This Can't Be Love

by Maria Geraci

  “Sarah, where did you go to college?” Ann asked.

  Sarah had just stuffed an olive into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed as quickly as politely possible. “I went to community college, but I dropped out after a couple of semesters and got a job on a cruise line.”

  “Now that’s interesting,” Mimi said. “What did you do on board the ship?”

  “I worked in the kitchen.”

  Zeke smiled at her. “And we all know how that worked out for you.” He turned to Ann. “Rusty and the rest of the department are hooked on Sarah’s blueberry muffins. I think Frida is going to have to steal her recipe or there might be a riot when Sarah leaves.”

  Sarah felt herself blush. “I wish I could take credit for those blueberry muffins, but that’s all Lucy.”

  “Enough small talk. I want to know how this—” Mimi waved a hand between Sarah and Luke, “happened.”

  “This?” Luke asked.

  “Yeah, this,” Mimi said. “You and Sarah. Here. Now. You must have scared her to death when you walked into the house out of the blue.” She turned to Sarah. “And how on earth did Luke get you to keep his royal arrival in town a secret?”

  Sarah felt her face go hot. It was said tongue-in-cheek, but there was also a serious curiosity behind Mimi’s words. In the short time she’d been in town, Mimi had been a good friend, and for Sarah to have kept Luke’s arrival a secret the other morning made her feel like a traitor.

  “I don’t think I scared her to death,” Luke said, calmly reaching out for a slice of cheese. “Did I?” His blue gaze settled on her in a way that said they shared a private joke between them.

  The hell with him. She didn’t want to be any part of this weirdness between him and his family. “I was sound asleep when he walked in on me at two in the morning, so yeah, it was pretty unsettling. It took me a couple of minutes to realize who he was.”

  “Two in the—” Ann Powers gave her son a hard stare. “What on earth! Why didn’t you just call and tell us you were coming? Why sneak back into town in the middle of the night like a fugitive?”

  “I’d just gotten off an oil rig off the Louisiana coast and drove straight here. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I truly am,” he said, “I just wanted—”

  “Some alone time,” his dad said, clearly the family peacemaker. “We understand, son.”

  No one else looked like they understood, but the conversation eventually flowed back to Sarah. “What did your parents think about you working on a cruise ship?” Ann asked. Despite the overall politeness in her tone the way she said cruise ship made it sound as if Sarah had been sent to Siberia. “You must have been, what, twenty?”

  “Nineteen. My mom was disappointed I didn’t finish my degree, but she understood.” She drained the rest of her wine.

  Thankfully, Alex automatically refilled it. “What about your father?” he asked.

  “I didn’t ask him what he thought, and he’s never told me.”

  “Really? Because I’d have a hard time keeping my opinion to myself on that,” Zeke said, tossing a glance toward his teenage daughter. “Not that there’s anything wrong with not finishing college or working on a cruise ship, but I’d definitely want to help my daughter make any life decisions.”

  “That’s because you’re a good dad.” She picked up a canapé—zucchini stuffed with some mysterious cheese maybe—and took a bite. “Wow. This is awesome. I definitely need this recipe.” She could feel everyone’s abrupt gaze on her. “Oh! I don’t mean to imply that my dad isn’t a good guy, because he is. But he wasn’t a real dad. He was more like a…sperm donor, really.”

  Cameron’s mouth gaped open and Claire smothered a giggle.

  The mood in the room quickly fizzled from curiosity to discomfort. Oops. There went her big mouth again. Always saying what she thought when she should be more discreet.

  She wasn’t embarrassed by the fact that her parents had never married, but this was a family dinner with near strangers and she’d probably just given out too much information. She knew they were waiting for her to elaborate on her last statement, so she chose her next words carefully. “My parents dated very briefly, but they never married. My dad lives in Houston with his new family, which includes three teenagers, so he keeps pretty busy.”

  Mimi visibly relaxed. “Three teenagers at the same time? God bless him.”

  Claire playfully rolled her eyes.

  “But you keep in touch with him?” Ann persisted.

  “Oh sure, we always talk on my birthday and the holidays. And, of course, I send him a Father’s Day card, because you know, I wouldn’t be here without him!” She laughed, but no one else thought it was funny. Sarah shifted in her chair and arranged her face into a smile. She glanced over to find Luke’s gaze on her in a way that made her even more uncomfortable, as if that was possible. She quickly looked away.

  “What’s next for you, Sarah?” Zeke asked. “After you finish your job here?”

  “I’m going on a cruise with my mom for Labor Day weekend.”

  “A cruise with your mom? Sounds like fun.” Mimi said it politely, but it wasn’t hard for Sarah to read between the lines.

  “Oh, it will be. My mom’s my best friend. We do lots of stuff together.”

  Ann Powers raised a skeptical brow. “Imagine, being best friends with your mother.”

  If that was a dig at her own daughter, Mimi smoothly ignored it. “What about your next job?”

  “Well, I’m really hoping there isn’t going to be a next job. At least, not one that involves me working for someone else. I’m planning on buying my own food truck.”

  “Now, that’s cool,” Claire said, looking at Sarah with renewed interest.

  “Is it going to be a taco truck?” Cameron asked. “I love tacos.”

  Sarah winked at him. “Doesn’t everybody?”

  Cameron blushed adorably.

  “Unfortunately, no tacos. My specialty is comfort food. Meatloaf, mac and cheese, tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, that kind of thing.”

  “Sounds fantastic,” Zeke said. “Are you going to do this here in Whispering Bay or back in your hometown?”

  “Oh, I’m going to move the truck all around Florida. Hit all the popular beach spots and city festivals, that kind of thing.”

  “Well, we definitely need to keep in touch,” Mimi said. “Every year the town hosts a festival and we’d love to have your food truck.”

  “What an…interesting lifestyle you lead,” Ann said in a way that clearly implied just the opposite.

  Luke cleared his throat and angled his head toward the kitchen. “What’s that smell, Mom? It’s fabulous.”

  Alex raised his wineglass in the air like a salute. “Your mother made prime rib. In honor of your coming home.”

  “I wanted to make a turkey with all the trimmings, since you’ve missed the last few holiday dinners, but with Earl’s passing last night, there wasn’t time,” Ann said.

  Mimi leaned forward to set her glass of water on the table. “You won’t believe all the calls I got at city hall today. Jenna Pantini, that’s the new city manager, wasn’t supposed to start for another couple of weeks, but I convinced her to begin next Monday. There’s a lot to do now that the town has inherited so much land.” Mimi went on to explain that Earl Handy’s will had been public knowledge and that he’d left Whispering Bay miles of prime beachfront property.

  Sarah whistled under her breath. “That’s some gift. What’s the city going to do with all that land?”

  “That’s part of the reason we need Jenna to start work immediately. According to Pilar, the will is pretty specific. Old Earl wanted the land used for public access, which is going to require a lot of planning.”

  Pilar Diaz-Rothman was the city’s attorney and one of Mimi’s Bunco friends. She came into The Bistro most mornings to get a café con leche. Sarah liked Pilar. After a little pleading on Sarah’s part, Pilar had shared her mother’s flan recipe. Maybe she would intro
duce an international dessert day at The Bistro…

  “Earl loved this town,” Ann said. “I’m sure he would be happy to know how much Whispering Bay will profit from his generosity.” She frowned. “Nora, maybe not so much, though.”

  Alex shrugged. “She’ll just have to get over it.”

  Ann mulled this over a few seconds, then straightened in her chair. “So, Luke, tell us your big news.”

  “It’s not exactly big news,” he said cautiously. “It’s nothing really. I can tell you about it later.”

  Ann looked over at Sarah and tried to hide her frown, but it was obvious that Luke’s mother was irritated. It wasn’t hard for Sarah to read her thoughts. If her son had “big news” to share with his family why had he insisted that an almost perfect stranger come along tonight? The whole evening made no sense.

  “Let me guess!” Claire squealed. “You’re engaged! Do you think Victoria will let me be a bridesmaid?”

  “We already know Luke’s not engaged,” Mimi said, giving her daughter a patient smile. “At least, not yet.”

  “Nope,” he said tightly. “Definitely not engaged.”

  The way Luke said it made the little hairs on Sarah’s neck rise. There was that edginess again. Like there was a time bomb hidden somewhere in the room and he was the only one who knew about it. She glanced at the looks on all their faces. His family had finally caught on, too.

  “Now you’re really making us curious,” Mimi said with a nervous laugh. “You said your business was doing well. Right?”

  “The business is doing great.” Luke placed a finger in the edge of his collar as if to loosen it, but the top button was already undone.

  “If it’s not the business, and you’re not engaged yet, then what is it?” Ann Powers scooted to the edge of her chair. “Are you planning to ask Victoria to marry you? Is that your news? Are you here to ask us what we think about the idea, because if that’s what this is about then—”

  “Mom, you know Victoria and I broke up six months ago.”

  “Oh, pooey. I just emailed Victoria and she practically promised me the two of you would spend Labor Day weekend here with us. If that doesn’t mean the two of aren’t getting back together then I’m a monkey’s uncle.”

  “Well, Mom, that’s going to be pretty impossible considering that she’s getting married next month. And, obviously, not to me.”

  The room went deathly silent.

  “What?” his mother finally croaked out.

  Her confusion was mirrored by the rest of his family. “I don’t understand,” Mimi said.

  Luke dragged a hand through his hair. “You already know Victoria and I are broken up. What you don’t know is that she met someone a couple of months ago and they got engaged and they’re getting married next month. It’s that simple.”

  Oh, boy. If Luke really thought this little bombshell he’d just dropped on his family was that simple, then he was the biggest clueless wonder of all time.

  Sarah felt a surge of indignation crash over her. How could he just sit there and calmly (well, almost calmly because his jawline looked so tight it was a wonder his teeth didn’t fall out) tell his family that their marriage dreams had just gone up in smoke?

  “Victoria’s been engaged to someone else and we’re just now finding out?” Mimi said.

  Zeke made a face like he wished he was anywhere but here and Alex just looked at his son with pity. Everyone seemed stunned, except Ann, who quickly recovered from her initial shock and went straight into warrior mode.

  “This is all your fault,” Ann said. “Of course, poor Victoria has rebounded into another relationship! What with all this silly breaking up and getting back together and you never making up your mind to marry her. What woman would put up with all that! But it’s not too late. You’ll have to go straight to Atlanta and beg her forgiveness, of course, but I guarantee you, she’ll take you back. You need to fix this, Luke. You’re never going to find another woman as perfect as Victoria.”

  Everyone waited for Luke to respond. Including Sarah, although if she could have vanished in a puff of smoke she’d do so gladly. She’d always envied people with big families. But not tonight.

  “Mom,” Luke said gently, “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you about Victoria’s engagement this afternoon, but there wasn’t time. I’m not going to Atlanta because I’m not getting back with her. She’s happy. And I’m happy for her.”

  “Happy? How can you be happy when the woman you love is going to marry someone else?”

  Thank God for Zeke Grant. He stood and waved his two wide-eyed teenagers into the dining room. “Is dinner ready? Because I sure am hungry. Aren’t you hungry, Mimi?”

  “Yes!” Mimi practically jumped from the couch. “Now that I’m eating for two, I have to make sure to keep my blood sugar level. Can we eat now, Mom? Please?”

  Ann hesitated for just a fraction of a second before she stood with all the grace of a queen. Now wasn’t the time to keep harping on her son, but the look in her eyes said this was far from over. Sarah could almost feel sorry for Luke, except she’d love to strangle him for dragging her into his family drama. “Of course, we can eat. Let’s all go into the dining room before dinner gets cold.”

  Chapter Eight

  The family dinner from hell ended around nine. After they’d eaten, Mimi had had trouble staying awake, openly yawning and tossing pleading glances at her husband, until Zeke had finally gotten the message and rounded up their kids for a hasty exit.

  She and Luke, on the other hand, had been forced to stay another half-hour making small talk with his parents. The ride back to his beach house had been freakishly quiet. Sarah had mumbled a quick good night, brushed her teeth, and settled onto her inflatable mattress, only to now be tossing and turning. The patio lights streamed through the window blinds and the occasional clink of a glass told her she wasn’t the only one having trouble falling asleep.

  What was he doing out there in the middle of the night, all alone? Drinking away his sorrows? Ha! Poor baby. She glanced at her cell phone. It was past midnight. In less than five hours she’d be at The Bistro, starting what was usually a busy day. Saturdays always were. But she couldn’t sleep. Not after tonight’s Meet the Parents fiasco. It hadn’t taken her long after Luke’s big announcement to figure out why he’d invited her to dinner.

  He’d used her.

  Her presence had served as a buffer between him and his mother. Sarah knew the type. Ann Powers would no more create a scene with a guest in her home then she’d take off hitchhiking down the highway.

  Sarah slipped a bra on under her thin T-shirt, pulled on a pair of shorts, then headed out to the patio. She couldn’t sleep, so why not join him?

  She opened the back door to find Luke sitting at the outdoor table, the newly purchased bottle of Glenlivet opened and, from what she could see, already put to good use.

  He glanced at her, then nodded toward an empty chair. “Care to join me?” Both his speech and his eyes seemed clear enough. A mere sip of this scotch had been enough to make her see double. The man could hold his liquor, that’s for sure.

  She sat across from him. “Just a sip.”

  Instead of getting up and going to the kitchen to get another glass, he tossed back what was left in his, then poured her a small amount of the whisky. Sharing his glass seemed too intimate. But what the heck. She took a tentative sip. “Thanks. Maybe now I can get some sleep.”

  “Sorry if the lights kept you up.” Only he didn’t look sorry, just resigned, as if he’d forgotten she was even here but was putting up with her the best he could. The dress shirt and slacks he’d worn to dinner were now replaced by a blue Duke University T-shirt and a pair of worn-out jeans. He was barefoot and his hair stuck out at weird angles, like he’d been running his hands through it. Plus, he had a serious five o’clock shadow going on. By all accounts, he should look awful, but it was just the opposite. Madison Avenue makeup artists got paid big bucks to make male models loo
k this sexy.

  It just occurred to her that Victoria was no longer in the picture. Which meant Luke Powers was available. Not that he’d ever be interested in someone like her. Or that she’d be interested in him.

  “I guess you must be feeling pretty crummy right now.”

  He raised a brow like he wasn’t sure what she meant.

  “You know. Having to tell your family about Victoria’s engagement. Sorry about that, by the way.”

  He shrugged like it was no big deal, and she was struck by the urge to reach across the table and slug him. The woman he’d been dating for the past three years was marrying someone else, essentially dashing all his mother’s hopes and dreams. And he’d announced it to his family during appetizers! Did the man have no feelings whatsoever?

  She could feel the whisky making her braver than it was smart to be. She shouldn’t do it. She shouldn’t say anything to make him kick her out of his house, but she had a lease, dang it. And she’d never been shy when it came to expressing her opinion.

  Before she could think too much, the words tumbled out of her mouth. “How do you think tonight went? Wait. Let me answer that for you. Not well. Not well at all.”

  There was a pause before he said, “I admit, I probably could have handled tonight better.”

  “You think?”

  He glared at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  She shook her head. “Are you for real? Victoria really dodged a bullet with you, didn’t she?”

  She was on a roll. Might as well go for broke. Lease or no lease, he’d probably order her out of his house. Maybe she could set up her inflatable mattress in The Bistro’s storeroom. If she was discreet enough, Tom Donalan wouldn’t have to know about it.

  “You basically string this girl along for three years and your family and everyone thought you were going to get married and now she’s marrying someone else and you announce the whole thing at a family dinner in front of a perfect stranger, that would be me by the way, so no one can really quiz you too much about it. Talk about repressed. Did the Feelings Police arrest you when you were a kid or something? I’d actually feel sorry for you, if you weren’t, you know, you.”