And yet Luke looked so right sitting at her kitchen counter….
“It’ll work out,” he said.
Was he reading her mind?
“Whatever’s going on with you and Bailey,” he added, even though they both knew she was no longer talking about Bailey.
“It will,” she agreed. Like Mom had said, the situation would resolve itself. But what if it didn’t resolve in the way she hoped? She set aside her bowl of ice cream. It wasn’t helping.
* * *
“You must have had to go pick the strawberries,” Bernadette Goodman teased her son when he dropped off the items he’d bought for her at the store.
“Got sidetracked,” he said, hoping to leave it at that.
“We had ice cream with Miss Cecily,” Serena piped up.
“You did?” his mom said to Serena as she looked at him.
“Don’t get excited, Mom. It was no big deal.” He sure wished it could be the beginning of a big deal, though. There had to be some way he could get her to see that falling from friendship into love made for a nice, soft landing.
Serena wandered off to the spare room, which his mother had turned into a playroom for her, and Bernadette took advantage of her departure to launch into a motherly lecture. “Maybe not, but it opened the door. If you don’t get a little more aggressive, some other man is going to steal her away right from under your nose.”
He made a face. “She’s not mine to steal, Ma. And anyway, she’s with Todd Black.”
“Who’s that?” She might as well have said, “Who could possibly be more worthy than my son?”
“He owns The Man Cave.” And if you asked Luke, he sure wasn’t more worthy.
Bernadette frowned. “That place.”
Luke shrugged and started for the playroom. “I need to get Serena home.”
“No man ever got the woman he wanted by giving up,” Bernadette called after him.
“Thanks for the advice.” He wasn’t giving up—not really. Still, what did his mom expect him to do, grab Cecily by the hair and haul her back to his place? Damn, if only it were that easy.
* * *
On Monday Devon showed up at the tea shop to paint the outside trim and ended up getting drafted to help Bailey hang curtains.
“Oh, yes,” she said as they surveyed their work. “Those antique white curtain rods were a good choice. They look exactly as I’d imagined they would with the curtains.”
“They’re sure…lacy,” Devon said.
She giggled. “That’s the idea. Our clientele is going to be women.”
He nodded. “Yeah, chicks will love this place.”
“I hope so. I want it to do well. I want this to be a solid investment for your brother.” Although lately she’d been wondering if it would’ve been better if they’d never met. Then her sister would still be speaking to her. She’d still be working at the Icicle Creek Lodge, happily cooking breakfast for the guests. That would have been a good life.
Not as good as having a tea shop and making fancy treats and cute little tea cakes, though. But the situation had taken an ugly turn, and now it seemed as if every happy moment was salted with some unhappy thought.
“Hey, you worried?” Devon asked.
“What? No. Everything’s great.”
“It’s gonna be,” he said. “My brother’s smart when it comes to business.” He studied her a moment. “Not always so smart when it comes to…other things.”
She got the message loud and clear. Don’t count on him for love.
Well, she wasn’t going to. He wasn’t hers to count on, and she was going to lose these inappropriate feelings. She concentrated on a mental image of grabbing a fistful of little pink hearts with the initials B.S. + T.B. and dumping them in a giant chintz teapot. There. All gone.
If only it were that easy.
“Well, I’d better go outside and start on that trim before my brother gets here and chews my ass off for not working.”
“Hanging curtains is work, too,” Bailey assured him.
“No, that was fun,” he said, flashing her a killer smile.
She wished she could fall in love with Devon. A brother for each sister; that would solve everything. Why couldn’t love be simple? A couple of the little hearts tried to climb out of the teapot, and she pushed them back in. Now, stay there!
* * *
The chairs and tables for the tearoom were being delivered, and his brother had most of the trim done when Todd arrived at Tea Time. Bailey had decided on lavender, and it had been the right choice. It pulled everything together.
“Lookin’ good,” he said to Devon.
Devon grinned. “Hey, I do good work.”
“And fast.”
“Gotta get this done. I’ve got an interview with Dan Masters later this afternoon. Thanks for putting in a word for me.”
“No problem.” It had taken only a couple of minutes this morning, and Todd had been glad to do it. Maybe this town was what his brother needed to pull his life together.
He hoped one of them could.
He went inside just as the delivery guys were going out the door, leaving behind the furniture equivalent of a logjam. “Can’t you set the tables over there?” Bailey was pleading.
“Sorry, lady. Not in our job description,” said one of the men. He looked big enough to lift an entire table with one finger.
Jerk, Todd thought. “Hey, not to worry,” he told Bailey. “I’m here.”
The way her face lit up at the sight of him hit him like a shot of tequila. Was he developing a split personality, each one pursuing a different sister? Oh, man. He was in deep shit.
He began moving chairs. Anything to keep from dealing with this.
* * *
“Now it really looks like something in here,” Bailey said after she and Todd had set the last table by one of the front windows.
It did. With the tables and chairs in place and the curtains on the windows, the dream was coming to life.
“I can hardly wait until we have people in here,” she said.
He surveyed the room and nodded. “Come August, this place will be packed.”
“It’s like waiting to have a baby,” she said.
“I think starting a business is easier.”
“Me, too,” she agreed. “But you know what I mean. It’s exciting to start something new. After all the budgeting, the planning and the work, now we can see it coming together.”
“You’re a born entrepreneur,” he said, and the admiration in his voice warmed her heart.
Simmer down, she told herself. Concentrate on the business. “I am excited to be working on my own dreams instead of for someone else.”
She’d enjoyed planning her menu, poring over countless restaurant supply websites with Todd and choosing her cooking utensils and cutlery and glassware. It had been serious work but at the same time fun, with him cracking jokes and making her laugh.
There was nothing wrong with having fun. It proved you worked well together.
But that was all this was going to be. Work. She wasn’t going to steal Todd. Still, she couldn’t help remembering how good it had felt when he’d put his arm around her during their impromptu ice fight, and her thoughts did like to sneak off, wondering how it would feel to kiss him. Darn. Where was that giant teapot when you needed it?
He gave her an elbow nudge. “Hey, where are you?”
“Just thinking.” About you and me and what could have been but won’t. “About how great our tea shop is going to be.”
He nodded. “It’s the second biggest buzz in the world, starting a new business.”
“What’s the first biggest?”
“I’m a guy. Can’t you guess?”
Oh, yes, and
guessing sent a guilty flush to her face.
He grinned and shook his head. “You know, that’s one of the things I like about you. You’re such an innocent.”
“I’m not that innocent,” she protested, and that made him laugh.
But then the laughing stopped and the expression on his face changed to something more serious. She turned a little more in his direction; he moved a little closer to her. He looked at her lips and moved closer still.
Her mother had said things would work out, that she and Cecily would both end up with the man they were supposed to be with. Couldn’t he be the man she was meant to be with? It would be so easy to kiss Todd right now. Everything in her wanted to.
“Hey, I’m done with the trim,” Devon called, poking his head in the door. “Am I interrupting something?”
Face flaming, she took a step back, and Todd frowned and did the same.
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Uh, no.” To Bailey he said, “If you don’t need any more help here, I’d better get going. I need to pick up some stuff for the Cave.”
“I’m good,” she said. Boy, was she, considering what she could have just done.
* * *
“I’ve gotten in some messes with women,” Devon said, falling into step with Todd as he hurried down the walkway, “but you’re out-messing ’em all.”
As if he needed his brother to tell him that? “Did you say you have to be somewhere?”
Devon held up both hands. “Just sayin’.”
“I already know,” Todd growled.
“That Bailey’s pretty nice. If you’re not gonna be with her…”
Todd whipped around to face him. “No.”
Both his brother’s eyebrows went up. “So, that’s how it is.”
“I don’t know how it is,” Todd snapped.
Devon chuckled. “Man, have you got it bad, you poor slob. Glad I’m not you.” He picked up his empty paint bucket. “I’ll get this cleaned up.”
“Good idea,” Todd said grumpily. He had some cleaning up to do, too.
* * *
Cecily had barely gotten home from work when she heard the sound of a motorcycle pulling into her parking lot. Todd. He was back, coming to make up.
She was more than ready. They’d forget all those missteps they’d taken recently and move on from here.
She darted to the bathroom, did a five-second tooth brushing, applied lip gloss and then spritzed on perfume. She was still wearing her work clothes, a black skirt and cream-colored sleeveless blouse, coupled with a pink cardigan. Not very sexy. She shed the sweater and undid the top couple of buttons on the blouse. There, that was better. Anyway, it was all she had time for. He was knocking on the door.
As she went to answer it, she rethought her dinner menu. Okay, forget leftovers. She’d broil some chicken, serve it with wild rice and a Caesar salad. She could make brownies for dessert.
The tavern was closed on Mondays. They’d have all evening together. She smiled as she opened the door. “Perfect timing. I was just trying to decide what to make for dinner.”
He didn’t return her all is forgiven smile. Something she’d sensed for one dangerous moment when she first saw her sister with Todd poked its ugly head out from the cubbyhole in her mind where she’d stuffed it. She pushed it back.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“You’re right.” She led the way to the couch where he’d kissed her so passionately. “I need to apologize for my behavior this weekend.” He was about to speak but she hurried on, hoping that if she talked fast enough and long enough he wouldn’t say what she knew he was going to say. “I was being insecure and bitchy. That’s not me, really.”
“I understand that,” he said.
She motioned for him to sit on the couch and joined him, sitting close, as if her physical nearness would keep him emotionally tied to her.
“Cec, this isn’t about anything you’ve done.”
She pulled away. “It’s my sister.” Bitterness was bleeding into her voice, making her sound small and petty.
He let out his breath in a hiss. “Yeah, it is. But this isn’t working between us. You know that.”
No, she didn’t. “It was working fine,” she insisted.
He shook his head “It just looked like it. Hell, I wanted it to work. But there’s something happening with Bailey, something different from what was going on with us. She and I are alike in a lot of ways. I think…” He hesitated as if afraid to continue.
“Go on,” Cecily said. Don’t stop now. You’re on a roll.
“I think she could end up being my best friend.”
And she couldn’t? Cecily pressed her lips together and blinked back tears. Her throat was suddenly too tight for words to squeeze through. All she could do was nod. Rejected again. The third time’s the charm? Three strikes and you’re out?
“I hate like hell to hurt you.” He let out his breath. “But I’d hurt you more in the long run if I kept trying to make this work. I want to stop the direction we’re going in while there’s still time to come out of this as friends.”
Friends, but not best friends. Certainly not friends with benefits. She’d had her chance for benefits, and she hadn’t taken it. If she had, they’d be solidly together now. Wouldn’t they?
She looked out her living room window, not seeing the pine and fir trees or the silhouette of Sleeping Lady Mountain. Instead, she saw herself alone again, still searching for her perfect man.
“I’m sorry, Cec. I really am,” Todd said, and she heard something in his voice she’d rarely heard—sincerity. Then he kissed her on the cheek and walked out the door.
So, just as her mother had predicted, the situation had resolved itself.
They should have left Bailey in L.A.
* * *
Todd had really stepped in it, falling for one sister and hurting another.
How had this happened? He’d wanted Cecily; he was crazy about Cecily.
But he had the terrifying suspicion that he was falling in love with Bailey. There was a connection building there that he couldn’t deny and an attraction that he was finding increasingly impossible to resist.
Yeah, Cecily had turned his crank, and he enjoyed being with her, liked letting his sarcastic side run rampant. But it was different with Bailey. Somehow, with her, he found himself being so much more genuine.
Whoa, there was a revelation. But it was true. Bailey admired his business acumen, appreciated the fact that he wanted to succeed. She didn’t look down on his seedy little tavern. In fact, when she was there, she fit with the place, the people. Whenever Cecily had come in, she’d always given the subtle impression that she was slumming—underestimating Henry’s financial worth, thinking the place sad when there weren’t any people in it. Okay, it wasn’t Zelda’s, but it wasn’t supposed to be. It was a guy hangout, no frills, no fuss. Just beer and pool, a game or two of darts—a place for locals. For guys who couldn’t afford an addition to their houses but still wanted a man cave to retreat to. He supposed he could have explained that to her, and yet, even if he had, he wasn’t sure she would’ve understood.
She was pissed at him now, but he’d done her a favor. He’d done them both a favor. They weren’t a fit. He should have realized it months ago, and if he hadn’t been so busy trying to prove to himself that he could get her, he would have seen that.
He remembered something his old man had once said. Being with the wrong woman is like swallowing hot pepper sauce. It may taste good at first, but you’ll feel it later and it won’t be good coming out the other end.
He didn’t want that kind of misery for either of them.
And what if he’d been wrong about Bailey? What if he was misreading her? What if Cecily stayed pissed…at both of them? He had a sneaking susp
icion that, even though he’d stepped away from the hot sauce, there was still misery in his future.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Devon sat bolt upright in the futon bed where he’d been sleeping in his brother’s spare room. What time was it? He grabbed his cell phone and saw that he’d slept right through the clock alarm. This was his first day of work at Masters Construction, and he was due at seven. It was now ten to seven. Shit, shit, shit!
He threw off the covers and dressed in under a minute. He brushed his teeth in record time, too, and pulled on his boots. Meanwhile, his brother was sleeping the sleep of the dead. Man, it had to be nice to set your own schedule.
He could have set his own schedule, had some sweet business investments, if he’d managed his money instead of burning through it. Not that he’d made a lot as an AAA player, but he’d made enough that he could have saved something. What a dumb shit. And now here he was, with a chance to start over, and he was friggin’ late. Double dumb. He raced out the door. Pedal to the metal and maybe he’d be only five minutes late to the construction site.
He put the address in his GPS and roared off down the street. He could make it. He hit Icicle Creek Road, a nice open stretch, and really floored it. And that was when the patrol car hidden behind a Willkommen in Icicle Falls sign came after him like the Batmobile and put on the flashing red light.
He swore and pulled over. Oh, yeah, this was what he needed, another run-in with the local cops.
He watched his rearview mirror and saw the same lady cop who’d hauled his ass off to jail after his fight with Todd get out of the patrol car and approach his truck. Oh, great.
He lowered the window and laid his head back against the headrest, awaiting his doom.
Now she was at his window. “Do you know how fast you were going?”
“Sixty.”
“And are you aware, sir, that the speed limit on this road is fifty?”
“I am now,” he said. “And can you please not call me ‘sir’? It’s not like we haven’t met. Or maybe you forgot.”
“I remember,” she said, stone-faced. “License and registration, please.”
He got both and passed them to her. “Fine. Just write me the ticket. Then maybe you can give me a police escort to work and tell Dan Masters that I tried to get to the site on time.”
The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane Page 22