Come Back Home Again (Hope Valley Book 2)

by Jessica Prince

  Not a day passed where she didn’t throw herself at Hayes, even though she knew we were together. She was spoiled rotten, expecting to get everything she wanted no matter who she had to step on in the process. Unfortunately for her, Hayes barely even noticed she was alive most days, and had a talent for looking right through her. The bitch didn’t stand a chance with him but that didn’t stop her from trying.

  “Well, there’s nothing to turn nasty,” I assured Sally. “I just had some business to take care of at the station. It was no big deal.”

  I could tell by her expression that she wasn’t reassured. “You sure?”

  “Positive. There’s just this guy back in Chicago who’s been hassling me, but it’s taken care of now. Nothing to worry about.”

  “All right, darlin’. If you say so, I’ll let it go so you get to work.”

  I gave her a bright smile, hoping it would help ease her concern. “All right, Sal.” Then I moved down the back hall to the office to stash my coat and purse, and grabbed an apron.

  “Hey there, Ralph,” I called out in greeting as I started past the kitchen toward the front of the diner, wrapping the strings around my waist and tying my apron in place.

  “Hey, darlin’ girl!” he shouted in return from the passthrough.

  My shift started off good. I smiled and chatted with the diners. I listened as they filled me in on everything happening in town and laughed when the hilariously cantankerous Ms. McClintock came in and spouted her brand of blunt wisdom. The woman had been old as the hills and just as salty back when I was in high school, and she’d only gotten more entertaining over the years.

  I was still riding the high of my last conversation with Hayes, thinking this was going to be an easy shift to get through, when the bell over the door chimed and I turned to see my high school nemesis walking into the diner like she owned to place. It was as if speaking of the devil suddenly made her appear out of thin air.

  And I knew my easy afternoon had just taken a nose dive straight to hell.

  Chapter Nine

  Temperance

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumbled under my breath as I bent to retrieve an order pad and pen from beneath the counter.

  Sally’s voice sounded just as unhappy as she said, “Well shit. Look what the cat just dragged in.”

  We watched Harley’s hips sway with an exaggeration that made it look more ridiculous than anything else as she moved like she was on a catwalk to a booth by the window that just so happened to be in my section.

  “That’s just freaking perfect.”

  Sally grabbed my hand,. “You want me to cover that table?”

  Sally hadn’t worked the floor since her hip started giving her problems. She handled the register and the people who chose to sit at the counter so she didn’t have to walk around as much, and there no way was I letting her cause herself any undo pain just so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable. I gave her fingers a squeeze. “Nah. Thanks, but I got it. I wasn’t afraid of her back then, and I’m sure as hell not now.”

  She shot me an approving smile before releasing my hand and heading down to help one of her customers.

  With all my other tables taken care of for the moment, I had no excuse to avoid Harley, so I grabbed a menu before heading to her table.

  “Hey there,” I said with a smile so forced my face felt like brittle plastic at risk of cracking as I placed the menu down in front of her. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Wow.” Harley lifted her head toward me with a catty smirk on her face. Leaning back in the booth, she stretched an arm out along the back and looking at me like I was simply a servant and she was royalty. “This is like déjà vu. You waiting tables at Evergreen again just like in high school. Seems not much has changed, huh? Oh, except that you don’t have your perfect boyfriend anymore, do you?”

  Well, looked like she was just going to dive right in. Instead of stooping to her level, I kept my smile firmly in place and repeated, “Drink?”

  “Mineral water.”

  “We don’t have mineral water,” I said flatly.

  Harley blew out an indignant sigh and looked to the ceiling like she was put out. “Fine. Then bottled.” I started to turn away when she spoke again. “In a glass. With a lemon wedge on the rim, and one squeezed into the glass. Not dropped, squeezed. And five ice cubes. Only five. You got that?”

  I could feel my eyelid tick, but that goddamn smile stayed on my lips. “I think I can handle it. I’ll just give you a moment to look over the menu.”

  With that, I spun on my heels and headed for the counter. “God,” I grumbled quietly as I prepared her water to her exact specifications. “She’s a piece of work.”

  “Luckily she doesn’t come in here too often,” Sally returned in a low voice so no one could overhear.

  “Don’t know if that’s necessarily good news, babe. It just means she’s here to screw with me.”

  Sally’s mouth pulled into a tight, unhappy line. “Didn’t think of that.”

  “Yeah. And something tells me this won’t be the last time she shows her face in here.”

  She cast her gaze to Harley, her face falling into a frown before she looked back at me and wiped it clean. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, darlin’. Somethin’ tells me whatever showdown she’s gunnin’ for isn’t gonna work out in her favor.”

  Before I could question her on that ominous declaration, she whipped around and walked off.

  The bell over the door tinkled again just a few seconds before a voice spoke, “Well if it isn’t Temperance Levine.”

  I spun around so fast my hair smacked me in the face. “Carl? Oh my god!”

  He grinned as I rounded the counter and went to give him a hug. “It’s great to see you, Tempie.”

  I’d known Carl Dwyer since he moved to town during middle school. He wasn’t an integral part of our immediate circle of friends, but he was so social that he didn’t need a circle. Most everyone in every crowd knew him and liked him. Sweet and good-looking in that boy-next-door way, he wasn’t as big or built as Hayes and the other athletes in high school, but he carried himself with confidence, treated people with kindness, and was funny as hell, so he was easily one of the most popular guys in school.

  After college he’d taken a job that required a lot of travel, so whenever his work happened to bring him to Chicago, he’d reach out, and we’d catch up over drinks or dinner. It didn’t happen a lot, but often enough that we knew the basics of each other’s’ lives thanks to the infrequent visits.

  “It’s good to see you too,” I said, taking a step back to get a better look at him. He looked the same as always, his sandy brown hair styled perfectly into place, his expensive suit freshly pressed, his tie straight as an arrow. “So what are you doing here? Are you back in Hope Valley for good?”

  “Yeah, just came back a couple weeks ago. The company offered me a promotion that’ll eliminate all the traveling, so I jumped on it. The job’s in Richmond, but the commute isn’t too bad, and I was able to settle here so I could be close to family and friends. It’ll be nice not having to bounce around from one shitty furnished apartment after another for once.”

  “I bet,” I returned on a laugh. “And now we’re finally in the same town for more than one damn night. We need to catch up.”

  His smile was easy and light. “Definitely.”

  “Uh, excuse me.” I rolled my eyes at Harley’s annoying, whiny voice cutting into the moment I was having with an old friend. “Is it too much to ask for some service around here?”

  I let out a few choice words under my breath before looking over my shoulder and replying, “Just one sec,” in a saccharin-sweet voice and turning back to Carl.

  “Jesus Christ. Harley Madison’s still a bitch on wheels, huh?”

  “Understatement of the freaking century. You staying for lunch?”

  He glanced over my shoulder at Harley, giving her an angry look. “Wasn’t plannin’ on it, but n
ow I’m thinking I should.”

  I wasn’t going to argue. If he wanted to take my back, I’d be more than happy to let him. “Counter, booth, or table?”

  “Counter.”

  “All right, then. Take your pick of stools. Sally’ll be right with you. I have to go check on my tables.”

  “All right, sweetheart.” With one last withering look at Harley, he offered, “I’ll be right over there.”

  He pulled up a seat and shot Sally a playfully charming smile, and I headed back to Satan’s minion, pulling my pad and pen from my apron.

  “Sorry for the wait,” I said, still trying to maintain the high road. “What can I get you?”

  Her entire face pinched together in snooty displeasure. “I want the chicken Caesar salad, but with grilled salmon instead of chicken. I want shaved parmesan, not that shitty grated stuff. And I want fresh croutons, not the ones you’ve had sitting out all damn day, and they better not be from a box. Oh, and dressing on the side, not on the salad.”

  What. A. Bitch!

  With that, I went skidding right off the high road into a ditch. Returning my pen and tablet to the pocket of my apron, I leaned forward, braced my palms on the table, and spoke loud enough for everyone around us to hear. “Look, I know what you’re doing here, and I know exactly what you’re hoping to get out of this exchange. I hate to break it to you, but you’re wasting your time, so do us both a favor and just get on with it already so I can be done with you and your drama. I’ve got other customers to take care of.”

  Her eyes flashed and I could practically see her rage boiling over. “You always were a bitch,” she hissed.

  I stood tall and crossed my arms over my chest. “If that’s not the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is.”

  Sliding out of the booth, she took a step closer so we were practically toe-to-toe. “You’re a joke. A pathetic joke. Poor little orphan Tempie,” she mocked condescendingly. “All alone because the only people who cared about you are all dead.”

  Everything inside me turned to ice. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even breathe. All I could do was stand there and bleed out, her words having flayed me right open. I didn’t expect anything she had to say to have an effect on me, then again, I’d totally underestimated her desire to be the most vile human being to ever walk the planet. She didn’t bother pulling her punches, and that particular blow had hit its mark with dead accuracy.

  “That’s enough.” I heard Carl’s voice, but it sounded muffled, as if it was coming from a far distance. I could feel him at my back, but his warmth did nothing to penetrate the ice that and formed over me all of a sudden. “You need to leave, Harley. Right now.”

  But she didn’t. She kept talking, twisting the knife in my heart deeper and deeper. “Everyone’s talkin’ and we know what you’re doing,” she continued. “You’re sticking around town, hopin’ for a pity fuck from your ex-boyfriend since no one else wants you.” Her top lip curled up in a sneer. “You’re pathetic.”

  “Harley,” Carl said in a warning growl. “Swear to Christ, woman. You don’t get the hell outta here right now—”

  That was all he managed to get out before the atmosphere around us all shifted so abruptly it was a wonder we managed to stay on our feet.

  “This shit’s over. Right fuckin’ now.” Hayes’s furious voice broke through the haze of pain I was currently stuck in, and I turned just in time to see him storming through the diner in our direction. He extended his arm and pointed at Harley. “Whatever fucked-up stunt you’re tryin’ to pull isn’t gonna happen. You hear me?”

  I didn’t bother telling him it was too late for that.

  Harley’s face turned pale in response to a very pissed-off Hayes. Unfortunately, the woman was the very definition of a massive bitch, and her fear didn’t last long.

  “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, Detective Walker, but you’ve got no right to boss me around.”

  And just like that, something in her changed. She looked to me and her expression grew calculating as a chilling smile stretched across her face before she turned back to Hayes. “It was one thing when we were together, but that’s not the case anymore.”

  Oh my god. They were together?

  “Ah fuck,” I barely heard Carl mutter over the blood rushing through my ears.

  “Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Hayes snarled. “Are you kiddin’ me, Harley?”

  “No, Hayes, I’m not kidding you.”

  The tension in the air ratcheted up to about a thousand as he took a menacing step closer. “I’d be real careful right about now if I were you. It’s pretty goddamn obvious you’ve built up our time together in your head to be somethin’ a lot fuckin’ more than it actually was.”

  The stiffness in my shoulders began to ease until Harley spoke again.

  “Didn’t feel like I was makin’ it into more than it was every time your climbed into my bed,” she returned smugly.

  I was going to be sick. My knees started to go weak and my vision grew cloudy as my stomach clenched violently.

  “You know what? That’s it.” Hayes took a threatening step closer to her. “I’m sick and tired of your shit. Let’s get somethin’ straight. The first time I fucked you, I did it because I was wasted off my ass and you reminded me of Tempie.” Holy shit. “And when I wasn’t drunk, takin’ you from behind provided me with the same reminder. You were good enough that I didn’t mind goin’ back from time to time, but that wasn’t a relationship. For fuck’s sake, I never took you out for a single meal. I wouldn’t even buy you a goddamn coffee. When I wanted to fuck you, we did it at your place because I didn’t want you in mine. And since you’re obviously too much of a spoiled brat to see the truth, it’s worth repeating that I only fucked you because you reminded me of Tempie.”

  The buzz in the diner grew louder as more people were drawn into the dramatic showdown unfolding.

  “You’re an asshole,” she hissed, and for a second I worried she was going to try and claw his eyes out.

  “Maybe you’d have a man by now if you weren’t such a fuckin’ bitch, but you are, and the moment you open your goddamn mouth, you let all that bitterness out. No man in his right mind likes the taste of bitter. We like the kind of sweet that’ll melt in our mouths. You learn that, maybe you’ll stop runnin’ every dick-carrying member of this town off. But I’m not holding my breath for that to happen.”

  “I don’t see your perfect Tempie with a man,” she fired back.

  Hayes crossed his arms over his chest and smirked down at her in a way that was almost frightening. “Big difference between a woman bein’ single by choice and one bein’ single because she’s a fuckin’ harpy that sucks the will to live outta every man she sets her sights on.”

  Her mouth dropped open and her cheeks turned a deep, painfully bright red. “Fuck you, Hayes,” she seethed before shoving through our huddle and stomping out. Even irate, her hips swayed in a ridiculous fashion.

  Everyone in the diner watched Harley’s dramatic retreat, then turned back to me and Hayes once she was out of sight, staring so hard I felt like their eyes drilling holes into the back of my head.

  “I need to, uh, go do…” anything that’ll get me the hell out of here, I left unsaid. Spinning around, I rushed past the counter and into the safety of the kitchen.

  Ralph looked up from the stove, his face awash with sympathy, but he didn’t say a word as he allowed me the silence to have my second freak out of the day.

  He slept with her. Hayes actually had sex with that vile woman. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Every time I tried, my stomach sank and my eyes burned.

  Before I could get a handle on the mess swirling around inside my head, the door from the dining area swung open and Hayes filled the doorway with his large, imposing body. His eyes pinned me to the spot as he asked, “You okay, angel?”

  “You’re not supposed to be back here.”

  At my response, his expression grew
hard as stone and he stepped farther into the kitchen. “Ralph, you mind givin’ us a minute?”

  “What?” I squeaked as panic set in. “No. He can’t do that.”

  “On it.” Ralph quickly shut off the burners and started for the door.

  “What? No! You can’t just leave. We have customers and they need food.”

  “They’ll wait,” Hayes stated plainly as Ralph left the kitchen.

  “Uh, Hayes, this is a diner. Where people come to dine. And you just kicked the cook out of the kitchen.”

  He moved closer, forcing me to back up until my behind hit a countertop. “Well this wouldn’t take long if you’d quit arguin’ in an attempt to avoid me.”

  “What?” I let out a slightly hysterical giggle. “I’m not avoiding you. But I need to go check my tables.”

  “You can check ’em in a second. Right now, I need you to answer my question.”

  I was already a mess as it was, and the musky, manly scent of his cologne invading my senses as he grew closer wasn’t helping. “W-what was the question?”

  The corner of his mouth rose a touch, not in a smile but in a smirk that only made him that much hotter. “Are you okay?”

  The question finally registered. Am I okay? I honestly didn’t know if I was, but I really didn’t feel like getting into that with him at that very moment. “Yeah, totally. I’m good.”

  His head cocked to the side as that smirk curled into a frown. “You’re lying.”

  “I am not!” I objected loudly. “I’m fine, Hayes. Seriously.”

  “You’ve had a rough morning,” he surmised, stating the obvious. And with that, I was officially done with this conversation.

  “Definitely not the first rough morning I’ve ever had, and I doubt it’ll be the last. I can deal.”

  Hayes’s eyes went gentle in that way that used to always make my blood burn for him. “You’re upset, angel. Talk to me.”