He took a step back, tucked both her hands in his, and led her to the bed. She sat down on the edge and then eased back on the pillow where his head had been. The thought of getting into bed with her was more than a little intimidating.
“Maybe we should go down to the living room,” he suggested.
She scooted over and rolled to her left side. “This is fine. I just want to go back to that safe place that I remember so I can sleep.”
He settled in behind her and gathered her tightly to his chest.
“Like this?” he asked.
It’s natural to be aroused with a woman snuggled up against me, he thought. But this isn’t the time or the place. She’s too vulnerable.
“Just like this.” She wiggled in closer to him.
Good Lord, let her go to sleep and not realize the effect she’s having on me, he prayed for the first time in ages.
Evidently, God heard him, because a soft purrlike snore said that she was out. It took a long time for him to reach the same state.
Jennie Sue reached across the bed to touch Rick when she awoke the next morning, but all she got was a handful of air. She sat up with a start and saw him sitting over beside the window with a book in his hands. He was reading by the light coming in through the window on that rainy morning.
“Good mornin’,” she yawned.
He laid the book aside. “Did you sleep well?”
“I did, and thank you again. I thought I was okay after we got out of the pool, but when I got into bed, I remembered the hankie that Daddy gave me just before he left. I lost it, and it brought on more tears.”
He moved to sit beside her on the bed. “That’s the way grief works. One minute you think you’ve got it all under control, and then the simplest thing will set you off, and you’re a mess again. A month after he passed away, I found Daddy’s little notebook where he kept all the phone numbers of places he liked to buy his seed, and just looking at his handwriting tore me up. I bawled like a baby.”
“Then I’m not completely insane?”
“No, darlin’, you are not.” His deep drawl soothed her.
She turned so that she could wrap her arms around Rick’s neck. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me.”
He tipped up her chin, and before their lips ever even touched, she felt as if she was drowning in his dark-green eyes. The kiss started out as a sweet brushing of lips, then it deepened into a fiery-hot passion.
Jennie Sue pulled away when she heard the bathroom door at the end of the hallway close. She stood up and tugged at the bottom of her nightshirt. “I’d better go on back to my bedroom.”
“Jennie Sue, it may be the wrong time to ask, but what are we going to do about this thing between us?”
She bent down and kissed him. “I’m going to hope that it’s more than a passing fancy for you.”
Cricket was waiting in the dining room when Jennie Sue arrived with Rick right behind her. She barely glanced up as she kept putting cookies in plastic bags. “I can’t stand the idea of wasting a single bit of this food.”
“Have you had breakfast? I’ll be glad to make us bacon and eggs or whatever y’all want,” Jennie Sue asked.
“I would love pancakes,” Rick said.
“Something neither of us can make unless we use that mix that you just put water in.” Cricket kept right on working.
“Pancakes it is. Bacon, sausage, or both?”
“Bacon,” they said at the same time.
“What can I do to help?” Rick asked.
“Can you fry bacon?” She nudged him with her shoulder.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then you can do that while I make the pancakes.” She sniffed the air. “Do I smell coffee?”
“I made a pot. Hope that’s okay,” Cricket answered.
“It’s better than okay. It’s great. We’ll have a cup while we are getting breakfast ready. And while we eat, I want you both to be my sounding board. While I was getting dressed this morning and packing a suitcase of things I want to take to my apartment, I came up with some things I need to bounce off you,” she said.
“Ideas about what? You really need to take time to think about everything and not rush, Jennie Sue,” Rick said.
“Mabel told me to listen to my heart, so that’s what I’m doin’,” she replied.
He followed her into the kitchen and asked, “What if this chemistry we have is just a passing fancy for you? You now own a huge company, not to mention this house and property. What if I’m only—”
She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Rick, what we have has nothing to do with money. It’s something deeper than that, something in our hearts. To me, it’s not a passing fancy. It’s like the seed that you plant in the spring. With some tender care, it could grow into something fruitful.”
“I think we can work with that.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Now, where’s a good cast-iron skillet so I can do my part about gettin’ breakfast ready?”
“Under that cabinet.” She pointed and then set the electric griddle in the middle of the table.
When he’d fried a pound of bacon and they were all seated, she poured the batter out in six perfect circles. A picture of Percy throwing away the first pancakes she’d made after they were married because they weren’t perfectly round flashed through her mind. She quickly hit the mental “Delete” button, determined that she was never going to think about him again.
“Okay, I can already see that those are the lightest pancakes I’ve ever seen. What’s the secret?” Cricket asked.
“I only give out my recipe to people who don’t hate me,” she answered.
“Okay, okay, I don’t hate you anymore.” Cricket grinned.
“So are you only my friend because I make good pancakes, because you feel sorry for me, or because I like your brother?” She flipped two pancakes onto Cricket’s plate.
“All of the above. When did you start liking Rick?” Cricket asked. “I thought y’all were just friends.”
“It’s been a slow process. And the secret to good pancakes is beating the egg whites until they are almost like meringue and then folding them in gently. Gives them little air pockets that make the pancakes very light. I’ll text you the link to the recipe. I found it on Pinterest.” Jennie Sue put two on Rick’s plate.
“Oh, my!” Cricket moaned when she took the first bite. “These are fabulous.”
Jennie Sue slathered her pancakes with butter and poured syrup over them. Then she flipped the ones on the griddle before she took the first bite.
“I know it’s quick, but I want some things settled and off my mind. So I’m askin’ Justin to call a meeting for the board of directors and the vice president of the oil company on Monday morning. I know there’s a lot of worry about jobs and what’s going to happen, and the sooner I can put employees’ minds at rest, the better. I am going to sell the company to the highest bidder. Daddy told me a while back that two major oil companies had approached him to buy it, so that shouldn’t be a problem. He was ready to retire, himself.”
“You sure you’re ready to do that? You have a business degree. You could learn to run it yourself,” Cricket said.
“I thought about it last night before I went to sleep. I don’t want a job that requires that much commitment, so I’m selling it. I feel right about my decision.”
“You’ll be a multimillionaire,” Rick muttered.
“Yes, I will, and the money can sit in the bank until I decide what I want to do with it. And this house is going on the market next week. I do not want to live here,” she said.
“Why? It’s a beautiful home, and you have a staff here to do all the work,” Cricket said. “Granted, it’s too big and intimidating for me, but you grew up here. It’s your childhood home. Don’t do something you will regret.”
“It’s time for Mabel and Frank to retire. They should’ve done it years ago. I’m going to ask Justin to set up a severance package that will keep them comfortable and doing anything they want the rest of their lives,” she said. “And I’ll give the other people who work here a nice bonus with their last paycheck.”