by Lisa Plumley
They jumped. Muttering indignantly under her breath, Tallulah strode to Ambrose’s side. He caught her elbow in his hand and escorted her across the room. At the threshold, they both glanced backward.
“You’re making a mistake,” his aunt said. “It’s not us you’re mad at. It’s yourself.”
“If you don’t follow her, you’ll regret it,” Ambrose added.
The hell of it was, Luke already did.
“Leave me alone,” he said. “Just…. Leave me alone.”
An instant later, they did. But Luke didn’t feel any better. He gazed upstairs, deliberating. Then he hitched up his blanket and went to find his pants. Some things a man just shouldn’t have to face without underwear.
Chapter Twenty
Josie was freezing. She dragged another sweater on top of the clothes she’d already shivered into, keeping one eye on the bedroom door the whole time.
Any minute now, she assured herself as her teeth clattered, Luke would come knocking. He’d explain everything. And his explanation—although she couldn’t imagine what it might be—would make everything make sense. He’d pull her in his arms and kiss her. Everything would be okay, just like it had been before.
Before she’d known he’d lied to her from the start.
Hurting anew at the thought of it, Josie marched to her closet. Moving was better. Moving kept all those terrible thoughts at bay. Moving kept her from remembering the night she and Luke had just shared, the things they’d said, the closeness they’d found.
I love you.
Had Luke been lying about that, too? Yanking clothes from their hangers, she threw everything on her rumpled bed. She refused to think about waking up with Luke gone, about hearing voices downstairs, about the instant she’d realized why Tallulah and Ambrose might have come—to take Blue Moon away from her.
If only she’d known. Blue Moon was gone, that was true. But Josie had lost something a lot more precious. She’d lost Luke. Or at least the Luke she’d thought she knew.
A bitter laugh escaped her, mingled with a sob. The hoarse sound scared her. If she didn’t get out of here soon, she wouldn’t be able to drive. She’d be crying too hard to see the road.
Blinking rapidly, she glanced at the door again. Nothing. It had been ten minutes now, long enough for her to shakily dress and start grabbing her things. Where was Luke?
Why did she even want to see him?
Angrily, Josie scraped the rest of her clothes across the rod. She grabbed an armload and dropped it on the bed, hangers and all. Luke had lied to her. He wasn’t the person she’d thought he was. Neither was she, if she’d been gullible enough to buy his handyman routine. For all she knew, he owned Blue Moon and half of Donovan’s Corner, too.
It was all so humiliating. So hurtful. So stupid.
In the midst of searching for a box to pack her things in, Josie paused. Her chest hurt. Her eyes burned. She needed another sweater. Or maybe some mittens. Wishing she had a pair for her icy fingers, she put her hands in her pockets and stared in the closet. Where were the cardboard boxes she’d used to move in?
Then she remembered. She’d flattened them all and given them to Luke and TJ to use while they painted the rooms at Blue Moon. She’d thought they’d make good cardboard drop cloths to protect the floors. By then, she’d decided to stay. She’d never expected to need those boxes again.
Hah. The joke was on her, wasn’t it?
Resolutely, Josie grabbed her car keys. She opened the bedroom door and cautiously examined the hallway. Everything seemed quiet. Probably Luke was busy cooking up another alter ego. IRS agent. Longshoreman. Lounge singer. Before today, any one of those would have seemed about as likely his turning out to be a secret multimillionaire.
Loaded down with clothes, she headed downstairs. Some of the pants and shirts and sweaters were hers; some were things she’d borrowed from Jenna. They all had to go. Everything had to go. Including her.
At her convertible, Josie hurled everything in the back seat. Since the top was down, packing was going to be a breeze. Five trips later, she’d nearly crammed her old Chevy completely full. Shoes and pillows poked out of the pile at odd angles. A framed picture of her family rested in the passenger seat and her scented candles lined the floor in the back. Her celebrity gossip magazines wedged into the space behind the driver’s seat.
Even out here in the sunshine, Josie felt cold. She hugged her arms to herself and glanced up at the Arizona sky, trying not to think about anything except packing, leaving, moving on.
Preferably before she buckled and starting bawling.
All that remained were a few pairs of shoes and the box she kept Frank in. Striding inside, Josie thought about her ponytail hair extension. Now that she no longer had a job at Enchanté, she didn’t really need it. She didn’t see how she could ever dance again, given the way she felt right now. But she scooped Frank up from her former bureau anyway, then paused in her bedroom for one last look.
Her throat clogged with tears. Another cold front threatened to overtake her. Shivering, Josie closed her eyes against the misery that swamped her. Why couldn’t Luke just love her? she wondered. Why, why, why?
Okay. This whole “last look” stuff wasn’t working out so well. No wonder she’d always made it her policy to leave without looking back—to move on to the next adventure without mourning the last. It was better that way. Less painful.
Picking up the pace, Josie hurried downstairs. She passed the ballroom-turned-dance-studio, but didn’t dare peek inside. That would only make her remember her dreams, her hopes…the laughter-filled afternoons she’d spent teaching Luke how to dance.
By the time she reached the porch, everything looked blurry. Juggling Frank’s box and her rainbow wedgies, she stopped to swipe her hand across her eyes. When she’d pulled herself together enough to drag in a deep breath and move forward, what she saw waiting for her stopped her in her tracks.
Luke.
He leaned against her convertible, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt, his arms crossed over his chest and his expression inscrutable. He looked as though he’d been there for days. Which was only fair. Because all at once, Josie felt as though she’d waited at least that long to see him again.
Idiotic hope sprang to life inside her. This was it! Luke was going to explain. He was going to make everything okay. He was going to morph back into the man she loved…the man who loved her. Gathering all her strength, Josie traversed the few steps separating them. She met his gaze squarely.
His jaw was a stony line, his eyes a bleak blue. In them, she thought she detected regret…even a heartache that matched her own. She was right. He was going to explain everything. She held her breath, waiting.
“Why are you wearing all that stuff?” he asked, looking bemused as he nodded toward her outfit. “Sweatpants, a scarf, a T-shirt. A sweatshirt and a sweater.” His gaze meandered to her head. “A hat?”
Defensively, Josie adjusted her knit cap. “I was cold.”
“It’s seventy-five degrees out.”
“So?” He didn’t even know about her silk long johns, her wool socks, or the leggings beneath her sweatpants. Thank God he didn’t know the real reason she needed all this. “Wearing it was easier than packing it. Get off my back.”
They stared at each other for a minute. Josie felt pulled toward him, drawn to claim a little of the warmth they used to share. Resisting it, she waited. Luke had to have an explanation in him somewhere.
As though realizing he hadn’t yet delivered it, he spoke.
“You can’t leave,” he said in a rough voice. “You have dance students to think about. Hannah. Sophie’s twin daughters. That uncoordinated kid with the freckles. They’re counting on you.”
He said it proudly, as though he’d devised the perfect reason she should stay at Blue Moon. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the reason Josie was waiting to hear.
“That’s it?” she asked.
He spread his arms. “It’s enough. Y
ou can’t bail out on your obligations.”
Completely disillusioned, she set her jaw. “Watch me.”
Not looking at him, she tucked her shoes safely between the car door and her clothing pile. She added her hair extension to the niche below the glove compartment. There. Everything was stowed. Everything except her.
“Your dance school is your dream,” he insisted.
She turned, her temper suddenly flaring. “You might not have noticed, but my ‘dream’ is over with. I don’t have a dance school. I don’t have a place for a dance school. Which is fitting, since I also don’t have a job or a place to live.”
“Stay here.”
Her mouth gaped. “As what? Your live-in joke generator? No, thanks. I know you must be bummed that the fun’s over with, but you and TJ will just have to find some other stupid girl to laugh at.”
“It wasn’t like that. You know that.”
“You’re right. It was worse. Because I believed you.” She sucked in a ragged breath, determined to go on. “I guess that’s just how stupid I am. Apparently, stupid showgirl Josie Day can’t tell the difference between love and a lie.”
Luke frowned. If she hadn’t known better, she’d almost have been persuaded by the grief in his eyes, by the defeated angle of his shoulders. As it was, Josie hardened herself against both. She was finished believing in him. Just like Luke was finished believing in her.
That was what hurt the most. She’d really thought he believed in her—believed in her dreams and in her chances for achieving them. She’d thought he’d seen the real her and loved her. Instead, he’d only been pretending. Lying, all along.
“I’ll buy you a new studio,” he said, sounding exasperated and gruff. “I planned to all along. It’ll be better than Blue Moon, better than that ballroom. There’ll be mirrors and a ballet barre. A sound system. All that stuff you wanted.”
Revelation widened her eyes. So that was why he’d dodged her about outfitting her studio. He’d known all along she would never have it—would never succeed.
“Don’t do me any favors.”
“I want to do you favors. Any favors you want.”
But she couldn’t believe him. Wouldn’t.
“You made a fool of me, Luke! You let me run around town, fighting everyone.” She gulped in a breath, feeling tears threaten again. “Fighting to make my dance school happen. All along, you knew I wouldn’t succeed. You knew I couldn’t! Not without Blue Moon. But you didn’t care.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Enlighten me, then.” She crossed her arms.
He opened his mouth, stared into the distance, seemed unable to muster a reply.
“I see.” Turning, she headed for her beat-up Chevy’s driver’s side door, gravel crunching beneath her feet.
“Jesus, Josie! Give me a minute, will you?”
Looking frustrated, Luke gazed at her. Beseechingly, he held out his arms. All she could see were the inky tattoos she should have heeded all along. Think twice.
“No. I gave you everything I had.” Summoning all her strength, she palmed her keys. Opened her car door. “Obviously, it wasn’t enough. Neither was I.”
Her vision blurred, but she refused to cry.
“You were all I wanted,” Luke said.
“Maybe.” Her throat squeezed, making the words hard to get out. “Or maybe you wanted Blue Moon more.”
He scowled…but he didn’t deny it. That was when Josie knew it was time to leave.
“You said you don’t have anyplace to go,” he said, sounding aggravated, sounding disbelieving, sounding at the end of his rope—as though she were the one causing all this hurt between them. “Where do you think you’re going to go?”
As if he really wanted to know.
“Anywhere but here,” Josie said and finally drove away.
Luke was still standing there when TJ drove up in his truck, blaring the horn and grinning like an idiot. He parked in a flurry of dust, then ambled over with a breakfast of a strawberry shake and curly fries in hand. Smelling them reminded Luke he hadn’t eaten. Not that he cared.
“Dude! Wassup? Besides my bad, crazy self, I mean. What a night…if you catch my drift.” He waggled his eyebrows—an impressive feat, given the size of them. “Me and Amber totally hit it off.”
“She seemed like a nice girl.”
“Yeah. I’m almost tempted to stay in this Podunk town, instead of going back to L.A.”
Back to L.A. Luke had been so wrapped up in Josie, he hadn’t thought about his plans to go back home.
Grinning, TJ munched one of his fries. He offered a couple to Luke, who silently shook his head. With a shrug, TJ looked over his shoulder.
“Hey, I thought I just saw Josie driving toward town. I guess that repair job on her Chevy’s starter worked out okay, huh?”
Luke nodded. He put his hands in his pockets, feeling as if he’d just been kicked in the gut. He still couldn’t believe Josie had gone. Watching her leave him had been worse than his fight with his dad. Worse than being estranged from his family. Worse than losing his former fortune. Worse than all of it.
He’d thought Josie saw the real him—the real, motor-oil-splattered self everyone else wanted to ignore. He’d thought she loved him. But no woman who could bail out on him this easily could ever have loved him, Luke decided in that moment.
TJ peered at him. “You look weird. Did you wake up to a Clay Aiken song on your clock radio this morning? Eat a bad burger? Lose a fight with your nose hair clippers?”
“Huh?” Snapping back to reality, Luke focused on the last thing TJ had said. “I knew you borrowed those clippers. Your Sasquatch schnoz is the reason they’re dull, you asshole.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault. Blame those Queer Eye guys. I’m hyperaware of body hair now.”
Luke shook his head. He was in sorry shape. He couldn’t even be bothered to give TJ hell about watching reality makeover TV. Next thing he knew, he’d lose his taste for Ding Dongs.
Damn. There it went.
Aching, he turned away. He didn’t want TJ’s super-spy vision detecting any other expressions of misery. Things were bad enough without having to talk about everything.
“I’ve got things to do,” he said, keeping his voice curt as he scanned the roofline and upper story of Blue Moon. “More repairs to make. We’ve been slacking off. If I’m ever going to unload this place, it’s got to be up to snuff.”
“Be serious,” TJ scoffed. “You’re never unloading this place. Josie needs it for her dance school, and you’ve got plenty of work in your carriage house garage. I saw that Kawasaki you got in yesterday. Bent forks, right?”
“Josie’s gone. So’s her dance school.” Jesus. He could barely force the words past his constricted throat. Swallowing against the ache, Luke examined the estate’s grounds. Blue Moon was all he had now. “My ‘garage’ is strictly small-time. I want more.”
TJ goggled. “Josie’s gone? Gone where?”
Luke shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”
Frowning, TJ stepped forward. “Why did she leave? What the fuck did you do to her?”
That did it. “I didn’t do anything to her! She just left. She quit on her dance school and she…left.”
Yeah, Luke thought. Josie quit on her dance school, just like she’d quit on him. It was her fault things had wound up this way. Hadn’t he given her a chance to stay at Blue Moon? Hadn’t he offered to buy her a new studio? A better studio?
Damned straight, he had. He’d been reasonable. She was the one who’d pushed, who’d misunderstood, who’d run away.
“I don’t believe it.” TJ’s stance was rigid. “Josie’s not a quitter.”
“You keep telling yourself that,” Luke said. “Maybe you’ll start believing it.”
“I do believe it, you asshole.” Dumbfounded, TJ smacked him on the shoulder. “What did you do to make her go away?”
Pissed off and hurting, Luke stared him down. “Go on. Smack me again.
Give me an excuse to kick your ass.”
TJ shook his head sorrowfully. “Somebody ought to kick yours, that’s for sure.”
“Think you’re tough enough? Huh?” Luke shoved TJ’s chest. “Come on.”
The contact enlivened him, made him feel purposeful for the first time all morning. Adopting a fighter’s stance, he waved TJ forward. A knock-down, drag-out fight sounded pretty damned good right now. Maybe if he was busy pummeling TJ for being such a jerk, he’d forget the sight of Josie walking away.
But TJ only held up both hands in surrender. He gave Luke a look filled with pure disgust. “You’re pathetic. And you know what? I’m glad Josie’s not here to see it. If you were thinking straight, you would be, too.”
He got in his truck, offered a final glare, then drove away. For the second time that day, Luke was left staring at the vacant drive, wondering how his life had gone from perfect to empty in the space of a single morning.
Force of habit made Josie hit the brakes as soon as she turned into Pine Acres and passed the familiar handmade sign (children playing, please slow down) posted on its weathered two-by-four stake. Keeping a close lookout through her misery-hiding sunglasses, she gripped the steering wheel and kept going at a fifteen-mile-per-hour pace.
The trailer park’s curvy asphalt streets were as mazelike as they’d been when she, a gawky sixteen-year-old, had learned to drive on them. They wound past every variety of mobile home, some with awnings and skirts, most with patio slabs in tidy backyards. A few trailers looked worse for the wear. They showed their age in sun-faded pastel siding and staked-out plastic flamingos that hadn’t been pink in years.
Josie had thought coming here would be painful. Instead, she found it strangely comforting. Driving past the same chain-link fences, stubborn petunia beds, and broken-down cars up on blocks left her feeling that some things really did continue. That goodness and comfort really could survive in a world where your dreams got crushed and your job got lost and your dance school went bust and your mansion went kablooey and the man you loved turned out to be someone you didn’t really know at all.
Gulping back a sob, she kept going. All she had to do was navigate another right turn, drive past the Pine Acres community rec center, and then…there.
