“Does that bother you?”
“No, why should it?” A flashback to the winter of her sophomore year of college replayed her showing him how to drive a snowmobile and him promising to take her to his Southern California home and show her how to surf. Her mind fast-forwarded to the Indigo Bay beach and Jesse in Hawaiian print swim trunks riding low on his lean hips showing Maggie how to surf, the sun glinting off the sun-bleached ends of his close-cropped light brown hair.
It shouldn’t bother her, but it did.
Jesse wanted to take his taunt back. He wanted to kiss the changing expressions on Lauren’s face into a smile before they settled on disgust. He wanted all kinds of things he couldn’t have. He watched Lauren compose herself and followed her gaze to the shed behind him. The doors stood open. He’d unscrewed the simple hasp hardware when he couldn’t unlock the padlock.
“You couldn’t have waited for the key?” Lauren dangled the keyring in the air.
“I got back from beach clean-up and wanted to get to work here.” Which will be a lot easier if the tools I need were in the shed, and I didn’t have to go buy them. He had about every mechanical engine tool known to man, but not what he needed for home repair and grounds maintenance.
“And you couldn’t find the key.”
“I never had the key.” Jesse wasn’t proud of the haze he’d used to create distance between himself and Lauren, himself and life, long after his accident and his mother’s death. But it made no sense to him that he had every other key to the house and grounds but that one.
“Fortunately, we had another one,” she contradicted him.
“You don’t believe I never had a key?” Of course his dropping off the face of the earth to her and most everyone else after his accident didn’t give a lot of credence to his part of the promise to wait for each other they’d made when she was in college and his motocross career was taking off. “And you don’t think it’s odd that Ray happened to have an extra key to the property, even though the estate’s been settled?”
Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened in an O, followed by nervous foot tapping.
“Ha, you did think it was odd.”
“I’m sure the extra key just somehow got overlooked.”
“That doesn’t say a lot for Acer and Acer. Want to see what they kept access to? Officer Andrews arrived before I got a look.”
Lauren pinched her lips together.
He took a step toward the open doors. He didn’t know when to shut up. But acting like he was would discourage Lauren from any thoughts that there was still, or could ever be, anything between them. She was out of his league socially and intellectually, always had been, and he wasn’t going to let her forget that. He’d hurt her enough in the past by believing and letting her believe in the fairy tale of their relationship. He closed the distance to the shed. Who was he kidding? Lauren hadn’t shown any renewed interest in him. His protections were all to contain the attraction he still felt toward her.
Jesse shivered at the drop in temperature and loss of sunlight when he walked into the stone building. He wrinkled his nose at the dank smell and reached back to the left for the light switch he’d seen. Only his hand touched neither the expected switch or the stone wall he expected but, rather, something soft.
Lauren’s gasp accelerated the buzz of electricity that had already burned halfway through him.
“Uh. Sorry. The light.”
“Yeah, you could use some light in here.” She flicked the switch and the single bulb above lit.
“I didn’t do that on purpose,” he stammered when he found his voice. “I didn’t know you were behind me.”
“Good to know.” Her voice was as dry as the sunbaked sand out on the beach.
Jesse adjusted his eyes to the dimly lit interior and flexed the fingers of his left hand. No danger of her falling for him again. His stomach churned. Nothing but black coffee for breakfast might not have been the best idea. But keeping Lauren at a distance was what he wanted, especially if they were going to be living in the same small town.
“What are you looking for in here?” Lauren asked.
“Gold bullion,” he tossed back. Any equipment and tools he could use so he didn’t have to buy them would be about as good.
“You’re not back on Ray and the key, are you?” Exasperation crept into her voice.
“No, I … never mind.” A faint floral scent broke through the mustiness. Lauren’s hair? Perfume? The shed looked larger from the outside, or had her close proximity made it feel small now that they were alone inside it? “Don’t you have to get back to work?” he asked.
She walked around and stood in front of him.
The floral scent was stronger, and he recognized it, remembered burying his face in her long blond hair and breathing it in. Jesse clenched and unclenched his fists.
“I should. I have to stop at the post office and it closes for lunch from 10:45 to 11:45 so they can be open during regular lunch-time hours. Before I go, though, I have a proposition for you.”
Jesse cleared his throat. He was certain her proposition wasn’t the one he was resisting making to her. “What’s that?”
“If you’re anxious to get your bike shop up and running here or somewhere else...”
The way Lauren emphasized the or somewhere else made Jesse think she might not be as indifferent to him as he’d thought. He shook his head. No. Indifference was good.
“Don’t say no until I finish.”
“Huh?” He hadn’t said anything.
“I have a lead on a buyer for the Morrison house, your house. As is, so you wouldn’t have to spend your time renovating it. Good money.”
Jesse laughed without mirth. Lauren wasn’t indifferent to him. She just plain wanted him gone from Indigo Bay. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“I’m not trying to get rid of you. I just thought your dad, people you know are in Southern California.”
“There’s nothing there for me. If things work out here, I’m going to ask Dad to come and work with me. Besides, I’ve already made a gentleman’s agreement to sell the place.”
“You talked to Ray?”
“No, to your mother. We’re going in on it together. Her money. My muscle.” Jesse flexed his biceps Incredible Hulk style.
Lauren’s gasp of surprise was even better than he’d expected.
Lauren stomped into the post office. The walk from the beach hadn’t fully taken the edge off her irritation. Her mother couldn’t have the kind of money it would take to buy the Morrison house. Or could she? Lauren hadn’t handled her mother’s finances since Mom had moved here. Mom had said Caroline was helping her to manage them herself. But the mortgage on the duplex Mom had bought, where Lauren rented the other side of the house, had to be pretty steep, even if the property only had a view of the ocean and not beach frontage.
She got in line behind a stunning brunette she didn’t recognize. But with all the tourists in and out of the area, that wasn’t surprising.
“I’m sorry,” the post office clerk said. “I can’t give you Mr. Brewster’s address.”
The woman was looking for Jesse? Lauren didn’t know any other Brewsters in Indigo Bay. She checked out the woman more thoroughly. The woman didn’t look like a motocross groupie. But then her friend and second cousin Sari in Chenango Falls wasn’t the typical picture of a motocross groupie, and Sari was crazy about motocross. Besides, Jesse hadn’t raced in three years. The woman could be someone Jesse had had a real relationship with. Lauren breathed in a deep breath to combat the sinking feeling growing inside her. Jesse had been faithful to her when they were dating. What he’d done after they’d drifted apart wasn’t her concern.
The woman’s shoulders drooped and then stiffened. “Thanks for nothing.” She turned and glared at Lauren, as if saying what are you looking at? before marching out the door.
“Hi, Lauren,” the clerk said, reaching under the counter and lifting a small packet of mail. “Britta
ny off today?”
“No, I had to go meet with a client at his home, so I thought I’d save Brittany the trip and pick up the mail on my way back to the office.” Or, more accurately, Ray thought he’d show me my place by ordering me to stop for the mail.
The clerk handed Lauren the mail. “Here you go. That woman was asking about the guy who inherited the Morrison property. Some distant relative from California.”
“Yes, Jim Morrison’s grandnephew.” Lauren bit her tongue.
“Yeah, you’d know that. You guys probably did the estate. I’m fine giving directions if someone asks how to get to an address. But we can’t give out a person’s address to anyone who walks in. Regulations.”
Lauren pulled a wry smile. But the clerk could gossip with locals, and she’d added to that by mentioning Jesse’s relationship to Mr. Morrison. “Thanks.” She lifted the packet of envelopes as a goodbye wave, turned, and almost ran into her mother.
“Lauren. I thought that was you.” Her mother’s gaze dropped to Lauren’s hand. “Brittany off today?”
“No.”
“I would think Ray and Gerry would have better use for your time than the morning mail run.”
The packet of mail crackled as Lauren’s fingers tightened around it. Having a law degree didn’t preclude her from picking up the firm’s mail. It didn’t mean anything. Ray and Gerry sometimes stopped at the post office if they were going out of the office.
“I had to drop off a key to Jesse. He’d misplaced the one to the equipment shed.”
“Good, he’s getting right to work.”
“About that …”
“Hey, Sonja, the post office clerk said. “Here for your mail?”
“Go ahead.” Lauren waved toward the counter. The whole town didn’t need to know what she had to say to her mother.
“See you tomorrow,” her mother said and rejoined Lauren by the door.
“Did you drive?” Lauren asked.
“No, I walked.”
“Good, we can walk back to our offices together.” She pushed the door open for the two of them.
Her mother slipped through the door ahead of her. “And you can tell me what had your face all puckered up in there.”
“Nothing. That’s not what I wanted to talk with you about.”
Her mother made what was as close to an unladylike sound as she could get.
“All right, this woman, not from around here, was in the post office asking for Jesse’s address. And I inadvertently dropped that Mr. Morrison’s grandnephew had inherited the property,” Lauren added so her mother wouldn’t get the idea that another woman asking about Jesse would bother her—even if it had bothered her.
“The stunning brunette with the attitude? She dropped in the real estate office first thing this morning asking about our recent sales and rentals as if she was checking out our services and record. But I saw through her, picked up that she was looking for information. Information she could find in the public records at the county building.”
“Mom, you didn’t tell her that?”
“Of course not,” her mother dismissed her question. “I thought I’d mention her to Jesse. If he wants her to know where he is, he can tell her.”
“Speaking of Jesse …” Who, given that her intention was to avoid him, was taking up far too much of her life, even when he wasn’t around in person. “Did you really agree to buy the mansion, to go into business with him?”
“We haven’t signed an agreement yet.”
Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. She had time to stop her mother’s fantasy before Mom got hurt personally and financially.
“But I sure plan to. I’m writing an agreement as soon as I get back to the office.”
Lauren touched her mother’s arm. “Buying and renovating the mansion into a B&B is a big and expensive undertaking. He hasn’t said so for sure, but I think he’s strapped for cash.”
“Exactly why we’re partnering.”
Lauren stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Where is the money coming from? You should have talked with me before you agreed to anything with Jesse. At least it’s not in writing yet.”
“Honey, I know you like to help, and there’s no way I can ever make up to you for taking care of me in so many ways after your father left. But I haven’t needed your financial guidance and help since I went to work here at the real estate office.”
“But the duplex. You have a mortgage.” She couldn’t fathom how her mother could finance something as big as she and Jesse planned.
“A very manageable one, even without your rent. I used part of what I got on the sale of our old house in Chenango Falls as a down payment and invested the rest. I took that community education class in investing at the high school. Remember?”
Lauren remembered. She’d had no idea her mother was serious about investing. She had taken numerous community ed classes to meet people here, or so Lauren had thought. “I remember.”
“Well I applied what I learned and have done okay. Add in the big sales I’ve made this year, and I think Jesse and I can do it.” Sonja raised her hand, index finger up. “And before you say anything about renting property being different than selling property, I’ve already picked Caroline’s son Dallas’s brain. He has a lot of experience with his seaside cottages.
The right words wouldn’t come. She should be proud of her mother She was proud of her. All she could think, though, was no one needs me. The firm had barely enough work to keep Ray and Gerry busy. Against her will, she pictured the attractive woman asking about Jesse at the post office. He hadn’t needed her in years. Her independent mother didn’t need her help anymore.
“I’ll want you to look over the contract before Jesse and I sign it.”
“Sure.” A concession to make her feel better? She shook off the poor-little-me attitude. She handled all of her mother’s legal matters. This wasn’t any different.
Her phone rang. Most people texted her, except Ray and Gerry. “I’d better answer. It might be the office.”
Her mother nodded.
It was an unknown number. “Hello.”
“Hi. You’re my attorney, right?” What sounded like a small child crying almost drowned out Jesse’s voice.
He didn’t wait for her to answer. “I need you here. Now. Please.”
C H A P T E R 4
“Oomph.” Jesse took a hard kick to the thigh from the now screaming kid who’d been shoved into his arms by a woman he’d never met before. Clutching the kid, he crouched to retrieve his cell phone, which he’d dropped in the process. As soon as the woman had gotten out of the car and shouted “Jesse Brewster, here’s your kid,” he’d speed dialed Lauren’s cell phone number. Brittany had given it to him the other day with no questions. For business, of course.
The woman faced off with him. “She’s not mine, and I won’t be responsible for her. I put in my time with her mother, for all it got me. Since she has a father, I’d rather not see her in foster care like Crystal and me. I told her from the start she should make you acknowledge the baby, hit you up for support.”
“Hold it. Who’s your sister? Crystal who? From where?” His gaze drilled into the woman’s and queasiness overcame him when he really looked at her features. He pulled his gaze away to study the child he held and looked into his mother’s wide eyes, saw her pert nose and a cupid version of his mother’s mouth. He smoothed the little girl’s hair absently. Hair the same shade of sandy brown as his and his mother’s. Bile rose in his throat. That hazy time after his accident when he’d learned his racing career was over and had broken off contact with Lauren. His mother had been dying, and there hadn’t been anything he could do. He’d had an insane need to prove he wasn’t useless, was still a man.
“Where is your sister?” he asked.
“Dead. Everything you need to know is in the front pocket of the suitcase with the kid’s stuff.” The woman placed the case on the driveway and took a step back toward her car.
Jess
e rubbed the heel of his palm against his chest. This little girl’s whole life was in a suitcase. “Wait.” He matched the woman’s step, as if sticking with her would stop her from reaching the car. “My lawyer will be here any minute.” Or, at least he hoped she would be. The cell phone’s tumble from his hands had ended the call.
“Good. He can help you.” The woman pushed the case toward him and took advantage of the distraction to escape to her car and hop in.”
He rushed after her. She fired up the engine. “Stop.” He couldn’t grab the door handle and put the kid in danger.
She pulled away and sped down the driveway.
“You didn’t tell me her name,” he said to the departing taillights.
“Aunt Tara’s gone. Mommy’s gone,” the little girl sniffed.
“I’m afraid so.” She had no idea how afraid. He hugged her to his chest. “I’m Jesse,” he said into her hair.”
The little girl pushed away and looked him in the eye. “Aunt Tara said Daddy.”
He patted her awkwardly on the back. “We’ll see,” he muttered. “What’s your name?”
“Shelley.”
He swallowed hard. His mother’s name.
A car slowed down at the open gate by the road. Had Aunt Tara had second thoughts and returned? A different vehicle he didn’t recognize drove toward him and stopped.
Lauren got out of the driver’s side and her mother the passenger side.
“What do we have here?” Sonja asked.
He’d swear Lauren had said, “A big problem is my guess” under her breath. But that may have been his own inner voice of doom.
Sonja strode over. “Isn’t she precious?”
Jesse’s heart swelled. She was. “This is Shelley.”
“Hi, Shelley. I’m Sonja.”
“Gama?” the little girl said, reaching her arms to Lauren’s mother.
He let Sonja take Shelley, his gaze connecting with Lauren’s unreadable one. His jaw tightened. Her lawyer expression. What had he expected, her to leap for joy that he might have a child?
Sweet Entanglement Page 4
