by Lee McKenzie
“It was…unexpected.”
“Of all the people who could have found me, I’m glad it was you.”
His arms tightened around her.
“Brent, that still doesn’t mean—”
“I know,” he said. “I get it. But I wanted you to know why I was there.”
“Thank you. And we’re going to be friends, right?” She held her breath and waited.
He didn’t answer right away. “For sure,” he said finally.
Moving away from him wasn’t easy, but she finally backed out of his arms. “I should get started on breakfast.”
“Can I help?”
“You already have.”
BRENT MOPPED UP the maple syrup on his plate with the last piece of French toast. He could get used to eating like this. He was already used to having Leslie here and he didn’t want to think about how the house would feel after she left. “This is really good. What’s your secret?”
“Cinnamon, although I wouldn’t call it a secret.”
“Well, it’s the best I’ve ever tasted. Just don’t tell my mother I said that.”
“Are you kidding? I’m already her least favorite person.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he said, wishing he hadn’t brought up the subject. “So, I guess you’re looking forward to being back in your own place.”
“Yes, but I’ll miss being here. You have a wonderful home.”
“The door is always open.” As if to demonstrate the point, Max ambled in through the open French doors and made a beeline for Leslie. Brent watched the dog put his head on her lap and get rewarded with a pat on the head.
“I’m going to miss Max, too. Maybe I can take him for a wa—” She caught herself before she said the word. “A w-a-l-k sometime.”
He thought that was an odd thing for her to offer until she indicated the notepad on the fridge. “I noticed you have a dog walker. Mandi? If there are times when she’s not available, I’d be happy to come over and take him out.”
If he didn’t know better, he’d suspect she was looking for an excuse to come back. “Sure,” he said. “Mandi’s the teenager across the street. She’s always been reliable but that could change now that she has a driver’s license.”
Was she serious about walking Max, he wondered, or had she just been fishing to find out about Mandi? Either way, he was happy to clear up any confusion about the relationship he and Max had with their dog walker. He wanted her to know there were no other women in his life, and as long as he thought he had a shot with her, there wouldn’t be.
She glanced up at the clock. “I should get my things together. Nick will be here soon.”
“Do you need a bag or anything?”
“No, thanks. I still have the one the clothes were in.”
Right. After she left the kitchen, he piled the dishes into the sink and poured himself another cup of coffee. It wasn’t as strong as he usually made it, but it tasted better. He’d have to remember that.
A few minutes later he heard Nick pull into his driveway, and then the sound of footsteps on the veranda and a couple of loud knocks on the front door. This he was not looking forward to.
“Leslie?” he called on his way through the living room. “Nick’s here.”
She appeared with her bag in hand. “I’m ready.”
He opened the door. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Nick looked past him to Leslie. His eyes softened immediately. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Brent has taken good care of me.”
Nick’s questioning gaze was back on him, and the question was all too clear. What the hell has been going on?
Nothing. Everything. None of your damn business.
“Right,” Nick said. “We should go. Maggie’s waiting out in the truck.”
Leslie glanced over his shoulder and waved. “I’m so glad she came with you.”
Brent watched him take Leslie’s bag. “Ready to go?” Nick asked.
She nodded. “As soon as I say goodbye to Brent.”
Nick’s gaze flicked from her to Brent and back again. “I can wait outside.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said.
To Brent’s surprise, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. Not on the mouth, but close enough that it wasn’t a kiss on the cheek, either.
He knew better than to return it.
“Thank you,” she said. “For everything.” She looked directly into his eyes as she said it, and he struggled to understand the subtext.
Everything?
Her smile let him know she meant everything. “And I’m sorry about the plumbing. How a girl can cause that much trouble is kind of a mystery.”
If he hadn’t already known he was completely, head-over-heels back in love with her, he would have realized it then. He wanted to ask when he could see her again, but he didn’t. He couldn’t, not with Nick watching. “See you around.”
“See you. Say goodbye to Max for me.”
“Will do.”
Nick stepped aside and let her go out ahead of him. “I’m not sure how long this will take,” he said to Brent. “Might be a good idea to hold off and start the new job tomorrow.”
“Works for me.” He would rather have started today, but he should be able to find enough around his place to keep himself busy. “See you tomorrow morning.”
Nick still looked as though he had a question or two, or twenty, but he didn’t ask. “See you.”
Brent closed the door. From the living room window, he watched them drive away. They weren’t even at the end of the block and already the house felt empty.
LESLIE DIDN’T SAY much on the ride to her place. She didn’t have to. Maggie kept up a steady stream of chatter about the amazing job that Nick and Brent had done of renovating her house and her excitement about opening her new business.
“This afternoon is the grand opening of Inner Beauty Spa,” she said. “You’re welcome to drop in.”
“I’d like to, but I have a lot of things to catch up on. Can I take a rain check?”
“Of course. Call me and we’ll set up an appointment for any time that works for you. It’ll be my treat.”
“That’s so sweet, but you don’t have to do that.”
“Oh, I want to. You’ve been through a lot these last few days.”
Nick’s throat-clearing made Leslie laugh. Maggie’s straightforwardness was refreshing, and she was exactly the kind of person her brother needed in his life right now.
“I have been, and I appreciate everything the two of you are doing for me.”
When they arrived at Leslie’s town house complex, Nick pulled into the small parking area in front of her garage.
“Would the two of you like to come in for a while? To be honest, I’m not sure I’m quite ready to be alone.”
They glanced at each other and after a moment of silent communication, they both nodded.
“Here’s your purse,” Maggie said as she passed it to her.
“Thanks.” Leslie opened it and found her keys.
They all got out of the truck and Leslie unlocked her front door.
Maggie had a large paper grocery bag in her arms. “We stopped at Donaldson’s Deli and picked up a few things for you. Since you were planning to be on your honeymoon, we thought you probably would have cleaned out your fridge.”
For a few seconds Nick managed to pry his eyes off the love of his life and smile at Leslie. “Never would have occurred to me,” he said. “Maggie gets all the credit.”
“That’s so thoughtful,” Leslie said, but she was thinking about the way Nick looked at Maggie. Gerald had never looked at her that way, but Brent had.
“We weren’t sure if you’d feel like shopping, so there’s bread and cheese and eggs and fruit in there. And milk. We should probably get that in the fridge.”
The town house seemed awfully quiet, almost eerily so, and Leslie was relieved she hadn’t had to come home alone. She set her bag of clothes on the floor
in the foyer and led the way to the kitchen.
Maggie promptly made herself at home. “You two sit and chat,” she said. “I’ll put these things away and make tea.”
It felt great to let someone like Maggie take charge and organize things. She was so nonjudgmental, which was a rarity in this town. And Nick was as supportive as possible, given that he was definitely the strong, silent type.
“Have you talked with Mother?” she asked.
“I don’t know if ‘talked with her’ is the way I’d describe it. She insisted I call her the minute I heard from you.”
“Did you?”
“No. Must have slipped my mind.”
She laughed. “Thanks. I’ll call her tomorrow. Or the next day. I just need a little time.”
“Now that Allison knows you’ve resurfaced, you might not be able to stay in hiding much longer.”
“I’ll call her, too. She can be more discreet than people give her credit for.” Sometimes.
But the real question was, how many people knew about Gerald and Candice? She decided to choose her words carefully. “You’re probably wondering what happened at the church on Saturday.”
Nick and Maggie exchanged a look. “We know,” her brother said. “Maggie saw them together.”
“I see.” If Maggie saw them, then others may have seen them, too. “Does Allison know?”
The two of them exchanged another glance.
Okay, this was not looking good. “All right, what about Mother? Did anyone tell her?”
Nick held up both hands, palms out. “Hey, if she knows anything, she didn’t hear it from us.”
“And what about…”
“Gerald?”
She was getting tired of hearing his name. “Has he tried to get in touch with you?”
“He wouldn’t dare. As soon as I announced to everyone in the church that there wasn’t going to be a wedding, he made himself scarce. I thought about paying him a visit, but I didn’t want to do anything I might regret.”
She remembered what Brent had said, that Nick should have said something about her choice of husbands. “Maybe you and Brent should pay him a visit together.”
“Maybe we should.”
Maggie set a pot of tea and three cups on the table. “You’re lucky to have a brother,” she said. “Someone to look out for you.”
“I am, although it’s taken me a long time to figure that out.”
AFTER Nick and Maggie left, Leslie locked the dead bolt and slid the security chain into place. She didn’t think Gerald would have the nerve to use his key, but she wasn’t taking any chances. When she did see him again, it would be on her terms.
She’d meant what she’d said to Brent earlier, that she couldn’t move on until she’d ended things with Gerald. Not that there was any doubt that it was already over, but it wouldn’t feel final until she’d confronted him and told him so. Not that she was in any hurry to see him, but when she did, he wouldn’t know what hit him.
In the den, she quickly scrolled through her call display to see who had called and decided the messages could wait. She picked up the bag she’d left by the door and took it upstairs. She dropped it on her bed and went into the bathroom. Maybe she’d feel more like herself after she’d showered and conditioned her hair. And moisturized, and put on some makeup and got dressed in her own clothes. Then she thought about Maggie’s offer. Maybe she would go for a facial today.
Gerald’s things were neatly organized by his sink. Except it wasn’t his sink anymore, and she suddenly had a very different priority. The shower could wait.
She went back downstairs to the garage and found an empty box. On her way through the kitchen, she grabbed his favorite coffee mug out of the cupboard and dropped it in the box. In the bedroom, she hesitated. He didn’t have that many clothes here, but she’d pack those after she finished in the bathroom. She set the box on the vanity, scooped up his soap and toothbrush and dumped them in. Then she yanked open his drawer and started tossing.
Dental floss, deodorant, cologne. Revolting stuff. What a relief to not have to smell that again. She had always disliked it, and yet she had never told him. Whatever Brent used suited her perfectly.
You need to focus, she told herself. Gerald needed to be fully banished from her life before she let herself think about anyone else.
It was difficult not to think about Brent, though. The time she’d spent with him had flown by, and it had been full of unexpected surprises. Maybe if the circumstances had been different…
But aside from running away from the man she’d been about to marry, what other circumstances could have landed her at Brent’s place? None that she could think of.
She picked up the box, carried it into the bedroom and set it on the bed. She removed her thrift-shop clothes from the bag and unfolded the T-shirt the diamonds were wrapped in. After she retrieved the jeweler’s cases from a drawer in her dresser and put the jewelry in them, she put them in the box with everything else. Carefully, but firmly. In a few minutes she had Gerald’s clothes off their hangers and out of her drawers, then she hauled the box back downstairs and put it in the den.
Now she had something important to do. She went back upstairs and put away the things Brent had given her—everything but the teddy bear, which she set on the dresser. Then she headed for the shower. Half an hour later she was scrubbed, primped, dressed and ready for a little pampering.
Chapter Nine
Maggie’s purple house, with its red door and white picket fence, was definitely an attention grabber. Nick and Brent had just finished renovating it, and Leslie couldn’t wait to see the interior. She glanced cautiously at Allison’s house next door. Her friend’s car wasn’t there, which meant she could slip in without being seen. After everything she’d been through, she did not need Allison’s drama right now.
On her way up the front steps she admired the potted plants, and the sign. Inner Beauty Spa—Making the Most of What You’ve Got, Naturally.
The door knocker was a gargoyle’s head with a brass ring in its toothy grin. Maggie’s addition, she was sure, and it had Leslie grinning, too. She tapped it several times and as she waited for Maggie to answer the door, she wondered why she hadn’t considered buying a house in one of Collingwood Station’s older neighborhoods. She had always loved this neighborhood, and she’d spent a lot of time here since Allison and John had moved into the house next door. Maggie’s place had a lot of character and so did Brent’s. Her town house was boring and uninspired, and it had no personality.
A lot like Gerald, now that she thought about it. And a sad reflection of her.
She had never been to Nick’s apartment, but she had a feeling that someday soon he’d be living here. With someone he was madly in love with, and who was madly in love with him. For the first time she could remember, she wanted what Nick had.
The door opened and Maggie’s warm, welcoming hug immediately made her feel at home. “I’m so glad you decided to come. An hour from now you’ll feel like a million bucks, I guarantee it, and this will give us a chance to get to know each other better.”
“Thanks for inviting me. I was so anxious to get home this morning, and then after I spent an hour there by myself, I couldn’t wait to get away.”
“What were you doing for that hour?”
“Just a little tidying up.”
“I’ll bet you were packing up Gerald’s things, weren’t you?”
“How did you know?”
Maggie shrugged. “It’s what I would have done.”
Except Maggie probably would have thrown his stuff into the yard instead of packing it in a box and stashing it securely in the den.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Maggie said. “I had a feeling you’d come so I went ahead and prepared everything we’d need.”
Leslie already loved this woman’s unabashed self-confidence and nonjudgmental attitude.
“Have a look around while I get set up.” Maggie disappeared down the hallway, a
pparently to the kitchen.
Leslie stepped into the spa and immediately fell in love with the place. Stained glass windows filtered the sunlight and added warmth to the beige and purple walls. Many of the original details had been retained, including the ornate crystal chandelier and the wide mantel over the fireplace, decorated with flowers, candles and a pewter urn. The concept was clearly Maggie’s, but there was the same high-quality workmanship that had impressed her about Brent’s place. The three of them—Brent, Nick and Maggie—must have had a lot of fun creating this space.
Maggie returned with a tray filled with an assortment of white ceramic bowls and spray bottles, and set it on a modern-looking stainless steel cart. “Come and take a seat over here.”
Leslie sat in the salon chair and Maggie swung her to face the mirror, then draped a purple cape over her.
“Your skin is flawless so I’m going to start with an oatmeal scrub,” she said, adjusting the height and angle of the chair. “It’s a very mild exfoliant.”
Leslie lay back in the chair and closed her eyes as Maggie gently massaged the mixture into her skin. She could practically feel the stress oozing out of every pore in her body.
“I think it’s wonderful that you were staying with Brent,” Maggie said. “Allison said he’s had a thing for you since you were kids.”
Leslie opened her eyes and stared up at Maggie, trying to think of a response. She needn’t have bothered, though, because Maggie wasn’t finished.
“Can I be honest?” she asked.
Leslie couldn’t imagine her being anything else, so she nodded.
“When I met you and Gerald a couple of weeks ago, I knew you weren’t right for each other.”
Leslie’s throat went tight. “What makes you say that?” she finally managed to ask.
“I’m sure you’ve heard that old saying, that opposites attract. Well, it’s true. Look at me and Nick. He’s very grounded and I’m…” She laughed. “Well, not so grounded.”
Leslie closed her eyes again and decided there was no point in trying to take part in Maggie’s one-sided conversation. She was thrilled that Maggie and Nick were so happy, but she didn’t see what that had to do with her.