by Jo Leigh
She broke the kiss and looked up into his eyes. This time it was Wyatt’s face bathed in moonlight. “I just wanted to say again that I hope you know you can talk to me...about anything at all. I’m happy to listen.”
His eyes narrowed. He squared his shoulders, and it was as if he had actual shutters he’d closed.
“Never mind,” she said, giving him her most winning smile. “It’s late, and I’m a little tipsy. But I’m all in for doing something tomorrow night, if you still want to.”
“Of course I do,” he said.
She didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but she couldn’t think about it now. Being betrayed by someone she’d thought she could trust wasn’t easy to get past. The best thing she could do was go to the room and get a good night’s sleep. Rising up on her toes, she kissed him lightly on the cheek.
She started walking back, not getting too close to him, but not too far, either. She hoped she hadn’t blown it, but she’d find out in due course.
Chapter Ten
BECKY ARRIVED AT the bar just as the last customer was leaving, and Sabrina was about to lock the door.
“Hey, you’re out late,” Sabrina said, waving her inside.
“Yeah, I had a party to go to.” She glanced around, but didn’t see Wyatt. “Where is he?”
Tiffy stopped wiping down tables and exchanged a look with Sabrina.
A very odd look that hurled Becky’s heart to the pit of her stomach. After an emotional dinner with Adam’s grandparents... “Is everything okay? Tell me he’s all right.”
“Oh, yeah. Way better than okay.” Sabrina burst into a grin. “Well, I don’t think I’d call it a date, exactly, but—”
“Wait. Hold on.” Becky put up a hand, not sure she’d heard correctly. “We’re talking about Wyatt.”
Both women nodded.
Viv came around the bar slinging her massive purse over her shoulder. It did nothing to dim the shock of her side-shaved-turquoise-and-yellow hair. “Quit gossiping about the boss,” she said on her way to the door. “He’ll be pissed.”
“The hell with that,” Becky said, stepping aside to let her pass. “Tell me everything.”
Viv was still laughing as she let herself out.
“Come have a drink while we close out,” Sabrina said, motioning for her, then pointing at a barstool.
A drink sounded perfect about now. Her mind racing, Becky took a couple of steps before she remembered Rose and Josh. “Oh, God, I can’t. The kids are asleep in the car.”
“Where are you parked?” Tiffy asked.
“Right outside the door,” she said, glancing back at the Highlander, parked illegally so she could keep an eye on it.
They were both dead to the world, and she expected to be carrying them to their beds once they got home, but how could she have forgotten about them for even two seconds? She’d been so excited about the possibility that Wyatt was finally dating.
“I’d planned on stopping for a minute and figured Wyatt could talk to me here where we can see them. What’s this about a date?” After another look at the car, she positioned herself so that it was easy to see the kids, and still hear every bit of this new development.
“She’s a customer,” Tiffy said. “The high-class kind. Her heels alone must’ve set her back five hundred bucks. Worth every penny, though. Totally awesome. I think she’s here for the reunion.”
Now, that surprised Becky. As far as she knew, he’d never gone out with a customer before. Claimed it was too risky. And a high-end woman? That didn’t seem like Wyatt at all. Huh.
“We shouldn’t have called it a date,” Sabrina added, studying Becky as if only realizing now that they shouldn’t have said anything in front of her. “She came in kind of late and sat at the bar.”
“Yeah, but tonight wasn’t the first time they met. Wyatt already knew her—” Tiffy frowned mightily. “What?”
Becky caught Sabrina trying to give Tiffy the eye. “I’m not jealous, if that’s what you’re thinking. There’s nothing going on between Wyatt and me. God, he’s like a brother.”
“That’s what I thought,” Tiffy said, her eyebrows still cocked at Sabrina.
“Well, yeah, you thought right. It’s just—the woman you described usually isn’t his type.”
“Oh, but she’s totally cool, not like most of the reunion crowd.” Tiffy started wiping the next table, a grin tugging at her mouth. “So, what is his type?”
Becky laughed. She knew quite a few of the waitresses, current and former, had crushes on him, and she could certainly understand why. “Did he say where they were going?”
Tiffy shook her head. Sabrina thought for a moment. “I assumed upstairs.” The second the words left her mouth, she winced as if she’d sucked on a lemon.
Tiffy’s fake cough was far more expressive.
Becky pressed her lips together.
“I didn’t think that through,” Sabrina said. “It’s not like I picture him in that way...”
“Sabrina!” Tiffy had both hands on her hips. “Stop.”
“Right. Yes. No idea, Becky. None.”
It wasn’t easy to not laugh, but she held herself in check. It would be a very good thing for him to start dating. Not just for his sake, although that was important to her. They both needed to expand their horizons. Now that she’d met Ned, a Realtor who was charming and nice-looking...she smiled as she remembered his introduction. Josh had run into him in a particularly painful and awkward way at the market, and while Ned had clearly been...uncomfortable, he’d been so nice to Josh and Rose that he’d captured her interest immediately. When he’d asked her if she’d like to have some coffee, she’d agreed on the spot, insisting that she pay for whatever he wanted.
The kids had had ice cream, and she’d liked the man enough that she planned on seeing him again. Although she wasn’t at all sure how to tell Adam’s grandparents. Or her kids. Or Wyatt. But if Wyatt was going out with someone, that would make things easier all around.
“Becky, can I get you a drink?” Sabrina asked.
“A piña colada if it’s not too much trouble.”
“You got it.”
Becky moved closer to the door. “Better make it a virgin,” she said, keeping tabs on the SUV, knowing the kids would be out cold after running around like heathens at Grandpa and Grandma’s. They’d eaten their weight in spaghetti and cake, then played on the jungle gym in the backyard.
Her thoughts strayed back to her in-laws, and how much she cared for them. It would be difficult to tell them she wasn’t going to attend all the holidays anymore. Some, yes, but not all. She’d have to have a talk with them, separate from letting them know she was going to start dating. Surely they’d understand that she would always love Adam. Nothing on earth would change that. But she hadn’t felt truly alive in years. Not that it would happen right away, but it needed to begin, if not for her, then for Josh and Rose. They deserved a mother at her best. Not in constant mourning.
Wyatt deserved to feel the same. He’d been dedicating himself to her and the kids and Adam’s family in a wonderful way, helping all of them get through such an awful time. But he needed his own life. His own family. In fact, she’d been thinking lately that his involvement with them had been a way for him to not think about himself. It wasn’t healthy, him being so stuck in the past.
“Here you are,” Sabrina said, putting her drink on the table closest to the door. “If you’d like, I can run out and check that the kids are still sleeping.”
“No, that’s okay. I’d be able to see if they sat up. Anyway, I don’t plan on staying much longer.”
“You’re just waiting for Wyatt to get back,” Tiffy said. “But what if he doesn’t?”
“Then that’s his business,” Sabrina said.
Becky, after taking a sip of the drink, laughed. “I’m not
waiting. I’m drinking. That’s different. Besides, what makes you think he’ll tell us anything?”
“Yeah, like he tells us so much about himself already.” Tiffy sighed dramatically, flipping her gorgeous hair back as if it were a cape. “Once he told me that when he was fourteen, he’d run away and joined the circus.”
Becky almost spit out her last sip.
Sabrina’s laugh was more like a bark. “That’s the worst one yet.”
“And him being a mob boss was better?” Tiffy said. “Or a spy for the British government. He’s about as British as I’m Hawaiian.”
“My favorite was that he was a stand-in for John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. He wasn’t even born when that was made.”
Becky smiled wryly at Sabrina. Of course the woman knew a little more about Wyatt than any of the other girls. She was his backup bartender and ran the bar in his absence, but more than that, she was in trouble, and that was Wyatt’s specialty. Becky had hated to hear that the poor thing was being abused by her boyfriend, and hoped she’d end it with the bastard, but at least Wyatt was intent on teaching her a few self-defense maneuvers. He’d told Sabrina he’d been in the military, but that was all.
Becky just hoped whoever this mystery woman was, she wasn’t someone to be added to his collection of the walking wounded. That also needed to stop. And it wouldn’t hurt if he would just be honest about himself. Well, at least more forthright.
As soon as she finished her drink she’d leave. Carry the kids into the house, tuck them in. “So, this woman. Anyone know what she does? Where she lives?”
“Nope.” Tiffy switched immediately to gossip mode. “But I saw her shut down Bobby Cappelli like a pro.”
“She has expensive taste,” Sabrina said. “Lagavulin. Although, she did say something about liking beer.”
“That’s an encouraging sign. What does she look like?”
Sabrina zipped up the bank pouch. “She’s got beautiful shoulder-length brown hair. And brown eyes, I think. Great taste in clothes.”
“Hmm.”
“What?” Tiffy said. “Still, doesn’t sound like his type?”
“No, nothing like that,” Becky said, hoping she didn’t sound as if she was judging. Though she kind of was, which was unsettling because she honestly did think of Wyatt as a brother. “You don’t think she’s like most of the prep school crowd?”
“I don’t know,” Tiffy said. “She’s not afraid to go barefoot. I know that for sure.”
“Really,” Wyatt’s voice came from just behind Becky, and it sounded pissed. “That’s all you’re sure of. Not her taste in clothes? Her drink of choice?”
“Wyatt,” Sabrina stammered, her face turning red.
“The door wasn’t locked,” he said, standing just inside. “Anyone could have come in. You could have been robbed. Killed. You all know better than that. It’s the first thing you learned when you came here. You, too, Becky.”
Without realizing it she’d sat down. She stood up immediately.
But he ignored her and finished putting the last few chairs on top of the tables. He didn’t look at any of them, or say another word. He’d gone straight to Silent Warrior mode. She recognized the version of him from the day they’d met. Stoic, silent, keeping every emotion locked tight inside. The girls scampered to get everything put into place.
Becky wasn’t quite so intimidated. As soon as he finished his demonstration of strength and fortitude, she walked over to him, took his arm and pulled him out the door.
* * *
“THE KIDS ARE asleep in the car,” Becky said. “I had planned to stop for just a few minutes.”
Wyatt clicked back to reality. She had just come from the party. He had no business jumping down her throat. “Hey, how was it? How are you?”
She shrugged. “Not quite as bad as last year. But still difficult. They miss him so much. Yvette made all the kids’ favorites, and spaghetti of course, the way Adam liked it. Peter played with them outside, until Yvette had to force him to come in. He was winded, and I got him to sit down and drink some water. I think he needs to go back to his cardiologist. I don’t know. Getting them to slow down is rough. And of course, they told all the old stories about Adam. And about you.”
Wyatt cringed. “I should have gone. It was a mistake to skip this one. It’s only been—”
“Years, Wyatt. It wasn’t a mistake at all. In fact, it helped me.”
That made no sense. “How?”
“Look, I know it’s not my business, but I’m glad you went out with someone tonight. That’s fantastic. You haven’t done anything for yourself since you moved out here.”
“It was nothing,” he said, wishing like hell she hadn’t brought it up. “She’s only here for a little while. And dammit, Sabrina knows better than to leave the door unlocked.”
“I’m pretty sure she did it for my sake,” Becky said, quietly. “I kept checking on the munchkins.”
He glanced at the car as something occurred to him. “You stayed late. What’s up with that?”
“The kids were asleep and Yvette and I were still talking... Now quit avoiding me. I don’t care if this woman’s only here for one night. Tell me about her.”
He didn’t want to, but Becky’s concerned look got to him. Besides, he owed her for not going to the party. He leaned his elbows on the railing. “She’s nice. Smart. An attorney from Chicago. She’s sophisticated, but she grew up here, on the south side with her father. But she also traveled a lot in Europe with her mom...” He was surprised he’d said so much. Although given how much he’d been thinking about her, maybe not so surprising.
“She sounds fascinating. And from what I gathered, quite the looker.”
A smile slipped out before he caught it. “She’s pretty. And I enjoyed our walk.”
“Only a walk?”
“Yes. Only a walk. We went out to the pirate thing. Looked at the ocean. She told me about her job, and I...beat around the bush.”
“No.” Becky faked a gasp. “You?”
His grunt made her smile.
“It’s good for you to get out of your routine, even if it’s for a couple of hours. To be with someone who interests you.” She leaned on the rail beside him, staring out at the moonlit water. “I wanted to tell you something. You know I would never want the children to forget about Adam. That I’ll always keep his memory alive no matter what. Right?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“He’ll forever be in my heart. Which doesn’t mean I’m not going to move on.”
“What?”
“It’s hard, all right? It’s hard to even admit it to you. But I’m not being the mother I could be, the woman I should be. I’ve been locked inside a bubble I don’t want to break. But I need to start living again.” She drew in a deep breath. “I’ve actually met someone. He seems nice, and if he asks me, I’m going to go out with him.”
Wyatt felt gut shot. How could she even...
He closed his eyes. She’d said herself it had been years. That was true. And her kids were growing up fast. He’d known Becky before. She’d been vibrant and alive and she’d made Adam happier than he’d ever been. He’d loved her so much. Her and the kids. How dare Wyatt not want her to be that joyful again.
It felt impossible, but she deserved a full life. Adam’s grandparents might not ever get over his loss, and in truth, neither would Becky. But things could change in time. That’s what everyone told him. “Adam wanted everything for you,” he said, although it felt as if the words tore his throat open. “Even someone else to love you, as long as he loved you well.”
“He wanted that for you, too, Wyatt.”
He reached out and touched her arm. Wanting her to believe him, no matter what he’d sounded like.
She put her hand over his. “You deserve to be content and purposeful and, dammi
t, in love. I mean it,” she said softly. “And you deserve to stop feeling responsible for Adam’s death.”
Chapter Eleven
CRICKET WALKED SLOWLY across the sand, shoes in hand, a wide-brimmed hat shading her eyes. Her smile hadn’t left since brunch. Her friends were amazing. All of them. God, she’d missed them.
Harlow had made them all promise to show up at the Yacht Club mixer at four o’clock because she’d met the manager, a tall, handsome ex-football player, whom she’d liked enough to postpone her trip home until tomorrow morning.
Jade was going home tonight. And Ginny, who’d been a little subdued, had still promised to go to the mixer with Cricket.
It had all been wonderful. The mimosas, the eggs Benedict, telling her friends about Grant and her issues at work. Not that she’d shared all. No, she’d reserved that dubious honor for Wyatt last night. And gotten a great night’s sleep because of it.
Despite not hearing the worst of Grant’s traitorous behavior, Jade offered to find out what scents he was allergic to, and send him a large batch of cologne that would make him suffer. Cricket had been tempted, but the truth was, her determination had withered a little in the light of the new day. There was more than her pride at stake, and she had to carefully think through her next moves. The firm really could make her life a misery, and she was used to a certain lifestyle, which she thought didn’t matter, but she wasn’t a rash person, not ever, and she wouldn’t start now.
But the gloomy subject of her career dropped the moment she’d mentioned her evening with Wyatt. Everyone had hoped it would turn into something more intimate, but Cricket kept quiet on that front, as well, although she was looking forward to the same thing.
As if her thoughts had summoned him, her cell rang with his number. She wished she wasn’t on the crowded beach, but she was an old hand at blocking out noise. “Good afternoon,” she said, plugging her open ear with her finger.
“Is it?” he asked, sounding a little grumpy.
“What’s wrong?”
