“You do it all the time. I’ve read your columns.”
“I’ve been writing for years. You couldn’t have read more than a handful of my columns.”
“I’ve read enough to see what you’re capable of.”
“All I do is hold up a mirror to people. I can’t help it if they don’t like what they see.”
“You just keep your fun-house mirror away from my folks.” With that, she took his hand, dropping it as soon as she was out of the car.
“You’re going to have to do better than that. You couldn’t convince a blind man that we’re in love.”
Bonnie stared up at him. “Really.”
Before Jaron had a clue what she intended, Bonnie placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him, quick and hard—and effectively—right in front of her parents’ store on Main Street.
“Let the gossip begin.” She laced her fingers through his and walked toward the door.
Now that it was all over, Jaron’s body reacted. Nope, no more. Settle down. Oh, great. Just the way he wanted to meet his pseudo future in-laws. He tugged on Bonnie’s hand, trying to slow her down, and she tugged back.
How could his body go off on its own like that? He did not like her. Sure, there had been a few instances of harmony, but they were completely overshadowed by situations like this.
Maureen had already gone inside, but Cokie was watching them. As they approached, she gave him an all-knowing smile that made his blood run cold.
At least he was ready to meet Bonnie’s parents now.
From the moment they entered through the old-fashioned door, Jaron knew the middle-aged couple had seen Bonnie kiss him, and were giving him a disapproving once-over.
Jaron gave them one of his haughtiest looks before he remembered that he was a computer geek from Syracuse, and tacked on a smile. He probably looked maniacal.
Bonnie’s mother came forward. “Bonnie, what happened to your face?”
Bonnie put her hand to her cheek. “I’m fine, Mom.”
“I told her to be careful climbing around those old buildings.”
“Cokie!” Bonnie’s mother looked stunned to see her sister.
Jaron automatically compared the two. It was country sister and city sister. Phyllis was younger, he guessed, but Cokie was more polished, so he couldn’t tell just how far apart in age they were.
“I’ve brought you a surprise,” Cokie crooned, and leaned to give her sister a social air kiss. Clearly having none of that, Phyllis gave her a good ole country hug.
Jaron looked down at Bonnie. She wore a smile that looked worse than his.
“Bonnie?” Her mother was staring at her. At them. At him. She raised her eyebrows questioningly.
Jaron felt Bonnie tense beside him, and slipped an arm around her waist. It had nothing to do with their act and everything to do with offering support. That he could dislike her and still have these emotions really irritated him.
“Mom...this is Jay. Jay, my parents, Phyllis and Philo Cooper.”
Jaron shook hands with both of them, keeping his grip firm and making strong eye contact with her father. Fathers didn’t like turning their daughters over to wimps.
Jaron was conscious of Maureen watching them closely. She was probably going to report straight back to Quigg on how well they did.
“Bonnie? Don’t you have something else to say?”
Cokie deserved a poke in the ribs for that.
“Mom, Dad...Jay and I...” She trailed off with a look at him.
Anyone else might have thought it was a loving look, but Jaron knew panic when he saw it. She couldn’t choke out the lie to her parents.
Fine. He’d be the bad guy. He tightened his arm around her waist, dropped a kiss on her temple and took over. “Bonnie has done me the very great honor of agreeing to become my wife.”
There was dead silence, then a gasp. “You’re getting married?”
Bonnie managed to nod at her mother.
“Philo—Bonnie’s getting married!”
“I heard.” Philo came out from behind the counter where he’d been standing. He was a stocky man with salt-and-pepper hair and dark eyes that were fixed on Jaron.
“But...when...?” Phyllis looked from her daughter to Jaron. “This is so...unexpected.”
He maintained a smile he hoped was both reassuring and loving.
“Isn’t it romantic?” Cokie ushered Jaron and Bonnie farther into the shop. “Jay’s mother and I are old friends and we’d always hoped...well, we’re thrilled. I just had to come and watch your faces when Bonnie told you.”
“Yes, who are you and why haven’t I ever heard of you?” Philo asked, giving Jaron an assessing look.
“Philo, they met in New York, of course,” Cokie informed him. “You don’t think I keep Bonnie cooped up all the time when she visits, do you? And Nora is such a good friend. Bonnie’s known her longer than Jay, haven’t you, Bonnie?”
“I’ve been to her apartment a couple of times.”
Jaron realized she was probably telling the truth. She’d met his mother—and his mother had still set them up together. Talk about wishful thinking.
“And any number of luncheons and parties,” Cokie embellished. “Jay was usually there, too.”
“So you live in New York?” Philo approached them, and to Jaron’s total shock, this time it was Bonnie who gave him a reassuring squeeze.
“Syracuse.” Jaron prayed that Philo didn’t know Syracuse.
“Bonnie’s never mentioned you,” Philo said. “If you live in Syracuse, then what are you doing hanging around your mother?”
“I have clients in New York. And why wouldn’t I visit my mother when I’m in the city?”
“Jay is being a good son,” Cokie said. “And you can gauge how a man will treat his wife by the way he treats his mother.”
Jaron wasn’t sure he agreed, but Philo shrugged in acceptance. “What line of work are you in?”
His palms were actually moist. Go figure. “I’m a writer.” It popped out and he felt Bonnie tense.
“He writes software for computers,” she said.
Nice save.
“So you’re one of those guys who’ve made it impossible for me to work my computer?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Dang upgrades,” Philo grumbled.
“You know how that goes. Have to stay ahead of the competition.” Jaron tried a chuckle that fell flat.
“Pays pretty good, does it?”
“Pretty good,” Jaron said.
“You’re not one of those dotcommers, are ya?”
“No, Dad, he has a very steady job and he works very long hours.”
Bonnie smiled up at Jaron, and for a second he forgot that this was only make-believe.
“Which is why he’s staying in Cooper’s Corner for a while. He needs a break.”
“I’ve got a ton of vacation saved up,” Jaron added.
“How much?” Philo asked.
“Weeks.”
“Hmm. He’s unemployed, Phyllis.”
“No, Dad!” Bonnie protested.
Cokie sniffed. “As though I would permit such an entanglement.”
“If the man’s not unemployed now, he will be when his company discovers they can do without him—and what company was that?”
“Dynameg Computers,” Jaron said.
“Syracuse Software,” Bonnie said at the same time.
“Dynameg Computers and Software in Syracuse,” Jaron clarified, rather adroitly, he thought.
How could they have forgotten to name the company where Jay worked? He’d have to tell Quigg so he could set up an answering machine somewhere.
“Never heard of them,” Philo said.
“Philo.” Phyllis had been carrying on a murmured conversation with Cokie.
“We don’t advertise. Word of mouth within the industry gives us all the business we need.” Jaron was getting good at this.
“Philo?” Maureen stood at the counter in the hardware section of the store. “If you’ll ring up my order, I can take it with me now.”
“Okay, Maureen.” With a last suspicious glance at Jaron, he went to the register behind the counter.
Maureen could have jumped in a little earlier, but Jaron was glad he didn’t have to come up with any more on-the-fly answers. He hoped somebody was taking notes, because he doubted he would remember everything.
Before Bonnie’s mother could start grilling them, the bell over the door rang and a round, black-haired woman came in. “Hello, everybody.” She eyed them all, then trained her gaze on Jaron.
Once again, he pasted on his I’m-a-good-guy-computer-geek smile.
“Hi, Lori,” Bonnie’s mother said. “You remember my sister, Cokie?”
“Yes, from New York. Phyllis didn’t say you were coming for a visit.” Lori’s gaze darted between Jaron and Cokie.
“I decided to surprise her. I’ll be returning on the evening train.”
“What can we do for you today?” Phyllis asked.
Lori pretty much ignored her and walked over to where Bonnie and Jaron stood with their arms linked around each other’s waist.
“Welcome home, Bonnie. I saw you drive up.”
Which meant she’d seen the wet one Bonnie had plastered on him.
“Who’s your friend?”
“Lori, this is Jar-y Drake.” Then she added firmly, “Jay, this is Lori Tubb.”
“Of Tubb’s Café?” Jaron asked.
The woman looked pleased. Her smile added at least two chins to the collection she already had. “The very same. You’ve heard of us?”
“Yes.” He didn’t imagine the subtle, yet definite pinch from Bonnie.
“Well, how about that? So what brings you to Cooper’s Corner, Jerry?”
“It’s Jay.”
“You prefer to go by Jay?”
“I’m not a Jerry.”
“But I heard—”
“Mrs. Tubb, I was just nervous.” Bonnie gave a very convincing nervous laugh. “You see, I’ve just told my folks that Jay and I are engaged.”
Jaron swore Lori Tubb’s eyes grew twice their size. “Well, aren’t you the sly one!”
“Yes, sly. That’s me.” Bonnie giggled weakly.
“And when were you planning to tell Norman Ackers?”
“Who?” Bonnie asked.
“Ed Taylor’s second cousin’s boy. You agreed to go out with him if he comes for Thanksgiving.”
“Um...I guess I’ll tell him before Thanksgiving.”
Jaron flashed a smile—one of his practiced Jaron smiles. Jay just wasn’t up to it. “You’ll have to forgive me—I swept Bonnie off her feet.”
Lori looked him up and down. “Yeah, you look like you’ve got a pretty good broom.”
“Lori,” Phyllis said firmly. “What was it you came in for?”
“What? Oh. Uh, yeast. We’re all out of yeast. Can’t make the dinner rolls without yeast, so I thought I’d run right over here—”
“A jar? Or will a couple of packets do for now?”
Phyllis sounded perfectly pleasant, but Lori looked at her and something passed between the two women. “A jar.”
“I don’t have the restaurant size in stock. You do remember that I have to special order it for you?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Then should I place an order?” Phyllis asked sweetly.
Obviously reluctant, Lori Tubb hesitated, then gave a quick nod. Bonnie’s mother headed for the grocery counter.
“So when’s the wedding?” Lori asked.
Now, this one they’d rehearsed. Bonnie laughed. “Oh, not for a while. Now that we’ve found each other, there’s no need to rush.”
Mrs. Tubb’s speculative gaze dropped to Bonnie’s waist. Bonnie was wearing slacks and a bulky sweater, which Jaron tried to pull tighter. All he accomplished was to draw Bonnie closer to him, which wasn’t such a bad thing.
“Hmm,” Mrs. Tubb murmured.
Cokie worked her way between Jaron and Mrs. Tubb. “I am just so glad that these two finally decided they were meant for each other! Jay’s mother and I have known they were perfect for each other for years, but you know how young people can be. Do you have children?”
“Five.”
“Then you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Cokie was a master. Jaron was sorry she wasn’t staying to run interference with the other villagers.
He thought he’d pretty much pegged Mrs. Tubb. She was the Coopers’ competitor for gossip, and Bonnie getting engaged was the prime bit of the season. He was going to have to watch himself around the woman, but if he avoided her she would get suspicious. After all, she owned the only eatery in town.
Great. It looked like he would dine at Tubb’s Café, after all.
Bonnie’s mother returned. “Here’s your yeast, Lori. A small jar to tide you over until your order arrives.”
“Thanks, just put it on my tab.”
“Oh, I did.”
The two women gave each other smiles worthy of the shark-infested waters of the New York social scene.
After Lori left, Phyllis gave Bonnie a high five.
Bonnie laughed. “Way to go, Mom.”
“That’s right. If she wants gossip, she’s going to have to pay for it like anyone else.”
“Mrs. Tubb has been ordering her supplies off the Internet,” Bonnie explained.
“Found she can get them cheaper, so Philo and I have been driving into New Ashford for dinner. It’s nice to have a change.”
“Hey, Jay, how about a little free labor?” Philo called.
What now?
Maureen walked past them, carrying a large box. “I’m loading my car. There’s more in the storeroom.”
Everyone except Cokie, who wasn’t dressed for lifting dusty boxes, carried supplies out to Maureen’s car and quickly filled it.
“I guess I’ll come back for the rest of it,” she said.
“Just put the rest in the back of my truck and I’ll drive up to the B and B,” Bonnie offered.
And so, after saying goodbye to Cokie and Bonnie’s parents, Jaron found himself traveling not in the black Lincoln Town Car to which he was accustomed, but a white pickup truck with Cooper’s Plumbing and a phone number on the side.
It was a stick shift, and Bonnie handled the gears as though it was second nature, which it probably was. “Smile and wave when we go by the café.”
They both smiled and waved. “There. You are now officially established with a rock-solid cover story.”
“Not quite yet. Stop in front of the café.”
“Why?” Bonnie asked, but she stopped.
“Payback.” Jaron leaned over and kissed her, right in front of the café’s plate-glass window. The gearshift was in the way, but he still managed to make the kiss look good.
“There. Now I have a rock-solid cover story.”
CHAPTER NINE
SHE WAS THE SCUM of the earth. Not only had she lied to her parents, but some rebellious, foolish, defiant part of her wished the lie were true. Wished that it had been for real when she’d seen the surprise and cautious joy on her mother’s face and watched her father grudgingly bestow his approval.
Wished that Jaron...no, not Jaron. He just happened to be there filling the role of fiancé. She’d probably feel that way about anybody. Anybody. Definitely not Jaron. Even if he looked very much a part of her world in his country casual
clothes, he was not her type. Not...her...type.
Her type was friendly and comfortable and easy to be with. There would be a mutual, deepening attraction, not this inexplicable zero-to-sixty-in-two-seconds sensation she kept getting blindsided with. That was just plain nuts. There was no reason for it.
She could never relax around Jaron. With them, it was a constant struggle to see who’d gain the upper hand. Sometimes she had it, and sometimes he did.
Right now, he did.
The timing couldn’t be worse, because nearly everyone in Cooper’s Corner was packed into the Twin Oaks gathering room.
The kiss in front of Tubb’s window had done it. With both her mother and Lori Tubb burning up the phone lines, word had spread faster than mental telepathy. The result was that Friday afternoon tea at Twin Oaks was the hottest ticket in town. Everyone had come to see the newly engaged Bonnie and her fiancé for themselves.
Correctly predicting something of the sort, Maureen had been prepared for her daily afternoon tea to turn into an impromptu engagement party, and Clint had made extra batches of cookies.
The weather was sunny and mild, with the warmth of Indian summer, which was good, because Maureen and Clint had to serve the overflow on the back deck. And then the people just picked up their cookies and tea and brought them back inside, their voices nearly drowning out the soothing piano music. Bonnie could have used some soothing.
She and Jaron held court by the great stone hearth in the gathering room. She’d changed into a dress. Why, she didn’t know. It felt more bridal, she guessed. Jaron was dressed much the same as the other men, but somehow, he’d elevated the plaid shirt and khakis to high fashion. The crease on his pants was particularly sharp. If she didn’t know better, she’d have guessed he’d been hitting the starch and iron. And maybe he had, but Bonnie didn’t know any men who ironed. She barely ironed herself. In fact, did she own an iron? Or had she just borrowed her mother’s and never given it back?
“Bonnie!” A short, dark-eyed woman took both her hands and kissed her on the cheek. “I heard. I’m so happy for you!”
Why hadn’t her smile cracked yet? “Aunt Gina, this is Jay.”
“The teacher?” Jaron shook her hand.
Gina looked delighted. “Bonnie’s told you about me?”
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