Kisses Between the Lines: An Echo Ridge Anthology (Echo Ridge Romance Book 2)

by Lucy McConnell

  “Well, he was manager at the ski shop near Gore Mountain for a few years, and he didn’t drive it into the ground or get fired, so he must know what he’s doing. With you running the website and promo, you have a reasonable chance, I guess. You’re pretty business savvy, after all.” She made the admission sound grudging, more than she felt.

  He gave her a look that said he knew there was more to it.

  She relented. “We did strike a truce the other day, we shook on it and everything, so we can’t fight anymore. In that case, I figure we might as well help each other out— especially since it affects you. So tell me what’s up with you and your girlfriend.”

  Bret kept scribbling on the paper, sketching a pie. “I have the best idea, what do you think of pumpkin pie?”

  “I’m pro pumpkin pie.” Was he avoiding the topic? She didn’t think he’d said anything about the girlfriend since he’d moved back. Jill? Joanna? Joan? Why couldn’t she remember the name? “Do you mean for the grand opening?”

  “Yes, it’ll be perfect.”

  The sliding glass door opened and Bret’s father stuck his head into the kitchen. “Hey, you wanted me to show you how I do my secret steak rub?”

  Bret practically jumped from his seat. “Yeah, definitely.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “We’ll talk and plot later.”

  “Plot?” his father asked.

  “Business strategy,” Fay explained, wondering what Bret had done to rate getting the recipe to the steak rub.

  “My children, the brilliant business experts.” Mike shut the sliding glass door with a look of pride on his face.

  Fay felt a glow of warmth from his approving tone. He called her one of his kids and an expert. He had always been nice, but it was comforting to hear praises from him, even if it hadn’t been just for her.

  She stood and moved to the fridge to pull out the corn on the cob her mom had asked her to prepare. Mom was visiting someone and would be there soon.

  Fay looked out the door and saw father and son, their heads bent over the bowl as Mike added ingredients and Bret wrote down the recipe in his notebook. Fay wondered what she would have to do to get them to share it with her. Maybe she could sneak it from Bret when his back was turned. It was a terrific steak rub, but Mike hadn’t shared it with anyone before now, even though she had tried wheedling it out of him several times.

  She cleaned the ears of corn and buttered them before tightly wrapping them in aluminum foil to set on the grill with the meat. There were more than usual, but maybe her mom wanted something she could easily pop in the microwave the next day.

  When she finished, the men had moved to the water spigot which had apparently been giving them trouble. Fay set the corn on the grill, then closed the top on the barbecue again, reaching for the notebook Bret had been using and flipping it open to the page with the rub. It was opposite three days of to-do lists with notes about other page numbers and color codes from his four-ink pen. Fancy.

  She took a blank page from further back in the cheap book and copied. Heh heh, it’s mine now. She heard their voices drifting across the backyard, though their heads were turned away from her. They didn’t appear to have heard her come out as they talked about the ski shop. Fay liked seeing them like this and felt a little wistful that she didn’t have the same relationship with Mike too. Not that he wasn’t terrific and supportive, but it wasn’t the same. Or maybe the difference was in her imagination.

  She pushed the feeling away and focused on the good things in her life— there were a lot of them. The cadence of their words was soothing, so much that she almost didn’t catch what they were saying.

  “He’s liked her for years, but she totally ignores him,” Bret said as he turned off the water.

  “Ignoring might be an improvement,” Mike said.

  “No, I just wish she would give him a chance. Since high school, he told me. Seriously, who does that?”

  Fay stared at them while they spoke and then grabbed the recipe and stuffed it in her pocket, heading back inside before they saw her. Were they talking about her and Austin? It kind of sounded like it.

  Could he really have had a thing for her back in high school? Austin liked her? Liked her, liked her? It was ridiculous. Of course he didn’t, hadn’t, wouldn’t. The kiss had been a cruel joke that had been spread all over the school in the final week before summer break— it had been one more reason she had forged her mom’s signature on the paperwork to sign up for her GED. She didn’t ever want to go back to that high school. He had been part of the reason— even if she was letting all of her resentment go now. Or at least she was working on it.

  When she walked back into the kitchen, she found her mother putting together a green salad. “You’re back?”

  “Yes, I was checking on Ida Marie. She’s doing so much better, but she still isn’t up to making the trip to church yet. We’re hoping it’ll be better next week. Tell me, how are things at the café?”

  Fay talked about the week’s events and the plans she and Bret had discussed for promotions. When the doorbell rang, she was deep into plans for the library events over the next two weeks.

  “Hold on, let me grab that. We have a couple people joining us for dinner.” Mom headed for the front door.

  Fay hoped it wasn’t Austin and his parents— she didn’t think she could handle dealing with him right now, not when her head was twirling with thoughts about him— even though she did not think Bret was talking about him. Definitely not.

  Had his feelings been the real reason he had dropped everything to help in the café on Friday?

  Gah! She had to stop this. Bret probably wasn’t even talking about them, but someone else instead.

  She shouldn’t have worried about the possibility of Austin joining them— of course her mother managed to invite someone worse. Her father and his brother, Jeremy, came through the door instead.

  Fay looked up when she heard Sam’s voice and stared, it was worse than having him come into her café the previous day— she expected to run into people she wasn’t fond of there, but having her mother invite him to dinner without warning her? What was that all about?

  “Your father and Jeremy are joining us for dinner,” Mom said brightly, as if this was going to be a real treat.

  Though she wanted to growl and storm from the room, Fay forced a smile. “That’s why Mom is cooking for a crowd. It’s good to see you, Uncle Jeremy.” She greeted him with a hug.

  “Sam,” she acknowledged with a nod, before returning to the counter where she was shredding carrots for the salad.

  “It’s good to see you again,” her father said.

  “You have a long trip ahead of you. I guess it’s a good thing we’re having lunch instead of dinner.” She didn’t look at him. As soon as she finished with the carrots, she rinsed the peeler. “Mom, can I talk to you?”

  “Sure.” She didn’t look as though she intended to move, so Fay grabbed her by the arm and dragged her from the room.

  They were in the parlor by the front door, a sweet room with pink roses on the wallpaper. Sometimes she thought her mom was like that, sweet and innocent-looking until you hit the thorns. “How could you invite him?”

  Her mom straightened her back and lifted her brows as if she didn’t understand Fay’s problem. “It’s my house and he was in town. I thought it would be good for you to spend time with him in a neutral location— not your café or Jeremy’s house. Both of those are too difficult for you. I know you don’t get to see him often, and you were coming over tonight.” She covered her treachery with a sweet smile. The woman could pretend nearly anything was normal and fine. “I can see now that we were all better off with him gone— him included. He’s making changes and I choose not to hate him anymore. I think you would be happier if you found some way to make your peace with him as well. I just want you to be happy.”

  It took all of Fay’s self-control to bite back her response— why were her choices and feelings never enough for her
mother? “That has to be my decision.”

  “Of course it will be, but you have to start somewhere, don’t you? Can I say how nice it is to have you here?”

  She never listened. “You complain that I never come over, but when I do, you spring stuff like this on me. Why do you think I don’t come over very often?”

  Her mom had the nerve to look affronted, as if she didn’t understand. “I’ve never done anything like this before and this is my home and I can have whomever I want for dinner.”

  Fury burned through Fay. How could her mom say she had never sprung visitors on her before? What about the three men she’d invited to family events in the past year, and then pushed them on Fay, like she was some kind of aging spinster? Worse yet— none of them were even a little interesting.

  She took a throttling grip on her emotions and nodded as calmly as she could manage. “Yes, you can invite anyone you want. I’m sorry, but I just remembered something I need to take care of at the café— it’s so demanding. Tell everyone goodbye for me.” Fay pulled her keys from her pocket and headed for the door. She couldn’t believe the nerve of her mother sometimes.

  “Fay, don’t be like that. Surely, if I’ve forgiven him, you can too. Isn’t it about time?”

  “My life, my choice.” Fay called back over her shoulder as she headed for her car. That had been her motto since she left town to pursue her art in New York. Since she and her mom had made up a few years earlier, she had only said it a couple of times. Most of the time her mother respected her right to make choices for herself— or at least she held back her desire to interfere. Clearly, she hadn’t actually learned anything. This was too much.

  Fay didn’t even glance back at the house as she slid behind the wheel and returned to her apartment.

  AUSTIN STOOD FROM WHERE he had been using the drill to attach more slot board to the wall. It had only been a week since making the announcement to their families about opening the new business, but he and Bret had jumped right into it. They had cleared away the last of the odds and ends from the restaurant and cleaned the front area, painted several walls, and stained the tile grout black— it was halfway there anyway. Today they started installing the displays he had been planning and rearranging on grid paper for the past two months.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m beat,” Bret said. “You want to grab some lunch for us while I work on the website some more?”

  “So you can claim you didn’t take a break all day while I played in town?” Austin asked.

  Bret chuckled. “That does sound like something I would do, doesn’t it? But I’ll whip up dinner tonight on the hot plate if you want to mess with Quickbooks, then we’ll both have a break.”

  Austin grimaced. The accounting part of business was not his favorite, but that had been the deal they made when they distributed the responsibilities on the job. “So unfair. You like building websites.” He stood, stretching his back. “Bacon cheeseburger for you?”

  “Only if you go to Fay’s, I can’t stand them anywhere else.”

  “You got it.” He had known Bret would say something like that, and since he wanted to see Fay, he was glad to have Bret to corroborate his reason for being there. Even though she had agreed to the truce, he had a feeling it was only for show. He had a long way to go if he wanted her to actually trust him and give him a chance to show her he had changed.

  It only took ten minutes to reach the café in downtown Echo Ridge. He drove past it at first, looking for a parking spot, but between her café and the gallery, every slot was full, so he circled around to the parking lot in back instead. It felt natural to park his truck there, as he had done so many times his senior year.

  As he came around, he admired the refurbishment she had done to the outside of the building, She had taken over one of the empty apartments upstairs and rented out the other when she returned to town, minimizing her expenses and ensuring at least some income while she got established. It was smart, but no one had ever accused her of being stupid— not unless they had a death wish. The girl had always had a feisty streak. It was one of the things he’d admired about her.

  Austin pushed through the glass door into the café and was instantly surrounded by the familiar smell of burgers on the grill. And bacon— she must have had to cook up a bunch more before the lunch rush. His eyes snapped right to her as he walked in, and though she was taking an order at one of the booths, her gaze gravitated to him. Her eyebrows lowered for half a second before she returned her attention to what the customers were saying to her.

  He slid into one of the bar stools at the counter and studied the menu board. Bret was predictable, he always wanted a bacon cheeseburger, but Austin was willing to try something different. Not that Fay had anything too out of the ordinary, but there was a decent range of options.

  “Hi, you picking up lunch again?” Fay asked when she was back behind the counter, and getting drinks.

  “Yeah. I’m trying to decide between your Philly burger and the taco salad.”

  “Either one is great.” She popped lids onto the sodas she had filled and reached for two more cups. “How are things coming?” She asked this in such a grudging tone Austin knew she had only asked because it was expected, rather than because she actually wanted to know.

  A little irked, he decided to pretend he hadn’t noticed— it was still better than he would have gotten a week ago. “Good. We’ve got it all cleaned up and are starting to put up the display areas. Our inventory should arrive later this week.”

  “Wow, that’s fast, you must have been even further ahead of things than you told us.”

  “Why do you think you’ve seen so much of us this summer?” Austin asked.

  “Bad luck?” She winced and shook her head. “Sorry, force of habit. I’m glad you were well prepared before you signed papers for everything.”

  “I wanted to sign away everything to get started, including my first-born child, but Bret wouldn’t let me.” Austin saw Hank working near the window into the kitchen and eying them both. He always had been a busybody, wanting to know what was going on with everyone else. Thankfully, he didn’t talk much himself, but he had always known what was going on in town.

  She tossed a couple pieces of ice at Austin, collected the cups, and headed off without another look.

  Austin smiled to himself and decided on the burger.

  Since he was sitting by the front register where there was a stack of order pads, he grabbed the pad and filled it out, including fries and shakes, and came behind the counter to hand it to Hank. “Since it doesn’t look like Fay is going to serve me anytime soon, I figured I’d help myself.”

  Hank chuckled. “She’s a spitfire, isn’t she?” he tucked it into line above his grill.

  “At least the flames have dropped down from the flame-thrower sized ones she used to send my way.”

  “What are you doing behind my counter?” Fay asked when she returned.

  “Putting in my order with Hank.” Austin slid back into his stool. “We also want shakes, when you get a minute.”

  “Sure.” Fay grabbed a water jug and the coffee pot and headed out to refill drinks.

  He turned to watch her, knowing it would unnerve her if she caught him at it, but he didn’t plan to look that long.

  Her hair was back today in a thick braid, the hot pink streaks popping up every-so-often to give it character. She wore the standard half apron, but instead of the ubiquitous white blouse or solid polo shirt many places required, Fay wore a deep red tee and had layered it with at least five thin gold chains.

  Her matching gold bracelet was a wide cuff that conformed to and moved with her arm, and her earrings were smaller, gold and red to match her tee. She wore faded blue jeans that fit her figure enticingly. He yanked his attention away before she caught him looking there. He didn’t have a death wish, after all.

  “Still not the best of friends yet?” Hank asked.

  Austin looked up to see him placing an order
on a tray in the window. “She said we could start over, but apparently she’s not finding the transition easy.”

  Hank beckoned him closer so everyone at the counter wouldn’t hear. “That’s ’cause you get under her skin. I can’t say that’s a bad thing. She had a plan of how everything was going to be, and you upset the balance. It’s good for her, keep it up.”

  Austin looked back to Fay, who was laughing with kid at one of the booths. Did he set her off balance? Had she liked the kiss as much as he did? Was that the reason she was so upset about their kiss? Could she bend enough to see if they still had the sparks? He wasn’t sure, but he wanted to find out. He’d definitely taken the wrong boneheaded approach before, but maybe, if he was patient, he could get her to see him from a different angle.

  Fay returned and asked about the shakes. It didn’t take long for her to mix them both and set them in a drink carrier on the counter. “I thought Bret had to go in to work this week.”

  “He leaves tonight, will put in a couple of days in the office to make his boss happy, and then be back Saturday afternoon. His boss is letting him work from here part of the time, but refuses to let him telecommute full time.”

  “That’s too bad. It’s got to be grueling, trying to keep up with both jobs.”

  “We’re lucky they’re letting him telecommute at all right now.” Austin knew the company hadn’t been very flexible in the past— if they didn’t need Bret so much right now, they would probably have fired him instead of letting him work remotely part of the time. Austin wasn’t sure how Bret managed to juggle it all.

  Austin made the effort to have a casual conversation with her— starting with his thoughts on the brilliance of the Oreo cookie. She answered that its success was a mere fluke and she thought snicker doodles were far more amazing.

  When he left, he realized she hadn’t gotten twitchy with him for a full ten minutes, which had to be a record. Also, he had an idea he wanted to consider, one that would work duo power as promo for the store and an excuse to interact with her more.