She frowned. “Of course, seriously. If we’re partners in life, we’re going to share stuff, mister. No mine and yours business.”
He grinned. “Yes, ma’am. And for the record, that’s probably going to be the unseen blessing in all of this. Not having to cut corners to meet a budget.”
“Our budget will be what it takes to make the place the way we want it,” she said. “The money came from the profits of gambling, but it’s going to be spent on us…and there’s no risk in that. I know in my heart we are a sure thing, Duke Talbot.”
Duke sighed. “I have a confession to make. Duke is a nickname I’ve had since I was two. My legal name is Jason Lee Talbot.”
Cathy’s mouth opened…and then she rolled her eyes in pretend dismay. “Thank you for letting me know before we got to the altar.”
He grinned. “Well, Grandpa grew up in the sixties. And there was this song he liked called ‘Duke of Earl,’ by a singer named Gene Chandler. He was always playing it on Grandma’s old record player, and they said the first word I learned to say was Duke. Not Mama. Not Daddy. Duke. And it stuck.”
Cathy laughed, trying to picture this man as a tiny little boy, and wished she’d known him a long time ago.
They kept talking about the house renovation and colors and designs until they were finally at the outskirts of Savannah. Christmas had already hit that city as well, and everything seemed to be in full holiday flow.
“Do you know where the Jeep dealership is?” Cathy asked.
Duke nodded. “I make it my business to know where I’m going at all times…except when I’m with you. In those times, I am just going crazy.”
“You are impossible,” she said, then felt that silly smile creeping back on her face. He had a way of doing that to her—feeding her ego and flashing her those sexy looks at the same time.
They reached the dealership and got out. Her car was ready and waiting, and the only thing she had left to do was sign papers and pay for it. They sat in the sales office for almost thirty minutes, and Cathy kept thinking of all the things Duke probably had waiting for him back at the farm.
“Duke, honey, I know you need to go home. I needed a ride, and you provided it. Why don’t you go ahead and leave?”
“I don’t want to leave you on your own like this,” he said.
She shook her head, unsettling a few curls. “I’ll be fine. I do not need a keeper. Backpacked…slept under the stars…fed myself…kept myself alive…remember?”
He sighed. “I will never not want to take care of you.”
“And I will love every moment of it, too. But right now, I’m about to sign my name on a check and on a bill of sale, and then swing by the mall before I leave town.”
“Okay. But will you promise to call or text before you leave the city, just so I’ll know you’re on the way back to Blessings?”
“Yes. I promise.”
He leaned over and kissed her, brushed the tip of his finger across one of her curls, and then left.
She watched him leave, thinking to herself as he walked out the door that he looked just as sexy going out a door as he did coming in one. And then she leaned back and sighed…still waiting for the papers she needed to sign.
It took another twenty minutes of patience before the salesman came back with the papers and apologies. But her brand-new keyless-entry, push-button-start Jeep Cherokee was fueled up and ready to go, and when she left, she headed straight to the mall. She was going to the men’s Big and Tall shop to look for a Christmas present for Duke.
She’d already checked out his sizes while she was at the farm for Thanksgiving, and now she wanted to find him something special.
She parked farther back in the lot just so she wouldn’t have to worry about getting a door ding on her new car and was walking toward the front entrance when she saw two men getting out of a white van.
The first thing that alerted her something was off was how they were acting when they got out. The weather was cool, and the wind was brisk, so their long trench coats weren’t out of place, but they were both clutching at the front of their coats, as if they were holding onto something beneath.