Love Me Tender

by Wendy Vella

  “I was.”

  “My cat’s sick, can you look at him?”

  “I know there’s a vet in this town, so take him there.”

  “Sure, but he’s so busy it’s hard to get an appointment before tomorrow.”

  “If it’s urgent, someone will see him.” Rory sneezed again. Jack handed her a napkin.

  “I don’t know if it’s urgent though, do I?”

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “He’s lethargic and just lies about the place.”

  “He sounds like he needs a checkup, because that could be any number of things.”

  “So you’ll come and look at him?”

  “If you own the lodge, you’re rich. Pay someone to come in and look the cat over.”

  “I didn’t figure you for heartless.”

  “I met you five minutes ago.” These people were so in her face, and she wasn’t used to that. If they hated her they let her know, if they wanted something from her they asked right off, and if they were just there to annoy her they did that too.

  “So you’ll come and see Branch?”

  “You named your cat Branch?”

  “He spends a lot of time in trees.”

  “Original.”

  “I thought so. Will you come and see him?”

  Rory sighed. She wished she’d told no one about her career, but it seemed the word was out.

  “Maybe. I’m not promising anything.”

  Ted looked smug, which told Rory he thought he’d won, which probably he had. Animals were a weakness of hers, and the truth was she missed working with them.

  Chapter 11

  Jack thought Rory looked like hell. Her eyes were bloodshot, face pale, and her nose red. For all that she still looked cute, in a pixie kind of way. Those curls were a riot, shooting in every direction, and she had a scarf wrapped round her neck keeping it warm.

  “Why the hell are you allowing someone in here wearing an Atlanta Hawks scarf, Miss Marla? It’s just plain wrong, and disloyal. I thought we’d covered this already. Only Nuggets supporters.”

  “Not everyone supports your team, boy,” Miss Marla said.

  “Please,” Rory scoffed in a husky voice. “Those losers. Back a real team, pretty boy.”

  Ted laughed so hard he choked on his scone, and Jack was forced to thump him on the back.

  “Shouldn’t you have your hat on today? If you’re sick,” Jack added, when his friend could breathe again.

  “What?” She glared at him, but the effect was ruined as she sneezed twice.

  “Your hat.” He pointed to her head. Those curls were made up of so many colors, he realized. Blondes and light browns. “You should have it on today.”

  “Aww, thanks for caring, Dad.”

  “Such a smart mouth for a little person.”

  “And that makes no sense. Little people are the same as big people.”

  “Ah, but we don’t buy our shoes in the kids’ department.”

  He’d only been joking, but the color in her cheeks told him he’d hit a nerve.

  “No, really?”

  “That would cut down on the cost some,” Ted added.

  More customers wandered in, and one of them was Lillian Taft. Elderly, she walked with a cane. Her eyes did a circle of the shop and stopped on Rory.

  “Aurora May?”

  Rory looked stunned.

  “Tafty?”

  “Oh dear.” The woman’s face seemed to crumple. Jack knew tears were next.

  “L-look at you all g-grown up.”

  Mrs. Taft turned and hurried out of the shop.

  Rory's eyes were focused out the window following Mrs. Taft’s progress as she walked slowly down the street.

  “Rory, are you okay?”

  Jack’s words shook her out of her trance.

  “I have to go.” In seconds she’d run out the door.

  He got to his feet and watched as she hurried to catch up to Mrs. Taft. She then stood before the woman. He relaxed slightly when the old woman touched Rory’s cheek, and then they were hugging.

  “Aww, that’s so sweet, and Lillian will be happy to see her again.”

  “Why?” Jack asked Miss Marla.

  “Lillian Taft was nanny to the Haldane children, and she loved them dearly as she had none of her own. From what I gather they loved her too.”

  “Hard to believe considering what we know of them, but I guess we all hide our true selves from time to time.”

  “Everyone has the right to change, Jack. The problem will be most people in this town just don’t want to accept that or let go of the past.”

  “The Haldanes hurt a lot of them, Miss Marla. Especially their father.”

  “Yes, he hurt us all, but I’ll tell you something, Jack. That girl doesn’t look like she’d hurt anyone to me.”

  Miss Marla’s heels clicked as she headed back behind the counter.

  “That went well,” Ted said. “Mandy hates me, Rory Haldane doesn’t appear to like you too much either, and you just got lectured by Miss Marla. Women are exhausting creatures.”

  “What’s the deal with you and Mandy? I’ve never seen her like that with anyone before.”

  “Hell if I now. It’s what I like to call animosity at first sight.”

  “Oh, has she gone? I had some things put together to help Rory with her cold.” Miss Sarah bustled up to their table.

  “I’ll see she gets them.” Jack took them before he could stop himself. Did he really want to see Rory Haldane again so soon? “Now we need to hustle. The game is due to start soon.”

  “Good luck, boys, sorry we can’t make it this time,” Miss Marla called. “And you just go right on annoying my niece, Ted, she needs shaking up a bit.”

  “See,” Ted said after she’d left. “Women, they’re weird.”

  “Whatever. Now we have to go.”

  “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Ted said when they were back on the street.

  “Toughen up, bud. It’ll be good for you, you’re getting a soft middle.”

  Ted was all muscle, and Jack knew this was because he worked out in his private gym.

  “Like hell!”

  “Are you wearing those sweats?”

  “It’s cold,” Ted said, looking down his legs. “Plus, I’m sure there’s a substitute player, and I’m it, so I won’t get a lot of court time.”

  “And what the hell are those?”

  “Sneakers.”

  “They don’t look like any sneakers I’ve ever seen.” They were beige leather with black stripes.

  “Is that Velcro? My niece has that on her shoes.”

  “These cost a great deal of money and are superb for your feet when you exercise. I have high arches; these support my feet.”

  “So does my aunt Jess, but even she would never be seen in those fashion disasters.”

  “Whatever. You continue insulting my footwear and I’m not playing.”

  Jack made a kissy sound that had Ted swinging at him; luckily he ducked. The man had fists like ham hocks.

  “Was that a scream?” Ted looked down the street.

  “More an angry shriek is my take.”

  “It came from over there.” Ted pointed right.

  Jack looked, but couldn’t see any women in distress.

  “That’s Rory’s car,” he said, crossing the road to look at it. Walking round it, he searched for her but came up empty.

  “Both rear tires are flat, Ted.”

  “Yeah, and someone’s taken a knife to them.” Ted was now bent at the waist beside him.

  Jack felt his anger climb that someone had targeted Rory this way. Straightening, he wondered where she was.

  “She’s in there.” Ted was pointing into Buds, the local florist shop.

  “I’ll be back soon.”

  “Why are you going in there?”

  “Rory’s tires have been slashed, why the hell do you think?”

  “Sure, but what’s that to y
ou?”

  “She has no one else in her corner so—”

  “Are you volunteering? That’s big of you, Jack. Makes a man want to tear up at such an act of kindness.” Ted was smiling now, in a smug way that suggested he knew something Jack didn’t.

  “Yeah well, I’m worried that if I send you in there, you’ll come out crying after they’ve laughed themselves silly over your footwear.”

  Jack entered the florist shop and was met with a bouquet of scents. The two women at the counter didn’t see him because they were having a heated discussion.

  “Are you sure you saw nothing, Abigail?”

  “Nothing. Now leave my shop, Aurora May.”

  Abigail Harvey was the precious daughter of June and Geoff Harvey. They’d bought her this shop two years ago when she was at a loose end. The surprise was she still worked in it; until then Abby wasn’t big on staying power.

  “Look, Abigail, I’ve already been over this with your mom. I don’t care if you like me or not, but I do care if it was you who slashed my tires.”

  “I would never do something like that, even if you deserved it!”

  Abby looked genuinely shocked from where Jack stood.

  “Why do I deserve to have my tires slashed, Abigail?”

  “For what you and your family did to us.”

  “My father did,” Rory corrected in a cold voice. “If I remember right, which I assure you I do, I didn’t do anything to you. In fact, you were right there at my side being a bitch in school, along with Mary Jane and Callie.”

  “Yes, but you were the instigator. You controlled us with bullying tactics.”

  Abby was just the kind of woman Jack usually liked. Classy. Her clothes were stylish and hugged a lovely figure, she smelled sexy, and wore something on her lips that made him want to nibble it off.

  “You’re not serious?” Rory shook her head. “You came up with most of the things we did to people.”

  “Abby, I’ve finished in the cool store.”

  Patrick was the Harveys’ son. Tall and lanky, and somewhere in his teens, he’d come late to the couple.

  “Go and have your lunch now, Patrick,” Abby said before Jack or Rory could acknowledge him.

  “Hey, Abby,” Jack decided now was a good time to step in before the discussion continued.

  “Oh, Jack, I didn’t see you there.” The angry look on her face vanished, replaced by a sweet smile. “I won’t be a moment, I just need to finish up here.”

  “Did you or did you not see anyone slash my tires, Abigail?” Rory gritted out.

  “No, and I’m sure I don’t know why you’re speaking like this to me, Aurora May. I haven’t seen you in years, and this is how you treat me.” She gave Jack another smile. “I won’t be a moment. Sorry for the delay.”

  Rory sneezed, which had Abby taking a step back. “Take your germs out of my shop!”

  “Come on, I’ll give you a lift, Rory,” Jack said.

  “I’ll walk,” she declared, throwing Abby a last look that should have incinerated her on the spot. She stormed out.

  “Don’t go, Jack. Now you’re here I wanted to discuss our next lesson.”

  “Not now, Abigail, I need to see Rory home.”

  “I heard you’ve been nice to her, Jack, but I didn’t believe it until now.” She pouted.

  “I guess that makes two of us who are disappointed, Abigail. I thought you were a better person.”

  “Wh-what? I am.”

  “Did you or did you not see anyone touching Rory’s car tires?”

  Abigail had tears in her eyes as she shook her head. Crocodile tears, Jack thought.

  “I thought you and her were friends in school?”

  “We were, but after her daddy—”

  “Her father, not her.” Jack hadn’t meant to raise his voice, but it came out that way.

  “I’ve been saving for you, Jack,” she said as he turned to leave.

  “Saving? Shit,” Jack muttered when he remembered the auction. “Sure, whatever,” he added and headed back outside.

  “She went that way.” Ted pointed right when he joined him.

  “Let’s go.” In minutes they were in Jack’s pickup. Of Rory there was no sign even though he was crawling down the main street, causing a traffic jam looking at everyone he saw. She’d probably run, and was now hacking up a lung somewhere.

  “Where the hell is she?”

  “I have no idea. Why the concern for Rory Haldane? You don’t usually get involved in your women’s lives.”

  “You make it sound like I have a harem,” Jack said, looking left and right.

  “Stable, surely.”

  “And she is definitely not my woman, or ever likely to be.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do.”

  “Excellent.”

  “I mean it.”

  “Sure you do.”

  “Shut up, Ted.”

  Reaching the rec center without finding Rory, he thought about doubling back, but knew the game would be starting soon. He hoped she didn’t go confronting everyone in town about those tires.

  “Who the hell would be so mean they’d slash her tires? I know about what happened and what she and her family were like, but that’s a nasty thing to do,” Ted said, getting out.

  “People in this town are irrational about that time.”

  “Remind me not to piss them off. I need my pristine reputation to stay intact.”

  “You’re a shark, Hosking, everyone knows it, but you’re also the richest man in town so they keep you happy,” Jack said, walking into the center.

  “There is that.”

  “It took the Trainers a while to get back in the town’s good graces after we’d done pretty much everything we could to fall out of them.”

  He found his family all inside when they arrived, warming up... well, in a loose fashion. Firing insults at each other and bouncing the ball about. Buzz was greeting people. He noted Mr. Goldhirsh pull a biscuit out of his back pocket and hand it to the dog.

  “I saw that!”

  “Aww come on now, Joe, he’s hungry.”

  “I don’t know how he can be, his stomach never has time to empty.”

  “Hosking, I hope you’re better at this than you were at baseball a few months back,” Luke, the youngest Trainer, said. A firefighter, he was as tall as Jack, but he’d filled out more like Joe.

  “Sure, it’s my thing, throwing a ball around for the hell of it.”

  “So what you’re saying is, you’re shit at this too?” Dylan added.

  “I’m shit at nothing, Howard. My strengths just lie in other, more important directions.”

  “Nothing, and let me repeat that, Hosking, nothing is more important than basketball,” Fin said.

  “Let’s hope you don’t scuff your shoes there, Teddy Bear,” Jack said.

  “You paid for those?” Luke looked down.

  “No way, I was sure it was a dare that had them on your feet,” Dylan added.

  Jack watched Pip sprint in the door looking flustered while his brothers continued to needle Ted.

  “I had to wait for Mom to get home to watch over Grace.”

  Jack had noticed that about parents; they often looked rattled.

  “Hey, baby girl.” Dylan grabbed Piper and kissed her.

  “Get a room.”

  “Jealous, Jack?” Pip said, kissing her husband back.

  Jack snorted, because he’d never even thought about getting serious with anyone, let alone marriage. Just the possibility made him itchy. But he had to admit sometimes, when he was alone, he wanted a special someone to share a connection that wasn’t purely physical.

  “They have new uniforms.”

  All eyes went to the door as the other team arrived. Their tracksuits all matched and they looked like they knew what they were about... unlike the Ryker Falls team, who were a messy group.

  “They’ll still be hopeless, no uniform can change that,” Pip said.


  A loud, shrill blow on the whistle had everyone looking to where Dylan’s dad stood.

  “The Robbins sisters can’t be here, so I’m in charge, and I won’t be putting up with any trash talk from anybody.”

  “Aww come on, Dad, you don’t really think I’m going to take you seriously?” Dylan said.

  “Son, when I’m up here you’re just another player.”

  “That cuts deep,” Dylan rubbed his chest.

  Tip off went their way, and the first quarter was fast and physical, just the way Jack loved it.

  Mr. Goldhirsh sprinted up and down the sidelines, firing instructions as he always did, wearing a fanny pack full of first aid supplies should they be needed.

  “That is not a foul!” Fin roared.

  “I’ll march you off this court, young man, if you don’t show some respect.”

  “Your dad’s a hardass,” Fin muttered to Dylan.

  “Yeah, it’s a new thing, but he wears it well.”

  They were sweating and ahead by four when Jack caught sight of Maggie walking in from the corner of his eye. A friend of Pip’s, she owned the gallery on the boardwalk. Pretty redhead with style. Jack liked her a lot. The shock was who she dragged in with her.

  Chapter 12

  “What the hell is Princess Aurora May doing with our Maggs?” Joe asked.

  “They hated each other in school.”

  “Hell if I know, but she should be home in bed. She’s sick.”

  “Maggs?”

  “Rory.”

  “How come you know this?” Joe asked when a time-out was called.

  “I saw her in Tea Total this morning, and after when she was going at Abby Harvey.”

  “Why was she going at Abigail Harvey? I thought they were both part of the same cat club in school... or so Pip told me.”

  “Someone slashed the tires on her car right outside Buds.”

  Joe whistled. “I had a feeling things were going to get uncomfortable for your Miss Haldane, but not that uncomfortable. Those are the actions of a pissed-off person.”

  “She’s not my Miss Haldane. I just think this shit that’s happening and the reception she’s getting from people sucks.”

  “Now.”

  “All right, so I was angry at first, but I’ve moved on, which makes me a bigger person, right?”

  “Sure, and there’s the house she owns that you want too, which I’m sure has nothing to do with you being nice to her.”