The Plan

by Tawdra Kandle

  I giggled, relief beginning to unwind in my chest. “Did you seriously just compare yourself to the Virgin Queen?”

  Abby nodded, her lips twitching. “Yup. I totally identify with her. She had all the men groveling at her feet, and she kept them dancing. ‘I might marry you . . . or I might not.’ That’s my role model.” She tilted her head. “Plus, she ruled England. Not a bad gig, all things considered.”

  “You’re a nut, you know?” I nudged her with my foot under the counter.

  “Yeah, I know.” She finished her coffee and pushed away the cup. “In all honesty, I’m not looking for a man in my life. I guess I think if it’s meant to be, it’s going to have to knock me on my ass, sweep me off my feet and carry me away before I know what’s happening. Or I’ll find some way to screw it up.”

  I nodded. “You got hurt pretty bad in Boston, didn’t you?” I knew that was where Abby had worked before she moved down here. The flash of surprise on her face confirmed my suspicion.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Emmy. I’m just not ready to talk to anyone about it, even after all this time. Thanks for not pushing me on it.”

  I patted her arm. “I get it. Besides, I bitch enough about Eddy for the both of us.”

  Abby’s forehead crinkled. “You really don’t. I remember when I met you. Jude had told me a little bit of your history, and I expected to meet this harried, bitter woman, trying to hold it all together. Turned out the only part I was on target about was the trying to hold it all together. You rarely say anything about Eddy at all, and God knows you’ve got cause. I admire you for that, Em. It’s one of the reasons your kids are so well-adjusted and independent, too.”

  “Don’t tell them that. I have them fooled into thinking they’re still going to need me for a few more years. I need the unpaid labor.” I stood up. “Oh, I guess we should talk about what you want for next week. I was thinking blueberry scones and chocolate croissants, and a few mixed berry pies. Does that work?”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Abby stood up, too. “Thanks, Emmy. See you next week?”

  “Sure.” I paused in the doorway, looking back at her. “Abby, did Jude come right out and say she was trying to set you up with Cooper? Or was it just a feeling?”

  Her cheeks pinked a little. “I asked her as I was leaving. Cooper had taken off while I was helping Jude clean up, so I got the message loud and clear that he wasn’t interested. I mentioned something about him, and Jude said she’d thought maybe we’d make a nice couple.” Abby shrugged. “It was a sweet idea, but it just didn’t work out.”

  “There’s someone out there for you, Abby. You’re too wonderful a person to be the next Virgin Queen.” I squeezed her arm.

  “Hey, right back at you.” She cocked her head. “Are you looking? You’ve got a lot to offer, Em.”

  I opened the door, laughing as I glanced back at her over my shoulder. “Ha. Yeah, three kids, a crazy schedule and what’s left of me at the end of the day. I’m hardly the greatest catch out there.” Before she could say anything else, I waved. “See you later, lady. Thanks for the coffee.”

  I made my way around to the front of the big yellow house, turning onto the sidewalk as I headed toward the beach. The Tide rose up to my left; there was a crowd milling just outside the door, which wasn’t unusual for this time of year. Tourists wandered in and out of the bar all day. I crossed the street, waving my thanks to the driver of the car who stopped to let me pass.

  I didn’t bother to go in through the regular door, instead climbing up the wooden steps that led to the deck. Spotting my daughter’s red head, I moved in that direction.

  “DJ! Try to catch me!” Dee darted just out of the small boy’s reach, giggling. The child’s dark head bobbed as he tried to catch my daughter. On a chair near them, Izzy was holding little Brenna, Jude’s granddaughter.

  “Aren’t they adorable?” Jude’s voice near my ear made me jump. “Brenna loves Izzy. Both the girls are such a help to Lindsay. Maybe we can work out something for them this summer to come over and give her a hand some days.”

  “They’d love that.” I watched the four of them and then glanced at Jude. “I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you were usually off on Thursday afternoons now.”

  “Most of the time I am. But Lindsay took Brenna for a well-child check today, so I came in to cover for her.” She looked over her shoulder toward the inside of the restaurant. “Plus . . . season. I think it’s going to be all hands on deck for the next few weeks at least.”

  “I was just saying the same thing to Abby.” I pulled out a chair and sat down, and Jude followed suit. “Speaking of Abby. I heard you were up to old tricks, Miss Jude.”

  Her face flushed a little, but Jude put on a good show of innocence. “Me? I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Mmmhmmm. Abby ratted you out.”

  She threw up her hands. “So sue me. I saw two single people in my life, and I thought they might be good together. We had a nice dinner. No harm, no foul.”

  “True.” I looked out over the ocean. The beach was fairly crowded for late afternoon, since it was a pretty day; the sky was blue and the sun still strong. Weather could be a crap shoot this time of year, even here in Florida. Some days were gorgeous and warm, and then it could turn on a dime and be chilly and gray for a week.

  “Jude, can I ask you something? How come you never tried to set me up with anyone?”

  Her eyes went wide in surprise, and her mouth fell open a little. “Oh, Emmy. I . . . I don’t know. I guess it always just seemed like your life is so complete, I figured you weren’t interested in another relationship.”

  “Ah.” I nodded. “But Abby looks like she’s on the prowl? And Cooper’s in the market for a steady girl?”

  Jude shifted in her chair, uncomfortable. “I see what you mean. I don’t know, Emmy. I honestly never felt like you needed a man in your life. It’s not that I don’t care about you, sweetie. You know I do.”

  “I do know. I was just surprised about Abby. And Cooper.” Staring out at the sea again, I sighed.

  “There wasn’t any chemistry.”

  I turned my head. “What’s that?”

  “Chemistry. None of it at all between Abby and Coop. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. There was like, there was respect, but nothing sizzled.” She smirked. “No spark.”

  I raised one eyebrow. “I think I’m missing something.”

  Jude laughed. “Oh, it’s nothing. Back before Logan and I—well, were Logan and I, Cooper made a move on me. Sort of.”

  I settled back in my chair. “This I have to hear.”

  “It was more funny than anything else. I didn’t know it at the time, but the posse had decided that Cooper, Matt and Logan would all date me and see if any of us worked out. It sounds silly now, but it was their way of taking care of me after Daniel died.” A sad smile curved her lips. “Matt took me out to dinner, and it inspired me to set him up with Sandra. Cooper kissed me one day in his workshop.”

  “Oh, my God. Cooper kissed you? What did you do?” I couldn’t imagine Jude and Coop together.

  “At first I was shocked. And then I realized that while it was, um, nice, it wasn’t setting me on fire.”

  I wanted to laugh, remembering how I felt the first time Cooper touched my lips with his. Fire? Oh, you betcha. I was basically a crispy timber from that minute on.

  “ . . . so when he paused, I stopped him from going on. I told him that even though I’d always love him, we didn’t have a spark.” She touched her lips, as though remembering. “I think even then, although Logan hadn’t touched me yet, I already knew I had that spark with him. Cooper said something about us being too old to worry about a spark and I told him that was ridiculous. I wanted to hold out for the spark. And I told him he should hold out for it, too.”

  Breathing was becoming an issue. All I could remember was the heat between Cooper and me that night. Spark? Oh, yeah. And then some. Spark to spare.

/>   “I always thought Cooper said he was done with relationships.”

  Jude nodded. “He does say that. And to give him his due, he’s had some bad experiences. But I don’t think Cooper’s washed up yet. There’s someone out there for him. Someone who can put up with his bullshit and coax him out of his moods. He can be intense, our Coop. He goes into hiding sometimes, and he needs someone to pull him out of it.” She glanced at me. “Someone strong, and tough.”

  Heat crept up my neck. “I guess that’s true.” I murmured the words and then pulled out my phone. “Cripes, look at the time. I need to get these kids moving. Izzy still has some homework, and Cam’s probably driving Matt bonkers down at the store. I’ll just text him to meet us at the van.” I stood, pushing in my chair. “Thanks, Jude. Let me know if you and Linds are serious about the girls helping out. They’d be thrilled.”

  “Will do. See you tomorrow afternoon?” Jude stood up, too, watching me with a small smile playing on her lips.

  “Yep, with bells on.” I raised my voice to call the girls and hustled them back to our car, all the while thoughts of sparks and kisses and electric blue eyes filled my mind, reminding me that my one-night hookup was far from forgotten.

  “OH, MR. DAVIS. OH, MY. It’s just . . . oh, my.”

  The hugely pregnant woman sitting in the middle of my workshop burst into tears and buried her face in her hands. She leaned forward, sniffling, and ran one finger over the smooth wood of the armrest. Behind her, an older woman dabbed at her own eyes.

  “I’m sorry.” Blowing her nose, the daughter pushed herself to stand. “I’m very emotional right now. I’m two weeks overdue, and the doctors keep telling me the baby will come when he’s ready, but I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever and everything makes me cry. Mom kept saying the chair would never be ready by the time we brought the baby home from the hospital, but now it will be and it’s the first thing that’s gone right in months. You have no idea.”

  I shifted my weight to my other leg. “I get it. I, uh, I have a daughter. I remember how tough the last weeks were for my ex-wife.”

  “Oh, see?” Daughter turned to her mother. “I told you he was a good man.” She looked back at me. “Thank you for understanding. Now if we can just load the chair into my—oh!”

  There was a loud pop and then a gush, and then there was a puddle under my jigsaw.

  “So what did you do?” Matt took a long drink of beer, watching me over the bottle. We were at the Surf Line, which was closed for the night. I came down here sometimes to see him after hours, check in on some of our community projects or just catch up on life. Matt always kept a cooler in the back room, fully stocked with our favorite brews.

  I shrugged. “What could I do? I called 9–1-1, got a ton of rags to mop up the mess and then arranged for the chair to be delivered to her house. It’ll be there when she gets home with the baby.” I tipped back my beer and then added, “It was a boy. Ten pounds, eight ounces, twenty-two inches long.”

  “Holy shit. That poor woman.” Matt shuddered. “Well, at least the chair’s done and out of your hair.”

  “Yeah, and I already arranged for a hazmat cleaning service to come over to take care of my workshop floor.”

  Matt laughed. “Dude, you’re a father. I’d think you’d be used to that kind of shit.”

  I shook my head. “Lex is so old now, I’ve blocked all that other stuff out of my head. It no longer exists for me.”

  “Yeah, well . . .” He ducked his head. “I guess I need to start thinking about it. Sandra’s pregnant.”

  It took me a minute to process what he was saying, and then a whoosh of gladness overwhelmed me. “Oh my God, man. Congratulations. Holy crap. You’re going to be a dad.”

  “I know.” He grinned. “We’ve known for a little bit, but Sandra asked me not to say anything until she got through the first trimester. Now it looks like it’s going to stick, so I’m allowed to spread the news.”

  “I don’t know if I’m more shocked that you’re going to be a father or that you kept a secret that long, blabber Matt.” I poked him in the ribs, remembering his old nickname.

  “There’s actually more. Sandra and I got married as soon as we found out.”

  “What the fuck!” I pulled out a display cube and dropped onto it. “So you’re married and you’re pregnant? And you’re just now telling me. Where did you get married?”

  He sat, too. “We drove to the Keys and got married at a little church down there. It was just the two of us, no one else. But I’ve known for a long time that I wanted her to be my wife, and whether or not the pregnancy stuck, I knew I wanted to. Stick, I mean.”

  “Am I the first one you’re telling?”

  Matt nodded. “Yeah. I’ll let everyone else know over the next few days. We’re going to have some kind of party or something to celebrate, but I wanted you to hear it from me.” He stood up. “Now if you don’t mind, I hate to cut this short, but I need to get home. Sandra’s still getting over all the puking, and evenings are rough on her.”

  “Sure thing.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m happy for you, Matt. Really. Nobody deserves it more than you.”

  We parted outside the store, and I stood next to my Jeep for a minute, watching the taillights of Matt’s car disappear down the road. Turning my head, I glanced toward the beach, where the lights from the Tide glowed bright, tempting me. I knew Emmy was in there, working the bar. I knew if I went inside, sat down, nothing would stop me from having her again tonight. As sure as I was standing here in the dark, I’d end up going home with her.

  I pushed off the car and made my way up the sidewalk, winding around all the people milling there. Since it was Saturday night, the music tonight would be live, and the crowds would be huge. I could hear the DJ who opened up on Saturdays playing something loud and country.

  The bar was filled, but I managed to wedge myself between two groups. One of the waitresses, Seline, waved at me and came down to take my order. “Hey, Cooper. What’re you doing here?”

  I frowned. Had Emmy told her about us? Why shouldn’t I be here? Seline must have seen the confusion on my face because she hastened to add, “I mean, we don’t see many locals during season.”

  “Oh.” I nodded. “Well, I was down having a beer with Matt, and I thought I’d just come and see who’s playing tonight. I don’t usually get to see the live bands.”

  “Well, you’re in for a treat tonight. This group’s just about explode. They’re a country band out of Alabama, and Mason—Meghan’s friend from up in Georgia? He hooked us up with them. Emmy’s really excited about it.”

  “That’s great.” Country music. It wasn’t my favorite, and I tried not to wince. “So speaking of Em, is she around?”

  Seline glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah, she’s here somewhere. Probably talking to the band or their manager.” She smiled at me. “What can I get you to drink?”

  “Just a beer, please. Whatever you’ve got handy on tap.”

  “Coming right up.” She turned to fill my order, and I let my eyes wander over everyone else at the bar, searching as subtly as I could for a red head. There were blondes galore, girls from their teens on up through middle age. More than a few brunettes. A few of the girls tried to catch my eye, but I didn’t let my gaze linger anywhere. I wasn’t interested in anyone but the woman I’d come here to see.

  Seline delivered my beer and waved as she skittered to the other side of the bar to take more orders. I watched her absently; she picked up an empty wine glass, and just then a group of people moved away, giving me a better view. I spotted the red hair I’d been searching for. And then my heart seized.

  Because Emmy was there, seated far too intimately next to a tall man with blond hair, artfully mussed in that way that made it look like he didn’t care—although of course he did. This guy was staring into her eyes, one hand on her shoulder. Those fingers were moving over Emmy’s skin, caressing the part exposed by her clinging tank top. His othe
r hand was at her waist, just resting there, curled over her hip. She had one of her small white hands on his tanned arm, and she was smiling as she spoke to him.

  My blood boiled. I always thought that was an expression, but now I knew what it meant. I wanted to grab this guy by the back of his neck and fling him away from Emmy, hit him right in his perfect nose.

  Son of a bitch.

  Before I knew what I was doing, I was pushing through the crowd, my eyes never leaving Emmy. Right as I drew up to them, the guy with his hands all over my girl saw me. His smile faded a little when he recognized the look in my eyes, I guessed, because he pulled back a little from Emmy and jerked his head in my direction.

  Emmy glanced around at me, and the flare I saw in her eyes burned down to make my cock go hard. She straightened up but didn’t move away from dickface.

  “Hey, Cooper.” The cool tone in her voice belied the fire I’d just seen on her face. “What’re you doing here?”

  “Who’s this?” I hooked my thumb in the direction of the handsy blond.

  He leaned around Emmy and extended one of those hands, smiling at me like we were about to become best friends. “Hi, I’m Alex Nelson. I’m a friend of Meghan’s from Georgia.”

  “Yeah.” I didn’t want to shake his hand, but he didn’t move back, and finally I realized I didn’t have a choice. Up close, I could see this guy was closer to Meggie’s age than to Emmy’s. He couldn’t be more than twenty-five or twenty-six. Still, Emmy didn’t look like she was much older.

  She shot me a look that promised imminent murder. “Alex is down here on business, and since Mason set up tonight’s band, he came in as a favor to make sure everything runs smoothly.” She turned back to Alex and smiled, this time with real warmth. “Alex, this is Cooper Davis. Don’t let his rudeness throw you. He’s a friend of Jude and Logan’s.”

  I noticed she didn’t include herself in that sentiment. Fine, I didn’t want to be her friend anymore anyway.

  “Oh, Cooper?” The dude’s eyes got real big. “You’re the one who made Meghan and Sam that beautiful chest as an engagement gift, aren’t you? Oh my God, it’s a work of art. I told my boyfriend about it, and he said he’d heard of you.” He hunched down a little and lowered his voice. “He’s an art dealer, so he knows more about that stuff than me. I’m basically a philistine, but I know what I like.”