Summer on Moonlight Bay

by Hope Ramsay

  She thought about it. Grant was ten years older, not twenty as she had originally thought. That might explain the fact that they liked the same music. And with ten more years, he still had more experience than she did. Didn’t he? “No, it doesn’t make a difference,” she finally said.

  “He’s still too old for her,” Ethan said. “And furthermore, I just told her that he’s trying to get Bud Joyner fired. Can you imagine that? Bud?”

  Noah’s gaze narrowed. “Why would he do that?”

  “Because Chief Joyner isn’t paying attention to his job,” Abby said.

  “That is not true,” Ethan said.

  “Is true,” Abby countered, waving her hands as if to display the shabby living room. “Look around you, Ethan. This place is falling down. And no wonder. Ever since Art Moore died and his son took over the property management, they’ve just stopped maintaining these houses. Bud is one of Josh Moore’s best friends. Everyone knows that. Just open your eyes for once and stop parroting Daddy.”

  “I am not parroting Daddy. I came here because I’m worried about you.”

  “Well stop, okay? I’m a big girl.” She checked her watch. “And Grant is going to be here in about five minutes, and I want you gone before he gets here. Understand?”

  * * *

  Noah watched his little sister beat a hasty retreat up the stairs. She had spunk, and he was just as worried about her as Ethan.

  But he wasn’t worried about Grant Ackerman.

  “I thought you were going to talk to him,” Ethan said. “I thought you were going to explain to him that he needed to leave Abby alone.”

  “I did talk to him.”

  “So why the hell is he—”

  “He asked permission to take Abby out. And I swear…” Noah stopped and glanced at Momma in the doorway to the kitchen and Ethan standing there dressed out in his full police uniform. “If either of you ever tell Abby that Grant asked permission to date her I will disavow the conversation entirely.”

  “He asked permission? And you gave it?” Ethan asked at the same time Momma actually chuckled.

  “I did. He’s an okay guy. He really likes her, but he promised me that he wouldn’t do one thing to dissuade her from going to college.”

  “Hallelujah,” Momma said on a long sigh.

  “Now I think you need to get lost, Ethan.”

  “But—”

  “He’s right,” Momma said. “You have to give Abby some room to grow. I’m glad you’re worried about her.”

  “But Momma, what about Bud—”

  “Bud’s a problem,” Momma said.

  “What?”

  “Abby is right. Bud’s been looking the other way on some things. And…” Her voice faded.

  “And what?” Noah asked. Could Lia be right? Damn. Lia was almost always right about almost everything. He looked over at his mother, who stood in the doorway between the foyer and the kitchen. She was leaning heavily on her walker, and she looked bone weary.

  “And…Bud Joyner is not the man most people think he is. There’s a dark side to him.”

  “You’re only saying that because he’s one of Daddy’s friends,” Ethan said.

  “No, Ethan. I’m actually capable of making up my own mind. And there have been a few things over the years that Kate has told me.”

  So Lia was right. And he’d been totally blind to it. Now that he was presented with a few more viewpoints he could easily see how Napoleon’s injuries could have been caused by a baseball bat or a two-by-four and not a car accident. The idea disgusted him. And unlike Ethan or Momma, the fact that Daddy and Bud were longtime friends suddenly counted as a strike against the town’s favorite Santa.

  “Now Ethan, you need to go. And I don’t want you making trouble for Abby’s boyfriend,” Momma said.

  “But, Momma, I—”

  “I know your daddy sent you here, son. I’ll bet he’s been filling your head with a lot of nonsense about Grant Ackerman. And I bet he got all of it from Bud Joyner.”

  “Well…” Ethan looked down at his shoes.

  “Anyone with half a brain can see the way the old boys’ network works in this town,” Momma said. “The police have been looking the other way at Bud’s little games, and Kate’s been fooling herself about Bud for even longer than that. I know. She’s my friend. But I guess she looks at me and what happened when I moved out of your father’s house. So she stays.”

  “What do you mean?” Ethan asked.

  “I ended up living here. In the run-down part of town. But you know what? I’ve made a lot of friends here. I’ve been happy living here, and I didn’t have to stretch my budget because the rent is low. So y’all can keep your opinions about my living situation to yourselves.

  “And I just want to point out that Bud Joyner doesn’t make enough to pay cash for a new bass boat, but that’s what he bought last spring.”

  “Momma, that’s not—”

  “It’s true, Ethan. Your father doesn’t want to do anything about it because Bud is a friend. Bud is everyone’s friend. And that’s the problem.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The softball field was deserted when Lia arrived at six-thirty on Tuesday evening. She’d lost the cute sundress and now wore a standard-issue gray T-shirt and athletic shorts as she lugged the big bag of softball equipment that Jenna had left at Howland House earlier in the day.

  Kerri showed up five minutes later wearing a neon pink spandex halter top and a pair of skintight athletic shorts. If she dressed like that on game day, Colton St. Pierre would notice. So would all the guys on the opposing team. Which might be a good thing.

  Kerri might not be a very good softball player, but the woman had to be a gym rat with those impressive guns and thighs. And she’d make one heck of a distraction in an outfit like that.

  Lia got busy teaching her the fundamentals of catching a fly ball using two hands and then sent her into the outfield while she threw fly balls and grounders to her. She made a lot of improvement in a short time.

  About ten minutes into their practice, Kate Joyner arrived wearing a sleeveless blouse and a pair of Bermuda shorts. She did not look as if she spent time in the gym, and she’d already confessed that she was bruised.

  “Hi,” Kate said uncertainly. “I thought I’d take you up on your offer.”

  “Great,” Lia said with a big smile for Kate’s benefit. She was surprised Kate had shown but was happy to see her. Lia gave Kate the same brief lesson she’d given Kerri and sent her out into the field. Kate was slow, frightened by the ball, and threw like a girl.

  But then Kerri threw like a girl, too, in spite of those impressive biceps.

  Jenna would need to put one of the guys in as the mid-fielder. Someone with an arm.

  Since neither of them could throw, she decided to do a little infield practice, putting Kerri at second and Kate at first. Kerri wasn’t all that great at scooping up grounders, and Kate was terrible at catching the relay at first. She switched them up. Kate was terrible at grounders, but Kerri could catch the relay most of the time.

  So maybe Kerri could play first base.

  The main issue was teaching Kate not to be so afraid of the ball. So they made a circle for a simple game of catch. They were making progress when Lia’s radar went off, but not in its normal way.

  A shiver came out of nowhere, distracting her just as Kate threw the ball in her direction. She glanced away for an instant, and that was all it took. The ball missed her glove and nailed her in the cheek, knocking her back.

  She fell back onto the soft grass and saw stars up there in the sky, but it wasn’t yet twilight. Damn. What the hell was that.

  An instant later, she had her answer. A sloppy, wet tongue slathered her cheek, followed by the command in Noah Cuthbert’s voice, “Prince, leave it.”

  The doctor’s handsome face with its twinkly blue eyes floated into her vision. He looked concerned. “I saw that. What happened?” he asked.

  Far be it from
her to tell him that she’d had a weird full-body flush right before getting nailed. What was that?

  He reached down and touched her cheek. “That’s going to bruise,” he said.

  She didn’t care. His fingers gliding across her skin unleashed another full-body experience that was more than merely distracting. It was nice.

  She almost whispered “don’t stop,” but then Kerri and Kate arrived.

  “I am so sorry,” Kate said. “I’m really bad at this. I should forget about playing altogether.”

  “No.” Lia tried to push up from the ground, but Noah placed his hand on her shoulder.

  “Don’t move. I need to check to see if you’ve got a concussion.”

  “I’m fine,” she said, but she didn’t fight him too hard.

  “Oh my God, I will never forgive myself if—”

  “Kate,” Lia said, rolling her eyes just as Dr. Cuthbert was trying to shine the pen light on his keychain into them.

  “Would you stay still, please, and look up at the sky?” he asked in a commanding voice.

  She complied by looking up at the sky but she didn’t stop talking. “Kate, it wasn’t your fault. I got distracted and didn’t look the ball into my glove.”

  “Distracted?” Kerri asked in a leading voice.

  “Yes. Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I’m not sure I even know what it was.”

  “I do,” Kerri said.

  “You’re fine,” Noah pronounced. “But you should get some ice on that cheek. I’ll walk you back to the clinic.”

  She was pathetic. She’d unsuccessfully attempted to attract him today with her cleavage. And despite his disinterest, she was having a full-core meltdown the moment he got within range.

  She tried to ignore his presence and looked at Kate. “I mean it, Kate. Don’t let this discourage you. In the last hour, you’ve improved a lot. It would be great if you could join us for another girls-only practice tomorrow evening.”

  “I can’t,” Kate said.

  “Working?”

  She shrugged. “No. But to be honest, I’m not sure Bud would be happy if he found out what I did today. So I’d appreciate it if y’all wouldn’t say anything to him. I told him A Stitch in Time was having a knit-in this evening.”

  “Ms. Joyner,” Noah said, his southern accent growing just a little deeper, “I’m a little worried about you. I heard some things this evening that—”

  “What things?” Kate seemed suddenly distraught.

  “Just that your husband is having some issues down at the fire station.”

  “He’s fine,” she said, standing up and dropping her borrowed mitt to the grass. “Thanks for trying to turn me into a softball player, but it’s clearly a lost cause. I think I’ll let Bud know that I’m not going to be playing on Thursday.”

  She turned and headed for the fence.

  “Kate,” Kerri said, chasing after her.

  “What?” Kate turned around.

  “If you ever need a place to stay, I have a spare room. You and that dog of yours are welcome. Just call me at the store, okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Kate said, turning back toward the fence and the park exit. “Y’all need to stop worrying about me.”

  * * *

  Lia sat on one of the rolling stools in Exam Room One as Noah placed an ice pack on her cheek.

  “Ow!” She jumped back from him, which was the last thing she wanted to do. Her hand brushed his as she took the ice from him. The term “fire and ice” had never had a more visceral meaning. And the heat remained even as he withdrew his hand.

  “You’re going to be swollen tomorrow. Good thing the ball didn’t break the skin,” he said, all business.

  And no pleasure.

  Which was disappointing.

  She looked up into his bright blue eyes, so filled with compassion. Funny how Micah had preached about compassion, and Noah practiced it every day. Maybe that’s what made him such a good vet. He was skilled, but he cared.

  Damn. She needed to get her mind off this topic. “Well, so much for my attempt at building Kate Joyner’s confidence,” she said. “Serves me right for meddling.”

  “So you’ve meddled before?” he asked, one eyebrow raised just so.

  She looked away. “It was my job to meddle.”

  “Your job?”

  She shrugged. “Yeah. I was supposed to ferret out unhappiness, low morale, and people with problems. It was my duty to get them help.”

  “This is a job in the navy?”

  “I told you. I was an RPS. And since I was enlisted, I could sometimes reach sailors and marines who might be embarrassed by bringing their problems to one of my chaplains, who were all officers. Micah once said that I was like the unit’s mom.” She readjusted her ice pack. “That’s why he wants to hire me.”

  “To be the congregation’s mom?” Noah said. “That’s not very romantic.”

  “Of course it’s not. We aren’t a thing.”

  “You’re not?”

  “Oh, good grief, don’t tell me you believe the gossip? For the record, the Rev and I were locked in that closet from the outside. Not the inside. And why on earth would I be pursuing a job at the church if I was interested in Micah romantically? That would be a mistake, right? I totally understand why the Altar Guild wants to find him a wife but I’m not the prime candidate for that. Actually, I have a theory about the perfect woman for him, but I’ll have to wait and see if I’m right. My intuition has been off lately.”

  She looked up just in time for the twinkle in the blue to go incendiary. Like fireworks on the Fourth of July. And suddenly her skin felt hot enough to flash-melt the ice she continued to press against her throbbing cheek. Come to think about it, her cheek wasn’t the only part of her body that was throbbing.

  “How has your intuition been off? Near as I can tell, you can read minds or feelings or something. This evening, my mother said something about Kate Joyner that totally jibes with what you suggested on Saturday.”

  “Really? Everyone besides Kerri thinks Bud’s a great guy.”

  “Well, you can add my mother and sister to the list of doubters, and Grant Ackerman too.”

  “The guy your sister is infatuated with?”

  “Yes. And I hate to admit it, but I like the man.”

  “Well, for what it’s worth, I don’t get any negative vibes from Grant. But I guess that doesn’t matter much. I never got any bad vibes from Roy either, and that ended in disaster.”

  “Roy?” Noah asked, leaning against the exam table, which brought him a few inches closer to her.

  She shrugged. “He was stationed at NAS Lemoore, my last duty station. And I missed something about him, and it turned out badly.”

  “How badly?” He inched closer still.

  She swallowed. “I missed a case of PTSD. And the guy snapped. He took his own life.”

  “Oh.” The word was a soft exhalation.

  “I could have… I should have helped him.”

  “Maybe,” Noah said, hunkering down so that his eyes were on her level. “But you know, there are lots of things we don’t have any control over. Sort of like what you told Kate this evening about that ball you failed to catch.”

  “Yes but—”

  He cupped her non-injured cheek. “No, Lia. There are no buts. Sometimes a dog comes into the referral center who has fallen off the back of some redneck’s truck, and I can’t save him. And it tears me apart. But just because I can’t save that life, doesn’t mean I messed up. The guy who put his dog in the bed of his pickup is the one to blame. In a situation like that, the best thing I can do is get up in the owner’s face and tell him what an a-hole he is.”

  Noah leaned in, and her senses short-circuited.

  “Is that what you think about every dog who gets tangled up with an automobile?” she asked, like an idiot. All day she’d been wanting him to flirt, and he’d finally gotten the message. Why the hell was she asking questions about his demon
s?

  Maybe because she didn’t want to talk about her own.

  Thank God he didn’t answer her question. Instead he moved in like he had the other day, making a beeline to that spot behind her ear. Nuzzling it to life.

  She dropped the ice bag. “Oh yeah. That’s the spot.”

  * * *

  Noah deepened the kiss. He had no other option. Otherwise, he might have gotten permanently lost in the sorrow in her coffee-bean eyes. Now he understood the reason for that sadness.

  She’d taken on too much and blamed herself for things beyond her control. Even Prince, whom she’d rescued.

  And hadn’t he been a jerk about the dog? Feeding her guilt instead of praising her for stopping and getting the dog to safety.

  He understood that sadness exactly. She wanted to keep it inside and pretend that she was okay. Pretend that her shame over the cat named Whiskers and the man named Roy weren’t driving everything in her life and weren’t standing in the way of her ability to accept the love of a dog named Prince.

  Yeah, like he was any different.

  She put her hands on his shoulders, and the touch almost burned through his T-shirt. She pushed him back a fraction, and he reluctantly moved, disengaging.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t—”

  “Maybe we should,” he said, forcing himself to gaze into those dark mirrors. “I want you,” he said.

  “You do?” Her brow wrinkled.

  “You don’t know this?”

  “I’m not…”

  “What?”

  She shrugged. She always shrugged when she didn’t know how to say what was on her mind. Like maybe she thought he didn’t get it.

  “I want to know you,” he said. “All of you. And the truth is, you draw me like a moth to a flame.”

  She cocked her head, her eyes growing liquid. “I might burn you up. Be careful.”

  He smiled and rested his forehead against hers. “No. I don’t think so. I actually think I’m strong enough to hold that flame in my hand.”

  “Cocky, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve never been accused of a lack of ego. But I mean it. I get you, Lia DiPalma. I know all about how you can’t forgive yourself. Because I’ve been there too.”