“Is this your new girlfriend?” Scarlett asked above the argument still going on between Bobby Ray and Nadine.
“That is none of your business. All of you need to leave,” Blake yelled above the din.
“Well, Walter, don’t go screamin’ at me like that. You invited me for cake and ice cream. I didn’t bring all these other fools. It’s not my fault,” Irene huffed.
Allie marched back up the hall in boots that were unlaced, took her grandmother’s hand, and helped her up out of the rocking chair. “Come on, Granny. We’ll have cake and ice cream and you can even blow out the candles.”
“Is it my birthday?”
“Not yet, but we’ll practice for when it is,” Allie said.
The moment they were alone in the house, Scarlett draped her arms around Blake’s neck and rolled slightly up on her toes to kiss him on the lips. One hand braced against his chest while the other one worked on his belt.
“A year is too long,” she whispered. “We have to start taking care of this every six months.”
He pushed her away and ran a palm over his mouth, wiping the kiss away. “Get out, Scarlett, and don’t come back.”
“You can’t resist me. You never could so don’t give me that song and dance. I’ve looked forward to this for a month. We always get together right after New Year’s to celebrate the fact that our parents were smart enough to get our drunken marriage annulled.”
He opened the door and pointed. “Out!”
“You can do a hell of a lot better than that mousy-lookin’ little creature.”
“One more time. Out!” He raised his voice so loud that Shooter whimpered.
“Okay, then,” she growled. “Since you are in a pissy mood, I’ll leave. Don’t tell me that someone is about to tame you. I didn’t think that could be done.” She headed toward the door.
Blake locked the door behind her and threw himself back in the recliner. “Dammit! Maybe this place is unlucky after all.”
Shooter gobbled down the apple pie and licked the glass pie plate clean. Then he curled up in front of the fireplace, his big brown eyes looking up at Blake.
“You’re not in trouble, boy. I was going to heave the thing out in the yard,” Blake mumbled.
Shooter’s tail wagged a few times.
“Now I have to explain the whole thing to Allie.”
The doorknob rattled and Deke yelled from the other side, “Hey, man, are you alone in there?”
Blake rushed to the door and slung it wide open. “Where in the hell were you thirty minutes ago when I needed you?”
“What do you need done?” Deke asked. “Or are we going somewhere to dance and flirt with the ladies?”
“I needed you to referee.” Blake ushered him inside and told him the rest of the story.
Deke removed his coat and tossed it behind the recliner. “Man, I can’t believe all that happened tonight but I’m damn glad that Allie and even Irene were here when Nadine showed up. If you’d been alone and Bobby Ray hadn’t decided to come around and ask about firewood, you’d have been in trouble.”
“If I can tell Scarlett to go away, and Sharlene and Mary Jo, I reckon I could get rid of that redhead.” Blake plopped down on the sofa. “There’s still food on the table if you’re hungry.”
“Already ate but don’t put it away. I might get into it later,” Deke said. “Do you like Allie? I mean as in like her, not as in like her as a friend and neighbor? It seems to me you might have developed some feelings for her.”
“Why are you asking?”
The dog on the television barked and Shooter’s head popped up. “See, even Shooter thinks something is going on and he’s voicing his opinion. The reason I’m askin’ is because she’s like a sister to me and I don’t want to see her hurt, and you just now told me about this once-a-year booty call and I bet this is the first time you turned it down.”
“I could never hurt Allie. I…” Blake hesitated. “Yes, I do like her a lot.”
“You’d best be real sure before you make that statement because as good of friends as we’ve become, if you make her cry, I’ll have to hurt you,” Deke said seriously.
Blake went to the kitchen and brought back two open beers. He handed one to Deke and downed a third of his before he settled into the rocking chair in front of the blazing fire. “You don’t scare me as much as this crazy feeling inside me. I didn’t move here with intentions of getting involved in any way with a woman. I should back away from her completely. She’s already got baggage in her past and she don’t need an old cowboy like me, and besides my brother and I have a rule about dating women too close to home,” Blake said.
“That’s not your decision to make. It’s Allie’s.”
“After tonight I’ll be surprised if she even comes back to finish the bedroom.”
“Man, I would have loved to have been here to see it but I’m more than a little mad at you for kicking that tall blonde out in the cold. I would have gladly let her come to my house for a booty call.” Deke laughed.
“Start talkin’,” Katy said the minute they were in the house.