Hometown Hope: A Small Town Romance Anthology

by Zoe York

  “It’s a pleasure,” I told her, shaking her small thin hand gently. “Thank you so much for having me.”

  She gave me a narrow-eyed look then, and I got the distinct impression I was being evaluated. “Do you smoke pot?” she asked.

  Juliet stifled a laugh and I shot her a look, trying to figure out if there was an appropriate response I didn’t know about.

  “Um, no ma’am. I mean. Once? In college? I didn’t inhale, of course.” I felt my face reddening.

  “Right,” Juliet laughed.

  “You do coke?” Gran was escalating her investigation, and I wondered exactly where we were heading. What was the right answer here? I got the sense it might not be the one I would normally default to around parental types.

  I swallowed my surprise and shook my head. “No ma’am. I’ve got a pretty serious Altoids habit I’ve been trying to kick, but I’m clean when it comes to opioids, narcotics, hallucinogens and whippets.”

  “Whippets?” Juliet asked, her eyes wide.

  “Yeah,” Gran said. “Whipped cream cans? You’ve never done one?”

  Juliet’s brows lowered at Gran’s explanation. “Seriously?”

  “I think we’re having pie later,” Gran said. “I’ll show you.”

  “Um…” Juliet said.

  “So no, ma’am,” I said, trying to distract from Juliet’s worry over the potential that later we’d all huff whipped cream cans in the kitchen of this old plantation house with her elderly grandmother.

  “Pity,” Gran said, turning back around and picking up her drink. “Manhattan?”

  I glanced at the clock behind her, noting it was barely noon. “No thanks,” I said, almost wishing I did feel like a drink. The lady of the house was no doubt full of surprises and I looked forward to sitting down to learn about her life here in this place.

  “Lunch on the porch,” she proclaimed, and we followed her out a screen door to a wide sweeping back porch overlooking the lawn and the smooth water flowing beyond it.

  “This is incredible,” I said. I’d had no idea Maryland would be so beautiful. “Is that… the Chesapeake?” I took a guess.

  “That’s a river,” Gran said, and she sat down clucking her tongue. “Californians.” She shook her head.

  I thought about whether I wanted to take a guess at which river it might be, but I also found myself wanting Gran to like me, and my lack of drug use and ignorance of Maryland geography had me feeling like I was behind the power curve.

  “Ignore her,” Juliet said. “It’s the Potomac.”

  Juliet waved me to a seat, and we each served ourselves from the center of the table. I glanced around, wondering where Tess was, but I didn’t want to ask. Giving Juliet the impression I was interested in her sister was probably not a good idea. And I wasn’t exactly interested in her. I mean, she was interesting, no doubt.

  I suspected it was more that I was fundamentally drawn to her. I’d actually never felt anything like it, and I didn’t trust the feeling completely. Maybe I was just tired? Maybe I’d feel completely ambivalent around her when we next saw one another.

  Maybe, I thought, I felt around her kind of the way I felt about waffles when people first set them in front of me—super excited, like I’d never had anything half so good. But within three bites, I regretted the waffle decision and kind of wished I could just have something else.

  Maybe Tess Manchester was just a regret waffle. So to speak.

  I sighed and turned my focus to my lunch.

  “So you can’t screw things up too badly, I’d guess, on the heels of that last asshole, Juliet,” Gran said. She was clearly talking to Juliet, but she was looking at me.

  “Gran!” Juliet’s tone was scolding, but there was laughter in her smile.

  “I’m pretty sure I told you back then that Zac was a moron, but no one ever listens to me,” the old woman continued. She sipped her drink and then looked at me. “Just wait, young man. Once you hit a certain age, everyone assumes you’ve got a few connections unhinged up here—” she pointed at her head, “and they pretty much ignore everything you say.”

  “We don’t ignore you, Gran,” Juliet said, her eyes wandering to follow a couple of security guards out toward the yard. A chicken was following so closely behind one of them it was a wonder he didn’t step on it.

  “Chessy!” Gran yelled, looking out at the chicken. “Leave that poor man alone!” She snorted and took a swig of her drink before turning back to Juliet, pointing a potato chip in her direction. “Well if you listened to me, you wouldn’t have married that idiot in the first place. And please tell me the media was wrong about the settlement you’re giving him. My whole guild is talking about it. That numb-nuts didn’t deserve a cent.” She sipped her drink again and then leaned toward me conspiratorially. “That moron was a couple beers short of a six pack. Hope you’re firing on all cylinders, cuz he certainly wasn’t.” She turned her fierce gaze back to her granddaughter. “So, the settlement?”

  “Did you say guild?” Juliet asked.

  “Yes. In the game.” Gran waved a hand, clearly not ready to be distracted from her question. “Settlement. Talk, young lady.”

  First Juliet looked a little shocked, as if she’d been slapped. “I don’t think you can ‘young lady’ me anymore, Gran.” Then she sniffed and dropped her gaze to her plate. “I’d rather not talk about it,” she said. “It’s not final, and it’s just … it’s hard.” She looked up again, a brilliant smile plastered over the pain in her eyes.

  My heart went out to her, and I remembered again how well Juliet covered her real emotions. It was rare to see her shield slip to reveal her sadness over her current situation. I reached over and took her hand—more because she looked like she needed it than because we were supposed to be a couple.

  And Tess appeared in the doorway at that exact moment, and I couldn’t have explained why, but I snatched my hand back as if I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t. Juliet shot a surprised look my way and I smiled, realizing Tess Manchester was definitely not a regret waffle. It would be easier if I could just turn the feelings off. But I suspected it wasn’t going to be that easy.

  Tess stood in the doorway for a moment, her dark hair around her shoulders as her gaze went out to the lawn where the chicken was now flapping and clucking around at the feet of the guard, who was actually trying to run away from it. Tess wore a pair of jeans rolled around mid-calf—the kind that were beat up in a sort of intentionally casual way, and a tank top that showed off her curves but definitely looked like a shirt she would have simply pulled from a drawer, not something she planned. She was beautiful in such a natural and effortless way, it actually made me gasp under my breath, trying to get myself under control.

  I glanced at Juliet, but she didn’t seem to notice my struggle.

  Tess carried her plate to the table and sat next to Gran. “Poor Jack,” she said, looking out at the chicken and man on the lawn. “Chessy won’t leave him alone now. It was love at first sight.”

  “Jack?” Gran asked. “Is that one of the gorillas that came with these two?” She tilted her head to mean Juliet and me.

  “Gran, behave yourself,” Tess said, her tone admonishing but full of sweetness. Her eyes sparkled. “Juliet and Ryan are celebrities. They need security, and while they’re here, we’re lucky the guys were able to be here too.”

  “Hmph,” Gran grunted. “And by the way, I’m not speaking to you today, about goons or anything else. I can’t believe you moved my stuff.” Gran’s voice had all the indignity of a maligned teenager and when she stuck out her tongue at Tess to make her point, I had to stifle a laugh.

  “I said I was sorry about that. But it’s for the magazine shoot tomorrow. It’s just temporary. And so are the guards.” Tess sounded exasperated.

  For the most part, our security detail was practically invisible—a significant feat for four guys who must’ve weighed two hundred and fifty pounds a piece.

  “So,” Tess said,
turning to face Juliet and me. “How did you guys meet?”

  “At a party,” I volunteered, at the same moment that Juliet blurted, “On set.”

  I cringed inwardly. This was what we probably should have figured out before arriving. Tess didn’t seem easy to fool, and Gran definitely didn’t. I wondered if Juliet might decide we could just be honest with her family and keep the pretense for the media.

  Tess raised her eyebrows and laughed, and the sound filtered through me like sunlight sifts down through tree leaves, soft and diffuse.

  Juliet raised her eyebrows at me, as if to tell me to continue, so I improvised. “It was a party on the set of a movie we both worked on,” I said. “We had one scene together, but didn’t really get to chat until the wrap party.” I knew it was a poor cover and watched Tess consider this and decide not to question it.

  A faint smile ghosted her heart-shaped lips. I had a fleeting vision of what it would be like to rub a thumb over those lips, to taste them. I refocused on the sandwich before me. Wrong sister. Focus.

  “When was that?” Tess asked.

  This time, Juliet and I looked at one another, and I decided to let her answer. We should have ironed out all the details ahead of time, but she’d slept through the flight and she’d been on the phone through the car ride. These were things we needed to get airtight before the magazine people showed up. If we got this wrong in front of the media, Juliet’s scandal would be even more scandalous and I’d be an easy target for stories about poor desperate Ryan McDonnell who’d do anything to save his career. That would not be good for me, or for Dad.

  “The movie went on about six months, so we’ve known each other a while. But the party was just a little while ago. Two weeks?” Juliet said, looking to me to confirm.

  “Sounds about right.”

  Gran snorted and leaned back in her chair. “So this is your third date?”

  “Gran,” Juliet sighed.

  “Two weeks?” Gran repeated. “I’ve got hemorrhoids with more mileage on them than that.”

  Tess dropped her sandwich back to her plate. “And I’m out.” She stood and shot Gran an angry look. “You’re impossible.”

  Gran merely shrugged and continued nibbling her own sandwich. I watched Tess go, wishing I could follow her into the house, but I was supposed to be here with Juliet.

  “It is new,” Juliet said. “But it feels … right.” Her delivery was good. I didn’t get a chance to see if Gran was buying it because my eyes were on Tess’s back as she went back inside the house.

  Or if I was being honest, my eyes were on her ass.

  I waited as long as I could, something inside me ramping up and forcing me out of my seat. “I’m just gonna go visit the bathroom,” I said, rising and dropping a kiss on Juliet’s cheek. “Be right back.” I slipped through the swinging screen door behind Tess, my mind spinning and my heart in my throat. I had no real idea why I was chasing her or what exactly I was going to say. I just knew I wanted to talk to her. Alone.

  Chapter 6

  Tess

  I had just turned on the water to rinse my plate at the sink when Ryan came in the door after me, a strange expression on his gorgeous face. I was still a little annoyed—Gran was legitimately impossible, and I was worried what she might say in front of the magazine people when they arrived.

  I turned to face Ryan, a nervous hitch in my breath.

  “Sorry about Gran,” I told him. “She can be a little …” I trailed off. There was really no word for Gran. “She’s not great in company, but on a daily basis, she’s a pretty entertaining companion.”

  “I’d guess so,” he said, leaning against the counter next to the sink, his eyes on me and his gaze intense. There was something in the way he was looking at me that made me feel warm all over, little shudders of excitement popping through me.

  I slid the dish into the rack and looked up at him, feeling nervous as the bright blue eyes pierced me. I felt weirdly naked, exposed. “Is there something I can help you with?” It was difficult being this close to him. The attraction I’d always felt seeing him on screen was magnified about six thousand times having him just eighteen inches away from me.

  “Well,” he said, his voice low and soft enough to make me tilt in toward him so I didn’t miss a word. He leaned a hip into the counter, his body close to me, his eyes never leaving my face. “I thought we better talk about cake.”

  The kitchen was quiet, but the air was filled with some kind of energy, a buzz that filtered between the atoms around us, made me feel like I was levitating just the tiniest bit. I stood there at the sink, staring into Ryan’s eyes, and had the strangest sensation—like he was about to kiss me, like something had to happen between us just to relieve this strange tension. Just when I feared I might do something insane like throw myself into his arms or reach a hand out to trace that perfectly clefted chin, Juliet came through the door.

  I stepped back instinctively, like a kid being caught doing something naughty.

  “Gran’s crazy,” she said to me, not seeming to notice the thick heady air in the kitchen, or the way my chest seemed to be struggling with each breath.

  I felt dizzy and slightly sick when I looked away from Ryan. “Yeah.” I made a point of avoiding his gaze, moving away from the magnetic pull of his body. “So I’m going to get the tractor and start pulling the chairs and tables from the barn in back. And then I’m making a cake.” I glanced at Ryan, who smiled at this, like we shared a secret.

  “The caterers aren’t doing that stuff?” Juliet looked vaguely annoyed at the thought of manual labor and baking.

  I shook my head, wiping my hands on my jeans. “Nope, just the tent. Now that it’s up, I’ve gotta get the stuff in there. They’re going to arrange it tomorrow morning.”

  “I don’t know why you didn’t just let them do everything.” Juliet rinsed her dish and slid it into the rack. Ryan was still watching me. I could feel those piercing eyes on me, and a sheen of sweat was threatening on my brow. It was going to be a very long weekend, since I couldn’t seem to manage to behave like a normal person around him.

  “Money, Juliet. It’s a way to save money.” I shrugged and glanced at Ryan, who I was sure didn’t have to worry about regular-people things like money. But I wasn’t about to pay someone else to do something I could easily do myself. I pulled my shoulders up straight, pushing away the heat of embarrassment that was replacing the warmth that had flooded my cheeks just moments before.

  Juliet waved a hand, as if she’d heard enough, saying, “I’d help, but I have a few calls I have to return and then I need to start reading lines for my next movie.”

  Liar. She’d never been big on helping if it meant the potential to break a nail or a sweat. “It’s fine,” I said, refusing to be annoyed. My sister was here for one weekend. I could deal. “Is Gran done?”

  Juliet shrugged.

  “Can you sit with her until she goes back for her rest, please?”

  “Sure,” Juliet said, but she sounded distracted, or put out, like she had something else she needed to be doing. But she didn’t leave, she just stood, staring out the window at the lawn where the guards still patrolled.

  Ryan had been quiet this whole time, standing nearby, watching me. Suddenly he said, “I’ll come help you with the furniture and then we’ll make cake.”

  My eyes slid to him, even though I knew looking his way was dangerous. Why would a movie star want to do manual labor? Juliet definitely didn’t.

  That got Juliet’s attention. “You don’t have to do that stuff, Ryan. My sister just insists on being a martyr sometimes,” she said.

  I frowned at her, trying to figure out what was making her grumpy. She had always been work-averse, but she’d never really been mean. “What?” I asked.

  Juliet’s expression changed immediately, and she reached for my hand, looking sad. “I’m sorry, Tess. I’m just…I’m really wound up and distracted. All this divorce stuff…” she trailed off, shaking her
head.

  “I’ll help,” Ryan said again. “I’m happy to.” He was too handsome, and my body seemed to have a mind of its own when he was close. I should have been listening to my normal, sane mind. The one saying: movie stars who are dating your sister are not fair game no matter how they are looking at you.

  And he was looking at me in a way I could only call … hungry.

  Man, he was a good actor. I knew he was acting—or just kind of naturally wore an “I want you” kind of look, because historically, any man who’d shown interest in Juliet did not find himself looking at me in a hungry kind of way. We were like chocolate and vanilla—people only had one favorite. And it wasn’t usually whichever one I was. Was he playing some kind of game? Trying to impress my sister by being nice to me?

  “Tess.” Juliet bumped my shoulder, forcing me to realize I’d been staring silently at Ryan McDonnell instead of answering his offer of help like a sane person might do.

  I cleared my throat. “Okay, yeah,” I said, even though I knew it would be best to stay as far away from him as I could. He was just being friendly, and my body was reacting as if he’d invited me to bed, my lady parts all hot and wet and my mind running all kinds of scenarios that featured him and me, and had little to do with setting up chairs and tables or baking cakes.

  I wanted nothing more than to spend time with him, but I wasn’t sure I could trust myself. “I’ll be out back in the barn. Right there. The” —I pointed to the left side of the back yard, where the hulking red form of a barn was evident through the window— “the barn? Over there?” Oh my God, I was losing my mind.

  “Hard to miss the enormous red barn out back,” Juliet muttered, turning to leave the room.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” Ryan said, grinning at me. “Gotta do one thing first.”

  My knees actually weakened with the force of his smile, and I spun on my heel and went back outside before I did anything insane. I’d never experienced this level of intense reaction to anyone before—was it chemical, maybe? I’d heard about that, but my body didn’t seem to have gotten the memo that no matter how the chemicals he put out influenced mine, he wasn’t mine to react to.