Sparks Fly(Divine Creek Ranch 11)(13)

Charity glanced at her sister as she greeted another new arrival, and then grinned at Jayne. “Not only can I read minds, I can also predict the future. You’re going to have a fabulous time today. And you’re going to stay for the whole day.”

“If you say so.”

Jayne heard Grace’s voice as she came near again, talking to someone else. “Jayne, I want to introduce you to someone.”

Jayne turned from Charity, who now wore a smirk, to face Grace. Her jaw dropped when she saw the tall man standing beside her. Seth Carter, in all his tattooed, long-haired, blue-eyed glory.

“Seth, this is my cousin, Jayne Sheridan. Jayne, this is our friend Seth Carter.” Grace looked like she wanted to do a victory lap around the block as Seth smiled softly in recognition and chuckled.

“Hi, Jayne. We meet again.” Seth glanced at Grace with a knowing look on his face and then smiled at Jayne and rolled his eyes.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again.” Jayne noticed that Grace and Charity both skedaddled off to check on other goings-on, leaving the two of them to talk.

Wishing she was a social butterfly like her cousins, Jayne moved her tote bag and sat down. Her hands shook a little and she knotted them together to hide her reaction to him. Nerves made her belly flutter.

Seth gestured at the empty seat next to her. “Is that seat taken?” The movement brought her attention to his tattoos and she once again couldn’t help but stare.

“I don’t think so. Be my guest.”

Jayne was willing to bet that was the seat Grace expected Seth to sit in. She was a notorious matchmaker. Seth sat beside her and got comfortable. Her temperature rose a few notches and the butterflies in her stomach started doing acrobatic maneuvers.

“How are your hands and your knees?”

A blush heated her cheeks as she recalled the scene she’d written the night before involving just that position with a hero who bore a striking resemblance to Seth. She restrained herself from reaching out to touch his tattoos and remembered that he’d asked her a question.

“I’m sorry?”

“From your spill yesterday. Were you okay?”

“Oh.” She showed him the Band-Aids on the heel of her left hand and the one on her right knee. “Just scrapes. Nothing that won’t heal up in a day or so.”

Seth looked down at her knee and made a concerned expression with his mouth, and she fantasized about how it would feel to have his lips on her.

He interrupted her reverie as he looked deeply into her eyes again. She wondered what he saw there as heat crept into her cheeks, making it seem even hotter that morning. His gaze flicked over her face and he looked as though something had occurred to him. “That explains the reason I thought you looked familiar. You have dark hair and lighter skin but the resemblance to Grace and Charity is there in your facial structure.”

“Yes, our mothers were sisters, but I inherited my father’s eye and hair color.” He nodded and gazed into her eyes again, until she had to look away. Her heart pounded rapidly as she felt his gaze linger on her face before he was distracted. There was a flurry of activity up and down the street as spectators found their places and the flag bearers came into view. As they marched past, Jayne, Seth and all their friends rose from their seats with the rest of the parade goers, removed their hats, and placed their hands over their hearts.

Directly behind the flag bearers, a member of the Divine High School drum corps counted out the beat, and then the marching band broke into the Divine High School fight song. Many members of the crowd sang the words to the song, and Jayne smiled when Grace pointed at the kids all seated in chairs or strollers on the front row. Rose Marie Warner, Will Peterson, and Michael and Eleazar Martinez watched in fascination as the parade floated past in all its noisy, streamer-strewn glory.





Chapter Four




Richard Warner noticed Maya glance back at him and Boone as they strolled down the sidewalk a few steps behind her and Kendall. Richard smiled at her before she scanned the crowd around them. Maya didn’t go out of her way to avoid touching him and Boone in public, but she didn’t like to draw attention to them either.

She followed Kendall into the Scherer office building a couple of blocks down from Cheaver’s as though they had an appointment there. There were parade goers watching the event from the third-story balcony, and they hoped to appear as though they were joining them. They breezed through the unlocked door, and Boone walked ahead of them to the two elevator doors and hit the call button.

Maya inhaled deeply and shifted back and forth, rubbing her palms on her denim cutoffs as they waited. Richard heard voices in the stairwell as someone made their way down. He grew tense and wondered if the elevator would arrive and they could make their escape before being seen.