by Vella, Wendy
“I can see that.”
“I called you over, Mrs. Cribbins, to meet Lani. She’s looking for work, and baking is her thing.”
“Oh, no—”
“Really?” The woman clapped her hands. “Would you consider working in my shop?”
“But you don’t know me.” Lani had plenty of documents that she could hand the woman. References and papers, and she hated doing so as none of them were hers…. Well, technically they had her name on them, but when you lived a lie you had to do things you didn’t want to, to support that.
“Noah knows you, and that’s enough for me. You come on into my shop soon and we’ll talk.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Now, I must dash. I have a cake to decorate for little Sally Hyde’s birthday. I ran out of purple food coloring and my order doesn’t arrive for two days. I hope the grocery store has red and blue in stock.”
“They make purple,” Noah said, winking at Lani.
“Well done, boy, you learned something at school.” Mrs. C waved a hand and hurried away.
“You’ll like working for her. She’s a really nice lady, even if you need sunglasses to look at her sometimes. The woman always dresses in bright colors.”
“I didn’t need you to do that.” Lani looked at Noah again.
“Things are easier when you have friends helping.”
“We’re not friends.”
He clutched his chest. “Ouch, that hurt.”
“I need to go. Bye.” She wasn’t sure why she was panicking, but suddenly it was there, choking her. Coming to Lake Howling had been an impulse. She’d found it on the map and something had urged her to come. Lani was seriously regretting that impulse.
Bending over her boot again, she decided to ignore Noah and used more force to pull if free. It didn’t budge.
He lifted her to the side again.
“I told you I had this!”
“Sure you did, and I could see how well you were doing, but it’s the gentleman in me. I have to help. Standing behind you, while the view was nice, wasn’t something I could do when clearly you need my superior strength.
“I’m wearing baggy jeans, there is no view.” Lani refused to admire his really nice butt in jeans. Worn and molded, they fit to perfection. Nice long legs and big feet in worn sneakers. Two large, tanned hands gave her boot a tug, and it came free with ease. Hands that had sent her to places she’d never been before.
“I know what your butt looks like under those fashion disasters.”
“I loosened it for you,” Lani muttered, refusing to blush at his words. “And there is nothing wrong with my jeans.”
“Shame the heel didn’t snap off.” He was inspecting the wide, squat heel of her sensible boots.
“What? Why?” She reached for it, but he lifted it above his head.
“It’s ugly, and a fashion crime.”
“I like them. Now give it back.”
He dropped to one knee and held out her boot.
“Stop that!” Lani snapped. “What are you doing?”
“I was being polite.”
“Whatever. I’m not the Cinderella type.”
He climbed to his feet with ease, movements graceful. She’d watched him deal with those men that night. He’d used moves that said he knew martial arts. Lani knew how to defend herself and had learned a few moves of her own, but she had a feeling this guy was a great deal more experienced than her… in many aspects of life.
“So are you going to see Mrs. C?”
Lani tried to take her boot out of his hand.
“Are you?” He raised it above his head.
“I, ah, don’t know yet, and I thought you weren’t happy I was in your town.” She shouldn’t even be contemplating staying here. What she should do was leave Lake Howling fast.
“I apologized for that. Seeing you was a shock. Don’t leave because of me, Lani.”
“My foot is cold. Can I please have my boot?”
“Aren’t all sweet little girls into Cinderella?”
“What?” The jump in conversation threw her.
“The shoe thing. You said you weren’t into Cinderella. My sister loved that stuff growing up.”
“Not all little girls come out of the womb wearing pink, Noah.” She had, actually, but that girl was long gone.
His head tilted slightly. “True. My sister was more a camouflage girl. My name is Noah Harris, by the way.” He held out a large hand toward her. “I don’t think we exchanged last names, which is just plain wrong considering—”
“I understand.”
“And this is where you’ll find me if you want to.”
She looked at the building behind him. The sign said The Howler. “This is the business you talked about?”
“It is.” She heard the pride in his voice. “Now shake my hand, Lani, because Howlers don’t bite, and you’ll enjoy your time here.”
“Howlers?”
“Locals.”
“Noah—”
“I don’t bite, Lani.”
“What?” Her eyes shot to his as the color in her cheeks deepened. He’d bitten parts of her, and suddenly they were tingling. “Oh, ha ha, of course not.” She placed her hand in his. It was much larger, and hers was engulfed as he shook it. She felt callouses under his fingers, but the palm was smooth.
“What’s your last name?”
“Sullivan,” Lani supplied.
“See you round, Lani Sullivan.”
He smiled again, and Lani wished he’d stop. The man looked like he’d walked out of the pages of Vogue magazine. She didn’t trust handsome men… well, any men, if she was going with honesty.
And you shared more intimacy with this man than you have with any before him.
“Hey, Noah, you booked that table for me? It’s a surprise for Lizzie.”
Lani looked at the elderly man who’d just arrived. He was a great deal shorter than Noah and had a shock of white hair.
“Walt Heath’s the name.” He held out his hand to her.
“Lani.”
“Sullivan,” Noah added.
She nodded. “I need to go. Bye.”
Lani didn’t run but it was a near thing. Unlocking her Bronco, she climbed in slowly, knowing they were watching her. Turning the key, she then backed out of the parking spot and headed down the street.
“Relax, take some breaths.” After three big ones, she felt better. “Holy crap, Noah lives here!”
Panic had her wanting to turn toward the town exit, but she fought the impulse. He didn’t know her; no one here knew her. She was safe. She’d take a moment, eat the sandwich she’d picked up earlier, and decide on her next move. A move that had nothing to do with Noah Harris and everything to do with staying safe.
Chapter Four
Lani is in town. Disturbing Lani Sullivan. He’d just about swallowed his tongue when he’d realized it was her.
Noah had seen her from behind and approached when he realized she was battling to get her ugly boot out of the grate. The jeans were a size too big, and the flannel shirt she wore was loose. His first impulse had been to help, the second, shock.
“Got you all booked in, Walt. I ordered those flowers for you too.”
“You’re a good man, Noah.”
Walt and Lizzie were celebrating their fifty-sixth wedding anniversary and were two of Noah’s favorite people. He was determined to make the celebration a memorable one.
“Everyone’s saying it,” he muttered, raising a hand as he headed up the street.
Lani had disturbed him that night in Brook. Something about her had touched him. The more he’d talked to her, the more she’d interested him. She had a whole lot of something going on in her past that had molded her into the closed-off lost soul she was today.
When he’d woken and found her gone, the disappointment had almost been painful inside his chest. In fact, equally as painful as the throbbing in his nose.
She had a vulnerability about her. P
lus, the sex had rocked him. If he was honest, and only to himself, he would say it was one of the best nights he’d had.
On the surface, Lani was the kind of woman he would never take a second look at. That made him sound shallow, even to himself, but hell, most people started with looks and then dug deeper, and he was no different. Not that he’d been digging deeper lately. Relationships weren’t for Noah anymore.
However, Lani had been different. He’d wanted to draw out her small smiles and little laughs. Wanted to see those eyes light and her body relax. And what a body. He’d mapped every inch of it with his hands, and what lay under those baggy clothes was spectacular.
She’d admitted to not having a lot of experience with men, and he’d added life to that. How he knew this on short acquaintance he had no idea, but the thought had lodged inside his head. Lani lived a transient existence, but Noah had a hunch that wasn’t by choice.
He’d done most of the talking that night, another surprise, because he lived surrounded by talkers and usually played the role of the quiet one.
Lani hadn’t given anything of herself away; it had been all him. He’d talked freely, and this, Noah realized, was likely due to the fact he hadn’t thought he’d see her again…. Not so much, as it turned out.
Wandering up the Main Street, he looked in windows. Fall in Lake Howling was a pretty special time—actually, most times were special, but Noah enjoyed the bite in the air of approaching winter and his daily paddles on the cool, clear waters of the lake.
The town was quaint, and the locals worked hard to keep it that way. Tourists brought in a lot of money, but more than that it was pride in the place they loved. Hanging baskets, neatly trimmed trees and lawns…. It had been this way for as long as Noah could remember.
This town had always centered him when everything was going to shit. It hadn’t always worked; there were times he’d messed up or someone had done it for him. But being able to walk through the Redwoods and swim in the lake had always calmed him.
“Noah, what do you think of my window display?”
“Looks good, Mrs. Brack.”
The competition between the shop windows was pretty fierce in Lake Howling, but Mrs. Brack usually won. Today she’d done fall tones with pumpkins and turkeys for Thanksgiving, which was still a few weeks away. It always amazed Noah how she could take the same things he could use and the result was so different.
Noah wasn’t creative; his sister did that stuff when required.
He chatted with some of the shop owners. Most he knew well, as they’d been here for as long as he could remember. He saw Willow Griffin up ahead of him, waddling and very close to her due date. Noah increased his pace until he drew alongside her.
“Let me take those bags for you, Willow, before your man sees.”
“Thank you. I got more than I originally thought.” She handed them to him and then arched her back, which extended her already large belly.
Married to one of his friends, Willow had come from New York and stayed. Her man was twisted in knots about her, and it was good to see, as he was pretty much the hard-ass of their group of friends and was now knee-deep in love.
“You know Buster’s gonna roast you, right? I mean, he’s watching your every move, and here you are out on the loose and carrying what he’ll see as hand weights.”
She giggled. Willow was an artist and could create magic with a pad and pencil. She had long caramel hair, lovely lavender eyes, and he now counted her as a friend. He had a lot of those in this town, most of them paired off. He wasn’t a paired-off kind of guy anymore, no matter how hard his sister and friends tried. He’d tried and failed, and now admitted that had made him gun shy.
He pushed thoughts of Lani from his head. One night was all they’d had, and he’d woken wanting more, which was a strong indication he needed to keep his distance from her going forward. Of course, he’d just thrown her at Mrs. C, so there was every possibility he’d see her around, but he could handle that. They’d just wave and nod, no need to make more of it. That night would be forgotten soon.
In about a hundred years.
“It’s funny to watch Buster get all flustered. Can you imagine what he’s going to be like with the baby?” Willow said, smiling.
Noah shuddered. “I’m running if he starts singing nursery rhymes You’ve heard his voice, right? It would scare every rodent out of hiding.”
She punched his arm. “My husband has a lovely voice.”
“So it’s true then. Love is blind.”
He opened the door to The Hoot Cafe, which Buster and Willow owned. “In you go, heffalump.”
“Are you calling my wife a heffalump, Harris?”
Buster Griffin wasn’t as tall as Noah, but solid, with a bull neck and sweet baby blue eyes. Like most of the men in town Noah called friend, this one had gone to school with him. Then he’d left, to return when he was done exploring the world.
Howlers always came home to roost.
“She is a heffalump.” Noah lowered Willow gently into a chair.
“You try calling me that, and I’m dropping you.”
Annabelle Gelderman walked in behind him with her husband. More friends. This one was tall, elegant, and had a classic beauty that never aged. Close to her due date like Willow, she wore a pink dress that seemed to float around her. Pregnancy suited her, but he wouldn’t tell her that. Annabelle was feisty, determined, and had a killer left hook. In her current condition, he was never sure how she’d take a comment.
“My feet fit in Ethan’s shoes, and my ankles are like tree trunks.”
“Moan, moan, moan.” Her husband pulled out a chair beside Willow and helped her into it. “She’s just all bent out of shape because she saw this hot—” The word ended on a moan as Ethan received an elbow in the gut from Annabelle.
“You said she was hot,” he wheezed.
“I don’t want you commenting on that fact.” Annabelle folded her arms over her belly.
“Jesus, I wish there was a rule book for this shit,” Ethan muttered.
Born in Texas, the man had come to Howling as the military buddy of Jake McBride, another friend of theirs. He’d then fallen in love with the firebrand who’d elbowed him.
Ethan took two steps back out of striking range. Tall, blond, and Noah guessed average-looking, Ethan had a slow drawl and loved his birthplace with a passion. On his head was a Longhorns cap.
“See your boys fell again last night,” Noah said. “You should back a winning team.”
“I’m ignoring that piece of BS. It’s just a slump. Plenty of time to make the playoffs.”
Noah and Buster scoffed.
“Now, as I was saying, my wife looked at the woman, who she said was hot, in a pretty dress, and said that she used to look like that.”
“When did she see this hot woman?” Noah asked. “And why didn’t you point her out, seeing as I’m the only one who can engage in conversation with said hot woman?”
“About half an hour ago,” Tex said, “and you weren’t around, so how could I point her out?”
“It was probably when I was playing Prince Charming.”
“You could do it, to be fair. You’re charming, and I’d go with Prince,” Annabelle said, looking Noah up and down. As he was used to her, he withstood the look. “Your beard makes you look a little on the tough side and adds an edge to your appearance. What do you think, Willow?”
“Yes, he carried my groceries, so I’ll go with that. Who were you playing Prince Charming to?”
Noah ignored the insults and kissy sounds from Buster and Tex.
“Although lately your crown is a bit tarnished,” Annabelle added.
“What? Why?”
She tilted her head slightly to study him. “Since Samantha, you’re kind of gruff and grouchy.”
“No, I’m not.” Noah tried not to react to the mention of his ex’s name.
“You are, bud,” Tex said.
“Yup,” from Buster.
&n
bsp; “Whatever, and it’s only because you guys are loved up and constantly happy that you think so,” Noah muttered, feeling uncomfortable. Surely he hadn’t changed that much? Sure, he was bitter sometimes about stuff, but the rest was a surprise to him.
“But I’m sure it’s only temporary,” Willow said, always the peacemaker. “Now tell us when you were Prince Charming, Noah.”
His sent his friends a glare before answering. They smiled back. “I pulled the heel of a woman’s boot out of a grate.”
“I hate when that happens,” Buster said, handing his wife a glass of something. The other one he placed before Annabelle.
“And that’s another thing, how come I’m invisible now she’s pregnant?” Tex demanded.
“Because you’re able to touch your toes. These two aren’t.”
“That’s true. I had to help—”
“One more word, Ethan, and I’m hurting you,” Annabelle threatened.
“I came in here for a quiet coffee and I get this shit.” Noah headed to the counter, still a little raw that his friends thought him a grouch.
“Go back to your place if you want that.” Buster moved behind it with the shopping bags. “And thanks, man, she shouldn’t be carrying this stuff.”
“All good. Make me a coffee, and I’ll take one of those mystery muffins.”
“Take a bite, see if you can get the ingredients.”
Noah took one out of the container and bit into it. Buster was now at the coffee beast, as he called the machine.
“You’re looking less panda now. How is the nose?”
“I can breathe through it, thanks.”
For a few days it had hurt like the devil. Even now, when he wrinkled it the sensation wasn’t pleasant.
“You were pretty evasive about how that happened, which is another new personality trait since Samantha. Run it by me what took place again?”
“So why am I just learning now about the changes to my personality?”
“We think you’re ready.”
“Whatever. And I wasn’t evasive, I was in pain. Two guys tried to rob me, and I didn’t want to let them.” Noah bit into the muffin so he couldn’t talk anymore. There was no way he wanted to tell his friends he’d been defending a woman; they’d never have let up.