Secrets of the Tulip Sisters

by Susan Mallery

  The Kerr family had chosen one of Griffith’s largest models. The house would be twelve by twenty-four feet, with a loft. The main level included a kitchen and small bathroom at the back, a combo eating area/play area in the middle and a living room up front. The loft contained two twin beds over the kitchen and a queen-size bed over the living room.

  “There are just so many decisions.” Penny bit her lower lip. “The flooring, the fixtures. Is there someone who can help us figure this out? I want the house to look nice, but with our twins, everything is going to have to be durable.”

  It was the question Griffith always dreaded. He could design the hell out of four hundred square feet, but he had no idea how to decorate it.

  “I can show you pictures of what other people have chosen,” he said. “I also have a list of vendors.”

  “But no in-house designer?”

  “No. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.” Penny handed over the deposit check. “You’ll let us know when you start construction so we can drive up and see the house?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Thanks.”

  The young couple left. Griffith walked back to his office. The Kerrs weren’t the first clients to want help with their tiny home. While some clients had a clear and detailed vision, more often than not, they expected direction from him. A problem that wasn’t going to be solved today, he told himself.

  He’d barely settled in his chair when Ryan burst into the room. His brother waved a piece of paper as he stalked over to the desk.

  “What’s this?” he asked. “Do you think it’s funny? You’re an asshole, Griffith. I can’t believe you did this to me.”

  Griffith leaned back in his chair. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “My paycheck. Where’s the rest of it?”

  So Leo had taken him at his word, Griffith thought. Good. Ryan needed to learn a lesson.

  Griffith stood and faced his brother. “You were paid the hours you worked. Simply being in the building isn’t enough. You take ninety-minute lunches and show up late. When you do work, it’s half-assed most of the time. If you weren’t my brother, I would have fired you already. Consider this a warning.”

  Ryan glared at him. “You can’t do that.”

  “I can and I will. You’ve always had it easy. Grades, girls, baseball, but you never learned consequences. The lesson is coming late, but I’m hoping you’ll figure it out.”

  Ryan took a step forward. “You’re a sanctimonious bastard. I know what this is about. You’re jealous. You’ve always been jealous. I had everything and you had nothing. You’re just some guy. I was the star. You can’t let that go, so you’re punishing me.”

  His sympathy faded in the face of his brother’s inability to take responsibility for his decisions. While his shoulder blowing out hadn’t been Ryan’s fault, everything after had been of his own making.

  “Whatever story you have to tell yourself to make it through the night, kid.” He pointed to the door. “You see that out there? It’s a successful business. My business. I started it from nothing. I have a good life, Ryan. I get you’re still dealing with what you lost, but it’s time to suck it up and move on. Baseball is over. That’s unfortunate but you can still be—”

  “Fuck you,” Ryan screamed. “I hate this crap town and this job and you and everything. I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to be like everyone else.”

  “Too late. You are. Now figure it out. You want to get paid, you need to work. If you don’t, then quit. Whatever you decide, spend some time thinking about your next act.”

  “Go to hell.”

  Ryan turned and left. Griffith noticed his brother was careful to take his paycheck with him.

  He settled back in his chair and wondered which way things were going to go. Ryan could either get it and move on, or he could spend the rest of his life being a has-been. There was no way to know. The irony was Griffith was just as guilty as his brother, only his weakness didn’t show.

  Ryan had lost his baseball dream and couldn’t cope. Griffith had failed at marriage and decided to turn his back on the institution. If he couldn’t be good at it, he wasn’t going to try again. Having found Kelly, he didn’t have to. He could have it all—or at least as much as he could handle. He supposed that made him lucky.

  But even as he had the thought a part of him wondered if instead he was being lulled into a false sense of security. If fate was somehow simply waiting for him to get complacent before jumping up and biting him in the butt. Only time would tell.

  * * *

  By ten the next morning, Helen knew that Jeff wasn’t going to be coming into the diner. Actually she’d known at five forty-five that morning, but had kept hoping that someone would burst in and say that the roads had all washed out and he couldn’t get to the café, or that he’d been beamed up by aliens, but had left her a lovely note. Instead there was only the usual morning rush that kept her running and a growing sense of dread in her stomach.

  Once the regular post-breakfast, pre-lunch lull started, she slipped out back and sat on the rear steps in the watery sunlight. She honestly didn’t know what to do or what to think. She’d told him what she wanted and he’d disappeared.

  They lived in a small town—there was no way to avoid him. Did he pity her? Would he not want to be friends? What about their singing and their mornings together? She didn’t know if everything was lost or what was going to happen next.

  “I shouldn’t have said anything,” she whispered.

  What if he started telling people what had happened? What if everyone knew and then laughed and pointed? While she wanted to believe he would never be cruel, she was scared and hurt and—

  “No regrets,” she whispered. It wasn’t wrong of her to like someone, to tell him. She’d been honest and polite. He might not share her feelings, but she wasn’t a bad person for what she’d suggested.

  She wrapped her arms around her midsection, as if to hold in all the emotions swirling inside of her. She breathed in and out to the count of ten, then rose and walked back into the cafe. Whatever was going on in her personal life, people would be expecting lunch. The world kept turning and there was absolutely no way for her to step off.

  16

  Olivia spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out what to wear. She wanted to look pretty without being overdressed. Plus, it was Tulpen Crossing—not exactly the fashion capital of anywhere.

  She settled on white crop pants, a lightweight boatneck sweater layered over a matching tank, and flats. Her makeup was natural, her hair wavy. She grabbed a straw clutch, then walked down the hall and found her father sitting in the kitchen, a magazine open in front of him. In that split second before he noticed her, Olivia would have sworn he was incredibly sad. But before she could say anything, he looked up, saw her and smiled.

  “You look nice. Going out?”

  She grinned. “I am. I’m meeting Eliza. She and I went to high school together.”

  “I’m glad you’re hanging out with your friends again.”

  She didn’t correct him. She knew he assumed she’d been with friends that first night, because she’d said what she was doing. She was also lying about her mother and her job and seriously, she needed to come clean at some point. Just not today.

  “I won’t be late,” she called as she walked to the back door.

  “Have fun.”

  Eliza was waiting for Olivia when she got to Tulip Burger. They got a booth by the window and sat across from each other.

  Eliza wrinkled her nose. “You look really nice. Ignore the cat hair all over me. I was leaving work when there was an escape from the boarding area. I had to help with the roundup.”

  “You look fine.”

  Oli
via said the words automatically, even though she was thinking that the huge print on Eliza’s T-shirt totally overwhelmed her, and the shirt itself was way too big. The shoulder seam hung a couple of inches down her arm. But she was here to make friends, not give fashion advice.

  “Thanks for suggesting this,” she said instead. “I’ve been looking forward to hanging out.”

  “Me, too. How long have you been back in town?”

  “A couple of weeks. I’m staying the summer.”

  “Then you go back to... Is it Phoenix?”

  “Yes, and to be honest, I’m not sure I’m going back. I don’t really like my job there.” Or her boss, and she didn’t want to talk about that, either. “What about you? When did you move home?”

  “January. I graduated in June of last year, then took an internship before accepting a job here.”

  “We’re the same age. How did you get through college and vet school so quickly?”

  “I graduated high school early and got in to WSU. I always knew what I wanted to do. I spent my summers volunteering at the vet clinic where I work now.” She flashed a smile. “I think the vets there hired me out of self-defense. They were afraid I was simply going to camp out in the parking lot until they gave me a job.”

  “They’re lucky to have you.”

  “I’m really the lucky one,” Eliza told her. “It can be tough to get a job after graduation. My internship helped. When we graduate, we don’t really know anything. I mean there’s a lot of learning but very limited practical experience. One of the great things they have at WSU is a partnership with Seattle Humane. You get to spend time at the facility, working with the surgical team. It’s invaluable training.”

  She pressed her lips together. “I’m babbling. I’m sorry. I guess I’m nervous.”

  “To have dinner with me?”

  “Yes. You’re, you know, Olivia Murphy.”

  “Hardly notable.”

  “It is to me. You were always so popular in high school. Look at what you’re doing now. You’ve been back less than a month and hey, you’re raising money to put a new roof on the craft mall. That’s impressive.”

  “It’s not saving a life.”

  “I couldn’t do it.”

  “I couldn’t do what you do, either. How about if we agree to be impressed with each other and just have dinner?”

  “I’d like that.” Eliza leaned forward. “The burgers here are still delicious. It was always one of my favorite places to come as a kid.”

  “Mine, too.” Although her mother had always complained about the lack of choices and how everything was so provincial. Funny how now Olivia could see the charm of Tulpen Crossing. She’d grown up enough to realize her mother’s issues with the town had nothing to do with geography and everything to do with whatever demons she carried with her.

  “Are your folks still here?” Olivia asked.

  “Of course. They’ll never leave. My two sisters live only a couple of blocks from my parents and are popping out babies left and right. I can’t get a date. It frustrates my mom.” Eliza lowered her voice. “I’m the first member of my family to go to college. They don’t know what to make of me.”

  “They’re proud.”

  “I hope so. It’s hard being the baby of the family, you know? Plus, I’m small. I look like I’m twelve. I wish I were elegant, like you.”

  Olivia laughed. “I’m not elegant.”

  “You are. The way you dress. Your confidence.”

  She thought of her lack of direction and how she’d come back for a guy she wasn’t even sure she liked. “That is mostly faked.”

  “I don’t think so. When I meet with the pet owners, I never know how to talk to them. Half the time they don’t believe I’m really a vet or they want to see one of the other doctors.” Eliza pressed her lips together. “Would you mind giving me some advice about what to wear and maybe how to put on makeup? I never learned. I’d ask my sisters, but they’re more into glitter than what I’d be comfortable wearing to the office.”

  Olivia thought about the fun she’d had buying clothes for her sister. In a way, the makeovers were a lot like staging a house. You started with the bare bones and fluffed.

  “I’d love to help. I’m looking for a good hairstylist. When I find her, I’ll give you the name. The first thing you need is a great haircut. The rest will be easy.”

  “You think?”

  “I can have you looking like you’re fifteen in no time at all.”

  Eliza laughed. “That would be great. Then we can aim for twenty.”

  “Oh, don’t get too wild. Besides, in twenty years you’ll be thrilled to look younger.”

  “I’ll hang on to that thought.”

  * * *

  “What is wrong?”

  A fairly wordy question coming from Delja, Helen thought, doing her best to smile brightly. “Nothing, why?”

  “No smiles.”

  “I’m smiling right now.”

  Delja rolled her eyes as if to say that no one was fooled. She crossed her arms over her ample chest and stared. The message was clear. She was in this for the long haul.

  It was after two. The café was closed and Delja seemed in no hurry to move on. There was no way Helen was going to explain that she was beyond sad that she hadn’t seen Jeff in two days. Two! The man hadn’t been by or texted or anything. Whatever he was thinking, it couldn’t be good.

  But that didn’t solve her current problem.

  There was no way to explain about Jeff. Okay, technically there was, but she felt she’d had more than enough humiliation in her life for one week. She thought about what else she could say, then felt a flash of inspiration and tucked crossed fingers behind her back so the lie wouldn’t count.

  “I’m having a lot of cramping with my period. It’s getting better, but I haven’t felt well.”

  Delja studied her for a second. “Yes?”

  “I’m fine otherwise. I’ll be better in a day or so.”

  Because she would have to be. She couldn’t keep pretending to have her period indefinitely. She would give herself the night to mope and eat more ice cream and then she would move on. Jeff was great and yes she was desperately in love with him, but he obviously didn’t want anything to do with her romantically. That was his decision. A wrong decision, but still. His to make.

  She would put the disappointment behind her. The good news was she’d been brave and yay her. If he was too stupid to see what a catch she was, then blah, blah, blah.

  Delja hugged her. “Feel better.”

  “I will. Have a good rest of your day.”

  The cook waved and left. Helen pushed aside the guilt she felt for lying, then made sure everything was turned off in the kitchen and that the back door was locked.

  Starting tomorrow, she would come up with a plan, she promised herself. She would start exercising. She’d seen Olivia jogging all over the place. Maybe she could talk to her about how to begin a walking program. Walking was healthy. She would give up sugar and daydreams about men who didn’t appreciate what was offered. Then she would go online and find someone who was even hotter and who wanted her with a fiery—

  She walked into the front of the café and stopped short when she saw Jeff standing by the counter. She stared, aware of the silence except for the ticking of the old-fashioned wall clock.

  They looked at each other. His expression was unreadable, his body language tense, which didn’t make her feel as if he’d shown up to tell her anything she wanted to hear.

  “How did you get in? I know I locked the front door.”

  “I have the key you gave me.”

  That was true. She had given him a key in case of an emergency. Because they were friends and she trusted him. At least she had.

 
She raised her chin and squared her shoulders. She was self-actualized, or she would be once she got her plan working. She could get through whatever he had to say.

  “We need to talk,” he told her. “Can we go into your office?”

  No. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to hear it. He was going to hurt her. He was going to rip out her heart and stomp on it. He was going to leave her gasping and bleeding and a lot of other things that were incredibly painful.

  She led the way. After flipping on the light, she stood in front of her desk, close enough that she could lean on it if she had to, and waited for him to talk.

  He stood by the open door. His arms hung loose at his side. His dark gaze was more intense than before. His jaw clenched.

  “Did you mean what you said?” he asked, his voice low. “About wanting me?”

  “Yes.”

  “In bed?”

  She wasn’t sure where he was going with this. Did he want more details so he could humiliate her more completely? She sucked in a breath.

  “Yes.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Oh, my God. What’s wrong with you? What are you trying to get me to say? Yes, I want to sleep with you. Yes, I think you’re incredibly hot and while I like being friends, I want more. I want you in my bed and I want to be in yours. I like you and I want to make love with you. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

  “Every word.”

  He closed the distance between them, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She was so shocked, it took her a few seconds to respond and when she did she couldn’t help throwing her arms around his neck. Which turned out to be a good thing because when Jeff kissed her, he did it with heat and need and tongue, the result of which left her more than a little weak in the knees.

  He dropped his hands to her shoulders, then lowered them down her back to her butt. He gently squeezed the curves, which made her instinctively arch against him. Her belly came in direct contact with what felt a whole lot like a very large, very hard erection.

  I... You... What?

  Helen drew back enough to stare into his fire-filled eyes. “I don’t understand.”