favorite. It’s probably not as good as your mom’s, but…” She spun around, looking radiant. The bottom of her dress was trapped between her leg and Knight and pulled tight across her hips, accentuating her waist. The kitchen smelled delicious, like chicken Parmesan, warm bread, and Elisabeth. But it wasn’t his stomach that was growling with hunger. Just the sight of the ribbon gave him all sorts of lascivious thoughts.
“Wow.” A breathy whisper as she raked her eyes down his body.
“Wow is right. You look hot.” He leaned down and took her in a slow, passionate kiss. She ran her hands along the sides of his back, making him instantly hard. She trapped his lip in her teeth and dragged her tongue along it as they drew apart. When she ran her fingers along the waist of his shorts, he lost all hope of holding back his desires.
“I don’t want you to think I love you only for your body or anything, but...I should come over when you’re working out more often. You look Photoshopped.” She ran her fingers over his muscular stomach, sending a bolt of heat through him.
He pulled the ribbon from her hair and dragged it over her hands. “Photoshopped, huh? Well, then, paybacks are hell, because I have to endure thinking about your hot little body all day every day, and this sexy little ribbon of yours makes me think of a few better uses for it than in your hair.” He kissed her neck. Her skin was warm, and she smelled like a fresh summer breeze. He nipped one of her shoulders and kissed his way back along her heated skin to her neck.
“Other uses?” She batted her eyelashes and spoke in a seductive Southern drawl, rocking her hips into his. “Why, Mr. Braden, whatever do you mean?” She took the ribbon from his hand and wound it around her wrist. “It does make a nice bracelet.”
Holy hell.
She feigned a loud gasp. “Well, I do declare. Look what that little ribbon did to you!” She looked down at his erection and then back up, wide-eyed and innocent, as she slid her hand beneath his shorts and stroked his hard length.
He sucked in a breath and backed her up against the counter. “I thought you were such a good girl.”
“Why, I am a very good girl.” She slid her hand lower and cupped his balls, sending a streak of lust through his body.
He lifted her up and set her on the counter, and in one move he tore the dress over her head. Her bare breasts were too beautiful to resist. Two perfect mounds that he had to taste. He lowered his mouth and teased her nipples into hard points, earning him a throaty moan that heightened his arousal.