If she had…at least recently…she wouldn’t be so hesitant to take the man up on an offer she’d been praying would come.
“Ooh, honey,” Raelene muttered. “Why did you let that one get away? You know what they say about him, don’t you?”
“Him, who?” Amelia had to play it safe and pretend that they’d just met. It wouldn’t do to admit that she’d spent the better part of the past eight years of her life transposing Tyler’s face onto the heroes in her romance books.
Raelene stared. This woman floored her. She’d never understand what was going on inside that head. She knew good and well who Amber really was. She also knew that “Amber” had to know who Tyler Savage was. He’d lived in Tulip his entire life. Nevertheless, this wasn’t her game to play. So instead of arguing the issue, she shrugged and pointed.
“Him…Tyler Savage. He’s one hunk of man and if the stories about him are true, one hot lover, too.”
Amelia groaned and wished she was physically able to kick herself in the rear. It boggled the mind that she’d turned him and his reputation down. Her shoulders drooped as she stared at the empty doorway through which he’d disappeared.
“Oh, I’ve heard all of that, but so what if it’s true? He wouldn’t be interested in me.” For the first time since her and Raelene’s relationship had begun, Amelia as good as admitted she was a fraud. She met Raelene’s knowing gaze. “Not the real me, anyway.”
Raelene grinned. “There’s more to the real you than I think you’re willing to admit.” She wiggled her eyebrows, and her hips wiggled in unison as if they were somehow connected.
Amelia laughed at her friend’s honesty while being secretly disgusted with herself for not being as sincere. She was desperate to go out with Tyler despite the fact that he might recognize her. She also knew that it wasn’t fear of being recognized that kept her from accepting him. It was fear of what she’d lose if she did. He was the kind of man who took women’s hearts and then kept them.
Raelene patted her on the arm. “Come on, honey. Let’s call it a night.”
A short while later, a stray dog barked at Raelene’s car as it entered Tulip. It belched to a stop two blocks over from the Beauchamp residence.
Amelia winced. “Thanks for the ride, and I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Raelene yawned and then grinned wearily. “Honey, it’s already tomorrow.”
“How true,” Amelia said, and then bolted from the car, trading the sidewalks for the darker, less obvious alleyways, as she headed for home.
In no time, she’d entered the house, breathing a quiet sigh of relief as she locked the front door behind her. Once again, another night of deception had passed undetected.
Yet her conscience would not let her forget that tonight, for just a moment, she’d thought the charade was over. Because of it, a man whom she’d dreamed of for years had asked her out and she’d had to say no.
But, he didn’t ask me, Amelia fumed. He asked that damned Amber.
She didn’t even wonder about the futility of being envious of her own self. She was too frustrated and weary. And she thought she might be coming down with something. There was a strange ache hanging around her heart.
Tyler pulled a clump of peanuts from the ground, searching the underside of the leaves for signs of leaf spot. He pinched at the small, immature nuts hanging like little ornaments on the ends of the plant roots, checking constantly for nematodes as well as the size of the kernel inside the soft shell, hoping that he didn’t find more pops than nuts.
He’d paid to have the crops sprayed just last week and crop dusters didn’t come cheap. He looked up at the clear blue sky and the tufts of gathering cumulus clouds, shading his eyes beneath the brim of his cap and searching the far horizon for the impending signs of rain that the weatherman had promised earlier this morning.
He began to walk the rows, oblivious to the irrigation system in operation. His long legs moved in rhythm to the pulsing jets of water spraying his body and the crops. He was concerned with the tiny, dark green clumps of peanut plants aligning themselves in perfect unending order down the fields.
Beneath the soil, a bountiful harvest was growing, feeding itself from the rich nutrients in the Georgia loam. And yet for the first time in his life, he felt no satisfaction in the knowledge that he was standing on money in the ground. All he could think about was sundown. And a nightclub outside of Savannah called The Old South. And a woman called Amber.
“Hey, boss,” a man yelled. “You want us to shut this down?”
Tyler looked up in surprise. For a moment, he’d actually forgotten where he was. He waved to the man in charge of the irrigation crew.
“May as well,” he said, looking up at the sky with a practiced eye. The building thunderheads were a promising sign of rain. “Give it a rest. Weatherman said rain tonight and if it comes a good one, maybe we won’t have to water the fields for a while.”
“You’re the boss,” Elmer said. And did as he was told.
“Some boss,” Tyler mumbled to himself. “I’m not even in charge of my good sense. Damn stupid that I’m trying to run this farm, too.”
“What did you say?” Elmer asked.
“Oh, hell, Elmer,” Tyler laughed. “Ignore me. I’m just talking to myself.”
Elmer laughed. “Yeah, farming will do that to you. I’ll tell you what’s wrong with you, though. You need to get you a woman.”
When Tyler grinned, Elmer held up his hands in surrender. “Not that kind of woman, Ty. You need one to come home to. You’re past thirty years old and still unmarried. Dammit man, we need to get you out of circulation. I got a daughter who giggles every time you drive by. I’d hate like hell to have to whip your ass when she turns twenty-one. You need to get yourself involved.”
An image of a tall, voluptuous woman in tight red spandex flashed before his eyes. The last thing he was interested in was one of Elmer Tolliver’s moony-eyed daughters. Tyler was already involved. He just had to find a way to convince Amber to participate.
Raelene gasped and then nudged Amelia sharply beneath the ribs. “Ohmigod! Would you look at that? He’s back! You’re gonna have to break down and put that man out of his misery, girl. What is it now…four…five times he’s been back?”
Amelia sighed, trying to ignore the way her heart raced and her stomach tied itself into little knots every time that man entered the room.
“Six,” Amelia muttered. “And wouldn’t you know it. He’s at one of my tables again.”
Raelene laughed. “Well hell, honey. Why do you think he comes here? It can’t be for the company. He sits at that table by himself all night and watches you walk. That’s why he’s here.” She laughed again at her own wit as she fluffed Amelia’s bustle. “So go on out there and give him something to remember.”
Amelia glared at her friend and tried not to wiggle as she walked across the floor to take his order. But it was impossible to stop the motion where her body was concerned. What didn’t sway, bounced. “What’ll
