by Kay Stockham
The wind whipped up the moment she pulled her keys from the lock, and the force of it rocked her already-unsteady stance. She fell against the door with a muffled gasp, the keys tumbling through the metal-grate stairs into the snow below.
Muttering words guaranteed to get any good Southern girl’s mouth washed out with soap, she turned to retrace her steps and found herself staring down at Garret’s best friend.
“Go on inside, I’ll get them.” Tobias Richardson jerked his head toward the building to confirm his words, his nose and cheeks red from exposure.
She grabbed the handle to open the utility door and then had to fight the wind to close it behind her. Her hair stuck to her lipstick, her eyes watered after being out so long and her toes had gone numb twenty minutes ago while getting breakfast. She’d packed a bag but hadn’t thought to bring snacks to eat. Luckily the diner was open. She tossed her bagged brunch aside, wishing she’d brought something warmer and more comfortable to wear.
Joss hurried to repair the damage and make herself presentable, but the hair clip caught in the tangles created by the wind. Just when she’d gathered the mass into some semblance of order, the door behind her opened. The wind blew snow through the back room, strewing papers, scattering the dirt she’d swept into a pile but hadn’t disposed of. The blast of cold air ripped her hair from her hands, and all attempts at fixing her appearance vanished.
Tobias pushed the door shut and stomped his feet on the rug.
Desperate, Jocelyn smoothed her hair as best she could and tried to pretend it wasn’t a disaster. “Thanks for getting my keys.”
He moved toward her with a slight smile on his big, dopey face, her keys dangling from his hand. She’d always considered Tobias handsome in an awkward, gauche sort of way. He had a tall, lean body with the rolling gait of a western wrangler and sun-streaked, mud-brown hair that was forever in need of a trim. By far his eyes were his best, and worst, feature. They were a startling golden brown so light they looked yellow. Hawk’s eyes, Garret had once said. The term fit.
“Here.” He held out the keys and she looked down. His hands were chapped, the calluses on the sides of his fingers white with age.
“Thank you. How’s Maria? I heard they were going to induce her on Wednesday if she didn’t go into labor this weekend.”
“She had the baby at one o’clock this morning. A girl, just like expected.” Tobias released the keys. Their fingers brushed during the exchange and, as if the act had tainted him with some incurable disease, he rubbed his hand discreetly against his leg, then lifted it and pushed his hair back from his face.
She turned, absurdly hurt by his behavior. With a silent, appraising glance he criticized her clothes, her appearance, everything, making her well aware that he thought her less than worthy of Garret. Once more she tried to gather her hair without making too much fuss.
“Leave it down. It doesn’t look as stiff.”
Stiff? She hesitated for a split second, then continued with her task. “Daddy always says professional women do not have wild hair, nor do debutantes.”
“And you are that.”
She turned, her gaze narrowing on him. “Pardon me?”
“A professional woman.” Tobias lifted one of his ugly hands to indicate their surroundings. “The place seems to be coming together.”
It was a mess. She knew it. He knew it. Why pretend? Normally he wouldn’t. She’d often wondered what she’d done to earn his hostility, but figured her relationship with Garret topped Tobias’s list of her many negative attributes. Then there was his mother and her role as the Piersons’ maid once upon a time. Tobias hadn’t liked Jocelyn then, either, referring to her as “princess” in his mocking tone. “I’m running a little behind schedule, but I’ll catch up. I stayed here last night and got quite—”
“What?”
The vehemence in his tone surprised her. “I beg your pardon?”
“You stayed here? By yourself? Did Garret stay with you?”
Joss couldn’t believe his nerve. She shifted her weight onto one hip and crossed her arms over her less-than-stellar chest. “No, he didn’t. But somehow I managed to survive all by myself.”
He looked as though he’d swallowed a lemon. “I meant with the weather as bad as it is and with this place in such a state—”
“You just said it was coming together.”
“I lied. It looks like hell, but I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“Like you care about that. You just informed me my hair looks stiff.”
“What do you expect when it’s always scraped back and stuck to your head?”
Jocelyn stared at him, her mouth open in shock. Of all the—
“You shouldn’t have stayed here by yourself. That’s all I’m saying. It’s dangerous.”
“And you think it’s dangerous because…what? I’m such a ditz I can’t lock a door or turn on the alarm system? Can’t call the police if someone were to break in? Can’t use one of the many metal rods lying about to whack someone over the head if I needed to?”
He shuffled his feet as though he was suddenly being attacked by ants—or metal rods. “I forgot you had an alarm.”
“I know how to work it, too,” she said in her sweetest, most saccharine Southern-belle voice. “But I guess that shows your opinion of me, doesn’t it? Just say it, Tobias. You think I’m dumb. I’m so dumb, in fact, that Garret shouldn’t be with me. And that ‘professional woman’ comment? We both know what you meant—it was a shot because I was a debutante. But, for the record, some of the most enterprising, take-charge women in this part of the country were debutantes.”
“I don’t want to argue with you, dammit, I—”
“Then don’t. Just tell me why you’re here and get o—” She broke off, but it was too late. They both knew what she’d been about to say. “I—I’m sorry. That was very rude.”
He pulled an envelope from his pocket and shoved it at her, his unusual eyes glittering with anger and what looked to be…hurt?
“Tobias—”
“Make sure you lock up and set the alarm.”
He was out the door in seconds. As though taking his side, the wind tore at her hair yet again before Tobias yanked the panel shut with a loud bang.
She opened the envelope and choked at the embossed slip inside. Coughing, wheezing, she collapsed against a crate, digging the paper from within to confirm the truth she already knew. It wasn’t…surely it wasn’t.
But it was. Oh, shoot, what had she done?
She was now going to have to apologize to one of the most obnoxious men on the planet.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“TOBIAS, WAIT!” Jocelyn hurried out the door after him. “Wait!” she called again, catching him halfway down the stairs. He didn’t stop. “Tobias, please.”
Manners did the trick. He turned to stare up at her, his thick eyebrows low over his eyes. “What do you want?”
The temperature made her teeth chatter. “C-can you come back inside for a minute?” Remembering what had made him stop, she added, “Please?”
Tobias ran his hand over his hair and messed it even more. Didn’t he ever get his hair cut? She bit her tongue to keep from saying something else she shouldn’t and waited for him to make up his mind. Stubborn man.
It bothered her that he didn’t like her. It didn’t matter, of course. But he was Garret’s best friend and she had enough good girl in her to want everyone to like her. Including him. But the fact that Tobias behaved as though he couldn’t stand to be in her presence—that he didn’t approve of Garret’s love for her—irritated her to no end.
Was he going to make her stand out here all day in the cold? Finally he released a disgruntled sigh and retraced his steps, following her into the gallery’s back room.
“Thank you for the permit.” It came out badly, as though her gratitude wasn’t sincere or she didn’t appreciate the effort he’d made to get the permit. “It was very nice of you to do that.”
That’s it? No explanation as to why he’d done it?
Champagne and beer don’t mix, Jocelyn Renee. But you won’t ever forget it again, will you? Her father’s overbearing voice rang in her head.
No, she wouldn’t forget. But in that moment she felt as though she owed Tobias a warning about her father. Over the past couple of years, Daddy had gotten in more than his fair share of snide comments about the son of their former maid, making it clear he wanted no one in his family associating with Tobias. Even though Daddy hadn’t yet set down the law with Garret—as he was wont to do with her—she knew he didn’t approve of the friendship between Garret and Tobias. It was only a matter of time before her father started vocalizing his displeasure and pressuring Garret to cease all contact with Tobias. And her father would not be subtle or fair. He wouldn’t hesitate to use her to control Garret.
Regardless of her feelings about the man, Tobias deserved to know what her father would try to do.
Tobias shifted his too-big feet. She needed to say something, tell him that Garret was stronger, that he was a good friend, a good man. That Daddy would never control Garret the way he did her. But the words wouldn’t come. Truth was Garret and her father were very close. They had been for years, even longer than she and Garret had dated.
Looking extremely put out by her continued silence, Tobias sighed. “Was that all you wanted?”
“No.” She cleared her throat and lifted her chin, determined to make peace if it killed her. “I wanted to know why you did it.”
His shoulders lifted and lowered in a tense shrug. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself, princess. I was at the courthouse and saw your name on a pending file. It was no big deal.”
Oh, how she despised that nickname. Her father had called her that, too. A pretty princess in a tower who should be seen and not heard. “I don’t get it.”
“What is there to get?” he asked impatiently.
She made herself meet his unusual eyes. “I don’t get why. You don’t like me. Don’t pretend you do because we both know better. Why would you go out of your way to get this for me? Seems to me you’d like to see me fail.”
Indecently thick lashes lowered over his gaze. “That’s not true. But you need the permit to open, and I thought I’d save Garret the hassle of having to get it for you.”
So he didn’t approve of her gallery, either? “I would’ve handled the permit myself. I’ve managed to get all the others. I admit this one has been a problem but—I appreciate the help. I asked Garret to see if he could hurry the process but he’s been so busy he hasn’t had the chance. I was going to remind him again when things settled down.”
“You would’ve run out of time waiting for that to happen. Your father’s got Garret’s nose to the grindstone.”
She knew well what that felt like. She’d been raised beneath her father’s overwhelming aggression and constant disapproval. Never measuring up. Never doing enough or else doing it wrong. Right now he blamed her for Garret not proposing yet, but what woman wanted to nag a man into marrying her?
“I’d better go.”
Tobias looked bored by the stilted conversation. And there he went, tugging on his hair again like a big old dog scratching at his ear. But she had to do something. She couldn’t imagine spending her married life to Garret, having his best friend glare at her all the time. The tension between them had to end. “Tobias—”
“Toby.”
“You look more like a Tobias.” Why had she said that? She swallowed audibly. “Anyway, please wait. I owe you another apology.”
“For what?”
It wasn’t easy to bring up a subject that happened so long ago. “I’m sorry I didn’t speak up. Years ago. That day at the house. Those girls were awful.”
“You mean your friends?”
She faltered again. “They weren’t my friends. Not really. Not at all, if you want the truth.” He didn’t look surprised by the confession. “I should’ve said something to them when they began saying those things. It probably embarrassed you—”
“It was a long time ago.” A ruddy hue crawled up his neck to his cheeks.
She stared, dumbstruck. Was that it? She’d felt badly about it, but he’d acted like a jerk and—He was embarrassed? Nervous around her because that happened years ago? Was that why he kept fidgeting? And the way he barked at her and glared and acted so brooding when the three of them were together? Was that him trying to cope with the rudeness of a teenage girl who’d become his best friend’s date?
How could she not have realized? “I should’ve said something. I didn’t speak up and that was…unkind. And then my father didn’t pay you after all the hard work—I wish you had kept the check I sent you.”
“It wasn’t your bill to pay. I didn’t want your money.”
She realized now she’d only made the situation worse by doing that. How could she have been so blind? “But you earned it.” And she wouldn’t have missed the money. She knew he’d needed it, though, to help support his mother and little sister. “How is your mother?”
Tobias rubbed a knuckle against his mouth. “She’s fine. She likes being a grandma again.”
“Good. That’s good.” She saw a clipboard lying nearby and picked it up to have something to do with her hands. “I’m glad things are going so well for you. All of you. Anyway, thank you. Again. You’ve done Garret and me a huge favor.”
His mouth pulled up in one of his smirking grins, one that lit his face and made his eyes crinkle at the corners, giving him a devilish quality. The expression emphasized the deep cleft in his chin. She hadn’t found those sexy since her crush on Tom Selleck, but on Tobias…Well, he had a certain quality. She’d have to give him more thought. Think of a female friend he might appeal to. Someone nice and down-to-earth. Heaven knew she owed him that.
Tobias turned away but paused. “Did you have to clean the pool?”
The question caught her by surprise, although it shouldn’t have. She laughed, remembering her father’s rage and her secret delight that someone had gotten even with him and his tyranny. “No. He called a service to do that. But they charged him three times what he owed you.”
A gruff chuckle erupted from his chest. “Served him right.”
“I agree.” He looked startled by her agreement and faced her with an expression she couldn’t quite decipher. The metal clip dug into her hand.
Tobias glanced around at the assortment of crates she needed to unpack, canvases she’d prepared for hanging, none of which could be done until the walls were painted. “You’re going to try to do all this yourself?”
“I, uh, hired someone who was supposed to have come today to help me. With the weather, we thought it best to cancel.”
“Would you like me to help?”
Was he serious? Or just being polite and making a peace offering after their talk? Probably the second, but did it matter? They seemed to have crossed a bridge in their relationship. Maybe he’d stop all the glaring and come to terms with her marrying his best friend.
“That would be great. You don’t have plans for the day?”
For the first time since she remembered meeting him, Tobias’s eyes warmed when he looked at her and shrugged. “Where do we start?”
WHILE GARRET SECLUDED himself in his home office to work and to call Nick about her car, Darcy took care of the breakfast dishes and picked up around the surprisingly clean bachelor pad. The two guys were neater than she ever hoped to be.
Shaking her head, she looked up, her gaze caught by the weather outside. Everything was buried beneath a ruler’s worth of snow and ice. All she’d needed was one more day of driving and she could’ve made it to her destination. At least close. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
She rolled her eyes at the juvenile saying. The thick layer of snow made her wonder about her car. What if it was so covered that Nick couldn’t find it? Or worse, that some other driver hadn’t seen
it and slid into it after hitting that same patch of ice she had? What shape was her poor car in? How much money would she need to repair it? Growing up dependent upon an ever-changing stream of “uncles” for food and rent had made her the stand-on-her-own-two-feet type, but the repairs and hospital stay could easily wipe out the majority of her nest egg. Living in Miami wasn’t cheap—yet another reason to go home to Indiana where a dollar stretched a little further.
Garret’s footfalls sounded on the hardwood floor outside the kitchen and she turned to see him looking as disgruntled as she felt. “Uh-oh, something wrong?”
His gaze swept over the stove and lingered on the now-spotless sink. “Yeah, but we’ll get to that in a minute. I got hold of Nick. He won’t be able to tow your car until the state of emergency is lifted, but he did say he’d make you a priority.”
Being made a priority was great, but the weight on her shoulders pressed heavier than ever. She hated feeling so helpless, so dependent.
Garret ran a hand over his short hair. “Look, Darcy, I didn’t bother calling the motels about vacancies. Right now, even if someone did check out and attempt to leave town, I wouldn’t want to take you out on the roads. It’s too dangerous, and you can’t risk another scare after what you went through last night.”
She felt like such a pain, but since it was the smart thing to do, she forced herself to nod. Waiting out the storm here might be best, but it didn’t make her conscience rest any easier.
“Are you okay with spending another night here?”
“If you don’t mind, I suppose that’s fine.” She hated imposing on Garret this way, hated feeling as if her life was racing out of control and she couldn’t stop the skid. At the same time, she was grateful for Garret’s gentlemanly behavior and the fact that she wasn’t stuck in some grimy hotel room she couldn’t afford. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help, Garret. I keep saying it, but it’s true. I don’t know what I would have done without you. And I’m happy to pitch in while I’m here. It’s the least I can do.”
