Page 19 of The Promise Of Rain

And while Eric and Miller seemed keen to have her join them that night, the rest of them simply froze in place.

For twenty minutes I sat in my truck freezing my balls off.I watched one person after another go into her little bakery and come out a few minutes later, arms laden with paper bags stuffed with warm, yeasty, goodness.

I could smell it even with the windows closed.

Maybe it was my imagination.Maybe it was my memories toying with me.But I wanted more of it.

When the rush died off, I swung my door open and made my way across the street.

The bell over the door jingled, but Jenny didn’t look up.

On the other side of the counter, she sat with her head bowed, her thick, black hair pulled back from her pretty face like a glossy, satin curtain.

“One second,” she called out.“This game is timed, and I think I’ve almost got it this time.”

“I can wait.”

Her head snapped up, and she gasped, those soft blue eyes blowing wide as she took me in.“What are you doing here?”

I tilted my head.

She hopped down from her barstool behind the cash and promptly tripped over her foot.Grabbing for the counter to save herself, she slapped her cell phone down, and the damn thing slid clear across the polished expanse before diving for the tiled floor at my feet.

Snatching it out of the air, I glanced at the screen before giving it back to her with a small smile.“Mahjong?”

She huffed out a soft laugh.Cheeks growing rosy, her mouth curved into a small smile.“It’s a step up from Solitaire.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off her face.I’d know her anywhere but couldn’t deny the changes.She was stunning as always, but there was a shadow behind the soft blue of her eyes that wasn’t there before.

I wagged my eyebrows, willing to give anything to see her smile for real.To see her throw her head back, open her mouth wide, and roll with wild laughter.“You’ve gone high-tech.”

“It seems so.”Her smile faltered, then fell away altogether.“Deacon,” she paused then forged ahead, a frown perched between her brows.“Why are you here?”

Do you want the short answer or the real answer?

I tucked my hands into my front pockets.“I live here.”

Her head began to shake before I’d finished speaking.“No.Your family always shops in Peppergrove.”

“I’m not my family.”

Her eyes narrowed and her mouth pursed.“Are you sure about that?”

Before the last word left her lips, she wiped her face clear of all expression.

Had my family given her a hard time after I left?And why had that possibility not occurred to me before?

I knew the town had turned its back on her.

If her story was true, she’d suffered.

And she’d suffered a lot.

Why had she stayed?

Even as I doubted, the still, quiet voice of reason inside me whispered the truth.She wouldn’t ever leave Ansel.And, after all this time, she had no reason to tell such an outrageous lie.

I’d wanted closure.