The Ballad of Dixon Bell. Lynnette Kent

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СКАЧАТЬ there. I don’t think we’ve met.”

      “Oh, but you have.” Kate put a hand on the blonde’s arm. “Jessica, this is Dixon Bell. Dixon, you remember Jessica Allen? She married Jimmy Hyde, who’s now the district attorney.”

      Dixon put out his hand. “Sure, I remember. Good to see you again, Jessica.”

      “Dixon Bell?” Her voice went high with surprise, and then she was clutching him around the neck—not nearly the enjoyable experience Kate’s hug had been. Though she was a lovely lady, he felt absolutely no desire to hold Jessica Hyde in return, and he drew back as soon as possible.

      “Dixon Bell.” Jessica shook her head, resting her hands on his chest. “I would never have believed it. We wondered about you for simply years. You sit right down and tell me where you’ve been all this time.” She grabbed his wrist with one hand and turned a chair from a nearby table around with the other, then sat down, forcing him to sit, too. As an afterthought, she looked up at Kate. “Sit with us, Kate. I know you must be dying to hear about what Dixon’s been doing.”

      Kate stayed standing, and Dixon knew he was doomed. “I most certainly am. But I have a couple of errands I can’t put off any longer. So I’ll let you two talk and I’ll catch up later.”

      As she pulled the strap of her purse over her shoulder, Dixon rose to his feet again and moved so that he blocked Kate’s exit. He put a hand on her elbow. “It was great to run into you.” Leaning close, he brushed her soft cheek with his lips and got a whiff of the rose and spice scent that was her perfume. “I’m going to call you,” he promised in a whisper. “Soon.”

      When he straightened up, she was staring at him like a startled rabbit. “I—I…” She took a deep breath. “Thank you for the coffee.” As soon as he stepped out of her way, she hurried past him to the door of the shop. Dixon watched through the window as she braved the rain to unlock the door of the green Volvo she’d arrived in. In another second, she was gone.

      He took a deep breath of his own and prepared to face the ordeal ahead. “So, Jessica, you and Jimmy are married. Kids?”

      She put a hand on his arm as he sat down. “Well, of course. Three boys, all of them playing ball just like you and Jimmy did. But I’m not the one who disappeared for so long. Where have you been?”

      “Here and there.” The story lost a lot of its pizzazz with the wrong audience. “Spent some time in Texas…”

      KATE SHIVERED in her wet clothes as she came into the air-conditioned house from the steamy warmth outside. The absolute quiet reminded her that she only had an hour before she had to pick Kelsey and Trace up at summer school. In that hour she needed to get to the dry cleaner’s and the hardware and grocery stores. She gasped as she realized she’d completely forgotten to collect the historical society programs from the printer’s next door to Drew’s Coffee Shop, which was why she’d gone downtown to begin with. What had happened to her mind? At two o’clock this afternoon, she’d been sure of completing all her errands on time.

      And then Dixon Bell had stepped back into her life.

      She couldn’t quite believe he’d reappeared so suddenly, after thirteen years away. But he’d left with the same abruptness. Just a few days after graduation, while the members of their class were still celebrating by staying up late and sleeping until noon, Dixon had stopped showing up for the parties, picnics and get-togethers they’d thrown that summer before college.

      No one in town had mentioned him since, not even his grandmother. Kate couldn’t remember anyone who was particularly upset by his absence—he hadn’t dated, had come to the prom by himself, she recalled. If he had been good friends with one or more of the boys, she didn’t know who it would have been. Dixon was just…Dixon. A little weird, a lot unfocused, apt to go off by himself with the guitar he’d always carried to make music only he really listened to.

      And now he was back, not at all the vague, blurred teenager she remembered, but a vital and incredibly attractive man. That moment when he’d held her against him still sang in her veins.

      She caught sight of her reflection in the black door of the microwave—hair flat and tangled, makeup washed off by the rain, clothes barely decent—and groaned. Not exactly the picture to inspire a man to romance.

      Embarrassed and, to be honest, disappointed, she hurried up to her bedroom to repair the damage. Chances were slim she would encounter Dixon Bell again today, or ever again, but she did try to look her best when she went out. People tended to think better of you when you presented yourself well.

      As she smoothed her damp hair into a ponytail, the phone rang. She should have let the machine answer it—she wasn’t going to get to the cleaner’s or the hardware and grocery stores at this rate—but she never could let a phone ring if she was there to answer.

      “Hello?”

      “You believed me when I said I’d call, right?”

      Heart pounding, she sat on the side of the bed. “Dixon?”

      “I just escaped from Jessica. I wish you hadn’t let her run you off. She always did want to be the center of attention.”

      Kate smiled, because he was so right. “I—I didn’t run off. I do have things to do.”

      “I’m sure of that. Can I see you when you get them all finished?”

      “See me?”

      “Yeah. Dinner, maybe?”

      Her heart slammed to a stop, then started pounding again. “That sounds like…a date.”

      “It does, doesn’t it?”

      “But, Dixon…”

      “Mmm?”

      “I told you that I’m married.”

      “Well, according to Jessica, that’s kind of a technicality. I understand you’re well and truly separated and on the way to a divorce.” Kate drew a deep breath, embarrassed all over again at the idea of being talked about. “And before you get too upset, I didn’t ask. Didn’t mention your name. She volunteered the information. Better be careful what you tell Jessica Hyde.”

      “I am.” But the separation and pending divorce were pretty common knowledge, she supposed. “Still, I don’t think I should be dating.”

      “Okay. We won’t call it a date. Just dinner for old friends.”

      He made her want to laugh. “It’s not that simple. I have two teenagers to think about.”

      “Oh, yeah.” That actually seemed to slow him down. “I’d say bring ’em along. But I kinda hoped to have you all to myself, the first time, anyway. How about tomorrow night? You could make arrangements for them and then we could get together.”

      Oh, how tempting. Kate blinked back tears as she realized how much she would love to have dinner with Dixon, just the two of them. “It sounds wonderful. But…” She drew a deep breath. “I can’t.”

      “That’s too bad. I was looking forward to catching up.” He didn’t sound angry, or even particularly disappointed. “You take care of yourself, okay? I’ll talk to you СКАЧАТЬ