LITMIR.BIZ

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      Walt immediately began to talk about the fall festival the town was planning in the next month. As Edie ate, she found that her focus tugged again and again to Benjamin.

      His face was tanned as if he spent a lot of time outdoors rather than inside at a desk or seated in a patrol car. He had nice features, a no-nonsense slight jut to his chin, a straight nose and lips that looked soft and very kissable.

      There was no question that she was curious about his sister, felt a tinge of empathy as she imagined what it must be like to have a family member missing.

      Edie didn’t know about missing family members, but she was intimate with grief, knew the sharp stab of loss, the ache that never quite went away.

      She could only assume that Benjamin wasn’t married and she questioned why a handsome man like him would choose to spend a couple nights a week playing chess with an old man.

      “How long are you planning to visit?” he asked.

      With those gorgeous, long-lashed eyes focused intently on her, a small burst of unwanted heat ignited in the very pit of her stomach.

      “Just a couple days or so,” she replied, grateful her voice sounded remarkably normal. “I need to get back home and take care of some things.” And he knew exactly what those things were because she’d spewed them out in a mist of tears when he’d pulled her over.

      “You still managing that restaurant?” Poppy asked.

      She hesitated and then shook her head. “Unfortunately a couple weeks ago I showed up at the restaurant and found a padlock on the door and a note that said the place was out of business.” She tamped down the residual anger that rose up inside her each time she thought of that day. There had been no warning to any of the employees, no hint that the place was in trouble.

      “So, have you found a new job?” Poppy eyed her worriedly.

      “Not yet, but when I get back home I’m sure I won’t have any problems finding something,” she assured him with a quick smile. The last thing she wanted was for him to worry about her.

      Thankfully dinner went quickly and as Poppy stood to clear the table, Edie shooed him away. “You two go on and play your chess. I’ll take care of the cleanup.”

      “I won’t argue with you. I like the cooking but hate the cleanup,” Poppy said.

      “I could help. It would only take a minute,” Benjamin said.

      Edie shook her head. “I’ve got it under control.” The last thing she wanted was to be butting elbows with him over the sink. He was too big and too sexy for her and she didn’t want him close enough that she could smell him, feel his body heat.

      She breathed a sigh of relief as the two men left the kitchen and disappeared into the living room. It took her only minutes to store the leftovers in the refrigerator and then stack the plates for washing.

      There was no dishwasher and as she got the dish drainer rack from the cabinet, she remembered all the times she’d stood at this sink and helped her grandmother wash dishes.

      It hadn’t been a chore; it had been a chance to talk about the day, about the weather, about life with a woman Edie had considered wise and loving.

      The last time Edie had been here she’d been thirteen years old and madly in love with a boy named Darrin. It had been a case of unrequited love. Darrin had preferred video games to girls.

      “It’s not a mistake to love,” her grandmother had told her. “But you need to love smart. Choose a man who has the capacity to love you back, a man who can make you feel as if you’re the most important person in the world.”

      As Edie washed and rinsed the dishes, she wondered what her grandmother would say about the mess Edie had made of her life. She had definitely loved stupid, choosing to give her heart to a man who not only didn’t have the capacity to love her back, but also had all the character of a rock. The price she’d paid for loving stupidly had been enormous and she’d been left with the determination to never put her heart in jeopardy again.

      A burst of deep male laughter came from the living room as she placed the last dish in the drainer. It sounded like the two of them were enjoying their game.

      Darkness had fallen outside and Edie realized she hadn’t brought in her suitcase from the car. As she entered the living room both men looked up from the chessboard. “What are you doing, girl?” Poppy asked. “Come sit and watch a master at work.” He gave her a grin that twinkled in his eyes.

      She returned his smile. “I gather from the smug look on your face that you’re winning.”

      “I’ve been playing him a couple nights a week for the past six months and I have yet to win a game,” Benjamin said.

      His gaze slid down the length of her, the quick once-over that a man might give a woman he found attractive.

      She felt the heat of his gaze and quickly moved toward the front door. “I’m just going to get my suitcase from the car.”

      “Need any help?” Benjamin asked.

      She quickly shook her head. “Thanks, but I can get it.” She scooted out the front door and into the cool September evening air.

      For a moment she stood on the porch and stared up at the night sky. Here in Black Rock the stars seemed brighter, closer than they did in Topeka.

      “Make a wish, sugar,” her grandmother would tell her whenever the two of them had sat on the porch and gazed upward.

      Edie reached up and grabbed the small charm that hung on the gold chain around her neck. The gold was cool in her fingers but warmed quickly as she held it tight.

      There was only one wish she’d like to make and she knew it was one that could never come true. She released her hold on the charm and headed to her car in the driveway.

      Behind her car was parked a large black pickup she knew must belong to Benjamin. Funny, she would assume he was more the sweet little sports car type than the big, bruising truck.

      She’d packed light and grabbed the small suitcase and overnight bag from her backseat, then headed inside the house. She heard no sound from the living room. Apparently the current chess game was intense enough that both men were concentrating.

      She carried the suitcase up the stairs, the third and seventh steps creaking beneath her weight as they had when she’d been a child. She entered the last bedroom at the end of the hall, the room where she’d always stayed when she and her mother had come for a visit. The dusty pink paint on the wall and the pink floral spread covering the double bed brought another wave of memories.

      Every night that she’d slept here she’d been tucked into bed lovingly not only by her mother, but also by her grandmother. And often Poppy would come upstairs to sneak her a cookie or a little bowl of popcorn. In this house, she’d always felt loved like nowhere else on earth.

      It took her only minutes to stow her items in the dresser and closet, then she headed back downstairs where it sounded like the chess game had ended.

      As she entered the living room, Benjamin and Poppy got up from the small game table. “He beat me both games,” Benjamin said. He smiled at Edie, a warm, sexy smile that once again fluttered a faint heat through her veins.

      “Maybe you and Edie could play a few games together, you know, practice so eventually you can beat the master.” Poppy grinned.

      Benjamin laughed. “I’d love to hang around and play a game of chess with Edie, but unfortunately I’ve got some reports that need to be written before morning.”

      The twinkle in Poppy’s eyes faded as he looked at Benjamin seriously. “You know how to find those girls. Find the aliens and you’ll find out what happened to that Hightower young woman and your sister.”

      “Aliens?” Edie looked from her grandfather to Benjamin with curiosity.

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