Staying For Good (A Most Likely To Novel Book 2)

by Catherine Bybee

  “Seriously, Jo . . . what’s up?”

  She didn’t want to talk about how she’d been keeping an eye on any and all alumni who trickled through town in hopes of finding some clue as to who was responsible for her father’s death. She was convinced that if anyone had information, it wasn’t someone who still lived in River Bend. So watching the town visitors had become the norm for her every year.

  Instead of saying anything to Luke, she kept up with the half-truths being passed around the graduates of a decade past. “I’m wondering which of these yahoos are responsible for the toilet paper dripping off my trees this year.”

  Luke’s slow chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh.

  “It’s not funny.”

  “Sure as hell is. Looks like whoever did it managed an even better job than last year.”

  She’d woken up that morning with a sea of white flowing down from every tree in her yard. Seemed the reunion at River Bend High was accompanied by TPing the sheriff’s house for the second year in a row.

  “Took nearly six months for some of that crap to get out of the pine tree last year,” she mumbled.

  Luke scanned the crowd. “I don’t see any suspicious toilet paper sticking out of anyone’s back pocket, Jo. You might just have to stay up late next year to catch the culprit.”

  Problem was, the previous year the toilet paper slaughter of her front yard had taken place the night of the reunion, and this time it had happened the day before.

  “What is the sentence for toilet papering a front yard these days, Sheriff? Fifteen to life?”

  Jo shoved his shoulder and scowled at his laughter as she walked away.

  She was half convinced her team of friends was responsible for the stupidity dangling from her house.

  Luke moved around the shop, returning his tools to their proper places and putting extra effort into clearing off the workbench.

  “I’m starting to think you’re getting ready to leave here for good.” Luke’s father stood in the doorway leading to the office, a shop towel in his hand.

  Luke glanced up before returning to the task of separating the metric and standard sockets into two different drawers.

  “It’s just a few days.”

  “A few days here, a few days there. How is everything with Zoe?”

  Hearing her name made him smile. “Zoe’s great.”

  Fred Miller took up space beside Luke and looked down into the toolbox. “Your mom and I have always liked that girl.”

  Luke didn’t need his parents’ approval, but it didn’t suck to hear. “She likes you, too.”

  Fred took a socket from the pile of metric sizes and tossed it into the standard box.

  “Do you think things are going to work out with the two of you?”

  His father never talked about his relationships, but then again, Luke hadn’t had many since high school.

  “I’d like to think so.”

  “The geography isn’t ideal.”

  “Which is why I’m going to visit her.”

  Fred stopped looking in the box and stared long enough for Luke to stare back.

  They were silent for a good minute.

  “I remember the first time you climbed under a car with me,” his father said, taking a trip down memory lane.

  “Your old Chevy . . . and it was a truck,” Luke reminded him.

  “I was the luckiest father in this town. You didn’t cause us any problems, you willingly greased up your hands with mine.”

  Luke wasn’t sure where this was leading. “I like cars. Lucky me you knew how to keep them running.”

  Fred sighed with a nod. “Yeah, but I never pretended that you’d stay here forever. River Bend isn’t a big place.”

  “What’s this all about, Dad?”

  His dad looked away. “Oh, I don’t know. Your girl lives in Texas. She doesn’t have a lot of family love here.”

  “Zoe has a ton of friends who care.”

  “I know that. But her blood drove her away once. It would be hard to get her back.”

  Which was why Luke was exploring other options. “It’s just a visit.”

  Fred winked. “You should know that I’m capable of running this place on my own, son. In case you thought otherwise.”

  Equal parts warmth and sorrow washed over him with the meaning behind his father’s words. “Trying to get rid of me?”

  Fred shook his head. “Just making sure you’re following your heart and dreams and not sticking around here for mine.”

  Emotion clogged Luke’s throat. “I’ve never felt stuck.”

  “I know. And I don’t want you feeling it now.”

  Luke moved in for a hug, and felt his father hold on longer than he had in some time. “Love you, Dad.”

  “Love you, too, son.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Zoe stretched her legs until her pointed toes reached Luke’s. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  He wrapped his arm around her back and pressed her naked frame against his. The sheets were still damp from the last hour of lovemaking.

  “Hope you don’t mind a roommate for the next few days.”

  She traced a finger over his chest. “The benefit package that comes along with a lack of bed space is workable.”

  He chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

  “Seriously, though, if you’d told me you were coming, I could have arranged some time off.”

  “I think it’s a better idea to spend time with each other when we’re in our normal routines.”

  “There’s nothing normal about my routine. Thinking about you sitting around doing nothing stresses me out.”

  “I’m sure I’ll find something to do while you’re working. Besides, I plan on crashing the set tomorrow.”

  Zoe wasn’t sure if that would be more stressful or not.

  “If you distract me . . .”

  He slid a knee beside hers. “What do you mean, if?”

  “Felix likes you, but he’ll kick you off the set if I can’t concentrate.”

  “It sounds like you don’t want me there.”

  Zoe glanced up. “I’ve never had a guest on set.”

  Luke’s eyes widened. “Never?”

  “Not a personal guest. I’ve had producers, other chefs . . . friends in the business, but not . . .” How was she supposed to quantify who Luke was to her? Lover didn’t sound right. Friend was an understatement. Boyfriend sounded adolescent . . .

  He must have caught her distress, because he leaned down and kissed her softly. “You won’t know I’m there. I promise.”

  Not only did she know he was there . . . so did everyone else on set.

  Felix set up a director’s chair beside his and forced Luke to sit next to him, behind the bright lights.

  The set had holiday decorations, including Christmas lights, and a tiny, decked-out tree.

  The team had already measured and prepped the dishes she was going to make, leaving the actual cooking to her.

  Makeup took a little more time. Felix asked that she glitter her eyes to add to the festive feel of the shoot. They had her in a fitted red sweater, black leggings, and three-inch heels. The air conditioner in the studio blasted out a steady sixty degrees, making everyone other than her frozen.

  “Okay, Zoe . . . let’s do this in as few takes as possible.” Felix moved around the set, pushing colorful bowls of sweets a little to the right, a tad closer to the cameras. “It’s cold in here.”

  Zoe pulled her sweater away from her skin. “Speak for yourself.”

  September moved beside her, handing over a giant glass of ice water while the other hands scrambled to clear the kitchen.

  She felt Luke’s eyes on her as she took her position behind the counter.

  He lifted his hand in a silent wave.

  She smiled and directed her attention to camera two and the teleprompter that would cue her opening before she improvised the rest of the segment.

  Felix waltzed back to
his chair, his words traveling throughout the studio. “Now you get to see your little lady in action. You’re in for a treat, Luke.”

  Zoe rolled her eyes at the your little lady reference.

  “I’ve already seen her in action,” she heard Luke say.

  Several people in the room laughed. Zoe’s cheeks grew warm.

  She shot him a warning look and pointed a finger in his direction. “Don’t start rumors.”

  He made a motion as if he were locking his lips together and winked.

  “Okay, everyone . . . quiet on set. Camera two on Zoe. Camera one, take the profile, and three, be ready to zoom in on her hands.”

  Zoe glanced at Luke one last time before Felix put her into action.

  Eight hours later, Zoe managed to fill five overflowing dessert trays with all the colors of the Christmas rainbow. They would film one dish, then clear the kitchen to film another. She insisted on easy holiday recipes that popped with color and texture and that any homemaker could manage with a little patience.

  When she returned from her dressing room after changing out of her winter clothes, she found Luke hovering over the finished goodies with the rest of the crew, sampling her treats.

  She caught Luke midbite. “Good?” she asked.

  “Oh, my God . . . these are those caramel things you used to make for Miss Gina.”

  He waved the candy at her. She leaned in and took a bite. “Mmm. Yep.”

  “They taste even better than I remember.”

  His praise meant more than it should. “I hope so. I’m a little more talented than when I cooked at the inn.”

  “What inn is this?” Felix licked part of one of her peppermint shortbread cookies off his fingers.

  “Miss Gina’s. It’s a bed-and-breakfast in my hometown.”

  September pushed into the conversation. “Isn’t that the place you want us to go and help with your friend’s wedding?”

  “In Oregon, yeah.”

  “Do they wear cowboy boots in Oregon?” Felix asked.

  Zoe stopped chewing and narrowed her gaze at her director.

  Airport good-byes were starting to weigh her smile down. Luke felt the gravity of him leaving on the drive into Dallas Fort Worth International.

  “When I get home, I’ll book the hotels in Vegas,” he said from the passenger seat of Zoe’s car.

  “I plan on getting Mel a lap dance. So make sure you guys are far away.”

  “I’d like to see that.”

  “Stand in line.”

  “When will you be back in town?”

  It was her turn to visit, and with the wedding to plan, she had more than one excuse to go. “Two weeks. Now that the holiday filming is over, I need to renegotiate my contracts, which only leaves the restaurant.” The restaurant she was seriously considering leaving. Saying it out loud, even to Luke, felt permanent. She wanted to wait for some kind of sign that she was doing the right thing. What happened if the ratings on her holiday specials didn’t do well? What if her film days were behind her? She might need the day job.

  How had she become so cautious? She’d jumped when she was a kid, now she dipped her toe in the water slowly to measure the temperature before taking a step.

  “I have a confession to make,” Luke said.

  She looked over the rim of her sunglasses.

  “While you were working yesterday, I interviewed at a couple of shops.”

  “Interviewed? Here?” She had to force her eyes toward the road.

  “There’s a specialty motorcycle garage in Cedars and a domestic shop downtown looking for help.”

  Oh, damn . . . that wasn’t what she expected to hear. She had no idea how to respond. “Luke, I . . .”

  “You don’t like the idea.”

  She hid behind her sunglasses. “It’s unexpected. I thought your dad would retire and you’d take over his shop.”

  “My dad is years away from retirement.”

  “But you live in River Bend.”

  He turned to stare out the window. Her reaction had upset him. “Never mind.”

  “Luke . . . it’s . . . we just got back together.”

  He leaned his head back.

  “Moving to Texas is a huge step.”

  “I’m testing the waters, Zoe. Relax. I haven’t put my house on the market.”

  She hadn’t heard the hint of anger in his voice for a long time. Hearing it now, and knowing she was the cause, made her heart ache.

  They were silent the few remaining miles to the airport. He suggested she drop him off at the curb, but she parked the car instead.

  They sat looking out the parked car window in quiet agony. “Luke, I—”

  “You don’t have to say anything.”

  “Yes I do. You’re mad.”

  “I thought you might be excited.”

  She forced a smile. “At seeing you more, of course . . . but moving here for me . . . for us. It’s too soon, Luke. What if you hate it? What if we don’t work out?” What if I suck at long-term? What if I’m the wrong woman for you?

  “What if I don’t . . . and what if we do?” He turned her words around.

  Fear rolled over her skin in waves. She glanced at her hands and noticed them shaking. “I can take a lot of hits, Luke, but you changing your whole life for me isn’t something I want to be responsible for. Not yet.”

  He reached over and covered her hands with one of his.

  She felt tears in her eyes. “Please don’t hate me.”

  Luke lifted one of her hands and placed it to his lips. “Hating you isn’t possible.”

  She looked at him now. “Can’t we just enjoy what we have for now?”

  “For the summer. But after Wyatt and Mel’s wedding, we’re revisiting this subject.”

  The summer. A little less than three months. “Okay.” A lot could change in three months.

  Once Mel picked out the colors she wanted, it was only a matter of dress style for Zoe and Jo’s bridesmaid gowns. Even though Zoe had a fair amount of education in fashion, she never missed an opportunity to take Felix with her when it came to expanding her wardrobe.

  “Tell me about this wedding.” Felix flipped through a rack of semiformal gowns with a salesperson standing by.

  “It’s at the inn.”

  “Miss Gina’s, right. You told me that. She sounds like a gem, this Miss Gina.”

  Zoe picked up an off the shoulder three-quarter length silk and held it to her waist.

  Felix titled his head in consideration. “Might work for you, but your friend Jo doesn’t have your rack.”

  Zoe turned to the side. “She does, she just hides it.”

  “Why on earth would she do that?”

  “It’s the cop in her.”

  Felix took the gown from her and handed it to the saleslady. “We’ll try this one.”

  They kept looking.

  “This inn, does it have a big kitchen?”

  “State-of-the-art. Miss Gina updated it the year before I graduated. I encouraged her to take out an old butler pantry to make room for the bigger stove and second prep sink.”

  Felix found a strapless gown with a beaded bodice and placed it over his arm.

  “Will all the cooking for this wedding happen at the inn?”

  “Last-minute stuff. Sam’s kitchen is commercial. My guess is he’ll close the restaurant for the day.”

  Felix looked like he didn’t believe her. “That still happens in this world?”

  “It does in River Bend. Main Street closes down for the Fourth of July, and the town pulls together to decorate the town square for every holiday.”

  “Everyone knows everybody?”

  “Almost. The outskirts of town have grown a little, which is probably for the best or River Bend would have emptied out years ago.”

  “What about an industry . . . jobs?”

  “Mom-and-pop stuff. There’s a farmers’ market that brings out the crafters in town, and there is always someone trying to lure in
small retail shops to keep the town going year-round.” Zoe found a cap-sleeved dress that stopped at her knee.

  Felix shook his head. “Too young.”

  She thought it was cute, but probably not for a wedding.

  “So what keeps the town alive?”

  “The schools. We have the local high school that pulls in from surrounding towns. Waterville has the county seat, so we don’t have the politics that most towns have. There’s a diner and a couple of fast food kind of places. Just enough retail to keep you from leaving town to buy a nail or a can of oil for your car.”

  “And an auto shop?”

  Zoe smiled. “Miller’s Auto has been there for as long as I remember.”

  “It sounds charming.” Felix found another strapless dress and handed both to the woman waiting in the wings. “Why did you leave?”

  She took another sleeved gown off the rack, glanced at the price tag. She turned it around and showed it to Felix. “Because I would never have been able to afford this if I had stayed.”

  He couldn’t argue that.

  “Tell me more about Miss Gina’s kitchen. Can we bring a film crew in?”

  Zoe dropped her hands to her sides. “What are you getting at, Felix?”

  “I hate this state. And I think the industry can use another hometown cooking show. If we brought the world to the kitchen you grew up in—”

  “The kitchen I grew up in was a dump,” she interrupted.

  “Okay, the kitchen you learned to love cooking in . . . I think we could have something there. A bed-and-breakfast is more intimate than a big urban restaurant. Plenty of charm.”

  She stopped shopping and stared.

  “I’ve already blown the idea past Newton.”

  Newton was the producer of her current show and the man she and Suki negotiated with on an annual basis.

  “You did what?”

  “Don’t sound so stressed, darling. He liked the idea but made it clear he’d film you wherever you wanted to cook. He did suggest you consider a bed-and-breakfast cookbook if we filmed in River Bend.”

  “A cookbook?” Was she hearing all this straight?

  “Why not? You’re a chef. It’s a natural.”

  The saleslady took the dress from her hands. “Are you ready to try any of these on?”