Welcome to Last Chance (Last Chance #1)(25)
Author: Hope Ramsay

It was a killer combination.

Clay pulled his hands out of his back pockets and took a tentative step toward her. “Jane,” he said on a half-whisper as he cupped the back of her head in his hand, embracing the heat and lust and want that flooded his system. He pulled her up into a hard, wet, possessive kiss in which he allowed himself to explore the heat of her mouth for about fifteen seconds—long enough to enjoy it, but short enough not to scare her too much.

Then he let her go and put his hands back in his pockets and tried to catch his breath as he said, “Okay. I’ll see you at Dottie’s tonight.”

Clay turned away before Jane could chew him out or give him grief or otherwise ruin the absolute best moment of what had begun as a terrible day.

Chapter 12

Saturday at the Cut ’n Curl had not been fun. By nine o’clock, just about everyone in town knew all about how Jane had been arrested. Back in West Virginia, she would have been ostracized by the end of the day. But much to Jane’s surprise, Ruby Rhodes stood by her, and in Last Chance, that clearly counted for something.

Even so, between dodging nosy questions and doing nails, Jane had found it impossible to keep her mind away from the hot memories of Clay’s mouth closing over hers. And every time she thought about his invitation to sing at Dot’s Spot, her stomach would pinch and her pulse rate would spike.

Was it fear or anticipation?

Probably both. Jane decided the Universe was trying to send her a warning. She needed to respect her own self, like the message on Lizzy’s T-shirt yesterday. She was going to stay home and hide from Clay and his talented mouth and fingers. She intended to take a bath and read a good book.

She stood in the back of the Cut ’n Curl perusing a small bookshelf that contained a selection of well-thumbed paperbacks that Ruby lent out to her customers free of charge. And since Jane didn’t have an Allenberg County library card, this bookshelf would have to provide the night’s entertainment.

Only trouble was the books all had garish covers and words like “desire” and “passion” in their titles.

“This one’s real good,” Ruby said, pulling a book from the shelf entitled Her Knight of Temptation. It featured a semiclad woman with big flowing hair in the arms of a bare-chested man wearing a sword belt and gauntlets. A stone castle loomed over them in the background.

“Is all you have romance?” Jane asked.

“Afraid so. I keep a supply of ’em for the customers since you can’t find any of these books down at the library. I’m afraid our regular librarian, Nita Wills, looks down her nose at these books. But then I reckon Nita never did have much luck with love.”

Jane took the book from Ruby’s hand. She stared down at the cover. Ruby was trying to tell her something. “Are you recommending this because it has the word ‘Knight’ in the title?”

Ruby let go of a little laugh, and then she reached out and touched Jane’s hair. “I declare, girl, you have such beautiful hair. Why do you always wear it up in a ponytail like that?”

“Uh, because it’s easy. And to tell you the truth, I figured I was just going to be on a bus today.”

Ruby looked deeply into her face. The compassion in Ruby’s eyes scared the crap out of Jane. “Yes, I do realize, and I’m trying to figure out why you were running away from us,” Ruby said.

“Do I have to answer that question?”

“No, darlin’, you don’t have to answer any question you don’t want to answer. That’s one of my rules. One day, though, I’m hoping you’ll realize I’m your friend.”

Jane looked down at the book and pursed her lips. “Well, I guess it won’t rot my mind too bad. I’ll just remember to tell myself that most men out there are not knights ready to rush in and rescue a girl. Mostly men are interested in one thing.”

“Hmm. Well, you’re probably right about that,” Ruby said. “And as long as they’re interested, I figure a girl ought to enhance her assets. You know what I mean?” Ruby gave Jane a wink and then took her by the arm and led her to one of the shampoo sinks.

“Um… uh…” Jane momentarily lost the ability to speak.

“Honey, you need a makeover. I know you got rid of that unibrow, but you need to do something new with your hair. I’m thinking a few layers to bring out the curl.” Ruby maneuvered her into the chair and plucked the paperback from her hand.

“Now, you trust me, don’t you?” Ruby asked.

“Uh, yeah, I guess, but I don’t—”

“Good, then lean back. I’m going to make you beautiful. Not that you aren’t already very nice to look at. But I know exactly what to do with your hair to make you irresistible.”

“Uh, but I don’t want to be—” Jane found herself being gently forced back into the chair.

Ruby started the water, and before Jane knew what was happening, Ruby had doused her with almond-scented shampoo and was working up a professional lather.

“Of course you want to be irresistible. Well, not to everyone, mind, but just to the right one, you know what I mean?” Ruby said.

“Uh, no.”

Ruby started rinsing. “Now, Jane, don’t you try to fool me. We both know where you spent Wednesday night. And I know you were leaving town because Ricki arrived on the bus last night. But you can’t just give up the field like that.”

“Give up the field?”

“Yes, you know exactly what I mean. And besides, after the way Clay came to your rescue today, calling Eugene and me and everything, you have to admit that he’s kind of living up to what Miriam told you to be looking for.”

Ruby wrapped a towel around Jane’s head and brought the seat back up.

“Okay, now come on over to my station and let’s see what we can do.”

“Uh, Ruby, I don’t really want to change my hair, and I don’t think chasing after Clay is a good idea.”

“Of course it’s a good idea. What woman wouldn’t want to snag herself a sensitive songwriting hero?”

“Well, I…” Jane’s voice faded out.

“Come on now, let me help. I’m just going to put a few little layers in your hair and give it some highlights. It would look so nice feathered around your face a little. It would make it look fuller, you know.”

Oh, yeah, she knew. Ruby was going to do her hair like she used to wear it when she posed for those photos.

“I mean, I know the Farrah Fawcett hairdo has kind of gone out of style,” Ruby rattled on, “but we can give it a twenty-first-century take that will be modern and sexy and drive Clay crazy.”

“Uh, Ruby, I don’t think I want to—”

“Drive Clay crazy? Honey, don’t kid a kidder. And I’m giving you permission. That boy’s been moping around here for months ever since that woman did him wrong, and I think you’re good for him. I really do. He needs to quit worrying about Ray and the store, you know, and start worrying about his own self.”

“He does?”

“Oh, yes.”

“But what about the Peach—”

“Honey, put that out of your mind. I know y’all started out a little fast, but you wouldn’t be the first ones to do that sort of thing. I hear the Peach Blossom is doing a very nice business.”

Jane sat in Ruby’s chair while the hairdresser started combing out her hair. Jane watched Ruby in the mirror for a long moment. “Are you saying I have your blessing?”

Ruby looked up at her. Their eyes met in the mirror. “I have a feeling about you. And yes, you have my blessing. Clay needs to get over Tricia and quit worrying about Pete and Ray. And you just might be the ticket.”

“What about Ricki?”

Ruby sniffed. “That woman broke his heart a long time ago. I am not pleased that he’s let her sleep in his guest bedroom. At least, I hope he was telling me the truth about that.”

“She’s not the one he’s broken-hearted over?”

“Oh, no. He’s broken up about Tricia. She’s the one he wrote the song for.”

“What song?”

“Oh, you know, the one they play on the radio all the time. The Tumbleweed song.”

“Clay wrote that song? The one Bubba Lockheart always plays down at Dot’s Spot?”

“Well, I don’t go down to Dot’s. But if it’s the one with the words about loving more than needing, then that’s the one.”

“He wrote that song?”

Ruby started cutting her hair before Jane could stop her. “Yes, he did. And he’s made some money off it, which is a positive sign. But excuse me for being uncharitable toward that woman. I declare she dumped Clay for that Chad Ames, you know—Tumbleweed’s lead singer. Clay didn’t even fight for her. Instead he quit the band and came back here with the lame excuse that he wanted to help my older brother, Pete, with his hardware store, on account of the fact that Pete’s got lung cancer. If you ask me, he came home to lick his wounds, and he’s going to end up here trying to be Ray’s keeper.

“Now, don’t get me wrong. I would love it if Clay would move back to Last Chance, but he’s got to do that for the right reasons, you know. Because he wants to, not because he’s hiding out or because of some kind of wrong-headed sense of responsibility.”

“Uh-huh.” Jane didn’t nod, because Ruby had her head pointed down and locked into position while she snipped away at her hair.

“The way I see it,” Ruby continued. “I do respect Clay for wanting to help Pete, but I don’t think coming back here and hiding out and pretending he doesn’t have talent is a good career move for him. And while I’m proud of him for his songs, I’d just as soon see him happy as see him having to suffer heartbreak after heartbreak so that he can write those sad country songs.”

“Uh-huh.” Jane found herself suddenly more interested than she wanted to be. Ruby was really dishing the inside story, and Jane was lapping it up.

Ruby let go of Jane’s head and she looked up again, studying Ruby in the mirror. “But the chief thinks I’m—” Jane started.

“Oh, never mind him. He doesn’t like strangers. I want to see him happy, too, but he’s going to be a much harder nut to crack. He loved Sharon, but she died. Stone’s heartbreak is much deeper than Clay’s. Clay gets heartbroke pretty easy. I reckon all he needs is a good woman with a big heart and a good head on her shoulders. But Stony… well, he feels things just as deep, but he never shows his feelings.”

“You think I’m a good woman?”

Ruby looked up with a big smile on her face. “Oh, honey, I know you’re a good woman. I have that on the highest authority there is.”

Jane didn’t ask what authority that might be. It could be the Universe, or it could be…

Well, it was probably Miriam Randall, who appeared to be someone who regularly messed around with people’s lives. All day long, people in the shop had been talking about Miriam and her matches. It really looked like both Ruby and Miriam were trying to tell her that Clay was a Sir Galahad ready to swoop in and rescue her from her life.