by Amy Gamet
* * *
Jed should have been on the road already, but he sat on the end of the dock, his feet dangling in the water as he considered the impossible.
The city was only a few hours from Moon Lake. Maybe he and Tori could see each other again. There was no reason they couldn’t get together sometimes and have a few laughs.
Why hadn’t he considered that before? Like Tori said, they were adults. They didn’t have to be head over heels in love, or in some kind of intense relationship, to share what they’d shared last night.
And if he knew deep down inside that no one else would ever come closer to his heart than she had, there was no reason for her to know about it.
Time was up. He had to go back to the city and get control of his company back from Henry. But after that, maybe he’d call her up and see if they could get together.
Feeling better now with a plan in place, he stood up and stretched his back, wondering what Tori was doing right at that moment. He checked his watch. Gabe had called earlier, inviting him to a late lunch before he went back to the city.
He loaded the last of his belongings into the car. Funny to think, ten days ago he had nothing, not a family, not his company, just himself. And in that time he had gotten a father, a mother-in-law, a brother, and maybe even Tori. He smiled, and headed out for the bed and breakfast, whistling.
* * *
Tori rapped again on Gabe’s door at the bed and breakfast. When he opened it, he was disheveled, his shirt clearly pulled on in haste, and her eyes scrupulously avoided his semi-exposed chest.
“I’m sorry to wake you,” she said. “But I need help.”
“I wasn’t sleeping. What’s up?”
She looked from side to side. “Can I come in?”
“Uh…”
“Just for a minute.”
He stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
“Oh, my gosh. You’ve got company. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. What’s up?”
Tori couldn’t help but wonder who was on the other side of that door. It must have been someone from the wedding, but who? The mystery woman he was interested in?
She pushed her nosey questions aside, remembering why she had come. “The water authority dug up my treasure chest by mistake, and now I need to rebury it right near here, but I can’t make any progress in the dirt. It’s full of roots and I’m not strong enough to break them up.”
“They dug up your treasure? What are the chances of that?”
She nodded. “Yeah, well, it’s okay. I got two interviews on the TV stations later today because of it.”
“Nice!”
“Your brother’s idea.”
Gabe checked his watch. “He’s supposed to be meeting me soon.”
She tilted her head. “No, he left town more than an hour ago.”
“I don’t think so. He was going to head back after we eat. Do you want to join us?”
She shook her head quickly. “No. No, thank you. I have some things to take care of back at the shop.”
Gabe dressed, then Tori led the way outside, toward the woods. “It has to go in this spot, or else the whole contest is completely screwed up. But there are all these tree roots and I can’t get through them.”
Gabe took the shovel and began to dig. He worked for ten minutes in the spot Tori indicated, making little progress. “This isn’t going to work.” He rested his hands on the shovel and looked around. “What if we build up, instead of digging down?”
She turned her head, noticing all the branches, old leaves and underbrush in the area. “Good idea.” When they were through, the treasure chest was well hidden and secured by several shovelfuls of earth.
“Thanks for your help,” she said as they began to walk back toward the house.
“You’re welcome. Did things work out with you and Jed? Or is it none of my business?”
“As much as they could have, I think.” The corners of her mouth pulled down. “I don’t think he’s capable of having the kind of relationship I want.”
“I’m sorry, Tori.”
“Yeah, me too.” She frowned.
He put his arms around her. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s not your fault.” She let out one awkward laugh. “It’s stupid. I really like him, and he doesn’t like me.”
“Who says he doesn’t like you? He was awfully territorial where you were concerned. He warned me to stay away from you a couple of times.”
“He did?”
Gabe nodded. “I’ve never seen him like that before.”
Tori shook her head. “He didn’t even tell me he was staying in town today. I thought he was gone. So here I am, whining to you, and he’s off somewhere forgetting all about me. It’s stupid. I’m stupid.”
“Maybe he just needs some time to come to his senses. I’ll talk to him when I see him today.”
“You would do that for me?”
He laughed. “Of course I would. We’re friends, remember?”
“Oh, thank you so much.” She went up on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his cheek, then linked her arm through his as they began to walk. “I could use another friend right now. Melanie just wants inappropriate details.”
“Who’s saying I don’t want details?” he asked. He shook his shoulders. “On second thought, never mind. There are some things you should never picture your brother doing, even with a beautiful woman like you.”
“And what about you, Gabe? Who do you love?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Sure.”
“Evelyn.”
Tori gasped. “She’s the one in your room.”
He nodded. “I’ve been in love with her for years, and she’s using me for consolation sex because my brother wants you. Who’s the stupid one now?”
“That’s not stupid if you care for her.”
“We’ve been friends a long time. She had her heart set on Jed, so I figured I’d help her get close to him. He would either take her back, or she’d have to let this fantasy go, and maybe I’d stand a chance. I don’t know how to make her fall for me.”
“Don’t give up, Gabe. Stranger things have happened. Trust me on this. I know what I’m talking about.”
Chapter 11
Jed cruised down the expressway, driving well over the limit, his temper still flaring an hour and a half after he pulled out of the bed and breakfast parking lot.
He could still see Tori in Gabe’s arms, laughing, kissing him tenderly. What a fool he’d been! They’d pulled a fast one on him, all right, and he hated them for it.
Especially Tori.
Gabe had let him down before, but he thought Tori was different. Special. He scoffed at his own train of thought. How could he have been so stupid?
He smacked the steering wheel with the palm of his hand, the sting reverberating up his arm. The idea of the two of them together was so painful he wanted to scream.
His cell phone rang through the car speakers, and he forced his mind away from the images.
“Jed Trainor.”
It was Kevin Lambert. “Are you still in Moon Lake?”
“Yeah, but I’m about to leave for the city.”
“You might want to stay there. Something’s come to my attention that you need to be aware of. When I put through the sale of your father’s shares, something was bothering me. I couldn’t put my finger on it at first, then it came to me. It was the name, Edward. After you left town, Henry was livid. He was looking for you, and he made a phone call in front of me, saying Edward was not going to be happy about this.”
“Lots of people are named Edward. That doesn’t mean he was talking about my father.”
“Of course. But I looked into it. The shares that gave Henry majority control over Trainor Enterprises came from Edward Trainor.”
“That’s not possible. My mother left him ten percent of my company, and he just sold the entire ten percent back to me.
You drew up the papers yourself.”
“Then he must have bought shares in a personal transaction. I’m telling you, Jed, your father set Henry up to take over your company. I saw the records with my own eyes.”
“Why would he do that, and then give the company back to me?” Even as he said the words, he knew the answer. Edward had done it to wedge himself into Jed’s life, by putting into play the last chip the old man had on his side, the shares Jed’s mother left to him in her will.
An icy coldness filled his gut as he realized what his father had done.
“Never mind. Thanks.” Jed disconnected the call, then swung across traffic to get off on an exit ramp. He was breathing hard, betrayal an unexpected sword through a freshly healed wound. He swung around and back onto the expressway in the opposite direction, his mind racing.
By the time he got to the vineyard, he was determined to sever the ties that bound him to his father once and for all. He pulled up to the house and rang the bell.
Bonnie answered the door. “Why, Jed, we thought you’d gone home. Come on in. Edward’s in the sunroom. Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, I’m fine.”
She pointed down a hallway and he went in search of Edward, surprised to find him in an easy chair with an afghan across his legs. He looked old. Tired. He smiled when he saw Jed standing there. “Hey, come on in.”
Edward worked to sit up and Jed raised a hand to stop him. “Don’t get up. I’ll only take a minute of your time.”
“What’s wrong, son?”
The word hung in the air between them. Just a word, not a statement of relationship or a gesture of love. It was control he’d been after, and control Jed would take away.
“You orchestrated the whole thing. My company. The hostile takeover. Your loving rescue.”
Edward’s face seemed to melt, every feature hanging lower than it had moments before. “I can explain.”
“Save it. I don’t want your explanations. All I want is for you to stay out of my life, forever. Do you understand?”
“Son…”
“My name is Jed, and I do not consider myself to be your son.” He turned to leave, surprised to see Bonnie standing in the doorway, holding a cup of tea.
“Tell him, Edward.”
“No.”
“Tell him, or I will.”
Jed narrowed his gaze at one, then the other. “What’s going on here?”
Bonnie crossed to Edward, putting the tea down beside him and standing behind his chair. “Your father,” she began.
Edward leaned forward abruptly. “No. I’ll do it.” He looked to Jed. “I’m dying. I have four months, maybe six.”
A moment’s sorrow settled into Jed’s chest, but he said nothing.
The old man was dying after all.
Bonnie snapped at Edward. “You don’t know that. The doctors don’t even know for sure.” She turned to Jed. “He wanted you in his life.”
“Then he should have picked up the phone and invited me.”
“I did that at Christmas. You barely tolerated me over dinner and you wouldn’t see me after that,” Edward said. He shook his head. “When your mother left me those shares, I looked into your company. I saw it was good, a real solid business. But I read the charter. I knew about the clause.”
“You planned all this?” Jed asked.
“He thought of it, but I pushed him to do it.” said Bonnie. “We were getting married, and he wanted you here. He wanted a real relationship with you. We both did.”
“And this is how you go about it? This makes no sense. Why would you go to all this trouble just to get me to come to your wedding?”
Edward frowned. “You don’t get it, do you, son? I had all this money, but the only thing I wanted was you.”
* * *
Jed put the key in the ignition and started the engine, giving it gas and letting it race before throwing it into gear and pulling out of the lot too quickly.
This town might be beautiful, but it held nothing but false promises for him. He thought he’d gained a family, but he’d really been manipulated. He thought he found real love, only to be betrayed.
He was going home. He had gotten back the shares that were rightfully his, to restore his rightful place at the helm of his company, which was more than he had set his sights on when he arrived.
So why did he feel like such a failure?
He turned up the radio and pulled onto the main street in town, when suddenly the steering wheel became very difficult to turn. He looked down at the dashboard. The controls had gone dark.
Pulling over to the side of the road, Jed applied the brake and tried the ignition again. The car turned over, then promptly died once more. He called out in frustration and slammed his fist on the steering wheel.
What was it about this town that grabbed him and refused to let him go? All he wanted to do was return to his own life and leave this wretched place behind.
He climbed out of his car and slammed the door, then pulled out his cell phone and called AAA.
* * *
The red-headed bartender put a coaster in front of him. With a deeply scooped t-shirt clinging to her curves, she looked even more willing than she had the first time he’d met her.
“I thought you were just passing through,” she said with a smile.
“My car wanted to stay more than I did.” He’d had the tow truck drop him back in town and called the B&B to get a room for the night. But after all that had transpired today, he needed to unwind before he went there.
That was a lie.
He was thinking about Tori, and the bar was as close to her house as he could get without knocking on her door.
The bartender leaned over the bar. “I think your car has the right idea.”
Trouble. That’s what she was. He’d come here for a few hours to forget his, not to make any more.
No, he’d leave stunts like that to Tori and Gabe.
He ordered a whiskey straight up, deciding against the food he’d pretended he wanted when he walked in here, and settled back against the seat. The television was on and he stared at it, though he wasn’t paying attention to anything more than the colors on the screen.
He stayed like that through two more drinks as the bartender kept them coming. He didn’t even notice the people around him until he heard a familiar voice say, “You’re a man. Let me ask you something.”
Melanie was two barstools down, a pint of amber-colored beer in front of her. This town didn’t offer much in the way of solitude, that was for sure.
“I’m not falling for that one again, Mel.”
She picked up her beer and settled on the barstool next to him. “I thought you left.”
“I did. Now I’m back. You always go to bars by yourself?”
She smiled sweetly. “Sometimes I do. I like the liquor and the conversation. I just got off work, and Tori’s going to be on the news in a minute to give the last clue to the treasure hunt. She doesn’t have a TV, and this is closer than my place.”
He’d forgotten. “The festival’s tomorrow.”
Melanie nodded. “Thank goodness. I think we all need things to quiet down around here for a while. Now how about you tell me why you’ve got such a long face?”
“If I answered that question, I’d have to pay you by the hour.”
“I’m a good listener.” She raised her glass. “Liquor and conversation.”
“That’s beer, not liquor.”
“Let’s not squabble.” She gestured toward the TV. “The news is coming on.”
They went right from the station logo to a shot of Tori holding a scroll of paper tied with a ribbon. Jed felt like someone punched him in the gut, just looking at her. The newscaster’s voice could be heard over the image.
“We know you’re all anxiously awaiting the final clue in the hunt for Tori’s Treasures, and we’ll get to that in just a minute, but first up we have John with what’s happening on the national scene.” Th
e image faded to a male newscaster.
Jed realized he was gritting his teeth.
Melanie opened a big leather purse and took out a folded sheet of paper. “You playing?” she asked.
“What, the treasure hunt?”
“Of course. I think I’m doing pretty well. I’m about ninety percent sure I got all the clues right, so far.”
“So there’s only a ten percent chance you’re completely wrong.”
“Right.” She smiled. “Come on, it’s fun. I wrote down all the clues on the back.”
“Didn’t Tori tell you where she hid the treasure?”
“Oh, no. She knows she can’t trust me to keep a secret.” She laughed.
Jed finished his whiskey and signaled the bartender for another. He noticed a man down the bar had out a treasure map, just like Melanie. He turned and looked around the restaurant, seeing at least a dozen people waiting with their treasure maps for the final clue.
She did it. She really did it.
Maybe she’ll go out celebrating with Gabe tonight.
The bartender brought his drink and Jed took a long sip. He felt Melanie’s eyes on him and met her with a challenging stare. “What?”
“You got it bad, don’t you?”
“What?”
“Love.”
He scoffed. “Definitely not.”
“Something happen between you and Tori?”
He thought of Tori’s naked, willing body…
Melanie shook her head. “Not that. I know all about that. I mean later. Did y’all get in a fight or something?”
“She kissed my brother.”
She gasped dramatically. “No way.”
“Kissing and hugging, walking arm-in-arm. It was very sweet. Touching, even.”
“I don’t believe it. She’s not in love with Gabe, she’s in love with you.”
“Maybe it’s not love. Maybe it’s just lust. Maybe she wants to finish what they started ten years ago.”
“Tori’s not like that. You know her better than that.”
He put up his hands. “I don’t know anything about her.”
“That is not true.” She clucked her tongue. “What a disappointment you’re turning out to be.”