by Fiona Lowe
“You better name your price, Erin.” Luke’s shoulders stiffened as he tilted his head between his siblings. “These two are known to argue over money.”
Keri shot both her brothers a killing look before smiling apologetically at Erin. “Please ignore them.”
Erin glanced between them all, knowing she was caught in the middle of something that was making them unhappy. Luke wore the grumpy expression he’d specialized in the first few times she’d met him and she realized with a start that it had been a very long time since she’d seen it. Wade’s usually smiling face was set in hard lines and Keri had schooled hers into a neutral expression.
It’s the family’s farm.
Wade’s comment came back to her loud and clear. Did they all want different things from the farm? As she matched up the expressions on their faces with the memory of their father’s tension she knew without a doubt something huge was going on and it was eating at all of them.
She hated the old tension that had returned to cloak Luke, draining the sparkle from his eyes, and she respected Wade too much not to feel distressed for him.
You can make them look happy. It’s what you do best.
And she could. If they saw a photo of themselves looking happy and relaxed on the farm, then it might open them up to finding a way through whatever the issue was.
“Keri, what are the kids’ names?”
“Grace and Ethan.”
Erin squatted down. “Hey, Ethan, has your uncle Luke ever told you the story about how he forgot to close the farm gate and some cows decided to take a walk?”
The boy shook his head and glanced up at Luke. “Where did they walk to?”
Keri laughed. “Oh, I remember that. They started walking down the town road and totally blocked it. There were cars backed up in both directions and the cows didn’t care. They had new grass to chomp on by the side of the road and they totally ignored the police chief who was jumping up and down. Luke was still finding cows at ten o’clock at night.”
Luke grinned. “But that story isn’t half as funny as the one where your mom got all dressed up for a date and came into the parlor to say goodbye to Grandpa. She was too busy admiring her reflection in the stainless steel so she missed a cow raising her tail. It dumped all over her and she squealed like a girl when we hosed her down.”
“That water was icy.” Keri tried to sound indignant but failed as laughter took over. “At least I didn’t cause Whitetail’s most infamous traffic jam by driving the tractor to school and getting his friends to do the same.”
Wade looked sheepish. “The car was out of gas and I didn’t want the tractor to look lonely in the school parking lot so I invented drive-the-tractor-to-school day.” He grabbed his niece’s hand. “Your mom came up with the best idea of how to take a snow day. She—”
“I think Erin wants to take the photo now,” Keri said hurriedly as her son’s eyes lit up at the hint of his mother breaking the rules.
Luke leaned in toward the children, his grin wide. “If you two come help us with the milking tonight, Wade and I will tell you lots of stories about the things your mom did growing up.”
“Awesome.” Ethan high-fived Luke.
With a groan, Keri buried her head in Phil’s shoulder. “Remind me again why coming to the farm for vacation was a good idea?”
Phil gave her a cuddle. “Sharing your happy childhood memories with the kids.”
And Phil was right, Erin mused. The tension between the siblings had taken a backseat just as she’d hoped. “Let’s start with everyone over on the rail fence with the corn in the background?”
“Race ya!” Grace called as she took off fast.
All the Andersons sprinted after her.
Chapter Fourteen
Tony strode into the foyer of the Silver Birch Supper Club. He’d not eaten here before, although he’d checked and tagged all their fire extinguishers. Now he was here to meet Max and Nicole. Earlier in the day, Max’s camp class had come to the fire station for the field trip he’d organized. The kid had positioned himself next to him for the entire tour, asking a zillion questions, and Tony would’ve had to have been blind not to see how much Max craved some adult male attention. He understood perfectly.
Growing up in a household dominated by women, he’d idolized his father who’d taught him how to be a man, to respect women no matter what and to keep his mouth firmly shut at certain times of the month. Now, after having spent years putting his fatherhood dreams on ice for Loretta, they were now out of cold storage. He wanted to be a dad. He’d always wanted to be a dad and the pleading in Max’s eyes made it impossible not to want to be the guy in his life he could rely on and respect.
The only complications were Nicole and the specter of Max’s dead father. He already knew that spending time with Nicole and Max together was only going to taunt him with what he couldn’t have so he’d decided that spending one-on-one time with Max was the only way to stay sane. His solution was to suggest to Nicole that he spend time once a week with Max when Nicole was tied up with a wedding. He’d been about to suggest this when she arrived to pick up the little guy but before he could open his mouth, the kid had invited him to supper.
He’d laughed it off but later, when Max was out of earshot, Nicole had said, “The supper club has a great menu,” and she’d suggested a time to meet. The venue had surprised him as he’d thought Del’s or the local pizzeria would have been more suitable for an eight-year-old. He could imagine the damage Max would quickly inflict on the tablecloths.
“Hello, Chief,” Mrs. Norell greeted him as he crossed the foyer. “Are you here for the Friday-night fish fry?”
“I guess I am.” He smiled at the pink-haired dynamo. “Nicole’s introducing me to Wisconsin’s culinary traditions. We grilled brats last week.”
Her usual friendliness faded and her mouth tightened at the edges. “I heard that you did.”
Had he offended her somehow? She’d always been so friendly and had even gone to the trouble of cooking him some casseroles for his freezer. He tried his flirting banter, which usually made her and the other older ladies of the town twitter. “I’ve yet to try cream puffs, though, and I hear yours rival those of the state fair.”
“Oh, they do.”
But an invitation to sample them wasn’t forthcoming.
She gripped her purse tightly on her shoulder. “I guess I’ll be seeing you at the town meeting, Chief. I expect by then you’ll have done something about that pile of lumber at the Gundersons’. It’s tinder dry and a danger to the town. Goodbye.”
Her parting serve torched him like the flames from an unexpected blaze and he needed to roll his shoulders to physically throw off her unpredicted animosity as she walked away. He pulled open the restaurant door and glanced around the busy room. His Nicole-attuned radar meant he quickly spotted her.
“Evening, Chief.”
One of his volunteer firefighters was working as the host. “Hey, Eric. Great work the other day. I’m really proud of how you guys are pulling it all together. Next year we might think about entering the firefighters’ games.”
“I think the guys would like that.” Eric gave him a friendly smile, looked beyond him and picked up a menu. “On your own tonight, then?”
“Actually, I see Nicole Lindquist over there and—”
“Bradley was a good husband to her and a great father to Max.”
He nodded silently at the grief on the man’s face. Trying hard to overcome his jealousy of a dead man, he gave Eric what he hoped was a sympathetic smile. “So I’m told.”
Eric strode across the room to the small table where Nicole was sitting alone. “Are you okay with the chief sitting here?”
Nicole’s eyes darted between him and the host. “That will be fine, Eric.”
He turned
back toward Tony, slapped down the menu, shot him a look that said hurt her in any way and you’re toast, turned on his heel and walked away.
What the hell?
“Hi, Tony,” Nicole said. “You made it.”
Despite being dressed far more casually than her work wear, Nicole looked and sounded nervous. She also looked gorgeous. Her hair was loose, just brushing her shoulders and in place of her usual black business suit she wore a floral sundress with skinny straps that exposed her tanned shoulders. His body gave a collective groan and he quickly looked around seeking the distraction of Max. “Have we lost Max to the rec room already?”
The tip of her tongue moistened her top lip and with a massive effort he pulled his gaze away before he got hard in a public place and Eric punched him out. At that moment his brain managed to register what his eyes had been trying to tell him. The table only had two place settings.
“Max is at my parents’.”
He was instantly concerned, especially as the station had provided all the camp kids with a drink and a snack. The potential of having given fifteen kids food poisoning made him nauseous. “Is he sick?”
“No. I—”
The waitress arrived, cutting off the conversation. As she filled Nicole’s water, she asked her about Max and then said how she was counting nights before school started again and her own children were out of the house. She turned to Tony. “Are you eating?”
He smiled at her. “I think I’ll try the fish fry.”
“It’s finished,” she said flatly without offering up any other suggestions.
Nicole laughed. “Wow, that has to be a first in the history of the club.”
The waitress, whose name tag said Tina, ignored her and started to tap her foot.
Tony quickly scanned the menu. “Steak then. Medium and I’ll have the vegetables.”
“There’s only salad.” The waitress plucked the menu out of his hand and left before asking him what he’d like to drink. He called out, “Excuse me, Miss...” but she continued walking away.
He had the distinct sensation of having entered the Whitetail twilight zone. Everything and everyone looked the same but nothing was normal. “Is she usually so brusque?”
Nicole’s cheeks pinked. “Sorry. Tina has some problems at home and sometimes it spills into work. Eric always sits locals in her section and with tomorrow’s big wedding, it’s especially important the tourists and guests don’t get her. Everyone gets a little on edge the night before a big wedding.”
At least he was being considered a local. “Now, that explains a lot.”
Nicole’s heart skipped a beat as Tony leaned casually back in the chair, looking relaxed and gorgeous. Dressed in chinos and a red polo shirt that fitted across his shoulders and chest like a second skin, she didn’t need any imagination to know just how muscular and ripped he really was.
She pushed her untouched glass of water so it was in front of him and she took a slug of Dutch courage from the old-fashioned she’d ordered earlier. “So you’ve been here a few weeks now, how are you settling in?”
This is a date, Nicole, not an employee review. Relax. She was jumpy because unlike Erin, who seemed at ease with the idea of asking for whatever she wanted, Nicole had wimped out at being totally up front about this being a date. Obviously, Tony had expected Max to be here. What if he’d only come because of Max?
She pulled in a long, slow breath and let it ride out. Feeling calmer, she wrapped the fingers of her left hand around her glass, hoping Tony might notice what was missing.
Tony’s brow was creased in thought. “I think I’m settling in well. I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying the slower pace and I love waking up in the morning to the dawn chorus. There aren’t a lot of birds in Hackensack so it’s all new to me. I can now tell the difference between a common grackle and a yellow-bellied sapsucker.”
She loved the way his enthusiasm roved all over his face. “You’re way ahead of me then. All I can recognize are a humming bird and an osprey, and I grew up here.”
He seemed to hesitate before replying and then leaned forward, looking slightly embarrassed. “I bought a bird book and a bird feeder but please don’t mention it to the guys or I’ll never live it down.”
Not many men would dare admit to something like that and his expression was so endearing that it sparked a warm and fuzzy feeling around her heart. Ruggedly handsome and strong as an ox on the outside and with a soft and gentle middle. God, he was better than chocolate.
She breathed in his cologne and tried not to sigh. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
“Good to know.” His eyes sparkled at her. “As far as I can see, the only thing missing in Whitetail is a place that makes a really good cannelloni or lasagna.”
Their conversation reminded her of the easy companionship they’d shared on the hike and she basked in it. “Whitetail’s a bit low on Italians. Apart from you, the closest we’ve got is Theo, who runs the pizzeria, except his family arrived from Greece two generations ago.”
“A Greek cooking Italian food?” Tony sounded skeptical.
“Our Swedish palates think he makes a pretty good thin-crust pizza in his wood-fire oven, not to mention fabulous Greek flat bread. I guess you could always put Sven’s Swedish meatballs into a tomato-based sauce and that would give you Bolognese.” His horrified expression made her laugh. “Or not.”
“My nonna thinks I’ve moved to the ends of the earth so she’s sent me her treasured lasagna recipe. I have strict instructions not to share it with anyone except my first born.”
He laughed, a warm, rolling sound that gathered her in and hugged her, and then he said, “The way things are going I might be forced to make it.”
I’ll cook it for you. “So you can cook?”
His mouth tweaked up on one side. “I learned out of necessity.”
She stirred her drink. “Bachelors have to, I guess.”
“I’m divorced, Nicole.”
His matter-of-fact words seemed devoid of any residual pain about the end of his marriage, which was in stark contrast to her own experience. “I’m sorry.”
His dark eyes stared into hers. “No need for sorry. Getting divorced was the best decision Loretta and I ever made. Together we were both miserable and we should never have got married in the first place.”
“So why did you?”
He shrugged. “We’d been dating for a few years, all our friends were getting married and we blindly followed without discussing a few basic life goals first.”
She thought about her own premarital counseling. “Even when you do, things can change.”
“Sure, but when one of you wants children and the other doesn’t, it’s a pretty fundamental difference.”
He was so great with Max she couldn’t imagine he’d been the one not wanting children but she had to ask. “And where do you sit on the issue of children?”
His entire face creased into a wide smile and something flared in his eyes that made her breath catch.
“I was the one who wanted them.”
An internal sigh rolled through her. She’d always wanted another child but Bradley had asked her to wait. And wait. “Did you always want to live in a small town too?”
“I never really thought about it. Hackensack’s big compared with Whitetail but in a lot of ways it’s very similar with everyone up in everyone else’s business. It took me a while to realize things would be better if one of us was out of there. Given Loretta’s busy building her accounting firm and recently married her business partner, it was always going to be me who left. This job came up and I took it.”
She thought about the past eighteen months where she’d lurched from anger at Bradley’s bombshell to grief and then back to anger again, how trapped she felt and how at times depression had cloaked he
r. “You seem so together about it all.”
His lips quirked up into a wry expression. “Now I am, but believe me, when it happened, I was a mess. No one ever gets married thinking it’s going to end.”
She kept silent but she understood all about that.
His fingers thrummed the table. “Divorce puts you in this weird place where you have to watch the other person getting on with their life while you’re floundering with yours. At least death’s final—” His face paled under his tan. “Shit, Nicole...” His hand quickly covered hers, squeezing it tightly. “I didn’t mean... Oh hell... Shit, sorry.”
He looked so remorseful, so upset and yet caring that guilt whipped her in much the same way it did when the town was being solicitous toward her. They thought they were sharing her loss. Only their grief and hers were not remotely the same thing.
She hated that Tony was feeling bad when there was no reason for him to feel that way at all. As much as she loved and craved the touch of his hand and the wonderful things it was doing to her, she knew she was accepting it under false pretenses. It was time for her to be totally up front and tell him the truth about Bradley.
“Nicole,” John Ackerman’s voice boomed out as he marched determinedly toward them.
Not ready to deal with disapproving looks from John, she hastily withdrew her hand and thrust it into her lap seconds before he appeared at the table.
“We need to talk about the chocolate order for Sunday’s wedding,” John said, completely ignoring the fact she was dining with Tony.
An irritated breeze blew through her. “Can’t it wait until we’ve eaten?”
John shook his head. “No. The supplier’s got a problem and we have to make some decisions now or the bride’s handmade chocolates will be store-bought and Whitetail Weddings will get a reputation for not delivering. You know we can’t risk that.”
Despairing that John was right, she rose regretfully to her feet as disappointment pummeled her. “I’m sorry, Tony. Perhaps we could—”