If Tomorrow Never Comes (Harper Falls Book 2)

by Williams, Mary J.

  "You know I would never let that happen," her mother smiled. "I have too many earrings and I can't stand the thought of letting half of a pair go to waste if I was reduced to wearing only one."

  Terry chuckled. "Your mother has an infinite capacity to take on other people's problems without letting it weigh her down. I've told her for years to open an office— they'd be lined up around the block."

  "And would clam up the moment they walked in. My advice only works if given freely and accompanied by tea and a chocolate chip cookie."

  Terry nodded at the truth of his wife's words. "Fifty cents a cookie and we could have retired years ago."

  Dani felt a warm glow as she watched her father kiss her mother and head out the door. She had witnessed the easy affection her entire life but seeing it never grew old. They had established a routine that wasn't routine at all. It had almost been taken from them so Dani knew for a fact that neither Terry nor Bobbi Wilde ever took these little moments for granted.

  Her mother practically glowed with health, but Dani could close her eyes and picture her pale, weak, and constantly nauseous from the rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. Nine years officially cancer free. Dani didn't want to contemplate what life without her mother would have been like. She seldom thought of it anymore, but at the time they had all lived in constant dread of the next visit to the doctor, the check-up that might find another tumor lurking in her brain.

  Dani had been eighteen, a newly minted high school graduate with a full ride scholarship to a prestigious New York art institute. The doctors were optimistic that her mother would make a full recovery, that after three years of worry and tears and agonizing treatments, the cancer was gone. But when the time came for her to pack her bags and begin her life away from her family, Dani hadn't been able to go.

  Though she had protested her daughter's decision to enroll at Eastern Washington University, Dani knew how much having her around meant to her mother. Never one to cling to her children, looking her mortality in the eye had changed that. Bobbi had come to rely on having her family nearby. She had always encouraged Dani's independence, but now she needed something else—she needed her daughter close to home.

  It hadn't been a hardship for Dani. She had gotten a good education and watched her mother regain her confidence. After four years, both women were able to let go—Bobbi pushing her baby out of the nest and Dani flying—strong and eager.

  "What's on your agenda? Conference call with the editor of the New Yorker? Exchanging emails with Michelle Obama?"

  "Sorry, nothing so exciting." Dani put her cup in the top rack before shutting the dishwasher door. "Today, I'm concentrating on pictures for the Harper Falls Centennial."

  "You mean Regina Harper's vanity project."

  To say that Bobbi Wilde and Regina Harper were like oil and water would be putting it mildly.

  They didn't socialize. If they had exchanged more than a dozen words in the past twenty years, Dani would have been surprised. On the few occasions there has been any contact, it hadn't gone well. Bobbi believed in helping those who needed it. Regina was strictly a pull yourself up by your own bootstraps person. Bobbi doubted Regina even knew what a bootstrap was, and certainly had never had to make her way in the world. Born to money, married money, that was Regina. She'd been fed by a silver spoon her entire life, and other than a few acceptable charities, she would never contribute money or time to do-gooder causes.

  "I've had nothing to do with Queen Reggie," Dani told her mother. "Phyllis Overton approached me with the project."

  "Phyllis is a dear, but like most of the people in Harper Falls, she's too willing to be pushed around. Regina Harper is picking over every detail of the centennial festivities. She should have spoken to you personally."

  "After Rose's experience, I'm glad I got the go-between."

  "Imagine inviting Rose for tea on the pretext of writing a piece of music for the festivities and then grilling her about Tyler." Bobbi was scrubbing the counter with such force Dani feared the marble might crack. However she understood her mother's attitude. Regina Harper was the definition of passive/aggressive. She would never go to the source if she could get what she wanted otherwise.

  "We could spend a year trying to figure out what goes on inside Regina Harper's head and all we'd get would be a headache." Dani gathered up her camera bag. "Ten years have passed and the woman still has a hair crosswise over Tyler. This time it appears to be because she had the nerve to come back to her hometown."

  "Regina is scared to death that Drew is still in love with our girl."

  "Well, like Rose told her, if she wants to know anything she'll have to ask Drew." And good luck with that.

  Dani kissed her mother goodbye and resumed her walk.

  Today was about capturing the casual, everyday side of Harper Falls. She had no real plans, no destination. She would ramble and shoot whatever caught her eye. It was sunny and mild, and Dani felt all her worries and cares drop away. Today she had nothing to worry about except filling the digital card in her camera. Tomorrow would be soon enough to figure out what she was going to do about Alex Fleming.

  ALEX LOOKED OVER the obstacle course with admiration. He had to admit that it was a pretty sweet setup.

  He had spent yesterday with his sister, catching up and enjoying the great food. The last time he had been back in the states had been a little over two years ago, and it was a time he would rather forget. The death of his parents had been so unexpected that there were still times he had to remind himself they were gone.

  Lila had been the one to call, trying to hold back her tears, but halfway through, she had broken down.

  Dale and Marnie Fleming had been visiting his old college buddy in Wyoming when the accident happened. They had gone up in a small plane to take a tour of his friend's ranch when a mechanical malfunction had caused a crash, killing everyone on board. Using his clout, Alex's commanding officer had him on a flight to Wyoming the next morning. He'd hated not seeing Lila first, but she was staying with friends, and there was no need for both of them to be in Cheyenne. Since it had been his parent's wish to be cremated, Alex had made arrangements for a local funeral home to take care of the details before flying their ashes back to Baltimore.

  He and Lila had survived the loss, as children do, but Baltimore had never seemed like home after that. Lila had stayed, finished college, but Alex never went back.

  Now here he was, out of the Army and starting a new life in a new part of the country. He had to admit it was beautiful here, and Lila seemed happy, her business flourishing. Alex had a job that should keep him busy, though it would take a while to find out if his mind would be as challenged as his body.

  "What do you think of the place?"

  "Top notch, Jack. You and Drew have done an amazing job."

  Alex looked around the H&W Security headquarters. It was was hard to believe that less that two years ago this had been nothing but trees on a mountainside. Jack Winston and Drew Harper had forged their vision into an impressive, built-to-last complex. It included housing for their crew whenever they needed to come in for an extended stay, and the offices where the partners did their cyber security brainstorming. On top of all that there was the underground pool, the fully equipped workout facilities, and a couple of buildings Alex hadn't gotten around to exploring yet.

  His gaze wandered farther up the mountain. Hidden up in the trees, were Jack's and Drew's custom built homes.

  He imagined Jack's would be traditional, with a porch, a dog, and a couple of rocking chairs. At least that was what the casual observer would see. Alex knew that his friend liked his gadgets, which meant every corner would be armed with the latest in high-tech fun. Jack helped design the stuff, and he loved playing with it. He might claim it was just good business to get the bugs out before releasing it to the general public, but that was only a small part of it. The money was great, but Jack would have done it for nothing. He was just lucky enough to be doing something he love
d that had also made him very, very rich.

  "I don't think you really need a full-time security chief, Jack. Don't get me wrong," Alex assured him. "I appreciate the job, but I don't want to take your money for basically being a caretaker."

  "Hey, this is no slacker job." Jack held out one of the beers he'd brought from the main building. "It gets hopping when the crew comes in for their training sessions. That alone will be worth your paycheck. Then in between you have administrative duties, dealing with clients, setting up jobs, hand holding, cajoling, hell, even the occasional ass kissing."

  "I did my share of that in the Army," Alex ruefully assured Jack.

  Alex had learned the hard way how to deal with irrational superior officers and hard ass underlings.

  Everyone had their own reasons for joining the military. For some, it was a last resort. Civilian life hadn't worked out, so why not try the Army? Three squares a day and a place to lay your head rent free. They soon found out reality was nothing like the movies. It was a tough life but it could also be the most rewarding experience of your life. Alex had always felt it was his responsibility to lend a helping hand when he saw a recruit floundering. A way of paying back the man who had given him a hand up.

  Straight out of high school and cockier than most eighteen years olds, his first few weeks had been a shock, different than what he'd expected. He had been lucky enough to have an amazing mentor who recognized a young man with ambition and the intelligence to back it up. Alex's rise had been fast. Some thought too fast. The Army was like any other organization and if the perception was that you didn't pay your dues, that you in any way got preferential treatment, you had better watch your back. Alex had let his guard down only once and it had cost him dearly.

  "What do you say we pick this up tomorrow." Jack sensed the change in Alex's mood. He didn't know what had happened to his friend, but it was obvious he'd brought some heavy baggage home with him. Jack planned on doing all he could to help lighten the load.

  "I told Drew we'd meet him over at Tom Tom's around seven. We'll knock back a few beers and hash over your living arrangements. I know Lila wants you to stay with her, but we can talk about your options and you can soak in a bit of the local atmosphere."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  "THE GUYS WILL be at Tom Tom's tonight."

  Seeing her friends' blank stares, Rose sighed. "Jack called to let me know that he, Drew and Alex are stopping off after work for a few beers."

  "The guys?" Dani didn't like the idea of lumping them all together. "Since when are they the guys? Alex has been in town less than forty-eight hours, and Drew is still on Tyler's shit list. I think it would be more accurate to say your guy and those other two."

  "Amen," Tyler chimed in.

  Rose tried not to judge her friends' less than charitable attitudes. It was true that her love life had taken a drastic—or should she say spectacular—turn for the better. Love had a way painting the rest of the world from dark to dazzling. She refused to become that girl, the one who insisted on her friends finding their soul mates and being as happy as she was. It wasn't realistic and it was staggeringly annoying.

  "I didn’t say our guys, I said the guys."

  "Fair enough," Dani conceded. "But if your next sentence is going to contain any hint suggesting we join them at Tom Tom's, count me out."

  "Double amen."

  "I explained to you about Lila," Rose said, ignoring Tyler.

  "Right," Dani nodded. "Lila, sister—not lover."

  "So?" Rose prompted.

  "So, nothing. I realize it was stupid to expect him to recognize me, the long blond hair is a huge difference. But," she continued when Rose would have interrupted with another logical argument, "Alex knows that Harper Falls is my hometown. You guys came knocking last night, he didn't."

  "Fine." Rose didn't feel like hitting her head against that particular hard wall, so she moved on to a different one. "I think it's past time we pinned Tyler down about what's going on between her and Drew."

  "Now, that I can get behind." Dani gleefully rubbed her hands together. Changing the subject to someone else's love life was the best suggestion she'd heard all day.

  Tyler, it seemed, wasn't as enthusiastic. She gave her friends her patented fuck you stare, but this time it didn't hold the usual heat or conviction.

  Of the three of them Tyler had the best poker face. They used to annoy Dani's brother into letting them play cards with him and his friends and Tyler always cleaned up. You would have thought the boys would learn—why play with someone who always beat you and took your money? A group of hormonally charged teenagers tended to lose a few brains cells when a beautiful woman was in the room. Make that three, sitting at the same table? They would have given away the money. Dani's brother was the only one who ever protested, but his friends shot him down every time.

  But nobody knew Tyler better than her best friends, and they caught what someone else might have missed—a crack in her façade of indifference.

  "There's nothing to tell." Tyler was hanging on to the edge of a sinking ship, but she hadn't gone under yet. "I'm still pissed, and Drew…"

  "Is pissed, too."

  That was the difference, Dani thought. For almost a year, the few times Tyler and Drew had been in a room at the same time, Drew took every nasty look, every verbal jab, Tyler could throw at him. He never visibly let her get under his skin. But something had happened to change that. It was no longer him being passive and her aggressive—Drew was starting to give as good as he got. Dani and Rose wanted to know what had flipped his switch.

  "I know it started the day Jack was stabbed."

  Rose's throat got tight just saying the words. If Jack had been a bit slower, or his attacker a little less drunk, the outcome could have been tragic. Instead, she had her big, gorgeous man in one piece and was on her way to an unexpected happily ever after.

  Something had happened between Tyler and Drew in the waiting room. Sometime after Rose had gone in to see Jack and before Dani had arrived, the wall of ice between the ex-lovers had developed a huge crack. Tyler had yet to tell them what had caused it.

  "Drew has no right to be angry."

  "He seems to think he does." Dani knew she risked Tyler's considerable wrath by pointing out the obvious, but it was worth it if her friend finally opened up.

  Dani and Rose could tell that Tyler was about to give in. She would get fidgety, then would start to pace, and finally the words would burst from her mouth in one long, tightly wound stream. They waited patiently as their friend jumped to her feet and stormed from one side of the room to the other. Edgar, Jack's still growing dog, raised his head. He looked on, hoping someone wanted to go out and toss the ball for him to chase. Unfortunately, none of them moved towards the door, so he gave a resigned sigh and settled back into his nap.

  "Fine, you win," Tyler continued pacing as the words began to tumble out. "I told him we should fuck, get it out of our systems, and then forget about it. Can you believe he had the nerve to be offended? Drew Harper acting like a Victorian virgin? There was once a time when all I had to do was lick my lips or bend over to pick something up and he would be all over me, we'd be lucky to find a semi-private place. You know the alley between the bakery and Tiny's hair salon?"

  Dani and Rose exchanged surprised looks. Tyler had been the first of the friends to become sexually active. The two of them had lived vicariously through her, asking questions that were just too embarrassing to broach with a parent or guardian. Tyler had always been circumspect when it came to actual details. It seemed the two teenagers had been more adventurous than either woman could have imagined.

  "As for our clothes? When Drew got up a head of steam, I could barely get my pants down to my knees before he had on a condom and was pounding away like a randy jackhammer."

  "Sounds lovely." Dani made her voice as sarcastic as possible knowing it would push Tyler even more.

  "It was. We were so damn young and so hot for each other. Neither of
us knew a thing about finesse, though sometimes it could be so sweet it brought tears to my eyes. His too."

  Suddenly realizing what road she had branched off onto, Tyler shook herself back. The sentimental memories were for late at night when she was alone, when she would briefly let down her guard and admit that there had been a lot of good before the ugly almost completely obliterated it. Lately, she found the early days of her romance with Drew occupying more and more of her thoughts—summoning the anger and hurt took more and more effort. It frightened her. Which was why she had gone on the offensive. She couldn't afford to let her guard down. It had taken a long time to get over him, to move on. The more she saw him, the harder it was becoming to remind herself of all the reasons she no longer loved Drew Harper.

  "So you propositioned him with the offer of hot, no strings attached sex," Rose surmised. "Why does that sound eerily familiar?"

  "This is nothing like you and Jack," Tyler glared. "You weren't trying to scratch an old itch."

  "No, but the whole Rose should have a one-night stand thing was your idea," Dani reminded her. "I'm starting to think you had Drew and yourself in mind the whole time."

  "No," Tyler protested. No, no, and no. She ignored her brain's whispered maybe.

  "Okay." Rose wasn't sure how they had drifted so far from the original subject, but at least the journey had cleared up a few matters. Her friends were both hung up on men from their pasts. And unless she wanted her head chewed off, she was keeping that revelation to herself.

  "Tom Tom's or no Tom Tom's?"

  IT WAS ALEX'S idea of the perfect bar. The definition of unpretentious, Tom Tom's looked like the kind of place he and his Army buddies would have hung out. He wasn't the least bit surprised to find out the owner, Tom Unger, had served in the first Gulf War. Tom Tom's was a no frills, no bullshit kind of place. A guy could go there and socialize with a game of pool or sit and nurse a drink, left alone with his own thoughts.