“Mom told Dad that she’d been putting up with his crazy relatives her entire adult life and she wanted to spend her dotage with her own crazy relatives in Boston.”
Kent smiled. “I think I’d like your mother.”
“Yeah, she’s great. They come back several times a year for visits.”
“They sound like kind people.”
Phae nodded.
For the first time, the conversation stalled and they sat in awkward silence, the earlier carefree behavior crunched under the weight of too much family.
Phae finally broke the silence. “I’ve got to get back to work. I can’t believe I cancelled an appointment for a crummy family reunion.”
“Don’t go yet, Phae. I, um, well, I was hoping that we could get together some time. You know, a date. We’ll do anything you like. What do you like to do?”
Phae’s heart leapt in her chest.
Chapter 5
KENT WATCHED PHAE’S FACE CLOSELY, trying to judge her reaction. She didn’t reveal much, but that was true of her in general.
“You mean my family hasn’t scared you off?” she asked, her big brown eyes sparkling magnificently.
He shook his head. “I form my own opinions of people. So what do you think? A movie? Is there anywhere we can go that’s not overrun with your relatives?”
“No. Not in this town, anyway. Besides, I don’t date. There’s all this pressure to be perfect. As you might have already guessed, I’m not very good at being perfect.”
“I hadn’t noticed.”
“Anyway, the Zeke’s Bend Fair is this weekend. Sylvie roped me into working a booth. Maybe I’ll see you there?”
“Just tell me when.”
“I’ll be there every night. Oh no! There’s my cousin, James. He’s the sheriff, by the way. I’m leaving. See ya!” She snatched up her purse and headed for the door.
Kent grabbed her arm as she passed by him. “I’ll see you Friday night, Phae. And wear those white shorts again, would you? I’d like to see more of those beautiful legs than a tiny peek through a hole in your jeans.”
Phae mumbled something unintelligible, tossed some bills on the table then sped out of the cafe with only a passing nod at her cousin, James.
Kent watched her go, satisfied that he’d flustered her, and admiring her rear view as much as he admired the front.
He’d been struck by her since the moment he saw her fighting not to laugh in his aunt’s garden. In the days since, he hadn’t been able to get her off his mind.
Her fawn skin had glowed with golden undertones in the sunlight, and escaping tendrils of spiraling deep brown tresses framed her face in shimmers. And those kissable lips, high-cut cheekbones and sparkling dark eyes would have turned any man’s head. What a beauty.
And her body, toned and firm yet rounded in all the right places. Legs that stretched forever. High perky breasts that would fit in his big hands … well … without doubt, Kent considered Phae Jones the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
And the fact that she was so clueless about her beauty made her even sexier. How the woman was still single was an unsolvable mystery.
He was pulled from his reverie when James walked up to his table.
“James,” Kent said, “have a seat.”
The stocky man sat in Phae’s vacated chair. “Sparkin’ my cousin, are ya?”
“I’m trying. I made a complete ass of myself, though. You should have heard the bumbling way I asked her out.”
“Did she accept?”
“Kind of. I’m supposed to meet her at the fair this weekend. How fun is that? It’s like I’m a teenager again. A date at the fair.”
James motioned to the waitress, pointing at Kent’s coffee cup and then to himself. “I know you’ve got a thick skin, but I’m not sure it’s thick enough if Phae’s gonna be in the picture. She’s—”
“Don’t bother. I’ve heard it all. I think half your family paraded by today. Phae was full up with it, which is why she ran out of here when she saw you. Thanks a lot for that, by the way.”
“Doesn’t she know we’ve been friends since you were a tadpole?”
“Enough with the hillbilly act, already. And no, I didn’t get a chance to tell her.”
Kent and James thanked the waitress for the hot coffee.
Kent picked up his cup. “You always said you had a lot of family in this town, but I never realized exactly how many.”
“Yeah, well, we had more important things to talk about when we were kids, like how big a slingshot needs to be if you want to shoot yourself to the moon.”
The men smiled in remembrance as they sipped their steaming coffee.
“I miss those old days sometimes,” Kent said. “We’ve grown apart over the years, but I still think of you as the best friend I ever had.”
James tugged at his belt. “You’ve been busy running that big company of yours, friend.”
“And you’ve been protecting the citizens of Zeke’s Bend.”
James cleared his throat. “So, I take it some of my kin gave you an earful about Phae today?”
James never changed, Kent thought. Even as a child, James used a gruff facade to mask his kind nature. Kent, however, spoke his feelings as soon as he felt them, a trait that had gotten him into all kinds of trouble as a child and sometimes even now as a full-grown man in his thirties.
He grinned. “I don’t know what to believe, James. Phae is exciting and intelligent from what I’ve seen, but your family tells me she’s a man-eating shrew.”
“Man-eating shrew?” James chuckled. “They were giving you a hard time. She’s not that bad. Phae speaks her mind and that doesn’t sit too well with the men who come sniffing around her. She didn’t used to be that way, though. Before she went off to college and got that job in Chicago, she was soft-hearted as anything and the biggest pushover you’ve ever met.”
“I can’t imagine her ever being a pushover.”
“She still is, most of the time, though you wouldn’t know it unless you look past her crusty surface. I think it’s good that she’s learned how to say no, and if she makes a few people upset because she says what she thinks, well, that’s their problem, not hers.”
Kent raised an eyebrow. “Why is she working as a beautician when she’s got a degree in business?”
“She doesn’t have any old degree. She graduated from Harvard Business School.”
Kent nearly choked on his coffee. “Are you serious?”
“Yep. Everyone was real proud of her. She graduated top of her class and got a big time job with a corporation in Chicago. From what I heard, she was doing well. Then a few year
s back, she suddenly moved back home. Signed up at a beauty college in Rollinsburg and after she got her license, opened her shop.”
“What happened in Chicago?”
“She’s never really said. Just says she missed home. I don’t think she ever told anyone except Grandma Jones. Word was that Grandma Jones had the biggest fit you’ve ever seen. I heard the argument nearly took the roof off her house. I don’t know who won, but Grandma wouldn’t talk about it with anyone. And of course, neither did Phae.”
Kent silently wondered at James’ cavalier attitude. “So you still don’t know what happened in Chicago, after all this time?”
“Nope. Phae keeps to herself. Sylvie and Neesa drag her out and about every so often, but mostly Phae is a homebody. She takes defense and martial arts classes over in Rollinsburg, though. Last I heard, she was working on her black belt. She could have it by now. Anything else you want to know, you ask her.”
Kent decided he would do that. He loved a good mystery, especially when those mysteries came packaged as nicely as Phae Jones.
“Those classes must be what keeps her in such great shape,” he said. “You know I’m a leg and butt man, and I’ve got to tell you that your cousin has both for days and days. When I first saw those stems of hers the other day, I thought I’d—”
“Stems? Good one, Frank Sinatra. Anyway, I may be your friend, but you’ve gotta remember she’s my cousin, and one of my favorites at that. Since her dad moved to Boston, all us Jones men have gotten protective of her. She needs a man to look out for her, so watch your tongue.”
Kent raised his arms in the air and said in a drawl, “I’ll go peaceful, Sheriff. Don’t start a-shootin’ at me.”
James squinted. “You keep your hormones under control, and we’ll get along fine.”
“Does Phae know she needs the Jones men to look after her?”
“Don’t tell her I said that. She thinks she doesn’t need anyone or anything. She won’t even come to family reunions. Says she sees everybody all year long and doesn’t see the point of it.”
James chuckled lightly, then added, “I gotta admit, I kind of agree with her. You ought to see these reunions. Hundreds of kids crawling everywhere, everyone talking and yelling at the same time. Gives me a headache. I’d stay at home like Phae, but Mama would rip my ears off if I did.”