It was Mike’s news the following morning—that the DEA bust had been successful, with the Russians picked up en masse while taking possession of a huge drug shipment—that had caused the shift. Now that Nicole was safe from their wrath, she no longer needed Sam’s protection, and she’d pulled away. As if their relationship had been one of convenience, based solely on his need to protect her, and with that need gone, so was she.
Which made no sense to Sam. One day she’d been warm and loving; the next she’d pulled away. He didn’t know what to do, so he’d given her the space she seemed to need. He’d backed off, letting her leave for work at the crack of dawn and drive herself home after dark, with no help from him.
And unlike before, she wasn’t making time for him afterward. She’d pushed him away. He missed her like crazy and he didn’t know what to do about it. With her grand opening coming up on Monday, he gave her the space she seemed to need, figuring he’d regroup and come at her from a different angle.
Since it was still early, Joe’s wasn’t crowded, the mood mellow. Slow music played on the jukebox and Sam nursed a beer, waiting for his brother to show.
“Problems with Nicole?” Mike asked, joining him at the bar.
Sam shrugged. “You could say that. She wants nothing to do with me.”
Mike hauled himself onto the neighboring stool and gestured to Joe. “I’ll have what Sam’s drinking. And get him another one.” Turning to Sam, he said, “You do something stupid?”
Joe slid two bottles their way.
“Thanks,” Mike said to the bartender.
Joe nodded and made his way to another customer at the other end of the room.
Sam glanced at his brother. “It’s a sad day when you’ve become the expert on women,” he muttered.
Mike raised an eyebrow. “I’ve always been the expert on women. It’s just that now I’m also the expert on keeping one.”
“Good one.” Sam let out a laugh before sobering. “Something changed. I don’t know if it had to do with me meeting her SOB father or her finding out she didn’t need protection anymore, but she froze me out.” He took a long pull of his beer, seeking solace in something, even alcohol.
Mike leaned against the old, scarred wooden counter. “When I showed up at a 911 call from a neighbor after Cara’s father abused her mother, she was mortified.” Mike’s scowl reflected just how he felt about the situation.
Sam understood. Cara’s entire life had been shaped by the fact that her mother hadn’t left her husband.
“Cara didn’t want me to know how bad things were, and if it were up to her, it would have been worse between us once I found out.”
“How’d you get through to her?” Sam asked.
“That time? I made her sit down with me and talk.”
Sam shook his head and laughed. “That doesn’t sound like you. At that point, you were running away from commitment.”
“You see how well that worked for me. Seems like you’re going through the same thing. You didn’t want to trust any woman ever again, but as soon as Nicole moved here, you jumped in with both feet.”
If his older brother hadn’t gone through a similar experience, Sam would be embarrassed to admit his feelings. “She’s it for me.”
He shook his head, amazed he was so willing to say it out loud.
And even more amazed that he trusted her in a way he never thought he’d let himself trust again.
Sam groaned, deciding to confide in his brother. “Man, you have no idea how bad Nicole had it growing up. Her father barely acknowledges she exists. I always knew we were lucky, but seeing that?” He shuddered at the memory. “I don’t know how she ended up as warm and caring as she is.”
“Maybe that helps explain her twin?” Mike asked.
“Well, she truly has a mental illness, but having parents who don’t give a shit couldn’t possibly help her coping abilities. I said as much to her father,” Sam said.
Mike’s eyes opened wide. “How did that go over with Nicole?”
Sam shrugged. “Not a clue. She was already withdrawing into herself.” He vividly recalled Nicole’s arms wrapped around her body, staring out the truck window, lost to him on the ride home.
“Do you remember what you told me when you showed up at my apartment after I’d left Cara and Serendipity?” Mike asked.
Sam thought back to that day. “Go big or go home?”
Mike nodded.
“Not that simple. I think Nicole needs me to build the foundation first. I haven’t given her that,” he said, feeling ashamed.
Mike’s eyes narrowed in understanding. “Only you know what your girl needs.”
Sam squared his shoulders. “Me. She needs me,” he decided, one hundred percent certain. “She has no family that truly cares about her well-being. From what I can see, she’s making real friends here for the first time. If either of us has reason not to trust in people, it’s her. And I’ve given her no reason to believe in me. In fact, I told her not to from day one.” His gut churned with the knowledge that he’d done nothing but push her away.
Mike leaned back, his gaze fully on Sam. “As someone who’s known you your whole life, I can say that I trust you. Just throw that Marsden focus her way and you’ll be fine.”
“That means a lot coming from you. Thanks.” Sam tipped his bottle against Mike’s.
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Something told Sam he’d be needing it.
Nicole was tired, bone-deep tired, and she knew it wasn’t just from preparing for her grand opening tomorrow. But she and Aunt Lulu had done it. They were ready with exactly the right menu for the morning, they’d hired one part-time and one full-time worker, and everything was a GO.
She pulled her rental car into her driveway and dragged herself out of the vehicle, wanting nothing more than a hot shower and hours of sleep. No sooner had she walked to her front door than she heard her name.
“Nicole.”
She turned to find Sam striding across the lawn, looking relaxed and tanned, a bouquet of daisies in his hand. “I wanted to wish you good luck tomorrow.” He held out the flowers, an endearing grin on his face.
The walls she’d built up since he’d witnessed her humiliating interaction with her father melted easily. “Thanks,” she said, accepting the gift.
“Just getting home?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Long day.”
“Longer week,” she said, surprising herself by laughing easily with him. She’d missed him more than she thought possible. “Would you like to come inside?”
He stepped closer and she inhaled his musky cologne, a warm familiar scent that mocked her attempts at keeping a distance. “I would, but I know you have a big day tomorrow and have to be up early.”
She nodded, disappointment filling her.
He stepped closer, tilted her chin up with one hand. “I missed you this week.”
His minty breath tested her resolve. “I missed you too.”
He slid his lips over hers, once, twice, a third time before settling his mouth over hers. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she sighed into the kiss, knowing she was defeating the need to keep him at a distance before he pushed her away first.
His tongue swirled inside her mouth, finding an answering tug lower in her belly, a pulsing need between her thighs. She raised her hands to his hair, holding on as he seduced her with his talented mouth and tongue.
She was about to insist he needed to come inside when the loud honk of a car horn startled her and she jumped back. She jerked toward the offending sound in time to see a large white BMW pull into her driveway.
“Oh my God.”
Sam glanced at the car. “Who is that?”
She swallowed hard, nausea filling her. “My mother.”
He swore beneath his breath. She knew the feeling.
Nicole watched in disbelief as her mother’s driver stepped out of the vehicle, strode around the back of the car, and opened the
door for Marian Farnsworth to climb out. That she’d made the drive to Serendipity at this hour didn’t bode well for Nicole, and she straightened her shoulders in preparation for confrontation.
“What’s she doing here?” Sam asked.
Nicole didn’t answer, already rebuilding the walls and distance she’d maintained all week. If Sam thought her father was cold, wait until he witnessed her mother in action.
Marian Farnsworth walked up the driveway, her heels clicking as she approached Nicole and Sam.
“Mother, what are you doing here?” Nicole thought it best to get down to business.
Her mother tilted her head, her perfectly blow-dried hair sweeping her shoulder. “I came to ask you the same question. To see what’s so attractive about this small town.” She glanced at Sam, assessing him and finding him lacking, all with a single dismissive glance.
Nicole did her best not to react.
“Your father told me you paid him a visit. He appreciated the heads-up you gave him about his partner’s . . . activities. Personally, I think you should have kept quiet. Discretion being the better part of valor, after all.”
Nicole raised her eyebrow. “Too late.”
“Ah. You think this changes things? That we no longer need you to come home and fulfill your role?”
“I can’t imagine what good you think forcing me to marry Tyler will do.”
“Your father and Tyler will rebuild the firm and our standing in the community with a united front. You, darling, are the glue that will hold the families together.”
Nicole felt the weight of Sam’s disbelieving stare on both her and her mother. To his credit, he remained silent, at least so far. But shock tended to render a person mute, Nicole thought.
“Nothing has changed,” she informed her mother. “Tyler and I are finished. And my life is here now.”
Marian rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. Give your father one. It’s time to stop playing games and come home. I’m finished humoring your little crisis.”
“Be blunt, why don’t you,” Nicole muttered.
“Well, humoring you hasn’t helped.”
Nicole stiffened. “Humoring me.”
“Yes. Letting you come here to this small town, play house, sow your . . . oats—” Marian flung a careless hand toward Sam, who watched her with an impassive expression. “You’ve had your fun. It’s time to come home and live up to your responsibilities.” Her tone lacked any lightness or warmth.
Nicole dug her nails into her hand and latched onto the only important part of her mother’s statement. “Letting me? You think you let me come here? I’m an adult. You don’t own me, control me, pay for anything in my life, or tell me what to do,” Nicole said, her voice rising. “And contrary to what you might think, you haven’t since I turned twenty-one and my trust fund kicked in.”
At which point she’d finished paying for her own college education, so she could have her independence.
“Can we have this discussion in private?” Her mother looked dismissively at Sam.
Nicole would rather not have this discussion at all, but Marian had driven this far, and when she intended to have her say, nothing short of being physically restrained would stop her. Normally, she wouldn’t give her mother the satisfaction of doing anything she asked, but the thought of Sam witnessing any more of her family dysfunction turned Nicole’s already upset stomach.
“Let’s go inside my house.”
Her mother turned her nose up, no doubt at the thought of entering Nicole’s modest, older home. “Fine,” she said, obviously knowing she had no choice.
“Not fine,” Sam said, speaking for the first time.
Nicole turned a pleading gaze his way. Please, please, don’t do this again, she silently begged him. Her mother was just getting warmed up. Whatever she said to Nicole would be painfully humiliating if she was alone, but she’d survive. If Sam witnessed it, she might not ever be able to face him again.
The whole time she’d been speaking with her mother, she’d deliberately shut off the mortification of Sam witnessing her being belittled and talked down to, the weight of her unreasonable family expectations, and the fact that she was a constant disappointment. Nicole’s parents stood out in stark contrast to Sam’s family’s warmth and caring, and she wanted to curl up and die, knowing worse was to come. The longer he stood by her, the harder the fall would be when he was ready for this affair between them to end.
And he’d made it clear that it would.
“Please?” she asked softly.
He shook his head, not speaking but letting her know that no way would he allow her to go through this alone.
Well, that was nice of him, but while dealing with her domineering parents, she’d always been alone. She was the child who’d never lived up to their hopes and dreams and never would. And if this shame was how it felt for someone to be by her side, maybe she was better off by herself after all.
“Sam, just go.” Hoping he would comply, she turned, gesturing for her mother to follow, which she did, judging by the clicking sound of her heels against the walkway.
Nicole was disappointed but not at all surprised when Sam stepped into the house behind her mother, closing the door behind him.
“I believe she asked you to leave,” her mother said to Sam.
He merely stared at her mother for a heartbeat before extending his hand. “I’m Sam Marsden. One of the things Nicole finds so attractive about this small town.”
Oh, he did not just say that.
Nicole closed her eyes, knowing that if she’d introduced them earlier, she could have avoided this, but unlike with her father, when she’d just blanked, this time she’d hoped to spare Sam her mother’s direct snub.
When her mother merely eyed him warily, Sam, with his hand still out, explained, “Someone has to be civil.”
With a put-out sigh, her mother shook his hand. “Marian Farnsworth. Now may I speak to my daughter in private?”
He glanced between the two women. “I’ll wait in the den just in case you need me,” he said pointedly to Nicole. He headed to the next room, where Nicole knew he’d be able to hear every word exchanged.
“What does he think I’m going to do to you?” her mother asked. “He’s a rude man.”
“No, that’s you, showing up here uninvited, ordering my . . . friend around and making demands. I told you when I was packing to leave I was serious. It’s my life.”
Her mother sighed, shifting the chain on her purse to the other shoulder. “You’re part of a prominent family, Nicole. Your father’s partner was arrested this morning. Tyler and Paul are trying to hold things together and keep their important clients. You have an obligation to help us.”
“Why? Because you gave birth to me?”
“Exactly.” Her mother’s lips thinned. “Bloodlines are important.” Marian eyed her, a determined expression on her face. “And this little rebellion won’t do anything for you in the long run. Neither will that small-town cop.”
“Just stop!” Nicole’s voice rose, and she realized she was a heartbeat away from stamping her feet like a child. She drew a deep breath and pulled herself together. “This isn’t a rebellion. This is my life. You’re standing in my home, insulting me. You’re belittling a place with good people, a place you know nothing about. And that small-town cop you’re so disdainful of? I love him.”
“Oh, Nicole.” Her mother’s voice filled with pity and dismay. “I told you that you can’t build a life that’s meaningful or important on love. Love won’t support you in the lifestyle you’re accustomed to. And this kind of living? It’ll grow old. Come home and do what’s expected of you now.”
Her head began to pound. “Mother, I’m going to say something and for once in my life, I want you to listen. To hear me. I’m building a good life here. One I’m proud of. I have friends who like me for me, not the family name or money. And tomorrow I’m opening a bakery in town with a woman I admire. I’ll be up at four A.M. prepari
ng the pastries and the baked goods for my customers. If our blood ties mean anything, if my being your daughter is important to you, I hope you’ll come and see what I’ve accomplished.”
A myriad set of expressions crossed her mother’s face, none of which Nicole could interpret. It would take too much time and effort for her to try. She could only hope she’d made some kind of impression on her mother’s implacable will to put her status above all else.
Marian placed a hand on Nicole’s shoulder, surprising her and making her wonder if she’d made some sort of dent after all.
“Your sister’s ill. She will never be able to step up and be the daughter we need her to be. But you still can. Think about it,” Marian said.
Nicole jerked away. “I don’t need to think. I know who I am. You’re looking at her, Mom. So look. Understand. Come tomorrow and see for yourself.” Was she really begging? Nicole bit the inside of her cheek hard.
“You’re a disappointment to me,” her mother said. “And clearly I came all this way for nothing.”
Nicole shook her head and closed her eyes.
Her mother hadn’t heard one word Nicole said. In one ear and out the other. Her mother had ignored everything that was important to Nicole, words that came from her heart and soul in a last-ditch attempt to reach the woman who was supposed to be her mother. But a mother’s job was to love and nurture, and Marian Farnsworth had done none of those things.
When she opened her eyes, she wasn’t surprised to find that her mother had gone, cementing the fact that they clearly had very different views on what it meant to share blood.
Nicole swiped at her damp eyes, fully aware that Sam was in the other room. He hadn’t rushed in to save the day. No doubt he was still reeling, processing the difference between their families, reassessing what the hell he was doing with a woman who’d grown up with vultures, not parents.
Or maybe he was wondering how to extricate himself sooner rather than later. She wouldn’t blame him.
One thing she knew for sure: After that little display, she wanted nothing more than to be alone.
Seventeen
Perfect Together Page 24
