by Cathie Linz
“I can remember the day she left as if it were yesterday,” Maxie said. “They say your memory gets worse the older you get, but not mine. Zoe’s not a natural blond. She uses Miss Clairol. Or she used to in those days. She was quite the rowdy one. Her dad couldn’t keep her under control.”
“Do you know why she left?”
“She never said, never warned anyone she was leaving. She didn’t even leave a note for her dad.
She was just another runaway. I believe she was barely sixteen at the time.”
“Is that when she had Lulu?”
“Heavens no. Lulu is only twenty. Zoe had been gone ten years by the time Lulu was born.
Lulu was just a toddler when Zoe came back and moved in with her father. But it wasn’t long before she took off again, leaving Lulu behind. Lulu’s grandfather raised her. He did a good job, but Lulu’s got her mother’s wild blood in her.”
Jake wondered if he had the same wild blood in him.
“Maxie, what are you doing gossiping in my bar in the middle of the day?” Nic demanded as she blew into the tavern.
“Nice haircut,” Maxie said. “Where did you get it done?”
“At a new place over in Serenity Falls. I just came to pick up some paperwork from the office and to enjoy some eye candy.” Her eyes wandered over Jake. “Are you here to enjoy the view too, Maxie?”
“Jake is dating my youngest daughter Emma.”
“The smart one?”
“Yes.”
“That’s too bad.” Nic sashayed toward the tiny office in the back. Two minutes later, she was out the door, cursing under her breath about accountants and paperwork.
“It’s probably a good thing Nic never had kids,” Maxie said.
“How do you know she hasn’t?”
“She had an infertility problem. She never wanted kids anyway so it wasn’t a big deal to her. Not that she ever talks about it.”
Which meant his boss wasn’t his birth mother. Thank God.
“This bar is her baby,” Maxie continued, “and she doesn’t take good care of it. She doesn’t like change. That must be it. That must be why she hasn’t updated the place. I know Sue Ellen got a degree in interior decorating online and could help Nic out here, adding some splashes of color. But no, Nic turned her down.”
“Does everyone in town know she owns this bar?”
“Not everyone, no. In fact, she likes to keep it pretty much under wraps. Nic . . . well, she’s a real character. Rock Creek has a lot of those. Take Nancy Crumpler, for example. Her sister is a nun yet she’s been married four times and divorced three. Rumor has it that at one point Nancy was a dancer in one of those places in the Poconos. From there she went on to be a dancer at a casino in Las Vegas.”
“She was a Vegas showgirl? When was that?”
“Oh, that would be thirty years ago now. She left Rock Creek for the Poconos, then went to Las Vegas maybe a year after that.”
Which meant she was still in the running.
“She got married in Vegas, divorced, married again, divorced again. She came back to Rock Creek after that. Married a local businessman pretty quickly. Divorced him. Married Al Crumpler, who eventually died and left her the auto parts store.”
“What about children?”
“She and Al didn’t have any together, but she had two by a previous husband. Her kids are in their twenties now and live in Nevada. But there were rumors . . .” Maxie’s voice trailed off.
“What rumors?”
“That when she was dancing in the Poconos that she might have been”—Maxie looked around before whispering—“pregnant.”
With him? This felt so weird.
Maxie was right. Hairdresssers knew everything. She’d given him more info than the private investigator had. Granted it was all based on gossip and rumor, but it was better than nothing.
“Enough with the old history,” Maxie said. “Let’s get back to my daughter Emma. Did you two enjoy your time together?”
Jake nodded. He wasn’t accustomed to being grilled by a girl’s mom. Females had been chasing him since he was a teenager. He’d never had to go after a woman before. He never had to watch what he said to a woman’s mom because he’d never met her mom.
“I’m so glad. Emma never tells me anything.”
Jake stayed silent. If Emma never told her mom anything, he sure wasn’t about to.
“You know, Leena’s wedding is coming up next. I hope you’ll be Emma’s guest at that as well.”
Considering the fact that Emma had just tossed him out of her apartment, he wasn’t sure what the status was on the next wedding gig. He’d filled out her questionnaire so she’d gotten what she wanted
Or had she? She’d seemed to want him big time when they’d made out in the back of his Jeep.
And when he’d kissed her earlier today in his apartment.
So again Jake stayed quiet and let Maxie do all the talking. Finally she finished her drink and left.
“Mom just walked out of Nick’s Tavern,” Leena told Emma over the phone.
“What?” Up in her apartment, Emma swiveled her head from her laptop to the large window facing Barwell Street.
“I just saw her walk out of the tavern. Uh-oh, she saw me. She’s coming.”
A minute later Maxie took the phone. “Hi, Emma. I was just talking to Jake.”
“About what?” Emma said.
“About all kinds of things,” Maxie said coyly.
“Did he tell you that Emma’s living with a guy?” Leena said in the background.
“Emma, have you moved in with Jake?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then who are you living with?”
“I have a friend staying with me for a few days, that’s all.”
“A male friend?”
“Yes.”
“But where will he sleep? You only have a studio apartment. A tiny hovel.”
“He has a sleeping bag. He’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Who is this man?” Maxie demanded.
“He’s more a geeky guy than a man,” Leena said in the background.
“His name is Oliver,” Emma said, “and he’s a friend from Boston.”
“Why is he in town?”
“He’s visiting.”
“No one used to visit Rock Creek, but I guess things are different now that we have that crafty art loop and everything. Where is this Oliver? I’d like to meet him.”
“He’s here in my apartment.”
“Good. I”ll come right up.”
Emma heard Maxie handing the phone back to Leena, who then said, “I’ve already had the pleasure of meeting Oliver, so you two go ahead without me. I’ve got tons to do yet on my wedding list for today.”
Emma didn’t have much of a choice. She could see her mom out the window heading straight for Emma’s building.
“My mother’s coming,” she warned Oliver. She wanted to add “Run for cover,” but there was no place to hide in the small apartment.
Emma met Maxie at the door.
“I don’t understand why you’d want to live in this rundown building when you could stay in your old bedroom at the trailer.”
“This building is not rundown. They’ve just recently done renovations on it.”
“Hmm.” Maxie wasn’t impressed. “And you must be Oliver.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He wiped his damp palms on his pants before awkwardly shaking her hand.
“Oliver Howser.”
“Are you her boyfriend from Boston?”
“Her boyfriend was my brother. Is my brother. Well, he’s still my brother, but he’s no longer her boyfriend. They broke up.” Oliver gulped for air. “Okay, I’ll shut up now.”
“Who cuts your hair, Oliver?” Maxie asked.
“Uh, my mom.”
“Is she a beautician?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so.” She ran her hand through his shaggy hair. “I can do a much better job.
/>
How do you feel about adding some blond highlights to your brown hair?”
“Mother!”
Maxie turned to face her. “What?”
Emma didn’t know where to begin.
So Maxie turned back to Oliver. “She only calls me Mother when she’s peeved with me. So Oliver, about those highlights—”
“Can’t you just accept him the way he is? Why do you always have to pick on someone’s appearance? Why do you always think you know best?”
Maxie did her customary eye roll and head shake combo, meant to indicate that the answer should be evident. “Because I’m a mother, that’s why.”
“Oliver has a mother, and she thinks his hair looks fine the way it is.”
“What would Lulu think?” Oliver asked.
“Lulu?” Maxie repeated. “You mean Lulu who works at the comic-book store here?”
“Yes, that’s her,” Oliver hurriedly agreed. “What would she think of me getting blond highlights?”
“Are you kidding?” Maxie said. “She’d love it.”
Emma wasn’t ready to wave the white flag just yet. “Oliver, it doesn’t matter what Lulu or my mom thinks. What matters is you.”
“When can you do the procedure?” Oliver asked Maxie.
“Heavens, it’s not brain surgery. It’s not a procedure, it’s a grooming treatment. Why don’t you come on with me now over to our place and I’ll get you all set up.”
“Okay.”
Oliver might be getting his degree from MIT but that didn’t in any way prepare him for nor protect him from Maxie’s clutches. Emma felt she had to do something. She just didn’t know what.
“We have extra room at our trailer,” Maxie told Oliver. “You’re more than welcome to stay with us while you’re in Rock Creek.”
“You’re getting ready for Leena’s wedding,” Emma reminded her mother. “Oliver stays here.”
Maxie did another eye roll minus the head shake this time. “Okay, okay. Don’t get your panties in a knot, Emma. Come on, Oliver.” She hooked her arm through his. “Let’s leave Emma alone to calm down on her own.”
After they left, Emma sank onto the futon and wondered when was the last time she felt calm. No amount of tai chi could settle her nerves at this point. She was too far gone on far too many fronts.
Chapter Thirteen
Emma didn’t see Jake for two days and she missed him. She got a lot of work done but not as much as she wanted. Because she wanted Jake and that kept her thinking about him instead of her research.
Oliver was thinking about Lulu and their upcoming date. “She likes the highlights,” he told Emma.
“Yeah, so you’ve told me.” About three million times.
“Are you menstruating?”
Emma almost choked. “Whaat?”
“You just seem very, uh, irritable today.”
“I’m not used to living with someone in such close quarters.” Even growing up in the trailer and sharing a bedroom with Leena, she hadn’t felt this cramped.
“Yes, well . . . I wanted to talk to you about that. I’ve got another place to stay.”
“Not with my parents?”
“No, of course not.”
Emma was thankful for that.
“I’m going to stay with Jake.”
“Whaat?!” Emma was even more incredulous than when Oliver had asked her about menstruating.
“Don’t look so surprised.”
“I’m stunned. When did you talk to Jake?”
“At the bar where he works.”
“And he invited you to move in with him?”
“He pointed out how small your place was and mentioned that his apartment has two bedrooms.
So does Lulu’s apartment. Did you know she lives over the Tivoli Theater? Not that I’d move in with her before we’ve even had our first date. Jake has been giving me great tips.
You know, guy sort of stuff. Advice about women, that sort of thing.”
“I’m not sure Jake is the best person to be giving you advice about women,” Emma said.
“Why not? He’s known lots of them. I don’t have the exact mathematical number, but I’m sure it’s very high, in the hund—”
Emma interrupted him. “I don’t want to hear how many women Jake has had.”
“Right. Of course you don’t. That makes sense. I have to say that a lot of this male-female relationship stuff isn’t very logical.”
“I’ll tell you something that’s logical. A study done by sociologists in 1992 found that couples who think of each other as their best friend and who like each other as a person are the most successful at having a happy relationship. I’ll bet that’s not what Jake told you.”
Oliver was confused. “I was only four years old in 1992.”
Emma was aggravated. “You’re missing the point.”
“I think of you as a friend and like you as a person,” Oliver pointed out with his customary logic. “That doesn’t mean I view you as a potential girlfriend, and I told Jake that.”
“Told him what?”
“That you and I are not a romantic couple. There are no pheromones here. The very idea . . .
Ick.”
He scrunched his face as though he’d detected an offensive odor. “Plus you’re a lot older.”
“Stop.” Emma held up her hand. “Enough already. Go move in with Jake.”
“If you’re afraid that I’m going to cramp your style by staying with Jake, don’t worry. Just put a sock on the front door and I’ll know you two are seeking sexual release with one another and therefore want to be alone. I can go to the library or to Cosmic Comics and hang out with Lulu.”
Emma looked at him as if he’d just stepped off the Star-ship Enterprise. “Where do you get these ideas?”
“I read about the sock thing from a blog on the Internet.” Oliver gathered up his large backpack and sleeping bag. “I can e-mail you the link if you’d like.”
“Don’t bother. If Jake sticks a sock on his front door, it’s not because of me.”
“Of course.” Oliver opened the door to leave. “You and Jake can both seek your sexual release here in your place.”
“Now that sounds like an interesting possibility,” Jake said from the threshold.
“I was just assuring Emma that I wouldn’t cramp your style,” Oliver said.
“Nice of you.” Jake sent a wicked grin Emma’s way. “Wasn’t that nice of him?”
Emma just gritted her teeth. She’d been a mess for the past two days and here was Jake, looking as sexy as ever, acting as if nothing had changed between them. Acting as if she hadn’t panicked at her powerful response to him and kicked him out of her apartment the other day.
“So how long have you two been talking about this subject?” Jake asked. “And who brought it up first?”
“I did.” Oliver raised his hand as if he were in class. “I was trying to be helpful, but Emma doesn’t appear to have welcomed my comments.”
“She’s just shy. She’s definitely not easy.”
Emma’s face burned. So did the heated glare she shot at Jake.
“In fact, Emma is one of the most complicated women I’ve ever run into,” Jake said.
“Really?” Oliver was skeptical. “She doesn’t seem that complicated to me. Lulu is more complicated.”
“That’s because you’re attracted to Lulu,” Jake said.
“So if a guy is attracted to a girl, he thinks she’s complicated?”
“Only if she really is complicated. And worthwhile.”
“Right.” Oliver tried to sound confident, but he still looked confused.
“You two can leave now,” Emma said.
“Not until I do this.” Jake tugged her into his arms and kissed her. She was too surprised to protest. Then she was enjoying herself too much to protest. Then she remembered that made her easy.
Did she really care at this point? Could she be complicated and easy? Did Jake think so?
Wh
en had she turned into the kind of woman who bowed to what a man thought of her?
What happened to the smart woman who stood on her own two feet? She was right here, getting kissed senseless.
She had to regain control before she lost herself entirely. Emma pulled away.
“Definitely not easy,” Jake murmured.
She didn’t know what to say. She felt such a mixed-up mess of conflicting emotions—
ranging from desire to doubt. She watched Jake and Oliver leave and wondered when her life had started spinning so out far out of her control.
Jake wondered how he’d ended up with a dog and a roommate. A male roommate. A geek.
Jake had shared apartments with guys before. There were plenty of times that a group of them had all crashed at someone’s place, camping on the floor in wall-to-wall sleeping bags and staying until the beer and the snow ran out.
But they’d all been snowboarders, not a quantum physicist wannabe. Big difference.
So how exactly had he ended up here with a dorky Mutt and a dorky Oliver? Neither had anything to do with his reason for being in Rock Creek in the first place—to find his birth mother. He was getting closer to that goal, but he kept getting distracted. Mostly by Emma.
She was the reason he was stuck with Mutt and Oliver. This was all her fault.
But the thought of another man, even a geeky scientific one, sleeping within feet of Emma had driven Jake crazy. He’d had to get Oliver out of Emma’s apartment so he’d moved the geek in with him. Kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. No surprise there. Most of his adult life was spur of the moment, living in the moment, and sometimes messing up the moment.
So here he was, four hours into his latest gig as Oliver’s host and his advisor about all things female. The guy might be going to MIT but he sure was clueless about the ladies.
Oliver’s date with Lulu was tonight. He was more nervous than a rookie in his first race.
“Which T-shirt should I wear?” Oliver held up a GEEK IS CHIC and then an EINSTEIN
ROCKS tee.
“How should I know?”
“What about the pants? Are these okay?”
“Again, how should I know?” Oliver’s crestfallen expression gave Jake a twinge of guilt so he added, “You look okay.”
“Lulu said she liked my blond highlights,” Oliver said proudly.