Shoe Strings

about every other person she’d ever run across in
her weeks in Sequoyah Falls.   Cal
had sauntered away and started dancing with a woman he’d introduced as
Sally.   By the looks of things, he
might not go home alone.  
    It looked as if the whole town had shut down to celebrate
Kerri Ann and Bryce’s nuptials.   So
where the hell was the wedding party?   She’d just decided to wait in line for another drink when she felt a
finger run down the length of her arm.   She turned to see Jesse, his expression serious, standing so close she
could feel his breath on her skin.  
    “Care to dance?”   Before she could answer, he took her in his arms and there, between the
fold-up chairs and covered tables, began swaying her back and forth.  
    “Jesse.”   She had
so much to say, but the look in his eyes had her throat closing and the corners
of her mouth tilting upward.   “I’d
love to dance.”
    She felt his hand on her back through the material of her
jersey dress and could have sighed with contentment.   She’d come home, to his arms, to this
town, to a man who loved her completely.   He wouldn’t run, wouldn’t change his mind about loving her, wouldn’t
ever make her feel like anything less than what she wanted to be.  
    “I like the dress.   I almost didn’t recognize you in something so conservative.”   He looked down.   “Of course the shoes were a dead
giveaway.”
    She smiled and followed his eyes to her ruffled orange
sandals, a shocking contrast to her lime green dress. “All eyes should be on
the bride today, Bloodworth.   Don’t
you know that?”
    “Was there another woman at the ceremony besides you?   I’m not sure I noticed.”
    “I hope you never do.   Jesse…”   She pulled back from
his arms.   He looked down at her
with emotion dancing in his eyes.   “I’ve missed you.”
    “That,” he pulled her back into his embrace, swaying side to
side, his eyes on hers, “is the understatement of the century.”
    She tried to pull away when Kerri Ann and Bryce entered the
pavilion.   “No,” he said.   “We’re dancing, and I’ve waited a long
time to get my hands on you.   Whatever you have to say to them, you’ll have to say it later.”
    She feigned frustration when inside she felt content, right
down to her toes.  
    “Have you made any decisions about your business?”   His breath tickled the sensitive skin of
her neck.  
    “Sophie wants to quit when the baby comes.   She’s not ready to let go completely and
neither am I.   We’re going to hire a
COO to run the day to day, that way she can keep her hand in and I keep
designing, which, as you pointed out, I can do from anywhere.”
    He stopped swaying, looked at her with furrowed brows.   “You’re giving up an awful lot to be
with me.   I’m not giving up a
thing.   I don’t want you to have any
regrets.”
    “I don’t have any regrets, Jesse, and I won’t.   Besides, you are giving up a few
things.   Your bachelorhood, for one,
and possibly the chance to have another child of your own, if I can’t carry a
child to term.”
    “I already have a child of my own, no matter what happens,
and I’ll gladly give up bachelorhood to spend the next fifty or sixty years
with you.”
    “There’s something else I need you to do.”   She brought them to a stop.   “I’ve seen the size of your closet,
Bloodworth, and it’s just not going to cut it.”
    Jesse laughed and pulled her tighter.   “I’ve already thought of that.   Contractor’s coming out next week to
take a look at our options.”
    “I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you.”   She snuggled closer.   “I guess we’re really going to make it
official.”
    “Looks like.   There is one thing you’re going to have to do before we get married,” he
said.   “You’re not going to like it
and, as a matter of fact, you’re going to hate it.”
    “What?” The look in his eyes had her worried.
    “No woman of mine is going to go through life without at
least once rafting down the Powollachee.”
    She’d climb mountains for him, wrestle demons, and face
fire-breathing dragons if that’s what it took.   “I’ve agreed to marry you, you big
idiot.   You think a little thing
like a raging river is going stand in my way?”   She kissed him soundly, nestled into his
arms.   “Boy, have you got a lot to
learn.”

 
    Mending the Line by Christy Hayes

 
    Ty Bloodworth had been in a daze for