Rachel Gibson: True Confessions

“Uh-huh.”

“Nuh-huh. My mom and dad had me and they weren’t married,” Adam announced, and Hope was glad to hear he knew now and that he seemed okay.

Wally looked his friend over. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“Oh.” Both boys turned their attention back to Hope and waited for her to answer.

“Well,” she began, deciding to wing it, “when I was a lot younger, I had to have an operation. When it was over, I couldn’t have children.”

Adam’s eyes got big. “You had an operation? Where?”

Hope stood and placed her hand on her abdomen. “Right here.”

“Does it hurt?” he wanted to know.

“Not anymore.”

Adam walked toward her, keeping his gaze pinned to her abdomen as if he could see beneath her shirt. “Do you got a scar?”

“Yep.”

“Wow!” He looked up and a lock of hair fell into his eyes. He needed it cut again. “Can I see?”

Hope raised her hand and combed his hair from his forehead. The hot sun heated his scalp, and Hope felt the warmth of it beneath her palm and travel to her heart. Adam didn’t flinch or move away and she smiled down at him. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, man.”

Dylan’s truck pulled off the highway onto Timberline Road, and Hope dusted the dirt from her knees. She wondered how much longer her heart would react when she saw him. She walked to the porch and picked up her tea, purposely turning her back on him. She didn’t want to see him and know he was looking at her and feeling nothing. Someday it wouldn’t matter and she wouldn’t feel anything for him, either. Just as she felt nothing for her ex-husband, but it would take time, and that someday was not today.

“Bye,” the boys said in unison and tossed their rubber gloves on the ground.

“Wait, guys. You forgot your money,” she called after them as she glanced over her shoulder.

“Later,” Wally yelled, and the two of them barely waited until the truck had passed before they tore out of her yard and headed for the Aberdeens‘.

Hope had a sneaky suspicion that she’d been had. That they’d looked her right in the eyes and lied their little buns off. She suspected Dylan wouldn’t be pleased, and she fully expected him to say something about it. Something along the lines of “I told you to stay away from my son,” like he thought she would pump Adam for information for a story.

Hope went back to work in the flower bed beneath the front window and waited for him. She waited no more than ten minutes until he strolled up her drive and into the yard. Except for his service belt, he still wore his sheriff’s uniform, complete with mirrored sunglasses.

She stood and held out one hand as if to stop him. “Before you yell at me, I asked Adam to make sure it was okay with you before I hired him to pull weeds. He and Wally left to call you, and when they came back, Adam told me that you’d said he could work in my yard.” She took off her gloves and held them in one hand. “And in case you’re wondering if I tried to wheedle Adam for information about you and Juliette, I didn’t. Frankly, I don’t care what you think.” The last was an absolute lie, but she figured it would be true enough someday.

Dylan shifted his weight to one foot and looked at her through his sunglasses. “Are you through?”

“I think that’s about it.”

“I came over here to ask if Deputy Mullins called you today.”

“Someone did, yes.”

“So you know that we think Myron has left town.”

“Yes. I know that’s what you think.”

He raised one brow. “You don’t think so?”

“I know he hasn’t. He’s been calling me.”

“What does he say?”

“Nothing. He just breathes heavy.”

A frown curved his lips, and with two fingers he pushed the brim of his hat up his forehead. “You recognized his breathing?”

“He’s done this before. Unless there is another phone breather in town, it’s Myron.”

“Could be he’s calling from out of town.”

Hope shrugged. “Maybe.” But she doubted it. “Wait here while I get my purse. Adam ran off before I could pay him.”

“Forget it. Adam lied about calling me and asking permission to work in your yard. He doesn’t get rewarded for lying. His punishment will be that he pulled your weeds for free.”

That sounded harsh to Hope. “Are you sure? He worked pretty hard.”

“I’m sure, but in the future, he doesn’t need my permission to work for you.”

“Are you saying it’s all right?”

“Yes. Whatever happened between us, and despite what you’ve done, I don’t believe you would interrogate Adam for your paper.”

She supposed he meant that as a compliment. He probably was under the mistaken assumption that he was being nice-the big jerk. She threw her gloves to the ground and walked toward him, stopping just inches away. “What I’ve done? I’ve done nothing, and someday you’re going to realize you’re a… you’re a…” She was so angry and frustrated, she couldn’t think of the right word.

One corner of his mouth twitched. “A what?”

He was laughing at her. He’d broken her heart, and now he was laughing at her. She folded her arms beneath her breasts and said, “A redneck sheriff who can’t even find one dwarf. I could understand it if there was a Little People of America convention in town, but there’s not.” His lips flattened and she pressed her luck. “How hard could it be to find a man who isn’t even four feet tall? It isn’t like he blends.”

“I’ll tell ya what, honey. If you didn’t have such a unique way of making friends, you wouldn’t be stalked by a dwarf in the first place.”

He’d called her honey, which only enraged her more. “Get out of my yard.”

“Or you’re going to do what? Call the sheriff? Get a pen and take down the number. It’s nine-one-one.”

Hope stuck her hands on his chest and shoved. He didn’t budge and she tried again, pushing hard enough to lift her heels off the ground. The momentum of her body carried her forward, and her hands slid up the creases of his work shirt. She slammed into the solid wall of his chest, knocking the air out of her lungs.

Dylan’s hands grasped her waist, and for several prolonged seconds he held her as if he meant to shove her away. She saw herself in the reflection of his glasses, caught a glimpse of her shock and surprise, and then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto her toes. He said something about leaving, but he lowered his mouth instead and kissed her. As always, he made her skin tingle and sent warm little shivers along her nerves. His hands swept her back as he pressed her into the warmth of his body. It had been so long and she missed him so much. She missed the scent of his skin and his touch on her. His tongue stroked hers, and the kiss caught fire.

Dylan groaned deep and in his throat, a sound of pure lust and frustration. It called to the deepest, basest part of her, and before she could answer, she did something she’d never done before. She found the strength to step away from his embrace before he sucked her in again.

She licked her moist lips and sucked air into her lungs. She felt dizzy and confused. He wanted her no matter how much he’d pretended he didn’t. “You’re a liar, Dylan Taber.”

“Me? I’m the liar?”

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that she had finally found a man to love and he didn’t love her back. “You’re a hypocrite, too.”

He took off his sunglasses and shoved them in his pocket. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You’re angry because I lied about who I really work for. It was one little lie that just kept getting bigger and bigger and gained more importance than it deserved. And you’re right, I should have told you before you found out, but you lied to me, too, Dylan. You lied when you told me Adam’s mother was a waitress.”