by Taryn Quinn
He caught it and threw it back at me. “Is that any way to talk to your favorite public official?”
“I like Christian better.”
“You wound me.”
I snorted. Christian was Moose’s brother—though he was almost his polar opposite—and Jared’s lone deputy. “Since you’re here, you can make yourself useful.”
“You know asking favors after insulting me isn’t advised.”
I nodded to the console. “Just take the other end. We’re bringing it upstairs.”
“Up Kinleigh’s stairs? Are you high?”
“If I was, I wouldn’t tell you.”
Jared attempted to lift one side and grunted. “Why are we doing this?”
“Because Kin loves projects. Especially if they’re Art Deco.”
“Art what?”
“Never mind. Just lift.”
“Would you just ask the girl out and put us all out of our misery?”
My side of the console thudded to the floor.
“What? Like this is a shocking revelation?” He stacked his arms on his side. “You’ve been into her forever.”
“Would you keep it down?”
“She doesn’t know? Or is your river of denial deep enough to swim in?”
“Look, it’s a new thing. And not going too well.”
“Couldn’t seal the deal?”
“Jesus, Jared.” I collapsed against the sawhorse behind me. “Like I’d give you details.”
He tipped his hat back. “Oh, so it is serious. Huh. Well, I suppose we all have to do it sometime.”
“It’s not like that.” I didn’t think. How could I know for sure? She was too busy avoiding me as if I smelled rotten.
Sure, I got a little ripe somedays with the heat of the shop. I took a hesitant sniff and luckily, just smelled sawdust and laundry detergent.
When I looked up again, Jared was grinning at me.
“Shut up. Just help me bring this upstairs and maybe—”
“Maybe you’ll get rewarded for your present?”
“No. Well, that would be nice, but it isn’t why I got it for her. I just saw it and knew she’d want it. And it’s not like I want favors or whatever.”
“You don’t?”
“I mean—Jesus, just help me. I can’t talk about it. I’m not going to talk about it.”
He gave me a narrow-eyed look, one eyebrow disappearing into the shadow from his ridiculously big hat.
“It’s private.”
“It’s the Cove. There is no private here.”
Was that why she didn’t want to date me? Beyond her favorite excuse of Ivy, that is.
“I’m sick of looking at this thing.”
“Handily, I’m sick of looking at your mug too.”
I straightened and grabbed my end of the surprisingly heavy piece of furniture. Then again, it was all solid wood. None of the particle board crap that newer furniture was made out of. Nope, this was solid and would definitely stand the test of time.
Then again, so did my pieces.
We shuffled our way out the front of my shop and onto the sidewalk. Our two businesses didn’t share an entrance. The wind was howling and the sky was churning. So much for that sunny January day we were enjoying.
Then again, lake effect was often cruel and capricious. Most likely, I’d be doing some more plowing by tonight.
Jared grunted. “Is there a body in here?”
“Need some help, old man?”
“Who are you calling old?” The wind gusted and Sheriff Brooks’ hat went soaring.
I sighed.
Lucky hustled after it. I winced at he stomped his size fifteen on it to halt its progress.
“Dammit,” Jared muttered.
Lucky lumbered back to us. He was a big dude and while not exactly clumsy, he definitely didn’t excel in the grace or tact department. He glanced down at the khaki-colored hat now wearing said size fifteen boot mark and crushed it back on Jared’s head. “Want me to take that?”
“I got it.”
I pressed my lips together at Jared’s rapidly reddening face. It was damn heavy. I’d had to use my dolly to get it off my truck and into the workshop. And okay, maybe I should have waited to unwrap it fully before I took it up to Kinleigh. But she’d pissed me off and I’d actually contemplated refinishing it myself.
Ugh, this woman was going to make me insane. I never overthought stuff. Plan, act, sell or gift merchandise and move on. Period.
“Can we put it down for a second?” Jared’s vein was going to pop out of his freaking neck.
Lucky slid one big paw under it and lifted it easily. “Got it.”
Just then, Jared’s radio chirped on his shoulder. “Sheriff, we’ve got a 10-54 on Elm Street.”
Jared frowned and tapped on his mic to reply. “A what? Gina? Is that you? Where’s Bonnie?”
“Mom had an emergency.”
He gave Lucky a disgusted grunt as he effortlessly helped me maneuver the console toward Kinleigh’s doorway.
“We got this.” I nodded to Jared. “Oh, what’s a 10-54?” I called after him.
“You don’t want to know.” He slapped his hat against his thigh then tossed it into his SUV with a grumble of words that were snatched by the wind.
“Sure we have to do those stairs?”
“I’m sure.”
Lucky waggled his eyebrows. “Think Kin would want to go out with me sometime? She’s hot.”
My fingers ached from my hold. Or maybe from the harder grip I’d suddenly taken.
Lucky shouldered his way through the door and up the stairs. He barely needed my help. Damn battering ram that he was. “Is that a no?”
“You do what you want.”
He shook his long hair back. “I don’t poach if that’s the deal. I thought you guys were just friends.” Lucky grunted as I climbed the stairs faster. “Hey, ease up.”
“Gravity, Lucky.”
“Right.” He backed his way into Kinleigh’s shop.
The chimes above the door gave a friendly hello. She’d changed out the jangling bells she’d used for Christmas. She was always changing things.
“I’ll be right with you,” she called.
I jerked my chin to the semi-empty spot under the windows.
Lucky steered that way and set it down gently. I honestly hadn’t believed he had a gentle bone in his body. He collapsed into the bean bag chair and stretched his back. “I need this thing.”
I left him to his weird bowed situation. I didn’t want to know or watch.
“Kin?”
She popped her head out from the back room. “Hey.”
“I brought you something for the shop.”
“You did?” Her huge eyes danced even as her attention strayed back to her storeroom. “I’ll check in a second. There are ducks crossing Elm Street. Well, not exactly crossing. They’ve stopped traffic. They keep walking in drunken circles. It’s riveting.”
“Well, I guess that’s what a 10-54 is.”
“A what?”
“Did I hear ducks?” Lucky’s voice boomed from behind me.
Kinleigh squeaked out a yes and waved him over. “You gotta see this.”
Why didn’t she invite me back there?
I tried to shove down the little annoyance. “I’ll just be out here.”
“Okay. I’ll be out soon.” Her gorgeous fiery hair was piled up in a weird turquoise wrap that matched the embroidered jeans she was wearing. An oversized rust-colored sweater slipped off her shoulder, showing off creamy skin and a smattering of freckles.
Lucky’s interest matched mine and then some. He moved in behind her to look down at whatever she was watching on.
“Man, they look drunk.” Lucky laughed and loomed over her.
“Right? Tabby’s been chasing the brown one with the white tail up and down the street. She can’t get her delivery truck out.”
“How am I supposed to get my afternoon cupcakes?”
Kin
leigh’s magical laughter floated out to the store followed by Lucky’s lower chuckle.
My fists clenched at my sides. It wasn’t as if it was any of my business if she flirted with him. Except I was going to rip his hair out by the roots and strangle him with it.
No big deal.
I re-directed my attention on the honey-toned wood of the console and moved it farther in so it didn’t block any foot traffic.
Maybe I should have refinished it. It looked pretty shabby next to all of her carefully curated pieces.
Patches wound her way around my ankles and hopped up on the console, and then sprawled out and started licking her paws. “At least you like it.” I rubbed my thumb under her ginger and white chin. The top half of her was almost black fur, making her big green eyes stand out. She blinked at me then resumed licking.
“Just like your master. Only interested in me for a second.”
I glanced around the room and found the lights I’d brought up a few days ago. She’d added a few things to that spot and highlighted the lamps with her Kinleigh ways.
At least she seemed to like them. Maybe she’d feel the same about the console.
Her giggles rolled out again and I blew out a breath. Yeah, I couldn’t listen to that right now. Especially since I hadn’t heard that particular laugh since before…
Well, just before.
Maybe I just needed to take the hint. Obviously, she wasn’t that into me.
I could probably come to terms with that in a lifetime or two.
Seven
Mid-February
Having a baby was scary business.
Not even just the physical act of pushing one out, which I had to admit had traumatized me when I’d watched Ivy go through it. I still felt the occasional phantom pain in my hand, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if Ivy had broken a bone with her mega-ton squeeze during labor.
But the whole thing. Having to care for a tiny person who relied on you for everything. One who couldn’t even hold up her head on her own for long if you let your arm droop.
“There you go. That’s a love.” I adjusted my hold on the baby and barely resisted burying my nose in her russet curls. She didn’t have a ton of them yet. Just enough for Ivy to wrap her head in a festive red headband with hearts all over it and a big floppy bow. “Who’s a pretty girl? Who’s a sweet munchkin?”
Rhiannon didn’t so much as blink. She seemed fascinated by me. My face was must-see TV for the six-months-old-and-under set.
She wasn’t the only one. Her eyes were so stunningly blue I was transfixed.
Ivy and Rory had made such a beautiful child. What must it be like to look down at the precious baby you’d made from your love?
Or from extreme fondness on a plastic-wrapped mattress set in a frame on a floor covered with sawdust.
I shifted on Ivy’s sofa and bit my lower lip at the slight pressure in my lower belly. Maybe that was a good sign.
Anything else wasn’t possible. It just could not be.
“Ivy, I gotta pee,” I called out. “Too much tea.”
A total lie, but I needed to check my underwear for the sixteenth time today. On top of another twenty times yesterday and the day before that. For the first time in my life, I was hoping for an accident. I’d even worn one of my nicest pairs to tempt the karmic gods.
Please, please, please.
“Kin, just hang on a sec,” Ivy called back from the kitchen. “My food purifier isn’t working. She can’t have her bananas if they aren’t properly—oh, fuck balls!”
I scooped up the baby and raced into the kitchen, half expecting Rhiannon to start wailing. But nope, she just kept looking at me, her chubby fist in her mouth. Then she turned her head to look at her mother just as I did, following Ivy’s gaze to the congealed dripping lump of yellow on the ceiling.
“Fuck balls,” I echoed.
I wasn’t even much of a swearer. But today I was ready to unleash all the curse words until I got my damn period.
“Thank God she can’t understand that yet.” Ivy blew out a breath that ruffled the auburn hair that had come free from her topknot. “I intended to use this stupid food processor to make dinner tonight. Rory’s on his way back from LA and it was supposed to be perfect. I’d put the baby down and while dinner cooked, I’d slip on a sexy nightie and turn on the music and chill a bottle of wine. Then we’d fuck like rabbits before the dinner timer went off.” She sighed. “Now I have to go to the store and get a new processor.”
Rhiannon fussed in my arms, so I juggled her and cooed softly to get her to settle again. When it actually worked, I smiled. Hey, maybe I could do this after all.
Good thing, since that test in your purse in a ticking baby time bomb.
I didn’t even need that test. Nope. I’d just grabbed it on a lark. My period was late, big deal. It had been late before, multiple times. In fact, it wasn’t even that odd for me to have inconsistent periods. But I hadn’t had sex in a very long time.
Until Macy’s wedding night.
Until tequila had made not only my clothes come off but had caused my sense of self-preservation to take a hike.
Until August and I had made—sex. We’d made very good sex.
And that was that.
Even so, I was always pragmatic. I’d bought a test and visited my best friend to try to get her to spill the beans on her preggo symptoms before she knew she was knocked up. I had no intention of telling her about my situation. Or if I did, I certainly wasn’t going to name who the daddy was.
Could be. Emphasis on probably not.
Instead, Ivy had whipped up mashed bananas for the baby, and I’d cuddled with her adorable child while hoping fervently I was ruining my favorite panties.
How was this my life?
I shifted restlessly. Now I really did have to pee. “Ivy, speaking of fucking—”
Ivy whipped off her apron. “God, you don’t know how pent-up I’ve been. I mean, we just got off probation, and for the first few months after having this one,” she nodded at Rhiannon, who appeared unrepentant, “I couldn’t even think about his dick. But now? I just need it. You know?”
I bit my lip and resisted the urge to cover the baby’s ears. “Yeah.”
Regular sex wasn’t a part of my world, but I could imagine. Doing the deed basically stirred a dangerous bloodlust. It wasn’t sex with August per se I was craving. It was just—
Okay, it was completely August’s fault. I couldn’t even look at his broad, competent hands without imagining them wrapped around my breasts.
I swallowed hard. “Maybe you should try a hobby? That’s what I’m doing. I’m taking classes on how to knit.”
And knotting yarn more than I was actually completing a pattern, but still. At least I was making an effort not to become a sex toy junkie.
Or an August Beck junkie, which was even worse.
“Pfft, forget knitting, I want sex.”
I couldn’t argue with such sound logic.
“He’s been so busy with work we haven’t even been doing the Zoom naked thing.” Ivy sighed again and moved forward to take Rhiannon, who continued to stare at me even once she was ensconced in her mother’s arms.
I’d never realized I was so interesting.
“Zoom naked thing?” I repeated, clutching my stomach.
There, that was a cramp. Totally. I was almost certain.
“Yeah, you know. Get on the webcam, take off your clothes, and—”
“Seriously, Ive? This is what I have to hear when I stop by to see my baby sister?”
Goddess, no. This could not be happening.
I shut my eyes and hoped I could make myself vanish just from the power of my mind. There was no way I could face August while I was potentially carrying his child.
Planning to just hide yourself away for the better part of a year, are you?
No, I wouldn’t have to. Because I was not pregnant.
My back was even starting to ache. So there.
&
nbsp; Ivy just rolled her eyes as her brother’s heavy boots thumped up the hallway. “Do you ever knock?”
“We share this duplex, remember?”
“Not for much longer.”
“Yeah, yeah, when your house is finished being built, you’ll be gone. I know the spiel. Maybe I enjoy just being able to pop in on you from time to time.” He moved forward to tug on one of Rhiannon’s naked baby toes, making her giggle and hold out her hands to him.
He immediately took her into his arms without bobbling her head. I would’ve sworn my ovaries stood up and did a cheer.
Ivy heaved out a sigh, but she was smiling now. It was hard to watch August making gooey eyes at his niece and not curl your toes.
At least if you were me.
“Yes, but you have your own side, remember? I’m a married woman now, and I need privacy.”
“Not when Lucky Charms isn’t present and accounted for. Where is he anyway? Thought he was bringing his fancy a—” He glanced down at Rhiannon and cleared his throat. “Butt back from LA today.”
“He’ll be back tonight. Do you always have to give him such a hard time?”
“He isn’t here right now, so I’m not giving him anything. But yes.” August turned his head and gave me a smile dripping with sexual promise. “Hey, Kin.”
I fumbled for my amethyst cluster necklace. I had a feeling I’d be clutching my crystals a lot today. “Hi. Wasn’t sure you even saw me.”
Oh, lovely. Sounding needy was the last thing I needed to do right now.
His green eyes heated as he cupped Rhiannon’s head in his big hand. “I always see you.”
Pleasure bloomed inside me, but I squelched it as I noticed Ivy’s pinched brows as she studied us. “Look who’s trying to be charming. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.”
No one laughed. Or even smiled. The quip landed as many of my attempts at jokes did.
Much like the banana that had just splatted on the newly mopped kitchen floor.
August frowned and tilted his head back, toting his niece with him to get a better look at the ceiling. “You have a leak? What the—it’s yellow.”
“It’s banana. The food processor exploded. I need to get a new one. You can’t have a romantic dinner without the dinner.”
