Susan Mallery Bundle: The Buchanans

by Susan Mallery

  While Penny didn’t dispute Naomi’s assessment, she wondered about the source of her information. Had it come from Reid or Walker, or both?

  The temptation to ask was strong, but she resisted. If Naomi wanted to tell her, she would.

  “It’s just sad that they lost both their parents within a year of each other,” Penny said quietly. “I know Cal always felt he had to be the strong one. I never thought of it in terms of having to save anyone.” She remembered how he’d wanted to keep her out of the Buchanan dynasty because he’d been afraid of what Gloria would do. “Or maybe I didn’t see it.”

  “Dani’s the only one who keeps trying to please that bitch.”

  She was fighting a losing battle, Penny thought. Gloria would never accept Dani because she wasn’t a Buchanan.

  She wondered if Cal had told his sister the truth, then figured he hadn’t had the time. But he needed to and soon. If he didn’t, Penny had a bad feeling it would come back to bite him in the ass.

  “Just talking about Cal and his family makes me realize how normal I am,” Penny said. “Who would have thought that was possible?”

  “What are you talking about? You’re not so bad.”

  “I’m pregnant through a medical procedure by a man I’ll never meet, and working for my ex-husband.” Sleeping with him as well, she thought, although she didn’t say that. Naomi might have guessed, but she wouldn’t ask and Penny wouldn’t confirm anything.

  But speaking of people sleeping together…“How’s the friendship thing working out with you and Walker?” she asked.

  “Fine.”

  “Ha. Like I believe that. There’s something you’re not telling me.”

  There had to be. Naomi was actually squirming in her seat. Penny had never seen her act this way about a guy.

  “Are you in love with him?” she asked, trying not to sound too incredulous.

  “What? No. Of course not.” Naomi wrinkled her nose. “It’s not like that at all.”

  “Then what?”

  “Nothing. It’s nothing.” She sighed. “We don’t even have sex anymore.” She reached for her can of soda. “We’re friends, which is strange.”

  Penny didn’t know what to think. “When you say you’re not having sex, you mean…”

  Naomi shrugged. “No sex. Honestly, I can’t imagine us ever doing it again. We don’t…we…talk.”

  “Talking is good.”

  “No, it’s not. This isn’t natural. Friends with a man. Oh, please.”

  Penny did her best to keep from smiling. “So you’re having a relationship. That’s great.”

  “No, it’s odd. This is nothing romantic and yet I care about him. I don’t want to care about anyone.”

  “You care about me.”

  Her friend smiled. “Yes, I do, but girl love is different. Caring about a guy…”

  Her voice trailed off as sadness filled her eyes. She looked at Penny. “I might have to leave.”

  Penny had a feeling she didn’t just mean that evening. Panic and pain gripped her. She needed Naomi and she would miss her horribly if she went away.

  “Want to tell me why?”

  Her friend smiled. “Thanks for not instantly saying I can’t.”

  “I want to, but I’m holding back.”

  Naomi reached for another chip. “I have family back in Ohio. Parents. A couple of brothers and sisters. A husband.” She chewed then swallowed. “Actually, I’m not sure about the husband. He might have divorced me. I’ve been gone a long time.”

  Penny blinked. “I don’t know what to say. You never mentioned anyone.”

  “I didn’t just hatch.”

  Penny had always figured there had to be someone. But a whole family? A husband?

  “Something happened,” Naomi continued. “I don’t want to get into it, but I did something bad and I couldn’t live with myself. Or them. So I left. I just drove and I ended up here. I met you a few weeks later.”

  Penny felt her heart breaking. She didn’t want to lose her friend. “If you think you have to go back, it’s fine.”

  Naomi scowled at her. “You’re going to be brave, aren’t you? Dammit, I hate that. I don’t want to leave, but I think it’s time. I have to go mend some fences. I think I’m still in love with him. Talk about insane.”

  Penny nodded because if she spoke, she would start to cry.

  “I wouldn’t just leave you,” Naomi said. “I’d make sure there were some people in place. To help with the baby and at the restaurant.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Penny said. “Don’t worry about me.”

  Naomi gone! It wasn’t possible. Who else would she talk to in the middle of the night when she’d just watched a sad movie and couldn’t stop crying? Who else would understand the need to never eat blue M& M’s on even days of the month? Who else would coach her through delivery and stay with her for the first couple of weeks after the baby was born?

  Naomi swore and got to her feet.

  “What?” Penny asked.

  “You’re crying.”

  Penny sniffed. “It doesn’t mean anything. I’m hormonal.”

  She stood and her friend walked around the table. They held on to each other.

  “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” Naomi whispered. “I won’t ever forget that.”

  “Me, either.”

  Naomi sighed. “See. This is why love sucks. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t care if I had to leave.”

  “If you didn’t love me after all we’ve been through, I’d throw a meat cleaver at your head.”

  DANI GLARED at Cal. “I can’t believe you never told me you had a daughter. All this time.” Her gaze narrowed. “Walker and Reid know, don’t they? You guys always stick together.”

  Cal put his arm around Dani as they walked from the parking lot on the University of Washington campus. “I didn’t know they knew, if that makes you feel any better. I thought it was a secret.”

  “Oh, right. I swear, it’s like living in a soap opera. I keep expecting to hear the smooth-voiced guy murmuring in the background. ‘While Dani is unaware of her brother’s illegitimate child, Lindsey has dealt with cancer. Of course Dani is an idiot for marrying a jerk like Hugh. More after the commercial break.’ It really pisses me off.”

  “The guy?”

  “No. You. What other secrets are there?”

  He could think of only one really big one and he wasn’t going there today. Dani had enough to deal with.

  “Like I said, I didn’t know Reid and Walker had heard me fighting with Gloria about Lindsey back when I was in high school. I didn’t deliberately keep the information from you.”

  “But you didn’t tell me when you found out the guys knew.”

  “You had stuff on your mind.”

  She sighed. “I’m all grown up, Cal. You can stop trying to protect me from the world.”

  “Sorry, that’s part of the job description.”

  She linked her arm through his and leaned against him. “You’re a good big brother.”

  “Thanks.”

  While he appreciated the compliment, he wasn’t sure he’d earned it. Penny had told him to come clean with Dani and he planned to. Soon. But not today.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked.

  She patted her jacket pocket. “Completely. I’m not paying some guy to serve Hugh the papers when I can do it myself. Plus I want to see the look in his eyes. He won’t be expecting me. Some small discomfort on his part isn’t a whole lot of reward, I know, but it’s all I’m going to get.” She glanced at her watch. “He has office hours now. Maybe he’ll have students in with him. That would be exciting.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, not sure how to make things better for her.

  “Don’t be. I don’t like how Hugh handled things with me, but I’m no longer questioning the divorce. Don’t get me wrong. I’m still furious. I gave him so much of my life and to have him tell me he outgrew me makes me want to back the car over al
l of his possessions. He practically sucked the life out of me and now he’s acting all noble. But the truth is I don’t love him. I haven’t for a while.”

  That was a relief. Bad enough Dani had to go through this. Had she been heartbroken, it would have been so much worse.

  “Maybe you’ll like being single,” he said.

  “I’m kind of looking forward to it,” she admitted. “I went from a college dorm to married. I’ve never had my own place.”

  “Do you know where you’re going to move?”

  “No. Part of me wants to make Hugh move. After all, this was his idea. But handicap accessible apartments are hard to find.” She turned right on the path. “But it really bugs me that this is all his idea and I’m the only one inconvenienced.” She shook her head. “Let’s change the subject. The campus looks pretty.”

  Cal glanced around. Spring had arrived and there were tulips in bloom everywhere. The ground was wet from recent rain, but the sky was a bright blue.

  “I have a lot of memories here,” he said.

  “I can imagine the parties—and the girls—you indulged in,” Dani said. “I, of course, only studied.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, right. I remember getting more than one call from you because you didn’t want to drive back to the dorm after a party.”

  “Hey, at least I didn’t try driving.”

  “Did I ever complain?”

  “There was that one time. I distinctly remember a disgruntled female voice in the background. Hmm, could it have been Penny?”

  “Maybe.”

  “She’s great, you know.”

  “I agree.”

  “You two are doing a terrific job at The Waterfront.”

  Cal glanced at her. “I’m sorry about that. Not the success, but that Gloria didn’t offer you the restaurant.”

  “No offense, but me, too. Still, it’s done. Once I get Hugh served and move out, I’m going to have a big sit-down with Gloria and lay it on the line. Either she gives me something more to do or I’m quitting.”

  He didn’t know what to say. “You would leave the company?”

  “Watch me. Here it is.”

  She pointed at the flight of stairs, then led the way up to Hugh’s office on the second floor. Dani walked down the hall and stopped in front of one of the closed doors.

  When she tried the handle, it didn’t turn.

  “Locked,” she said. “But it’s his office hours.” She glanced at the card by the door to confirm the times Hugh was supposed to be there. “Weird.”

  She listened for a second, then knocked. “Hugh?”

  There was a muffled noise, then a bump. Dani looked at Cal. “Okay, I don’t like that.”

  Cal was with her on that one. He had a bad feeling. “Let’s come back.”

  Her mouth pulled straight as she dug into her purse. “I don’t think so. Dammit all to hell, if that bastard…” She pulled out a key chain and searched through the keys. When she inserted one into the lock, Cal nearly pulled her back.

  “You don’t want to know,” he said, putting a hand on her arm. “Let’s go.”

  She shrugged him off. “Don’t you think I have a right?”

  With that she pushed open the door. Hugh sat in his wheelchair, his shirt open. A young woman, probably a student, stood next to him. Her hair was mussed and she’d nearly finished buttoning her blouse.

  “Dani.” Hugh sounded surprised and wary. “I didn’t know you were going to come by.”

  “Obviously.” She looked between Hugh and the woman. “So, you want a divorce because you’ve grown as a person? If this is your idea of personal growth, I’m not interested. I would think of it more as being small, petty and a cheater. But hey, I’m just in the restaurant business. I probably wouldn’t understand something this complex. I wonder what your department chair is going to say when she finds out you’ve been getting so close to your students?” She held out the papers. “Consider yourself served.”

  The student shifted uncomfortably. Her face was bright red, and she kept touching her hair. “I, ah—”

  “Did you know he was married?” Dani asked, then shook her head. “Never mind. I have a piece of advice for you. I doubt you’ll take it, but here it is. If he’ll cheat with you, he’ll cheat on you.” She turned back to Hugh. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am I wasted so much of my life on you. You weren’t worth it.”

  She walked out of the office. “Let’s go,” she told Cal.

  “I want to hit him.”

  “I appreciate that, but I think I’ll clobber him financially, instead. I was going to be fair and kind during the divorce. Not anymore.”

  He reached for her hand and felt her trembling. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too.”

  Hugh rolled into the hallway. “Dani, I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out this way.”

  She stopped and looked back at him. “How did you want me to find out, Hugh? What’s the best way to tell your wife that you want a divorce so you can screw someone else? You should have told me the truth. I would have been angry but I wouldn’t have thought you were such an asshole.”

  She walked away.

  “Dani! Come back.”

  She shook her head and kept walking.

  “Just one punch,” Cal said.

  “Thanks, but no. It’s fine.” They reached the stairs and she hurried down them. “This is good. I’d actually been wondering what I could have done to make things better between us. I won’t be doing that anymore.”

  They reached the outside. Dani stopped walking and covered her face with her hands. “My whole life totally sucks. I don’t have a career or a marriage. I hate this.”

  He pulled her close and let her cry against him. “Things will get better.”

  “When? I want a date. Tell me when.”

  He stroked her hair. “I’m sorry, Dani. I don’t know. But soon.”

  “Promise?”

  “Yeah.”

  “POOR KID,” Penny said. “I can’t believe Hugh was cheating. I always thought he was a decent guy.”

  “We all thought that,” Cal told her. “Guess we were wrong.”

  “It’s good you didn’t hit him. I don’t care how strong he is, he’s in a wheelchair and you’re a big, burly guy. No way you would have won that in court.”

  Cal shrugged and she could see he didn’t much care about the ramifications of his actions. Someone he cared about was hurt and he wanted to lash out.

  Funny how she’d never noticed that about him when they’d been married. She’d never seen his protective streak for what it was. Instead of appreciating what he was trying to do and looking for compromise, she’d rebelled against what she’d thought was unreasonable behavior.

  She sank lower into the chair and closed her eyes as he continued to push his thumbs into the ball of her right foot.

  “You’re really good at this,” she said, enjoying the massage. “I spend my life standing. Most of the time I don’t mind it but lately I’ve been in some serious pain.”

  “You’re pregnant.”

  She opened one eye and smiled. “I’d heard that rumor. Where did you learn to do foot massage? One of the many women you dated after our divorce? Or did you know it while we were married and keep the information from me?”

  “I took a class on the Internet,” he joked. “Just relax and enjoy.”

  “I might have to make moany noises.”

  “Have at it.”

  She gave herself up to the slow, steady massage. There was something erotic about having Cal rub her bare foot. Or maybe it was the fact that when he concentrated on her toes, her heel seemed to end up pressing against his—

  Don’t go there, she told herself. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. There hadn’t been a repeat performance—no surprise, given the emotional roller coaster they’d been on for the past few weeks.

  In some ways they were getting along better than ever. In other ways, he was more of a stranger than she could im
agine. Neither of which kept her from lying awake in bed at night and wishing he were with her.

  “When is Dani moving out?” she asked, as much to distract herself as to get the information.

  “As soon as she can find a place. Hugh gets the apartment. It’s handicapped accessible.”

  “She can live here while she’s looking.”

  Cal’s hands stopped moving. She opened her eyes again.

  “What?” she asked.

  “You’d offer that?”

  “Sure. I have a second bedroom.” She waved at her cozy duplex. “She needs some time to regroup and I don’t need the other bedroom until the baby gets here.” She smiled. “Plus, she’ll probably be so grateful, she’ll help me paint when she leaves.”

  “I think it’s a good idea. I offered to let her stay with me, but she didn’t want to.”

  Penny wrinkled her nose. “It would be too much like moving back home. I would move in with a friend way before I would go live with one of my sisters. I would hate the daily reminder I hadn’t turned out like them.”

  He put down her right foot and reached for her left. After pulling off her sock, he rolled up her jeans. “You don’t still worry about that, do you?” he asked.

  Penny relaxed and gave herself over to the stroking pressure of his fingers on her heel.

  “Sometimes. Before I figured out I wanted to be a chef, I was a complete failure. I flunked out of college.” She winced at the thought. “I lived two years of my life in Pullman thinking I could become a vet. Like I could ever pass those science classes.”

  “But you regrouped and moved to Seattle.”

  “Oh, right. I moved away from Spokane because my parents were done supporting my various screw-ups. For the first month, I was so broke, I slept in my car.”

  “All the more reason to be proud of what you’ve become.”

  “You’re right. My parents are excited about my career.” If not the baby, she thought. No, that wasn’t fair. They were happy to have another grandchild.

  “You should invite them out,” Cal said.

  She opened her eyes and stared at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Why not? They can see you at the restaurant, see the city.”

  “Oh, right. Because I need more going on in my life. Don’t you dare say anything to them, either.”