Beyond the Face-Off

Chapter 4

Kelly knelt in her mom's garden the next evening and spread cedar mulch among the bushes. Her mom had spent the day weeding and cleaning up the flowerbeds – that much she could do with a cast on her arm – but lugging heavy bags of mulch was more than she could handle.

Kelly had dropped by to make dinner and had offered to finish the gardening while they waited for the lasagna to bake. She sat back on her heels and brushed the hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand. Almost done. Good thing the garden was small. She rolled her shoulders and turned her face toward the setting sun to catch the warmth. Perfect end to a perfect day.

It seemed she wasn't the only one thrilled that Jake Ross had been in her store. A zing of joy raced through her. Who would have thought that one little incident would have brought in so much business? When Jake Ross's name was attached to it, people lapped it up. Better than the best advertising. The pharmacy had been hectic, but hectic was good. Hectic was ideal.

She emptied the last bag, and the smell of fresh cedar tickled her nose.

The extra traffic was just the boost she needed. She'd been doing okay financially with the pharmacy. In her first year, she'd slowly and steadily built up a clientele. The start-up costs had taken a dent out of her savings, but she was on track for turning a profit – not a huge one, but a profit – now in her second year. Her long-term dream was to grow and expand the pharmacy and eventually open a second store. If this boom in business kept up, who knew? It might become a reality much sooner. She gave a little mental happy dance.

She had work to do in her own garden, too. It wasn't as fancy as her mom's, but it needed a little sprucing up after the winter. Maybe she could finagle some weeding from her mom? She smiled at the thought.

They'd been spending more time together with the play. The rehearsals were every other day for another week and then would kick into high gear three weeks before opening night.

Kelly tugged at a weed. Too bad it meant time with Chris. What the director saw between them, she really didn't know. Her lips tightened. Keep it professional, she kept telling herself, but the bug in her head about Chris wanting to get back together didn't help.

So far they'd read through the script, and last night they'd started the staging. But they hadn't put any passion into the words. What would happen when they had to hug or kiss? She sighed. She wasn't keen on finding out.

Done. Not a weed in sight, and with three inches of mulch covering all the soil, it'd likely stay that way for a while. Well, at least a week. She gathered up the empty bags and tools and brushed the dirt off her pants.

She stopped when she heard footsteps running beyond the fence in the backyard. Frowning, she turned back to look.

A man vaulted over the fence, cleared the garden, and landed with a thud. Kelly jumped back and gave a strangled scream.

The intruder started at the sound and raised his hands. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Jake Ross. Looking sexy in black shorts and a black windbreaker. Kelly took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. "What are you doing?"

He stood up and turned toward her, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "Hey, you're from Danali's Drugs. It's Kelly, right? It was on your nametag..." His gaze dropped to her chest.

A sizzle of awareness spread through her.

A flush spread to his cheeks. He smiled sheepishly and shifted from one foot to the other. "Sorry to intrude. I'm staying with my dad a few doors down. There's a media circus surrounding the house. I needed to get out for a run, and my dad said to head out back and cut through the backyard of the fifth house. Said he knew who lived there." He looked around. "I must have miscounted."