by Terri Osburn
Randy was positive whoever the guy was, he’d gone well beyond jerk behavior. But again, he wasn’t going to tell Sid that.
“Maybe.” Lifting a hundred-pound free weight onto the rack with little effort, he added, “Since she and I are thrown together more, what with her always with you and Beth and me usually with Joe—”
“And Lucas,” Sid added. Randy wasn’t as friendly with Lucas as he was with Joe, which irked his sister. She wasn’t the type to be irked in silence.
“And Lucas,” he conceded. “Seems like it would be a good idea to try to get to know Will a bit.”
Sid’s brows went up, then she smiled. “I see. You like her.”
God bless America. “I don’t even know her, Sid. But I’m tired of feeling like a leper when we’re in the same room. Don’t make more out of this than it is.”
Sid continued to smile. “What you do with Will is your business. I’ve been telling her for months you’re a good guy. If you’re finally going to take the time to show her, then I’d suggest starting with an offering of Opal’s rhubarb pie.”
“Rhubarb pie?” he asked. “Why would I give her pie?”
“Because any half-assed effort at wooing requires gifts, and Will loves that rhubarb pie.”
Randy shook his head. “Wooing? You need better ventilation in that garage. The fumes are killing off the few brain cells you have left.” With that parting shot, he stomped back to his office, but as always, Sid had to have the last word.
“Getting laid would go a long way to curing this bitchy streak of yours. Skip the wooing and fuck the damn pie.”
CHAPTER 2
Randy parked in front of Dempsey’s at four forty-five the next day with a ladder and two rolls of masking tape per Beth’s request. The request had come through Joe Dempsey, Beth’s fiancé and Randy’s best friend, who’d stopped by Anchor Adventures around lunchtime.
The typically laid-back fisherman had been worried about his bride to be. She’d been acting odd, and her stress levels were sending her moods all over the place.
Having never been a groom, Randy didn’t have much to offer in the way of advice. But he believed all women were stressed and moody in the weeks before their wedding. Pointing this out didn’t seem to ease Joe’s mind.
Contrary to the night before, Dempsey’s was hopping. Good thing he’d left the ladder in the truck. No way would he get it through this crowd without clotheslining someone.
“There you are,” Beth said, rushing toward Randy with a string of letters in one hand, which he assumed spelled “Happy Birthday.” “Tell me you brought the ladder.”
He glanced around the room while rubbing his chin. “I’m not sure bringing a ladder through this crowd is a good idea.”
“Fine.” Beth took his hand and pulled him along behind her. “Then you can put me on your shoulders. I need to get this sign tacked to the beams at the far end.”
He could put her where?
Extending his stride to keep up with the tiny tornado whipping through the room, Randy stumbled through the entrance to the poolroom and caught sight of Joe fighting with a mess of Christmas lights near the right side wall.
“Joe,” Beth yelled, “come help me get on Randy’s shoulders.”
“Help you what?” Joe looked up from the tangle of green wires. “You’re not getting on anyone’s shoulders.”
Beth stopped so quickly, Randy almost plowed through her. “I need to get this sign up on that beam. Randy says he can’t bring the ladder through the crowd. What do you propose I do?” Her green eyes sparked with impatience, while pink lips pinched into a flat line.
Joe shot Randy a help me look. Randy shrugged.
“Think we can bring the ladder in through the kitchen?” Joe asked, abandoning the lights on a cocktail table.
Randy glanced back into the dining room to assess the space between the end of the bar, which was in front of the kitchen, and the poolroom entrance. Meeting Joe’s exhausted expression, he said, “We can try.”
The men made their way to the parking lot in silence, but once their feet hit gravel, Randy brought up the unspoken subject at hand. “You weren’t kidding. How long has she been like this?”
Joe lowered the tailgate on Randy’s Ranger. “A couple weeks. The wedding stuff has her so twisted up, she’s going to gnaw through her flowers before she makes it down the aisle.”
“I’ve got everything lined up at my place.” Randy took the top end of the ladder as Joe pulled from the bottom. Beth and Joe were getting married on the large deck of Anchor Adventures to take advantage of the bay view. “Is anyone helping her with the rest of it?”
Once the ladder cleared the end of the gate, Joe nodded and they lifted their respective ends onto their shoulders. “Lola’s trying, but I don’t know how much Beth is letting her do. You know how she is, desperate to please everyone.” Randy closed the tailgate with his free hand as Joe continued. “I keep telling her this is her day and she’s the only person to please, but the words aren’t getting through.”
“At least it’ll all be over in a month.”
“I don’t know if I can make it that long.” Joe took the lead, heading up the stairs to the wraparound porch and down the left side to the kitchen door. “Getting this thing through the kitchen is going to be a bitch.”
“Failure is not an option, my friend.” Randy laughed. “Beth needs a ladder and we’re going to bring her one.” Realizing what he’d just said, Randy asked, “You’re not going to let her climb this thing, are you?”
“Hell no,” Joe said. “But getting that sign exactly how she wants it could take the rest of the night in her current state of mind. Nothing has been good enough.” After pulling open the kitchen door, Joe wedged his body against it and turned to face Randy. “This morning she was bitching that Dozer would need a haircut before the wedding or he’d throw off the entire bridal party.”
“What does that even mean?” Randy asked.
“Fuck if I know.”
Two sharp turns, three knocked-down pans, and one ladder through a serving window later, Randy and Joe reached the end of the bar.
“What the hell are you two doing?” asked Will, holding three longnecks in one hand and two empty beer glasses in the other.
The men looked at each other, then back to Will.
“Taking this ladder to the poolroom,” Joe said.
“Do you see I have a dining room full of guests here?” Blue eyes snapped as she set the empties on the end of the bar.
“Will?” Joe said. “Have you talked to Beth tonight?”
“No.” The bartender shook her head. “I’ve been too busy out here. Why?”
“Because if we don’t get this into that poolroom, she’s going to use Randy as a ladder. Nobody wants that, right?”
Randy knew he didn’t want that, but he wouldn’t put it past Will to think it a good idea.
Will looked from Joe to Randy, then back to Joe. “He looks sturdy enough.”
“Will.”
“Alright, alright,” she said, waving her hands toward the doorway at the back of the room. “But don’t decapitate any of my customers. I’ll bring you guys some drinks in a minute.”
Afraid Will might change her mind, and concerned about the mental state of women in general on Anchor Island, Randy encouraged Joe to move fast by pushing his end along.
“Don’t run my ass over,” Joe said, crossing into the empty poolroom and past the tables to set his end on the floor near the far wall. “We can leave this in the corner until the end of the night. No sense in taking it back out through the crowd if we don’t have to.”
“You want to leave a ladder sitting in the middle of the party?” Beth asked, popping up out of nowhere and making both men jump. “Do you understand I’m trying to make this nice for Sid?”
Joe ran a hand through his hair. “Beth, honey, Sid’s idea of nice is brats on the grill and a keg. She’s not going to notice a ladder sitting in the corner.”
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br /> “That’s such a man thing to say.”
Randy held his breath, reluctant to become Beth’s next target. As he was the only other man in the room, the chances were not in his favor. Joe might have understated his fiancée’s condition. In the year Randy had known her, Beth had been nothing but sweet and patient, always with a kind word for everyone.
This woman wearing a haggard expression and a line of moisture across her upper lip was not that woman.
“One Bud, one green tea, and a sweet tea for the lady,” Will said, setting the drinks on a cocktail table. “What all are you planning for the decorations?”
“What I have planned and what’s going to happen won’t be the same if these cavemen don’t start listening to me.” Beth ripped a piece of crepe paper with her teeth. “I’m trying to make this a nice party.”
Will’s eyes went wide.
“Maybe you could bring Beth something stronger than iced tea,” Randy whispered.
Will ignored him. “Beth, are you okay?”
The sweat was now beading on Beth’s forehead, and the color was dropping away from her face.
“I don’t think she is,” Randy said, moving closer in case he needed to catch her. He’d seen people overexert themselves and pass out too many times not to recognize the signs. “Joe, bring Beth a chair.”
“I don’t need a chair,” she said, ripping another strip of crepe, then wiping her forehead on her sleeve. “We need to get these decorations up before Sid gets here.”
Joe set a bar stool behind Beth and edged her onto the seat. “You can sit here and tell us what to do. Think of it as being captain of the ship and we’re the crew.”
Randy had to give Joe credit for the steady voice, because he didn’t look steady at all. He looked like a man out of his depth.
As soon as Beth was sitting, the roll of crepe paper hit the floor and she curled over, pressing her arms against her stomach and letting out a loud groan.
“Beth, baby, what’s wrong?” Joe dropped to his knees in front of the stool, trying to see his fiancée’s face. “Tell me what’s wrong!”
“Grab a bar rag and run it under cold water,” Randy said to Will, who stood frozen in fear to his left. With a hand on her shoulder, he gentled his voice. “Will, we need a cold rag. Can you get that for Beth?”
Later it would occur to him that this was the first time he’d ever touched Will. She didn’t flinch until she looked him in the eye and her brain caught up to the situation. “Yes. Yes, I can. I’ll be right back.” She hurried from the room.
Rubbing Beth’s back, Randy bent close to her ear. “Where’s the pain, Beth? Tell me where it hurts.”
“I thought it was just my period,” she moaned, then began panting. “Cramps maybe, but this feels like I’m being split in two.”
Joe returned to his feet. “We need to get her to the clinic. Hold on for me, baby,” he said to Beth, a tremor in his voice revealing how scared the man was.
“Here’s Will with the rag,” Randy said, taking the wet material Will offered and pressing it against Beth’s forehead. Her body heat sucked the water from the linen. “We’ll take my truck,” he said, tossing the rag back to Will. “Can you carry her, or do you want me to do it?”
Joe ignored the question, sliding his arms under Beth and lifting her off the stool. “Clear a way to the door,” he barked, jerking Will into motion.
“I’m coming with you,” she said, determination in her voice. Beth curled tighter against Joe, escalating from a groan to a scream, which parted the crowd more than anything Will was doing.
“Daisy,” Will yelled. “Take over the bar.” A purple lanyard with keys on the end flew through the air. “Call Lucas and Sid and tell them to meet us at the clinic.”
The blonde waitress caught the keys with wide eyes and an open mouth, then ran behind the bar to do as ordered.
Beth’s breathing grew more ragged as Joe slid her onto the backseat of Randy’s truck and followed her in. Will climbed into the passenger seat up front, then propped up on her knees to face Beth behind her. “It’s going to be alright now. We’ll get you to a doctor.”
Joe was holding Beth half in his lap, stroking her hair. “Let’s go.”
Randy drove as quickly as he could while trying not to jostle Beth around. At one point, Will looked his way. “Could it be her appendix?”
He shook his head. “Hard to tell. Do you know if she still has hers?”
Will returned her attention to the backseat. “Beth, do you still have your appendix?”
Randy heard a growl but couldn’t make out the answer.
“She says yes,” Will translated. “We need to go faster.”
“Almost there,” he said, unable to ignore the fact that half of Will’s body was pressed along his right arm. Warm curves fit tightly against his elbow, hindering his steering and his ability to concentrate on the road. She’d either gotten over her fear of him overnight or had no idea what she was doing.
He figured on scenario number two.
Arriving at the Anchor Island Health and Wellness Clinic, Randy had barely slid the vehicle into park before Joe’s door flew open.
“Come on, baby. I’ve got you,” he said as he coaxed Beth from the truck. She didn’t seem capable of uncurling, never mind walking on her own. With his fiancée in his arms, Joe barreled around to the entrance where Will was holding the door open. She hit the large square button that would automatically open the inside door for anyone in a wheelchair.
As they stormed into the lobby, Beth let out another scream, which got the attention of the girl sitting on the other side of the sliding window. “Hold on!” she yelled, disappearing from sight, then bursting through the door on their left. “Bring her back here.”
Joe carried Beth through the door. Will moved to follow, but Randy grabbed her by the elbow.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, jerking her arm free. “I need to go with her.”
So body contact was once again off limits. “The doc will only kick us back out. They’ll let us know when they have some answers.”
“But—”
“Your intentions are good, Will, but we’ll only be in the way.” Randy had been involved in enough trauma and accidents to know doctors needed room to work. You didn’t climb mountains, scale cliffs, and race anything with a motor without someone getting hurt.
Will clamped her mouth shut, shot him a dirty look, then began pacing the small waiting area. After a thirty-second pout, she said, “Do you think we got her here on time?”
“Beth has been healthy as long as I’ve known her,” he said, which, granted, wasn’t that long. “Whatever it is, they’ll take care of her.”
“But what if we didn’t get here fast enough? What if—”
“What if we grab some water and sit down to wait,” he suggested.
Will gave a long sigh, crossed her arms, and dropped into a chair two down from Randy. He struggled not to roll his eyes at the mandatory distance. As if one chair length would protect her from whatever she thought he might try.
“I guess water couldn’t hurt.”
Randy filled two cups from the water cooler and handed one to Will. “You’re a good friend,” he said, and meant it. Will didn’t reveal much of herself, especially not to him, but she’d just dropped everything, including the busy restaurant she was running, to take care of a friend. That meant something.
“I should have helped more with the party,” she said. “I could have had the crew decorate this morning so Beth wouldn’t have to.”
Randy chuckled, leaning his head back against the wall. “I doubt Beth would have given up that much control. Besides, if it is her appendix, this would have happened whether she was decorating or not.”
“But she’s so stressed with the wedding.” Will slid one denim-clad leg beneath her. “I could have taken care of the party. It’s not as if Sid cares one way or another how fancy the decorations are.”
Randy rolled his hea
d to the right to meet Will’s eyes. “The same way you want to go in there and take care of Beth, she wants to take care of Sid. That’s what friends do.”
Will rubbed her upper arms as if trying to warm herself. “I guess you’re right. I haven’t had friends like this for a while.”
He let the silence hold for a few extra seconds, then asked, “Why’s that?”
His gypsy, as he’d come to think of her, met his eyes with wide blue ones. The color reminded him of his mother’s birthstone, blue topaz.
“I—”
“Where’s Curly?” Sid yelled, charging through the front door of the clinic, Lucas close on her heels. “What happened?”
“Take a breath,” Randy said, irritated that they’d interrupted whatever Will had been about to say. “Beth bent over in pain while we were at Dempsey’s. We rushed her here, and now she and Joe are with the doctor.”
“Did she get hit?” Lucas asked. “Fall off of something? Was there any warning?”
“Joe says she’s been acting strange for a couple weeks,” Randy answered, “but that might not have anything to do with this. She started sweating, then her face went pale. Next thing we knew, she was bent over and moaning.”
“We need to go back there and find out what’s going on,” Sid said, heading for the door to the exam rooms.
“Wait,” Randy said, but in that second, Joe walked through the door, his face fish-belly white.
Everyone in the lobby fell silent, frozen in place as if the slightest twitch would shatter the man before them. Without a word, Joe dropped into a chair.
Randy flashed back seventeen years, to the day his world changed forever. His mother, the beacon of the family, happy and healthy only hours before, was gone. She, too, had curled over in pain.
“Joe?” Lucas said, giving Sid’s shoulder a squeeze as he slid by her. “What is it? What’s wrong with Beth?”
Joe looked up with surprise in his eyes, as if he’d forgotten they were all there. He shook his head. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with Beth.”