Dogwood Hill (A Chesapeake Shores Novel - Book 12)

by Unknown

“Something to look forward to, then,” Aidan said, amused by the image of Nell scolding this grown man for his past mistakes.

  “Then we’ll move forward with the tests. I’ll make the arrangements,” Thomas said. “Tomorrow, if possible. There’s no reason to drag this out and leave us both wondering. I imagine you’re exhausted enough by keeping this inside.”

  “You’ll be wondering,” Aidan told him. “I already know, but yes, it will be a relief to end the secrecy.”

  A faint smile tugged at Thomas’s lips. “You have the O’Brien stubborn streak, that’s for sure. I guess we’ll see if that’s only coincidence.”

  Aidan could have reassured him on that point, but Thomas clearly didn’t want to leave something this momentous to chance. After spending time with his happy family, Aidan could understand why.

  *

  Liz sat in her usual booth at Sally’s stirring sugar into her coffee, her mind wandering.

  “I’m pretty sure that sugar dissolved at least five minutes ago,” Bree commented, watching her.

  Liz’s head snapped up. “What?”

  Bree gestured toward the coffee. “It’s probably cold by now. Do you want Sally to warm it up?”

  Liz sighed and pushed it away. “I don’t really want coffee.”

  “Seems to me what you could really use is a stiff drink.”

  Liz blinked at that. “Excuse me? At eight-thirty in the morning?”

  “You’re upset about something,” Bree said. “Of course, it probably is a little early to start in on martinis.”

  “I’ve never had a martini in my life. Nor do I rely on alcohol to solve my problems,” she said indignantly.

  “There,” Bree said with satisfaction. “Taking me to task put some color back into your cheeks. So what’s going on, Liz? Everything okay with you and Aidan?”

  “There is no me and Aidan,” she said, the response automatic.

  “I know that’s what you keep telling yourself,” Bree said mildly. “You may even believe it, but the rest of us aren’t so easily convinced. Maybe it would help if I told you that you seem to have him twisted into knots, too.”

  “Hardly likely,” Liz said, dismissing the possibility. “Aidan has too much going on right now to be worrying about me. There’s a lot of pressure for him to get the high school team to perform well this year.”

  “And to hear Henry tell it, they’re going to be awesome,” Bree said, chuckling. “I swear that kid could do PR for the Baltimore Ravens. He knows football and his enthusiasm is contagious, especially with his friend Hector taking over as quarterback.”

  Liz finally allowed herself a chuckle. “I’ve heard him go on and on when I’ve run into him in the bookstore. I imagine there’s a lot of football talk around the Sunday dinner table these days.”

  “Especially since he’s brought Hector along with him a couple of times. I think the poor kid is a little overwhelmed by O’Brien exuberance, but last week he actually spoke up and argued with my dad. I’m not sure who was more stunned, Mick or Hector.” She grinned. “The rest of us actually gave Hector a little cheer. You should have seen Dad’s face.”

  “I can imagine,” Liz said, laughing for what seemed like the first time in days.

  “Now, back to Aidan,” Bree said, quickly killing Liz’s improving mood.

  “Do we have to?” she begged.

  “Just answer one question for me and then I swear I’ll drop it, at least for this morning,” Bree said.

  “If that’s the best deal I can hope for, go ahead.”

  “Is your ambivalence about getting involved with Aidan because you really, honest-to-goodness don’t want a relationship with anyone, because you’re not even remotely attracted to Aidan specifically or is it because of something the rest of us don’t know about him, something that worries you?”

  Liz saw the trap. Any answer she gave was going to bring on a full-court press for more answers than she was prepared to give. She couldn’t explain why she didn’t want to risk her heart again. She could hardly say she wasn’t attracted to Aidan, because she was, way more than she wanted to be, in fact. She’d come to appreciate all of his good qualities, his caring side, his character.

  But there were still the things she didn’t know. And if she brought up these vague suspicions about Aidan having some sort of past connection to Thomas, well, who knew what sort of hornet’s nest that might stir up? And if she were wrong about it, she’d have caused trouble for no reason.

  “I’m waiting,” Bree said.

  “Maybe it’s all of the above, or none of the above,” Liz said, hoping to be just confusing enough that Bree would conclude she really didn’t know her own mind and would give up in frustration.

  Unfortunately that didn’t allow for the fact that Bree was an O’Brien. Vague replies only provoked more questions. Several more tripped off her tongue, before Liz held up her hand.

  “Enough!” she commanded. “I can’t do this. My mind’s spinning. And I need a clear head if I’m going to get anything done at work today. Plus my mom called last night and announced that she and my sisters are arriving this afternoon.”

  “You don’t sound excited about that,” Bree noted, studying her closely.

  “I asked them to come,” Liz said, then sighed. “But I’d been hoping for a little more notice, like maybe a year.”

  Bree laughed. “I get to see my family just about every day. Sometimes I’d be content with just twenty-four hours’ notice before some of them poke their noses into my business. Yours will be gone again in a few days. Mine never leaves. Try to remember that when they’re driving you crazy.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Liz said.

  “I’ve got a new play opening at the theater tomorrow night. Bring them. I’ll leave tickets at the box office.”

  Liz’s eyes lit up. “What a great idea! Two hours of blissful silence.” She grinned. “From them, not the people on stage.”

  “Good save,” Bree said. “If there’s anything else I can do to help out, let me know.”

  “You have more than enough on your plate with a new production opening. The tickets are plenty. I owe you for making the suggestion and holding four seats. I know you’re usually sold out these days.”

  “I always have seats for friends and family,” Bree said. “I like to stack the deck with a friendly audience, especially on opening night. Now I’d better run. We have a dress rehearsal and a last costume fitting this morning. One of the kids in the show has been growing like a weed. Unfortunately, she’s mine.”

  “Emily Rose is in this?”

  Bree nodded, her eyes shining with maternal pride. “She’s even singing a song. I’ve created a little diva, I’m afraid.”

  “I can’t wait to see her. I promise to clap wildly.”

  “All I could ask,” Bree said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “That, and that you reconsider opening your heart just a tiny bit to let Aidan in.”

  Liz sighed. “How did I know you weren’t done with that?”

  “Because I’m me,” Bree said readily.

  Liz watched her go, then looked around for Sally. “Could I have a large cup of coffee to go?” Something told her she was going to need all that caffeine and probably a lot more before the day was out.

  15

  Aidan had made the trip to Baltimore for the DNA test. Now the only thing left to do was to wait for the results. He desperately wanted to see Liz. He wanted to share all of this with her and get her take on it, but he’d promised to keep silent. On top of that, he recognized that she wasn’t exactly open to taking on his secrets, not when she was so clearly struggling with her own. That was a hurdle they’d have to face later, at least if he wanted to pursue his growing feelings for her. He hadn’t had any experience at falling in love, but what he was feeling for Liz, even without much encouragement from her, seemed like the real thing to him. He wasn’t prepared to give up on seeing where it led.

  Right now, though, he hoped maybe the sight of h
er might prove distracting, that it might quiet his nerves or spur a different sort of restlessness entirely. Maybe she’d even agree to go out for a quick dinner or at least a drink, anything to keep his mind off that blasted test that could change everything. With results days away, he needed a distraction, and basketball with O’Brien men clearly wasn’t the best choice. There would be too many chances for him to blurt out something he’d regret.

  He put off dropping into Liz’s shop by settling onto a bench by the bay and calling Frankie. Frankie was always good at providing a couple of stories to keep Aidan’s mind off whatever was troubling him. What he hadn’t considered, though, was just how well his old friend could read him.

  “Hey, I’ve given you some of my best stuff,” Frankie complained. “What do I get in return? Not so much as a chuckle. What’s going on down there? You thinking you made a mistake? You know management here would take you on in a heartbeat.”

  “Doing what? Babysitting you oafs in the locker room? No, thanks.”

  “What about being a quarterback coach?”

  “The team already has a great one,” Aidan reminded him. “That’s who trained me.”

  “Yeah, well, they’d come up with something.”

  “I made a commitment here,” Aidan reminded him. “That means something to me.”

  “What I still don’t get is why Chesapeake freaking Shores, or whatever it is?”

  “If you’d come for a visit, you’d have some idea. It’s a great little town.”

  “Any clubs? Hot babes? A great nightlife?”

  “No,” Aidan admitted.

  “Then it’s not for me. Why don’t you get your butt in gear and come to New York this weekend?”

  For an instant Aidan was tempted, but going out on the town with Frankie didn’t hold nearly the appeal of getting even a glimpse of Liz. That was probably yet more evidence of just how hard he’d fallen. He might as well resign himself to it and chase the dream.

  “Thanks, but I have things to do here,” he told Frankie. “Stay out of trouble, okay?”

  “Always,” Frankie promised. “You do the same, though it sounds as if you don’t have many opportunities to get into trouble in the first place.”

  Aidan hung up and headed for Main Street. When he walked into Pet Style, he found three unfamiliar women wandering around in the store while Liz finished a sale at the register. The older of the three kept firing questions in Liz’s direction, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Liz was busy with a customer.

  “Mom, please,” Liz said, clearly fighting for patience after making an apology to the customer. “I’ll be finished here in a minute.”

  Ah, Aidan thought. Her family had come to visit. As he walked in her mother’s direction, he caught the look of panic on Liz’s face, but he didn’t allow that to slow him down.

  “You must be Liz’s mother,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m Aidan Mitchell.”

  Liz’s mother gave him a long look, her gaze narrowing, caught somewhere between suspicion and disapproval. “Doris Benson,” she said eventually as if debating whether to say anything at all to this impertinent stranger who’d approached her without a proper introduction.

  The younger women displayed no such hesitation. They hurried over and introduced themselves as Liz’s sisters, LeeAnn and Danielle.

  “I wonder why Liz hasn’t mentioned you,” Danielle said, unabashedly giving him a thorough once-over. “You’re definitely noteworthy.”

  “Danielle!” her mother chided, her suspicious gaze never leaving Aidan. “How do you and Liz know each other?”

  “We’re friends,” Aidan said. “We met when I first arrived in town about six weeks ago to coach the high school football team. I live in an apartment right upstairs, so we run into each other a lot.”

  Liz’s other sister’s eyes widened. “You’re that Aidan Mitchell! I recognize you now,” LeeAnn gushed, promptly pulling out her cell phone to snap a picture. “Wait till I text this to Teddy. That’s my husband. He’s going to be so excited. We’re big Carolina Panthers fans, of course, but he thought you were about the most promising quarterback to come along in years.” Her expression sobered. “Too bad about your injury. I had no idea you were in Chesapeake Shores.” She shot a critical look toward Liz. “No one thought to mention there was a celebrity right here in town.”

  “As I mentioned, I’ve only been here a short time,” Aidan said. “And since my football career is behind me, I doubt anyone in town thinks of me as a celebrity these days.”

  “Well, any football fan surely does,” LeeAnn contradicted. “And you and my sister are friends. Imagine that.” She winked at Danielle. “Liz always did know how to snag the most handsome guy around. You should have seen Josh.”

  “That’s enough!” Liz said, her sharp tone finally snagging her sister’s attention as she rushed in their direction.

  “What did I say?” LeeAnn asked.

  Her expression was innocent, but Aidan didn’t think there was anything innocent about her comment. Her next words confirmed his suspicion.

  “Doesn’t he know about Josh?” LeeAnn asked, wide-eyed with feigned disbelief. “He was your husband, for goodness’ sakes.”

  “I really don’t like to talk about that time in my life,” Liz said, her voice tight. “You know that.”

  “Sure, but what I don’t understand is why,” LeeAnn said anyway, persisting in keeping the topic alive. “Josh was an amazing guy. It was tragic that he died, but you can’t just pretend he never existed. You should be keeping those memories alive.”

  “Don’t try to tell me how to live my life,” Liz snapped. “And not in front of people you don’t even know.”

  “Liz is right,” her mother said, trying to smooth over the awkward moment. “This isn’t the time or the place. Sweetie, if you’ll just give us a key and point us in the right direction, we’ll head on over to the house and unpack. I brought a cooler with some of your favorites. I thought we’d eat in tonight so we can relax after that drive.”

  Aidan watched Liz’s expression. She didn’t seem especially ecstatic about the plan, possibly because she knew the topic of her late husband was likely to be part of the evening’s conversation.

  He caught her gaze. “I could ride over with them and show them the way,” he offered.

  “Oh, we couldn’t ask you to do that,” her mother said. “How would you get back?”

  He smiled. Clearly she hadn’t been in town long enough to see how close downtown was to everything. “I’ll walk back. It’s not far.”

  “Well, if you wouldn’t mind, that would be helpful,” she said, her tone more gracious than before. “Thank you.”

  Liz gave her mother a key to the house, then leaned in close to Aidan to whisper, “If my dogs attack them, don’t try to stop it.”

  He laughed and held open the shop door. “Ladies.”

  Fifteen minutes later he’d deposited the three women inside Liz’s house, calmed the barking dogs, discreetly avoided answering a single one of the myriad questions posed about his relationship with Liz and walked back to Main Street.

  “They’re safely tucked away at your place,” he told Liz as he returned to Pet Style. “They’re a curious bunch, aren’t they?”

  She groaned. “What did they ask you?”

  “I believe my preference for boxers or briefs came up at one point.”

  Her eyes widened with dismay. “I’m going to kill them. I really am.”

  He laughed at her reaction. “It’s okay. They didn’t go quite that far.”

  “But close enough,” she said wearily, then gave him a plaintive look. “Can I spend the night with you? Maybe the whole weekend?”

  His jaw dropped, even though he knew she was only teasing. “I wouldn’t say no.”

  She chuckled, as he’d intended. “Of course you wouldn’t, but I suppose I can’t escape my own family just by hiding out. What on earth was I thinking when I invited them to come for a visit?”
<
br />   “That you wanted to see them?” he suggested. “Or wanted them to see where you live and how wonderful it is?”

  Her eyes lit up. “Ah, yes, that was it.” She sighed heavily. “I think it was probably a bad idea. LeeAnn especially is much more excited about meeting you than she’s likely to be about anything else Chesapeake Shores has to offer. She’s already criticized half a dozen things about the town and the store and they’d only been here about fifteen minutes when you walked in.”

  “I could join you for dinner, keep their attention diverted,” he suggested, thinking that would serve his own purposes very nicely. Plus it might give him more insight into Liz and the marriage she was so clearly reluctant to discuss.

  “I think you’ve already stirred up enough speculation for one day,” she said. “But thanks.”

  “Are you sure you want to turn down someone who’s offering to sacrifice themselves for the cause of keeping the attention off you?”

  “Trust me—the attention will always come back to me. They’ve come with an agenda. They want me to come back to North Carolina, or at least my mother does. Nothing about Chesapeake Shores or my life here will meet their expectations.”

  “Not even me?” he asked with a grin.

  “You’re just a complication. I can’t explain you away, and, in case you couldn’t interpret that expression on my mother’s face, she doesn’t think I should be done mourning yet. In their eyes Josh was a saint.”

  There was an unmistakable edge in her voice that caught his attention. “He wasn’t?” That would definitely explain the heartbreak she’d experienced.

  For an instant it looked as if Liz might answer honestly, but then her expression closed down. “I was taught not to speak ill of the dead.”

  “Which says quite a lot just on the surface of it,” Aidan commented. “Maybe it’s time you did talk truthfully about your past. I’m getting a very strong feeling you’ve been glossing over the truly important parts.”

  “Aidan, please, not now,” she pleaded. “Having the three of them here is stressful enough.”

  Reluctantly, he backed off—again. “By the way, I had a message from Bree that she’d left a ticket to the playhouse for me for tomorrow night,” he told her.