Then Came You: A Lake Howling Novel

by Vella, Wendy

  “I’m five tomorrow.”

  “Congratulations. You get cake and presents, right?” Lani’s face changed suddenly. Gone was the tension as she talked to Rose. She wore the same jeans, but the shirt was the one he’d taken off her that night in Brook. The thought did nothing to ease the awareness he already felt around this woman.

  “And a party. You can come if you want.”

  Lani’s eyes shot to Jake and Branna, who had followed him and Rose. They now stood a little back, waiting for an introduction.

  “Lani Sullivan, this is Jake and Branna McBride. They own this brat.” Rose smiled at his words. “Lani is new in town.”

  “Hello.” She nodded, the tension now back in her face. “Mrs. C wanted me to return this to you.” She thrust an envelope at him that was likely a bill for the last cake he ordered two weeks ago.

  “You working at the Howlery now?”

  She nodded again.

  “Okay, well if you need anything, you let me know.”

  “You guys are making her cake.” Jake pointed to Rose.

  “Right, I saw that in the diary.” Lani mouthed the word of Rose’s favorite Disney character.

  “That’s the one,” Jake said. “We’re hoping for something other than purple flowers this year.”

  “So, do you want to come to my party?” Lani dropped her eyes to Rose again as the little girl spoke.

  “I don’t think I can, but thanks for the invite. I bet you’re going to have a great time.”

  “Have you eaten?” Branna said as Lani straightened.

  “Pardon?”

  “Do you want to join us? We’re just about to have a meal. This is the first of our daughter’s birthday celebrations.”

  “First?” Lani looked confused.

  “She’s having three. One at her preschool, a party at our home for her friends and ours, and this dinner. We’d be happy to have you join us,” Branna added.

  “Why?”

  “You’re new in town,” Branna said patiently, “and working for Mrs. Cribbins, therefore you probably don’t know many people.”

  By her expression, Noah guessed she was shocked at the invitation. He knew why; she was a stranger, and this was a family dinner, but clearly Branna wanted to make her feel welcome, which was the Howler way.

  “No… thanks for asking.”

  “Where are you staying?” Branna asked.

  “What?”

  “Where are you staying in Lake Howling?”

  “Ah, around. Bye, I have to go.” Lani raised a hand and then left without looking his way again. Noah followed.

  “You all good, Lani?”

  “Of course.” She looked over her shoulder but didn’t stop.

  “I have room here if you need a place to stay.” Something niggled at him. She’d avoided Branna’s question about where she was staying, and he knew most of the places that were vacant in Howling, which totaled about five at the moment.

  “I don’t.”

  “No charge,” he added.

  That had her stopping.

  “I’m not sleeping with you for free accommodation.” Her face was tight and closed off.

  “What? Where the hell did that come from?”

  “Look, Noah. We both know you don’t get anything for free—”

  “That is insulting to both of us,” Noah growled. “You think I want sex with you as payment for staying here?”

  She didn’t answer, just turned and walked away from him, and he was so angry, he let her. Exhaling loudly, he walked back to where his friends still stood. Clearly they’d been watching him, but he doubted they’d heard anything.

  “Around is a vague answer, don’t you think?” Branna said, watching him.

  He grunted something.

  “She was probably terrified, Rosebud. You asked her to have dinner with us, and Rose invited her to the party and you don’t even know her,” Jake said.

  “But I was just being friendly.”

  “I know that, but remember when you first came back to town? You weren’t big on connecting with people. Maybe Lani is the same.”

  “Maybe you’re right. I sometimes forget the other me.”

  “I haven’t.” Jake hugged her close.

  “What’s the deal there?” Jake said as they walked back to the bar.

  “Deal?” He couldn’t believe she’d thought he wanted sex as payment for a room. What the hell kind of people had that woman spent time with if that was her reaction to simple courtesy?

  “How do you know her?”

  He had to say something to Jake, so he settled on a partial version of the truth. “I met her in a bar in Brook. We talked for a few hours, and I didn’t know she was coming here until this morning.”

  “Is she the woman whose heel you pulled out of the grate?”

  Nothing was kept quiet for long in Lake Howling.

  “The very one.”

  “She seemed pretty nervous,” Jake added, “and not your usual type.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment.” Noah walked behind the bar and retrieved a bottle of champagne. He needed to do something to keep busy; his insides were still boiling.

  “Both.”

  No one knew you quite like an old friend.

  “You often go for women who want companionship and nothing more.”

  “And you know this how?”

  “I have my spies.”

  “Get a life and butt out of mine.”

  “Aww, now where is the fun in that?”

  So he was grouchier than he used to be and didn’t want anything more than brief companionship from a woman. It seemed his friends were more insightful than he’d given them credit for.

  “What’s her deal, anyway? I mean, she looks pretty timid, and those clothes are faded and worn. Is she down on her luck?”

  Jake was leaning on the bar now, watching Noah work. A favorite pastime of many of his friends.

  “You met her for about five minutes and you’ve decided she’s timid and her clothes suggest she’s down on her luck? Maybe she’s just not trying to impress people with the way she looks and is happy with who she is?” Noah didn’t believe his words for one minute, but he said them anyway. “I only had a drink in a bar with her because she was sitting on the stool beside me. “We didn’t slice open a vein and share confidences or anything.”

  “I’m a doctor, we know shit. It’s called being insightful.”

  “Insightful, my ass, and you don’t know shit.”

  “I’m really good with shit actually, ask Rose. I helped her build a fort in the living room; she loved it.”

  “Fort building is an outstanding skill, it has to be noted, but not quite what I was getting at. Organizational skill is not your strong suit. Hell if I know how you manage doctoring.”

  “I agree, and he manages because his administrator, nurse, and mother do the organizing for him.” Paul Newman wandered in with his girl, Hope Lawrence.

  Thankfully the topic of Lani was forgotten by everyone but Noah. He’d have something to say to her the next time they met, and she wouldn’t like it. The hell of it was, he wanted there to be a next time.

  “No one asked you into this conversation, pretty boy,” Jake said.

  Dressed immaculately as he always was in perfectly ironed chinos and a crisp button-down navy shirt, Paul Theodore Newman was a man who stepped out of bed looking like he did now. Even scruffy, he was neater than Noah. A shrewd businessman, he had blond curls that he never tamed and a smile that could get most people to do what he wanted.

  His partner, Hope, however, was the exact opposite. She wore a sundress in red with huge yellow flowers, a denim jacket, black knee-high socks, and black leather lace-up boots, which her man referred to as shit kickers. She never matched, was usually rumpled, and had a scowl that could scare anyone off if you didn’t know that under the threatening facade was a sweet, gentle woman.

  “He iron your dress again, sweetheart?” Noah said,
leaning over for a high five from Newman and to kiss her cheek.

  She sighed, looking pissed off. “I can’t stop him. He goes into my closet and gets my clothes out. Irons them and puts them back.” She lifted a boot up for them to inspect. “He polished these too, and yesterday he tidied my dressing table and got me all these hair ties that match.”

  Newman looked unrepentant. “What can I say? I love her; it’s my way of showing it.”

  Hope laughed and then placed a loud kiss on his cheek. “It’s okay, I’ll sleep in this dress. That’ll give you something to do tomorrow.”

  Newman gave her a special smile that suggested she wouldn’t be wearing it for long.

  “Stop making bedroom eyes,” Jake said. “It disgusts me.”

  “Jealous, big boy?” Newman elbowed him in the ribs.

  “Hell, no. Branna wears one of my T-shirts—”

  “Stop!” Noah raised a hand. “I have no wish to discuss your love life, and especially not without a beer in my hand. Now go, sit, and leave me to work.”

  “He’s just pissed he doesn’t get it regularly.” Newman smiled. “Plus, there’s that new lone wolf vibe about him.”

  Noah pinched his nose. “You have no idea how regularly I get it, and this discussion is over. Now go away.”

  “He’s grumpy,” Hope said.

  Noah eyeballed his friends. “Did you all wake up this morning and decide it was time to list my faults or something? First I’m gruff and grouchy, then I sleep around, and now I’m a lone wolf and grumpy.”

  “To be fair, I never said you slept around,” Jake added. “I said you went for companionship… brief companionship with no strings.”

  “And maybe we think it’s time you snapped out of it,” Newman said.

  “Out of what? There is nothing happening with me, nor am I different.” Noah felt a tightness in the back of his head that suggested he had a headache coming on.

  “You go on believing that if it makes you happy.” Branna patted his hand. “But we’re your friends and are just saying that since Samantha, you’re going through some things.”

  “Okay, this conversation is done.” Noah turned his back on them. Not that he thought for a minute that would deter them.

  “It’s only just beginning,” Jake said.

  When he’d turned back, they were walking away, and he had a really bad feeling that suddenly his friends had decided he was their project, and not in a “let’s go paint his house or get him a haircut” kind of way. This was about meddling, plain and simple, and he’d be putting them straight on that matter tomorrow. He didn’t need any help; he was fine just the way he was.

  Just because they were all loved up and smiling didn’t mean the world had to be.

  He’d tried that once, believing he’d found his happily ever after with Samantha. Turns out he’d got that wrong, and now he didn’t want a repeat performance, deciding it was better to keep his heart in one piece.

  Okay, maybe that experience had changed him but he was still Noah, just a little more guarded and a lot less gullible.

  “Are you brooding again?”

  He did have one serious woman in his life, and she’d just walked in to do the night shift.

  “Hey, baby girl, how’s your day been?”

  Faith was his twin sister. They owned and ran The Howler together. Like him, she was unattached, but unlike him she had no problem with commitment, and yet if that was the case, why was she not hooked up? Strange how he hadn’t given this much thought until now.

  Shame washed through him. Had he been too preoccupied to notice that maybe his sister had commitment issues too?

  “Good, same stuff really, although I got my nails done.” She flashed long red talons at him.

  “Nice. You doing okay?”

  “What way okay?”

  Noah cleared his throat. “I was just wondering if you were seeing anyone.” God, that sounded lame. “Anyone special.”

  Faith put down the glass she’d picked up and looked at him.

  Tall, elegant, with dark straight hair and soft brown eyes, she was the feminine version of him. She was beautiful. He knew this by the looks men threw her, and he’d dealt with a few of them when they’d tried to get too close from time to time.

  “You don’t think I’d tell you if I was? Because I sure hope you’d tell me.”

  “Right, gotcha. No one important in your life at the moment.”

  “What’s this about, Noah?”

  He shrugged. “Nothing, just catching up with what’s happening with you.”

  She leaned in and checked out his eyes. “You smoke something?”

  “I can’t show a little brotherly interest?” His collar suddenly felt tight.

  “Not when you usually run a mile before getting personal.”

  “I do not!”

  “Sure you do.”

  “Whatever. I’m sorry for being interested.” He tried to back out of the conversation by making her feel guilty. “The McBride party is in, and Newman and Hope. You want to take them their drinks and see what that loser and Hope want?”

  She gave him another look, but much to his relief ran with the change in conversation. “It’s really not the thing to call patrons losers.” She picked up the tray he’d loaded. “I’m guessing the others stayed home as their wives are about to give birth?”

  “Something like that.”

  This was all he needed in his life anyway. His sister, The Howler, and his mom, who was a resident in the Lake Howling rest home. Why did he need a permanent woman in his life when he had everything he wanted now? Pushing aside the small niggle of doubt these words created, he began to set up the bar.

  It was Friday and it would be busy. When Faith got back, he went to check everything was okay in the kitchen.

  “How’s it going, Mikey?” The boy would be sixteen in a few months. Tall, thin, and growing into a man, he stood with his hands in the sink washing pots. There was even a line of fuzz on his top lip that looked like the hair on a newborn.

  “Good, thanks, Noah. I’m working tonight ’cause I need to get my assignment done tomorrow, and Branna and Jake are going to help.”

  “Nice to know they’re handy for something.”

  “Ha.”

  “All good, Nate?” he asked his chef.

  “Sure, no problems, thanks, Noah.”

  “Okay, you guys want any drinks before things get busy?”

  They reeled off orders, and Noah went to fill them. He’d always believed in treating his staff well, and found that because he did, they didn’t have too many problems holding on to them.

  Heading to the front door, he looked out for no other reason than he could—which was a lie. He wanted to see if Lani was out there, because he was wondering now where she was staying and if she had money for food. Sure, he was angry with her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be concerned. Was she down on her luck? Stepping outside the doors, he looked up the street then down, and watched the headlights of the Bronco Lani drove leave town.

  Where was she going?

  Chapter Seven

  Lani had baked for Mrs. C, as she insisted on being called, and the woman had loved the cake and the decorating she’d done on top. She’d been hired and was starting tomorrow. Looking through the order book had told her there were plenty to fill over the next few weeks, and that had excited her. Nothing had created that emotion inside Lani since she’d left home.

  A new challenge was what it felt like, and one she was ready for, if only for a few weeks. Plus, it was doing something she loved. Usually her work consisted of washing dishes in a diner or scrubbing toilets. She’d taken on some hideous jobs to get money, but this would not be one of those. To celebrate, she was now buying herself some chocolate. The general store, known as the Roar—this town had weird names—seemed a good place to start.

  “That’s a fierce frown.”

  Looking up from the shelf lined with homemade chocolate she’d been contemplating, L
ani nodded to the man standing on the opposite side. He was smiling at her. What was with these people always smiling? Was there something in the water in this town?

  “It can get confusing in here, as there’s so many choices. Mac keeps the place stocked well. You need help with something?”

  “No, thank you.”

  He didn’t leave, and the smile stayed there. There was something familiar about him. Tall, gray hair, but it was those eyes.

  “You here on holiday?”

  She shook her head, hoping her lack of conversation moved him on. It didn’t.

  “You must be the new girl working for Mrs. C?”

  “How do you know that? I mean, I only just got the job a few hours ago.”

  “Small towns.” He touched the side of his nose. “Nowhere to hide here.”

  Lani shuddered. That was her idea of a nightmare.

  “But we’re harmless, and you won’t find a better place to stay… if you’re planning on doing that for a while.”

  It was a question, she could see it in his eyes. Lani couldn’t be rude, for all she didn’t like sharing things about herself. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying yet.”

  “I’m Patrick McBride.” He held out a hand to her. “Excuse me, I should have introduced myself by now.”

  He had a nice face, and she wondered what relation he was to man she’d just met in The Howler. It was a face you trusted… if you were the type to trust.

  “Lani Sullivan.” His palm was warm as she placed her hand in his.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lani Sullivan. My wife is getting our granddaughter a little treat before we meet her for dinner. We tend to spoil her.”

  “I met her, actually. She’s very sweet, and invited me to her party. I said no,” she added quickly.

  “Why?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Why did you say no?”

  “I’m a stranger.”

  “Well now, everyone starts out as a stranger, Lani, but then they become friends. If my little granddaughter invited you, then I’d say she knew what she was about.”

  “I don’t think so. I have to go. Bye.”

  “Nice to meet you, and I’ll see you around.”