“I don’t know about never, but not now, not with you.”
“This isn’t over,” he said sharply. “But for now . . . I’ll get Lucas.”
Brianna let out a breath as he walked down the hall. She lifted her left hand and gazed at the diamond solitaire that Derek had placed on her finger so many years ago. The ring had grown loose in recent months, and as she played with the band, it slipped easily over her knuckle. She’d considered taking it off many times since Derek’s death, but if she let go of Derek, what would she have left?
She knew how to be Derek’s wife, even his widow—but she had long ago forgotten who she was.
Brianna tossed and turned most of the night, her mind jumping between Derek’s disturbing letter and Jason’s unexpectedly disturbing kiss. She didn’t understand either one of them—or herself, for that matter. She’d certainly never expected to feel so torn between them.
Jason had reminded her of that girl she used to be, the one in the bar who’d babbled about wine and flirted with a sexy stranger and had so many possibilities in front of her. Was it possible to get her back? Or was it too late?
She’d been fighting for Derek. Maybe it was time to fight for herself.
She got up in the morning with new resolve, and for the first time in a long time, she felt hopeful.
After getting Lucas fed and dressed, she reached for her car keys. She needed to drop Lucas and Digger off with Nancy, then head to the quilt store to work her morning shift. Lucas was a little sleepy-eyed and moving slowly. Digger, on the other hand, was straining at the leash.
As they finally made their way out of the house, she saw Jason taking his surfboard off the back of his Jeep. His hair was wet, his cheeks red from the water or the wind, a shadow of beard on his jaw. He wore sweatpants and a T-shirt that clung damply to his skin.
“Hi, Jason,” Lucas called out, following up his greeting with a running hug.
Jason hugged him back. “Where are you off to?” he asked, smiling at the boy warmly.
“Grandma and I are going to make cookies while Mommy works.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“Do you want to come?” Lucas asked with the innocence of youth.
“I can’t. I’ve got to go to work.”
“Lucas, take Digger and get in the car,” Brianna said, handing him the leash.
“Can we fly kites later?” Lucas asked Jason. “I need to practice before the contest.”
“We’ll see,” Jason said, his gaze moving to her.
She knew she should get into her car, but she found herself lingering. “Did you just come back from surfing?”
“Yeah, there were some good waves out there this morning. You should come with me one day.”
“I’m not a very strong swimmer.”
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” he said.
An undercurrent flowed between them that she knew Jason was just as aware of as she was. She was also aware that Lucas was waiting, as were her mother-in-law and the quilt shop. So why wasn’t she moving? “About last night,” she began.
He cut her off. “Don’t go there.”
“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” she said, lowering her voice to just above a whisper. “I was feeling, I don’t know, a little emotional, a little reckless.”
“Next time I won’t stop,” Jason warned.
“There won’t be a next time.”
“Sure there will.”
“I’m leaving now.”
“Okay,” he said with a small smile. “I’m just going to watch you walk away.”
“Why?”
“You really don’t want to know.” His smile broadened into a grin.
She flushed under his flirtatious gaze and was about to beat a quick retreat when another car pulled up alongside them. The driver’s-side door opened, and Kara stepped out.
“Hey there,” she said, her gaze curious as it moved between them. “Is this where you’re house-sitting, Jason?’
“Yes, it is,” Jason said. “Are you on your way to your parents’ house?”
“Yes, Faith needs some grandparent time.”
“You’ve got the baby in there?” he said, moving toward her car. “Let me see her.”
As Jason opened the back door, Kara turned to Brianna. “I’ll see you at the shop later. Some of us are meeting at noon to work on a baby quilt for Annie Dupont. Maybe you can join us for a while after your shift. Charlotte is going to stop by; I think you’ve met her. It will be fun.”
“I’ll see if Nancy can watch Lucas for an extra half hour,” Brianna said, not wanting to get in a long conversation. “I’d better go now. I don’t want to be late.” She got into her car and backed out while Jason was busy with Kara and the baby. She probably should have turned down Kara’s invitation. Once Kara got her alone, she was probably going to have some questions. Well, she had three hours to think of some good answers.
“You two looked pretty chummy,” Kara told Jason as Brianna pulled out of her driveway.
“Just being neighborly,” he replied.
“Is that what they call it these days? Come on, Jason, what’s going on with you two? I thought Brianna disliked you, but she didn’t look like she was hating you a second ago.”
“We’ve gotten to know each other a little better.”
“That’s all you’re going to give me? Your oldest and dearest friend?”
“There’s nothing to give.”
“I guess this house-sitting job came in handy. You’ll have to thank your father.” Kara paused, her smile dimming a bit. “I am worried about you, though.”
“No reason to be.”
“You don’t let very many people in. As soon as a woman gets too close, you usually head for the door. And Brianna isn’t just any woman. She’s tied to Derek, and you were wrecked after Derek’s trial. I don’t want Brianna to take you back to that dark place.”
He was touched by her concern. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“So you don’t have a thing for her, like Colin said?” she persisted.
“Colin talks too much.”
“Is it the challenge? You need to convince her that you were the good guy and Derek was the bad guy?”
He sighed; Kara was like a dog with a bone when she was on to something. “I’d like the truth to come out,” he admitted. “But it’s not that simple.”
He’d realized just how complicated it was after she’d let down her guard last night and kissed him, inviting him in. And what had he done? He’d put up his own walls and shoved her out. As Kara said, when it got intense, he tended to bolt.
Kara’s gaze was steady on his face. “Wow. You do have it bad. I’ve been waiting a long time to see you really fall for someone, but I wish it wasn’t her. I’m not sure this can end well. Some things can’t be overcome. You’re tied up in all of her pain, Jason—and then there are the Kanes. Can you imagine what they would think of you even sharing a driveway like this?” Kara shook her head. “She can’t be the one.”
“I don’t think I said she was.”
“Be careful, Jason. Brianna isn’t just a woman; she’s a mother, and she wants to clear Derek’s name for her son. You’re in her way. Don’t forget that.”
NINE
“Mother,” Charlotte called, as she let herself into the house just before noon. “Are you ready to go?” She set her purse down on the hall table, hearing an unfamiliar man’s voice in the kitchen. An odd tingle ran through her. It felt strange to even have a man in the house. Since she’d helped her mother move out of the home she’d shared with her father for forty years, it had been just her mother, Annie, and herself, women of three different generations trying to survive under one roof. The other two were getting along great; she, on the other hand, was still trying to find some way to connect with the woman with whom she shared blood but little else.
She opened the kitchen door to find her mother smiling and laughing with a gray-haired man in a business suit
.
“Charlotte,” her mother said quickly as she got to her feet.
Was her mother actually blushing?
“This is your daughter?” the man asked.
“Yes, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, this is Peter Lawson. He’s an old friend.”
An old friend she’d never met before? “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, shaking his hand.
“And you. Monica has told me a lot about you,” he said.
She was surprised, since she’d heard absolutely nothing about him. “Are we still going to the quilt shop to work on Annie’s quilt?” she asked her mother.
“Oh, dear, I forgot to call you,” her mother said. “Peter and I are going to look at a house he’s interested in acquiring.”
“I’m afraid I only have this hour available before I have to get back to San Francisco,” he added, giving an apologetic smile.
“So you live in San Francisco?”
“Temporarily,” he said. “I’m planning to change that. I hope you don’t mind me stealing a bit of your mother’s time. She’s always had such an eye for interior design.”
“How do you know that?” she couldn’t help asking.
“Charlotte,” her mother said, looking a bit appalled by her blunt question.
Peter smiled. “I saw what she did with my sister’s house.”
“Beverly Thomas is his sister,” Monica added. “You remember Beverly, don’t you?”
“I do. I just didn’t realize you’d helped her decorate her house.”
“Well, you were gone for a long time,” her mother said somewhat sharply. “Please tell the ladies I’m sorry that I can’t help with the quilt today.” She grabbed her purse off the counter, then paused at the door. “Oh, Charlotte, I meant to tell you that Annie is meeting with Erin McCarthy and her husband today. I guess they’re interested in adopting now.”
Charlotte wasn’t surprised. Erin’s last miscarriage had taken a lot out of her.
“And Rabbi Ziegler called and said the Goldmans would like to set up a meeting. I’m not sure Annie would want her baby raised out of her faith, but Adam Goldman is a highly respected lawyer. I heard he’s thinking of running for a state office next year.”
“I’m not convinced Annie really wants to give up her baby,” Charlotte said. “I’ve been wondering if we should talk about how we could help her if she wants to keep it.”
“I don’t quite know how much I can help,” Monica said with a vague wave of her hand. “I’m not sure what kind of time I’ll have, but we’ll discuss it later.” She paused her gaze narrowing. “You should really do something about your hair before you go. I can’t believe you wear it that way to work.”
And with that, she was off. Charlotte dismissed the hair critique, more curious about whether her mother’s newfound concern about her time had anything to do with Peter Lawson. It was mind-boggling to think of her mother with another man. There had only ever been one man, and that was Charotte’s father. They’d been together since they were twenty years old. They’d been so in love with each other they’d been able to finish each other’s thoughts—at least, her mother had always seemed to know what her father was thinking. She suspected it hadn’t worked quite so well the other way around, because her mother was a bit of a mystery. Monica Adams had a face she put on for the world, a face that very few people ever got past. But that face had been missing in the kitchen today. The woman heading out the door with the giddy smile of a teenager was no one Charlotte recognized. She’d thought her mother was done surprising her—but apparently not.
“My mother is on a date,” Charlotte told Kara as they met up in the upstairs sewing room at the quilt shop. One of the instructors was finishing up a private lesson, and they had a few minutes before the rest of the group arrived. “Can you believe that?”
“Not really,” Kara admitted, raising one eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“I just ran into the two of them together.” She couldn’t get the image of them out of her mind. Her mother had been smiling and flirting.
“Do you want some tea?” Kara asked, moving toward the coffee and hot water urns at the back of the room.
“I’m so shocked, Kara,” Charlotte said as Kara made the tea. “I come home to take care of my lonely, ailing mother, who doesn’t think she’ll be able to survive a day after my father dies, and now, less than a year later, she’s off on a date. What’s going on?”
“Life is going on—the way it’s supposed to. So who’s the guy?”
“Some silver fox named Peter Lawson. I didn’t recognize him, but he’s Beverly Thomas’s brother. He’s thinking of buying a house here in Angel’s Bay, and he wants my mother’s help, because she’s apparently a great interior decorator.” Another fact that had escaped her notice. “I knew she was a good homemaker, but I had no idea she had some incredible design talent.”
“She did a beautiful job on Phyllis Fletcher’s house. It was highlighted on the kitchen tour last Christmas.” Kara handed her a cup of tea.
She absentmindedly took a sip. “I didn’t know that, but then, how could I? She doesn’t talk to me except to criticize.”
Kara tilted her head, giving her a thoughtful look. “You’re really upset about this. Why? It’s not like your mother is cheating.”
“It’s just out of character. She’s been so rigid about dating and love and sex—oh, God, you don’t think they’re having sex, do you?” The idea disturbed her on so many levels.
Kara laughed. “I doubt they’re having sex right now. Your mother doesn’t seem like the afternoon delight type.”
Charlotte sighed. “She doesn’t seem like any type. She was never affectionate. I rarely saw my parents kiss. Whatever they did, they did in the bedroom, in the dark, and very quietly.” She paused as a group of her mother’s friends entered the room. “I wonder if they know what she’s up to,” she murmured.
“Your mother is helping an old friend find a house. You need to chill,” Kara told her. “Look on the positive side. If your mother finds someone, that gets you off the hook. You can move out, get your own place, have a life, maybe even some sex of your own,” she added with a wicked smile. “Speaking of which, how’s Andrew doing?”
“I have no idea. Yesterday he was begging me to go to dinner with him tonight, but this morning I got a cryptic message that he couldn’t make it. No explanation. I finally said yes, and now he says no.”
Kara frowned. “That is puzzling. He’s been trying to get you to go out with him for weeks. It has to be something important.”
“Maybe it’s fate, telling me not to go down that road again.”
“You don’t believe in fate,” Kara reminded her.
“Maybe I should start.” She paused as one of her patients, Victoria Baker stopped by the table to get some coffee. “Hey, how are you?” she asked. Victoria was a tired-looking brunette with deep shadows under her eyes that made Charlotte worry. “Is everything okay?”
“I couldn’t sleep last night. I wasn’t sure I should come to this,” Victoria admitted.
“Why not?” Kara asked. “You’re one of our regulars.”
Victoria drew in a shaky breath. “David and I talked to Reverend Schilling about possibly adopting Annie’s baby.”
Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat. She knew how hard Victoria and her husband had been trying to have a baby and how much money they’d already spent on in-vitro.
“I don’t know if I should be working on the quilt,” Victoria added. “It might make it even harder if we don’t get the baby.” She paused. “You don’t know what Annie’s going to do, do you, Charlotte?”
“I can’t say, I’m sorry.”
“I shouldn’t have even asked. Erin McCarthy and her husband are hoping to get the baby, too. Erin and I have been commiserating over our fertility problems for some time. It’s strange to think we’re now in some sort of competition.”
“Annie may keep the baby,” Charlotte said with a compassionate smile. “
She hasn’t decided yet.”
Victoria nodded. “Well, that’s certainly her right. I couldn’t imagine giving up my own child.”
“Hey, I saw your brother yesterday,” Kara interrupted. “He was having an argument with some goth-looking teenager in front of Dina’s. Has he moved back to town?”
“For the time being, and that goth-looking teenager is Nick’s daughter, Megan,” Victoria said. “She just arrived, and she’s not at all happy to be here. I’m hoping to get her involved in the theater next week when we start preproduction on the Winter Workshop. Speaking of which, we’re going to have some parts for locals, and I would love to have you audition, Kara.”
“Me?” Kara stuttered in surprise. “Why?”
“You were great back in high school.”
“My drama days are behind me.”
Victoria smiled. “You might say that now, but I’m going to keep asking,” she said as she moved away to greet another friend.
“You were good in high school,” Charlotte told Kara. “You should do it.”
“Oh, please. I was not good, nor do I have time to be in a play. I’m a mother.”
“Colin loved watching you act. I bet he’d support the idea, and doesn’t the Winter Workshop just run until Christmas?”
“Let’s talk about something else,” Kara said quickly. “There’s Brianna.”
“Brianna Kane?” Charlotte echoed in surprise.
“She’s working here now, and I invited her to come.”
“Really?” Kara and Jason were best friends, and as far as Charlotte knew, Jason was still enemy number one when it came to the Kanes.
“Brianna,” Kara called, motioning her over. “I’m so glad you came. You’ve met Charlotte, right?”
Brianna nodded, giving Charlotte a tentative smile. “A few times. I really appreciate your coming to Derek’s funeral.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to the house afterwards. A patient went into labor.”
“That’s fine.” Brianna cleared her throat, her gaze sweeping the room. “I don’t know if I should stay, Kara. I don’t think I belong here. I’m an employee, not one of the quilters.”
“Of course you belong here,” Fiona said, interrupting their conversation. “You’re one of us now, Brianna, and you’ll be a quilter before you know it.”
In Shelter Cove (Angel's Bay) Page 12