"Hey hon, how you doin'?" asked the pretty blonde as she looked from her pad to Gabrie. Her eyes widened in shock. "Holy shit! When did you get back in town?"
Gabrie blinked a few times. "What?"
"You're Lily's daughter, right? God, I haven't seen her in ages. How's your mama? Where is she at these days?"
Gabrie studied the waitress and searched her memories. Her nametag said Penny, but that didn't ring a bell. She was older, probably was close to her mom's age. "Um," she muttered. "Mom passed away a few years ago. Car accident." The lie came easily. Not many people asked about Lily Moss, but telling people she was murdered always raised questions Gabrie just didn't have the patience for.
"Oh my gosh! That's horrible." Penny's hands pressed to her heart.
Gabrie tried to imagine Penny's reaction if she'd told the truth. To most, murder was something that only happened in the endless crime shows on television these days. Not something that happened to people they knew. "Yeah. It was sudden. How are you, though? It's been forever!" She had no problem pretending to remember the waitress if they could get the subject off Lily.
"You know." She gestured to her surroundings. "Same shit, different job. Though I have to admit cleanin' tables is better than cleanin' toilets. And when it gets busy, I can make a lot on tips."
"I bet." Penny was the kind of pretty that would do well at a bar. She had the friendly attitude that would get the girls to like her and boobs big enough to get her noticed no matter how high necked her shirt was.
"That's such a shame about your mama, though. She was one of the good ones."
Gabrie's stomach churned, and emotions she tried her damndest not to feel bubbled up. "I know," she breathed. Suddenly she wasn't quite as hungry anymore.
"Hell, I didn't mean to bring up all this. Did you need a minute to look at the menu?" asked Penny.
She shook her head. "No. I'll just take some fries."
Concern marred Penny's face. "Are you sure that's it?"
"Yeah. Fries and an entire bottle of ketchup."
Penny let out a laugh. "Coming right up. What did you want to drink with that?"
"Water's fine." She didn't need any alcohol in her system. After her exhausting day, she just wanted to find a spare bed at the house and sleep until this crazy day was behind her.
"I'll have that out for you in a jiffy." Penny jotted something down on her pad and sauntered back to the kitchen. Gabrie sighed and leaned back, dropping the e-reader next to her. She wouldn't be able to focus on reading now. Not with memories of her mother so fresh in her mind. Even so, she couldn't picture Penny in those thoughts.
"You can't get enough of me," said a familiar, masculine voice from behind her.
Gabrie twisted around, eyes going wide. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Jack smirked as he walked around the booth and slipped into the seat across from her. "I'm avoiding you. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Trying to have a peaceful lunch and failing miserably." She slouched down in her seat.
He raised a thick brow. "Where's my brother? He didn't seem like he wanted me anywhere near you without a bodyguard present."
"Darren got called back to work. Apparently a rich person's money was in trouble." She tried to keep the sardonic note out of her voice, but she could tell from Jack's widening grin that he picked up on it.
"Did you two have romantic plans for tonight?" Jack leaned forward in his seat.
She tilted her head as she studied his reaction. Was that a hint of jealousy? He couldn't be that into her. Besides, he'd already had the milk free so he probably wasn't interested in dating the cow. Great. Now she was being turned into a tug-of-war toy in their petty family feud. "We didn't have firm plans, but I was looking forward to catching up with him."
His eyes narrowed. "Catching up? I thought you were together."
"We were. We dated for a few months last year, but things ended. I was in a rough spot last week, and he offered to let me come out here and work on Cross Falls as a favor to him and a way to build my interior decorating portfolio." She held her breath and waited for a snort of disbelief or laughter at her silly dream.
But Jack didn't seem surprised at her lofty ambitions. "So what were you doing before?"
"What I was supposed to do. I got a business degree, because there are always business jobs. I got an office with a cube and coworkers who participated in bake sales and went drinking on the weekends. I did everything right."
"And you hated it," he said with a knowing grin.
"So much. I have no idea why. My mom always lived from paycheck to paycheck, and I couldn't stand it. This was my ticket to security, and I felt like I was in hell." She studied Jack for any sign of judgment, but all she saw were understanding eyes. As though he knew.
"Don't most people feel that way in those cubicle jobs?"
She shook her head. "Everyone I worked with seemed so...happy. Content." They all had families and kids to keep them going. Something to go home to. All Gabrie had was her small, lonely apartment. Between having a mediocre job and mediocre life, it was all too much for her.
"So...what? You up and quit when Darren called you?"
She snorted. "No. I probably wouldn't have agreed if I still had a job. My boss was arrested for insider trading and the entire accounting department was let go. I was unemployed and applying for thousands of jobs I didn't want when I got that call from Darren. It was the perfect chance. He'd read about the scandal in the paper and knew I might need help. So I'm doing the work for free in exchange for a place to stay while I figure things out."
"That's Darren. Guardian angel," said Jack, the bitterness evident in the words.
"What's up with you two? What could he have possibly done to piss you off so much?" She held her breath, waiting to see whether he would answer or tell her to put her foot in her mouth.
Jack shrugged. "Honestly? Nothing much. He's just a dick."
Gabrie squinted and cocked her head. "How can you say he hasn't done anything and still call him a dick?"
He shrugged. "It's true. Maybe part of it's jealousy. Dad always seemed to coddle Darren. If I got an A, I'd get a pat on the back. If Darren got an A, we'd all go out for a celebratory dinner. I made the football team, no big deal. Darren joins lacrosse, and Dad's suddenly at every game."
"That sounds like you should be more upset with your father."
He laughed. "Oh, trust me. I'm still well and pissed off at the old man. But Darren never did a damn thing to discourage it. He'd give me a look every time Dad would show him favoritism. Kind of rubbing salt in the wound."
"So why come back? Darren made it seem like you hadn't seen your father in years."
"He's still my dad. He's dying. It only seemed right. I'm between jobs at the moment, so I figured I should at least pop in for one last visit."
Gabrie ran the paper napkin between her fingers as she listened. "You make it sound so casual."
"It was supposed to be. Pop in, say goodbye, get out. Just didn't work out like that."
Gabrie felt herself soften towards him. The idea of anyone walking away from family drove her nuts, but at least he was there for his father now. In what would probably be their last few moments together. "It's good that you didn't let your anger stay with you."
He met her eyes and started to say something.
"Oh my goodness, it's a mini reunion!"
Gabrie and Jack both jerked at the sudden intrusion as Penny set down a beer and Gabrie's fries. "I didn't realize you two were friends. That's so funny!"
Jack looked between Penny and Gabrie with a bemused expression.
"Penny and my mom used to work together," supplied Gabrie, pretending she knew exactly what was going on.
"Jack, you didn't know? This is Lily's daughter! How long have y'all been friends? I didn't realize you kept in touch with anyone from here. You were so young when your mom packed up and left."
Gabrie felt the blood rush from her face as s
he stared at Jack. "You knew my mom?" She tried to break through the brick wall of her memories. Looked for some sort of mental picture, anything to make sense of Penny's words.
"Probably not well. Jack was too busy being a teen hellion. But we ran into him a few times when we were takin' care of Cross Falls. You remember Lily, right, Jack?"
He stared at Gabrie as if she'd grown a second head. "Yeah. You're Gabrie?"
Her heart leapt into her throat. "Short for Gabriella."
"Shit. Yeah, I knew your mom. She was a nice lady. Didn't talk to her all that much, though."
Penny looked at the two of them, suddenly realizing what she'd brought up. "I'm gonna let you two talk."
Gabrie brought a hand to her forehead. Penny said take care of the house. Lily had probably been a maid at the old plantation. She'd worked hundreds of those under-the-table jobs, and it was easy for them to blur together in Gabrie's mind. How young had she been? They'd lived in the city by the time Gabrie entered high school, so it must've been before that.
"I can't believe you knew my mom," she said. And if Jack knew her, that meant...
"You didn't know Darren knew her either?"
She blinked a few times. "This has to be some sort of big coincidence."
Jack raised a brow. "I'm telling you. Darren's evil."
"Come on. It's not like you knew who I was."
"Think about it. Did you ask him out first or did he ask you out?"
She narrowed her eyes. What was he getting at? Darren had sought her out for some reason? "For your information, I asked him out. I thought he was hot, and I am not afraid of getting turned down."
Jack snorted. "Please. Like you get turned down."
She was torn between being flattered and offended. She'd been proud of her ballsy spirit. She didn't need Jack dismissing it as hot girl privilege. "I'm not exactly a supermodel," she said weakly.
"You know you're hot. You can't even pretend to be modest."
"Beauty is relative," was all she said. Looks weren't her favorite subject. She looked so much like her mother, and she had been told countless times how pretty or special-looking she was. But looking good had brought her mother nothing but trouble, and living in the city surrounded by gorgeous women made Gabrie realize exactly how common pretty women were. "Besides. We were talking about my mom. How did you know her?"
He shrugged. "I really didn't. She came by twice a week with Penny to clean up. In all honesty, I was way more interested in Penny, and when a teen sees a hot chick, he doesn't pay attention to much else."
She frowned. "What? You didn't think my mom was hot?"
The corner of his mouth hooked up. "One, that's a weird point to get hung up on. And two, she wasn't the one banging me after football practice."
Gabrie's eyes practically bulged out of her head. "You two?" she whispered.
A cocky grin formed. "Yep. She took my innocence."
Gabrie looked back at Penny and tried to guess her age. Darren and Jack were twins, so that would put Jack at thirty-five, but Penny had to be at least fifty. "That couldn't have been legal."
"Honey, that's what made it fun."
She shook her head at his brazen comments.
"Come on, don't act so prudish. You and my brother probably had some kinky times."
"I don't think we should talk about that." Gabrie felt the heat of a blush creep up her neck.
"Seriously, I've never had the opportunity to talk to someone who's done us both."
She slammed her hand down on the table. "I swear to God—"
He held up a hand in surrender. "I'm not trying to embarrass you. Promise. I'm just curious about how we...stack up."
"You actually think I'm going to answer that?"
"It's an honest question. Who's better in bed? Or, should I say, up against a wall?"
Her cheeks felt as if they were on fire, and she was probably beet red at this point. "You were both good," she muttered.
"No," said Jack. "We can't be equally good."
"Of course you can be equally good! You're practically the same person." She gestured towards him with a fry.
"I believe two guys can be equally bad, but not equally good. Come on. If it's bad news, I can take it."
Gabrie covered her head with her hands, utterly mortified at the corner she found herself in. She could leave, but Penny would notice, and the last thing she needed was her temporary town gossiping about her and Jack. "Fine," she muttered. "If you want the honest truth, you have very different styles, so it's hard to judge."
Jack sat up straighter. "Really?"
"Darren is, um, sweet."
Jack threw his head back and barked out a laugh. "Sweet? Are you shitting me?"
Gabrie threw a fry across the table and hit Jack firmly in the chest. "Don't you laugh at him. I'll have you know, he's the first man who ever made me..." Her mouth hung open at the admission she'd almost made, and Jack's smile disappeared.
"For real? Never?"
"I can't believe I just said that," murmured Gabrie as she took a deep swig of the beer. She suddenly wished Penny had brought her the damn water she'd asked for in the first place.
"But you're so—"
"For the love of God, don't finish that sentence," she bit out.
"I'm just sayin', you deserve better."
"Better than the slug I slept with before or better than your brother?"
Jack took a sip of his own beer. "Only one other guy?"
Damn it. Something about Jack had her forgetting all her protective instincts she normally had. Probably because he looked so much like a man she actually trusted.
"Can we please not talk about this anymore?" She'd already told him her comparison of him and Darren in bed. What more could he possibly want?
"I'm enjoying myself over here. I told you about Penny; you told me about your depressing sex life."
Gabrie sputtered. "It's not depressing."
"Whatever you say, babe. We're learning that Darren might be stalking you. That was a big revelation."
She set the cold bottle against her forehead. "He's not stalking me. It's just a really, really strange coincidence."
He snorted. "Sure it is. I wonder what other deep, dark secrets you have."
Gabrie slammed the beer down on the table and leaned back, arms crossed over her chest. "You couldn't handle all my secrets."
He chewed his thick bottom lip as he looked her up and down. "I have a feeling I could."
The now familiar heat rushed through her at his intense gaze. "You really turn everything about sex, don't you?"
"Hey," he said. "I didn't say anything about sex. Your mind just went there."
She sighed. "If you say so." She dug in her pocket for a ten and set it on the table. Penny probably intended the beer to be free, but Gabrie felt guilty about accepting the drink when she didn't remember who Penny was. "I am going back to the house. Are you hanging out here for a while?"
He shrugged. "I'll be around. No firm plans."
"You don't have a job or anything?" Gabrie winced at the words. They came out harsher than she intended.
"Well, not all of us can be hotshot CPAs. I had something lined up out in Texas, but I bailed to come here and check on Dad. Once I saw him, I decided to stick around."
She fought the urge to ask him what that job was. The less time she spent around Jack, the better. He somehow managed to twist every conversation into a jab at his brother, or into some sort of sexual innuendo.
"I'll see you around, Jack." She grabbed her stuff and left the table. She tried her damndest not to turn back as she reached the door, but at the last second, her neck twisted of its own volition, and she met Jack's gaze. The dark eyes burned into her as though he studied her every move. She couldn't tell whether he truly was fascinated by her or whether she was some twisted pawn between him and Darren.
Either way, he wasn't the one for her. She ripped her gaze from his and pushed the door open and let the hot summer air push away all
thoughts of the Cross brothers.
CHAPTER SIX
Jack miscalculated. He'd assumed that drinking more would make him forget about his new smoking hot roommate, but it seemed that with every beer, he only thought of Gabrie even more.
Gabrie. Not Gabriella. What were the fuckin' chances that Lily's daughter and Darren would've hooked up? Jack didn't have a lot of memories of his old maid; he'd been serious about his affair with Penny. If Lily had been over, that meant Penny was over too. In which case, Jack's gaze was firmly fixed on Penny's ass.
But it hadn't been a purely lustful relationship. Penny had recently gotten divorced from a guy who punched her more than he kissed her, and Jack had been looking for some type of outlet after his mom decided that taking fifty sleeping pills was better than living. There had been too much going on to pay attention to the innocent maid. He didn't remember ever meeting her daughter, but it was a small town. He'd probably run into her a few times and never noticed.
He'd been sixteen and hadn't had time for kids. Hell, he had to have at least five years on Gabrie. Maybe more. It made sense that Darren wouldn't recognize her either, but it was way too serendipitous for Jack's tastes.
But he'd never been good at reading Darren's intentions, and he wasn't about to try again now. Maybe Darren was a do-gooder who wanted to help a nice girl start over. Possibly while sleeping with her.
The thought set off little alarm bells in his mind, and he washed them away with more beer. He craved something stronger, but didn't want to have to ask for a ride home. He'd only gotten back yesterday and wanted to go as long as possible without asking for a favor.
Besides, Gabrie wasn't his to be jealous over. He should be grateful he got his one amazing fuck with her and leave it at that. Girl had baggage. She tried to hide it, but he had noticed her guarded glances and carefully worded answers.
And Jack didn't have time for baggage. It had seemed like a good idea to mess with her and Darren, but now that he'd talked to her, realized they might even have a shared history, it was too personal. If she wanted her space, he'd give it to her.
Cross Falls Saga - Southern Suspense Box Set Page 4
