Cold Tea on a Hot Day by Curtiss Ann Matlock Read Free Book Online Page A

shots?” Parker wanted to know, giving Marilee a wink.
    Willie Lee looked at the dog and then said, “He does not want shots.”
    They all chuckled. Marilee looked closer at the dog, who smiled happily back at her. She had to admit the name fit him perfectly.
     
    The sheriff and friends and neighbors and Marilee’s mother had been alerted that the crisis was over, and Willie Lee had been returned home safe and sound. Vella, who had made a majority of the telephone calls, left to go to her Rose Club organizational meeting. Now that all was safe and sound, she was in a hurry, backing her Crown Victoria with racing speed.
    Tate Holloway decided he would walk home on the sidewalk. “Think I’ll see a bit more of the neighborhood,” he said.
    Parker went with Marilee to see their new neighbor out the front door. It occurred to Marilee that in all the years she had worked for Ms. Porter and lived just beyond therose-lined fence from the big Porter home, the woman had never even once visited her home. Here, in the first hours of his arrival, Tate Holloway had not only visited, he had returned her beloved son and eaten a celebration meal with them.
    Streetlights were on now, sending their silvery glow up and down the street and casting shadows into yards.
    “Thank you for the delightful meal,” Tate Holloway said, stopping at the foot of the steps and turning to look upward at Marilee and Parker on the edge of the porch. “And for this fine fare for Bubba,” he added, lifting the plastic bag containing the leftover chicken pieces.
    Marilee said, “Thank you, Mr. Holloway, for returning Willie Lee.”
    Tate Holloway grinned. “Well, now, I think it would be more accurate to say that Willie Lee led me over here.”
    He gazed at her with that grin.
    “And I’d prefer it, Miss Marilee, if you would call me Tate,” he said in his deep, slow East Texas drawl.
    His eyes that seemed to twinkle, even at this distance, rested on her. There was a contagious inner delight in Tate Holloway.
    “All right. Tate. I’m glad to meet you.”
    “I’m glad to know you, Marilee James, and your family. I won’t be a stranger…you can count on that.”
    Marilee gazed down at the tall man who grinned up at her, until Parker slipped his arm around her and said, “We are sure grateful for you bringing Willie Lee home, Tate.”
    Tate’s eyes shifted to Parker. “Ah…yes, well, sir…I’m just glad things turned out so fine. Good night.” Withanother glance at Marilee and a wave of the little bag of chicken, he was off down the walkway.
    Marilee’s eyes followed, seeing that his fine, white-blond hair caught the light and shone like sun-warmed silk, and that his shoulders were strong, his torso lean, and his strides long, in the way of a man who is all muscle and purpose.
    Then Parker was turning her from the sight. They walked back into the house with his arm around her shoulders. Just inside the closed door, in the dimness, he drew her to him and kissed her.
    “Your Willie Lee came home safe and sound, just like I said,” he reminded her.
    “Thank you for being here, Parker.” She was very grateful.
    He pulled her against him and kissed her neck. She felt him wanting a lot more, but she could not give any thought to it right now. She was too busy clutching to her what she had feared she had lost. There was no energy left at this moment to consider her relationship with Parker.
     
    She tucked Corrine and Willie Lee into bed.
    “Honey, we will have to run an announcement in the paper about finding Munro,” she told Willie Lee, taking off his glasses and setting them on the night table.
    “He is my dog now.” He put his hand on the dog, who lay beside him.
    “He has a collar with his name on it. That means someone bought it for him. Someone who cares for him. What if you had lost him? Wouldn’t you want whoever found him to do their best to get him back to you?”
    Willie Lee frowned, and his lower lip quivered. “Munro