by Loree Lough
If he hadn’t looked so smug when she said it, Billie might not have felt it necessary to add, “Just don’t go too hard on her, okay?”
He opened the door. “You’re a great web designer, and I’ll bet you were a dynamite flight attendant, too. But unless you can show me a certificate that proves you’re qualified to analyze me or my daughter…”
In other words, Billie thought, butt out.
She gripped the doorknob so tightly her knuckles ached. “Your site is live now, but I can make changes anytime. Call me if you see anything you’d like tweaked,” she said, and closed the door.
Nothing about him made sense. Troy had been a security specialist in Philadelphia, yet he hadn’t been able to roust out one iota of information about Noah—not even after calling in a few favors from former coworkers. Who lives thirty-some years without leaving some kind of a paper trail?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“YOU KNOW WHY you’re in trouble, right?”
“Because I was snooping?”
“I thought the box fell, accidently.”
Alyssa tucked in one corner of her mouth. “So when are we going back to Billie’s house, so I can say I’m sorry again?”
Noah replayed those final five minutes at her place and grimaced inwardly. Everything he’d said and done had been uncalled for. Picturing her as she came to Alyssa’s defense put a smile in place of the grimace: spine stiff, shoulders back, hands on hips and chin up, she’d stared him down…right up until the moment when she thought her attitude might affect the way he’d punish Alyssa.
“We’ll give her a couple of days.” The truth? He needed the time to come up with a good excuse to call.
Alyssa plopped back onto her pillow and flapped her covers. “I think she’d make a great mom.” Her nose wrinkled. “Wonder why she doesn’t have a husband and kids.”
“Good question.” Because Billie would make a great mom.
Noah listened to Alyssa’s prayers and tucked her in, then left the door open a crack so the glow from the night-light in the hall could filter into her room. After settling into his recliner, he picked up the latest issue of Bicycling and flipped to the feature article, a story about the rise and fall of a cycling legend. Noah had read only a few paragraphs when a soft knock interrupted him.
The only time Max dropped in at this hour was when she had something to tell him that Alyssa shouldn’t hear. Hopefully, the purpose of this visit was to tell him that Hank O’Malley would no longer be a problem.
But it was Troy Landon on the small landing, not Max. Had he come to read him the riot act for upsetting his little sister?
Noah opened the door. “Hey, Troy. How goes it?”
“It goes. I know it’s late, and to be honest, Billie would have my head on a plate if she knew I was here.”
“Soda? Beer?” Noah asked, closing the door.
“I’m good, but thanks.”
The men sat facing one another in the living room, and Troy was the first to speak.
“I understand you had a little run-in with my sister today.”
Noah didn’t know what to say. First of all, it wasn’t exactly a run-in….
“I’m sorry if she’s upset. Alyssa and I were talking earlier about going back over there, setting things straight.”
Troy leaned back, rested an arm on the sofa cushions. “Here’s the thing about Billie—and if you tell her what I’m about to say, I’ll—”
“Don’t worry. I’m a great secret keeper.”
Troy’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he opened his mouth as if to ask what that meant. He propped an ankle on a knee instead, and said, “She’s still mourning her baby, see, so she has…let’s call them issues. She says the reason she avoids kids is because they always have runny noses and dirty fingernails.” He inspected his own nails, then added, “But she isn’t fooling anybody. All she ever wanted was to grow up, get married and have kids.”
“Miscarriage?”
“Stillbirth,” Troy said matter-of-factly. “She bounced back physically—thanks to the Cannondale—but for a long time, we didn’t know if she’d ever recover emotionally. And that idiot she married didn’t help matters.”
Noah was curious about her ex, and wanted to hear what had ended the marriage. But the less he knew about Billie, the easier it would be to keep her at arm’s length.
“Understood.” He paused, then changed the subject. “How’s the house hunting going?”
“Good. Found three properties I like. My place in Pennsylvania is on the market. With any luck, it’ll sell fast so I won’t have to take Billie up on her offer.”
Her offer? To become her permanent roommate, Noah wondered, or loan him the down payment for one of the houses he’d seen? But those weren’t the questions he wanted to ask. Why was Troy here? That’s what he really wanted to know.
“So what brings you here, Troy?”
“Covering my bases, mostly. I’m guessing you have a wide variety of customers. Maybe somebody in the security business. One who mentioned a job opening.”
For all he knew, Billie’s brother was an ex-con. Troy’s brow furrowed as he picked absently at a loose thread on his sock. “Don’t know how much Billie told you, but my plan is to make Ellicott City my home base.” He put both feet on the floor, as if preparing to stand. “So if you hear of anything—doesn’t have to be security-related—let me know?”
Billie hadn’t told him anything. No surprise there. But Noah didn’t see any reason to take it out on her brother.
“Actually, I do know a guy.” Noah told him about Jeff, who owned a company that installed and repaired security systems. If Troy wasn’t on the up-and-up, Jeff would find out during the interview process. “Last time he was in, he mentioned that he’d just lost his regional manager.”
Troy leaned forward, clearly interested in the news. “Commercial or residential?”
“Both. I think. Want me to give him a call?”
“Hey. Sure. Thanks, man.”
Noah opened his cell phone and scrolled to Jeff’s number.
Troy laughed nervously. “Whoa. I didn’t mean right now!”
“Relax. He’s a night owl, like me.”
Noah called and Jeff picked up right away. “This better be good, Preston. I’m in the middle of Moby Dick.”
“What? You didn’t read that in high school?”
“Not unless Cliff Notes count.”
“How does a lazy guy like you end up running one of the biggest security firms in the mid-Atlantic?”
“By realizing at a very tender age that math would open more doors than classic literature. But enough about me. What do you want at nine-thirty on a Friday night?”
“Remember Billie, the woman with the sprained ankle you met at the shop? The one who built my website?”
“Sounds to me like you’re getting real cozy, not that I blame you. Besides, I remember the way you were looking at her. Not that I blame you for that, either.”
First Max, now Jeff? If Noah knew what was good for him, he’d put more effort into a deadpan expression when he was around Billie.
“So anyway,” he continued, “her brother is moving from Philly to Baltimore, and he’s looking for a job in your field.”
“If he’s okay with running up and down I-95 every week, I want to talk to him.”
“He’s sitting right here. I’ll put him on and you two can hammer out the details.”
Noah handed Troy the phone and gave a thumbs-up.
In the kitchen, he uncapped a beer and took a swig, and leaning against the counter, visualized one of the photographs Alyssa had found: a white marble angel, cradling an infant. At the angel’s feet, a brass plaque that was too fuzzy to read. According to Troy, losing the baby had been hard on Billie. From that, Noah could only assume the blowup between her and “her idiot husband” had been enormous. Why else would she have left that beautiful, well-tended grave behind?
What had brought her to Baltimore, of all places
? Certainly not her job. With a business like that, she could work anywhere, as long as she had a power source and internet access. And why settle down in one of Maryland’s oldest neighborhoods, instead of a modern house like he had seen in a photo she’d held just a second or two longer than all the rest, as she put them back in the box?
Troy joined him in the kitchen, smiling as he handed back the phone. “You have another one of those?” he asked, pointing at the beer.
“Help yourself,” Noah said, using the bottle to gesture toward the fridge. “Things went well with Jeff, I take it.”
“We’re meeting tomorrow so I can sign an employment contract.” Troy chuckled and popped the top off the beer. “Mr. Security Expert checked me out while we were talking, so I don’t need to update my résumé or fill out an application.” Billie’s brother took a swallow of his beer, then leaned forward and clinked the bottle against Noah’s. “I owe you big-time, dude. Big-time.”
“Hey. I made a phone call. The rest is on you. Remember that, if things don’t work out.”
By eleven o’clock, there were six empties lined up on Noah’s kitchen counter. He hadn’t talked that much, all at one time, since leaving Chicago. In the hour and a half since the call to Jeff had ended, they had discussed sports, the weather, taxes…
…and Billie.
“I’ve known her all her life, and I can tell when she likes somebody. Trust me, man. She. Likes. You.”
To be honest, Noah liked her, too.
Troy went home at eleven-thirty, leaving Noah to face an unsettling fact.
Everyone, it seemed, thought he and Billie ought to be together.
Everyone, that is, except Noah.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
TROY PADDED INTO the living room and immediately stretched out on the couch.
“So how’s Bud?”
“Fine. Great, actually. Surgery went quicker than anyone expected. He was in and out of the O.R. in just a few hours. When I left him last night, he was sitting up and flirting with the nurses. I’m heading over to see him this afternoon. Want to come with me?”
Troy gave the thumbs-up sign. “That’s a good sign. And yeah, I might just do that.”
“Men,” she said, clucking her tongue. “Where were you until all hours of the night?” She spun her desk chair to face him.
“At Noah’s.”
She saved her file and went to sit across from him. “No way.”
“Why is that so hard to believe? He’s a nice guy, I’m a nice guy.” Troy sat up. “Case closed. Besides, your wannabe boyfriend got me a job.”
“Wannabe…” Billie shook her head. “I barely know him. And neither does anyone else on the planet, if the information available about him online is any indicator. Which, as you know, is nothing.”
“I looked you up, just for fun. Except for your business stuff, there’s nothing about you online, either. Same goes for mom. And Dani. And just about everyone else we know.”
Billie caught herself staring, and closed her mouth. “Why would you look up our mother? And our sister-in-law?”
“It was a test. To prove that not everyone has a paper trail. From everything I’ve seen, Noah is clean.”
“Well. That’s good news, I suppose. Especially for Alyssa’s sake.” Would have been better news, if Noah really was her boyfriend…. “But wait a minute. Did I hear you say just now that he got you a job?”
Nodding, Troy said, “Jeff Graham, a customer of his, owns Graham Security Systems. Has offices all up and down the East Coast, along with a couple dozen franchises. My job will be to visit the cities where the franchise owners are, helping the new ones get set up and troubleshooting the existing ones.”
“Sounds like you’ll be on the road a lot.”
“Two, maybe three days a week. But everything is within driving distance. And Jeff will provide a car, a cell phone and a company credit card.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“Why? I told you…Noah’s a good guy.”
“That isn’t what I meant. You came here, hat in hand, without a job or a home to speak of, and in just under a month you’re a big shot? I don’t get it.”
He stretched pretend suspenders. “That’s what clean livin’ will get you, little sister.”
“If clean living is the criteria,” Billie sniffed, “I should be queen of the world.”
“I don’t want to hear it. Happiness is right around the corner. Literally. It’s your choice to pass it by.”
She didn’t want to justify her reasons for staying a safe distance from Noah Preston. Mostly, because Billie didn’t understand them herself.
“Tell me more about your job.”
Troy explained that his first trip would include visits to Virginia Beach, Newark and Dover, where franchisees were installing surveillance equipment and alarm systems in beachfront condo lobbies, strip malls and office buildings.
“Basically,” he said, “they’re introductory. Jeff is having business cards printed up, ordering the phone and lining up the credit card.”
His cell phone beeped, signaling a text message.
“Well, I’ll be,” he said, reading it. “It’s from my real estate agent in Philly.” He looked at Billie. “Victoria is going to buy the house, after all. And she’s paying more than the asking price. Which means I’ll have enough to put the down payment on that sweet little place up the street from you. See what clean living will get you?”
Billie sat beside him and wrapped him in a hug. “Congratulations, big brother. I’m happy for you.”
As if to punctuate her good wishes, his phone rang.
“Oh, good grief!” she said. “If that’s more good news, I’ll eat my hat!”
“You aren’t wearing a hat,” he pointed out.
His teasing grin vanished when he read the caller ID window. “Oh, no,” he groaned. “Victoria. Here’s hoping she hasn’t changed her mind.”
While he took the call, Billie went back to her desk and made a note to thank Noah. She hadn’t seen Troy this happy in years. Maybe she’d make lasagna. Or a pot roast. Steaks on the grill. And invite him and Alyssa—and the Grahams, of course—to help celebrate Troy’s good news.
Her own phone rang, startling her so badly that she nearly upended her coffee. She didn’t recognize the number, and said a coolly professional hello.
“Hey, Billie, it’s Jeff Graham. The guy from the bike shop.”
Troy’s new boss…
“Well, hi. Did you ever pick up your elbow pads?”
“As a matter of fact, I did. That’s kind of why I’m calling.”
He told her that there was a two-day ride the following weekend, and he’d bought a block of tickets for some employees, but a few couldn’t make it. He was calling, he explained, to invite her and Troy to join him and his family, along with Noah and Alyssa.
“Good way for us to get better acquainted,” he said, “and it’s a great package, if you like camping. We’ll ride some of the Appalachian Trail, and along the Lehigh River. Kelly—she’s my wife—is looking forward to some photo ops, since we’ll see some canal locks and waterfalls, and ride through a couple of covered bridges. Leave it to her to parlay this into an article assignment.”
A corporate mogul who wore Gucci and rode a Venge, plus did his own construction and liked camping. What are the odds? Billie thought.
“It sounds great,” she told him. “I never had the chance to ride in the Greenbrier event after the ankle healed up. One thing after another, you know?”
“Just so you know…we aren’t doing the whole fancy bed-and-breakfast part of the trip, though, so if you’re opposed to roughing it, this might not be your thing.” He hesitated. “Do you have a tent?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. Haven’t had much occasion to use it lately, however.”
“Sleeping bag? Camp gear?”
“Yes.” She laughed quietly. “I have some freeze-dried trail food left from the last trip. And if I do say so myself, I m
ake a mean campfire bean soup.”
“Great. Kelly’s looking forward to meeting you. She’s starting to make notes for her website, so hopefully, she won’t monopolize your weekend, talking business.”
“No problem, even if she does. I like my job!”
Her excitement must have been palpable and visible, because when she joined Troy in the living room, he said, “Wow. Look at you. Who was that?”
“Believe it or not, it was Jeff Graham. You and I are invited to a trail ride next weekend.”
“Are you going?”
“Only if you are.”
“Don’t have a bike. Can’t afford a fancy schmantzy Cannondale, like yours. Don’t have a tent or any other camping equipment, for that matter.”
“You know as well as I do that if my doctor hadn’t been upgrading, I’d be riding something from Walmart instead of my fancy schmantzy Cannondale.”
Her brother laughed.
“Talk to your new best friend,” she continued. “If Noah can’t make you a deal, maybe he’ll rent you a bike. You won’t need a tent. I have one that sleeps four. Two sleeping bags, too. All you’ll need to worry about is getting a backpack and some all-weather clothes. You know, case it rains.” She did a little dance. “I’m kind of psyched. This will be my first time out since I messed up the Cannondale!”
“Communing with nature might be just what the doctor ordered.”
She sat beside him. “What did Victoria want?”
“Money.”
“Money? But the town house was yours. You bought it. You made the payments. She changed her mind? She doesn’t want to buy it?”
“She wants me to reimburse her for the curtains she bought and hung in the family room. And the towels she put in the bathroom. Something about the bedding for the guest room….” He grimaced. “Considering what happened, I offered to send her a dollar check. And she cried. Said she can’t believe it came to this.” He punctuated the statement with a heavy sigh. “Frankly, neither can I.”
Billie gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry, Troy. But look on the bright side. You have a new job, and soon you’ll have a new home.”
His expression grew thoughtful, his voice softer as he said, “Yeah. True.” He faced her to add, “I have to admit, I didn’t figure your wannabe boyfriend for the rugged outdoors type.”