Hush, Puppy

by Roxanne St Claire

  To John, he was nothing but an…interloper.

  “You’re here…” Summer’s words were soft and laden with disbelief.

  “This is Hoagies & Heroes,” he said, as if she didn’t know. As if it was still Hoagies & Heroes. “So it makes a lot more sense for me to be here than you.”

  “I, um, work here,” she whispered, finally glancing at John. “Do you know John Santorini?”

  “Oh, the very man I want to see.” He extended a large hand and offered a strong and serious handshake. “Travis Shipley,” he said. “I believe you know my father.”

  “I do.” So that’s why he was here? On building business?

  Before John could ask, the other man’s gaze shifted right back to Summer as if it had a will of its own. “I can’t believe you’re here. I mean, you work here? I knew you were in Bitter Bark, but I expected to have to track you down.”

  “You did? You knew I was here?” she asked. “How?”

  “The video with your daughter singing.” He slid into a wide, easy grin. “Damn, she’s somethin’, Summer. I can see Isaiah all over her.”

  Summer let out a sigh on a soft laugh. “Yeah. She’s a lot like him.”

  “Much prettier and I hope not as stubborn,” he joked.

  “Plenty stubborn, but how did you see the video?”

  “It came up on Facebook on a Bitter Bark Chamber of Commerce page that I still get in my timeline,” he explained. “I’ll tell you all about it, but…” He gestured to John. “I’m afraid John and I have some business to discuss first.”

  “We do?” John said.

  “I’m here representing my father,” he said. “Do you have an office where we can talk privately?”

  “Of course. In the back.”

  Travis nodded, then picked up his phone from the table with another long look at Summer. “I can’t believe it was so easy to find you,” he said. “Please don’t go anywhere. I’ll just be a couple minutes.”

  “Of course I’ll be here, Travis.” She gave him a smile that looked a little bewildered, a little terrified, and a little…happy.

  John stepped away just as he heard Travis add, “I’ll hold you to that, Sunshine.”

  As he walked, John clenched his fists, then spread his fingers wide, tension and jealousy and resentment rocking him.

  Sunshine? She wasn’t his damn sunshine.

  No, no. Relax, he told himself, glancing back to make sure Travis was following him. John was the man who’d woken up in Summer’s bed and arms for the tenth, twelfth, maybe fourteenth consecutive day, not Travis. John was the man who shared bodies, hearts, and laughs with her. She was his sunshine, not this…trespasser’s.

  “Holy crap, this place is different,” Travis said with a low whistle as they stepped into the kitchen. “Did you kick out the storage room and add all that dining space?”

  “Yes,” John said simply, not bothering to stop and introduce their guest to any of the servers or cooks in the kitchen.

  “And the whole Greek thing? Great idea. It should work.”

  John shot him a look as they reached his office. “It does work. It’s a Greek restaurant. We serve Greek food. It’s a theme.”

  Travis pursed his lips and lifted his brow like…he knew something John didn’t.

  Inside the office, John closed the door and gestured toward the guest chair. “Would you like coffee or water?” he asked.

  “No, no, I’m not going to be here that long. I just have to deliver some news, and I’ll start with don’t shoot the messenger.”

  John dropped into his chair, making every effort to keep his face completely expressionless. “I don’t shoot anyone,” he said. “What’s the news?”

  Travis folded his hands and leaned forward. “Listen, I have fought this deal from the moment I heard about it, but then….” He slid a look in the general direction of the dining room, where Summer waited.

  “What deal?” John asked.

  “Coming back to Bitter Bark and reopening Hoagies & Heroes.”

  John stared at him, a frown pulling. “Where?”

  “Here.” He pointed to the ground. “Where it was. Where it belongs.”

  “What?”

  “I know, I know.” He sat back and held up his hands like he could stave off whatever fight he expected. “I’m sure it’ll be an inconvenience for you to move, but we’ll give you time to find another property, and my father’s prepared to shave off some rent.”

  “I’m not going to find another property.” Irritation scraped at his chest as he said the words. “I’ve been renting with an option to buy and made a great offer.” A ridiculous offer, but…

  “We’re under no obligation to take it.”

  “We?”

  “It sounds weird to say it. I didn’t ever expect to be a restaurant owner, but…” He blew out a breath. “I always knew this day would come.”

  John narrowed his eyes, trying to get a read on this man, but definitely not able to succeed. “You don’t sound too excited about it.”

  He gave a soft laugh. “With all due respect to your chosen profession, my friend, it’s not what I wanted to do with my life.”

  “Then why would you?”

  Shifting in his chair, he looked down, and a little of his confidence seemed to slip.

  “Because I need to do something, and after one solid year in Nashville, I’m pretty sure it isn’t hitting the big time in country music. So it appears I’m going to run this sandwich shop in Bitter Bark, North Carolina.”

  Sparks exploded behind John’s eyes. “First of all, the sandwich shop doesn’t exist anymore. It’s a Greek deli, one of three, part of a future franchise, and in my family for more than sixty years. Second, I have a contract with your father that states he will honor my offer to purchase this building unless he gets one that is twenty-five percent higher, and I met the one he got.”

  “Yeah, about that.” He ran his hand through his short hair, discomfort turning the corners of his mouth down. “There is no other offer.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “My dad just made that up because he thought you’d back out and end the lease amicably without, you know, legal wrangling.”

  Holy hell. John lifted a brow. “I took your father to be more ethical than that.”

  “He is ethical,” Travis said quickly. “But he’s backed into a corner right now by my mother, who is a force that no one really knows how to contain. It’s her money that bought the building in the first place, so she kind of has control. She wants me here and…”

  “You do whatever Mommy wants?” The words slipped out before he could stop them.

  “When she has six months to live.”

  “Oh. That’s a shame,” John murmured under his breath, wanting to kick himself. Hard. “I’ve been there,” he said, swallowing against his shame. “I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks. And I’m sorry I have to blow in here like a Grade A dick and overturn your business plan. But we have the right to turn down your offer and terminate your lease.”

  John sat a little straighter in his chair as another lightning bolt of fury shot through him, his brain whirring through the fine print on that contract. Did they have the legal right? His fingers already itched to call his attorney.

  “Look, we won’t use the name, I swear,” Travis continued. “We’ll go back to Hoagies & Heroes. In fact, I’m going to play up the ‘hero’ thing with my military background. So I’ll probably repaint everything red, white, and blue. We won’t infringe on anything you’ve built here, and I’m sure you can scout out another location.”

  John shook his head as if that could make his brain function again. He needed to find the contract. Needed to talk to George. Needed to stop this man from blowing into his world and taking everything. “I have to call my attorney,” he said simply, but way deep inside, he already knew that would be a costly, and possibly unsuccessful, endeavor.

  George and Susan Shipley had said they wanted to retire. Moved away
to the other side of the state. In fact, it had been John who’d pushed for a lease instead of an outright purchase because he wasn’t entirely sold on Bitter Bark back then. What changed?

  “Really hoped we could avoid that, but okay. You do that.” Travis glanced at the door, obviously eager to get back to the other way he planned to ruin John’s life. Then he slapped his hands on his jean-clad thighs and leaned forward, his smile tight. “I’m really sorry this didn’t go as you planned.”

  John had no idea how to respond to that, his usually sharp brain dulled by unfamiliar sensations like loathing and disgust and rage and resentment.

  “And if you don’t mind, one more favor?” Clearly, no such emotional whirlwind was at work on Travis Shipley.

  “You want my car, house, and dog, too?”

  He laughed easily, pointing at John. “Good to keep your sense of humor, my man.”

  I am not your flipping man.

  “But what I’d like to do is borrow one of your employees for a while.” He tipped his head toward the door. “Summer and I go way back. Her husband was my buddy overseas, and we…”

  Had a thing over Skype.

  John waited for him to finish, curious just how much of their past he’d reveal.

  “Anyway, I can’t believe she’s here.” He shook his head. “I mean, seeing her on that video was what put me over the edge and made me decide my mom must be right. I really fought the Hoagies & Heroes idea hard, since it felt a little—no, a lot—like giving up. But when I saw her here? Well, that changed everything. I had to come back.”

  A band tightened around John’s chest. “I see.” But he didn’t. Not at all.

  “I mean, it’s not just fate or a coincidence. No, she’s here for me,” he said, almost as much to himself as John. “Two years later, and she hasn’t given up hope. How can I?”

  Except she’d come to apologize and get closure and rid herself of guilt. It sure didn’t sound to John like Travis was breathless for an apology.

  “When I saw her daughter on that video…” Travis laughed softly. “Even her name is like…this is meant to be. Have you met her little girl, Destiny?”

  Was John really expected to sit here and not explode? Not dive over the desk and throttle this bastard who didn’t have the right to say Destiny’s name, let alone act like he knew anything about that child?

  “I know Summer’s daughter,” John said through gritted teeth.

  “I wouldn’t have known the kid was hers because she didn’t use her last name, but then, in the video, when she gets this dog-bone trophy—she won a singing contest, did you hear that?”

  Holy crap. “I heard.”

  “Then I see Summer, right there on the video. Just the way I remember her.”

  Because you never saw her in person.

  “And I just knew I had to come here. Had to take back the business and reconnect with that girl because…” He gave a self-deprecating smile that only made him look a little more like a movie star. “She’s giving me another chance, and I’m not even sure I’m worthy of it.”

  John stared at him, speechless, waiting for something to start working upstairs. But feelings had taken over. Feelings that strangled and nauseated and made his nostrils flare with each breath and his fists clench like they needed to punch the wall. All of it sickening and unfamiliar and so freaking powerful, he forced himself to a stand.

  Travis stood, too, and extended his hand. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on your shop here, but I hope there are no hard feelings.”

  John almost laughed. Hard feelings? These went way past hard. “Appreciate that,” he mumbled, shaking the hand Travis offered. As he did, he noticed a tattoo along his forearm and…a scar at the most tender place on his wrist.

  One more feeling reared up. Pity. His stomach roiled at the thought of the blade that must have caused that…and just how bad things had had to be to get to that point.

  Good God. Maybe Travis Shipley needed this place more than John did.

  “I’ll warn you, I’m not going to give up easily,” John said quietly. “Not anything.” Not the restaurant and not Summer Jackson.

  “We’ll work it out,” Travis replied with a shocking amount of confidence. “And now, I’m going to pick up where I left off with that woman.”

  John swallowed hard. “Oh? Where was that?”

  “We were this close to the whole enchilada, man.” Travis held up his finger and thumb, almost touching. “This close to something amazing and…forever. And I screwed up. But she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t want to forgive me. I believe that right down to my soul.”

  “Well, then, you better get your soul out there and talk to her.”

  Travis is the most persuasive man alive. He pushed the memory of Summer’s words out of his head, coming around the desk to open the door to get some air into the office and let this…this problem out.

  “Hey.” Travis put a friendly hand on John’s shoulder. “Do not worry. I’m not going to steal your employees. If you find another place to set up shop, she can work for you.” He grinned. “Unless she wants to make heroes and hoagies with me.”

  A soft tap on the door kept John from answering. And possibly winding up to clock the guy.

  “John, I need to talk to you.” At the sound of Summer’s voice, he reached for the door, whipping it open and suddenly feeling very much like Destiny when she got her hands on Mav. He just wanted to wrap his arms around this woman and pronounce her mine!

  “What is it, Summer?” he asked instead, unnaturally calm.

  She handed him a white business card and looked into his eyes with a million unspoken words in hers. “Tom Barnard is out front. He wants to talk to you.”

  Tom Barnard? His throat closed, his stomach clenched, and every nerve in his body stung.

  Oh hell. Was this feeling? Well, he’d take logic over this any day, because this sucked. Everything sucked. And not for one second did he want to talk to Barnard. He had no store. He had no franchise. He had no plan.

  And if this bastard Travis got his way, he’d have no Summer.

  He took the card. “Tell him I had to go out.”

  As her jaw dropped, he brushed by her and slipped out the back kitchen door, barely able to breathe at the raw deal life had just handed him.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Summer had never seen John so…thrown. So pale and tense and quiet. And then he walked out on Tom Barnard? How could he?

  Travis, of course. Travis, who stood there, looking big and handsome and confident. She couldn’t imagine John being threatened by anyone, but John knew her history with Travis. And he knew she’d come here for the sole purpose of having this encounter. But John also knew how she felt about him. Didn’t he?

  Travis leaned close to whisper in her ear. “He said you can take the rest of the day off to hang out with me.”

  She inched back. “He did?”

  “After I buttered him up.” He winked.

  “So, did you work out your business with him?” God willing, Travis came to accept the offer for his father. And with Secret Shopper out there looking pretty damn happy and interested in talking, John’s troubles were over.

  But he sure hadn’t looked like a man with no troubles.

  “The business?” He shrugged and looked toward the door. “He’ll get over it.”

  “Get over what?”

  He answered with a quick shake of his head. “Not important. All that matters is that you’re here. Right here in front of me.” He reached out both hands and set them lightly on her shoulders. “Why are you working at a Greek deli and not teaching?”

  She very easily stepped out of his touch, determined to keep things casual. “It’s a summer job. Destiny’s in camp here, and…”

  “You came here to find me, didn’t you?”

  She slipped her lower lip under her teeth, biting lightly, not at all sure how to answer that. “Originally, yes.”

  “I knew it.” He fisted both han
ds in a little victory pump. “When I saw you on that viral video, I just knew it. The universe had spoken.” He reached for her hand. “Come with me, Summer. I really want to talk to you.”

  She searched his face, taking in the lines and angles and differences in him in person versus on a computer screen. He was a good-looking guy with strong bones and straight teeth and robin’s-egg blue eyes. But there were dark circles under those eyes and a spark that seemed to be missing. A few more lines that she didn’t remember and a sadness pressed on his broad shoulders.

  “I have a lot to tell you, too,” she finally said.

  “Not here.” He took her hand and urged her to the door John had just used. “Somewhere private.”

  But she couldn’t go out that way. She couldn’t leave Secret Shopper hanging, even if John had. “In the dining room,” she said. “I have to finish up with a customer.”

  “Sure.” He walked next to her through the kitchen, where she tried to avoid Bash’s openly surprised gaze at the sight of Summer holding this stranger’s hand. They’d all gotten used to John and Summer together, as a couple.

  Summer had gotten used to it, too, and the feel of another man’s hand in hers was uncomfortable. As soon as she could, Summer tugged her hand free. “Wait at the hostess stand, Travis. I’ll be right back.” She went directly to the table where the older man was just closing out his check.

  “Mr. Barnard,” she said as she approached. “Mr. Santorini was called away for an emergency. I know he’ll call you the minute he can. Are you in town long?”

  “No,” he said simply. “Did you tell him my name?”

  “I didn’t get a chance,” she said quickly.

  He flinched with disapproval. “He should be at his place of business at all times.”

  “Like I said, he had an emergency.” She couldn’t help adding, “And to be fair, he didn’t know you were coming today, sir.”

  He tipped his head, conceding her point. “Fine. Thank you, miss.”

  “Is there anything else you need?”

  “No, I…” He took a breath and reconsidered the question, nodding. “Yes. I’d like to ask you, an employee, a question. May I?”