by Wendy Vella
“I haven’t, no.”
“Sit, then.” Aunt Jess led him to the seat between Luke and Piper, then pressed him into it. Luke handed him a plate and waved to the food.
“Have at it, bud, before it’s all gone.”
Joe wanted to laugh as Clark looked around the table, clearly uncomfortable. His family was eating as if it was their last meal.
“You might want to remove that jacket, Clark. Wouldn’t want a grease stain on it.” Bailey waved a french fry at him. He quickly stood and removed it.
Everyone started talking again, except Clark and Bailey, who watched. She ate, he used the tongs supplied, as yet unused, and put some fries on his plate. He then attempted to get a burger. Piper made a noise, and picked one up and dumped it on his plate.
“I washed my hands yesterday, should be sweet.”
His smile was tight, as was the thank-you.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Bailey finally filled the gnawing ache in her stomach. She sat back and sipped her second cup of coffee, and watched Clark. She’d never loved him, and seeing him close to Joe, knew she never would. He was handsome, she conceded, but Bailey didn’t get that small kick to the stomach when she looked at him. Like her, he was a product of the life they’d led, uptight and unemotional. Had they spent their life together, they would have learned to hate each other, she was sure, and probably one day would have separated.
“So, Clark, you’re Bailey’s manager, right?” Jack asked.
“I am, but I also have other clients.”
He spoke in a polite, well-modulated tone that suggested he’d been raised on vacations in the Hamptons, and private schools. Which he may have, but strangely, Bailey actually didn’t know anything about his family life or where he’d been born and raised, which was sad considering they’d once been engaged.
“Anyone famous?”
Clark looked at Bailey, his smile small.
“She’s the most famous.”
“Really?” Luke whistled, then nudged Bailey with his shoulder.
“She’s played for royalty, and with some of the best musicians in the world. Bailey is very talented.”
“Thank you, Clark.” Bailey knew she was good; you didn’t receive the praise she had, and not be.
“So what, you’re ridiculously rich as well?” Luke asked.
Bailey leaned in and nudged Luke back, a gesture that a few weeks ago she’d never have done, but felt right now.
“I did okay.” Not that I can spend any of it.
“Do,” Clark corrected.
“Joe saw you play.”
“What?” Bailey looked from Piper to Joe. He shrugged, and the look he threw at his cousin told her he wasn’t pleased to have the subject raised. “You came to watch me play, and never tried to see me?”
“It was five years ago, Bailey. We hadn’t spoken in a long time. What did you want me to say?”
“Hi, Bailey. Remember me?” She felt an uncomfortable swell of heat fill her body. Why did Joe’s actions hurt so much? Maybe because she’d longed to see him for so many years. Long, lonely years. How hard would it have been for him to at least try and make contact? She’d written endless letters to him, and he’d never replied... not even once. It wasn’t rational, this anger she was feeling, Bailey knew that, but the adult Joe should have at least made the effort.
“Too much time had passed,” he said, holding her eyes. “Besides, I’m not entirely sure anyone would have let me get near you.”
Bailey made herself shrug. “We’ll never know.”
“But surely you weren’t friends before you left Ryker Falls?” Clark asked.
“We were, actually.” Joe was still looking at her. “Bailey was my best friend.”
She hadn’t expected him to admit to that.
“How is that possible?” Clark frowned. “You were what... three or four years older than her, and she left Ryker Falls at thirteen?”
“He’s right,” Bailey spoke. “We were friends for two years.”
Everyone fell silent as the people at the table who didn’t already know about the relationship she and Joe had shared, grappled with the knowledge that a young, rebellious teenager, raised in hell, could form a bond with a child raised the exact opposite.
“You wrote the letter.” Aunt Jess spoke the words softly, but Bailey and Joe heard. “It adds up,” she added. “Joe’s handwriting is not that neat, nor legible. Plus the words you used, and tone, weren’t his.” She threw Joe a smile. “Sorry, nephew, but your teachers told me you struggled with reading and writing back then.”
He looked at Bailey, and shrugged, which told her it was up to her whether she acknowledged it or not.
“I did help write it.” She remembered that day as if it was yesterday. Joe had arrived at their meeting place in a rage, his clothes torn, face bruised, and all she could do was sit and listen as he’d ranted about his father. When he’d calmed down, she told him he should write to his father’s sister. Joe and his brothers had spent one summer with Aunt Jess, and he’d told her that she’d been a nice woman.
“Thank you.” Joe’s aunt reached across the table and grabbed Bailey’s hands, squeezing them hard. “I’d never have known how bad things were if not for that letter.”
“You got Aunt Jess to come here?” Jack looked shocked, as did Luke.
“She did,” Joe said.
“Well, I think it’s fair to say you’re the Trainer guardian angel then. Getting Aunt Jess here, being there for Joe, and then saving Jack and the stables.”
“Oh—” Before Bailey could finish the sentence, Luke leaned in and kissed her cheek, and Jack got to his feet, and took the other. Piper blew her a kiss from across the table.
Bailey found Clark’s eyes on her. He looked confused, and who could blame him. The Bailey he knew had been closed off emotionally, and rarely got involved with people.
“So you’re the Trainer family guardian angel now, how do you feel about that?” Joe whispered in her ear. Bailey didn’t know how to answer that, or look at him yet, so she simply nodded. Thankfully, the topic of conversation moved on then, and to say she was pleased was an understatement. Bailey had spent years of her life avoiding emotions, and since being in Ryker she’d been hit from all sides with them. Today she’d had the fire, finding that body in the falls, and the knowledge that Joe had come to her concert and not seen her. Strange, how that last one had really rocked her back on her heels.
“Can I give you a ride home, Bailey?’
“Sure, thanks, Clark.” Bailey was relieved to get to her feet. She needed the sanctuary of her bed, and some alone time.
Bailey knew Joe had wanted her to stay the night with him, but she needed some time to process what was going on inside her head. In her current mood she wasn’t entirely sure she wouldn’t say something to him. Something irrational, and that wasn’t like her.
“If you need me, call.” Joe followed her to the front door.
“I won’t, but thank you.”
He grabbed her arm as she went to follow Clark outside.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Everything.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Not writing those letters. Not coming to see you after the concert.”
She eased her hand free.
“Sure, I get that you had other stuff going on. I guess I just thought if ever there came a time you and I were near each other again, we would make the effort to connect.”
“Ten years, Bailey. How did I even know if you’d still remember me?”
“Did you forget me?”
He blew out a breath, which was answer enough.
“I was wrong, all right. I’m sorry.”
He looked confused and angry. Good, she was feeling some of those herself right now.
“Leave it alone now, Joe. We’re tired, and I’m feeling a bit raw from today. I need to get some sleep.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
“But I want
to.”
“At least promise you’ll call if you wake upset—at any time. Better yet, tell Clod to go, and come home with me. I want to get my shirt back.”
She nearly gave in. The urge to feel his hands on her again was huge, but she had to be strong. She couldn’t allow herself to need him, not when she had no idea where she was going to end up. Now was the time, Bailey realized, to back away, and find out what her next step could be. Joe Trainer, Bailey knew, could really hurt her if she let him.
“I have to go, Joe. Clark is waiting.”
He pulled her close as she turned to leave, then kissed her. It was brief, but still... the man could kiss.
“I-I need to go.”
His sigh was loud.
“I hate the feeling that you’re leaving angry with me, which is pretty pathetic after what you’ve been through today, and the fact that Elijah’s family are mourning him right now. But I don’t feel rational around you, Bailey.”
“Joe—”
“You’re important to me, dammit!”
She didn’t know what to say to that.
“Do you understand that? Understand that you matter to me?” His face was serious, eyes focused on her.
“I can’t deal with this now, Joe. It’s all too much. I need to go.”
“Running never solved anything, Bailey. And it won’t solve this... what’s between us. Plus, there’s the fact that if you run, I will follow.”
“What?” Bailey had been in the process of turning away from him, but his words had her facing him again. His big body was tense, T-shirt stretched across his shoulders. The man had no right to be that hot.
“You heard me. I’m not letting you walk away from this, Bailey.”
“I-I don’t know what this is, Joe. We seem to either hurt or lo—like each other. Everything about us is volatile.”
“Because we need to spend time getting to know each other again. I don’t know what this is either, but I want to find out.”
“I have to g-go.” Bailey turned and ran down the steps. Exhaling as she reached the bottom. Clark was waiting in the car, engine running.
They drove in silence out of the drive while Bailey grappled with what Joe had just said.
“Are you all right?”
“Tired. It’s been a long day,” Bailey said. “Have you decided when you’re leaving, Clark?”
“Soon. I need to get back, but like I said, I’m enjoying the break.”
“It’s nice here.” Nice. Bailey nearly laughed at the word. What she felt about Ryker—or more importantly, Joe Trainer—was so far beyond nice.
“And is what’s between you and the eldest Trainer nice, Bailey? And don’t insult my intelligence by denying it.”
“No, I won’t deny it, but I’m not sure where it’s going.”
“Do you want it to go somewhere?”
“I don’t know... maybe. It’s complicated, and I don’t want to be hurt again.” She hadn’t meant to say the words, especially not to him. She and Clark didn’t discuss personal issues.
“Again?”
She looked out the window at the rapidly darkening sky. Even the stars were different here. Everything was so much clearer, the air fresher.
“Has there ever been anyone in your life, Clark, that you just can’t forget? Someone who makes you feel different from every other person?”
“Once,” he said quietly.
“Who?”
“A woman I used to know. She died, and I remember thinking the day she left me that I wouldn’t recover. Maybe a part of me never did.”
Bailey touched the hand he had on the steering wheel.
“I’m sorry, Clark. Sorry for your loss, and sorry we never talked before about things like this.”
“Things?” He threw her a smile.
“Personal things.”
He shuddered. “I’ve pretty much shut myself off from personal things since Alison’s death, and I don’t think I ever want to go back there.”
“I thought that,” Bailey said. “Believed it was for the best.”
“But now you don’t?”
“I don’t honestly know. Personal stuff comes with messy emotions and feelings, and I’m not sure I like that.”
“Sure you do. And you feel messy emotions for Joe Trainer, don’t you?”
“Clark Munro, I do believe that is a personal question,” Bailey tried to lighten the mood.
“It is, but then things have changed between us too, since coming here, haven’t they?”
“I guess they have. I like to think we’re real friends now,” Bailey said.
“Sure, I like that we are.” He threw her another smile. “I never thought I’d see the day you rode horses, mucked out stables, and went on search and rescue missions. Jesus, Bailey, I still can’t believe you were in that stable when it was burning.”
“It was not burning, a bunch of cloths were.”
“You know what I mean. It’s dangerous here for you. I heard about the shots fired when you and Jack Trainer were out riding, and now this stuff today. Maybe you should think about leaving with me?”
Should she? Would it be better to go now and decide what she wanted to do? Joe had said he’d come after her, but did she believe him? Maybe, but the thought of leaving Ryker was not a happy one. She felt like this was home now, but then what if Joe and she didn’t work out, and she had to see him with other women? Also, she couldn’t spend the rest of her life working in the stable or playing in Apple Sours occasionally. She needed a plan, a career path.
“I’m not going back to Boston, Clark. You need to understand that.”
“You’re really giving it all up?”
She nodded. “I am, and when I get my money back I’m going to find out what I really want to do.”
“What do you mean, get your money back?”
“My grandfather originally started my bank accounts, and I never changed that. I have one of my own, which he put money into, but he won’t let me have any more until I go back and do what he wants.”
“You are shitting me!”
“Clark!” Bailey’s mouth dropped open. “What has gotten into you, speaking like that?”
He slashed a hand through the air, then returned it to the wheel. “That bastard is actually withholding your money? Money you earned? I can’t believe you let him control everything like that.”
“Yes, you can. He controlled you too, and it was just easier that way.”
“I’m sorry, Bailey. I’ll speak with him and make him see reason,” Clark said as he pulled into Maggie’s driveway.
“This is my battle, not yours. Now, I’m going inside before I fall asleep in your car.”
She watched him drive off, then went in to tell Maggie about her day. It was another hour before she stumbled to bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Joe hadn’t seen Bailey for two days. He knew he needed to talk to her again, because she was pissed he’d not at least tried to see her after that concert. Which made no sense to him, as they were strangers then, but he’d never really understood women. He was also no closer to understanding why he’d avoided her. She’d just seemed so far away from him as he’d sat in that audience and watched her perform. Bailey had been in a long blue dress. It had sparkly stuff over it, and her hair had been on top of her head in some elaborate thing, and he’d remembered thinking she looked a million miles from his Bailey. The girl he’d once loved deeply. He’d sat there in awe of her, and clapped with the others in the audience, then when she’d walked off the stage he’d left the concert hall and walked for hours. Seeing her had brought it all back. The ugliness of his life when she’d been in it, and the solace he’d found in Bailey Jones’s company.
Was that the reason he hadn’t gone to see her? Had the memories been too painful?
Pushing the thoughts aside for now, he vowed to see her today, even if he had to lock her in somewhere so she would talk to him.
&nbs
p; He’d woken early after a long sleep, and gone into town to talk with Chief Blake. They’d discussed his concerns regarding his father, and the fire. Plus, Elijah’s death. The chief had promised to keep him in the loop if he heard anything new. He’d come away frustrated with the inaction, even though he knew Chief Blake was doing what he could to get results.
Joe was now in the bar checking supplies, while he tried not to think about Bailey. He heard the knock on the back door, and when he opened it, Clark Munro was standing there.
“Munro.”
“Trainer, can I have a word before I leave town?”
“You’re leaving? Now that is bad news,” Joe drawled. He should be a bigger man... should be able to shake the man’s hand and send him on his way, but the simple fact was, he wasn’t. Not when it had anything to do with Bailey, anyway.
“I know you and she have something, and while I wish she would come back with me to Boston, she is refusing. All I’m asking is that you give some thought to what is best for her.”
“And you think you’re best for her?”
The man shook his head. “No. I realize now that what I felt for Bailey was friendship. We would never have worked, and probably would have ended up hating each other.”
“Bailey knows her own mind, she won’t make decisions based on me. Maybe you should put some of your efforts into getting that asshole grandfather to release her money, then she’d be free to do whatever the hell she wanted.”
“You know about that?”
“I do, and a lot more.”
Clark studied him. “What’s the deal with you two?”
“I believe that was covered the other night. We were friends when we both needed one.”
“Yes, I heard, but there’s more to this. She’s hung up over you, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
He liked the thought of Bailey being hung up over him.
“If you don’t want to be with her, and I do, then her being hung up over me is a good thing from where I’m standing, Munro.”
“She thinks you could hurt her.”
“I won’t, and I’m pretty sure you’re talking out of school there, bud.”