Every Storm Runs Out of Rain

Chapter 18

Heather sighed as she pulled the last batch cookies from the oven. Two weeks had passed since she'd made the promise to Layla. Jade walked in just as Heather finished wrapping them up in a clean towel. They were still too warm to put them anywhere else.

"Mornin', Jade! The girls are both playing in their room. I've gotta run or I'm gonna be late for work." Heather said.

"No worries! I'll see you tonight." Jade said. Heather rushed out the front door and climbed into her Honda. She noticed a slight chill in the air and realized that fall was well on its way. Another year had passed with no significant change to the day-in day-out schedule.

Just once, she wished some drastic and positive change would happen. She was used to the negative. Negative changes had been next-door neighbors to her ever since losing Sean. Maybe seeing Devin would be that positive change. She hoped so. But then again, she had a certain fear that he would see her back-woods way of life and think less of her for it. Did that really matter? To her, it did. They might not have been the closest siblings growing up but when you've reached your end, your family was supposed to be there to help pick you back up. Then again, family didn't necessarily mean blood. And she knew that better than a lot of people.

She pulled up to the feed store fifteen minutes early. As she opened up the store, she hummed a song. Her peaceful morning routine was interrupted by a knock on the front door. She came out from the office in the back and found Stetson standing out front with that stupid, adorable grin on his face and his hands shoved deep into his jeans pockets. In short, he looked like a kid at the general store begging for penny candy. And it was almost impossible not to smile back. Almost. Heather huffed and walked over to the door.

"We don't open for another ten minutes." she stated. His smile grew.

"Good morning to you too, Miss Heather." he crooned. She rolled her eyes.

"I said we're not open yet." she said again.

"By golly, who ate your bowl o' sunshine this mornin', thundercloud?" She attempted to hold back a smile but couldn't. It was useless to try remaining somber when Stetson was around. She rolled her eyes dramatically and caved.

"Good morning, Mr. Stetson. What do you need?" she asked.

"Well, I would love to talk to you for a few minutes if you wouldn't mind. But inside. 'Cause the air's got a bite to it this morning and I'm shiverin' in my boots." She relented and let him in.

"So what was it that you wanted to talk about?" she asked when he didn't immediately start talking. She walked around the back of the counter and grabbed the cookies. He leaned over the counter and watched her intensely for a few seconds.

"You. Me. Us" The three words made her uncomfortable.

"Us?" she questioned. The corner of his mouth twitched at her one-worded question.

"It's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" His question left her confused. What in tarnation was he talking about?

"Listen. I've heard plenty about you since you came home. And the one thing I keep hearing is that you've never been one to beat around the bush. So why don't you just spit out whatever is on your mind and tell me what the heck you came in here for?" He seemed pleased with her little tirade and that confused her.

"I like you, Heather." he said. She nearly stepped back at his declaration. "And I'm a Dalton. When I like something, a lot, I go after it. And there ain't nobody in this world that I want to be around right now more than you." This time she did take a step back. One, she'd not expected his words. And two, she knew that any man could say those words and not really mean them. As her father had always said, "Talk is cheap." He watched her as if gauging her reaction. "What do you think of that?" His question surprised her. He was uncertain. That much was clear.