Acquiring Trouble

holidays . This year she was on her way to Fiji. She’d spend her Christmas vacation on the beach with a cocktail in one hand and a good book in the other. Morgan had scheduled her return for January 2nd , knowing she’d drive to Keeneston the second she arrive d back in DC. But for now she was going to focus on forgetting work and the hazel eyes that haunted her dreams.
     
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    Miles smiled as he thumbed through all the pictures he had taken of Paige’s son, Ryan, and Cade’s daughter, Sophie, since his return from Germany . He couldn’t believe the call he had gotten from his mother early Christmas morning. She was so happy she couldn’t stop crying , and if he was really honest with himself , he was jealous of Paige and Cade.
    When little Sophie wrapped her tiny hand around his finger , he felt his heart growing. Then Ryan had grabbed his nose and cooed and it grew even more. He’d never thought of himself as a family man, but he wished he could find someone to start a life with. He just knew h e wasn’t going to tell his mom he was looking !
    Miles had also managed to make it back to Keeneston before his brother Cy left. It was so good to see his brother. He knew Cy missed being at home and was so glad he was able to be here to meet Sophie and Ryan. Miles had spent the holidays with the entire family and loved every moment. But now it was time to get back to work and there was no better way to start back on the grocery contract than by eating some of Miss Violet’ s country ham and cheese grits.
     
    Morgan leaned over the steering wheel of her car to get a closer look at the farms surrounding the road as she drove into Keeneston for the first time in seventeen years. She slowed her car as she approached Main Street and took a deep breath. It felt surr eal to be back in her hometown.
    She noticed all the little things that had changed, but it still seemed like the same old town. Christmas lights were still wrapped around all the lampposts making the town glow. A new bench was placed in front of the library. Mr. Si mmon's antique store was now an insurance agency with the name of one of her classmates over the door.
    People still walked the streets and waved to her, even though they couldn't see who was behind the tinted glass. A large tractor drove down the street and the smell of sweet feed from the Horse and Feed Store tickled her senses.  
    It looked like Main Street had had a makeover recently too. The historic brick buildings were painted in shades of tan, yellow, blue , and deep reds. The window trim was freshly painted white and made the large rectangular windows pop against the painted brick.
    Morgan looked around and then pulled into the courthouse parking lot. She grinned at the memory of climbing up one night and riding that horse statue in front of the courthouse until Sheriff Red made her get down. She was placed in the back of his car, her second home, and taken back to her father and mother. Since her father was the s heriff's min i ster, she tended to avoid most arrests . Most of the time she just got a ride home and had to endure one of her father's lectures until sunup.
    She turned off her black Mercedes and looked across the street at the Blossom Café. She could see the people in the plate glass window eating breakfast. Oh, she was going to have some fun this morning. Payback was a bitch.
    Morgan looked farther up Main Street and back to the c afé. It appeared that it was still the only plac e to eat in town. It might have the only thing she missed from Keeneston —t he pecan pancakes the Rose sisters made.
    Morgan pulled out her purse and applied some lip- gloss. When she returned the visor to its place , she saw a curvy woman in a dark green suit and camel pea coat with beautiful auburn hair wa ving madly out on the sidewalk.
    "Who is that?" Morgan asked herself . She looked around to find out who the woman was waving at. No one was near, so Morgan assumed she must have been waving at her. She could have been from high school. It wasn’t like she had remember ed every one after all these years. Could it be Stacy? That huge rock on her hand made her someone's wife.
    Morgan opened the door and slid out in her black pencil skirt and amethyst silk blouse. She put on a matching fitted blazer and took one last look around to make sure she was the only one there and then turned to the woman who had now stopped waving.
    "Oh! I' m so sorry! I thought you were