Candy's Wild Ride (The Candy Cane Girls Book 3)

by Bonnie Engstrom

  “Sorry,” Bill said. “Really sorry I frightened you. Meant to protect you.”

  “You scared the living daylights out of me.” She hoped he heard the anger in her voice. What was he doing here? Now?

  “Bad judgement on my part.” He apologized again, this time with a softer tone.

  “Please take your hands off me. I just want to go home.” Had she said it strong enough?

  “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

  “Not tonight. Too tired.” She pushed him away and clicked the key fob for her car door to unlock. Jumping inside and locking it, she revved the engine. Maybe overkill, but she didn’t care. Was Bill Lord trustworthy? Had she been taken in by his proposal to invest in her gym, or had she been taken in by his handsome face? The way he filled out a tee shirt didn’t hurt either. She was lonely, but was she desperate?

  She thought about the way she’d pushed him off. Who was the person he wanted her to meet? This whole business about him possibly investing was getting complicated. Tomorrow she would call Login Lovejoy and Darrell Day again. She needed advice.

  ~

  Bill would have kicked himself, if he could. Was he losing his touch? He really did care for Natalie, but he wasn’t sure she understood. He pushed a button on his phone. “Hi, son. Are you up for a challenge?”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh!” Natalie couldn’t stop repeating herself. “Candy,” she said breathlessly, “you have to meet him. He’s drop dead gorgeous!” Then she thought about the fact Candy had never met Bill, either.

  “I’m game. When?” Natalie could visualize the wide-eyed grin on Candy’s face. The girl had so much expression. Her eyes were probably rolling, curvy lips making indentations in her dimpled cheeks and eyebrows arched high. The Candy Canes had always dubbed Cindy The Strong One and Connie The Creative One, but Candy was The Expressive One, always making amusing faces. Noelle who loved clothes and dressed to kill was The Glam One. What had they called her, Natalie? Oh, The Organized One. Right now she just felt like The Flabbergasted One.

  “I’ll set it up. Or, maybe you should start working out at my gym. Then you could meet them both.”

  “I thought the dad was the one who joined your gym.”

  “Yes, and no.” Natalie giggled. “Bill decided Bill Junior should join, too, since he’s bringing him ‘into the fold’ as he calls it. ‘A little father-son boding will be good for both of us,’ he said. ‘Boy needs to get a grip on life.’”

  “What does that mean?” Candy asked. “Is young Bill a ne’er-do-well?”

  “I dunno. He’s in his late twenties, or maybe early thirties.” She paused and thought. “Not sure what he does for a living, or if he has a job. But, for sure, he could be a male model. So gorgeous!”

  “I’m dying to meet both of them. You still have a crush on the dad?”

  “Uh, not sure. I do like maturity in a man, but Bill Senior has never revealed his marital status. Just come to the gym tomorrow morning about seven, my treat. I think they will both be there.”

  “Okay. I’ll dig out my old workout duds” she agreed. “But, Nat, don’t get emotionally involved until you know more, until you’re sure.” Natalie remembered that Candy’s ex-husband, “Dev the Drunk,” as she called him, was an older guy. She had been swept off her feet with wining and dining. After they’d been married a year, it was mostly wining.

  ~

  Bill Senior showed up at six forty-five, again in his long pants and chest hugging tee. Just before seven Candy trotted in humming and swinging a flower printed gym bag. Natalie gave her a locker and led her over to meet Bill.

  “Mr. Lord, this is my friend Candace, one of the Candy Canes I told you about.” Bill slowed the treadmill, wiped his palm on his towel and gripped Candy’s hand. His big smile showed he thought Candy was a looker. Especially, since he winked at her. What was that all about?

  “Please, Natalie, and Candace, call me Bill. The Mister title makes me feel ancient.” He looked over their heads as the door opened and grinned. “There’s my boy now. Bill!” he shouted over the whir of the machines, “Come meet two lovely ladies.”

  Mr. Gorgeous, as Natalie had secretly dubbed him, reached them with long strides. His short light brown hair was slightly spiked, but the beard shadow on his angular jaws made him look like a print ad in a magazine. GQ? Natalie wondered what it would feel like to rub her cheek against it. No, can’t go there. His dad is the one I want.

  After all the introductions, Bill Junior jumped on the treadmill next to his dad. Candy approached the free weights lined up in front of the mirrored wall. Natalie noticed Candy’s hands shook when she picked up the eight pound ones. Was it because she hadn’t worked out for a while, or was it a reaction from meeting the two handsome men?

  Natalie finished giving her Zumba class and was walking toward her office when she felt a muscular arm wrap around her shoulder and squeeze it. This time she didn’t pull away. Both Candy and Bill Junior came toward them mopping their brows with towels.

  “Coffee, ladies?”

  Bill squeezed her shoulder again. What was he doing? First he winked at Candy, then started touching Natalie. She would never have guessed either gesture to come from him. Candy raised her brows on her animated face. She had obviously caught both, too.

  “Sure!” Both girls spoke in unison.

  “I’ll leave Bryce in charge,” Natalie said.

  “Good,” Bill said. “Since Nat and I, and possibly Billy, will be working together, we should get to know each other better.”

  Billy? Mmm. Wasn’t that moniker a bit juvenile for Bill’s son? Of course, he is the dad and probably called him that since he was born. Candy’s mom called her grown son Billy. Must be a parent thing.

  Natalie was trying to decide how to label both men privately. Big Bill and Little Bill? Old Bill and Young Bill? Didn’t matter as long as she figured out how to tell them apart in her own mind. After they were seated at a corner table in IHOP, she asked, “So, gentlemen, how do each of you like to be called? It’s confusing. Do either of you have a nickname? Especially you, Bill.” She pointed to the younger man. She knew she was a stickler for detail, but really, it was puzzling.

  “I guess we are both just Bill,” Young Bill replied. “I know it must be confusing for you, especially just meeting us together. Mom had a certain inflection in her voice for each of us. Of course, she sometimes called me Junior.”

  Natalie and Candy both looked at him quizzically. This time Natalie was sure her eyebrows were raised, too. She saw Candy’s were.

  “Mom’s dead,” he said. Older Bill nodded and made a ball wad of his napkin.

  “So sorry,” both girls said.

  “It’s okay. Dad and I have each other.”

  “Well, son, time you started looking to get hitched. I want grandchildren.” Big Bill looked confused. “Sorry, inappropriate comment,” he said when Young Bill glared at him.

  Young/Little, or whatever she called him in her mind, spoke next. “Why don’t you call me Junior?”

  Both girls nodded and placed their coffee orders to the waitress.

  ~

  “So, let me get this straight,” Candy said when they got back to the gym. Natalie was glad the men hadn’t insisted on escorting them, just walked them to her car. “Dad Bill is unhappy, at least not a hundred percent in favor that Junior is a male model. Wants him to be more traditional, be a business man.”

  They learned Junior had won an international modeling competition at nineteen and it sent him all over Europe. While in Italy, he’d been contracted with Ducati motorcycles. They even capitalized on his surname, Lord. In, what he worried, was an inappropriate way. Print ads and posters had phrases like, “The Lord revs it up on a Ducati!”

  “Really upset Mom. She had a deep faith, and she thought using my last name that way was both deceptive and dishonoring to Christ. But,” he continued, “I hadn’t chosen it. I guess I could have insisted
the company not use my name at all. I tried, but the big wigs reminded me of the contract I’d signed. Guess that was a big reason they signed me.” He had lowered his head over his coffee. “It was a five year contract, would have meant copious legal tape to get out of it, especially in another country. Now, I pose only for American cycles. Still,” he had looked at his dad, “Dad doesn’t see it as a real job.” He paused. “I asked forgiveness, and I believe God told me I had been a naive kid with hopes too high.”

  ~

  The girls were having another cup of coffee, this time with flavored creamer, at Candy’s house where she lived with her mom. “I don’t think what he did was so bad,” Candy said. “He was young, a kid, and excited about what a future in modeling could offer.” She looked at Natalie. “What?”

  Nat wasn’t sure. She wanted to believe Junior (was that really a name?), but she had reservations. She was disappointed that Bill Senior wasn’t more supportive of his son. After all, Junior had gotten his good looks from his parents, and initially, according to Junior, they had been very supportive of his chosen career.

  Candy’s mom wandered into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. “What are you girls talking about?” So, they told her.

  ~

  Vivian Ashford asked point blank. “So who’s in love with who?”

  Both girls laughed. “No one is in love with anyone. Yet.”

  “Mmm. I couldn’t help overhearing you talking about a handsome duo.” She filled a cup with water and put it in the microwave. Pushing a button, she said, “Which one is Bill?”

  The girls laughed again. “Both,” Natalie said. Mrs. Ashford looked confused.

  “How can that be? Unless … unless it’s just a coincidence, or,” she paused and raised an eyebrow, “they are father and son.”

  This time the girls nodded while laughing.

  “So,” she asked, “ages?”

  They explained the whole situation to her while she dipped a tea bag in her mug. Adding sugar, she plunked it on the table, pulled out a chair and looked at both of them with concern. “You,” she said pointing at Candy, “steer clear of the older one. You have been there, done that. And, hopefully learned your lesson.”

  Looking at Natalie, she repeated the finger pointing. “You have also hopefully learned a lesson from Candy. May December marriages don’t work out. Not much, anyway,” she asserted. “However, in most cases it’s the man who gets the bad end of the situation.”

  Natalie knew the Ashfords had been through a lot of pain and agony with Candy’s choice of a husband and her divorce. Now, because of it and the legal fees it had imposed, Candy couldn’t afford to live on her own. In fact, she still didn’t have a job after two years of searching. But, just because Bill Senior was older, maybe close to Candy’s parents’ ages, didn’t mean he would be a repeat of misery for her. Besides, Natalie was attracted to him, not necessarily Candy. Or, was she wrong?

  When Candy’s mom left to do laundry, the girls stared at each other. Natalie made a little circle on the table of a small puddle of coffee. “That was interesting,” she said. “You okay with it?”

  Candy shrugged. Natalie guessed Mrs. Ashford was right. Candy should steer clear of Bill Senior. She didn’t see him as a cradle robber, but sometimes older men who had lost a wife were really taken by a young, pretty woman. And, Candy was definitely that.

  “You saw him first.” Candy bumped Natalie’s arm playfully with her fist. “Still, I think he’s too old for either of us. Maybe one of us will have to settle for Junior.” She giggled. “Or, maybe Junior has a girlfriend.”

  “Hope not. But, it would serve us both right for dreaming.” Natalie kept playing with the coffee puddle. “He really is drop dead gorgeous, but not my type.” She looked at the wet, brown tip of her finger.

  “Don’t give me the ‘I like the mature type.’ The only semi-serious boyfriend you had was that goofy guy who graduated high school three years ahead of us. He wasn’t even close to mature.”

  “Yeh. He was a loser.”

  “So glad you saw that then. But, you were pretty broken up when he ditched you for not wanting to romp in the backseat of his funky car.”

  “I was young. Loved the attention. He lettered in basketball.” She kept rubbing her finger in the coffee.

  “Thank the Lord you were a strong Christian girl. I wish some of your faith had rubbed off on me.”

  “What you could have used with Devin was discernment. You had faith – too much faith in love.”

  “Guess we’d better get going and face the music.” Candy pushed her chair back and bumped Natalie on the arm.

  “Guess so.” She didn’t sound enthused, even to herself. Maybe the relationship with Bill Lord Senior, professional or personal, wasn’t such a good idea. Especially, personal. But, the two seemed destined to blend.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The girls had agreed the men could pick them up for an early dinner date. They figured it would save them gas and what was the harm in it? They’d even decided one would sit in front with whomever was driving, and after dinner they would switch. They would be very assertive about it. They waited outside Nat’s Gym, both in pants as the Bills had requested. They had no idea why. Maybe the men were going to take them to the Fun Zone on Balboa to ride the bumper cars, or one of those ferry rides past the movie stars old houses. They stood on the curb pulling their sweaters around them in the chilly evening air. They expected a car to round the corner, until …

  The roar was so loud they both held hands over their ears. Motorcycles!

  “No, no, no,” Natalie exclaimed. “I will not ride one of those.”

  “Come on, Nat. Be a sport. I even brought you a helmet, and Billy brought one for Candy, too.” He dug into what she assumed was the equivalent of a car trunk for a Harley and pulled out a silver helmet. Holding it out to her, he said, “It’s really very safe. We aren’t going that far. Try it on.”

  “I don’t wear headgear that others have worn. When I was ten I had lice from a riding helmet I borrowed. Scared the pants off me. Oops. Bad analogy.” She shook her head. “We will take my car.”

  “Scaredy cat!”

  Natalie couldn’t believe Candy goaded her. “You can ride one of these contraptions. I’ll follow in my car. Where are we going, anyway?”

  Candy popped on a shiny white helmet and jumped on the back of Junior’s cycle. Wrapping her arms around his torso, she looked back at Natalie. “It’s really fun, Nat, and safe.”

  Natalie still shook her head. What was Candy doing? Then she remembered how wild the girl was in high school. Maybe that’s why she was so attracted to Devin the Drunk. He appealed to her wild streak.

  Well, she was the practical, organized one of the Candy Canes. They always came to her for advice from reorganizing closets to how to label stuff. Her mom had told her it was a gift and God was using her. Still, she never felt creative like Connie who designed beautiful clothes, or free spirit hang loose like Candy was now. Maybe she should bend a little, especially if she was interested in one of the Bills. Which she wasn’t, of course.

  She raised her hand. “Wait up. I will try.” She looked Bill Senior square in the face, partially hidden by his big helmet. “You promise I’ll be safe?” He nodded and grinned. “Who wore the helmet?” The threat of disease, and nits, frightened her.

  “Only my wife. That okay?”

  She placed the bulky thing on her head, and he helped her adjust it. Clinging to him with arms wrapped around, she closed her eyes and prayed. She silently repeated Psalm 23 and clung harder. She felt her fingernails digging into his leather jacket. At least the helmet had a sort of face mask. “So bugs won’t bug you,” Bill teased her.

  ~

  When the cycle stopped vibrating, and she did, too, she cautiously put a toe of her shoe on the ground and started to slide off. Her legs were so short she almost fell sideways. Junior caught her just as she listed. His enticing scent smelled so good she almost lingered in his strong ar
ms.

  Her legs felt like stretched out rubber bands with no elasticity left. What would her mother have said? “Stretched to the limit.” What, she wondered, was her limit?

  She wobbled to the door of the restaurant, clinging to Bill’s arm on unsteady feet. Gripping his arm tighter, she recognized where they were. The Cannery!

  “This is the restaurant we Candy Canes come to once every year before Christmas for our annual get-together. I know it well. Even know what I will order.”

  “What will you order?”

  “Oysters.”

  ~

  Bill couldn’t believe how many oysters on the half shell Nat had sucked down. He even took a photo. Maybe he would send it to her.

  He was both stunned and delighted Natalie was enjoying herself. And, that she had accepted the ride on his bike, even though reluctantly. When he had first approached her about investing in her gym, he was sincere. He still hoped to be, but looking at her cute button nose as she slurped in each oyster with rosy lips gave him shivers down his legs and second thoughts in his brain. Maybe his heart. Maybe other places.

  He made every effort to not look below her face. That was hard. He knew she had a toned body. He had seen it. Peripheral vision? Probably, but it was now just starting to compute.

  It had been three years since Marsha had died. Breast cancer was such a horrible disease. The first year after her death he had devoted to supporting cancer research, giving a lot of money and even showing up at rallies. He’d never had the nerve, or maybe the stamina, to do the walk. Now, after two years of physically working out, he knew he could, but wasn’t sure he wanted to. Time and healing had passed. Maybe his heart wasn’t in it anymore.

  Bill made another joke about Natalie’s overabundance of oysters and paid the server. When the young man removed their plates his eyes got huge. Bill shook his head and quietly said, “The lady really enjoyed them. Didn’t you, Nat?” She nodded, grinned and thanked him for the indulgence.

  Offering his arm, she slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow. The sun was glinting on the water and casting shadows from nearby anchored boats. Bill Junior and Candy stumbled behind them trying not to slip on the ramp that led from the restaurant.