Sprinkles on Top (A Sugar Springs Novel)

by Kim Law

  “What was your first impression of him?” Cody asked. He glanced across the room to Tucker as he said it. Tucker was, as always, sitting straight and looking serious. He was explaining something to Jerry while Jerry watched the TV hanging in the corner.

  “I’ve known Tucker my whole life,” Holly hedged. “There wasn’t a first impression. Or if there was, it happened when I was a kid and I don’t remember.”

  They weren’t the same age, but they’d been in high school together. He was a couple years older than her. She also remembered her first impression of him. The word dweeb came to mind.

  He hadn’t been cute then. He’d been awkward and hadn’t yet filled out into his body. But he had been as boring as he was today.

  She had a vision of the two of them sitting in a house together, years from now. Tucker would be telling her all about his day at work; their children would be politely listening—maybe one or two of them would be engrossed in a book . . .

  And all her fun shoes would be tucked away in a box in the attic.

  Great.

  She couldn’t go out with Tucker. Cody was right. The man had never even noticed her shoes. She didn’t want to think about finding herself long-term with a man who couldn’t be bothered to look at her from head to toe, much less not appreciate her stellar collection of footwear.

  Fine. She silently seethed. But she needed someone.

  She thought about Zack sitting straight and stiff on the back of her horse.

  No!

  No matter how cute he’d been in his awkwardness, she didn’t need him. For one thing, he wouldn’t be sticking around. He was big city. She most decidedly was not.

  Secondly, he’d looked down his nose at her.

  And he’d hated her shoes.

  Cody’s cell rang.

  “Yeah,” he said, putting it to his ear. He listened a minute and then mouthed, “It’s Nick” to Lee Ann. A line creased his brow, and he turned to peer out the large window by their table. Holly and Lee Ann followed his movement. “Now?” he asked into the phone.

  Holly couldn’t hear the reply, but whatever was happening, she got the impression it was supposed to be happening now. The fingers of Cody’s free hand began to tap on the tabletop.

  All was quiet outside, with the statue of the town’s founding father standing tall in the middle of the square. Banners announcing the upcoming Firefly Festival flanked him on every side. It was high tourist season, but most people had either headed into the mountains or taken to the river today. Only a few nonlocals could be seen going in and out of the different shops. A couple stood outside Cakes-a-GoGo with cupcakes in one hand and pieces of paper in the other. Probably the tourist brochures that could be found stocked at each business.

  A slight breeze rattled the trees spaced out along the sidewalks.

  And then a low-sitting sports car came purring down the street.

  It gleamed in the sunlight, and Holly’s body heated at the sight. There was just something about a hot car.

  And a hotter man.

  She caught Cody’s groan and glanced at him in time to see the quick flash of anger harden his face.

  “I’ll call you back,” he bit out, then hung up the phone.

  Ms. Grayson chose that moment to set aside the tea she’d been drinking and stood to leave. Holly blew out a breath of relief as the older lady made it to the door. It was best not to have the biggest gossip in town hanging around for the first sighting of Zack.

  Especially since it would be too easy to see whom he was related to.

  “That’s him,” Jerry said from the other side of the room. He pointed to the window. “The man I took to Knoxville Monday night. Picked him up out at the Marshall place. He paid me a week’s salary to cancel my plans for the night and load up that fancy car of his. I drove them both to a dealer.”

  So that’s where he’d been.

  And how he’d gotten Jerry to get off his couch on a holiday.

  “Who in the world is he?” This came from Janice, one of the waitresses who worked the morning and lunch shifts. She was in her forties and had lived in Sugar Springs her whole life. Her husband had hit a rough patch lately, leaving her with the need to pick up extra shifts to support them and their two teenage sons.

  Holly and Lee Ann looked at Cody. The minute someone saw the men together, it would be clear.

  The room grew quiet as the car passed outside the diner window and everyone got a good look. Zack’s profile could easily be Cody’s or Nick’s—even with the sunglasses. The only difference was that he sat straighter and his hair was shorter and a shade or two lighter. Also, he had on yet another suit.

  It would likely take a lot to get Cody or Nick in a suit.

  Then all eyes in the diner turned to Cody.

  They didn’t even know he had a second brother, but Holly suspected they’d just figured it out.

  “He looks just like you,” Janice declared. She made her way over to their table.

  “I knew he looked like someone.” Jerry joined them. He shook his finger in the air as he spoke, and Holly couldn’t help but notice that the backs of his fingers had an excessive amount of hair on them. It was kind of gross. “I just couldn’t place him,” Jerry finished.

  Since Jerry had come over, Tucker wandered their way as well. He gazed out the window as Holly peered up at him. He really was a good-looking man. Clean-shaven, seemingly no wayward hair on unsuspecting body parts. She’d do fine to get him. Except for the fact she’d have to be around him day in and day out.

  She shuddered at the thought.

  So much for bachelor number one on her list.

  “He’s my brother,” Cody finally admitted. A soft gasp came from the small crowd. Then the Benz disappeared down the street.

  “He’s a year older than us,” Cody added. “Thirty-three.” He glanced back out the window and Holly watched his jaw grow tense. “He was given away for adoption at birth. We found him in Atlanta earlier this year.”

  “Well, I never,” Janice whispered.

  Tucker looked down then. He glanced around the table, giving a slight nod when his gaze landed on Holly, but that was it. No gleam in his eye. No mooning look on his face.

  Yeah . . . the man wasn’t for her.

  Maybe Jerry?

  She almost snorted her Diet Coke up her nose at the thought. Jerry wouldn’t have the first clue what to do with her. But she’d give him points. He had noticed her shoes in the past.

  The group of them chatted about Zack for several minutes longer, Cody explaining in brief detail how his older brother had wanted nothing to do with them. His words were spoken pleasantly with an air of unconcern, but she and he were good enough friends that she felt the longing for more beneath their surface. He and Nick had gone to Atlanta hoping to have a relationship with the brother neither of them had known existed. They’d both come back hurt.

  She glanced at Lee Ann, and the two women exchanged knowing looks. It bothered Cody, having Zack show up like this. Not knowing his intent. And most likely, not knowing what he himself wanted to happen. No doubt Nick would feel the same.

  The unannounced arrival suddenly made Holly angry on behalf of her friends. It also irritated her that Zack had arrived nearly forty-eight hours earlier, yet hadn’t made so much as a phone call to either of them.

  When Cody finished talking, everyone returned to their tables with a gleam burning in their eyes. News would now spread, and Zack would have a town full of enemies before he ever even spoke to anyone.

  Though she still thought the guy was a jerk, it almost made Holly feel bad for him. Gossip here could be brutal.

  As the talk died down, her gaze once again turned to Tucker. He was the only one without his cell out to call or text the gossip on to the next person. Probably not because he was such a good, upstanding guy as much as becaus
e he had no one to text. Definitely off her list of potential mates.

  That didn’t mean she couldn’t still look for someone, though. She just had to be resourceful.

  She returned her attention to her table and gave a solid nod. She was going to do this. “I’ll have someone by the time of your wedding,” she proclaimed.

  Shock hit Lee Ann’s face, and she and Cody both looked at Tucker. “Him?” Lee Ann asked. Dread now filled her voice.

  Holly shook her head. “No. But someone.”

  Lee Ann’s eyes narrowed as she studied Holly. “As in . . . a date to our wedding?”

  “As in have,” Holly stated calmly. The words sounded more secure than she felt, but she was going to give it her best. “Someone I’m interested in a long-lasting relationship with. I’m not playing around anymore. I’ve got to do more than wait tables and work at the B&B when Mom and Dad are out of town. So I’m catching a man. And then I’m going to set my own wedding date.”

  “But our wedding is in—”

  “I know when your wedding is,” she cut in.

  They were getting married on July Fourth and had invited the whole town. It would be a casual affair to go along with the annual fireworks show. Everyone was looking forward to it.

  “But . . .” Lee Ann’s words died off.

  Holly gave her a tight smile. She had less than six weeks to find the man of her dreams.

  And then what?

  She glanced out the window again, and this time her eyes landed on the consignment store on the far corner. She’d sold several of her creations in the store over the last couple of years. Nothing special, but people seemed to like them. A few tourists had even gone home with one. Maybe she could continue doing that, as well. It would be better than nothing.

  Supplemental income for the marriage.

  A hand touched hers and she turned back to the table.

  “Let me know if you need any help,” Lee Ann said. “We’ll get you whoever you want.”

  Holly smiled and nodded. That was the problem. There wasn’t anyone she wanted.

  She just wanted to have a purpose.

  Chapter Four

  Late Thursday morning, Zack emerged from his room, hoping it was sufficiently late enough that everyone else in the house would be gone. He’d figured out there were six rooms on the second floor, including his, and five of them were currently booked.

  As he headed toward the stairs, he noted that the house was blessedly silent. Perfect. He wasn’t in the mood to make small talk. Now he simply had to locate food, get a few more hours of work done, then figure out what to do next.

  He hadn’t spent much time at the house at this point. He’d gotten back into town yesterday after getting his car repaired, and had then taken the afternoon to drive around, familiarizing himself with the area. Afterward he’d headed into the mountains. Mostly to avoid the fact that he should be finding and talking to his brothers, yet had no real idea how to go about that. Especially since it had been he who had caused things to be so unpleasant between them the first time they’d met.

  But also, it had occurred to him that it had been years since he’d done something so simple as take a relaxed drive to nowhere. In fact, he couldn’t remember ever doing it.

  It often seemed he’d been head down, barreling toward perfection his whole life.

  So he’d blown through a tank of gas, had picked up a sandwich and fruit for dinner from a roadside grocery, and hadn’t returned to the bed-and-breakfast until well past dark. He’d run into a couple guests on the way up to his room, but other than that, he’d slipped in unnoticed.

  And he hadn’t seen Holly Marshall again.

  Which was fine. She was annoying.

  He’d been uncomfortable relying on her for a ride Monday to begin with. As a rule, he didn’t ask people for help. Especially not smart-mouthed, irritating women.

  Who’d been laughing at him since the minute he’d stepped from his car.

  But to have to do it on a horse?

  A low point in his life had surely occurred.

  He’d been even more uncomfortable because he’d been pressed up close to her body. He couldn’t remember the last time that much warm, soft flesh had fit itself to his. Not without a few bones sticking out here and there.

  But his thighs had snugged around hers, her curvy bottom had pressed against his groin, and he’d prayed like hell the whole trip back that she was at least twenty-one.

  The mirror at the base of the stairs caught his attention and he stopped to study it. He’d come in and out of the house so fast since arriving that he’d missed noticing the beauty of the piece. At first glance it was nothing special. Just a mirror inside what looked to be an overlarge copper tray. The copper was pounded, and the color matched the wood flooring that ran the length of the hallway and up the stairs. It perfectly fit the room. As if it had been made for the space.

  But looking at it now, he picked up on the intricate nuances around the perimeter of the glass. There were individual shards in a mosaic style framing each side, each piece a tiny mirror in itself. They were set at angles to pick up the light around the room and cast it back out. It gave the appearance that the outer rim of the mirror was glowing.

  He stepped closer, looking to see if there was a company name printed anywhere. Something like this would be great in his office.

  “Good morning, Mr. Winston.”

  He jumped back as if caught somewhere he shouldn’t be, and spun to face the woman in the hall. Holly Marshall.

  Today her golden hair was in a high ponytail on the top of her head, making her look about eighteen—again—but unlike Monday, her makeup was at a minimum. If he wasn’t mistaken, though, her eyelashes were blue. Her lips matched her shorts.

  Which was another pair that barely covered her rear.

  Only today, she didn’t have leggings on underneath. He found himself wanting her to walk away from him just so he could see if her cheeks were indeed slipping out the bottom of the material.

  The shorts were bright pink, the T-shirt she wore white and snug with a pink crown stretched across the front, and he couldn’t help it, but he slid his gaze the rest of the way down her body. Her legs were bare and tapered down from her thighs, and her feet wore high-top canvas sneakers with brown patches set against a tan color. They reminded him of giraffes.

  “Morning, Miss Marshall,” he returned, bringing his gaze back up to hers.

  She eyed him from under long lashes, her face expressionless, providing no hint of what she thought of him. Which was fine. He didn’t care what she thought. He was there for a place to stay. He didn’t need to be friends with the innkeeper.

  And he certainly didn’t need to think about how cute she was in her pink shorts.

  Her gaze slipped past him to land on the mirror at his back as if checking to make sure he hadn’t left any fingerprints anywhere on it. When it returned, her green eyes trapped his. They were the color of grass. Bright green like the blades before the first cut of the season.

  She held up a phone, her expression stoic. “Your mother’s on the phone. She’s worried about you.”

  His whole body went rigid. Was she freaking kidding him? Then he caught a hint of a smile touching her pink lips. She might be going for serious, but inside she was laughing at him again.

  Irritation and embarrassment mixed as he pressed his lips together and stepped forward. He loved his mother. A lot. But he had a cell phone, for Christ’s sake. She needed to use it.

  He took the handset from Holly, and she spun around and headed down the hall.

  His eyes dropped to her ass.

  The shorts were not indecent. Unfortunately. But that didn’t keep him from imagining what the naked curve of her rear would look like. Or feel like.

  Not that he would be attempting to feel it at all. Holly Marshall
was small town. She was curvy and round and plush. And she had a smart mouth on her.

  She was not his type.

  Plus, he’d seen her sitting with one of his brothers at the local diner as he’d driven through town yesterday. He wasn’t sure which brother, since they looked alike, but he’d been unable to miss seeing Holly with him. The fact that they’d been having lunch together implied they were friends.

  And if he didn’t want to make matters worse, he probably shouldn’t have a quickie with his brother’s friend.

  He turned his back to the doorway she’d retreated through, and brought the phone to his ear. “Hello, Mom.”

  Holly stood just inside the kitchen, blatantly eavesdropping. She couldn’t believe Zack’s mother had called him at the house. At first, Holly had gone instantly to “worry.” There must be an emergency. But then she’d learned that “Mom” simply wanted to check in on her son. He apparently hadn’t been answering his cell that morning.

  The whole incident put the haughty, polished, designer-suit-and-shoes man in a new light. As did the gentle tone she heard coming from him now.

  She pulled the bowl of batter from the fridge and heated the griddle as she kept an ear to the conversation going on in the hall. She heard the phrases “Got back late last night,” “A drive through the park,” and “I’ll find them, that’s what I came here for,” and she couldn’t help but assume Mom was grilling him on his actions.

  Though Zack had done everything he could Monday to ignore Holly’s attempts to be polite as they’d ridden to the house, she’d already begun to sense that he wasn’t as hard as he came across. He had the power suit going, the fast car. The big job. He’d also perfected the ability to make it clear he thought himself better than this town and everyone in it.

  Yet . . . she’d sensed something about him. It had felt like a vulnerability that lay just beneath the surface.

  There had been a couple times when she’d been talking to him when he hadn’t looked her in the eyes. She hadn’t thought it boredom or indifference so much—though it easily could’ve been. Instead, it had felt more like . . . shame.