Jesse watched the door close behind her. The importance of the project’s success had ratcheted up a notch. He wouldn’t be free to get on with his life until he’d proven to Lauren, as well as himself, that he wasn’t a washed-up failure in the race of life—whether or not that proof got him anywhere relationship-wise with her.
C H A P T E R 7
A man was sitting on her porch. A very large man. Lauren had her directional on but hesitated to pull into the driveway. Since it was such a nice day, she’d decided to swing by home for lunch and let the dog out in the fenced back yard for the afternoon. But she didn’t have to. Xena often stayed in for most of the day. She could just drive by and head back to the office.
Then, the truck and trailer on the other side of the street caught her eye. California plates. Jesse’s dad? But Jesse didn’t expect him for another week or so. At least he hadn’t the last she’d known. It hadn’t been easy, but over the weekend, since the toe-curling kiss that she’d blocked from her mind, most of the time, she’d managed to steer clear of any contact with Jesse. His dad’s plans could have changed.
She pulled in, wiped her hands on her skirt, grabbed her house key, threw open the car door, and stepped out.
“Hello, I’m Jeff Brewster, Jesse’s dad.” The man had stood while she’d parked the car. “You must be Lauren. I recognize you from pictures he showed me.”
Jesse showed his family, his dad, pictures of her? That shouldn’t surprise her. They’d been pretty serious for a while. Fingering the key in her hand turned the lock to the memory of their kiss, the feel of his solid chest, his strong arms around her. Get a grip on yourself. The other night didn’t mean anything in the larger scheme of things. She and Jesse were still the same people, people with different outlooks on life, not really any different than when she’d fallen for him as a teenager and, again, in college. But she was a grown up now.
“Mr. Brewster, it’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Jeff, and the same here.”
Lauren joined Jeff on the porch, where he loomed over her. While Jesse was wiry and compact, the only word for his father was big. Tall, muscular, a tad on the heavy side. Big.
“I’m sure Jesse will be right back from wherever he is.”
“About that. He’s not exactly expecting me today, and I haven’t been able to get hold of him on the phone.”
“Oh.” Lauren unlocked the front door. “I was stopping by to let the dog out. Do you want to come in and get out of the heat? It’s a scorcher today.” She held the door open. “Go ahead.” Who besides the weather person said scorcher? Lauren silently asked Jeff’s back before following him in.
Xena rushed him, jumping up and licking his face.
“Down.” Lauren ordered.
“It’s okay,” Jeff said. “Dogs and babies love me.”
“I’m going to put her out back. That’s what I stopped by for.”
“Sure, I don’t want to keep you. You’re probably on your lunch break from work.”
Lauren grabbed Xena’s collar. “Have you had lunch? I was going to make myself something while I was here.”
“I can go out for something.” Jeff glanced around the room. “It’s enough that you’re letting Jesse and Shelley and me stay here.”
“Lunch is no problem. And you and Jesse and the baby are staying next door in my mother’s larger side of the house.”
“Ah. I thought… Never mind.”
Thought what? That Jesse was staying here with her? Lauren welcomed Xena’s yank at her collar. “Yes, I’ll let you out, girl.” She looked up at Jeff. “You can make yourself comfortable here or come into the kitchen.”
Jeff followed her and sat at the table while she let Xena out.
“Why don’t you give Jesse another try?” Lauren asked as she opened the refrigerator to take out the sandwich fixings. “I know you’re anxious to see him.”
“And Shelley. I can’t believe I have a granddaughter.”
Lauren bit back her words of caution about assuming Shelley was Jesse’s.
Jeff tried calling Jesse again. “It’s going right to his voicemail now.” He frowned.
Lauren placed lunch on the table and sat across from Jeff.
“You doing his legal stuff?” Jeff asked. “How’s it going? How’s my boy”
As tempting and exasperating as ever. Jesse’s father had caught her off guard with his last question.
“I’m probating Shelley’s mother’s will and handling the prep for the guardianship hearing. Jesse had the DNA testing done a few days ago.”
“Good.”
“I also reviewed the business agreement between him and my mother.” But that was more for Mom’s protection.
Jeff didn’t seem to notice she hadn’t addressed his last question.
“He, Jesse, seemed better when we talked, psyched about his inheritance, for what it’s worth, the deal with your mother. Starting over.” Jeff raised his gaze expectantly.
He had noticed that she’d ignored his question. Lauren swallowed her mouthful of sweet tea.
“The accident. It almost did him in.”
Lauren froze. She’d known it had ended his racing, but based on the information she’d been able to get from Mac, the racing team owner, it hadn’t sounded life threatening.
“I hadn’t realized it was that bad. He didn’t contact me, wouldn’t take my calls. Blocked my calls.” She hated the tremor in her voice. Next thing she knew, she’d be tearing up. She pressed her back straight against the chair. “It was like he’d dropped off the face of the earth.” And she’d let him. By then, the distance, being apart so much had taken a toll on their relationship. A two-ton weight pushed against her sternum.
Jeff held her gaze with his. “In a way he had. But it was the end of his career, not the severity of the physical injury that knocked him for a loop. Shelley, my Shelley, needing him brought him back. For a while. You know, he spent nearly every penny he had saved up for the future helping me with his mother’s medical expenses.”
“That sounds like Jesse.” Her mind drifted back to a much younger Jesse who’d tried to pay her room and board expenses at Syracuse University when her father had refused to.
“Yep.” Pride sounded in Jeff’s voice. “When we lost his mother, he really spiraled. I didn’t hear from him for months. I don’t know, don’t care where he was, what he was doing, only that when he found out about his inheritance from his Uncle Jim, he came back to his old self.”
The weight dropped to her stomach, setting off another flash of Jesse’s kiss. But she’d moved on with her life, such as it was. She couldn’t let what they’d once had exist as anything more than a memory.
“Jess seemed to think that since Jim was Shelley’s uncle, the inheritance was some kind of kick in the pants from his mother to shape up and make something of his life.” Jeff stared at his hands. “She was always better at that than I was.”
“I don’t know what to say.” She’d heard enough from Jesse about how his dad was bound and determined for him to finish college, make something of himself better than a bike shop owner.
“Tell me to mind my own business, if you want. But why did you just let him go? Shelley and I thought you two had something special.”
So had she. “You’ll have to ask him,” she ground out. “He’s the one who called it quits.”
Jeff’s eyes lit. “Then, there still might be something between you?”
“Hello.” Jesse’s call through the front door saved her from answering that question for his father. Or for herself.
Jesse didn’t wait for an answer to his shout-out before letting himself and Shelley in. He’d seen his dad’s rig on the street and Lauren’s, but not Sonja’s, car in the driveway. If Dad wasn’t with Lauren, maybe she knew where he was. He hoisted Shelley on his hip. And maybe he could find out if she was actually avoiding him or it was his imagination. If she was avoiding him, that could be a good sign. It could mean she’d gotten the same jolt out of their kiss
that he had.
He wasn’t going to assess how her avoidance could be a bad thing.
“In the kitchen,” Lauren called.
She had the table set and sandwiches out for herself and his dad.
“Dad, hey, this a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you yet.”
“A good surprise, I hope.” His dad’s laughter had a questioning edge to it, something that wouldn’t have been there before Mom …
“The best,” Jesse said.
Lauren rose. “Have you two had lunch? I can make more sandwiches.”
“No, sit. We’ve eaten.”
“`Donalds,” Shelley said, showing Lauren her juice box.
She was so cute, Jesse just wanted to hug her, all the time. He rolled his shoulders. He was becoming his mother, an old woman, about Shelley. Not that his mother would have been old. But the cute. The hugging. That seemed to be something she would do. He wished his mom could have met her namesake.
“Who dat?” Shelley saved him from his emasculating analysis.
“That’s your grandpa.” The way his dad’s eyes lit and face softened when he looked at Shelley took dead aim on his heart.
“Pa?” the little girl asked.
Jesse placed his hand on his father’s shoulder. A shoulder just as broad and muscled as it had been when Jesse was Shelley’s age. His gaze traced the age lines his mother’s death had etched on Dad’s face and took in the slight hunch in the way Dad carried himself. “My daddy,” he said.
“Jesse-daddy daddy?” Shelley touched Jeff, too.
That was good, wasn’t it? She didn’t seem afraid of Dad. Just couldn’t figure out who he was.
“Sit,” Lauren said, pointing at the chair between her and Dad. “Can I at least get you sweet tea?”
He pulled out the chair and sat with his daughter on his lap. “Tea sounds good. Shelley understands grandma, but evidently not grandpa,” he explained.
“Gammy home?” Shelley asked.
“Nope, she’s still at work. Shelley calls Lauren’s mother Grammy,” he clarified for his father.
Dad raised an eyebrow toward Lauren, and she dropped her gaze to study her sandwich.
Jesse continued as if he hadn’t seen his father’s gesture. “Shelley’s m-o-t-h-e-r spent a lot of her childhood in foster care. Maybe she stayed in contact with one of her female foster parents. There’s a lot I don’t know.” He took a sip of the tea Lauren had placed in front of him. “Like I don’t know how you got here so fast. Dad, you did stop and sleep? Several times, I hope.” When had he become the father here? Shelley squirmed on his lap, reminding him of at least one way.
“Yes, I stopped, but not as many times as I would have if I hadn’t had a second driver. I had no problem lining up someone for the condo. Then, one of my neighbors said his grandson was heading back here for summer classes. He goes to the University of South Carolina. Saved him the airfare by giving him a ride and having him share the driving with me.”
Relief flowed through Jesse. “Good deal.”
Lauren stood, the hint of her scent reminding him that she was still here, next to him. As if he could forget.
“I’d better get back to the office. You guys can leave the dishes in the sink and lock up on your way out, if you would.”
“You might want to stay a few minutes.” Lauren’s mother appeared in the kitchen doorway waving a business-size envelope. “I ran into the mail carrier on my way in.”
“Gammy!” Shelley hopped off his lap grabbed Sonja’s hand and pulled her over to the space between him and his dad. She reached up and touched his dad’s beard. “Pa.”
Sonja smiled at Jesse. “This must be your father.”
“Jesse-daddy Daddy,” Shelley confirmed.
“Hi, I’m Sonja Cooper.” She offered her hand.
His father stood. “Jeff Brewster.” He shook hands.
“I really do need to get back,” Lauren said, pushing her chair to the table.
“You might want to call Brittany and tell her you’re meeting with a client,” Sonja said.
Jesse caught the City of Indigo Bay logo on the envelope Sonja waved again.
“This was forwarded from the Morrison property, I should say Brewster property, address. I signed for it.” Sonja placed the letter on the table in front of him. “I can take Shelley—she’s probably ready for her n-a-p—and show Jeff where he can unpack his stuff.”
Was a letter from the city that big a deal? It looked innocuous enough to him. Or did Sonja know something he didn’t. Either way, it would give him some time alone with Lauren. “You go ahead, Dad. I put my trailer in the back behind the garage. There’s room for yours.”
“Okay, don’t let anyone say Jeff Brewster turned down an invitation from a beautiful woman.”
Jesse started. He knew his dad was kidding and complementing his hostess. Mom was gone. It shouldn’t matter if he wasn’t. But it still did on some level, like it was some kind of betrayal. He knew all about betraying someone.
His father followed Sonja and Shelley, who’d gone readily into Sonja’s arms.
Jesse slipped his forefinger under the flap of the envelop. “So, do you think this is as important as your mother made out, or her ploy to get my father alone?”
Lauren laughed. “More a ploy to leave us alone.” She bit her lip as if she regretted her quip.
“She’s succeeded.” He held her gaze as long as he could before removing the letter from the envelope. He could leverage having Lauren all to himself after reading what the city wanted with him. Maybe, it was a welcome letter. Didn’t small towns do stuff like that? Jesse studied the city logo. Probably not with a signed delivery receipt requested.
The quarter pounder in his stomach did a roundhouse kick as he skimmed down the page. No. They couldn’t do this to him. Not when he had people depending on him—Shelley, Dad, Sonja. People he couldn’t let down. He’d done enough of that in the past. Jesse tore his gaze from the letter and looked across the table at Lauren.
“What? That bad?” she asked.
“That bad. The city is condemning my property.”
“Let me see that.” Lauren reached over and took the sheet, her fingers brushing his. She discounted the tingle that ran up her arm as apprehension about Jesse’s situation and read the letter. “Not if you can get your plans for the renovation to the city planning board by the next planning board meeting.” She swallowed. “Next week.”
Jesse’s grim expression didn’t change. “Yeah, plans signed off on by an engineer. You know that train pulled out long ago. Pun intended.”
Eyes lowered, Lauren tapped the tabletop with her fingernail. How willing was she to go all out to help Jesse? She’d kept telling herself it would be best for everyone, for her, if he sold out and left Indigo Bay. But, even with the beachfront, he’d get far less for a condemned property than he would for the property renovated, or even for the real estate alone. And she doubted Jesse had the means to take down the house. Plus there was her mother and her investment in the property—emotional and financial.
“That might not be a problem. I know someone who would review your plans, give you any needed revisions, and sign off.”
“An old boyfriend?” Jesse’s grin didn’t make his eyes.
Lauren’s heart skipped a beat. “Engineers don’t have to be men.” She covered for her traitorous emotions. Jesse’s question couldn’t mean anything. He was just frustrated. He was a guy. But his kiss…
“You did see the time frame for compliant completion?” he asked.
Lauren reread the letter. “It’s tight. What if you hired more help?”
Jesse fisted and released his fingers. “There’s a little matter of money to consider. The agreement with your mother has a limited amount of money for labor, other than my free services.”
“The high school kids are out for the summer. I can check at church to see if any are still looking for summer work. And to be as sexist as you were about engineers, you could ask your dad f
or his help and hire a teen girl to take care of Shelley for a lot less than you’d have to pay a construction worker.”
He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I’d have to talk things over with your mother. See if the project is still doable from her financial perspective.” He scrubbed his palms over his face. “Maybe I should just consider that offer from your boss or whoever.”
“If the offer still stands since the city moved toward condemnation.”
His shoulders sagged.
Lauren could have slapped herself. Jesse didn’t need any more dumped on him.
He pushed away from the table. “I’d better let you get back to work and see if Dad needs any help settling in.”
“I am working. You’re one of our clients.” But she wasn’t going to try to kid herself that the only reason she was helping Jesse was because he was a client. Nor was she going to try to figure why right now. “I’ll go back to the office and call Cara about looking at your plans.”
Jesse’s mouth curled into a smile. “So your engineering friend is a woman.”
“Both, actually. It’s a husband-wife professional corporation. I met them at a trivia night at the sports grill when I first moved here. They were new to town, too, and we were put together in a pick-up team.” Lauren snapped her mouth shut. Why was she rambling on? The only answer that came to mind was that she didn’t want to leave. “I’ll also check into why you, the estate, didn’t receive more notice on the condemnation, and get back to you.”
Rather than leave, Jesse waited while she rose and collected her things. He walked with her to the door.
“You do that.” His low voice, warm breath in her ear was as potent as a kiss.
Lauren grabbed for the door handle to steady herself and grabbed dead air.
Jesse took her by the elbow. “You okay? If you don’t want to handle this, my legal stuff, I can call and ask for one of your bosses to represent me.”
“Don’t do that.” Had Jesse picked up the self-doubt in her strident response?
“Not like you aren’t doing a good job.”
Lauren fought the insecurity tearing through her, about her job, her relationship—whatever it might be—with Jesse.
Sweet Entanglement (Indigo Bay Sweet Romance Series Book 12) Page 8