“I know I don’t have anywhere to go. I know that no one wants me. I get it!”
She took off at a run and bolted into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. The harsh sound reverberated through the house.
Destiny sank back onto the chair and covered her face with her hands. The distance between what she’d wanted to say and what had come out of her mouth was so great, it couldn’t be measured. She’d only been trying to protect Starr. Instead she’d hurt her.
She stood and walked to the closed bedroom door. After knocking, she spoke.
“Starr, honey. I’m sorry.”
“Go away.”
“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t. If you don’t believe in love, then knowing I hate you won’t matter at all. I hate you, Destiny. Leave me alone.”
There was a sharp click as the lock was engaged, followed by a few seconds of silence, then sobs that tore through Destiny’s heart. She sank onto the floor outside her sister’s bedroom door and tried to breathe. Honest to God, she had absolutely no idea what to do.
* * *
BEFORE MOVING TO Fool’s Gold, Kipling had never had anything to do with city government, or government of any kind. He’d assumed the day-to-day running of a location simply happened. Like most people, he’d groused about laws that seemed an unnecessary interference. He hadn’t known there were so many complex steps that ended with a seamless stream of services that affected people’s lives.
But since the move, he’d attended monthly city council sessions. At first he’d worried about being bored, but now he looked forward to the details of what went on behind the scenes. Mayor Marsha ruled her town well, and she had a lot to contend with. Thanks to the constant flow of tourists, the growth of the town, a major university and dozens of successful businesses, all with different interests and needs, there was always a crisis, a problem and something incredibly funny going on.
At today’s meeting, the comic relief was supplied by Eddie and Gladys, who wanted to host a cable access show—the same two old ladies who had wanted to sign up to be volunteers at his recent HERO meeting. Mayor Marsha was doing her best to discourage them, and while Kipling would normally put his money on the mayor, she didn’t seem to be making much headway against a very determined Eddie and Gladys. The ongoing conversation made him wish he’d brought popcorn. Talk about entertainment.
“You can’t stop us,” Eddie said, leaning in as she spoke. “This is a free country. I know my rights. The community access channel is just that. For the community. Gladys and I will include everyone on our show.”
“Especially the men.” Gladys cackled.
“That’s what has me concerned.” Mayor Marsha studied them both. “There are strict laws about nudity.”
Eddie’s eyebrows rose nearly to her hairline. “Are you implying I’d have naked people on my show?”
“We should be so lucky,” Gladys muttered.
“Yes,” the mayor said firmly. “Or pictures. I’ve been in touch with my friends at the FCC, and they’re going to be watching you two.”
Patience Garrett, the owner of Brew-haha, sat next to him. Now she leaned close. “It’s always dangerous when Mayor Marsha starts talking about her friends anywhere. If I were Eddie and Gladys, I’d be shaking in my shoes.”
“They wouldn’t really have nudity, would they?”
“In a heartbeat. A couple of years ago there was a calendar done as a fund-raiser. A bunch of male models flew in and did a photo shoot. Naked. Eddie and Gladys were front and center, watching the show.”
“They look so innocent.”
Patience grinned. “Don’t confuse old with innocent. They could so take you.”
“Those two?”
“Sure. You’re a nice guy. You’d never fight back.”
“Point taken.”
He returned his attention to the ongoing discussion, then allowed it to slide to his left. Destiny sat a few rows in front of him. She’d come in late and had found a seat off to the side.
At first he’d wondered if she was avoiding him. While he’d found their last conversation intriguing, he thought maybe she’d been embarrassed. Maybe she didn’t want him to know she was attracted to him. She was a little tightly wound. But as he watched her now, he wondered if something else was going on. She seemed tense in a way that had nothing to do with him. She’d barely glanced in his direction.
If he had to guess, he would say she was upset about something. Not work related. He received an email update every morning, and they were right on track. So it had to be something else. Family, maybe?
He looked back at Mayor Marsha and did his best to pay attention to what she was talking about, all the while keeping tabs on Destiny. He wanted to speak to her before she left. If there was a problem, maybe he could help.
The meeting wrapped up after about an hour. Kipling had thought Destiny might bolt, but she stayed to speak to a few people. He made his way over to her. Everyone else left the meeting, and by the time he was standing in front of her, they were alone.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
Destiny shook her head. “Badly. Starr and I had a huge fight last night. It’s my fault. I totally screwed up. She talked about a boy she liked, and I overreacted.”
“She’s dating?” Wasn’t Starr too young?
“I hope not. I told her that love was just chemicals and words, and she misunderstood. I was talking about romantic love. She thought I was saying no one loved her.” She turned away. “I want to say she’s wrong, but I don’t know. Our father hasn’t seen her in months. Her mother’s dead, I’m her temporary guardian and I barely know her. She’s lost, and I’m the last person to know what to do.”
He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “That’s not true.”
“We have the same father. Believe me when I say I don’t come from an emotionally stable family situation.”
“You had Grandma Nell. She was stable. She loved you and made you feel safe. So do the same for Starr.”
She felt good tucked against him. Feminine and warm. He wanted to step between her and whatever was going wrong so he could make it right.
She relaxed against him for a second before stepping away. “You’re right. I need to think like Grandma Nell would. This morning Starr wouldn’t even speak to me. She’s too young to be dealing with all this. I have to find a way to help her.”
“What about your dad?”
Destiny sighed. “I talked to him after I heard from his lawyer about Starr. Jimmy Don is touring in Europe this summer. He has no plans to come back before October. As for Starr, he’s sure she’ll be fine.”
Kipling felt a familiar anger stirring. Not all abuse came from a fist. “In other words, he doesn’t give a shit.”
“Not exactly how I would have phrased it, but yes. Famous people don’t have to clean up their own messes. There’s always someone ready to step in and do it for them. Not that I’m calling my sister a mess. You know what I mean.”
“I do. What are you going to say to her?”
She looked up at him, her green eyes wide with emotion. “I have no idea. The truth, I guess. That I made a mistake. That I care about her and want her to know that.”
“She needs to know she’ll always have a place with you.”
Destiny nodded slowly. “I know. But I haven’t figured out how to make that work yet. My job requires me to travel all the time. I can make sure I have an assignment that covers most of the summer months, but then I’ll be moving on.”
“Which makes boarding school practical,” he said. “Does she like it?”
“She hasn’t really said. You’re right. We need to talk more so she can feel safe. The whole conversation about Carter really threw me.”
“I’m sure they’re just friends.”
“That’s what she said. Six weeks ago I barely knew who she was. Now this. It’s too much.”
Instinctively, he pulled her close. She went easily into h
is arms and hung on to him.
They fit well together. He breathed in the scent of her hair and enjoyed the warmth of her body. When she stepped back, he let her go.
He knew not to read too much into her willingness to get close. She was hurting, and he was an available shoulder. But he found he liked being Destiny’s shoulder to lean on, at least for the moment. Because like her, he was always moving on. Emotionally if not physically.
“Making friends with people her own age is the best thing for her right now,” he said. “So she can feel like she belongs.”
Destiny nodded. “She did seem really happy yesterday when she came home from camp.”
“One of my partners has a daughter about her age. Why don’t I call Ethan and see if we can set something up for Starr and Abby the night of The Man Cave opening? The girls can go to a movie and hang out. You can come with me. You’ll both have fun, and being away from the situation at home will give you both perspective.”
She gave him a smile. “Always with the fixing.”
“But you’ll admit it’s a good idea?”
She paused for a second, then nodded. “It’s a very good idea.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
DESTINY SAT IN the living room and waited for Starr to get home from camp. She’d been doing a lot of thinking about what had gone wrong between them. Talking to Kipling had really helped. She appreciated how nice he’d been about the whole thing. She tried to remember the last time she’d had someone to lean on, however briefly, and couldn’t think of when it had happened. Because she didn’t have friends, she realized. Her friendships were of the brief, temporary kind.
There were probably a lot of good reasons. She was always leaving for the next assignment. So why get too involved? And while that was a great idea in theory, in practice it meant she was always starting over, and she had no real continuity in her life. Not emotionally. Not only was that not particularly healthy, it was also kind of lonely. Something she hadn’t seemed to notice until the blowup with Starr.
She hadn’t had anyone to call. No one to talk things over with. She could have phoned her mother, but wasn’t sure Lacey was the best person to give advice under the circumstances. Lacey loved her daughter and stayed in touch, but Destiny didn’t think her mother would want to be pulled into a situation involving her ex-husband and one of his mistresses’ children. As for her other half and step siblings—she barely knew some and hadn’t met the others.
Kipling had been an unexpected rock.
The front door opened, and Starr walked in. Unlike the previous night, she didn’t look the least bit enthused or happy. She glanced at Destiny then away. But instead of heading directly for her room, she sat on the sofa and stared at her hands.
“How was your day?” Destiny asked.
“Fine.”
“Still liking camp?”
Starr nodded.
Destiny wished for wisdom, but there wasn’t any. And despite Kipling’s great advice, she couldn’t imagine what Grandma Nell would say, mostly because she was too smart to ever get in this situation.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Destiny told her sister. “About what I said. I blew the whole thing with Carter out of proportion. I have my own worries and fears, and I shouldn’t project them on you.”
Starr raised her head. “You’re afraid of men?”
“No. Just of making a mistake. Of being swept away. And that doesn’t matter. I want to talk about you right now. Us. Starr, you’re my sister.”
“Your half sister. That’s how you always introduce me.”
Destiny felt her eyes widen. She wanted to protest, only she had a feeling that Starr was right.
“I’m sorry for that,” she said. “I won’t ever do it again. Because we’re sisters. Not half or three-quarters. Just sisters.”
The teen stared at her for a long time. “Okay.”
“This is a difficult situation for a lot of reasons, but mostly because we don’t know each other. I want that to change. I want you to be happy here. With me, I mean. We’ll be leaving Fool’s Gold when my assignment is finished.”
“Where will you go after that?”
“I don’t know.”
“You move around every couple of months?”
Destiny nodded. “I can try to be in one place for the summer, but other than that, my job means I’m always somewhere new.”
“That means boarding school for me.” Starr studied her hands again. “I guess that’s how it’s going to be.”
Which didn’t sound like a ringing endorsement for going back to boarding school, Destiny thought grimly. But what was the alternative?
“We’ll have holidays and the summer,” she said. “If you’d like that.”
“Because you’re stuck with me.” Starr sounded more scared than defiant.
“I don’t think of it as stuck,” Destiny said. “It’s actually kind of nice. You’re right, I am always the new girl, and it does get lonely. Having family around helps. I’m not sorry you’re here, Starr. In case you were thinking that.”
Her sister looked at her. “Really?”
“I promise.” She smiled. “I have all the ingredients to make fried chicken. I was going to prepare it last night, but with everything that happened, I never got around to it. We’ve had it once already, and now I want to teach you the old family recipe. Are you in?”
Starr smiled. “Sure. Let me put my stuff away.”
Destiny watched her walk to her room. Tonight, after dinner, they could play guitar together. She would teach Starr more chords and how to play a couple of her dad’s songs. If they both kept at it, they could find their way into being a family in deed and not just in name.
* * *
THE CAVEMAN STATUE by the door turned out to be a bigger hit than Kipling had expected. Nearly everyone coming through the door stopped to take a picture or have their picture taken with their mascot. There were also some hilarious selfies.
In honor of opening night, the pictures were then texted to the bar and loaded up onto the TVs. The resulting slide show had the crowd clapping and cheering.
Kipling circulated through the throngs of people. He wasn’t keeping count, but he had a feeling they were nearing capacity. He had no idea how seriously the local fire department took that sort of thing. Not that having a line outside the building was a bad thing.
He greeted his guests, kept an eye on the servers and watched for Destiny’s arrival. Given how early he’d had to show up for the opening, they’d agreed to meet at the bar. He wanted to make sure he saw her the second she showed up.
Anticipation, he thought with a grin. It made for a very good day. She was a complex woman, but he liked that. Easy was for sissies. Working hard to get what he wanted only made the reward sweeter. And he would have his reward. Destiny might be a little tightly wound, but he knew she would loosen up eventually. All she needed was to feel safe.
He walked by the bar, stopping to talk to people as he went. He’d been in town less than six months and knew just about everyone he saw.
Nick waved him over. He excused himself and went to talk to the bar’s manager.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Nick grinned. “It’s official. Jo’s closed every night through the weekend.”
“Jo as in Jo’s Bar?”
“That’s the one.”
“Why is that a big deal?”
Nick’s expression turned pitying. “You still don’t get it. The women in this town are powerful, my friend. Jo’s is their place. If we cut into her profits, Jo won’t be happy, and then the ladies won’t be happy.”
Kipling dismissed the information. “We serve a different clientele. Most of our customers won’t have gone to Jo’s. We’re not taking anything from her. Plus, we’re going to get about half our business from tourists.”
He knew. He’d been to every one of the meetings where he and his partners had discussed their business plan. They figured they would be most successful in s
ummer with the tourists. Guys watching sports would sustain them in the winter. Jo could keep her lady clients.
“We’re meeting a need,” Kipling told Nick. “When I moved here, all I heard was guys complaining about Jo’s place. How they were stuck in the back room, and the TVs weren’t big enough.”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
“You’re worrying about nothing.” Kipling had seen a problem and put together a group of investors to fix it. That made today a very good day.
Nick shrugged. “Just spreading the news,” he said, then pointed. “You have company.”
Kipling turned and saw Destiny standing by the door. From his perspective, the noise in the bar faded and the lights shifted to a spotlight that focused entirely on her. He was pretty sure he was seeing things the way his dick wanted, rather than how they were, but he was willing to go with it. Especially when it meant staring at a beautiful woman.
She’d curled her hair and put on makeup. He couldn’t remember seeing her all done up before, and the results were impressive. Her green eyes looked huge, her hair was all curly waves and her mouth was a glorious, kissable pout of shiny pink.
He walked toward her, not bothering to talk to anyone as he went. She was all that mattered. All he needed. As he got closer, he saw she’d pulled on a short jacket over some kind of white lacy fitted shirt. She had on tight jeans and boots. The perfect combination of comfortable and sexy, he thought as he approached. It was the kind of thing only women could do, and speaking on behalf of all men everywhere, he appreciated the effort.
“Hey,” he said as he got closer.
She looked up and smiled. “Hey, yourself. Congratulations. There’s a crowd milling outside, and the rest of the town is oddly empty. You’re a success.”
“At least for tonight.” He took her hand in his and drew her against him. He inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo and maybe a little perfume, then lightly kissed her cheek. “Thanks for coming.”
“It’s going to be fun.”
He stared at her for a second. “You’re better. You make up with Starr?”
“How did you know?”
Hold Me Page 10
