The Strawberry Hearts Diner(77)

His arms went around her. “Embarrassed, hell! I w-was proud of you, Jancy. I just didn’t w-want Nicole to black your other eye. You are a scrapper, and I’m not m-mad at you one bit. I thought you w-were upset with m-me. I’m not good with w-women. Never had one in the house. Granny w-was gone wh-when I was born. Don’t remember m-my m-mother.”

She cupped his face in her hands and looked deep into his eyes. “Shane, darlin’, I’ve had to fend for myself for a long time, and bullies make me so mad.” She went on to tell him about her experience in the first days of her junior year of high school.

“Now you’ve got m-me to take up for you if things get too deep.” He leaned forward and kissed her eye before moving on to her lips. Then he looped an arm around her shoulders and the other under her knees and carried her into the house and straight to the bedroom.



Jancy was dreaming about a little dark-haired girl toddling around in the backyard chasing a bunch of kittens. She and Shane watched from the rocking chairs, and his face was a picture of contentment. She didn’t want to wake up, but someone was knocking on the door and whispering her name.

She sat up with a start, and Shane mumbled something in his sleep. She eased out of bed and peeked out the door, still thinking maybe it was all part of the dream. But there was Emily, wearing a big smile.

“Rise and shine. We’ve barely got time to get home before Nettie’s alarm goes off.”

“Give me two minutes to get dressed. Meet you on the back porch.”

She couldn’t find her panties, so she pulled up her denim shorts without any. She had to hunt down one sandal, eating up the rest of the two minutes. When she got there, Emily was rocking as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

“I didn’t hear your alarm and I left my phone at home.”

“Ryder and I thought we wanted to spend our first night in the trailer as a married couple, but after yesterday—well, it just seemed right to stay there last night. We slept on the floor in our bedroom. I guess you and Shane got things straightened out?” She stood up and started off in long strides.

Jancy practically jogged to keep up. “I thought he was embarrassed by me acting like, well, you know. And he says he doesn’t have much experience in fighting in a relationship. I don’t imagine that Ryder does, either. They’ve both lived in a love ’em, leave ’em world.”

In only a few weeks I’ve found friends, gotten drawn into secrets, and could be falling in love.

“Well, that world is gone, and it’s time for both Shane and Ryder to enter the real world of grown-ups,” Emily said.

“You’ve known Ryder your whole life, so you do realize that his past is going to rise up sometimes, right?”

“Of course. I just didn’t think it would be in the church parking lot.”

“Exactly where did your relationship with him start, Emily?” Jancy asked as they rounded the end of the house. “Couldn’t have been in college, because y’all went to different ones.”

A shy grin covered her face. “Walmart.”

“You are kiddin’ me. Does that mean you can take him back for a full refund if he doesn’t perform to your satisfaction?” Jancy asked.

Emily’s giggles broke through the darkness. “I’ve teased him about that many times. It’s kind of crazy and I’ve never told anyone this. I had to make a tampon run and that was the only thing in my cart.” She blushed scarlet. “And the only thing in his cart was a box of condoms. Our carts had a fender bender as we both came around the same corner. We both looked down to check the damage before we realized that we knew each other, and then we got tickled.”

“And he saw a skirt to chase?”

Emily shook her head. “It’s hard to believe, but he didn’t act like that with me. Not even at the beginning. We went for coffee and talked for hours that first day. I actually had to chase him. He didn’t think he was good enough for me.”

Jancy understood that feeling perfectly well. “So when did you go on your first date?”

“We met six times for coffee or for lunch and then it was Christmas and I was home for a month. He’d come into the diner and we’d flirt, but he wouldn’t ask me out. Finally, when I went back to college, I called him and asked him for a date. We went out in the middle of January, and he was so nervous that it was cute. He brought a red rose to the dorm and took me to a fancy place.”

“I feel his pain,” Jancy whispered.

“Why would you feel his pain?”

Jancy collected her thoughts carefully. “I’m kind of like Ryder. I’ve lived with men, been disappointed by them, was almost married to a man who already had a wife. And here’s Shane in my life. I don’t feel like I’m good enough for him, either.”

“I guess I’m like Shane, then,” Emily said. “I’m in love, and the past doesn’t matter to me, only the future. He may have had lots of women, but as long as I’m the last one ever, then I’m okay with that.”

“But you don’t want to see any of those women making passes at him, right?” Jancy lowered her voice as they quietly made their way into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Nettie said. “Coffee before you go to your rooms and get ready for work? I’m assuming that the wedding is still on and the makeup sex was good?”