by Lane, Payton
“We broke up.”
Lynne crouched on the dirt, faced him. His jaw line was tight, and he didn’t quite meet her gaze.
“I'm sorry,” she said.
“Don't be.” He shrugged, kneeling beside her. “She decided it was best for her career.”
She'd been so caught up in her own drama to have asked Jeremy about the details. She bumped him with her shoulder. “Did she say that in no uncertain terms?”
“Might as well,” he said, dejected.
Lynne thought of her own life and pursed her lips. “Women say the damndest things.”
Clearly, she was speaking for herself and what she'd said with Nate the last time they had sex. Nate had wanted to brand her, to brand both of them, because he had cried her name too. He'd done it without her asking, as if he needed to make them even again.
No. Lynne revised the thought. As if he wanted to say it but couldn't until she'd said his name first. After they'd been able to catch their breath, she had fixed herself up and left.
Despite their best efforts, they couldn't ignore the shift in their relationship. The knowledge of that shift had been in the air that afternoon when they stood outside their stores waiting for Suzie. The emotions they refused to put a name to still hung around when they made excuses to not see each other that night.
So, low spirits all around.
Likely because of those low spirits, Jeremy didn't comment again when Lynne whistled. She waited a beat and nothing.
“I don't love him,” she said in her defense. “I feel guilty for what I'm going to do. There's no question. I'm keeping Hart and Style. You know, he made the first move on the proverbial chessboard. He's a businessman. He should be able to withstand the consequences.”
They hadn't made any promises, Lynne reminded herself, hoping this time she might believe the words. Didn't matter he'd told her the real reason he wanted the store, or that they had broken the keep-it-impersonal rule when they had had sex.
Those changes only brought along guilt. The kind that kept her up at night and occasionally shot pangs in her heart. Hence her being out at midnight with a bag full of roast beef, looking for a dog. She readjusted the leash draped around her neck.
Jeremy pushed aside a push and then settled back on his haunches. “Let me get this straight...” Jeremy began and she had to brace herself. “You tell yourself lies and then you feel better about the situation?”
She glared at him. “Get out of my head. If you don't, I swear I'm going to interrogate you about Sylvia. I might even step in to see what I can do to fix it.”
“You disappeared for a while today. Where'd you go?”
She whistled again, ignoring Jeremy's question. Anyone with a brain would know what she had done on her late lunch break. When she returned, her cheeks had been flushed, her hair a tangled mess, her dress wrinkled as though it had been bunched in someone's fist. She and Nate—not exactly subtle.
But that wasn't important. Jeremy's problem was.
And it's easier to fix.
Lynne said, “I'm going to guess Nate is the reason why she broke things off with you.”
“I'm not asking to be nosy,” Jeremy evaded the observation, “but I have a hundred dollar bet going you guys did the deed.”
“We're playing ‘Ignore the Obvious’ tonight?” She paused, really hearing what he'd said, then turned around to Jeremy. “I'll tell you when, but you're going to have to give me something.”
“Something?”
Her voice when sharp. “I'm teaching you a lesson to not bet on other people's lives.”
Jeremy blushed. “I had my money on you guys...” He waggled his brows. “...two days after at the date.”
She counted the days in her head. “What were the odds?”
He told her.
“That would give you two grand,” Lynne said. “You owe me a thousand.”
He choked on a gasp behind her before saying, “You were holding out on me.”
She smirked. “Well, everyone needs a few secrets to keep their lives...lively.”
Lynne whistled again. For a moment only silence and then a rustle of leaves ahead. Placing a finger over her lips, Lynne squinted and saw skinny legs shaking behind a bush. She slowly pulled out a slice of roast beef. It was her mother's. The dog would succumb; there was no doubt of that.
She held it in her hand and barely breathed. Suzie suddenly came out of her hiding spot. The dog inched closer, and Lynne leaned forward. The dog didn't have a collar with tags claiming her. She moved her hand, fingers inching to the bag full of roast beef, and laid another piece in front of Suzie. It must have been her imagination, but the dog seemed to sigh when she came forward. Her small jaws clamped over the slice of meat.
Lynne reached forward, but the dog didn't bolt. Suzie let Lynne grasp the skin on her neck and lift her. Cradling the dog to her chest, Lynne stood. Suzie happily ignored her and kept eating.
“She can eat,” Jeremy said.
“No telling how many home-cooked meals she's gotten.”
Suzie didn't try to jump out of her arms. Maybe she had given up the fight, had finally found home. Lynne placed a collar and leash over the dog’s head. Given the dog was making nom-nom sounds in her throat, Suzie probably didn't know she was giving up the good fight while eating her weight in food. Lynne frowned at the dog and fed her another slice.
Jeremy mused, “You have the magic touch. You didn't need me.”
She scratched the dog's neck and the small jaws kept working at the meat. “Maybe the dog needed to find the right people to trust.”
“Whatever. I can get out of these black clothes now. People might think I was trying to do a B and E.”
“Lame.” Not able to force a smile to her lips, Lynne took her time walking to Main Street, still unsure if the dog would be willing to go into such a public area.
Suzie finished the last piece of beef and then snuggled into the crook of Lynne's arm. By the time they reached the front of Nate's shop, the dog had fallen into a deep sleep.
With one hand she knotted the end of the long leash on the Craine Fashion's glass door handle. She frowned at the overhang then talked Jeremy out of his shirt, knowing he had at least a tank top underneath, to make a makeshift nest. The shirt and overhang would be enough to shelter the dog for the few hours she would be outside. Lynne crossed her arms, not sure why she was leaving the dog, not even sure why she cared.
Jeremy, in all his wisdom, said, “I think we need booze after this,” he said.
She agreed. “Don't tell anyone what we've done.”
“I'm not about to admit I've caught a dog for another man. Your secret's safe with me.”
“He'll need the dog,” she murmured.
“I'm telling you, you're in love.”
“I'm strange, mixed with insane. Didn't I mention guilt earlier? I'm going to kick his all-business ass right out of town. I thought I walked away from that part of me a long time ago.”
“You have an eye for fashion. You have a sharper eye for what the women in this town want. You've been calling it something else, but it's a talent that’s steeped in a business mindset.”
“I hate you so much right now.” She looped her arm through his.
“You've been lying to yourself. Everyone does it to cope. Now if you can just admit how much you love him and that’s what you're feeling, not guilt, all will be wonderful in the land of Oz.”
“If you could just admit you don't want to fight for Sylvia, you would stop psychoanalyzing me and all will be fine in Oz.”
“We definitely need to go to the bar and get shitfaced.”
“You're right indeed, my friend.”
They walked a few steps from the slumbering dog.
“Jeremy, can you give me a moment?”
He examined her face in the dark and then nodded. Lynne pulled her cell phone out of her bra and dialed the number. It was answered even at this late time of night.
“I need a favor,” she
said.
“Anything.”
The word she expected the man to say, because she rarely asked him for anything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Sylvia brought her knees up to her chin on the rental bed and dialed the number. The walls had movie posters plastered on them. When Harry Met Sally. The Philadelphia Story. 50 First Dates. Roxanne. Last but not least, Gone With The Wind. The last one cost her a pretty penny, but it allowed her to feel at home. The curtains were some sappy, pastel floral. Despite it all, the one bedroom rented apartment felt empty.
The person she called finally picked up. “Good morning, Ms. Sylvia.” Nate's mother answered cheerfully.
“I see you are still in love with caller I.D.”
“Best invention since fuzzy socks. You know those church ladies love to gossip. Some days I'm not in the mood. They can go on and on. Can't tell them to shut up and mind their own business. At their age, they don't have any. Plus, if I'm ornery I might miss something good.”
Sylvia smiled, and the ache in her chest dimmed, pushing back how she felt living in the rental again. A single room. A single bed. Alone. She pulled the comforter up to her chin. “As usual, I'm calling to give you my update on Nathan.”
“The boy won't tell me a thing. I appreciate it. What's his latest venture? He's quite closed mouth about it.”
Sylvia frowned. “He is? I thought he would have given you the basic details.”
“Nope. Keeping it close like a government secret.”
“He told me today it's our last job, so that may be why. Doesn't want to jinx it.”
“He's told you it's the last job?”
“Yes, and promised after this I won't have to work another day in my life. He plans to sell the stores. Really, to sell the name he's made for himself.”
Nate's mother harrumphed. “I keep telling him it's not necessary. He thinks when he's rolling in money he can finally convince me to move. My husband’s death didn't scare me out of this neighborhood. Nothing is going to convince me to move out of the home I made.”
Her heart ached. A home. “You know he's stubborn.”
“As a mule. Makes me proud he has a strong head on his shoulders.”
She managed to smile. “And frustrated because he never seems to listen.”
The other woman went silent. “You don't sound too excited for a woman who never has to work again in her life.”
Jeremy’s face, voice, hell, everything about him saturated the room. He’d only come to her rented apartment twice, but Sylvia could still see him loitering about the room. Moving things to his liking. Staring at the posters on the wall and suggesting Back to The Future. He claimed it was the best underrated romance.
“It's touch and go at the moment. The woman who owns the store isn't budging.”
Another silence. This one longer. “It's more than that. You sound unhappy. A job doesn't put that kind of tone in a woman's voice.”
Sylvia had lost her own mother years ago. That was why this duty never felt like one. “No, but I'm here to tell you about your son.”
“Nonsense. After all these years I consider you a daughter. You've taken care of my son and have been my eyes and ears when he kept me at a distance. If something is weighing on your heart, then tell me.”
The soft words, the quiet assurance, broke Sylvia. Sad really how easy it was to turn her into a blubbering mass of whine. She told the other woman everything. From the day she got here to when she broke things off with Jeremy.
“Has Nate been bullying you?”
She laughed even though tears had started to clog her nose. She could almost imagine the woman with her hands on her hips. “Not in the way you mean. He's... unbending.”
“I've been here on this Earth for a very long time. You're hurting right now, I can understand, but you need to forget about how my son is going to react. He'll come around eventually. If you're lucky, you find someone who knows the real you and loves you anyway.”
The last part made her breath catch. “Jeremy was right. I'm being a coward.”
“Well, you said it. I didn’t.”
Sylvia heard the smile in the woman's voice. She grabbed the box of tissues from the night stand and wiped her face. The box was half empty. “I hate it when he's right. He doesn't gloat like a normal person.”
“I'll do so on the next phone call. I will gladly remind you of my sage advice. Where are you guys, anyway?”
“Valley City. It's a nice, quaint town. You have to meet some of these people to believe they're real.”
The silence from Nate’s mother this time wasn't contemplative, and the older woman’s next words were strained. “Valley City.”
“What's wrong, Mrs. Craine?”
“Nothing. If he hasn't told you, I can't, but you need to be there for him, for me.”
Sylvia couldn't bring herself to say she would. She planned to get Jeremy, and if Nate wanted her to choose, she knew her boss and her friend would lose.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Nate waved to Brenda, who was watering her grass behind the picket fence. He started to whistle the theme to Andy Griffin. It didn't fit Valley City, but it fit the mood the town put him in. He nodded his head at Dani, who walked her dog every day at the same time. He could set his watch to the activity town.
He turned down Main Street, and the whistle got caught in his throat. Nate forced his feet to keep moving. Finally he slowed when he got to the front door and crouched down.
“Suzie,” the words forced their way through a tight throat. “What are you doing here?”
The dog roused awake at his voice. He put out his hand. Suzie sniffed first and then started licking his fingers. He used his free hand to untie the leash. The dog didn't try to break away, but Nate would have sworn he heard Suzie sigh deeply.
He glanced at the store next to his. Lynne's store doors were already open although it was only eight in the morning. All he had to do was walk through them. A simple action, but his legs weren't steady when he straightened then did just that.
Lynne stood at the far table, rearranging yellow roses. Each display had a different type of rose. He plucked a pink one out of its vase and walked toward her. An emotion he couldn't pinpoint passed behind her gaze. He swallowed and offered her the rose.
“Why?” The gruffness in his voice had been softened by emotion.
Her eyes glittered and he could only call it sadness. “Because I'm not made for this business thing. I can't separate our situation like you can. I'm not made that way. I plan to rip your heart out and hand it back to you. It makes me feel guilty as hell. I have a mountain of regrets, but I can't back down.”
She laughed without mirth and plucked the single-stem rose from his hand. “You thief.”
Lynne still buried her nose in the petals, taking a deep breath.
Nate couldn't seem to catch his own. She'd forgone hair gel again, and he hated that he missed her almost rebellious hair. Hated how her words seemed to dig themselves into him. The decision he had to make seemed so clear, but that choice was insane.
He breathed, “So getting me the dog was supposed to soften the blow of your next plan of attack?” Suzie buried her face in the crook of his arm and that softened him more.
“You guys need each other.” She patted Suzie’s head. “You won't ever say it. God forbid you show real emotion that isn't calculated.” Lynne stopped and sighed. “I don't want to fight today. How about dinner tonight?”
“Lunch,” he countered. “Since we both plan to rip the other person's heart out soon. Might as well go out to eat while we still like each other.”
A smile played at her lips. “I do sound maudlin, don't I?”
“Your dramatic flair is what has made this takeover interesting.”
“Just my dramatic flair?”
He stole a glance at her feet. Black. “And other things.”
She motioned for him to move closer. “Give me a kiss before everything changes.”
&nbs
p; “Who is to say we have to change anything?” Nate questioned before he could actually think of what the words meant.
The words settled on him and then unsettled the shit out him because...Goddammit. They meant she did mean something and that meant he had gone over to the light side and lost his head and his heart. Nate knew what he had to do.
Shit. Lynne would be so pissed when she found out.
Before he could do damage control, he dove headlong into the moment, leaning forward until their lips met. Hers were soft, and parted on a sigh. He took advantage of the vulnerable moment and let his tongue slide inside the warmth he'd gotten addicted to.
She pulled back. “You keep this up and there won't be any dessert after lunch.”
“I should get a dog bowl,” he said.
“Dog pillow, too.”
“I need a lot of stuff. Do you think the owner of the house will mind?”
“He's gouging the rich guy for rent every month. He brags about it every Friday at the local bar. He won't care if you have a throw-down party that destroys the interior of the house.”
He stole another kiss that left her smiling dreamily on the stool beside the cash register before he stalked out of Hart and Style. Suzie snuggled in deeper in his embrace. The subtle weight in his arm felt good. He headed down Main Street. The General Store had to have the basic essentials to get through the day. A couple stood farther down on the corner, locked in a kiss. A smile formed at the display, but it froze on his face when he saw the man and woman.
Nate's feet kept taking him closer to the couple until he was sure what his eyes were telling him.
“Sylvia?”
His right-hand woman sprang from Jeremy's arms, but then she moved back into his embrace.
She lifted her chin in the air. “Yes, Mr. Craine. Is there something you need?”
“Mr. Craine?” The formality stung more than the fact she hadn't told him the truth.
She'd hidden it from him. Friends, confidants, didn't keep things from each other. People who were close didn’t hide from or lie to each other. And weren’t they close? Despite his objections, didn't Sylvia know or at least suspect he had a relationship with Lynne?