***
Rachel
The BMW quietly hummed along the highway. There was little to no traffic after they left Spokane. No one was really talking, and the tension in the car made Rachel nervous, making it difficult to concentrate on driving. Mary and Maggie sat in the back, each gazing out their small windows. Chelsea had her arms folded across her chest and appeared to be pouting.
Rachel thought lunch had gone badly, but that was nothing compared to when they decided to go shopping at a couple of stores for some last-minute ideas for the decorations. Rachel was game for the fun suggestions from Mary and Maggie; Chelsea was not. She ran her mouth a bit too far, claiming that the ideas were tacky and just plain horrid, and how could anyone even consider them? It was probably best that Rachel failed to mention that they were going to be using hay bales for the seating at the altar. Rachel found it to be quite charming—a country wedding in the evening. She had visions of mason jars filled with tea light candles, strings of white lights in the trees and around the deck, and at the tables there would be the beautiful floral centerpieces with red, white, and blue dyed roses that she had already ordered. She tried to convince Chelsea of how lovely and simple it was all going to be. But her friend wasn’t having it and broke down into a miniature tantrum. Rachel had been shocked; Chelsea wasn’t acting like herself at all. That wasn’t how her best friend of almost twenty-five years acted. What was going on with her bestie?
“How much further?” Chelsea asked quietly. Her friend wasn’t known for being silent, and Rachel knew that the lack of speaking had to be killing her.
“We’re almost home,” Rachel lied. They were still a good thirty minutes away.
Mary’s eyes connected with Rachel’s in the rearview mirror, and Rachel offered her a weak smile. What was she supposed to do? Chelsea had been her friend since they were little kids. Granted, that didn’t give her the right to belittle or insult Maggie, or especially Mary, who took the brunt of Chelsea’s earlier explosion. Something was definitely going on with her friend. Maybe it was all too much, knowing that Rachel was getting married and having babies, all things that Chelsea was certain she would do first. For the most part, through their entire friendship, Chelsea was the first one who was willing to try anything. Not Rachel. Her overly cautious nature kept her out of trouble. That was, until she moved away and met Liam. The rest of the drive consisted of Rachel getting random glances from everyone in the car. There were a lot of scowls, and they were all pointed at her. How could she fix this? Her wedding was coming up quicker than she imagined, and to make things more complicated, she needed all of their help to decorate and set up everything, and that meant they would have to work together. If that wasn’t enough, her brother was flying in and she was insanely worried about how he was going to behave. Ethan was a pretty intense guy, and knowing that he wasn’t so happy about the whole married and pregnant thing, she feared how he and Liam would get along. To top it off, she still wasn’t sure if her own parents were going to come up for the ceremony. She had little hope that they would, but miracles did happen. Adding to her list of impossible things to get through during the week, she had an ultrasound at the start of it. Mary and Maggie were there last time. Considering how today went, she doubted it was a very good idea to have all these women in the same room, especially one as cramped as that one.
This whole wedding could turn into a giant disaster, and now Rachel wished they had just eloped. Vegas would have been fantastic. The wedding jitters she didn’t think she’d have? Well, they had taken root and were growing stronger by the minute.
Chapter Twelve
Amber
Amber was chatting with two customers who had quickly become her favorites. They were two women, best friends, and the funniest ladies in all of Birch Valley. She had learned their names only a couple days prior—Donna and Andrea. They had been coming to the diner every morning, insisting on their coffee, also affectionately referring to it as “survival juice,” since it was made a little hotter than how it was normally served, and they ate basically the same breakfast every day. Amber got the biggest kick from the jokes that they shared with her. They sat in the same spot at the counter. It gave them a perfect view of anyone entering the diner, which they quickly gossiped about. That morning, the mailman came in, and the ladies went on for about twenty minutes after he had left about his legs and how he looked in his uniform. Amber had never laughed so hard or enjoyed customers as much as these two fabulously entertaining women.
Hearing the chime of the bell hanging on the tired weathered string, Amber glanced up. In walked Patrick and who she believed was his brother and Maggie. Her belly started to flip flop. She hadn’t seen Patrick for a couple days, and she was starting to miss him, terribly. She quickly grabbed three menus and trailed behind them as they headed for a booth near one of the windows. Patrick’s eyes met hers. He looked almost scared to see her, and that confused Amber. Because they hadn’t seen each other for a couple of days, self-doubt was settling in all of a sudden, but he had sent her a couple of text messages. Were all her fears coming true? Was Patrick now realizing that sleeping together that night had been a colossal mistake?
As she watched them slide into their seats, she avoided Patrick’s eyes. She had seen his dart away too, and that was not a good sign.
“Hi, what can I get you guys to drink?” Amber asked, her voice coming out a tad wobblier than she had hoped. She tried clearing her throat.
“Hey, Amber, how’s it going?” Maggie smiled brightly at her.
“Great.” She kept her response short. She just wanted to get their drink order and then have her mother or another waitress take their table.
Maggie nodded. “Glad to hear that. You know, I think I will have the lemonade. I’ve been craving it.”
Daniel laughed and looked up at Amber. He had the same green eyes; they twinkled with a happy glow. “I’ll just have an iced tea. So obviously you know my sister. Thanks, Mags, for introducing me, by the way,” he teased playfully as he turned around to look at Maggie, who was tucked in next to him by the window. “I’m Daniel.” He waited for her to say something, and her mind froze for a brief second. Feeling Patrick’s presence was creating a stormy cloud of confusion.
“Amber.”
“Well, Amber, it’s really nice to meet you. Are you new here?” he asked, the twinkle in his eyes growing brighter with interest. Amber surveyed his joyful face. His coloring was closer to Mary’s, and even Maggie’s. He looked nothing like Patrick, except for his eyes.
“Actually…” As Amber was answering, Maggie quickly cut her off.
“Nope, her parents are the Herricks. She’s been here now for a couple weeks, right?”
Amber nodded. She snuck a glance at Patrick, who smiled politely and looked out the window. This was so incredibly awkward. Amber wanted to run and hide.
“Well, that’s great. So you work here then?” Daniel continued to question her, prolonging their conversation far longer than Amber would have preferred.
“Yep, just helping out for a while. Let me get those drinks for you guys. I’ll be right back.” She had no intentions of coming back to their table. She hoped that her mother or the other waitress on shift could take it. As she moved to leave, she caught a glimpse of Patrick looking at her from the corner of his eye. Why was he acting this way?
***
Patrick
He felt like the biggest jerk, ignoring her like that. He just couldn’t risk Maggie or Daniel finding out just how serious he was with Amber. Patrick watched her walk away—more like run and hide. He doubted she would even come back to the table, and he sort of wished that she wouldn’t.
“Wow, she’s cute,” Daniel declared as his stare followed Amber.
“She’s pretty nice too. Rachel and I got to talk to her one time when we were in here with Mom.” Maggie looked at Patrick, studying him. “You acted a little rude, though.”
“I wasn’t being rude. You guys were talking to her,”
Patrick replied, again looking out the window at the sparse traffic in order to avoid eye contact.
“Well, I think you were. But whatever.” Maggie huffed with mild aggravation and then turned to Daniel. “You should ask her out, Daniel.”
That got Patrick’s attention, and apparently Maggie noticed too. “What do think, Patrick? Should our darling Daniel ask her out?”
Daniel’s face lit up, and that made Patrick feel even more like a jerk. “Should I?”
“I don’t know, man. She does have a kid,” Patrick said, trying to sound nonchalant about the whole matter when a bite of jealousy started to chew at him.
“Why would that matter?” Daniel questioned him as his eyes sought out Amber.
Maggie cocked her head to the side. “Patrick, just how do you know that?”
Patrick swallowed. He had to think quickly. “I think Mom might have mentioned it.”
“Hmm…I don’t think so,” Maggie pressed him. She clearly knew something was up.
Right as she opened her mouth to say something, their drinks arrived, and they weren’t brought by Amber.
“Here you go. Who had the lemonade?” It was Lynn Herrick, Amber’s mother. Patrick could see the resemblance, though Lynn had a mixture of gray hair and a couple extra pounds.
“I did, thank you.” Maggie raised her hand and then glared at Patrick.
Lynn passed out the last two drinks to Daniel and Patrick. “Do you know what you’d like yet, or do you need a little more time?” she offered sweetly.
“I’m ready to order. Are you guys?” Maggie looked at her brothers. They both nodded. “Okay, well I think I will just take the chicken salad, and…” She flipped the menu over and debated out loud so that everyone heard her. “You know what, can I also get an order of onion rings? They sound really good right now.”
“No problem, honey, and they are good any time.” Lynn laughed as she turned to Daniel, her order-taking pad ready. “What about you, sweetie?”
“Well, Lynn, I think I will take my usual.” Daniel didn’t even bother looking at the menu.
“Okay, patty melt then, you want the regular fries, or seasoned today?”
“Surprise me.” He winked at her.
Patrick rolled his eyes. His brother could be such a ham. In mid eyeroll, Lynn turned to him, her face a little less happy. “And for you?” Her tone was polite but definitely not her usual playful and sweet self.
“I’ll just have what Daniel’s having, I guess.”
“Okie dokie.” She smiled as she turned and left with their orders, but Patrick knew that Lynn must know something. He hadn’t considered that Amber might tell people, since they had been sort of seeing each other.
“Okay, something is up,” Maggie said. She shook her finger at Patrick. “Lynn is always sweet as pie to you guys. What is going on?”
“Did you go out with Amber or something? Because Mags is right. You acted kind of weird,” Daniel added, his tone cool and slightly aloof.
Patrick sipped on his drink, his brain trying to conjure up a plausible lie. “Um, no, I ran into her a while back. She had a blown tire.” Best not to lie. His siblings could smell out a fib, but he could afford to not divulge all the details of the last couple of weeks.
“Yeah, really?” Daniel asked. “I don’t recall you mentioning that before.”
“Why would I?” Patrick snapped.
“Because that’s what we do. We talk and share things that go on in our lives, like when we meet people, especially really friggin’ hot ones. Sorry, Mags.” Daniel was starting to turn a light shade of red, his anger apparent on his pale skin.
“Look, that’s part of the problem with this family. No one minds their own damn business.”
“Oh, please, are we bringing that up again, Patrick?” Maggie hissed.
“What, having you guys pry into my life isn’t enough reason for me to not want to tell you guys every last detail of who I run into or who I meet?”
Maggie’s glare burned him. “Patrick, you don’t get it. We are a family, and members of a family share what is going on in their lives. You try so hard to push us away, and honestly, I’m tired of it. I get that you have been through some stuff, pretty damn bad stuff, but you aren’t the only one.”
Daniel raised his eyebrows. Patrick could tell his brother agreed with her but was a little shocked by the confrontation that was brewing. “Come on, you guys. Oh, look, food’s coming.”
Lynn balanced the plates on her arms with a skill that only came from years of practice. She placed each one in front of them. Patrick was shocked to see that his patty melt and fries were noticeably smaller than Daniel’s. She bent down toward Patrick’s ear and whispered, “Don’t hurt my daughter again.”
Wow. Well, at least he knew it hadn’t been his imagination that Lynn was upset with him. Patrick sighed. He needed to talk to Amber and soon. As much as he would love to jump up and go to her now, he couldn’t.
“Well, looks like you got what you deserved for just changing a tire,” Maggie added as she nibbled on a crusty onion ring.
Daniel focused on his patty melt. He clearly wasn’t comfortable when any of them fought. He never really started arguments and sure didn’t enjoy being a spectator at them either.
“Maggie, just eat your salad.” Patrick pulled the older sibling rank on her. He wasn’t in the mood to keep fighting with her. He just wanted to eat his stupid patty melt, get back to the shop, and then figure out a way to fix things with Amber. He hoped it wasn’t too late.
***
Amber
“Mom, it’s fine. I’m okay, I promise,” Amber begged, hoping her mother would stop talking about Patrick.
“Well, I think it’s wrong. Why would he act like that? Patrick’s a good guy.”
“Mom, it’s nothing, honestly,” Amber tried to explain as she swept the tile floor of the kitchen. They had closed the diner about thirty minutes ago, and she just wanted to finish cleaning it so she could get home to Dylan. She had been feeling as though she hadn’t spent enough time with him, between working at the diner and spending time with Patrick. She knew that her schedule was going to be a lot more open now. She wasn’t going to be ignored or be treated like she didn’t exist. His treatment of her this afternoon had hurt. She didn’t know what to expect, but having him pretend that he didn’t see her or that they hadn’t been together, to act like that in front of his family, had just rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe Patrick O’Brien wasn’t as fantastic as she thought he was.
“You ready to go then?” her mother asked.
“I will finish up here in a few and ride my bike. You really should check on Dad.” Amber frowned. That hadn’t been going well either, and Patrick had been a nice diversion from all the other pressing issues in her life.
“Okay, sweetie.” Lynn hugged her. “Don’t let that boy get to you. Best to know what kind of guy he is now, before you get too involved or bring Dylan around him.”
“I know.” Amber hung her head, focusing on a chipped section of tile, silently pleading with the build-up of tears to hold on until her mother left.
“See you at home.” Lynn left through the front door, and the bell chimed, echoing in the empty, dark diner.
As soon as Amber confirmed that her mother had driven off, she plopped down in a booth and held her head in her hands. The tears finally came. They weren’t gentle streams; no, these were raging rivers of angry, ugly tears. Amber felt suddenly dirty and just angry with herself. Why did she sleep with Patrick? Granted, it was some of the hottest and best lovemaking, if you could even call it that, but it was so much more than that. It was a grief-driven, soul-shattering, lust-propelling type of sex. With that unstable combo, it’s no surprise that someone would end up getting hurt. Considering all the emotions that were expressed just in that single night, what did she expect? Maybe he was a good guy, someone who could teach her that it was okay to love again. She thought she had found that with him. It has been difficult to move
past the line she had felt she had crossed even being with Patrick; it felt almost like she had cheated on Peter. Why did Peter have to die? He should be here with her and Dylan. Life was so unfair.
Wiping the tears away from her cheeks with a defiant swipe, she tried to catch her breath and pull herself together. She had survived far worse than anything Patrick had dished out. She was stronger than she often gave herself credit for. Amber lived through a husband being killed, having to raise their son single handedly, and coming home to find her father practically dying. Having Patrick act like they didn’t share one of the most incredible nights of her life, that was so minuscule. She would be able to get past this; she’d find her footing again and carry on, like she always did. She was a Herrick, and they were not ones to lie down and take it. The world had given them their fair share of hard blows, trying to knock them down, yet they were still standing.
Amber shook off the rampant torrent of emotions and finished up. She wheeled her green bicycle out of the diner, then locked the heavy, glass door. She inhaled the appealing scents of summer night-time, the warm residue of pines that had been cooked all day from the searing sun, the smells of grass which had been mowed in the evening, and the delicate aroma of the flowers hanging in large baskets all through town, permeated the air. She looked up toward the sky, her eyes focused on the outline of the mountains that surrounded Birch Valley, their shadowy figures protecting the tiny community. She had to admit, she did love it here. It had a simple, understated beauty. She just wished that Peter was here to enjoy it with her. As she spoke to God, in her mind, she thought she heard her name. She spun around and quickly realized who had called her name. It was Patrick O’Brien. He was leaning on his car, his long body angled in a way that she hated herself for being attracted to.
Patrick's Promise (Cloverleaf #3) Page 12
