by Roni Adams
“But once the baby is born, then what? She’ll be trying to take care of a new baby and run the store.”
“Not if she thought you were there for Krista.”
Shane frowned. “What do you mean?”
Karen set the wooden spoon on the spoon rest and faced him, leaning back against the counter and crossing her arms on her chest. “Do I seriously have to spell this all out? If you and Krista became partners, if you were to go to your mother and ask to buy her out so you could do this with Krista, what do you think she’d say?”
Shane scoffed. “She’d be over the moon thinking we were going to play nice together, finally.” He did air quotes with his fingers.
“Exactly.”
“So, besides my job and the reserves, I should now try to run the Apple Basket?”
Karen shook her head. “Nope. You should keep working there the way you have all these years and Krista can hire Melissa to help on a regular basis. Your role won’t change at all, except in your mother’s eyes.”
“You forget one crucial piece here.”
She tipped her head. “What’s that?”
“Krista and I don’t get along. We can’t stand to be together.”
She gave an evil laugh. “You’re full of crap. You just got scared and let the first fight stop everything in its tracks.”
Pushing to his feet, he moved to the counter and set his empty beer bottle in the sink. “Doesn’t that tell you something? A fight like that and we walked away tells me there’s no foundation.”
“You have to work on the foundation. Just because you two have known each other your entire lives doesn’t mean you know each other as a couple. You have to learn to fight and make up, and not let it destroy you.”
Dave walked through the back door, and glanced from one to the other. “How’s it going?”
When Karen crossed the room and lifted her face to her husband, his buddy dropped a kiss on his wife’s lips.
She stepped back. “I think we’re making some progress.”
“Really?” Dave raised an eyebrow, then turned to pull out two beers from the refrigerator.
“Karen thinks I should offer to buy out my mother’s half of the partnership and go into business with Krista.” Shane leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.
Dave nodded and twisted the top of his beer. “That would be great if you were together, or even got along. But you two can’t be in the same room together without fireworks.”
He handed Shane an open beer.
“Exactly. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell your lovely wife.”
Karen reached into the cupboard and pulled down bowls. “And I said it would be fine because they would make it work. You and Krista are meant to be together, Shane. I think even you know it. You just don’t know how to make it happen.”
Shane reached for the loaf of bread next to him and picked up the knife to begin slicing it. “I think the pregnancy is making you a bit crazy.”
“Maybe the reason you’ve had such a poor track record with women is because none of them were the one you wanted,” Karen stated.
“That doesn’t mean it would work with Krista.”
“I think you’re wrong. I think that whatever you two had going was better than anything you’ve had before, and you both got scared.” Karen set knives and spoons on the table.
Dave handed the utensils to Shane who picked up a slice of bread and buttered it. He was suddenly famished. His mind whirled, wondering if there was something in Karen’s theory.
Buy his mother out? Could he do that? Did he want to? He knew his mother would be absolutely fine if he went to her and offered to buy her half of the business. She’d have no qualms at all. But what if Krista didn’t want him as her partner? What if she didn’t feel the same as he did?
What did he feel? Was Karen’s theory about the two of them just as on point?
“What are you thinking? I can see the wheels turning.” She set a bowl of steaming stew in front of him.
“Do you really think Krista wants me? I mean, in business with her?”
Karen sat down next to him at the table. Her hand slipped over his. “Krista is head over heels in love with you. I have no doubt she would love to be in business with you. And in bed with you.”
His heart skipped a beat for a moment, thinking maybe Karen was right. Then he remembered how angry Krista was, and how determined she was to do exactly what she wanted no matter how he felt about it. That didn’t sound like someone who loved him. Wouldn’t she want to work things out?
Krista asking him to help her figure out options filtered back through his memory. Maybe she was interested in having him in her life.
Karen shrugged and picked up a slice of bread to butter it. “Trust me, women know these things.”
Dave joined them at the table. “When you two are together, even I can feel the tension. And I’m usually pretty oblivious.”
Shane tipped a grin at Karen’s emphatic nod of agreement, then added, “But sex isn’t enough to build a relationship on.”
“Did you really just say that?” Karen laughed outright and turned to her husband. “What do you think about that?”
Dave winked. “Sometimes it’s the best way to start.” He leaned over and kissed his wife, but this time it wasn’t a chaste peck like before, but a kiss that had Shane looking away.
He cleared his throat. “Just suppose all this works the way you say and we become partners, and we work things out and then we end. What then? We’re stuck as business partners with someone we can’t stand.”
“That’s an easy fix. Marry her.”
Chapter Eleven
Shane’s spoon stopped midway to his mouth.
Karen nodded. “Yeah, not to say it’s foolproof, but when you’re married and have a business, you have far more riding on making it work, wouldn’t you say?”
“I’m not marrying Krista.”
“Why not?”
“We’ve had a relationship built on our intense dislike for each other for years—practically our whole life. We only slept together for two weeks. Does that sound like the start of happy ever after to you?”
“I’m not saying get married tomorrow, but why not think about it? If you have something to work at, something to really make you want to make this work, then maybe you can get over some of the small things.”
“I think what Karen is saying is when you’re just dating, if something pisses you off, you walk away no strings attached. But once you’re committed to each other, married or whatever, you have a whole new sense of wanting it to work. You look past the stupid stuff.”
“Dave and I have been together since we were teenagers; do you really think there’s nothing he does that doesn’t get on my last nerve?”
“Hey!”
Karen reached for her husband’s hand and smiled. “And there are things I do that he can’t stand, but at the end of the day we love each other enough to know those things don’t matter.”
“Don’t give me some corny ‘don’t go to bed mad’ line.” Shane tucked into his stew. His friends were crazy. That’s all there was to it; they were insane.
“Actually, sometimes the best thing you can do is sleep it off. In the morning, you wake up and feel like a fool for even being mad about something so stupid. Like you and Krista; I bet you’ve been wondering what happened and how that one disagreement ended up like this.”
Hadn’t he been thinking just that earlier? How the hell a simple disagreement had erupted into this still had him scratching his head. One minute they were laughing and loving each other, and the next, she was asking him to leave.
“So? What do you think?”
Shane tipped his head and studied them. “You’ve forgotten one important thing. Krista wants nothing to do with me.”
Chapter Twelve
Krista stepped out of her car and looked up at the old but charming farmhouse. The exterior was freshly painted, and she not
ed a new porch swing as she reached the steps. It was strange that a place she’d never lived in should feel so much like home, but from the first time she’d come here to meet her father’s then new girlfriend, she’d felt completely comfortable.
She hadn’t had a chance to get out here in several weeks so the phone call yesterday from her stepmother, Patricia, inviting her to Sunday dinner was perfect. The last thing she wanted to do was sit alone in the house all day and stew over Shane and the mess they’d made of everything.
Patricia had owned the house before she met Krista’s father. Since her three kids were still young, they’d agreed to simply stay there and not uproot them from their friends and the school they loved. The kids had had enough in their life with losing their father, an army soldier who’d been fighting overseas, and gaining a new one a couple years later. Krista thought her father was a bit crazy to take on someone else’s family, but after the wedding, she could see how much joy Patricia and the kids brought to him. She hadn’t seen him that happy in years.
“Krista’s here! Krista’s here!”
The dark-haired youngest of three boys, six-year-old Charley, hurled himself at her as she reached the top step.
She scooped him up and hugged him hard. “Hey you!”
Charley beamed up at her. “Wait until you see the new puppy!”
Krista set him down and smiled as she spotted his recently lost front tooth. “I can’t wait. I heard he’s awesome.”
“I got to name him.” His blue eyes twinkled with excitement. “I called him Bear because he looks like a brown bear.”
“I think that’s a great name.”
The door swung open behind him, and her father stepped outside, walking toward her. Being wrapped in his arms again made her feel so secure and safe, and she stayed for a second or two longer than usual.
He held her back and frowned. “Everything okay?”
She grinned. “Just glad to see you.”
“Come on, Krista. Come meet Bear.” Charley pulled on her.
With a wink to her dad, she followed the eager little boy inside and through the kitchen.
“Hi.” She grinned to her stepmother as she was pulled through the door to the back yard. “Sorry, I’ll hug you in a minute; we’re on a big mission.”
Out back, the other two boys, Matt and Joe, held a tennis ball while a brown ball of fur that seemed to be all legs and hair bounded around the fenced-in yard.
“Come here, Bear. Come on, boy,” Charley called to him, and the puppy fell all over himself getting to his side.
Krista squatted, not wanting to sit on the damp grass, but the puppy jumped into her lap and pushed her down. She laughed as he licked her face.
“See, I told you he’s awesome!” Charlie giggled.
She held the wiggling body out so she could see the puppy. “What kind is he? I see cocker spaniel, right?” Even though her father had already told her he was a mix, she let the boys tell her about their new family member.
At ten and eleven, Matt and Joe were already showing signs of becoming gangly teenagers.
The oldest brother, Matt, shoved his hands in his pockets. “He’s a mix of a bunch of different dogs.”
Krista hugged the fluffy Bear to her chest. There was nothing like a puppy to lighten your mood. “Well, those are the best kind, aren’t they? A mix means they put all the best parts into one dog.”
Joe flopped down next to her. “I guess. I really wanted a cool dog, like a St. Bernard or a Lab.”
“I think he’s a pretty cool dog.” Krista watched Bear run up and down the yard chasing a ball, sniffing the ground. “I wish I had one like him.”
“They had another at the pound.” Charley scooted over next to her. “Maybe you could get Bear’s sister or brother.”
She hadn’t considered it until now, but a dog might be nice. It might be fun to have someone to come home to, and even sleep with. Immediately, an image of Shane hogging the bed came to mind. She shoved the thought back out of her head. A puppy wouldn’t complicate her life near as much as that. “Maybe I’ll check it out tomorrow.”
At dinner, Charley brought it up again. “Krista’s going to go get one of Bear’s brothers or sisters and take them home.”
Her father studied her. “Really? I didn’t know you wanted a puppy.”
He almost looked broken hearted he hadn’t thought to get her one.
“I didn’t think I did, but I’m thinking maybe it would be fun. I work from home; it’s not like the puppy would be alone very often.”
Patricia passed the large bowl of mashed potatoes. “My friend works there. If you want, I can call her after dinner and ask if any of the puppies left. There were seven in the litter, and they had several when we picked up Bear last week.”
“What will you name the puppy?” Charley shifted in his chair, his big blue eyes glowing.
“Maybe you can help me with some names.” Krista slid a piece of meatloaf off the platter onto his plate and then onto her own. “Will you come over and do that?”
“Can I stay overnight?” Charley begged over a mouthful of potatoes.
She glanced at her stepmother not wanting to make promises. Charley had spent time at Krista’s in the summer, but with school in session now, she wasn’t sure what Patricia would think about that.
“Maybe once you’re out for Christmas vacation,” his mother said.
“But you could probably go with us and help Krista pick him out. How would that be?” her father offered.
“Awesome!”
“How is Mary feeling?” Patricia grinned. “I’m still in shock over her news, but so excited of course.”
“She’s feeling good. The doctor is making her be extra careful. She’s on bed rest, but so far so good.”
“How are things at the store then? I want to get in before the holidays and do some shopping, too.”
“The shop is good. I have a woman named Melissa who is helping me this season.” Krista scooped some corn onto her plate.
Her father set a glass of milk in front of Joe who made a face. “And Shane? Is he helping too?”
Krista felt her face flame at the question. “Yep, he’s there.” Too late, she realized her voice had snapped in annoyance.
“Uh oh. I really thought someday you two would grow out of that bickering stuff. I know you rub each other the wrong way, always have, but you’re grown adults now. Can’t you put all that behind you?”
Images of Shane rubbing soap into her skin on their last morning together raced through her mind. Yep, he had definitely been behind her, and in front of her, and he’d definitely rubbed her, but not in the wrong way at all. She stalled, swallowing what was in her mouth before speaking. “We’ve tried to get along,” she answered truthfully. “But we each have our own mind about how things should be.”
Patricia shook her head. “Sometimes there are just folks in this world that you can never please.”
Once again, images of them pleasing each other came unbidden to mind, and an unexpected warmth spread over her. How could she be thinking about sex with Shane while at Sunday dinner with her family? Why did she have to think of Shane at all? It was a brief fling. It was over. The end.
So why didn’t her body get that and stop aching for him?
After dinner, Patricia suggested Krista and her father take the puppy for a walk. She raised her eyebrow at her stepmother, but let herself be shoved out the door with the leash.
“I guess Pat thinks we should have some time one on one.” Her father clipped the puppy’s leash on as the wiggling furball tried to get away.
“I hope she doesn’t think I feel slighted or anything with the boys.” Krista brushed at her hair as it flew in her face. Buttoning her coat she shivered.
“I think she wonders from time to time if you feel she’s come in and taken me away from you.” Her father tugged at the leash as Bear sat down and tried to chew on the leather strap. “Stop that.” He scolded, brushing the puppy’s fac
e away.
“I don’t feel that way at all.” Tucking her hand through the crook of his arm, she added, “I love that you are happy here, and that I can come visit, and go home, too. It’s the best of both worlds.”
“Yes, I think it would have been a lot if we had all moved in together.” Her father glanced at her once more. “So, you sounded really annoyed when Shane’s name came up at dinner. More so than usual. Is something going on I should know about?”
“Not really.” She was going to leave it at that, but the next thing she knew, she blurted out, “Shane and I tried to work things out. We were even sort of dating. But it fizzled fast.”
Her father glanced toward her. “By ‘sort of dating,’ you mean sleeping together?”
She sent him a sharp look. “I’m not talking about that with you. But yeah, we tried to make it work as a couple. And it was fun for a while. Until our issues quickly popped to the surface.” She lifted one shoulder and hoped she sounded nonchalant. “So, we both walked away.”
“How was it?”
“How was what?” He better not be asking her how the sex was. There were some things you just did not share with your father.
“How was it when you two were a couple?”
“We had fun. We both enjoyed being together...at least I did.”
“Do you want to talk about what happened?”
She sighed and watched as Bear twisted on the leash.
Her father brought him to his side and made him sit still for a second before continuing on.
“We disagreed about the business. Shane thinks if I don’t shut down the store, Mary will try to do too much, and it wouldn’t be good for her health.”
“Mary’s a smart woman. She won’t do anything to jeopardize that baby.”
“I know. But he thinks even after the baby is born she’ll try to help me instead of enjoying her time with the baby. He’s afraid she’ll run herself ragged.”
“Does he know what you want to do with the store? Keeping it open all year and turn it into a full time thing?”
“Yep. And he was okay with it until his mother started to get sick. Since we thought it was something horrible at first...well, Shane’s become even more protective of her.”