Page 27 of Heart of Dixie
“It’s why I’m back, Deke. Once I finish here I need to head to the grocery store for a few things, then I should be free for the afternoon.”
“Oh yeah? I’m on my way for groceries now.”
Stephanie entered the shop from the back—followed by an employee who veered off to help Deke—and grabbed her catering binder when she spotted me. I followed her to a white ice cream parlor table stationed alongside the pink candy-striped wall and took a seat across from her as she flipped to my page. Deke chose two doughnuts, cream filled with chocolate frosting, took a bite and ended up with a dab on his lip. Oh, dear God, I couldfeelmy tongue on his lip,tastethe cream as I licked it off—
“Mmm, here we go.” Stephanie skimmed the page with a finger and jerked me back to reality.
The bell on the door dinged, bright daylight slashed onto the floor tiles, and Deke stepped outside. I forced my attention to the book. “This all looks fine.” I had no idea what I was looking at.
“I have preparations underway for most of it already. And I added in the German chocolate brownies and mini lava cakes; they’re my best sellers.” She lowered her voice and cupped her hand to her mouth as if she were divulging a state secret. “I’ll be entering them in the Founder’s Day bake-off next month. That Elsie Hoffer willnotbeat me this year!” The woman scowled as she made her declaration, then beamed up at me. “Besides, they were always George’s favorites. He was such a fan of my chocolate.”
He was?Oh my.“That all sounds . . . wonderful.”
Deke
It didn’t matter how many carts were available when I arrived at the market, I found the one with a broken wheel. I was already loaded down with all of Cody’s must haves—pop, chips, those disgusting cookie pies filled with marshmallow crème and then coated with banana-flavored icing. I bumped through the aisles on my way to the canned tuna. Everything about it was revolting—the mushy texture, the fishy smell—but the kid gobbled it up, so into the basket it went.
The checkout lines were long, not surprising for a Saturday afternoon. I chose one and took my place in the queue. None of this wandering up and down the width of the lanes in search of the checker who’ll get me out three minutes faster. Nope. Just pick a line and park it, folks. We’ll all get a turn to cough over our cash.
The magazine headlines at the end of my row held enough news to keep me occupied for hours. Some sixteen-year-old reality star gave birth—again; diet tricks to help me lose twenty-five pounds in a week and a half; a sex IQ quiz.Whoa!A quick flashback of a half-naked Dixie asleep on my bed raced through my memory and landed in my dick.Fuck!My mind needed to take a left turn, quick! Ah, Drew Hensley pissed some chick off and a concerned citizen managed to capture video of her dumping spaghetti on his lap. Classic. I picked up a copy to skim through as the checker rang up Cody’s junk fest.
Once everything was down the conveyor belt and paid for, I lifted my plastic sacks in one hand, tucked my wallet away with my other, turned and—crash!—barreled into the shopper beside me.“Dixie!”
My arm shot out to keep her from falling off her shoes. My sacks fell to the floor, cookies and tuna tumbling amid scattered cans that had slipped from her bag as she bobbled her large frozen pizza and bottle of wine.
She laughed once she was stable, and I dropped to a squat. “Excuse me! I . . . I’m so sorry!” I grabbed a bag and started to refill it. “I keep running into you today.” A bottle of cola had rolled out of reach. I stretched for it. “Literally. Running into you.”Shut up, idiot!
She surveyed the mess around us. “Wow, that’s a lot of junk food. I would think you eat healthier than that.” Her face flamed.
I finished shoving her purchases back into sacks and then rose. “What makes you—?”Oh, Jesus!Was she remembering menaked? My own face heated even as body parts further south warmed up for action. “It’s for Cody. Well, not all of it. The beer’s for me and Shane. We’re fishing this afternoon. At the stream behind my house.” What was it about this woman that turned me into a stammering fool? I thrust her sack toward her and darted to the side to avoid getting bumped by a cart driven by a six-year-old. The move jostled Dixie’s arm, threatening the pizza tucked under her arm. I gave it a pointed look. “Tonight’s healthy dinner?”
She glanced down at the box and nodded. “Girls’ night with Beth.” She took a step forward, led me toward the exit. I fell in beside her. “I had a few errands to run, made a few phone calls to check in on work. Gus was at the hardware store when I ran in to pick up a few things. I’m supposed to meet him at Cooter’s house tomorrow morning.”
Her eyes darted as we walked, never landing on me, and she jabbered like a magpie. Dixie Barnes was hot as sin and had fueled my dreams for the past two nights; what didshehave to be nervous about? We stepped through the door and I stopped atthe ice cooler stationed at the front of the building. “I need—” I gestured toward the machine.
“Oh! Sure!” She halted, nodded, searched the lot as if she’d lost her car, then turned a long gaze on me. “Well, have fun fishing with your nephew. I guess I’ll see you around.” She lowered her head and blew out a huff of air. “I gotta go.” And she did.
I grabbed a tub of worms from the cooler and stuck it in the sack with Cody’s banana cookie cakes; he’d never notice the difference. I paid for a bag of ice, too, so I pulled that out and followed Dixie across the parking lot. Or followed her ass, rather, as that was all I saw as I crossed the asphalt. The loose skirt of her dress swayed side to side, giving teasing glimpses of the firm flesh beneath. The smooth, supple, rounded globes that fit just right in my palms as I poised above her, fit against me like puzzle pieces as we lay sleeping together, and . . .Shit!
I turned around and headed back the way I came. I’d passed my truck three vehicles ago and Dixie was gone; the only thing left of her was in my imagination. I lowered the bag of ice to the erection straining the front of my jeans. I needed that girl back in my bed. And I could deny it until the sun turned purple, but I needed her back in my heart, as well.
16
Deke
“Hey, where’d Daddy go?”
I squinted against the afternoon sun glimmering off the surface of the creek. I’d waded upstream several yards in hopes of dodging Cody’s non-stop barrage of chatter. He countered by upping the volume. “I think he’s napping, sport.” Either that or playing possum laid out on a blanket in the shade, but I’d cover for him as he was at the clinic with an emergency most of the night.
“Hey, Daddy, are you asleep?” Cody twisted in the little chair we’d parked at the edge of the water, no easy feat given the bulky swim vest Shane had him buckled into. “Daddy, my worm’s gone again.” I glanced past the bobber swinging above the surface of the water and grinned. Sucked to be Shane right now because sure enough, Cody’s bright red Spider-Man rod had an empty hook on the end of the line . . . again.
“Cody, are we here to catch the fish or feed them?” Shane grumbled as he rose and headed to the cooler for another worm.
Cody belly laughed. “Silly Daddy. We’re here to catch them.” Funny kid. Shane’s sarcasm sailed right over his head. “But I need a new worm. Uncle Deke doesn’t have enough fish for dinner yet. I have to help him.”
The fish hadn’t nibbled for me in a while, so I laid my pole on the bank and stripped off my T-shirt to cool off in the water. “Why don’t you give your old man a break, Cody? Come swimming with me.” I hung it over a branch, and the little guy was out of his chair, fitting a miniature mask and snorkel over his face. And Dixie was teetering across the yard toward the stream, her gait awkward with her narrow heels puncturing the uneven ground. A plastic grocery sack hung from one hand.
She stopped before she reached the bank, her eyes covered by fancy sunglasses and impossible to read. The hem of her dress ruffled on a slight breeze, and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. Jesus, I had it bad.
