The Last in Love (Ardent Springs Book 5)

by Terri Osburn

  The nursery opened at eight, but he had another stop to make first. Using the info in Q’s email, Justin located the available real estate and pulled off the road to have a look around. The mostly level lot featured a thin cropping of trees that would require minor clearing. Due mostly to the direct access straight off the exit, he had to agree with Q. This was a prime spot begging for development. And as the sun crested behind him, Justin leaned against his Infiniti, imagining the possibilities.

  A large gas station was a given. Maybe two if they could get the parcels on both sides of the road. Retail shops of some kind, and maybe a small hotel or two. There were no fast-food chains in Ardent Springs proper, but based on his research, this location rested outside the city limits, which would make any protests from the natives irrelevant. They could raise a fuss, but they couldn’t stop progress.

  The finished project took shape in his mind, as clear as the gravel at his feet. Absorbed in his thoughts and smiling at the gift Q had handed him, Justin failed to notice the truck pull onto the shoulder behind him.

  “Need some help?” called a deep voice from his left. Justin rose off the car as Cooper Ridgeway approached. “A jump or a tow?”

  “Neither,” Justin replied, offering a neighborly smile. “Just checking out the area.”

  Cooper glanced off to the trees across the way. “You get up early to gander at an empty lot?”

  “You see an empty lot,” he explained. “I see potential.”

  As if intrigued by the vague response, the bigger man mimicked his lean against the fender. Justin swallowed the command not to scratch the sports car. Ridgeway had a good twenty pounds on him, after all. And there was the tire iron thing.

  With a shake of his head, the mechanic queried, “What are you seeing?”

  Reluctant to show his hand, Justin said, “Nothing specific, but the location is good. Close to the interstate. Good-sized lot. I have ideas.”

  “You going to buy this?”

  This deal would be more complicated than a simple purchase. “More like help someone else buy it.”

  A beat of silence danced between them, and Justin could almost feel the next question coming.

  “Are you back here for good, Donovan?”

  “I haven’t bought a ticket for anywhere else, but you never know.” He shrugged. “I’m here for the next few months, anyway. I’ll see where life takes me after that.”

  “Hal says you like my sister.”

  Justin struggled to figure out who this Hal person might be. “I do. I like her a lot.”

  “Hal seems to think Abbs likes you, too.”

  This was starting to feel like passing notes in homeroom. “Who is Hal?” he asked. “I don’t think I’ve met him.”

  Cooper snorted. “Sorry. I mean Haleigh Rae.”

  Now that made more sense. Since Haleigh had done the bidding at the auction, Justin ventured a guess that she supported whatever might happen between him and her friend. The giant leaning next to him was proving harder to read.

  “Here’s what I know,” Justin said, preferring to clear the air and keep things simple. “I like your sister, and, based on, well . . .” Describing to her brother what they’d done the night before didn’t seem like a smart move. “Let’s just say that I have good reason to believe she feels the same way about me. Does that answer your question?”

  “She’d be pissed as a wet hen if she knew I was saying this,” Cooper drawled, shifting off the car to stare Justin in the eye, “but I’ll tell you what I know. Abby doesn’t do casual. She never has. She’s all in or all out, so if you don’t see this as an all in for you, I suggest you keep your eyes on those trees over there and off my sister.”

  Ridgeway had no idea how reassuring his speech was.

  “At eighteen years old, I had my eye on a pretty girl,” Justin shared, relaxing against the car. “She was perfect and smart and barely noticed me. You know what that’s like?”

  Green eyes exactly like Abby’s narrowed. “Yeah. I know what that’s like.”

  “Good.” Justin rose to his full height and squared his stance. “Then you get it. I’m all in, Cooper. Always have been. Always will be. The rest is up to Abby.”

  As if a truce had been reached, Cooper relaxed, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Nice car you’ve got here.”

  Justin didn’t miss a beat. “She’s my pride and joy.”

  “2014?”

  “2015. Customized her to exactly what I wanted, down to the three-point-five-liter hybrid engine.”

  “That doesn’t slow her down?”

  Brushing a speck of dust off the roof, he replied, “Not one bit.”

  “Damn,” Cooper whispered. “I prefer a classic, but still appreciate your taste.”

  They may not be friends—yet—but Justin had earned a little respect.

  “Let me know if you ever want to take her for a spin,” he said, shocking himself with the offer. No one drove Justin’s car. Ever. But if anyone could handle her, Cooper was the man.

  “Got some time right now,” the older man replied, a challenging twinkle in his eye. Good thing Justin hadn’t been bluffing.

  Stepping away, he nodded toward the door. “Keys are in it.”

  Ten minutes later, heart beating like a dad waiting for his daughter to return from her first date, Justin watched his Hagane blue Q50 appear on the horizon as pristine as when she’d faded out of sight. Once again able to breathe, he lingered by Ridgeway’s old gray Ford until the car enthusiast parked and climbed from the vehicle.

  Hiding his true feelings, Justin met him halfway. “What do you think?”

  “I think I’m in love.” Cooper beamed, tossing him the keys. “You were right about the power. I kicked her in over the hill and the response was killer.”

  Justin didn’t like the words kicked her in but kept the smile in place. “That’s my baby.”

  Cooper chuckled. “I’d better get the shop open. Thanks for the test-drive.” Before climbing into the cab, he said, “How about we keep this conversation between us?”

  A fan of discretion, Justin said, “What conversation?”

  A crooked grin flashed seconds before the truck pulled away. Happy to have a new ally, Justin lowered into his car, patting the wheel as if to make sure she was okay. As the engine hummed to life, Justin cast one last glance across the weed-covered field. “This is my ticket back in,” he murmured, shifting the sedan into gear as a new plan rolled out before him.

  With three simple steps, he would have everything he wanted.

  First, he’d win the girl. Second, he’d close the deal. And third, when Chesterfield Developers begged him to come back, Justin would merrily tell them to go to hell.

  Chapter 12

  Placing the ad with the Ardent Advocate had been simple enough until Piper Griffin had caught Abby on her way out and commenced a fact-finding expedition. A well-known member of the newspaper sales team, Piper had the fashion sense of a woman half her age and the curiosity of a caffeinated five-year-old.

  Why are you here? Since when do you do landscaping? Didn’t you just set your house on fire?

  Dodging as much as she could, Abby had failed to defer the employment query. Not only was she now late for her next stop, but she’d unavoidably informed the most fervent member of the Ardent Springs gossip lines about her change of career before telling her own mother. The moment Abby made her escape, the race was on.

  Since Linda Ridgeway began every day helping her fiancé open the bookstore, Abby’s next challenge turned out to be locating a parking space in the store’s vicinity. She circled the block twice before stealing a spot from Mrs. Abernathy, who waved a gnarled fist out her window. Abby would receive a proper scolding at church on Sunday, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

  Charging through the front door, she found the main section empty. A quick search through the stacks and still nothing. Finally she found Bruce in the back office.

  “Where’s Mama?�
��

  Bruce looked up from a box of old magazines. “It’s Friday. She’s at her hair appointment.”

  Resisting the urge to smack herself in the forehead, Abby zipped out through the front door as quickly as she’d zipped in. Gertie Carlyle had been doing Mama’s hair every Friday for the last seven years. How could she have forgotten this regular occurrence? And, of course, Gertie’s shop rested four blocks away. Jogging through pedestrians, Abby felt her lungs burning by the middle of the second block. Though nursing had kept her on her feet, she was obviously more out of shape than she realized. As she rounded the corner at Fifth, headed toward Bridge Street, Abby decided that a gym membership might be in order.

  When the salon came into view, she staggered to a halt, bent at the waist to catch her breath. “I can do this,” she mumbled, holding her side. “This is what I get for using that treadmill as a towel rack.” Stutter jogging the last one hundred feet, Abby saw the car parked before the salon entrance and her heart sank. The license plate on the little pink Jetta bore one word.

  PIPER.

  Dammit.

  Maybe she hadn’t told her yet. Maybe Mama was eyebrow deep in a rinse and Piper hadn’t even spotted her. Bells jingled overhead as Abby hurried through the glass door to hear the words, “I can’t believe a woman would throw away decades of a career to plant flowers.”

  One decade. Abby had been a nurse for one decade.

  “You’ve clearly got your story wrong, Piper,” Abby’s mother assured from under the towel draped atop her head. “Abby had an interview for a nursing position just this week.”

  “I’m telling you—” Piper started, her back to Abby.

  Mama cut her off. “I’m her mother, for heaven’s sake. Don’t you think I’d know if my daughter lost her mind enough to pick up a pair of trimming shears?”

  The rest of the staff, of course, had spotted Abby right away. Three sets of wide, heavily lined eyes stared her way, all filled with excitement over having a front-row seat for the scene about to unravel.

  Piper opened her coral-tinted lips, but Abby cleared her throat before another word could be uttered.

  “Gertie, how long are you going to leave me under this towel? Did you wander off or something?” Mama lifted the terry cloth and spotted her daughter lingering like a lightning-struck hummingbird near the front door. “Abigail. What are you doing here?” Dragging the towel into her lap, she waved her own question away. “Never mind. Will you tell Ms. Griffin here that you have not given up nursing?”

  Heart beating like a kick drum, she said, “Mama, I need to talk to you.”

  “Why? What happened? Is Cooper okay?”

  “He’s fine, Mama.” Abby looked to Gertie. “Can we use your office for a minute?”

  “Sure, sugar,” Gertie replied, sliding the towel off Mama’s lap. “Take all the time you need.”

  Remaining seated, her mother said, “It’s true, isn’t it? Piper is right.”

  “I told you—” the gossip started.

  “You’ve said enough,” Abby snapped, hushing the busybody. “Mama, please just come back to Gertie’s office with me.”

  “It’s that boy, isn’t it?”

  “If you’ll give me two minutes, I’ll explain everything.”

  “I know Thea Levine gave him the beautification project. Abigail Louise, what are you thinking?”

  Patience thin, she let the words fly. “I’m a grown woman who can make my own decisions, that’s what I’m thinking. I’m trying something new. Something that I might actually enjoy.” Turning her attention to the audience, Abby added, “Would you all please excuse us for one minute? I would like to finish this conversation in private.”

  Gertie burst into action. “Of course, darling.” She took the broom from the younger stylist’s hands, saying, “Let’s step outside and get a bit of sun, ladies. We don’t do that near often enough.” As the staff shuffled toward the exit, Piper held her ground. “You, too, Piper. We can talk about my Memorial Day ads outside.”

  For a second, Abby thought Gertie would use the broom on Piper’s heels, but the gossip queen joined the exodus, and within seconds the room had cleared.

  “I can’t believe you spoke to me that way in front of my friends,” Mama pouted.

  “I asked you to step into the office.”

  “Why bother? The butter was out of the biscuit by that point.” Arms crossed beneath the brown vinyl cape, she said, “Explain to me why you would walk away from an established career to play garden games with Justin Donovan.”

  Abby fought to control her temper. “I was fired, Mama. The hospital let me go, and the only nursing positions I can find around here consider me overqualified. Two wouldn’t even talk to me, and the other ended the interview as soon as he saw my résumé. I’m not walking away from nursing—it walked away from me.”

  Slightly mollified, her mother’s tone shifted. “What did you mean, trying something you might actually enjoy? I thought you loved being a nurse.”

  “I did, but I haven’t for a long time,” Abby confessed. “I’m not sure when things changed. Maybe after Kyle died. Maybe before. All I know is that nursing doesn’t make me happy anymore.”

  “I want you to be happy, honey. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. But landscaping? That just isn’t you. You don’t even have houseplants.”

  “That’s beside the point. And this could be me,” she said. “I helped Justin with my flower beds and I really enjoyed the work. I don’t even know if I’ll be good at it, but I deserve the right to try.”

  “You want to spend your days playing in dirt?”

  “Dirt smells a lot better than ninety percent of the muck I’ve handled in the last ten years.”

  Mama’s face twisted in disgust. “I hadn’t thought of that. So yesterday . . .”

  “You saw us agreeing to work together, yes. I should have told you right then what was going on, but I chickened out.”

  “Because you thought I’d do what? Throw a fit?” she asked.

  Abby smiled for the first time since leaving the newspaper office. “I’d say the last few minutes proved me right on that assumption.”

  The older woman chuckled. “Like I said, I want my children to be happy, but I want them to be sensible. None of this sounds very sensible.”

  “I’m not buying an RV and going off the grid,” Abby pointed out. “I’m changing paths, that’s all. Maybe we aren’t meant to do the same thing for our whole lives.”

  Mama sighed. “Maybe we aren’t. But honey, I saw the way you looked at that boy yesterday. Are you sure this is all business?”

  “He’s twenty-eight years old, for heaven’s sake. Stop calling him a boy.” Abby plopped down in the chair next to Mama’s. “And no, what’s going on with me and Justin isn’t strictly business.”

  “Baby, he’s five years younger than you are.”

  “And Kyle was seven years older than I was. No one made a peep when we got together.”

  A sensible shoe tapped the footrest. “I would have if you hadn’t come home from college so in love. Kyle was much too old for you.”

  Amazed that her mother had never aired this opinion before, Abby leaned forward. “Age is just a number, Mama,” she said, ignoring the fact that she’d had the same misgivings a mere week ago. “When you’re in love, you don’t see someone’s age. You just see them.”

  Thin gray brows arched. “Are you saying that you’re in love with Justin Donovan?”

  Abby took a moment to consider her feelings. She was in like, maybe. And a whole lotta lust. But not love. Not yet.

  “We’re enjoying each other’s company,” she offered. “That’s good for now.”

  Mama rolled her eyes. “That’s code for having sex and even I know it.”

  To her dying day Abby would never forget hearing those words cross her mother’s lips. “Mama! We are not having sex.” Not yet, anyway. “I need to go. I’m meeting Justin at the bookstore for my first official day of work.” She
shuffled off the chair and placed a quick kiss on her mother’s cheek. “By the time your wedding rolls around, we’ll have all of Main Street blooming.”

  “Good luck, baby,” the older woman offered, reaching for a dry towel on the station in front of her. “And keep it strictly business with that boy.”

  Gertie and her crew chose that moment to rejoin them, in time to catch Mama’s parting words. Avoiding eye contact, Abby made her second escape of the day.

  “Hey there, good-looking.”

  Justin spun to find Haleigh Mitchner strolling up behind him. He’d been waiting for Abby in front of the bookstore for ten minutes and had assumed she’d be the only person offering such a greeting. But the slick blonde sporting jeans and a denim jacket proved him wrong.

  “Good morning,” he tossed back, not sure what to expect after his earlier visit with Cooper. This could either be a friendly chat about the weather or another interrogation.

  “I heard you talked to Cooper this morning.” So much for keeping the conversation between themselves. “Don’t worry,” Haleigh added. “Cooper won’t tell Abby, but he tells me everything. Is that stuff you told him true?”

  As usual, honesty had not been the best policy this morning. “Maybe I was buying sympathy from her brother or maybe I wasn’t. Either way, I have work to do.”

  He spun away only to find a hand on his arm. “Wait,” she said. “I realize we keep poking our noses into your business, but Abby means a lot to us. I guess we’re both a little protective of her.”

  No harm in caring for your friends and family, but they had a funny way of showing it. “Did you know that she didn’t like being a nurse anymore?”

  Brown eyes narrowed. “Not until they let her go.”

  “And do you know how hard it is for her to watch you and her brother be blissfully happy while she feels totally alone?”

  “Abby is happy for us.”

  “She can be happy for you and still be miserable,” he purported. “If you really want to protect her, maybe you need to pay attention to her instead of being caught up in your own little world.”