Playing With Trouble (Desire Bay)

by Joya Ryan

  “I’ve got to go make a phone call,” Laura said. And she pulled out her cell and looked up the number for LA Marketing.

  The fifth wheel in his driveway was shaking with movement. Laura was obviously inside moving around, so he went over and knocked.

  She didn’t answer.

  So he knocked again.

  Still nothing.

  Finally he opened the door a tad and peeked in to find her turning the place upside down and throwing things into a suitcase.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Packing,” she said, not turning around to face him.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m leaving, Jake. I have a job offer in California and I’m taking it. I never belonged here. But of course, you already knew that.” That time she spared him a glance, and both the hurt in her eyes and the snip of her words pierced his chest like a dull dagger.

  “Laura—” he started.

  “Don’t!” She threw a shirt into her suitcase and faced him. “Don’t you dare try to lie to me anymore.”

  She knew everything. How, he wasn’t sure, but it was clear she did.

  “I was trying to help. You can’t just run away. Back out on a major deal. You told Cal you’d commit.”

  “And you made him hire me. So why should I stay? I never earned this. You can have it all, Jake. The stability, the money, all of it. My father doesn’t need to choose between us. I’m gone. It’s yours.”

  “So that’s it. You’re going to run. You won’t be reasonable and talk about this.”

  “You were right, Jake.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jake said. “I was trying to do what was best and realize that I was dishonest in how I went about it.”

  “It doesn’t matter. You won,” she said, zipping her suitcase up. “You wanted the business so bad, you’ve got it. And you have your lumber contract, too—all in all, it’s a good day for you and Baughman Home Goods, it’d seem.”

  “Laura, don’t do this. What about the flower shop?”

  “What about it?” she asked. “You know as well as I do it’ll go under in six months, tops. I don’t have the clientele you do, after all. And everything I thought mattered doesn’t.”

  “You matter,” he said. “So much. You matter to me.”

  She looked him in the eye and hefted up her suitcase. “I don’t believe you. And either way, you never believed in me anyway.”

  With that, she shoved past him and out the door and headed toward her car. She didn’t look back. Didn’t flip him off. Didn’t do a thing. She just walked out.

  Even after he called her name. Begged her to stay. To talk. She didn’t.

  She just got into her car and left.

  It was official now: every woman Jake loved walked out on him. Only this time he couldn’t blame her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Laura had never felt a pain like this. Like her heart was being removed piece by piece from between her ribs. It was aching, throbbing, yet hollow at the same time.

  She just needed to tell her dad good-bye. But he wasn’t at the shop. So she went to the only other place she could think of to find him—Berta’s Britches and Brassieres.

  She walked in, the little bell ringing, and Roberta looked up from behind the counter.

  “Hey there, honey,” she said happily.

  “Is my dad here, by any chance?”

  Roberta shook her head. “No, you just missed him. He was going to the warehouse.”

  Great. There was no way Laura was going there since that was where Jake would likely be. And she needed to catch her plane if she was going to get to LA in time for her appointment.

  “I’m heading out and wanted to say good-bye,” Laura said.

  Roberta frowned and walked around the counter and came toe to toe with her.

  “You’re leaving?”

  Laura nodded and straightened her shoulders to be confident in her decision, but the way Roberta was looking at her, the way her eyes were glossy, made Laura’s chest hurt. Like she was letting this woman down. A woman who wasn’t her mother. And yet . . .

  “I’m going to miss you,” Laura said softly.

  “Oh, honey, don’t miss me. You don’t have to go anywhere. Just stay here.”

  “I can’t,” Laura said, searching for some kind of solid ground, but everything beneath her shoes seemed to be spinning. “There’s nothing for me here. I haven’t earned anything. I need to get out of here. I have a life to get to,” Laura said. A job and getting far away from Jacob Lock.

  “Oh, honey,” Roberta said again, and ran her thumb along Laura’s cheekbone. It was such a motherly thing to do. “You don’t have to earn love. You’re wanted here. You’re loved here. Just for being you.”

  A sting hit behind Laura’s eyes. “I . . . I’ve made so many bad choices.”

  “You need to stop punishing yourself. I know things aren’t perfect.”

  “I left my mother,” Laura blurted out loud. The guilt was crushing too hard and she couldn’t keep it in anymore. “She was dying, and I couldn’t be around her. And when she did pass, I flat out left. But deep down, I was gone before she was. And then I spent ten years being treated like I was nothing and I deserved that—I just wanted to make it all right.”

  Roberta grabbed Laura and pulled her in tightly for a hug. “You hush with that right now,” she said against Laura’s hair. “It’s hard watching a loved one struggle with illness. You weren’t running from your mother. She knew you loved her. And I bet she didn’t want you to see her like that, either. You have to let that grief go. And living ten years in misery isn’t your penance. You don’t need to pay for your sins, Laura. You need to allow your heart to heal and allow yourself to grow.”

  A tear escaped, and Laura hugged her back. Warmth, kindness, and understanding radiated from Roberta, and Laura had never been so thankful.

  “I can’t face him,” Laura whispered. Because while so much of her past was crushing down on her, there was the matter of Jacob Lock she couldn’t get past. “I can’t face the man I love when all he sees in me is pity.”

  Roberta chuckled and held Laura back to look her in the eyes. “Honey, that warehouse boy of yours does not pity you, I can tell you that right now. He thinks the sun shines out of that slim behind of yours, and honestly, you should go easy on him. Men will try to give the woman they love the world. Sometimes they just go about it the wrong way.”

  Laura frowned. “Jake doesn’t love me. He’s annoyed with me half the time we talk.”

  “Well, sure he is—you’re annoying.” Roberta winked. “But you’re kind and strong and so damn ambitious I just want to bottle you up and sell you on the streets.” Roberta tapped her chin. “That sounds like I want to be your pimp, which was not my goal, but you get what I mean.” She cupped Laura’s cheek and smiled. “Allow yourself to be who you are. Because that’s a woman you can be proud of. That same woman your mother would be proud of. The same woman I’m proud of.”

  Laura smiled. “Thank you, Roberta.”

  “Now, all you have to decide is what’s best for you. Truly. If this fancy job in California is what’ll make you happy, then go on. But think it through. For yourself. Not anyone else.”

  Honestly? She didn’t know. Jacob had forced her to find her own strength, and she had. She’d run the shop and tried. She’d pushed through when there was no sign of hope. She’d clung to her mother’s memory and tried.

  “Laura.” Roberta’s voice was softer. “It’s not going to get easier, but it’s yours. You just have to take it. Do you really want to walk away from something you’ve worked hard to build?”

  No, she didn’t want to walk. To take on her life and make herself proud. Because she was a Baughman.

  She glanced at her bag. “You’re right.”

  “And you’re a strong woman. Go claim your future.”

  With that, Laura hugged her and headed out to do just that.

  Chapter Fifteen

&n
bsp; “Well, I see you two didn’t burn down the place,” Walt said, walking into the warehouse, his blue Hawaiian shirt blowing in the breeze.

  “No, sir,” Jake confirmed. He’d only run off his boss’s daughter. Jake had just shown up in hopes that Laura was at the shop, but he was greeted with a CLOSED sign and no sign of Laura anywhere.

  “You know, running this place has been my dream. But sometimes you need to know when it’s time to step away,” Walt said. “You have the shop, son. All of it. You always did. But Laura . . .”

  “I’d never take anything from her, sir. The shop is hers, but I don’t know if she’ll take it.”

  Walt smiled. “I see.”

  Jake felt like he was having a joke pulled on him. Maybe Walt didn’t understand him?

  “She’s gone, leaving, and it’s my fault.”

  “But the business is solid?” Walt asked.

  “Ah, yeah.”

  “We’re in the black. Slow and steady and responsible? Isn’t that right, son?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Walt nodded. “But Laura’s gone?”

  Jake closed his eyes for a moment. “Yes.”

  “Was it worth it?” Walt asked. And Jake had to frown, because he wasn’t sure he understood. So Walt clarified. “Was the responsible, risk-free choice worth Laura?”

  That made Jake’s lungs stall. He’d never thought of it like that, but that’s what had happened. From the beginning he’d tried to be responsible, and that had kept Laura at a distance. Kept his true support from her. Then he’d tried to step in. All of this had been on his terms without him even realizing it. All for the sake of minimal risk.

  “Oh God . . . ,” Jake said and ran a hand through his hair. He’d messed up. Bad. And it wasn’t just about the Cal deal. He should have tried harder to bend for Laura. Instead, he’d pushed her to break.

  Walt just gave a short laugh and a loud sigh. “Oh, son, you have no idea . . .” He shook his head. “That girl is just like her mother. She’ll make you work for everything—her attention, her time—and it’ll drive you nuts. She’ll always test the boundaries and risk it all, and more often than not, you’ll lose your damn shorts in the process, but that’s what makes life worth living. The color in a woman like that is an endless gift.”

  Jake glanced down and the sharp pain in his chest redoubled.

  “I love her,” Jake said. “Sir, I love your daughter.”

  “I know. I may be old, but I’m not stupid, son. And I can tell you right now that you are exactly what she needs and she is exactly what you need. But you hurt her again and I may have to rough you up a bit.” He smacked Jake on the back.

  Jake smiled at the only man he knew as a father. “Thank you, sir. Now I just have to find her and convince her that this is where she should be, not the city.”

  Walt laughed and walked off. “Good luck to you, son.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  It had been almost a week since Laura left, and Jacob didn’t know how to find her if he wanted to. He was seriously considering knocking down doors in California until he found her.

  And no one was talking to him. An older woman named Cynthia was overseeing the flower shop in Laura’s absence, but of course, the woman refused to tell him where Laura was. Roberta just laughed whenever he asked, and Hannah kept flipping him off every time he went into Goonies.

  He’d officially started working with Cal, and Mannie was doing his best stepping up in his absence, which meant eighteen-hour days for him at the moment, because he refused to let the shop suffer, either.

  However, Jake had no idea what to do with himself without Laura. His life was . . . colorless. But he’d taken steps to fix that. He just needed his woman back. He tried her cell phone several times and she never answered. Go figure. But she had to eventually, especially since the shop was here and she did care about it. Laura Baughman was the face of Baughman Home Goods, and he wouldn’t do business without her.

  She was a fighter and held on to little pieces of hope. She cared about the flowers because that’s all her mother left her with. These facts kept his hopes high that she would come back. She had to.

  Yeah, he needed her. Needed to fix this.

  The rain was coming down hard, and he pulled into Baughman, determined to track her down. He needed to let his crew know he’d be in Wherever the Hell, California, until he returned with Miss Baughman.

  As he parked, he saw a shadowy figure hovering by the front of the shop. It was hard to tell who it was with the sheets of rain coming down.

  “Hello? Do you need some help?” Jake called out, running toward the shop door.

  “Yes!” a snappy voice came back. “You want to explain to me why a lucrative floral shop is closed on a weekday?” she yelled. And Jake would have recognized that voice anywhere.

  His heart jumped in his chest, and when he got under the overhang, he saw it was Laura, drenched to the bone and, from the look of it, attempting to break in.

  “I was waiting for you,” Jake said and went to wrap her in his arms.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Jacob Lock!” she yelled over the rain and took a step back. “This is my shop, whether you or my father likes it or not. I’m building my life here, too. And this has nothing to do with loving you, because I also kind of hate you. So this floral shop is mine and you may have had a part in getting me that deal with Cal, but I’m keeping it on my own merit. And you can just deal with it.”

  He smiled and pulled her into his arms despite her protests. “So you love me?”

  “I hate you more,” she admitted.

  “I never meant to hurt you,” he said and held her tighter. He hadn’t realized how terrified he had been that he might never see her again. “I swear, baby. I will never hurt you. I’ll never keep anything from you again. And you have my support. All of it. I’m sorry.”

  He felt her sigh against him. “You were trying to do what was right by a lot of people. And you were trying to be responsible,” she said, pulling away and looking him in the eyes. He nodded in agreement. “But don’t you ever think to lie to me again.”

  “Never,” he said. “I love you.”

  She frowned. “Oh no you don’t! You don’t get to be all sweet and throw that word around. I’m not going to be your camper bunny or whatever you think this is. I’ve been at a big flower expo for this subdivision project, so be prepared for me to turn this shop and your world upside down.”

  “I’m looking forward to it. And I do love you, you stubborn, sexy woman.”

  She smiled. “So long as you know that,” she said.

  “Now I need to show you something.” He didn’t give her a chance to protest. He just tugged her toward the truck and barreled down the road toward the house. By the time they got there, the rain had faded to a dull drizzle. He helped Laura out of the truck.

  Jake hoped to God what he was about to show her wasn’t too bold and wouldn’t make him lose her again.

  “Are you kidding me?” Laura asked as Jacob drove them up to his home. “Where’s the camper? You came to show me I’m officially homeless now?”

  “I just moved it. And I’ll move it back, but first you need to see what I’m offering.”

  “You want more than half the business now?” she asked. How did she love this man and hate him? Oh, right, because he really was a good man, he just went about things backward sometimes. He also annoyed her to no end, and even now, she wanted to kiss him so badly it hurt.

  “Oh, I want way more than half the business,” he said, opening the door to his house and walking her inside. “I want all of you. If you’re willing to give me a chance to earn you.”

  Her eyes shot wide when she saw his home. Things from the camper along with new items were placed all around the home. The walls looked like they were the same color as the living room in her childhood home. It looked . . . warm.

  “I want you with me, Laura. All the time. I want my home to be your home. Our home.” He knocked on the wall
. “This paint was in the warehouse storage unit. Your dad said it was what he painted your old house with in the eighties.”

  Holy God, it really was the same paint from her childhood home.

  Water lined her eyes as she looked around.

  “I want to make you happy and give you everything. And you had a few happy customers step forward and speak for you that you were the woman to go to for such a contract.”

  “Are you saying that the flower shop has its own contracts?” she asked with so much joy she could barely stand it.

  “If you want them,” Jake said.

  “But you made the deals . . .” Her heart sank a little because, once again, Jake was saving the day.

  “No, baby, I didn’t. It was your reputation that brought in business. In the time you’ve been here, you turned a profit and grew a loyal customer base that will vouch for you. I’ve been fielding calls for orders all week whenever Cynthia isn’t around. You don’t need Cal’s deal to be in the black. You got there all on your own. That was all your doing. Not mine.”

  “I can’t believe this,” she whispered.

  He took her hand and led her to the window overlooking the backyard.

  “This is the last thing I wanted to show you,” he said and pointed to a heap of dirt.

  “Ah . . . you got me mud?” she asked.

  He smiled. “It looks like that now, but here in the spring I’m told the best dahlias are set to bloom.”

  She stared at him in shock, and that water in her eyes threatened to spill over.

  “What? How did you know?”

  “Because of what you said. Because of things I’d heard Walt say in the past. He talked about Sundays with you and your mom. How you two would pick flowers from the backyard together. They were your mother’s fondest memories, baby.”

  “They were?”

  He nodded. “I went to your dad’s old place and asked the new owners if I could dig a bit. They are in construction, so they didn’t mind. Turns out, dahlia tubers—or roots, as it were—stay in the ground awhile. So I read way more than I’d ever need to know on the Internet on how to harvest them and brought them here.”