Three perfectly bland expressions greeted her.
“Then he did come by?” Ashley said, confirming her role in getting him there. “Good.”
“You seem upset,” Melanie noted, looking more curious than repentant.
“I’m not upset,” she said, struggling to keep her tone neutral. She thought she was doing an admirable job of it. “Just surprised.”
“Everyone, including Ashley, says Pete does the best work of anyone in the area. Do you have a problem with letting him fix the porch?” Maggie asked.
“Yes, I have a problem with it,” she blurted without thinking. Damn, damn, damn. So much for neutrality. She should have taken some other approach. Now she’d all but admitted that it was personal.
“Which is?” Maggie persisted.
Jo tried to backtrack and come up with an explanation that wouldn’t stir up more questions. “You didn’t consult me,” she said finally. “It’s got nothing to do with Pete. I’m sure he’s very qualified, but I’m the one who’s going to have to deal with having him underfoot day in and day out. He’s there right now, brandishing some sort of weapon that smashes boards. I’ll be lucky if the place is standing when I get back.”
“Come on, Jo. Don’t exaggerate. He knows what he’s doing,” Ashley soothed, then grinned. “And he’s easy on the eye, don’t you think? He did a lot of the work for us, when Josh and I were fixing up our place. If I’d been single, I’d have definitely given him a second look.”
Jo rolled her eyes. She was beginning to get a much clearer picture. Pete’s presence was a gift from her big sister, a male distraction, eye candy. Geez-oh-flip, she was distraught over a broken engagement and Ashley was serving up more testosterone. If only she and the others understood the irony of this particular gesture.
Jo glanced up and realized Melanie was studying her with obviously increased curiosity.
“Is there some particular reason you don’t want Pete underfoot? I mean Pete specifically,” Melanie inquired. “I wasn’t even aware that you knew him, yet you seem to have taken an almost instant dislike to the man.”
Jo sighed. That was not a road she intended to travel down, even with her sisters. Her life was pathetic enough in their eyes at the moment without rehashing ancient history. She’d already stirred up more suspicion than she’d intended to.
“I don’t dislike him,” she lied. “I just wish you’d let me find my own contractor. I have a broken heart, not a broken brain. I need to find things to do, if I’m going to stay here for a while. I can’t just mope around the house all day. And despite what you think, looking at some hunk you’ve found for me is not the answer.”
“It’s an interesting start, though, don’t you agree?” Ashley asked. “I’d think you’d be more appreciative.”
Jo tried to muster up the expected gratitude, but all she could think of was just how badly their good intentions had gone awry.
“Have you spoken to him?” she asked Ashley instead. “Has he told you how long this job will take or how much it will cost? The man builds huge houses. I’ve seen the signs for them everywhere. He’s bound to charge a fortune for a minor little repair like this. I’m sure someone else, a handyman for instance, could do the work for a lot less.”
“Too late now, if Pete’s already started. Besides, I told you not to worry about the cost,” her big sister said. “And I trust Pete to do what needs to be done and to give me a reasonable price.”
“Really?” she said skeptically. “You trust him?”
Ashley’s antennae went on full alert. “Is there some reason you think I shouldn’t? I thought you said you didn’t know him.”
Jo saw that she wasn’t going to maneuver her sister into firing Pete, not without giving her something specific to go on. Since she wasn’t about to admit the one thing that might have done it, she merely shrugged.
“It’s your money,” she told Ashley. “I suppose I can put up with him for however long this takes. I don’t know how much thinking I’ll get done with all that clatter going on, though.”
“Just as well,” Melanie said. “You’re probably thinking too much. Forget about what happened in Boston. Forget about everything and relax.”
Jo bit back a laugh. As if she could relax when she was brushing up against the past every time she turned around! “Sure. I’ll try.”
“Maybe I should stop by and tell Pete he needs to clear everything with you,” Ashley suggested, her expression thoughtful. “That way you can decide when it’s most convenient for him to be there. He’s an accommodating guy.”
“No,” Jo said hurriedly. The last thing she wanted was to have her very perceptive big sister watching the interaction between her and Pete. “I’m sure we can devise some sort of schedule that works for both of us. I have no idea why I’m making such a big thing out of this. It’s silly, really.”
“Are you sure? The last thing I want to do is add more stress to your life,” Ashley told her.
Too late for that, Jo thought. She plastered a smile on her face. “Not to worry,” she assured Ashley. “I’m sorry I got you all worked up over this. It’s not a big deal. Really.” She stood up. “Now I’ve got to run.”
“Run where?” Maggie asked. “You haven’t even touched your coffee cake.”
Somewhere, anywhere, Jo thought desperately. She grabbed up the slab of cake and wrapped it in a napkin. “Errands,” she said succinctly. “I’ll take this with me.”
“I’ll come with you,” Melanie offered, pushing back her chair and standing. “I have some errands of my own.”
Jo frowned at her. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
Melanie immediately sat back down. “Sorry.”
Relenting, Jo crossed the room and gave her a hug. “I need to do things for myself, okay? It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer.”
“I know,” Melanie said, regarding her with sympathetic understanding. “We’re hovering.”
“You’re hovering,” Jo confirmed.
“Okay, then, go off on your own, baby sister,” Ashley said. “If you need us, all you have to do is call.”
Jo grinned. “I have all your numbers on speed dial on my cell phone.”
She hurried away before they remembered that down here in the boonies, her cell phone was virtually useless.
Pleased with herself, she noted that it was her second fast escape of the morning. At this rate, she was going to wind up being the family expert at quick getaways. Of course, unless she turned to bank robbery, it probably was a wasted talent.
Chapter Three
As he worked, Pete thought about how skittish Jo was around him. He couldn’t honestly blame her, but it was more distressing than he cared to admit. Once they’d been as close as any two people could be. They’d sat out in the backyard swing right here at Rose Cottage with the moon overhead and the Chesapeake Bay lapping at the shore, and talked for hours on end. A fierce attraction had burned between them, but more than that, they’d been comfortable together, in tune with each other. They’d shared their hopes and dreams.
Jo had been the first person he’d told about his desire to build homes right here in Virginia’s Northern Neck region. His uncle—his mother’s brother—had taught him the construction trade, taught him all about being a craftsman who took pride in his materials and his work.
For as long as he could remember, Pete had wanted to follow in his Uncle Jeb’s footsteps. Maybe that was only because Jeb was the only male role model in his life, but he didn’t think so. If he’d had to explain it, he would have said it was because his uncle had shared with Pete his lifelong passion for crafting something strong and solid.
“I think it’s because you want to build homes that will endure,” Jo had said to him one night, picking up on an emotion Pete hadn’t been able to express. “To make up for not having had one yourself. I’ll bet you can see families living in the homes you build. I imagine you can hear the laughter and feel the love that you think you missed.”
She’d understood him so well. Even at eighteen, she’d been able to put things into words that at twenty he’d barely recognized in himself—the hurts, the heartaches, the longings.
“We’ll have a home like that,” he’d promised her one night. “It will withstand the salt air, the winds, the storms. We’ll fill it with kids and laughter. The only thing more solid will be our marriage.”
Her eyes had been luminous in the moonlight. “I want that, Pete. More than you can imagine. Let’s not wait too long.”
“Just till you finish college and I’m established,” he’d said, thinking they had all the time in the world.
She’d gone back to Boston a few days later to begin her freshman year at Boston University, and he’d buried himself in work. His uncle was a demanding taskmaster, but the long, hard days had been worth every backbreaking minute because he had a goal, making a life for himself that he would one day share with Jo. He’d been so sure that the first house he built entirely with his own hands would be for the two of them.
But then Kelsey, whom he’d known most of his life, had started hanging around. She’d never gone to college, either, but unlike Pete, she was in a dead-end job she hated at the local grocery store. Whenever she had the time, she was looking for uncomplicated, undemanding fun.
Pete saw no harm in going out with her for a few beers. They both knew the score. She even knew he was in love with Jo and claimed not to care. “I’ll just keep your bed warm for her,” she promised when they’d tumbled into it. He’d had too many beers to think with anything other than his hormones. It was stupid. It was irresponsible and reckless. He regretted it even before he realized that he hadn’t used a condom. Then he’d known it was the worst mistake he’d ever made.
He hadn’t been surprised when Kelsey had told him she was pregnant. He’d been waiting with dread for just that news. It meant the end of his relationship with Jo, the end of his dreams.
But he’d accepted responsibility with no argument. He’d offered marriage and was determined to make the best of it. There had even been a few months at the beginning when he’d thought it might work, mostly because he and Kelsey were so in love with the baby they’d created.
Then there had been the endless months when he’d been forced to accept that it wasn’t working at all, would never work.
Even now, two years later, thinking about the misery of that time, about his son’s tears when Kelsey had dragged Davey off to Richmond and away from his dad tore Pete apart. Distracted by his dark thoughts, he carelessly smashed his thumb with a hammer, then cursed.
“You’ll ruin your reputation if people catch you doing stuff like that on the job,” Josh Madison commented, startling Pete so badly that he almost whacked his thumb again.
Grateful to have an excuse for a break, Pete stepped away from the remains of the porch. “What brings you by?”
“Ashley mentioned you were going to do some work over here. Thought I’d stop by and say hi, see how things are going.”
Pete’s gaze narrowed at the hint that Josh was somehow here to supervise. Did they not entirely trust him, after all? “That deck I built for you guys okay?” he asked Josh.
Josh chuckled. “Couldn’t be better. I’m not here to hassle you. I’m just killing time.”
“Good to know.” He gave Josh a curious look. “Things slow at your law practice?”
“Just right, actually. I have a lot of time for Ashley and for fishing. For the first time in my life, everything’s in perfect balance.”
“Sounds like every man’s dream,” Pete said enviously. Since he suspected there was something more on Josh’s mind, he waited to see if Josh would get around to it without prodding.
“You getting along okay with Jo?” Josh asked eventually.
So that was it. Pete gave him a sharp look. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Just wondering,” Josh said innocently. “She’s a little uptight these days. Just thought I’d warn you.”
Pete nodded. “I’d noticed.”
“Cut her some slack, okay? Ashley and the others are worried about her.”
Pete was glad to hear that they shared his concern. He also realized this was his chance to dig a little deeper into the circumstances that had brought Jo to town. “Any idea what the problem is?”
“Broken engagement,” Josh said. “Turns out the guy was a real jerk. She caught him cheating on her.”
Pete’s stomach fell. No wonder Jo was looking at him with even deeper disdain and distrust than he’d anticipated. She’d been twice burned by betrayal. He’d been the first, and now he was right here rubbing her nose in it when she was trying to recover from this latest heartbreak. His presence was probably going a long way toward reinforcing her impression that all men were worthless bastards.
“That’s tough,” he said, trying to keep any trace of emotion from his voice.
“I met the guy once,” Josh said. “She brought him to the wedding when Ashley and I got married. To tell you the truth, I think she’s better off, but that’s not something she wants to hear right now, I’m sure.”
Curiosity got the best of Pete. He wanted to know about the man Jo had chosen to marry, even if just thinking about her with someone else twisted his gut into knots. “You didn’t like the guy?”
Josh shook his head.
“Any particular reason?”
“Let’s just say he spent the wedding chatting up every other woman in the room. Since most of them were members of Jo’s family and married themselves, it seemed to me the handwriting was on the wall. He even put a couple of less-than-subtle moves on my wife. If I hadn’t walked up when I did, I think Ashley would have decked him.”
“Why the hell didn’t she warn her sister?”
“I think she tried, but Jo didn’t want to hear it. She was convinced Ashley had misread the man’s intentions. She was sure he was just being friendly, hoping to get the family to warm up to him. The D’Angelos are a tightknit clan.”
Pete regarded him intently. “Any chance Jo was right, that it was innocent?”
Josh laughed. “You know my wife. Does she strike you as someone who’d misread that kind of situation? No, she got it exactly right, and remember, I heard most of it, too.” He shrugged. “But you know how people are when they’re in love. They have to figure out their mistakes for themselves. And there’s not a more loyal, trusting woman around than Jo. She didn’t want to believe the worst.”
“I suppose,” Pete said, his guilt stirring all over again. Jo had trusted him once, and look what he’d done. She was probably convinced now that her judgment about men sucked. That meant it was going to be a whole lot harder for him to convince her otherwise.
Josh regarded him curiously. “You seem awfully interested.”
“You know me. I’m a sucker for a woman in distress.”
“I doubt she’d want your pity.”
Pete laughed. “No kidding. I do have a few functioning brain cells. There hasn’t been a woman born who wants a man coming around out of pity.” He studied Josh curiously. “Why’d you tell me all this? Just so I’d keep an eye out for her?”
Josh rolled his eyes. “Come on, Catlett, get serious. Everyone in town knows your reputation. Since your divorce, you date a lot, but you don’t get serious. Let’s just consider this conversation fair warning. Jo’s vulnerable. A lot of people will be upset if you hurt her.”
Little did he know, Pete thought wryly.
“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind,” Pete promised. “I’ll try not to jump her bones first chance I get.”
Josh scowled at him, clearly taking the comment at face value. “I’m trusting you to keep that promise.”
He was gone before Pete could reply. Of course, the truth was that he hadn’t needed Josh’s warning to know to take things slowly with Jo. She had warning signs posted around her that all but shouted her vulnerability.
And even if she hadn’t, she’d made it abundantly clear that she was str
ictly off-limits to Pete in particular.
Of course, he admitted to himself, that only made things interesting. There was nothing on earth that Pete liked better than a challenge. That it happened to be provided by a woman he’d once loved just made it that much more fascinating.
Jo managed to hide out till dusk, certain that once the light died Pete would be forced to quit for the day.
Now she stood in the front yard and gaped at what had once been the porch. It was a yawning, empty space that stretched out between where she was and the door. Four-by-four posts propped up the porch roof.
Thanks to the dimming light and shadows, getting inside suddenly seemed treacherous. The only alternative was to go around back, but she wasn’t even sure if her key worked in that lock, which raised something of a quandary. How the devil was she supposed to get inside without crawling over the threshold in some awkward spectacle?
She was still pondering her choices when the front door opened, startling her so badly, she dropped the bags she was carrying. Thankfully, nothing she’d bought on her shopping spree was breakable.
“There you are,” Pete called out from inside. “I was wondering when you’d be back. I didn’t want to leave till you turned up.”
Jo frowned. His presence was precisely why she’d stayed away so long. She’d hoped to outwait him. She should have guessed he’d stay put just to be perverse.
“Where’s your truck? Did you deliberately hide it?”
He grinned. “Took it home and walked back,” he admitted. “I figured you’d turn right around and leave if you saw it parked out here.”
“Damn straight,” she muttered.
His grin broadened. “Still stubborn as a mule, I see. Come on, Jo. What’s the big deal? I thought you might have some trouble getting inside, so I stuck around. End of story. I didn’t stay just to annoy you.”
For the Love of Pete Page 4