Tart

by Lauren Dane

  • • •

  “I’m stunned.”

  Gillian stood in the middle of the area they’d set up for the engagement party, her eyes alight with joy, a big smile on her face.

  “You like?”

  She hugged Jules tight. “It’s perfect. You made it perfect. Thank you.”

  Grinning, Jules hugged her right back. “I had a lot of help, obviously. It was a group effort. Daisy handled all the table coverings and accessories. She made all the votives hanging from the trees herself.”

  “You made dulce de leche cupcakes.”

  “I did. But really it was for Adrian. He asked.”

  Gillian laughed. “You’re incorrigible. You know how much I love them. I won’t let you downplay your part in this. Who else would know how much I’d love that deep red? And the flowers! How’d you get those?”

  Jules shrugged, flattered and so pleased she’d made her friend so happy. “I can’t take credit for the flowers. I mentioned how much you like peonies and Erin made it happen. I have no idea where she got them.”

  “She’s magic. I’ve ceased questioning how she makes things happen. But you, well, I know you have a busy life. We need to talk about all sorts of stuff. I feel like we haven’t had a good long chat in forever.”

  Jules hugged her friend. “We did just two weeks ago. And you’re planning a wedding, which is pretty stressful for a control freak like you.”

  Gillian laughed and squeezed Jules’s hands. “Takes one to know one, my darlin’. How did the party go at your brother’s place? Did Connor like his cake?”

  She tried very hard not to let it show just how that went.

  Those pretty eyes narrowed. Gillian missed nothing, damn it. “I know that look. Tell me.”

  She wasn’t going to bring any of that ugliness into Gillian’s special day. “Not tonight. Tonight is for happy stuff. And yes, he loved the cake.”

  “Of course right now. Jules Lamprey, tell me.”

  She hugged Gillian again. “You look beautiful. You got your hair done even. You smell delightfully ladylike and your makeup is perfect. This is your party, and your night and I’ve been planning this shindig for some time now. So, no, it’s not for tonight. Tonight is for joy only. I forbid anything else.”

  Gillian frowned. “I’m coming to Tart tomorrow. You will tell me then.”

  “All right. Come near closing and we’ll have lunch.” Jules caught sight of Adrian. “There’s your man; he’s looking for you. Go on and get him.”

  “Thank you.” Gillian waved to Adrian before turning her attention back to Jules. “There have been more times than I can count in my life when you saved me. Tonight is perfect because you planned it. And you love me.”

  “Course I do. Also, Erin helped. I’ve gotten to know her better through that, so really, I win all around.”

  Gideon came out, looking for her. When he caught sight of Jules there, his smile totally changed his face. “Still gives me butterflies when he looks at me like that.”

  Gillian sent a grin Jules’s way. “Gives me butterflies just to watch. There’s literally no one else out here that matters to him once he sees you. It’s breathtaking.”

  The two men ambled over, Adrian telling Gideon some story that made Gideon laugh.

  “And you have two of them. Lucky you. We need to talk about that too.” Gillian raised a brow and then turned to Adrian. “Hello there, Mister Brown.”

  “There’s my lady. This is amazing.” Adrian pulled Gillian to his side and shifted his attention to Jules. “This is more than I could have ever imagined. It’s perfect. Thank you for being such a good friend to Gillian and me.”

  “I was just telling Gillian it was a group effort. Your brother and sister did a whole lot. Delicious worked their butts off as well.”

  “She does have trouble taking compliments.” Gideon took her hand, smiling. “You look beautiful.”

  As did he. She’d never seen him in a suit and it totally worked. “You clean up damned nice.” Jules tiptoed up and stole a kiss and turned back to Adrian and Gillian. “Now, you two go on and greet your guests. People are arriving. You can thank me with some great tickets to your next show.”

  Adrian hugged Jules. “Hell no, you get backstage.”

  She grinned. “Score.”

  They left and Gideon sighed happily. “You did good, Juliet.”

  “I keep telling you, it wasn’t just me. Hell, you guys made this lawn look magical. I had nothing to do with it.”

  Gideon rolled his eyes. “Except for those detailed drawings you gave.”

  She laughed, blushing. “I couldn’t leave it up to chance, now could I?”

  “Not you.”

  “Thank you for helping so much.”

  “They’re important to you. Hell, by this point they’re all my friends too. So course I did.” Gideon meant that. These people were her family, and if for no other reason he’d support her in anything to help them. But he liked them all too. They’d accepted him and their less-than-usual situation with such warmth and openheartedness, he’d been very touched.

  He hadn’t been sure how they’d respond. Cal had been part of their group since childhood. Gideon was an outsider, even though he’d been around a few times a year.

  But he should have realized anyone Jules loved so much would be fine with anything that made her happy. And they were.

  “This DJ is going to do some slow stuff, right? Because I need to dance with you tonight.”

  “You’re on. I even got my hair done. I want to get everything I can out of tonight.”

  She was beautiful there, the fairy lights all around them casting a pretty yellow glow. Her hair had been done, yes. Swept up with a deep red rose tucked right at the base of her left ear. She wore more makeup than usual, shiny red lips, her eyes lined in a way that made them seem bluer and even bigger. Her dress was deep blue. It swept over her figure perfectly, highlighting those breasts of hers. Showing enough to make him want to bend his head and kiss each sweet mound showcased at the neckline. The shoes were peep toe. High enough that she didn’t have to strain so much to give him a smooch and he had no complaints about that. They thrust her ass back, her tits forward and she swayed beguilingly as she walked.

  Cal would lose it when he saw her like this. A shiver washed over Gideon when he thought about what he planned to do to them both when they got home later on that night.

  • • •

  Cal sat next to Patrick Carter, listening to a really great story about the ways Bainbridge Island had changed over the years. The man was a font of knowledge about so many things. Cal loved his stories and his asides. But what he loved more than that was the way the man simply accepted his grandson and his grandson’s two lovers. Without blinking an eye.

  Cal hadn’t told his family yet. He was still working out a way to say it to communicate to them just how important Jules and Gideon were to him without making it sound like it was all about the sex or whatever. But Patrick, at eighty-four, didn’t seem bothered by it at all. If he was in town and saw Cal, he waved and always made the time to talk to him. He stopped in at Tart all the time as well, Cal knew.

  Gideon was fortunate to have this man in his life, and Cal supposed he and Jules were too.

  He glanced around the area for her. She’d been slightly off over the last week. At first he’d chalked it up to stress over the party. Jules had wanted it to be perfect for Gillian and Adrian and the need to control every last detail had consumed much of her time.

  But after she’d been back a day or two it had become clear to Cal that something had gone down the weekend before when she’d gone down to Portland to her brother’s place. When Cal or Gideon had asked about it, Jules had been full of descriptions about the party and her nephews’ reactions to the things she’d done. But she’d avoided talking about anything else.

  He and Gideon figured she’d had some sort of spat with Ethan regarding their mother. She had tomorrow morning off so he and Gideon wo
uld push her then. Damn her mother.

  “Your girl sure looks fetching tonight.” Patrick nodded toward where Jules stood with a plate of food in one hand, the other on Miles’s forearm. The boy clearly adored his godmother. His grin was huge and he leaned toward her.

  “She sure is, Patrick.”

  “First time I saw her she was not more than four or five. We used to eat in her parents’ diner a few times a month and she’d be there. Over the years she waited tables or cooked there. Grew up fine, that one. Better’n her folks I wager.” He shook his head. “Gideon came out of that damned marriage of his lucky. What he has now is better than what he had. I figure it takes the both of you to manage that woman of yours. But . . . with you too.”

  Cal choked out a laugh.

  “I’m an old man, Calvin, I don’t bother to beat around the bush. I don’t much care for judging what people get up to in the bedroom, long as everyone there is on board. But I can see your heart. You wear it on your sleeve. You love my grandson and he loves you right back. And her too. So what difference does it make to me that there’s three of you instead of two? Or that two of you have the same equipment? I’m going to die soon enough; I don’t need to carry anyone else’s choices. I just need to love my family. If you were bad for him, I’d show you just how well I can still throw a punch to the face. But you’re all right. For a lawyer.”

  Cal just bet Patrick could throw a punch. The man was hale and had fists the size of small hams. He worked outside every day. Cal had no doubts at all that should Patrick get to feeling someone was out to harm his family he’d do what was needed to set things right.

  “I’m glad you approve. I never . . . well, I didn’t set out to end up here. But I’m glad I have.” Not that it was easy. But it was worth the struggle to get things right.

  “Good. Take care of them and you’ll never be sorry. I had that kind of love for my entire adult life. I met Clara when I was sixteen. She was fourteen then. Too young for me. So I waited for her and once she’d turned seventeen I went to her daddy to ask his permission to take her on a date. They invited me to dinner. We had dinner at her family’s house for a good six months before they agreed to let me take her out. I never dated another since that first dinner and I never regretted it either.”

  That gave Cal hope.

  “I’ve lived a long time. Seen things change a lot. But one thing that hasn’t changed is that love is love, no matter how you cut it. And when you find it, you need to grab it with all your might.”

  Cal stood. “You’re right. I’m off to go do that right now.”

  Patrick chuckled. “You do that, boy. She’s too pretty not to snap up.”

  • • •

  Jules glanced in Cal’s direction, pausing to smile as he approached. He felt like the only person in the world, his heart swelling.

  “Miles, are you trying to steal my woman?”

  Miles looked up at Cal, horrified. “Ew. No. I mean . . .” He blushed furiously and Jules hugged him one-handed. “She’s great and all, but she’s my godmother!”

  Jules’s eyes danced with humor. “I did change lots of your diapers.”

  “Ew.” Miles looked like he wished a hole would open up and swallow him.

  Jules laughed. “Go on. You’re free.” She handed Miles the plate and he took it, rushing back to the table where the other kids were.

  Cal pulled her to him and began to sway. “I haven’t danced with you yet.”

  “What a neglected girl I am! You need to remedy that.”

  “Goddamn, you make me happy.” He kissed her quickly and she settled in close, letting him lead. “I like these heels. Makes you nearly as tall as me so I can steal kisses easier.”

  “Glad you like them because they hurt like hell.”

  “Beauty is pain, darlin’.”

  “So men like to say.”

  He laughed but kept hold of her as the music changed. It didn’t matter what song was on, she was in his arms, all his. He liked it that way.

  “You and the rest of Delicious should look into party planning. I don’t know that I’ve seen Gillian happier. Ever.”

  “No one I know deserves a happy ending more than Gillian.” Jules turned her head to look at Gillian, sitting next to Adrian, his arm around the back of her chair. Her eyes widened. “Who’s that dude with them? Holy shit, is that Damien Hurley?”

  Cal took a closer look even has he tightened his grip around her waist. “Yes, I think it is. It’s weird to know Erin and Adrian. They’re both so down-to-earth it’s easy to forget this is their peer group.”

  His sister Mary sat with them as well. A glass of champagne in her hand and one of those mysterious woman smiles on her face. Cal frowned as the Damien guy looked at Mary like he wanted to eat her up.

  “Isn’t he one of those man-whores?”

  Jules grinned up at him. “I don’t know, but he’s sex on legs, for totally sure.”

  He must have had some facial expression because she caught it and let her head fall back, laughing. “You’re such a big brother right now. It’s adorable. But I shouldn’t have to remind you how smart your sister is. If she gets some, it’ll be because she knows exactly what that guy is and wants a slice.”

  “I don’t want to talk about that. Or about how hot he is. You have two men who can’t get enough of you. That’s your concern, missy.”

  “Well, sure. But we’re not talking about me. She’s a gorgeous woman, your sister. Of course some hot rock star wants to get into her knickers. Hello. But she’s smart. No cookies will be given out unless she wants it that way.”

  “You killed my hard-on.”

  She laughed again, hugging him tight. “I can’t even take how cute you are sometimes.”

  “Will it get me laid?”

  “Hello, didn’t you just say I killed your hard-on? Also, who was with me this morning if not you?”

  Oh yes, that. “Well, really, I’d have to be dead to forget this morning. I think it tops our personal best if I do say so myself.”

  The three of them, spilled out in a mass of legs and arms, mouths and hands. He’d been in her, he’d been in Gideon, it had left his knees rubbery for hours after and just right then the memory made other parts of him distinctly less rubbery.

  “Seems like you’re recovering right now.”

  “You do have a way about you.”

  Gideon came out to the dance floor and instead of waiting his turn, he just put his arms around them both. They could do that here, in this safe space. And as it happened they weren’t the only ones.

  Ben, Erin and Todd, tanned and relaxed and freshly returned from a solo, romantic holiday, sat just beyond, Erin’s head on Todd’s shoulder, her feet in Ben’s lap.

  Gideon kissed Jules briefly and then Cal. “Hey there.”

  “Hey yourself.”

  They swayed under the stars, their woman between them and everything was just right.

  16

  Gillian poured them both a cup of tea as Jules brought out the plates for the huge bag of to-go Thai food they’d procured before coming back to Jules’s place.

  “Thank you again for the party. I’m going to remember it for as long as I live.” Gillian grinned. “So, spill.”

  “You’re not even going to wade in and pussyfoot around for a while? Man, you’re brutal.”

  Gillian waved that away. “I don’t need that artifice with you. Now, tell me.”

  Jules filled her in on some of the stuff about her mother and the way she’d dumped it on Jules to tell Ethan she wasn’t coming. Gillian thought very little of that and for whatever reason, it helped Jules relax and remember of all people in the world, the woman across from her was her sister in every way but biological.

  “So Ethan was mad at you about it?”

  “No. He’s got a lot of anger in general, but he went out of his way to let me know he didn’t hold me responsible for the crap our parents pull. So one night we stayed up late and got to talking about our lives
. I . . . I told him about Cal and Gideon.”

  Suddenly not hungry, Jules pushed her plate away and avoided the frown she knew Gillian would be wearing.

  “What did he say?”

  “He said . . . he said that he didn’t want me around the boys anymore.”

  Cold and hot flashed through her at the memory of how she’d felt when he’d said that.

  “He said wha?” Gillian grew up in London’s East End and when she got very angry or excited, her English got up and she began to lose the end sounds of certain words.

  “He said I wasn’t fit to be around kids. That he couldn’t trust me. I stayed in a hotel that night and didn’t come home until late that next day. You can’t tell Cal or Gideon. Promise me.”

  “You’re taking the piss! You didn’t tell them?”

  Back when she first heard Gillian say that she was horrified. But then she’d learned it was a Britishism about playing a joke on someone.

  “I wish I was. How can I tell them, Gillian? Huh? How do I manage to get that out of my mouth to them?”

  “Well, I’m not telling anyone. I’m going down there myself and kicking the shit out of that great bloody git of a brother of yours. What on earth can he be thinking? This is insanity. How can he think to take those boys away from you this way?”

  The tears were flowing now, no chance to stop them. She’d been in a haze for the last week, sick just to think of it. Sick at the loss of not just her brother but those two boys she loved so fiercely.

  “I didn’t take either of them with me. I went alone. I know it’s not usual and that some people might be offended. It’s not like I shoved it down his throat. I love those babies. I’ve never done anything to hurt them. I never, ever would.”

  Gillian was there, hugging her tight, smoothing a hand over her hair. “Shhh. You’re not the bad guy here. He’s wrong. So, so wrong.”

  “I don’t know what to do. I tried to talk to him more, to work things out. I said I’d keep that part of my life totally separate from the boys. He said . . . he told me I was going to hell, that I was a whore and he kicked me out of his house.”

  Her shoulders shook as she kept crying. And then . . . she heard a tap on the front door. Gideon’s tap.