CHAPTER NINETEEN

 

Keeneston, 37 years, 99 marriages, and 246 babies later . . .

 

Miss Lily sat on the front porch swing at her bed-and-breakfast and gave a disgruntled sigh. She looked down at the notebook in her hand, her fortieth, and stuck her tongue out at it. Darn that Morgan Hamilton for coming back to town and messing everything up. How can the town’s reverend have a pair of daughters that differed so much? Pam was an angel; Morgan was not. Written at the top of the page was the name Miles Davies. It was about time Marcy and Jake’s oldest son found love.

Flipping back through the notebook, Lily's smile returned as she stared at her accomplishments. Little Will had grown into a strapping young man who played in the NFL for years before coming back to Keeneston to take over his parents’ horse farm. He’d even bred and raced a Kentucky Derby winner. He also fell in line and got married to McKenna Mason, or Kenna as she was commonly known. She was a bright lawyer from New York City . . . bless her Yankee heart.

After that, Kenna’s best friend, Danielle, or Dani as she insisted on being called, followed her from New York. It just went to show that she too had good sense. Lily smiled as she looked at the earlier pages in her notebook. She ignored the fact that Kenna and Dani were on the run from dangerously powerful men. They had found their way home to Keeneston, and Dani had found love with a sheik. Mo was the prince of the island country of Rahmi and had come to Keeneston to raise racehorses.

And bless that sweet girl, Kenna had already given birth to a bouncing baby girl, Sienna. Some day, God willing, she’d find the perfect match for her like she had for her father. Lily turned the page and looked at Paige Davies’s name. She was Jake and Marcy’s only girl. Five boys and beautiful, talented Paige rounded out the Davies family. Paige had helped Kenna and Dani and, in turn, found love with FBI Agent Cole Parker. She had just given birth over Christmas to a handsome baby boy, Ryan. Hmm, that gave Lily an idea for Sienna.

Turning another page in her notebook, she came to Cade Davies and DEA Agent Annie Blake. Annie had come to Keeneston as an undercover agent and with Cade’s help stopped a drug ring targeting teenagers. Annie had since left the DEA to work at the Keeneston sheriff’s office. She, too, had taken the long road home, but home was here now in Keeneston with Cade and their baby girl, Sophie.

Lily flipped to the next section and traced her fingers over the names of Marshall Davies and Katelyn Jacks. Katelyn’s grandparents, the Wyatts, had raised her in Keeneston, but she had gone off and had seen the world as a model. She had just recently come back to start a career as a veterinarian. Marshall had found peace as the new sheriff after coming back from Special Forces with his brothers, Miles and Cade. They had been a tricky match, and Lily and her sisters had to resort to giving Katelyn a glass too many . . . okay, three or four glasses too many . . . of their special drink. But it had worked out in the end, and they were now happily together.

In between the Davies pages, she smiled at she passed the deputy sheriffs’ pages—Noodle and Dr. Emma, Dinky and Chrystal. That led her to her current page. Miles Davies and Julie Bryant. Julie was from the next town over, was four years younger than Miles’s thirty-six years, and was as sweet as could be. She would have been perfect for Miles until the bad girl of Keeneston showed back up. Morgan Hamilton was darker than Miles, and Miles hid a lot of darkness from his time in Special Forces. That’s why he needed someone sweet like Julie. But no, Morgan drew him in with her violet eyes and a take-no-crap attitude.

The screen door opened and Daisy and Violet came out carrying glasses of iced tea and a plate of brownies. “How’s it coming?” Violet asked.

Lily blew out a breath and pushed back her now-white hair. “Not good. I just know that bad seed, Morgan Hamilton, has her claws in our Miles. This is my one hundredth match, and she’s going to ruin it just like she did my rose bushes when she was a teenager.”

Daisy handed her a glass of tea and took a seat. “Lil, for one night let’s just not worry about it. This has stressed you out so much, your muffins this morning were dry. Dry!”

Lily sneered at her sister and thought about sticking her tongue out, but Violet stopped her. “Tonight is Marshall and Katelyn’s wedding. Let’s just go and have a good time.”

“But if John beats me to this mystery, I don’t know what I’ll do.” Lily slammed her hand onto the swing’s cushion.

“Ever since Rhonda passed away, you two have been at it. For years now, we’ve watched you two play this gossip game. I think y’all are hot to trot for each other,” Violet said, taking a giant step away from the daggers Lily was shooting her.

“You think I like John Wolfe?” Lily cried out.

“I think so, too,” Daisy said softly before leaning back in her chair. Lily jumped to her feet and began to pace the verandah.

“You two are crazy. If anyone in this town understands why that is impossible, it should be you two.”

“Lil,” Violet started, “it’s been decades and decades since Frank. I’ve longed to move on—to find love again. But I know it’s not a probability for me. Look at us. We’re not twenty-five anymore.”

“Shoot, we’re not even fifty-five anymore,” Daisy said under her breath.

“And you have a shot at it. John has known you your whole life. He was the one who rescued you that night. He knows all about your secret pain. If he loves you, then why not give him a chance? You have always spoken so highly of him,” Violet took a deep breath, “and I think you love him, too.”

Lily gasped and Daisy raised the brownie plate to hide her face. “How dare you say that?”

Violet put her hands on her still curvaceous hips. “Because you do. Mark my word; this isn’t over yet. You will have to face your feelings someday, Lily Rae.”

“We’ll just see about that,” Lily stormed into the house. “I have a wedding to get ready for.”

 

Lily, Daisy, and Violet stood by the refreshments at Marshall and Katelyn’s reception. The wedding had been beautiful, and the couple was so in love. Lily’s heart was bursting with happiness.

“Butter my butt and call me a biscuit, Morgan Hamilton just walked in,” Daisy gasped.

“Well, that just cooks my goose,” Lily growled as she stomped her way toward the growing scene.

“Lily, give her a chance. Remember, Annie believes there’s a lot to the story we don’t know. Since she's a DEA agent, she knows more about bad seeds than you do,” Violet called out to Lily’s retreating back.

Fine, they wanted Lily to give her a chance? Then she’d give Morgan a chance—a chance to explain. “Morgan?”

The dark-haired beauty turned around, and in a split second looked fearful before her toughness fell back into place. In that one moment she looked eighteen and vulnerable, and that was all it took for Lily to change her mind about Morgan Hamilton.

“That night I caught you in my roses, what were you doing in my yard?”

Morgan took a deep breath and Lily listened to the young woman who had gone from being the town’s bad girl to a woman who orchestrated takeovers in the corporate world. Long ago, Lily had accused her of purposefully ruining her rose bushes. Afterward, Morgan had painted the water tower and split town. Now she was back and Miles Davies, the stern ever-so-serious businessman, had lost his heart to her. So Lily listened to it all and felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time—shame. She had been wrong. She’d been wrong for eighteen years about the young woman standing in front of her. How could she ever apologize?

Lily placed her hand on Morgan’s arm as Morgan defended herself to Miles’s sister, Paige. “I believe I—we—may have been too hard on you . . .”

“You ladies all look lovely tonight.” The deep voice behind Lily had her spinning around to see John Wolfe looking ever so handsome in a suit. Long ago he’d lost his six-pack abs and was now rather portly. He still had the same twinkle in his eyes and strong arms that would keep her warm at night. Lily blushed. Dang, her sisters had been right. It wasn’t as easy as it had been when she was younger. She was wiser now. She knew these feelings only opened her up to pain.

“Miss Lily, would you do me the honor of a dance?”

“I’d love to,” Lily put her hand on his arm and headed for the dance floor.

John held her tight as they danced. “Lily Rae, I’ve been your friend since the sixth grade. We’ve always had this fond regard for each other, but I’ve discovered deeper feelings this past year as we fought for the town's gossip. I’ve had fun. Have you?”

“Yes, I have,” Lily admitted reluctantly as John led her around the dance floor.

“Why don’t we have dinner together at the Blossom Café tomorrow night?” John asked.

Lily’s eyes widened in shock. “Are you kidding? That’s the same as publicly declaring we’re boinking!”

“Not that I’d mind boinking—it’s been a while, and I sure do miss it,” John grinned, “but I was thinking more like a date.”

“No, John. You more than anyone should know why I can’t.”

“Won’t or can’t? Don’t tell me you really loved Frank that much that you’re still hung up on him after what he did to you.”

“Of course not. It’s the pain I remember,” Lily admitted as the song came to an end, and she pulled away.

“Go ahead, Lily. Run away from another chance at love. I’m strong enough to follow. Just be prepared. I’m right about us just like I’m always right about what goes on around town,” John said smugly.

Lily gasped. “How dare you? You know I am better at sniffing out gossip than you’ll ever be.”

“And I’m also better at loving you than Frank ever was. I’ll give you all pleasure, with no pain, Lily Rae.”

“We’re not talking about love. We’re talking about gossip,” Lily huffed.

“You just keep telling yourself that,” John chuckled as he walked away.

That man! He just, he just . . . oh fiddlesticks. She was going to have to confront the pain from that night at some point. It just wasn’t going to be at that moment.

Now, Pierce Davies, the youngest of Jake and Marcy’s kids, was looking rather tied-in-knots in love. What kind of good Samaritan would she be if she didn’t help him out? And if it took her mind off her own love life, then so much the better.

 

* * *

 

Lily felt the crack of the broom reverberate up her arms. She heard the collective gasp of everyone in the Blossom Café the second she crashed her broom over John’s head. But what was she to do? The man had kissed her in full view of the entire town after trying to out-gossip her! She had been the first to admit her mistake about Morgan, and now that sly fox was trying to claim it was him. On top of stealing her gossip, he kissed her to shut her up. Her first kiss in years, and he did it in front of everyone as if to prove a point. It didn’t matter that she liked it. It didn’t matter that her heart was pounding like she was once again a teenager. No, it didn’t matter because he was now smirking at her.

With a huff, she spun on her orthopedic shoes and marched out of the café. Lily walked back to her house and pulled out her notebook. She had crossed Julie off the top of Miles’s page and had written Morgan’s name instead. It would have been her one-hundredth match, but as much as she would like to claim it, she couldn’t. She was still in search of that special couple.

Lily walked out onto her porch and took a seat on her swinging bench. Her lips still tingled from the kiss at the café. John had kissed her, and she had liked it. Her heart took time to slow back to its steady beat as she closed her eyes and relived the kiss. When had it happened? When had she and John gone from friends to kissing?

Taking a deep breath, Lily opened the book. All these couples, all this love. Was she destined to end up like them after all these years? But as soon as her heart fluttered, she looked next door and felt the panic rise from the pit of her stomach and take hold of her.

No, it wasn’t meant to be. She would never find her happily-ever-after. But number one hundred could. Lily focused her attention on the book in front of her and pushed aside her own desires. She had to find her hundredth couple, and that would take her mind off what she couldn’t have. It would mend her heart. She thought back to the reception the previous night and had an idea about who was next. Tammy Fields, the assistant for the only two attorneys in town, Henry Rooney and Kenna Ashton. Tammy was a sweet girl who had made the best out of a hard life, bless her heart. It also wasn’t a secret she had a thing for Pierce Davies. Pierce just hadn’t woken up to the treasure right in front of him. Rubbing her hands together, Lily got to work. Sometimes all it took was a little competition to make a man realize his feelings.