by Vella, Wendy
“We can have coffee now?”
“Yes, and you did well, my dear. It’s never easy, especially as we’ve been doing this for many years now. But given time, you’ll be just like us.”
“W-we’re done?” Bailey tried not to let the elation show too much.
Mr. Goldhirsh patted Bailey’s shoulder and pulled out his whistle. He gave a sharp blow, which made her wince, but everyone else relax. They then all filed into Phil’s.
“I’ll be right in,” she said. When she was sure they’d all gone, Bailey bent at the waist and braced her hands on her hips. “Mother of God, I’m out of shape.”
“I’d have to disagree with that.”
The deep words had her snapping upright. Turning, she found Joe Trainer behind her. His eyes were doing a leisurely study up and down her body, heating her more, if that was possible, which Bailey reminded herself it was not. He was nothing to her. She did not think he looked like sin standing there, hands at his sides, in a white shirt, sleeves rolled, top buttons undone, worn jeans, and sneakers.
“Go away.”
“I just want to talk, Bailey.”
“No.”
“Remember when you didn’t believe me about Angie? Isn’t this the same thing?”
“No, it’s not, and I don’t want to talk.”
He was below her, so their eyes were almost level. Walk away, Bailey. Place one foot in front of the other and leave.
“Sure it is. I reacted to what Chip said because it hurt to think you’d made love to me while engaged to him.”
“Clark!” Bailey snapped. “And you should have known that I wouldn’t behave that way.”
“Like you knew me?”
Bailey remained silent.
“You didn’t give me a chance to explain about Angie, Bailey, just like I didn’t let you explain.”
She battled down the guilt, because he was right, but she wasn’t acknowledging that.
“This was different. We....” Bailey couldn’t say the words out loud.
“Had the best, mind-blowing—”
“Stop!” Bailey hissed, looking left and right. “You can’t talk like that out here where anyone could hear you.”
“Admit that you misjudged me as I misjudged you, then.”
“We’re not children anymore, Joe. This entire situation between us is out of control. We should not have done what we did, and this discussion is over.”
“And you like to be in control, don’t you? Because for so long you weren’t.”
Bailey didn’t answer him, but they both knew his words were right.
“Don’t try and analyze me, Joe.”
“I’m not, I’m saying that I understand, and….” He blew out a breath. “I just want to talk, Bailey. No more misunderstandings. Just you and me, and we clear the air between us.”
She looked down at the toe of her sneaker.
“This is uncharted territory for me too, Bailey. What I experience and feel for you is totally foreign. I reacted like any man would when Chet appeared and declared himself your fiancé.”
“Clark!”
Joe watched as Bailey exhaled slowly. “Why do you believe me now?”
“My siblings bashed it into my head.”
“Piper,” she said. “She sat on me until I came clean.”
“I know. Fin said it was a vision that he’ll carry with him for some time.”
“Stop that!”
“What?” Joe gave her an innocent look, then swept his eyes over her body. Those exercise clothes really did something for her. Especially her butt.
Her eyes went from right to left again. “Y-you were....”
“Totally checking you out?” he added. “Sorry... not sorry.” He gave her a slow smile. His black mood of the last few days had lifted just seeing her. He wasn’t about to examine that too deeply. “You been walking with the Ryker Roadies?”
She nodded. “I wasn’t given a choice.”
He laughed. “Yeah, Mr. Goldhirsh can be persuasive when he wants. But it will be good for, you obviously need to get in shape.”
“Will you stop,” Bailey hissed.
He let his eyes run over her again. “I’ve tried, but it’s not working.”
“What’s not working?”
“Me not wanting you, it’s not working. Even after two days of anger and one of self-reflection, I still do.”
“I can’t believe you just said that right here on the street.”
“I learned long ago to seize the moment. I saw you all hot and sweaty, then you bent over in front of me—”
“I didn’t know you were there!”
He wanted to laugh at her agitation. She looked cute all hot and messed up. Joe was keeping it light, instead of following through with his instinct to grab her and ravish her in the street. She hadn’t run away, so he thought she was coming round to accepting his apology. He hoped so, because he’d been miserable the last few days.
“Aww, now that’s a shame, I thought you were putting on a show just for me,” he teased her.
Her hair was pulled back in a tail that was off-center. Her shirt clung to her and had damp patches, her exercise pants were like a second skin, and he thought she looked sexy as hell. He also remembered the naked parts of her he’d seen, and what it felt like to sink deep inside her wet heat.
“Who’d have thought it, the prissy piano player looking all hot and messy,” Joe drawled as he battled with the lust raging through him.
“I’m not prissy.”
“Sure you are, that just adds to your hotness.”
“I’m sure that should be insulting. I’m equally sure I shouldn’t want to stand here talking like this with you. Especially as I’m not sure I forgive you.”
“But you do, because whatever the hell this chemistry is, it’s riding you too. Especially now we both know how good it is between us when we give in to it.”
Her face was already flushed, but it deepened.
“I’m not used to this.” She looked around her again. Nervous, yes, but he also thought excited. “I’ve never done this before, Joe. The laughing, and innuendos, the talk. I don’t get it.”
“You’re a natural,” Joe said gently. “But right now I have to get back to the bar and do inventory for tonight. Otherwise, I’ll give in to the impulse and drag you into the nearest dark corner and have my wicked way with you.”
Her eyes looked left and right again. “You shouldn’t be talking like that, not here on the street. Especially as you’re on the town council.”
“You make me think bad thoughts.” He shrugged. “I can’t help it if you do it for me.”
She let out a strangled moan.
“So, we good?” He moved closer, and reached up to tug on a damp strand of hair. “I’m really sorry, Bailey. More than I can say, for the way I behaved. It’s not like me to react without facts, but you have me all over the place.”
“But—”
“How is it I know what you’re thinking?” Joe tugged her face closer.
“What am I thinking?”
“No more misunderstandings. From now we listen to each other, and ask questions.”
She nodded. “But, Joe, I don’t know where this can go.”
“Me either, but it will be fun finding out.”
He kissed her, right there on the street, and hoped Clark saw it.
“Bye.”
He watched her walk away, and sighed. The woman had him tied in knots, and this was a problem because A, he couldn’t concentrate for thinking about her, which B, pissed him off because that messed with his work schedule, which was totally unacceptable and led to C, he had to get Bailey back into his arms, and hopefully bed, ASAP.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“ So look at you,” Piper said, handing Bailey her coffee. She was in Phil’s for dinner. Maggie was working, and then going to the town hall for a meeting, so she’d decided to treat herself.
“What?” Piper looked down at her sundress.
Bailey returned the high five before Piper walked away to serve another customer. She had changed. In the weeks she’d been back in Ryker, she’d made inroads into becoming the woman she wanted to be.
Peace had been restored between her and Joe, and while she’d not slept with him again, he occasionally caught her when she wasn’t looking and dragged her into the nearest isolated space and kissed her senseless. It was like some kind of evil mating ritual that left her feeling hot and edgy. She loved it.
But she wasn’t lowering her guard enough to get physical with him again yet. Bailey had stuff to work through, and he messed with her ability to do that.
“I just want to talk, Bailey.”
Clark slid onto the stool next to hers. He was tall, with smooth good looks, although on closer inspection, Bailey thought he looked a little dog-eared. His hair needed a trim, and he had a shadow on his jaw from not shaving. Which was pretty shocking, considering the man she’d known never left the house looking anything but immaculate. He also wore jeans and a shirt. Bailey couldn’t remember seeing him in jeans before.
“Go home, Clark. I can’t imagine what is still keeping you here. I don’t want to perform again, nor do I want to go back to Boston or the control my grandfather had over me. Go back to your clients.”
“You’ve changed.” His brown eyes studied her. “You look good... happy.”
“I am, and I’m also getting to know the person I can be, Clark. I can’t return to what I was. That’s no longer a fit for me.”
“What’ll it be?” Piper appeared to serve Clark. She wore a fierce frown.
“Pip, it’s okay.” Bailey patted the hand her friend braced on the counter to make herself look intimidating.
“It better be, or I’m personally running him out of town.”
“Just black coffee, thanks.”
Clark’s eyes followed Piper as she went to fill his order.
“You have friends here, Bailey. Protective friends.”
“I never had them before.”
“Friends?” He sounded surprised.
“Maggie, you’ve met her.”
“The fierce redhead who said she’d turn me into a eunuch if I upset you?”
“That’s her.” Bailey smiled. “When I lived here, she was a friend. I never made any more when I left. Acquaintances, not friends.”
He sipped the coffee Piper placed before him with another scowl.
“I’m not your enemy, Bailey, and I never wanted to be.”
She sighed. “I know that, and also that we’re both just products of my grandfather. He’s a master manipulator, Clark.”
“Your grandfather only wants what is best for you. I thought that was coming back to Boston, and performing again.”
“It’s not. I don’t want that anymore. I did enjoy it, but not now. Now I need to do things for myself, Clark.”
“Why did you never tell me you were unhappy, Bailey? You were always so calm and composed; not once did I see you any different.”
“I was calm and composed, but also unhappy. To be fair, I didn’t realize how unhappy until I had the accident. I had time to think then.”
“I’m sorry that you didn’t feel you could talk to me about it, but of course our disastrous engagement played a part in that.”
Bailey looked at Clark. He was a good man, just not the man for her.
“We should never have allowed him to talk us into that either.”
He shook his head. “No, but I got swept up in his plans, and for that I’m sorry, because you deserved more.”
“ We deserved more, Clark.”
“We’re closing in five,” Piper said. “Then heading to the meeting. You want to come, Bailey?” She didn’t include Clark in the invitation.
“That woman’s terrifying.”
“She’s wonderful,” Bailey said, getting to her feet. “And everything I want to grow up to be.”
He laughed at that, and Bailey thought it suited him. In Boston, he’d been serious whenever they were together.
“Mind if I tag along?”
“Why haven’t you left, Clark?”
He stood and dropped money on the counter. “Actually, I’m not entirely sure, but for the first time in a while, I feel as if my stress levels have reduced. I even went for a walk yesterday. A strange gray-haired man accompanied me, and we discussed poetry. Very odd.”
Bailey laughed this time. “Don’t let him con you into anything, he excels at that.”
“Go get ’em.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Joe slapped hands with his brothers as they all entered the town hall. It was already full, and he nodded and smiled as he walked down the aisle, leaving his brothers to take their seats.
“You’re all over this, bud.”
He gripped Fin’s hand briefly, and then moved on.
“We’re proud of you, Joe, don’t forget that.”
“Thanks, Miss Sarah, Miss Marla.”
“‘To begin, begin,’ Joe.”
“I’m guessing seeing as Wordsworth’s on your mind at the moment, this is from him, right?” he said to Miss Marla.
She nodded and blew him a kiss. Joe moved on. They were here for him, and that thought was a humbling, if terrifying one. What if he messed up? What if he got up there and froze while delivering his speech? Shut it down, Joe. You got this.
He climbed up to the stage, and took his place beside Mayor Gripper, Mary Howard, Mr. Goldhirsh, and the other council members. He’d run because the younger proprietors in Ryker Falls felt they didn’t have a voice, and decided he should be the one to speak for them. He hadn’t wanted the job, but he’d taken it. Mary Howard had fought his election every step of the way, but she’d failed, so here he sat.
Running his eyes over the people seated in the hall, he knew most of them. Ryker had a growing population, so he didn’t know everyone like he once had. Most of the work here was seasonal, except for the school and hospital, fire and ranger stations, but the nearest big town was only ninety minutes away, so some new residents commuted.
“You’re late!”
“No, he’s not, and you can button up that mouth of yours, Mary Howard, as no one wants to hear any more of your venom.”
Mr. Goldhirsh winked at Joe after he’d spoken, and while he appreciated the support, he didn’t want the elderly man in the woman’s firing line. The Howards were wealthy, and had been in Ryker since the beginning. They believed they had rights far and above everyone else. Add to that the bad blood between Joe and them, and you had a nice little volatile cocktail going on.
Mary Howard still held Joe accountable for the mayhem he’d created—with help from her son—when he’d been one hell of a bad bastard. Unlike some of the other locals, she wasn’t about to change that viewpoint anytime soon.
Mayor Gripper was reading his notes and hadn’t heard a thing, because he couldn’t focus on more than one task at once. Not overly tall, the mayor tried to hide that by wearing hats. It didn’t work, but people didn’t tell him that. He was an eccentric soul who everyone liked, so they kept him in office, and his councilors kept him on track. Tonight he’d dressed for the occasion in salmon-colored fitted trousers, and a salmon-and-gray checked shirt. For some reason he could get away with dressing like this. If Joe tried it, he’d be laughed out of town.
“If I may have your attention, please.”
Joe looked over the crowd. The place was full, with some people even standing at the rear.
The hum of voices stopped. The mayor then tapped the mic, as he always did. It shrieked, again as it always did, and everybody winced.
“We are assembled this evening to discuss the boardwalk, and proposal of a recreation center down there.” He adjusted his glasses and looked down at his notes. “This will be a facility to benefit the residents of Ryker Falls and the tourists.”
<
br /> Mary Howard snorted. She wasn’t for the proposal; in fact, unless it was something she came up with, she vetoed it. They usually outvoted her, and the only reason she still sat on the council was because of her core group of buddies who got her back in.
“It will be aesthetically pleasing, and designed by the local architecture firm of Grey and Hinders. The costs are outlined in the handouts you received upon entering. We will be fundraising also, to assist with this cost.”
“I object!”
Joe watched one of Mary Howard’s cronies raise her hand.
“I haven’t opened it to the floor yet, Penelope, so you’ll have to wait.”
The woman lowered her hand, and Joe knew what followed was going to be a shit fight. Some locals didn’t want change, some did. Some wanted money spent on other things, others didn’t.
“Joe, as this is your baby, you stand up and explain why you think it will benefit the town of Ryker.”
He’d written notes, and memorized them, but he didn’t need them now. This was a passion project for him. Had there been a rec center, or somewhere he and his siblings could have gone as children, then maybe... just maybe their lives would have been easier. Ryker was growing, and with it more families with young children arrived. They needed a focus, and he wanted to give it to them.
He climbed to his feet, moved to the edge of the stage, and looked at the people. He found her then, Bailey, wedged between Piper and Clark. He saw the nod, and smile of encouragement she gave him, and suddenly he felt stronger.
“I was a wild child,” Joe said. “Trouble was something I relished because that was the only way I could get attention.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Bailey couldn’t take her eyes from Joe. He stood up there, confident, eyes connecting with people as he told them why he believed the rec center was important for the community.
“I had no one to turn to, and neither did my brothers.”
Bailey found Luke and Jack, seated across from her. Both looked calm as they watched and listened to their brother.
“He’s good,” Clark whispered to Bailey. “I’m sorry I told him we were engaged.”