“So what do you think, Ella?” said Paul.
Sweet Jesus, she hadn’t seen him come out of the office and just like old times she was reminded how he liked to sneak up on her to scare the wits out of her.
“I think I owe you a big thank you and this place looks amazing. Mom insisted I drop these off to you. I bet they’re your favorite double-chocolate chip cookies.”
He smiled and that dimple on his right cheek she so used to love kissing flashed at her. Her stomach dipped with longing and she felt her face heat. Damn, she was acting like a teenager around him. Pulling herself together, Ella returned his smile.
He took the paper bag from her and their fingers gently touched. It was an innocent touch but the affect was instant. Ella felt all those butterflies she tried hard to ignore flutter like a thousand wings, caressing her entire body with a longing she had no right to.
“Thanks so much. These cookies won’t last five seconds in the office. Your mom’s cookies are the best and the guys in the office tend to smell them the minute I’m lucky enough to get my hands on some. I’m so glad it was me tailing you yesterday. It’s not often I get to play superhero.”
“Well you played it well. I don’t remember much after the crash but I gathered from the clinic staff you drove me in yourself. Thanks again Paul.”
“It’s the least I could do. Are you sure you’re totally okay? And how’s your mom, Ella? I only had the chance to speak with her for a bit this morning when I dropped off your keys, and that reminds me, please tell me you’re not getting another Mini from that rental agency.”
His eyes narrowed like they used to when he was intently watching her, trying to figure out if she was telling the whole truth. Funny how she missed that look of his. Ella chuckled, softly. “Nope. I’m done with small. I’ll just use Mom’s pickup truck while I’m here. Plus I don’t think they’d rent to me again after they see the car. Mom’s doing okay but you know how she is.”
“Stubborn, determined to do it her own way and not wanting anyone to worry about her. A trait I think both you and your sister inherited if I recall, or have things changed since you moved to the big city?”
There it was. The city jibe she’d heard about four times already today. First from her mother’s friendly friends with their city innuendos and then she’d had the not-so-good luck of snagging a cashier at the grocery store from high school who’d made enough city puns to leave Ella feeling uncomfortable.
“Nope. I’m still the same,” said Ella.
“Ella I didn’t mean anything by that remark. Seeing you in that car crash threw me yesterday. Not sure I’ll ever recover from that. Listen, I had one of my guys tow your car to Frank’s garage and he said considering how you landed the car’s not that bad.”
Ella watched Paul run his hands through his hair. In the years since she’d last seen him, he’d filled out. Somewhere over the course of a decade he’d turned from boy to man. And while Ella tried hard to make like she wasn’t checking him out she suspected she was failing. Maybe he joined a gym. Paul had always been good looking but he hadn’t had the football player physique and all that had changed. His dark, wavy brown hair was cut shorter but everything else had changed. Instead of wearing jeans like most everyone else in the yard he was wearing sharp dress pants and hadn’t bothered to throw on a winter jacket. His dress shirt was a deep blue, bringing out the sky-blue color of his eyes. He looked so different from what she thought he’d look like that she felt a little overwhelmed and certainly underdressed. She was wearing a pair of worn jeans, practical boots and a short bomber jacket. Not her normal New York attire but certainly comfortable and respectable enough for home, or so she’d thought.
A Jeep pulled into the side parking lot, narrowly missing a parked car. Paul’s look turned stoic. “Listen, I’ve got to go, but I’m really glad you’re okay. No more Minis. Tell your mom I’ll pop by tomorrow for that pie she promised me and tell her thanks for the cookies.”
Ella wanted to say something but Paul took off across the lot too fast for her to formulate a polite response. And what the heck was her mother doing making pies for Paul? With formalities over with, Ella went to get back into her mother’s truck, trying hard not to pay attention to Paul speaking with the frantic woman who had pulled into his lot.
The woman, who was obviously mad as hell didn’t seem to care that she was causing a scene at Paul’s workplace. Dressed in fashionable black high heeled boots with a matching black mini skirt, which meant hopefully she was freezing her ass off, she was drop dead gorgeous.
“Why he lets that woman do that to him pisses me off,” said a man to another worker walking past Ella.
“He’ll get Debbie settled down in five minutes. You watch,” said the second guy.
Then it hit Ella. That was Paul’s Debbie, who he married five years ago. That queasy feeling she’d had earlier returned two-fold. Getting into the truck, Ella started the engine and slowly backed up. She noticed Paul haul Debbie into his office and more than anything Ella knew she had to make sure she wasn’t around tomorrow when he dropped in for her mother’s pie. Seeing Paul again awoke those old loving memories, ones she’d thought long buried. She might be a lawyer now and didn’t like to think of herself as a coward but seeing Paul with another woman wasn’t something she could handle. She wasn’t saying the coward word, just more like chicken.
Chapter Four
Paul was furious. Seeing Debbie usually did that to him and the timing couldn’t be worse. He’d been so excited to see Ella pull up in her mother’s pick-up truck that he’d dashed out of his office without grabbing his suit jacket. She’d looked bruised and still a little shaken but otherwise she was still as beautiful as ever. He’d wanted to ask her how long she would be staying but hadn’t mustered his courage. Now, as he sat listening to his ex-wife’s tirade he wished once again she’d never entered his life. The divorce had been sort of settled a little over a year ago but in truth their marriage had been a sham from the get-go. Two years ago he’d been the one to move out after Debbie had done her best to make his life a living hell. Not more than six weeks went by without her talking with her lawyer asking for more of his hard-earned dough.
Today, he once again cursed himself for having allowed Debbie to sweep him off his feet with her pretend charm and even frostier heart. The only reason he even agreed to marry her was she pulled out the ‘I’m pregnant card’ and instant guilt had slammed into him. Two months into his marriage she said she’d miscarriage but Paul often wondered if she’d been pregnant in the first place. From day one the marriage had been stormy and Paul had suffered four years with her, spending more and more time at the office or the bar, enough to dread going home. The only out would be for him to pack his bags, which he’d done two years ago. Debbie didn’t like being dumped, not that she let on to anyone he’d been the one to end their marriage. Honestly, he didn’t care. Life was better when she was miles away.
“Debbie, seriously why are you here?” That had to be the fifth time he’d asked her but as usual she was attempting to wind him up for some long drawn saga of an affair.
“I’m pregnant,” she said.
Paul didn’t say a thing. All he thought was thank god it wasn’t his. “And?”
“And…is that all you’ve got to say to me, after all we’ve been through.”
“Darlin’ we’ve been over for years in case you haven’t noticed but you didn’t come here to drop this on me. What’s the real reason?” He kept his voice calm and measured when he really want to kick the bitch out the door. Paul might not have been raised great thanks to his deadbeat, drinking dad but Mrs. O’Connor had always shown him manners meant something and he’d always liked her attitude. Plus he’d always liked her daughter—Ella. Lost in his thought of the first time he’d seen Ella in kindergarten class, he picked up a file folder and moved it away from Debbie’s prying eyes. The last thing he wanted her to know were the plans he was attempting to set in motion to secure the othe
r two lots. Property that would certainly help line his pockets but if she had an inkling of his plans she’d make him pay big time.
“Paul, I don’t want this kid. I’d make a terrible mother.”
Paul wasn’t so certain of that but it wasn’t his problem. “Listen, this isn’t my problem but if you’re looking for some cash to get away to think about this I’ll give you some.”
She smiled, and it instantly softened her looks. “I’d need about three thousand.”
Paul stood up from the chair he’d been sitting in. “Get real, Debbie. I’m not handing you over three thousand. I’ll give you half that and expect you not to come back bothering me. And, you might want to inform the lucky guy about his impending fatherhood.”
“Maybe,” she answered.
Paul went to his safe and quickly counted out the bills. Debbie took them without saying a word. That is until she got to the door. “Who was that woman I saw you talking with?”
“What?”
“That woman who got in the old pick-up truck, who was she?”
“No one. Just a woman looking for a quote on a small boat. I told her we don’t have time for small jobs. Why?”
“Oh, nothing. Heard a rumor in town your old girlfriend was home for the holiday.”
Paul shrugged and carefully kept his face impassive. The last thing he wanted was Debbie to ever meet Ella. Debbie’s claws could be lethal and Ella wouldn’t stand a chance. “She usually stays with her mom when she visits.”
“Seems to me the last time she was here we were engaged.”
Paul sat back down in his chair. “Debbie, I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me here. Now that you’re settled and you’ve got what you came for, I really don’t have time to chat.”
“We could go in to that back room of yours just like old time’s sake,” she said, flashing him a sexy smile.
His stomach churned. God, at one time they’d practically had sex in every corner of the boatyard. He’d been a lucky bastard to escape her clutches. Paul looked up and sliced her a look. “Why don’t you do something right Debbie and call the father to be.”
This time she stormed out the door and Paul welcomed the sound of the door slamming hard behind her. He silently prayed the money he’d handed over to her would keep her away while Ella was in town.
The next morning, after spending a restless night thinking about Ella, he mustered his courage and drove over to her mother’s house. About ten inches of snow had fallen overnight but still her driveway was cleared. Paul bet that was Ella’s doing. She’d always liked getting up early and as much as he tried to be chivalrous and had offered to shovel her mother’s long driveway after their father had died, she’d politely but firmly refused. She might have spouted that she liked the exercise but he suspected it had more to do with pride than anything else.
Parking his truck at the side of the house, he got out and started to the back where Ella was sitting on a snow bank, obviously winded from her shoveling workout.
“Want some help?”
She squealed and sank further into the fluffy snowbank. “Why do you keep scaring me?”
Paul walked over and held out his hand to haul Ella up from her homemade seat of snow. “That wasn’t my intention. I didn’t even know you were there. Thought for sure you’d be inside warming up.”
Ella pulled the tight wool cap down a little lower on her exposed ears and Paul couldn’t help but notice how red her earlobes looked. She dusted off the snow pants she was wearing and adjusted her scarf. And that reminded Paul he hadn’t returned her scarf from the accident.
“Warming up will have to wait. I’ve got to shovel the path to the barn for Tara.”
Paul took the shovel from her. “I’ll do that. You go in and warm up. You look almost frozen,” he said, taking another step toward her.
She attempted to grab the shovel out of his hand and he quickly shuffled it behind his back. They’d done this same shovel dance a few times during their high school days and he couldn’t help but smile. Ella laughed and the sound travelled straight to his heart.
“Seriously, Paul I can shovel.”
“And so can I. Listen though, I’d love a cup of coffee and your mom promised me a pie. Give me twenty minutes and I’ll be inside. But,” he moved closer so that their warm puffy jackets were almost touching. “Please tell your mom no tea and please tell me you brought some coffee with you because honestly, as much as I’d hate to be impolite to your mother I can’t stomach that instant stuff she keeps.”
Ella laughed so hard she had to clutch her stomach, making Paul laugh. He wasn’t sure what was so funny but he damn well wanted to know so he could get her hazel eyes to light up like the color of fresh spring grass again.
“I hear you. I had to buy a coffee press and ground beans yesterday when I was picking up groceries. I almost died that first day when I had to use the instant coffee I found buried in her baking cupboard.”
“Oh my god, you didn’t,” he said, realizing his heart was beating extra hard. We’re flirting. The realization made his smile a little broader. Paul wasn’t expecting miracles but he’d take the stolen moments he could get with Ella, the one girl who he’d let walk out of his life and the only one to capture his heart completely.
“Oh yeah, I did. It was horrible. The first thing I did when I got into town was hit that new coffee house.”
“You mean Ground Beans,” answered Paul.
“Yeah, that was it. I remember a few years ago that place had been a rundown shack. They did a really great job with the renovations.”
“And the best part is that because they did it others are following. I heard there’s plans for a nice restaurant going in two doors down.”
“Really? Wow, something other than a pizzeria, please.”
“I’d agree with you. We’ve got about ten of those. One of the guys who works for me said his brother was planning a nice Greek family restaurant.”
“How many guys do you employ?”
“This time of year I’ve got sixty full-time and once spring hits that will double. So have we got a deal, Ella O’Connor?”
“Deal?”
“Yeah, my shoveling services for coffee and pie.”
“Oh yeah, we’ve got a deal. I know when I’ve been outmaneuvered. Plus my ears are killing me.”
Paul couldn’t help himself. He took a step forward and using his hand pulled her wool cap even lower over her ears. It brought her up and close to him and the smell of her strawberry shampoo hit him. “There. Now, get in that house and warm up. I’ll see you soon. I like my coffee black in case you’re wondering.”
“If I recall you used to like it with three sugars.”
This time Paul chuckled. “Some things had to change. At my age I don’t need those calories,” he said, moving down the path with the shovel to begin clearing a second lane from the house to the barn. Paul could have sworn he heard Ella mumbling something under her breath but he couldn’t make it out. With a smile firmly planted on his lips he started his task. The sweet reward of having pie and coffee with Ella was firmly planted in his mind and the sooner he got finished shoveling that tempting morsel was his.
Chapter Five
The water was about to boil but it took about another minute for Ella to get it off the stove. She was glued to the window. Watching Paul shovel snow shouldn’t be that fascinating but even the whine of the kettle wasn’t getting her attention like Paul’s backside. Five minutes into it, he’d shed his thick blue winter jacket to rest on the frame of his SUV. He wore a fisherman’s knitted sweater and dark blue jeans. And every time he bent over, Ella had a mighty fine view of his ass. Intense longing hit her and she found herself kicking herself. She should have toughed it out and finished the path to the barn. What the heck was she doing staring at Paul Carter like some love sick teenager? He was off limits. Too bad her heart and body liked it so much they were ignoring her rational, logical mind that said step away from temptation.
&nbs
p; “Oh, I’m so glad he stopped by,” said her mother.
“Stopped by? Yesterday you made him cookies and today you promised him a thank you pie. What did you expect?”
“My, someone got up on the wrong side of bed this morning.”
Okay Ella deserved that. She was snapping at her mother when she was really mad at herself. “Sorry, Mom. It’s just that…”
Cursing at herself, she was not going to admit her feelings for Paul had not been buried deep like the snow outside.
Her mother came closer to her and eyed what Ella had been watching. “Deep down, Paul’s the same boy you knew but I’d say he turned into one fine looking man.”
The high pitched whistle from the kettle save Ella from commenting. Tearing her eyes away from Paul was hard but confessing to her mother how much she’d longed for Paul over the years was not up for discussion.
In the kitchen, she slowly poured the water from the kettle into the new Bodum she’d purchased.
“Not like you to walk away from a challenge, Ella.”
Ella stifled a groan. “He’s not the same, Mom. For one he’s married.”
“No he’s not,” said Gwen calmly letting her knife slide into the now cooled pecan pie she’d obviously made for Paul. It had been his favorite pie since elementary days and Ella was fairly certain that hadn’t changed.
With a calm she didn’t feel, Ella took out two mugs. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, Ella I thought for sure your sister would have told you. He and Debbie split a couple years ago and I know from one of the ladies at the auxiliary that his divorce was finalized a year ago. You know, he moved out. Good thing too. She was a gold digger. Never really cared for him one whit if you asked me.”
What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 7) Page 162