The Maverick Who Ruled Her Heart. Susan Carlisle

looked at him for a second then said, “I haven’t missed one in five years so I don’t think I’ll be missing this one.”

      “Mind if I tag along with you? I don’t really know anyone.”

      It took her so long to answer he started to think she wasn’t going to. Suddenly there was a look of triumph on her face.

      “I have to be there early to set up. I’m on the committee.”

      “I don’t mind going along and helping out.”

      “Good. I’m going to take you at your word. I’ll pick you up a seven a.m. on Saturday. No, let me change that. You drive. You’ve got a bigger vehicle.”

      “Why do I think I’ve just been had?”

      Kelsey grinned then walked off.

      The weatherman had said the storm had stalled in the Gulf and wouldn’t be coming ashore until early the next week. Saturday dawned sunny with a light breeze. The picnic was still on. Jordon pulled up into Kelsey’s drive promptly at seven in the morning. He and Kelsey hadn’t had much interaction in the last few days other than brief encounters over patients.

      The door to her place opened. She stepped out and waved, indicating she needed him to come inside. He climbed out of the SUV and she called, “Hey, did you plan to sit there while I do all the work?”

      “Sorry, I didn’t know I was needed.” He strolled toward the door. Kelsey had already disappeared inside again.

      She pushed the door open and handed him a large box. “This needs to go, then come back and help me with the ice chests.”

      “Yes, ma’am.”

      Having stowed the box, he returned. The door wasn’t open so he knocked and called through the screen door, “Kelsey?”

      “Come on in.”

      She didn’t wait for him to respond, disappearing down the hall.

      Jordon entered. The interior was arranged very much like his place. The only thing different was that this bungalow had a feminine feel to it. Candles were arranged on the counter, bright throw blankets lay over the furniture and pictures of flowers adorned the walls.

      “The coolers are next to the bar in the kitchen. I’ll be there to help in a sec.”

      True to her word, she stepped into the room a few minutes later, wearing a tight T-shirt with something sparkling around the scooped neckline that gave him a hint of cleavage and cutoff jeans that showed off her legs to their best advantage. There was something raw and inviting about her. A woman who stood out in a crowd. He could see a touch of the young girl there too that he known so many years before.

      Kelsey reached for a handle on one end of a large box cooler and he took the other. Together they carried it out. When they got to the rear of the SUV, they set it down while Jordon opened the doors.

      “I’ll take it from here.” He lifted the cooler into the vehicle. “What have you got in this thing? Rocks?”

      “Water balloons.”

      “Water balloons!”

      “I’m in charge of the water-balloon fight.”

      “I’m glad I’m not signed up for that.”

      “You’re too old,” she quipped.

      “How’s that? My hair’s not even gray yet.”

      “It’s for the teenagers. That’s how we get them to come to the picnic each year.”

      Jordon pushed the cooler further into the SUV. “Makes sense. Is that it?”

      She turned toward the house. “Nope. There’s another cooler.”

      “Why am I not surprised?”

      Together they brought another cooler out to the SUV. “Just how were you planning to get these to the park if I hadn’t come along?”

      “Aw, I would have gotten one of the guys at work to help me.”

      That he wasn’t shocked to hear. She seemed to always have some guy hanging around. Right now he wasn’t much different but he’d keep his distance, if not in the physical sense the at least on an emotional level.

      “Anything else?”

      “I just have to get one more small cooler and a couple of bags. And my cake.”

      “Was I supposed to bring something?”

      “No. Someone suggested we have a cake auction to raise money to help redecorate the children’s wing. I was roped into baking one.”

      “I’ll help you with the bags and you can handle the cake.”

      Ten minutes later they were in the SUV, headed toward town.

      “Do you know where the park is?”

      He gave her an incredulous look. “Yes. Remember I used to live here.”

      “That’s right. I keep forgetting.”

      Something about the way she made that statement made him believe that wasn’t true.

      As he drove past her parents’ home he watched out of the corner of his eye to see if she looked. Her focus remained straight ahead. He wanted to ask her if she knew where Chad was, what had happened after he’d left town, but today wasn’t the right time. It would wait.