Kerri Ann didn’t even acknowledge Misty before turning on her heel and heading back out. She jingled the keys in her hand before deciding to hoof it the four blocks to the courthouse. It would do her good to work off some of her anger. She was huffing as she entered the century-old building, nodded to Sheriff Dunmore, and strode right through the courthouse doors, ignoring the court in session sign posted outside. Court be damned, she was going to have her say.
The room was quiet, despite the dozen or so people watching from the seats on either side of the aisle. Heads turned when the door clicked behind her, but then quickly turned back to watch the show being played out. When the bailiff whispered for her to sit, she eased into the closest chair. That’s when she saw Bryce as he stood up and called Clyde Freeman to the stand. Bryce’s black hair was neatly gelled, his crisp navy suit perfectly pressed, and for a moment she couldn’t reconcile the man before her with the childhood friend she’d come to argue with.
Bryce seemed to tower over Clyde in the witness chair, despite the seat’s elevated platform and Clyde’s bulky build. His stance was so sure, so confident, that Kerri Ann’s breath caught in her throat. Had she ever seen him in court before? Sure, he’d regaled her and Ty with the crazier points from his cases, and she even remembered him participating in a mock trial in high school, but this was different. He was in his element in front of the jury, questioning the witness with the confidence of an officer who’d just uncovered the smoking gun.
And despite the judge who presided over the case, it was Bryce who conducted the show. The tone of his voice, his demeanor, even his movements, seemed choreographed to convey strength and believability to the jury. Each and every one of them was riveted in their seat, their attention fixed on Bryce as he led Clyde through the series of events that ended with the collapse of his roof. When Clyde had exhausted every detail and Bryce said, “No more questions, Your Honor,” the judge slammed the gavel and announced a ten-minute recess.
Kerri Ann had just started to get up from her chair, questioning how smart it was to interrupt what seemed like an important conversation between Bryce and Mr. Freeman, when she felt a tap on her arm.
“Hey, Kerri Ann.” Shelly Stanton moved down the row to where Kerri Ann sat. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to Bryce.” His head was still lowered and he was pointing to a yellow pad on the table to the nodding approval of Mr. Freeman. “Looks like now’s not the best time,” Kerri Ann admitted. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the salon?”
“We don’t open ‘til ten and I never miss an opportunity to see Bryce in action.” She let out a breath and mockingly fanned her face. “That man is fine.”
It took Kerri Ann a moment to realize what Shelly was saying. “Bryce?”
Shelly rolled her eyes. “I swear, Kerri Ann, you must have pizza sauce in your eyes if you don’t see what a catch that man is. I’ve thought about suing someone just so I can hire him as my counsel.”
Kerri Ann swung her eyes back to Bryce, standing now and talking amicably with the other attorney, someone she assumed Barber had hired out of Asheville. His hands were on his hips, pushing his suit jacket back. His long, tanned fingers clasped the Italian belt wrapped around the waist that was still as lean as it was in high school when kids used to call him string bean. He wasn’t a string bean any longer, not with the broad shoulders and significant muscle mass he’d accumulated from…somewhere.
Bryce Jenson had left for college and returned a gorgeous, hunk of a man. Why the hell was he still single? Kerri Ann couldn’t begin to imagine why some smart college girl hadn’t gobbled him up a long time ago. But one thing was for sure, if she wasn’t good enough for Bryce, Shelly Stanton wasn’t good enough for him either.
“I gotta go, Shelly. You should be heading that way if you don’t want to be late,” she said and made for the exit.
“I thought you had to talk to Bryce,” Shelly called after her.
“It can wait.”
The wind that greeted her as she walked back to her car held a faint chill, reminding her that winter might not be through with them just yet. It also reminded her of a fall afternoon, fifteen years ago when she’d had a similar reaction to Bryce Jenson as they shared push-up bars from the five and dime after school.
They’d laughed themselves silly over something and when Kerri Ann dropped her head, she knocked her face right into the push-up. When Bryce reached his hand over to wipe away the glob of ice cream lodged on her cheek, his expression had changed from laughter to focused and determined. Like the look she’d just seen on his face in the courtroom. Her reaction to him was eerily familiar. Way back when, her head had buzzed, her stomach had dropped, and she’d wanted, with an intensity that scared the shit out of her, for Bryce to use his mouth on the ice cream. And because she’d wanted to lean in and let him, she’d done just the opposite. She’d run straight to Jesse and had sex with him behind the storage shed at Cal’s place—and gotten pregnant with Ty.
She’d run to Jesse all those years ago because her budding attraction to Bryce had messed up the natural order of her life, the life she’d envisioned for herself, her life with Jesse as the cherished daughter-in-law of Cal and Ellie.
Kerri Ann needed the long ago memory of Bryce out of her head now, right now, because it made her want all sorts of things she didn’t have the right to even think about.
Chapter 5
It was quaint, the town of Sequoyah Falls. As far as she could tell, downtown catered to the mature crowd, with antique shops, hardware stores, and diners.
Lita found the pizza restaurant Cal had recommended, the one owned by Jesse’s ex-wife. It sat next to a used bookstore and music shop. The adjacent boutique sported some relatively fashionable outfits in the window and she made a mental note to check it out before heading back to the cabin.
She’d been designing all morning and the exhilaration of it, the ideas that flooded her head, had worked up both her appetite and her sense of adventure. She’d even brought along her sketchpad in case inspiration struck on her jaunt into town. So she decided to check out the town, eat a good meal, and satisfy her curiosity about the woman Jesse had been married to for eight years.
She didn’t know why thoughts of him kept popping into her head at all hours of the day and night. It wasn’t like her to fixate on a man, any man, the way she seemed to be with Cal’s son. They’d been happy, the three of them—Cal, Ellie, and Jesse. If she hadn’t heard it in Cal’s voice, she’d have known it from the multitude of pictures around the cabin. In the hall was a picture of Jesse, probably around ten, pulling a fish from the river, his light blond hair hanging in his face. His smile beamed brighter than the sun. The den sported several framed school shots. He’d enviously avoided the awkward years she’d struggled through. His mother hugged him from behind in another picture, her head slightly askew from the football helmet Jesse wore.
It had to be Cal and her affinity for him because the brash and outright offensive man she’d encountered the day before didn’t even resemble the kind of man who’d fascinate her. He was attractive, no question…and there she went thinking about him again. “Let it go, Lita,” she said to herself as she opened the screen door of the Pizza Den.
It smelled divine. The yeasty dough and the pungent aroma of Italian sauces made Lita’s mouth water. She searched the crowded restaurant for a quiet table where she could soak up the atmosphere and indulge in one of her favorite foods.
Quiet was out of the question. The brick walls, wide pine floors, and high ceiling, coupled with the boisterous crowd, gave the place an energy not suited for quiet. The atmosphere wasn’t off-putting, but fun. Large groups sat at long tables sharing pizzas and stories over pitchers of soft drinks. Coworkers dined together, still sporting nametags and office attire. The kitchen hummed behind a wall-length bar that gave Lita the impression of lively evenings at the Pizza Den.
She found a small table for two tucked neatly against
the wall and set her sketchbook and purse on the adjoining chair so she could peruse the menu. She was just deciding what topping to add to her slice when a—there was no other way to describe him—tall, dark, and handsome man in a very nice suit knocked the edge of her sketchbook causing it and her purse to crash to the floor.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry,” he said with a lazy drawl that had images of wide front porches and sweet lemonade forming in Lita’s mind. He bent down to retrieve the items that had spilled out of her purse.
Lita jumped up from the table and scrambled after the tampon that rolled under her seat. “It’s okay, really. I’ll get this stuff.” She shoved everything back into the bag and blushed as he handed over her birth control pills. “Thanks.”
“I’m really sorry, miss.” He quickly glanced around the restaurant. “I’ll get Kerri Ann to put your meal on my tab.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary. It was just an accident.” Was Kerri Ann here? she wondered with a quick look. Humm, which one could she be?
“I don’t mind.” He turned when the kitchen door swung open and a blond woman walked out. He twisted back to Lita with an impatient smile. “I really am sorry…”
“Angelita. And it’s no problem. I need to clean it out anyway. It’s like a big, black hole.” She motioned to her oversized bag.
The man held out his hand for her to take. “I’m Bryce.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Bryce.”
“Look,” he said and glanced back to the bar where the blond looked to be restocking glasses. “I need to talk to someone, but I highly recommend the pizza here. It’s the best.”
“So I hear. Go, do your business,” said Lita. “I’m just going to mull over these toppings a bit longer.”
He nodded and walked straight to the blond woman. Fortunately for Lita, they were only a few feet away and she could listen in.
“I thought you were in court.” The woman seemed irritated and her voice sounded snippy.
“We adjourned for lunch,” Bryce replied back in his lazy drawl, either unaware of or unconcerned by the woman’s hostility. “Misty said you came by to talk to me this morning. Said you seemed kind of mad about something.”
“Did she now?” The woman was pissed, any fool could see the way she was slamming the highball glasses on the shelf, but again it only seemed to amuse Bryce. He was either entertained by her behavior or a little slow. “I see speculating on my moods is sport to both you and your employees lately.”
He let out a long-suffering sigh and actually chuckled when she glared at him. “Kerri Ann, you’ve only got one mood these days. The only sport in it’s figuring out what got you there in the first place.”
Oooh, maybe he was slow. So, this was Kerri Ann. Well, she was madder than hell, but really quite pretty. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and a few pieces had escaped either on purpose or through the course of the day, but either way it softened the sharp angles of her face. She looked slender and athletic, the kind of woman you’d imagine hiking through the backcountry or rafting down the river. No wonder she and Jesse got along—or used to.
“Bryce Jenson, you can just go back to sweet talking my customers with your free time instead of bothering me when I’m trying to work.”
“Sweet talking your customers?” Bryce seemed genuinely confused by her accusation, but Lita, like any woman, knew exactly what she meant. She was talking about her.
“I saw you flirting with that woman over there. So just go on and let me get back to work.” She slammed the last glass on the shelf and carried the empty rack back into the kitchen.
So, Kerri Ann had a thing for Bryce. Interesting. Lita watched Bryce massage the back of his neck before turning around. She quickly averted her eyes back to the menu, but could see him approach the table.
“Angelita? Would you like some company for lunch?” he asked.
Lita looked up at his boyishly sweet face. The guy looked like a dog that’d been kicked by his owner. But he wasn’t stupid, because he wanted to make Kerri Ann jealous by planting himself at her table. “Sure.” She wondered how wise it was to get in the middle of a lover’s quarrel. If she wanted adventure, she seemed to have found it.
He pulled out his seat after removing his suit coat and draping it over the back of the chair. “Have you decided on toppings?”
Lita nodded. “Onions and mushrooms, with a side salad.”
“Greek’s good and the ceasar is too, if that’s more to your liking.”
Kerri Ann approached the table, notepad in hand, fake smile firmly in place. “Welcome to the Pizza Den. Can I get you something to drink while you look over the menu?”
Her sugarcoated voice sounded as sweet as a candy apple, but the look in her eye said poison apple. “I’ll have Diet Coke, please,” Lita said with a smile. Two could play at this game.
Kerri Ann looked at Bryce. “And for you, sir?”
“Sweet tea. And try not to spit in it.”
Lita had to fake a cough to mask her chuckle. “Should I have given the same warning?” she asked as soon as Kerri Ann walked away.
Bryce looked back toward the bar where she stood filling the glasses with ice. “Sorry. She’s mad at me.”
“What have you done to get her so mad? Insulted her pizza?”
Bryce looked mockingly horrified. “I’d never talk badly about her pizza. Me just breathing ticks her off lately.”
“And you two are…?”
“Friends,” he said dryly. “Just friends.” He shifted in his seat and placed his elbows on the table. “So, Angelita. What brings you to our humble little town?”
“I’ve taken a much needed sabbatical from work and…pretty much just ended up here.”
“Where’s home?”
“Atlanta.”
“And your work?” he asked as Kerri Ann slung the drinks to the table with such gusto a small amount sloshed over the lip of Bryce’s cup and landed on the tabletop with a splash. He gave her a scathing look, which she promptly ignored.
“What can I get you to eat?” Kerri Ann asked in the same false tone she’d used earlier. Lita thought of repeating Bryce’s request about spit after ordering her slice.
“You were telling me about your work?” Bryce prodded after Kerri Ann walked away to the kitchen.
“I’m a shoe designer. Ladies’ shoes. I have a small boutique in Atlanta.”
Bryce tipped his chair back and ducked his head to get a look at the sling-back sandals she’d worn today. “Very nice. I assume those are your own?”
“I wouldn’t think of wearing anything else, but the streets in Sequoyah Falls pose a bit of a challenge.”
“Cobblestone and brick can’t be easy to manage in heels, but then again, I don’t know how you women walk in those things on any surface.”
“Your Y chromosome puts you at a disadvantage.”
He smiled and looked back toward the kitchen. “At many things, I’m afraid.”
Lita wanted to ask Bryce about his situation with Kerri Ann. She loved other people’s romantic troubles, but her connection to Cal and Jesse made her think twice. She opted for safer ground. “So what do you do?”
“I’m an attorney.”
“That must be exciting.”
Bryce considered while studying the tea in his glass. “Maybe in a town like Atlanta, but up here in the mountains, it’s pretty standard. Wills, estate planning, real estate transactions. Nothing to write home about.”
“There’s something to be said for small town life. Cal said he hasn’t locked the doors to his place since the seventies,” Lita said. “I wouldn’t even check the mail without locking the door behind me.”
Shoe Strings Page 5
