Lifting his head, the corners of his eyes crinkled with laughter. “How about that? Any tingles?”
“Tingles? Oh, yeah. And a lot more.” Like joy at just being with him. Sexual attraction mixed with joy at being together and sharing a laugh.
Releasing her hand, JT gave a muted groan. “Okay. No more of that. I can’t handle touching you. I feel my own set of tingles, you know.”
Bonnie took pity on him and changed the subject. “We’ll talk about my mother. She gave me some strange story about this being her Christmas wish, even if it was only July.”
“Christmas in July? I thought that was some sort of retail thing. Does Santa even give Christmas in July wishes?”
Bonnie laughed lightly. “He must. Didn’t you get a package from his wife?”
JT hummed. “Hmm. That was strange. I wonder where the mothers found an ornament that looks so much like you.”
“Santa’s workshop?”
They both laughed. A sizzling of the fajitas JT had ordered interrupted them as the waiter set the meals on the table. For a while, the conversation centered on the food.
Near the end of the meal, while they shared a dessert of sopapillas dipped in honey, JT brought up last night’s suggestion.
“I do want you to come home with me. At least for a visit.”
Leave Oak Grove? The thought almost had Bonnie’s hand reaching into her Vera Wang purse for the white bag. Rather than do that, she softly chanted, “My hands are warm.”
“Sweetheart, it’s really not that scary.”
No one, not even her mother, had ever called her sweetheart. “I can’t be that.” The words left her lips before she even realized she was speaking out loud.
“What? Scared?” His hands gripped hers. A bit of stickiness suctioned the ends of his fingers to hers. They both needed to wash off the honey, she thought. Oddly, it didn’t bother her.
“I can’t be your sweetheart. We don’t know each other well enough.”
His fingers squeezed hers. “Somehow, I think we were made to be together. Don’t you sense a sort of blessing on this?”
Numbly, she nodded. He looked pleased. Bonnie watched him shake his head as the waiter approached. The man left, and JT leaned a bit further across the table.
“My parents don’t really need me, you know. Pa’s got a nurse coming in every day to help. Nancy, my sister, lives close by. That’s why they moved here, after all. To be near her and the kids.”
Somehow, Bonnie couldn’t speak. The glow of believing she was really someone’s sweetheart gripped her. Her silence didn’t bother him, it seemed. He bulldozed ahead with what was on his mind.
“I have eight more days before I have to return to work. You’ll spend them with me, won’t you?”
That finally opened the floodgates of speech. Bonnie sighed and explained, “I have a restaurant to run. I’m always closed on Sunday. Tomorrow it’s back to the daily grind.”
“Don’t you have an assistant manager?”
That had her laughing. Without even knowing why she laughed, he joined in with his rich baritone that thrilled her soul.
“I live in a small town. There’s not enough business so I can’t afford another manager.”
His shoulders fell. Just for a moment, though. Then, he arched an eyebrow. “Let’s play pretend. Who would you hire, if you could afford it?”
Pretend was safe so Bonnie played along. “That’s easy. My mother.”
The fun of the moment slipped away, and her face grew somber. “I think something’s wrong with her. She’s losing weight and looks tired a lot.”
JT stood up. Had her tone offended him?
Rather than leaving, he moved to sit beside her. Regardless of sticky fingers, her husband wrapped an arm around Bonnie and pulled her into his side. Leaning down, he kissed her hair.
“I’m sorry. She hasn’t told you anything about it?”
Under his lips, Bonnie shook her head. “No. I asked last night when I was trying to get her to explain about the whole Elvis wedding thing. She put me off, saying something like ‘None of us know what tomorrow will bring.’ That kind of malarkey.”
He pulled away to look down at her. “You say that like you’ve heard it before.”
“Oh, yeah. Ever since my father’s death five years ago.”
JT leaned down to whisper close to her ear. His breath tickled her, causing her to shiver. “You know, she’s right. And you certainly can’t throw God’s blessing back at Him.”
This time she pulled away to meet his eyes. “I’ve never thought of myself as a blessing. I like that, a sweetheart and a blessing. It’s been a good day for me.”
The warm chuckle stopped as his mouth brushed across hers. Briefly. That contact only left her longing for something more.
Trying to smother that longing, she played devil’s advocate. “What if I don’t like living near Racine? What then?”
A long silence. Bonnie saw JT squeeze his eyes shut. His head tipped upward, as if he were praying.
Why was she fighting this? A godly man. Someone she was relaxed with, attracted to, and a person who wanted to provide for her.
What more could she ask for from the Lord? That he live in Oak Grove. That sounded petty to her now. Like nowhere else was as good as her little town.
JT’s words startled Bonnie out of her thoughts. “I can only think that we’re meant to be together, whatever happens.” His face creased into that little boy grin she found so attractive. “After all, mother knows best.”
His words eased the tension of a moment earlier. She giggled and added, “Mother and Mrs. Claus.”
Chapter 8
On Tuesdays, The Oak Grove Tattler published its weekly edition. Somehow, a photo of Bonnie and JT standing in front of Elvis made the front page. She didn’t even know someone
