Hometown Hope

by Laurel Blount

  “Okay!”

  “So? You good to go?” Hoyt looked back at Anna. His hazel eyes twinkled as he nodded toward the seat belt. “Or should I ask Tino to bring your pizza out here?”

  “Ha ha.” Anna pressed the silver button, and the canvas strap slid free.

  “Let’s go.”

  Hoyt was out of the truck in a flash. Anna reached for her own door handle and then hesitated. She never knew what to do these days. Did she open her own door or wait for the man to do it? It was awkward.

  But this wasn’t a date. And Hoyt had to get Jess out of her car seat. Of course she should open her own door.

  She pushed, but Hoyt caught the handle before she’d opened it halfway. He pulled the door the rest of the way open, even offering her a steadying hand as she climbed down from his big truck onto the sidewalk. “What? Now you’re in a hurry all of a sudden?”

  He was teasing, but Anna flushed. She should’ve waited. Maybe Hoyt’s upbringing had been on the rough side, but he’d been born and raised in Pine Valley, where old-fashioned manners were the norm. Of course he’d expect to open doors for any woman he was driving somewhere. She should have known that.

  She never got this stuff right.

  While Hoyt unfastened his daughter’s safety straps, Anna focused on the multipaned wooden door leading into the pizzeria. There was a sidewalk sign close by, listing the daily specials and displaying a colored chalk pizza with a big slice missing. From the look of it, it was the same old sign Tino had been using for decades. Even way out here she could hear laughter coming from inside, and her heart beat harder.

  She was going to blow this. She just knew it.

  “Miss Anna?” Jess wiggled insistent fingers in her direction. The little girl was already holding Hoyt’s hand, but she wanted Anna’s, as well. “Let’s go get some pizza!”

  She took Jess’s hand, feeling the little girl’s slightly sticky fingers twine trustingly around her own. Hoyt’s eyes met hers, and he grinned.

  That grin had the butterflies in Anna’s stomach multiplying like rabbits. She knew why Hoyt was smiling. Jess was talking. That warm light in his eyes was all about his daughter. It had nothing to do with Anna.

  But for a second, standing there, feeling tiny fingers in hers and seeing Hoyt’s face soften in that smile, it sure felt more...personal.

  It felt like family.

  Don’t go there, she warned herself. The last thing she needed right now was any more crazy feelings added to what she was already dealing with.

  Tonight is all about making some useful business connections. Focus on that.

  She gave Jess’s hand a quick squeeze and forced herself to smile at Hoyt. “Any last-minute tips, Coach?”

  “This isn’t a chemistry final, Delaney. It’s just pizza with some old friends. Nobody needs tips for that.”

  Maybe nobody else did. “Okay, then. I’m ready.”

  Hoyt didn’t move. He was looking at her thoughtfully, his head tilted slightly to one side. Anna frowned. “What?”

  “You could take your hair down, maybe.”

  “My hair?” Anna reached up with her free hand and touched the side of her head carefully. What was wrong with her hair? She’d spent the better part of an hour trying to straighten the curly mess, but that flat iron she’d bought hadn’t been up to the task. She’d finally given up and pulled it up into something vaguely resembling a French twist.

  Not her first choice, but she thought she’d done a fair job. Her hair never looked great, but at least with it up she didn’t look like some kind of frizzy-headed freak.

  “You look more comfortable when it’s not all scraped back from your face like that. Here.” Before she could react, he released Jess’s hand, reached around behind Anna’s head and gently pulled out the clips she’d wedged in.

  Anna gasped as her mass of hair tumbled around her shoulders. The destruction of her carefully crafted hairstyle wasn’t the only reason. There was something a little too...cozy about the gesture.

  “There!” Hoyt sounded satisfied. “That’s much better, don’t you think, Jess?”

  “Yes! Now she looks bee-you-tiful!” The little girl beamed up at Anna and tugged hard on her hand. “Can we please get pizza now?”

  “Sure thing,” Hoyt said cheerfully. “Here, Anna, could you chuck these gizmos in your purse? Let’s go on in.”

  Anna stopped frantically finger-combing her hair one-handed long enough to accept her hair clips. She could only imagine what she looked like now.

  Hoyt was already holding the door open. She’d just have to—what was that expression Hoyt was so fond of? Roll with it. She dropped the clips in her purse and went through the door.

  Those psychologists weren’t kidding when they said that scents were the most powerful memory boosters in the world. One sniff and Anna was right back in high school. She even found herself running her tongue across her front teeth to see if her spiky braces were truly gone.

  Her heart kept up its nervous hammering as the three of them threaded their way toward the back of the small restaurant. Part of that was Hoyt’s fault, though. He’d left her holding Jess’s hand and had placed his on the small of Anna’s back, steering her through the crowded tangle of tables and chairs with a gentle pressure. She was way too aware of that solid warmth on the middle of her spine.

  It was distracting.

  She edged to the side in an attempt to politely dislodge his hand and ended up bumping an empty chair over onto the red-tiled floor. It fell directly into the path of a waitress, who stepped back, her laden tray wobbling dangerously.

  “Look out, honey!”

  “I’m so sorry,” Anna apologized. The waitress tossed her an irritated glance as she stepped around the chair.

  Apparently Tino’s still wasn’t her place.

  Hoyt leaned closer, his breath puffing warmly against her ear. “Take it easy there, champ. Here we are.”

  It took her only a second or two to recognize the three men sitting at the table. For one thing, they hadn’t changed much since high school, and for another, as star athletes, they’d all been in the top tier of the social pecking order back then.

  Everybody had known their names.

  The one on the end there, with his long legs stuck out in the aisle, was Jimmy “Stork” Martin. He’d been as important to the basketball team as Hoyt had been to the football team. The baseball team was represented by ex-pitcher Bobby Finch, who had his chair tilted back on two legs and was wearing an Atlanta Braves cap low on his head. Carl Langston, the wrestling champion, had changed the most. He’d gotten a lot heavier and was eyeing the basket of breadsticks with the passion of a guy whose wife had him on a diet.

  Well, the thing she’d dreamed about every lunch hour in tenth grade had finally happened. Hoyt Bradley had invited her to sit with the popular kids.

  “You guys remember Anna Delaney.” Hoyt wasn’t asking a question, she realized. He was telling them they remembered her. She smiled at the men, who smiled politely back.

  No, of course, they didn’t remember her, not really. A girl like her would never have been on their radar. But with Hoyt looming over them, they weren’t about to admit it.

  “I’m going to go grab us some sweet tea,” Hoyt said. He glanced at Carl, who had caved and was double dipping a bitten breadstick into the marinara sauce. “And another basket of breadsticks. Carl, you’re disgusting, man. Come on, Jess. Bailey says you can pick out the pizza for the to-go order.”

  Jess nodded. She didn’t speak, but she released Anna’s hand and fluttered her fingers at her father, who swung the tiny girl up into his arms.

  “We’ll be right back.”

  “Okay,” Anna smiled tensely. “Sure.” Sure. Leave me alone with these guys right off the bat. That’s a great idea.

  She wasn’t the only one feeling uncomfo
rtable. The men looked at each other uneasily. Jimmy stood up and pulled out a chair.

  “I’m forgetting my manners. Have a seat, Anna. You’ll have to excuse us. We’re not used to having ladies at these little meetings.”

  “Not true,” Carl mumbled around a mouthful of bread. “Bailey comes sometimes.”

  “Bailey’s different.” Bobby spoke up from his corner. “And you better be glad she’s not here tonight, Carl, because she’d climb your frame about those breadsticks.” The ex-pitcher turned to Anna. “Bradley says you want to brainstorm some ideas for cross-promoting your bookstore.”

  “Yes. I—” Anna began, but Carl interrupted.

  “But don’t people just buy their books online now? I mean, you can have books shipped right to your house these days, can’t you?”

  “How would you know?” Jimmy asked with a snort. “When was the last time you bought a book?”

  “I hear stuff, don’t I?” Carl inquired airily. “Besides, my wife reads. But she has one of those electronic thingies, you know. Like a tablet, but with books on it. She likes those better. She doesn’t want a lot of books cluttering up the house.”

  Books were clutter? Anna struggled to keep her smile in place. “E-readers and online shopping are huge nowadays, that’s true. But if you ask me, there’s something special about brick-and-mortar bookstores and the feel of an actual book in your hand.” There. At least she’d squeezed in part of the sales pitch she’d been rehearsing.

  “I guess. But it still sounds like a pretty risky business to be in these days. Kind of like trying to sell people cassette tapes or something. What?” Carl turned to Jimmy. “What’re you elbowing me for, Stork?”

  “That bookstore belonged to her dad, Carl,” Jimmy muttered between his teeth. “Remember what Hoyt said? She’s Principal Delaney’s daughter. It’s a family business.”

  “Sorry,” Carl mumbled. “I didn’t mean anything by that.”

  “That’s fine. It was a valid question.”

  “I was really sorry to hear about your father’s death,” Jimmy said. “That must have been hard.”

  “Thank you. It was.”

  “Mr. Delaney was a good egg,” Jimmy continued. “I can’t believe he’s gone. He was the high school’s principal forever.”

  “I’ll tell you one thing. I still think about him every time I see a man wearing a bow tie.” Bobby chuckled. “You never saw Principal Delaney without one. Or those nerdy saddle oxfords.We used to rag him about those shoes all the time, remember?” The ex-pitcher shook his head. “Man, we sure gave that poor guy fits.”

  “He brought most of that on himself,” Carl argued around a mouthful of bread. “The man had, like, zero sense of humor. He didn’t have a whole lot of school spirit, either. Remember that time he gave us detention for skipping world history during homecoming week?” The three men laughed. Carl went on, “And so we broke into his office and sawed the legs off his desk?”

  “You guys did that?” Anna’s mouth dropped open. She meant it as an accusation, but the men seemed to think she was paying them a compliment.

  “That was nothing compared to some of the other stunts we pulled,” Bobby interrupted. “What about that time he made Coach suspend us for ungentlemanly behavior?”

  “Oh, wow. After we egged that smart-mouthed Eagle mascot at the big Fairmont baseball game?”

  “That mascot was the Fairmont coach’s twelve-year-old son, dressed up,” Anna interjected. She couldn’t believe the direction this conversation had taken. This definitely wasn’t what she’d signed up for.

  “We didn’t know that until afterward,” Stork put in sheepishly. “The usual guy chickened out at the last minute.”

  “You hit that poor boy with six dozen eggs.”

  “Eight dozen, and he had it coming, believe me,” Carl said. “You should have heard the stuff he was saying to the players. Delaney totally overreacted. We were suspended for a whole week, and he made us stay after school for a month after that, helping the janitors clean up.”

  “That boy was really upset. And Fairmont had to throw the Eagle costume away. My dad had to send them the money to buy a new one.”

  “We got ours, though. Remember, guys?” Carl snorted. “We called Gina’s Florist pretending to be Delaney and ordered a dozen roses and a love note for the meanest lunchroom lady in the cafeteria. We had them delivered in the middle of senior lunch.” The two other men shot sidelong glances at each other. They didn’t laugh out loud this time, but Anna could see the smiles playing around their mouths.

  “Now, that one really wasn’t funny. She reported it to the superintendent, and there was an inquiry. My father had to prove that he hadn’t acted inappropriately. He could have lost his job.”

  “We never thought it would go that far,” Jimmy put in quickly. “We figured the lady would know it was just a joke.”

  “Well, she didn’t.” Anna could remember how unhappy her father had been about that one. Unsurprisingly, he’d been more worried about the outraged lunchroom worker than about himself. What had her name been? Karen something. Her dad had fretted that she might quit over it, and she’d needed the income. “That joke caused a lot of trouble. It was almost as bad as when...wait a minute.” Another unpleasant memory struck her, and she looked suspiciously at the trio. “Which one of you signed him up for that online dating site?”

  All three men immediately dissolved into helpless snickers.

  “It’s nothing to laugh about! You gave out our home address!”

  “None of us did that, Anna,” Stork spoke quickly, but there was something in his face that made her narrow her eyes.

  “No? Then who was it?”

  “That one was all Bradley’s idea.” Carl yelped as Jimmy elbowed him again. “Oh, come on! What’s she going to do about it now? Give him detention? Besides, the man deserves credit. That one was epic. Remember what he wrote in the profile? Appearance and age not important.” Carl and Bobby chuckled, and now even Jimmy was fighting back a smile.

  “One of those women came to our house. Did you know that? Repeatedly. She was emotionally unstable. Dad couldn’t reason with her. He finally had to call the sheriff to come pick her up.” Anna stood. She’d had enough of this. “And do you know, he actually felt bad about doing that? He did. Because my father was a good man who devoted his entire life to helping people who obviously didn’t have enough sense to appreciate him.” The men abruptly stopped laughing.

  “Sorry, Anna,” Jimmy said quickly. “We didn’t mean to make you mad.”

  “What are you sorry for?” Hoyt was standing behind her chair, two large red plastic glasses of tea in his hands. He glanced from the red-faced men to Anna and back again. “What’s going on?”

  Jess wasn’t with him, and Anna saw Bailey Quinn standing with the little girl at the cash register, accepting a big pizza box from the clerk. “You know what? It turns out I’m not in the mood for pizza after all. I’ll catch a ride home with Bailey.”

  Hoyt frowned and set down the sweating glasses of tea. “Hang on just a minute, Anna. What were you guys talking about just now?”

  “You can stay here, Hoyt, and let the guys tell you all about it. The four of you can have one last laugh at my dad’s expense.” Before Hoyt could react, Anna slipped past him and headed for the door Bailey and Jess had just exited.

  As she hurried across the parking lot to catch up with them, Anna felt more stupid than she had in years. She should have known better. She should never have agreed to come to Tino’s in the first place. Nothing had changed around here.

  Nothing at all.

  * * *

  “Look, Hoyt. We’re sorry, all right? We were just telling some stories.” Bobby had his eyes fixed on Hoyt’s face. “We didn’t mean anything by it.”

  Hoyt made a frustrated noise. “You guys were talking about stupid pranks
we pulled on the woman’s dead father. In what universe is that funny? None of us should be laughing about the dumb things we did back then anyway. I’ve grown up enough to be ashamed of them. I thought you guys had, too.”

  “You’re right.” Jimmy spoke up immediately. “I’d hate to think one of my kids would act like we did in high school.”

  “Same here,” Hoyt agreed. “And Anna’s never been the kind who’d laugh at stuff like that, anyway. You remember what she was like back in high school. She’s always been serious.”

  “We didn’t know her all that well, Hoyt. I mean, I knew she tutored you in English or whatever and you stood up for her during that cheating thing, but that’s about all I remember.” Bobby’s face, like Jimmy’s, was creased with concern. “I’m really sorry.”

  “I don’t remember her at all.” Carl swirled another bitten breadstick in the marinara sauce. “I can tell you one thing, though. She can’t have been that cute back in high school, or she’d have gotten my attention for sure.”

  Hoyt’s gaze cut sharply in Carl’s direction. Bobby took one look at Hoyt’s expression, took off his Braves cap and whapped the ex-wrestler on the head with it.

  “Shut up, Langston, before you get yourself punched in the mouth. Look, we’re really sorry, Bradley. We seriously messed up. What else can we say?”

  Hoyt’s attention had been drawn to the sliver of parking lot he could see through Tino’s checkered curtains. Anna was getting into Bailey’s truck. Bailey would see Anna safely home, so that much was good.

  But then Hoyt was going to have to go see her and do some serious groveling on behalf of these bozos. And himself, thanks to their big mouths.

  Not good.

  He glared at his friends. Stork and Bobby looked genuinely concerned, but Carl was still zeroed in on the breadsticks. It didn’t matter. He was equally irritated with all of them.

  “Anna Delaney kept me on the football team when football was the only good thing I had in my life.”

  His tone got even Carl’s attention. He paused midchew.

  Hoyt kept going. “She did it in spite of me, too. I wasn’t much help. I was too wrapped up in what was going on at home to focus much on school.” The men shot long, silent looks at each other. They knew exactly what had been going on at Hoyt’s house back then. “Looking back now, I see what a difference being on that team made. If Anna hadn’t pulled it off...if I’d been cut from the team at that point in my life...I don’t know what I would have done.”