After my very interesting breakfast date with Tom, I begin my day at the library. I’m thankful that Amy is coming in a little later today, because I don’t think I can handle her interrogation right now. All I can think about is Tom Sullivan looking hot as hell on that motorcycle.

Just before ten o’clock, a friendly looking older woman walks in, looking around. I have never seen her come in before and I’m hopeful that it’s the beginning of more residents coming to the library.

“Are you Olivia?” she asks me.

“Yes.”

“Hi, Olivia, I’m Anne Sullivan.”

“Oh, yes, hello, Mrs. Sullivan, how are you?”

“Please, just call me Annie. I’m fine, thank you.”

“Would you like some coffee? I can’t sit in the office right now, but my assistant should be here any minute. We could sit out here, until she shows up.”

“That would be lovely, thank you.”

As I quickly go back to get us some coffee, I hear Amy walk in.

“Hi, Ms. Annie, it’s been a while.”

“Hello, Amy. How are those precious babies of yours?”

“Growing like weeds.”

“If you ever need a babysitter, just let me know.”

“I love you too much, Ms. Annie, to put you through that torture.”

“I’m serious. Anytime.”

“How’s that son of yours?” Amy asks as she spots me at the counter, listening in.

“Tom’s fine. He’s home on leave for a few weeks, helping us out.”

“Really?” Amy says, smiling over at me.

“Annie, would you like to come back to my office since Amy is here now?”

“Sure, I can do that.”

Annie and I go over what I envision for the Friends of the Library. We speak for an hour before she has to leave. She suggests digging out the notebooks from her prior years and we can look at different ways to raise some funds. I agree to meet with her on Thursday to discuss an idea for a dinner and auction she wants to plan.

I called Nora last night and apologized for not meeting with her yesterday, but told her I would make sure to be there today. Even though Holly and Mike are glad to have Mason and me stay with them, the fact that Holly is pregnant now will have them wanting to prepare a baby room soon. It’s just as well, I really would like to have my own home.

I make it down to the real Goose Hollow Road this time, and pull up to a beautiful two-story farmhouse with a wraparound porch. The pictures of the outside did not do it justice.

“Hello, Olivia, it’s good to meet you. Rick tells me wonderful things about you.”

“Good to meet you, too, Nora,” I say as I’m reminded that I still need to have the talk with Rick.

“Well, this is it. What do you think so far? It comes with twenty acres of farmland. I think they used to lease it out for cows, but it’s good rich farming soil, too.”

We walk inside and I’m in love. Everything I ever dreamed of in a house, is here, with plenty of room for Mason and me. I remember the story that Tom told me yesterday of Henry and his wife, raising seven children in this home. Lots of memories and happy times were enjoyed in this house. Nora allows me to walk around after she gives me a tour. This is it, I can feel it. This is meant to be my home.

“So, what do you think? Want to see something else?”

“No way. I want this house. I want to make an offer right now.”

Thursday morning rolls around and I find myself once again heading out into the country. Maybe if my meeting with Annie goes quickly, I can go over to the Braxton house once more. I haven’t heard from Nora after I made an offer of five thousand dollars over asking price to the sellers. I hope it’s enough, because if not, I will have to back out.

I also haven’t heard from Tom since our breakfast date. We are supposed to go out tomorrow night, which reminds me I still haven’t talked to Rick. Rick texted me a few times these last few days, apologizing that he had to work but would like to see me this weekend. I don’t want to call things off with him over a text, so I asked him to meet me at Mike and Holly’s for dinner tonight. Maybe a homemade meal of meatloaf with fresh peach cobbler for dessert will help make my let’s be friends talk easier for him.

Mason is with me today because Holly has a cold and Mike is at work. One of the luxuries of my job is having the flexibility of bringing him with me, if needed. Since we are going to the airport, I thought he may enjoy it, instead of staying at Ms. Winston’s. Who knows, maybe we will even run into Tom.

We pull up to what I believe is the hangar with an office building close by. The sign reads Sullivan Aviation, so this has to be it. Like Amy said, it’s a small airport, but it is an airport. I can see the yellow plane that almost ran me over the other day.

When we get out of the SUV, Red steps out to greet us. “Hello, Ms. Olivia, how are you today?”

“I’m good, Red, how are you?”

“Well, my back always hurts and my knees are shot, but other than that, I’m good.”

“Okay.” I laugh.

“And who might you be, little feller?”

“I’m Mason.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard about you. You want to be a fighter pilot one day.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“A little bird told me. Actually, it’s a big bird, kind of like a turkey. Speaking of the turkey, here he comes now,” Red says as he points to the end of the runway. A small plane touches down and slows before turning in and heading toward us.

“Yeah, I want to go for a ride,” Mason says as he starts to take off.

Red quickly grabs him up, reaching him before I can react. He’s pretty quick for a guy with a bad back and shot knees. “Whoa there, son, you never run up to a plane like that. You will lose a limb doing that. You see those propellers? They will cut your arm or head clean off,” he says before setting Mason down.

I quickly grab Mason’s hand, holding on tightly as I wait for my heart to slow down. “Thank you, Red.”

“No problem, ma’am, he’s a quick one.”

The propeller finally stops, but I still grip Mason’s hand tightly. Tom gets out and smiles and waves as he comes toward us.

“I better get back to work,” Red says as he goes back into the hangar.

“What a nice surprise. Hi,” Tom says before squatting down to speak to Mason. “Hi, buddy. How’ve you been?”

“Good. I wanted to go out and greet you, but Mr. Red said the propeller would cut my head off.”

“What?” He starts laughing, looking up at me. “I guess that’s true, you never want to run up to an aircraft while the propeller is running.”

“That’s why I want to fly jets, they have no propellers.”

“Good point. I never thought about that,” Tom says before standing. “To what do I owe this pleasure? Our date is not until tomorrow night.”

“I’m actually here to see your mom. Mason just came along for the ride.”

“Are you dating my mom?” Mason asks, catching us both off guard.

I quickly come up with something to explain. “Yes, honey. It’s a playdate, like when you go to visit Mikey or Brandon.” I look at Tom, whose eyes grow bigger by my statement.

“So what are you guys going to play? Can I come?” Mason asks.

Tom looks away, trying not to laugh as I sink myself deeper in explaining this.

“Um, honey, it’s not like that. It’s for grown-up playtime only.” The moment I say the words, I regret it. Knowing how much Tom likes to kid around, I’m never going to live this down.

“What do grown-ups play?” Mason asks as Tom starts laughing.

“You’re not helping,” I say to Tom, who finally pulls himself together.

“Mason, buddy, why don’t you and I go check out some planes, while your mommy goes and talks to my mom.” Tom steps in to save me from further embarrassment.

“Okay, but don’t play baseball with Mom, she throws like a girl,” Mason says as Tom once again starts laughing as he guides him to the hangar.

“Thanks, sweetie,” I mumble.

“Well, what do you think about the auction and dance idea?” Annie asks as she slices up a freshly made zucchini bread.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea. Do you think the local merchants will donate?”

“Oh, yes. It’s been my experience they will be very giving when it comes to anything to help our community. When do you think we should have it?”

“How about the first Saturday in November?” I ask her.

“That would work. Maybe we could invite some vendors to have some craft booths. That might draw more folks in for the dinner, since they could do a little Christmas shopping, too.”

“Great idea.”

“Do I smell zucchini bread?” Tom says as he walks in with Mason and a nice-looking older gentleman.

“Yes, come and help yourselves. Mason, would you like some zucchini bread?” Annie asks him.

“Isn’t zucchini that vegetable you tried to get me to eat, Mom?”

“Mason, it’s really good, you don’t even taste the zucchini,” the older gentleman says as he puts some on a plate and hands it to him.

“Okay, I trust you, Mr. John.”

“Olivia, this is my husband John. I don’t think you have met him yet.”

“No, I haven’t. Nice to meet you.” I see the resemblance between Tom and his dad John. In the back of my mind, I’m envisioning Tom being a very handsome older man one day.

“You, too, Olivia. It’s nice to finally meet you. So, Mason, what do you think?” John asks him as he takes a tentative first bite.

“It’s good,” he says with his mouth full and starts to cough.

Quickly, I stand, looking around for some water. “Honey, don’t stuff your mouth like that and don’t talk with it full.”

“Don’t choke, buddy. I’ll get you some milk,” Tom says as he walks back to the kitchen.

I’m taken aback at the attention Tom is giving Mason. I still need to try to explain about Tom and me going out tomorrow night. I just hope he will understand.

Tom comes back with a glass of milk and sets Mason up at a small table.

“Did you ladies decide on what you are doing for the charity event?” Tom asks.

“A dinner and dance with a silent auction,” Annie says.

“That sounds like fun. Make sure to save me a ticket.” Tom winks at me.

“We are going to start collecting auction items soon,” I add.

“Son, why don’t you donate something to the auction?” John asks.

“Like what, Pops? Free crop-dusting?” He laughs.

“How about skydiving lessons or a tandem jump?” Annie looks over at Tom.

“Oh, no, I don’t think—” I start to say before Tom interrupts.

“That’s an awesome idea, Mom. I can do that. It would be great advertising and a way to introduce the new school.”

“School?” I ask him.

“Yes, we’re going to open up a skydiving school here.”

“You skydive, too?” I look over at him, wondering if there is no limit to his death-defying lifestyle. “I’m not sure if people here would bid on something like that,” I finally manage to say.

“Why not?” Tom asks as he pulls out a chair and sits next to me.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like something folks around here would care for, that’s all.” I shrug.

“How do you know that? Have you ever been?”

“Well, no, but …”

“Then you can’t know what people will think, can you?”

“Fine, we will add it to the auction items.” I give in.

“Hold on a minute now, you may have a point. It’s going to be hard to tell people how great it is, if you haven’t actually experienced it yourself.”

“I’m sure you can tell them.”

“Nah, they would expect me to endorse it, it’s my gig, but you, on the other hand, they would believe. I tell you what, why don’t you come out a week from Saturday and you can see for yourself?”

“I’m not jumping out of a plane.”

“You won’t be. I will jump and you’ll just be along for the ride.”

“No way.”

“You have to, otherwise, how do you expect people to bid on it, if you can’t tell them how much fun it is?”

“They’ll take my word for it. I’ll make something up.”

“Are you scared?” He gives me that boyish, if not devilish smile.

“Uh, yeah!”

He reaches for my hand, taking it into his. “You have no reason to be scared. You will be with me.” He brings my hand to his lips, kissing it before letting it go. “I’ll see you tomorrow night,” he whispers as he gets up and heads out of the office. “Oh, and, Olivia?” he says, pausing at the door.

“Yes?”

“Don’t forget to have that talk with Rick tonight,” he says as he hums the wedding march on his way out.

How the hell did he know about that?

Mason and I head home, where I rush to quickly start dinner. An hour later, Rick shows up and we all sit down to a nice home-cooked meal. Holly and Mike volunteer to clean up, giving Rick and me a chance to talk in the backyard on the swing.

“The meal was great, Olivia, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I stare out at the stars, trying to build up my nerve. I have to tell him tonight.

“What’s up, Olivia? You’re quiet again. Is something wrong?”

I take a deep breath and let it out before I begin. “Rick, I’m glad that we got to see each other again. It’s been great catching up, but I think we should only see each other as friends.”

He sighs, looking up at the stars.

I can’t tell if he is about to become upset, or if he is relieved.

After a few moments, he finally speaks. “Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to say that, especially after last week.” He sighs again.

“I’m sorry, Rick. I think you’re great, but I just don’t think we are meant to be more than just friends. I hope we can still be that.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t want to not be your friend.”

“That makes me happy to hear.”

“I don’t suppose you are going to have this same talk with Tom Sullivan, are you?” He looks at me in all seriousness.

“I don’t want to discuss Tom with you.”

“Well, as a friend, let me fill you in on Tom Sullivan. Just be careful when it comes to him,” he warns, his tone very bitter.

“What do you mean, be careful?” I’m immediately offended by his attitude change.

“I know he’s exciting, being a hotshot pilot and war hero, and all, but I’m telling you, he’s going to break your heart.”

“How do you know that?” I feel myself getting more defensive by the second.

“Because, he broke my sister’s heart,” he says.

“Nora? Tom was involved with Nora?” The revelation that Tom and Nora were once an item shocks me. I also feel a tinge of jealousy.

“Yes, a few years ago. He really messed her up.”

“How?”

“He broke off their engagement.”

“Are you serious?” My tinge of jealousy is growing every second.

“Yes, it devastated her.”

“Did he give a reason?”

“Come on, Olivia, he dated her for over a year. If he hadn’t wanted to marry her, he should have come to that conclusion in the beginning and not let her think they had a future together. He should have told her sooner, like you are doing with me now.”

Once again, I feel badly. I wasn’t trying to lead Rick on. This makes me regret I even went out with him in the first place. “Is that why you were so rude to him the other day when I got stuck?”

“Yes, I don’t want him hurting you or Mason.”

“Are you sure about all of this, Rick? It sounds like this is all from Nora’s side of the story. Have you ever talked to Tom about it?”

“No need to. He said all he needed to when he left her to fly off into the sunset on his jet. He used her, Olivia, and if you’re not careful, he will do the same to you,” he says as he stands up. “I have to get going. I’m on duty in the morning. Thanks again for dinner, and I guess I’ll see you around sometime.”

“Thank you, Rick.” I stand up and am relieved when he allows me to hug him. “I’m sorry, Rick. Please be safe.”

“I gotta go. Take care,” he says, releasing me and heading out the back gate.

I sit back down and start pushing the swing with my feet as I look up into the clear night sky. Thousands of stars are visible on this beautiful night. When I was a little girl, I believed stars were angels looking down at us from heaven. I start playing with my wedding rings again.

“I bet you’re laughing your ass off up there. Oh, Brent, I hope I’m not making a mistake. Life was so much easier when you were still in it, sweetheart.”

Later that night, I lie awake in bed, wondering if everything that Rick said about Tom is true. If it is, Tom Sullivan is not the gentleman I mistook him for. The way Rick describes him, he sounds like a player, looking for a good time. It just doesn’t fit with the Tom Sullivan I’m beginning to know. Tomorrow night I will have no choice but to bring it up. I have to know if it’s true before I move on with seeing him. If it is true, it is a deal breaker. I won’t let Mason be around someone that is eventually going to leave and break his heart. My heart is already on guard.