Hotter than Texas (Pecan Creek) - By Tina Leonard Page 0,83
“I’ll work morning and night on it.”
“What about your job?” Maggie asked.
“I’m ready to turn in my notice. As a learning experience, it was great. I think your nuts are going to take off, and I think you’re going to need me to help you. Keep things running.” Lucy grinned. “As you know, I’ve always been the organizer in this family.”
Maggie tossed a nut at her. Lucy caught it in midair.
“I’d quit while I was ahead,” Maggie told her. “Bragging on your org skills isn’t going to convince your sister to throw caution to the wind.”
“Hello!” Jake yelled through the front doorway.
“We’re in the kitchen!” Lucy called back. “Be nice,” she said to Sugar. “He’s trying to make up for everything, and Bobby says you’ve been giving Jake nine miles of rough road.”
Sugar blushed as Jake walked into the kitchen. She hoped Jake hadn’t heard Lucy’s comments.
“Hi, Jake,” Maggie said perkily.
“Ladies.” He lifted his hat to the room at large, his gaze on Sugar. She felt that nervous zap she always got whenever Jake was around and wished it would zap off. “I came by to check on the workmen.”
Lucy’s room would be new from top to bottom. Jake had the bed hauled off, and every stick of furniture had gone to a family shelter in town.
Lucy beamed at Jake in her gotta-tease-big-brother way. “You’re going to be so surprised when you see the new décor.”
Jake grinned and ruffled her hair. “I like surprises.”
“Good. Because you’re going to get one.” She went out with a handful of nuts. Paris followed, hoping one might fall her way.
“Opportunistic hound,” Jake said. “Hello, Maggie. Sugar.” He bussed Maggie, who beamed, and nodded at Sugar, who tried not to notice he didn’t get near her. “Do you mind if I head upstairs?”
Sugar shook her head. “Help yourself.”
He looked at her. “Are we okay?”
She shrugged. “Good enough.” What else could she say? “Thanks for letting me stay at your house.” Sugar took a deep breath. “Now that Lucy’s room has been completely knocked back to the studs practically, I’ll be okay staying here from now on.”
She thought his face fell a bit. “All right,” Jake said. “You’re welcome any time.”
“Thanks.” She turned away for a moment, then had to know. “Jake, did they ever find out anything about the man in Lucy’s bed?”
He nodded. “After checking Lucy’s blog—which is actually quite amusing, by the way, really commercial and attention-getting—the authorities traced him back to his home town. Turns out he was a pervert, and I guess Lucy’s tales of erotic pecans were just too much to resist. He wanted to meet her.”
Maggie sucked in a breath. Sugar turned to look at her mother. “Are you all right, Mom?”
Maggie nodded, patted her pockets again for a cigarette. “You know, I think I’ll get out my mother’s old recipe for mimosas,” she said to Jake. “Maybe a Bloody Mary. You want one, Jake?”
“Sure. I’m always game for a good kick in my day.” He looked at Sugar. “The guy had a massive infarction. Who knows if it was from the excitement of breaking and entering or just old, perverted age.”
Maggie turned around from the drinks she was mixing. Sugar saw her mother’s hands were trembling. “I do hate that word,” she said.
Sugar stared at her mother. “What word?”
Maggie blinked. “You know. Pervert.”
“Oh. God, Mom. It’s all right. Here, let me mix those for you.”
“I’ll do it,” Jake said. “I spend a good bit of time mixing drinks at my place.” He helped Maggie over to a wicker chair in the kitchen. “I’m sorry, Maggie. If anybody should be aware of what language to avoid around the gentler sex, it’s me.”
Sugar knelt at her mother’s knees. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Maggie said briskly. “Hormone surge.”
“Nothing a stiff Bloody Mary won’t fix,” Jake said, going over to the counter and finishing what Maggie had started.
Sugar looked at her mother. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” Maggie said. “It was just hard knowing some nasty man snuck into my daughter’s bed.”
Maggie said she was fine, but she still trembled. Jake handed her the “stiffener”, and Maggie drained it on the spot.
“More where that came from,” Jake said cheerfully. “Coming right up.”
“Nope,” Maggie said, getting up. “At this hour of the day, a lady limits herself to one. I’m going to take a walk in the grove.”
She went off, and Jake shrugged at Sugar before heading out of the kitchen.