“Tell me what you want, what you really, really want,” he sang with the Spice Girls, a song Jenna actually knew.
“Ever think of doing karaoke?” she shouted above the music.
“We’ll do that next time.” He took her hands in his and spun her around, then dipped her across his knee.
They danced for a few more songs until her ribs hurt from laughing and her mouth was dry and parched.
“You. Are a child.” His brother sighed at him when they returned to the booth.
“Hey. At least I know how to have fun. You should go dance with your fiancé`.”
Jenna sipped her water and watched Grace, Hope, and Mia dance circles around Jay and Cameron.
“I’m good.”
“You’re not dancers?” Jenna asked Alexis and Ben.
“We save ourselves for the slow ones.” Ben winked and kissed his wife on the lips.
It was sweet, those two. Someday she hoped to find someone who loved her unconditionally. She thought she had...
“Wow. When a girl zombie stares at a wall it’s a sure sign she’s not interested.” Carter sipped his beer and shrank away from her, an exaggerated frown on his face.
“I’m sorry. I was...” What? Thinking about her past. Damn Tristan for clouding her thoughts when she’d finally found a guy she was interested in.
She chewed her bottom lip and turned toward Carter. He was boyishly cute with his blond hair and blue eyes. Not quite a pretty boy. Something between a Ken doll and a frat boy. Plus a decade.
From what Mia had told her, he was thirty, only a year younger than her. Yet he acted like he was still in college.
“No harm no foul. You recharged and ready to get back on the dance floor? I like the way you move.”
“You do?” The grin on his lips told her he was teasing, but not in a mocking manner.
“Come on, princess. Let’s go for another whirl.”
Princess. Jenna almost snorted. Plain, simple, artistic, maybe a bit socially awkward. A princess she was not. She took his hand and let him guide her back onto the dance floor. They’d only rested for one song, but Carter’s energy was intoxicating.
She laughed as he twirled and dipped her. Soon, Grace, Hope, and Mia joined them. When Big and Rich’s Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy came on, Mia shoved Jay in the middle of their circle. Carter eagerly joined him and yanked Cameron to join as the girls danced around them.
Jenna’s cheeks hurt from laughing and singing so loudly. At the next song, they broke off into couples, Grace tugging Brady from his seat, and Alexis and Ben joining them all on the dance floor.
“Having fun?” Carter asked, his hands resting respectfully on her lower back.
“I am.” She rested her hands on his shoulders. Warm and strong. This was nice. This was comfortable. If she wasn’t careful, she could see herself falling for a guy like him.
Being attracted to the silly goof of the group surprised her. She was a fairly serious person. Not boring, she hoped. Life had dealt her a crappy hand, and she’d learned how to live with it. Unfortunately it also stripped a huge chunk of fun and carefreeness from her.
“Crap. The zombie apocalypse comes again.”
“Hm?” Jenna looked up into his teasing blue eyes. Pretty eyes. Bright blue, like the sky on a cloudless day. If portraits were her thing, she’d totally paint his face.
“When my girl zones out twice in one night? Carter Marshall isn’t doing his job.” With that, he slid his hands up her sides, sending off a shockwave of tingles up her spine. They were either tingles of surprise or of awareness; it was too soon to tell. He grasped her hands in his and stepped out in an exaggerated waltz.
His intent wasn’t to take her on a romantic spin about the dance floor, but to make fools of themselves and lighten the mood.
He was good at that. Too good. He could snap her out of a trance, out of a bad mood with a simple silly antic. They circled the dance floor once, and then he whipped her right arm out straight with a snap.
“Let’s tango,” he said seriously.
“I don’t know how.” Jenna giggled like a schoolgirl.
“Neither do I.” He moved in crisp, silly moves, doing an amazing job mimicking the dancers on Dancing with the Stars.
Cameron smirked and picked up Hope’s hand, following suit. Then Jay and Mia did the same.
“Don’t even think about it,” she heard Brady growl as he and Grace sidled up next to them.
“We need to practice for our wedding.” Grace moved her hands from around Brady’s neck and clutched his hands in hers.
“I like dancing like this. Nice and close. I don’t need to look like an idiot. Save that for Carter.”
Carter shook his head in disappointment. “Do you mind? I hate to see my soon-to-be sister-in-law sad and lonely tonight.”
“I don’t mind at all.” Jenna released his hands and grinned as he moved Grace around the dance floor.
“Sorry about my brother.”
“Don’t be. I’m having fun.”
Brady’s face was priceless. “Then I guess you’re more suited for him than I thought.” He strode off to the table, and Jenna hurried after him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She didn’t care that she sounded sharp with him.
“I didn’t mean to offend.”
Why was everyone saying that to her lately? Taking her seat across from Brady, she waved her hand through the air. “Elaborate.”
“I apologize for stepping over the line.”
“I need clarification on the apology. I’m assuming you gave me a backhanded insult, but I don’t quite understand it. Or is that what makes me compatible with your brother?”
Jenna had a feeling it was another case of her being too plain and ordinary. Too simple for a fun guy like Carter. Although she hadn’t expected his brother to be so obvious about it. She didn’t know him well, but Brady had the reputation of being a hardworking, quiet, simple guy.
If anything, she had more in common with him than his brother.
“I’m not really good with the communicating thing. Grace can vouch for me there. She could as well.” Brady rubbed his nose and nodded to Alexis who was engrossed in something Ben was whispering in her ear as they neared the table.
“Hm? What?” Alexis brushed Ben away with a laugh.
“Brady was going to explain why I’m either not good enough for Carter or just like him. I’m not really sure where he’s going with this conversation.” Jenna crossed her arms in a huff.
She’d only had two rum and Cokes, but it had given her enough of a buzz to call Brady on his words, however confusing they were.
“You didn’t,” Alexis gasped.
“I didn’t. Or maybe I did. I don’t know.” Brady picked up his beer bottle and took a sip. “I said something to tick her off, but that’s not what I meant.”
“Brady gets confused and tongue-tied around beautiful women. We’ve had the pleasure of witnessing it a lot this past year,” Ben added.
“Thanks, guy.”
“Doing my duty.” Ben held up his bottle in a salute.
“What I meant to say,” Brady adjusted his body, blocking Alexis and Ben and focusing on Jenna, “was that I had pegged you with a different type of guy.”
“Such as...” Jenna tapped her foot nervously. Was she not good enough for Carter? She didn’t have the class and beauty Grace brought to their family. Dancing with the Little House on the Prairie type had probably stunned the entire bar.
“Someone classier.”
His comment took her back. “Classier?”
“Yeah. You’re too good for my meathead brother. He attracts the party girl with no future. No ambition. You have a good head on your shoulders, so seeing the two of you have so much fun together took me by surprise.”
“We were just dancing.”
“I’d say it’s more than that. My brother hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night. Even now he’s scowling at me from across the dance floor a
s he holds my fiancé in his arms.”
Jenna spun her head around and caught him glaring. Yes, glaring, at his brother. The song ended, and he dropped Grace’s hands and made it to their table in five long strides.
“You two seem pretty chummy over here.” He joined Jenna on the bench, looping his arm around the back of her seat.
Brady grinned and cocked his head. “Told ya.”
“Told you what?” Carter ignored his brother and looked down at Jenna.
His face was too close. His lips were at eye level. His arm felt too nice. Another rush, this time of warm deliciousness, wrapped around her like a thick blanket on a winter’s day.
“Nothing. We’re chatting.”
“Mmhm.” His baby blue eyes squinted, making her cheeks grow as warm as the figurative blanket he’d wrapped around her.
“I hate to be the party pooper, but I told my folks we’d be back by eleven. I grabbed our tab.” Hope scooped up her purse and swallowed the last of her water.
“I said the same to my parents,” Alexis said.
“And I said the same to Lily,” Jenna dittoed.
Ben and Brady took out their wallets, and Mia reached into her back pocket pulling out her credit card. “On me,” she said to Jay. He shrugged in compliance.
Jenna opened her purse and slid a few bills across the table to Ben who was calculating the tab.
“Hey. Don’t offend me by doing that.” Carter slapped his hand down on top of hers.
Now she was the one to offend others? “By paying my way?”
“You’re my date. I have a little class, you know.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Maybe. But I want to.” He shot her a wink and slid their joined hands back toward her. “I had fun tonight.”
“Thanks.” She put the money back in her purse. “I did too.”
Carter tossed some bills to Ben and stuffed his wallet in his back pocket
“We square?” Mia asked Ben.
“Let’s pile in the paddy wagon.”
Once they got to the parking lot, they hugged Hope and Cameron who drove separately, and climbed into Ben’s SUV. The eight-passenger vehicle was perfect for their group night, and only Ben had to worry about driving.
None of them drank a lot anyway, but it was nice to have a trustworthy driver. Brady and Grace were tucked in the third row while Mia, Carter, and Jenna filled the middle row. Sitting in between them, she appreciated Mia’s idle chatter, but it didn’t distract from the heat from Carter’s leg nestled next to hers.
Or from his arm so casually draped across her shoulder. This was nice. She could totally get used to this. He was a sweet, funny, carefree guy, and he was good friends with her friends. He was exactly what she needed right now.
When they pulled into the Marshall driveway, Carter tugged her out of the SUV so Brady and Grace could climb out. Standing close in her space, he toyed with her braid.
“Want to do this again sometime?”
“Sure. It’ll be hard to find a time when we’re all free again, though.”
“I’m fine with it being just the two of us.”
“Oh.”
“Think about it.” He shot her his classic wink before dropping a kiss to her cheek.
With a whistle and a wave, he strode casually into his house.
When she climbed back into the vehicle, she was greeted by three grinning faces.
“So. You and Carter.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted, Mia?”
“Maybe. The question is, is this what you want?”
“I don’t know.”
He distracted her, made her laugh, and made her feel again. And it had been too dang long since she felt.
CHAPTER SIX
The ringing of his cell phone jarred Tristan from a deep sleep where he’d been dreaming about lobster, Jenna, and Jaws. Not anxious to see where the dream would take him, he rolled over and grabbed his phone without opening his eyes.
“Hello,” he mumbled into it.
“Glad to know my only son is still alive. In case you’re wondering, your mother is doing okay but hasn’t left the house in nine days.”
“Good morning, Ma.”
“Morning. Ha. It’s after noon.”
Squinting, he pulled his phone away from him and read the clock. Quarter past, to be exact.
“I got home late.” Tristan stretched and rolled to his side.
“Now that you’re divorced, again, you’re living like a you’re in your twenties.”
As if. He’d missed the party scene. Married at twenty, and poor as the people in Sherwood Forest, he skipped right over that phase. By the time he’d made money, he didn’t have the time or energy to party much.
“I catered a wedding. By the time I got back and everything cleaned and put away, it was nearly three in the morning.”
When he got home, he showered and was then too awake and alert to go to bed. He’d spent a solid hour brainstorming new recipes, making a grocery list, and updating his catering menu. The sun was peeking over the horizon by the time he actually hit the mattress.
“Do you have any time in your schedule now that you’re not married or stuck in a restaurant all day to visit your mother? You know, I don’t know how much time I have left on this planet.”
It was her same old song and dance. As the only child, a lot of pressure fell on Tristan’s shoulders to care for his mother. Especially since it was his fault—sort of—she had been on disability for the past eight years.
“I’ll jump in the shower and be on my way. I’ll be there by three. We can go out for dinner. Your pick.”
If she chose Denny’s again, he’d throw up. While he loved breakfast food and the occasional artery clog, he didn’t have the appetite to dine at a greasy spoon tonight.
“Sissy said there’s a new Italian place in Brewer that’s all hoity-toity. You might want to check out the competition.”
“If that’s what you want, Ma.”
Rockland was a solid hour and a half away from Bangor so the competition, even if he had a restaurant in the area, wouldn’t have been much. His mom knew he left Maestro in Portland, but she hadn’t truly grasped on to his new career as a caterer.
She thought of it as a demotion or a temporary reprieve from the fast-paced restaurant business.
“It’s hard living alone, you know.”
“I know.” Although Tristan rather enjoyed it.
“Before my accident, I had quite the social life.”
And here comes the guilt. He could always tell when his mother stopped taking her medication. Granted, he’d been busy making new connections, trying new recipes, and catering events that he had neglected his mother.
“I’ll see you in a few hours, Ma.”
“I used to go dancing with Beverly. Do you remember that?”
The only time he remembered was at Beverly’s third wedding. It had been in the back of a country bar, and he and Jenna had been married for less than a year. They couldn’t afford their own wedding and used the occasion to get dressed up and dance all night as if it was their own.
“Sure.” Tristan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and swung his legs around to the edge of the bed. “I’m going to make some breakfast and hop in the shower. Is there anything you need me to bring you?”
“A phone call now and then and a visit from my only son is all I need.”
His mother had mastered the skill of lacing her words with passive aggressive guilt. While she never came out and openly admitted she blamed Tristan for her depression, disability, weight gain and loneliness, he knew that was how she felt.
And the crappy thing about it ... was she was right.
JENNA WAS DEAD ON HER feet, but falling into bed at five o’clock in the afternoon held no excitement for her. Last night, Jerry had been sound asleep when she got home, but by one in the morning he was up coughing. She’d banged on his back like his nurses had shown her, but the fluid build-up wasn’t breaking d
own, and he was having a harder time breathing.
The ambulance had taken him to the hospital around three, and she’d followed in her car. After pacing the hallways for four hours, the nursing staff finally sent her home. There wasn’t much she could do, and Jerry was sleeping, which was exactly what he needed.
With him well cared for, she drove home and cleaned. Stripped his sheets, did his laundry, scrubbed the floors, the walls, and even the oven. If she stopped moving, her mind would think.
And thinking was off the table. In the hour of silence she had before Jerry’s coughing fit started, she’d thought about Carter and his beautiful eyes and contagious laugh. About swirling around the dance floor with him.
When sleep took over, her mind face-swapped blue eyes with hazel, light blond hair with a darker shade. Smiling lips turned into a concerned frown. Dancing in the bar with all her friends to dancing in the back of a country bar with her husband.
Jerry’s interruption in her sleep was a welcome relief, if only the poor man hadn’t been suffering so much.
Worrying about his health preoccupied her all morning as did doing housework. She couldn’t stop. If she did ...
Since the house was as shining as the one hundred year old structure could get, she slipped her cell phone into the pocket of her loose sweatshirt and tugged on her ratty, stained leggings. Sliding into her clogs by the back door, she snatched her travel mug filled with green tea and went out to the barn to work on her pottery.
Ben had placed a decent sized order for Coastal Vines which would keep her busy for a while.
She plugged her phone into her Bluetooth speakers, making sure the ringer was on high in case the hospital called, and scrolled through her playlist. To say her taste in music was eclectic was putting it mildly.
Enya for yoga or when she wanted something soothing. Eighties and nineties pop when she was in an energetic mood, and eighties metal when she needed to rock out. Alternative rock for when she needed inspiration, and even a country music playlist for when she needed to laugh at something.
Finding Our Way Back (A Well Paired Novel) Page 5