Summer In Stanton (Stanton Falls #3) by Kaci Hart

dress and cowboy boots.  Come on Connor, you were just
talking to her a few minutes ago and she’s been swarming around you like a moth
to a flame all day long.  Maybe this will help you remember.”

 
    Tessa started to giggle
playfully at Connor while curling her hair around her index finger and batting
her eyelashes.  

 
    “Oh.  Well when you
put it like that, how could I not know who you were talking about.”

 
    “So she’s not your
girlfriend.”

 
    “Her?  No way.
 That’s Jemma.  She’s just a friend.”  

 
    Connor didn’t want to get
full of himself but he could swear he just saw a little smile form on her
lips. 

 
    “So you are saying that
there really is nothing between you two?”  

 
    “Nope.”

 
    “Oh.  I guess I
just assumed when you bought the flowers the other day and I saw her all over
you.  You know two plus two.”

 
    “Good math but no.
 I don’t talk about this a lot but the flowers were for my parents’
grave.  I put fresh ones on the first Tuesday in every month.”

 
    “Oh.  I’m sorry.”

 
    “Not your fault.
 You didn’t know.  Besides, I’m okay with it.  I know my parents
appreciate what I do and that’s all that matters so don’t go getting all
self-conscious about that.  So can we take that walk or what?”

 
    “I think I’d like that.”

 
    “Good.  So tell me
about you.  I mean besides the obvious that you are perfect in every way.”

 
    Tessa scoffed.  

 
    “Connor I already
promised to make you the cake.  You don’t have to lay it on so thick.”

 
    “Not pouring it on thick
at all.  It’s funny but I remember that night I first met you.  I had
finished talking to the bank about a loan on the building and got denied.
 How does my day end?  With a cute little rich girl--or some
variation of what I called you--who I thought was too full of herself.
 Now I just think you’re being too humble.”

 
    “So your opinion of me
changed so quickly?”

 
    “Think about it.
 You come here on vacation from your job, and all you do is out cook all
the women who have been doing this for years.  I bet you’re the best at
what you do back home too.”

 
    Her countenance changed
and he could tell that he’d broached a sore subject.  

 
    “Well if by what I do
back home, you mean be unemployed, then yes you are right.  I am the best
person I know at it right now.”

 
    “So you don’t have a job
to go back home to?”

 
    “Not yet.  I mean
I’ll get one or start something of my own.  I’m still figuring that one
out but I got fired right before I came here.”

 
    “Oh, I’m so sorry.”
 

 
    “Don’t be.  It’s
the only reason I left.  For quite a while now, all the people who care
about me have taken turns telling me that I needed to take a break.  It
was finally forced upon me, and you know what?  From my little time here
so far, I’m starting to wonder what I’ve been missing.”

 
    “Really?”

 
    “Yeah.  Maybe it’s
the town or the people but there’s something special about Stanton Falls that
makes me want to enjoy life just like it is right here.  It’s a different
kind of living.  I don’t know . . . maybe fuller.  Like there’s a
point to it all.  I don’t feel like I had a lot of that in my life before.”
 

 
    He looked into her eyes
and she stumbled over her words.  

 
    “Listen to me just
babbling on.  You probably have no idea what I’m talking about.”

 
    “Of course I know what
you mean.  I’ve been living here all my life.”  

 
    Connor stared in Tessa’s
eyes for a bit longer and he was pretty sure that he was having the best time
that he’d had in forever.  The only reason he pulled his gaze away from
her was the explosion in the sky above them.  

 
    “Fireworks?”

 
    “End of the festival.”
 He smiled as he grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him. “Come on,
let’s