by Lauren Dane
“Honestly! Some people aren’t fit to breathe air.”
Buck barked again and then plopped down, his head on her shoes. He gave a one-eyed glance Joe’s way, as if to tell him not to let her go. Joe would have to explain the meaning of best friend’s little sister to Buck later.
“Well you did the right thing and he looks like he’s got a good home now.” She leaned close and he caught her scent. Jasmine. On another woman it might have been too much, but on her it was rich and sensual.
She held up a cream envelope with his name on it. “This is an invitation to Nathan’s wedding. Lily—you might remember her though she’s a little younger—anyway Lily wanted me to drop this off for you while I was here.”
She had a lilt to her voice. A drawl that also seemed sort of breathless as she delivered her words at top speed. Joe had no idea how she managed both at once, but she did.
“William said he was engaged. Figured Nathan would never settle. He sure did love the ladies.”
She laughed. “He still does, but Lily’s all the lady he can handle. They’re good together.” She paused and that smile crept back over her mouth and his heart skipped a beat.
“You’re worrying me with that smile.”
It brightened, and he became fascinated with how glossy her bottom lip was. Plump and juicy. He wanted to lean in and lick over it.
“You’re awfully big and brawny to be askeerd of a girl like me.”
He laughed. It’d been a long time since he’d teased back and forth with a woman and it had felt this natural. “You forget I grew up around you Murphys. A girl like you is exactly who I’m scared of.” That and her big brothers.
She took his hand and squeezed. “So, Joe Harris, you should take me to lunch so we can catch up.”
“Should I now? What if I brought my lunch?”
“But you didn’t. The Sands is delightfully air conditioned and they have lunch specials. And pie. I may be able to sweeten that deal with some gossip. I’ll even let you pretend you don’t care about that sort of thing.”
How could he turn down pie and air conditioning? She was his friend’s sister after all. No need to be unfriendly after she’d come over to welcome him back so nicely. And Buck was going back home for the afternoon anyway because it was too damned hot in the shop.
“All right then. William sort of caught me up on all the Murphy stuff, but he’s a man of few words. I imagine you have more to say than he does, and you’ll give me all the information about who is up to what.”
She smiled again. “Good. I’m at the salon right up there.” She pointed. “Tate, Anne and I own it. Come by and collect me when you’re ready.” She turned and headed to the garage door before pausing and looking back over her shoulder. “Don’t make me wait too long, I get grumpy when I’m hungry.”
With a wave she was gone, but he sure as hell watched that delightful sway as she moved across the street and then to her salon.
“So I think Thunderbirds are go.” Beth gave double thumbs-up as she moved to her desk. Anne and Tate did most of the hair work while Beth did the books. She did the occasional shampoo if she was needed, ran errands, handled supply orders and pretty much everything else.
The sisters were all so close, so used to having to work together, that it was smooth and efficient when others may have had a struggle.
“Do tell.” Tate stood behind her client as she spoke.
“Delivered the goods. A man’d have to be blind to overlook a basket full of your baked goods.”
“And your boobs.” Anne grinned up from where she’d been mixing some color.
“Well, yes. I did wonder if it was too much a gamble to go with a dress that didn’t show any cleavage.”
“He has an imagination. They’re right there under the material, after all. Men are pretty good at remembering where your boobs are.”
Beth grinned at Tate. “Yeah. Good point. Anyway, I pretty much cornered him into going to lunch with me today.”
“Nicely played. He’s coming here to pick you up?”
“Yes.”
“Good. We can get a look.” Anne rubbed her hands together, making Beth laugh.
“Don’t scare him away.”
“He grew up surrounded by Murphys. There’s no hiding from that. Anyway, he’s got his own scary reputation to overcome. He’d best be a good guy or you know how many Murphy older brothers are going to come down hard on him.” Tate raised one brow as she kept working.
“It’s lunch. We’re not getting married, for crissake.” She waggled her brows.
She was still grinning when the bell over the door jingled and she looked up to find him there. He’d gotten rid of the coveralls and stood in jeans and a T-shirt with those sunglasses on.
“This place is crawling with Murphys.” He looked around, smiling.
“We’re notoriously hard to get rid of.” Beth grabbed her bag and headed to the door. “You remember Tate and Anne? Girls, of course we remember Joe.” She looked up at him. “We’ve been gossiping about you for two hours now.”
He blushed. “I’m not sure how to take that.”
“Good.” She looked over her shoulder and told her sisters she was off to lunch and would return in an hour or so.
He opened her door, a very good sign.
“Tate looks pretty much exactly the way she did back in the day. Anne used to have brown hair like yours, didn’t she?”
Currently Anne was rocking some auburn hair. “She did. Her specialty is color. You never know what color she’ll come in with on any given day. I was thinking about that shade of red too.”
He slowed down, frowning as he looked her over. “Don’t. I mean, it looks nice on her. But your hair is…” He shook his head.
“Well go on then. Is what? Ugly? Gross? Fabulous?”
He barked a laugh. “I keep forgetting how you all are. It’s pretty. I like all the gold in it. In the sun I mean. Brunette is underappreciated. But it works.”
“Nice answer.”
He opened the door for her at the Sands and they went in. Petal was a small town. Small enough that everyone looked up to see who was coming in. She waved to a few people.
Roni, the owner, waved back. “I’ll be with you two in a bit. Grab some menus. That booth over there is empty.”
She obeyed, pausing to peruse the pie selection, and she grinned when she saw the cake.
“Cake day. Score.”
He slid in across from her. “What?”
“They have cake today. Coconut frosting. My favorite. Do you like cake?”
He paused. “I feel like this is a test.”
“Well?”
“Pushy.”
She laughed as she watched him. The light coming in the windows seemed to glint off his hair. “You have great hair.”
“Um, thanks.” He slid his fingers through it. “Yes. Yes I like cake. Don’t know about the coconut part, though.”
“Well, you’re halfway there. The pie is awesome too. Have the peach. I have it under very good authority that it’s really good.”
“By good authority do you mean you had some?”
“Don’t tell anyone, but I have a baked-goods problem. Really don’t tell Tate, as she’s like the queen of baked goods and I had some here instead of at her house. She’s territorial.”
“What’ll you give me if I keep my mouth shut?”
She raised a brow and leaned in. At first he dug it and then got nervous. This was flirting, but they had chemistry. Like whoa.
She frowned. “Stop that.”
“You’re an incredibly random woman. Stop what?”
“Stop thinking of me as William’s little sister. You weren’t there for a bit. And then you remembered. How on Earth am I ever going to get you to kiss me if you keep that up?”
His laugh was a little uncomfortable, but he was saved when Roni came over to take their order.
Once they were alone again, he sighed and caught her gaze. “You are William’s l
ittle sister.”
“So what?”
“So it’s a fact. You and I both know it. Let’s talk about something else.”
She let it go for the time being. She’d be back. She knew he was interested. Good thing she was patient. She’d been bored with the men in Petal for years. He was the best thing to come along in ages. She wanted him and that was that.
“So, tell me why you’re back in Petal and I won’t pester you about kisses. For a little while anyway.”
“You promised to catch me up on all the doings around town. So you first.”
She sniffed, but sipped her iced tea and shrugged. “Well, my sister Tate married Matt Chase and they have two kids. There’s another one on the way too. You know William is married, of course. Tim is married as well. Lots of kids all over the place. Each is cuter than the last. It’s a trial, I tell you, being an aunt to all that adorable.”
“I take it you love kids.”
“Well, other people’s kids most especially. I can fill them up with sugar and pretend we’re watching all the Disney movies for them. They provide excellent cover for my addiction to Doritos and Mary Poppins. Oh and cake. But if you tell anyone that I’ll only deny it.”
“Gotta admit I was surprised to hear about Tate marrying Matt Chase.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “And why is that?”
“Wow, I saw some scary shit in Iraq, but that face? Ranks up there. Why you mad?”
“Why you surprised? You don’t think Tate’s good enough?”
He laughed. “Yeah, because I’m so high falutin’ and stuff. I’m from the same part of town you are. I meant she was in my class at school. Tate is younger and she never hung around in that crowd. It’s not a matter of good enough. It’s a matter of who you know. That’s just reality.” Though he liked how protective she was of Tate, he was sorry to see how defensive she was. He understood it. Once he’d been away from Petal and had come back, he’d seen the stark differences between sides of town here that he hadn’t really had to contend with out in the rest of the world.
“I apologize. It’s a hot button. Tate went through hell at first. The stuff people said to her. She’s pretty much a mother to me. What happened to her when she should have been all about falling in love with her man, it makes me so mad.”
He liked a person who could own it when they did wrong.
“It’s okay. It’s good you spoke up for her.”
“The Chases have been so amazing. They’ve just sort of enfolded all of us Murphys into their family. Polly Chase treats William’s and Tim’s kids like grandchildren, like she does Tate and Matt’s kids. Makes a difference when their biological grandmother is a drunken loser.”
He took her hand to squeeze it briefly. “You have a fine family, just not that part.”
“Okay so why are you back?”
“Family stuff. I’ve been gone for years, it was time for me to come back. My parents are getting older.” No need to destroy a perfectly lovely lunch with any talk about his dad.
They ate until he remembered exactly why he’d missed this place. Fresh, great food. Neighbors all around who stopped from time to time to welcome him back to town. Beth helpfully told everyone that he’d taken over the Conway Auto Repair and needed the business. He wasn’t proud, that was how you got yourself new customers. And he couldn’t deny how much he liked watching her in action.
“You have a lot of energy.” They walked back toward her salon and his shop.
“You’ll turn my head with all your compliments, Joe Harris.”
He laughed. “It’s a compliment. I promise. You know everyone and everyone seems to like you. You have a way with people.”
“Ha. Not all people. Some people I want to hit with a shovel.”
“In my experience, Beth Murphy, some people need to be hit with a shovel. Do you need me to take care of any shovel smacking on your behalf?”
They paused near the pretty, flower-lined walk leading to the door of the salon. “You’d hit someone in the face with a shovel for me? Wow, you totally dig me.”
True. But he shouldn’t.
“It’s a service I offer to all little sisters of friends.”
Before he realized it, she’d tiptoed up and given him a quick kiss on his lips. She stepped back, a smirk on those pretty lips. “I should warn you up front, I aim to demolish that line of defense.”
“Now why would you go and do that?”
“Notice you’re not arguing.” She turned and walked away, waving over her shoulder. “See you later. Thanks for lunch. Oh and cake. But remember, mum’s the word on that or Tate will do me bodily harm.”
He stared at her, a stupid grin on his face, until she’d gone inside.
Chapter Three
Joe rolled over with a groan to answer his phone. Buck grunted from the foot of the bed where he was most assuredly not supposed to be sleeping. A quick look at the clock told him it was just after midnight.
“Hello?”
“I’m sorry to wake you.”
It was his mother, worry in her voice. He sat, more alert at her tone. “What is it?”
“It’s your dad. He got all worked up. I was getting rid of things. You know what the garage looks like. I’m afraid it’s a fire hazard. He got angry and then he left.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No. No. He just, he left in his pajama bottoms. He’s been gone two hours. I’m worried but I don’t want to leave in case he comes back here.”
Joe scrubbed his face with his free hand. “Okay. I’ll get out and start looking as soon as I can. Hold tight.”
He pulled on jeans and a shirt, stepped into his boots near the door and hurried out. He might have to deal with cops, so he was sure to run a comb through his hair before he grabbed his wallet. He’d take his truck in case he found his dad and needed to give him a ride home.
Buck followed along and waited with a bark for Joe to pick him up. “Lazy bones.” Buck snorted and then licked Joe’s face.
The deteriorating situation with his father’s mental health is what brought him back to Petal at long last. His mother couldn’t handle it on her own anymore. He had a sister, but she lived in Maine and had a family to take care of. Joe knew he had her support when and if he needed it, but it was his time to be there and get things done.
Petal was small enough that he’d be able to do a drive of the main part of town in about ten minutes. But his parents lived on the outskirts of town and the neighborhood—though it was better now than it had been twenty years ago—wasn’t the best, so he wanted to start there and work his way outward.
After about half an hour, he spotted a man sitting on the swings at the park. Joe took a chance and pulled to the curb.
“Stay.”
Buck gave an annoyed snuffle, but moved to the window facing the park, getting nose prints all over it.
As he came around the car, Joe knew the man was his father. It was a warm night so at least he didn’t have to worry about the cool temps and his dad out there in his pajamas.
Carl looked up at Joe’s approach, but there wasn’t much to it. Blank and a little sad.
“Hey, Dad.” Joe lifted a hand casually. He took up the swing on his dad’s other side. “Want a ride home?”
His father used a bare toe to push himself back and forth just a little. His expression, when he finally looked to Joe, was confused. His heart ached for a moment.
A wave of helplessness washed through Joe. This was way more than he was equipped to handle. There was something so wrong here. How the fuck was he going to make this better?
His dad’s eyes cleared a little, and he looked around and back to Joe. “Hey, Joseph. What are you doing out so late?”
“I could ask you the same.” He tried to keep his tone upbeat. “I’m looking for you. Mom’s worried. You’ve been gone for a while now. How about we go back and get her to make us some tea?”
His dad stood when he did, following along, a little lost. Gr
owing up, Joe’s dad had always seemed so big. But in his bare feet with his pajamas and his thinning hair in disarray, he felt smaller. A shell, and Joe had to swallow back all that emotion. He needed to focus, to get his dad home safely. Then he could deal with the rest.
“You’ll have to share the front with Buck.”
His dad grinned at the dog. “Spoilt.”
Joe laughed. “So much.”
Carl scratched the dog’s ears as Buck rested his head on his thigh.
Joe didn’t know what to say. Or to do. He felt like he should admonish his dad for running off the way he had. He could have been hurt. But one look at the confusion on his father’s face and he knew it wouldn’t be heard. Maybe not even understood.
He didn’t know what to do about any of this stuff.
The drive back to his parents’ place was quiet. The streets were pretty empty. Thank goodness for Buck, who seemed to calm his dad down just by being there.
He pulled up at the curb and they got out, Buck hopping down and trotting next to Joe. His mother opened the screen door and took his father in.
She looked…old. Joe realized his dad wasn’t the only one who appeared smaller and more fragile. Coming back to Petal was more than taking them to the grocery store and watching over his dad’s uneven moods. This was so much more.
“I was worried about you.” She reached out, tentative, to touch his dad’s arm.
“A man needs a walk every once in a while.” His dad was gruff, but there was a lot of emotion there, just beneath the surface.
Standing there, unsure of what to do next, Joe noted the front entry was full of boxes and garbage bags.
“What’s all this?” his father asked.
“Your stuff. I pulled it back in. I’ll call first thing tomorrow and tell them not to come collect it.” His mother must have been planning to donate it to the charity shop in town.
Carl looked at it, opened a few boxes. Junk. Christ, it was boxes of stuff Joe knew damned well his father hadn’t used in years, or had more updated versions of.
His dad turned his attention to Joe. “Your blasted mother is throwing my life away.”