Best of My Love (Fool's Gold)

by Susan Mallery

  Eddie and Gladys looked at each other. “What are you talking about? What else are they going to do?”

  “Be friends,” Shelby told them. “Mayor Marsha thought it would be good for single men and women to have a chance to be friends without the pressure of dating. Like Aidan and I are doing. We hang out and enjoy each other’s company, but as friends. Nothing more.”

  “That’s stupid.” Eddie put her hands on her hips. “Are you telling me that this is platonic?” She practically spit the last word. “No one’s getting any?”

  “That’s not exactly how I would put it,” Shelby began.

  “Yes or no?” Gladys asked. “Sex or no sex?”

  “No sex,” Shelby said.

  “Ridiculous,” Eddie grumbled. “Young people today. I’ll never understand them.”

  “Let’s get out of here. Maybe somebody good is working out at the gym.”

  The two old ladies walked away. Aidan looked from them to the crowd gathering near the rental shack. There were about fifteen people.

  “You think they’re going to take the news any better?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure.” She was genuinely confused. “Why do people act like we’re doing something unnatural? This is a good thing.”

  “Let’s go see if we can convince our new friends over there.”

  Shelby and Aidan walked over to the group waiting. She took Charlie while he introduced himself and her, then explained Mayor Marsha’s vision for the event. Shelby put down Charlie and let him greet everyone. He was friendly and gentle and soon had all the women fussing over him.

  “I don’t get it,” one of the guys, a twentysomething with blond hair and glasses, said. “I thought this was a place to get to know girls.”

  “It is,” Shelby told him. “As friends.”

  “I don’t want any more girls who are just friends. What’s the point?”

  Shelby looked at Aidan, who shrugged.

  “It’s nice,” she said. “When there’s no pressure. Aidan and I are friends and we’ve learned a lot from each other.”

  A tall redhead in her late thirties frowned. “I’m with him. I thought I could meet some single guys. I work a lot and it’s hard to get out. I already have plenty of friends. I’m looking for something a little more interesting.”

  Shelby saw one of the guys shift closer to her. She looked at Aidan. “Help.”

  “Just give it a try,” he told the group.

  The twentysomething in glasses looked doubtful. “Are you being straight with us, bro? I saw how you looked at her before. That wasn’t about being friends.”

  Shelby blinked. “What are you talking about? We’re really friends. Just friends.”

  Aidan nodded. “She’s right.”

  “Uh-huh,” the guy said. “Whatever it takes to get through the night. I’m not going to judge.”

  Aidan drew in a breath. “Let’s just give it a try, okay? Get your skates and get on the ice. Try to talk to everyone if you can. As friends.”

  There was some grumbling but the group started to get ready to go out on the ice. A few had brought their own skates, the rest got in line to rent a pair.

  Shelby sighed. “I’m not sure this is going to work. But we’re making the effort, so we can report back to Mayor Marsha with a clear conscience.” She looked at Aidan. “What did that guy mean about how you looked at me?”

  Aidan bent down to check on Charlie’s coat. “I don’t know. I don’t think he’s going to come back for our second event.”

  “I don’t think any of them are.”

  Aidan straightened. “Ready to skate?”

  “Uh-huh. What are you going to do with Charlie?”

  “Maggie who runs the shack is going to keep him with her.” Aidan grinned. “Charlie’s very good with the ladies. At work, he has Fay trained. Right at ten and two, he’s up and looking for a doggy treat. He sits up and waves his paws at her. If she’s too slow, he waves faster, then starts to bark at her, and off she goes to get his treat.”

  “I knew you were smart,” she told the dog.

  Aidan led Charlie toward the shack. Shelby watched him go. Charlie might not be the dog he’d had in mind, but they looked good together. Watching Aidan tend to the smaller dog was just so sweet. And kind of sexy. The tender side of him was unexpected.

  For a second she allowed herself to imagine how tender he would be with her. Gentle, but strong. He would take his time and make her feel safe and cared for. Then she shook off the images. They were friends. Only friends. Despite what anyone else thought...or said.

  * * *

  “I WANTED TO let you know I’m fine,” Amber said.

  Shelby looked up from the supplies she was organizing. Taking Taryn’s advice, she’d put a notice up at the high school. Two-hour shifts were available at the bakery for cookie decorating. Their Valentine’s Day orders had tripled from the previous year. It seemed that the entire town, not to mention several dozen out-of-state customers, wanted frosted cookies for the holiday. There was no way Shelby and their permanent staff could get everything done in time, so reinforcements were being called in.

  She had eight fifteen-year-old girls due to arrive at three thirty. Which meant eight stations to be set up with frosting, cookies and little sprinkles. Not to mention hairnets, aprons and gloves.

  She looked at her business partner and did her best to put Amber’s statement in context. Before she could, the other woman laughed.

  “Sorry. I guess I assumed it was all about me. I saw Dr. Galloway last week. Remember, I’d been complaining about not feeling well? I wanted to let you know I’m fine.”

  “Oh!” Shelby laughed. “Of course. I’m sorry. I should have remembered.”

  “You’re busy.”

  “Still, not an excuse. So everything is good? That’s so great. Does she have you on special vitamins or something?”

  Amber shifted her gaze to the table. “Um, yes. I am on vitamins and some other things. I’m not sick.”

  There was something in her friend’s voice. A particular tone Shelby couldn’t put her finger on. Still, if everything was all right, she was busy enough to let the rest of it go.

  “I’m glad. I know you weren’t yourself.”

  “I wasn’t, but now I’m, you know, okay.” Amber pointed to the cookie stations. “I’m very curious about how this is going to go.”

  “Me, too. I figure we’re either going to have a fantastic workforce we can call in for special orders, or it will be a total disaster.”

  “No middle ground?”

  “I think not.”

  “Good luck with it all.”

  “Thanks.”

  Shelby finished setting up the stations and returned to check on the front of the store just as Madeline walked.

  “Hey, you.” Her friend smiled. “How’s it going? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

  “I’ve been busy and so have you.”

  Madeline laughed. “Tell me about it. A lot of young women are expecting a Valentine’s Day proposal, so they’ve been coming in to try on dresses. Which means lots of looking and no buying. I tell myself they’ll be back. In the meantime, our samples are getting a workout.”

  “Speaking of samples,” Shelby teased as she held out a plate with pieces of cookie on it. “We’re doing some special Valentine’s cookies. If you want some for your movie-star fiancé, you need to order soon.”

  Madeline took a piece and popped it in her mouth. “I already have. They’re so delicious.” She took a second piece. “Jonny’s been going back and forth to LA for the past couple of weeks. It’s all in preparation for his next movie. When I get his schedule nailed down, I was thinking of having a few people over for dinner. You know, couples. Can I invite you and Aidan?”<
br />
  “We’re not a couple.”

  “You keep saying that and no one believes you.” Madeline smiled. “Say yes. It will be fun.”

  But we’re not a couple. Still, Shelby didn’t say the words. She was starting to understand that no one could grasp what they were doing. She didn’t know why it was so hard to understand, but it was. So she should probably accept it.

  “I’ll check with Aidan and get back to you. I’m sure he’ll say yes.”

  “Great.” Madeline grinned. “Want to come by the store and try on some samples?”

  “No. It’s not like that.”

  “Keeping telling yourself that and maybe one day it will be true.”

  With that, her friend waved and left.

  Shelby put the sample plate back on the counter and sighed. Aidan wasn’t going to propose. Not on Valentine’s Day or ever. But thinking about him asking her to marry him made her feel all funny inside. Not in a bad way. More...unsettled. As if the possibility wasn’t exactly awful.

  * * *

  AIDAN WATCHED SHELBY move unsteadily across the snow. They were cross-country skiing—a first for her. Her movements were jerky and uncoordinated. He had to admit that whenever they tried a new sport, he was always surprised by how badly she did. Oh, she tried and put her whole heart into it. But she lacked that innate athletic skill he would have assumed she had. After all, her brother was a former Olympic athlete. Of course, his father was a world-famous artist and he’d never gotten beyond stick figures. Genetics was a funny thing.

  She continued to slide her legs back and forth while using her poles, the way he’d taught her.

  “This is a great workout,” she said, her voice breathless. “I get that it will whip me into shape. The fun part is less clear.”

  “It gets more fun as you get better at it.”

  “Where have I heard that before?”

  But she didn’t give up. She kept moving and after a few minutes, her stride evened out.

  Despite the straps around his shoulders and chest to pull the small sled, he easily kept pace with her. Every few minutes he looked back to check on Charlie. The little dog was in a box on the sled, settled in a nest of old down coats Aidan had borrowed from the lost-and-found box at the office. Charlie had on his doggy coat and booties and seemed happy to watch the world go by.

  Shelby moved a little faster. “Okay, I’m getting it.”

  She barely finished speaking when she let out a little yelp and fell over sideways. Aidan helped her to her feet.

  “Always graceful,” he teased as he wiped the snow from her side.

  She laughed. “I know. Do me a favor, please. Tell everyone I was brilliant. It will make me feel better.”

  She swayed as she spoke, as if she was about to fall again. He reached out to grab hold of her. She put her hands on his chest.

  The pose was an odd combination of intimate and not. The layers of clothing and outerwear, not to mention the dogsled strapped to his body, kept them physically apart. Yet there was a part of him that felt he was touching her everywhere. Feeling her soft skin and kissing her as he...

  He held in a groan and deliberately took a step back. He wasn’t touching her—that was just wishful thinking on his part. Instead he was left hard and hungry for something he not only couldn’t have, but something he knew he shouldn’t even be wanting. Shelby was his friend. He wanted her in his life, and friendship was the way to make sure that happened. Besides, they had a deal and he didn’t go back on his word.

  He supposed he could find someone else and scratch the itch, but that didn’t seem right. Not only would it be disrespectful to Shelby, it would mean moving backward for him. He was a grown-up. He could deal with a few urges.

  “You ready to try again?” he asked.

  “Always.” She straightened her body and began to move forward. “Tell me when this gets fun.”

  “Promise.”

  She glanced at him. “People really pay for you to take them out and do this all day? Exercise in the snow? Because they could just get a gym membership.”

  “Where’s the thrill of that? Out here, we’re in nature.”

  “Cold nature.”

  “Stop,” he told her.

  She obliged.

  He pointed up at the tall trees around them. The dusting of snow contrasted with the green needles and brown bark. The sky was so blue it almost hurt to look at it.

  “You don’t get this kind of view in a gym.”

  She nodded. “I’ll give you that, but you also don’t get frostbite.”

  “I thought girls were supposed to be the romantic ones,” he complained and they started moving again.

  “That’s a myth started by women to make men feel strong. At the heart of it, we’re actually the ruthless gender.”

  She spoke cheerfully. He laughed.

  “No one believes you,” he told her.

  “It was worth a try.” She paused to catch her breath. “My friend Madeline wants to invite us to dinner. She and Jonny are having a few couples over.” She held up one glove-clad hand. The pole dangled from her wrist. “I know what you’re thinking. We’re not actually a couple. I’ve tried to tell her a bunch of times, but she doesn’t believe me. Or she won’t. I’m not sure it matters. So do you want to go?”

  She was wearing sunglasses, so he couldn’t see her blue eyes, but he could imagine the combination of hopefulness and worry. Hope because she would want to have fun with her friends. Worry that he wouldn’t understand.

  Without thinking—because if he’d been thinking, he wouldn’t have done it—he bent down and kissed her. The second his mouth touched hers, he knew he’d made a terrible mistake. He started to pull back only to realize how much he liked the feel of her lips against his. The softness. The slight chill from the outdoor temperature with a hint of warmth below.

  Need and desire battled with good sense and in the end, good sense won. He straightened.

  “Yes,” he said firmly, as if nothing had happened. “We’ll go to dinner.”

  Shelby pulled off her glasses. Her eyes were wide and unblinking. “You just kissed me.”

  He swore silently. “You noticed.”

  “Hard not to.”

  “It was an accident.”

  “You slipped?”

  “I wasn’t thinking.” He glanced at Charlie to make sure the dog was okay, then returned his attention to her. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. Think of it as an involuntary reaction. Like a sneeze.”

  “I was being cute and you had to kiss me?”

  “Something like that.” His mouth twisted. “I mean it, Shelby. It was a mistake. We’re doing something good here. I don’t want to screw that up. We still have several months left in our experiment. Let the kiss go.”

  He knew she was thinking, but had no idea what. While he mostly regretted what had happened, part of him simply couldn’t. He’d needed to kiss her for a while and now he had.

  “Okay,” she said at last. “It never happened.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” She slipped on her glasses and faced front. “Let’s get going. The sooner we get done spending a bunch of time in nature, the sooner I can get back to being warm.”

  “There’s the spirit.”

  Before he could say anything else, her cell phone rang. Shelby reached for her pocket.

  “I’ll have to tell Kipling that the new towers are working great. I know they were put in for the search-and-rescue folks to have reception way out here. He’ll be so proud.” She glanced at the screen. “Speaking of my brother.” She pushed a button. “Hey, Kipling, we were just—”

  Her body stiffened. “Now? Really? Okay. We’ll be right there.” She looked around. “We’re out cross-country skiing,
but I’m sure Aidan knows a quick way back. We’ll see you at the hospital as soon as we can get there. Uh-huh. It’s going to be okay.”

  A dozen disasters crossed Aidan’s mind, but he didn’t ask anything. Instead he waited until she’d hung up. She smiled at him.

  “Destiny’s in labor. I have to get to the hospital. Not only to be there when she’s born, but because I’m taking Starr home with me. Tell me you know a shortcut.”

  “Always. We’re about ten minutes from the car.”

  She groaned. “Well, crap. You’ve been skiing me in circles.”

  “In case you hurt yourself.”

  “Always the planner. Okay, Mr. Mountain Guide. Get me back to civilization.”

  * * *

  SHELBY HELD THE perfect baby in her arms. The little girl was warm and tiny, with her eyes tightly closed. Everything about her was magical—the way her impossibly small starfish-like hands moved, the slight puckering of her exquisite rosebud mouth. If God was trying to send a message saying that Shelby needed to get on with her life, He was getting through loud and clear.

  She wanted this. Wanted to be holding her own baby. She wanted tears filling her own eyes, the way they filled Destiny’s. She wanted her own husband looking at her the way Kipling looked at his wife. They were happy. No, not happy. That word was far too small for what they were obviously feeling.

  “That baby looks good on you,” Aidan said with a smile.

  She laughed softly. “I can’t believe you said that. You’re not freaked out by this whole thing?”

  “Why would I be? Not my baby.” He raised one shoulder. “Although I have to admit, it’s more tempting than I thought it would be.”

  Shelby leaned toward him. “Want to hold her?”

  Aidan backed up so fast, he nearly knocked over a chair. He held up both hands, as if surrendering. “No way. I’m not that guy.”

  For a second, Shelby wanted to tell him he was exactly that guy. That he would be a great father. But she knew the thought of it terrified him. Talk about getting stuck. Still, a girl could dream.

  She turned back to her sister-in-law. “She’s amazing. You’re so lucky.”

  Destiny wiped away tears. “I know.” She smiled at Starr, her fifteen-year-old half sister. “You hanging in there?”