The Strawberry Hearts Diner(42)
“Really?” Her heart was going like a steam engine, beating twice as fast as it should, and emotions she’d never felt with anyone were rattling around in her chest.
“Never saw a w-woman beautiful as you,” he said.
“Shane Adams, is that a pickup line?”
“Nope. Never have been too good with girls. My stutter puts them off.”
“Not me,” she said.
He pulled her even closer. “Just holdin’ you is a dream come true. I’d sure enough like it if you stuck around Pick for a wh-while.”
“I’m not goin’ anywhere until the end of summer at the least,” she whispered.
“Good.” He kissed the top of her head, and even that sent vibes dancing around the porch like a million shooting stars.
They sat like that, swinging, watching the stars twinkle for a long time before he finally leaned back, tipped her chin up with his fist, and kissed her again. This time it was a sweet kiss, but it still created a flutter down deep in her stomach.
Lord! Her insides turned to hot mush, and her hands were shaking.
“Good night, Jancy. I’m glad your name starts with a J so I don’t mess it up. Reckon we could do this again tomorrow night?” he asked.
“I’ll be right here,” she said.
“We could go for a little stroll down to Leonard’s and get us a beer, take it to the park, and talk a spell,” he said.
“Sounds like a date to me.” She stood up with him and walked him to the edge of the porch.
He waved over his shoulder as he disappeared into the twilight of the summer evening. She picked up the half-empty bottle of beer and carried it into the house, plopped down on the sofa, and leaned her head back. Vicky looked up from the recliner where she’d curled up with a book.
“I thought I heard voices out there on the porch. Were you talkin’ to yourself?”
“Strangest thing just happened. I wanted to tell Shane that there wasn’t any chemistry between us and I couldn’t lead him on. So I was about to spit it out that we could be friends and nothing more.” She sat up and pulled her feet up under her to sit cross-legged.
“And?”
“He kissed me.”
“I figured that would have happened when he brought you home from church last night. Shocked me a little when Nettie said he didn’t even try,” Vicky said.
“There were sparks like I’ve never experienced before.”
Vicky laid her book to the side. “Shane is not a bad-boy type. Don’t hurt him.”
“That I might cause him any kind of pain scares me. What do I do?”
“Follow your heart.”
“I can’t trust it. It’s led me astray too many times.”
Vicky moved from the chair to the other end of the sofa. “Have you ever listened to it? Really paid attention? When you were letting that boyfriend talk you into living in his apartment, didn’t you know somewhere down deep that it wasn’t right? Or when that other boyfriend was stealin’ cars, didn’t your conscience tell you to do something about it?”
“Probably.” Jancy nodded.
“Nettie told me that the heart never steers us wrong. Sometimes it doesn’t answer us as fast as we want it to, but we have to give it time and be patient. It doesn’t see, hear, or smell, but it has an acute sense of feelin’ and it will never lie to us.”
Jancy hugged Vicky. “You and Nettie are the best things that have happened to me in years. I’m so glad that fate put me in that parking lot last week.”
“So are we.” Vicky headed for the kitchen. “Let’s have a glass of strawberry wine for each of us to celebrate the kiss.”
Jancy finished off the beer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table. “Oh, no!” She clamped a hand over her mouth.
“What?” Vicky stopped in the middle of the floor.
“What if the stars are lined up all wrong? What if I’m fallin’ for a good guy at last and the timing is wrong? What if folks find out that I was on probation and they look down on him because of me? I can’t do that to him.”
“Do what to whom?” Emily appeared in the doorway coming from the hall. “Shane kissed you, didn’t he?”
Jancy nodded.
“We’re going to have a glass of wine to celebrate.” Vicky brought out a quart jar from under the counter and poured a little into four glasses.
“Do we get wine when I kiss my boyfriend?” Emily joked.
“Depends on who it is,” Vicky shot back. “What number are we at?”
“Only two down,” Emily said.
“Then you’ve got a few to go.”
“What are you talking about?” Jancy asked.