Romancing the Wallflower

by Michelle Major

  Biting down on the inside of her cheek to keep from crying, Erin nodded. A moment after Mari walked away, Olivia appeared in the doorway. “Is everything all right? Rita said a guy just stormed by the front desk, dragging a boy along with him.”

  “A potential client,” Erin said, shaking her head.

  “Isaac’s daddy is mean,” Rhett whispered.

  “No way are you going to let that kid in here.”

  She turned from Olivia to see David staring at her, hands on hips, his features hard as granite.

  Olivia stepped forward. “Rhett, I was about to box up the cupcakes someone brought in today. Would you help me, and you can take a couple home for you and your uncle?”

  “It’s fine, buddy,” David said when the boy looked up at him. “Ms. MacDonald and I will work things out in here.”

  Rhett moved toward Olivia.

  “I’m going to ask Mommy,” he told Erin as he passed, “not to be his girlfriend anymore when she gets back.”

  “I’m sorry he scared you,” she said, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “You know you’re always safe with me.”

  He nodded. “Can I bring a cupcake for Ms. MacDonald, too?” he asked Olivia.

  “You bet,” she answered and took his hand to lead him away.

  As soon as the boy was gone, all of the adrenaline that had kept Erin together through that ugly scene drained from her body. She dropped her head into her hands and drew in a deep breath.

  “Erin.”

  She glanced up to see David taking a step closer. “Don’t,” she whispered, and automatically moved back. “You don’t get to tell me how to run this program. You certainly don’t get to make a scene in front of the foundation representative I was hoping would give me the money to hire additional staff and really make this thing work.”

  “I didn’t realize who she was,” he said, rubbing a hand over the shadow of stubble across his jaw.

  She hated that even now, as angry as she was with him, the scratchy sound still made her tingle all the way to her toes.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You were out of line.”

  His head snapped back as if she’d struck him. “You heard what he was saying about Jenna. The things he insinuated toward you. I’m not going to stand by and let a creep like that get away with—”

  “You’re Rhett’s guardian now, David. His role model. How can you expect him to work out his problems without violence when you set that kind of example?” She knew she was being harsh, but her emotions wouldn’t let her back down. “Joel Martin is awful but there are better ways to deal with him.”

  “What ways?” he countered. “Watching the guy get away with whatever he wants? Letting his kid bully my nephew and disrespect you and my sister?”

  “I don’t need you to protect me.”

  He barked out a laugh. “It sounds like you don’t need me at all.”

  She bit down on her lip, unsure of how to respond. She didn’t want to need him but couldn’t resist the current of awareness pulsing between them, despite their differences and her anger.

  “Thank you for keeping Rhett today,” he said quietly, smoothing a finger over the furrow she knew formed between her brows when she was upset. “I’m sorry I screwed things up with your meeting. I wasn’t joking when I told you I was bad news, Erin. This afternoon proves my point.”

  “David.”

  He dropped his finger to her lip. “You’ve gone out of your way to help me, and I’m grateful. What happened here was a crappy way to show it.”

  Before she could respond, he dropped his hand and walked out of the room, presumably to collect Rhett from Olivia.

  Erin wanted to rush after him, to launch herself at his big frame and hold on tight. David didn’t belong to her, but her chest ached at the thought of losing him. She’d managed to carve out a decent life for herself, and she should be satisfied with that. It was easier and a lot less pain in the long run.

  Chapter Eight

  When the doorbell rang that night, David’s heart leaped. He rubbed at his chest as he went to answer it, hope rising like a bird on a current of air that Erin was paying him a visit.

  He hated himself for hurting her, then walking away. He’d sat on the couch since putting Rhett to bed with his phone in his hand, typing out a half dozen texts but deleting each one.

  She’d seen his true colors, although it might be better that it happened now instead of down the road. If he’d actually had the opportunity to truly claim her as his own, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to let her go.

  But hope was a painfully resilient emotion, unwilling to let go of even the briefest glimpse of happiness. If Erin had come to him, maybe he still had a chance. With a deep breath, he opened the door.

  “Hello, David. It’s been a while.”

  Without his hand gripping the door handle, David would have stumbled back a step. His mouth went dry and it felt like someone had dropped a lead balloon on his chest. “Mom.”

  “Are you going to invite me in?” Angela McCay peered around him into the apartment. “Kind of a fancy place you’ve set yourself up in, even if you’re living over a bar.”

  “Mom, why are you here?”

  She smoothed a hand over her hair and flashed him a sad smile. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m making things right.”

  He hadn’t seen his mother in over five years, but she looked the same as ever. It was as if Angela drank from the fountain of youth and never aged. Her blond hair was shorter than he remembered, a simple cut that fell to just above her shoulders. Maybe there were a few thin lines etched into the skin around her vivid blue eyes.

  But she remained as beautiful as she’d been when he was a boy. At Rhett’s age, David would sit on one of the chairs in the kitchen and watch her move about the room—on the rare occasions when she cooked a real dinner—and think how lucky he was to have Angela as his mother. It took him a while to learn that a person’s outward beauty wasn’t always an accurate measure of who they were on the inside.

  Too much had happened in their small family, terrible things and small mistreatments that his mother had either been responsible for or turned a blind eye to as they unfolded. He wished he could recapture some of his unconditional love from childhood, but he was an adult and had spent too long nursing old wounds to let them go so easily.

  Yet she was still his mother, so he stepped back to let her into his apartment and, he supposed, his life.

  “Did Jenna call you?”

  “Yes, and it’s about time,” his mom answered as she moved past him. “My bags are in the hall. Be a good boy and bring them in for me.”

  “Bags?” he asked even as he pulled in the two suitcases and closed the door. “How long do you plan to be here?”

  She turned to him. “As long as it takes. Your sister wants me here. She thinks you need help.”

  “I’m not the one in rehab,” he muttered.

  “That might have been a bit of overkill,” she said, arching one brow. “Jenna could have recovered on her own.”

  “We’ve tried that before. It didn’t take, and Rhett is old enough now to be affected. She needs to get healthy, and it has to stick this time.”

  She studied him for a moment, then sighed. “You always were her knight in shining armor.” She stepped closer and raised a hand to his cheek. “You took care of both of us.”

  The scent of her shampoo, honey and almond, drifted up to him, taking him back to sharing a bathroom in their tiny apartment growing up. He’d taken countless lukewarm showers as a kid after his mom and sister used up their limited supply of hot water, but he’d always loved the way the bathroom smelled after his mother got ready.

  “I did a sucky job at it,” he said, letting his eyes drift closed an
d losing himself in the familiar touch and scent.

  She patted his cheek. “You tried, and that’s what counts.”

  If someone had asked, David would have claimed he didn’t need anything from his mother. Not her help, not her approval and certainly not her blessing. Yet those words of absolution seemed to loosen the chains that were locked tight around his heart. They didn’t eliminate his guilt and regret, but somehow they made him feel better.

  “You tried, too,” he told her, his way of offering an olive branch after so many years of animosity between them.

  “We both know I didn’t,” she said quietly. “I was a hot mess, and you and your sister got pulled into it. I thought baseball was your ticket out until the accident...”

  “It wasn’t an accident.” He took a step away and crossed his arms over his chest. “It was a stupid bar fight, and I never should have been there in the first place.”

  She gave him a speculative look. “And now you own a bar.”

  “It’s a brewpub, Mom. I’m good at making beer.” He laughed softly. “Maybe better than I was at pitching.”

  “How’s your shoulder?”

  “Fine.”

  “Do you ever think about going back?”

  A familiar tension pulsed through his body, making his blood feel like it was tinged with acid. He’d spent months rehabbing his shoulder with grueling exercise and physical therapy. He refused to believe that stupidity had ended his baseball career in a matter of minutes. Guys came back from injuries and surgeries—sometimes better than they’d been in the first place.

  Not David.

  He paced to the edge of the living room, glancing out at the view of Main Street from his front window. If it weren’t for Jenna’s move to Colorado and his frustration over a shoulder that wouldn’t return to its normal strength, this town would mean nothing to him. But Crimson had been the best thing to happen to him. It made the ache of losing baseball—his escape and sanctuary—tolerable. Even from his place on the periphery, this community had helped him to stop looking back to what could have been and focus on the life he had.

  “Not anymore,” he told his mother. “My life is good now. Healthy. I want that for Rhett and Jenna.” He moved toward her. “I need help, and if you’re willing to give it you can stay. But we’re doing things my way. There are rules and structure.”

  Angela made a face. “I’ve never been much for structure, honey. You know that. I’m here to bring some fun and sunshine into that boy’s life.”

  Which sounded like his mother blowing sunshine. But if Jenna had called her, he would make it work. “Fun is fine,” he said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “But he needs a routine. We’re giving him that, and we’re going to do the same for Jenna when she gets back. She’s got to clean up her life, whether she likes it or not.”

  His mother rose to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Your sister is lucky to have you. It’s not too late for our family, David.”

  He hoped she was right. “You can stay in my bedroom. I’ll take the couch.”

  “I don’t want to be an imposition,” his mother said, even as she shrugged out of her brightly colored cardigan and draped it over the back of the couch. “Will you be a dear and bring my bags? Do I have my own bathroom?”

  Before David could answer, a small voice called his name. “Uncle David?”

  He turned see Rhett standing at the edge of the hallway, wiping the back of his hand across his eyes.

  “Is Mommy here? I woke up and heard her voice.”

  David heard a tiny gasp behind him. He was used to how much Jenna and their mother looked alike but hadn’t realized they sounded similar, as well.

  “Your mom isn’t here,” he said gently. “But your grandma has come to visit.” He moved to reveal Angela standing behind him.

  “Hi, sweetie boy,” she cooed. “Do you remember your grandma?”

  Rhett shook his head.

  Angela made a sound of distress, then pasted a bright smile on her face. “You were a baby the last time I saw you. It was before you and your mommy moved to Colorado.” She stepped forward. “I’m going to help Uncle David look after you until she comes home, okay? We’re going to have lots of fun together.”

  Rhett slanted his head, studying Angela. “You don’t look like a grandma,” he said.

  David gave a small snort of laughter, earning a narrow-eyed glare from his mother. She reached for the sweater and quickly put it on over the silky tank top she wore underneath. Angela had never dressed like a typical mother, either.

  “Doesn’t change the fact that I’m yours,” she said. “You good with that?”

  Rhett’s sleepy blue gaze met David’s. “Your mom called your grandmother,” David told the boy. “So she could stay with us.”

  After a moment Rhett nodded. “Okay.”

  “Time to go back to bed,” David told the boy.

  “I can tuck you in,” Angela offered.

  “I want Uncle David,” Rhett whispered.

  David felt his heart clutch, but heard his mother sigh. “You bet, buddy.” He put a hand on his mother’s shoulder. Although he’d never had much sympathy for her, he understood what it was like to be unsure how to do what was right.

  “Give it time,” he whispered, and took Rhett’s hand.

  He led the boy back to his bedroom, retrieved Ruffie from the far side of the bed and settled Rhett under the covers again.

  By the time he came out, his mother had moved her bags into his bedroom. She’d taken his clothes out of the dresser and filled a laundry basket.

  “I hope you don’t mind if I unpack,” she said, folding a stack of more tank tops. “I hate living out of a suitcase.”

  He thought about asking her about her current life and if she had a home base now. Other than a monthly bank transfer into her checking account, David wasn’t exactly up to date on his mother’s life. But he could save that for another night. Apparently, they’d have plenty if she was here until Jenna returned.

  “Rhett doesn’t normally wake during the night,” he told her. “Since you’re here, I’m going to go downstairs and check on the bar.”

  She raised one finely penciled eyebrow. “Are you drinking, David?”

  “Mom, I brew beer for a living. I drink, but it’s not a problem.”

  She tsked softly.

  He sighed. “I haven’t been drunk since the night of the bar fight.”

  “At least I would have understood if you’d been drinking when you gave that woman and her boyfriend most of your money. I’m not so sure about your decision-making when you’re sober.”

  “I put that man in the hospital for almost a month. Everything changed in one moment. I owed them.”

  “He fell and knocked his head on the corner of the table.”

  “Because I punched him.”

  “After he knifed you.”

  “I’m not having this discussion again,” he said through gritted teeth. “Jenna wants you here, and I’ll honor that. But I’m not rehashing old history. I don’t get drunk anymore, and I watch my temper. Things are good in Crimson, and I intend to keep it that way.”

  She studied him a long moment, then nodded. “Fine. Go do what you need to do. I’ll be here if my grandson needs me.”

  David nodded and headed for Elevation. Halfway down his private staircase, he stopped. His chest rose and fell and it felt like someone had lobbed a grenade at him. How the hell had his life spun so out of control? He was the temporary guardian for his five-year-old nephew and his mother—who had the maternal instincts of a feral cat—was now his child-rearing partner?

  He turned and took the steps back to his apartment two at a time. Grabbing his jacket and the set of keys off the hook on the wall, he let himself out the front door and walked toward
his truck parked in the alley behind the building.

  He had plenty to take care of at both the bar and the brewery, but there was other business that called to him in his current mood.

  * * *

  Erin looked out the peephole of her apartment’s front door and sucked in a breath.

  “I know you’re in there,” David said softly, sounding like a man who had the patience to wait all night for her if that’s how she played it. “Talk to me, Erin. Please.”

  Damn her weakness for good manners. A well-timed “please” got her every time.

  She opened the door a few inches and tried not to notice how gorgeous he looked standing on the other side. He wore dark jeans, engineer boots and a heavy canvas jacket to ward against the crisp evening temperatures that signaled fall in the mountains. His hair was disheveled, like the wind was blowing or he’d been running his hands through it.

  The way she wanted to run her hands through it.

  “Can I come in?” he asked in that same quiet tone that made his already low voice sound like a growl.

  “Where’s Rhett?”

  “Asleep,” he answered automatically. “My mom is at the apartment in case he wakes up.”

  “You have a mom?” Erin was so shocked she stepped back and the door opened a little wider.

  One side of David’s mouth quirked up. “Would you like to see my belly button to prove I’m not an alien?”

  Her mouth went dry as she glanced at the edge of his jacket. Heck, yes, her body screamed. Take off your clothes, hottie brewmaster.

  “No,” she said, her voice coming out a chirp. “I know you’re human, but I didn’t realize your mom was coming to visit.”

  She wanted to smack herself on the head. Of course she didn’t know anything about his mother. The intimacy between her and David had developed too quickly and under such strange circumstances.

  “If you invite me in, I’ll tell you about it.” He leaned closer. “Your neighbor’s front curtains are fluttering like mad. I swear she’s going to call the cops, and the last thing I need is Cole coming after me.”