Hometown Hope: A Small Town Romance Anthology

by Zoe York

  He needed to tell her about the MRI results and the possible implications. He had to face the truth, the reality. All of it. Not just tell her he was having a bad day when he bowed out of a hike, as he had today.

  At least she hadn’t stayed back to baby him, but had simply told him to take care of himself, and left.

  It had surprised him, actually. He was used to his family trying to dote on him, and it lit the idea that maybe, even if things went south for him, Lily was the kind of woman who wouldn’t perceive him as a burden. She would still maintain a life for herself even if he became physically limited.

  He opened a can of Mountain Dew—his go-to when he needed a kick—and forced himself to work for a few more hours, until a phone call from his former real estate agent interrupted him.

  “Ethan? I know you pulled the restaurant off the market, but I have an offer I promised I’d pass along.”

  “What do you mean?” Ethan stretched in his office chair.

  “This guy called up—he’d asked about the restaurant back in early August, I think. Maybe the end of July? Anyway, he was disappointed to hear it was off the market. I told him to make an offer because, hey, you never know, right?”

  “Well…”

  “He’s offering thirty over list price.”

  “What? Why?” Who would pay that much? It would take eons to make that back in a small town, and he knew they hadn’t undervalued the business. “Is he rich? Who is it?”

  His agent laughed. “He’d rather remain anonymous at this point, for privacy reasons.”

  Had to be a wealthy conglomerate.

  “He said he saw something in your gem and didn’t want to lose it.”

  “Lily’s the person to talk to, since she’s taking it over.”

  “He’s actually hoping she’ll stay on as chef.”

  “I don’t think she’s interested in working for someone else.”

  “He didn’t give me any numbers, but hinted that he’d pay her the equivalent to what they make in city four-star restaurants.”

  “That seems…generous.” Lily could flip the restaurant and make a profit, start her own dream restaurant—one where she could use her own recipes and have a kitchen designed exactly the way she wanted, without finicky fridges or other problems.

  “He was really excited about the restaurant, but couldn’t buy it earlier due to a family issue. He was upset he’d missed it.”

  Ethan massaged his knee. Maybe he could convince Lily to move somewhere warmer, like Nash had suggested. He could do his web stuff anywhere with an internet connection, and she could find a city full of foodies. She could play and experiment.

  He knew she said she liked Blueberry Springs and didn’t want to change Benny’s, but the place was holding her back—cooking lasagna and roasts off someone else’s recipes every day wasn’t her reaching her potential. It was barely following her dreams and he could tell she occasionally became frustrated.

  Or if she decided to stay, she could work for the new owner and not have to endure the financial risk or long hours. She could live more. Smile. Be free while still supporting her dad.

  Ethan ended the call, promising to take the offer to Lily.

  He tried to go back to work, but eventually gave up in favor of a walk, hoping it would help ease the ache in his joints. Go with the flow, right?

  Ethan reached the end of his sidewalk before he spotted the last woman on earth he ever wanted to see.

  Dani Demare. His ex-fiancée.

  She was the definition of hot due to a curvy lankiness. Her hair was perfect and shiny, her features straight and symmetrical. But to him, she was too skinny, too moody, too selfish.

  He nodded and continued on his way, wishing he didn’t feel so darn crippled.

  “Ethan!”

  He knew he’d bristled and that she’d likely noticed. He stopped but didn’t turn around. She caught up with him on her high heels.

  “Hi, Ethan!”

  “Hi,” he grumbled.

  “I’ve been living and working in Milan. I’m in town for a few days.”

  “How nice.” He’d heard she was an international model now. Which suited her more than staying home and playing nursemaid.

  “I heard you were walking again.” She was eyeing him, had no doubt noted the way his shoulders had filled out.

  “Have been for years.”

  “And you’re married!” She plucked his hand to study his ring, as if she had the right to touch him, and he had to force himself not to pull it out of her grasp. There had been a time where he’d loved every drop of attention she sent his way.

  “I have to be somewhere. Nice to see you.”

  “I heard you married Lily Harper.”

  He began walking, feeling as though talking about his wife with Dani was a form of betrayal. Illogical, but it was what it was.

  She caught up to him. “It’s nice you’re giving her your restaurant. Her family never had much and I heard she likes to cook.”

  She was walking gracefully beside him, her impossible glittery heels clicking on the concrete underfoot.

  “You have a web business now?”

  He grunted in acknowledgment, wishing he could go fast enough he could ditch her and her high heels.

  “Do you like it?”

  “Yup.”

  “My cousin Burke Carver said you’re working for him.”

  “You’re related?”

  “He’s my cousin―you know that, silly.” She latched on to his arm, bumping her chest against him with a giggle. She used to do that all the time and it had been one of his favorite things. Not so much anymore. It made him want to peel her off him.

  She gave a pout. “Will you make me a website?”

  “I’m busy.”

  “My modeling company gave me a budget and said I could hire anyone I wanted. And I want you.” She was looking at him in a way that suggested she wanted him for something other than his web skills.

  He extracted his arm and stated, “My docket is full.”

  “It’s mostly just photos.”

  He continued walking in silence.

  “You can’t fit in your old fiancée?”

  He didn’t reply. If he shut her out, she’d go away. Yes, it was rude, but it was effective.

  “I understand if your wife is the jealous type. You and I always did have a good thing.” She pouted again when he gave her a dark look, but quickly changed her tact when she saw it wasn’t having an effect. “I can offer you ten grand.”

  “For a website?”

  “It’ll need a shopping cart.”

  That was a whole new level of headache. One he could easily accomplish, but still. He didn’t want to work with Dani, didn’t need headaches even if it meant paying his father back sooner than he’d planned.

  “I have fan gear. About twenty-five products.”

  Fans. Fan gear. Of course. “Something like that will cost more like seventeen grand.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?” He stopped moving. She had to be kidding. Hadn’t she done any shopping around? She could get a site for considerably less than that. His price was a “go away and leave me alone” price.

  “There are a few of us looking for sites and I told them you were really good.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Burke hired you.”

  Yeah, okay. Burke wasn’t the type to hire just any old hack.

  “I’ll pay whatever you ask.” She was easing closer, like the experienced temptress she was. “So will Tanesha and Fiona.” She batted her eyelashes and gave him a sweet smile. “You were always so clever.”

  “Right. That’s why you left.”

  “Oh, Ethan. It wasn’t that.” She smoothed a hand down his arm, her fingers curling around his biceps, her expression one of morose. “It was just the timing.”

  She looked at him, her expression sincere. “Ethan?” Her tone was soft, one asking for forgiveness. “Please?”

  �
��I’ll think about it.”

  “How about all three of us for forty thousand. I’m the only one with a cart and we’ll pay you ten up front.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” Forty grand for three simple sites? He shook his head. “What’s the catch?”

  “We need the tax deduction.” She smiled, that perfect model smile he’d see on the cover of magazines every once in a while in Mary Alice’s convenience store. “Lots of models need sites. I’ll give you tons of referrals.”

  Easy sites. Ridiculous profit.

  Man, that was tempting. Especially since it could be a quick boost to his financial goals and could help him and Lily move if she chose to sell the restaurant.

  But working with Dani? He wasn’t so sure that was something he wanted.

  “I work under strict contracts,” he said. “I’m very particular and you’ll get only three edit passes—after that any changes are subject to additional charges. And you can’t call me up at any time with emergency alterations. I only build the site. Someone else will have to maintain it for you.”

  Dani launched herself into his arms, her perfume strong and cloying. “Thank you!”

  Nuts. He’d kind of just accepted the deal by listing his conditions, hadn’t he? Well, he supposed at least he’d get a chunk of change he could send to his parents to repay his debts.

  He just hoped it was worth the torture of having Dani in his world for the duration of the contract, because he had a pretty good feeling that even though these sites were going to give him what he wanted in terms of cash, he was the one who was ultimately going to pay. Especially when Dani finally released him and he saw Lily standing on the street across from him, her arms slack at her sides.

  Lily tried to hold her head high as she crossed the street to where Ethan and Dani were standing. She’d expected Ethan to be doing his cold, scowling grump act, but instead Dani had been all over him, hugging him, her hand against the back of his neck like she had the right to touch him. It was intimate, that touch, that hold.

  And the worst part was that Dani had almost as much claim on him as Lily did. Maybe even more so where Ethan’s heart was concerned. Because as wonderful as yesterday had been, Lily wasn’t delusional. She knew she didn’t possess Ethan in the way Dani once had and possibly still did. When she’d suggested to him during their picnic that she “stick around” after their year’s commitment he hadn’t actually replied beyond a smile and a nonchalant shrug. She’d taken his response as an affirmative, but what if he’d just been being polite?

  And what if she was just being annoyingly insecure?

  She needed to get a grip.

  She sucked in a slow breath to calm herself and joined the exes on the sidewalk.

  “Hey,” Lily said lightly. Dani was decked out in a designer outfit that clung to every curve, her toned arms looking strong and tanned, not pale like Lily’s, from spending time in the kitchen.

  “Oh, Lily!” Dani turned, cooing over her and her hiking outfit of leggings and oversize sweater. “You look so healthy and robust.”

  Lily gave an unimpressed blink.

  “I’d heard you two married.” Her gaze traveled over Lily again, this time giving her the distinct impression she’d somehow come up short.

  “Right. So I’m going to go in and cook us supper, Ethan.” To spite Dani, she pulled Ethan into a kiss. It was fierce and possessive and totally returned.

  Wow.

  Dani might make her feel like less of a woman, but Ethan made up for it with his kiss. She broke apart with a sigh as she slowly released him.

  “See you inside,” she whispered. To her surprise, Ethan linked his hand with hers.

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “I thought you had a meeting,” Dani said sweetly to Ethan.

  “It’s with my wife.”

  “I always heard the way to a man is through his stomach,” she said, with a laugh that made Lily cringe as she scurried away with Ethan.

  Inside the house, he let out a sigh. “She offered me a job.”

  “A job?” Jealousy stirred inside Lily.

  She felt like she’d finally just started to win him over, and now his ex was snooping around. And if push came to shove…

  No. She was married. To him. He was loyal. He’d chosen Lily and there was no room for insecurities because they would only ensure disaster.

  “Website. Shopping cart,” Ethan was saying. “Big money.”

  Of course. She was flaunting whatever she had to sneak her way back into his life. She knew it, Dani knew it and Ethan probably did, too.

  “Did you take it?”

  He sighed. “Yeah.”

  She didn’t know what to say so she moved to the kitchen. Dani would get her hooks into her husband, and it wouldn’t take long, if one conversation had turned her into his customer.

  Lily mindlessly began pulling out ingredients for her favorite comfort food, bread pudding.

  “She’s very pretty still,” she said, hating herself for revealing one of her insecurities. So much for being tougher than them. She whisked the egg, sugar and milk mixture with more vigor that was technically required.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Ethan…” She tore the day-old bread to shreds.

  “She’s not my type.”

  “You were engaged.” She stuffed the bread into a pan, drowning it in the sauce.

  “Is me taking her seventeen grand for a five-grand website going to be a problem? Because that’s the only reason I said yes.”

  “Why is she paying you so much?”

  He threw up his arms, his movements stiff, his scowl back in place. “Who cares? It’s money.”

  He was closing Lily out, his choice made.

  “You know what?” She pushed away from the counter and shoved the pudding into the oven. “Fend for yourself tonight. I’m going to go do some work on the catering business. Pull that out of the oven in forty-five minutes and bon appetite.”

  She headed outside, angry with herself for not being stronger.

  The door opened behind her and she turned around, hands on her hips. She didn’t want to fight, but she also didn’t want Dani in their lives. Not yet. Not ever.

  “I’ll say no if it makes you feel better.”

  Her eyes dampened. “Ethan…”

  “You’re more important.” He eased down the steps, favoring his left leg. “Look, I suck at this. Just tell me what you want and I’ll do it.”

  “You shouldn’t have to give up a lucrative contract. I know you want to pay back your dad.”

  “Just say the word and I won’t work with her.”

  “I’m sorry. You should take it. I just didn’t expect to find her hanging all over you and I got jealous.”

  He pulled Lily against him, resting his head on top of hers.

  “That’s okay, I don’t like Tanner.”

  “Nobody likes Tanner,” she said, causing them both to laugh.

  For a moment she felt like she could have it all. Love, family. Everything. As long as Dani stayed at bay. And maybe even if she didn’t.

  Things had been awkward that morning, and not just because Lily had avoided him at bedtime, “accidentally” falling asleep in front of the TV with Gramps. Ethan could pinpoint the time of change. It had been when Lily had seen Dani hugging him. And seconds before that, when he’d accepted her job offer.

  His picnic with Lily had felt special, fun. A lot like love starting to bloom in the garden of their friendship.

  He was becoming a sap. Garden of their friendship? The statement was both poetic and true. But now he was even hesitant to run the restaurant’s offer of purchase past her.

  She had told him not to give up the lucrative contract with Dani, knowing it would open doors for him. And it would. But he didn’t want it coming between the two of them.

  The front door opened and Ethan turned in his chair to call to Lily. “Going for a hike?” He planned to go with her today even if it killed him. They needed
to talk, needed to spend time together.

  And he needed to figure out how to prove that she was the woman he wanted, not the one on his monitor with the airbrushed cleavage and expanse of exposed thigh.

  She appeared in the doorway, her gaze going straight to the screen behind him. Igor, who had been washing himself on the armchair in Ethan’s office, stretched before meowing a hello to Lily.

  “I thought I’d join you tonight, if you don’t mind,” Ethan said. He’d taken a dose of prescribed pain meds he usually avoided unless absolutely necessary, and was as set as he’d ever be.

  She shrugged after a moment’s pause. “Fine.”

  He turned to the screen. “How much of that do you think is airbrushed?” He casually clicked out of the program, knowing he was treading on thin ice. He should have thought to close down the program before she’d come into the room.

  “You’d know,” Lily muttered, disappearing from sight.

  Ethan sighed in defeat. The cat gave him an unimpressed look before lifting a back leg so he could wash his backside.

  “I feel like you’re calling me names,” Ethan muttered to Igor before joining Lily outside a few minutes later. “Where are we hiking to?”

  “Just through the meadow.”

  “Sounds good.” Not too strenuous.

  They began walking in silence, waving as they passed various citizens.

  “What was your favorite part about training as a chef?” he asked as they crossed a wooden footbridge, taking them into the meadow which was thick with white flowers.

  “The challenge. It was hard but fun and learned new stuff every day.” She quickly added, “You’re limping worse today.”

  “Yeah.”

  Not before long, Ethan spotted Devon, Olivia and another woman standing among the white flowers. Valerian. That’s what it was—the secret ingredient that Olivia had needed for some new makeup product line. In the end her family’s company had made a deal with the town that had helped Devon cinch the vote as mayor, as well as saved the local area from a hydroelectric project that would have flooded the entire meadow.

  “Hey, Ethan!” Devon waved them over and Ethan moved that way.

  “There’s the happy couple,” Devon said when they reached them. Ethan cut Lily a look. She hardly seemed happy. “This is Emma Carrington, Olivia’s sister.”