Hometown Hope

by Laurel Blount

  Carl was probably using the things as doorstops. “Anna, we need to talk.”

  “Okay. Sure.” She leaned over and unfastened a baby gate she had set up against the counter. Chester sprang free and scrambled forward to tug on the leg of Hoyt’s blue jeans. Anna walked past him to the door, the light scent of her perfume surrounding him like a cloud of memories.

  She flipped the sign to Closed and twisted the latch.

  “This way we won’t be interrupted. I was going to close up for a few minutes anyway. I need to take Chester for a walk.” She closed the gap between them and tilted her head, her long curls swinging easily across her shoulders. “Which reminds me. I owe you another big thank-you, Hoyt.”

  “For what?” He wasn’t really paying attention to what she was saying. Anna wasn’t making this any easier, that was for sure. She was extra pretty when she smiled like that.

  “For Chester. I can’t believe the difference it’s made, having him here. I should’ve gotten myself a dog a long time ago. I don’t think I knew how much I hated living alone until last night. It’s just so nice to have another living creature with me, you know?” She looked down at the puppy, who stumbled over the toe of Hoyt’s boot and went tumbling across the floor. When he stopped rolling, his fat, hairless tummy faced up, and his pointed ears lay flat against the floor. He looked like a surprised brown bat.

  Anna laughed, half closing her eyes and scrunching up her nose the way she did when she forgot about being prim and proper, and Hoyt’s stomach did a double flip.

  He wanted to kiss her again, right now, as much as he’d ever wanted anything in his life. He wanted it so much that he took a desperate step away from her, bumping hard into the bookshelf right behind him.

  It rocked, nearly falling over backward, and Anna stopped laughing. As her eyes searched his face, the smile faded from her lips.

  “Hoyt? Is something wrong?”

  That was his opening. He had to take it. “I shouldn’t have kissed you yesterday.” He had to force the words out, and they sounded choppy and hard. “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry.” The warmth drained from her face, and the tight lines he hated reformed around her lips.

  It didn’t matter. He had to keep going. He had to get this over with before he lost his nerve.

  “It wasn’t a good idea. I’m just not— I can’t do this, Anna.”

  The silence stretched a heartbeat too long before she answered. “Can’t do what, exactly?” Her voice sounded thin, like glass that would shatter if you looked at it sideways.

  “Us. I can’t do us.” He knew he wasn’t saying this right, but he was doing the best he could. It was killing him, seeing that look on her face. It made it hard to think, but he pushed on relentlessly. “If we started...dating...it could be hard on Jess.”

  The tension on Anna’s face shifted instantly into concern at the mention of his daughter’s name. “Hoyt, has Jess stopped talking again?”

  “No. But her therapist is worried that she will. If we—” He broke off. “You and I both know we’re too...different to make things work out long-term as anything other than friends. And maybe other guys can afford short-term relationships, but I can’t. I have Jess to think about. I hope you understand.”

  Anna’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes chilled into two shards of green ice. “Of course” was all she said. “Don’t worry. I understand perfectly.”

  She leaned over and gathered the still-upside-down puppy up into her arms. Chester must have sensed something was wrong. The little dog whined softly and then buried his nose against Anna’s neck, burrowing under her spiraling hair.

  “I’m really sorry,” Hoyt repeated miserably.

  She wouldn’t look at him. “No need for you to apologize. It was a kiss, Hoyt. That’s all. One stupid kiss on a very emotional day. It won’t ever happen again.”

  “No, it won’t.” And that fact made him want to punch a hole in the wall. Instead he pulled his dog-eared notepad out of his shirt pocket and clicked open a pen. “Mitch’s starting on the electrical repairs in a day or two, as soon as I get the materials in. He’ll have to shut down the power for a few hours, so you should tell me when it would be the most convenient for him to start work.”

  “How much is the work going to cost?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Like I told you the other day, I’m covering the cost of the material and labor.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I can’t let you do that. I already have that loan to repay you.”

  “Not the way I see it. I’m the one who owes you a debt, Anna. Please let me do this, and we’ll call ourselves even.”

  She considered him for a second of two, her face unreadable. “If I agree, if I let you do this, then we’ll be done? Right?”

  His heart twisted. Done. He sure didn’t like the sound of that. “Yeah, if that’s what you want.”

  “And Mitch will be the one doing the work?”

  “If that’s the way you want it.”

  “I think that’d be best. Can he get them done fast?”

  She wasn’t bothering to pull any punches. Not that he blamed her. “Sure. Once the material comes in, Mitch can probably knock it out in about a week.”

  “Then all right.” She shifted the puppy to free up a hand and held it out in his direction. “It’s a deal.”

  He’d come in here promising himself he wasn’t going to touch Anna, but if he didn’t take her hand now, it was going to look rude. He enclosed her slender hand in his own, meaning to let it go as soon as he’d given it the required, strictly friendly squeeze.

  Instead he stood there like an idiot, holding it and looking down into her face, wishing with all his heart that somehow this could’ve worked out differently. He found himself leaning closer, until he was almost back into the danger zone.

  “I’m sorry I ruined things between us, Anna. I really am. I’m going to miss it, you know? Me and you spending time together.”

  She looked up into his eyes. For just a split second, he saw so much sadness in her face that he was ready to chuck this whole idea and forget everything Dr. Mills had said in that stupid voice mail.

  Then her eyes frosted back over. She pulled her hand free of his and straightened her shoulders.

  “It’s you and I, Hoyt. Not me and you. I’ve told you that at least a million times. Now, if that’s everything, you’ll have to excuse me. Like I said, I need to take Chester for a walk before I reopen.”

  * * *

  Anna finished her fourth turn around the town square. Chester happily jogged along in front of her on his red leash. In spite of the plastic bags she’d optimistically grabbed on her way out the door, the little dog hadn’t slowed down enough to make any progress with his house training.

  Which suited Anna fine. She and Chester could knuckle down on that later. Right now she needed to walk fast and try to clear her head.

  She couldn’t believe how stupid she’d been, building all kinds of meaning into something that was nothing but an impulsive mistake. Apparently all it took to transport her right back into the thick of a silly high school crush was a rescue puppy and one heart-stopping kiss beneath a stand of pine trees.

  Anna picked up her pace until the leash between her and Chester drooped down nearly to the uneven sidewalk. She’d had enough of this. Maybe other people wanted to relive their high school days, but she didn’t. She’d barely survived the first time.

  Chester paused to sniff at the huge round planter full of striped pink begonias and cascading ivy set in front of Buds and Blooms. He raised his leg just as Trish came barreling out the door.

  “Bad dog! Shoo!” She started to nudge the puppy away from the planter with one foot, but she caught sight of the expanding puddle, and took a step backward instead. “Eww. Seriously, Anna? You have a dog now?” Trish made a frustrated no
ise. “Just what you need.”

  Anna really wasn’t in the mood for sarcasm. “Did you want something, Trish?”

  “Yes. I feel it’s only fair to let you know that I’ve lodged an official complaint with the city about the unsafe condition of your building. The clerk assured me you’d be forced to bring the wiring up to code.” Trish was waiting for a reaction, but Anna kept her face blank. “Sorry, honey,” Trish continued with a shrug. “It’s nothing personal. I have to think about my own investment and, of course, my safety.” She rubbed her baby bump.

  Right. Anna remembered the delivery truck she’d seen parked in the alleyway behind their joined buildings early this morning. Two uniformed men had been unloading a colossal industrial cooler.

  Anna had wondered where Trisha planned to put it. Buds and Blooms wasn’t much bigger than Pages, and Trisha already had her space crammed to the gills. How was she planning to shoehorn that mammoth thing in?

  Well, now she knew. Confident her strategically timed complaint was going to topple Anna right over into bankruptcy, Trish was moving full speed ahead with her expansion plans.

  “Sorry to disappoint you, Trisha, but you’re wasting everybody’s time. The wiring repairs are already scheduled.”

  “They are? But—” Trisha faltered to a stop. The dismay on the other woman’s face might have been funny if Anna had been in a different mood. “Do you think it’s a good idea to take out a loan right now? I mean, sure, your business is picking up some, but you can’t bank on that lasting. You don’t want to dig the hole you’re in any deeper, honey.”

  It was that condescending honey that did it. “I appreciate your concern, Trisha, but I’m not taking out a loan.”

  She should have kept her mouth shut. Understanding dawned across Trisha’s face. “You’ve hoodwinked Hoyt Bradley into helping you.” Trisha crossed her arms above her swollen midsection and lifted her eyebrows. “You’ve played your cards well there, I must say. I honestly didn’t think you had it in you.”

  “I didn’t hoodwink anybody. Hoyt offered to help.”

  Trisha made a scoffing noise. “Right. I asked Hoyt to get that electrical guy to hook up my new cooler today, but he said they were too busy. My husband had to get off work and come try to figure it out on his own. You always were a smart one. Playing up to Hoyt’s little girl was a brilliant move.”

  “I wasn’t playing up to Jess to finagle free repairs from Hoyt.” Anna’s protest came out sharper than she’d intended. Trisha’s perfectly arched eyebrows went up another notch.

  “Oh, I’m sure the repairs weren’t the only reason. We all knew about that ridiculous crush you had on him back in high school, but I certainly hope you’re not holding on to any hopes in that area. Take it from me. It’s never going to happen. You’re not his type. And even if you were—” Trisha shrugged “—Hoyt Bradley buried that part of his heart in Pine Valley Memorial Cemetery with Marylee Sherman. Everybody knows that.”

  A wave of hopelessness washed over Anna, and one thing became perfectly and completely clear.

  She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t stay here and be ignored by the man she’d grown to care for—love, even. She might as well admit that to herself, at least. That kiss might have been a mistake as far as Hoyt was concerned, but it had shifted something inside of her. And she had no idea how to shift things back.

  That was a problem. Unrequited crushes were bad enough in high school, but she wasn’t in high school anymore.

  This had to stop.

  “You can sheath those claws of yours, Trisha. Like it or not, I’m bringing the bookstore up to code, and you won’t be able to buy it for those bargain basement prices you’ve been throwing around.” Anna paused, teetering on the brink of the decision that she knew needed to be made. Then she swallowed hard and took the plunge. “But I have some good news for you. If you really want this building you can have it. Make me an offer, a real one this time, and the place is yours.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Three nights later, Hoyt reared up on one elbow and socked his pillow. Then he flipped over and stared at the green numbers on the bedside clock.

  2:14 a.m. He had a full workday scheduled, and he’d be shorthanded. Since Trish had somehow succeeded in strong-arming Anna into selling her building, he’d put a rush on the material order and asked Mitch to bump the bookstore repairs up on the schedule.

  He needed sleep, but that wasn’t happening. Instead, here he was, tossing and turning—and thinking about Anna.

  “God, I’m having a tough time down here. I could use Your help.” He spoke quietly. Jess’s bedroom was right next door, and over the years he’d learned exactly how to pitch his prayers so she wouldn’t wake up.

  He’d prayed his way through plenty of sleepless nights since Marylee died. Although, come to think of it, he hadn’t had so many of those lately.

  Not since Anna had come back into his life. For a while now, things had been different.

  And better. So much better.

  Small wonder he’d stumbled into dangerous territory. Because Dr. Mills was right. It was dangerous—and not just for Jess.

  He’d never been the kind of guy who moved from one relationship to another. Falling in love wasn’t like flicking a light switch on and off, not for him. He played for keeps.

  But there was no way he could ever hold the interest of a woman like Anna Delaney. She needed a whole different kind of man in her life, one she could have English-teacher-worthy conversations with at night while watching some brainy documentary on public television.

  That wasn’t him. He was more a tune-up-your-car-and-unclog-your-sink kind of guy. He was all wrong for Anna, and deep down, he figured she understood that, too.

  Right now, Anna was alone and still grieving for her dad, and Hoyt knew firsthand how shortsighted that pain could make a person. If it could make the son of a drunk pick up a bottle, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that it could also make a woman look up into the eyes of a man she could never love as if he was the one she’d been waiting for all her life.

  He got that. In his head, anyway. His heart was still playing catch-up.

  Hoyt switched on the lamp. He wasn’t going to get any more sleep tonight. Might as well face that fact head-on, too, and make the best of it. He had those blueprints for the bank addition he needed to look over. He’d spend the rest of the night doing that.

  Just as he swung his feet over the edge of the bed, his charging phone buzzed and skittered across the bedside table. He picked it up and squinted at the text message.

  Hoyt froze for one paralyzed second of disbelief before leaping out of bed. He snatched up yesterday’s discarded jeans and shirt with shaking hands, his heart pounding like a jackhammer on steroids.

  He had to wake Jess up and get both of them out to his truck now.

  Anna’s building was on fire.

  Hoyt made it to town in record time. He pulled his truck in across from the bookstore, half expecting to see flames flickering crazily in the upstairs windows of Anna’s apartment.

  Nothing. The only thing flickering crazily was his own heartbeat. There were no fire trucks in sight, nothing.

  Could the text have been a false alarm?

  Please, God, yes. Let this be nothing.

  Still, he wasn’t about to leave without checking things out for himself.

  He glanced into the back seat. Jess met his gaze, her blue eyes round. “Sweetheart, everything looks fine. I’m going to make sure Miss Anna’s okay, then we’re going to go back home. Just wait here in the truck, okay? I’ll be right back.”

  She nodded solemnly. “Okay, Daddy.”

  Satisfied his daughter would stay put, Hoyt headed across the street. He was going to bang on that door until Anna came downstairs. She could yell at him all she wanted, but he needed to lay eyes on her, see for himself that she was all
right before he headed home.

  One thing was for sure. Later today he was going to have a serious talk with Mitch about this so-called state-of-the-art smoke alarm. The stupid thing had lopped at least five years off his life with this little malfunction.

  Just as he passed the centerline of the road, the smell hit him. Smoke. At the same instant, he heard the first, distant wails of the siren over at the firehouse.

  This was no false alarm.

  He ran the rest of the way to the building. “Anna? Anna!” The door shook as he pounded, but there was no answer. He peered through the window. A shroud of smoke hung over the store. He could hear alarms going off inside, but Anna was nowhere in sight.

  “Hoyt, what’s wrong?” Bailey Quinn hurried up the street. Hoyt had no idea why Bailey had been hanging around her store at this hour, and he didn’t care. Right now she was a godsend.

  “Fire,” he said shortly. “Jess is in my truck. Go stay with her, Bailey.” He had to get into the bookstore, now. His eye lit on the set of concrete planters angled in front of Trisha’s florist shop.

  That little one right there would do. He heaved it up in his arms.

  “Hoyt, the firefighters are on their way. Hear the sirens? Just wait.” Hoyt didn’t spare Bailey a glance. He was zeroed in on the window in the door.

  “They’re mostly volunteers, Bailey, you know that. It’ll take them a few minutes to get assembled and suited up. I’m not leaving Anna in there alone until they get here. Go see to Jess. Please.” With all his strength he heaved the planter.

  The glass shattered into a thousand pieces, and he reached through to unlatch the door. “Anna?” He pushed into the store, shards crunching under his boots. Alarms were shrieking all around him, and small wonder. Smoke hung thick in the air.

  Coughing, Hoyt turned his nose to his shirtsleeve and sucked in a breath. Bailey was yelling at him from outside, but he ignored her. Bailey Quinn was a practical woman. Once she saw she couldn’t stop him, she’d go straight to Jess, like he’d asked.