The Queensbay Series: Books 1-4: The Queensbay Box Set

by Drea Stein

  “Ok,” she said.

  Surprise flashed across his face and she felt a small thrill of satisfaction. Maybe he was disappointed. If so, it would give him something to think about.

  There was a call behind her, from Anna, telling Lynn to come watch.

  “I have to go. I made a promise,” she said.

  He looked at her sadly, his hands jammed into the pockets of his coat. “So did I.”

  Chapter 31

  “Looks like things are moving along here,” Jake said, leaning in the doorway.

  “That they are,” Jackson said. He had gotten most of the demolition done on the upstairs space and it was now mostly an open, raw space.

  “You’ve been pretty busy here. You know you could have called me, I would have gotten a crew to come on down, take care of this for you,” Jake said.

  “I didn’t mind doing the demo work myself,” Jackson said.

  Jake walked in, taking a good look around, testing things like support beams.

  “I heard you renewed the lease for some of the tenants,” Jake said casually.

  “Yeah, Madame Robireux wouldn’t be moved. I think she practically threatened to put a hex on me.”

  Jake shook his head, “That’s not who I’m talking about.”

  Jackson shifted some papers on the sheet of plywood he was still using as a desk.

  “Oh, the clinic? I ran the numbers another time and it seemed like it was more beneficial to keep them. I even got them to agree to slight rate increase, and in return I’ll start to make sure that all the maintenance items that were neglected under Petersen get addressed.” He decided not to mention how he’d been bombarded with all the reasons on why not to close the clinic from Chase, Noah, Caitlyn, and Darby, just to name a few people.

  “That’s awfully nice of you,” Jake said, his voice deceptively innocent.

  “What is it?” Jackson finally asked as the silence stretched between them.

  “I was just wondering if a certain brunette spitfire about, yay high,” he held a hand up to his mid-chest, “had anything to do with it.”

  “You mean Lynn Masters?”

  “Yeah. You know, the lady in the scrubs and the white coat, cures people for a living?”

  “I’m not doing it for her. I’m doing it because they’re a paying tenant.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time you did something just because of a pretty face,” Jake said, his arms crossed, legs wide apart.

  Jackson looked up from his laptop as a sudden thought occurred to him.

  “Hey, why are you so interested in Lynn and me? There’s nothing there you know, but I didn’t think I was crowding in on your territory.”

  The thought had finally penetrated his brain that maybe the reason Jake was giving him a hard time about her was that he had eyes for Lynn himself. If so, that meant Jackson would have to back down, because that was the guy code, right? Which wouldn’t matter since Jackson had no intention of going anyplace with her, did he?

  To his relief, Jake gave a little laugh, “No, not my territory. But she’s a nice girl. And friends with your brother and Phoebe.”

  “I know that. And I’ve barely said two words to her,” Jackson said, keeping his voice neutral. Sure he had kissed her; but in truth, they’d never had much of an actual conversation.

  “Oh, so you didn’t get into a fight at Quent’s over her? I just thought I’d heard something about that. You know, you could have let me know; I would have been your backup.”

  “It wasn’t a fight,” Jackson said, running his hand through his hair. “The guy didn’t stand a chance.”

  Jake smiled. “That’s the Jax I know. I heard you took down that meathead with one swift flying tiger kick.”

  Jackson shook his head, but he was smiling. “And I keep telling you there’s no such thing as a flying tiger kick. The guy was a jerk. Lynn made it clear she didn’t want to anything to do with him and he couldn’t take no for an answer. That’s it.”

  “Heard you walked her home too,” Jake said, throwing himself onto a folding metal chair that Jackson had brought in so he wouldn’t have to sit on a box.

  Jackson wondered how Jake had found out. Maybe from Tory? “We happen to live next door to each other. It was only natural that I walk her home, make sure that the meathead, Bode didn’t get any crazy ideas about following her.”

  Jake shook his head. “Always the gentleman, Jackson. You know, you’d better be careful.”

  “What are you trying to say?” Jackson asked, going still.

  “I would just hate for things to get messy, bro. I mean you just got back. I don’t want you walking out all over again, over another girl. It’s not that I don’t think you deserve a shot at happiness, but Lynn’s a good woman, made a lot of friends—mostly because she’s healed them.”

  “Are you saying she’s too good for me?”

  “No, I’m saying that you still have a perception problem my friend. Right or wrong, you’re still that guy who was driving the car the night his fiancée died.”

  “And how does that affect my relationship—though there isn’t one—with Lynn Masters today?” Jackson was aware his tone was icy.

  “People won’t want to see her get hurt.” Jake shrugged.

  “What makes people think I would hurt her?” Jackson asked.

  Jake shrugged again. “You’ve got a reputation, that’s all; and she’s popular girl. I just don’t see it working for you too. So don’t let her get under your skin.”

  “Good thing I’m not looking for anyone to get under my skin.”

  Jake smiled. “I thought that’s what we’re all looking for.”

  Jackson threw a pencil across the table. “Enough. Are you here to grill me on my non-existent love life or do you have another reason for bothering me on an otherwise perfectly good workday?”

  “Just so happens I might have a project for us. Turns out one of my clients wants to make her house energy efficient and was thinking about solar panels on her roof, and she started talking to me about these things.” Jake a took crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket. “And asked me if I knew anything about them.”

  Jackson took the piece of paper. It was an article from a magazine about a relatively new type of solar roofing panel. He thought it was a promising way to go and had planned on including them in his product lineup.

  “What did you say?”

  Jake smiled. “Told her of course I did and that our green building division would be happy to work up a quote.”

  “Green building division?” Jackson said.

  “Well, that’s if you think you’re ready to be in business.”

  Jackson felt a wave of relief rush over him. He hadn’t known just how much he wanted Jake to be in on this with him.

  “Long overdue,” Jackson said, holding out his hand, and Jake shook it.

  “Better now than never.”

  Chapter 32

  Lynn didn’t consider herself a computer whiz, not on par with Tory, but honestly, once she had the last name, it didn’t take much searching. The local paper had devoted quite a bit of space to the story. Ashley Moran had been a beloved hometown girl, just as Tory had said. She had been a star high school and college soccer player. She had come back to Queensbay after graduation, where she was coaching the school’s junior team. According to the paper, she had liked the beach and boating. Classmates remembered her as pretty, involved in school activities. She’d been a good student…blah, blah, blah…All the usual accolades had been heaped her way. And she’d left behind her parents, a younger sister, Lindsay, and her fiancé, Jackson Sanders.

  Lynn sighed and pushed the laptop away. So Jackson had been one half of the town’s golden couple. That was the baggage that Tory had been talking about. To have been there when it happened, to be a witness to that. No wonder he’d run away.

  She got up, walked over to the breakfast bar, and poured herself another cup of coffee. She had to be at work in half an hour and still need
ed to take a shower. There was no sense in dwelling on Ashley Moran. It had just been her natural sense of curiosity, she told herself, that had made her look the story up.

  But now that she knew, did it change anything with Jackson? He had said they weren’t a good idea, but Lynn didn’t know if it was because he wanted to protect her from his history in the town or if he had recognized there was something between them and was fighting against it, for whatever reason.

  And she had to admit, there was something about the wounded look in Jackson’s eyes that spoke to her. Occupational hazard, but she knew she was driven to try and fix people who were hurting. He called to her, and she was pretty certain that the feeling wasn’t one sided. But she didn’t know what to do about it.

  Chapter 33

  “I need to see a doctor,” Jackson managed to say, through the pain. The woman at the front desk looked up from her computer, coolly assessing him over her half-moon glasses.

  “Take a seat; someone will be right with you.”

  She handed him a clipboard too.

  “But I’m bleeding,” he said. Maybe he should have driven himself right to the emergency room. It had looked like a lot of blood when the glass had sliced through his hand.

  “You’re able to walk and talk, so it can’t be that bad. Just keep it elevated.”

  Jackson’s mouth dropped open and then he shut it. It hurt like a bitch, but it didn’t seem manly to admit that. After all, there was one kid waiting, holding an ice pack over a swollen elbow, who just sat there, legs swinging, not crying or bellyaching.

  Stoically, he took a seat. Filling out the paperwork proved to be a problem, since he had to balance the clipboard on his knee and try to fill in all the little spaces with his personal information. He gave up after a moment, and that was all it took.

  “Next.” Suddenly Lynn appeared in the doorway, hands jabbed into the pockets of her white medical coat.

  The woman at the front desk nodded at Jackson and he stood quickly. The move dizzied him and he felt the clipboard drop. He swayed and then she was there, an arm wrapped around his waist.

  “Lean into me,” she said, guiding him through the door to the back area of the clinic.

  “I’m fine,” he said impatiently. The dizziness had passed and he felt better, or as good as one could feel with an open wound.

  “Keep that hand elevated,” was all she said, leading him onto a hospital bed. She dropped him down and then closed the curtain.

  He looked at her. Her rich brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but a few stray curls escaped, curling around her neck and along her the elegant line of her jaw. She was wearing perfume, nothing heavy, but a light, citrus scent. He closed his eyes and breathed it in. She smelled good, like an angel.

  He felt himself being laid down on the exam table while she held his arm up. He opened his eyes, saw her start to unwrap the bloody towel and then he had to close them again.

  “How did it happen?” she asked, her voice calm, businesslike, and strangely soothing. If she wasn’t upset, it couldn’t be that bad. Still there was no hint of warmth in her eyes, and he wondered where was the friendly bedside manner he imagined her having.

  “I was working on the upstairs space, trying to get one of those windows unstuck, and it came loose, broke, and the glass got my hand.”

  She was looking at the cut, face unreadable.

  “You were fixing something?” There was a trace of amusement in her voice.

  “Sure. Why do you sound surprised?”

  Her chocolate brown eyes fixed on him and he was aware that his stomach jumped and not because of the pain. He had kissed her, unplanned, without finesse; and since then she hadn’t been far from his mind.

  Sure, he could try and lie to himself that it didn’t matter, but he was done with that. Part of coming back home had been to start with a clean slate, professionally. He hadn’t given a thought to his personal life, only knew that it would be a bad idea to get mixed up with Lynn. She was too passionate for one. And she knew too many of the same people. Ending things would be messy.

  Still, he constantly thought about kissing her again, and what it would be like to keep kissing her and let it lead them to where it was meant to be. It must be the blood loss, he thought. He had told her to stay away, that she would be better off keeping her distance. And he meant it. If only it would make it easier for him.

  She took a step back as if understanding something of what was in his eyes.

  “You just seem like the type to hire someone to do the manual labor, that’s all.”

  “Looks can be deceiving,” he managed to answer. “I’ve worked construction, hands on and around the globe, since I was sixteen. I might be more used to managing people now, but I still know how to use a hammer.”

  “Are you sure about that?” she answered, but there was a lightness in her voice, an almost teasing quality, and he took hope in it, giving her a smile. She hovered close to him, still looking at his hand, the space between them narrowing until he could feel her breath on him. She looked at him, unblinking and he couldn’t look away, knowing at that moment that everything he had told himself about staying away from her was a lie. The attraction between them was thrilling and he thought he would slowly go crazy if he tried to ignore it. But she would have to play by his rules.

  Whatever was flowing between them ruptured when a nurse came into the exam area and said, “Suture tray, Doctor.”

  He saw Lynn take a deep breath and step back. She was back in her doctor mode.

  “You need stitches. You’re lucky the cut didn’t go too deep. I can do it here if you want; or you can go to the emergency room, but you’ll likely have to wait.”

  “Ok.”

  “Ok, what?”

  “You’ll do it, right? I mean, sew me up?”

  She smiled. “Yes, I can do it. I can even give you something for the pain.”

  His eyes took in the big glass jar of lollipops. “And a lollipop.”

  “Only if you’re a good patient.” The teasing note was definitely in her voice, and despite the pain he found himself relaxing.

  #

  Her hands were steady. She made sure of that. True, most of her patients were several feet shorter than this one and desperately scared when she had to do something like this. Jackson wore a grim expression, but he was still as she gave him the anesthesia and then stitched up the nasty gash in his hand. He kept a steady gaze on her, his blue eyes reminding her of the sky on the first warm spring day. Something between them had changed, she was sure—some realization on his part of their connection. And this time, instead of freaking him out, he seemed calm about it, accepting.

  He was dressed casually, in jeans, work boots, and t-shirt, and smelled faintly of sawdust and soap. The nurse was in and out, and so normally, where Lynn would have kept up a steady stream of chatter with the patient, in an effort to calm him instead she found herself tongue tied, supremely aware of him.

  She felt him watching her and finally felt compelled to say something. “You’re renovating upstairs?” It was better to stick to small talk.

  “Starting to,” he said.

  “Who’s moving in there, the medical spa?”

  “The what…?” His brow puckered together. “Maybe. But it’s for me.”

  “You?”

  “I need some office space,” he said.

  “You’re doing the work yourself?”

  “Some of it. I guess I won’t be after this, though.”

  She hazarded a glance down at him. He hadn’t shaved in a day or two and there was light blond stubble on his face. It went well with the dressed-down look.

  “No. Probably a bad idea, since you’ll have to keep the sutures dry. And the hand will be sore for a while but there shouldn’t be any permanent damage.”

  She finished off the operation and added the bandage. She realized she was still holding his hand and that he made no move to take it from her. From out in the waiting room she could hea
r the sound of a kid crying, a high-pitched wail, which probably meant a fever. There was the noise of the DVD player that was on a constant loop of kids’ cartoons and a steady hum of soothing voices and cranky kids. Other patients were waiting yet she couldn’t quite tear herself away from him.

  All of that was pushed to the background, and somehow all she could hear was the thud of her own heart and a curious thrum in her own ears. In her hand, she could feel the warmth of Jackson’s, feel the beat of his pulse. His eyes held her and she felt as if the ground shifted beneath her, as her stomach jumped and flopped. It was a heady moment, as if a bolt of lightning had hit her, and Lynn took a step back.

  He had baggage, she reminded herself. He was older, a sophisticated world traveler. They probably didn’t have much in common. Still, her heart was racing and she felt like she could look in his eyes and never get tired. She wanted to know if he could ever look at her in the same way.

  “All done?” he asked in surprise.

  “Yes,” Lynn said. His question broke the spell and she took the moment to turn her back on him, setting down her instruments on the tray, ready to strip off her gloves. She turned to find him standing there, looking down at her.

  “I guess it’s my turn to thank you.”

  “You can consider us even,” Lynn said. It came out more sharply than she meant it to, but she had a sudden urge to be rid of him. She couldn’t stand this push and pull with him. Either he was interested and going to act on it, or he wasn’t and they could both be miserable and get on with their lives. But she wasn’t going to beg.

  “Listen, about the other day,” he started to say.

  She held up a hand. “You don’t need to explain.”

  “But I think I do. You know, so you can be fully aware of the situation,” he said, stepping closer to her. She felt the nearness of his presence, felt as if all the air were being sucked out of her. Years of medical school, years in the ER treating all sorts of life and death situations and now, here was a guy making her feel like a witless first-year med student.