by Maria Geraci
“You forget I’ve eaten your cooking, so it is kind of a big deal.”
She smiled like she was pleased by his compliment, then stood up to leave.
“Did you know that my niece was her class valedictorian?” he asked on impulse.
Sarah nodded. “I think Zeke has told everyone in town. Not that I blame him. She’s a smart girl. You must be really proud of her.”
“I didn’t know, till just now, when Stacey told me.”
Why he’d just admitted that to Sarah, of all people, he had no idea. It only added more proof to her theory of his selfishness. Maybe it was because she had no filter, always saying exactly what was on her mind, and for whatever reason (call him a masochist), he was interested in hearing what she thought about the fact that his niece had been awarded one of the highest honors any high school student could hope to achieve, and he’d been clueless.
Instead of saying something snarky like he halfway expected, she said, “Well, you know, you travel a lot.”
“Right.” He traveled a lot.
She glanced away, but not before he caught a look in her eye that looked suspiciously like pity. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
He glanced down at his muffin, but he wasn’t hungry anymore. “Thanks. But I’m good.”
Chapter Ten
Luke opened the door to city hall. The receptionist sitting behind the desk recognized him from yesterday’s visit and smiled. “The mayor is with someone, but I’m sure it will be okay if you pop in to say hello.”
He thanked her and was on his way back to his sister’s office when she added, “Can I just say how excited everyone is about the preschool silent auction? I know of at least three women in my water aerobics class who plan to bid on you!”
Luke stopped dead in his tracks. He’d only just agreed to do the silent auction thirty minutes ago. How in the world—“Great,” he said, knowing that he sounded less than enthusiastic. Maybe Mimi would know a way out of this silent auction mess.
The someone in his sister’s office was a tall woman with auburn hair and clear blue eyes. Despite the severity of her navy blue power suit, she was attractive, in a totally I’m-in-charge kind of way.
“Luke!” Mimi came around her desk to give him a hug, then turned to the redhead. “Jenna Pantini, meet my very single brother, Luke Powers.”
Obviously, Mimi had already heard about the silent auction and was planning to have a little fun with him this morning. Luke gritted his teeth.
Jenna extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, very single brother,” she said, trying to hold back a laugh. Not that he blamed her for thinking his situation was funny. He’d be laughing, too, if he wasn’t the brunt of the joke.
“You’re Viola’s niece,” he said. He wondered how funny she’d think this was if she knew that her single status was another hot topic of interest among the Gray Flamingos.
“As well as Whispering Bay’s newest city manager. So, you know my aunt?”
“She was my sixth grade teacher. And a terrific lady.”
Jenna smiled warmly. “That she is.”
“I’m sorry if I interrupted something. I can come back later.”
“No need,” Jenna said. “I have to go. I have about a thousand things to do before I officially start work next week.” She gave him a brief look over but it was more out of curiosity than feminine interest. “I hope to see you around sometime.”
“Likewise,” he said.
She was barely out the door when Mimi said, “That went well, wouldn’t you say?”
“What?”
“Jenna! She’s mom’s new big hope for you. Pretty, isn’t she? She kind of reminds me of Bryce Dallas Howard. Plus, she’s smart and ambitious. Victoria 2.0, really.”
“You’re kidding, right? And since we’re talking about my love life here, you have to help me get out of this mother’s preschool thing.”
“That’s the preschool fund-raiser. Mom called bright and early to volunteer you. And I’m not going to lift a finger to help you get out of it, because I suggested it in the first place.”
“Why the hell would you do that? And why is Mom telling everyone that Victoria dumped me?”
“She thought it would elicit the sympathy factor. Not that you need anyone feeling sorry for you, but, you know Mom. And as for volunteering you for the silent auction…” Mimi shook her head. “After last night, you totally deserve that.”
He started to protest but she cut him off. “What were you thinking announcing Victoria’s engagement like that during dinner? Don’t you think a little advance notice might have worked better?”
“I tried to tell everyone yesterday, but no one had time.”
“So you thought telling us at dinner was better? And in front of a guest? Poor Sarah! She looked absolutely mortified.”
“Poor Sarah can take care of herself, thank you.”
“I know that, but still. Honestly, Luke, I don’t feel sorry for you in the least. Did you really think Mom would take the news about Victoria lying down? You’re her precious boy child and you’re single. Which, in her mind, means you’re lonely. It’s her job to make sure you end up like the rest of us. Happily and miserably married.”
He stilled. “You and Zeke are miserable?” He’d never approved of his baby sister getting married right out of high school with a baby on the way. Back then, he’d given the marriage a year, tops. But his sister and brother-in-law had proved him wrong.
“Zeke and I are crazy in love, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t had our share of problems,” she said vaguely.
He let that go. For now. “Why didn’t you tell me Claire was her class valedictorian? As her uncle, you’d think I’d be given that kind of information.” He sounded like a whiny ass. But he had a right to know these things, didn’t he?
“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t know Claire was her class valedictorian until she got up to the podium to make her speech. And I’m her mother.”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“We were kind in the middle of crisis mode here. Chalk the whole thing up to teenage hormones and thieving ex-city managers. As for her graduation,” Mimi said, “I emailed you about it. Don’t you remember?”
He was ashamed to admit he didn’t. But then, Lori had handled the details of Claire’s graduation. He hadn’t been able to attend the ceremony due to a work conflict. “Did I send a check?” he asked, really hoping that the answer wasn’t just yes, but hell yes.
“A very generous one, thank you. You got Claire’s thank you note, right?”
“I think so,” he said, vaguely recalling a flowery note that included—he pulled out his wallet and took out a picture of his niece in her cap and gown. “Yep. Got it.” He kept a photo of his niece in his wallet, which meant he couldn’t be that terrible of an uncle.
Mimi’s face softened. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve been busy.”
“Apparently too busy for family,” he muttered, sinking down into the chair across from her desk.
“I know how you can make it up to us.”
The tone in her voice should have made him suspicious, but he was feeling like such a shit right now that he didn’t care what she had in mind. “Name it.”
“Next weekend is student orientation at Duke. We were going to take Cameron, but he’d be bored to death. Plus, this is Claire’s time, you know? The whole thing will be so much better if Zeke and I can focus completely on her. Mom and Dad were going to watch Cameron for us, but I think he’d have a better time with you.”
“That’s it? Of course I’ll watch him,” Luke said.
“And there’s Toby too. Buttercup can watch herself, but Toby can be a bit of work since he tends to drool.” At the perplexed look on his face, his sister explained, “Buttercup is the cat. Toby’s the dog.”
“I knew that.” Except, he didn’t. When did his sister get a dog? He vaguely remembered talk of it last night at dinner, but he’d been so preoccupied with h
ow he was going to break the news of Victoria’s engagement, he hadn’t paid much attention.
“You’ll watch them both?” Mimi asked hopefully. “I mean, you’re really not used to kids and dogs.”
“No worries, baby sister. I got this.”
“Okay! Cameron will be thrilled when I tell him.” Her face suddenly got a look that made the warning bells in Luke’s brain go off. “So…what did you think of Jenna?”
“She seems nice,” he said carefully.
“She’s very nice. And smart and pretty, too. Don’t you think?”
“Not my type,” he said.
She frowned. “You’ve only just met her—how can you know she’s not your type? What? Do you have something against redheads?”
“I love redheads.”
“Then what is it? She’s fabulous! She graduated from the University of Miami and has a master’s from Cornell. She speaks three languages fluently and she’s a total workaholic, just like you. The two of you can have boss babies together.”
“I’m not having babies with anyone.”
Her face fell. “Really?”
“Think of it this way. Your kids will be the only grandkids in the family. You’ll be Mom’s favorite.”
“Ha! You could be in prison and still be Mom’s favorite.”
He remembered what Sarah had said to him last night. About being the apple of his mother’s eye. “Do you really think Mom has a preference?”
Mimi shook her head and laughed. “Are you serious?” Then she sobered. “You really are clueless, Luke.”
Why did everyone keep saying that?
“No worries, big brother. I know Mom adores me. I’m her daughter, but you have to remember, I’ve given her a lot of heartburn over the years, whereas you’ve pretty much been on the superstar track. My relationship with her is a lot more complicated than yours.”
“I know that,” he said quietly. “Not about the superstar thing, but the other.”
When Mimi got pregnant her senior year in high school, his parents had wanted her to give the baby up for adoption so she could go to Duke as planned. But Zeke Grant had stepped in and convinced Mimi to marry him. Married at barely eighteen with a baby on the way and nothing but a high school diploma and a husband who worked as a mechanic wasn’t Ann Powers’s vision for her only daughter’s life. There had been plenty of tears and family arguments that summer. But Mimi had been adamant. She loved Zeke and she loved her baby, and that was that.
“It must be hard being the perfect one,” Mimi continued, “But someone has to do it.”
The perfect one? Is that how his sister saw him?
Mimi glanced down at her planner. “Sorry, bro, I’d love to keep talking family history but I have an appointment with Pilar in a few minutes. Wait till I tell Cameron that he’s going to spend the weekend with you instead of Mom and Dad.” She stood to leave, then leveled him with a look worthy of their mother. “You aren’t going to change your mind, are you? Remember, it’s not just Cameron, it’s the dog, too.”
Now, this was downright insulting. How hard could it be to take care of a thirteen-year-old boy and a dog? The whole thing sounded kind of fun, actually. And it was a good opportunity to bond with his nephew. They could go fishing. Do the man thing.
“Nope, I haven’t changed my mind. As a matter of fact, I’m looking forward to it.”
Chapter Eleven
Sarah had never lived with a man before. Not that she was living with Luke because the term “living with” implied some kind of romance or sexual situation. No, the two of them were strictly roommates. Two ships that passed in the night and sometimes docked in the same port. She had to admit, though, it had been interesting.
After a week of living together, this is what she knew so far about Luke Powers:
1. He had horrible taste in television. His favorite show was about people going out in the wilderness buck naked for a thirty-day survival trial. He’d made her watch a few episodes (okay, so it was kind of addicting) and she’d had nightmares about being forced to eat cockroaches (in her dream they’d been delicious. So gross!).
2. He drank his breakfast. If you could call a protein shake a meal.
3. The man was a total workaholic. He was supposed to be on vacation, but when he wasn’t sleeping or fishing, he was on the phone to his office.
4. He was obsessively neat. Down to meticulously wiping off the bathroom sink each and every time he used it, which made her feel like a slob in comparison.
5. And, last but not least, the man had the Adonis muscle (that V-shaped muscle that really buff men had low on their hips). She knew this last thing because she was staring at it right now.
He came waltzing out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel when he spotted her. “Oh, sorry. I thought you’d be at work by now.” Not sorry enough that he ran back to the bathroom to put some actual clothes on, however.
“Lucy is doing the early morning shift today so I’m not going in till ten.”
He walked to the kitchen and back to the living room with an apple in his hand. It was like she was in a bad version of the Garden of Eden. The towel on his hips hung dangerously by a thread. It if dropped… She concentrated on the TV screen in front of her.
“So, you won’t be back till later in the afternoon?” he asked.
Something in his tone made her turn to look at him. Big mistake. She tried to keep her gaze above his collarbone. Was he trying to get rid of her? Maybe he had a hot date lined up. As far as she knew in the week they’d been living together, he hadn’t done much more than fish, bark orders on the phone to his assistant (poor woman, he was probably the kind of boss who made her pick up his laundry, too), and go to his parent’s house for the occasional dinner, although eating his mother’s home cooking hadn’t kept him from stealing her leftover mac and cheese.
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m taking care of Cameron for the weekend so Mimi and Zeke can take Claire to college orientation, so I won’t be home for the next couple of days.”
He was babysitting his nephew? “Oh, that’s nice of you.”
“It should be fun.”
“When will you be back?”
“Sunday evening, I guess.”
Which meant she’d have the whole weekend to herself. “That’s great!” He narrowed his eyes. Maybe she sounded a bit too enthusiastic about his impending absence. “I mean, that’s awesome to be able to spend time with your nephew, one-on-one like that.”
“Apparently, there’s also a dog involved.”
She nodded. “Toby, the drooler.”
“You know about Toby?”
“Everyone in town knows about Toby. Cameron brought him to The Bistro one day, although we really don’t allow pets unless they’re service animals, but no one made a fuss so I didn’t object. What do you plan to do? I mean, he’s a kid. Have you ever taken care of a thirteen-year-old before?”
“We’ll do the usual manly things,” Luke said. “I thought I’d start with a fishing trip, then end up at a topless bar, maybe even hit a brothel or two. Like you said, the kid’s thirteen. It’s time he grew up, don’t you think?”
Okay, so there was more than just five things she’d learned about him. Add in Item number 6: Sarcastic sense of humor.
“Ha-ha.”
“If the brothel is closed, then we’ll stick to the fishing and add in some pizza and video games. I might not have much experience in the kid department but I was a thirteen-year-old boy myself once upon a time so I think I have it covered.”
“Once upon a long time,” she muttered.
He ignored her snarky reference to his age. “You’ll be okay here at the house all alone, right?”
Was he kidding? It would be like before. She could watch whatever she wanted on TV. Or listen to music. Or just flop out on his soft leather couch and read. Or better yet, maybe she’d take a swim in the gulf and then take a nice warm, overly-long bubble bath in the tub afterward. Maybe she’d even
open up a bottle of wine. The whole thing sounded deliciously decadent.
It also sounded a little bit…lonely.
Wait. What? The past week she hadn’t had a minute alone. Of course, she wanted a couple of nights to herself!
“If you’re afraid I’m going to burn the place down or something, no worries. I’ll be perfectly fine on my own.”
* * *
Luke, it’s your mother. Isn’t this terrific? I’m texting!! Victoria says it’s so much easier to communicate this way and I have to agree. Now, make sure that Cameron takes his vitamins. And don’t forget to feed the cat. She tends to hide when strangers are around. If you need anything at all I’ll be available.
Luke stared down at his phone screen. His mother and Torie were now texting one another? He sent Torie a message. Hope all is well. Is my mom bothering you?
It only took a few minutes for her response.
Goodness, no! Ann has been a Godsend. She’s given me some terrific suggestions for the wedding menu! Oh, and I haven’t gotten your RSVP, but I know how terrible you are at that kind of thing so I asked your mom and she said to go ahead and put you down as a yes, plus one. Hugs!!
* * *
The weather was sunny and not as hot as it should have been for the first week in August. A perfect day to go fishing and bond with one’s nephew. Luke pulled his truck onto the side of the Grant family garage where Zeke was piling a stack of luggage into the back of the minivan.
“All those bags for just one weekend?” he asked Zeke.
“Claire wants to make sure she has the appropriate outfit for anything that might come up.” Zeke sighed, then turned an amused gaze on him. “How about you? You up for this weekend?”
“Why does everyone think I can’t handle a couple of days with my own nephew?”
“Who thinks that?”
“I just got a text from Mom reminding me to feed the cat.”