Smitten

by Colleen Coble

  As the parade began, Julia found a place outside Natalie’s coffee shop beside Reese. She had so much to tell them about the spa, about her brother’s money . . . about Zak . . . but Carson and Zoe, Natalie’s cousin, stood nearby and Julia didn’t dare spill her feelings for fear that everything might come out. So she said nothing and sat beside them on the brick curb.

  “Did you decide on the in-line skates?”

  “Yes,” Reese said as she sipped her cinnamon latte. “Just a few more decisions and I might be ready to do this. Smitten needs an outfitters shop, don’t you think?”

  “We all think so. Even those of us without a passion for outdoor activities still need to stay fit. We want to look as good as the Garner Sisters as we age, don’t we?”

  Reese giggled. “I suppose we do. Speaking of health, how’s your mom?”

  “She’s doing a lot better. She’s even making breakfast now, though I do wish she’d sit down and let me wait on her for a change.”

  “Considering all she usually does, I suppose that’s progress.”

  “True.”

  Zoe carried a tray and handed out muffin pieces from Natalie’s shop. No doubt Natalie couldn’t bear to leave Zoe in charge inside on such an important day. Though Zoe was twenty-seven, she tended to blurt out whatever she thought at the time.

  Julia took a piece and popped it into her mouth. “Is Nat coming out for the parade? Mia will be crushed if she doesn’t see her along the route.”

  “She’ll be here when the parade starts. Mia’s Sunday school class is fourth in the lineup, so she’ll be out by then,”

  Zoe answered.

  “Where’s Shelby?” Julia asked.

  “She’s walking with her students, remember?” Reese replied. “She’s going to have them all dressed up as little brides in white lace to sell our idea to the men of this town. Hopefully they’ll find it cute, and we’ll offer them some hope.”

  “Or they’ll aim the fireworks at us tonight instead of upward.”

  Reese laughed with her.

  “Oh. My. Gosh. Little Julia Bourne, is that you down there? You’re still so tiny!”

  Julia looked up at the long, jean-clad legs in front of her until she reached the mane of long blond hair highlighted by the sun, which glowed as if the woman wore a supernatural halo.

  “Amy Hastings,” Julia stuttered. “You’re back in Smitten?”

  Time had perfected the woman’s appearance as if she’d ripened like a fresh summer peach instead of aging like the rest of them. Julia ventured a gaze at Reese, who rolled her eyes.

  “Only for the Fourth. I’ll come back for Sawyer’s wedding, naturally, but things are going so well in California, I barely have time to think about Smitten. It’s still as charming as ever. I heard you girls have big plans, right? That is so cute, I just have to tell you.”

  “Right,” Reese said.

  “It’s hard for me to think of Smitten as romantic, though, having grown up here. The men in California are so sophisticated. I love how they’re not above using all the antiaging products or doing their best to stay fit. It’s not like here, where guys use a bar of soap and think they’re suddenly Don Juan. You can see how it’s hard for me to view this place as romantic and not backwoods.”

  Julia stood. “Not really. I prefer manly men. I don’t care to share my hair product with a guy. I’m funny that way.”

  Amy gave a polite laugh.

  “So what brings you back?” And in her mind Julia added, And what will make you leave again?

  “Do you remember Zak Grant?” Amy smiled. “What am I asking—of course you do. Your brother was his best friend!

  How is Greg?”

  “He’s in Afghanistan, but he’s doing well,” she said. “He flies a Black Hawk.”

  “The military?”

  Julia nodded. “So you’re here all the way from California to see Zak?”

  I’m not jealous. I’m not jealous. I’m not jealous. She’d say it to herself as many times as she needed to hear it. Zak thought of her as his little sister, and besides, who wanted a Christian woman who thought of marriage as a plague? No one that I can think of! Julia didn’t need romance. She needed to make the world more beautiful. That was her place in life.

  “He’s remodeling his restaurant. He wants to make it more intimate. So I guess I’m here to see the Smitten Grill.”

  “Oh?” She hoped her open-ended answer would lead to more information. Julia thought she was supposed to offer advice on the restaurant. Leave it to Zak to ask any female he thought would fall for his line.

  Amy placed her slender, manicured hands on her chest.

  “Oh, you don’t know. I forget you’re so many years younger than I am. That’s what I do. I design restaurant interiors in Los Angeles. Granted, Smitten is a world apart, but great restaurant design is universal. It had been some time since I’d seen my parents anyway, so I thought, why not help Zak? It’s the least I can do, considering our history.”

  “What does great restaurant design mean?” She’d keep asking questions until she got the answer she wanted. Was Amy here with designs for the restaurant or designs on Zak?

  Though she couldn’t imagine Zak sharing hair product with anyone, much less the bleached blonde in front of her.

  “It makes all the difference in the flow of customers, how much they spend in the bar, how they’ll linger over dessert.

  It’s an art form. But forget about me . . . What’s Greg’s little sister been up to?”

  “I’ve been in New York. I’m . . . I . . . facials.” Word salad.

  She cringed at her inability to speak when nervous.

  “She’s an esthetician,” Reese interrupted with a distinct flip of her ponytail. “Julia’s done some of the biggest names in Manhattan and learned at the premier spa in the Upper East Side. Now she’s here to bring her expertise to Smitten and, of course, Sawyer’s fans.”

  “Sawyer, right. Didn’t you and Sawyer used to date?” Amy asked Reese, and the look on her friend’s face made Julia want to slap Amy for her heartless ploy. “That must be awkward, to have him bring his bride back here.”

  “Not really,” Reese answered. “That was ages ago. I mean, do you even remember who you dated in high school, Julia?”

  “Yes,” Julia said. “Only because it was nobody, so it’s not all that difficult to remember.” She slunk down to sit again on the curb.

  Amy bent her long legs and balanced on her toes to crouch beside them. “You always were so cute.” Amy touched the side of Julia’s face. “Oh my gosh, to have those dimples! No wonder I was so jealous of you.”

  “Jealous of me?” Julia asked. “Weren’t you homecoming queen?” Dare she mention that she had won the regional chemistry fair?

  “Only prom queen,” she said.

  Julia and her friends were the queens of Saturday night television, so it hardly mattered which title Amy wore.

  “Zak always spoke so highly of you. He wanted to make sure you kept out of trouble, and it used to make me so jealous! I used to call you Saint Julia when he made me angry. I wanted him to care about me like that, but he thought of me as just another girl. You were like his sister, and he looked out for you. I hated that.”

  “So why’d you come back here for his restaurant?” Reese asked.

  “My boyfriend wanted to know the same thing, but Zak’s my friend and Smitten’s my hometown. With Sawyer’s wedding, there’s a good chance we can all make our names known.

  When Sawyer eats at the Smitten Grill, I want my name quoted in People magazine alongside Zak’s, right? Maybe I have something to prove to my hometown, who knows?” Amy rose to her full height, which seemed to go forever from Julia’s curb viewpoint. “So, it was great to see you. Maybe I’ll see you again before I leave. But if you’re ever in California, come and see me. I could do a lot with your hair, Julia.”

  “Yeah, that’d be great.” Julia wondered if she should explain about the spa and the grill, but what was
the point?

  She watched Amy’s sultry saunter as the blonde sashayed away from them. “She’s hardly dressed for a parade.”

  Reese stared at her. “You’re hardly one to talk about who is dressed appropriately in Smitten, but I’ll give you a free pass on Amy. What a nightmare. Can you believe she brought up Sawyer and me?”

  “I imagine there’s going to be more of that with him coming back to town. They’ll probably want to interview you as his past girlfriend. Maybe Amy did you a favor by reminding you to have an answer ready.”

  “Probably, but I hardly have any dirt on the guy. He’s been gone for years. He’s not even my friend on Facebook.”

  “I’m no fan of a man who doesn’t see what I see in you, Reese, but I’m glad Sawyer’s coming back. We need him.”

  “Speaking of distant pasts, I never thought about you and Zak before all this remodeling happened,” Reese said.

  “That’s something you and Zak have in common.”

  “I kind of like the idea. He’d be—”

  “Don’t say it. He’s like a big brother and now a landlord, and that’s all he’ll ever be.”

  “Touchy, touchy. It’s not like we have single men to spare in this town. I think Natalie grabbed up the only one available.”

  “Well, Zak is one you can cross off my list. Yours, too, if you’re smart. I wonder if they’ll get back together while she’s here.” Julia’s gaze fixated on the perky Amy.

  “You heard her say she was engaged.”

  “A boyfriend. Not engaged,” Julia corrected.

  “See, you were listening. Don’t go borrowing trouble, and now that I know you’ve got feelings for Zak, I’d say you should make your move tonight at the fireworks.”

  “I don’t have feelings for Zak!”

  “Denial is so cute.”

  “The parade’s starting. Here come the Garner Sisters playing their stringed instruments. Ah, I’m home!”

  Truthfully, the older women’s presence ruffled Julia’s romantic view of her future alone. Maybe independence wasn’t entirely sunshine and lollipops. She didn’t have a sister, for one thing, plus she had no musical talent. Natalie was practically engaged. Shelby was too sweet to be single forever, and Reese would meet some handsome brick of a man on the running path someday. So that left . . . cats for Julia. Lots and lots of cats.

  The future didn’t look bright for her as an aging esthetician in Smitten. What if she didn’t age well? Would anyone come to her for a facial after a certain age? If she allowed herself to muse on that thought too long, Zak’s face came to mind. Her mother always said it was a blessing to not want what you couldn’t have.

  “I’m going for a walk,” Julia said. And though she never would have admitted it, her legs strode toward Zak’s grill. Maybe it was to check if that’s where Amy was headed, and maybe it wasn’t, but she couldn’t have fought the urge if she’d tried.

  Zak stood on the outside porch of his restaurant and waited for the festivities to start. He was too far from town to see all the fun, but the sounds would travel toward him. The noise of a Smitten celebration always made him feel part of something bigger. He should have taken the entire day off instead of the afternoon to help barbecue at the town picnic.

  He imagined what Julia was doing up the street and what she might have worn to the parade. Something entirely inappropriate and traffic-stopping, no doubt. If he were honest, her very presence was all he cared about that day. Standing on the porch took him closer to her without the temptation that seeing her provided.

  Every year the parade was led by Smitten’s own Garner Sisters, Natalie’s great-aunts, who played stringed instruments together in the square. They rode on a giant flatbed truck with patriotic streamers glued to every exposed area. Zak smiled at the thought of the scene, which never changed year after year. He supposed that’s what he loved about Smitten.

  A cheerful roar erupted in the crowd from town, and he knew the parade had begun. Carson had left to help Natalie with the coffee shop, and Zak felt alone. He wasn’t in the mood to work. A familiar figure walked toward the restaurant, and it wasn’t long before he recognized it as Amy Hastings. A thousand thoughts rushed through his head, the loudest being, What could I have been thinking? Amy, the most popular girl in school, made Zak cool with her presence, but he’d grown weary of explaining simple things to her. It wasn’t fair to say she was dumb, but she was shallow. If life was a highway, Amy was its on-ramp. Hard to get up to speed in the short amount of road available.

  She wore high heels, a tank top, and jeans on her long legs. Where Julia made the stilettos look sweet and about her style, Amy made them look as if she were asking for trouble.

  He realized at that moment she’d noticed him.

  “Zak Grant, you’re not at the parade.”

  “Hey, Amy. Lot of work to do on the restaurant.”

  “Did you get my suggestions via e-mail?”

  “I did. I don’t think they’d really work here, but I appreciated the advice.”

  “That’s why I came. I knew you wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say. I’m a professional, Zak. I make good money doing this.”

  “Oh, I believe it. Smitten’s just different, that’s all.”

  “The restaurant business is universal. That’s why my plans work so well. They increase revenue, Zak. I can show you proof.”

  “I’m sure you can, but I’ve got the spa coming in, so I don’t imagine you’ve got a lot of plans for a spa and grill.”

  “It’s been done. Of course, you’ll see more spa fare on the menu. Not a lot of meat—except for perhaps raw tuna, maybe scallops.”

  “Why are you here, Amy?”

  “I told you. I’m here to help with the restaurant design.

  You ignored my e-mails.”

  “I didn’t ignore them. I didn’t want the help.”

  “Always and forever, Zak.”

  Amy’s presence made Zak uncomfortable. He knew she had a boyfriend back in Los Angeles, but he also knew she had an insatiable desire for attention, and he didn’t have time for her drama. “Say hi to your parents for me. I’m going to get back to work.”

  “Zak, you could at least show me around. I came all the way here to help.”

  “Sawyer’s not going to mention the restaurant in interviews, Amy.”

  “Why not? Why wouldn’t Sawyer do what he could to get national attention for his buddy’s restaurant? It’s the least he could do. Marketing is everything now. Do you have a Twitter account for the restaurant? You can Tweet when Sawyer is here. That would be huge; it would go out to all his followers.”

  “I appreciate that, Amy, but Sawyer’s my friend. If he wants to come here for a quiet meal, I’m not going to advertise that he’s here.”

  “In this economy, no one is above marketing. Especially free marketing.”

  “Amy, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve been working for a long time this morning so I can get to the barbecue. I need to get back to work.” He clamped the lock down, and Amy grabbed his elbow. He turned to see Julia standing twenty feet away, her gaze turned on the two of them. He called out to her, “Julia!”

  But it was too late. She turned and ran back toward town.

  Amy giggled. “You’re still leading that poor girl around like a lost puppy, and you think I have issues. Have a heart.

  Let her go already.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Julia saw the way Amy touched Zak’s elbow. The familiar feeling of rejection washed over her. How many dances had she watched the two of them together? The lavender wreath still hung on the door amid all the chaos of the remodel. She focused on it and the purple flowers and wished she had the faith of little Mia. To trust as a child trusted—somewhere along the line, she’d lost Mia’s blind faith ability, and she mourned its loss as she stared at the wreath. A true, trusting faith seemed like it only belonged to others.

  As Zak and Amy noticed her, she turned and ran back toward town. How many ti
mes did she have to batter her head against the same wall? Zak Grant didn’t love her. He never would, and it was time she lived in reality, not her dream world.

  Julia’s phone rang in that instant, and she silenced it as quickly as possible. “Hello,” she answered breathily.

  “Julia, is that you? It’s Devlin.”

  She walked around the building to the parking lot behind Sweet Surrender, but the chaos of Smitten’s parade could still be heard. “It’s me. It’s the Fourth of July, so it’s a bit loud here. A lot of celebrating going on, you understand.”

  “It’s the Fourth here too, but Manhattan never sleeps, as you know. I’m here at the spa working. We’ve got a big wedding party coming in tonight.”

  “Does this call mean you accept my apology? I wouldn’t have brought you out here if I’d known what I do now.”

  “I have a business proposition for you.”

  “For me?” Her legs felt weak. “Is it in New York?”

  “Naturally. I think we both understand where I stand on Smitten at the moment.”

  She said nothing about Mrs. Shapiro or the truth according to Zak. She gazed at the warm celebration going on up the street.

  She felt torn between two worlds, not really belonging to either.

  “It seems your sleuth boyfriend has outed me. I don’t own the spa, I just manage it for Mrs. Shapiro. Not that there’s anything wrong with decent work, but I did allow you to believe the place was mine. I allowed everyone to believe that.

  It was better for everyone involved.”

  “Yes, I heard that. Though your success can hardly be doubted, Devlin. You’ve made that spa all that it is. I never questioned that. Or your sincerity.”

  “Mrs. Shapiro used her husband’s money to invest in the business, and because she’s seen such a great return on it, she wants to open another one. On the West Side. As you know, there are a lot of younger patrons on the West Side, and she’d like to tap into that with a younger, hipper spa created for them.”

  “Wow, that’s a great idea!” But something in her stomach didn’t feel the elation her voice carried.

  “She wants you to head it up. Just like I head up the spa here in the Upper East Side. As far as anyone knows, it’s your business. You run it, you’re the face behind all its success.