A Fallow Heart (Tommy Creek #2)(47)

“So Cooper’s finally made it home,” she said and promptly turned away from the window as if it physically hurt her to look at him. Jo Ellen frowned, shocked and confused. Were Loren and Cooper having problems? It didn’t seem possible. Cooper had always absolutely adored his mother.

“Here’s your sweet potatoes,” Loren said, thrusting them forward, unable to meet Jo Ellen’s gaze. “They’ll keep longer if you store them in a cool, dry dark place.”

Jo Ellen accepted the plastic grocery bag, nodding over her instructions, and the back door opened. A moment passed—just long enough for her to suck in a sharp, anticipatory breath—then his voice broke the air.

“Mama? I’m going to take a quick shower before Emma Leigh and her husband get—” He entered the front room, still bare-chested with his wet shirt slung over his shoulder and a dirty pair of dusty boots held in one hand to keep from tromping mud across the floor. The only thing he wore was a pair of socks, snug jeans, and his hat.

When he saw Jo Ellen, he pulled up short.

She swallowed, deciding once and for all, coming here had been a big mistake. She had to figure out a way to escape gracefully. Forget repaying him for a good deed done ten years ago, if she wasn’t careful, this man could crush her soul and she’d hand him the tools to do it.

“Jo Ellen,” he rasped. “I didn’t think you’d come.”

She opened her mouth, but no words exited.

Loren sniffed as if insulted on Jo Ellen’s behalf. “Of course, she came. You invited her, didn’t you?”

Cooper transferred his shocked stare to his mother, but he couldn’t seem to look at her long before he jerked his gaze away and cleared his throat. “Yes, ma’am. I did.”

“Emma Leigh will be along soon,” Jo Ellen rushed out the words, curious and concerned about the awkward vibe emanating from both Cooper and Loren as if they were two strangers trying to get to know each other.

But thank goodness, a car drew up the lane and parked behind her Kia almost as soon as she spoke, relieving her from the tense moment. She wasn’t sure what else to say next.

“And there she is.” Loren hurried to the front door so she could greet Emma Leigh from the porch.

Left alone with Cooper, Jo Ellen opened her mouth to ask about him and his mom, but when she glanced his way, she found herself eye level with his dusky, flat nipples circled by light tufts of golden hair.

Her throat went too dry for her to speak. Not only would she hand him the tools to hurt her, she’d probably wrap them with a bow and hand them over with a goofy smile on her face while she did it.

“Excuse me.” He turned away, leaving her forced to watch his nice backside in those sexy jeans as he exited the room.

At the last moment before disappearing from view, he glanced over his shoulder. Caught peeking again, Jo Ellen zipped her eyes up and found him watching her. With a slow, sensual smile, he winked.

Oh, Goodness.

The muscles in her stomach cramped with too many emotions. Relieved he didn’t seem ticked about her presence, the warmth gripping her grew intensely uncomfortable. He made her body respond too easily. And yet his confidence made him even more attractive and irresistible.

Cooper wasn’t a vain man by any means, but he certainly seemed comfortable in his own body, and he knew good and well when a woman appreciated what she saw when checking him out.

She wanted to run—flee the sensations bubbling inside her—but she was soon swept up into the activity of Emma Leigh introducing Bran to Loren, and her brother-in-law bombarding the poor farmer’s wife with all sorts of strange questions like, “Do those chickens really cock-a-doodle-do at dawn?”

Jo Ellen laughed, and Emma Leigh made fun of him, while Loren patiently answered his questions. When Cooper showed up a few minutes later, Jo Ellen had resisted another cookie but downed her tea, draining the cup. Yet still, her mouth went dry when he stepped into the room.

All cleaned up, but still donning blue jeans and a t-shirt advertising the local grain elevator, Cooper looked even better than he had ten minutes before. His gaze met hers as soon as he entered the kitchen, but he just as quickly turned his attention to Bran and Emma Leigh, greeting them. For the next hour, he ignored her. Not that he had a lot of opportunity to pay her any special notice. With Branson and Emma hogging the conversation, he didn’t have any reason to even glance her way, which he didn’t bother doing. She wasn’t sure why that disturbed her so much when it was best if they just stayed away from each other. But it did.

When Cooper agreed to take Branson for a ride on a ‘real’ tractor, she and Em stayed behind to catch up with Loren. Finally, she learned the names of Cooper’s two sisters—Brendel and Stacia. From his mother’s scattered bits of conversation, it was obvious the old woman had grown lonely since Thad’s admission to the nursing home. Every time she spoke his name in passing, her lashes blinked rapidly. Then she’d mention Cooper and looked even worse.

Emma Leigh popped to her feet when they heard the men return, but Jo Ellen wanted to linger in Loren’s company just a little longer, maybe find out what had happened between mother and son.

Her sister, however, urged her outside.

“Damn,” Emma Leigh muttered, clutching Jo Ellen’s arm as she practically dragged her down the front porch. “I swear I was gonna burst into tears if I had to listen to Loren say Thad’s name one more time. She looked so sad.”