Mr. Congeniality

by Sherry Lewis

  “She might. But she also might be willing to do a favor for her favorite cousin. We won’t know unless we ask.”

  “Then ask.”

  “And if she is interested?”

  Dean sat on the floor to work and smiled for the first time that morning. “If a gourmet chef is willing to work on a dude ranch in Whistle River, Montana, for a fraction of what she could make anywhere else, I’ll eat crow. And she can cook it.”

  “MONTANA? You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “Montana,” Annie Holladay repeated. “And I’m completely serious.” She scooped pieces of diced mango into a saucepan and tried not to let her daughter’s reaction dampen her own high spirits. Fifteen-year-old Nessa might not agree, but to Annie, Gary’s phone call couldn’t have come at a better time.

  Nessa kicked her feet onto the chair next to her and a lock of the straight brown hair she’d inherited from her father fell into her eyes. She blew it off her forehead, pushed another lock from her shoulder and pulled the stack of CDs she was sorting a few inches closer. “I’m serious, too, Mom. This is a horrible idea.” She flipped open the expensive CD holder her dad had given her during their weekend visit and shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re even thinking about saying yes.”

  Annie turned away from Spence’s most recent attempt to buy Nessa’s forgiveness and pulled an onion from the refrigerator. She put her frustrations into peeling and dicing as she talked. “Well, I think that getting away from Chicago is exactly what we both need.”

  “Maybe it’s what you need, but the whole point of me moving in with Dad is so I can stay in Chicago—remember?”

  Annie stopped chopping and tried to ignore the emptiness that filled her whenever she thought about moving to Seattle and leaving Nessa behind. Her heart and her head had been at war since the first time Nessa had suggested staying, and she was no closer to truly accepting their decision than she’d been the first time they’d discussed it.

  “Of course I remember,” she said, forcing a smile. “Just like you remember promising to spend this summer with me. It wouldn’t be fair to back out just because I’ve decided to do a favor for my cousin.”

  From beneath her bangs, Nessa shot her mother a sullen look. “Yeah, but aren’t you the one who’s always telling me that life isn’t fair?”

  With just a little over three months until September, Annie didn’t want to waste precious time arguing with her daughter. She managed a grin in spite of the ache in her heart. “Yes, but it’s easier to accept that when life’s being unfair to someone else.” She swept the onion into the pan with her knife and blinked back the tears caused by the onion’s pungent aroma. “It’s going to be hard enough to leave you here when I move. I’m not ready to let you go yet.”

  Nessa dug through the stack of CDs and found the one she wanted. “Well, I don’t want you to move to Seattle. As far as I’m concerned, things are fine the way they are.”

  “Things aren’t fine,” Annie said firmly. “The culinary world isn’t big enough for your dad and me to stay in the same town. I’m constantly running into him and Catherine, and it’s still hard for me to see them together.” She put a red pepper on the grill and turned up the flame. “I don’t like feeling hurt and angry all the time. That’s why I have to leave.”

  Nessa’s gaze flickered across the room, then back to the stack of CDs in front of her. “I know that, but I don’t want to move, and I don’t want spend the summer in Who Cares, Montana.”

  “Whistle River.”

  “Whatever.” Nessa slipped another CD into her new case. “It sounds awful.”

  “It sounds kind of fun to me.” Annie kept her voice light as she turned the pepper over. “My cousin and his friend need help, and I’m in a position to give it to them. You don’t really want me to turn them down?” She held up one finger and tried to change the tone of their conversation. “Only answer that if the answer is no.”

  The corners of Nessa’s mouth curved and Annie’s heart soared. “I guess I wouldn’t want you to. But I can’t go, Mom. Not this summer.”

  “And why not?”

  “Because Tracee says Brian likes me. Really likes me. He’s thinking about asking me out—and you know I’ve liked him forever.”

  Annie knew how important friends were to teenagers, but it hurt to think that Nessa would consider trading their last few months together for time with a boy. “You won’t be gone that long,” she said. “Brian won’t forget you, I promise. And by the time you get back here, you’ll almost be old enough to date.”

  Nessa frowned, sinking back into her chair. “So you’re going to make me go?”

  “If that’s the way you want to put it. I’d rather have you agree to go, but either way I want you with me for the summer.”

  Nessa kicked one heel against the leg of her chair and studied the table. “Fine,” she said after what felt like eternity. “But this totally stinks.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  “My whole summer could be ruined.”

  “Try to keep an open mind, okay? It could also turn out to be the best summer of your life.”

  Nessa rolled her eyes and stood up. “Yeah. I’m just sure it will be,” she said over her shoulder as she left the room.

  Annie watched until Nessa disappeared into the living room, then turned back to her dinner with a sigh. A year ago, she’d been happy and contented with her life. She’d had a loving and generous husband, a gentle and caring daughter, and the career of her dreams. At least, she thought she had. Since the day she’d walked in on Spence and Catherine eight months earlier, she felt as if she was walking in a stranger’s shoes.

  Sometimes Annie believed that her life was on the mend; at other times, she felt as if she was free-falling from some great height toward a bottomless valley. On those days, there was nothing to do but grit her teeth, close her eyes and pray that she’d eventually land on solid ground.

  Her relationship with Nessa had been strained for weeks—months even. She hadn’t expected that her divorce from Spence would be easy on Nessa, but she also hadn’t stopped hoping that Nessa would change her mind about staying in Chicago. She hoped this trip to the Eagle’s Nest would help to strengthen the bond. It would give them three months away from friends, family and other distractions—and that’s exactly what they both needed.

  BATTLING EXHAUSTION, Dean turned on the stereo in his office and dragged the day’s mail across his desk. He’d been working since sunrise and every muscle in his body ached, but he didn’t want to go to bed until he checked to see whether or not any new reservations had come in.

  At least a few things were finally looking up. The furniture he’d been waiting for had been delivered on schedule three days earlier. One of their suppliers promised delivery by truck the following day. The crew had actually finished renovating the fireplace and building the bookshelves. And for the first time in weeks, Dean was starting to believe the Eagle’s Nest would actually be ready to open for Memorial Day.

  Yawning noisily, he tossed bills onto his desk and junk mail into the garbage can at his feet. He fought the sinking sensation that swept over him when he finished sorting without coming across any new business. He knew that some of his old teammates were planning to come after baseball season ended, but that guaranteed business was months away, especially if the team made the playoffs. Anyway, Dean had put some distance between himself and his old friends after the accident and he was nervous about seeing them again. He couldn’t even talk to them on the phone without painful memories of the past coming back to haunt him. They were all living a life Dean had been forced to leave behind—a life he preferred not to talk about and tried not to think about. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to a week’s worth of baseball talk—no matter how much he needed the money.

  He shoved the bills into a basket on the corner of his desk and walked across the room to the window. Leaning his shoulder against the window frame, he watched the sun setting over the snow-capp
ed mountain peaks and tried to convince himself that Gary was right about everything working out in the end. He’d been right about his cousin, hadn’t he? And though he’d taken great delight in rubbing that in Dean’s face over the past few days, Dean couldn’t deny a strong sense of relief.

  What they’d do with a gourmet chef on a dude ranch remained to be seen. He worried a little that she’d turn out to be temperamental or full of big ideas about what kind of food should come out of the kitchen. But he had plans to keep that from happening, and he’d know soon enough if Annie Holladay was going to fit in. If she didn’t…well, he’d soon know that, too.

  There wasn’t anything he could do about it now.

  At least he’d have company at the Eagle’s Nest soon. Tomorrow, Gary would move into one of the dormitory-style rooms on the second floor so he could be on-site all summer. Annie Holladay and her daughter would arrive by late afternoon.

  Much as Dean liked the quiet evenings, there were times when he had too much time to think, letting his doubts and fears get the best of him. A little company would be a good thing—as long as they didn’t make him lose his focus. It would take everything he had to make the Eagle’s Nest turn a profit in its first year.

  The CD player changed to a Toby Keith song. Dean aimed the remote at the stereo, turned up the volume, and sang along until the telephone on his desk rang. He stopped singing, left the window reluctantly and picked up the receiver.

  “Somebody’s got to do something with this boy,” a woman shrilled when he answered. “I’m about to kill him.”

  Hearing his sister’s voice at such an unexpected moment jolted Dean out of his reflective mood. He aimed the remote at the stereo again and muted the sound. “Carol? What’s wrong?”

  “Tyler’s what’s wrong. I swear, Dean, I can’t take any more of this.”

  Sixteen-year-old Tyler had been a trial to Dean’s younger sister for most of his life. Carol had gotten pregnant in high school—long before she was emotionally ready to be a mom. She still hadn’t grown into the role.

  Dean hadn’t been around for much of Tyler’s life, but it seemed to him that every scraped knee and cut finger over the years had reduced Carol to tears. Now that Tyler was older, signs of normal teenage rebellion sent her into hysterics.

  “Any more of what?” Dean asked. “Give me a specific problem, okay?”

  “You want specific? How’s this? Your nephew is completely out of control.” Carol’s heels clicked as she paced the floor and ice rattled in a glass as she drank something. Dean’s stomach knotted at the sound, even though Carol had been sober for years. There was nothing to worry about. “You know that PlayStation you sent him a couple of Christmases ago? Well, it’s gone.”

  “What do you mean, gone?”

  “I mean gone. Tyler claims he doesn’t know where it is, but I know he’s lying.”

  Dean tried not to fuel Carol’s hysterics. “Maybe he really doesn’t know.”

  “Of course he knows.” Carol’s voice rose a couple of decibels. “He’s doing this to torment me.”

  Dean kept his voice steady. “Maybe someone moved it, or—”

  “This isn’t the first thing that’s gone missing around here,” Carol broke in before he could finish. “You remember Mama’s pearl ring? Well, it’s disappeared, too.”

  That made Dean feel slightly sick, but he still had trouble believing his nephew was responsible. “Are you sure you haven’t just misplaced the ring?”

  “No, I haven’t. I always put that ring back in my jewelry box when I’m not wearing it—and I hardly ever wear it. Tyler knows that.”

  Dean rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. “Maybe, but that doesn’t prove he took it.”

  “Who else would?”

  “Who else has been in your house?”

  “Randy, of course. And Tyler’s friends. Randy wouldn’t steal from me, but I wouldn’t put anything past those kids Tyler hangs out with.”

  The mention of her new boyfriend made Dean sit up straighter. He hadn’t met Randy yet, but Carol’s taste in men had always been a source of concern. Every time she brought a new man into her life, Dean worried that she’d gone back to the same kind of loser she’d once found so attractive.

  He might have suggested Randy as the possible thief, but questioning Carol’s judgment when she was in this mood would be like tossing gasoline on an open flame. He decided to save himself the grief and focus on the other possibility she’d named. “You can’t hold Tyler responsible for what his friends do.”

  “Oh, can’t I?” Carol laughed harshly. “Tyler knows how I feel about his friends being here, but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about anything I say. If his friends are stealing from me, Tyler is at least partially to blame.”

  Dean used the remote once more and turned off the stereo. He had the feeling this conversation would take a while. He rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. “What does he say when you bring up his friends?”

  “What do you think he says? He defends them, of course. He refuses to believe that they’re as bad as I tell him they are.”

  Tyler must have learned that trick from his mother, Dean thought, then immediately felt guilty even though Carol did habitually defend the deadbeats she dated.

  Rubbing the back of his neck, Dean ignored the grit of exhaustion in his eyes and tried to steer her toward the point of her call. “What do you want me to do, Carol? Would it help if I talked to Tyler?”

  “Talking doesn’t do any good. I’ve talked myself silly, and so has Randy. Tyler tunes out everything we say.”

  “Then why are you calling me?”

  “Because I’m at my wit’s end. I need your help.” Carol took a deep breath and let it out again in a rush. “I called because I want you to take him.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE REMOTE SLIPPED from Dean’s hand, hit the desk and fell to the floor by his foot. He stared at it while he tried to process what Carol had just said. “What do you mean by take?”

  “Just what I said.” Carol sucked in another deep breath and let it out all at once. “I want you to let him come there to stay. He needs to get out of here and away from his no-good friends.”

  Dean struggled to remember how long it had been since he spent significant time with Tyler. Far too long, he knew that. He fought to remain rational, but it wasn’t easy. Carol’s hysteria had always been contagious. “You want Tyler to move here from California? You want him to live with me?”

  “Not permanently. Just for the summer.”

  Dean sighed with relief. “That’s a little different, but—”

  Carol cut him off before he could finish. “I need your help. I have to work and Randy’s always busy, so Tyler would be here alone all day with nothing but time on his hands. He needs someone to keep an eye on him. I think he’s punishing me for being with Randy, and he’d be happy if I never had another date in my life.”

  “You and Randy aren’t exactly dating,” Dean pointed out. “And you only knew Randy for a few weeks before he moved in. Maybe Tyler just needs more time to adjust.”

  “He doesn’t want to adjust. He likes making me miserable.”

  Dean winced at the bitterness in her voice. “What about Brandon? If you’re going to send Tyler away, shouldn’t he have first chance?”

  The ice in Carol’s glass rattled again. “I’ve called Brandon half a dozen times, but he won’t return my calls.”

  Dean didn’t blame Carol’s ex-husband for being tired of the constant melodrama that seemed to fill Carol’s life. And Brandon wasn’t Tyler’s biological father. But he was the closest thing to a father Tyler had, and he’d be a hands-down better choice than Dean. “I’m just not sure that sending Tyler away is the best solution,” Dean said again. “It sounds like he’s looking for attention. If so, it’s yours he wants, not mine.”

  “He gets all my attention,” Carol said with a sniff. “That’s part of the problem. Did you know that I’ve had to miss work to deal wit
h the stunts he pulls?”

  “No, of course not. But—”

  “Don’t say no.” Tears filled her voice. “I’m at my wits’ end. But he’ll listen to you. I know he will. You know how he admires you.”

  “He hardly knows me.”

  “But he still looks up to you. You’re his famous uncle.”

  She sniffed again and Dean felt like a jerk for hesitating. His former career had consumed his life for so long, he knew next to nothing about kids. But he’d be a lousy big brother and a worse uncle if he refused.

  “Maybe you’re right,” he said when he realized that she was still waiting for his answer. “It can’t hurt to try. But only if he’s willing to work. There’s too much to do around here to give him a free ride.”

  “Of course he’ll work. It’ll be good for him.” Carol blew her nose and laughed softly. “You’re my hero, you know that, don’t you?”

  “That’s what big brothers are for,” Dean assured her. “You’d do the same for me if our situations were reversed.”

  “As if they would be. I’m always the one in trouble and you’re always the one bailing me out. Speaking of which, there’s one other tiny thing I need to ask you. Do you think you could loan me enough for Tyler’s ticket? I’m a little short of cash, but I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

  “No problem.” Dean made a note to himself on a scratch pad and tapped the pencil’s eraser on his desk. His personal bank account was nearly empty, but he could juggle the money from somewhere. “He’ll have to fly in to Billings and then take a bus to Whistle River. It makes for a long day. Do you want to come with him?”

  “Not now. Maybe later. I need some time with Randy to work things out between us.”

  “You and Randy are having problems?”

  “Nothing that getting Tyler straightened out won’t solve. If I can play my cards right, I’ll be wearing a wedding band again before Christmas.”