by Lisa Jordan
He pressed the air pot labeled Pecan Pie Cream, but it dribbled into the cup. “Red, coffee’s out.”
“I can see that with my own eyes, Ian James.”
He raised an eyebrow at her sharp tone. She snagged the air pot off the counter and carried it into the kitchen to swap it out for a fresh one.
She stomped back to the dining room and slammed the air pot on the counter. “Now you have a fresh pot.”
She started to walk away, then stormed back to him, poking him in the chest. “You know, I wanted you to try this blend for weeks, but you kept saying it wasn’t for you. Now that you’ve tried it, you’re coming back for more. Makes me wonder if you’re even going to want your regular coffee anymore.”
Ian set the cup on the counter and reached for her hand, pulling it away from his chest. A muscle jumped in the side of his jaw. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m looking for something more. Maybe a little spice to kick my regular coffee up a notch.”
She glanced at Breena, who had her back to them, texting. “Well, enjoy the special. I hope it’s worth it.”
He dragged a hand over his face. “One special, Red. This one’s a little too sweet for my taste, but I tried it.”
Agnes moved behind the register and wet a clean dishcloth in the small sink. She returned to the coffee counter to wipe up spilled sugar. She had to do something, anything to put a little distance between them. “What if you stay with your usual and decide down the road that it’s stale and boring, and you want something new?”
Ian pressed his hands on her shoulders and turned her gently until she was pinned between him and the counter. “You know why I order the same coffee morning after morning?”
She shook her head, trying not to melt into his touch. Why did he have to smell like fresh air after a spring rain? Why did his broad shoulders have to lure her into a sense of security? Why did he have to ruin everything by falling in love?
He lowered his voice and caressed her cheek. “It’s bold, exciting. That first beautiful sip helps me get through the rest of the day. After all these years if you think I’m going to order something new, then you don’t know me very well.”
“You’re bound to change your mind. Then Josie’s going to be stuck with old, stale coffee with no purpose.”
He took a step back and shoved his hands in his pockets. The light in his eyes dimmed. “I love my old, boring coffee very much. I wanted to spend the rest of my life drinking the same rich, delicious blend, but now I’m wondering if it’s even available anymore.”
What could she say to that?
“Are you going to start seeing Breena?”
Ian rubbed a hand across his jaw. “No, Red. Breena called my office and asked if we could meet here about an insurance issue. It’s all business.”
“Ian—”
The front door opened, the bells at the top of the door clanging against the glass.
Agnes swallowed her words and scooted behind the counter. What she had to say needed to wait. She had a customer to wait on.
A man with short dark hair and a trimmed beard entered. Something about his size and stance reminded her of someone, but his baseball cap shaded the upper portion of his face.
He wore clean jeans, tan work boots and a yellow T-shirt with a logo on the left breast pocket. He strode to the counter.
Her breath caught in her throat, threatening to squeeze her windpipe. She gripped the edge of the counter. A tremble started at her toes and spread through her body.
Oh, dear God, no…
A wide smile creased the man’s tanned face. “Agnes Levine, you look even prettier than the day I married you.”
Just when she thought the pieces of her heart had been cemented back into place, her past returned and shattered it with the force of a wrecking ball.
“B-bobby. What are you doing here?” Her eyes darted over his shoulder. Ian watched them with narrowed eyes.
Bobby followed her gaze and nodded to Ian, who didn’t reciprocate. He directed his gaze at her, smiling wide. “Why, sweetheart, I’ve come to win you back.”
Outside, thunderclouds rolled and echoed through the valley as lightning electrified the air. But that was nothing compared to the storm surge inside the building.
The absurdity of his comment made her shake her head.
She hadn’t seen Bobby in almost six years. And all that time she’d rehearsed what she’d say if she saw him again. Words hovered on her tongue, but the courage to speak disappeared.
Her eyes darted around the room, looking for a quick escape. No, she wouldn’t run. Those days were over. For weeks, she’d been confronting the past. She wasn’t about to lose it in front of him now.
She pulled in a lungful of air, then exhaled quietly. Maybe ignoring his comment would be best.
Pasting her customer smile in place, she looked at him again.
“What can I get for you?”
He glanced at the chalkboard advertising the specials. “Just coffee to go.”
Agnes handed him a foam to-go cup and lid hoping he couldn’t see her trembling fingers. “Coffee’s on the counter. Help yourself.”
“Do you have a minute to talk?”
“I’m working, Bobby.” Over his shoulder, she saw Ian and Breena laughed about something, then Breena gathered her purse and umbrella before heading for the door. Ian returned to his chair and sipped his coffee, his eyes not leaving Bobby.
“What about later? After your shift ends? I’m in town overnight and would like to see you before I head back home.”
She swallowed and willed her body to stop shaking. “I’m not so sure that would be a good idea.”
He pulled out a business card, scribbled a number on the back and slid it across the counter to her. “Here’s my cell. Give me a call if you change your mind.”
Once he moved to the coffee counter with his cup, Ian strode to the register. “What’s he doing here?”
“He wants to talk to me after work.” Her voice sounded vacant as she watched the man who had inflicted so much damage on her heart and soul.
“Are you going to?”
“I don’t know. I’m kind of curious as to what he has to say.”
“I don’t like it, Red. Not one bit.” His lips thinned as lines pinched his mouth. “You’re not to see him alone. Got it?”
“First of all, Ian, you’re not my boss. Second, I’m not so crazy about it myself, but I’m tired of being afraid of my past.”
“If he hurts you—”
“He won’t.” She didn’t know why, but something seemed different about Bobby. She couldn’t figure it out.
Ian glared at Bobby’s back as he gripped the counter. Agnes’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm. “Relax, Ian.”
Bobby snapped the lid on his steaming cup and winked at Agnes. “Catch you later, Agnes.” He headed for the door.
“No, Red. That guy hurt you. I’m going to make sure he doesn’t do it again.” Ian shook off Agnes’s hand and strode after Bobby.
Oh, boy.
Agnes rounded the side of the counter and rushed across the room, her heart thumping against her ribs.
“You touch her again, and you’ll answer to me.”
Bobby drew himself to his full height, but Ian still towered over him by several inches. He scoffed. “No reason to worry, Ian. I’ll be out of here before you know it.”
“Good riddance, Levine. Don’t let me stop you.” Ian fisted his hands.
“Don’t worry, James, I never let you stop me from doing anything.”
Agnes jumped between the two of them and pushed Ian back. She glared at Bobby. “Knock it off. Both of you. This competition to see who’s the better man ends now.”
Ian snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close, banging her hip against his thigh. “No competition, Red. We know who the winner is.”
She loved being close to Ian, but not like this. She pushed Ian’s arm off her and whirled around, poking a finger in his chest. “Back off. I
didn’t ask you to come over to him.”
Crimson flared up his neck to his hairline. His jaw clenched as his eyes turned to steel. He released her and stepped back, nodding to her and Bobby. “You’re right. The mighty Agnes Kingsley doesn’t need anyone fighting her battles for her. Heaven forbid if someone got close enough to actually penetrate that wall you’ve built.”
“Ian, don’t be ridiculous.” She reached for his arm. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
He jerked back as if he had been stung by her touch. Backing up, he put his hands up. “Forget it, Red. I’m done. This…” He circled the area between the three of them. “It’s not worth it.” Then he turned and pushed through the front door so hard it smacked against the outer brick wall.
The glass door remained unharmed, but her heart? It shattered into a million little shards.
*
Ian scrubbed a hand over his face where the pulses of humiliation dug deep into his skin. He was tired. So tired of fighting. So tired of not measuring up against Bobby Levine.
He gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles whitened and his joints protested. He’d love nothing more than to rearrange the jerk’s face. He couldn’t leave town fast enough. Then Ian wouldn’t have to worry about him messing with Red.
She’d humiliated him in front of Bobby.
Just once Ian wanted to walk away the victor.
But today, he’d just walked away.
An ache pounded behind his eyes. Trying to navigate in the driving rain didn’t help either.
His cell phone chirped from the cup holder in the console. Ian pulled into a parking space and saw Dad’s number on the screen. He answered. “Dad. What’s up?”
“Ian. Need you to get over to Agape House. Pronto.” Dad’s voice sounded hollow, and with the wind whistling, his words were tough to make out.
Ian snapped off the radio and plugged his other ear to try and hear better. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s been some storm damage.”
His blood turned to ice, chilling his veins. “How bad?”
“I think you need to see for yourself.”
Ian didn’t like the sound of that. He shifted into gear and headed for Agape House.
He pulled into the driveway behind his parents’ sedan. Mom wore a rain slicker and huddled under an umbrella. No sign of Dad or Griffin. Both had been asleep when he left this morning.
He circled to the back of his SUV, opened the liftgate and jammed his feet into heavy socks and work boots he had tossed in this morning for working at Agape House once the rain let up. He thrust his arms through a red James & Son Windbreaker, closed up the SUV and jogged across the wet grass to Mom.
Rain pelted his face. He ducked under Mom’s umbrella and took it from her, shielding both of them. “What’s going on?”
Seeing him, she turned and buried her face in his chest but jerked a thumb over her shoulder.
Then he saw it.
Handing back the umbrella, he strode to the side of the house, his boots crunching on broken branches. As he looked up, air escaped through his lungs, leaving him feeling boneless and hopeless.
The very tree he planned to cut the other day cleaved the peak over the attached garage. The front punched-out window frame lay in a shower of broken glass on the driveway.
Bile slicked the back of his throat. This couldn’t be happening.
Ian stared, then squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe, just maybe, his eyes had played tricks on him. Maybe what he saw was a figment of his imagination.
Drawing in a deep breath, he opened his eyes.
No optic tricks. No figments of his imagination.
The tree still split the center of the roof.
He had enough experience as a claims adjuster to know the damage wouldn’t be cheap to repair. And there was no way it could be fixed in time for next week’s open house.
They had been so close.
Without Agape House, would the parole board agree to releasing Zoe?
Thunder rattled through the trees like giant marbles across a wooden floor.
Clenching his fists, he wanted to pound something, anything to detract from the pain in his chest.
Tears burned his eyes.
All he wanted was his family back together.
Was that too much to ask, God? Huh, was it?
They’d hit so many roadblocks that maybe this was God’s final way of saying to forget it and walk away. Was he so consumed by his own desires that he tuned out God’s?
Dad stomped through the yard over to Ian. Rain dripped from the brim of his ball cap. “Grab your camera and get pictures taken. I’m going to send your mother to Ernie’s hardware store to get tarps and plastic. We need to batten down that roof to avoid more damage.”
“Where’s Griffin?”
“He’s at Jimmy’s.”
Ian retrieved his Canon from the SUV and started snapping photos for the insurance claim.
Mom must’ve have called in the troops or something, because cars and trucks arrived. Doors slammed as people poured across the yard carrying ladders. Within seconds, chain saws whined through the tree as the winds howled at the injustice of the damage.
For the next hour, they cut the fallen tree in chunks and removed it from the roof.
Ladders picketed the side and front of the house as a group of guys hauled large tarps to the roof and secured them over the peak to minimalize water damage.
Ian dragged his hands through his soaked hair and smashed a ball cap backward on his head to keep his hair out of his eyes. He kicked broken glass away with the side of his boot and leaned the ladder against the front of the house, then climbed to staple plastic where the window had been.
An eerie light sliced through the room above the garage, casting shadows on the floor. Even with the wind and rain, the scent of paint and promise lingered. But now, the tree split their hopes, their dreams, claiming victory.
Swallowing the defeat climbing up his throat, he focused on preventing more water from blowing into the room. As he stretched out his arm to hold the end of the plastic with one hand so he could staple it with the other, the ladder shifted and skidded on the wet cement.
He reached for the window frame, but the wooden structure slipped from his wet grasp. His hands clawed the air as the trees and sky jerked out of reach.
He landed in the grass with a dull thud. Air whooshed from his lungs like compressed bellows.
The blurry images of the trees, the sky, the ladder faded as darkness chased away the blinding light.
Chapter Fifteen
Not worth it.
No matter how busy she stayed, those three words played on a continuous loop inside Agnes’s head.
Ian broke the promise he made that afternoon on the Ferris wheel.
He said he’d never hurt her, but he did. And their relationship wouldn’t be the same again.
How was she going to recover from that?
With arms folded over her chest, Agnes stared out the picture window at Cuppa Josie’s as the wind swept the rain across the pavement. Limbs and leaves stumbled along the sidewalk. Cars crawled down the streets.
Behind her, the dining room remained empty. The ticking clock above the fireplace echoed off the ice-blue walls.
People had taken shelter against the storm. Josie called from the doctor’s office, urging her to lock up and leave.
Only problem was, she didn’t have a ride with her car still at Buck’s Garage. So she was stuck here until the storm died down enough for her to walk home.
She wasn’t calling Ian. Not when he’d made it clear they were done.
Not worth it.
Losing her best friend scraped her heart raw, exposing every wound and leaving her in misery.
Even though he’d been gone only a couple of hours, she missed him.
She missed feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket as he sent her a random text. She missed knowing he was only around the corner…well, maybe he was
holed up in his office, waiting out the storm, but she didn’t know that because she hadn’t heard from him since he slammed the door, dragging her heart behind him.
A tear trickled down her cheek.
If only she could have a do-over, take back her words and handle that whole situation differently.
Then she wouldn’t be feeling like one of those leaves being tossed by the storm.
Too bad life didn’t come with do-overs.
A noise from the kitchen pulled her attention away from the front window. As she walked through the dining room to investigate, Josie and Nick burst through the door, laughing and snapping each other playfully with towels.
“Hey, what are you two doing out in this weather?”
Josie snatched Nick’s towel from him and dropped it on the counter next to the register. “We were on our way home from the doctor’s and saw the lights. We wanted to make sure everything was okay. I needed to talk to you anyway, so now we can chat face-to-face.”
“About what?”
Their exchanged glances did little to ease the tension in Agnes’s spine. Then Josie smiled and headed behind the counter. “First I need some tea.”
“Sit, sweetheart. I’ll get it.” Nick dropped a kiss on Josie’s head and brushed a hand over her damp hair. “Want anything, Agnes?”
She shook her head. “I’m good, but thanks.”
Josie pulled Agnes over to the couch, plopped on a couch, then patted the one beside her. “Have a seat, Agnes.”
“What’s going on?”
Josie folded her hands over her growing belly and rested her feet on the coffee table in front of her. “I’m…well, we’re having twins.” The smile on her face spread faster than melted chocolate.
Agnes leaned over and hugged her friend. “That’s great! Congratulations. Nick may be getting that football team after all.”
Josie blinked back tears and threaded her fingers together. “But there’s something else.”
Thunder rolled and echoed through the valley, shaking the building. A flash of lightning caused the lights to flicker.
“There are some slight complications. The doctor has ordered me to take it easy.” She glanced at Agnes through her fringed lashes.