Back To Us (Shore Secrets 3)

by Christi Barth

  Gray stopped in the middle of the dark parking lot. Extended his hand. “I’ll give you five hundred dollars if a single person recognizes you.”

  “That mug?” Ward snickered. And was very glad he brought his friends along. They were a great distraction from the possible dumbest thing ever he was about to do. “Didn’t they use makeup and airbrush the hell out of the photo on the back of all your books? I’m not sure we’d recognize Zane from that thing.”

  Zane scowled at both of them. “I miss Joel. He understands the fine line I walk between celebrity and modesty.”

  “Hardly. He just zones out and ignores your tangents. And I’m sure he’s far happier on the beach than he’d be here in a parking lot that reeks of pee. Why can’t college kids ever find a bathroom?” Gray complained. “That ought to be a half-credit class: acceptable bathroom substitutes as an adult. Woods? Yes. On the hubcap of a forty-thousand-dollar vehicle? No.”

  The small concrete slab they’d wedged onto did stink. Ward picked up the pace and aimed toward the graffiti-covered door. “I’ll remind you of that at your bachelor party, when you puke in an Atlantic City fountain.”

  “Hey, when in Rome...” Gray trailed off. Looked at the line of barely legal, barely dressed kids smoking on the cracked sidewalk. “Are you sure you’ve got the right place, Ward?”

  It really was a bottom of the barrel dive. Half the neon was out on the sign. Condom wrappers fluttered against the edge of the building along with those tiny baggies used in drug deals. Ward hated the thought of his sister hanging out here. “You guys said you wanted to take my mind off of Piper. My pick as to how and where, remember?”

  “Sure, but there are plenty of bars on Seneca Lake.” Zane shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “Why’d we have to drive all the way to Ithaca and this hole to hang out tonight?”

  Time to come clean. Ward hadn’t wanted to tell them the truth on the way in case they overruled him and turned around. He stuck out both arms to stop them in their tracks. “We’re not here to hang out. We’re here to do business.”

  “Trying to get your products on the shelf at a new bar?” Gray snorted. “I think your stuff costs more than this particular clientele is willing to pay.”

  “Different kind of business. Personal business.” Ward kicked at the pile of leaves at his feet. Winced. Thought about how he’d rather pull a splinter out of his sac than have this conversation. “I’ve been told I don’t talk enough.”

  With an eyebrow raise at the non sequitur, Gray said, “It’s a matter of degrees. Zane here talks enough for all three of us.”

  “True.” Zane bowed with a flourish. “And every word is a gift of entertainment or education to the world.”

  “Or pure bullshit.”

  Another half bow. “Also true.”

  And if he let him, Zane would keep flapping his jaws all night about his brilliance. Ward cleared his throat. Kicked at the leaves again. “Apparently I don’t share my problems and ask for help.”

  Zane looked at Gray, as if checking to see if he had a better response. Then he shook his head. “Not true. You wrote in the journal and asked for ideas on how to date Piper.”

  “Look how that turned out.” Seriously, who thought two people under the age of fifty would go to bingo at the community center as a date? He’d never seen such a collection of bad ideas. “Besides, the journal can’t provide the kind of help I need.”

  “Now I’m intrigued.”

  Seeing as how he was asking for a favor, Ward bit back a comment. Because the Professor was intrigued by anything. He could look at the pile of leaves and suddenly be intrigued to find out if orange ones fell off the tree faster than red. “I need my posse. Are you guys in?”

  “Is it legal?” Gray spread his arms, palms up. “I’m in, either way. I just need to know if I should leave some cash on the nightstand for Ella to bail me out.”

  “If everything goes according to plan, yeah. No harm, no foul.” Because what he really didn’t need as the cherry on his shitty week was getting beat up in a college dive bar. “I need you guys to back me up and look intimidating. But we don’t want to actually do anything stupid.”

  Zane snickered. “That could be our motto. ‘With friends like us you’ll never need a bail bondsman.’”

  Ward had never regretted having three girls as his best friends. It sure didn’t suck adding these guys into the circle over the past few months, though. They were the brothers he never knew he needed. Hell, Gray had helped Ward out of a bar brawl the night they met. No doubt these guys would have his back. “Let’s not print the T-shirts just yet.”

  “Who are we intimidating?”

  Some pissant who didn’t realize that he’d put the wrong man over a barrel. “This guy Rich. My sister’s dating him. He’s the lead singer for a band that plays here, Yellow Snow.”

  Gray smirked. “That explains the stink in the parking lot.”

  “He’s got my sister all twisted up in the head. Wants her to hold me up for a ton of money I don’t have. Lori would never do that on her own.” Ward’s hackles rose just talking about it. His sister wasn’t a pawn. Rich thought he could manipulate her? Well, he clearly hadn’t thought it all the way through. Had never gotten to the part where his girlfriend’s big brother got pissed and put his foot down.

  “Rich sounds like a real prince.”

  “Prince of the douche-bags,” added Zane.

  “If I can talk him into standing down on the threats, then I think I can get through to Lori.” Ward had thought about it, long and hard. Then a lot longer. He’d connected with Lori a couple of times in their weird and halting conversation. He’d definitely seen that the sister he adored was still in there, behind the green hair and the nasty threats.

  Their mother had her faults. But she wouldn’t have raised Lori to be okay with her present course of action. Guilt had to be eating her up. Ward could use that guilt as a toehold. He didn’t just want to convince her to drop the demand for cash. He wanted his sister back. Back in his life, back in Seneca Lake. Getting rid of Rich was the key to all of it.

  Gray raised his hand. Waggled his fingers. “So, just to be clear, we’re not going to go in there and put his face through the drum set?”

  That’d be...satisfying. But it wouldn’t solve anything. “Don’t tempt me. We can’t fight him. That would just make him look like a sorry-ass victim, seeing as how we’d whip his ass, and Lori would feel sorry for him. Be mad at me. It’d backfire, no matter much fun it might be.”

  “Can we keep it as plan B?”

  “Sure.”

  Zane scratched the back of his neck. “What’s plan A? Aside from me flexing my mighty biceps a lot?”

  “Damn. This probably would work better if we waited for Joel to get back from his honeymoon.” What were the odds that the one time he needed his super-secret military friend to kick into action, Joel had to be off wearing a lei and working on his tan?

  “Hey, I can flex. And intimidate. Don’t sell me short until you see me in action.”

  “I’m going to explain that he’s outstayed his welcome in the Finger Lakes. That even if I gave Lori every cent, I’d tie it up in trusts so that she can’t touch it for ten years. More importantly, so that he can’t touch one red dime of it. Then I’ll get into how the three of us are locals. Deeply connected. And we’ll make sure nobody in all of upstate New York will let Yellow Snow play so much as a rim shot if they don’t leave town as soon as this gig’s over tonight.” Ward clapped Gray and Zane on their arms. “That’ll be your cue to flex and scowl.”

  “It’s a solid plan.”

  “Hope so.” If this one worked, he’d be able to move on to part two of his fix-his-whole-fucked-up-life plan.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “The last time Ward and I broke up, I ate a steady diet
of nothing but butter pecan ice cream and tortilla chips for three days. My television was never turned off and my butt didn’t leave the couch. That’s how you wallow. This?” Piper waved a hand at the pristine nature surrounding them. Stupid colorful trees with their picture-perfect autumn-hued leaves. Sun sparkling on the lake like a field of blue diamonds. “I need a whole other day to wallow over how much I’m not wallowing right now.”

  Ella gave her a sympathetic look. Tugged on the end of Piper’s cream scarf. Kept a hold of it, turned around and speed-walked backward, pulling Piper along. “You were nineteen last time. Did you gain any weight after that three-day ice cream splurge?”

  “No.”

  Giving the scarf a final flap, Ella bounced back into step with the other two. “If you did it today, we’d have to go buy you new pants.”

  “For the inevitable mushrooming of your currently perfect ass.” Casey goosed her and then darted away with a laugh.

  “And as much as we love shopping, breakups are sad enough. You shouldn’t be punished by gaining weight on top of it. So we walk now. Get those endorphins surging through your body. Turn your mood around.”

  Ella gave fantastic massages. But sometimes she went overboard with the holistic healing stuff. Piper could put up with the essential oils for every possible occasion, just because they smelled nice. She’d put her foot down on feng shui weirdness. Ella had wanted to move her couch away from the door. It made the whole living room look like a toddler arranged it.

  “Don’t try to whitewash this forced march with your spa serenity crap.” Piper knew she sounded snippy. And she didn’t feel the least bit guilty. If there was ever a time to be entitled to be a moody bitch, it was now. Breaking up with your boyfriend, with the love of your life, for the freaking second time, entitled her to a lot. Including an entire pint of butter pecan. Clearly she’d have to take care of that in private.

  “When you hit the two-mile mark, then we’ll hook you up with some ice cream.” Ella’s smile offered forgiveness for Piper’s snippiness.

  Casey mimed a few air punches. “Tough love, Morrissey. You’ll thank us for this. Eventually.”

  Of course she would. Piper was grateful for the tetanus booster she got last month, too. But she still griped about it when her arm was so sore she couldn’t get her shirt off. “I’d rather have my love encased in a feathery soft down pillow. Perhaps carried on the backs of kittens.”

  Ella tried to lift one lip into a snarl. It really just looked as if she’d burned her mouth on pizza, though. “You’ll take what we give you, and you’ll like it.”

  Blinking against the harsh morning sun, Piper sighed. Why was she fighting them so hard? Just for the right to eat ice cream? Or because she resented that they knew better? “Maybe you’re right. Right to decide what I need at this point in my life. I’ve certainly proven that I don’t know what’s best for myself.”

  “Here we go. With the self-loathing and the self-pity.” Casey checked her sports watch. “Right on time, too. You haven’t whined about how thoroughly wretched your life is for a good, oh, seven minutes now.”

  Toying with the zipper on her fleece, Piper asked, “Where’s the sympathy?”

  “After five straight days? On autopilot, same as your complaining.”

  Okay. They were right yet again. Piper had gone to work. Done her shifts at Cosgrove’s. And pretty much complained nonstop via text, calls or in-person to her long-suffering friends throughout all of it. Endlessly. Repetitively. But she didn’t know what else to do. How else to...well, not get over it. She’d never get over Ward. Never stop loving him, either. Nonetheless, Piper needed to figure out how to get past it. Soon.

  On principle, though, she couldn’t admit that to Ella and Casey yet. She’d held their hands through pout-fests before. No reason her turn should be cut short. “Nobody gave me an expiration date on my wallowing. Do I need to recap why I deserve kid-glove treatment from you two?”

  “Pretty sure I can recite it word for word by now.” Uh-oh. Ella took a deep breath and planted her feet. “Because you’d been one-hundred-percent proof-positive convinced that Ward was the best thing to happen to you.”

  Nailed it. Maybe Ella had missed her calling. Instead of giving massages, with a steel-trap mind like that she should be a journalist. Or maybe a professional card-counter.

  Casey took over the recitation as she tugged her green knit cap over her ears. “That you’d merge your businesses as seamlessly as you’d begun to merge your lives. That the reason you broke up the first time was a blip. A much smaller mistake than you thought, and wholly typical of the dumb things you did and learned from in college.”

  Casey wasn’t as spot-on with her monologue as Ella. “I never said I did dumb things in college.” Piper dropped into her most divalicious deep curtsey, arms extended and fingers pointed. “I called them growth opportunities.”

  Her brief moment of levity fizzled as quickly as it had fizzed. Growing-pain level mistakes she could handle. Forgive. Forget. So she’d planned to cut him slack—and vice versa—on the speed bumps they encountered while dating.

  Until she discovered Ward had been keeping secrets from her. Talk about a line in the sand. That brought every uncertainty, every insecurity, every doubt rushing back a thousand fold. Sometimes love wasn’t enough. Relationships, lasting relationships, required trust and respect as well. His thirty-day experiment was engineered to let them exist as a real couple. But the assumption could be made it was like an interview. An audition. In other words, they were both going the extra mile. On their best dating behavior.

  At least, Piper had been. If Ward wasn’t willing to be truthful, to be a shining, exemplary star of a boyfriend during this month when he was trying his damnedest to convince her they belonged together? Well, what sort of chance did that give them for two years down the line? When the new and shiny had rubbed off their relationship? When life was messy and busy and complicated? Sure, he’d been great in every other respect. Thoughtful, romantic, sexy, understanding, always willing to listen. But all that wasn’t enough. Not to keep them together forever. And what was the point, if forever wasn’t the end goal?

  Piper stepped off the path and dropped onto the grass. Immediately regretted it because the morning-damp ground seeped right through her yoga pants. Damage was already done, though, so she stayed down, arms holding her knees tight to her chest. “Forget wondering why Ward kept secrets from me. Let’s make it even more basic. Why didn’t he tell us? The four of us tell each other everything. That’s why I said our friendship was over, on top of our so-called relationship. I just don’t get it.” How could she ever fully trust him?

  Casey knelt next to her. Looked over at Ella, who also sat. Took a deep breath. “If I tell you something, do you promise not to bite my head off?”

  “Unless it’s coated in butter pecan ice cream, yes.”

  One hand raised, she continued. “Do you promise to remember that I’m merely the conduit? That I’m in no way condoning his actions?”

  Oh my gosh. The pilot light of hope that Piper had been sure was extinguished flickered back to life. “You know? You know why? What did he tell you? When did he tell you? Why haven’t you told me already?”

  “Ward told me things in confidence. He’s reeling from this too, you know. I’m mad at him for hurting you. But none of us can punish him more than he’s punishing himself. So yeah, I took pity, put my righteous indignation on your behalf to the side and listened to him. It’s the sort of thing we’ve all done for one another. It usually stays private.”

  “True.”

  “This time, however, is different. You’re both a little too stubborn to get out of this mess unless I butt in.”

  “Because you’re the relationship expert?”

  “Hardly. You know darn well I suck at being a girlfriend. The only reason it’s working wit
h Zane is because the man’s amazing. Patient. Everything rolls off of him like water off a duck’s back. And have you seen his back? The way the muscles ripple in it?” Casey’s eyes just about glazed over. It’d be adorable if it wasn’t quite so nauseating.

  “The absolute last thing I need today is listening to the hearts-and-flowers babbling of the newly engaged. All I ask is that I’m allowed one solid week to be miserable. Seven days of wallowing and pouting and yes, as much ice cream as I want. Then I promise to bubble over with happiness again for both you and Ella, and jump back into wedding planning.”

  “Fair enough.” Ella took her hands. “You know, you two were at a disadvantage from the start. The past was looming over you, coloring everything.”

  “No. Truly, I promised not to let that happen.”

  “I’m sure you did. Best of intentions and all that. But certain people in town wouldn’t let you forget. More good intentions, because they didn’t want to see you hurt again. Still, their snotty attitude toward Ward was a constant reminder that he’d let you down before.”

  Piper opened her mouth to continue to deny it. Then she thought about Leona Miller’s offer at the sing-along Sound of Music to let Piper sit with her rather than be stuck next to Ward. Realized that while it had a foundation of kindness, it was topped with a thin, insidious layer of bitchery. And further realized that all those little digs had been getting to her. That she’d been worried about being seen as the pitiable girl who out of desperation went back to the man who cheated on her.

  When, in fact, desperation had nothing to do with it. She’d given Ward a second chance because nobody in the world got her like he did. Because nobody else excited her the way he did. Because, for better or worse, Ward was it for her.

  Ella threw an arm around her shoulders and hugged her sideways. “What’s worse is that you let your parents get in your head and infect you with doubt. They gave you all that grief about how it would look if you hooked up with him again. Which is sort of what made Ward keep his plans close to his vest, maybe?”