Hometown Hope: A Small Town Romance Anthology

by Zoe York

  It would also help her stay away from love in the kitchen, which seemed to be one of her biggest downfalls.

  “Well?” he said impatiently.

  “Family.” She swallowed. “They want to work with you or your family.” She waited to see if he clued in.

  He gave her a blank look and she closed her eyes, still in disbelief that she was willing to put her plan into words. With Ethan.

  She held her breath, ready for him to reject her like he always did when she tried to cross the line. She released the air from her lungs as she blurted, “A wife counts as family.”

  Unable to help it, Ethan began laughing as he put two and two together.

  Marriage? Him and Lily? Not likely. She was like…a sister. A sexy, forbidden sister.

  The idea was utterly ludicrous.

  “I’m not asking you to take me into your arms and make sweet, steamy love to me,” Lily chided, her lip gloss shining under the kitchen lights, her lower lip looking plump and juicy. Ethan abruptly stopped laughing as the not-so-hard-to-imagine visual popped to mind.

  “I’m just asking for a chance to prove myself.” She picked at her thumbnail, no longer looking up. Ethan knew it was difficult for her to ask for help, and he caught the vulnerability in her request, causing his mind to still.

  Family came first, and if she needed someone to help her, then that man should be him.

  But marriage?

  “I’m only asking you to consider a way around everything,” she said, glancing at him again. “To help us get what we want. I’ll work hard, Ethan. Really hard.”

  “I know you will.” She was one of the most hardworking people he knew, and she had a new toughness to her that he suspected would take her far. “But you’re asking me to marry you?”

  “You have a problem with that?” Her chin tipped up again and her eyes flashed. What he wouldn’t give to tangle his hands in her soft curls and kiss that pretty mouth as if they weren’t old friends with so much at stake.

  “I just didn’t see it coming,” he said, clearing his throat. “That’s all. It feels a bit much for the situation.”

  “If we were married…” She lowered her voice, stepping close enough for him to pick up another hint of her perfume, feel her body heat. “…your deals would be extended to me. We could keep everything in your name while I run the businesses for a year. Then we separate and I buy you out at today’s agreed price. A marriage of convenience, on paper—nothing beyond that. Platonic. Business.”

  He felt a slight sting of rejection as she put special emphasis on “platonic.” He knew where she was coming from, but hearing the woman he’d thought would always adore him suggest they avoid anything sexual took him down that last peg of manhood.

  “They seriously won’t extend the deals to you?” That didn’t seem right or fair.

  She nodded.

  “Everyone?”

  “Everyone on the list the agent gave me. I called them all.”

  Ethan was surprised. Lily was tenacious, charming and determined, and yet she hadn’t managed to sway a single one?

  Somehow that didn’t seem possible.

  He pulled out his phone and dialed one of the long-standing suppliers of both Benny’s and the catering company.

  “Hey, it’s Ethan Mattson.” After a minute or two of chitchat, he said, “I have a question for you. When I sell my companies, will our discounts be extended to the new owner?”

  There was a telling pause and Ethan glanced at Lily, who raised her eyebrows in question.

  “Ethan,” the man said hesitantly, “I’d like to but…well, I worked with Benny for almost two decades and he vouched for you. Plus I already knew you and your sister from the catering company. We had a relationship.”

  “Like family?”

  “Exactly. And I knew Mandy would kick your butt if you messed up or failed to pay.” They both laughed at the truth of that statement. “But with a new owner there are risks. Your discounts are based on years of history.”

  “Well, it sounds like I have an interested party. She’s a good friend.” He glanced up at Lily. “Like family. But the lack of carryover discounts could pull the venture under.”

  There was another long pause. “I’m sorry, Ethan. I just can’t.”

  Ethan felt frustrated by the man’s refusal. Lily had been cooking and working in restaurants for years and would do a much better job than he ever had. She knew this stuff better than he did, and she deserved a chance.

  “What if I told you she was my wife?” Ethan said, hardly believing he was doing so.

  “You got married? No way! Congratulations!”

  “Well, we’re just thinking about it.”

  “Don’t let her think too long and hard—she might change her mind.”

  “Tell me about it.” Ethan smiled at Lily. “But say she took over for me as the new owner, she’d still get the discounts, right?”

  “Of course! She’s family.”

  Ethan thanked him and ended the call. Family.

  That’s all it would take? Bring Lily into the family he already knew she was a part of? That was easy.

  “So?” she asked. “I’m guessing from your expression that I’m not considered family unless we’re married?”

  Ethan nodded. “You might have to keep the menu and orders fairly similar for some time. Big alteration could result in discount changes.”

  She nodded, barely able to hold back a grin. “This is Blueberry Springs. I’m not going to turn Benny’s into Asian fusion.”

  Ethan tapped the counter, thinking.

  She would get discounts and deals, but only if he vouched for her. Married her.

  It was ridiculous.

  But marriage would get her a kitchen—something she obviously longed for. Plus, acting married would be easy enough, seeing as they were old friends, his family adored her and nobody expected him to act lovey-dovey.

  They’d have a walk-in, walk-out marriage between friends, with her slowly taking over the companies to ease the transition, preventing waitstaff, customers and suppliers from being scared off. And after they separated, things could carry on like they had before, only they’d no longer live together. An amicable breakup. Two friends who’d tried to take their friendship one step further and had failed.

  The town would love her, support her.

  It was a perfect plan.

  Other than the fact that his libido wanted to snag a taste of those cherry lips. Then again, all he had to do was wait for the look of pity from her when he couldn’t do something a regular man could, such as hike up a mountain or carry a heavy box or not limp. That would throw ice on his mojo. And everything would remain perfectly platonic. As she’d emphasized. Repeatedly.

  Okay, she had only once, but he’d taken the hit hard, like a big baby.

  “You’re sure about this?” he asked.

  “We’ll write up solid prenuptial agreements that focus on what to do with the businesses in case of divorce.”

  “You think a year is long enough to prove yourself?”

  “I can build relationships and deals in that time frame.”

  “You know,” he said thoughtfully, “because of the divorce, it won’t be considered a sale, so no capital gains taxes. It’s brilliant.” He felt hope swell inside him, resurrected from the ashes.

  If Ethan could pay him back, his dad might be able to quit consulting for the mine a few hours away in Chesapeake. Cory Mattson was retired, but because he’d spent a chunk of his nest egg helping Ethan, he was working again here and there. If Ethan could repay him, he could retire once and for all.

  Ethan leaned against the counter, impressed with the simple brilliance of Lily’s plan.

  “It’s an unexpected angle and I honestly can’t see a lot of potholes.” Other than the fact that they’d have to deceive the whole community, his family and her dad. “Although won’t suppliers know it’s a ruse, since you were just asking everyone about deals?”

  She paused
. “Maybe.” She shrugged. “You seeing anyone?”

  “No. Are you?”

  Her expression darkened slightly and she worried her thumbnail again. “I could actually kind of use a fake husband at the moment.”

  Ethan’s instinct to protect her reared up and whinnied. “Say what?”

  “Nothing.” She waved a hand. “Just an ex who doesn’t understand that I’m no longer interested in helping him or…well, anything that involves him.” Her chin went up again, but Ethan could see the hurt in her eyes. Someone hadn’t treated her well, and his desire to make that man pay was mighty strong.

  “How’s he bothering you?”

  “Never mind, it’s not a big deal.” She sighed, looking suddenly weary. “I’m just worn-out from the constant confrontation and deflection, you know?”

  They faced off for a long moment, unspoken words drifting between them as they settled on a decision.

  “I’m a horrible actor,” he said.

  “You do have a crappy poker face.”

  He laughed. He’d been stupid enough to play poker with Lily only once and he’d lost badly. He’d had to provide six months of recipe newsletter support for her at no charge. It hadn’t been a hardship, though. She’d been fun and easy to work with.

  He grew somber as he met her trusting gaze. “You deserve better,” he said gently. “A husband who loves you.”

  Her cheeks turned pink and her eyes darkened. “And I’ll find him after you and I are done. This is business, nothing more.”

  “What if you find him while we’re together?”

  “Does that mean you agree?” A flicker of excitement washed over her face and she rolled up onto her toes.

  He picked up the tray of sandwiches, then set it down again. His family would be excited about the marriage, but what about hers? “How’s your dad?”

  It had been just Lily, Moe and her dad while she’d been growing up, and her father had been absent a lot, as he worked long shifts in the nearby mines. Dinner had rarely made it to the table unless Moe or Lily were cooking. As a result, she had spent a lot of time with Ethan’s family, and he knew she’d missed the hubbub of their home when she’d moved away with her dad at sixteen. Especially since Moe had just graduated high school and had been old enough to stay in Blueberry Springs on his own.

  Lily shrugged. “The same, basically.”

  She was hiding something. Money problems? Ill health? A big fight?

  The poor kid didn’t have much in the way of family and was likely trying to move closer to her brother. There were a lot of reasons to agree to her plan, but something kept holding him back from saying yes, despite his desire to step in and help. He settled on the truth. “Lil, the thing is…I’m tough to be around. I’m not a marriage kind of guy and I’m happy being alone.”

  Chapter 2

  Lily felt the sting of rejection.

  Ethan didn’t want to help her.

  She hadn’t realized how much she’d been counting on him until he’d told her he wanted to be alone in life, and had picked up his domed tray of sandwiches and walked out of the kitchen.

  What had she expected? For him to suddenly see her as a mature woman and not reject her or her advances, even if they were only business related?

  Men wanted her for what she could provide in the kitchen, and for that reason she’d thought Ethan would accept. But then again, he was Ethan, and he probably thought he was protecting her.

  “It’s a business arrangement, Ethan. Purely platonic. Nothing at all like a real marriage,” she said, catching up to him in the alley before he turned onto the sidewalk. It didn’t her take long, as it turned out the new Ethan liked to mosey. The teenaged version she’d known had been more like Devon, never slowing down, always pushing the edge. “We don’t have to do anything other than work together a bit.”

  “You’d have to live with me, and I like my space.”

  There was that new grumpy act of his again.

  She slowed her pace to match his. He was holding the tray awkwardly, as if it was precious cargo.

  “I promise not to sing opera in the shower.”

  “Do you still snore?”

  “That was one time and I had a cold!”

  “You woke up the whole cabin.”

  “Well, I don’t snore, and I’m a clean and helpful roommate. I’m actually more worried that you’ll fall in love with someone while we’re together.”

  “We’re not together.” His mouth was set in a determined line. His eyes cut to hers, then dropped to her legs. She suddenly felt warm despite the cloudy August day.

  “Come on. Please?” she begged, making her eyes large.

  He shook his head.

  “Don’t resign yourself to a lonely life. Mandy says you hate those businesses.”

  He gave a harrumph, but she could tell his heart wasn’t in it.

  She smiled at some people who passed by, and allowed herself to bump against Ethan, who gave her a dirty look, pulling his tray closer to his chest.

  “Maybe you could just run the businesses for me,” he suggested.

  She reacted without thinking. “No way! I get control. I own it. I’m not working for anyone else ever again.”

  Ethan seemed surprised by her vehemence, but only asked, “What if I gave you free rein?”

  “No.” She knew what she wanted, and she was not putting herself in a position to be walked on ever again.

  Ethan sighed. “You’re still stubborn.” He stared up at the town hall, then began easing his way carefully up the ramp, as if he couldn’t take the stairs and carry a tray at the same time. Either he had a ton of injuries left over from his car accident years ago or he was so out of his comfort zone with this food business that it was making him move like a marionette. Her guess was the latter.

  She let out a breath. “I want to own the place because I want to control my cash flow. Plus my dad could use some money and I’d like to be able to help him out.” Maybe even leverage the new assets to buy him a small trailer, so he no longer had to worry about rent back in South Carolina.

  Ethan’s attention swung to her.

  She shrugged. Her family and money problems. What else was new? Her dad was still working, even though his hours kept getting reduced and some weeks he could barely feed himself.

  “Is Moe sending him money?”

  “He tries to cover his rent when he can.”

  She froze as a familiar form became visible in her periphery. The man’s voice slid over her. “Lily, baby. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  She turned to face Tanner. “What are you doing in Blueberry Springs?”

  Ethan swung the tray of sandwiches between her and her ex. “Hey, I’m Ethan. Pleased to meet you.” He awkwardly offered a hand to shake.

  Tanner ignored him.

  “I’ve been calling all week. Where’ve you been?” He reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, but she backed up, Ethan moving into the space she’d opened up.

  “Tanner, I don’t want to speak to you. What we had is over.”

  “I want to work on my next book with you.”

  “Do I look stupid?”

  “The critics love my berry crumble.”

  “My berry crumble!”

  Ethan was watching her intently, and Lily felt foolish and embarrassed for having allowed herself to be taken advantage of by Tanner. Plus now couldn’t get him out of her life. She wanted to feel grown-up around Ethan, prove herself, and here she was, flopping around like a dying fish.

  “Come on, Ethan.” She reached for the door to the town hall.

  “Lily.” Tanner snagged her arm and she whirled on him.

  “Don’t. Touch me.”

  “Baby, come on. We had something good. We belong together. We were like family in the kitchen. Remember that time we had a food fight? Nobody makes me laugh like you do.” She felt her anger lessen slightly. They had been like family and had had some good times. Before he’d shown his true
colors.

  “I miss you,” he added softly. “I know we had some troubles—”

  “You taking credit for our recipes and profiting off them?” Her anger sharpened once again, reminding her exactly why she’d shoved his no-good butt off her front porch in the first place. “Yeah. I’d say those are some troubles. I’m no longer interested in being used.”

  “It’s time for you to leave,” Ethan said quietly to Tanner. Lily recognized the voice. Ethan was mad. To an outsider he might look affable, calm. Harmless. But she knew he’d already shifted into protective mode. He had been her constant shield against bullies until she’d left Blueberry Springs. And as he edged her away from the conflict now, she realized how lonely it had been not having him at her side.

  “Let’s go,” she replied, not wanting to cause a scene. She could see Mary Alice and her sister, Liz, approaching, chatting and enjoying the sun. They were both huge gossipers and would love to insert themselves into the middle of something juicy.

  And this was juicier than a plump, overripe peach.

  “Baby, come on. Give me another chance.” Tanner had sidled closer, trying to pull her against him. She wiggled away, like she’d become accustomed to doing whenever he tried too hard, but his grip was firm. He reached to tuck her hair behind her ear once again, a sure sign he was trying to convince her of something, and she panicked, feeling trapped. What happened next was a blur, with Tanner’s fingers never making contact because Ethan was suddenly in Tanner’s face. Tanner tried to shove him out of the way, but Ethan swung, delivering a quick uppercut that landed with a crunch. Tanner’s head snapped back, sending him tumbling to the ground.

  Lily squeaked, jumping backward. Tanner swore at Ethan, clutching his jaw as he rolled into a sitting position on the concrete steps.

  Ethan turned his back to him, his expression somber. “Come on, Lily.”