by Quinn, Taryn
“Well, come over to talk to us when you’re back.”
I slipped away with a nod, grabbed my bag, and rushed over to the side doors to the apartment access. And okay, maybe I took a little more time with my hair and makeup than I usually did.
However, I now had another pair of jeans to add to the nope pile.
I sighed and tugged on a pair of black pants that were becoming a staple of my life. They were far more forgiving. I stepped into ballet flats and swapped out my T-shirt for a longer one that would cover my growing bump.
By the time I got back downstairs, Dare, Gage and Tish were laughing at a table. Vee’s now famous bagel chips were being dunked in soup as Tish kept testing out every other plate but her own.
“Hey, there you are.” Gage waved me over. “You gotta see this.”
There wasn’t a chair for me, but he didn’t seem to care. He hooked his arm around my waist and dumped me on his lap. Not sure why he thought I was his personal rag doll. And I tried not to love it every single damn time.
He held his cell so I could see it. “Listen to this from Harry. ‘The Tide people want you, for fuck’s sake. Pick up the damn phone.’” Gage shook his head. “Not only that, but they want me to do commercials.”
Tish laughed. “Covered in grease and,” she snapped her fingers, “look at how white!”
Dare just shook his head. “My brother in commercials.”
I blinked and my gaze jerked to Gage’s face. “Tide? Isn’t that a big deal?”
Gage shrugged. “They tried to get me before, but I was tied up with my last sponsor. Their promotional schedule is ridiculous. I’d never leave my old trailer.”
“That’s for damn sure.” Dare grunted. “You’d barely get to drive with their program.” He took a bite of his club sandwich.
I played with the soft hair at the nape of Gage’s neck. Just as I was getting used to him being around everything was shifting. I tried to smile as they talked about race schedule things I didn’t understand. The entire time, Gage kept fiddling with the hem of my shirt. Little absent brushes that made me want to push him away.
Luckily, Macy came by with her trusty bussing tray. “How is everything?”
Tish sat back in her chair. “If you don’t tell me what’s in this coffee, I’m going to—”
“What? Not come back? Good luck with that, cayenne.”
Tish blew out raspberries. “Nothing but haterade out of you.”
Man, evidently Macy liked Tish a lot. She already had a nickname. Too bad Tish didn’t know Macy’s nicknames usually included a bit of a clue on the ingredients to their particular blend of coffee. Then again, there was always something to her coffee that the proprietress would never fess up to. Even a few purported “supertasters” couldn’t figure out what was in her drinks.
Another of the angles I wanted to talk to Macy about. To play up her special blends—both drinks and popcorn. I bet I could sell her popcorn on a website. I figured my kid would come out looking like a peanut covered in cheddar and caramel with how much I ate the stuff. Either that or my kid would never eat it.
“I hear you and Ry are talking about working together.”
Macy glanced at me, then Gage. “Yeah, I’m going to use her and abuse her. Hope you don’t mind.”
“She’s got tons of ideas. Wait until you hear about the movie—”
I tugged on his hair and he stopped talking. He shot me a look. “Gage talks too much.”
“What about movies?” Macy asked absently as she cleared the table.
I swallowed down my nerves. “I’ll tell you later.”
Macy paused and gave me one of her hard looks. In true Macy fashion, she didn’t say a thing. Just finished her job and gave a halfhearted smile before she headed back to the main counter.
“Friendly, isn’t she?” Tish quipped.
“One of the few people on this fucking street who doesn’t talk a body to death.” Dare filched the last bagel chip from Gage’s plate.
Gage tightened his hold on my hip when I tried to stand up. “Why did you stop me?”
“Because I haven’t even worked with her for a day yet. Maybe I could ease into the subject of my ideas for her business.” This time, I did break away. “Speaking of. If I want to actually have a paycheck, I should go over there and get to work.” He frowned but let me go. “Have fun with your lunch.”
My belly was jangling with all the new information and the raucous laughter coming from their table. Even Dare seemed amused by Tish. The woman who could effortlessly talk to both of them about car things. All of the things I would never be able to do. Partly because I didn’t care, to be honest.
But it also wasn’t really in my wheelhouse. Since I’d moved to Crescent Cove, I barely drove my car. Everything was in walking distance. And as spring started crawling out of the rainy season, it made even less sense to drive anywhere unless I had to go to one of the surrounding towns. When that happened, I was usually with Gage.
Or at least I had been. Would that change now?
Gage waved before he left with his crew. I’d gotten used to his undivided attention, and I wasn’t wild about the niggle of unease mixed with jealousy. As if my brain wasn’t clogged with enough to worry about now, I had to deal with that?
Calm the hell down, Ry, and do your job.
I settled in with the newest shipments of Macy’s merchandise and spent the next few hours redoing her grid layout. Macy came by a few times to make a comment, but generally, she left me alone. I was in the middle of a television display on one of the shelves when I had to jump in and help with the dinner rush.
I wished desperately for coffee but forged on with a large ginger-lime flavored water concoction that Macy set next to me around seven o’clock.
“You’ve been at it for hours.” Vee settled on the floor next to me with another water. “I love that new table you did out front. I asked Macy if I could switch out the window graphic next weekend.” She breathed out a happy sigh. “Spring is in the air.”
“I found a box full of pretty spring cups for teas and flavored waters.” I dug behind me and pulled out a soft pink and green frosted cup that was unreasonably tall but seemed to fly off the shelves. “Maybe something with these colors?”
“Oh.” She snatched it out of my hand. “Maybe some baby-friendly drinks to lure all the preggers girls in.”
“Smart.” I took back the cup. “I didn’t know you did all that. I mean, I’ve seen you do the menu board, but the windows are crazy.”
Vee shrugged. “I went to art school, but couldn’t decide between baking or art. Then I met Macy and got to do both.”
“It’s got to be amazing to be good at something.” I picked through the cups and started organizing them by color.
“What, like you and this?” She waved her arm around the three different tables and half wall of cubbies I’d arranged.
I waved her off. “That’s just making things look cute.”
“Macy can build the hell out of nineteen drink orders in less than a minute each. However, her idea of decorating is adding a bat or skull.”
“Hey, I like her aesthetic.”
Vee linked her arms around her knees and rocked a little. “It works, but this is amazing, Ry. Really.” She reached over and touched my belly. “And you’re cooking that little nugget too.”
At her wistful sigh I tilted my head. “Thanks. Cooking the baby isn’t exactly tough. Luckily for me, I don’t really have the nausea thing too often.” Nope, I just had the super sleepwalking thing, but I didn’t need to get into that with her.
“What’s it feel like?”
“Like my jeans don’t fit and I want all the salt.” I laughed. “Why?”
She shrugged. “I always wanted a bunch of kids. And here I am. I can’t even keep a boyfriend around long enough to get him suited up, let alone convince him about forever.”
“Really? You’re gorgeous. You should have guys knocking down my displays to get to you
.”
“Thanks. I’m too weird, I guess. And I don’t know what to say to guys.”
“Like Moose?”
She blushed. “He’s sweet. I’m just getting impatient, I guess.”
“You’re only what? Twenty-six, I think Macy said.”
She nodded. “That biological clock is ticking away.”
“You’ve got plenty of time.”
“You’re the same age, aren’t you?”
A little younger, but I didn’t think I should mention that. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
She rolled to her feet and brushed off her butt. “See? I’m way behind.”
“Ugh, enough with the baby talk. You’re killing me,” Macy called from the front counter. “Hey, Ry, want to watch a movie after we’re done, or do you have something going with the boyfriend?”
Was that what I’d call Gage? My boyfriend?
I supposed it was less crass than baby daddy. I was tired of all the baby talk myself and I was the one carrying one.
“I’ll text him. I’m feeling a little like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
“God, yes.”
I laughed and we started the closing process for the café. It felt good to be a productive part of a team. I didn’t even know how much I’d missed it until I got it back. The chattering girls, Macy pretending to be grouchy, even Vee’s incessant baby questions had my mood brightening.
I texted Gage about hanging out with Macy and received three follow-up texts from him to get me to ask Macy about my ideas. He was relentless, but the little bubble of warmth was spreading.
Finally, Macy and I collapsed onto the couch with a bowl of popcorn—a new Cajun concoction with a toffee base. Honestly, the girl was going to make me weigh five-hundred pounds by the end of this pregnancy.
I groaned as I took another handful. “You know, you really need to sell this. I bet it would fly off the shelves as fast as the coffee. Hell, it would probably get people buying more drinks.”
Macy gave me one of her half-grins and took her own handful. “Is this one of your ideas?”
I choked and reached for my water. When I stopped coughing, I gave her a weak smile. “What? No.” Maybe. Yes. So much yes.
“Mmm-hmm.”
I sighed. “Gage is such a big mouth.”
“He means well. Mostly. He’s definitely the pushier of the Kramer brothers. Then again, Kelsey ended up moved in with Dare before she could even blink, so maybe not.”
“They are very pushy and bossy.”
And yummy, though I wouldn’t say that aloud. Probably. Though Gage was far yummier.
“Good thing they’re hot. And evidently, they wield their dumbstick with a powerful breeding sense.” She shuddered and inched down into a comfortable position.
I laughed and relaxed. “Truth.”
“So, tell me your ideas, girl.”
I nibbled on my lip. “I don’t want to overstep.”
“Like I have trouble telling you when you are?”
“That is very true.” I angled myself toward her. “I was thinking maybe we should actually have movie nights and set up some couches and recliners, maybe? Sell your crazy-delicious popcorn and give people something to do at night. It’s so dead in the Cove after seven o’clock, for God’s sake. It’s an untapped moneymaker.”
When she didn’t shoot down the idea, I rushed on and gave her some details from my research about showing movies. What we could and couldn’t do with trademarking and licensing.
Three hours later, we’d never started the movie, but we did have a plan.
One that I’d mostly come up with. How about that?
Maybe the idea of Rylee Ford being a businesswoman wasn’t so insane after all.
Twenty
I grinned at the texts from Rylee. “Finally.”
Dare rested his beer against his belt. “Finally, what?”
“Ry has been in nightly pow-wow sessions with Macy about her ideas for the café. She’s been so hesitant to share them all. She’s perfect for the damn job. I just wish she believed it.”
Dare’s eyebrows rose.
“What?”
“You’re really all in with this girl, huh?”
“This girl? She’s your sister-in-law too, bro.”
“Oh, I know. Not that we ever really saw Rylee until recently. The sisters aren’t exactly close these days. Though they are bonding through babies now.” He shook his head. “How that fucking happened, man, I do not know.”
“Well, if you didn’t get the birds and bees memo, I’m sure Pops would love to give you a refresher.”
Dare almost spit out his beer. He finished swallowing. “Pass.”
The familiar scent of motor oil and gasoline settled me. I kicked out my legs as I leaned against the vintage Chevy Dare was working on. “I was thinking about using that old VW Bug shell in the junkyard to make a couch for Rylee.”
Dare set his beer down. “Is that right?”
“Yeah, she’s got this movie night idea for Brewed Awakening. I thought if they had fun couches for people to sit on, it might get people even more excited about coming in.”
“What about that Tide sponsor offer?”
I stood up straight and swapped out my empty for a bottle of water. I had my girl to watch out for tonight. Dare glanced at my drink choice, but in usual Dare form, he didn’t comment. He did look a little surprised, which made me take a longer pull from the plastic bottle. Someday maybe my brother would believe that I wasn’t the partying kid he remembered from our mutual racing days anymore.
“What about it?” I asked.
“Seems pretty amazing. Their driver stalling out on a drug test is a damn shame, but it could be good for you.”
“I told you I’m retired.” I gestured toward the back of the garage. “Tish has been here talking about the space all fucking day, man. I’m not going back on the road. I want this.”
“For now.”
I drained the water and paced the area between the cars. “Not sure how many times I need to explain this to you. I want this garage. I want us to make a go of this together.”
I’d tried being subtle with my brother. Then I’d tried spelling it all out. He was obtuse, regardless.
“And I’m not exactly Mr. Moneybags like you are.” Dare threw his rag down on the engine block he was cleaning. “What the hell do I have to bring to the party? Have you thought of that?”
“Expertise? You still have connections in the network.”
“Ah, enough with that shit. I’ve been out of the game so long that I’m a fossil.”
“I don’t think you understand just how legendary you were in the pit.” I shot my bottle into the recycle bin. “I’ve always been Dare’s little brother. Good with an engine and an idea, but innovative? Nope. Not like you.”
“Bullshit.”
“You’re a genius at pulling engines apart. I have ideas coming out my ass about redoing cars so they’re cool as fuck, but I don’t want to find some other engine expert. I want you. Between you, our men, and Tish, we could make this garage into something amazing. I have friends who blow money on cars all the time. Imagine what we could make for them?”
Dare leaned under the hood of the ’67 Chevy. “So you can get me all in and then you’ll go take a job with Tide or Exxon or whomever comes looking for you with an amazing deal in a few months? What am I supposed to do after that?”
I crossed the garage and turned him to face me. “I’m not going any-fucking-where. I want this.” I waved my hand toward the old garage that had so much space and great bones. I could see what it could be with some time and restoration already. Just like the cars we would work on. Together. “I want Rylee and the baby. I want a damn family again. I’m tired of being alone out there.”
I’d shouted it. I didn’t even realize just how pissed off I was at being underestimated time and again until I’d said it.
“I’ve been gone for years, man. And yeah, I’ve got the money to start this up,
but without you, it wouldn’t get anywhere close to what it could be. You’ve been hiding under oil changes and air filters for too long, bro. You know you’re bored. You want this as much as I do.”
Dare’s jaw clenched and his hands fisted at his sides.
“Am I wrong?”
“It’s not just about what I want. It never has been.”
“Well, it’s time to take something for you. Sure, it might not work, but what if it does? You and your family would be set, and you’d actually enjoy what you’re doing again. You’ve been smiling all night since you’ve had your grease monkey paws all over that Chevy block.”
“Fuck off.” Dare pushed away from me and picked up his beer again.
“What, are you going to go to the next town over and find another job where you’re working with a bunch of punk kids who don’t know the difference between a Ford and a Hyundai?”
He finished his beer and shot the bottle into the recycling bin so hard the bottle shattered. “Dammit.”
“Dare, we can do this. I already went to the bank with my business plan.”
“What?” He turned started eyes on me.
“Yeah. I’m serious about this. It’s not just an idea. I’ve been researching machines. For fuck’s sake, I bought a house.” My voice exploded.
“Where?”
“On the lake. A big house that I can grow into with Rylee.”
“Does she know this?”
“I’m trying like hell to convince her, man. Or I will be soon. I’m not sure what I have to do to convince you people that I’m not going any-damn-where. I’m home, man. I want Crescent Cove to be where I raise my kids. I want my little girl or boy to grow up with his cousins and make friends. I want him safe, here in this small freaking town.”
Dare’s winter blue eyes were wide and for the first time, doubt wasn’t hanging over his damn head. “You’re serious.”
I stalked away from him. “Would you like a kidney? The deed to my new house to prove it? What do you fucking need?”
Dare was silent. He took a bottle of water from the cooler and moved back to the car.
The silence stretched for damn near five minutes before he spoke again.