Porco stutter-stepped when he saw her, feeling that same draw to run to her and scoop her into his arms. But something had held him back. First, it was Spinelli’s grip on his arm. Then the tilt of his head and raise of his eyebrow that told Porco he was missing something.
Yeah, he was missing something. The feel of his woman against him. The touch of her cheek to his. The taste of her lips on his tongue. But there was something he wasn’t seeing.
As Porco walked by with his friends, he noted that the people around Jules glared at them. Which was odd. They were all dressed in bright, colorful clothing that harkened back to the sixties and seventies. They looked like they’d stepped out of a history book carrying a banner that said We are flower children.
Though that’s not what the sign above them said. It read Verona Commune Organic Vegan Produce and Goods. Porco’s mind worked hard to comprehend the significance of the sign blaring overhead. It was difficult because his gaze kept returning to Jules. His entire being insisted that he go to her, claim her, make her his in every way. He just needed to figure out what he was missing.
Was it the word organic that should hold his attention? He knew that that was a buzz word touted in the health and fitness industry. All he knew was that when something was labeled organic in the grocery store, it came with a hefty price tag.
There was that word vegan again. It couldn’t have anything to do with race. There were people behind those tables of every skin tone. Which meant Porco owed Spinelli and Rusty an apology for calling them racist.
But he had heard that term before? Oh, he remembered. He’d been on the market for a new leather jacket and saw a cheaper model called vegan leather. Was that it?
No. There was something bigger he was missing.
“That’s her, isn’t it?” said Spinelli.
Porco couldn’t speak. He could only gaze at Jules. She was staring back at him. Unlike earlier, her eyes didn’t sparkle as she looked at him. Neither was she smiling shyly. Her gaze was clouded and she worried her lip with her teeth.
Something was wrong. So why wasn’t he moving towards her? Oh, because Spinelli still held him back.
“Do you see what I mean now?” asked Spinelli.
See what? All Porco saw was the woman, who was very likely to be the mother of his children, standing in a small crowd of colorfully dressed people… who were also frowning and glaring at his group. What was he missing?
A man stepped in front of Jules. He was tall with dark hair. His body was lean, with the type of muscle that Porco had seen on yoga instructors. Porco doubted the man could bench more than fifty pounds if that. Still, the yogi had placed himself between Porco and Porco’s woman. That would not do.
“No, no. You can’t go there.” Spinelli’s grip tightened on Porco’s arm.
Jordan Spinelli had a big brain and a big body to match. His grip was absolute. But Porco was not above sucker punching his friend if both he and the yogini stood in the way of true love.
“You cannot go over there,” Spinelli continued. “Because of the lawsuit.”
Lawsuit? What was Spinelli talking about? Porco’s brain whirled as realization began to dawn. Hadn’t he heard Brenda and her brother going on about a dispute with the neighbors?
“The Verona Commune filed an injunction dictating where and what type of chemicals Brenda could spray on her lands.”
Porco did remember that. Vaguely. Something or other about fertilizer and vegetables. He thought maybe the term organic had been used in that conversation.
“That’s them,” said Spinelli. “That’s the Verona Commune.”
Here he was, staring down the neighbors from hell. Meanwhile, all Porco could think was that he’d been right next to Jules for months and had been unaware. Oh, fate was a tricky little devil.
“That’s why it can’t work out between you two. Well, that’s one of many reasons.”
Spinelli’s words made no sense. Porco had no bone in this fight. This was between Brenda, and the leader, who Porco now assumed was the tree standing posed yoga instructor.
This feud had nothing to do with him and Jules. Or what they were feeling towards each other. Right?
Porco looked again to the woman of his dreams. Jules’s eyes were squeezed closed, as though she was trying to shut out the same realization he’d just come to. She had to know that he wasn’t a part of what was going on between Brenda and Mini Mountain Pose guy.
Jules opened her eyes. Her gaze immediately fell on Porco. What he saw in her brown depths made him believe. There was a spark of hope. It was all he needed to do the impossible.
As part of the Army’s premier raid force, Porco had been on numerous missions where he’d infiltrated hostile territory. He’d spent weekends tracking enemy combatants and pulling terrorists out of their beds before their eyes blinked open. He’d run headfirst into dark caves and decrepit cities to rescue prisoners of war and innocent civilians.
Each and every one of those missions had spiked his adrenalin, engaged his flight or fight responses, and made him question his sanity. One thing remained the same every time; he’d never hesitated to take that first step into combat.
But here, in this sedate Montana town, where the biggest threat was the fried oil dough and meats the townsfolk launched at their livers and hearts, Porco faced his toughest battle. He ignored all his training to run headfirst. He turned off his fight response and kept moving forward.
Walking past Jules Capulano had to be the hardest thing Porco had done in his life. But he did it. Because he had the hope that she would meet him tonight as planned. Outside of the scrutiny of their feuding families, away from the lawsuit that tied up their lands, out of the boundaries of who others thought they should date.
With that knowledge, Porco soldiered on. He marched away from the woman who was made for him. With this mission of losing this first battle accomplished, Porco began plotting how to win the war.