“Try spending six years in prison for a crime you didn’t commit because someone you loved betrayed you, then see what strikes you as melodramatic. Okay?”
Zach pursed his lips, knowing that now was not the time to further pursue this line of discussion. Instead he nodded. “I hear you. So, we’re on for the Fourth and fireworks? Do you prefer T-bones or rib eyes? Cabernet or Merlot?”
She smiled. “You pick.”
At least she trusted him with that.
“I’ll bring homemade peach ice cream.”
Now who was trying to seduce whom?
FOURTEEN
The summer days breezed by. Savannah stayed thrillingly busy at Heavenscents—so busy, in fact, that she hired two part-time employees to help in the retail shop and another to assist with shipping online sales. She used the time the extra help gave her to replenish her inventory and order her supplies. At the end of June, her sales were running 40 percent higher than her projections—40 percent!—and she treated herself to an online shopping spree with expedited delivery.
She bought a new sundress and shoes to wear for her Fourth of July date.
She’d seen Zach occasionally in the days since their picnic—though he made sure he was seldom gone from her thoughts. He continued to send gifts, make phone calls, and duck in to say hello whenever his foot patrol took him past Heavenscents. It hadn’t helped that one of his new hires had missed three days of work with the flu, forcing Zach and his other deputies to work extra shifts. When Gabi told her that, Savannah had shut her door an hour early and baked a peach cobbler, which she delivered warm to the sheriff’s office.
She’d thought that Zach was going to break down and cry.
Each day, with its wink and wave and “Hiya, Peach,” brought Savannah closer to a momentous decision until finally, during her lunch break on July 2, she made one more Internet purchase and chose overnight delivery.
No way was she going to buy condoms in Eternity Springs.
It had taken a fair amount of soul-searching for her to admit to herself that she might have a need for them, but Savannah didn’t lie, not even to herself. Especially when what she really, really wanted to do was lie to herself.
She had the hots for the sheriff. Another law enforcement officer. What in heaven’s name was wrong with her? She obviously had some sort of mental issue.
No, her issue was definitely physical.
In her defense, Zach Turner in full magnetism mode was difficult for any woman to resist. Hadn’t she seen that in the way even the older women in town preened and blushed when he turned on the charm? He had a boyish grin, an athlete’s build, and a wicked glint in those devastating blue eyes that could turn a woman to mush. Yet those attributes were only part of what made him so appealing to her. What had breached her defenses was learning that he had no family, either.
Savannah’s heart had ached for him when he told her about losing his loved ones. The information had created a common bond between them, whether they acknowledged it or not. Despite her father’s failings, she had loved him and she’d grieved for him when he died. Her brothers had been worthless, as always, but she’d had her grandmother to help her through the loss of her dad. Kyle, too, had been a help—at least on the surface. Zach had had no one. He still had no one. The two of them were a match made in … well, not heaven. The thoughts on her mind were definitely earthy.
The morning of the Fourth dawned gray and damp, but by the time the parade started at ten, the clouds had burned off and the sun shone brightly. Like the majority of the businesses in town, Savannah kept the shop open for the holiday, though she did close down for an hour while the parade was taking place. Despite the curtailed schedule, she had the best sales day ever, and as she readied herself for her date after work, excitement sizzled in her veins. “I’m a success, Grams,” she said as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She gave her hair one more stroke with the brush. “I’m going to make this business work.”
She paused, listening hard, and when she didn’t hear her grandmother’s voice echoing through her mind, she added, “And there’s a good possibility that I’m going