by Jeannie Moon
Spending time with her was definitely playing with fire. And Gavin had no desire to be burned again.
“Holy shit, Clark.” Gavin didn’t know who said it because Code and Colt burst into the upstairs room at the same time and slapped him on the back.
“Twenty-five grand?” Code said. “That girl must be doing all right for herself if she can drop twenty-five-large on your sorry ass.”
“Her fiancé dumped her last year. She sold the ring and used the money for the auction.” The minute he said it, Gavin regretted giving up Ally’s secret.
“Creative,” Colt added. “And a nice burn to the asshole. Cheers to the little lady.” He lifted his beer bottle in salute.
“Yeah. Cheers. She’s an event planner,” he volunteered. “Wants me to go to a destination wedding in a couple of weeks because the ex is going to be there.”
“Wow. I guess she wants her money’s worth,” Code chuckled.
“She won’t hold me to it. If I don’t want to go, won’t press the issue, and will let the donation stand.”
The guys went silent, meaning they were impressed, or they were trying to think of something funny to say. He hoped it was impressed, because they were rarely funny.
“What are you going to do?” The question, serious and not the least bit sarcastic, came from Colt.
“I’m thinking about it.” He didn’t know how he was going to tell Ally he couldn’t be alone with her for a long weekend.
“She is hot. She wasn’t that hot in high school,” Colt muttered.
Gavin really had to keep his temper from flaring because punching one of his best friends wouldn’t be a good way to end the night. But Colt wasn’t wrong. Her geeky charm had gone to high level gorgeous, and she didn’t even look like she was trying.
Coach D and his wife entered the room, misty eyed, stopping the conversation. “You boys made it happen. We are over our fifty-thousand-dollar goal. The hospital will get the helipad, possibly before next winter.”
Mrs. Downey hugged all of them, giving Gavin a pat on the cheek for good measure. “I had no idea that was Allison Beaumont until she wrote her check. I remember how sweet you two were with each other. She’s lovely, and so generous. I hope you have a wonderful time with her. Where are you going on your date?”
That was why he did this. He had the gratitude of one of the nicest women on Planet Earth, he’d helped his former coach, and hopefully the addition of the helipad would make sure no one would have to lose a child simply because of timing.
“A destination wedding in the mountains,” he said. “She doesn’t want to go dateless.”
“That will be fun! And very romantic.”
Romantic. Right. He was dead. “It will be nice to catch up, and I hear the ranch resort is pretty spectacular.”
The entire Downey clan joined them, including Troy’s mother, who knew Gavin from the night Troy died. She gave him a hug, and whispered her thanks, adding, “For everything.”
It was and emotional meeting, and it woke Gavin up to one thing. Any petty problem he had with Ally could be put aside. He’d help her out.
Once Coach and his wife left the room, Gavin took out his phone and opened a text.
It’s Gavin. I’m in.
The response didn’t take long to come back.
Really?
Yes, really. What an attitude she had. Let’s meet for lunch to discuss details.
Okay. Diner tomorrow? Around noon?
Sure. See you then. Right in the middle of town, where there was no hiding from the nosy bodies. The gossip would be flying.
Just what he always wanted.
He said yes. It could all go to hell, Ally knew that, but staring at her phone, she wondered what made him decide in her favor. She was standing at the bar, sipping celebratory champagne. Not only had the auction beaten the one the previous year, but the fundraising goal had been surpassed by thousands. Rowan raised her glass.
“To our glorious bidders. We wouldn’t be making improvements to the hospital without your generous donations.” Rowan gave her a big hug. “I never would have suspected you to throw down that kind of cash.”
Ally nodded. That’s because back in school, only a few people really knew her, Gavin being one of them. And thinking about it, even he was surprised. “I guess I’ve gotten bolder. But it was a good cause.”
Vivi sidled up to her at the bar. “So where are you going on your date? Tell us.”
Ally didn’t want to be pushed, especially not until she’d had a chance to talk to Gavin tomorrow. “We haven’t decided. I guess we’ll know soon enough.”
She wasn’t going to be railroaded, and she wasn’t about to gossip. Nope. If she knew anything about Marietta, it was that the walls had ears, and anything she said would get back to Gavin before she had a chance to feel him out.
Her heart was still pounding from their quick encounter. The man was potent, serious, and not about to take any shit. There was a reason he said yes to the date, and she figured it had very little to do with her.
If he wasn’t going to make it work, Ally was ready to tell him to forget it. She wanted a date, but she had no intention of being humiliated, nor did she want him miserable. This wedding was her firm’s crowning glory, and she wanted people to have fun.
Hopefully, Dr. Clark would be on board. If not, she’d manage on her own, just like always.
Chapter Four
Ally wandered into the kitchen of her family house and felt the warm fuzzies wash over her. Her parents, married thirty-five years, were holding hands at the breakfast table. They were chatting about something Dad was showing her mother on his tablet, and Mom was giggling and asking questions.
They were her example for a good marriage. It wasn’t perfect. They’d had their ups and downs, but they never gave up on each other. No matter what.
“Oh! Ally! You’re up. I made a breakfast pie, it’s keeping warm for you. Do you want coffee?” Her mother fussed. She loved to fuss.
“Mom. I can make a cup of coffee. Sit.”
Settling back in her chair, she knew the questions would come any second. They would give it some time, let air swirl around a bit before asking anything There was no doubt her parents had heard about her massive bid at the auction. But she had no idea if they knew anything else.
They weren’t talking. Ally pressed the button on the brewer and waited for her coffee.
Still nothing.
She doctored the contents of the mug with a little sugar and a heavy dollop of cream.
Still nothing.
It was driving her nuts.
“So how was the auction?”
Finally! Her father opened the conversation. They wouldn’t understand about the amount of money she dropped. Well, they might. Neither of them had liked Lars, so selling his ostentatious ring probably would have been fine with them. But the number was, as Gavin said, obscene.
“Anything unusual?” Mom pondered.
“Why are you asking when you already know?”
“Why do you think that?” Her father said innocently.
Something about being homemade Ally channel her inner teenager. She rolled her eyes. “Dad, this town is wired. Whether it’s pure gossip, or some kind of cosmic woo woo, everyone knows everything.”
Her parents exchanged one of those glances. She hated that.
Her mother grinned. “Your winning bid was something.”
Ally shuffled her feet, as she sipped her coffee. More inner teenager.
“It’s not a problem,” her dad added. “It’s just not really like you. It was very... forward.”
“Forward. Right.”
“Did you talk to Gavin?” Her mother always liked Gavin, and even though Ally had tried to keep her feelings about him between her and her two close friends, her mom always knew. Which meant her dad knew.
“Yes. He was annoyed. And he says he wasn’t, but I think he was embarrassed. I’m meeting him for lunch later to talk about the date.”
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“Why was he embarrassed? It was for a good cause. And he gets to spend time with you.” She loved how her dad jumped to her defense.
“I’m guessing because it was me. And history, you know.”
Not listening to a word that was said, her mother continued. “Do you have something in mind? For the date?” Mom was probably ready to suggest something. The woman was a fountain of ideas.
“I do. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
Her father rose from his chair and kissed her mother on the cheek. “I’ll bring home something for dinner.” He smiled at Ally. “Will you be joining us?”
“Sure thing, Dad.”
Rob Beaumont, her father, was a sweet man. Loyal. Hardworking. Devoted to his family. He taught science at the middle school, and was the boys’ hockey coach. Her mother, who had just retired from teaching, had taken a part time job in the children’s room at the library. Apparently, today was a late day because she was having after school story time; so since her dad’s season was over, he happily picked up the slack around the house.
They worked as a team. They always had. And as corny or nosy as her parents were, they loved each other and her fiercely.
“When are you seeing Gavin?” Mom asked.
“Lunch. At the diner.”
“Oh, perfect. Pop in at the library so I can debrief you.” Her mother winked, but it wasn’t funny and Mom’s face sobered. “You’re nervous, Miss Ally. Aren’t you?”
“Very. I put him in a bad spot. That wasn’t my intention. He’s angry.”
Mom rose and kissed her forehead. “He won’t stay angry. That’s not in Gavin’s nature.”
“He’s not the same guy he was back in high school. He’s harder.” Grabbing her coffee, she walked onto the screen porch, attempting to make sense of the man she met last night. The view from the back of the house was beautiful, and one of the things she enjoyed as much as possible when she came home.
Her parents’ house was on the outskirts of town. Not far out, like some of the ranches, but they had about ten acres of pasture and a barn where they kept a few horses and a couple of small goats.
Orange Cat, who’d just shown up one day and took up residence in the yard with Fuzzy, their big gray calico, was stalking something by the western wall of the stable. Ally worried it was some poor little field mouse that had gotten into the feed room. It could also have been Fuzzy on the other side of the wall, teasing his partner in crime.
Dad had turned out all three horses before he left for work, and she could see them grazing by the hill stream. What struck her was the quiet. There was nothing like the peacefulness of morning on a farm. Watching her favorite gelding dash around the paddock, she had in her mind to take a ride later on.
Ally hadn’t been on a horse since the last time she was home, over six months ago. She’d missed that, too. The time she spent grooming and riding were a natural mood elevator. Just being around the farm helped settled her mind. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered why she’d gone to live in a large city.
“Is he really that different?” Mom had joined her on the porch, taking up the position beside her.
Ally smiled. Her mother, who was a petite brunette, always called her taller daughter a Celtic warrior. The problem was Ally never felt like a warrior. Nah. She was much more wimp than warrior. Gavin made her even more unsure of herself. “He is different, something has affected him, changed him. But I still can see his compassion. He cares about people, you know? The way he hugged Mrs. D, and Coach. He really cares.”
Her mother hesitated, then sat in one of the wicker chairs they kept on the porch. “Did you know Gavin was the attending physician in the Emergency Room when Troy was brought in?”
“What? No. I didn’t.” Ally couldn’t imagine what Gavin had gone through. All the guys on the team loved that kid. Troy was like a little brother.
“He met the LifeFlight. Was there with Troy’s mother when the boy was declared dead. Gavin did everything he could. The whole trauma team did. But it wasn’t enough.”
Ally’s heart was breaking for Gavin. Knowing the kind of person he was, she could only imagine what he was going through. “My God. What a nightmare.”
“I just thought a little perspective would help you.”
Maybe not help, but she understood better, and that was a plus. It was possible that the wedding, and the time away, would be good for him. Ally considered that Gavin might need a little push, and she had every intention of giving it to him.
Gavin arrived at the diner right around noon, and as soon as he walked in the door and the different food aromas hit him, he realized how much he was craving a burger with crispy fries. Scanning the room, he saw the back of Ally’s curly red head in a booth at the far side of the restaurant.
He waved to Paige Joffe, the owner of the diner, and made his way to where Ally was sitting. She’d been on his mind since last night, including a dream that had them in a bed, hot, sweaty, and very naked. It was so real he could still feel her.
Not a great thing to have on his mind when he had to have lunch with the woman. If he was honest with himself, dread aside, he’d been looking forward to it. He was curious about the destination wedding she was planning, and put simply, he liked having her around again.
They’d had minimal contact after the auction, just a conversation, but for the first time in over a year, he felt a spark. Something snapped inside of him, and he thought about going on that date rather than holing up in his office with journals and medical texts on traumatic brain injuries.
As he got closer, he heard her voice; she was on the phone with someone, and there were binders and planners open all over the table. It looked like controlled chaos. Lapsing in and out of French, Ally was muttering something about the menu under her breath and he figured she was planning a wedding in France. Master of the obvious.
When she slammed the flat of her hand on the table and startled everyone in the place, Gavin realized this was crisis management, not chaos. “Gustav!” she shouted. “Écoute-moi! J’ai besoin de savoir si la pâtisserie peut faire un gâteau sans gluten.” She breathed out. “Non, non. Of course I’m not joking. I know a gluten-free cake from a famous French bakery is somewhat unusual.” She paused, and Gavin could hear Gustav yelling at her. He couldn’t discern the language, but it wasn’t pleasant. “No?... The answer is no... Okay. Okay, fine...Oui. I’ve got it. No.”
She pressed the screen on her phone, disconnecting her call, and tossed it on the table. “Dammit. I wish I knew how to say asshole in French.”
She was muttering to herself, and Gavin found her really appealing at that moment. Angry and exasperated, she was ridiculously attractive. He slid into the bench facing her and smiled.
“That sounded intense.”
“Hi. Yeah, it was. I’m so pissed—at the vendor and at the dopey bride and groom. You want to have an artisanal, organic, gluten-free, dairy-sensitive, fat-free, farm-raised pescatarian reception? Don’t pick the food capital of the world as your location, and then insist on one particular bakery, run by an elderly French couple who think flour and butter rule the world, to make your wedding cake.”
“I guess that wouldn’t be the best idea. Where were you going to have your wedding?”
The question obviously shocked her, but he had to know the answer if they were going to fool her friends at the wedding in two weeks. If he was going in as her boyfriend, he had to know everything about her. Even about her breakup.
“Oh, uh... that was out of the blue.”
Obviously painful, he found he wanted to punch the idiot who hurt her. Yeah, just like old times. “Yep. Give it up.”
She let out a long breath. “We’d planned a beautiful reception on Orcas Island, in the northwest corner of Washington. The location is one of the prettiest places I’ve ever seen.”
“And he just decided he didn’t want to be married?”
“I don’t know about that. He decided he didn’t w
ant to marry me.”
Ouch.
“He’d been cheating on me. I told you that.”
“He’s an idiot, then?”
Taking a sip of her coffee, she grinned. “I think I used more colorful language than that.”
“I’m sure you did.”
“Let me clean up this mess. I didn’t expect to get stuck on a call.” She started closing books and stuffing papers back into her briefcase. Based on what he saw, her business was complicated.
“Is it just you, or do you have employees?”
“I have two other event planners. One handles weddings and the other does different kinds of events, corporate gatherings, smaller intimate parties. I also have three administrative assistants and a lot of people who work on contract, so managing all that can get a little crazy.”
“And you still plan weddings?”
“The bigger or more expensive ones, yes. Which is why I end up with these ridiculous requests.”
“It’s impressive. Do you like your work?”
“I do.” She nodded, and he could see in her eyes she meant it. “It was hard after my own wedding was cancelled. It made a little sidebar in one of the newspapers since Lars is a very big deal on the social circuit.”
“What does he do?”
“Hedge fund manager. He makes the rich tech guys in Seattle even richer. The only reason he agreed to the smaller venue on Orcas was because it looked more exclusive. Otherwise the guest list would have topped three hundred.”
That did not sound like her kind of guy. Ally was all about feelings and sentimentality. This guy sounded like a pretentious ass. “How did he end up with Yoga Girl?”
“He’s gotten into the whole inner peace thing. I mean, I like to relax as much as anyone, but he said I threw off his aura or something. I’m too intense. I don’t know. Apparently Jasmina centers him.”
“Centers him?” The guy sounded like a complete nutcase. “Does he really practice the lifestyle or is this all for show?”
“What do you think?” she asked. Picking up a pen, she started flipping it between her fingers. “I deal with so much on my own. I’m not incompetent or helpless. I run a business that does very well, I bought my own place. I have investments. I have friends. But I don’t want to face this by myself.” She looked away, thinking, before looking him straight in the eyes. “I bid on you because I know you.”