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Chapter 18
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LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 18.1
“Wade gave me a heads-up, so I lay low while they were here.”“How do you lay low in a town this size? What did you do, stay home?”He gave a wry laugh. “The first time, it was summer, so, yeah, I kept pretty close to home. But for the monument and the wedding, I had to be at school every day. We were shorthanded, and I had to spend some time at the elementary school, where Dixie’s boys go, so don’t think I wasn’t worried. But I kept out of everyone’s way. Drove instead of walked. If I had to walk, I stuck to back alleys.”Shannon shook her head. “All that trouble, and now here you are, a few weeks later.”“Huh. It’s one thing for the town to learn who I am. Most of them won’t care. But with that other group, the media and whatnot, I would have been plastered all over the place again. Just like last time.”“Just what did happen with the media? Oh—no. Don’t answer that.That’s an interview question. We’ll get to it tomorrow. Except you’ve got an appointment tomorrow.”He looked away an
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 18.2
For once, Shannon was at a loss for words. She didn’t know what to say to help him. He was obviously speaking from experience; platitudes would be worse than useless, they would be condescending. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.He whirled on her. “What for?” The words shot out as if fired from a gun.“I’m sorry that someone made you think you had to live up to all that. I can see some of the problems it can cause.”“When you try to tell them you’re nobody’s hero, just an ordinary man, they argue with you, or think you’re being humble or something, or they get hurt or mad because they need a hero, and they expect you to be it.”Shannon ached for the anguish he tried to disguise with anger. “Come here.”He narrowed his eyes. “Why?”“Because I like sitting next to you.”He dropped his head and heaved a sigh. “I’m being an ass, right?”“No.” She scooted back on the bed until she sat against the headboard.Then she patted the space beside her. “That’s a pretty heavy load for anyone to carry
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 19
The nursing-home inspection was not the ordeal Nick had feared. The inspection team consisted of Lon, a couple of town council members and a representative from the state’s fire safety board. And Nick, for whatever that was worth. The owner of the facility was there, as well, and the twostaff members designated as fire-safety staffers.Then, of course, there was the local media. The safety of the nursing- home residents warranted one reporter/photographer from the Tribute Banner—and Shannon. She came sidling up to Nick where he stood at the back of the group while the owner gave his spiel about how much he appreciated the city working to make the patients and building safe.As if she thought Nick didn’t realize she had entered the building and was standing beside him—not know? How could he not know when she walked into a room? He could be dead and he would know. Shannon nudged his arm with her shoulder.“What are you doing here?” he asked, keeping his voice low. “I’m thinking of an e
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 19.1
“What are we celebrating?” “Your successful outing.”The kid behind the cash register, Bucky Jones, who’d graduated from Tribute High last year, nearly swallowed his tongue. “G-g-g-olly, Mr.Nick.”“She didn’t mean that the way you think,” Nick said darkly. “Shannon, tell Bucky you didn’t mean that the way he thinks.”“What? Oh.” Shannon laughed. “No. Sorry. It wasn’t that kind of outing.”If Nick hadn’t had to spend the afternoon overseeing the decorating at the high-school gym, Shannon could have finished interviewing him. Butsince their time was short, she decided to put it off until after the dance that night and let him eat his pizza in peace. They had only one small incident during their lunch.That came when Nick, rather offhandedly, Shannon thought, casually mentioned that he’d been wrong about the jeans for the dance. He’d been told in no uncertain terms that this was a dress-up affair. The Homecoming Queen candidates would be in formal gowns; the rest of the females attendi
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 19.2
“You were wrong,” Shannon told her quietly.Shannon was still smiling over Deedra’s stunned silence followed by another endless stream of questions and demands about Nick, about her, about Nick and her, when the man in question knocked on her door.“Oh, my,” she said when she got a good look at him. The man cleaned up real nice, as her dad would have said. His dark gray suit accented the width of his shoulders, the length of his legs. The crisp white shirtcontrasted beautifully with his dark olive complexion, and the tie added the perfect touch of panache. “You look fabulous.”Nick goggled. “You took the words right out of my mouth.” Except, he thought, fabulous was way too poor a word for the vision of her. Her dress was plain, unadorned, unruffled black, long sleeved, high necked, ending just above her beautiful knees, and hugged every curve of her shapely body. Black three-inch heels made her legs look a mile and a half long.He knew he was staring, he just couldn’t seem to help h
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 20
The dance officially ended at midnight, but it took another hour foreveryone to clear out. Shannon was content to sit back and watch Nick maneuver the stragglers out the door as quickly as possible without offending any of them. He was good at it. Very good. The kids respected him, that much was plain. But they also liked him.What did it say about a man, she wondered, that kids liked him,contemporaries sought his advice, women—at least this woman—found him irresistibly attractive, and his true calling was walking into burning buildings?To her, it said one thing: Hero.For now, she would keep that thought to herself.The man in question came strolling back to her, his limp barely noticeable, even after all the dancing. But she wouldn’t mention it. Not until she got him alone. And when she got him alone, she didn’t want to talk. She wanted to hold him close and never let go.The look on her face nearly took Nick’s breath away. She wanted him.Him, Nick Carlucci. And she cared. Maybe
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 20.1
“Why stunned? You have to know I’ve fallen in love with you.”“You have to know you’re not alone there, right? I’ve fallen just as far for you.”She trailed her fingers lightly over his cheek. “Well, then? Shouldn’t we do something about that?”“I can’t go back to New York.” “Will you tell me why?”He pulled back and eyed her critically. “Are you going to put this in your book?”“Not if you don’t want me to.”He thought about it a minute, then gave a single nod. “It’s hard to admit.Where I come from a guy does not talk about his feelings. A real man doesn’t have feelings.”Shannon nodded sadly. “I know exactly what you mean. I’m just luckier, because girls are expected to have feelings and it’s perfectly acceptable to let them out whenever and wherever. Usually.”“Not us. We were big, macho men. Firefighters, all three of us. It wasn’t just what we did, it was who we were. We were the job. Like you. You’re not a writer only when you’re actually writing, or sitting at your desk. You a
LOVE IN TEXAS Chapter 20.2
And so Nick hashed it all out again, this time for the tape. All his rotten experiences since waking up in the hospital and being told he would never walk again. Being told he was a hero.She took him through it all, the hospital, the therapy, the euphoria over getting his legs back, the devastation in learning he couldn’t do the jobanymore. The refusal to believe it. The grief for the department, his father and brother, the loss of his career. The drinking and the blur of months that passed in an alcoholic haze.Nick gave her everything she asked, up to and including his satisfaction in pushing a broom all day.“You really like it?” she asked.“I do. I mean, I’d rather be with FDNY, but this will do.”“Custodian. Janitor. You know some people look down on a job like that,” she stated.“Some snobs, maybe. Even I did at first, but it’s a big job with an incredible responsibility, being in charge of the entire physical aspect of the school, from maintenance to appearance to security. I
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