by Cassie Hayes
“Martha, isn’t it?” Christina asked. “Our church had a prayer chain going for her a while back. How’s she doing?”
“Cancer-free for five years now,” Amy said with a grin.
“Wonderful!”
“Fan-freakin-tastic!”
Amy returned Bekah’s fist bump, then caught sight of Spike coming out of the kitchen. He looked as if he’d sucked on a lemon while he was in the kitchen, and Amy wondered what had soured his mood. His Uncle Steve had gone in with him, but had come out alone. Amy shot a glance over at the older man, but he was engrossed in conversation with Bri’s new fiancé, Anthony. What had they talked about in there? Judging by the look on Spike’s face, nothing good.
Amy’s stomach clenched with anxiety. Had he warned Spike not to date her? Of course he had. He wouldn’t want his nephew dating some high school dropout from the wrong side of the tracks — with a kid, no less. The Roberts family had an image to maintain after all.
“Are you all right, dear?”
Amy spun around to face Christina, trying very hard not to look distressed. “Yes, fine.”
“I’m afraid we need to get going,” Spike said, coming up behind her chair. He tugged her seat gently, giving her no choice but to stand. He really wanted out of there.
“Spike, we haven’t even had dessert yet,” his father, Bob, objected with a stern frown. “Don’t be so rude. Besides, I never get to see Amy anymore.”
Amy couldn’t take her eyes off the little muscle in Spike’s lightly scruffy jaw working double-time. Part of her wanted to run out the door and never look back, knowing in her heart his uncle had warned him away from her. The other part wanted to take his face in her hands and kiss away that frown.
Would he even let her? In the end, she settled on somewhere in the middle.
“No, Spike’s right,” she said. “I have to be up very early, and he has an expedition to prepare for. It was lovely meeting you all. Thank you so much for inviting me into your home.”
She smiled at everyone around the table, even Steve, who gave her the kindest smile, which broke her heart a little. He seemed to genuinely like her. It couldn’t all be an act. Could it? He was a lawyer, she reminded herself. It wasn’t as if she hung out with any attorneys, but maybe there was some truth to all those dumb lawyer jokes after all.
Spike remained mute almost the entire ride back home. The fumbling awkwardness from the beginning of their date was replaced with a chilly tension she didn’t understand — and maybe didn’t want to. Except Spike was the first man since Ethan’s father she’d felt any kind of connection with. He didn’t owe her anything, but she owed it to herself to at least try to find out what had changed.
“Is everything okay?” she asked quietly as they pulled up in front of her building.
“Fine,” he said in a clipped tone. She noticed he left the engine running, apparently expecting her to simply jump out and let him drive off.
No such luck, buddy boy!
“That’s good.”
She turned and faced forward, counting the seconds to discover exactly how long it would take for him to get the hint. He’d pursued her, not the other way around. Even if he’d changed his mind about dating her, the least he could do was behave like a gentleman and walk her to her door.
Eleven seconds. That’s how long it took for Spike to sigh deeply and get out of the Jeep. Amy took a deep breath to calm her jittery nerves, then plastered a sweet smile on her face when he opened her door and held out a hand. When her fingers slipped into his, a jolt of heat shot up her arm and diffused inside her like a warm glow. It was quickly followed by disappointment that he obviously didn’t feel the same connection.
Each step echoed in the darkness, emphasizing the strained silence between them. Amy yearned to reach out and hold his hand, to feel warmth spread through her again, but he’d stuffed his hands deep inside his coat pockets. She snuck a quick peek up at him, and even in the flickering light of the stairwell, she could see he was stretched so tight he might snap.
When they reached 8B, he stopped and stared at the door. “Well…”
“I really like your family, Spike.”
For the first time since he’d come out of the kitchen, Spike met her gaze. In those hazel depths, Amy didn’t see anger or shame or disgust — all the things she’d half-expected to see — but rather, she saw sadness, as if he was losing something he desperately wanted to hold onto.
“They really like you too. A lot. More than they like me, I think.”
She smiled and plucked at the front of his jacket. It had been a long time since she’d flirted with someone; she hoped she was doing it right.
“Don’t be silly, they adore you. I could see it the way they all lit up when you walked in the room.”
Like a sunbeam on a grey day, she thought with a sigh. He had the same effect on her every single time she saw him.
Some of the tension eased from his brow, and a little of the old Spike peeked through. Then, clouds covered the light in his eyes once again.
“Listen, Amy—“
Before he could finish, before he had a chance to tell her this thing between them, which had barely started, was already over, Amy stood on her tiptoes and pulled him into a kiss. Spike froze, his hands splayed out to the side and his lips unresponsive. When she slid her hands up his chest and wound her arms around his neck, the spell apparently broke.
Spike pulled her body to his with a ferocity that took her breath away and nearly lifted her off her feet. She clung to him tighter, burying her fingers deep in his thick, brown hair. She eagerly matched every move his lips made, relieved to find she hadn’t forgotten as much as she’d thought. A low, rumbling growl reverberated from somewhere deep in his throat and into her entire body, sending shivers of desire coursing through her. She hadn’t felt this way for longer than she could remember.
When Spike pulled away, they both panted like they’d just run a marathon. Little blasts of white fog merged and floated away above their heads. Pressing his forehead against hers, he cupped her face and looked deep into her eyes.
“Amy, I don’t want you to feel any pressure. I know you have Ethan to think about, so if you have the slightest hesitation, I’ll back off. I just want you to know, no matter what you decide, your job is safe.”
So that was it! His uncle must have warned him about dating an employee. That would perfectly explain Spike’s change in demeanor afterward, and Steve’s supportive attitude toward her. She’d spent years avoiding Steve Roberts, yet here he was trying to protect her. A tremendous sense of gratitude brought a smile to her lips.
“I don’t feel any pressure, Spike., other than my intense desire to get to know you better.”
He searched her eyes, his expression more serious than she could ever remember. “Amy, are you sure? Are you sure about this?”
She grinned and sank into him a little more. “Not in the slightest.” Then she kissed him again.
5
The soft hiss of an espresso machine filled the air along with the heady scent of freshly ground coffee, which made Amy’s mouth water. She hadn’t stepped foot in Books ’N Beans on Main Street in at least a year. Not because she didn’t like the adorable little bookstore-coffee shop combo, but because she simply couldn’t afford it. So when her oldest friend, Veronica — or Ronnie, as she was better known — offered to pick up the check, she couldn’t resist.
The Crutchfield family had moved in next door to the Sandersons when Amy and Ronnie were toddlers. For seven happy years — or as happy as life in the Sanderson household could get — Amy had taken refuge with Sherilyn and Vincent Crutchfield when things at home got really bad. She and Ronnie had grown up as close as sisters. They were sometimes even mistaken for siblings, even though they looked nothing alike.
Then, Ronnie’s dad had found a better job, and they’d moved into a bigger, nicer home on the other side of town. Nothing in Silver Springs was very far away, unless you were a ten-year-old wi
th no bike and no money for bus fare. The first time Amy had asked her dad for the forty cents a ticket had cost was also the last.
“That Crutchfield thinks he’s so much better’n me, with his big promotion and fancy-schmancy house,” he’d grumbled, guzzling the rest of his beer.
“Oh, Mitch, it’s only forty cents,” her mother had wheedled.
Amy would never forget how slowly Mitch Sanderson had turned his hate-filled gaze on his wife. The rest of what had happened was a blur, but that evil glare was burned into her memory. That fight had ended up with Martha in the emergency room…again. And with no refuge to run to, Amy and her older brother, Butch, had been forced to witness it all.
After that, she’d contented herself with seeing Ronnie at school or other community events, even though it wasn’t nearly enough for either of them. The name Crutchfield had never been mentioned in the apartment again.
“Earth to Amy,” Ronnie said, waving a hand in front of Amy’s face.
Amy blinked and smiled at her friend. She refused to let her miserable drunk of a father suck any more joy out of her life than he already had.
“Just thinking how much I love you, sis.”
“No!” Ronnie said, wagging a finger at her. “Don’t you dare! You know I get all weepy when you start calling me ‘sis.’ I don’t want to ruin my makeup.”
“Buy me a scone and I promise to never call you sis again.”
“Uh uh, no deal.” Ronnie sniffled and pulled a compact from her purse to check her mascara. “You know I love it. I’ve just got a meeting later I actually need to look presentable for.”
As far as Amy could tell, Ronnie had never looked anything but gorgeous. She had legs up to here, blonde hair down to there, and everything in the middle could have walked straight out of the pages of Vogue.
Snapping the compact shut, she gave Amy a penetrating look. “So…what’s new, pussycat?”
Amy had so much to tell her she didn’t know where to start. “Well, the first thing—“
“Your lattes are ready, ladies,” called Emma Roberts, the owner of the shop — and Spike’s cousin.
Amy went up to the counter and got their drinks, then brought them back to their cushy little nook in the back and started again. “You know how the travel company—“
“Mama, read this one to me!”
Ethan scrambled into her lap, nearly causing her to spill her scalding hot drink everywhere. He thrust a ragged copy of Green Eggs and Ham — his all-time favorite story time book — at her. He must have pulled it from the basket in the corner filled with well-worn children’s books.
“Bug, I’m talking with Auntie Ronnie right now. Tell you what…you can either read the book quietly to yourself, or you can go ask Miss Emma for some crayons and a piece of paper to color on. Your choice.”
He thought about it for a moment, then scrambled back down and ran to the counter to sweet-talk Emma. Unless things had changed since their last visit, Emma kept a nice supply of goodies to distract kids so parents could have a little adult time with friends over coffee.
“Now, where was I?” Amy asked, honestly not remembering.
“Travel company.” Ronnie sipped on her drink, careful not to drip on her cream slacks, and relaxed back into the plush chair.
“Right. So you know they shut down, and Mom got me a gig at Mo’s till I found something better.”
Ronnie nodded, but kept her mouth shut. She’d already made her opinion very clear about Amy’s choice to accept a job Ronnie thought was beneath her. As far as Amy was concerned, if it put food in her baby’s mouth, it wasn’t beneath her.
“Well, something better came along the very next day.”
“That’s great,” Ronnie said, leaning forward. “Where?”
“Remember Spike Roberts? He and Zach McCormick own Rocky Mountain Adventures?”
“Sure! I hear they’re pretty busy. What, you’re cleaning their office?”
Ethan ran over to their table with a fistful of crayons and two coloring sheets featuring his favorite cartoon characters. Once he settled down, Amy continued.
“They are busy, and no, I’m not cleaning their office. Well, I am, but not in the way you think.” Amy laughed at herself. “Actually, in the exact way that you think.”
“Woman, you’re making no sense!”
“They hired me to manage their office, which at this stage, will mean occasional cleaning, but mostly booking clients, organizing, and so on. Part-time to start, but who knows, right?”
Amy beamed at Ronnie, happy to be able to surprise her with the news. So little in Amy’s life could be considered exciting, so she took it where she could get it.
“I’m so happy for you!”
Ronnie raised her paper cup in a toast. They ‘clinked’ cups, grinning like maniacs.
“There’s something else,” Amy said, shifting her gaze away from her friend’s face.
“Ooh, judging by the way you’re blushing, this is gonna be juicy,” Ronnie said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
“We, um… Spike and I… We’re sorta…dating.”
Amy chanced a glance up at Ronnie, whose smile had fallen away and was now been replaced with shock.
“You? Dating? Your boss?”
The bell over the door jangled and Spike’s cousin, Bri, strolled in. She waved at Amy as she headed to the counter to talk with her sister, Emma. Amy would never get over just how many Roberts lived in Silver Springs.
“How do you know Bri Roberts? Is she one of your clients?”
It was a fair question. Amy didn’t have time for a social life, so most of the people her age she knew were clients from her cleaning business.
“No, I met her last night. Spike took me to a family dinner.”
Ronnie choked on her latte and it took a minute for her to stop coughing. For some reason, Amy’s blush deepened at her friend’s reaction.
“Spike Roberts took you to meet his family? Wow. All this time I thought he had a reputation for being a bit of a player. He must be in loooove!”
“Shh!”
Amy looked around to make sure no one had heard, especially his cousins. Satisfied they hadn’t, she explained.
“We talked it all out last night and agreed we should take things slow. He’s aware of my situation, plus I’m working for him. Besides, it was only our first date. It’s not a big deal, okay?”
Ronnie gawked at her. “Not a big deal? Spike Roberts, of all people, takes you to meet his family — on your first date, no less — and it’s not a big deal? Girl, you can lie to yourself all you want, but I can tell by the searing shade of magenta you turned, you’re one smitten kitten.”
“No, seriously!” Amy objected.
“Seriously,” Ronnie said, leaning back with a smug look on her face. “You’re so happy you’re probably farting rainbows.”
Ethan looked up from his coloring, completely obliterating her theory he wasn’t listening, and said, “I can fart rainbows! Wanna see?”
“So I gather from your incessant whistling that things went well last night?”
At Zach’s comment, Spike looked up from the waivers he was glancing through. Amy had a lot of work ahead of her to clean up their disaster zone of an office, but she’d prioritized tomorrow’s cross-country ski trip and put all the clients’ waivers in alphabetical order in a file folder. He hadn’t even realized they owned any file folders.
“Huh?”
“You’re whistling like you’re one of the seven dwarfs.” Zach looked less than amused.
“Am I? Sorry. But yeah, it went pretty well.”
All day, Spike had been remembering how Amy’s lips had felt on his, how she’d pressed her body against his, how she’d moaned into his mouth in a way which had melted his brain. Only after little eyes peered out at them from behind a curtain did they come up for air, which led to talking.
“Spike, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, she just started working here…”
“It’s all good, Zach. We talked it all out. If things work out between us, great. If not, neither of us will be butt-hurt. We’re just going to take things nice and slow.”
Zach laughed. “Slow? I didn’t know that word was even in your vocabulary.”
Spike told him exactly where he could shove his comment, even though his friend had a point. When Spike wanted something, he wanted it now. Waiting wasn’t his forte. But he had a feeling Amy would be worth waiting for, so he was willing to try something new.
After a thoughtful silence, Zach gave him a smile. “You know, I think you might finally be growing up, Spike. No, don’t flip me off again, I’m giving you a compliment. Honestly, I’m happy for you, man. Amy seems great. Now…don’t screw it up.”
The door to Rocky Mountain Adventures swung open, and Spike’s heart fluttered, thinking Amy had come in early. But standing in the doorway was his old high school buddy, Josh Bodin. Josh hadn’t been back to Silver Springs for years, not even for holidays, as far as Spike knew. Once he’d married his college sweetheart, Tiffani, they’d moved to New York City so he could pursue a career as a stockbroker, and they never looked back.
“Hey, guys,” Josh said with a grin. “Long time, no see.”
“Dude!” Spike pulled him into a half-handshake, half-bro hug. “How long has it been?”
“Too long,” Zach said, slapping Josh on the back.
“Nice place you guys have here,” Josh snorted, looking around. “Sort of a post-modern commentary on the ethics — and cleanliness — of the American workplace.”
Spike laughed. “We’re working on that. You want some coffee? Fresh brewed!”
Josh squinted at him. “You make it the same way you did in high school?”
“Exactly,” Spike said with pride.
“Hard pass. I like my stomach lining just the way it is, thank you very much.”
“Wise choice,” Zach laughed.
Spike leaned against the edge of his desk and took stock of his old friend. He was a little older, but weren’t they all? His sandy hair had the slightest touch of grey at the temples, probably from the stress of his job, but it was the man’s eyes that gave Spike pause. They’d always been a vibrant green back in high school. Now they’d somehow…dimmed. As if pain had dulled the brightness in them — in him.
