by Patti Larsen
Moments later, drinks ordered, he saluted me with his wine glass, blue eyes intent. He’d taken the seat next to me, rather than across from me at the small table near the bubbling fountain at the far side of the restaurant, his chair tucked close to mine while he leaned in, the scent of his cologne as swoon worthy as it was subtle. The man was just hot, there was no two ways about it and I found myself staring at his lips and wishing we’d eaten at home after all.
“You look beautiful.” He cleared his throat, smiled, looked away. “Fee, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” Crew coughed softly again, so adorable in his discomfort I reached out and took his hand.
“Whatever it is,” I said, “we’ll be okay.” My mind, meanwhile, spun out some unhappy scenarios which I then firmly smothered in my love for him. I was done doubting us, had given that up in November when I’d finally shed the influence of my ex, Ryan Richards. I loved Crew. And I meant what I said. “We’ll always be okay.”
Crew’s face softened, his smile sweet, almost young, like he’d just let go of something himself. “There’s nothing wrong,” he said. “Everything is right.” Crew hesitated, sat back, then forward again, like he struggled to get comfortable in his own skin suddenly. His hand tightened around mine and he laughed then, boyish grin making his eyes sparkle. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Weird. But then again, my day had been like that, so I’d take it.
We were interrupted by our server, a perky girl who was, at the same time, efficient. Crew’s odd mood seemed to have passed and we spent the next hour or so laughing, sampling each other’s dinners and talking about the kinds of nothings that made me feel closer to him than ever.
The only downside to our date was the occasional interruption in the form of other guests at the lodge. Namely, of the model variety. It was easy to pick them out in their perfect clothes and uber skinny bodies with their just a bit too loud voices and gathered packs of society’s ideal for beauty collected at tables like clusters of peacocks looking for adoration. Crew’s occasional glance their way had nothing to do with attraction and everything, it seemed, with irritation. Nice to know the man I loved was that into me, right?
I did welcome one short moment of intrusion, though, when Grace spotted us and came to the table, Crew didn’t seem as willing to share me as I was to share him. But he was gracious when I introduced him to the designer and her kind expression seemed to ease his cool welcome.
“How darling you two are together.” She loved that word, apparently. “Just gorgeous, Fee. And so much love for each other, it’s as clear as the smiles on your faces.” She sighed then and clasped her hands in front of her chest, huge eyes flickering back and forth between us. “Jealous again, my dear.” She offered me a cheek kiss.
I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. “He’ll do.” I offered Crew an arched eyebrow and a wink and he grinned back.
“I guess,” he said, laughing. “In a pinch.”
Grace hugged me around the shoulders with one arm like we’d known each other forever and I didn’t resist because, oddly, it felt true. “Delicious,” she said, a wicked edge to her voice. “I see a great future ahead for you two.”
“Only if Fee can stay out of trouble,” Crew growled in that gravel voice of his.
Grace gasped softly, eyes wide. “Yes, Vivian told me all about your penchant for dead bodies and putting your life at risk, my darling Fiona. You really must be more careful, promise me.”
I shrugged. “Doing my best,” I said. “I think I’m just cursed or something.”
Grace pinched my cheek ever so softly before letting me go. “Nonsense,” she said. “Remarkable, brilliant, stunning. I don’t believe in curses.”
Okay, totally in love with her, thanks.
Before I could come up with a witty reply, however, Grace’s attention was caught by someone entering the restaurant and I instantly felt protective of her as she shivered just a little and sagged somewhat, though it only lasted a moment. Her beautiful face settled into contented confidence while I followed her gaze to the entry and the tall, silver haired man who’d just walked in, a model on either arm. Statuesque, handsome in his dark suit, he obviously had some emotional meaning for her.
And then it clicked. Her ex-husband. Had to be. I recognized her physical reaction on a purely emotional level. A moment later his eyes met hers and I had my confirmation.
“Hang onto love, Fee,” she whispered to me as she let me go. “It’s more precious than you know and when it’s gone, it’s gone forever.” She left me then, nodding to Crew before crossing the rooftop to greet the newcomer. It was obvious he wasn’t happy to see Grace, though they were too far away to catch what they were saying to each other. Crew seemed unhappy, restless, and when Grace’s ex reached out to touch her, the sheriff half stood up. Yeah, it looked bad all the way over hear, Crew’s protective instincts clearly stirred.
But before he could interfere, the familiar sight of Matt and Jill appeared, flanking the tall, silver-haired agent. Instead of their usual uniforms—park ranger and deputy respectively—they were both in suits, more like federal agents than local law enforcement. And I realized as they got between the pair they were on duty, though from the look on Crew’s face he hadn’t known Jill was moonlighting as security.
And wasn’t all that happy to find out this way. Since when were they at odds? I was reminded of her weird comment this morning and had to wonder if the two were connected. Had to be. What did her moonlighting have to do with being my friend?
“You okay?” I reached out, took his hand again but he shrugged off my question, tone a bit sharp as he replied.
“Fine,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not tonight.” His smile was quick, apologetic. “Not tonight.”
Okay then. “Do you know anything about Grace’s ex?” Yeah, bring up work, Fee.
Crew didn’t seem to mind that question. “Name’s Henry Ostler,” he said with a wry grin. “You better believe Vivian stopped by my office with a dossier she’d assembled herself on everyone here who might be a threat to her friend.” Of course she had. “I should hire her. She’s way better at presenting evidence than my deputies.” Whoa, that was a shot at Robert, yes, but at Jill, too? What was up? And why hadn’t he said he was having problems with her?
I wanted to ask that very question, his request we keep it out of our conversation tonight or not, when a stir at the door caught my attention for the second time. This entrance was met with chatter from the models and more disruption that Jill and Matt seemed to find almost more than they could handle. Again, whatever was being said was indecipherable, but it was pretty clear from the anger in Grace’s carriage, from the stiff and threatening posture her ex-husband wore and how the newcomer—another older man with wavy white hair longer than typical in a bright blue suit and tie that could have lit up the mountain—faced off with both of them there was old, bad blood on the verge of being spilled any second now.
Crew’s jaw jumped when I turned back to him. “Frederick Newmark,” he said, though he didn’t seem happy anymore to talk about the pending drama. “Old designer, repped by Henry and a rival to Grace. And now I’m apparently living and working in a soap opera. Awesome.”
I laughed to try to ease the mood. “What else is new?”
My boyfriend hesitated before snorting and nodding with a grin returning. “Right,” he said. “Just another day at the office.”
“Absolutely,” I said, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “It wouldn’t be us if there wasn’t drama.”
Crew’s blue eyes, instead of smiling back, suddenly darkened, his pupils growing in a flash of emotion I couldn’t read. The intensity of his stare made me freeze, heart thudding painfully as I tried to breathe, couldn’t, waiting for him to let me go from the grasp of his blue eyes.
He opened his mouth, parted those luscious lips, inhaled as if to speak. I hung on the instant, all at once excited and terrified of what he might say. Knowi
ng whatever it was, no matter what, I loved him with all my heart. Even if what he had to say was going to leave me in tears, happy or otherwise.
***
Chapter Seven
Crew didn’t get to tell me what he wanted to. Instead, I was left hanging as Alicia and Jared appeared at our table as if by magic. Clearly I’d been so wrapped up in my boyfriend I’d failed to see the two approach. I stood and hugged them when I got over my disappointment they’d intruded on what was clearly an important moment. Crew wasn’t so gracious, at least not at first, though he did join me and shake Jared’s hand when I let the tall, handsome contractor go.
“So sorry,” Alicia said almost instantly as if registering she’d broken up a moment between me and Crew. “We wanted to check and see how dinner was, if you’re having fun.” She flinched slightly at the raised voices by the door while Jared frowned in that direction. I didn’t often see him in a suit, either, though Alicia was often in one. The slim, knee length satin number she wore tonight made her look tiny compared to her fiancé. What was it about a suit that made a man so freaking yummy? “And to apologize for the disturbance.”
I shook my head, smiling to reassure her, feeling the distance that had grown between the three of us vanish as Alicia caught my hand and smiled back. I was imagining things, obviously. They just felt badly for backing out of using the annex, something I could care less about as long as they were happy.
“We love it up here, Alicia,” I said, hoping I gushed enough. She beamed, so I did my job, Jared smiling down at her with that kind of indulgent sweetness that made them adorable together. “Don’t we, Crew?”
He mumbled something while Alicia eye rolled and laughed.
“Thank you,” she said, words tumbling out while she punctuated her excited talk with giggles. “It’s been a labor of love, but I couldn’t wait to open up and see what people thought. It’s going to be stunning this summer when we retract the roof.”
I glanced up at the greenhouse-like panels and realized only then it had that capability. Wow, talk about expensive. At least, I was guessing. But neither seemed concerned by the cost so they had to be doing well. Good for them. They weren’t the only ones.
Smug much, Fiona Fleming?
And yet, they’d lost their chef and Alicia was suffering from some kind of inferiority complex when it came to Vivian French. This town made my head hurt.
“You must be thrilled to have the fashion show preview here at the lodge?” I gestured for them to join us but Jared shook his head, Alicia sighing through pursed lips.
“Honestly, I’m just over it all, Fee,” she said, voice down. “I’ve never had so many problems with guests in my entire life.” Because she was ancient and jaded and all that. Well, come to think of it she’d been running the lodge for two summers. That gave her permission to play old hat. “Truth be told, I wanted to be a model when I was little. I used to fangirl over Vivian, you know. But I’m happy being a businesswoman. Right, sweetie?”
Jared hugged her. “I wouldn’t want to share you with the world like that,” he said. “You’re all mine.”
She giggled again while my mind tripped around her comment about the Queen of Wheat as I thought about her snide comment to Alicia that very morning. If Alicia was a fan, why did Vivian treat her so coldly? Maybe I’d been without a murder to solve for too long. Never mind the pending mysteries I’d let sit on the back burner. Something about a fresh conundrum always got me going for some reason.
“What did you mean, fangirling over Vivian?” What was I missing?
Alicia was clearly surprised by my question. “She was a model years ago. You didn’t know?”
Um, nope. Vivian, a model, really? I mean, sure, she was beautiful and everything. But I had no idea. I’d lost track of the cheer girl when I’d left home after high school. And it wasn’t like we’d been friends or kept up with each other or anything. I hadn’t seen Vivian in years and only reconnected with her—if you wanted to call it that—when I moved home to Reading.
“Well, she was a rising star,” Alicia said, clearly excited to fill me in on the details while Jared made a face at Crew who made one right back. Boys. My friend ignored them and went on, one hand on my forearm. “From what I heard, she was on track to be one of the top runway models.”
“What happened?” I glanced at the disaster still going on at the entry. Jill and Matt seemed to have the mess in hand, but the three hadn’t parted ways and the conversation continued, heated if quieter.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “Oh, do you know Mateo Marney?” She sighed as she pointed out a handsome Latino man who laughed as he ate, surrounded by models who didn’t. Eat, that was. Or laugh. Poor things. “He’s an up-and-comer, one of Henry’s newest talents. I wonder why Kami Derham is eating with him.” She sniffed. “She’s a favorite of Grace’s. That’s loyalty for you.”
Jared chuckled, index finger booping her nose. “I thought you said you were over the whole thing?” He was clearly teasing her and yet I agreed with him. For someone who didn’t care about the modeling world she seemed to be firmly planted in the know.
Alicia shrugged, winked at me. “A girl has to stay on top of her game. It’s my job to know my clients, right?”
If she said so. I was happy to just give mine a roof in exchange for their money, thanks. They could keep their drama to themselves.
“Ooh, this will be good.” Another tall, skinny young woman, this one blonde in comparison, stalked toward Mateo, leaning in to say something clearly angry to the girl Alicia identified as Kami. Kami, in turn, her dark hair piled around her in a frothing wave of curls, said something back that visibly upset the intruder. “That’s Faith Leeman. She’s supposed to be Mateo’s girlfriend as well as his body model for all his work.”
They looked pretty identical to me despite their difference in hair color. Both gorgeous, both young, both too skinny for their own good. Kami stood up and tossed down her napkin to the table, though it was clear she hadn’t eaten a bite of the food on her plate, and stormed off, pushing past Grace who only then noticed she was there. But I wasn’t interested in Kami’s departure when I spoke again.
“Any idea what happened between Grace and Henry?” She’d seemed so sad when she’d talked to me about love. Did she still have feelings for her ex? He was handsome, I’d give him that, but the cold expression on his face reminded me of a statue, not a loving partner.
Man, I was so lucky, wasn’t I?
“I hear she dumped him because he disagreed with the way her designs were going.” Alicia bit her lower lip, the two of us watching the drama unfold while I wished for subtitles. “So sad. I heard they were desperately in love with each other once upon a time.”
Very sad. I glanced at Crew and caught his dark expression, his frustration, and snapped myself out of the unfolding story across the room, reaching out to take his hand. Better to focus on my own tale to tell, thanks. He met my eyes, his softening, though he was still irritable enough he didn’t smile.
The volume escalated all over again as Grace turned toward Henry. This time I caught the words, “My fault?” Alicia flinched and grasped for Jared’s arm while poor Jill and Matt looked frustrated about what they could even do.
“Excuse us,” Alicia said, saying, “enjoy the rest of your dinner!” over one shoulder as she and Jared hurried to the knot of unhappiness.
For a single instant I longed to go with them, to find out what was happening. Until I took firm hold of myself and spun, back to the whole silly thing and cupped Crew’s face in my hands. He looked down at me, shoulders stiff, but didn’t resist when I kissed him. He softened against me, sinking down into his chair when I let him go and purposely took the other seat, the one that ensured I was facing him and the mountain and couldn’t see a thing happening at the entry. Because he deserved my full attention and he was all I cared about.
Yup. I picked love over being a busybody. Go figure.
Crew glanced at the fight then ba
ck at me before a slow, sexy smile crossed his lips. “Got it,” he whispered.
“You betcha,” I said, surprised to find I was a bit choked up, to be honest. He had to know I put him first. Had to. Because there was no way he’d ever have to wonder if I loved him more than poking my nose into other people’s business. No contest. Not now, and not ever.
Whatever Crew had planned to talk to me about didn’t come up, though we did manage to enjoy the rest of our dinner and our shared slice of chocolate cheesecake, the unfolding drama long over by the time we finished and rose to go.
It was a quiet ride home and I hoped he’d say yes when I invited him in, but Crew shook his head instead, not meeting my eyes, head down.
“Can’t tonight,” he said, voice rough enough I knew something was wrong. I really needed to insist he tell me, but when he looked up and met my gaze, his was soft, sweet, loving, so I let him have his retreat and, after a lovely kiss missing the usual heat I felt for him, if none of the adoring connection, I found myself again on the sidewalk, waving as Crew drove away.
***
Chapter Eight
My phone rang when I stepped into the foyer of Petunia’s but when I tried to answer, the caller cut off. I checked the number, only to find it listed as unknown. Weird, but then again, random wrong numbers happened all the time, so it wasn’t a big deal.
I did a quick walkthrough of the main building before slipping outside with Petunia into the cold night air and crossing to the annex. The young woman on the desk for the evening nodded pleasantly to me, but I didn’t stop to talk to Briana, instead returning to Petunia’s satisfied all was well in the world. At least, in my business.
I’d come a long way in trusting and in believing in my relationship with Crew, in shedding Ryan’s influence and the hurt he’d inflicted, but it was hard not to let doubt creep in after the odd and uncomfortable ending to my night with the man I loved so much it hurt. I hesitated to text him, finally sent a heart emoji. Seconds later he texted back.
