“I had a feeling it wasn’t you. The woman’s hair looked longer than yours.”
Most people, including her parents, if they ever saw the picture—man, she hoped they didn’t—wouldn’t look close enough to notice the difference in hair length.
“Daniel was more of a jerk than I thought. I hope his wife takes him to the cleaners.” An annoying beep followed Holly’s statement, signaling that someone was trying to reach one of them. “It’s my mom,” Holly said before Juliette checked her phone. “I’m going to ask her about Aaron in case you change your mind. And if you see him again, tell him I said hello.”
Telling Holly not to bother was a waste of time, so she didn’t comment on Holly’s statement. “Talk to you later.”
Chapter 5
Juliette started her day with a long walk first along the lake and then the same path she’d followed yesterday. Despite her constant reminders to herself that getting into any kind of relationship while up here was a bad idea, she kept a lookout for Aaron. Unfortunately, the only life she saw came in the form of a single chipmunk. Man, those buggers moved quickly when startled.
Although she hadn't been able to visually appreciate the man again, thanks to Mrs. Lambert, she learned a boatload about him when Holly called her back. In fact, when it came to details about Aaron, Mrs. Lambert put the internet and all its search engines to shame.
According to Holly’s mom, not only was Aaron unmarried as she’d assumed, but he wasn’t seeing anyone, much to his mother’s dismay. During their conversation, Mrs. Lambert shared with Holly that Aaron’s mom often mentioned how much she hoped her son would get married and start a family.
Aaron’s current relationship status wasn’t the only detail she’d learned about him either, thanks to Holly and her mom. She also now knew he worked for a company in Boston. Mrs. Lambert couldn’t remember its name, but she knew he did something with computers there. Whatever it was, though, he worked from home most of the time and traveled into the city a few times a month. While giving Holly those bites of information, she’d shared that his niece and sister had moved in with him about seven months ago. However, she didn’t have all the details of why Mrs. Lambert assumed the move was related to Candace’s divorce last summer.
Following her informative conversation with Holly, Juliette left the campground for the first time since she’d arrived. With no destination in mind, she’d left her GPS turned off and simply driven around town. During her wandering, she’d found herself back on Main street. Unlike the day she arrived, the parking lots at each of the schools were full, and students ran around the playground next to one of the buildings. Rather than turn when she reached the four-way intersection on Main Street like she had the previous weekend, she continued straight and found some of the other business Holly had mentioned were scattered around town. After more than an hour of aimless driving, she reached a sign welcoming her to the town of Ashford. Instead of continuing, she pulled over and put the address for the campground into her GPS. Although she’d paid attention to her surroundings while driving, she’d known she’d never make it back to the cottage without assistance. Maybe after a few more trips, she could do it, but not today.
Despite the lack of street signs and one missed turn, she made it back to the campground just as the sky opened up. She’d expected it. Not only had the sky been overcast since she woke up, but the weather app on her phone had said there was a 90 percent chance of rain starting at noon. Still, when the first onslaught of water hit the windshield, she’d sworn. She’d hoped to sit on the porch swing and do some more reading before the rain started because the temperature was a good fifteen degrees warmer than yesterday. Instead, she’d dashed inside before she got soaked. She then proceeded to spend her time first reading and then searching various real estate websites for homes in and around the area. It might be crazy, but she couldn’t shake the idea of buying a house either in town or the general area for those weeks when she wanted to get away from the city. But as far as nutty ideas went, it wasn’t the worst one she’d ever had. And she could guarantee it wouldn’t be the last crazy notion she got either. After all, what fun was it always doing only things that made sense?
The afternoon was long gone now, and her unhappy stomach kept reminding her she’d only had a fruit salad for lunch. While she’d intended to walk up to the Wrights’ house for dinner, the rain forced her to nix her plan and drive instead.
Candace opened the door before Juliette rang the doorbell. “Come on in before you get soaked. Unless you’re a duck, this has been a pretty miserable day.”
She didn’t hesitate to step inside. “It could be worse. It could be snowing.” When she wanted to ski, she liked the cold, wet stuff, but at all other times, she found it a plain nuisance.
“I’d rather have it snow any day,” Candace said as she closed and locked the front door. “If you want to give me your jacket, I’ll hang it up for you.”
She’d thought about not wearing it—it wasn’t like she was going to be spending time outside. In the end, she’d pulled it on to keep from getting wet to and from the car.
“The potatoes need about another ten minutes in the oven.” Her hostess hung Juliette’s jacket in the large hall closet. “I should have asked when I invited you if you were a vegetarian or allergic to any foods. It didn’t occur to me until I took the roast out of the oven.”
Juliette had attempted a vegetarian diet when she was about thirteen. She’d made it three months before her cravings for hamburgers and sausage pizza had her calling it quits. While she ate a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and very little sausage pizza these days, there wasn’t any type of food that she eliminated from her diet. “No allergies, and I’ll eat almost anything except lamb.” Some people might love it, but she couldn’t stand even its smell, never mind the taste.
Candace wrinkled her nose. “My brother likes it, but I don’t know how anyone eats lamb.”
Juliette followed her hostess down the hall and into a large open kitchen. Light gray cabinets occupied one of the walls while two large sliding glass doors led out to a massive deck. Several barstools were positioned near a portion of the counter. A table set for five was near the glass doors, allowing diners to eat while enjoying the view of the lake. Other than some small potted plants on the windowsill over the sink, there were no personal touches or pictures in the room.
“Can I get you a drink? I was going to open some wine, but if you’d rather have something else, I made some iced tea earlier. I can also make you a cup of coffee.”
Unsure of what to do with herself, Juliette pulled out a barstool and sat. “Whatever you’re having is fine.”
Candace removed a box of wine from the small built-in wine fridge, a feature Juliette didn’t think was original to the house. After pouring two glasses, she handed Juliette one before taking a sip of hers. “I expect my mom and Tiegan any second. After school today, Tiegan went over there to work on a school project. Mom’s the arts and crafts guru of the family.”
Well, that explained the absence of two people but unfortunately not the one she was most interested in seeing tonight.
“I used to hate school projects.” She’d always preferred exams and quizzes to projects that required hours upon hours of work.
“Me too. Tiegan’s teacher loves them. She seems to have one every other week. Personally, I think she gives so many because they’re easy to grade.”
Juliette had never thought about it, but Candace made a good point. A visual project that the teacher could look over and compare to a rubric might be quicker to grade than a stack of tests.
“Are you enjoying your stay?”
She eyed the wine in her glass. Wine didn’t belong in a box or can. It belonged in a bottle. Now that she had some, though, she had no other choice but to drink it. “It’s been very relaxing.” She sipped her drink, expecting it to be the worst thing she’d ever tasted. “Mmm, that’s good.” The words left her lips before she could stop them.
Candace nodded as she moved toward the oven. “When a friend of mine told me she loved this brand, I was skeptical because wine in a box didn’t seem right. But now it’s one of my favorites.”
From down the hall, she heard a door open and then close. Soon after, Tiegan and Mrs. Wright entered the room. Neither wore any shoes, and water dripped down their faces.
Should she have taken her shoes off when she came in? She never removed them at home, and it honestly hadn’t occurred to her to do so now. She glanced over at Candace’s feet. Unlike her daughter, the woman had on sneakers. Maybe the recent arrivals had removed theirs because, much like their hair, they’d gotten wet on the walk over.
“Nana and I finished my project. The paint just needs to dry.” Tiegan headed straight for the refrigerator and pulled out a gallon of milk.
Candace cleared her throat and looked in her daughter’s direction. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
The young girl paused with one hand on a glass in the cabinet and smiled in Juliette’s direction. “Hi.” She then removed the glass and filled it with milk. “I’m hungry. Is supper almost done?”
“As soon as your uncle gets here, we can eat.”
Tiegan didn’t need to hear anything else. “I’ll go tell him it’s time to eat.”
“I’m glad you’re joining us tonight,” Mrs. Wright said as she poured half a glass of wine. “Are you having any issues down at the cottage?”
The heating system could be more efficient, but that didn’t qualify as an issue. “No, everything’s been great, Mrs. Wright.”
The older woman patted Juliette’s arm. “We’re all adults. Please call me Maggie.” She accepted the bowl of roasted potatoes her daughter held out. After setting them on the table, she removed a large garden salad from the refrigerator. “Do you need anything? I’m heading to the grocery store tomorrow anyway.”
Tiegan’s voice traveled into the room, announcing her arrival. Juliette resisted the urge to turn around. Perhaps over the past twenty-four hours, her mind had embellished her memory of him. Maybe she’d turn around and find he was about as good looking as Mr. Yates, her chemistry teacher junior year. While the man knew the subject well, he hadn’t been blessed in the looks department. In fact, he’d always reminded her of a troll from some fairy tale.
Rather than turn and stare—she despised when people did that to her—she reached for her wineglass. “Nope. Mrs. Lambert made sure I had enough to supply a small army.”
Unlike his niece, who’d entered the room without even a glance in her direction earlier, Aaron stopped next to the counter. “It’s nice to see you again.”
She wouldn’t call his tone friendly, but rather polite. The type you might use when you’re seventeen and your parents are introducing you to one of their business acquaintances, but all you want to do is escape out the door so that you can spend time with friends. And she would know. She’d used the same tone more times than she remembered.
“Hi, Mom.” He gave Maggie a quick hug before pouring himself a glass of wine. “Can I do anything, Candace?” Turning, Aaron leaned against the counter.
Nope, her mind had not done any embellishing. As Holly had said during their conversation, the man was panty-melting hot. And his voice melted any other piece of clothing a woman might be wearing. Later tonight, when the man in question wasn’t standing in front of her, she’d reassess her earlier opinion that getting involved with someone up here was a bad idea. Because at the moment, getting better acquainted with the man across from her in a variety of ways seemed like a phenomenal idea.
Aaron’s sister collected her wineglass and the platter of meat she’d carved. “Nope. Everything is ready.”
They’d never formally developed a seating plan, but over the last seven months, they’d all adopted an assigned spot at the table. Tonight wasn’t any different, which meant his niece sat on one side of him, his mom sat on the other, and Juliette, their guest of honor, sat across from him. Much of the day, Aaron had expected to hear she’d decided to bail on dinner tonight. Rather than cancel, she’d showed up right on time. And he knew she’d arrived on time because he’d seen her car approaching the house from his office window.
Stabbing a potato, he glanced at his sister. Never in his life had they invited guests at the campground to eat dinner with them. The only explanation he could come up with for why his sister did so was because Juliette was not only a guest but also a friend of Holly’s. Whatever the reason behind her invitation, he hoped his sister didn’t extend too many more invitations. Switching his gaze, he looked at his mom. When he’d heard her asking if Juliette needed anything, he’d come to a dead stop for a minute. Large resorts and five-star hotels might allow guests to put in grocery orders and have them delivered to their door, but the campground had never provided such a service. And as far as he knew, it wasn’t one his mom intended to start. So why was she offering to pick up food for their guest now? Was it because the woman across the table was Holly’s friend? His mom and Mrs. Lambert were friends, so maybe she felt obligated to make sure Juliette’s stay was enjoyable. Or she was asking because Juliette Belmont came from one of the wealthiest families in the United States, and she felt compelled to bend over backward for her? His mom never struck him as a person who would care about a person’s background. Perhaps he’d been wrong. Whatever the case, he hoped his mom didn’t make a habit of doing their guest’s shopping. She had enough of her own responsibilities. She didn’t need to be taking on someone else’s, especially when the individual was an adult capable of taking care of herself.
“When is there going to be another dance class?” Tiegan asked after she finished filling them all in on her day—a day that, according to her, had been the worst one ever because she had to work with Jeremy Benson on a group project. Aaron didn’t know if she’d always disliked the other student, but at least since she’d been living with him, Jeremy was her least favorite kid in her class.
Candace added another slice of meat to her plate and shrugged. “I’m not sure. Hopefully soon. I left a message with the parks and rec office. They haven’t called me back yet.”
Frowning, Tiegan slumped in her chair and poked at her salad with her fork. “Can’t you try again? Kellie and I really want to dance.”
“If I don’t hear from them by Friday, I’ll call again.” His sister tapped Tiegan on the shoulder. “Please sit up.”
“Isn’t there a dance school in town?” Juliette asked.
“No,” Tiegan answered. Although she no longer slouched, her pout remained fixed on her face as she pushed aside a radish before taking a forkful of salad.
Tonight wasn’t the first time this topic came up over dinner. And until Candace was teaching another dance class at one of the schools’ gyms, it would come up again. Each time, his niece’s reaction would be similar, not that he blamed her. At her age, he would’ve been disappointed too if he hadn’t been able to participate in the sports he loved.
“There used to be. But Merry and her husband decided to move to Arizona after he retired, so the school closed last year after the recital in June. Two of us that worked there now teach dance classes through the parks and rec department. But we have to compete for space with the other programs offered, so it’s not something we can do year-round,” Candace explained.
“That’s unfortunate. There aren’t any dance schools nearby, either?”
His mom shook her head as she buttered a roll. “The closest one is a little over an hour away. A few kids in town go there, but not many. It’s just too inconvenient.”
“My friend Jasmine goes to Premier Dance. She showed everyone a picture of her recital costumes today,” Tiegan added, referring to her friend and classmate Jasmine Pine.
Not that Tiegan knew it, but when his sister and niece moved in, he’d offered to drive her to and from dance once a week because he knew his sister didn’t have the time. She’d refused to take him up on the offer. Her rationale had been that clas
ses were already underway, and Tiegan would be behind everyone else. He had a feeling that wasn’t her only reason for not accepting his help.
“I danced for a long time. I even minored in it when I was in college. My favorite was ballet. What’s yours?” Juliette asked.
Yep, he could picture her up on stage performing a graceful ballet routine with those incredibly long legs of hers. Unlike the first time they met, today she wore dark gray leggings instead of jeans. He’d thought her jeans had shown off her legs well. He’d been dead wrong. It should be illegal for the woman across from him to wear leggings out in public. She’d paired them with a long white sweater that reached almost midthigh. He couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not, since it covered what he suspected was an incredible ass. But if it hadn’t been covered, he would’ve stood there and stared when she walked over to the table earlier. And knowing his luck, Candace would’ve noticed his behavior. She always picked up on those things he’d rather she missed.
“Tap and hip-hop. But Mom only teaches ballet and jazz. And Miss Sandy teaches lyrical.” Tiegan raised her fork toward her mouth, but it didn’t make it there. “Oh, and I really like acro too. I took that with Miss Sandy before Dance Dynamics closed.”
“I never did acro, but I used to enjoy tap.”
He’d always dreaded the tap numbers when his parents dragged him to his sisters’ yearly recitals. It wasn’t so much the style of the dance but the noise. How anyone survived being in a class with ten or twelve students all tap dancing away was one of the world's great mysteries.
“Since we use the gyms in the schools, we’re limited to what we can teach. The tap shoes would ruin the floors, and we don’t have the necessary mats for acro classes.”
He’d never thought much about it, but his sister’s explanation made sense.
Next to him, Tiegan stuffed the last forkful of food in her mouth and pushed back her chair as she chewed. “I’m done. Can I go?”
The Billionaire's Kiss (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 14) Page 6