“Absolutely,” Rissa said. “You’ll put him in his place; he’ll put you in yours.”

  “He has done that a few times,” she said.

  “As I’m sure you have for him,” Rissa said.

  “Maybe,” Cherry admitted. “Riss.” She didn’t know how to say what ran through her mind.

  Rissa looked at her, then turned into the parking lot outside the music store. She brought her SUV to a stop and looked at Cherry again. “What?”

  “It’s mostly me that needs to be put in line,” she said. “Jed’s…great. Wonderful.”

  “He’s still a little salty,” Rissa said. “Like Lee.”

  Cherry smiled then. “Yes, like Lee.”

  “And he’s been married twice.”

  “Well, just once, technically.”

  “Rose sure seems to like him,” Rissa said. “And Spence puts up with me. We just…find our person, you know? I think Jed is yours, but it doesn’t matter what I think.”

  Cherry nodded, plucked her application from the folder she’d brought it in, and went inside the music store. The man who did the interviews wasn’t there, so she couldn’t meet him and make a personal connection, which only soured her mood further.

  Lunch went well, and then Rissa stayed in the car to feed Bronson while Cherry went inside City Hall. She took deep breath after deep breath while her purse and cell phone went through the metal detector. They had courtrooms here, and no firearms could go inside.

  She bypassed the courtrooms and went to the Records Office tucked back into the corner on the first floor. Another woman stood in line ahead of her, and Cherry shifted her feet, not sure if she even needed to check in here.

  The nerves running through her bothered her, but she didn’t know how to tame them. Just like she didn’t know how to control her tongue sometimes, and she didn’t know why she couldn’t just tell Jed yes sometimes.

  The other woman left, and Cherry stepped to the window. The whole thing had a piece of plexiglass from counter to ceiling, and she’d have to pass anything through a slot in front of her. Surprise filled her at the security of this place, and she wondered if she really wanted a job like this.

  With an office manager job—or the one here for a full-time county clerk—would allow her to wear all of her professional clothes from San Antonio. She’d gone through her closet, of course, but she owned a lot of nice things, and she’d gotten rid of very little.

  She’d driven thirty minutes around the city to work; she could drive into Sweet Water Falls in less time than that. She had all the skills to do the jobs she’d been applying for. It had been disheartening not to secure one on the first day, with the first application, but she reminded herself today was only Wednesday, and this was only the fourth job she’d inquired about.

  “Hello,” she said. “My name is Cherry Cooper. I have an appointment with Rhonda Gappmeyer at one-fifteen?”

  “Yes,” the woman there said. She wore her plain brown hair back in a ponytail, but her eyes looked happy enough. “Her office is down the hall to the left there. I’ll let her know you’re here.”

  “All right.” Cherry turned to leave, and she glanced left before entering the hall. A couple of men stood in the hallway, both in police uniforms. A flash of unease blitzed through her, because she did not want to run into the Sheriff’s Deputy before talking to Rhonda.

  In that moment, she realized that she might run into Charlie at any time now that she was back in town. Especially if she got the job here.

  But neither of the men a few paces away were Charlie. One did look familiar though. Cherry moved to her right out of the office, which would’ve been her left when she was facing the other way. This hallway was narrow and the dark brown brick on both walls on either side of her made it dark.

  Doors stood here, all of them closed, and Cherry wasn’t sure if she was just supposed to linger in the hallway or what.

  Thankfully, a door at the corner opened, and Rhonda appeared. She wore a darling dark brown skirt in what looked like leather, with huge buttons down the front of it. Her pale pink blouse looked stunning with the skirt, and with her darker complexion and hair.

  “Cherry,” she said warmly. “Right in here.”

  “Thank you,” Cherry said, entering the office. She expected it to be dark because of the bricks, but it wasn’t. It had no windows, but light poured from the ceiling above, and Rhonda had filled the countertop immediately inside the office with various decorations, pictures, and a trio of lamps which provided more light.

  Her desk took up one end of the office, and she sat behind that while she said, “Take a seat,” and indicated a couple of comfy-looking armchairs in black leather.

  Cherry did, wishing she’d changed out of her dark jeans into a pair of black slacks. She told herself this wasn’t an interview, and she smiled at Rhonda. “I really just wanted a little more information about the job before I apply. I didn’t mean you had to sit down with me.”

  “I don’t mind,” Rhonda said, and she pushed something out of her way on her desk. “It’s a big position here. It’s not an elected position, but because the county isn’t over eight thousand in population, the County Clerk also serves as the District Clerk here.”

  Cherry swallowed. “I didn’t know that.”

  “It’s a lot of court meetings,” she said. “Transcribing. Documents. A ton of filing.” Rhonda smiled like this was easy, easy work. “You’re the custodian for all court records. You’d oversee jury selection if needed. You handle all court fees and document fees.”

  Cherry nodded and tried to put a smile on her face. “So I work the window.”

  “No.” Rhonda gave a light laugh. “You’d have an office like this, but yours is in the back of the building. It has a window.” She leaned into her desk. “You have to take minutes at all public city and county meetings. So there’s evening work. Then, there’s a lot you just get handed that you have to take care of. Stuff you didn’t necessarily touch, but need to document and file, date and send out confirmations. A lot of that.”

  “Okay,” Cherry said. She liked Rhonda’s energy and spirit, and she too leaned forward. “I think I want to apply. Do I need any special requirements?”

  “There’s on-the-job training,” Rhonda said, pushing herself back and opening a desk drawer. “In fact, District Clerks are required to have twenty hours of training every year.”

  She stood and handed Cherry a packet of papers. “You worked at SATC in San Antonio?’

  “Yes,” Cherry said, standing and studying the front paper. Average application. Name, date of birth, all the usual suspects.

  “So you’ve lived in Texas for longer than twelve months.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Cherry said, raising her eyes to Rhonda’s. “A lot longer than that.”

  “Are you registered to vote here in Refugio County?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “That’s a requirement,” Rhonda said. “Technically, you’re supposed to live here for six months too, but I think I can get that waived if the rest of your application looks stellar.”

  Cherry’s heart bobbed in her chest, sagging to the soles of her feet and then rebounding to the back of her throat. “Okay,” she said. “Thank you, Miss Gappmeyer.”

  Rhonda sat back down, obviously not going to walk Cherry the five steps to the door. “Say hi to Will for me,” she said. “He supplies all the milk for Marty’s ice cream parlor.” She smiled at Cherry, who should’ve known this woman would know someone in her family. Everyone in Sweet Water Falls did. “And give my regards to your parents. I hope your momma is doin’ okay.”

  “She is,” Cherry said, flashing a smile she hoped wouldn’t hold too much pain. She left the office, the packet feeling like a load of bricks in her hand. She navigated her way to the exit, and she’d very nearly stepped outside when a man called her name.

  She turned back and saw the very last person on the planet she ever wanted to see again: Brandon Alcott.

  Jogging toward her, wearing a power suit in dark gray, with a purple and blue tie flapping against his abdomen.

  Cherry didn’t wait for him. She turned and left the building, as if that would stop Brandon from following her. Her heartbeat zig-zagged through her veins, making everything hurt it moved so fast.

  “Cherry,” he said again, and as disoriented at seeing him as she was, she didn’t even know what Rissa’s SUV looked like right now. She’d felt like this before—once before. The night Charlie had laughed at her and told her no, he wasn’t going to propose. Not before he became the Chief of Police—and that still hadn’t happened.

  She’d been lost. So humiliated. So broken. So alone.

  She’d run to the first man she could find, and she hadn’t even known his name. All she’d wanted was someone to want her.

  “Hey,” he said, and Brandon appeared in front of her. He smiled at her, but it felt greasy and so wrong. “I heard you were back in town.”

  “I don’t want to talk to you.” She tried to brush by him, but Brandon dodged in front of her again.

  “Why not?” His brow wrinkled like he was truly confused. Could he be? They’d spent less than a couple of hours together, twelve years ago. Of course she didn’t want to talk to him.

  “Cherry?”

  She turned toward her sister’s voice, relieved to find Rissa stepping onto the curb, her son in her arms. Cherry reached for him, ignoring all of her sister’s unspoken questions. She looked past Cherry to Brandon.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “Brandon Alcott,” he said, extending his hand.

  “Stop it,” Cherry barked at him, letting all the saltiness she’d been trying to tame for Jed come out. Because this wasn’t Jed. “You’re not introducing yourself to her. This isn’t happening.” She turned away from Brandon and glared at her sister. “Come on, Riss. We still have things to do today.”

  Rissa said nothing to Brandon, thankfully, but she did follow Cherry back to the SUV at a slower pace. Of course, Cherry marched like she had to get there in the next two seconds or her feet would grow roots and she’d never get free.

  She put Bronson in the back seat and extended her hand toward her sister for the keys. “Can I drive?”

  “No,” Rissa said, her green eyes firing dangerously now too. “Tell me who that was.”

  “No one,” Cherry said, going around the front of the SUV. Brandon stood on the sidewalk several paces away, and she glared at him too. He stood there, still and silent, and Cherry thanked the heavens above for that. Rissa hadn’t gotten in, and she only did after Cherry slammed her door.

  “Cherry,” she said.

  “He’s some guy,” Cherry said, everything in her chest vibrating and boiling now. “When Charlie broke up with me that last time, I was so…devastated. I’d spent so long with him, and I just wanted him to love me. I wanted anyone to love me.” She looked at Rissa as tears spilled down her face. “I…I did something I regret doing. I went out with him.” She indicated the man beyond the windshield. “It was a one-night thing. But I left town because of Charlie, because of complicated things with Mama and Daddy, and because I’d gotten pregnant.”

  Rissa’s eyes widened, and she reached over to grab Cherry’s arm.

  “I lost the baby the week I moved,” she said, sniffling and wiping her eyes. “I never told anyone.” She looked out the windshield again, but Brandon had gone. Left. Just like she had. “Can we go?”

  “Yes,” Rissa said crisply. “Yes, we can.” She got the car moving, backed up, out of the parking lot. She drove down the main highway, and Cherry looked out her window at the beachfront property on her right. It wasn’t really beachfront, as the highway stood between the houses and condos and the beach, but she figured it was close enough.

  Rissa didn’t pull into a grocery store. She seemed to be driving aimlessly, and Cherry felt the same way inside. “I haven’t told Jed,” she said. “Or Mama and Daddy.” She turned and looked at Rissa, who wore her anxiety on her face. “Do you think I need to?”

  Her sister swallowed and finally flipped on her blinker. She made a U-turn and went back toward the grocer they’d passed. “I don’t know, Cher. I think…I don’t think you have to confess to everyone, you know? If you want to, and it’s part of your healing, then sure, you should tell them. But if not…and you’re good with God…then, no. I don’t think they need to know.”

  Cherry nodded and looked out her window again. “I don’t know what I should do.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” Cherry reached up and wiped her eyes again. “I can’t believe I cried over this. Everything is just so…mixed up right now.”

  “You weren’t crying over him,” she said. “Just probably surprised and scared you ran into him.”

  “Yeah,” Cherry said as her sister parked. “But what if that means I’m not ready to move on? I’ve felt ready to move on—with Jed.” She met her sister’s eyes, and Cherry didn’t want to hold anything back anymore. Not from herself, and not from her family, and not from Jed. “I’m falling in love with him too. You know? What if he doesn’t want me either?”

  “Oh, sissy.” Rissa leaned across the console and took Cherry into her arms. “That’s what you need to get past. Not Charlie. Not this one-night stand. Not if you should tell people about it. But that you’re worthy of being loved. That you’re a lovable person. That of course Jed loves you, because of you, not for any other reason.”

  Cherry held her and tried to reason through what she’d said. “I sometimes don’t feel loved,” she admitted.

  “Which is crazy,” Rissa said, pulling away. “Given how many of us think you’re a Rockstar.” She smiled at Cherry, her own eyes glassy. “Seriously, Cherry, I’ve looked up to you for my whole life. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted to be.”

  She nodded, her emotions settling down. “Thank you, Riss.”

  “I love you,” she said. “Everyone out at the farm does. Everyone you meet does, because you’re so good at making people feel seen.” She unbuckled as Bronson started to fuss. “Now, come on. Our window of good behavior with this baby is running out.”

  Cherry went inside to get her groceries, her mind revolving around what Rissa had said. All she’d ever wanted was to be seen, and so yes, she worked really hard at making sure those around her knew she saw them, their efforts, and their worth.

  Jed sees you, she thought, and that was her answer. She didn’t need to tell anyone else about what had happened so long ago…except him. She didn’t want there to be anything between them, which meant he got to know all of her secrets.

  Every last one.

  16

  Jed pressed the nail gun to the last of the shingles and it went pop-pop! Pop-pop! and the job was done. He stood straight and groaned as his back made the same noise as the nail gun just had. Easton so owed him for this.

  He cleaned up, sweeping debris over the lip of the roof and onto the tarp below. He’d be able to gather it all up and dump it in their community dumpster easier that way. He reattached the rain gutters, then finally, finally, folded the ladder and put it in the back of his truck.

  Dusk had started to cover Texas, and Jed had been putting in long hours in the past couple of weeks since returning from San Antonio. He had nothing to complain about, however, because he now saw his girlfriend each and every day.

  He hadn’t run into Cherry yet today, but he figured he’d see her waiting on his front steps. If they didn’t have plans, that was usually where he found her. Once or twice, he’d gone out to her new place in Short Tail, but with calving happening, and all the other work he had around the farm, she usually came to him.

  She hadn’t started a new job yet, and she’d gotten a little glassy-eyed when he’d asked her about it last night. “You’ve had two interviews with the city,” he said. “You’ll get the clerk job.”

  Probably not until after the holidays, which stressed her out, but Jed felt certain she’d get that job. Then, she’d have to work some evenings, and he wouldn’t get to see her sitting on his steps. “You can go to her,” he said, bending to pick up the tarp with the minor debris from the re-shingling of his brother’s cabin.

  With all of that cleaned up, Jed headed over to the equipment shed where they kept the ATVs. He was on the field check that evening, and Chris had put double-duty headlamps on one of their machines so they could see in the dark.

  He noticed an extra black car parked out front when he pulled in, and he grinned for all he was worth as Cherry straightened from her sleek sedan. She wore her hair back and up, revealing that gorgeous neck and those ears he loved to kiss.

  “Hello, beautiful lady,” he said, plenty of flirtatiousness in his voice. “What’re you doin’ here?”

  “Chris said you were on the evening field check,” she said, coming around the front of her car. She leaned her palms into him and tipped up to kiss him. Jed kissed her back, but he didn’t take her into his arms and kiss her. He still had work to do today, and if he was lucky, he could get her to come with him.

  “I figured sitting on your steps would be a waste of my time tonight.” She smiled at him, and Jed regretted the tame kiss.

  “It would,” he said. “I should’ve texted you. I figured I’d be out and back in no time.” He nodded toward the souped-up ATV. “Do you want to go for a ride?”

  “In the dark?” She eyed the machine like it might tip her off the back of it on purpose.

  “Sure,” Jed said. “Fish comes all the time.” In fact, his dog trotted out of the equipment shed in that moment, his brother not far behind.

  “Hey, Chris,” Jed called. He bent down to scratch the black lab’s ears as he said, “Heya, Fishy. Did you find Chris to bother this afternoon while I was on the roof?” The dog just grinned up at him, and he turned to his brother, who was doing the same. They hugged, and then Chris stood next to Cherry and grinned at her.

  Jed didn’t introduce them, because they’d met loads of times in the past. His heartbeat did thump strangely, and he wasn’t sure why.