Tempting Janey. Mary Baxter Lynn

      “Hey, I’m happy with things just the way they are.”

      “I don’t believe that. It’s time you were interested in another woman, for heaven’s sake. It’s been three years since Elaine’s death.”

      Dillon didn’t respond right off, thinking that if Allie only knew what a disaster his marriage had turned out to be, she wouldn’t be pushing him in that direction again. But she didn’t know, and to tell her now would serve no purpose.

      He marveled that his dirty little secret had remained just that. In a town this size, he couldn’t believe Allie hadn’t been bombarded with the truth. He suspected the reason for that oversight was that she and Mike had only recently moved back to Hunter. Mike had worked for an oil-drilling company in Texas until he’d gotten hurt and had to quit.

      “I know you’d like to have a child. Lord knows, you and Elaine tried hard enough. If I recall, she miscarried twice.”

      He made an effort not to wince visibly. But every time that subject was mentioned, it was like someone had scratched the scab off an old wound, leaving it raw and oozing again. “You’re right, I would like to have a child, but not enough to remarry.”

      “Oh, Dillon, I hate to hear you talk like that. You have so much to offer a woman.”

      He gave her a halfhearted smile. “You’re just biased.”

      “Maybe a little, but—”

      “Hey, give it a rest, will you? Like I said, I’m content with my life. I have my eye on being a superintendent one day, plus I have the farm, which I’m determined to turn into a profitable business—with Mike’s help, of course.”

      He paused and reached for Allie’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “So you see, you don’t have to worry. I’m fine.”

      “What you are is hardheaded,” she said, withdrawing her hand and getting to her feet. “I’ll send some bread home with you.”

      He stood. “Is that a hint to leave?”

      “Of course not, silly,” she said with a grin. “But it’s either do something constructive with my hands or slug you.”

      He chuckled. “I’d best be going, then. Anyhow, I need my rest. The rest of this week and next is shaping up to be a killer, what with football season officially starting and the break-in to sort out.”

      “I hope you find out who’s responsible.”

      “Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn out to be gang related. I’ve been lucky so far.”

      Allie shivered. “Kids are not like they used to be.”

      “You got that right.”

      They walked arm in arm to the door, where Allie handed him his doggie bag. He thanked her, then kissed her on the cheek.

      He was almost to his vehicle when she said, “By the way, don’t forget to pick up a box of candy or some flowers for Patricia.”

      He narrowed his eyes. “You just don’t know when to give up, do you?”

      She flashed him a smile. “No, brother dear, I don’t.”

      Dillon simply snorted.

      Two

      What a day.

      Janey Mayfield rubbed the back of her neck, then peered at the clock behind the counter in her candy shop, Sweet Dreams. Almost closing time. Thank heaven for small favors, she thought, as she began making preparations to reverse the Open sign in the window.

      What was wrong with her? The answer popped readily to mind. She was tired, but then, she had a right to be. In the month since she’d returned to South Carolina, her world had been turned upside down again. She’d had to adjust to another new home and a new career, that of a businesswoman who now owned and operated her own shop. At thirty-seven, that was no easy feat.

      Often Janey felt as if she were on a treadmill that wouldn’t stop and let her get off, even for a minute.

      Yet she wasn’t complaining. Her eyes surveyed the premises. This delightful shop, filled with the fanciest to the plainest of candies, was all hers, thanks to the generosity of her aunt Lois, who had chosen to retire to an assisted living facility in Savannah after suffering a stroke.

      Even so, repairs of all sorts needed to be done, both upstairs and down. But they would have to wait. There was simply no money to make them.

      Despite her problems, though, she had so much to be grateful for. After getting her teenage daughter Robin up and off to school, Janey always looked forward to dressing, walking downstairs to the smell of candy, chatting with her customers, then ringing up their sales.

      But this day had been a particularly difficult one. Perhaps it was the fact that business had been incredibly slow that made her anxious. Sweet Dreams had to do well. There was no choice. She had no choice.

      As a divorced single parent with a seventeen-year-old daughter to rear, she had to turn the shop into a profitable venture. Everything depended on it. During the last year of her aunt’s ownership, sales had begun to lag for no apparent reason, but Janey felt confident in her ability to swing sales in the other direction by introducing change and innovation.

      Maybe her less than enthusiastic mood was simply weather-related. Even for the end of August, it had been cloyingly hot. The two air-conditioning units, one for the living quarters upstairs and one for the shop below, had been laboring overtime.

      After summer heat so muggy and heavy that the clouds and mosquitoes could barely pierce it, fall would be an exquisite relief. Janey suddenly brightened at that thought.

      In the years she’d been gone, she’d forgotten just how bad summers in the South could be. But when she’d arrived from Colorado, reality had slapped her in the face.

      This, too, shall pass, she reminded herself with another dig at her neck muscles. Hot weather wouldn’t damage her, but a lack of customers just might. Refusing to dwell on that depressing thought, she grabbed the bottle of glass cleaner and a paper towel, and went to work on the counter.

      “Mom, I’m home!”

      The sound of her daughter’s voice never failed to buoy her spirits. Circumstances beyond her control had kept her away from her child for several months. Robin had returned to South Carolina at the end of her junior year in order to be on the drill team her senior year. But nothing would ever separate them again, she vowed fiercely. Life without Robin wasn’t worth living.

      “I’m about ready to close.” Janey made her way to the side door. When she didn’t see her daughter, she asked, “Where are you, darling?”

      “I’m already upstairs. I’ll be down in a sec.”

      Janey always looked forward to the end of the day, when Robin would come bounding through the door, excited and eager to share the details of her day. Because she was a member of the drill team and had practice every afternoon, she didn’t get home until late.

      “Hey.”

      “Hey yourself.” Janey smiled, then walked over and gave Robin a quick hug. “So how was your day, young lady?”

      Munching on an apple, Robin shoved a swath of shoulder-length, strawberry-blond hair behind one ear, then perched on the stool at the end of the counter. A grin enhanced her features. “Nothing special—except I aced my Trig test.”

      “Why, that’s great, honey.”

      Robin’s grin deepened, and Janey’s heart melted. She and her ex-husband Keith had made a lot of mistakes in their marriage, but their daughter hadn’t been one of them. Janey marveled every day at this delightful child they had created.

      She was tall and slender, with light brown eyes and incredibly long lashes that were