The Rancher and the Event Planner - By Cheryl Gorman Page 0,53
shout it to the sky and moon overhead but she was scared, bone deep, soul sucking scared, that he wouldn’t return her feelings. When she’d challenged him that day in the barn she knew there was a chance she could be hurt and had resigned herself to take that chance but now standing inches away from him she knew he could crush her heart. All it would take would be a few well-chosen words with a look of pity in his eyes. And pity was the last thing she wanted or needed from him. She paused for a moment and inhaled a deep breath. “Thank you. I’ll be starting on the next project soon. The renovation at the mansion seems to be humming along. I’ll see you later, Rafe.”
She walked away leaving him standing alone in the moonlight.
Chapter Thirteen
JC pulled her car up to the curb next to Salvation Park. The week before she’d overseen the gala in Dallas and it had been a huge success. Now she had just a few hours of community service left to serve. Between the local nursery and her suppliers in Dallas, the town had received great deals on the plants for the new flower beds she had planned and other planting supplies. A white haze covered the sky and humidity thickened the air. The trees buzzed with the persistent hum of cicadas and thunderheads bunched in the distance, but so far she didn’t see any lightning or hear the rumble of thunder. Hopefully the clouds would stay on the horizon and not move in this direction.
She was delighted to see the flowers and shrubs she had ordered were here. She had called in a favor from her suppliers to acquire the trees. A large flatbed truck was parked at the curb and several men were busy unloading crates of flowers, buckets of shrubs and trees with their roots covered in burlap.
“Hi, Ron,” JC said to the main man in charge.
He turned and smiled at her. He was medium height, nice looking and around her age. He had kind, light blue eyes, a trimmed mustache and sandy hair. She noted the wide gold band still sparkling on his left hand. Helping him and his fiancée plan their wedding, had been one of the highlights of her career.
“JC, it’s good to see you.” He shook her hand.
“How’s married life?”
His eyes lit up. “We couldn’t be happier. Thanks again for planning such a perfect day. You’re the best.”
Pride swelled inside JC. “Thank you. It’s always great to hear from a satisfied client. Well, I guess we’d better get to work.”
Between Ron and his helpers they dug out the old plantings, shoveled holes for the trees, revitalized the sandy soil with peat moss, fresh garden soil and manure. After a couple of hours, JC’s worn cut off shorts, tank top and work boots were covered with dirt and she reeked of manure and sweat, but she reveled in it. She couldn’t remember enjoying a day more. She’d slowed down since her arrival in Salvation she realized. She’d learned to stop and enjoy the moment, enjoy the planning process instead of keeping her eye on the deadline she had to meet.
She’d almost reached the one hundred mark on her community service hours, but strangely she didn’t care. She should be rejoicing that she could still leave this place and get back to her life in Shreveport, but deep inside she wanted to stay. She would never have believed she’d want to stay but she did. The thought of leaving Rafe, Molly, Linc and Cade not to mention the friends she’d re-connected with, made her feel almost frightened of leaving them behind. Maybe because the idea of not having them in her life, scared the daylights out of her.
When had this change occurred? When had she grown to love this town and its people? She tried to pinpoint the exact moment but she couldn’t. It was a bunch of moments spread out like a sparkling necklace.
A mockingbird warbled, sailing toward its nest in one of the park’s large trees drawing her thoughts back to the present. She dug a bottle of water from the cooler she’d brought, twisted the top and took a long gulp. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, took off her work gloves and splashed her face with cold water from a spigot. JC straightened, wiped her face with the tail of her shirt, turned and bumped into Rafe. “Oh, hi. I didn’t see you.