Brambleberry House

by RaeAnne Thayne

  He hated the idea of leaving her. It seemed the height of cowardice, especially after what they had shared tonight. But what would cause the least harm to her?

  “Will you come with me next week when the verdict is read?”

  Her voice in the darkness startled him and he shifted his gaze from the ceiling to see her watching him out of those huge dark eyes.

  “I thought you were asleep,” he said.

  “No. I was just thinking.”

  “About the trial?”

  “Sorry. Everything comes back to that right now. I’ll be so glad when it’s over.”

  He kissed her forehead, pulling her into a more comfortable position. “It’s been rougher on you than you let on, hasn’t it?”

  She didn’t answer but he thought her arms tightened around him. “I’ve been okay. I have. I just... I think I could use someone else in my corner during the verdict. Would you come?”

  Like his aunt, Anna was a strong, independent woman. He had a feeling asking for anything was difficult for her. The fact she had asked him to stand by her touched him deeply.

  He could stay a few more days. He owed her that, and perhaps giving her the support she needed at this critical time would be a small way to atone for his deception.

  “Yeah. Sure. I’ll come with you,” he answered. “And if he’s found not guilty, we’ve always got clubbing him senseless with my cast to fall back on as Plan B.”

  She laughed and kissed him. He pulled her close, pushing away the chiding voice of his conscience for now.

  A few more days of this sweet, seductive peace. That’s all he wanted. Surely that wasn’t too much to ask.

  * * *

  “ARE YOU READY for this?” Max asked her three days later as they sat on a park bench outside her store in Lincoln City enjoying the afternoon sunshine, the first since Sunday.

  She made a face, her stomach fluttering with nerves. “Do I have a choice?”

  “You always have a choice. You could just forget the whole thing and catch the next fishing boat out of town. Or I could make a phone call, get us a helicopter in here to fly us down the coast to an excellent crab shack I’ve heard about in Bandon.”

  “You’re not helping.”

  He gave her an unrepentant grin and she couldn’t help thinking how much lighter he had seemed these last few days. The occasional shadow still showed up in his gaze but he laughed more and seemed far more comfortable with the world.

  The time they’d spent together since Sunday night had seemed magical. She never would have expected it, but the last two days of the trial passed with amazing swiftness. Even listening to the defense’s closing arguments, where she had been painted as everything from an incompetent manager to a corrupt manipulator, hadn’t stung as much as it might have a few days earlier.

  Now she saw it for what it was—Grayson’s desperate ploy to escape justice.

  Between the trial and trying to stay on top of administrative duties at both stores, her days had been as packed and chaotic as always.

  But the nights.

  They had been sheer heaven.

  When she returned to Brambleberry House Monday night, Max and Conan had been waiting for her with what he called his specialty—take-out Chinese. After dinner, Max started a fire in her fireplace and read a thriller with Conan at his feet while Anna did payroll and caught up on paperwork.

  Eventually she gave up trying to concentrate with all this heat jumping through her insides. She had joined him on the couch and Max had tossed her reading glasses aside and kissed her while rain clicked against the window and Conan snored softly beside them. Later—much later—she had fallen asleep holding his hand.

  Tuesday had been largely a repeat, except he had grilled steaks for her out in the rain while she held an umbrella over his head and laughed at the picture he made in one of Abigail’s frilly flowered aprons.

  That was the moment she knew with certainty that what she felt for him wasn’t some passing infatuation, that she was hopelessly in love with him—with this wounded soldier with the slow smile and the secrets in his eyes.

  She had no idea what she was going to do about it—except for now, she was going to live in the moment and enjoy every second she had with him.

  Her cell phone rang suddenly and she jumped and stared at it.

  “Are you going to get that?” Max asked.

  “I’m working up to it.”

  She knew it must be the prosecutor, calling to tell her the verdict was in and about to be read.

  The jury had been deliberating for four hours and Max had been with her for two of those hours. She had called him as soon as the jury had started deliberations and he had rushed down to Lincoln City immediately, even after she told him it might be hours—or possibly days—before the jurors reached a verdict.

  She was immeasurably touched that he had kept his promise to come with her when the verdict was read—and she was grateful now as she answered her phone with fingers that trembled.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “They’re back,” the prosecutor said. “Can you be here in fifteen minutes?”

  “Yes. I’ll be right there.”

  She hung up the phone and sat, feeling numb and shaky at the same time.

  Max reached for her hand. “Come on. I’ll drive your car. We can come back for mine.”

  He kept his hand linked with hers as they walked into the courthouse. “What will you do if he’s exonerated?” he asked, the question she had been dreading.

  A few days ago, she was quite certain that possibility would have devastated her. But she had learned she had a great deal in common with Abigail’s favorite sea creatures. Like the by-the-wind sailors her store was named for, she would float where fate took her and manage to adapt. Even on that fishing boat Max joked about.

  “I’ll survive,” she said. “What else can I do?”

  He squeezed her fingers and didn’t let go as they walked into the courtroom and sat down.

  So much of her life the last several months had been tied up with this trial but in the end, the verdict was almost anticlimactic. When the jury foreman read that jurors had found Grayson Fletcher guilty on all counts of fraud, Anna let out a tiny sob of relief and Max immediately wrapped her in his arms and kissed her.

  Max stayed by her side as she hugged the prosecutor, who had worked so tirelessly for conviction, and as she received encouraging words from several others in the community who had come to hear the verdict.

  She finally allowed herself to glance at Grayson and found him looking pale and stunned, as if he couldn’t quite believe it was real. A tiny measure of pity flickered through her, even though she knew he deserved the consequences for what he had done.

  Still, she wasn’t going to hold a grudge the rest of her life, she decided. Life was just too short for her to be bitter and angry at being duped.

  “We need to celebrate,” Max said after they left the courtroom. “I’m taking you to dinner tonight. Where would you like to go?”

  “The Sea Urchin,” she said promptly, without taking even a moment to think about her answer. “Sage’s husband owns it and since it’s a Spencer Hotels property, of course it’s fabulous. The food there is unbelievable. The best on the coast.”

  “I love a woman who knows what she wants.”

  If only he truly meant his words, she thought, then pushed the thought away. She was deliriously happy right now and she wasn’t going to spoil it by worrying about the future.

  * * *

  SHE HAD A hard-and-fast rule never to use her cell phone while she was driving except in an absolute emergency, especially on the sometimes curvy coastal road, but she was severely tempted as she drove her van home from Lincoln City to phone everyone in her address book to give them the happy ne
ws.

  She restrained herself, focusing instead on following Max’s SUV, since they had both driven down separately, and trying to contain the happiness bubbling through her.

  Still, even before she had a chance to greet Conan, her cell phone rang the moment she walked in the door at Brambleberry House. She grinned when she saw Sage’s name and number on the caller ID.

  “All right, that’s just spooky. How did you know the verdict was in?” she asked, without even saying hello.

  Sage shrieked. “It is? I had no idea! Sue called me from the store hours ago when the jury went out for deliberation. I was just checking the status of things since I haven’t heard from you. Tell me!”

  Anna took a deep breath, thinking again how her life had changed since she inherited this house. A year ago, she would have had no one to share this excitement with except her employees. Now she had dear friends who loved her. She was truly a lucky woman.

  “Guilty. Guilty, guilty, guilty!”

  “Yes!” She heard Sage shouting the news to Eben and even over the phone, Anna could hear her husband’s delighted exclamation.

  “Oh, that’s wonderful news. I hope they throw the book at the little pissant.”

  “This, from the world’s biggest bleeding heart?” she teased.

  “I care about things that deserve my time and energy,” Sage said primly. “Grayson Fletcher does not.”

  “True enough,” Anna replied.

  “Oh, I’m so happy. I’m only sorry I wasn’t there. With Julia gone, too, you’re not going to have anyone to celebrate with!”

  “Am, too,” she answered. “For your information, I’m going to the Sea Urchin for dinner with Max.”

  There was a long, pregnant silence on the other end of the phone. “Max? Upstairs Max?”

  Anna smiled, wondering how he would react to that particular nickname. “That’s right.”

  “All right. What other secrets have you been keeping from me, you sly thing?”

  Anna grimaced. She probably shouldn’t have let that slip. But now that she had, she knew she wouldn’t be able to fool Sage for long. “Nothing. Well, not much, anyway. It’s just that Upstairs Max has been spending most of his time downstairs the last few days,” she finally confessed.

  That long pause greeted her again. “So does Conan like him?”

  “Adores him. He treats him like his long-lost best friend.”

  “And have you smelled any freesia lately?’

  Anna made a face. “Cut it out. Abigail’s not matchmaking in this situation. She must be taking a break.”

  “Or maybe he’s not the one for you.”

  Her heart gave a sharp little tug. “Of course he’s not,” she answered promptly. “He’s only here a short time and then he’s leaving again. I know that perfectly well.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She wasn’t certain of anything, other than that she was fiercely in love with Harry Maxwell. But she wasn’t about to reveal that little tidbit of information to Sage.

  “You know I’m going to insist on a full report from Julia as soon as she gets back. And the minute we get back to the States, I’m coming up there, even if I have to use up all my carbon offsets for the year.”

  “Sage, honey, stop worrying about me, okay? You don’t have to come up here to babysit me. Max is a wonderful man and I know you’ll love him. But I also know this is only temporary. I’m fine with that.”

  After she hung up the phone some time later, those words continued to echo through her mind. Had she ever lied to Sage before? She couldn’t remember. This one was a doozy, though. She wasn’t fine. No matter how cool and sophisticated she tried to be about things, she knew she would be devastated when he left.

  And he would leave. She knew that, somewhere deep inside of her, with a certainty she couldn’t explain. Her time with him was limited. Even now, he could be preparing to leave.

  Fight for him. He needs you.

  The words whispered through her mind, so strong and compelling that she looked around the room to find a source.

  He needs you.

  The smell of freesia floated across the room and Conan looked up from his rug, thumped his tail on the floor, then went back to sleep.

  Anna shivered, her heart pounding, then she quickly caught herself before her imagination went crazy. That’s what happened when she talked to Sage. She lost every ounce of common sense and started believing in ghosts.

  Not that it was bad advice. If she loved Max, shouldn’t she be willing to fight for the man?

  Starting tonight, she decided, and went to her closet for her favorite dress, a shimmery sheath in pale green that made her dark skin and hair look exotic and sultry.

  She might not have a matchmaking ghost on her side, but she could take control of her own fate.

  Max wouldn’t know what hit him.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  MAX RANG THE doorbell to Anna’s apartment, aware of the sense of foreboding in his gut.

  He was going to tell her tonight after dinner. No more excuses. He had put things off far too long and the time had come to confess everything. Maybe she would be so happy at the guilty verdict that she would be in a forgiving sort of mood.

  Or maybe she would evict him and throw all his belongings out of her house.

  He hoped not. He hoped she would find it in her to understand his motives. But either way, he owed her the truth.

  Conan barked behind the door and a moment later, it swung open, revealing a vision in pale green.

  From the first time he saw her, Max had considered Anna Galvez beautiful, with those huge brown eyes and her glossy dark hair and classically lovely features.

  But right now she was truly breathtaking.

  She had piled her hair up in a loose, feminine style, with curls dripping everywhere. She wore a sexy dream of a dress with a low back that showed off fine-boned shoulders and all that luscious skin of hers. She also wore more jewelry than he’d seen on her—a diamond choker and matching bracelet and slim, dangly earrings that glittered in the foyer light.

  She looked lush and sensual and he wanted to stand in the foyer of Brambleberry House all night just looking at her.

  “Wow,” he murmured. “You look incredible. I know that sounds completely lame but I can’t think of another word for it.”

  “Incredible is good.” She smiled. “Come in. I’m just about ready.”

  He wanted to devour her but he was afraid of messing up perfection so he stood inside the doorway while she picked up a filmy scarf from a side table and wrapped it around her shoulders, then grabbed one of those tiny little evening bags women managed to cram huge amounts of paraphernalia into.

  Conan padded over to her wearing one of his pathetic take-me-with-you looks. The dog brushed against her and Max held his breath. Meredith—hell, most women he knew—would have gone ballistic to have dog hairs on one of her fancy party dresses but Anna simply laughed and scratched the dog’s chin.

  “I’m sorry, bud, but you know you can’t go with us to the Sea Urchin. You wouldn’t want to. You’d be bored senseless, I promise. But we’ll be back later and we’ll play then.”

  The dog heaved a massive sigh and headed for his favorite rug, but in that instant, that tiny interaction, Max felt as if the entire house had just collapsed on top of him.

  Emotions washed through him, thick and raw and terrifying, and for an instant of panic, he wanted to turn on his heels and walk out of Brambleberry House and just keep on going.

  He was in love with Anna Galvez. Not because she was achingly beautiful or because she made his heart race and the blood pool in his gut.

  But because she was strong and courageous and smart and she made him believe in himself again.

  He was in love with
her. How the hell had that happened?

  One minute, his life had been going along just fine. Okay, maybe not perfect. His shoulder problems were proving to be a major pain and he had no idea if he would still be in the army in a few weeks. But he had been dealing with the setbacks in his own way.

  And then this woman, with her stubborn independence and her brilliant smile and her ambitious dreams, had knocked him on his butt. She talked to her dog and she knew her way around a wood chipper and she filled his soul with a peace he never realized had been missing.

  “Max? Is everything okay?”

  How long had he been staring at her? Too long, obviously. He drew in a ragged breath and realized she was watching him with concern while Conan seemed to be grinning at him.

  “Yeah. Yeah. Fine. You just dazzle me.”

  He could tell she thought he was talking about her appearance and he decided not to correct the misconception.

  “Thank you.” She smiled. “The jewelry is Abigail’s. She never went anywhere, even to the grocery store, without glittery stuff dripping from every available surface. She used to tell me, ‘My dear girl, a woman my age has to use every available means at her disposal to distract the eye from all these wrinkles.’”

  He could hear Abigail saying exactly that and he suddenly missed his aunt desperately.

  “You don’t need any jewels,” he said. “You’re stunning enough without them. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

  Her mouth parted slightly as her eyes softened. “Oh, Max,” she whispered. “I do believe that’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  “It’s the truth,” he said gruffly.

  She smiled with stunning sweetness and stepped forward to press her mouth against his.

  His heart seemed to flop around in his chest like a rockfish on the line and he could barely breathe around the tenderness inside him. He kissed her, almost desperate with the need to touch her, taste her, burn every moment of this in his mind.

  The magic he always found with her began to coil and twine around them and he closed his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him as if she couldn’t bear to let go.