Page 6 of Sweet Obsession
Chapter Four
Jillian scraped the last bit of ice cream from her bowl, the sweet apple and cinnamon lingering on her tongue. Mrs. Kirby’s pies were legendary in Honeysuckle, and this one lived up to the reputation. Across from her, Blake watched his grandmother with an intensity that reminded her of a hawk tracking its prey—alert, focused, and missing nothing.
“Blake, dear, you’ve hardly touched your pie.” Mrs. Kirby gestured to his barely eaten slice. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone Hollywood on me with some fancy diet.”
“No, ma’am.” Blake smiled, though Jillian noticed it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Just enjoying the conversation.”
Pushing to her feet, Mrs. Kirby collected her and Jillian’s empty bowls and fixed her grandson with a look that was pure, unfiltered affection. “I’ll clean up while you finish your pie. Then I’ll head upstairs quick and straighten out your old room. Won’t take me long to move a few things out of the way and get fresh linens.”
Blake glanced at Jillian, a silent confirmation passing between them. “Actually, Grams, you don’t have to go to any trouble for me. I’m going to stay at the Sweet Ranch.”
A bowl in each hand, Mrs. Kirby blinked at her grandson. “The ranch? Well,” a pensive glare shifted to a wide smile, “what a nice idea. You and Kade can catch up properly. It’ll be just likeold times. Just don’t go getting into any mischief. You’re grown men now.” Sara Kirby turned on her heel and scurried into the kitchen.
Blake flinched, his own smile tightening at the edges. His grandmother had momentarily slipped, her timeline blurring the years. Kade hadn’t been around to get into mischief with Blake for a very long time. It was a small slip, the kind anyone could make, but in this context, it felt like a crack appearing in a perfectly polished veneer, revealing the fragility beneath. His jaw slightly agape, Blake’s gaze met hers. “I’m not imagining it.”
Even though it wasn’t really a question, she shook her head. “If Kade being in the military was a recent change, I might think it had slipped her mind, but he’s been gone as long as you have.”
“I know.” His gaze on the kitchen door, he leaned back and sighed. “That’s what’s scaring me.”
“I need to get back to the store before someone thinks I’ve been kidnapped by aliens. I assume you have a car?” Jillian asked.
He nodded. “Rented it at the airport. Parked it around the corner.”
“All right. Let me get back to work, let Carol know I’m going home early, and I’ll come back and get you. I don’t think we want a repeat of you lurking through the streets like a common prowler.” She hurried over to the kitchen doorway and leaned in. “Mrs. Kirby, thank you so much for the pie. It was delicious. But I should be getting back to my shop.”
“Of course, dear. Don’t be a stranger.” Sara Kirby left the dishes on the counter and turned to wrap Jillian in a surprisingly strong, lilac-scented hug. “And thank you for looking out for me, even if you were a little overzealous about it.”
Sharp Mrs. Kirby was back front and center. If the situation weren’t so alarming, Jillian might have found the shift funny.
She left Blake on the porch, turning back once to see him leaning against the railing, looking for all the world like the boy she used to know, just with broader shoulders and a heavier weight on them.
Jillian hurried down the street toward Heaven Scent, her mind racing faster than her feet. Holy cow. Was she really about to drive Blake Kirby to his car and then lead him back to her family’s ranch? Was this really happening? Blake Kirby, the boy from her youth, the rock star from her daydreams, was going to be staying at her house. The whole situation felt insanely surreal. Shoving open the door to Heaven Scent, she momentarily wondered if this wasn’t all a dream. Any second now, her alarm would go off and she’d awaken to the realization that chores needed to be done and Blake Kirby was somewhere else in the world making music that made women swoon.
Pulling her car up a few minutes later, seeing none other than the one and only Blake Kirby standing in the doorway of his grandmother’s house told her if this was a dream—it was a lulu.
Spotting her at the curb, he popped his head inside, hugged his grandmother, hurried down the front steps and jumped into her car with the speed and tension of a man who had just robbed a bank.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t quit your day job.” She pulled away from the curb but saw his brows buckle in confusion before an honest grin took over his face and low rumble of laughter escaped his chest.
“I guess I would make an awful cat burglar.”
“The worst.” Jillian smiled. “I mean, who wears a hoodie in ninety-degree heat? You might as well have worn a sign that said, ‘Suspicious Character.’”
His laugh was deeper this time, his shoulders relaxing slightly as he pointed down the street. “Black SUV is mine.”
Her brow lifted and she shook her head. “Really? You couldn’t find something a little more conspicuous?”
Looking meek, the man smiled and shrugged. “They didn’t have any pick-up trucks available.”
At least he still remembered what most people drove in this part of the state. Pulling up beside the vehicle, she watched him slip from her car into his, then waited for him to pull out behind her before she stepped on the gas. If this wasn’t a dream, life was about to get very, very interesting.
Blake’s rental bounced over the cattle guard, the metallic rumble sending a rush of nostalgia through him. Following Jillian Sweet’s car up the long gravel drive felt like coming home. The sprawling ranch house came into view, just as he remembered—a welcoming fortress of stone and timber against the vast Texas terrain. He cut the engine of the SUV, the silence that followed amplifying the sudden thud of his own heart.
Jillian was already out of her car, waiting for him by the porch steps. She looked small against the backdrop of the massive house, but there was a steadiness in her stance, an easy confidence he didn’t remember. Of course, the last time he’d really seen her, she’d been a scrawny kid with a talent for being underfoot whenever Kade had friends over. Before he could join her, the front door swung open and Alice Sweet bustled onto the porch, wiping her hands on her apron.
Her smile was as wide and warm as he remembered. “Blake Kirby? Is that really you?” Before he could say a word, she was off the front porch, standing in front of him, and pulling him into a tight bear hug.
Instantly, the stardom, the tour buses, the screaming crowds, all of it faded away. Now he was simply Blake Kirby, Kade’s best friend, standing in the front yard of his second home.
