SomedayMyGoodOleBoyWillCome Read online

  Runt? It had been a long time since anyone had called her that, not to mention that she stood eye to eye with the man. God, it was good to be home.

  “Carson, be nice,” Honey admonished.

  “That’s all right, Honey. I guess not all of us have grown up.” Jacey never looked away from his brown eyes as she spoke. “Hello, Carson, good to see you again.”

  A wide grin split his face as he shook his head in defeat, for he understood that she wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed by him and wasn’t about to be. “Good to see you as well, Jacey. You are looking awesome; some of us have grown up,”—his eyes flickered over her chest and hips—“and in all the right places. Can I get a hug?”

  With a grin she stepped into Carson’s arms. He held her tightly until Honey began to pull on her arm, demanding her friend’s attention.

  “We should get going for dinner. Our reservation is in an hour and you know we are going to have to catch up with the people we meet.” Honey latched onto Jacey and smiled. “We are going to ride together.” She turned to her fiancé. “You don’t mind, do you, hon?”

  David shook his head. “Not at all. I’ll take my car since I have to go home afterward, anyway. Besides, I think you ladies have some catching up to do.”

  “I just have to change. Be right back.” Honey ran inside the house.

  “So how are your parents?” Uncle Frank asked.

  “They’re doing really well. Still talking about retiring, but not doing it yet. Doing a lot of charity work and stuff with the church. Staying busy.”

  “It will be wonderful to see them.”

  Jacey heard the fondness in his voice.

  “I know they are looking forward to seeing you as well.” Jacey stopped talking as Honey suddenly came back out on the porch.

  Jacey looked at her friend. Honey had changed into a lovely cornflower blue dress. Her hair sat piled up on her head, only to cascade freely down her back. A different pair of heels on her feet put her near the same height as Jacey, and around her ankle was a silver bracelet with an ankh pendant identical to the one around Jacey’s leg. Jacey had gotten the anklets when she was over in Egypt for a time.

  Jacey let loose a low whistle, only to have it echoed by David. “Whooee, Honey. You are lookin’ good.”

  Honey looked down at her best friend and smiled. “You look good as well, darlin’. Let’s go to dinner.”

  Honey kissed her fiancé and climbed into the passenger side of Jacey’s car.

  “Where to, Honey?”

  “Do you remember the diner across from the police station?”

  “Sure do. What was it called, Rosie’s or something like that?”

  “Yep. That was it. Rosie’s. That is where we are also going to have the rehearsal dinner. Jeb’s is going to cater the meal for us. The whole town is going to turn out for it. You know, small town and all that.”

  Jacey and Honey were in the last car and they were driving slower, enjoying the evening air and the remaining bit of full light from the day. “So, tell me how things are here, Honey.”

  “Good, good. Everything is good.” Her voice cracked as she emphasized her words, and instantly Jacey knew she was lying.

  Something was wrong, but now wasn’t the time to deal with it. “You’re really looking good, Honey. You are going to make a beautiful bride.”

  “Well, look at you. You have really changed. Do you work out? The last picture of you I got was when you were pregnant with Caleb. You sure lost all that weight.”

  Did she work out? Well, being a member of an elite military team did require her to be in shape, but Honey didn’t know about anything more than just the fact she was in the Marine Corps.

  “A bit. I decided I didn’t want to be out of shape. So I did play some sports and it just kind of grew from there. Plus being in the Corps means I have to be in shape. For our PRT’s—physical readiness tests.”

  “That’s right, you were . . . or are in the Marines. Derek was in the Marines, you know. He got out five years ago. He was only in for eight years. He joined up not long after you left, about two years or so. I think he was twenty.”

  Derek. Just his name brought back painful memories of his statement to her. A girl like you. She didn’t think he meant for her to take it the way he said it, or she hoped he didn’t, for she knew he didn’t care about skin color. He had defended her from those that did; still, the fact remained that was how she took it.

  That phrase got her through boot camp and out of many dangerous situations. All she had to do with picture his sneer and those words to get the inner strength to make it through anything.

  But she had not known he was in the Corps. Funny, she could picture him as a Marine. “I didn’t know he joined the Marines.” Jacey spoke after remembering where she was and put the memories where they belonged. In the past.

  “Yes, he spouted on about needing to make amends for something he had done.” A sly grin crossed Honey’s face. “Do you think it was for the mean things he said to you that day you told him how you felt?”

  “Hardly. I don’t think I rated very high on his amend list.” But she smiled to show that there were no hard feelings. If only she had been important to him. If, if, if.

  “You know, he does love you.”

  Honey’s words were ones she would have longed to hear way back when. But now, they warmed a spot in her heart that she didn’t want to acknowledge. A spot that had only been touched by one other man, whom she only knew as Eric.

  “Sure he did. That’s why they made us eat bugs and things.” Jacey shook her head at the memory. Her mind latched on to the fact that Honey had used present tense—does not did.

  “Well, you know what they say?” Honey laughed.

  “No, what?” Jacey joined in the joviality.

  “The meaner they are, the more they love you. At least, that’s what I was told.”

  “I must have missed that day in class, but if that truly is the case then your cousins must really have loved me deeply. Worms, bugs, flies, they were just plain mean. I could have gotten seriously scarred from those encounters. I mean, really!” Her voice rose with false indignation. Now it was funny, since she had actually eaten bugs to survive.

  All Honey did was laugh harder and that caused Jacey to do the same thing. The women were still laughing as Jacey whipped the car into a parking spot in front of the diner.

  The two women got out of the car and entered the building. The smells took Jacey back to childhood when she and Honey ate there after school.

  The diner looked pretty much the way she remembered it. Tables were still covered with red and white checkered tablecloths, each one sporting a single candle in the center.

  What did surprise her were the people. Most of the people she grew up with were there. It wasn’t a dinner for David and Honey, it was a welcome party for her.

  There was a big sign hanging across the back wall that read: WELCOME HOME JACEY!!!

  The second she and Honey stepped through the door, everyone shouted, “Welcome back, Jacey!” Jacey took in the view and felt the tears form.

  “Speech. Speech. Speech.” The word was chanted over and over. Even Honey joined in.

  Jacey held up her hand, and when the silence came she smiled at all in the room. “Thank y’all so much for such a lovely welcome. I have missed y’all so much. But, I don’t know what you want me to give a speech about, so let’s just say this was my speech.” Jacey shrugged off their laughter and booing and moved further into the room. “Thanks again.”

  With everyone laughing and waiting to get a hug from her, Jacey made rounds. After all hugging had been accomplished, Jacey sat down at a table with Honey and a bunch of old friends to eat. The food was wonderful, deep-fried, and so bad for her, and Jacey loved every minute of it.

  “So, Jacey, tell us what you have been up to. You sure have changed,” Shelby Atkins spoke up as she dragged a chair to the table. Jacey remembered her from childhood, one of the many other girls t
hat had the hots for Derek, not exactly one she would call a true friend. She was still a cute little thing.

  “Well, let’s see. I . . .”

  “Jacey joined the Marines,” Honey broke in and that got everyone’s attention at the table. Even Carson’s, who wedged himself in between Honey and Jacey.

  “The Marines?” Shelby scoffed. “I thought they only took men.”

  “No, there are many women in the Corps.”

  Jacey suddenly didn’t like Shelby. Okay, so it wasn’t suddenly, she never had.

  “If you say so.” Doubt conveyed in her tone so everyone picked up that she didn’t believe a word Jacey said. “I will just ask Derek when he gets here. He joined the Marines.”

  “Yes, I heard that.” Take calming breaths. Count slowly. She is not worth getting upset over.

  “Derek and I are a couple now.” There was poison in that statement and Jacey didn’t know what she had done to deserve this treatment.

  “Quiet, Shelby, everyone here knows that you two are a couple. We want to hear what Jacey’s been up to,” another person said from down the table.

  “I know that y’all know it, but I also remember years ago when a small girl declared her love to him and I just wanted the record to be set straight.” Shelby glared at Jacey as if she expected her to be embarrassed for what had transpired all those years ago.

  Jacey looked blandly at the blonde bitch. As she stared at her she counted a minimum of five ways she could kill her within seconds. The idea brought a smile to her face. Griz would frown upon it if you did that. He would lose one of his best operatives, her brain told her. “That was fifteen years ago, Shelby. I’m not looking to encroach on your territory,” she said in a slightly condescending way, as if Shelby were a petulant child.

  “Fine.” Shelby snapped and shoved her chair back. “I will just go wait outside for Derek to arrive. That way we can have some alone time before he comes in here.” Shelby’s body was rigid with anger as she stomped away.

  “Was it something I said?” Jacey looked around at the remaining faces at the table.

  “Pay her no mind, Jace,” Carson broke in. “She is just jealous and scared.”

  “Of what?” Small towns could be so complicated.

  “Of the fact that she wouldn’t have competition to keep Derek until you showed up tonight.”

  “Why would I be competition for Derek? I thought she said they were a couple.” Jacey winced at the beginnings of a headache. This was the reason she didn’t like small towns.

  “She did. They are.” Honey picked up the explanation. “Shelby is always assuming that she and Derek will be married—she believes them to be the ultimate couple, but she is fiercely possessive of him. So much so that she gets mad when another female talks to him. The fact that you and Derek grew up together means that it is logical you two will spend some time together. Alone. And with your declaration all those years ago, she is afraid you will still have those feelings for him.”

  “Oh. I see.” That was a lie, she didn’t see. Shelby also grew up with Derek. Not something she would dwell on; she wanted to enjoy the night with her friends. Besides, it wasn’t any of their business that Derek Harmon Moser had been on her mind for the past fifteen years—that was private. So were the dreams she had about him.

  “So tell us what being a Marine is like,” someone asked.

  “Not much that I can tell you. I love it. I get to travel a lot, which is a bonus.”

  “Tell us where you have been.”

  “All over the world. I work on different bases. I don’t want to talk about me, catch me up on all of you.”

  So over dinner Jacey caught up with people from her past. Some had gotten married and some divorced. A few tried the big city but came back home, for they missed it.

  ♠

  Throughout the meal Carson watched Jacey more and more. The way her eyes sparkled as looked at her friends. The total attention she gave to whomever was speaking. How genuine and beautiful her smiles were.

  A nudge caught him in the side and he turned to meet the blue eyes of his younger cousin. “Whatcha looking at, cuz?”

  “Nothing. Just listening to everyone talk.”

  “What were they talking about?”

  Crap. Caught, for he had no idea what they were speaking about. All his attention had been on Jacey and her beauty.

  “Boring things, I’m sure. What’s your point, Honey?”

  Her blue eyes softened as she responded. “Her heart is already taken. You do realize that, don’t you, Carson?”

  “What, you mean Derek? I know all about her old crush on him, everyone does. And the way he treated her confession to him. That was then, this is now.”

  “Don’t cause problems, Carson. Please, not now. The family needs to stick together. Especially now.”

  Before he could respond, Jacey put her head between them and asked, “What is all the whispering here? I thought this was a party? Come on, Carson, I need someone to dance with me, and Honey, David is waiting for you. It wouldn’t be right if I kept dancing with your fiancé.”

  Chapter Four

  Carson slid back his chair and stood. He was taller than Jacey, but not by much. With a smile he led her over to the floor. The music was slow and Jacey moved easily with Carson as they danced around the floor.

  “I didn’t know you were such a good dancer, Carson.” Jacey contemplated why they had been whispering so seriously when she had stood over them. They hadn’t even known she was there until she leaned into them. Whatever it was had both of them on edge.

  “There are many things that I am good at, that you don’t know about, Jacey.” He stared directly at her.

  “Ever the flirt, aren’t you, Carson?”

  “Only with women that are beautiful.”

  “That’s a very shallow thing to say,” she responded as he twirled her under his arm and then back in close to his chest.

  “I was only kidding. I flirt with all women.”

  “That I can believe. How have you been? I didn’t get to hear what you have been up to.”

  “I don’t want to talk about me, tell me more about you. Why aren’t you married? Or are you and just kept your maiden name? I don’t see a ring on your hand, so what is going on there?”

  “Very nosy, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve known you long enough to be nosy.” He grinned impishly at her and Jacey found herself smiling in return. Carson had always made it easy for her to talk to him, and it was nice to find that although many years had passed, that hadn’t changed.

  “All right. One for one. No I’m not married. Now, what about you, married?”

  “Nope. My turn. Boyfriend?”

  “Nope. Girlfriend?”

  “Not yet.” He winked at her as he danced them closer to the door.

  “Why are we heading for the door?” At his look of surprise she continued, “Yes, I knew where you were going the whole time. Why?”

  “I just want a chance to be alone with you and catch up.”

  “Right. Carson, I know you and I know your type. No offense, but that is not what I want.”

  Defiance flared up in his eyes briefly only to be replaced by acceptance, acceptance of defeat. Then he nodded and steered her for a space by the wall. “All right, you win. I should have known that he would still be in your heart.”

  One eyebrow arched as she looked him straight in the eyes. “What in the hell are you talking about? Better yet, who?”

  “My damn cousin, Derek.” For the first time ever, Jacey heard anger in his voice and, since it was directed towards his cousin, it scared her.

  “Now wait a minute, what brought this on? I just got here and found out he is with Shelby, so why are you attaching our names?” The real question was why did her heart go all fast at the thought of their names together?

  “Did you ever get over your crush?” Direct eyes bore deep into her soul.

  She shrugged. “Probably not, but the way he told m
e he wasn’t interested makes it a moot point. Jesus, Carson, that was almost sixteen years ago. I have grown up.”

  His eyebrows waggled suggestively. “I definitely noticed that. And I know my cousin will undeniably and categorically be interested now, not that he wasn’t before.”

  “Don’t be an ass.” Damn it, her heart did all kinds of weird things at his words.

  “Hey, what happened to the shy girl that doted on my cousin and me?”

  “She grew up. Look, I am here for Honey’s wedding. Let’s not spoil it by dredging up the past, please.” She looked intently into his gaze.

  “Does that mean I can’t flirt with you?” He pouted and fluttered his eyelashes at her.

  A chuckle escaped. “If you didn’t, I would be hurt. Now, come dance with me again.”

  “Ooh, a chance to hold you again. Twist my arm.”

  They moved smoothly back out to where others were dancing. Jacey danced with many others and soon she needed to catch her breath and get a drink. David, her current dance partner, walked with her back to where the drinks were along the wall.

  “Tell me how you met Honey.” Jacey took a swallow from her cup.

  David took a deep drink before answering her. “I met her at a church social. I bid on her basket and was rewarded with her company for lunch. When she walked up on the platform, I was lost. I would have bid however much it took to get her basket. I was in love and have been ever since.”

  “That’s sweet. I remember those socials. What do you do?”

  David began to laugh, a sound that grated on her nerves, but at the arch of Jacey’s eyebrow he answered, “I went through this whole thing with her cousins. I must say, I didn’t expect to have to do it again,” he paused then added in a way that tried and failed miserably to hide the condemnation, “with you.”

  Jacey wasn’t impressed or cowed. “She’s family to me. What do you do?” Her tone stayed modulated and calm even though she wanted nothing more than to punch him in his mouth for his attitude.

  “Family who hasn’t visited in over fifteen years?” He gave a little derisive sniffle “You know,” his voice grew silkily dangerous, “I think it very admirable of you to be so concerned for her. But know this: my life is of no concern of yours. I will marry her and there is nothing that you can do to stop it.” A glint appeared in his eyes that sent a chill up Jacey’s spine.