Chasing the Runaway Bride

by Susan Meier

  The bartender returned with two fingers of Kentucky bourbon in a plastic cup, then swiped a cloth down the length of the bar. “So, Finn’s married.”

  Bringing his whiskey to his lips, Cade snorted. “Looks that way.”

  “He’s lucky. Ellie’s a great girl.”

  Keeping up the small talk so he didn’t look overly eager to get the drugstore clerk’s info, Cade said, “She is.” Because Ellie was a wonderful woman—a good match for his brother, who had resettled in their hometown.

  Brent poured two tall draft beers for an older couple, then strolled back to Cade. “So, you okay being home?”

  He shrugged and glanced around, not surprised by the question. This was why Brent knew everything and everybody in town. He chatted up his customers.

  “I guess.”

  “No rumblings from your dad?”

  “We’re just glad he didn’t crash the wedding.”

  “He’s got some balls.”

  Cade sniffed a laugh, knowing exactly what Brent referred to. The year before, Finn had had their father arrested for assault. The whole town had been shocked that their dad had punched Finn, but they’d reeled over the news that the bank president had regularly beaten his sons and wife. Still, he walked around town like the king of the world, telling everyone his children and estranged wife were liars.

  “Yeah, he does.”

  Wanting desperately to change the subject and get the information he was here for, he asked Brent for another shot. When Brent brought it over, he said, “So, I had to go to the drugstore for a card this morning, and I saw a new clerk.”

  Brent frowned. “New clerk?”

  “Yeah, a woman with black hair, pretty green eyes.”

  Even before he was done, Brent burst out laughing. “You messing with me?”

  Cade’s eyebrows rose. “Messing with you?”

  “Teasing…come on, Cade. Are you trying to tell me you were checking out Piper O’Riley?”

  Cade almost choked on his whiskey. “Piper O’Riley?”

  “She manages the Health Aid.”

  An “Oh” slipped out, even though Cade wished it hadn’t. He pointed to his shot glass again. Brent easily filled it, then walked away to get a drink for a woman in a blue-flowered dress.

  Focused on his shot, he counted his blessings that his questions about Piper O’Riley hadn’t gone any further. Good God. That was Piper O’Riley? He remembered her as a flat-chested, shy nerd. The twelve years he’d been away had been very, very kind to her, but that didn’t mean he wanted to date her. Even discounting the fact that she was Lonnie’s best friend—and therefore someone who probably knew the son Lonnie claimed to be Cade’s was actually another man’s—the O’Rileys had held a grudge against his grandfather for thirty years. Richard Hyatt had won O’Riley’s market from Sean O’Riley fair and square in a poker game. Yet Karen O’Riley, Piper’s mom, had accused him of cheating.

  Her friends stopped shopping at the store and sales had plummeted with only half the town supporting the little market. But his grandfather said he made enough money to pay himself a good salary, and the other half of the town still needed bread and milk and birthday cakes. So he was staying open.

  Cade’s eyes misted. His grandfather had been a generous, loving man. Sadly, he’d died the month before. Cade wouldn’t defame his memory by even talking to an O’Riley.

  He asked for another shot just as Jeff Franklin, the town’s attorney, stepped into the gazebo and up to the bar.

  “Hey, Cade.”

  “Jeff.” Cade eyed the balding, slightly chubby lawyer over his shot glass. He’d known Jeff since he was a football player for Harmony Hills High. They’d never been friends, but because he was executor of his grandfather’s estate, for the time it took to settle everything out, he and Jeff would be spending a lot of time together.

  “I’ve been thinking about our meeting on Monday and the will reading.”

  Cade inclined his head.

  “I’d like for you to come in an hour early, before the rest of your family, so we can discuss your duties as executor and a few other things.”

  “Sure. No problem.”

  “Great. I’ll see you Monday, then.”

  Cade saluted him with his glass. “Monday.”

  Jeff eagerly raced away.

  Cade suppressed a sigh. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy returning to the town where he’d left a woman at the altar and deserted a child everybody believed was his. He’d expected the cold shoulders and fingers pointed in his direction at the diner. But Jeff was a professional. His grandfather’s lawyer. He shouldn’t feel the need to race away.

  Yep, being stuck in Harmony Hills while they worked out the logistics of the will was going to be a real blast.

  Now he just had to hope Piper O’Riley didn’t tell anybody he’d been flirting with her.

  The very thought had him pointing at his shot glass again.

  Chapter Two

  Monday just before noon, the little bell rang at the entrance to Health Aid. Piper looked up from the cash register to see gray-haired Molly Green, Jeff Franklin’s long-time secretary, walking toward her.

  “Attorney Franklin wants to see you.”

  Piper didn’t sigh. She didn’t blink. She didn’t show any emotion at all, because she’d been expecting this. A woman didn’t leave two grooms at the altar and come away without being sued at least once. But in a small town like Harmony Hills, the attorney who filed suit wouldn’t force her to go through the embarrassment of having a process server visit her at her place of employment. He’d call her to his office, hand her the papers, and probably advise her to retain legal counsel. Jeff was kind that way.

  “I need to go now?”

  Molly nodded, her attention already snagged by the cosmetic display. “Yeah. Now.”

  “Okay, then.” Piper slipped from behind the counter. Calling down the long row of hair products, she said, “Darlene, your turn at the register. I’m taking my lunch now.”

  “Whatever.”

  The one-word reply came from the back of the store where Darlene, Piper’s assistant manager, was probably reading magazines, but again Piper didn’t care. Working in a drugstore chain was probably the most boring job on the face of the earth. The corporate office had a system for everything. Employees couldn’t be creative with shelf displays, couldn’t run sales, hand out discounts, or even give a customer a break. Most days Piper genuinely believed the corporate office didn’t want them to think at all. So if Darlene needed to read magazines to cope, Piper didn’t blame her.

  She opened the glass double doors and stepped out into the July sunshine. Drawing in the warmth of the bright rays, she walked along Main Street and turned down Elm. She didn’t relish the prospect of being sued, but Ronnie had been furious with her. Especially when she’d reluctantly explained that she hadn’t felt any zing for him. She’d been trying to tell him he deserved a woman who did, but he’d taken it all wrong.

  Just as she reached Jeff’s office, that same Chevy Silverado pulled up to the curb and Cade Donovan got out. Wearing dress pants and a white shirt, he reached in and pulled out his black Stetson, plopping it on his head before rounding his truck’s hood and stepping up to the curb…and right into her.

  Because, once again, she’d been standing there like an idiot, staring at him.

  This time when he saw her, he didn’t smile. There was no “Mornin’ darlin’,” for her. He took a step back and politely said, “Sorry. You okay?”

  She smiled slightly, if only because he’d been so polite. But inside, she cursed herself for finding him so attractive. Whatever cowboy-good-looking-ex-military-guy pheromones he spewed, they were powerful.

  “Yeah. I’m fine. I didn’t even trip. Just wobbled.”

  He put his fingers on the brim of his hat to tip it slightly. “Sorry again.” Then he motioned for her to pass.

  “I’m not walking by.” She pointed up the steps. “This is my stop.”

/>   He frowned. “Mine, too.” Once again stiffly polite and proper, he motioned for her to precede him up the stairs to the porch. “After you, Ms. O’Riley.”

  Ouch. So he’d figured out who she was. That explained his frosty greeting. She nodded and walked up the steps.

  But her back tingled. So did her butt. Then her legs. As if she could feel his gaze sliding along her body the way she knew it had on Saturday morning when they’d walked through the store to find the less expensive wedding card.

  The thought filled her with absolutely too much pleasure, and she was grateful when she reached the door. She put her hand on the knob, but he brushed it away.

  “Allow me.” Deep, with a rumble that sounded like it came from the bottom of his soul, his voice seemed to reach inside her and fill her with warmth.

  She nearly shook her head at her stupidity. Sure, she wanted to be attracted to a guy—really, unholy, I-need-to-have-sex-with-you-right-now attracted—but Cade Donovan? That had to be an aberration.

  Still, if he could be polite, she could be, too. She stepped into the foyer reception area for Jeff’s office.

  Undoubtedly still perusing the cosmetics counter at Health Aid, Molly wasn’t at the desk to greet them. Piper faced Cade with a wince. “Molly came to get me at Health Aid, which is why she’s not here.”

  Drat. Did he have to have such beautiful dark eyes? High cheekbones? Such a perfect square chin?

  And did she have to sound so nervous? Like a teenager meeting a rock star?

  She straightened her spine. No. She did not. This was Cade Donovan, for God’s sake, the man who’d left her best friend at the altar. Grandson of the man who’d cheated her dad. She might be in the market for a fling, but she wasn’t an idiot.

  “Attorney Franklin’s expecting me, so I’m just going to go back to his office.”

  Cade’s brow wrinkled. “He’s expecting me, too. Told me Molly’s gonna be out, so I should just head back.”

  “Oh. Well, you go, then. I’ll wait here—”

  Jeff stepped out of his office at the end of the hall. “No, Piper. You both need to come back.”

  …

  We both need to go back?

  Cade’s eyes narrowed as he watched Piper walk toward Jeff. Part of him still reeled at the knowledge that this gorgeous woman was Piper O’Riley. Frankly, she was just too darned pretty. The Piper O’Riley he remembered had worn thick glasses and kept her hair short. This Piper’s dark-as-midnight straight hair had been pulled into a ponytail that fell like a silken waterfall down her back. She didn’t have glasses. And her body? In that tank top and tight jeans?

  Arousal sparked in his blood. He cursed it. This was crazy. Stupid.

  Ever since Lonnie tricked him, lied to him, tried to make him a sucker to cover her mistake, he didn’t do stupid things.

  Standing in his office doorway, Jeff motioned for Cade to follow Piper. “Come on, Cade. I need to talk to both of you. Together.”

  His gut tightened then soured. Why would Jeff want Piper in on a meeting about the reading of his grandfather’s will?

  He shook his head and strode down the hall. It didn’t matter. Until the estate was settled, he had to do whatever Jeff asked.

  He entered the office, and Jeff motioned to the two captain’s chairs in front of his desk. “Everybody sit.”

  Pretty Piper walked to a seat. With no other choice, Cade sat beside her.

  Jeff dropped to the tall-back chair behind the desk. Balding, dressed in a navy blue suit that was just slightly too tight for his high-school-football-player-gone-to-seed body, he sat forward, bracing his arms on his desk and knitting his fingers together on top of some papers. “Piper, you’re here because one item in Richard Hyatt’s will pertains to you.”

  Her pretty green eyes widened. “Something in Richard Hyatt’s will pertains to me?” Her gaze sliced to Cade’s. She was as confused as he was.

  “Yes. So that’s all we’re going to talk about. That one bequest. After that you leave. Agreed?”

  She nodded. Her midnight ponytail shifted and shimmered. Everything male in Cade shifted and shimmered.

  He ground his teeth. It was one thing to have some sort of business with her because of his grandfather’s estate, but to be attracted to her? An O’Riley? Who was also the best friend of the woman who’d tried to pass another man’s child off as his?

  There was no way he would be attracted to her.

  “Okay.” Jeff cleared his throat and picked up the copy of the will. “It was Richard Hyatt’s wish that Piper O’Riley and his grandson, Cade Donovan”—he nodded at Cade—“share O’Riley’s grocery store.”

  It took a second for that to sink in. When it did, righteous indignation exploded through him. “What?”

  Jeff raised tired eyes to Cade. “It was your grandfather’s wish that you and Piper share O’Riley’s.”

  Righteous indignation became red-hot anger. He rounded on Piper. “What did you do to him, say to him? After decades of you and your mom convincing your friends not to shop at O’Riley’s, basically ruining his business, how the hell did you get him to give you half the store?”

  Face forward, Piper said, “I didn’t. I’ve never even spoken to your grandfather. Never. Not once in my life.”

  He huffed out a sound of disbelief. “Right. You might not have, but your mother took every opportunity she could find to ostracize him—”

  “My mother never ostracized your grandfather!” Piper turned so quickly he didn’t have time to tell himself not to notice her pert little nose or her big emerald green eyes. “If her friends chose not to shop at O’Riley’s, maybe that was because they didn’t want to shop at a store owned by a known cheater.”

  Jeff went on as if they hadn’t spoken. “Your grandfather believed the Hyatt/O’Riley feud over the store split the town. At first, he wasn’t going to give it to anyone. He wanted the building to be leveled and the ground paved. At which point it would be deeded to Saint Mark’s for an overflow parking lot.”

  Piper blinked.

  Cade gaped.

  “But, in the end, he knew the town needed a store. So he figured if the two of you ran it, eventually the feud would resolve itself.”

  So angry he could feel the pulse beating in his throat, Cade said, “What if we want to sell it?”

  “You can’t. The will says you’re to run the store together, as equal partners, for an entire year. If the store is making a profit at the end of the year, that will be proof the feud is over and the two of you can do what you wish with it. Sell it if you like. But if the store doesn’t make a profit, it becomes Saint Mark’s parking lot. Or, Cade, if you refuse these terms, the store goes to Piper.”

  “The store goes to Piper?” Fury set his body on fire. His nerves crackled. His muscles jumped with the need to throw something. Didn’t his grandfather realize that giving the store to Piper was as good as admitting he had cheated Sean O’Riley when he’d won the grocery store from him all those years ago?

  He could not believe his grandfather had done this.

  …

  Piper had never before been stunned into silence, but obviously today was a day for surprises. Here she was, expecting to be sued, and, instead, she got half a grocery store.

  Without turning her head, she sneaked a peek at Cade. If the fire in his eyes was any indication, he’d passed mad and had landed somewhere near furious. That didn’t bode well for a partnership. Particularly since she wasn’t exactly thrilled to be joined at the hip with this man.

  She couldn’t picture herself and Cade spending two days together, let alone an entire year…

  An entire year.

  “We have to agree now? Today?”

  Jeff’s old office chair groaned under his weight when he shifted forward. “Yes.”

  Even considering Cade’s anger, she knew what she had to do. Richard Hyatt was clearly righting a wrong with this bequest, and she wanted her dad’s store back in O’Riley hands. Let Cade refuse to
work with her. Then the whole damned business would be hers.

  “I want to run it,” she said.

  Cade rose. “If I have to make a choice now—this very second—and the option is run the store or see it go to her, then I want to run it, too.” He turned to the door.

  Jeff leaped out of his seat. “Cade! Where are you going?”

  “Outside to call my attorney and see how quickly we can contest this thing.”

  Jeff groaned. “Oh, don’t do that. We’ve got ten minutes before the rest of your family gets here for the official will reading. There are a lot of things we need to go over before they do.”

  “There’s more?”

  “Yes. Lots more. And when we’re done, you may see there’s no need to call your lawyer. You won’t want to contest the will.”

  Piper glanced nervously at Jeff. More news for the Donovan/Hyatt family? This was a part of the deal she had absolutely no interest in hearing. And she didn’t think either Cade or Jeff would want her to. “Maybe I should get going? You said I could leave after you read the bequest.”

  Jeff nodded. “Yes. Thank you, Piper, for coming in.”

  She grinned. “My pleasure.”

  She walked out of the office and into the sunshine again, unable to believe what had just happened. Had she actually inherited half of O’Riley’s? Had her dad’s name really been cleared? His shame wiped away?

  She wished he’d lived to see it, but it didn’t matter. The wrong had been righted.

  But more than that, in the course of a few sentences, she’d also become a business owner.

  She frowned. She might be a business owner, this might feel like the happiest, luckiest day of her life, but she had to spend the next year with Cade Donovan. A guy who didn’t like her and whom she absolutely loathed.

  A guy she found too attractive for words.

  Crap.

  Chapter Three

  Hearing the front door close behind Piper, Cade fell to his captain’s chair.

  Jeff opened his desk drawer and pulled out an envelope. He handed it across the desk. “From your grandfather. An explanation.”

  Taking the letter, Cade shook his head. “This had better be good.”