"It's what I do best." She stood up. "I'll see you later. And, Chloe, whatever you decide to do, you have my support."
"Thanks. Don't say anything to anyone else."
"I won't. And I know Adam won't either."
"No, he wouldn't. He's such a good man, Lizzie. I don't know why he's still single."
"I guess he hasn't found the right person." As she left the café, she couldn't help thinking that Adam might have found the right person for him, but she was already taken. And no matter what happened with Chloe and Kevin, their relationship was not going to end any time soon. They had a baby together. Chloe would fight hard to make her marriage work.
Maybe she should find someone to introduce Adam to, get him looking in another direction. She really wanted him to be happy.
She smiled to herself at that thought. She was a people pleaser. Well, it wasn't the worst thing in the world. She just had to remember that she couldn't solve everyone's problems. However, it was a lot easier worrying about their problems than her own.
After picking up a new laptop computer and a phone, Justin spent several hours at Harvey's Coffee, which had a great selection of coffee and tea as well as sandwiches, salads, wraps and pastries, as well as a dozen tables at which to work. Apparently, he wasn't the only one in Whisper Lake who also needed to be on a computer.
It was a lot cooler at the coffeehouse, and he felt better after downing a couple cups of coffee and getting some work done. He'd sent Anthony more information to study before the presentation, trying to make it as easy as possible for him to do the pitch without any mistakes.
He'd also gone through most of his emails and taken care of the more pressing questions, some of which pertained to his upcoming trips to Tokyo and Melbourne.
Normally, he got a buzz of excitement thinking about the next trip, the next deal, the next step forward in his drive to take his company as high as he possibly could, but he felt more removed from his business here in Whisper Lake. The frenetic energy, the relentless drive that usually accompanied his workdays seemed to be diminished. He couldn't concentrate. He was constantly being distracted by people coming in and out of the café. And that was unusual, too, because he could usually tune everything and everyone out. He'd always prided himself on his tunnel vision. While some people saw it as a negative trait, it also had a flip side: he could get work done no matter where he was or what was happening around him.
But not today. His mind kept drifting back to Lizzie, to all the random things they'd talked about: Noah and the missing Alice, the ghost in room ten, and Lizzie's break-up story. He'd seen pain in her gaze when she'd spoken about the man who had refused to follow her to Whisper Lake. Although, he didn't think it was that decision that had bothered her. Her boyfriend hadn't believed in her abilities and that had stung.
He couldn't totally relate. He hadn't ever considered what anyone else thought about his skills. He'd grown up having to be independent. He had never been surrounded by a lovely family of cheerleaders, ready to applaud his every effort, regardless of the actual achievement. But Lizzie had grown up differently. She was close to her parents and her siblings, and it seemed that she had a lot of family support. But she also cared too much about what people thought of her. He wondered where that insecurity came from, especially since she did have support. There was something that he didn't know about.
Not that he needed to know. She'd made it clear she wasn't interested in a hookup, and that's really all he had to offer. He needed to back off; he just wasn't sure he could actually do that. He hadn't been this interested in a woman in he couldn't remember when…
He turned his head as a man approached his table. It was Brodie, wearing his police uniform. He had a coffee in his hand.
"Hey," Brodie said with a nod. "Am I interrupting?"
"Not at all. Have a seat." He pushed out the chair next to him. "You must be on a break."
"Yep. And Harvey has the best coffee in town."
"Everything is good here. I've been sampling."
Brodie grinned. "I've had everything, too, but I'm saving room for what Lizzie is serving up tonight."
"I heard something about margaritas and chips and guacamole," he said.
"Great. I love Lizzie's margarita parties." Brodie sipped his coffee. "When do your grandparents get in?"
"Tonight. Their flight got canceled yesterday, so they had to wait to get on another one."
"That's a drag. I met them when they were here in February. Great couple."
"They seemed to have met a lot of people in this town."
"Well, Lizzie likes to merge the guests at the inn with the locals. She thinks it enhances their stay if they feel a part of the town. So, Chelsea and I get a lot of invitations to the inn. I can't complain. Lizzie always puts on a good party."
"She certainly works hard at treating her guests well and giving them a first-class, personal experience."
"Chelsea said Lizzie was always like that. Even as a kid, she'd bring home strays—not cats or dogs—but other children who were not quite fitting in. If someone was getting bullied, they were getting an invitation to the Cole house for a family dinner. Chelsea told me that it was the odd night that Lizzie didn't have someone in the chair next to her who she was trying to make feel better about something."
He could totally see her doing that. She seemed to feel a need to make sure everyone was feeling included and happy. It was a very sweet trait. Damn! He needed to find things not to like about her. "It's good her parents went along with that. You'd think with five kids, they wouldn't enjoy having an extra child for dinner."
"They were cool. They always have room for one more. Lizzie's dad is one of the friendliest guys you'll ever meet. And he has the heartiest handshake. First time we met, I thought he was testing me to see if I was strong enough to take on his handshake and his daughter."
Justin grinned. "Apparently, you passed the test."
"Without a wince. But, honestly, I think as long as I was putting a smile on Chelsea's face, they were okay with me. They love their kids to death, and they're very involved, but not too much. They're big believers in letting their children do their own thing, have their own successes or their own failures." Brodie paused. "My father was nothing like Chelsea's dad. He got so wrapped up in my skiing career that my failures became his failures—same with my successes. He really had trouble when that career ended. But we're better now. With more separation, we actually seem to be getting closer."
He nodded, surprised that Brodie was volunteering so much personal information. But then, everyone he met in this town seemed to treat him like he was already a long-time friend. It was both strange and appealing at the same time. Most of his friends were tied to his business these days and he realized now how often those meetups turned to business talk. They never got personal, which he had always been fine with. But now…well, Brodie reminded him a little of his brother, who'd also had a rambling, over-sharing personality. And he realized how much he'd missed this kind of easy chatter.
"So," Brodie said. "Tell me more about your company. Do you provide law enforcement robots?"
"We do. Does the department here have any?"
"Unfortunately, no. But I've heard they're being used in a lot of creative ways in bigger cities."
"Everything from disarming a bomb, to infiltrating a hostage situation, clearing obstacles, and aiding in search and rescue operations. A robot can go where a man can't. But, of course, it requires some technological skill that some departments don't have."
"And money," Brodie said dryly.
"That, too, but we offer a lot of discounts for anything that can improve public safety and help first responders."
Brodie nodded. "That's good to hear. How did you get into it?"
"My brother was very into robots when I was young. I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but here I am now."
"You must have some brilliant people working for you."
"I do. I started the com
pany with my freshman-year college roommate. He was an engineering major. I was business. It was a good match in a lot of ways."
"So, you started when you were eighteen."
"Pretty much. Eric and I built the company together."
"Did you ever think it would get so big?"
He smiled. "I always thought that."
Brodie grinned back at him, understanding in his eyes. "Yeah, I get that. People used to ask me if I ever imagined being as good as I was at skiing."
"And you had to say yes?"
"I saw myself on the Olympic podium from the first time I raced down a mountain. I was about eight. Unfortunately, I never got that moment, but I did stand on a lot of other podiums, and I skied the most incredible mountains in the world, so I can't really complain."
He was impressed that Brodie wouldn't complain about being deprived of a gold medal that would have been the pinnacle of his career. "You have a good attitude about it. I don't think I'd be so chill if I'd gone through what you did."
"Oh, it took me a long time to get to a place of acceptance. In fact, last year, I had the opportunity to get back into the skiing world in a different way, and I was tempted, but in the end, I knew that I'd moved on. I like being a cop. I actually help people. I'm not nearly as selfish as I once was. And then there's Chelsea…"
"When are you getting married?"
"August. But it feels like we're already married, like we've known each other forever."
"Love at first sight?"
Brodie laughed. "No. Chelsea was not easy. But she was going through a lot of stuff that she had to deal with. And in some ways, I was too. We both came to Whisper Lake to start over, but it didn't go quite as we planned; it went better." He checked his watch. "I better get back to work. I'll probably see you at the inn later."
"I'll be there," he said.
After Brodie left, he tried to get back to work, but his concentration was once again lacking. A little before four, he closed his computer. He was eager to see Lizzie again. It had only been a couple of hours, but he found himself missing her, which was probably a better reason not to go back. He was playing with fire and it would be a lot safer if he put the matches away, as Lizzie wanted him to do. But he liked risk, and he liked her, so he was going to see what happened.
Chapter Eight
By four o'clock Wednesday afternoon, Lizzie thought she had everything under control. There was a repairman working on the furnace, and she'd managed to go at least an hour without thinking about Justin. It helped that she hadn't seen him all day. She had no idea where he'd spent his time, but it was probably somewhere cooler than the inn.
With the heat still raging, she'd decided to make her happy-hour cocktail party a margarita party. She'd set up a bar in the patio with three kinds of margaritas: plain, strawberry, and peach, thankful that the produce she'd picked up the day before had afforded her such a great offering of fresh fruit. They were also going to serve up lemon fizzes, thanks to the abundance of lemons. Naomi had made enough guacamole to feed an army, as well as homemade tortilla chips and a wide array of other appetizers.
While the outside temperature was only in the high sixties, she'd invited everyone to attend in shorts and flip-flops and, as perhaps the biggest irony of all, she had put her outdoor heaters on, so the patio temp would match the heat inside the inn.
Now, she was blowing up beach balls that could be batted around among the guests, while listening to the set of summer beach songs she'd put on the sound system. Hopefully, everyone would get in the spirit of the event.
As she finished one beach ball, she gave it a pat to send it across the yard. It hit Justin square in the chest as he came out the door. Of course, it would hit him, because every time he showed up, something went wrong.
But he caught it with a smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. He wasn't in shorts but a pair of faded jeans and a navy-blue polo shirt that only enhanced the blue of his eyes. Her heart skipped a beat as an electrical current flowed between them. She really didn't want to like him, but she did. Although, it bothered her that she couldn't seem to stop talking about herself when he was around, while he managed to keep his own personal stories locked away. She was starting to get more and more curious about his life. If she couldn't get him to talk, she might have to try to squeeze some information out of his grandparents when they arrived.
Having Marie and Ben at the inn would probably also provide a good buffer between them, and they certainly needed that.
"I feel like I'm in Margaritaville," Justin said as he crossed the patio.
"Jimmy Buffett will be singing that song soon," she said lightly, her gaze running down his hard, masculine body with great appreciation.
"What's the status on the furnace?" he asked.
"Are you still hot?"
"Stupid question," he said with a grin.
"He's still working on it, but he thinks he has an answer. He had to run out and get a part. He just got back, so fingers crossed. In the meantime, I need to get everyone drunk so they don't think about how hot they are."
"I usually get hotter when I get drunk."
"It's the only plan I have." She couldn't believe he could get much hotter than he was, but she appreciated his easygoing tone. "You're being pretty chill about all this. I thought you'd be complaining that you couldn't work in the heat."
"I spent most of the day at Harvey's."
"Ah, good choice. He has the best coffee and pastries. I'm glad you could work."
"Do you need any help here?"
"I need a couple of more beach balls blown up." She handed him one.
"So, you think I'm full of hot air?" he joked.
"You said it, not me," she returned.
As they shared a flirty laugh, the air seemed to sparkle around them, and little shivers ran down her spine. Then his gaze darkened with a promise she still wasn't ready to accept.
"I want to kiss you again, Lizzie."
She sucked in a quick breath. "We already agreed we're not doing that."
"I don't think we agreed. Just one kiss."
"We had a kiss last night. That's enough." It actually wasn't nearly enough, and her lips were already tingling at the possibility of his mouth on hers.
As he leaned in, she felt an incredible pull toward him, and then a loud, female voice broke the tension between them.
"Here you are!" the woman said.
Lizzie whirled around to see Justin's grandparents, Benjamin and Marie Blackwood, walking toward them. Marie was a tall, thin woman wearing gray slacks and a white short-sleeve top, her hair a rich, dark brown. Benjamin was also tall, but stockier, with a square face, white hair, and cool gray eyes. He was in black jeans and a short-sleeve button-down shirt. She was more than a little happy now that she hadn't taken the kiss Justin was offering. His grandparents would have gotten the completely wrong idea.
"What happened to your head?" Marie asked Justin, concern in her voice as she gave him a hug.
"It's not a big deal. I had a fender bender on the way here, but I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Did you see a doctor?"
"I did. Lizzie insisted."
"Good," Marie said, sending her an appreciative look. "Thank you for that. I'm so sorry we had to cancel last night, Lizzie. Of course, we'll pay for the day."
"Don't worry about that," she said. "I'm just glad you're here."
"It's rather warm inside," Ben said, fanning his ruddy complexion. "The front desk clerk said there's a problem with the heater."
"I'm hoping it's almost fixed," she replied. "Can I get you a margarita? We have plain, strawberry, and peach, and the fruit is all from local farmers."
"Strawberry sounds wonderful," Marie said.
"I'll take it plain," Ben put in.
"And I'll get their drinks," Justin told her.
"It's no trouble."
"Exactly. It's no trouble for me," he said pointedly.
Since Marie and Ben were watching their exchange w
ith some interest, she simply nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate that."
While Ben and Justin headed over to the margarita machines, Marie said, "I saw the flowers you put in our room, Lizzie. That was so kind and thoughtful."
"You're more than welcome. Are you excited for your vow renewal?"
"Now that we're here, and Justin is here, yes. I was getting a little concerned last night when our flight got canceled."
"You can relax now. You all made it."
"Maybe not all." Marie lowered her voice, as she gave her husband and grandson a quick look. Justin and Ben were engaged in conversation by the margarita machines and not paying them any attention. "There's a chance that Justin's father and mother might come in on Saturday."
"Really? I wish you'd told me. The inn is full for Friday and Saturday night."
"I know. They might stay in Denver and just come up for the day, but we'll see. No one has been willing to commit to coming."
"Why not?" she couldn't help asking.
"There are a lot of problems in our family," Marie said. "Justin doesn't get on well with his parents, nor they with him. Ben and I are caught in the middle. We understand all sides, but we're not getting any younger, and we'd like to get everyone back together, have some healing."
"Weddings can be good for reunions," she said, more than a little curious what they all needed to heal from.
"I hope so." Marie paused. "Don't say anything to Justin. I don't want him to leave because he thinks they might come, and then they don't show up."
"All right," she said, now even more curious as to what was going on between Justin and his parents, but Marie didn't seem inclined to say more.
"So, what do you think of my grandson?" Marie asked.
"He's great, very accomplished and driven."
"He is definitely driven. He never takes a vacation. It took a lot of persuasion to get him up here. I worry about him, because he needs to have some balance in his life, some fun."
"Well, this is the place for that," she said lightly.
"I think so, too," Marie said, as Justin and Benjamin returned with the drinks.
Can't Fight The Moonlight (Whisper Lake Book 3) Page 10