The Best of Us

by Ursula Gorman

  “Carly does a great job with the store.”

  “Oh, I’m sure she gets by, but without Jenna…” Glynna let Daniel take that how ever he wanted.

  “Carly knows what she’s doing Glynna, lay off.” Daniel growled.

  Carly doubted that either one of them knew that she was within ear shot, so she stayed where she was and just listened.

  “Don’t go getting all mad Daniel, I don’t mean anything negative. It’s just that she is so young and has a lot to learn about business and about life.”

  “What are you getting at Glynna?”

  “Come on Daniel, you need a real woman and we both know Carly isn’t for you.”

  “Who said anything about me and Carly?” Too late Daniel realized his mistake. He should have gone along with the idea of him and Carly as an item. Maybe it would help get Glynna off his back.

  Glynna smiled and leaned forward on the counter showing ample cleavage, “That’s what I told her a few days ago. I told her that you needed a mature woman that knows how to treat a man. But I see she has already accepted that.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, she and Mike have been out a couple nights this week already. I’ve seen him following her home…”

  “What are you suggesting?” Daniel broke in.

  Glynna stood up straight. “I’m not suggesting anything, I’m just telling you what I’ve seen.”

  At just that moment Mike walked in a bouquet of roses. “Hey Danny boy, is Carly around?”

  “Right here Mike” Carly said coming around the display case. Daniel gave her a look, wondering if she had heard his and Glynna’s conversation. She didn’t even spare him a second look. He hadn’t needed to respond so quickly about her and him not being right for each other.

  “Hey Carly,” Mike leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I was hoping to persuade you to go out with me Saturday night. There is a new movie playing this weekend and I thought maybe we could go see it then have a late dinner.”

  Carly was very aware of Glynna and Daniel listening to every word. “That would be great Mike.”

  Mike gave a big smile, “I’ll pick you up here after work then.”

  “Sounds great.” Carly returned his smile and he suddenly leaned down and kissed her. She was so startled that she didn’t even react. Mike didn’t seem to notice though, he handed her the flowers and turned to leave, “See you later Daniel.” Mike said as he left the store.

  Carly stared after him a minute then turned to find a vase and stopped at the look she saw on Daniels face. He looked royally ticked off. Carly smiled at him, as innocently as possible, and continued to the apartment to put the flowers in a vase. If Daniel didn’t want her, she’d find someone that did, no matter how much it hurt.

  What had he been thinking? First he hadn’t been able to forget that kiss he and Carly shared, then he couldn’t forget her reaction when they had gone upstairs. Now he couldn’t get the sight of Carly and Mike out of his mind. Mike had kissed her; he had actually had the nerve to kiss her.

  “What is it to you?” Daniel mentally kicked himself. “You pretty much told her to move on and to give up any hope of us getting together.”

  “Harm was right, I am an idiot!”

  Daniel was in his living room, or rather Carter’s, pacing back and forth. He hadn’t been able to see straight since he witnessed that kiss. He had noticed the smug look on Glynna’s face and that made him even madder. It was Thursday and he needed to think of something fast to stop Carly from going out with Mike again.

  “Come on man! You turn her away and then expect her to just run into your arms? You are a jerk!” Daniel was still berating himself when the front door opened and Harm walked in.

  “What’s up with you?”

  “What?” Daniel growled. “You’re the one that just waltzed right in.”

  Harm laughed, “What woman has you all hot and bothered, brother?” Harm sat down in Carter’s recliner, picked up Daniel’s bottle of soda and downed it.

  “Help yourself.” Daniel said without any real heat in his words. He went over and sat down hard on the couch.

  “So, what’s up little brother?”

  “I’m an idiot.”

  “A subject we both agree on,” Harm smiled, “But might I ask why you’re bringing it up now?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Daniel rested his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

  “Does this have anything to do with a certain sexy brunette?”

  Daniel sat up and glared at his brother. “What do you know?”

  “I know you were looking at Carly with new eyes at the ball. I know that you haven’t been yourself lately. I know that Carly and Mike have gone out a few times. I also know that you’re an idiot.”

  Daniel let his head drop down to rest on the back of the couch, closed his eyes again and uttered an expletive that had Harm laughing.

  “I know one other thing,”

  “What might that be Mr. Know It All?”

  “That we are supposed to be at mom and dads for dinner and we’re going to be late.”

  Daniel uttered another word that his mom would not have approved of as he got off the couch and headed out the door with Harm right behind him.

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  “What?”

  “Come on Dan, this is your big brother, quit stonewalling and talk.”

  Daniel let out a sigh that spoke volumes. “I’ve never looked at Carly as a woman before. She has always just been Carly. It feels wrong to think about her as a woman,” after a slight pause, “but she is unquestionably a woman.”

  “Unquestionably,” Harm echoed his brother.

  Daniel glared at him, then he just stopped. They were about to get in his car, he rested his arms on the top of the car and Harm did the same. Whatever Daniel wanted to say, Harm was ready to listen. He and Carter had been waiting for Daniel to wake up and see what he had right in front of his face, Carly. Daniel would really be an idiot if he let her get away.

  “I kissed her.” Daniel sounded like he was confessing a horrible act.

  “’Bout time!” Harm smiled the smile that had women swooning every time they saw it. It transformed his already handsome face into an irresistibly charming and sexy face that women couldn’t resist, well at least most women.

  “What?” Was Harm really saying that he approved?

  “Carly is great. She is just about as perfect as a woman can get, plus she already knows all your faults and she is still in love with you.”

  “Carly is not in love with me. She has a crush, that’s all. It would be wrong for me to take advantage of her.”

  Harm laughed until he was almost in tears, “Crush? Seriously Daniel? She is twenty six years old. If you had tried something when she was still in school, that would have been taking advantage. But she is all grown up now. I can’t believe how blind you are. She has been in love with you for years. Man, you really are an idiot.” Harm let out another laugh and repeated the word ‘crush’ as if he couldn’t believe that Daniel was that clueless. Daniel realized Harm was in the car waiting on him to get in so they could go to their parents house for their weekly Thursday night dinner. The whole night all Daniel could think was about what Harm had said, “She’s been in love with you for years.”

  “Oh man!”

  “Who are the flowers from?” Glynna came in for the second day in a row and Carly wasn’t happy about it. “I saw the flowers Mike brought you yesterday and these aren’t the same ones.” Carly didn’t answer, she was on the phone with a customer and hoped that Glynna would get the hint and leave her alone. No such luck. Glynna came around the counter and sat on the stool that either Mike or Daniel used when they were babysitting. Carly glared at Glynna, but she seemed oblivious to the fact.

  “Yes sir, I’ll have it waiting for you first thing Monday morning.” Carly paused as the caller spoke, “Yes sir, I will make sure it is wrappe
d by the time you get here. Trust me, she will love it.” The caller said something else that made Carly smile. “Yes sir, I’m sure she will. Have a good weekend.”

  Carly wrote something down and then turned to look at Glynna. “What are you doing here? You can’t be behind the counter, it is for employees only.”

  Glynna made a rude sound, “You know you need help. I’m not going to continue to offer my assistance much longer.”

  “Light at the end of the tunnel.” Carly said under her breath.

  “You need help and I am the perfect one for the job. You have no need to resist hiring me anymore.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Now that you finally realized that you and Daniel could never be an item.”

  “What?” Carly was getting really irritated.

  “Well, I can see you’ve finally moved on with your life. Mike’s a good guy. He’s obviously smitten with you, flowers two days in a row? Lucky girl!”

  The flowers weren’t from Mike, Daniel had sent them. But Carly sure wasn’t going to divulge that information to Glynna. Carly still didn’t know what to think. First Daniel kisses her, and then tells her it was a mistake and now he sends her flowers. The card was just as disturbing, “Can’t get you out of my mind, Daniel.” What was that about? Carly had stuck the card in her back pocket and now she was glad she had.

  “Mike is a nice guy, but I wouldn’t go setting a date for the wedding.” Carly really wanted Glynna to leave. When she just continued to sit there Carly said, “Look, I appreciate the offer to help, but I only need someone to help on the days of sales and that is, at most, twenty hours a week. But I’m guessing it’ll be more like ten to fifteen. I’ve already talked to LuEllen about filling in a couple of hours here and there. She’s excited to help. Now that her youngest is in school, she is happy to get out and earn a little spending money every now and then.”

  “LuEllen?” Glynna gave another snorting sound, “She doesn’t have a lick of sense. She won’t be able to help run this place.”

  “I don’t need help ‘running the place’, just someone to mind the store so I can go check out sales and auctions. It isn’t as if there is a lot for her to do. She just has to be here, ring up sales, answer phones and help people find what they need. I will continue ‘running’ the place.” Carly couldn’t help if the irritation was plain in her voice; Glynna was really getting to her today. The flowers already had her head spinning and now having to deal with Glynna’s rude and condescending comments, Carly didn’t know how much more she could take.

  The bell jingled and both Carly and Glynna looked to see who it was, they were both hoping it was Daniel.

  “Hi Harm.” Carly smiled warmly at him, “What are you up to?”

  “Hey doll, just thought I would come see one of my all time favorite people.” Harm turned to look at Glynna, “Hi Glynna, how are you?”

  “Wonderful thank you. I haven’t seen you for a while.” Glynna looked him up and down, “You look better than last time I saw you.”

  Carly was shocked, the last time that Glynna had seen Harm was at the hospital when he was recuperating from his injuries from the smoke jump that had all but ended his career. He was still trying to get back out there, even though he had been recertified to jump, his supervisor refused to take him off medical leave.

  “Well, I’m uh, doing much better thanks.” Harm turned to see the look of disbelief Carly still had on her face as she stared at Glynna. It made him smile; Carly was as protective over his family as they were over her.

  “Carly, what are you doing after you lock up for the day?” Harm would just act as if Glynna wasn’t there.

  Carly turned and gave him an apologetic smile, silently apologizing for the rudeness of Glynna’s words. He smiled again to let her know that Glynna wasn’t important. “I’m not doing anything, why?”

  “I would like to take you to dinner.”

  “Well Carly, looks like you got the attention of a Wayne boy, just not the one you wanted.” Glynna made a tsking sound.

  Carly closed her eyes, took a deep breath and counted to ten. When she opened her eyes, she saw Harm trying not to laugh. She gave him an ‘I’ll get even’ look. “That sounds great Harm. What’s the occasion?”

  “I just haven’t gotten to see you for awhile and thought it would be a good time to catch up.”

  Carly knew there was more to it but wouldn’t press while Glynna was there. Luckily it was almost closing time so Harm hung around and waited and Glynna decided she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Carly while he was around so she left.

  “Finally!” Carly breathed a sigh of relief.

  Harm laughed. “You got a new friend there Carly?”

  “Heavens no! She is trying to convince me that I can’t run the store alone and that I need her expertise. She is also trying to make sure I know that Daniel and I could never be and that she is the one for him.”

  Carly thought Harm would laugh or make fun of her but instead he said, “Shows what she knows.” What an odd thing for him to say.

  “Listen, I have ten more minutes and then I can lock up.”

  “Not a problem, I’ll just look around a bit.”

  Carly was starting to count down the money in the drawer when the bell jingled. She looked up and froze. Trevor was standing there; Trevor, the one that broke Jenna’s heart. They just stared at each other for a space of a couple of heartbeats.

  “Hello Trevor.” The iciness in her voice didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Hi Carly.” Trevor seemed very nervous. “How are you?”

  “What do you want?” Carly was in no mood to be civil.

  “I see you still hate me. I had hoped you would have forgiven me since…” he trailed off.

  “Since? Since what? Since Jenna is gone? Not gonna happen.”

  Trevor shifted his feet uncomfortably. “I just wanted to, I mean, I just needed to,”

  Carly waited to see what he was going to say.

  “What I mean is, now that Jenna is gone and she doesn’t need it, I was wondering if I could get the engagement ring back?”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Carly was outraged and Harm heard it over the blood pounding in his ears. He had started back to the front when he heard the bell and had heard the last thing Trevor had said.

  “You son of a…Get out of here! Don’t you ever step foot in this store again. Do you hear me?” Carly was coming around the counter, Harm cut her off when he came toward Trevor. Trevor hadn’t been aware that he was there until it was too late to move out of reach. Harm grabbed hold of Trevor’s sleeve and twisted his arm around. He then grabbed a handful of his shirt collar and pulled him to the door. Carly already had opened the door. Harm threw him out, nearly causing him to fall on the sidewalk but he caught his balance before he actually fell.

  “Don’t you ever come around any of my family again or I won’t be so nice.” Harm said in a low and menacing voice.

  “Carly isn’t your family.” Trevor managed to squeak out.

  “Carly is family and if I hear that you’ve come near her again, I will not be as gentle. Get your sorry butt out of here.” Harm added, “NOW!” when Trevor just continued to stand there. But with the last word, he turned tail and ran.

  “You okay?” Harm said turning to Carly.

  “The nerve of that weasel! Jenna finished paying off that ring after he dumped her and he has the nerve to feel he has a right to it!”

  Harm put his arm around her and hugged her tight. “Come on, let’s get locked up and go find some food.”

  By the time they reached the pizza parlor, they had both calmed down. They got a booth toward the back away from the video games. They wouldn’t have been able to talk with the group of boys that were enjoying the games the owner had added a couple of months ago to help bring in business.

  Once they placed their order and received their drinks, Carly leaned forward and said, “So, what’s going on?”

 
“What do you mean? I told you I just wanted to catch up.”

  Carly gave a quick bark of laughter, “It’s Friday night and you are never without a date. So fess up…what made you come see me instead of going out with whoever it is you’re seeing now?”

  “You know I would rather have pizza with you then go out with anyone else.” Harm was one of the sweetest men she knew, but she had known him long enough to know when not to believe him and the look she gave him said so.

  “Okay, okay,” Harm held his hands up as if surrendering. “I just wanted to see how you were doing,” he continued when he saw her about to argue, “and to see what was going on with you and Mike.”

  “HA! I knew you had an ulterior motive.” Carly looked smug. “What exactly did you want to know?” Her smug looked changed to suspicious.

  “Look Carly, this is just me and you. I know how you feel about Daniel and I’m worried that you are making decisions based on hurt feelings rather then what you really want.”

  Carly didn’t know how to respond. Harm, nor Carter, had ever tried to talk to her about Daniel. Jenna was the only one that she had ever talked to about Daniel. She looked down at the straw wrapper she had been absently playing with and tried to figure out what to say.

  “Harm, I’m touched, really I am. But don’t you think that I’ve spent enough time following Daniel around like a puppy? He isn’t interested and I’m not getting younger. I can’t spend the rest of my life waiting for something to happen. It’s not gonna happen.”

  “Don’t be too sure.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Daniel isn’t real happy about you and Mike. It’s bothering him; he just hasn’t come to terms with it yet.”

  “You’re seeing things that aren’t there Harm.”

  “No I’m not. Carter and I both saw how he acted with you at the ball. He couldn’t take his eyes off you and it ticked him off.”

  Carly laughed, “And that’s supposed to make me feel better? He looks at me and gets ticked off?”

  “You’re not getting it. He didn’t know what to do with the feelings he was having and that’s what he resorted to. It’s his fallback when he doesn’t know how to respond to something, always has been. When he doesn’t know how to act, he gets mad.”