by Amy Gamet
She was physically shaken from his touch, unsettled. She needed to get out of here. She turned to head back inside.
“Tori, what if he’s not as wonderful as you remember?”
She frowned, his words hitting on one of her biggest fears.
She was twenty-seven years old, and her feelings for Gabe were as close as she’d ever come to being in love. She wanted to believe that meant he was the man for her, but deep down, she was afraid of an idea she couldn’t even give voice to.
That maybe there wasn’t a man for her.
Several of her friends were already married, and those who weren’t were either in serious relationships or had been in them. But Tori was different. There had been other men, but there hadn’t been anyone who mattered since Gabe.
The boy she remembered had been sweet and kind, a fun-loving adventurer who enjoyed life more than anyone she knew before or since. Now Jed was suggesting Gabe wasn’t really the knight in shining armor of her memories, which was a very real possibility that scared her to death.
She lifted her chin. “I never said he was perfect.”
He laughed. “Not even close.”
He was so smug. She gritted her teeth. “Do me a favor and stay out of it. Don’t get involved. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. Do you understand?”
For the longest moment he said nothing at all, just stood there in the moonlight. “You want me to leave you alone?” he said quietly.
“Yes.”
He walked back to her.
Damn that sexy walk.
“No.”
Her heart beat quickly in her chest and she wondered if he would touch her again.
He smiled a devil’s grin. “I have a better idea.”
~~~
This was asinine.
Sheer craziness.
But the idea was rolling through Jed’s mind like a snowball down a snow-covered mountainside. The fact that it was a terrifically bad idea didn’t make one single bit of difference.
“Be my date for the wedding,” he said.
Tori’s head reared back. “Excuse me?”
He stared at her beautiful face, the scent of her perfume floating on the evening air. He wanted time to explore their connection, to see if the chemistry between them could actually combust.
It has nothing to do with revenge.
The thought stopped him cold.
Was that why he was doing this? A lingering anger over his brother’s all-too recent betrayal?
No. If anything, Jed owed Gabe a favor for pulling him back from the edge of disaster. Jed knew he had come close to making a horrible mistake, and his brother had inadvertently saved his skin by keeping him from marrying Evelyn.
His eyes slipped down her shapely brow, the crease of confusion only adding to its appeal. A few days. That’s all he wanted. A few days to assuage his own interest while piquing that of his brother. They’d both be happy.
“Gabe always wants what he can’t have,” he said.
“You are a despicable person.” She turned on her heel and he caught her by the elbow. Her gaze snapped to his.
The skin under his fingers was warm and soft, inviting. He was pulled toward her, attracted as if by some outside force, the desire to touch her hair, her face, suddenly overwhelming him.
Jed loosened his grip on her arm. “Despicable? I think you have me confused with someone else.”
She pulled her arm away. “Gabe is a good man.”
“You haven’t even seen him in years.”
“I knew him.”
“You knew nothing.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I cared about him, something I’m willing to bet no woman has ever said about you.”
Icy resentment spread through him as her words hit close to their mark. Evelyn had claimed to love him, but clearly that wasn’t the case.
“Touché.” He stepped around her, slowly opening the door that led into the house. “I will leave you to your man-chasing, then.”
~~~
Chapter 3
Tori slammed her car door shut with her hip as the first drops of rain fell onto her sunglasses. She threw her bag over her shoulder and cursed into her phone at the owner of the print shop.
“No, that’s not right. The last clue comes out at midnight, not in the morning. How would anyone have time to find the treasure before the festival if it came out in the morning?”
A throbbing headache was beginning in her temples, squeezing like a tight rubber band. Her day had begun with a particularly nasty collections call from a woman named Janice, that had left Tori in a terrible mood. This after she’d lain awake well into the night thinking about Jed Trainor and his infuriating, pompous offer to be her date so she might be lucky enough to catch a man.
What a jerk.
The heavens opened wide and rain fell in a drenching downpour. She tried to cover her phone with her hand as she broke into a run. “Have the fliers gone out to the rental properties yet?”
“Yep.”
With the wrong date for the final clue in her contest.
“Son of a pot sticker,” she snapped. This printer was going to be the death of her.
The screeching sound of tires on wet pavement brought her head around fast as time slowed to a crawl. She’d stepped right in front of a car, the vehicle coming to a stop just a few feet from hitting her.
The driver gestured wildly as she waved her apologies and crossed the last twenty feet into the restaurant. Her heart was slamming in her chest, and she forced her attention back to the phone call. “They need to be reprinted and redistributed, fast. We have less than twenty-four hours until the promo kicks off.”
He clucked his tongue. “That’s gonna cost money.”
Money she surely didn’t have. “But you screwed up,” she said.
“And you approved the proof.”
She had, hadn’t she? In a distracted, overwhelmed haze, she hadn’t even noticed the mistake. He was right to charge her again.
“Fine. Just do it.” She hung up the phone and pushed her wet hair away from her face. Her shirt was saturated and to her horror she realized it had become transparent, sticking to her camisole like she was competing in a wet t-shirt contest. With a gasp, she folded her arms over her chest.
She spotted her mother in a peacock blue peasant blouse and a winning smile. The contrast between her own haphazard appearance and her mother’s radiance was humbling. Bonnie hadn’t looked this good in at least twenty years, and it was disconcerting to see her so happy.
Tori remembered the years after her father died, when she thought her mom had been satisfied managing the winery and surrounding vineyards. The idea that she had been secretly miserable was difficult for Tori to consider.
Now there was Edward, who seemed nice enough, and he was certainly wonderful to her mother, but it had come out in conversation he’d been married several times before. Not even a number was given, just the word several. The summer he’d spent at Moon Lake with Gabe was wedged between wives two and three like a rejuvenating hiatus.
Or a scouting expedition.
Tori imagined Edward was a scam artist like the ones she’d seen on television, out to take an older woman for everything she’s got. Or at least that was what she thought before she found out he was rich as all sin. Now she didn’t know what to think.
Tori bent and kissed her mother’s cheek. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hello, dear! How’s my favorite wedding planner?”
The empty notebook in Tori’s hand was suddenly ten pounds heavier. “I’m good.” She ordered a hot tea and told her mother all about the launch of the treasure hunt and the members of the press who were gathering at the shop later today, leaving out the complications she’d just discovered from the printer.
“My goodness, you have a lot going on. I read the first clue for your treasure hunt in the Sentinel. It’s a fabulous idea. Helen and Patricia both told me to wish you well, and Helen even downloaded a copy of the ma
p from your website.” Bonnie leaned forward. “She thinks the first location is lover’s point, but Patricia and I think it’s the gazebo in Franklin Square.”
Tori’s heart swelled with pride at her mother’s praise and interest. “I’m not letting the cat out of the bag. You really think I did a good job?”
“Of course. All the work that must have gone into it. It made me wonder when you found time to work on the reception!”
Tori’s stomach curled in on itself. “Actually, I haven’t had a chance to get started.”
Her mother set down her tea cup and raised her eyebrows. “You mean you haven’t worked on it at all?”
“Well, I made the wax models of the rings…”
“Tori, the wedding’s ten days from now. We’re already working on such short notice. You can’t just take care of the jewelry part and leave the rest to fend for itself. What on earth have you been doing for the past four days?”
What have I been doing?
Everything.
Press releases. Writing riddles. Triangulating points on a map, for goodness sake. Oh, and running her shop, working to make every last dollar stretch as far as she could from one bill to the next, anything she could do to keep the wolves at bay. And the wax models that her mother was so quick to trivialize had taken Tori more hours than she cared to count.
She lifted her chin. “Working on my treasure hunt. It’s important for the shop.”
“I’m sure it is,” said her mother in a tone Tori recognized as barely restrained anger. “But you agreed to plan the reception for me. You can’t simply set it aside in hopes it will keep, while you do other things.”
“Of course not.”
“Would you rather I handle the preparations myself?”
The moment seemed to freeze in Tori’s mind as she took in the disappointed look in her mother’s eyes. How many times had she been on the receiving end of that glare? How many times had she screwed something up, failed to consider all the details, not come through with a plan?
It’s just like Tori’s Treasures. If you’d had a real business plan, taken the time to learn more about retail before jumping in with both feet, maybe even had an inspection done on the house before buying it, you wouldn’t be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
Determination rose up within her. She was a strong, capable woman. She was going to save her shop, and she was going to come through on her promises to her mother.
Tori shook her head. “I can do it.”
Bonnie eyed her warily. “You’re sure?”
The treasure hunt was nearly set. She’d have more time in the days ahead, time to fix what she had done, time to make amends to her mother. “I want to do it, Mom. Please.”
Her mother’s eyes softened. “Okay, then. All right. Thank you.”
The women discussed the menu for the reception and the cake choices, the decorations and the guest list. Sure enough, Gabe was on it, and Tori felt the first rush of genuine enthusiasm. There hadn’t been time to mail out printed invitations, so Bonnie and Edward had made phone calls to invite those they wanted to share in their special day.
“I don’t want a head table, per se, but I want all of our family to sit together, my kids and Edward’s,” said Bonnie.
Yes!
Of course, that meant Jed would be there too, but it was a small price to pay to be seated with Gabe. Tori did a count. “So, you, Edward, me, Jed and Gabe, makes five.”
“Six. Gabe’s bringing a date.”
Tori blinked. “A date?”
“Yes, Edward said they’ve been together for a while.”
Tori instantly felt like a fool for assuming he was unattached. A steady girlfriend! Why hadn’t she thought about that? And this girl must mean something to Gabe if he was bringing her to a family wedding.
Her mother frowned. “What about you? Aren’t you bringing Jason?”
“We broke up.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.” She took a sip of her tea. “But you still have time. Maybe you can rustle someone up.”
“I can go to a wedding alone. It’s not 1958.”
“Of course you can, but there’s something nice about a handsome man on your arm at a reception. Someone to dance with.”
An image of Jed appeared unbidden in Tori’s mind.
No way. Absolutely not.
She pictured herself sitting at the table with her mother and Edward, Gabe, Jed, and some gorgeous swimsuit model who was hanging on Gabe’s every word. How terrible was that going to be?
Awful. Like one of Dante’s levels of hell.
Unless she was there as Jed’s date.
For just a moment, she allowed herself to consider it. She could almost feel his strong presence next to her, a sharp contrast to the awkward sense of being alone in a crowd of couples she would otherwise experience. Even if acting as Jed’s date didn’t help her get Gabe’s attention, it would surely make it easier to survive that evening.
Admit it. You want to go with him.
Tori reached for her tea cup and saw her fingers were trembling. Was that true? Did she really want to spend the evening with that arrogant, sexy, obnoxious…
Not sexy. Just obnoxious.
“By the way,” said her mother, “Edward wanted me to tell you, he talked to his son Gabe, and he remembers you from that summer. He said to say hello.”
An excited smile spread across Tori’s face. She wanted to jump on her chair and do a fist-pump in the middle of the restaurant. “Oh, really? That’s nice.”
Her mother eyed her warily. “I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”
“Mmm hmm. Just a little. You know.”
“I see. Well maybe you can be the one to pick him up at the airport on Friday, since you’re friends.”
“Him and his date?”
“No, I believe she’s flying in later.”
Tori smiled. “Thanks, Mom. I’d like that.”
~~~
Jed sat on the porch, watching the thunderstorm roll over Moon Lake. The pungent smell of wet earth and electricity blew on the cool breeze like something magical.
I could get used to this.
The tension that had settled between his shoulder blades during his meeting with Henry finally began to dissipate, as nature put on her very best show. Jed couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so close to the water or the outdoors for any length of time. He longed to swim in the lake, to feel the cool waters against his skin. Maybe he would even rent a boat in town.
The thought of the picturesque village brought his eyes back to the flier beneath his beer.
The Hunt for Tori’s Treasures.
He picked it up, taking in the painting of the old Victorian home with the hanging wooden sign. The building suited her perfectly, at once classic and beautifully designed, yet modernized with a vivid paint scheme that promised even more inside.
And he wanted to step inside. Badly.
He felt a stirring in his blood as he remembered her fiery response to his wild offer, the way she’d looked at him with those big hazel eyes, the connection between them sizzling as surely as the lightning that now danced in the sky.
That was a woman who could keep a man’s attention, make him long for things he never wanted before, like picturesque little villages and a quiet little life.
A happy life.
He shook his head to stop this ludicrous train of thought. The last thing he needed was a relationship, and Tori Henderson was the last woman on earth he would pick. She was after his brother, for goodness sake, which meant she was about to become heartbroken and a little less naive.
Of course, Gabe would probably sleep with her first.
Jealousy and anger percolated through his blood. He could live with not having Tori. But he couldn’t abide by Gabe using her and tossing her aside.
He took a long swig of his beer as thunder cracked loudly overhead.
See? Even God doesn’t want to see those two together.
“J
ed.”
He turned to find his father standing before him, tall and trim. Jed sighed. He thought he’d resigned himself to these two weeks, to the inevitable tense conversations and uncomfortable situations this trip would entail. When he first saw Edward at the restaurant, his father had acted like someone on a greeting card commercial. The hearty hug with the manly thump on the back. The sentimental greeting that wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on.
“Hey,” said Jed. “Have a seat.”
Something about the way the old man carried himself was startlingly familiar, and Jed realized it was the same stance he saw in the mirror. He couldn’t change genetics, but he didn’t have to like it. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk.” His father settled into a matching chair. “That okay?”
Lightning lit up the darkened sky. “Fine.”
“One hell of a storm. I remember there was a storm like this the summer we stayed up here. Went on for hours, seemed like.”
“I wouldn’t know.” He hated the recalcitrant tone of his own voice, the wounds so clearly visible.
“You were in college,” said Edward.
“It was summer.”
His father turned to him, gray eyes locking with their younger counterparts. “The truth, then.”
“That would be refreshing.”
Edward nodded, again looking out at the lake. “You hated me. You hated me more than I knew what to do with.”
The smallest crack split in Jed’s armor, the most careful opening, too small for so much anger to fit through. “You didn’t want me around. I noticed.”
“I loved you.”
Jed laughed bitterly. “You ignored me, hoping I would go away like my mother did.”
“I loved Jeannie, too. But she never believed it.”
“You left us.”
Edward shook his head. “She left me.”
“You’re lying.”
“It’s true. I would have taken her back anytime she wanted, for years afterwards. She knew that, but she didn’t want me.”
“So you married a few other women to get over it.”
“I’m a weak man, Jed. I don’t like to be alone.”
