A Place with Briar (Harlequin Superromance)

by Amber Leigh Williams

“Well, for one, you’ve got the twinkle. And the worried crease between your eyes has mysteriously disappeared. Two and two. So...how was it?”

  She hadn’t expected the outright question from anyone but Olivia. Yet as she eyed Roxie, she realized she’d been dying to brag. “Unbelievable. He’s unbelievable.”

  Roxie cupped her chin in her hand, expression smug. “Mmm, yeah. I sensed that.” As Briar lapsed into silence, Roxie considered her again. “You have every right to dance a jig right there on that stool, if you want to. I wouldn’t stop you for a minute. Hell, if Liv were here, she’d video it just to commemorate the occasion then post it on YouTube and proudly invite all her internet devotees to watch. I suspect those are legion.”

  Briar laughed despite herself. “She would...and they are.”

  Roxie lifted a brow and said, “You know, I think I might have something for you....”

  Briar watched as her friend rose to poke through some of the moving boxes crowded around the boutique. “What are you doing?”

  “On the sly, I design more than gowns. Recently, I started doing lingerie. The good stuff—negligees, baby dolls.... Victoria’s going to get a run for her secret once I start marketing it. Somewhere around here I’ve got one of the finished prototypes.”

  “Prototypes?” Briar blinked, hands gripping her teacup. “Are we still talking about lingerie?”

  “Indeed. Ah, there she is.” She lifted something slinky and held it up by the straps for Briar to observe. “Ta-da!”

  She gaped. “Oh. My word.”

  Roxie beamed. “Briar Browning, meet Carmela. What do you think of her?”

  “She’s...kind of wicked.”

  “Damn right she is. And she’ll look magnificent on you.”

  “Me?” Briar blanched. “You’re joking. I can’t take that.”

  “Yes, you can. Consider it a gift. I’ll wrap her up for you. Or you could try her on, see if she needs adjusting.”

  “You’re crazy.” Briar laughed.

  “No, hon.” Roxie thrust the garment into Briar’s hands and winked. “I’m helping you give that fine member of the male species you’ll be tangling with again soon a kick in the ass he won’t soon forget. You both can thank me later.”

  * * *

  “IT’S BEEN A long time, tumbleweed.”

  Cole grinned. He hadn’t thought it was possible after the morning’s events at Hanna’s, but hearing his older brother’s voice again did just that. “Tad. It’s been a long time.”

  “Too long,” Tad asserted. “Where’re you calling from, brother? The Keys? Costa Rica?”

  Glancing around, he tucked his phone between his ear and shoulder. Cole was sitting on a bench high up on a bluff overlooking the Fairhope Pier. He was alone, but for the rustling of the wind through the trees around him and the twitter of songbirds. Indeed, his surroundings did sound a lot like paradise. “No. But I’m not far from it.”

  “Did you call to brag?” Tad asked wryly.

  “No,” he said, leaning forward to brace his elbows on his knees. “I’m actually calling for a favor.”

  “Haven’t seen you in eight months and all you want is a favor. How ’bout you come over for dinner? That would make both me and Maddie happy.”

  “Maddie.” Guilt swamped him. Tad, a lawyer, had battled on Cole’s behalf in the courtroom, while his sister-in-law had taken care of him—since he hadn’t been in much shape to do so himself. She’d fed him, encouraged him. If it hadn’t been for Tad and his wife, he wasn’t sure what he would have done a year ago. “How is she?”

  “She misses you. We both do.”

  Cole closed his eyes as a tidal wave of grief hit him. “I miss you, too.”

  “So what’s this favor?”

  He cleared his throat. “It’s Tiffany.”

  Tad sighed. “Are you kidding me? What’s she done now? Murder? Grand larceny?”

  Cole snorted out a bitter laugh. “She’s making waves again, but it’s not your legal services I need. Do you remember her old man?”

  “Douglas? Sure. Who could forget a nasty old barnacle like him?”

  “Something she said...” Cole ran it through his mind. “I was wondering if you could do some digging for me. You still have that PI contact? The one you used to follow Tiffany around the time of the divorce?”

  “Yeah, Smithson. Saw him last week. What do you need?”

  “I want to know about some of Douglas’s real-estate interests, particularly in east Baldwin County. I know it’s been a long time, but I figure someone with as many substantial land holdings as Douglas Howard wouldn’t be too hard to look into, dead or alive.”

  “You’re right about that, especially considering what he lost when several people he’d taken land from sued him. It was pretty ugly. Apparently, he made one too many bad threats. Fraud and blackmail cost him almost everything. Any interests in particular you want Smithson to look into?”

  “Yeah, a little bed-and-breakfast on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay called Hanna’s Inn.”

  A pause wavered over the line. “Would that in any way be related to a woman named Hanna Browning?”

  Cole’s heart turned over. “She’s the founder, deceased. Her daughter owns it now. How do you know her by name?”

  “Because she’s the one who initially took him to court,” Tad said. “He tried blackmailing her. She didn’t stand for it. Hell of a lady. Hate to hear of her passing.”

  “It was a year ago, from what I understand,” Cole explained. “Cancer. What was it about Hanna’s that Douglas was willing to go to such criminal lengths to obtain?”

  “Location. He’d bought up several properties along the shore, and the Brownings’ was smack-dab in the middle. It was his greatest wish to level every building along that stretch of shore and build an impressive bayside resort—the A-lister kind. He had blueprints drawn up and everything.”

  “I’ll be damned,” Cole muttered. “All this for a resort?” He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it before. This was right up Tiffany’s alley. He could practically see her lounging poolside, her father’s monstrosity situated behind her where Hanna’s should have been.

  “Hanna Browning’s case against Douglas was the first in a long line of court battles that eventually led to his professional demise. Her winning was the battling cry for everyone else he’d bullied over the years.”

  “Never mind about Smithson, Tad,” Cole said, standing up to pace to the edge of the bluff and back. “You’ve given me all I need to nail Tiffany’s ass to the fan.”

  “What does all this have to do with you? How do you know anything about the Brownings?”

  “Ah...” He cleared his throat. Tread carefully here, Savitt. “I’m staying there. For the time being.”

  “Uh-huh. Did you say Hanna had a daughter?”

  “I don’t know. Did I?”

  “She’d be about eight years younger than you, right?”

  Tad was too smart. Cole combed a hand through his hair as his lips twitched. “It’s complicated.”

  “It always is. I take it Tiffany’s taking up Douglas’s mantle.”

  “Seems so.”

  “You want my advice?”

  “I know—I’m gonna need a good lawyer? I believe I already have one.”

  “That didn’t work too well for you the last time.”

  “You weren’t the reason we lost. And that was family law—you’re a real-estate lawyer and a damn good one.”

  “You only have to ask and I’m there for you, brother.”

  Cole sighed. When it came to Tad and Maddie, he’d never had to explain himself. They were the only ones who hadn’t believed Tiffany’s lies from the start. Their support had never wavered. It had been difficult leaving them behind in Huntsville.
But he’d known if he had any chance of starting over, it would have to be far from where he began. “Thanks, Tad. I mean it. I’m sorry I won’t make it for dinner today. Tell Maddie I love her.”

  “Will do. And Cole? Be careful.”

  * * *

  HOURS AFTER HE left the inn, Cole finally nailed down a meeting with Tiffany. She claimed to still be staying at the house on Ono Island. After he threatened to drive out to Orange Beach and drop in uninvited, she finally agreed to his terms. A public place, somewhere they could converse privately.

  The place was located outside of Fairhope. Probably wise, since she had a history in the small town and obviously didn’t want to be recognized.

  And Cole knew now just how dark that history was.

  It had been hours since the initial fury had set in, and he was still fuming over the break-in. Remembering how Briar had looked when she’d realized what had happened, he felt everything he’d felt that morning—the fury, bitterness and clarity—swamp him again.

  They would be playing by his rules from now on.

  Tiffany sat down, frowning at him behind designer shades. Today’s immaculate outfit was crafted from a pressed white silk suit. The pleat in the pants was razor-sharp. All businesswoman with a bit of an edge.

  The edge of a woman who was so desperate to get what she wanted, she was willing to go to criminal lengths.

  “I don’t appreciate being ordered around,” she said as she raised her hand to a waiter. “Glass of water,” she snapped when the young man approached. As he walked away, she turned her frown to the window beside their back booth. “It’s hot as hell outside.”

  “I thought that’d make you more comfortable,” Cole told her. “Being the devil that you are.”

  “Did you bring me here just to insult me? That’s not going to make me look too kindly on your charity case.”

  “You crossed the line,” he growled.

  She sniffed. “I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”

  “No, you know damn well what I’m talking about.” He trailed off when the young man set Tiffany’s ice water on the table. “We’re not ready to order just yet.”

  “Whenever you are, just let me know,” the waiter said. Sensing tension, he shot one cautious look between them before making a quick escape.

  Cole waited until the man was out of earshot before beginning again. “The break-in at Hanna’s last night. It’s got your fingerprints all over it.”

  “I’m sure the police will disagree. You, in fact, wouldn’t find my fingerprints anywhere near it. And I believe I have an alibi for the time in question.”

  “Fine, you got one of your boy toys to do the work for you. Maybe this guy Gavin tells me you’ve been seeing—what’s his name? Chad?”

  Her frown deepened. “He’s in Huntsville. Where he belongs.”

  “Oh, yeah? Well, when I came to say goodbye to Gavin the other day, who’s four-by-four was that next to yours in the driveway?”

  She pursed her lips. “You think this gives you the upper hand?”

  “I think it gives me enough right to tell you to go straight to hell. I’m done cooperating with this scheme of yours.”

  She leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest and looking a shade too smug. “Is that right? Well, well. Look who’s grown a pair.” She reached up to remove her sunglasses. “So you’ve decided that Gavin isn’t what you want anymore.”

  “No. The arrangement is simply changing,” Cole told her. “I’m out, Tiff.”

  She let out a scathing laugh. “If you’re out, Cole, then what are you still doing booked at Hanna’s Inn?”

  “That has nothing to do with it.”

  “Oh, I think that has everything to do with it. I know for a fact that you’re involved with Briar Browning. And knowing you, Cole—knowing how you lose all focus when there’s a bleeding-heart, innocent woman thrown into the mix—that’s why I took matters into my own hands with the break-in. So I’ll ask you one more time—are you ready to lose Gavin over her?”

  “I get visitation,” Cole said through clenched teeth.

  “Oh, really. Or what?”

  “I go to the police, tell them who exactly was the one to break in last night. Only I think I’ll leave your boy toy out of it and tell them it was you. I doubt seriously your alibi is that tight.”

  “And my motive would be...?”

  Here he had her. Leaning forward, he braced his hands on the table’s edge. “I did my digging. You want to finish what your old man started. An A-list resort on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay would be a lucrative venture.” As her expression froze in blank surprise, Cole grinned in satisfaction. Yes, he had her. “That sounds like motive enough for me. Just one question, though. Do you want it for profit alone or is it the thrill of the hunt, the kill? Because that would truly make you your father’s daughter.”

  She stared at him, formulating her response carefully behind her cool composure. “If you tell the police about my involvement, you realize that means revealing everything to your doe-eyed innkeeper?”

  His jaw tightened. “I’m prepared for that.”

  The motion of her mouth was as sharp as a blade as she found a smile once more. “I’ll make you a deal.”

  “I’m done taking your deals.”

  “If you refrain from telling the cops I’m involved, I’ll loosen your visitation restrictions.” When his face fell, her smile strengthened. “What do you say to that?”

  “You’ll just...let me see him? Regularly. After everything that’s happened. All the threats, all the lies. All the effort you took to make sure I never saw him again?”

  “Yes,” she said. “I’ll even have my lawyers draw up a new settlement and sign it myself.”

  He scowled. “Assuming that’s true...you’ll also agree to leave Briar Browning and Hanna’s Inn alone?”

  “No, I can’t promise that,” she told him. “You know that. But there will be no more break-ins. Now that I have the inn’s financials, I won’t need to.”

  He couldn’t take her word for it. He knew that all too well. But he had leverage now, and he knew that police involvement was the last thing she wanted or needed. She was offering him a trade, an even one. One he would be stupid to resist. He shook his head, looking down at the menu closed under his hands. “One more question.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You hated your old man,” he reminded her. “Why are you so determined to be like him?”

  “Not like him,” she snapped, eyes firing at the suggestion. “Better than him! I never wanted anything to do with my father. He tainted the Howard name. I’ll never forgive him for that. And I’ll never have closure until I rebuild it. One brick at a time, if that’s what it takes.”

  “Or, in your case, one resort at a time.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “Sure, if you will.”

  “If you’re so unlike him, why were you so determined to hurt me a year ago?”

  “That has nothing to do with this.”

  “Oh, yeah? How so? Tiff, it’s hard for me to distinguish you then and the you I’m facing now.”

  “You still don’t see it, do you, Cole?” She sighed. “I wanted Gavin. But with a name like Douglas Howard casting a pall over me, the only way I was going to win against you and your law-abiding brother was to ruin you.”

  Cole scrubbed his hands over his face in frustration. “But if you’d just come to me we could have worked something out. I would have done anything to keep Gavin from having to go through what he did when we battled it out in court. No, it was about more than just getting Gavin—you hated me.”

  The grin melted from Tiffany’s face slowly but surely. “You don’t get it—”

  “What could I have possibly done to make you hate me th
at much?” Cole demanded to know.

  “I hated who I was,” she snapped back. The rare show of temper cracked the exterior polish Tiffany had donned since her father’s fortune had passed to her. “I hated who I became after I married you. While you were out in the world solving crime and doing what you thought was worthwhile, all I did was wait for you to come home and act like everything was picture-perfect whenever the other wives in the neighborhood came over for tea. Do you know why I married you, Cole? It was to get away from Douglas Howard, the Howard name in general. I wanted to get as far out from under his shadow as I could.”

  He gaped at her. “Ten years. We were together ten years, Tiff. I thought we were happy.”

  “Yeah, well, you thought wrong. And why? Because you were happy. You were perfectly content. You worked long hours. Even when you were a beat cop on traffic duty, you were consumed by work, by other people’s problems. And when you came home, you didn’t take the time to look. If you would’ve looked, you would have seen that I was miserable.”

  “Gavin...”

  “I thought I could change. I thought I could be someone else so I had a baby. I thought he would change me, but you know what, Cole? I guess the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree after all. I still hated my life, and that’s when I started to hate you.”

  He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. All that time, he’d thought it was him she was discontent with, angry at. But she’d been angry at herself above everyone else. And she’d taken it out on him. “You couldn’t have just told me all this? You couldn’t have gone to therapy? You had to drag it out in court, ruin my life and a good part of our child’s so that you could gain some sense of self again?”

  She lifted a shoulder. “It was the only way I knew how.” Seeming to pull herself back together, Tiffany brushed a strand of perfectly straight blond hair behind her ear. With steady fingers, she unrolled her utensils from the linen napkin. “So what will it be, love? Does visitation sound like a good enough reward for keeping quiet, or do we need to go another round? I’m just dying to know.” She unfolded her menu and began to read it with cool eyes. “And where’s that waiter? I’m famished.”