Redhead Meets Redneck: First Date (6 page)

“I’ll be right back with the hot chocolate.”

Laura heard cabinets opening and closing, and the microwave running, but her eyes star
ed straight into the flames that danced above the logs.

“Here, Laura.”

Laura took hold of the hot mug and cupped it in both hands to absorb the warmth, hoping it would eventually reach her feet. Taking a small sip, she looked up at William, who was holding a steaming mug. “Thank you, this is wonderful.”

William set his mug down and reached under the blanket. Finding her feet, he began a gentle massage. His warm hands loosened her tense muscles, and she took several more sips while staring at the fire.

“William.”

“Yes.”

“I like this.”

“Me too. We should do this more often. Whoever would have thought that being chased by terrorists would be so much fun.”

“You know what I mean.” Laura smiled. “How often do you come up here?”

“During hunting season, every weekend, but then I have a bunch of
rednecks
with me, so I don’t get much peace and quiet.”

“William, I wish you wouldn’t refer to rednecks in such a derogatory fashion
. One of my best friends is a redneck.”

“Who might that be?”

Laura leaned over and gently kissed William on the cheek.

“Being your body guard does have its benefits. Hey, I almos
t forgot, I need to cook up a bedtime snack.”

William got up and began rummaging through the kitchen cabinets.

Laura wondered why William didn’t return her kiss. Earlier, he had held her hand, and put his arm around her. Maybe she had misinterpreted his signals. Maybe he wanted to draw the line at friendship. Maybe he had lots on his mind. After all, terrorists were chasing them. Taking several more sips of hot chocolate, she set the mug down and watched the fire as her eyelids dropped lower and lower . . .

***

Tariq had been starring at the blip on his computer screen for the past hour. “They aren’t moving, and they are in the middle of the woods.”

“You think they are lost, or have a flat tire?” Hamid said.

“No, you idiot. He probably has a log cabin or hunting lodge in the woods.”

“Oh, right.”

“Jaish, get close to the blip, but stay on the main roads for now. We don’t want to get to close until we have made our plans for her abduction.”

“What if her boyfriend gets in the way?” Khaleed asked.

“It doesn’t matter whether he does, or doesn’t. Either way, he dies.”

Laura woke to the smell of fresh coffee brewing.  Opening her eyes
, she saw the fire was still burning, and the wool blanket still covered her. The morning sunlight shone through the eastern windows and warmed her face. She heard William rustling pots and pans in the kitchen. The smell of coffee, and curiosity about William’s kitchen activities, got the best of her. She slid out from under the blanket and walked toward the kitchen. She stopped halfway to take in the sight of William. He had on the clothes she daydreamed about the evening before—pressed jeans and snug white T-shirt, polished cowboy boots, a day’s worth of stubble, and bulging muscles.
I wouldn’t mind waking up to this every morning,
she thought.

“
Good morning, Laura. How did you sleep?”

“The fire and blanket were just what I needed. I feel very refreshed.”

“Good, because we have lots of work to do today.”

“Oh?”

“First, I need to fix us some breakfast, ham and eggs if that’s okay with you. Then we need to go into town to get you some comfortable clothes and shoes. Then we need to get you a toothbrush. After that I thought we could grab lunch.”

“Shopping for
clothes, new shoes, and lunch, I like the sound of that. Do you have a Macy’s in town, or how about a Nordstrom? I could use a pair of fur-lined wedge clogs for this cooler weather, and a pair of fur-scuff slippers for inside the cabin would be nice.”

“Our store will do a good job of meeting all your needs.”

“Store? As in you only have one store in town?”

“Laura, the ham and eggs are ready. Would you like a hot biscuit to go with that?”

“Yes. Thank you. Is the store a part of a major chain?”

“Would you like coffee?”

“Yes, cream and sugar. William, are you trying to hide something?”

“Laura, you
’ll find our general store very sufficient. Now, let’s dig into this nice breakfast.”

Laura stood at the edge of the table. It
was round, with chairs for eight people. She looked down at her plate full of food, and inhaled the aroma of fresh eggs, ham, and biscuits; she decided to put aside the issue of shopping.

William
walked to her side of the table and pulled the chair out.

“Thank you.”

He walked to his side and sat down. Then looking at the chasm between them, he picked up his plate, silverware, and coffee, and moved to the chair next to her.

“This is better,
” said William.

Laura
buttered her biscuit and took a bite. She thought,
pretty good for a bachelor
. Trying some of the ham and eggs, she said, “William, how did you learn to cook so well?”

“I used to watch Mama
cook at the restaurant after school when I was supposed to be doing my homework. She used to scold me, but in the end I suppose the cooking lessons were more useful than the readin, ritin, and rithmetic.”

“
It’s delicious. You’ve done well for yourself.”

Laura watched William put his napkin in his lap, pick up his fork and knife, and cut a small piece of ham and eggs.

“I like cooking. It gets my mind off my problems.”

“I can’t imagine that you have any problems. You have everything, money,
clothes, a nice truck, a fancy cabin, and lots of friends.”

“True, I don’t have many problems of my own, but my friend
s have lots of problems.”

“Such as?”

William took a bite of his ham and eggs, and chewed slowly. He appeared to be thinking intently. Maybe he didn’t want to answer the question.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, that’s all right. Because of my situation, I’m in a position to occasionally provide financial help for my friends.”

William took another bite of his food and gazed out the windows.

“Laura, can we speak confidentially?”

“Of course. I won’t
say anything.”

“Mama was going through a rough time a few years ago. She had lots of customers, but with food costs going up, she
couldn’t serve enough people to make a profit. She needed to expand the restaurant, but the banks wouldn’t loan her the money.”

“So
?”

“I stepped in and loaned her the money. The renovati
on allows her to seat twice as many people and she’s already paid back half of the loan.”

“You should be proud of what you
’ve done. I bet Jimmy is pleased that you could help his mom like that.”

“That’s the rub. Jimmy doesn’t know, and please don’t ever mention it to him. He would have a fit. He
’s such an independent sort of person. He would feel like I did something that he should have done.”

“So, you like helping people in trouble.”

“I suppose you could say that it’s my calling.”

“Calling, like a preacher?”

“Yeah, well—in a financial sort of way.”

“Mama and Jimmy are very lucky to have you watching over them. You’
re sort of like a guardian angel.”

“I suppose, but I owe Mama bi
g time for raising me. She could have turned her back on me, but she didn’t. And Jimmy, he’s always been there for me, either as a friend or as my number one.”

Laura reflected on William’s comment about her spending time with her databases instead of her friends, and
wondered if she should do more for her friends. William viewed his friends as a mission, a purpose in life. She, on the other hand, saw her friends as a means of having a good time. That was fine, but for some reason she was attracted to William’s desire to help his friends.

“That was a delicious breakfast.
I’m glad that Momma gave you all those cooking lessons.,” Laura smiled.

“
Good. Let’s clean up and then we can go into town and buy you some new clothes.”

Laura forced a weak smile as she thought
about buying a new outfit from the general store.

***

William had been able to divert Laura’s attention for the time being. The looming issue of how he was going to deal with terrorists had nagged at him every moment since her car exploded. He didn’t want her to worry. Until yesterday, she had never been in combat, never seen what the depravity of a human mind could do. Her innocence couldn’t imagine how much evil could rage in a single person, how someone with a twisted mind could see wrong as right, and right as wrong. He needed to provide an emotional shelter for her. He and Jimmy both had to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, and the Navy had prepared them for it. Fortunately for them, they had both responded to psychological debriefings and didn’t need any drug therapy. Hopefully, for Laura’s sake, their current situation would be resolved quickly and without any more violence that could leave her with emotional scars.

***

Laura breathed in the smell of leather and saddle soap as they drove to town in William’s truck. The masculine smell was intoxicating. She listened to the quiet music playing on the radio, felt the warm sunshine on her skin. Looking at William, she wondered why he had never married. He had everything: money, good looks, all the amenities money could buy, and lots of friends—redneck friends. Maybe that’s why he never married. Maybe, if she worked at it, she could get used to the redneck thing.

As William’s truck turned a corner in the road, she saw a row of log cabins on the side. The first one was very small and had a sign that said U.S. Post Office. The second had a single gas pump in front with an Exxon sign hanging from the front porch. Two rockers sat on the porch. The third log cabin was large and had a sign that said Jo’s Diner. The next log cabin was much larger. A sign on the front said Sam’s General Store. A dirt parking lot ran the full length of the buildings.

“Ah, is this the town you were talking about?”

“Laura, please don’t judge the situation until you give it a chance.”

Laura’s lips poked out,
and she crossed her arms.

“If you don’t like what they have, we can drive the seventy miles to civilization, and buy you anything you want.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

As William pulled the pickup onto the parking lot, the gravel crunched under his tires. He hopped out and opened her door. She didn’t get out. Instead, she stared at the sign hanging on the general store.
I’m going to buy my new outfit from a guy named Sam, at a general store, in a log cabin?

William waited, holding the door open.
Laura looked at him. He smiled. Hmm, she’d never noticed those cute dimples. She slowly climbed down from the truck and stepped onto the parking lot without losing sight of his dimples. Her stilettos wobbled on the coarse gravel and she stumbled towards William. Instinctively, she put her hands in front of her to catch herself as she fell into him. Her hands pressed into his white T-shirt as he caught her, and he wrapped his arms around her. Her cheek pressed into his neck. She wiggled her shoes until they found solid ground and she could stand on her own. Straightening up, she wiped her hands across his chest as if to smooth any wrinkles in his shirt. Her fingers flowed over the rippled muscles underneath his shirt. She felt a shudder course through his arms still wrapped around her.

“Sorry,” was the only word she could speak as she thought about how her touch had affected him.

“Not a problem.” William smiled with a boyish grin. “Come on inside. I want you to meet Sam.”

William released Laura’s embrace and took her hand. She
walked slowly and carefully across the gravel to the front porch. William continued to hold her hand while they walked up the steps and in the front door of the general store.

“Hi, Sam.”

“Billy Bob, how in the world are you? I haven’t seen you for ages.”

Laura noticed Sam glancing down at
their clasped hands. William released her hand and reached out to shake Sam’s hand.

“What brings you into town?”

“We need a new outfit for the little lady. Sam, this is Laura Richardson.”

Sam looked up and down the length of Laura. “Well, I think the outfit she has on looks pretty good.”