A Touch of Romance

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  He glanced toward the staircase as he listened to his dad and Maya’s mom discuss what they needed to set out for lunch. He’d seen Maya take Belle and her sisters upstairs, but she’d returned without them. When Rory had shown up alone several minutes later, Mitch had wondered if Belle really was going to avoid him. If so, what had been the point in her coming?

  An arm landed around his shoulders. “You seem a bit preoccupied, Mitchy.”

  Mitch glanced at Ryan and grinned, giving him a slight jab in the ribs. “Just getting geared up for lunch.”

  “Oh? Are you’re expecting to find it marching down from upstairs?” Ryan asked, turning to lean back against the counter.

  “Whatever,” Mitch muttered as he pulled open the fridge to grab the cold cuts he’d been asked to assemble on a platter.

  “Or maybe one of them is the reason you’ve been keeping watch on the stairs like a cop on a stake-out.”

  Mitch barely managed to keep himself from swinging around to face the stairs. Keeping his movements slow—and normal, he hoped—Mitch turned and laid the packages of meat on the counter. He allowed himself one glance toward the stairs in time to see Jasmine walking down them with Belle right behind her.

  “Oh, that’s Jasmine and Belle Jacobs. Belle is Gabe and Maya’s wedding planner.” He gestured to where Rory stood talking with Bennett, Makayla, and James Dawson who had shown up with his wife, Erin, shortly before the sisters had arrived. “And that’s their oldest sister, Rory.”

  “She looks like…” Ryan’s words trailed off as his brow furrowed.

  “The model? Ariel?”

  Ryan turned and pointed a finger at him. “Exactly.”

  “Well, there’s a reason for that,” Mitch said, trying to keep his focus on the meat situation while watching Belle and Jasmine from the corner of his eye. “They’re twins.”

  “Really? That’s crazy. Is Ariel here?” Ryan asked as he looked around.

  “No. She doesn’t live in Winnipeg.”

  “So they own the business you’re doing the reno for?”

  Mitch nodded. “We should be done with it in a few weeks.”

  “Do you know her well?”

  Mitch stilled as he turned to look at Ryan. “Her? Which her?”

  Ryan crossed his arms and shifted his weight. “Well, I’m going to say the blonde one since she’s trying to be as discreet in the looks she’s sending this way as you were trying to be in the looks you were sending the stairs.”

  Groaning, Mitch shook his head and continued to lay the meat out. “I keep forgetting that you’re good at that weird spy stuff.”

  Ryan laughed at that. “Not spy stuff, Mitchy. Just observations.”

  “Keep your observations on the down-low, please.”

  “Huh. So is she Jasmine or Belle?” Before Mitch could reply, Ryan chuckled again. “Wait. Jasmine. Belle. Ariel.” He shifted to look at where Rory stood. “Let me guess. Aurora?”

  “Yep. Their mom was a Disney princess fan.”

  “I like that,” Ryan said with a grin. “You’ll have to introduce me.”

  “If you promise to behave, I will.”

  “Like you’d believe me even if I did,” Ryan scoffed.

  Mitch grinned at how well Ryan knew him. At how well they knew each other, because yeah, even if Ryan promised to behave, it was far more likely that he wouldn’t. “Seriously though, no teasing, dude. Not when she’s around. It’s not like that between us.”

  Ryan moved a bit closer. “But it would be if you had your way, eh?”

  Mitch sighed as he shrugged his shoulders. “You know my luck with women. They always see me as a better friend than boyfriend. Nothing new there.” He glanced over at Ryan. “How about you? No girlfriend yet?”

  “Nope. I’ve had a few dates here and there, but like you, they never seem to lead to anything further. I feel like Dalton and Danica will be married before I end up in a serious relationship.”

  “You too?” Mitch laughed at that. “Let’s not suggest that to anyone, or they’ll go out of their way to make that happen. Just for laugh’s sake.”

  As he slid the deli tray to the far side of the island counter, Mitch glanced around and noticed that Belle and Jasmine were talking with Maya in the living room. Since he’d volunteered to help with lunch, he knew he couldn’t talk to Belle until he had completed those responsibilities. At least he wasn’t on cleanup since he’d done that at breakfast and then also helped with lunch.

  Ryan straightened from where he’d been leaning against the counter. “Why don’t you introduce me?”

  Mitch glanced over to where Belle stood with her sisters. “Sure. Just let me finish this up.”

  After tossing out the packages the meat had been in, Mitch washed his hands then nodded for Ryan to follow him. “Remember the bro code, dude.”

  Ryan thumped him on the back of the head. “Of course, doofus.”

  “Hey, Mitch!” Jasmine greeted them with a wide smile. “Good to see you again.”

  “You too, Jasmine,” Mitch said then gestured to Ryan. “This is my brother, Ryan. He’s up for the weekend from Minneapolis. Ry, this is Jasmine, Belle, and Rory.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Ryan said as he held out his hand to each of them in turn. “I hear you’re helping Gabe and Maya with their wedding.”

  “That would be Belle,” Jasmine told him. “She’s helping with the planning. I just worked with Maya to find her dress. And Rory doesn’t do wedding stuff at all.”

  “I work with James Dawson, actually,” Rory said.

  Ryan nodded his head. “Family law, then?”

  “Yep.”

  Mitch glanced at Belle as her sisters talked to Ryan. Though she wasn’t actively participating in the conversation, she didn’t appear to be uncomfortable. Before he could stop himself, Mitch reached out and touched her arm. She immediately turned toward him, her face expressionless.

  “How have you been doing? It’s been awhile since I last saw you.”

  Her eyes narrowed for a moment before she nodded. “This time of year, it’s like being in a car going down a hill. We just keep gaining speed until we hit September, then things start to slow down. Of course, this year, we have the added pleasure of a move in the midst of it all.”

  “Mark mentioned you hadn’t been by the site in over a week,” Mitch said.

  Belle glanced away and briefly chewed on her lower lip. “I’ve just had some stuff going on that kept me busy.”

  When her gaze met his again, Mitch shifted a little closer and lowered his voice. “Did I do something that upset you?”

  Belle’s brows rose at his question. “Why would you ask that?”

  Frowning, Mitch asked, “Why don’t you answer my question?”

  “You didn’t answer my question either,” she said, crossing her arms.

  Mitch took in her defensive stance and knew what Ryan would say about that. “So, I did do something that upset you.”

  “No,” Belle said quickly. “No, you didn’t.”

  “We’re friends, right?” At her small nod, Mitch continued, “So tell me what’s upset you.”

  Belle looked past him for a moment then said, “No. Just because we’ve become friends doesn’t mean you’re privy to everything I’m dealing with. Even my sisters aren’t entitled to that.”

  “Mitch! What have you said that has this beautiful lady frowning at you?”

  Mitch swung around to see that Denise had come up behind him. “Hey, you. I’m glad you were able to make it.” He gave her a quick hug. “Are you by yourself?”

  “Yep. As usual.” Denise turned toward Belle. “Are you going to introduce us?”

  “Oh, sure.” Mitch glanced at Belle to find her regarding Denise with a smile, but it didn’t strike him as an overly genuine one. “Denise, this is Belle. Belle, this is Denise, a friend from church.”

  One of Belle’s eyebrows arched even as she held out her hand to Denise. “It’s nice to meet you.”

&n
bsp; “You too,” Denise said with a wide grin. “So. How do you two know each other?”

  “Belle is a wedding planner. She’s been working with Gabe and Maya on their wedding.”

  “Really? What’s your company?” Denise asked.

  “Belles & Beaus on Portage.”

  Denise stared at her for a moment then shook her index finger. “Didn’t you do Neil and Emily Johnston’s wedding a couple of weeks ago?”

  Belle’s gaze met Mitch’s for a moment before she nodded. “Yes. I worked on that one.”

  “Emily mentioned that you had helped her and how much she’d appreciated all the work you’d done for them.” Denise smiled. “It was a beautiful wedding, wasn’t it, Mitch?”

  “It was,” Mitch agreed. “I didn’t see you there, Belle.”

  She gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “That’s the idea. We’re behind the scenes. You’re not supposed to see us. If we are getting attention during a wedding, that likely means we are dealing with something that has gone awry.”

  “Does that happen often?” Denise asked. “You must see all kinds of interesting situations in your line of work.”

  “Well, I’ve had flower girls pee their pants. Ring bearers throw up on ring pillows. Grooms faint. Brides who couldn’t stop crying. A groom’s mother who objected—loudly—to the wedding in the middle of the vows. Oh, and there was the time an ex showed up and stormed down the aisle to voice her displeasure with the nuptials that were taking place.” Belle paused. “Yeah, I certainly have seen a lot of interesting things.”

  Denise stopped laughing long enough to ask, “What do you to do in situations like you just described?”

  “We try to take care of things as discreetly as we can. Usher the little ones off to get cleaned up. Tissues for the bride. Smelling salts and a chair for the groom. The people who voiced objections to the weddings…well, that’s a little more difficult to deal with. I always ask the bride and groom ahead of time if there might be someone who would raise a ruckus, and if they say yes, we request pictures of whoever might show up unexpectedly so we can head them off. Though that doesn’t always work.”

  “I guess, if nothing else, it makes for a memorable wedding ceremony.”

  “That is true, but we hope to make the day memorable for good reasons and not because the wedding rings had to be fished out from…well, you know.”

  As Mitch reflected on that wedding, he realized that it was immediately following that, that Belle had stopped going to the reno, and there had been no more texts from her. Of course, he’d kind of pulled back himself too, but was it possible she’d seen him at the wedding with Denise and misunderstood? But they’d only been building a friendship, so why would seeing him with Denise have made any difference. If it had.

  He was probably totally misreading everything. No wonder he couldn’t manage a serious relationship. He had no idea how to read a woman. For Belle to have been upset about him being at the wedding with Denise—and now upset with her presence at the cabin—she would have to be jealous.

  But why would that be the case? She had had a chance to go on a date with him, but she’d turned him down flat. Not a date. That’s what she’d said, repeatedly. So, yeah. If she’d wanted a shot at something between them, she’d had it. She had no right to be jealous of him being with Denise.

  So it had to be something else that was bothering her. Something that had nothing to do with him. Regardless, he hoped she was ready for another friend because now that Denise had met her, a friendship was going to happen whether Belle wanted it or not.

  “Hey, everyone,” his dad called out. “Why don’t we gather around and say grace for lunch? Then you all can eat and get on with the rest of the activities you’ve got planned for the afternoon. Just remember, supper is at six, and we’re barbecuing. Also, we’ll be having fireworks out on the water around ten-thirty, so I hope you can all hang around for that.”

  People shifted closer to the kitchen island where food had been laid out. Once his dad had said a prayer, they all shuffled around, the guys stepping back to allow the women to go through the line first. By the time Mitch had filled his plate, Belle had taken a seat at one of the tables outside, firmly ensconced between her sisters.

  He should be happy that she wanted to keep her distance from him. And he should be relieved that his heart wouldn’t be at risk if she was going to avoid him.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t either of those things, but he also wasn’t going to force himself on a woman. This was, however, the first time a woman had acquaintance-zoned him. He had plenty of experience with being friend-zoned, but this was the first time he’d not even made it to an official date before being friend-zoned and then, apparently, pushed back to the acquaintance zone.

  Denise had taken the seat across from Belle, so Mitch decided he’d hang with Ryan given that his brother was only there for the weekend.

  “Didn’t smooth things over?” Ryan asked when Mitch settled down beside him at the table.

  “What?” Mitch piled deli meat and cheese on a bun.

  “Well, you’re here, and she’s sitting there.”

  “There’s nothing to smooth over,” Mitch said. “Besides, I want to hang with you. Are you trying to get rid of me?”

  “Of course not, but you won’t make any progress with her if you’re sitting here with me,” Ryan pointed out.

  “The day isn’t over yet.” Mitch kept his gaze on the pile of potato chips on his plate, picking one up and popping it in his mouth. “It’s not a race.”

  Ryan chuckled at that. “Yeah. That’s true.”

  Even as he said the words to Ryan, Mitch knew they were a lie…of a sort. It did feel a bit like a race. One he hadn’t even been aware he was in until his siblings had started getting married. It had been okay when it was just Bennett and then Makayla marrying, since they were both older than him. But then it had been Gabe—still older, but only by a few minutes—and Sammi, who was definitely younger. He had only been partly joking when he’d agreed about Danica and Dalton getting married before him.

  Once they were done lunch, they did a quick clean up, and then Bennett began to explain what the plan was for the afternoon. A few years earlier, they’d had just one boat, but when other friends started joining them for the weekend, one of them brought his boat, and by then a couple of jet skis had been added to the mix. This year, with the arrival of the babies, his dad had purchased a large houseboat which would be used as a docking point out on the lake. There were still the two boats, but in addition to their jet skis, a family friend had brought two more.

  The afternoon promised to be fun for all, and Mitch resolved to put aside whatever was between him and Belle and just enjoy the afternoon.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Belle paused in front of the full-length mirror on the closet door in the girls’ room at the cabin. Even though she’d brought her swimsuit, she hadn’t planned to wear it. However, it seemed that everyone was going out on the water, so it would be kind of awkward if she stayed at the cabin by herself.

  The last time she’d worn a swimsuit for any purpose other than exercise, had garnered criticism of her body. The suit she wore that day was very modest, by most definitions. The top had a variety of geometric shapes in jewel tone colors against a black background and had a straight cut neckline with thick straps to tie behind her neck. The back was also straight cut, continuing the line from the front. Below the bodice, it flared out slightly to the top of her thighs. Beneath the top, she wore a pair of black boy shorts that hid her hips and the very tops of her thighs.

  The suit covered what had once been pointed out as her problem areas. Well, except for her upper arms, but there was no way to hide those short of wearing a T-shirt…which maybe she would.

  “Let me put sunscreen on you,” Jasmine said, approaching with a tube of cream in her hand. “None of us want to leave here with a burn.”

  Once they had helped each other with the sunscreen, Belle
pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. She might end up wearing just her swimsuit eventually, but there was no way she was going to parade around in it until that was absolutely necessary.

  Rory drove them down to the marina, following a couple of other carloads of people from the cabin. She parked in the lot, then together, the sisters headed toward the dock.

  “Ready to go?” Gabe said as they joined a small group of people at the end of the dock. “We’re going to use this boat to ferry you all to the houseboat. Then you can hang out there or head out on a jet ski or do some water skiing.”

  It wasn’t long before they were in the boat heading out across the water to where a large houseboat was anchored. Belle followed Rory onto the boat, gripping the bag she’d brought with a towel and a change of clothes along with more sunscreen. She quickly found a seat out of the way as others came aboard. Jasmine dropped down beside her with a broad smile on her face.

  “This is fantastic,” she said as she swiveled around to look at their surroundings.

  The section of the boat where they sat had a long bench seat that ran in front of the metal railings. The houseboat had open sides, so the breeze kept them cool even though it was a hot day.

  As they floated there, another boat approached, this one with Bennett at the helm. It slowed, its nose dropping low as it approached the houseboat. It came to a stop at the back of the boat. The teens had donned life jackets, and they eagerly climbed aboard it.

  The next boat that approached was driven by James, the man Rory worked with, and several of the adults on the houseboat joined him. The invitation had been extended to Belle, Jasmine, and Rory, but they waved them off. Belle wasn’t sure she would ever get in one of the boats, but she was pretty sure that Rory and Jasmine would.

  They watched as Bennett’s boat whizzed by in the distance pulling a large inner tube behind it filled with laughing teenagers. The wake from the boat reached them, rocking the houseboat gently. Music was now playing just loud enough to be noticed, but not so loud so as to overwhelm the conversations taking place.

  “That was a blast,” Denise said after she got back from a ride on the jet ski with Mitch. Her hair was damp, and her cheeks flushed. “Are you going to go for a ride?”