Up to the Challenge (An Anchor Island Novel)

by Osburn, Terri

  No one liked to think about the mortality of their parents, including Lucas, so he pushed reality to the back of his mind. “Mom,” he said, sliding up beside her once his dad was out of earshot. “I’ve never seen Dad talk to you like that. Are you okay?”

  Patty sighed. “I’m fine. It’s a side effect of the heart attack and surgery. The doctor warned me he’d be a bear for a while. Feeling weak and vulnerable isn’t easy for any man, but especially not your father.”

  Lucas gave her a hug. “Everything is going to be okay,” he said, not sure if the words were for her benefit or his own.

  “Yes, it will.” Patty gave him an extra squeeze before pulling away. “He’s my life, you know. I’m not sure what I’d do without him.” Tears floated in her eyes and Lucas’s heart clenched. Just thinking about life without his dad made his mind revolt. There was still too much ahead—weddings and grandchildren and holiday gatherings—that Tom needed to be a part of.

  “That man will outlive us all,” he said. “In a few months he’ll be behind this bar barking orders and keeping the tourists in check.”

  “But maybe he shouldn’t be.” The words were spoken so softly, Lucas almost didn’t hear them. “I know he loves this place, but I can’t let it be the death of him.”

  Lucas slid a finger beneath her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “We won’t let that happen. Let’s just get him healthy for now and cross that bridge when it comes.”

  His mom gave his hand a squeeze. “You being here means the world to him. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

  “Make me your roast and potatoes with homemade slaw, and we’ll call it even.” Lucas dropped a kiss on his mom’s forehead. “Then I’ll whip up my latest specialty—chicken marsala. I found an amazing recipe, then gave it a kick to make it even better.”

  “I guess that’s one good thing about you being away from home. You have to feed yourself. Joe’s version of cooking is ordering a pizza.” Patty walked with Lucas to the door. “About Sid’s outfit? Is that for your benefit?”

  “Not going there, Mom.” He tried to shuffle her out.

  “You could do a lot worse,” she said, stopping just inside the door. “She’s rough around the edges, but you could use a woman like Sid. You’ve gotten too polished up there in the city.”

  “If you keep this up, I can be on the next ferry out.”

  “Fine. Fine. But that girl has had a thing for—” Just then, the front door flew open, cutting Patty off and sending her headfirst into Lucas’s chest.

  “What the …” Sid came around the door and spotted them. “Sorry, Mrs. D. I didn’t know you were there.”

  Lucas righted his mom. “I’ve got one parent down, let’s not take out the other, huh?”

  “I’m fine,” Patty said. “We shouldn’t have stopped so close to the door like that.” Patty lifted her hand to Lucas’s face, pulling him down to drop a kiss on his cheek. Then she tapped his chest and smiled. “You’ll figure it out. You’re a smart boy.” With that, she left the building.

  “What are you supposed to figure out?” Sid asked as the door closed behind Patty.

  “I have no idea.”

  By noon, Sid began to question the effectiveness of the plan. Lucas’s eyes remained on her face whenever he deigned to look her way, which wasn’t often, and she’d done so many laps around the dining room, her inner thighs were starting to chafe. Cutting the squats down to once a week might not have been the best idea.

  They hadn’t talked about the kiss on the beach, Sid’s blatant invitation to sex, or Lucas’s reluctant yet firm refusal. In fact, the man seemed to be using the same tactic she was, pretending nothing had happened.

  Fine. If he could blow it off, then so could she.

  What she couldn’t seem to blow off was Lot. For a seventeen-year-old, the boy had enough pickup lines to fill a How Not To Pick Up Women manual. Each less creative and original than the one before, they’d made her laugh at the start of the day. After a couple hours, she wanted to deck him.

  “I’ve got a fifteen minute break,” Lot whispered. “What do you say we sneak out back and you make a man out of me?” Did the boy stay up nights thinking of this shit?

  “If you keep it up, Lot, I’m going to make a girl out of you.”

  “So that’s a maybe?”

  Sid shook her head and walked away. Too bad school didn’t start for another month.

  “I’ve got three drafts, one diet, and an order of onion rings,” she said, sliding the drinks from her previous order onto her tray. “Add a cup of ranch dressing with the rings.”

  “Coming right up.” Lucas called her food order through the window to the kitchen, then moved three chilled glasses to the taps. “How did you think Dad looked this morning?”

  Loading the tray onto her shoulder, Sid answered, “Like he had a heart attack a week ago. What did you think he’d look like?”

  Lucas lifted one shoulder as a glass filled with beer. “I don’t know. I guess I hadn’t thought about it.”

  He looked worried so she said, “My dad had the same thing, only he never made it out of the hospital. Tom looks weak right now, but the fact he’s walking around shows he’s stronger than you think.”

  “Your dad died of a heart attack?” Lucas asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, the sudden turn of conversation bringing the threat of tears. “I’d better deliver these drinks.”

  When Sid returned for her next order, four large white bags sat on the stainless steel shelf, each marked with the letters AA. Manny.

  “There’s my girl. How you doin’, Sid?”

  She took a deep breath before turning around. “I’m good, Manny. How are things in Adventure Land?”

  Instead of answering, Manny did his best impression of a drowning fish. Georgette floated past him and said, “Breathe, Manny.”

  “Oye mamacita, que buena estás.” He followed that statement with, “I’ll take lunch duty for the rest of the summer if you keep dressing like that.”

  Before Sid could respond, Lucas stepped in front of her, cutting off her view of anything but his back and broad shoulders. “Can I help you?” he asked, sounding less than cordial. In fact, he sounded pissed.

  “I was talking to Sid,” she heard Manny say. “Who are you?”

  For half a second, Sid considered taking out one of Lucas’s knees for acting like a macho ass, but then she realized he was acting like a macho ass on her behalf. She was no expert, but his stance and tone indicated a bout of jealousy.

  “I’m Lucas Dempsey. Who are you?”

  “Oh, hey bro. Randy told me about you.” Sid leaned to her left to see Manny extend his hand. “Manuel Sullivan. I work for Sid’s brother.”

  Lucas took the offered hand, but his body remained tense, continuing to block Sid from the rest of the room. “You here to pick up the food?”

  “That and to see Sid.”

  Over the tough guy act, Sid stepped around Lucas. “I thought you two forgot I was here.” She threw a harassed look over her shoulder and stepped closer to Manny. Time to show Lucas she had other options. “You still need your oil changed? We could do it after work today.”

  “Can’t unless you’ve got a garage,” Manny said. “Hurricane Ingrid took a turn our way. They think she’ll turn back out, but the rain should be here this afternoon and probably won’t stop until the weekend.” Moving into her space, he added, “We could do something else instead.” His eyes dropped several inches below her chin, evoking a growl from Lucas.

  Turned out pretty boy had an alpha side after all. Though she should have learned that lesson on the beach. Now to keep the ruse going without encouraging Manny.

  “She can’t,” Lucas said, taking the next move out of her hands.

  Manny moved his gaze from Sid to Lucas. “That’s up to Sid.”

  “Sid is busy tonight.”

  “I am?”

  “You are.” Lucas shot her a look that clearly said Do not argue. She consi
dered it, then opted to quit while she was ahead.

  “Right.” Sid turned back to Manny. “Sorry, I forgot. Lucas and I have this …” she hesitated, “thing.”

  The three stood awkwardly for several seconds, Lucas trying to bore a hole through Manny’s chest with his eyes, Manny looking less than convinced about Sid’s explanation, and Sid not sure what to do next. Manny was a good guy. She didn’t want to hurt him.

  “Would you excuse us for a minute?” she said to Manny, then without giving him a chance to answer, turned to Lucas. “I need to see you in the kitchen.”

  “I’m good. Just bring him the food.”

  “Dempsey,” Sid barked, tiring of the macho act. “Kitchen. Now.”

  Once certain Lucas was following, Sid charged back to the office. “You want to catch me up here?”

  “On what?” Lucas asked, fumbling through the mail as if nothing weird had happened. As if he hadn’t just announced they had a date.

  “We have plans?”

  “Oh, that.” He dropped the mail back on the blotter. “I just said that to get rid of lover boy out there.”

  Instant dislike of the other guy. Good sign.

  “What if I didn’t want to get rid of him? And don’t call Manny that. He’s not so bad.”

  Lucas crossed his arms. “You seeing that kid?”

  “He’s not a kid.”

  “He looks barely old enough to shave.”

  “For your information, Manny is only four years younger than you are.”

  One brow shot up. “You haven’t answered my question. Is he your boyfriend?”

  No sense in lying. “No, he’s not. And you should know I’m not the kind of girl who would offer sex to you if I was seeing someone else. But what do you care anyway? If I remember correctly, you don’t want me.”

  His arms dropped and he moved closer. “I never said I didn’t want you.”

  “You said no.” A girl didn’t forget throwing herself at a man, only to watch him walk away.

  “That’s not the same thing.”

  So much for men being simple creatures. “What was all that growling out there?”

  “I didn’t like what he said to you.” The arms crossed again.

  “The part about doing something else tonight?” That had taken her by surprise. Manny had never come on that strong before. The damn outfit was working on everyone but its intended target.

  Lucas paced the four feet to the door and back. Running a hand through his hair, he said, “No. The part in Spanish.”

  “You speak Spanish?” she asked, mystified.

  “My first job out of law school was immigration work.”

  Sid had to admit, she was curious. “What did Manny say?”

  “You don’t know?” His eyes went wide.

  Sid shrugged. “It’s been fourteen years. Randy rarely speaks it and I’ve forgotten the little I knew as a kid. So tell me what he said.”

  Lucas mumbled, “He said you’re fine.”

  “I’m fine?” Sid tried to imagine how that could be offensive. “That’s it?”

  “It’s not what he said, it’s how he said it.” Another hand through the hair. “I need to get back out there. No one’s behind the bar.”

  “Wait a minute.” She stopped him with a hand on his arm. “What are we doing tonight?”

  “We’re not doing anything.”

  “Oh, yes we are. I told Manny we were doing something, and you’re not going to make a liar out of me.”

  “He’ll never know.”

  She tapped her chin. “Needs to be something we can do in the rain if the storm is moving in.”

  “Rain or shine, we don’t have plans.” He looked ready to throttle her, but Sid pushed forward.

  “Don’t even think about standing me up.”

  Lucas threw his hands in the air and looked up as if seeking divine intervention. “What did I do to deserve this woman?”

  “I don’t know,” Sid answered for whomever Lucas sought in the ceiling. “But it must have been damn good. Since you’re skittish, I better pick you up.”

  “You are not picking me up.” Lucas pushed up his sleeves.

  “You can drive then. Don’t get so hostile. I’m at the end of Tuttle’s Lane.” Sid moved past Lucas, then stopped at the door. “Be there at seven and don’t be late.”

  Sid headed for the dining room without giving Lucas the chance to refuse. From the office his voice boomed, “Fine. But you better be ready.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  All right. Tell me what the heck’s going on.” Beth stomped to the counter, curls bouncing and eyes snapping. Will had never seen her usually even-tempered friend this worked up.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be running the store?” Will asked, looking to the clock to see if she’d lost track of the afternoon.

  “Don’t start with the clock crap again. I’ve been off all day thanks to that little stunt you pulled.” Beth threw a stirrer at Will. “Why did you get rid of me this morning? And don’t tell me that’s not what happened.”

  Will knew when to come clean. She called out, “Brad, I’m going out to lower the umbrellas before the rain starts.” Stepping out from behind the counter, she said to Beth, “Come on. I’ll explain outside.”

  The air had turned cool with the impending hurricane. Will rubbed her arms, turning to face Beth. “Sid wanted to talk about something, but didn’t feel comfortable doing so with you around.”

  “Why? What did I do?”

  “You slept with Lucas.” Not the best approach, but Will didn’t like being the go-between in this. “Now Sid is trying to sleep with him, and she thinks talking about that with you would be weird.”

  Beth blinked. “I think I need to sit down.”

  Will pulled out a chair at the nearest table and motioned for Beth to do the same. “For the record, I told her she shouldn’t keep you out of this.”

  “Does Lucas know?” Beth asked.

  “That you slept with him? Um … I’d think so.”

  “Stop that. You know what I mean.”

  Will answered honestly. “I don’t know. I mean, I know she offered him sex and he turned her down.”

  “Whoa.” Beth held up a hand. “You’re going to have to start this from the beginning.”

  “Right.” Will conveyed the details she knew about Sid and Lucas’s kiss on the beach, and the subsequent sex offer and refusal. How any man could turn Sid down was a mystery to her, but Lucas seemed to have a valid reason. Which Will couldn’t fault the man for.

  “He does have a point about the casual thing,” Beth said, once the story was out. “Has Sid ever even been in a relationship?”

  “She’s not a virgin, based on what little she’s told me. But she’s not exactly the queen of girl talk, you know.” Not that Will wanted to have slumber parties and discuss menstrual cycles, but Sid was more likely to talk head gaskets and crank bait.

  “Did you know she reads romance novels?” Beth whispered, as if conveying national secrets.

  “No shit. Really?” Sid didn’t look to have a romantic bone in her body. Even when she talked about kissing Lucas, there was nothing sappy or swoony about it. “I had no idea.”

  “I don’t think anyone does,” Beth said. “In fact, she threatened that if I told the guys about it, she’d kill me. Only she phrased it in a more Sid-like way.”

  Sid did have a creative way with violent description. “Good thing I’m not one of the guys.”

  “That’s her problem. She’s been one of the guys for too long.” Beth leaned back in her chair. “I was amazed the first time I saw her. She was playing pool with a bunch of the islanders, and they were smacking her on the back and acting like there wasn’t a centerfold bending over the table. Men can be so clueless.”

  “Lucas doesn’t strike me as the clueless type, but he’s definitely playing the gentleman.” Will had noticed how Lucas’s eyes followed Sid around the room, so she knew there was interest. Even when he’d
been flirting with Will, his heart wasn’t in it.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on with him. He’s pragmatic and the most ambitious man I’ve ever met, but what Joe and I did to him left a mark.” Beth looked off in the distance. “I wouldn’t change how things are now, but I wish he hadn’t been the one to get hurt. Even with that, he’s the one who sent Joe to get me.”

  “You never told me that.” Will hadn’t been friends with Sid and Beth back when the whole fiancée exchange had happened. They’d met, as Will had been the one to serve them drinks the night the ladies got tanked on tequila, but their little threesome was more recent.

  “I was leaving for Boston. I didn’t want to work in law anymore and even if I had, I never could have stayed at the firm. Seeing Lucas would have been like seeing Joe and not being able to talk to him, or touch him.” She shrugged. “Anyway, Lucas called Joe and told him I was leaving. Said to get his ass up to Richmond or he’d lose me forever.”

  “Wow. That was big of him.”

  Beth laughed. “That’s Lucas. There’s a suppressed superhero behind those Dockers and button-up shirts. Fighting for justice and setting the world aright.”

  “So if he thinks having a fling with Sid, then leaving her a few weeks later would break her heart, he won’t do it.” Will hadn’t encountered many men of Lucas’s caliber. Shame there wasn’t a third brother for her.

  She nearly slapped that thought out of her head. Will would never drop her guard for a man again. No matter how decent he appeared to be.

  The women sat in silence for a long moment, then Beth asked, “What are we going to do?”

  “Hell if I know,” Will said. She’d been pondering the situation all day, but kept coming to the same conclusion. “She wants him and is determined she can love him and leave him with no problem. Who are we to say she can’t?”

  Beth caught Will’s eye. “Her friends. Don’t we owe it to her to protect her?”

  Will knew better than anyone how little your friends could protect you. “Sometimes you have to let friends figure things out on their own. I think this is one of those times.”