Page 12 of The Rule of 3

Less than a week later, Brandon Johnny, who was now a town legend, crawled back into the hole from whence he’d come and no one in Honeybee Hollow ever saw him or heard from him again. Hereafter, if anyone ever referred to him at all, it was by calling him BJ.

Chapter 13

Zoë was planning to spend Thanksgiving Day working in the local food pantry since her parents were living it up in San Francisco and weren’t planning to make the trip home.

The Lassiters had planned to celebrate the weekend before Thanksgiving because Madison needed to get back to her millinery shop in Louisville to work on Black Friday. So, Madison was in town with her boyfriend Halden Dahl, and they stopped by to see Zoë that Sunday. It was then that they roped her into having dinner with the whole family back at Madison and Tanner’s parents’ house.

After reluctantly agreeing to join them, Zoë was afraid she still wasn’t yet ready to see Tanner. She knew what he wanted from her was to rekindle their relationship, but there was just so much at stake.

Dinner was comfortable, at least for a while. Halden had plenty of entertaining stories to tell, and the Lassiters asked Tanner a few pointed questions about his gubernatorial campaign. Zoë knew it was only in the early stages. The election was still a year away, but the groundwork was beginning to be laid.

Mrs. Lassiter had naturally seated Zoë next to Tanner at the table, and toward the end of the meal she looked around the table making the observation, “This is almost like when you were all high school kids, except Madison’s boyfriend Crunch—or Kevin, if you will—used to sit where you are, Halden.” She frowned a little and went on, “I’m sorry to say, I never liked that boy very much. Halden, dear, you are a vast improvement.” Then she smiled at Zoë and Tanner. “And I never could understand why the two of you didn’t continue your romance after high school. You were as cute together as can be.”

Zoë’s face went red and Tanner spluttered, “How did you know Zoë and I had a romance?”

“Tanner, I’m your mother,” she laughed. “There isn’t much that gets by me, and it was pretty obvious when you took her to your senior prom. But more than that, how many other girls are there in town with hair like Zoë’s? None I can think of. And I used to find evidence of it rather often in your bed when I changed the sheets.”

Zoë gasped.

Madison giggled.

Tanner looked embarrassed.

Dr. Lassiter asked Halden, “Care for another roll, son?”

“Don’t mind if I do, sir,” Halden answered with a smile.

“So?” asked Mrs. Lassiter. “Is there any hope of rekindling the spark with the two of you?” When they both just gaped at her, she sighed as if to herself, “Just think of the beautiful babies...” Without waiting for any response, she stood and announced, “I’ll just go put on the coffee. Does everyone want pecan or pumpkin pie?” She looked fondly at Halden. “Or both?”

Dr. and Mrs. Lassiter had always been pretty accepting of what went on, and Zoë decided she needn’t worry about their high school dalliances. There had been no judgment in Mrs. Lassiter’s statement—only hope. So, when Tanner drove her back to her place, she found herself relaxing a little where he was concerned. Maybe hehadmatured and wouldn’t hurt her again. They were both adults now, she reasoned. Still—he had those ambitions of his and she certainly didn’t want to be his downfall.

It was a short drive—only a few blocks, and they could have walked if the temperature hadn’t been so frigid. It was unseasonably cold for fall. Neither seemed to know what to say, however, so it was a silent few blocks.

Tanner pulled up into Zoë’s driveway, and she turned to him, regarding him with a steady gaze. He looked at her hopefully, so she asked, “Would you like to come in for a drink?”

Yesss!“Sure, that sounds nice. Thanks, Zoë.”Progress at last!

Unfortunately, when they got inside, the temperature wasn’t any better than it had been outdoors. “Oh no!” Zoë muttered. “The stupid pilot light must have gone out again on the furnace. Have a seat, Tanner, and I’ll go try to fix it.”

Feeling chivalrous, Tanner argued, “I’ll do it. You just fix us some drinks and I’ll be right back. Oh, do you have matches?”

“This happens so often with that crappy old piece of garbage, there’s a long-necked grill lighter downstairs on the shelf. You’ll see it. It’s red.”

A couple of minutes later, Tanner returned, and the sound of forced air could be heard rattling through the ducts. It was still cold, though. Tanner took a seat a few inches from Zoë on the couch and eyed the glass of golden liquid she’d poured for him and set on the coffee table. “Is that…?”

Zoë interrupted his question with a chuckle. “Don’t worry. It’s not that rotgut Brandon drank. I bought a bottle of the good stuff the other day for… uh…” Her voice trailed off and Tanner scooted a couple of inches closer with a smug grin.

“Are you too cold?” he asked. She nodded and he could see her shivering slightly. “Can I help?” Feeling smooth, he scooted closer still so they were touching and he put his arm around her shoulders. “Here you go; I’ll warm you up. He tucked her head under his chin. His jacket was open, so his body heat invaded Zoë immediately. “This is nice, Zoë. You feel so good in my arms.” He leaned his cheek on her head, feeling her silky hair. It felt like home, and he knew he hadn’t breathed so easily in years.

They sat that way for several minutes, just soaking up the feel of each other, when Zoë finally spoke up. “Tanner?”

“Hmm?”

“Can we… um… can we maybe try it out… and take things slowly?”

Tanner felt his heartbeat accelerate as he pulled back to look at her. “Oh Zoë. Slowly, quickly, whatever you want. I want to be here for you. I’ll try not to come on too strong, so let me know if I get ahead of myself, okay? I don’t ever,everwant to hurt you.”

“Alright. Now don’t go getting any ideas here, Romeo. I’m just going to take off my jacket because you’re such a heater, I’m starting to get too hot.” She stood and started to go hang her jacket in the hall closet. “Want me to hang yours up too?” Tanner whipped his off as well and handed it to her.

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