Candy Crush

by Tami Lund

  “You obviously aren’t sleeping in the guest room anymore.”

  Gabriella cleared her throat and fidgeted with Butter’s leash. “No, not anymore. But at least that means there’s a place for you to stay.”

  Emmett grimaced.

  “He really is a great guy.”

  “I hope so. You don’t need another Miguel.”

  “He’s not Miguel.”

  “Now I’m really glad that I made the decision I did when I took this assignment.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m not going back to New Orleans on the weekends. I’m going to come up here and hang out in – what’s the name of this town?”

  “Holly.”

  “Yeah, Holly. I have to work in Detroit Monday through Friday, but I need a place to stay Friday and Saturday nights. This assignment’s going to last at least a month, with the option for two one-month extensions.”

  “I’m glad we’ll have some time together, Emmett.”

  “Me too, sis. It’s been too long.”

  ***

  Between Emmett’s phone call and arrival, Brandon and Gabriella had gone back to Brandon’s house and moved Gabriella’s clothes from the guest room to either Brandon’s bedroom or the office. Brandon had random items stored in the closet in his office, so he moved those items to the basement, to allow Gabriella enough room to hang her clothing.

  Then Brandon called his brother, Patrick, who was just leaving the bank, and asked him to stop at the house and help him move the dresser from the guestroom to his bedroom. Emmett wouldn’t have a dresser, but since he was only staying a few days, Brandon figured he could get by, until he had a chance to get out and buy a new one. The only difficult part was that they all had to share one bathroom. But since Emmett didn’t have to get up for work while he was staying, and Gabriella said he was a late sleeper anyway, Brandon didn’t figure it would be a problem.

  Brandon’s issue with Emmett’s timing was that he and Gabriella hadn’t really made up from their fight. Well, they’d made up well enough, Gabriella was happy and they were getting along again, but they hadn’t made up in the way he wanted to: with hot, sweaty, mind-numbing sex.

  So long as Gabriella was happy, he should be content, but he wasn’t. He wanted to be naked with her, he wanted to connect with her on a physical and highly intimate level. Possibly, that just made him a sleaze. Really, it probably meant something else, something more, something that involved a word that started with the letter L.

  And frankly, he was okay with that.

  Unfortunately, with Emmett sitting in the Lazy Boy and Gabriella curled up on the couch next to him, animatedly chatting with her brother, Brandon didn’t see anything physical happening any time soon.

  It was driving him nuts.

  Finally, Gabriella stood and announced she was going to bed. Brandon leapt off the couch and followed her, ignoring Emmett’s chuckle, which drifted towards him from the recliner.

  “It’s about damn time,” he grumbled as he took the stairs two at a time.

  “For what? Bed?”

  “Yes. We still haven’t had makeup sex.”

  Gabriella abruptly stopped and Brandon barreled into her, causing them both to nearly fall back down the stairs. Once they’d both regained their balance, Brandon looked at Gabriella. “What? We’ve made up, haven’t we? It feels like we’ve made up.”

  “Yes, we’ve made up. But we can’t have makeup sex,” Gabriella whispered.

  “Why not?”

  “My brother is downstairs.”

  “So?”

  “I can’t have sex with my brother in the house.” She hissed the words, clearly afraid Emmett could hear them, since they were still standing on the stairs.

  Brandon stared at her for several heartbeats, and then he abruptly turned and started back down the stairs. “Where are you going?”

  “To kick your brother out. I’ll give him directions to my parents’ house. He can sleep in my old room.”

  “Brandon, stop!” Gabriella nearly shouted.

  Emmett appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He had an amused expression on his face. “What are you guys doing?”

  “Gabriella wants you to leave,” Brandon said.

  “I do not!” She glared at Brandon.

  “Okay, fine. I want you to leave.”

  “Brandon!”

  Emmett shook his head and turned back to the living room, where he picked up the remote control and cranked the volume on Sports Center.

  “See,” Brandon said as they both stepped into the bathroom to brush their teeth. “He turned the volume up, to help you relax.”

  Gabriella rinsed her mouth and said, “Help me relax? Now it’s obvious my brother thinks we’re going to have sex.”

  “We are going to have sex, Sweet Pea.” He kissed her on the forehead and left the bathroom.

  When she walked into the bedroom a few minutes later, Brandon was lying on the bed in his boxers. Only the bedside lamp was on, casting a soft glow across the bed. As soon as Gabriella walked into the room, he stood up and pulled her into his arms.

  “This makes me really uncomfortable.”

  “He won’t hear anything unless you scream. Save the screaming for Monday. He’s leaving Sunday, right?”

  “He’s going to stay with us every weekend while he’s on this project in Detroit.”

  “Well, you just made my night.”

  “What’s wrong with my brother?”

  “Not a damn thing. It’s what’s wrong with you when he’s around. I can’t possibly keep my hands off of you every weekend for the next month.” To accentuate his point, he dipped his head, caught her lips with a kiss and slipped his hands under her sweater.

  By the time her bra strap was unsnapped, Brandon was certain she’d forgotten the reason she didn’t want to have sex that night.

  ***

  Gabriella left a note next to the coffeemaker, with directions to the DDA office, and invited Emmett to have lunch with her on Thursday. Brandon had a lunch appointment and then would be tied up with meetings for the rest of the afternoon.

  Emmett strolled into the DDA office at twelve-fifteen. A flustered Amanda walked through the door to the Chamber office and said to Gabriella, “Oh my God, there is a totally hot guy out here asking for you. Does Brandon know about this?”

  Gabriella rolled her eyes. “That’s my brother, Emmett.”

  “Your brother? Is he single?”

  “Last time I asked, he was. He lives in New Orleans, though.”

  “I love New Orleans.” She scurried back through the door to flirt with Emmett.

  Emmett drove his rental car to the office, so he and Gabriella drove out of the historic district to the Coney Island she and Brandon had lunch at last weekend. Gabriella was hoping to avoid running into any of Brandon’s family members or any of the other Main Street merchants.

  They slid into a booth in a corner and a waitress materialized in front of them, smiling ear to ear at Emmett. They each ordered a Coke and she stepped away. After she returned and took their lunch orders, Emmett inquired about the candy store.

  “It looks cleaned up and ready to go, other than the front needs some paint, and the sign needs to be repaired.”

  Gabriella had forgotten about the sign. “I should still fix the sign, so at least it isn’t an eyesore,” she said, almost to herself.

  “What are you talking about? You make it sound as if you aren’t planning to open it.”

  Gabriella sighed. “There’ve been some… issues with the candy store. It doesn’t look like it will be opening any time soon.” She looked sad as she said it.

  “How about expounding on that comment?”

  “Apparently there is someone in town who does not want a candy store in the historic district. At least, that’s the only explanation I can come up with. There have been some issues, some threats” –

  “Threats? What kind of threats? To you?” Emmett sounded enraged.

&
nbsp; The waitress brought their plates and Emmett paused to give her a winning smile, before he turned back to Gabriella and scowled.

  “Yes, to me, to the candy store. And there was a body” –

  “A body? As in dead?”

  “Yes.” In between bites, she reviewed everything that happened in connection to the candy store, since she came to town.

  When she finished, Emmett said, “This cop sounds incompetent. How the hell does no one know a damn thing in a town this size? I bet everybody knows everybody’s underwear size. They probably knew you were sleeping with Sarantos practically before you even did it.”

  Gabriella thought about dinner at Brandon’s parents house and how the first thing his mother had said was that she knew they were sleeping together. And they’d only started the night before. “You’re right on the small town stuff. But I don’t necessarily think the police officer is incompetent. I think there are really truly no clues.”

  “Spray paint? Where’d it come from? Has he checked the local hardware stores, Home Depot? If they bought it local, someone would remember. Tire treads in the mud? What kind of vehicle? He could probably get a make and model from that, and he probably knows who drives what kind of car around here. Dead body that’s been frozen for two years? Who has deep freezers large enough to house a dead body? Who has deep freezers large enough and don’t ever use it? How did he die? If it was a gunshot, what kind of bullet? What kind of gun? He probably knows who all has a gun and what kind it is.”

  Gabriella stared at him, her Coke halfway to her lips. “Have you been taking criminal justice classes at a local college or something? How did you come up with all that stuff?”

  Emmett shrugged and finished chewing the last bite of his sandwich. “I spend a lot of time on airplanes. Read a lot of crime novels. So do you feel safe? Should you consider closing up shop and finding a new place to put down roots?”

  Gabriella paled. “No, I haven’t considered that.”

  “Why? Your new boyfriend?”

  Yes. “He’s part of the reason, I guess. But even so, I put everything I had into that candy store. I have nothing left to start over with. I have to stay and see it through, or else sell it and at least break even. At this rate though, I can’t imagine there are many people out there willing to buy it. Everyone local says it’s jinxed.”

  Emmett munched a French fry, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I wonder why someone wouldn’t want it open? Let’s stop by there and have a look around after lunch.”

  “We can’t go into the storeroom because it’s a crime scene right now. And I have to get back for meetings. Brandon got me this job with the Chamber so I could at least have an income coming in, and whoever was the last office manager was a complete idiot, so the place is a mess.”

  “That was considerate of him. Ensures you stay in town.”

  “It was considerate, yes, but I asked for it. He offered to support me.”

  “Even more considerate.”

  “Not to me. I am not going to be under anyone’s thumb again. Not even this stupid candy store harasser. He may have convinced me to close the candy store temporarily, but he’s not running me out of town.” She took one of Emmett’s fries and aggressively bit it.

  When Emmett took Gabriella back to her office, he convinced her to give him the keys to the candy store and the apartment. He promised to be careful and promised that he would not disturb the crime scene. He returned two hours later, and after flirting with Amanda for a few minutes, he wandered into Gabriella’s office and dropped into one of the guest chairs that ran along the wall opposite her desk. Constance walked out of her office and Emmett immediately jumped to his feet.

  “Well, hello,” Constance said, as she eyed him from head to toe. She stuck out her hand and walked towards him. “I’m Constance Trakas, president of the Chamber of Commerce. Are you new in town?”

  Emmett shook her hand and grinned. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Trakas. I’m Emmett Hadley. Gabriella’s brother.”

  Constance turned to look at Gabriella, who gave her a little half-wave. “I didn’t realize Gabriella had a brother. And such a good looking one, to boot. Call me Constance, Emmett. And if I can ever be of assistance, please let me know.”

  She turned to Gabriella. “I was going to send you down to the Holly Hotel to finalize arrangements for our next networking event. I can go, if you’d rather visit with your brother.”

  Gabriella stood up. “No, I’ll go. Emmett can tag along, if he wants.”

  Emmett shrugged, so she led him out the door. She glanced at Brandon’s office, but the door was closed.

  “He’s off-site at meetings. Amanda told me,” Emmett whispered, and Gabriella blushed because she’d been so transparent.

  The rain had finally cleared, so they walked the short distance to the Holly Hotel. “You have it just as bad as he does,” Emmett commented casually.

  Gabriella shrugged noncommittally. It had been little more than a week. She didn’t want to inspect her relationship with Brandon too closely.

  Emmett changed the subject. “Had a look around your candy store. It’ll be a nice place when you finally get it open. And you can make a little extra coin by renting that apartment. What’s with the giant pile of overstock in the storeroom? Some of that stuff has been expired for years.”

  “Emmett! You weren’t supposed to go in the storeroom,” she chastised.

  “Relax. There wasn’t anyone around. You need to empty your dumpster too. Although I’d dump all that old candy in it first.”

  “Sure. Just as soon as it stops being a crime scene for more than thirty seconds. Here’s the Holly Hotel. It’s a historic hotel that they’ve turned into a restaurant, bar and comedy club. Plus it has private banquet rooms upstairs. Most of the Chamber events are held here. The next one is a breakfast, next Wednesday.”

  They climbed the steps and entered the lobby. Jared stood there, greeting guests.

  “Well, hello, Gabriella. How nice to see you again. I take it Brandon’s old news?” His smile was slick.

  Emmett balled his fists and stepped in front of Gabriella. “Are you implying something about my sister?” he snarled at Jared.

  Jared blinked several times and took a step backwards. “Sister?” He tried to look at Gabriella over Emmett’s shoulder. “You have a brother?”

  “Yes,” Emmett snapped. “A brother who doesn’t take kindly to men implying his sister is less than the pure, innocent woman she is.” He added a glare for emphasis.

  Jared took another step back and put his hands up in front of him, palms out. “Chill out, man. I was just – I was just – tell him we’re friends, Gabriella. We’re friends, right? Right?”

  “She’s with Brandon Sarantos,” Emmett snarled.

  Jared nodded vigorously. “Brandon’s my cousin,” he sputtered. “Good guy.”

  Emmett’s eyes narrowed.

  “Hey, relax man. I don’t poach on other people’s property, unless they’re willing to be poached. I’ve got no beef with you.”

  Gabriella didn’t like being referred to as property, but she decided to let it slide, lest Emmett do something like deck Jared in the lobby of his own restaurant.

  When Emmett didn’t say anything or make any sort of move, Jared straightened the front of his suit coat unnecessarily and cleared his throat. “Are you here for a drink or an early dinner?”

  Gabriella shook her head and finally spoke. “I’m working with Constance now, and she sent me over here to finalize details for our breakfast next week.”

  “Oh,” Jared said, still sounding a little faint. “Let me get Rebecca. She’s our banquet manager. Just a moment, please.” He hustled out of the room.

  “Emmett, that was completely unnecessary,” Gabriella commented.

  “He has weasel written all over him. Not the first time you met him I take it?”

  “I accepted a date from him last week just to annoy Brandon, but we never went out. I’m told I should stay aw
ay from him. Since he’s Brandon’s cousin, so I’m not too worried.”

  “Did Brandon get annoyed?”

  “Big time. His sister-in-law witnessed it and said it was the first time that he’s ever shown emotion over a woman before. And Nicole has known him her whole life.”

  “Huh. Guess you really aren’t leaving town any time soon.”

  “Probably not.”

  Rebecca walked up and introduced herself, and not surprisingly, she zoned in on Emmett and began blatantly flirting. It took Gabriella so long to pull her attention that she finally resorted to coolly suggesting if she wanted to maintain the business from the Chamber of Commerce, she may want to focus on the business at hand, and so Rebecca reluctantly shifted her focus away from Emmett, and they quickly wrapped up the details for the next event.

  On the way back to the office, Emmett asked, “So what does everybody do for fun around here?”

  “Oh, it’s not so very different from Texas. I get the impression that the entire town shuts down for the high school football games on Friday nights. They are currently undefeated.”

  “Sweet. Does Brandon have an extra flask?”

  When they reached the front door to the DDA/Chamber office, the first thing Gabriella noticed was Brandon’s office door was open. The second thing she noticed was his mother and niece, standing in the lobby, chatting with him. She pushed open the outer door. Brandon’s eyes lit up when he saw her and Laney squealed and threw herself into Gabriella’s arms.

  Emmett chuckled and Laney extracted herself so she could tilt her head back and peer at him. “Who are you?” she asked, her blue eyes wide.

  “I’m Emmett. Who are you?”

  “I’m Laney.”

  “Nice to meet you, Laney. Do you work around here?”

  “I don’t work, silly. That’s for adults.” She dissolved into giggles. When she had herself under control, she looked at Gabriella and said, “Is Emmett your boyfriend?”

  Gabriella chuckled. “No, your Uncle Brandon is, remember? Emmett is my brother. Like your mom and Uncle Brandon.”

  Laney contemplated this for a minute and said, “So do I call him Uncle Emmett?”