SomedayMyGoodOleBoyWillCome Read online

“You don’t really.”

  As if she hadn’t even spoken, Derek continued. “I had begun to fall in love with you; bet you didn’t know that. I knew how you would watch me and I reveled in it. That’s part of the reason I was always getting injured, I wanted to show off for you. My feelings scared me. For so long, all you had been was a tagalong and then…all of a sudden I was thinking things like girlfriend, kissing, petting, more.”

  “Please, Derek, don’t say anymore.”

  “I have to, Jace. I have to. You need to realize that my feelings for you go way beyond that night in Atlanta. I have loved you since I was fifteen. What we shared in Atlanta only proves it is our destiny to be together.”

  “No more, Derek. No more.” In an abrupt motion she rose and walked down the steps. “I can’t relive our past, not right now. I’m going back to the farm. I’m sorry, but we will have to talk some other night.”

  Derek realized he may have succeeded in pushing her away, farther away from him and closer to Caleb. “Okay, I won’t bring it up again. I just felt like I needed to tell you. Let you know.”

  “So, what, I am part of a twelve step program? Apologize to all those you made feel lower than shit?” Her words cut him to the bone.

  “Ouch. That was uncalled for, Jace.” Derek rose to his full height and moved towards her.

  “Don’t, Derek. Alright? Just don’t.” Jacey turned and walked away from him, the night swallowing her up as if that were where she belonged.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Knowing that he didn’t stand an ice cube’s chance in Hell of finding her if she didn’t wish it, Derek spoke to the vast darkness. “Goodnight, Jace.” He walked down the driveway and headed for home.

  A long light from the farmhouse showed Derek the way to go. The kitchen smelled of leftover pie, and at the table sat his Uncle Frank, whose white hair was sticking up as if he had just gotten out of bed.

  “Hey, Uncle Frank,” Derek’s dejected voice reached across the kitchen to the man drinking a tall glass of milk.

  “Derek. Did you get everything off your chest?”

  “No. Actually…can I talk to you for a moment, Uncle Frank?”

  “Sure thing. Sit down, milk’s nice and cold so pour yourself a glass.” Frank watched him carefully. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

  Derek was agitated. He pulled up a chair and sat only to get up and pace moments later. “I need some advice on women. Well, a woman to be exact.”

  “Uh huh.”

  He reclaimed his seat and met his uncle’s blue gaze. “She makes me so angry at times, and she does things that are really dangerous. She loves to but they are still dangerous…”

  Derek jumped out of his chair again, to once again begin putting a groove in the floor with his relentless pacing.

  “Do you know I found her fifteen feet up in the air in a tree doing pull-ups? One-armed pull-ups, I mean…what was she thinking? She could have gotten hurt.”

  Frank just leaned forward and laced his old arthritic fingers around his glass. “I assume we are talking about Jacey?”

  “Of course we are. Miss Jacey Damia Thompson, who doesn’t need anyone. I’m so confused; one minute she is kissing me and the next she seems ready to kill me. I know she has feelings for me. And then….” Derek collapsed on the chair like his legs were no longer able to support him. “…then she keeps getting calls from some man named Caleb. Who the hell is that?”

  Frank let his use of foul language pass for the moment. “Derek, let me get this straight. This woman is a strong proud woman, traits you admire in her. You want her to totally commit to you, but as far as she has been told you are dating Shelby, is that correct?”

  “Yes,” he answered without really thinking it through, and at the sight of his uncle’s disapproving frown he reiterated. “No, I mean technically I’m dating Shelby, but it’s not who I want to date. Uncle Frank, I’ve fallen in love but I don’t know how to handle the situation, or her for that matter. I love her strengths but why won’t she show me some of her weaknesses?”

  Uncle Frank stroked his beard as he regarded his nephew, and then nodded. “I had a woman make me feel like I lost all my control once. Never did what I expected her to do and made me so mad or scared at her I could have spit. But at the same time I knew I loved her and that I was way out of my league.”

  “And? How’d you handle it?”

  Frank rose from his chair, rinsed out his glass in the sink, and looked back at his nephew. With solemn eyes holding the inquisitive ones of a man he considered his own son, he said, “I married her.” Then he left the room without another sound.

  Auntie Ro had been a spitfire? Who would have guessed? “If only I could, Uncle Frank,” he muttered to the empty room, “If only I could.”

  * * * *

  Jacey woke early. It was strange to wake in her old house. Sitting up on the couch, she groaned from her sore body. I should have gone back to the farm to sleep.

  After she left Derek last night, Jacey had walked around. When she made it back to her old house she had intended to sit for a bit. The night sounds and smells lulled her to an easy sleep.

  Jacey refastened her ponytail as she walked out the front door into the predawn southern morning. Stretching to get the kinks out, she continued on down the porch steps to begin her warmup routine so she could go jogging.

  As her steps took her down the driveway a glance at her watch showed a quarter to five. Jacey headed out on Mill Creek Road. At six forty-five, Jacey ended her morning workout by walking up the driveway to the Moser Farm. Her cool down over, all she needed now was a shower and some food and she would be ready to face her day.

  Jacey entered through the kitchen, all hot and sweaty from her morning workout, and to her surprise saw Derek along with Aurora setting the kitchen table for breakfast.

  “Morning, Auntie Ro…Derek.” Jacey smiled at them both as she walked further into the room.

  Aurora sent a glowing smile back as she responded. “Morning, dear. You must have gotten up pretty early this morning.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I had to get in a ten-mile run before breakfast. If you will excuse me, I’m going to get cleaned up.” She moved lithely out of the kitchen and soon out of Derek’s line of vision.

  The family spoke about the cookout over breakfast. Uncle Frank would man the grill and the women would make sure there were enough sides, ’cause a cookout at the Mosers’ meant one never knew who just might show up.

  After the meal was over and the dishes had been done, Jacey was outside helping Carson load hay onto Frank’s truck. He was going to deliver some to Widow Davenport.

  “Almost done, Carson?”

  “I believe so, Jace, just a few more bales. Why, are you getting tired?” Carson teased.

  “Well,” she quipped back. “Some of us have done a ten-mile run already this morning while others were still sleeping.”

  A low whistle left Carson’s mouth. “Wow. Do you always have that type of workout regimen?”

  “Normally. I try to, anyway; it doesn’t always work out that way, though.” Jacey looked up and saw Derek standing against the barn watching them. “Hey, Derek, just going to watch or come help us?”

  Derek unfolded his physique from the post he leaned up against and flowed over towards her, his cobalt gaze fixed firmly on hers. There was passion hovering just below the surface of her stare, and at the same time his mouth opened her cell phone began to chime, breaking the spell between them.

  Danger flared briefly in Derek’s eyes as she answered on the second ring. “Thompson.” She straightened up. “Good morning, Major.”

  At the other end of the phone was Jacey’s commanding officer, Major Jeff “Griz” Anderson, leader of the Zulu Spectre. What possible reason could he have to call her on leave? Except to recall her.

  “Good morning, Jacey. Having a nice day?”

  “Yes, sir,” she responded, a bit confused by his question.

  “Good. Enough wi
th the pleasantries.” Griz had always been a shoot-from-the-hip kinda guy. “I have two new files on my desk, have you seen them? They are next to the ones you reviewed before you left.”

  Jacey barely noticed that Derek watched her face as her eyes began to flicker from side to side as she searched her brain for the answer. There was a small pause before she answered, “No, sir, I’ve not seen those files.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Why is he questioning me? I rarely make mistakes. “I’m sorry, sir, the two that I put on your desk were the last ones that I have seen.”

  “Well, you need to get them. Do you have your equipment handy?” His deep voice sounded cranky.

  “No, sir, I don’t have any of that with me.” Her eyes closed briefly as she took a deep breath and listened to the man on the other end.

  “Do you have access to an uplink?”

  “No, sir, I don’t have access to a Sat COM uplink.”

  He snapped out, “I thought you had one on your Jeep. Did you disengage it?”

  With a modulated tone she responded, “Yes, sir, I do in my vehicle…but sir, I’m on leave and took a plane to get here so I don’t have my Jeep.”

  “I know you are on leave.” The man sounded downright pissed.

  Why was she trying to keep him calm? “Yes, sir, I realize you know I am on leave. I was merely…”

  “I need you here. I need sense made out of these files.” That was her order, Griz never had to say That is an order—all of his were just statements.

  Damn! “Of course, sir. I will head for the nearest base and grab a transport immediately.” She rubbed her eye.

  The man on the other end softened his tone, so he sounded like a cuddly grizzly bear. “Don’t do that, I’m sending you a delivery.”

  Jacey’s hand dropped to her side as she looked quizzically around. “You have a delivery for me, sir?”

  He chuckled. “And I want to hear back from you in exactly ten hours.”

  “Ten hours. Roger that, sir. I will call you back in ten hours. Goodbye, Major.” Click. She hung up her phone, clipped it back to her waist, and leaned against the truck. That would mean she had to call him back eight-thirty at night.

  “What was all that about?” Derek asked.

  “My CO, he had some questions about some files that were on his desk. Two of which I haven’t seen so then he said I was getting a delivery, so maybe he is faxing them to the nearest base and they will send them out here to me to review.”

  “So you don’t have to leave?” Carson piped in.

  “Not as of yet,” she answered as she picked up another bale of hay and tossed it up to Carson, who caught it and put it in its place.

  “Good,” Carson replied as he caught another bale she tossed up. “Well, that should do it. Derek, you going with Uncle Frank and me?”

  “Sure thing.” Derek headed for the driver’s side and, with a slow seductive wink for Jacey, climbed in and drove towards the house to pick up their uncle.

  * * * *

  Jacey was still shaking her head over Derek’s actions when Honey found her. “Jacey, we have to go into town for a few more things.”

  “All right.” She climbed into her friend’s vehicle and within moments they were traversing the twenty-mile distance to the town of Leeburg.

  The ride was full of catching up on old memories. “Tell me more about Caleb, Jace. What is he like?”

  “He has black hair, blue eyes, and skin about two shades lighter than mine. Very, very smart and loves to read. Wants to be a Marine more than anything right now.”

  “I can’t wait to meet him. When did your dad say they were coming?”

  “One to two days is what Uncle Frank said he said yesterday, so that could be anytime from now until your wedding. Who knows with them? Look, Honey, I never got a chance to tell you how much I appreciate you keeping Caleb a secret. I just didn’t want to deal with the questions and stuff like that.”

  “What else are best friends for, if not to keep secrets?” Honey smiled at her friend as they careened around a sharp corner. “I think you are underestimating the people here, though.”

  “I don’t know. No offense, but this place is like stepping back in time and I don’t want people to make up their mind about my son before they get to meet him.”

  Honey nodded. “I understand. When I go to Atlanta it is like an entirely different world out there. But I do like it here, the pace and the security. However, I will also admit there are problems here…”

  “Red,” Jacey interjected.

  “Uh huh. You got that right.” Honey chuckled. “But I don’t want to bore you with the problems of Leeburg. Besides, here we are in town.” And they were. Honey pulled around the town square to park in front of the market.

  * * * *

  From the police station, four pairs of eyes watched the two women that got out of the old truck. One a tan brunette woman with gentle sparkling brown eyes, the other an onyx-haired woman with eyes the color of coal, and the potential to be just as hard as the substance coal produced—the diamond.

  They knew she was going to be trouble, for the women were tight. It was obvious by the way they walked with each other. Side by side, full of laughter and joviality. The men didn’t quite know how they were going to handle her.

  Red looked at the other three men in the room and stated for the newcomers a brief history of Jacey.

  “Her name is Jacey Thompson. Her parents are very wealthy. Wealthier than I am. She grew up around here and left at sixteen to go to Capitol City with her family. This is the first time she has been back.”

  “So she isn’t interested in the Moser land then. That’s good,” David Jr. spoke. “I know she doesn’t like me. And now with her and Derek getting chummy I am going to have a harder time with Honey.”

  “What do you mean?” Red looked scared. “Are you saying the wedding is off? Why would she and Derek be getting closer?”

  “No. But I wouldn’t doubt that if Jacey voiced her objections along with Derek that she would call it off. Why wouldn’t they be close?”

  The senior Turner took a turn speaking in his grating voice, interrupting Red. “What kind of person is this Jacey? What does she do?”

  David Jr. shook his head indecisively. “I’m not sure. I heard Shelby say something about her being a supply clerk in the Marine Corps, but I don’t know if that is true or not.”

  Jenkins piped in, “Jacey is a very kind person. Always loyal to her friends, at least she was growing up.” Regardless of his loyalty to Red, Jenkins did have a kind heart; he was just too easily manipulated. Something that Red did all the time.

  “You make her sound like a dog. Loyal. Kind.” Fire flashed in the father’s eyes. “I will have that land. I want the Moser family off of it. One woman, one black woman is not going to stop me.”

  Red nodded his understanding. “Their mortgage is coming due soon. I doubt they will have the money to pay it, so that makes the farm mine. Then I will sell to you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. They were being observed by someone. Without missing a beat, Jacey put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the list, allowing it at the last second to slip through her fingers and fall to the ground behind her. Jacey stopped, turned around, and bent over to pick up her list as her eyes quickly and unobtrusively scanned the area, searching for the source of her uneasiness.

  There.

  She could see the blinds in the police station window moving in an unnatural way. Without breaking her momentum, she scooped up her paper and spun around to the amused grin of her friend.

  “What happened?” The cheerful question came.

  “I dropped my list.”

  “I never knew you were such a klutz. Do you need some help carrying that heavy piece of paper?” Honey made a motion like she was a bodybuilder with huge muscles. “I’m strong.”

  “Shut your mouth,” Jacey teased back. Sliding her
toned arm around her friend’s shoulder, she smiled as Honey wrapped her arm around her in return. Together the women walked into the store.

  For such a small town, the store was pretty full of people. Most of them smiled at Jacey, offering her cheerful welcomes. The one who didn’t was Shelby. She leveled her blue eyes on Jacey and sneered.

  “Hello, Shelby.” Jacey smiled at her as they walked by to pick up their few remaining items.

  “Jacey,” came her curt response.

  “I don’t think she likes you much, Jacey.”

  “I think you’re right, Honey. But then, if I remember correctly, the two of us never really got along.” Jacey shrugged. The fact that Shelby didn’t like her was not an issue for her in the least.

  * * * *

  At one o’clock the Mosers, Jacey, R.J., and David, Jr. gathered around the grill, laughing and talking as Uncle Frank took the orders on how people wanted their food. There was still tension between Honey and David, but the family was doing their damnedest to ignore it and carry on as if there were no troubles.

  Jacey stood behind the main part of the group, waiting for her turn. Her eyes roamed over the spread of food on the table. There was potato salad, coleslaw, fresh vegetables from the Moser garden, hot biscuits, thick gravy, mashed potatoes, baked beans and a lemon meringue pie. It was a feast fit for kings. And yet she wondered how much it set the Moser family back. A lot of it was grown here, but now that she knew about their money problem she was concerned.

  The sound of an approaching car turned her attention from the lavish spread. Coming up the driveway was not one but two vehicles—one an old brown dented Oldsmobile and the other a new gray Cadillac. The cars pulled up and parked side by side and their doors opened. Out of one came two adults, and the other a family of four. Two parents and two children.

  “Susie. Bubba. We were hoping you would still make it.” Jacey strode towards them as they pulled food out of the trunk. Everyone followed her over to welcome the latecomers. Jacey hugged them both.