Her Heart's Desire (Sunflower Series Book 1) (12 page)

Sliding the contraption into position, she
cinched it down with retractable straps. She stepped back to
inspect her work. If a strap broke loose, it could mean disaster,
unrepairable damage to one or more of her paintings. She’d only
used the wood rack twice before, and then, had only carried four
paintings on those trips to town, although, thank goodness, she had
the foresight to design the holder for a dozen pieces of
artwork—the exact number she needed to present to the gallery in
Kansas City. The gallery owner hinted during their last phone call
she may have already sold two or three based solely on the
photographs Lia had sent.

Testing the straps one last time, Lia paused
and wiped perspiration from her brow. What had her mother always
said? Men sweat. Ladies mist. At this rate, she’d need another
shower. Excessive misting had ruined her makeup. The September sun
beat down as though it confused arid Arizona with the green plains
of the Midwest. Deodorant hadn’t been designed to work
miracles.

“I might as well finish the job before
showering again,” she muttered, scanning the yard. If the corn in
the field or the hummingbirds flitting around the feeders heard her
talking to herself, none seemed to mind.

Opening the door to the sun porch, she
stepped aside when Gentleman Jack bolted past her, his ears
flopping and feet flying so quickly only two touched the ground at
any one time. Zipping along, he galloped his way around the corner
of the house and out of sight.

“You’ll be back,” Lia shouted after him.

Taking care, she wrapped each delicate
painting to prevent damage. One by one, she loaded them onto the
rack inside the trailer. The larger ones at one end, the rest in
descending size order. When she finished laboring over the project,
Jack reappeared. Panting hard, he dropped to the ground at her
feet. He looked up at her as if to confirm he’d run the perimeter
of the premises and all was in order. He was ready and waiting on
her.

“Good fella.” She bent and scratched behind
his ear. “Want a cookie before I shower?”

Jack followed her inside where she treated
him, then treated herself to a quick, cool rinse. She selected an
outfit of black slacks and a pink and orange flowered top that said
summer. While dressing, she replayed in her mind the conversation
she’d shared yesterday with Zoë. Her friend’s expressed shock over
the confession about Lucas’s innocent kiss surprised her. She still
hadn’t shaken off the uncomfortable feeling. Vulnerability made her
want to hide.

“Lucas. Lucas Dwyer,” Zoë had said. “No
wonder you and he have acted so strange, especially lately. He’s
like a big brother to you. If we were back in grade school, I
would’ve guessed you liked each other. Classic behavior. Now,
whenever he’s around, you zip it and either frown or just ignore
him.”

“You’ve got a vivid imagination.”

“I’m not the one who paints pictures.”

“Wait now. My paintings are my interpretation
of what I see around me. Not some embellishment of the truth.”

“Well, I’ve been blind all this time. I
couldn’t see what was in front of me. You like Lucas.”

“Of course, I like him. As you said, he’s
like a brother to me.”

“I’m thinking your feelings fail to fit into
the
la familia
category.”

Lia hadn’t wanted to lie, so instead, she’d
zipped it. Zoë was right. She did have feelings for Lucas. Deep
ones. And some seesawed back and forth. She wanted him to fold her
into his arms and kiss her again, not to offer a grieving woman
comfort, but to offer love and happiness. A future together. At the
same time, she wanted to swat him hard for interfering with her
life, behind her back no less, at her brother’s request. Could
Lucas ever truly see her as more than Craig’s sister? Was that hope
a pipe dream? Lucas was right. Craig wouldn’t like it.

Lia brushed her hair. Her mind continued its
focus on Lucas Dwyer. Funny that her very first kiss has come from
him back when she was a junior in high school and her prom date
dumped her at the last minute for the hottest cheerleader on the
Varsity squad. Lucas kissed her out of pity then. Somehow Craig
learned of it and butted in, teasing Lucas so bad he hadn’t spoken
to her all summer, in fact, hadn’t talked to her like she was
anything more than a good buddy, never with any hint of recognition
that she was female. It wasn’t until he came home from college at
Christmas during his freshman year that her heart, bursting with
unrequited love, broke a second time.

When she caught him under the fake mistletoe
hanging from the chandelier in the foyer, she kissed him. Mere
contact of her lips to his, warm and gentle, sent shivers to her
toes, and not because of the howling north wind descending from the
Arctic on Kansas. Lucas’s reaction embarrassed her. He pushed her
away. His wide-eyed shock and surprise pained her like a knife to
the heart. It hurt even more when he refused to talk about it. Not
at the party or any time while he had visited over the holiday.

Was he shocked because she was a bad kisser?
Or because he didn’t feel the same chemistry racing through her
veins?

The kiss from a year ago burned into her mind
and forever sealed her heart. Lucas asked her to take a break from
the funeral crowd gathered at the house and walk to the creek. They
made their way in silence through the ankle-high grass while
breezes brushed the hem of her black dress. Grief created a
tension. Her entire body ached. It began the moment she heard the
news of her parents’ death and climbed each day. That afternoon,
Lucas offered a safety net. The vibrating anxiety quieted a bit.
With him, she could be herself and drop the too-brave veneer worn
for everyone else’s benefit.

When they were over the hill and beyond the
prying eyes of the crowd, Lucas reached for her hand, a gentle
gesture providing human contact she needed so badly. Still, he
remained silent. Not wanting to break the peace of the moment, she
made no comment. In the shadows of the tree line, they sat side by
side on a large oak branch growing horizontally over the creek’s
slow trickling water, just as they had done as very young kids.

Cocooned from reality, submerged in temporary
tranquility, Lucas quietly asked about her feelings. Her loss. Her
grief. He urged her to talk even when she resisted. After a few
false starts, she poured her heart out to him, sobbing over the
pain of losing her parents. The boulders of her life had been
forever removed. Her father represented stability. He plodded
along, always on the straight and narrow, enjoying the benefits of
a dutiful life. Her mother, the heartbeat of their family, the star
casting a bright light over everyone, had ceased to shine, leaving
drab emptiness.

With an arm draped around her shoulder, Lucas
wiped away her tears just as he had at the funeral. Her skin warmed
wherever he touched her. He cradled her face in his hands. Gently,
he put his lips to hers. His touch seared. Her insides quivered and
melted. He deepened the kiss. Her bones turned to Jello. Her heart
pulsed as fast as hummingbird wings fluttering in flight. The
gripping tension nearly strangling her since her parents’ death let
go. In those few moments with Lucas, the entire world slipped
away—the ache of grief, the maddening pain, the fear of a bleak
future—and melted into a bliss she’d never known.

They didn’t speak, but continued to kiss. He
seemed to savor the taste of her lips. He stroked her cheeks with
his thumbs as though marveling at the smoothness of her skin. She
deepened the kisses, brazenly caressing his lips with her tongue
and sucking on his bottom lip. He moved, shifting his body. He
pulled her closer.

All thoughts dissolved. Only need of Lucas
remained. When she reached for the first button on his shirt, the
need to feel his skin daringly urged her on. Passion flared like a
bonfire. It demanded satisfaction. How she craved what could come
next. Her heart pounded, a resounding thud to a deep thundering.
Desire fueled her actions, blinding her to only that moment.

But Lucas captured her hands with his and
kissed her palms. With extreme gentleness, he pressed her head to
his shoulder.

It wasn’t outright rejection.

She understood his actions. If anyone
wandered down to the creek and discovered them, gossip would shoot
rocket high. He meant to protect her from embarrassment. That
elevated him to hero in her book. A seed of hope lodged itself in
her heart. Maybe Lucas did see her as a woman, someone with whom he
could have a relationship. At the very least, he’d enjoyed kissing
her.

A quiet closeness settled between them on
their return walk to the house. However, halfway there, Craig again
ruined everything. From the back deck, he’d hollered for help and
Lucas had dropped her hand and went running at her brother’s beck
and call. The big emergency? A flame up on the grill.

Lia grabbed her keys and sighed. After that
day, Lucas had maintained a respectable distance. And the only
three kisses she’d shared with other men since his soul-melting
ones were chaste goodnight kisses only after a second date. Never
on the first. And no guy had asked her out beyond a second
time.

Now she understood why.

Lucas had followed her brother’s orders and
made her a local dating pariah.

Picking up her purse and a portfolio of
photos showing her paintings, she searched for Jack. “Males,” she
huffed. As for meddling male big brothers, Craig had skipped out
yesterday before she could lay down the law to him about not poking
around in her life. The weekend memorial service had her on
emotional overload, which hadn’t left her in the right mind to do
battle with him. Soon, she’d confront him, just like David standing
up to Goliath, and everyone knows who won that battle. Craig had
better beware.

“Here, Gentleman Jack!” Lia called, wondering
if the dog had snuck out the dog door and run off to the creek. She
shaded her eyes and squinted in the noonish light, scanning the
yard and nearest field. Unable to spot the four-legged ball of
energy, she walked around the side of the house. A hint of an early
fall breeze caressed her face. She soaked in the change of season,
hoping the last of scorching summer had slid away. Scanning the
landscape, she called for Jack. Finally, she spied him at the edge
of the back deck guarding a pile of toys. He’d harvested them from
hiding places in the yard.

“Pick one, and let’s go if you want to ride.
Otherwise, I’ll drop you off at Zoë’s for the night.”

Gentleman Jack barked, picked up a stuffed
toy pheasant, then dropped it, picking up a blue rubber ball. He
dropped that, too. He looked at her as if to say he was unable to
choose only one of his prize possessions, and why didn’t she help
him by bringing them all along.

Lia bent down and grabbed a thick rope
knotted at both ends. She held one end and dangled the other. After
she took a few steps, her traveling partner grabbed the loose end.
They walked rope-in-hand and rope-in-mouth to the truck.

“Load,” Lia ordered. Jack dropped his end,
backed up, and with a running start, hopped onto the backseat of
the cab. Lia tossed in the rope and closed the truck door behind
him.

She returned to the house. Checking the door
to the sun porch, she didn’t bother locking it. No one ever came
nosing around. If a criminal wanted to rob the place, it would take
work to find the house and for not much gain. After climbing into
the cab, she started the truck and crept along the long gravel
drive to the packed hard road, careful to avoid ruts. Her future
rested inside the trailer. The precious cargo equaled money. Money
to pay the bills all winter, painting supplies, plus pay for seed
and
the spring planting. In a couple of weeks, Gus, an old
family friend, would begin harvesting. A small portion of the corn
crop sale would pay his fees. The rest would pay the mortgage for
six to eight months and provide a reasonable cushion to reinvest in
the farm.

Lia shook her head. The whole delicate cycle
reminded her of her students’ working mothers trying to make ends
meet. They worked to pay bills, but paying high costs for
after-school childcare left them with barely enough to meet
household expense. Still, they chose to work. It gave them a sense
of pride and demonstrated perseverance to their children. She
understood their struggles better now.

When she reached the blacktop road, a plume
of dust rose around her. Someone bumped along the same road. Yet
due to the hill and the breeze, she couldn’t determine if they
traveled in the same direction or were coming at her head-to-head.
She slowed the truck to a crawl. As she topped a small rise, she
met the other vehicle.

Lucas.

He beeped the horn and skidded to a stop,
kicking up even more dust. She moved inches at a time until they
were side by side, waiting for the wind to carry away the haze of
dust before rolling down the window.

“You on your way to KC by yourself?” Lucas
asked. It sounded like an accusation and she bristled.

“Yes, taking Gentleman Jack with me. Good
guard protection...and just in case there’s a pheasant or quail to
point.”

“I don’t know why you have to be so stubborn.
I told I’d come over to help load your paintings and drive you
over. It isn’t easy navigating a trailer through the city,
especially on that narrow bridge.”

“Semis do it all the time. I’ve had a lot of
trailer practice in the last year. The tailgate on the truck is
proof enough. When I return, I’ll take it in for repairs. That will
erase the obvious reminder. Besides, I’m staying overnight with a
girlfriend.” If things were different, she would’ve welcomed his
company. But now it wouldn’t be a good idea for her to be in such
close quarters with him for a whole twenty-four hours. No way to
remove temptation. The risk of her embarrassing herself by doing
something stupid, like kissing him again, was very high. Who was
she kidding? She’d love nothing more than an opportunity to seduce
him. She would make the first move. This man of integrity and
impeccable reputation would never put a move on his best friend’s
sister, even if she stood naked in front of him. Darn man with his
high morals. It had to be a sin to be that good.