He came up behind me as I bent to slide closed the hooks on my boots. “Prudence. Stay. I’m asking—”
“No, Luke. You do not know what you are asking.” Standing straight, I faced him. That was my first mistake.
Sweet Mary, the man was beautiful in the morning sunshine. Naked as the day he burst through his mother’s womb, with all that wonderful hair framing his handsome face. I was lost.
I could read everything he was feeling in his eyes He was like a child in that respect, emotions exposed for those willing to look.
Drowning in his mesmerizing whiskey eyes, I felt drunk, off-balance, and I would have fallen back if Luke had not reached out and grabbed my shoulder.
I knew from the moment he walked into the Two Nellies that I was in trouble. And last night had confirmed it.
I could not look away from his gaze.
“Didn’t you like what happened between us in my bed?”
I had to be strong and end this before I started believing it could work. He did not know what he was asking. For a prostitute, the madam of a whorehouse, to be his live-in lover?
No. I could not bear it. Not for the both of us.
“Luke, honey.” I cupped his cheek in my hand, relishing the tickle of his mustache along my palm. “You do not need me living here. You need a companion. A wife.”
“I’ve had that already.”
His statement caught me off guard. He must have read the surprise in my eyes.
“She died five years ago.”
I knew he had made his money out West from the railroad, but I never knew until now he had been married.
Moisture built up behind my lids, but I refused to shed tears. My heart was already breaking with the knowledge that I could not fix things for this kind bear of a man. I could not make things right.
Not the way he wanted. There was no fairy-tale life for cattle barons and prostitutes.
“I am sorry for your loss. Truly I am. But what you are asking is not reasonable.”
He grabbed me by the shoulders, crushing me to his chest. For a moment I was frightened, but when I felt he meant no further harm, I relaxed.
Surely he saw the sense in my argument.
“Do you take rooms at the Nellies?”
“What?” I pulled back, looking into his eyes. They were determined and almost detached from the tension in the room. He was figuring, working out the problem.
He could not buy me on something this important.
“Where do you live? Take customers?”
Where do I take men when they want more than a drink? “I run the upstairs rooms at Nellies. I have the large room facing the street.”
He released me so quickly I had to catch myself on the bedside table.
“You can visit me there, Luke. Anytime.” I needed to ease the tension and make an exit before I fell apart.
Unfortunately, I did not realize it was already too late.
Jake breathed deeply, inhaling the common smells of wood dust, plaster, and hot metal. Natural, relaxing odors. Normally. With Lila here, though, his muscles didn’t have an opportunity to unclench and relax.
No, she had invaded his sanctuary. The job site. The one place he experienced some degree of peace.
“What are you thinking? That journal came from here?” he said, following her gaze to the second floor.
“Carrie said salvagers found some stuff and turned it over to Howard. If the book was found in here, I doubt seriously he’s the one who sent it.” Lila chewed her bottom lip, puzzled over the mystery. “With all the business of actually buying the building and then getting you on board, I haven’t figured out who sent me the journal.”
“Well, you can bet it wasn’t Janie, either.” Jake chuckled. “Threasa’s the best of the bunch, but I don’t know if she could take time away from her ranch to get caught up in this drama.”
Lila’s eyes went wide. “Threasa Thompson? That guy at the IGA, Randy, suggested I talk to her. Said she owned Luke Pierce’s former ranch outside of town.”
“She does. But I honestly don’t think she’s your mystery person. What would she have to gain by sending you Miss Pru’s journal?”
“Luke and Prudence were lovers. I think they eventually married, although I don’t have any proof yet.”
He hated to burst her bubble. “I don’t know anything about a Pierce. The Thompsons have owned that place for a while, back before the stock market crash of twenty-nine. That’s how a lot of it got sold off. They needed the money to survive.”
She shook her head, not willing to concede. “I don’t know. But that’s the second time her name has come up in connection with Miss Pru. I think I should go pay her a visit.”
Jake grunted. She never did like being told what she could or could not do. The trait had served her well, judging by the accolades from the Dallas business community.
“You have to understand where Howard is coming from. As the county seat of a county that doesn’t have a whole lot of industry, he has to do what he can to boost the perceived character. Old whorehouses within throwing distance of the First Baptist Church don’t go a long way to that end.”
Her eyes narrowed at his weak defense of Armstrong. “Character? He’d be better off trying to encourage businesses to open and offer incentives for tourism. And an ‘old whorehouse,’ as you say, would intrigue a lot of history buffs.”
In the harsh glare of the portable lighting positioned around the ground floor, Jake noticed for the first time how tired Lila looked. It pissed him off that she’d endured nothing but obstacles since she came home. It pissed him off more that he’d helped to put those dark smudges under her eyes.
“You sure you want to do this?”
She threw him a look that sent her ponytail to bouncing. “What, go upstairs?”
She knew perfectly well what he meant.
This time though, it wasn’t personal. It wasn’t about him pushing her away. He truly worried if she was up for the challenge. More like beating her head against a limestone wall where Armstrong was concerned.
She pivoted to face him. The majority of the lights were behind her now, creating a halo around her head. “You don’t think I can do this?”
He started to protest, but she cut him off.
“You don’t think I know what I’m getting myself into?” Her cheeks went pink, a sure sign he was in for a dressing down. He deserved it.
“I’m getting tired of defending my decisions to you. Perhaps it is a mistake for us to work together.”
No lecture. Just resignation.
Had he pushed her too far? “Are you okay?” he asked, ready to backtrack if she needed him.
She met his gaze briefly and then looked away. “Not that you’ll believe me, but I’m fine.” The message couldn’t be clearer. She didn’t want to talk about the sex they’d had the other day, although, Christ, he deserved to be bullwhipped for that.
Was he so green he couldn’t keep it in his pants? Apparently around her, yes. And she didn’t complain. That’s how bad she wanted them to be together.
He felt sick.
Lila wanted to do this project, so he’d do it. Straight up. Time for him to get off her case and give her what she said she wanted. Professionalism and a good job.
“Here’s the way it lines up, although you probably don’t need me to tell you.” She knew the drill as well as he did. “We’ll get the safety issues on the ground floor addressed first: wiring, foundation, any asbestos remediation. Then get some men working on the exterior, examining the brick and mortar, see what needs to be repaired or replaced. Windows may be difficult, not much to salvage there. We can go with new or hire someone to craft replicas of the old weighted pulley ones.”
She nodded as he paused after each point, her normally expressive face closed and blank.
“What about the roof? I don’t want any more damage to the second story.”
“Casler’s crew will check it out. We need to determine how many layers of m
aterials are up there, and how many need to come off.”
He glanced at his watch. “If we have time today, I’ll send him up there.”
“I’d like to know if the roofline of the building next door has encroached and altered my roof at all.”
The pharmacy immediately next door had built a crazy, heavily slanted A-frame roof swallowing two of the older structures below. It butted against Lila’s roof and looked not just stupid, but detrimental to the integrity of the older structures.
“We’ll take a look.”
With the agenda out of the way, he should check the stability of the stairs like she asked, but she had the strangest look on her face.
“What’s up?” he asked finally.
“I’m wondering if you’re worried about your screening.”
And just like that, the bottom fell out of his day. She turned the tables on him and he didn’t even see it coming.
“Nope.”
“I’m the one who’s had all the therapy, and believe me when I tell you I’m pretty good at detecting denial.”
“We are not having this discussion,” he ground out, trying like hell not to clench his teeth.
“Why? Because it makes you vulnerable? Well, guess what, Jake, everyone is vulnerable. You’re nothing special.”
“I’ll let you know what Casler finds out about the roof.”
And then he walked away. It was that, or grab her and shake some sense into her head. But that always ended with his head being the one rattled.
Lesson Number Thirteen —
Sometimes you have to give your man distance and let him go. If he cares for you, loves you, he will come back stronger and more willing to stay the course.
Chapter Fifteen
Lila’s world would never be the same. Not after coming home, not after truly seeing him in the flesh after so long, and not after being in his arms and experiencing how good they could still be together.
“Jake?” He’d come back in after stepping outside to make some calls.
He looked up, wary after their argument.
Why did she do this to herself? To them? She loved him, and despite his behavior, she thought he loved her, too. They just needed to get past the doubts, the second-guessing, and acknowledge the uncertain future. Together.
He met her halfway. “Yeah?”
“Do you think these stairs are safe?”
He slipped a pad and pen into his back pocket and headed for the staircase, steering a path well around her.
Stop it, Jake! she wanted to scream. I’m not the enemy. But she simply stood there with her mouth firmly shut and watched as he mounted the steps.
“Wait until I’m at the top and then you can follow me.”
He made it to the top and pushed open the door. Light spilled into the darkened stairwell and Lila could see a hall running perpendicular to the stairs.
“You can come up. If it’s too hot in here for you, it’s going to get a helluva lot hotter up here. We can do this later if you want.”
“No, I’m coming.” Once in the hallway upstairs, Jake moved ahead of her, opening doors and checking out each room before he would let her wander in.
It was definitely hotter up here, but several of the windows were either broken or warped open, and a hot Central Texas breeze moved the dust around on the wooden floors as she peered in.
“Looks like the standard, run-down old brick two-story from the turn of the century. Nothing special.”
She glanced from the window to find Jake examining the antiquated wiring in the hall. He pulled a tool from his belt and lifted the plate off a broken light fixture, totally engrossed in being Mr. Fix-It.
It did look like an inspector’s worst nightmare, but she could see the potential in the solid structure with its wide-open rooms and tall ceilings.
And she needed this place. Needed it like nothing she’d ever done before. If she wanted to make a fresh start in Hannington, she needed a residence, a business, and a project.
Miss Pru’s was all of that. And something else, too. Lila couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she needed to restore the old place to its former glory.
By doing so, she would restore the reputation of generations of Gentry women.
“It’s going to be a bear of a renovation, and once we get into it, the cost could go through the roof. Literally.” He dropped corroded bits of wiring on the floor and jammed his tool back into the case he carried on his belt.
He reached a hand out and brushed her cheek. “Lila, honey, I don’t want to see you hurt again.”
She leaned into the caress, not a lot, but enough to feel the rub of his calloused palm on her skin.
God. What she wouldn’t do to crawl into his embrace and stay for eternity.
But then she pulled back, aware of the chemistry that at the moment seemed to be nothing but trouble between them. Sex, they were good at. Love, they were not.
“Jake, I’m a big girl now. Let me worry about what’s good for me.”
A rush of air swooped through the windows and rustled his hair, sending a lock spilling across his forehead. His eyes were a vibrant green in the diluted light.
Lila wanted to brush his soft hair back and cradle his face in her hands like she used to.
But maybe it was time to stop thinking of old times, and plan for the future.
“I’ll make some calls and get some people down here.” She pushed the anxiety down, so far down it made her feet feel like lead as she moved past Jake and headed for the stairs. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry I bothered you with this.”
“Why are you being so damn obstinate about this?”
She reached the top step and headed down. “Why do you care? I let you off the hook.”
Yeah, off the hook was good. So why did his conscience keep yelling “backstabbing bastard” in his ear?
“Look, Lila, I said I’d do it and I will.” Aw, hell. Shut up, idiot, before you promise her an early deadline. “And I’ll have it done before Christmas.”
She turned at the bottom of the staircase, her raised eyebrows letting him know in no uncertain terms she thought he smelled like a liar.
“Truly. I’ll do it. But it’s going to be expensive. If you’re willing to lay out a few hundred grand, then I’ll keep my mouth shut and do the work. I’d be stupid not to.”
Her tight-lipped smile said she agreed.
If he knew her like he thought he did, then a big hot fudge sundae should put her in a better mood and say sorry better than anything. Well, almost better than anything.
“Come on.” He led the way to the front door, refusing to listen to the voice that urged him to let her go and hire somebody else. “We’re going to Miller’s Drive-In for some ice cream.
“Your treat?” she said skeptically when he stopped to look back at her.
He tried to appear offended. “Of course. I invited you, didn’t I?”
“Hmmm,” she said as she breezed past him and out the door.
Jake parked in the weathered and pothole-ridden lot next to Miller’s. The five-hundred-square-foot ice cream shop had the ignored, vintage shabby chic look that was so popular in small-town America. It had operated in Hannington since he turned seven and he, and every other kid in town, had spent every spare penny on ice cream, root beer, and cheap hamburgers.
“God, Old Man Miller’s still running this place? He must be eighty by now,” Lila said, squinting through the dusty windshield to the line of children and adults outside Miller’s.
“He only works the holidays. Ernie, his son, has taken over and handles the business.”
They left the air-conditioned cocoon of the truck to stand in line behind a woman with three small children, the youngest a hyperactive three-year-old who kept running through the tunnel of his mother’s legs.
Jake began to have second thoughts about bringing Lila to Miller’s when Otis pulled up in his wreck of a 1977 Dodge truck. Nearly all of the pea-green paint had been beaten off th
e thing by the summer sun, and now the vehicle resembled more a sick dog on its last leg than a truck.
“Hey, how y’all doin’?” Otis said as he emerged from the cab and ambled to their spot in line.
“Good, now that Jake has agreed to keep his comments and advice to himself and do the work I’m paying him for.”
Otis blew out a heavy breath and looked at Jake. Maybe the old fart was on his side for once?
“Ah, now, Lila. You can’t keep a man from speakin’ his mind when he needs to,” Otis chastised with a wink to her and a shift to his good leg.
“I can when he’s the hired help.”
Otis shrugged and gave Jake a sympathetic smile.
Nope, he stuck to Lila’s side like they were related.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, shading her eyes as the sun reflected off Miller’s front window. “I thought you’d been advised against eating sugar.”
Otis had been borderline diabetic for a while, and the doc had told him recently to lay off the sweets and carbs and watch his diet.
“Ernie makes a special sugar-free smoothie for me. And I already cleared it with my doctor,” he told her when she frowned.
“That reminds me, Jake. I ran into Rogers’s wife and she said she’s been trying to get you on the phone for the last two days. Something about a change in your appointment. Been moved to the teaching hospital in Temple.”
Shit. And he thought they’d left behind this conversation at Miss Pru’s. He looked over at Lila, who didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Her eyes were filled with compassion and empathy.
The mother in front of them finally stepped away with her now-quiet trio, all focused on eating their ice cream.
“Jake? Talk to me,” she said finally. “Have they found something?”
“It’s a routine visit. Nothing to worry about.” He nodded to Ernie, who waited patiently while a fan blew over his head, moving the ends of his overgrown hair against his baseball jersey that proclaimed him “Coach.”
He watched as Ernie leaned farther out of his window to hear the conversation.
Deconstructing Lila (Entangled Select) Page 13