I thought about my dad. We went sailing every weekend when I was a kid. Our first boat was a dinghy, but eventually we moved up to a twenty-eight-foot Ericson. There was one almost like it on the water right now. The weather had been good this summer too. Warm with just enough wind. Perfect sailing weather.
When my phone rang, I glanced down at the number. It was unfamiliar, but then I thought it might be one of the lawyers calling me back, so I answered it.
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
“It’s Ethan—don’t hang up!”
His was not a voice I wanted to hear. “Leave me alone. I can’t believe you have the nerve to call me.” It figured he’d call today. He must have psychically sensed I was having a good day and decided to ruin it.
“I’m only calling to apologize.”
“Great. Goodbye.”
“Wait! Ivy and I are seeing a marriage counselor.”
“So? What does that have to do with me?”
He let his breath out. “I just wanted to explain my behavior that night at your house. Ivy and I were fighting.”
I bit my tongue. There was no point in talking about karma.
“Marriage with her is so different than it was with you,” he continued, sounding unsure of himself. “It’s been an adjustment.”
“Whatever. I hope the counseling works and you’re both happy.”
Or it fails and you’re both exceedingly miserable.
“Do you really feel that way? That you want us to be happy?”
I sighed. “If you’d asked me two years ago, I would have said no, but now, to be honest, I just don’t care either way.”
He was quiet. “I guess you’ve moved on, huh?”
“Yes, I have.”
“With Philip?”
I should have been honest again and said Philip had nothing to do with it, but I didn’t. I’d discovered I liked having a fake boyfriend. I should have made one up sooner. “Yes, if you must know, with Philip.”
“Are you in love with him?”
“We’re crazy about each other.”
There was a moment’s pause. “Well, then I’m glad for you.”
“Thanks. I’m hanging up now.”
“Again, I’m sorry. I know I made an ass out of myself. Let me know if there’s any way I can make it up to you.”
I almost said there wasn’t, but then something occurred to me. “Actually there is something you could do. You could tell Ivy to call off her lackey. Did you know Mona is suing me?”
He hesitated. “I did hear something about that.”
“The two of them are trying to put me out of business.”
“Oh no,” Ethan said quickly. “I doubt that. Mona just wants you to pay for the damage you did to her floors.”
“I didn’t damage her floors!” I gripped my phone in frustration. Ethan could be so naive sometimes. It was annoying when we were married, and it was still annoying. “They’re making this whole thing up.”
“But why would they do that?”
“Because Ivy hates me.”
He went quiet. The interesting thing was Ethan didn’t deny it. “I could talk to her about it,” he said finally, “but I doubt it will do any good.”
“Try.”
“She’s jealous of you. I think she’s even jealous of your maid business. And she’s still angry at me for forcing her to quit her job and move back here.” He went quiet once again. “I wish now I’d listened to her.”
I wished he had too. But then what he said sank in, and I opened my mouth with surprise. “Wait, it was your idea to move back to town, not Ivy’s?”
“She didn’t want to quit her job, but I agreed to open a satellite office out here for work. And it’s doing really well,” he added. “Ivy’s miserable though.”
“What was her job?” It occurred to me that I knew practically nothing about her life.
“She was a buyer for a clothing store.”
“And she can’t do that here?”
He sighed. “Apparently not. It was very high-end. She claims there isn’t anything equivalent.”
I thought about all the different shops in Truth Harbor. There were a few nice ones, especially along the water. It figured they weren’t good enough for Ivy.
Later, after work, I considered driving by their house and confronting Ivy myself. I knew it wouldn’t make any difference though. I’d called her twice now, and she hadn’t returned either call, freezing me out. She did the same thing in high school.
I was even tempted to go by Mona’s to try and reason with her, but I knew better than that. Growing up with a father who was an attorney, I’d learned the number one rule to follow if you had legal trouble was to keep your mouth shut. He always said to let your lawyer do the talking. Innocent or guilty, it didn’t matter.
So instead I went home to my birds.
I fed them dinner, then heated up some leftover soup for myself. As I was toasting a bagel to go with it, I got another call, this one from Daphne.
“Hey,” I said, stirring the soup as I waited for it to boil. “How’s it going in Seattle?”
“Things are fine. We’re still trying to find a house for Linda—Doug’s mom. She’s very particular.”
“And how are things with Doug? Any progress?”
“Actually….” She giggled. “That’s going fine too.”
My brows went up. “Oh, really? Let’s hear it.”
“Well, we’ve been taking these long walks through the neighborhood after dinner every night. We’re really getting to know each other.”
“That sounds promising.”
She sighed. “I hope so. He’s such a neat guy. He never tries to show off or act cocky like so many of them do, you know? And you should see how nice he is to his mother.” She lowered her voice confidingly. “People always say you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his mother.”
“I’ve heard that too,” I murmured. I thought of Philip, who respected his mom and treated her well. “How are you getting along with Doug’s mom? Is she nice?”
“I have to admit she’s demanding,” Daphne said in her soft-spoken voice. “But the more time I spend with her, the more I think she’s also lonely. I’ve been encouraging her to get out more. She recently joined a book club, and I found a knitting group she likes.”
I turned the heat off on the soup and removed it from the burner. It sounded like Daphne knew what she was doing.
“Oh, and I brought a few jars of my homemade jam,” she went on. “Did you know Doug likes to bake? He makes these incredible muffins.”
“Oh yeah?” I didn’t want to be unkind, but those muffins were horrible.
“They’re delicious with my jam on them. We served them to the book club, and people were gobbling them down.” She laughed. “Doug said he’d never had that reaction to his muffins before.”
“That’s great,” I murmured, opening the drawer for a butter knife. “How are things otherwise? Are you still staying at a hotel? It must be getting expensive. What about work?”
“No, it’s fine. Linda invited me to stay in her guest bedroom. And I’ve been helping one of the knitting group members buy a new condo.” The tone of her voice changed. “Please don’t tell my mom or Ivy about this. I’ll tell them eventually, but first I want to see how things turn out here.”
I spread some cream cheese on my bagel, thinking about how different Daphne was from her sister. She was kind and generous. I hoped Doug was smart enough to see it. “Don’t worry, I won’t say a word.”
Chapter Eighteen
~ Philip ~
I arrived at the trailhead twenty minutes early on Saturday morning. Eliza and Gavin would be along shortly, but I wanted to get here first so I could tell Claire how the fake bike company wasn’t going to be here today.
I felt ridiculous for making up that story, but I was still glad I did it, because it meant I got to see her today. The other night had been playing on repeat in my mind. How beautiful she loo
ked under the stars. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so turned on with a woman.
As I waited, I checked my Twitter stream for some of the companies we invested in. It was a quick way to keep an eye on everybody. I also had a large Twitter following of my own and posted regularly on topics I felt were newsworthy.
I noticed a voice mail from Madison and shook my head. I’d deal with that later. She was angry when I canceled our date for this weekend, but I had no intention of going out with her again. A few other women had also left messages, but I deleted those without even listening to them. There was a voice mail from one of our office managers and two from my assistant, Sam. I texted them both back. There was also an email about a new job for Doug. I’d struck gold recently with a group of homeowners in the same neighborhood who were all looking to remodel.
There was movement from the corner of my eye, and I glanced up to see it was Claire. She wasn’t riding but rather pushing her bike up onto the trail.
Even from this distance, my pulse quickened watching her. She wore tight black bike shorts and a blue Lycra top that showed off her curves. That voluptuous ass. Those magnificent breasts. My mind flashed back to the way they’d felt beneath my hands and mouth the other night. Incredible.
Hot and incredible.
I kept watching. She waved, and I waved back.
“Hey, I’m glad you could make it,” I said as she drew near.
“Sure, that’s fine.” She wore her hair in braids, one hanging down each shoulder, and I could barely believe it. I loved women in braids. It was practically a thing with me. I wanted to lean over and kiss her, but she wasn’t standing close enough, and I figured it was a sign. Her wall was still up.
“Where is everyone?” she asked, looking around. “Are we meeting them someplace else?”
“Well, unfortunately, I have bad news.” I sighed, trying to look contrite. “It’s been canceled.”
“What?” Her face fell.
“But the good news,” I said quickly, “is the bike ride is still happening. Eliza and Gavin should be here any second. In fact, they were psyched when I told them you were riding with us today.”
Her mouth opened, and I could see the wheels turning. I hoped she didn’t bail.
“So how far does this bike path go?” I asked, trying to keep her engaged. “It’s a good thing we have you here as our guide.”
She blinked up at me. The gold in her brown eyes made me think of sunshine, of all the summer days I hoped to spend with her. “It goes for about twenty miles, though we don’t have to do the whole thing. Part of it is along the water. It’s a really pretty ride.”
“Sounds great.”
She looked down at my bike. “Did you bring that with you from Seattle?”
“No, I picked it up at a shop here in town.” Luckily, I noticed a bike shop when I was driving home from a meeting with one of the local contractors last night. “It’s an Alchemy Eros with a titanium frame. It gives an excellent ride. I have a similar bike at home,” I explained.
“So you bought a second one?”
“Yeah, Gavin and my sister are renting theirs, but I prefer riding my own.” I glanced down at her bike, which was an older generic brand. “We could get you fitted for a new bike, if you’re interested.”
“Get me a new bike?”
“Sure, if you’re interested.”
“That’s okay.”
I picked up my helmet. “Are you sure? I’d be happy to get you one. The shop had a number of high-quality options if titanium doesn’t appeal to you.”
“My bike is perfectly fine.” She wore a strange expression.
“All right.” I shrugged. “Let me know if you change your mind.”
The pest and Gavin arrived, and there were greetings all around, with my sister hugging Claire like they were long-lost friends.
After a bit of discussion, we agreed to take the trail down to the harbor. Eliza and Claire were busy chatting, so Gavin and I rode ahead. We raced each other, but it was pointless, as my bike was way faster than his rental.
“That’s a sweet ride,” Gavin said, admiring it when we stopped. “You picked that up in town? Maybe I should upgrade while I’m here.”
“You should check it out.” I told him about the shop, and we discussed the merits of titanium versus carbon fiber as we waited for the women.
When they finally caught up, we rode together for a while, but eventually Claire and I paired off while Gavin and Eliza rode ahead. They must have been joking about something, because I could hear my sister’s squeals of laughter even from a distance.
I frowned, still trying not to read anything into the two of them.
Claire and I talked a little as we rode, but mostly we just biked and took in the scenery. She seemed noticeably subdued, and I wasn’t sure what was going through her mind. I hoped she wasn’t regretting the other night, because I sure wasn’t.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, riding up alongside her.
She nodded. “I’m fine.”
“I had a great time the other night. I hope you did too.”
“Oh, I… did.” I could see that dimple in her cheek as she gave me a sideways glance.
“I’m glad to hear it. Because I’d like to see more of you.” A lot more of you.
I was hoping she’d tell me she felt the same way. Instead, she murmured something incomprehensible and rode farther up the path.
Never one to give up easily, I rode alongside her again. “Look, did I do something wrong?”
“Of course not.” Her eyes stayed on the trail, avoiding mine altogether.
“Are you upset that I didn’t call you yesterday? Because I wanted to, but I worried you might think I was coming on too strong.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”
“Then what is it?”
Claire seemed to deliberate something. Finally, she gave me a look. “I don’t want you offering to buy me expensive gifts like that.”
I was genuinely confused. “What?”
“That bike must have cost you at least a thousand dollars, and you were going to buy me one totally out of the blue?”
My brows shot up with surprise. That was the last thing I’d expected, though I now understood that strange expression.
“It made me uncomfortable,” she went on. “I don’t want you buying me anything or even offering to.”
This bike cost triple what she thought it had, though I didn’t see any point in correcting her. “I thought you might like an upgrade to something better, that’s all. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“I’m not offended. I’d just prefer you didn’t do it again.”
I mulled over her words. Maybe I shouldn’t have offered to get her a new bike. Was it too much? Most women were fine with me buying them things. In fact, they all seemed to expect it.
Claire obviously wasn’t most women.
“Okay,” I said. “I understand. It was too much.”
“Not that you weren’t being generous, but it was weird.”
“Sure, I’ll cool it.”
“Thanks.” She nodded. “And I appreciate you not taking it the wrong way.”
“No problem. Though I guess this means I’ll need to get back the deposit I put down on that sailboat for you.”
Her eyes widened, but then she saw the grin on my face. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you?”
I chuckled. “Would you really refuse it if I bought you a sailboat?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed, smiling now. “Please don’t ask me that. I don’t even want to be tempted.”
“I’ll buy you a sailboat,” I teased, bringing my bike even with hers, “as long as you promise to take me sailing with you. It’s in my blood, after all.” For a moment I imagined the two of us on a sailing adventure, cruising around the Caribbean. She wore a white string bikini, her hair in braids, and a relaxed smile on her face. We’d explore the various ports every day, then drink rum and make l
ove under the stars every night. “I’ll bet we’d have a great time,” I murmured, caught up in my fantasy.
“Someday I’ll buy myself a boat.” She gave me a defiant look. “Just because I’m struggling now doesn’t mean it’s forever.”
“I agree.”
She glanced over at me. “You do?”
Over the years, I’d dealt with enough entrepreneurs and business owners to have an instinct about who was going to make it and who wasn’t. Claire had the kind of drive I saw in people who succeeded. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“I think you’re going to do well. Except I still don’t like the name of your maid service.”
She went quiet and seemed frustrated. “Do you really think it’s that bad?”
People asked my opinion all the time, and I knew the best thing I could do was give it to her straight. “It’s not strong enough, Claire. You need something with more punch. Something that’s not ambiguous.”
“But I had my car painted with that name, and I’ve bought all those T-shirts.” Her voice rose. “And what about the website?”
“Write it off as a loss on your taxes. You can’t stick with a lousy name just because you bought some T-shirts or painted your car. And you can always change your website.”
“I suppose. This sucks,” she grumbled.
“Better to figure it out now though.”
“Why should I even listen to you?”
I shrugged. “You don’t have to—except I know what I’m talking about.”
We were riding through trees along the path, but I could see what looked like an opening up ahead.
She motioned with her chin toward it. “Do you see where that park begins up there?”
“Yeah, I see it. Why?” The trail curved around to the left, but I could just make out the park entrance.
She laughed. “Because I’ll race you!”
My brows went up. I was going to tell her to forget it, that my bike was ten times faster than hers, but I didn’t get the chance because she shot out in front of me.
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