I'll Be There For You (Canyon Creek, Co. Book 5)

by Lori Ryan

  The way he talked it sounded like Jake was for it, too.

  More people turned to stare at him. He felt their heated gazes, but nothing like the fiery heat rolling off the woman next to him.

  “Seriously?” Lina said. “You’ve been helping Earl Fisk?” She said his name as if the man was Satan himself. He didn’t need to see her face to know how furious she was but he looked anyway.

  Her eyes were narrowed, her lips pressed together in a tight line.

  “It’s not like that, Lina,” he whispered.

  Earl continued. “Jake Sumner’s input has been invaluable to those of us who are in favor of this proposed expansion.”

  The asshole was purposely implying Jake was on their side. He was trying to sway the vote.

  “Thank you, Earl,” The mayor said.

  Jake turned back to scan the audience. Just as Lina had, many in the audience were scowling, including his sister-in-law, Maggie. If Earl thought he would garner support by bringing Jake into this fight, he might have miscalculated.

  “Well, if there’s nothing further, I’m adjourning this meeting,” Mayor Aguilar said, bringing down the gavel.

  Jake felt the finality in his chest as the sound echoed through the small room.

  He turned to explain to Lina, but she was gone.

  Jake’s head fell back on the wall with a thud. He hadn’t felt like he could say no when Earl asked for advice, but he’d truly screwed up by not telling Lina ahead of time.

  She was a passionate person all right. He just hoped she was a forgiving person as well.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Lina stood behind the table at the coalition booth, staring out at the growing crowd forming in Settler’s Park. It was the Founder’s Day Festival, a big event for the small town. Most of the visitors were locals, which was why she’d requested a booth for their citizen action group. Unfortunately by the time she’d requested one, they were all taken. But that might have something to do with the coordinator, Brenda Cooper. She’d been vocal about her support of the highway expansion.

  Thankfully, Kayleigh offered to share part of her booth. She was offering up adoptions and vaccinations from a local rescue group on one side while Lina talked to people about the highway expansion on the other.

  Lina had a feeling she might be going home with another fur baby before the afternoon was over. Duchess and O’Malley could probably use a brother.

  No, scratch that. Men suck. She’d get them a sister.

  “Oh my God,” Kayleigh said, leaning a hip against the table as she stared down at her phone.

  “What?” Lina asked.

  “Your video has over four-thousand views.”

  Lina scooted next to Kayleigh and glanced over her shoulder. “What are you talking about?”

  Kayleigh stared up at her like she had two heads. “You seriously don’t know?”

  Lina shook her head.

  “Your speech to the town council, they recorded it and posted it on the town website.”

  Lina stared at her, eyes narrowed. “Why?”

  “They do it for all the town meetings,” Kayleigh said.

  Just the reminder of the meeting had Lina seeing red. She couldn’t believe Jake had double-crossed her by helping the opposition. Half the town knew Earl Fisk was in the pocket of developers. But then again, Jake was used to running campaigns for not-so-trustworthy men. Why should she have thought this would be any different?

  “Are you serious?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Well, apparently it’s been circulating out on the internet, people are sharing the video and it’s starting to go viral.”

  “Oh no,” Lina said, covering her mouth.

  “That’s a good thing, girl. It will bring more attention to our cause.”

  “And more attention to my family,” Lina said quietly. Attention often meant embarrassment and trouble where Lina was concerned. She’d caused her family enough of that. This was not good.

  “Excuse me,” someone called behind them.

  “Oh, hello,” Kayleigh said. “Are you here for pets or the citizens’ group?”

  “Um,” the older woman looked from Kayleigh to Lina and back. They’d gotten that reaction a lot. Apparently, combining politics with pet adoption was confusing.

  “Lina!”

  Lina heard Becca’s exclamation a full five-seconds before she saw her. She wasn’t surprised to find the little girl running full speed toward her.

  Lina quickly moved around the table to catch her, praying Becca wouldn’t crash into the booth and knock it over. The girl could really run.

  “Hey, topolina!” Lina said, catching the girl mid-stride as she jumped into her arms. Something in Lina’s chest ached as she clutched the girl tight. She’d never thought she wanted to have kids after helping to raise her sisters while her mom and dad ran the family restaurant, but something about Becca had her ovaries waking up and taking notice.

  Becca clutched her tight, holding on as if she’d float away. “I missed you,” she spoke into Lina’s neck.

  Since the town council meeting three days ago, Lina had purposely stayed away from Jake, which meant she hadn’t seen Becca either.

  “I missed you too, little mouse.”

  Becca leaned back and stared at her. “Give me a big smooch, toe-poe-lee-na.” She smiled wide, before closing her eyes and puckering.

  Lina swallowed down an emotion she couldn’t name. This little girl gave her affections so freely despite the tremendous loss she’d suffered at such an early age.

  Becca clasped Lina’s cheeks with her small hands and pulled her forward, smacking her loud on the lips. Lina returned the kiss and they both pulled away with a loud, “Mewh,” between them and laughed.

  “Look what Jakey bought me,” Becca said, holding out her hand.

  Uggh, Jake was here. She’d hoped to avoid him.

  Becca shoved her arm in Lina’s face, a red ribbon tied to the girl’s small wrist. Lina followed the ribbon up to see an oversized Mickey Mouse balloon flying high above them in the wind. “Wow,” Lina said, “that’s a big topolino.”

  “Grammy! Grammy!” Becca shouted, wiggling out of Lina’s hold. She watched Becca hop toward the woman who’d been standing at their booth earlier. The girl was so full of energy Lina wished she could bottle and sell it.

  “I told you,” Becca said, staring up at the woman then pointing to her balloon. “It’s toe-poe-lee-nah.” The young girl turned back to Lina. “This is my nonna, Lina,” she said proudly with a beaming smile across her face as she looked back toward the older woman. “Nonna means grandma in Italian, Grammy.”

  Becca’s grandmother smiled brightly at her granddaughter and turned to Lina, her expression falling slightly. She wore neatly pressed linen pants and a long-sleeved silk blouse that tied in a knot at the top. Not the most casual attire for an outdoor festival but the woman wore it well.

  “Grammy,” Becca exclaimed, “this is my friend, Lina.”

  The woman extended a hand, a small smile spreading across her face. “Hello, Lina, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Phoebe Howard. I’ve heard all about you from Becca.”

  Lina returned the smile, not sure if the woman’s statement was a compliment or not. She wondered what Becca had told her. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Howard.” She shook her hand and released it. “I know Becca has missed you and her grandfather while she’s been here.”

  The woman glanced down and played with Becca’s long curly hair. “We’ve missed her as well,” she said softly. Lina could hear the pain in her voice, see the longing in her gray eyes. Was she afraid Jake was going to take Becca away? That was silly.

  Lina knew all of them lived in San Francisco, except when the California legislature was in session. During those times, Lina wondered where Becca would live. Would she go with Jake to Sacramento or stay with her grandparents? From what Lina had heard, a lot of that might depend on the grandfather’s health.

  “How long are you in
Canyon Creek?” Lina asked.

  “We’re here until next weekend. Jake will be flying back to California for a fundraiser. Steven, Becca, and I will go back with him.”

  Did that mean Jake and Becca would be leaving for good? She would definitely miss Becca, but Jake…not so much.

  He’d tried to phone her several times over the last few days but Lina hadn’t taken any of his calls. He’d obviously been filling her with false praise for her work on the citizens group, probably laughing at how amateurish her efforts were. Hell, they couldn’t even find a consensus on their name and had settled for something that sounded less than professional.

  “Grammy look.” Becca pulled her grandmother’s hand toward the pen filled with various dogs available for adoption. “Can we get one?”

  “Oh, aren’t they adorable?” Phoebe said, squatting down and rubbing the back of one little puppy. It surprised Lina the woman looked so well put together, like she’d never get her hands dirty. She would have never guessed Becca’s grandmother to be an animal person.

  “Hey, Lina,” a deep voice said behind her. A voice she recognized all too well.

  Dammit.

  She drew in a deep breath, before turning to face Jake.

  Mistake. He was just as delicious as she remembered, despite his betrayal. Her body didn’t seem to realize this was the guy who’d stabbed her in the back after he left her bed.

  “Hey,” she replied, swallowing down the words she really wanted to say.

  How could you use me? How could you make me feel like a fool?

  You look really hot in that T-shirt. I wish it was on my bedroom floor instead of—

  “Are you all right?” he asked, stepping closer.

  She inhaled.

  Another mistake.

  He smelled like clean soap and fresh mountain air. Okay, so technically they were in the mountain air so it wasn’t just Jake…and yet, it was. He had a scent all his own, one so familiar her heart ached with longing and need. How could he have grown to affect her so much in such a short amount of time? Well, it didn’t matter. According to Phoebe Howard, he would be leaving soon.

  Jake rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around the ever-growing crowd. “Can we, uh, talk?”

  Lina leaned back against the table and folded her arms across her chest.

  Jake glanced down at her chest.

  She didn’t need to look to know what her arms were doing for her girls in the low-cut tee she had on, but she didn’t want that kind of attention from Jake. She quickly dropped her arms. “We can talk here,” she said, adjusting her top to cover more of herself.

  “I just wanted to make sure you’re safe, that nothing else happened, vandalism wise.”

  Okay, so maybe that was sweet.

  “Phoebe!” an elderly man yelled, stepping from behind Jake. “Where the hell is my horse?”

  Horse?

  The man was probably in his late-sixties, early-seventies with snow white hair and gray eyes clouded with age. And obvious confusion.

  “I’m right here, Steven,” Phoebe said, standing from behind the puppy pen.

  “Where the hell is my horse?” he repeated.

  Phoebe looked at Lina with embarrassment and gave Jake a please-help-me look.

  This had to be Becca’s grandfather, the man suffering from Alzheimer’s. “I, uh, think they put all the horses away for the festival,” Lina said. “Didn’t want them to get spooked.”

  The man stared her up and down, his eyes narrowed.

  He obviously didn’t believe her.

  Lina cleared her throat and pointed to the pen. “They brought out dogs for everyone to play with instead. People love dogs, right?”

  She’d worked with one or two Alzheimer’s patients at Wellspring Personal Care Home and understood it was best to just go with their current topic of conversation, no matter how strange or far-fetched it might seem to anyone other than them. Trying to reason with an Alzheimer’s patient only agitated them more. Redirection was best.

  The man stared from the dog pen to Lina and back again. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Steven,” Becca’s grandmother scolded.

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” Lina brushed off Mrs. Howard’s comment. “I’m Lina. My friend Kayleigh has a few dogs and cats over there, if you want to take a look.” She pointed toward the small fenced-in area.

  “Grandpa!” Becca shouted. “Come look at the puppies Dr. Kayleigh has. She’s a ve-tah…ve-tah…”

  “Veterinarian,” her grandfather said with such clarity, it took a minute to reconcile him with the man who’d been calling for his horse seconds before.

  “Yeah,” Becca nodded, “that’s what she is. Come on, Grandpa.”

  A smile spread wide across the man’s face as he grasped Becca’s hand and allowed her to lead him over to the animals.

  “Thank you,” Phoebe said quietly, touching Lina’s arm.

  “Of course,” she said. “I volunteer at a personal care home. Some of the residents have Alzheimer’s.”

  “You do?” Jake said, staring at her in disbelief.

  “Yes.” She stared at him in disbelief. “Becca’s gone with me.”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said, shaking his head. “I guess she mentioned that once,” For a man so bright, sometimes he wasn’t so focused.

  “Well that was wonderful the way you handled him,” Phoebe said. “Redirection is always the best way to help him when he gets disoriented and agitated.”

  “I’ve seen the way Felicity works with the patients at the home. She’s wonderful.”

  “Is that the owner?” Phoebe asked.

  “Oh, yes. Felicity Davidson. She’s about to open up another personal care home that will be strictly dedicated to Alzheimer’s patients. Jake’s brother, Dr. Aaron Sumner, is helping her find funding right now.”

  “He is?” Jake asked.

  Lina looked at him like he’d grown two heads. “Do you ever talk to your family?” Immediately she wished she could take back the words. He looked stricken.

  “Do you think I might tour her facility?” Phoebe asked. “I’ve heard of them but haven’t been to see any in California. I was looking at larger facilities because I thought he’d need that with his Alzheimer’s. It sounds like she handles Alzheimer’s patients routinely?”

  “Oh, of course.” Lina pulled her phone from her pocket and grabbed a piece of paper from her stack of flyers, scribbling down Felicity’s information. “I’m sure she’d love to show you around and talk to you about what to look for in a home.”

  “You’re the young woman who gave the moving speech aren’t you?” Phoebe asked when Lina turned to give her the information. “I thought I recognized you.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lina said, “you’ve seen the speech?”

  “Everyone’s seen it,” Jake said.

  Lina studied them both in confusion. “What?”

  “I belong to a lot of support groups for Alzheimer’s care and we’re on social media,” Phoebe said. “A link to your speech popped up yesterday and I listened. You’re very impassioned. That’s why I was staring at you earlier. Well, that, and the fact that my granddaughter seems so taken with you.”

  Again, Lina couldn’t help but feel like that wasn’t a compliment.

  “It’s just…strange for me,” Phoebe said, “to see Rebecca so happy with another female besides her mother.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lina said, “I didn’t mean to overstep—”

  “No, no,” Phoebe reached out and touched her arm, “I didn’t mean it negatively. I’m happy to see Becca happy.”

  “Grammy, look. This puppy is chewing Grandpa’s ear.” Becca called out, giggling.

  They all turned to see her grandfather sitting on the ground, laughing.

  “Felicity uses pet therapy in her home,” Lina said. “Kayleigh, the veterinarian, and I try to bring them in at least once or twice a week.”

  “Remarkable,” Phoebe said, staring at the two of them on the g
round. “I’d heard others in our group talk about pet therapy but had never tried it with Steven.”

  “Come on, Grammy, Dr. Kayleigh has one for you, too.”

  Phoebe turned toward Lina. “Excuse me. It was nice to finally meet you,” she said, “for a multitude of reasons.” She glanced back at Jake and smiled. What the hell was that about?

  Jake stepped toward Lina. “Could we maybe take a walk?”

  “I need to stay at the booth, make sure we give people all the facts about the proposed expansion and get more people to sign up for our email list since our opposition has a strategy now.” She purposely kept the sarcasm in her voice at a maximum.

  “You have an email list?” He sounded impressed, ignoring her mockery.

  “Yes,” she said, refusing to give him any more information. She made a mental note to double check the list to make sure he hadn’t joined. “Just because it’s a small town doesn’t mean we’re all podunks.”

  “I never said you were,” he said, the hurt evident on his face. “My family lives here. I’m from here.” He scrubbed a hand through his thick hair, and despite herself, she wished she was the one touching his soft curly locks. “Look Lina—”

  “Jakey, look!” Becca called out, holding up a small puppy of unidentifiable breed. “Can we take him? Grandpa loves him.”

  “No, we can’t get a puppy,” he said.

  “Please,” she begged.

  “No, Becca.”

  Becca’s face puckered and her eyes narrowed, her face turning redder by the second. Lina feared a full-fledged temper-tantrum.

  Jake stepped toward her. “Rebecca Anne, put the dog down.”

  Her eyes went wide. So did Lina’s. She’d never heard Jake speak that sternly to his daughter.

  Becca’s chin quivered and her eyes welled with tears.

  “The tears won’t work on me. Maybe Uncle Max or Uncle Ben, but not me.”

  Becca straightened, narrowing her eyes, her tears magically disappearing. God, this girl was good. Almost as good as Lina’s baby sister, Natalia, had been at that age.

  “I want ice cream,” Becca’s grandfather said. “Do you want ice cream, Sunshine?” He stared down at Becca whose lethal glare was still locked firmly on Jake.