by Meier, Susan
He hadn’t realized how much gossip she’d endured after her mom was killed driving out of town with her lover—leaving Ellie’s dad. But apparently it had sucked every bit as bad as being a punching bag for his dad, the president of the town’s bank. It was no wonder they’d distracted themselves with their competition to be the best.
Somehow they’d ended up kissing, and having sex, scaring the hell out of him. What they had packed a punch that was more than sexual. But for a kid with no home, forced to sleep in his car and shower in the gym, it was too much to think about. So he’d steered clear of Ellie, hadn’t even considered canceling his date with Barbara Beth Rush for Evan Drobnak’s graduation party. And the minute he had his diploma in hand, he’d driven out of Harmony Hills to the marine recruiter in Pittsburgh without a backward glance.
Remembering her reaction to him tonight, he realized he’d probably hurt her. Which, considering it had been nine years since they’d even seen each other, shouldn’t really matter anymore. It wasn’t often a man got the chance to so easily buy out his competitor, but he’d gotten lucky with a stock when he’d invested his hazard pay. He now had enough money to buy McDermott’s and, really, her dad was too sick to run it. Finn had known that when he’d set up shop here. No one talked about it, but everyone could see Mark was slipping. Finn hated that Ellie’s dad had had a full-fledged episode that took him totally out of the game, but he’d known the day was coming when Mark would not be able to run McDermott’s.
Still, if Ellie wouldn’t sell, and he had to share the town’s clients, he’d have to use that investment income to make up for the shortfall his business would endure every month. Eventually that money would run out, and he’d be broke. A few months after that he’d be bankrupt.
His jaw hardened. He was getting that funeral home from her.
Chapter Two
“Mom?” Finn called.
Nothing.
His heart thumped as fear stiffened his muscles. He clicked on the light in the brown brick house he’d bought a few months ago. He hadn’t just returned to Harmony Hills to start a business. He was on a mission.
He’d finally persuaded his mom to leave his abusive father. In the past few weeks, her increased happiness and decreased fear had warmed his heart and given him the hope that maybe they could salvage at least part of their family. But his dad was a schemer. Just because he hadn’t immediately tried to talk her home, that didn’t mean he’d let her go without a fight. What if his father had decided to come after her tonight? What if she was already gone?
“Mom!”
“I’m in here.”
He spun around and found her sitting in the dark family room beside the open-floor-plan kitchen. His heart galloped in his chest. His ragged breaths actually hurt.
Strolling over, he steadied his heart and slowed his breathing. He sat on the arm of one of the two peanut-colored leather sofas that faced each other in front of the fireplace. “So, why are you sitting in the dark?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t really want to turn on the lights yet.”
He chuckled. “The sun is just about down.” He waited a beat before he added, “You know, it’s not a problem if you turn on a light.”
“Your dad hated high electric bills—” She shrugged again. “And working in your office I’ve seen how little money came in last month. I know McDermott’s is getting a lot of the business.”
He slid to the cushion part of the sofa and smiled across the coffee table at her. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Maybe I should.”
“Every company takes a little time to get off the ground.” Once his mom was more stable, he intended to tell her about his plan to buy McDermott’s. But he couldn’t until he was sure she was strong enough to resist his greedy, sweet-talking father, a man who wouldn’t hesitate to lure her home and then use her safety as a weapon to extort whatever he wanted from Finn.
“You keep telling me to trust you, but I don’t see how I can when the funeral home operates at a loss.”
“We’re only in our first year—”
“And I’m your mother. Maybe I shouldn’t take a salary?”
“Mom, I’m fine. I have a plan. You’re just going to need to trust me.”
“I trust you. But I can’t…” She cleared her throat. “I can’t stay here forever. You’re a single guy. You should have your privacy.”
Ah. So that’s what was bothering her. “Of course you won’t stay here forever. As soon as things click, I’ll raise your salary and you can get an apartment.”
“That would be nice.” She glanced down. “But your dad—”
He sucked in a breath, knowing what was coming.
“—won’t be happy if he thinks I’m moving on. If I’d spoken up years ago, he might have handled my moving out better.”
Or his father might have beaten her to death instead of just to within an inch of her life.
But that was something she didn’t need to be reminded of. He had her out of that house, and he was keeping her out. After risking his life in a country where he didn’t speak the language and where every doorway, every car, every passerby was a potential threat, his dad didn’t scare him. Let Jeb Donovan come after him. He wouldn’t mind a confrontation that turned physical.
But his mother would. And his mother would also be his dad’s target. Jeb would never confront a man. Only a defenseless woman and three scrawny boys. That’s why he’d kicked Finn and his brothers out as soon as they got old enough to stand up to him, and why all three of them had entered the military. They’d had no money. No choice. Though his dad had tried to break them, he’d created three very strong enemies.
He rose from the sofa. “Let’s go get ice cream.”
She laughed. “Really? In the dead of night?”
Her comment reminded him of Ellie already wanting to go to bed at seven o’clock. Lord, she was even prettier than she had been in high school. He wondered if she was as sassy as she used to be, and his heart skipped a beat. There was just something about their competition that always turned him on. Giving in and finally doing it had created one of his favorite high school memories. And now she was back…and in a way, they were competing again.
He tackled and subdued a surge of lust that heated his blood, and told himself to forget about Ellie as he led his mom to the garage door. “It’s not the dead of night. Besides, I heard the town no longer closes up shop at ten. We could go bowling if you want to.”
She gasped. “I’ve always wanted to bowl.”
“Well, this is your lucky night.”
They strode into the garage and climbed into his Range Rover. The genuine smile on his mother’s face, an expression he’d never seen until he’d moved her out of his dad’s house six weeks ago, caused his mouth to tighten. As God was his witness, he would never let her go back to his abusive father.
If that meant cajoling Ellie McDermott into selling her family’s funeral home…well, he’d cajoled her before.
And if he remembered the scene in the back of his old, battered Buick correctly, they’d both won.
…
Ellie woke the next morning in the bed she’d slept in until she left for college, and she groaned. The thought of having to deal with the funeral home almost made her pull the covers over her head.
On the one hand, the Tidy Whitiez bonus would support her dad long enough that she’d have time to get the funeral home running at peak efficiency again. But she’d gone online and researched operating a funeral home, and she wasn’t qualified. She didn’t have a license, hadn’t taken mortuary sciences in college. She could be the “accountant” and manage things behind the scenes, but she’d have to hire someone to embalm—someone to be the face of the business.
Plus, she’d have to do most of the Tidy Whitiez ad work here in Harmony Hills, and once a week or so, drive back to Pittsburgh to lead the team and make her presentations.
Which meant double work. Lots of traveling.
On the other hand, the bonus, added to whatever Finn offered for McDermott’s, might keep her dad in a personal care facility for a decade. No traveling back and forth. No living in Harmony Hills, a town full of people who’d made a sport out of gossiping about her mother.
But God only knew what Finn would offer. Probably peanuts.
She flipped the covers over her head in dismay, then whipped them off again.
This was not the time to wuss out.
She had a decision to make and she would make it.
She slipped off her boxer shorts and tank top and showered. With freshly washed hair and wearing jeans and a clean tank top, she walked into the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. As it brewed, she looked around. The apartment wasn’t in as bad of shape as she’d expected from seeing her dad’s desk. But as she ambled through the blue living room, French provincial dining room, and her dad’s dark bedroom, she noticed the multicolored sticky notes on the walls, the mirrors, and even the TV.
Is the stove on?
Have you eaten today?
Check the garage to make sure you turned off the car’s ignition. Take this tag with you so you remember why you’re in the garage when you get there.
Her vision swam in the tears that formed. Her poor dad.
She heard the gurgle of the coffeemaker finishing, returned to the kitchen, poured herself a cup of coffee, and headed downstairs. Passing the cluster of empty viewing rooms with heavy Victorian furniture and rich red Oriental rugs, she stepped into the office.
Temporarily ignoring the clutter on the desk and the stack of checks by the phone, she set her coffee down, flopped onto the office chair, hit the button on the computer, and booted it up.
Instead of a screen saver, a big message appeared.
CALL DAN.
A phone number blinked below the message.
She leaned her elbow on the desk and laid her chin on her closed fist, her eyes filling with tears once more. She couldn’t imagine how he’d felt, knowing he was losing his faculties. But he’d known.
Why hadn’t he told her?
Sadness gripped her, but she shook her head. Again, this was not the time to wuss out. She had to determine the best way to support her dad, and this funeral home was a big part of that. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Dan’s number.
“Yes? Who is this? I don’t recognize your number! I don’t take calls from strangers and if you’re a telemarketer, I’m reporting you. I’m on all the Do Not Call lists!”
She winced. “This is Ellie McDermott.”
“Oh, Ellie, sweetie.” From impatient to relieved in a breath. “You’re home. I was just on my way over. I’m your dad’s livery. I drive the van that goes to the hospital or residence and picks up the deceased. I also drive the hearse to the graveyard.”
“Oh. Dan.” Dan hadn’t worked for her dad when she lived here—he’d been hired about two years ago. At the time, she’d wondered why the mortuary needed a full-time driver. Now, she knew.
“I always come by first thing in the morning. I figured with your dad in the hospital, you’d need me.”
“I do.”
“I’ll be right over.”
Within ten minutes, Dan was at the door, holding a bag from the diner. “I got you a coffee. Your dad always liked an egg sandwich, but I didn’t want to be presumptuous.”
Angry with herself again for leaving her dad so alone, she pressed her lips together. Her dad had begged off visits at Christmas and Easter, saying he had funerals to attend to, and she’d never thought to check up on him. He had always been her rock, especially after her mother’s death. But when he needed her, she hadn’t noticed.
Guilt flooded her, but she ignored it. She was here now. She would make things right. “Thanks for doing that for him.”
“You’re welcome.”
She took the coffee as Dan, a man about her father’s age, with thick white hair and at least thirty pounds too many, sat across from her.
Removing the lid from the coffee, she caught his gaze. “You knew what was going on, didn’t you?”
He inclined his head. “He made me promise not to call you.”
“You didn’t think to get him to a doctor?”
“He did go to a doctor. I thought he was on meds.” Dan shook his head. “I could see he should have quit long ago. But it wasn’t my place to push. Anyway, for a man losing his”—he tapped his temple twice—“your dad was amazing. He had it all figured out.” He pointed at the computer screen. “Wrote notes to himself about everything, and even planned for this day. Hit ‘open file’ and type in Ellie.”
She did as instructed and a list came up. “What’s this?”
“Passwords you’ll need to get into the different software programs. Phone number for the embalmer he uses.”
She glanced up sharply. “So he’d stopped embalming?”
“A good two years ago.”
Relief rippled through her. “And I don’t have to worry that people are in the wrong caskets?”
He chuckled. “Your dad loved his people. He’d never let anyone hurt them. Not even himself.”
“Hey.” A tall man with a voice like James Earl Jones and a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped into the room.
Dan motioned him inside. “Ellie, this is Jason Mackel.”
Before Ellie could reply, Barbara Beth Rush—cheer squad captain their junior and senior year of high school—entered. “Hey, Ellie.” Still blond and beautiful with a killer body, Barbara Beth wore a tight skirt and a little top that accented her cleavage. Unfortunately, since it was Sunday, those were probably her church clothes.
Dan grinned. “I hope you don’t mind that I asked the rest of the team to come, too.”
“The rest of the team?”
“Our embalmer and beautician.”
Of course Barbara Beth—or Blond Bimbo as the girls in high school had called her behind her back—had become a beautician. Ellie winced internally at her snarkiness, but sometimes Barbara Beth seemed to ask to be hated. All she thought about were hair and makeup and other girls’ boyfriends. She’d been the girl Finn had taken to Evan’s graduation party. And now she did hair for the dead? Weird.
But why not? Everything about this town and its people had always been just a tad off-kilter.
She rose and shook first Jason’s, then Barbara Beth’s, hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Jason, and it’s nice to see you again, Barbara Beth.”
Barbara Beth smiled. “Just B.B. to everybody now.”
Ellie worked to hide another wince. Blond Bimbo. Big Brat. Big Boobs. Bubble Butt. Those were only a few of the things her high school classmates had abbreviated to B.B. Apparently, Barbara Beth was still oblivious to all that. “That’s nice.”
Dan angled his thumb at her. “Jason, I suppose you guessed by now this is Ellie. Mark’s daughter.”
B.B. said, “I’m so sorry about your dad.”
Jason, his deep voice rumbling, said, “Me, too. Though I can’t say I was surprised.” He shrugged. “Like everyone else in town, I’d seen a few signs, but nothing big enough to make me call you.”
“That’s okay.”
Dan faced her. “I asked B.B. and Jason to join us so you could see you don’t have to worry. Your dad has a team in place.”
“You think he knew I’d have to keep McDermott’s?”
“I think he hoped you’d keep it.”
She swallowed. Her dad had taught her everything about running the business end of the funeral home, and without a license, that was all she’d be allowed to do. But with the expense of three people doing the work her dad had done, and competition from Finn, who’d steal at least half the clients, she didn’t see how she could make any money.
“Finn Donovan wants to buy me out.”
Jason laughed. “Kid always was a hustler.”
“You don’t think I should sell?”
B.B. shrugged. “I don’t know what you should do. But I’ll tell you this. We’ve got o
urselves a good team.”
An expensive team. Harmony Hills was a town of about five thousand people. In a good week, two people died. If she were lucky, one would come to her and one to Finn. Then they could both make a living. But she had to do more than make a living. She had to turn a profit. Plus, she didn’t like the idea of wishing for people to die.
That was the bottom line in the funeral home game, and another reason she didn’t want to run McDermott’s. Once again, Finn Donovan’s offer looked like salvation.
Her cell phone chirped. She glanced at caller ID. Nicole. She smiled at the group. “Give me a couple of days to check out the book and then we can talk again.”
Dan nodded and rose, but B.B. said, “We don’t want to lose our jobs.”
“I’m sorry, but I have to think of my dad first. I need a lot of money to keep him in a personal care facility—”
“And we make lots of money, when business is good.”
Dan stopped B.B. with a wave of his hand. “Let Ellie make her decision.” He smiled at Ellie. “If you have questions, or if you get a call about a body, I’m your guy.”
As they left, she clicked the answer button on her phone. “Hey, Nicole.”
“All right. The Tidy Whitiez people want you, which means the partners want you. And I’m not stupid. As your department head, if I don’t deliver you, I’m screwed. So what do you want to take this campaign?”
“I’m glad you called.” The only thing she was certain of was that the bonus from Tidy Whitiez was part of her plan to care for her dad. She was also fairly certain she would sell McDermott’s to Finn. No sense leaving Nicole wondering. “I can do the Tidy Whitiez gig.”
Nicole gasped. “You’re serious? So everything’s okay there in Podunkville?”
“Yeah. I got an offer on the funeral home. If I sell, I can be back tomorrow morning, and only have to come here to sign the final papers.”
“I’ll owe you.”
She laughed. “No, you won’t. This is my job. Yesterday I was off my game. Otherwise I would have jumped up and down for joy. I may need to take a day or two here and there to sign papers, that kind of stuff, but I’ll have plenty of time for Tidy Whitiez.”
