Storm Warning (20 page)

At some point she must’ve dosed off because the chiming sound that alerted her to a new text message startled her.

Blinking until her eyes adjusted, Ella Jane dug her phone out from under the covers and read Hayden’s message.

She’s ok. Pops and I are going home now. She’ll get to come home tomorrow.

She breathed a sigh of relief and texted back.

Thank goodness. I’m so glad. Will I see you at work this week?

She felt awful for even asking. But the thought of not seeing him made her feel sick. His response came a little slower this time.

Not sure. I’ll call you tomorrow. Get some sleep, angel face.

She smiled in the darkness. Even in a crisis, he still called her by the nickname she’d grown to love.

Panic threatened to sweep over her as she texted him goodnight.

She’d never lost sleep over a guy. Not even Coop.

Hugging her phone to her chest, she lay there wondering what was happening to her.

Maybe she was growing to love more than just the nickname Hayden Prescott had given her.

T
HE
first week of August sucked. Bad.

The only time Ella Jane saw Hayden was when her mom sent her over to his grandparents’ house to deliver soup and casseroles. And most of the time her mom came right along with her. But she and Hayden still managed to steal a few minutes alone together when they could.

“Gran seems to be doing better,” Ella Jane said as she and Hayden stepped outside while her mom finished her visit.

“She is. Pops said she just overdid it a bit and needed to rest. She forgets that she’s in her seventies sometimes.”

“It’s no wonder. They’re the most active senior citizens I know. Mama says Pops stays so busy he could run through Hell barefoot and not even get a sunburn.”

Hayden chuckled. “They’re something else all right. It’s been interesting being home with them all week. Though mostly I’ve been running Pops’s errands while he stays with her. You guys doing okay without me? Business hasn’t shut down, has it?” Hayden teased as they sat on her tailgate in his grandparents’ driveway.

“It’s rough. We’re managing though.” She nudged him with her shoulder, letting her arm rest against his. “Coop’s been coming by in the evenings to help out.”

Hayden stiffened beside her. “Oh yeah? I bet he’s loving that.”

Ella Jane snorted. “Oh yeah. Nothing like mowing a huge lawn and pulling weeds after a long day of working on the farm.”

“No, I’m sure that part sucks. But the getting to see you every night is probably making his life complete.”

Grinning and shaking her head, Ella Jane raised her eyebrows at him. “You are seriously jealous of Coop? He sees me as a little sister, Hayden. Always has. Always will.”

Hayden’s normally bright green eyes were dark when they met hers. “No. He doesn’t. But more importantly, I’d like to know what you see him as.”

Whoa. Where is this coming from?
Ella Jane tried to keep calm
as Hayden basically accused her of still wanting her brother’s best friend. She chewed her lip as she watched her feet dangle off the truck bed. How to phrase this? “Honestly, once upon a time I had a crush on Coop.” She shrugged. “But then you came along and…I don’t know. It seems kind of silly now, I guess. We’re just friends. That’s all we’ll ever be.”

“Mmhm. Friends,” Hayden mumbled under his breath.

Leaning back and eyeing him speculatively, she grinned. “Jealousy is kind of hot on you. Even though you have no reason to be, I kind of like seeing you worried about someone stealing me away.” She winked and nudged him again.

“Hell yeah I’m worried about that. I’m going home in like two weeks. Then what’s going to happen?”

The stark realization hit her hard enough to rob the air from her lungs. Two weeks. Fourteen days. Hayden would go back to his world of fancy cars and malls and girls who wore designer clothes… She squeezed her eyes shut. The lump forming in her throat made it necessary unless she wanted to let him see the tears welling in them.

“What do you want to happen?” she whispered without looking at him.

“Hey,” Hayden said softly, nudging her back. “I want to see you every weekend. I want to meet at The Ridge and watch trains every night we can. I want to pick you up in my car when it’s fixed and take you on a real date. And you have to meet the most important person in my life. My English bulldog, Atticus.”

Her face broke into a huge grin as she looked up at him. “Really?”

“Yes, really. I tried to talk my parents into letting me stay and letting me bring Atticus out here with me, but for some reason they’re dead set on me coming home. I think they suspect I’m just in the way and that I’m somehow responsible for Gran’s recent episode.”

Ella Jane gasped. “What? Why would they think that? If anything, you’ve been a huge help. Not just to your grandparents but with my family’s business too.”

“Thanks, babe. Glad someone thinks I’m worth something.” He smiled, but Ella Jane didn’t miss the fact that it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I think you’re worth a whole lot of something, Hayden. You’re worth a lot to me anywa—” She had more to say, but he dropped his mouth to hers before she could finish. As his soft, warm lips pressed against hers, she realized she didn’t mind him cutting her off one bit.

K
ISSING
Hayden in the back of her truck was amazing. So was kissing him at the train tracks, in the barn, the tool shed, and out by the pond. They took turns pulling away and swearing they needed to get back to work, but five minutes later they’d both be hungry for more. And neither of them had enough willpower to ignore that hunger.

“I almost quit, you know,” Hayden mumbled against her lips, situating himself between her thighs. Ella Jane ignored the cold metal of the tool bench she was sitting on and focused on the warmth Hayden was causing.

“Your job? Here?” She placed a chaste kiss on his lips before pulling back to pout up at him.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I was over it on day one. I literally had my phone in my hand and was about to call my parents and beg them to let me come home and work off my debt another way.”

She laughed. God, he had been such a mess that first week. But now he was the first one to show up every morning and the last one to leave. Even her mom was impressed with what a hard worker he’d become. Granted, she didn’t know about all the secret kissing breaks they took. “So what happened?”

“You happened,” he said, gripping her legs tighter and pulling her closer. His mouth pressed to hers and she opened for him. Shivers broke down her spine as his tongue swept inside. He tugged her bottom lip with his teeth before explaining any further. “You walked out of that house and I thought I’d died and gone to Heaven. Then you yelled at me and I knew I had.”

“Then I sprayed you with the hose because you were a jackass.”

Now it was his turn to laugh. “Pretty sure that’s when I fell in love with you.”

Both of them froze at his unexpected admission. “Y-you’re in love with me?” Ella Jane’s heart stuttered right along with her speech.

She watched as Hayden took a deep breath and raked a hand through his hair. The thick knot in his throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Totally did not mean to put that out there like that.”

Ouch. She winced as he took his words back. But she put on a brave face and pretended like it wasn’t a big deal. Waving her hand in between them, she hopped down off the bench. “No big. I know what you meant.”

Before she could make it two steps, Hayden grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. “No, I don’t think you do. I meant, that wasn’t how I planned to tell you. I planned to surprise you at The Ridge with a picnic or something thoughtful. I didn’t mean to blurt it out in a toolshed.”

She studied his face for any signs that he might be messing with her. “How do you know you’re in love with me?” she challenged.

Much to her relief, he didn’t back down. “Well,” he began, pulling her in close to nuzzle her neck, “I think about you constantly.” He placed a whisper of a kiss behind her ear. “I can’t keep my hands off of you.” Brushing his mouth along her jawline, he caused her to shiver noticeably. “And I pretty much jump out of bed every morning nearly bursting with excitement to see you. To hear what you’re going to say or what name you’ll call me. And I was definitely never a morning person before. Look at me. I’m spending my day off at work just to be with you. I would’ve kicked my own ass if someone had told me I would be like this.”

She’d heard enough. Leaping into his arms, she crashed her lips to his.

When they finally came up for air, she grinned. “In that case, you might not be the only one who fell, Hayden Prescott. And you’re my favorite pain in the ass city boy in the whole wide world.”

“Easy,” he teased, kissing her once more.

The door to the shed swung open suddenly and sunlight burst into their private make-out spot. Ella Jane’s heart clenched in her chest. She jumped back from Hayden’s embrace and straightened her shirt.

“Perd
ó
n,” Marcos, the horticulturist, said. He mumbled some words in Spanish and grabbed the sprayer hanging on the side wall.

Once he was gone, she let a nervous giggle escape. But when she looked up, Hayden’s face was serious.

“What’s wrong? Marcos won’t tell on us. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a green card. And he likes me. I taught his daughter to read.”

“Who did you think that was, Ella Jane?” Hayden asked quietly.

“Um, I had no idea. He surprised the crap out of me. Why?”

“If it had been Cooper, or your brother, what would you have done?” His jaw clenched. She reached up to soothe it.

“I would’ve told them to go the hell away. And then I would’ve thrown myself in front of you before one of them punched you in the face.”

“So you don’t care if they know we’re together?”

“Hayden, I just told you I loved you. I’ll admit this is all new to me. But I don’t say things I don’t mean. And as much as I’m dreading what overprotective jerks they’re going to be about it, they can deal. I’ve watched them with girls for the last couple of years and I haven’t been rude to anyone they brought around.” Though it had stung to see Cooper with girls sometimes. But that was no longer an issue.

In a way, it was a relief. She was glad she was finally coming to terms with the fact that Coop would always be just a friend. The constant unrequited pining thing was getting to be kind of hard to handle. She didn’t miss the pain of rejection one bit.

“Joe doesn’t have brotherly feelings for you, angel face. I wish he did. But it’s more than that. Dude is pretty much plotting to steal you away first chance he gets.”

The sunlight caused both of them to squint as they exited the shed.

She scoffed out loud. “Um, no he’s not. Trust me.”

“What if he is? What if the minute summer’s over and I’m gone he tells you he wants you and asks you to ditch me? What then?”

“Geez. As much as the super-full-of-yourself version of you bugs me, this insecure version is pretty annoying too. Hayden, I’m with you. Period. What about you? You going to just forget about me when summer’s over?”

He sighed and kissed her on top of the head before they headed off in different directions. “Ella Jane, I couldn’t forget about you if I tried.”

A
few hours and a few more stolen kisses later, Hayden’s granddad pulled up to pick him up from work. Hand in hand, Ella Jane walked with him to the truck.

“Hi, Pops,” she called through the open window. “Mama made sweet potato casserole for you and Gran if you want to come in and get some. Or I can run in and get it.”

“Hey, pretty girl,” Edwin Prescott called back with a wink. “Save me some. I’ve gotta get to the tractor supply store before they close.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gravel and dust flew around them as Coop and Kyle pulled up in the driveway behind Hayden’s grandpa. Ella Jane’s shoulders stiffened. Well…it was now or never. She stepped in between where Hayden stood and where Coop’s truck was parked.

Testosterone surged among the three of them as the two boys got out of the truck. Kyle nodded and stepped around to speak with Mr. Prescott. EJ half-listened as they chatted about football. Cooper glared at Hayden and Hayden glared right back.

Well this was awkward.

“Come on, boy. Let’s go. I gotta get movin’,” Hayden’s grandpa called out, his tone completely different than the one he’d used when speaking to EJ.

“I’ll call you later,” Hayden said quietly. “If you want me to.”

Ella Jane turned her back on Cooper and Kyle and frowned up at him. “Of course I want you to.”

“Okay. See ya.” He started to get into the truck but she wasn’t having it. He’d asked what she would’ve done in front of Kyle and Coop. He was nervous that she’d trade him in for Coop or something. And much to her own surprise, she realized that she wouldn’t.

So she pulled at Hayden’s arm and kissed him square on the mouth in front of God and everybody.