Page 24 of Sweet Obsession
The raw vulnerability in his voice squeezed at Jillian’s heart. Without thinking, she reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it slightly, offering what little comfort she could. The slight tipping of one corner of his mouth as he squeezed back only confused her more.
Her mother moved to Blake’s other side, as she’d done so many times, so many years ago. Her mother was there for all her children, and her sort-of children. “Of course not, dear.”
“So what’s the alternative?” Garret asked. “We stonewall them?”
“That’ll just make them dig harder,” Carson countered. “And with the reporters offering money to the locals for any gossip, it won’t be pretty.”
Jillian felt completely helpless. Now what?
Kade’s focus narrowed, his gaze locking first on his sister, then on his one-time best friend. A glimmer of light dawned in his eyes, the look of a soldier assessing a battlefield and finally seeing a single, viable path forward. “We’ll give them a story we all can live with. A different story. A better one. One they won’t see coming.”
Her brother looked to Blake, his gaze dropping to Jillian and his clasped hands, then back up. He waited a beat, staring at Blake until through some unspoken language. Blake got the message and nodded his agreement.
Suddenly, Carson starting bobbing his head, a smile teasing his lips. “I get it. What we were discussing earlier?”
Kade nodded. “You came to visit family during your break. You met the girl you left behind—”
“If you mean me,” Jillian had begun to put the pieces together, “I was ten the last time I saw Blake. If they’re any kind of reporters, they’ll figure that out fast.”
“Agreed.” Blake pulled Jillian closer to his side. “But you’re on the right track. I reconnected with my best friend’s little sister, who isn’t so little anymore.”
“Oh,” Sarah Sue clapped her hands together, “everyone loves a best friend little sister story. The reporters are going to eat it up. So will your fans.”
The air sizzled with an unexpected electricity.
Alice Sweet walked over and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. “I don’t know what happened here, but I couldn’t be happier for you.” Her mom eased back and then gave Blake an equally warm embrace until her phone beeped and she sprang back. “Oh, heck. I forgot about Mildred. I’ll tell her what’s going on.”
“And I,” Iris turned to follow Alice, “will get started on spreading the word about the new romance.” Rubbing her hands together, Iris almost shook with excitement as she hurried back into the house.
Preston turned to Blake. “I guess we’ve killed two birds with one stone. Your presence in town,” he spun around to face the other siblings, “and our next trust fund payment is just a marriage license away.”
Chapter Twelve
The worn cowboy hat Alice had pressed on him the other day felt surprisingly natural, a low-profile disguise that, combined with the dusty ranch truck, should have been enough to dodge any unwanted attention—not that it had done any good hiding from the town, but it should be enough to avoid any lurking reporters. Just in case, Blake had left the ranch immediately after breakfast at zero dark thirty. Most of Main Street was still sleeping. Pulling into the lot at Miller’s Dry Goods, he took a front parking space, figuring the best hiding place was right under everyone’s noses. No one would expect him to show his face if he was hiding.
Adjusting the brim of his hat, he slipped on his sunglasses and headed down the cracked sidewalk toward his parents’ street. Only a few blocks away, he opted to cut through the back alley. It was one thing to park out in the open in a grocery store parking lot, it was another to march up to his parents’ front door for all to see. If Alice Sweet and Iris Hathaway were correct, by midday today the reporters would have their answers, a story to file and print, and be on their merry way back to any big city in search of some other seedy headline.
His plan was simple: slip into his parents’ backyard, give them the story before they heard it from the town gossip mill, and slip back out. Somehow, calling to inform them that he was now dating Jillian Sweet and expected to marry her soon—verysoon—felt wrong. Even if this was a business deal at heart, after all, the Sweets financial struggles were not his to share. But if he were going to make this feel real, he knew an announcement of this magnitude was something he’d tell them in person.
He vaulted the low wooden gate into his parents’ yard, the same one he’d jumped a thousand times as a kid. The yard was empty, quiet. He crept up the back steps, his boots silent on the weathered wood, and peered through the screen door into the kitchen. His mom stood at the stove, his dad in his spot at the kitchen table. Perfect.
Inching the door open, his mother’s face brightened instantly. “Blake.” A moment later, he found himself in a bone crushing hug. Anyone would think she hadn’t seen him in months or years, not just the other day.
“This is a surprise, son.” His father wasn’t the touchy feely sort that his mother was. The man smiled, and raised his coffee mug. “Would you like a cup?”
“Sounds good.”
“You sit down.” His mother patted his arm and nudged him toward the table. “I’ll get it for you.”
“What brings you around?”
“Is this about Jillian?” His mom slid a cup of coffee in front of him a knowing smile on her face. “And you?”
“You heard?”
His mom’s head bobbed up and down so fast that he almost told her to stop for fear it might fall off. He knew that the town gossip mill was fast, but he didn’t think they’d be this fast.
“Iris called last night. Said that she and Alice found you and Jillian on the porch, kissing under the stars.” His mom sighed. “So romantic.”
