“The minute I touch you, it’s like my brains start leaking out my ears. I can’t think about anything but how good you taste and how right you feel against me.”
She knew she shouldn’t feel the little thrill of joy at that confession—not when the only outcome to this was heartbreak for her.
“What am I supposed to say to that? I’m sorry?”
“It’s a start,” he muttered.
She tried to muster a smile but couldn’t quite manage it.
“I would be lying,” she said, her voice barely a vibration in the silent kitchen.
He stared at her with a raw intensity that stole her breath all over again.
“Lucy, I—”
She didn’t want to hear him tell her all the reasons this thing between them was crazy, impossible, unfathomable, so she cut him off.
“I need to take Max outside.” She scooped up the little dog.
“Now?”
“Yes. He usually pees about five minutes after he eats, which was about ten minutes ago.”
“Don’t you think we need to talk about this?”
“What’s to talk about? We go a little crazy when we touch each other. The answer to that is pretty simple. We just have to stop touching each other.”
“That seems to be easier said than done.”
“Most things are,” she muttered, and rushed out the door with Max before he could argue with her.
She couldn’t face anyone else right now when her emotions were so raw and battered so she quickly made her way to the side yard of Dermot’s big house. It was quiet there and lit only by the light shining from one of the upstairs windows and a slice of moonlight from the trees. Someone had situated a little bench here to take advantage of the pretty side garden and she slid down on it and let Max down on the mower-width grass pathway that wound through the gardens.
She pressed a hand to the tightness in her chest as she watched the little puppy dance through blotches of moonlight.
She was in love with Brendan.
How could she not have realized? She had been for a long, long time, maybe since that very first night they met at The Speckled Lizard.
The whole time that he had been married to her best friend, that they had built a life together and brought two children into the world, she had loved him without even being aware of it.
What was she supposed to do now?
Max waddled over to her and started nibbling at the strap on her sandal. She picked him up and held the sweet, fuzzy little puppy to her heart that felt as fragile as crackled glass.
He didn’t want her love now any more than he did a decade ago.
Oh, he might be attracted to her. The minute I touch you, it’s like my brains start leaking out my ears. I can’t think about anything but how good you taste and how right you feel against me.
She let out a shaky breath. They had heat between them, but it was bound to burn itself out quickly and then what would she be left with? Ashes and scars.
Brendan would never see her as someone with whom he could build a life. He had told her as much, that their goals and dreams were too different.
The only trouble was, she didn’t know what she wanted anymore. Everything she thought about herself had been shaken up in the past month and tossed into the air. The pieces were still falling all around her.
She loved him.
Suddenly she couldn’t seem to catch her breath and her heart started to race. No. Not now. She couldn’t have a panic attack now. She sank into the grass, holding on to the little puppy and did all the relaxation techniques she could manage for several long moments.
She could handle this. She could. She had done hard things before, and she could endure another heartbreak.
What choice did she have, anyway?
She couldn’t stay in Hope’s Crossing. She needed more out of a relationship than the occasional hot kiss, and she knew Brendan would never allow himself to want more than that from her. He would never love her. As much as she loved the children, she just wasn’t strong enough to endure watching him pick up the pieces of his life and move on with someone else.
She had suffered rejection from him before and it had taken her a long, long time to get over it—if she ever had. She couldn’t put herself through it again.
Nor could she hide out back here forever, as much as she might want to. It was a party. People were going to wonder what had happened to her. Crystal would at least be wondering what had happened to her puppy.
Lucy picked up Max and headed around the house. Just as she almost reached the circle of light in the backyard from the outdoor lights strung through the trees, a dark shape headed for her.
She tensed, not ready to face Brendan just yet, but to her surprise it wasn’t him, it was Aidan.
“Hey, Lucy! You’re just the person I was coming to find.”
“Oh?”
“Great to see you again. It’s been a while.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek, and she smiled, wishing she could fall for someone like Aidan. He was astonishingly great-looking, like all the Caine brothers but with more of a tamed, manicured sort of look than Brendan, less bulky in the shoulders, leaner features, those thin-rimmed glasses he wore sometimes.
On paper, the man should be perfect for her. They both lived and breathed high tech, knew many of the same people, shared a similar work ethic.
Why couldn’t she feel even the tiniest of sparks for him?
“What are you doing in Hope’s Crossing?” Aidan asked, with that way he had of focusing with laser-beam precision on a person. “I was assuming you were in town only for a visit, that maybe you scheduled a trip around the same time as Carter’s party. But Charlotte was just telling me you’ve been here living at Iris House for nearly a month.”
“That’s right.”
“You’ve left NexGen? I hadn’t heard!”
“If by left you mean I was fired, then yes.”
He pulled off his glasses and stared at her. “Fired? Seriously? Damn. I thought their board of directors was smarter than that.”
She found his reaction rather gratifying, even though she really didn’t want to have this conversation under these circumstances, while she was still reeling from discovering she was in love with his brother.
“It wasn’t without reason,” she finally said. “I was ultimately responsible for their latest PR nightmare. You know. The one where NexGen’s ad campaign urged hackers to take their best shot at breaking through the firewalls of their new software.”
“Right. At the same time the software had a security flaw big enough to fly a jumbo jet through. You didn’t create the security flaw.”
“No. Only the campaign that ended up making them a laughingstock in the industry.”
“I had assumed some heads rolled over that. I just never expected one of those to be yours, after all the good work you’ve done there.”
She shrugged. “One huge failure can obliterate a thousand small successes. That’s the way it goes.”
“So what are your plans?” he asked.
He was always on point, one of the many things she admired about him. Brass tacks with very little small talk. Aidan Caine had a reputation as someone aggressive but fair. She had enjoyed watching him take Caine Tech in amazing directions over the years.
“Right now I think I might go out and grab a piece of your father’s huckleberry pie.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
She sighed. “I know. The truth is, I have no idea. At the moment, I’m working to renovate Annabelle’s house. I plan to turn it into a bed and breakfast.”
“Going into the hospitality industry? I wouldn’t have expected that from you.”
“I plan to hire someone to run it for me. I know my own strengths,
and I don’t think I’ve ever been particularly, er, hospitable. But Jess and Annabelle always talked about turning the house into a small inn someday. It seems only right that I make that dream come true for them, even though they’re not here to enjoy it.”
He studied her for just a moment and then gave a considering sort of nod and that elusive, sexy smile of his.
“Would you have any interest in coming to work for me?”
She stared at him, not sure her emotions could take another jolt right now. “You’re serious?”
“Jessica used to brag about you endlessly at every family party, long before you and I ever met. It made me curious, and I’ve tried to keep an eye on you over the years. I have to tell you, I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen and I’ve been planning to approach you about a career move for some time now. A guy never knows when he’s going to need a marketing genius in his corner.”
He had been watching her career? She wasn’t quite sure how she was supposed to feel about that.
“I’ve got to tell you, Aidan, that’s a little creepy.”
He gave a full-fledged laugh that drew the attention of several others at the party—including Brendan, who turned in their direction and suddenly glowered.
“Professional curiosity only,” he corrected. “No creepster intentions whatsoever.”
Okay, this was turning into one of the strangest evenings of her life. She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with sexy gazillionaire tech geek Aidan Caine at Carter’s sixth birthday party.
“I’m serious about the job offer. I would love to have you on board at Caine Tech.”
“I got fired. You heard that part, right? I screwed up and lost NexGen millions of dollars.”
“I’m completely confident your responsibility in that fiasco was minimal, and I’ve never been of the let’s-find-a-scapegoat mentality.” He pulled out a business card and handed it to her. “That’s my private cell number. Think about it, Lucy. I can have my people throw together a very enticing package. The only catch is, you would have to consider relocating. I’ve got a new endeavor in the Portland area that might be perfect for your skill set.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said, tucking the card into her pocket.
“Good.” He gave her that full-fledged smile again that shattered geek-girl hearts around the world and returned to the party.
She stared after him for several seconds, unable to believe what had just happened.
The fact that Aidan had made this offer now, tonight, just fifteen minutes after she had reached the heartbreaking decision that she would have to leave Hope’s Crossing seemed an eerie coincidence.
This could be the answer to all her worries. She could sell Iris House, move on with her life and leave Brendan to move on with his.
“Hey! Aunt Lucy!” Carter raced up to her. He had been running nonstop all evening, she could tell, his face flushed with the excitement of being the center of attention at his party. When this was over, he was going to drop like a rock.
“Hi, bud.”
“Can I play with Max?”
“Sure,” she answered. “Just be careful. Not too rough.”
She watched him go with Max in the crook of his arm, even as her heart started to ache all over again. The job offer from Aidan might have come at a perfect time, but she had no idea how she could endure leaving Carter and Faith—and their father—behind.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LUCY DECIDED THE mark of a truly great gardener was someone who coordinated her plantings so perfectly that it could still look stunning months after the gardener wasn’t around, when somebody else with no green thumb took over caring for the spot.
Two weeks after Carter’s party, Lucy sat on the arbor bench that had become her favorite spot at Iris House, savoring the perfection of an early June morning after her run.
A light breeze stirred the plantings, making the flower heads bob and dance as bees buzzed from bud to bud. All around her, the garden bloomed with rich, verdant life.
In the soft, rosy morning light, it looked like a showplace—even though she had barely touched the garden, only weeded a little and cleared out the dead heads.
Though it was early days yet in the short Hope’s Crossing growing season, she thought the yard was shaping up to be particularly beautiful this year. Maybe it was their early spring or the perfect level of moisture the area had received through the winter—or maybe the mulch and fertilizer she had added on the advice of Annabelle’s neighbor Lou—but everything was green and lush.
Lucy gazed at the home whose care had fallen to her. Iris House looked truly beautiful, warm and inviting.
Would her great-aunt have been happy with what Lucy had accomplished here?
The work inside was nearly done. Dylan and Sam had wrapped up the major construction work the week before and the crew of painters she had hired for the rest of the house had finished two days earlier.
Genevieve only had to do her part, moving the furniture and making all the small decorating changes that would infuse glowing life into the house.
Leaving would be so difficult, especially after all the work she had poured into it.
She would miss so many things about this place. The creaky stairs, the softly blooming garden.
The inescapable sense of Annabelle’s presence.
She had to go, though. She had no choice. Her decision had been made, the die cast.
Two weeks from now, Iris House would officially open for business as a bed and breakfast. She was close to hiring a great retired couple to run the place for her, and she knew it would be a huge success. Already, she had taken reservations several weeks out.
She wouldn’t be here to see it, though. A week from Monday, she would be moving to Portland to take over as marketing director of one of Aidan Caine’s new companies.
A vehicle engine broke the silence of the summer morning as it drove past, and her pulse jumped.
Brendan. She recognized his SUV and was grateful for the arbor that concealed her from view.
He had likely just finished an overnight shift at the fire station and was heading home for a few hours’ sleep. He slowed down as he passed Iris House and she drew herself farther into the arbor.
She wasn’t sure which one of them was doing the better job of avoiding the other, but she hadn’t seen him in two weeks.
She was painfully aware that she tended to finish her run at the same time each morning and always spent a little extra time sitting out here in the garden, wondering if she would see him returning home when he was on the overnight shift.
Yes. She was ridiculous.
She sighed. She didn’t have time to indulge this today. In a few hours, she needed to leave for the town’s Giving Hope day, when everyone in town gathered to help each other clean yards, build sheds, paint fences and otherwise do what they could to make Hope’s Crossing a better place.
When she walked into the kitchen, she found Crystal dipping her spoon into a bowl of cereal at the table, Max playing at her feet. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she looked sweet and young, bubbling with excitement.
She still couldn’t believe this was the same sullen girl who had shown up at her doorstep weeks ago.
“Morning,” her half sister said. “Want some cereal? I’m happy to pour you a bowl.”
“I had some toast earlier. I need protein.” She grabbed a Greek yogurt out of the refrigerator and slid into the chair across from Crystal.
“How was your run?” Crystal asked.
How was it ever? A necessary evil if she wanted to stay in any kind of shape.
“Okay. Are you ready for today?” she asked.
“Yes! It’s going to be so fun. I’m meeting up with Peyton and Ava and their friend Molly.”
&nb
sp; Crystal had become good friends with Spencer Gregory’s daughter, Peyton, and Brendan’s niece Ava. “That should be fun.”
“They’re a blast,” Crystal agreed. “I really wish I could stay in Hope’s Crossing for the summer.”
“I’m sure your friends in Denver will be happy to have you back. And now you have friends here, too. It shouldn’t be hard to stay in touch, with all the options at your disposal.”
“I guess,” Crystal said. “Maxie! Cut it out.”
The puppy had one of the laces of her sneaker in his mouth and was tugging it. The little poodle-terrier mix was still tiny and still far too cute for his own good.
“Are you sure we can’t we take him with us today?” Crystal asked. “He’s going to be lonely. We should have arranged a playdate with Daisy. He hasn’t seen her in forever. The two of them could have kept each other company. Do you think it’s too late to call Brendan?”
“Yes. Far too late.” In more ways than one. “Max will be okay. Don’t worry. We’ll put him outside in the play yard and he’ll have a great time sniffing around in the grass or sleeping in his crate. If I can swing it, I’ll try to come back here during the day to play with him a little, then later you can take him for a walk.”
“Okay.”
Lucy finished her yogurt and glanced at the clock. The morning was already slipping away. “I still need to take a shower or we’ll miss the whole day.”
“Hurry, then,” Crystal said. “I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.”
Lucy tossed her yogurt carton into the trash and headed for her bedroom, wondering how she was going to get through the last week of her stay in Hope’s Crossing—and how she would possibly leave.
* * *
“DID YOU HAVE something to do with this?” she hissed to Genevieve Beaumont as she looked at her volunteer assignment for the day.
“What?” Gen asked with deceptive innocence.
Lucy frowned and held out the paper. “Assigning me to work with Brendan Caine all day clearing the Wild Iris Ridge trail.”
She would have thought her friend had entirely too much on her plate right now to bother with a little matchmaking. She was in charge of decorating for that evening’s gala and charity auction, she was finishing the work at Iris House and her wedding was only a week away.
Wild Iris Ridge (Hope's Crossing) Page 23
