Spicing Things Up

by Judi Lynn

  Daphne reached out to touch a fabric piece. “Thanks, really, but I’m going to be busy for a while.”

  “Hon . . .”

  But Daphne cut Mom off. “I can’t. It’s too soon.”

  “It’s been a few weeks.”

  Daphne picked up the fabric and touched it to her cheek. “I know exactly how long it’s been.”

  Mom and Dad left, and she returned to her work.

  Chapter 40

  Tyne glared at his reflection in the mirror. He already looked tired, and he hadn’t made it to work yet. Saturday nights were usually busy, and then he and Paula had to gear up for Sunday brunch. Maybe he’d take a nap when he left the kitchen tomorrow.

  He heard someone climbing the stairs that led to his apartment and frowned. He finished drying his face. He didn’t have time for a visit unless . . . He glanced out the small window of his bathroom to the parking space behind the shop. Not Daphne’s yellow SUV. Then he recognized the car—her parents. Shit.

  They knocked on his door, and he stood perfectly still. The old floorboards creaked, and he didn’t want them to know he was home. Of course, since they’d parked in back, they’d seen his orange Jeep. You couldn’t miss it, but he often ducked out for a quick walk. Besides, it was none of their business. He had nothing to say to them.

  He stayed still, waiting, until he heard their steps go back down the stairs and saw their car drive off. A close one. Then he shook his head. What did he care if he ran into them? He’d been fairly polite to them before. That wouldn’t happen now. He sighed to his reflection. He thought Daphne might climb the steps eventually to see him, but after her parents warned her off him, she either stayed in her shop or in her cabin. Well, if her parents could scare her away from him, he hadn’t meant all that much to her, had he?

  “I’m better off on my own.” The words sounded hollow. Damn it. He missed her, but that would fade with time. He’d meant to stay single until he was forty . . . at least. Maybe forever. But he’d never had less energy. Nothing much interested him lately. A phase. It would pass. He’d make it pass. It was a good thing he was flying to see his brother in a few weeks. The break would do him good.

  He didn’t like the look of his chin strap, so shaved off the sides so that he only had a goatee. He narrowed his eyes, studying himself. Did he look older, more sophisticated? To hell with it! He grabbed his jacket on his way out of the apartment and went to his Jeep.

  It was only mid-afternoon, but the sky was already growing dark. He sighed. Another storm brewing. The lake water was choppy as he followed its shoreline to the resort. The beaches sat empty, the piers already taken in. No cattle grazed in the pastures. Barn doors were closed against inclement weather.

  When he passed the Danzas’ house and property, lights blazed in the front windows. David and Darinda would be inside, spending time with their two boys. When he pulled into the inn’s parking lot, he was surprised to see it sprinkled with cars. Guests came until bad roads kept them away. January and February were the only superslow months for business, and Ian had scheduled a Valentine’s special to offset that. He’d already told them he wanted romance to pour from the kitchen for a four-day extravaganza. He’d hired masseuses to set up tables, and manicures and pedicures were scheduled, too.

  Tyne groaned. He hoped romance didn’t make him nauseous by then. He parked behind the kitchen and stalked through its back door. Romance. Who needed it? Paula and Steph glanced up at him, all smiles.

  “You’re early. Good, we can get out of here.” Paula showed him the fixings for spaghetti carbonara with fresh duck eggs. He could mix them at the last minute. It would go perfectly with his entrée: seafood fideuà. Both were pasta dishes, but entirely different.

  “What are you doing tonight?” he asked the two women.

  Paula reached for her lightweight coat. “Mom and I are taking the kids to a movie. We’re doing the whole splurge—drinks, popcorn, and candy.”

  He laughed. “Is Chase happy he’s missing that?”

  “Not according to him.” Paula rolled her eyes. “He swears he loves Disney, but he avoids it whenever he can.”

  “And you?” Tyne looked at Steph.

  “Ben put a big pot of stew on, and we’re going to get in our pajamas and be bums tonight.”

  Tyne thought of sitting in his apartment next to Daphne, reading. It had been one of the most blissful nights of his life.

  Steph cocked a brow at him. “What about you?”

  “I’m going to Chase’s bar to dance with every woman I can.”

  “Lord, half the female population of Mill Pond will be overheated tomorrow.” Paula started out the door. “If you need to be rescued, call for Chase. He’ll wade in to find you.”

  Paula was amused. He wasn’t. But he’d be damned if he’d go home and look at four walls tonight.

  Everyone must have felt the same. After he finished the supper shift and scooted to the bar, the place was so busy, Chase didn’t have time to sit with him. Instead, Chantelle and two of her girlfriends came to join him at his booth. He tried to be friendly. He really did, but their conversation hit on so many things he considered tedious or silly, he thought of shooting himself.

  When the band started up, women came to drag him onto the dance floor. He went through the moves, but his heart wasn’t in it. He made it through one set of songs with hands wandering over him everywhere they shouldn’t, then finally made his escape.

  He drove home, dropped into a chair, and put his head in his hands. What was the matter with him? And how long would it take to heal? Just a few weeks more, he told himself, and then he’d be off to California, and Daphne would become a thing of the past.

  Chapter 41

  Daphne buried herself in work in her sewing room. Her parents knocked on her door after church, but she didn’t answer it. She didn’t want to see anyone. Tyne’s quilt was coming together nicely. She figured it would take a month to finish it, and by then, she meant to get herself together, to square her shoulders and resign herself to a boring life.

  Shadow had no such intentions. He attacked the fabric as she moved it through the feeder of her sewing machine. He knocked spools of thread off her sewing table and chased them under the table. He jumped on the back of her chair and threaded his body around her shoulders.

  The sky grew darker and darker as she worked until she was forced to turn on every light in the room. The rest of the house was dark, but that didn’t stop someone from pounding on her front door. She shut her workroom door. She heard the side gate for her yard open and close. Someone pounded on her sewing room’s window. She peeked behind the shade, and Miriam stared in at her.

  Crap. Daphne motioned to the kitchen door and went to let her in. Miriam stormed inside, blue eyes flashing.

  “Do you know how many times I called you today? I thought we could go to brunch.”

  Daphne bit her bottom lip. “I turned off my cell phone. I’ve been busy.”

  “Busy, my ass!” Miriam stared at her friend. “Damn, you’re wasting away. You’re thinner than you were before I bought you groceries.” She went to the cupboards and flung them open. The same food sat in the same places. She went to the refrigerator and freezer. “What have you been living on—cereal?” She looked at the trash. Three empty boxes.

  She crossed her arms over her flat chest. “Come on. Get dressed. We’re going to Ralph’s.”

  “I don’t want to go out.”

  “I didn’t ask you, did I? I told you, and if you don’t come with me, I’ll move in here, and I’ll share my opinions with you twenty-four hours a day.”

  Daphne shook her head. “You wouldn’t.”

  “I’ll be back in an hour. I have to pack.”

  “No.” Daphne put up her hands in a pleading gesture. “Okay, give me a minute to change.”

  “Take longer than that.” Miriam’s tone was dry. “You look like shit.”

  When Daphne looked in the mirror, she was discouraged to find that Mir
iam was right. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, but there was no miracle fix for sunken cheeks and flat hair. She pulled her hair back in a bun and applied more blush than usual, but hoped no one would look too closely at her.

  A half hour later, Miriam was driving her to town. “Your parents called me. You know that means they’re desperate. They’d rather pretend I don’t exist.”

  “What did they want?”

  “They’re worried about you. So am I.”

  “Good, let them worry. I don’t care.”

  “Like hell you don’t.” Miriam glanced at her. “But if you’re willing to rock the boat, why not go to Tyne, throw yourself at him, and let them worry about that?”

  “I blew it, Miriam. He’d show me the door.”

  “You don’t know that, do you? If you’re going to lose him anyway, why not give it a shot?”

  Daphne picked at a fingernail, avoiding eye contact. “I can barely survive this. I couldn’t stand straight-out rejection. My ego’s not that strong.”

  Miriam sighed. “I couldn’t either, but if you’re really throwing in the towel, then you’ve got to get over it. I don’t enjoy having a wraith for a friend.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry. I’m giving myself one month. In the long scheme of things, that’s not that much. And then I’ll move on. I won’t like it, but I’ll accept it.”

  Miriam nodded. “One month. I’m writing it on my calendar. And then, by God, you’re going out with me. We’ll hit all the restaurants in town.”

  Like that would take long. Daphne didn’t argue, though. She was touched by how fierce her friend was. “Every single one of them.”

  Miriam pressed her lips together. “This whole thing sucks.”

  “I can’t argue with you about that.”

  Ralph’s diner was crowded, as usual, on a weekend. Miriam surveyed the room full of people and said, “Want to settle on takeout?”

  They placed their orders, waited for their food, then drove home.

  Miriam handed Daphne her Styrofoam container and said, “I won’t come in. I respect your timetable. You have one month. Get your act together.”

  “I will.” By the end of the month, her Tyne quilt would be finished. Tyne would be nothing but memories. Good memories that she could cherish for years to come.

  Chapter 42

  It was three before Tyne walked out of the kitchen. Sunday brunch always took longer than other meals. Then he had to stay to make his entrée for supper. He’d decided on vitello tonnato, since he was boating with Chase today. If he was boating with Chase. According to Paula, the storm clouds were supposed to clear out this afternoon, but it was still plenty blustery.

  He’d roasted his veal last night to let it cool, so all he had to do today was make the sauce, but he took longer at that than usual. Not concentrating like he should. When he climbed in his Jeep, a single shaft of sunlight escaped from the gloomy canopy overhead. It was like a sign—a sign that life would get better. He drove to Chase’s bar and rang the doorbell at the back of the building. He heard footsteps pounding down the stairs and Paula yanked the door open. Her black hair spilled around her shoulders, rumpled and messy.

  “Chase will be here in a minute.”

  Tyne grinned. “The kids are gone. Your mom took them for the weekend. If you guys would rather . . .”

  She laughed. “We already have, and I work late shift tonight. Gotta get to the resort soon.”

  Heavier footsteps came down the stairs, and Chase came to stand behind his wife. “Good thing you weren’t half an hour earlier.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  Paula blushed and shook her head. “You two have fun. I’ll see you later tonight.”

  “She wants to get rid of me. Needs a shower.” Paula smacked him, and Chase led Tyne to his SUV, heavy enough to pull a boat behind it. “I hope you don’t have a queasy stomach. It’s going to be rocky today.”

  “Nah, I’m fine.” Tyne loved boats, loved being on the water. If he stayed in Mill Pond, he meant to buy a boat of his own. He stopped to consider that. Would he stay here? He might. Ian gave him so much freedom in the kitchen, he could cook anything he wanted. And the area farmers provided so much variety, he had a lot of options. He’d always thought he’d like to open his own restaurant, because Holden did. But didn’t he have the best of all worlds here? Career-wise, anyway?

  When they reached Chase’s boat, the sun had peeked from behind more gray clouds. Chase shook his head. “How about that? I actually see a little blue sky.”

  Tyne looked up and down the shore. No boats anywhere. “You waited ’til the last minute to store your boat.”

  They walked out the pier and hopped on board. “I pushed my luck,” Chase admitted. “But Aiden loves fishing so much, I wanted to get in as much of it as I could.”

  Tyne shook his head. “Those kids have you whipped.”

  “Don’t I know it?” Chase grinned. “Best thing that ever happened to me. I’m still up for one last boat ride. You?”

  “Let’s do it.”

  They circled the shoreline and Chase pointed out one person’s cottage after another. When they passed Ben’s parents’ place, Steph was sitting on the front patio and waved at them. Same thing happened at Betty’s.

  “That old woman adores you,” Chase teased.

  Tyne shrugged. “It’s mutual. She gives me grief at work, but she’s the one who gave me the nickname Hot Stuff. How can you complain about that?”

  When they reached the reedy part of the lake with no cottages, Chase swiveled in his chair and locked gazes with Tyne.

  Uh-oh, here came the serious stuff. Tyne braced himself.

  “Look, I know you think your work with Daphne is done, but Paula ran into her at the grocery store a few nights ago, and she’s a mess. She’s lost too much weight. She didn’t have on any makeup, and she had dark circles under her eyes.”

  Tyne’s gaze slid to the lake. He didn’t like hearing that. “I haven’t seen her for a while. Her parents don’t want her around me. When I tried to talk to her, she shut down.”

  “Grams told me Daphne hasn’t visited her parents since the day they gave her hell about you.”

  Tyne blinked. “That’s been a few weeks ago.”

  “It’s unheard of around here. Daphne used to eat suppers with them almost every night.”

  Tyne’s hands balled into fists. “They still haven’t forgiven her for dancing with me?”

  Chase quirked a brow. “There was more to it than that, wasn’t there?”

  “Damn, does everyone know everything around here?”

  “We’re not stupid. There has to be more to this than a dance.”

  Tyne scowled. “Have you met her parents?”

  Chase steered the boat past the cottages on the south side of the lake. “They come into the bar most Thursday nights. Burgers, no buns. Water, no beer. Veggies, no fries.”

  Tyne shook his head. “Then you get it.”

  “What I don’t get,” Chase said, “is why a guy like you lets two people like them get in his way.”

  “I don’t give a shit about them.” Tyne modified that. “If it’s important to Daphne, then it’s important to me, but I didn’t get that far. Her parents said ‘Dump him,’ and she did.”

  “And you tucked your tail between your legs and left.”

  Tyne glared. “I didn’t see you making any headway with her.”

  Chase reached for a cooler he’d stored onboard. He opened it and handed Tyne a beer, then opened one for himself. “You’re right. I wasn’t even brave enough to give her a shot, but you were. And you were good for her.” He took a deep breath. “Do you want her?”

  Tyne was about to say no, then realized that would be a lie. “Yes, I do.”

  “Then don’t take no for an answer.”

  Tyne took a swig from his beer and thought about that. Finally, he shook his head. “That’s not the issue. I tried. I put myself out there, and she shut me down. Now it’s up to her.�
� If she wouldn’t take the initiative, he hadn’t taught her anything.

  Chase shook his head. “You’d rather lose her than go to her cabin and sweep her off her feet?”

  Would he? Was he willing to give up and walk away if he could have her? When had his balls shriveled up and died? He took a deep breath. “I usually get what I want. And I want Daphne.”

  Chase smiled. “Good, now we can enjoy the lake.” The clouds scattered, and sun glinted off the gray, restless water. Trees stood in yards, tall and bare, stripped of their leaves. A breeze whipped at their windbreakers. After they’d driven the boat to the marina for it to be stored, Chase said, “You’ve got to be hungry. Want to come to my place for a burger?”

  “Why don’t I feed you this time?” It wasn’t often Chase was left to his own devices these days. No wife. No kids. Why not enjoy it?

  Chase grinned. “As long as it’s not a burger. I’m tired of my own food.”

  “Deal. I wasn’t thinking of anything fancy, though.”

  “It could be scrambled eggs, as long as it’s not a sandwich.”

  Chase had never been to Tyne’s apartment before. While Tyne busied himself in the kitchen, Chase wandered from one thing to the next. “Where did the scarves come from?”

  “South America.”

  “The fishing baskets?”

  “Thailand.” It was the same drill Daphne had given him. He hurt, remembering.

  Chase frowned at him. “You didn’t like Thailand?”

  “Loved it. It’s just that Daphne asked me the same questions.”

  Chase grinned. “You’ve got it bad, boy. Make it happen.”

  Damn it, he would. A half hour later, Tyne carried a heavy skillet to the table to put on the trivet. He added a salad on the side. “Dig in.”

  “Jambalaya?” Chase asked after a few bites. “This is good. I went to New Orleans a few times. Lots of fun.”

  “What’s not to like about Creole and Cajun?” Tyne finished his salad and pushed it away.

  Chase laughed. “Does every place you go revolve around food?”

  “It’s a big part of it. When I think of a city, I think of what I ate there.”