Mint Juleps and Justice Read online

  Mike turned his attention to the backseat. “Brooke, meet Jubilee. Jubilee, Brooke.”

  Jubilee lifted her paw to shake as if she understood the introduction process.

  “Well, I’m glad to see that he only rescues brilliant, well-mannered damsels.” She shook Jubilee’s paw.

  “Jubilee belongs to my friend, Rick Joyner. We’re giving her a ride.”

  “And to where would that be?” she asked, looking hopefully back and forth between Mike and Jubilee for an answer.

  “You’ll see. I told you it’s a surprise.”

  Brooke turned to Jubilee in the backseat. “He’s been driving me crazy all week with this secret.”

  “It wasn’t a whole week.”

  Brooke ignored his comment. “Does he torture all the girls like this, or do you know where we’re going?”

  Jubilee barked a response, and that sent Hunter into a spin. “Down, Hunter,” Mike said, and the dog calmed right down.

  “Even you know where we’re going?” Brooke gave Mike the stinkeye.

  “Jubilee has to work today. She’s a career girl, like you.”

  “Oh, so you do have a type.”

  “Yep.” Mike kept his eye on the road. It was fun watching Brooke squirm about where’d they be going, but he was surprised she hadn’t guessed yet now that they were almost there.

  “Ah-ha, I know where we’re going!” She pointed at the yellow-and-red banner announcing the Southampton County Fair.

  Mike steered the vehicle into the grassy lot to park. “I thought you’d enjoy it, plus it gives me a good chance to put Hunter through some socialization practice in a crowd. He’s working on his Canine Good Citizen manners.”

  “Like Scout badges for a dog?”

  “Sort of. I’ll introduce you to Rick too.”

  “This will be great.”

  She looked genuinely pleased and that made his day. “So I was right. You like the idea of spending the day here.”

  “Absolutely, especially when I don’t have to work it. The only thing I don’t like is having to admit you’re right.”

  “It’s not a bad gig.” He got out of the truck and Jubilee leaped out to the ground, then sat and waited for Mike to put on her lead. Hunter held his position until Mike called for him. Mike handed Brooke Jubilee’s lead, and then he turned his attention back to Hunter.

  “Good boy.” Mike leaned down and gave him another command as he put a Gentle Leader on Hunter. “Forward.”

  Mike moved and Hunter didn’t pull or stray from the path. Brooke held on to Jubilee’s leash and they both walked through the gates with a stream of other folks. The colorful tents and banners made the usually bare fairgrounds look festive.

  “Let’s take Jubilee to Rick first. Then we can walk around,” Mike said.

  A tall red-and-white-striped tent housed the livestock arena. Metal gates formed a maze of pens that opened inward and outward, creating paddocks to move the animals through. Jubilee seemed unaffected by the livestock.

  “She’s so calm,” Brooke said. “I love border collies.”

  “This is familiar to her. Jubilee here is a champion. You’ll be able to see her work this afternoon. If this impresses you, I’ll have to take you with Hunter and me to one of his classes. Those service dogs will blow you away.”

  “I’ve been around the agility dogs more than the herding dogs. Some of those breeds are rambunctious. Jubilee seems to have her company manners on. Is she competing?”

  “No. Jubilee is way above the caliber of the other dogs. Rick’s doing a demo with Jubilee before the pups compete.” He leaned on one of the red pole gates, propping one foot on the bottom rail.

  She looked out across the arena, and then bumped her shoulder against his. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

  “I’m glad you’re having fun.”

  A man in sharply creased Wrangler jeans and a straw cowboy hat threw a hand up in their direction. “Hey, man. How ya doin’?” He slapped Mike on the opposite shoulder while shaking his hand with the other.

  “Great. Got your girl here,” Mike said.

  Rick gave an approving look at Brooke. “Well, thanks. You are a good friend,” he said, dipping his hat in approval, his eyes never leaving her.

  Jubilee barked to get his attention, saving Brooke from having to respond.

  “Aw, you mean this girl here?” Rick tapped his chest once and Jubilee leaped into his arms at chest level, with hardly an effort. She licked him on the cheek. Rick nuzzled her muzzle affectionately. “That’s my girl. You didn’t think I was talking about this other pretty gal, now did ya?”

  “Rick, this is Brooke.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Brooke said.

  “Same here. I’ve heard a lot about you from Mike,” Rick said.

  “Really now?” Brooke glanced in Mike’s direction.

  Mike knocked the dirt from his boot against one of the stall rails. “Not that much.”

  Rick stepped toward the gate. “We have a lot to do. Trimming, shining. I hear you’re an extension agent, Brooke. Can I put you to work?”

  “No. We’re here for a day of fun,” Mike said. He grabbed her hand and tugged her out of Rick’s reach. “She’s all mine today.”

  Brooke gave Rick a sheepish grin. “Yeah. What he said.”

  Rick tipped his hat back and put one foot up on the gate. “Y’all are staying for the show and auction later, right?”

  “That’s the plan,” Mike said, moving Hunter’s lead from hand one to the other.

  Brooke nodded. “Looking forward to it.”

  “Good. Nice to meet you, Brooke. When y’all come back, come around the north side of the arena.” He pointed to one of about five sections marked in green streamers. “The 4-H kids decorated our spot.”

  “Great, we’ll check ya later,” Mike said.

  Brooke waved as she pivoted to follow Mike out of the livestock area. “Nice meeting you, Rick.”

  Jubilee lifted her muzzle and gave a single bark.

  “…and you too, Jubilee,” Brooke called back over her shoulder. “He is so nice.”

  “He’s a good guy.”

  “Good people,” Brooke said. “That’s how Connor described you. Guess good people gravitate toward one another.”

  He opened his mouth and caught himself before he uttered the words on his mind. That he hoped she was gravitating toward him. He liked her company. She was easy to be with, but maybe being with her was so easy because he knew she didn’t want anything more than a friendship.

  Brooke and Mike made their way through tents of local arts and crafts, award-winning vegetables, and desserts. Children tried to catch slippery oiled pigs, and tractors raced to pull heavy boxes across a finish line. Then they sat along the tree line in the shade to listen to a band out of northern Virginia called Blackstrap Manassas. They had a rock sound with a cool country vibe and sang mostly original songs with a few standard Southern rock songs that everyone sang along with.

  “I’m having the best time,” Brooke said as she swayed to the music.

  He enjoyed watching her move, even if her singing was totally off-key. “I’m going to get us something to eat. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay. I’ll watch Hunter.” She tucked the edge of Hunter’s lead under her shoe and gave the dog an encouraging pat on the head as he watched his master walk away.

  Mike turned back and just that quick look put a smile on his face. Mike went to get them some lunch and came back with corn dogs and Orange Crush in bottles, and a cup of water for Hunter.

  He stepped up behind her and lifted a cardboard tray over her head in front of her. “For you,” he said with her trapped in the circumference of his arms and the tray. A CD was tucked between the two sodas.

  “You got me their CD?”

  “Yep,
and nutrition.”

  “Thanks. That was so nice.” She took a soda and then held the corn dog up in the air by the stick and twisted it in the air. “So I wonder why someone thought it was a good idea to put these on a stick. I mean they are already perfectly suited to fit in your hand.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve never had a corn dog.”

  “Never.”

  “It’s fair food. You have to have a corn dog. I think there’s an unwritten law on that.”

  She took a hesitant bite, then nodded. “It’s actually pretty good.” She chewed and swallowed. “Good food. Good company. Good music.”

  “Can’t beat that. They are pretty good, aren’t they?”

  “They’re great,” she said. “You meant the band, right?”

  “I sure wasn’t talking about the corn dog.” At the end of the set everyone cheered and Mike and Brooke headed back to the arena to watch the livestock show.

  In the crowded arena Brooke jerked to the right at the sound of someone calling her name. “Did you hear that?” she asked Mike.

  He pointed toward a blonde in faded skinny jeans and a bright-yellow top. “I think it came from over there. You know her?”

  The girl had climbed over a gate and was heading their way with a camera in one hand.

  “I do. What is she doing here?” Brooke stepped down the bleachers, pushing her hair behind one ear as she balanced her way down to the bottom rail.

  “You’re the last person I would’ve expected to see here on your day off,” Jenny said.

  “Ditto. What are you doing here?”

  “One of the girls in my yoga class has a kid showing today. She invited me to tag along.” She kicked the dirt against the gate with a dusty three-inch-heeled designer boot. “She’s been introducing me around. I met a really nice guy.”

  “Uh-oh, should I be worried? Nice, or nice-looking?”

  “Both.” Jenny nodded her head toward the auction ring. “Not only is he nice, he loves kids, and he’s good-looking as all get out.”

  Brooke rolled her eyes. “Aren’t they all?”

  “So I take it that’s Mike. You’re right. He’s no troll. Cute.” Jenny waved to Mike, who had stopped to watch the kids walk the ring. Brooke gave her friend a warning look. “He’s just a friend. So where’s this guy you met?”

  “The one in the straw cowboy hat.” Jenny leaned over and pointed toward the holding pens.

  “Rick?” asked Brooke, surprised.

  “You know him?”

  “I just met him a little while ago. He’s a friend of Mike’s. He’s one of the reasons we’re here.”

  “Well, this must be one of those synchronicity things you’re always talking about. I was just breezing along daydreaming about a gorgeous guy who loved kids, and asking God just how long he was going to make me wait to find the perfect mate. Then, wham-o. I looked up and there he was.”

  “Well, I’m not sure that’s exactly synchronicity, Jenny. You dream about that twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It is a coincidence that we both ended up here today, because I didn’t even know we were coming here until we got here. Mike wanted to surprise me.”

  “No one told Mike that you hate surprises?”

  Mike walked up behind Brooke. “Did I hear my name?”

  “You did. This is my friend, Jenny. She just got introduced to your buddy, Rick.”

  “Small world,” Mike said.

  Jenny looked back over her shoulder toward Rick. “Seriously now, is he hot enough to melt a snow cone or what?”

  Brooke blushed. “You have to excuse Jenny. I swear she only says that stuff to watch me blush.”

  “It’s working,” Mike said.

  “Isn’t she adorable when she blushes?” Jenny shook a finger in Mike’s direction. “Don’t you go telling him what I said.”

  “You have my word,” he said.

  “Excellent.” Jenny excused herself to help corral children and their animals into the ring for the first showmanship class.

  “Nice to meet you, Jenny,” Mike called after her.

  “You too.” She threw a hand up in the air over her shoulder.

  It had been a long day and it was starting to get dark by the time they headed back home. Mike and Brooke rode in quiet, not even turning on the radio.

  “What are you all deep in thought about over there?” Brooke asked.

  “You.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you.” It had been a great day and the last thing he wanted was for it to end. He wanted her, but she didn’t seem to be picking up on his signals. Either that or she wasn’t interested. If she wasn’t interested, he’d be better off knowing now. Time to figure it out. He slowed and pulled off the road at the next red light, and put the truck in park.

  Brooke turned to him. “Everything okay?”

  He leaned across the truck and kissed her before she could ask another question. Her lips were as soft as he’d expected them to be. He moved his mouth over hers. He gazed into her eyes in the red shadows cast from the stoplight. Her lips parted. They still looked moist from his kiss, but she didn’t say a word.

  The light turned green. He put the truck in drive and pulled back on the road, neither of them saying a word about it until they stopped at the next light.

  “Mike?”

  “Yep.”

  “What do we have going on here?”

  “What do you want it to be?” The car behind him tooted its horn when the light turned green. He cursed and gunned the engine.

  “I had a great time today.”

  “…but?” He braced himself for what he didn’t want to hear.

  “But we barely know each other, and…” Oh, god, she didn’t even know what she wanted. Her heart and her head were like those angel and devil cartoons on her shoulder. Do it. Don’t do it. “I’m just not ready. Are you okay with that?”

  “Sure,” he lied. Jackie’s memories were getting easier. The bad ones finally fading, the good ones a treasure to hold. He could thank Brooke for that. Whether they got together or not, something about this little lady had given him back what he thought he’d long lost.

  “Mike. I’m sorry. I can tell this isn’t the conversation you wanted to have.” She turned and looked out the window. “I just need time. I don’t want to make another mistake like I did with Keith. I just don’t trust myself yet.”

  “Take all the time you need.” Mike didn’t want to wait, but after spending time with her he also knew he would wait as long as it took to be with Brooke. Like when he fell in love with Jackie. It had been an immediate flip of a switch. Unexpected. Hell, he hadn’t wanted it. But here it was.

  They rode in silence for so long it became awkward.

  Brooke blurted out, “I’m going to the Tides game later this week. I was wondering if you’d go with me.”

  “As friends? Or as your hired gun?” He sucked in a breath.

  “I don’t need a hired gun, do I?” She shook her head. “Never mind. Does it matter?”

  “I love baseball.” He turned and looked at her. “Yeah. I should go. You know, to check things out. Just in case. I can be sure Keith doesn’t show up and try anything. Keep you safe.”

  “It should be fun too. Some friends I used to work with have the skybox for the doubleheader Tuesday.”

  “And fun. Definitely.” Mike patted the steering wheel. “I’ll pick you up at the office.” And if I still feel like I do right now, I’ll find a way to make sure you own up to how you feel too. That kiss was no friendly kiss.

  “You’re always the perfect gentleman, aren’t you, Mike Hartman?”

  Yeah, and look what that got me. Not the kind of home run I had my hopes on. Don’t count on that again.

  Thank goodness, they were almost to her house now. He pulled in the drive and l
eft the truck running while he walked her to the door.

  “I had a great time,” she said, looking up at him under the cast of golden light from the front porch lamp.

  And as she stood there looking into his eyes, he’d have sworn she was hoping he’d kiss her again. But he didn’t risk it. Instead, he gathered his wits and stepped down from the porch.

  “Me too.” He walked back to the truck as she let herself in the house. He got in the driver’s seat and waited until he saw the living room lights come on, and then pulled off wishing it could have ended in a different way. With her in his arms.

  He knew about not being ready, not trusting your heart. Hell, he’d been protecting his own for eight years.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Brooke and Mike had a great time at the Tides game. It was a very lopsided win to the Tides’ favor, so they slipped out in the middle of the ninth inning to beat traffic. There’d been no sign of Keith at the game and he hadn’t made any visits back to Brooke’s house since they’d installed the new alarm system.

  On the drive back, Mike turned down the radio. “I’m going to be hauling some stuff up to Rick’s brother’s ranch as a favor. It’s just a couple hours away. I thought you might want to ride along. They have plenty of room for us to stay overnight.” Then he quickly added. “Separate rooms of course.”

  “Of course.” Still caught up in the casual and easy afternoon at the ballpark, she didn’t even hesitate. “Sure. Sounds great.”

  “I’ll have someone cover the surveillance while we’re gone. We’ll move your car and see if Keith tries anything. We might catch something on the tape if he’s still up to no good. Him going silent has me a little worried.”

  “Do you think he might show up?”

  “Guys like him don’t give up that easy,” Mike said.

  That was Tuesday. Now that it was Friday she was wondering what the heck she’d been thinking at the time. What happened to not getting involved? A sly inner voice reminded her she was already involved. The time she spent away from him was spent mostly daydreaming about the next time she might run into him. If she was honest with herself, didn’t she wish they could spend even more time together? Every time he left, didn’t she wish he’d stay? Didn’t she wish she could see more of him? Preferably shirtless. She was doomed.