Ask Anyone (11 page)

For the longest time, Bobby didn't respond. Jenna thought perhaps she had gone too far, touched an open wound she had no business being anywhere near.

When he finally did meet her gaze again, something had changed. He almost looked at peace.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “Daisy said something like that to me once—she was the only one in the family who even dared to broach the subject—but I dismissed it because she was family and therefore biased. Hearing it from an objective outsider actually helps.”

“I'm glad. I may not know you very well, and we may have our own differences to work through, but I know one thing, Bobby Spencer. You're one of the good guys. Ann-Marie's the idiot.” She grinned at him and deliberately set out to lighten the mood as they pulled up in front of Daisy's. “And just so you know, I intend to test your tolerance by pestering you until you agree to look at my complete proposal for the boardwalk. I should have it finished in another day or two. I'm not an architect or an artist, but I think you'll be able to get the idea.”

He cut the car's engine and turned to face her. “Funny thing about that,” he said. “You've been giving me ideas since the moment we met.”

His gaze met hers, and suddenly something between them shifted. Anticipation simmered between them. He reached out and skimmed her cheek with unsteady fingers. A shudder washed through Jenna even before he lowered his head and touched his lips to hers.

The kiss was fleeting, no more than a quick skim of heated flesh across heated flesh. It couldn't possibly have meant anything, yet Jenna's heart thundered; it hadn't been deep or lingering or demanding, but it had been better than all of Nick Kennedy's most dangerous kisses rolled into one.

Bad idea, she thought a little desperately as she reached for the door handle and fled the car. She was still fighting for composure when Bobby joined her on the sidewalk. Kisses were the one sure way to mess up a business proposition. The waters surrounding this project of hers were muddy enough without bringing hormones
into play. If—no, when, she thought fiercely—Bobby agreed to let Pennington and Sons have the job, she wanted there to be absolutely no doubt in her own mind about how she'd won the contract.

“That can't happen again,” she said staunchly, eyeing him with a determined look.

“It shouldn't,” he agreed, though there was amusement lurking in the depths of his eyes as he met her gaze. “But something tells me it will.”

Yeah, Jenna thought ruefully. She was pretty sure of the same thing. Something that felt that good, that wicked, was going to beg to be repeated. And her track record for resisting temptation wasn't exactly sterling.

 

Five pairs of expectant eyes looked up when Bobby and Jenna eventually walked into Daisy's kitchen. Bobby saw his sister take in Jenna's flushed face and could almost read her mind. Daisy was leaping to conclusions faster than King would have if he'd been on the premises. Bobby frowned at her, though he doubted his forbidding expression would dampen Daisy's enthusiasm for whatever theory she'd come up with.

“You two have been lurking around outside for a long time,” Walker commented, no doubt echoing his wife's thoughts. “Anything going on we need to know about?”

Bobby's scowl deepened. “We were just discussing everything that happened tonight,” he said flatly. “That's it.”

“Must have been a lively conversation,” Walker noted with a pointed glance at Jenna.

The flush in Jenna's cheeks deepened, but she kept her gaze perfectly level with Walker's. “Indeed, it was,” she agreed briskly, turning her back to pour herself a glass of tea at the counter.

“How's everything here?” she asked over her shoulder. “Darcy, have you been behaving for Daisy and Walker?”

“She's been an absolute angel,” Daisy said at once. “She, Tommy and Pete helped me fix dinner. Darcy made the biscuits. Sit down and have something before everything gets cold.”

Daisy's command forced Jenna to turn around. The bright patches of color in her cheeks had faded, but there was still a hint of guilt in her eyes. Bobby pulled out a chair for her, then took the empty seat beside her.

“Looks good,” he told Daisy. “I'm relieved there's some left. I'm starved.”

“Can we go outside?” Tommy pleaded. “We've eaten everything on our plates.”

Daisy made an elaborate pretense of studying the plates, then shooed the three of them outside. “I'll call you when it's time for dessert.” As the screen door slammed behind, she shouted, “And stay away from the river!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tommy shouted back as if he'd heard it a million times before.

“How did the meetings with the parents go?” Walker asked. “Daisy filled me in.”

“We ran into some heavy denial,” Bobby admitted. “But I think they'd all come around by the time we left.
Just in case, though, alert Tucker and the other deputies to keep an eye out if they see these kids congregating again.”

“Will do,” Walker agreed at once.

All during the exchange, Bobby noted that his sister's gaze never once left his face. He could practically hear the wheels turning in her head.

“Well?” she prodded finally. “What about Ann-Marie?”

“I included her when I said how all the parents reacted,” he said defensively. “And that's all I intend to say on that subject.”

“Bobby,” Daisy protested.

“Daisy,” he mimicked.

His sister heaved a heartfelt sigh. “Okay, I won't pry.”

“Ha!” he muttered, but reached for her hand. “Thanks, sis.”

“Wait till Daddy hears about this, though,” she murmured.

Bobby stilled. “Why would Daddy have to hear a single word about any of this?”

Daisy regarded him with an impatient look. “Because this is Trinity Harbor. Word will leak out that you went to see Ann-Marie. I guarantee you that he'll know about it by morning. I also guarantee that he will be on your doorstep wondering whether you've taken leave of your senses.” She grinned. “What do you think, Jenna? Is my brother of sound mind?”

Jenna laughed. “I can see why there might be cause to question it, but in general, I'd have to say yes.”

“I agree,” Walker said.

Bobby scowled at the lot of them. “Well, thank you for the testimonials. I'll be sure to call you as witnesses when Daddy starts to cross-examine me. Everyone free in the morning?”

“Not me,” Jenna said at once. “I'm finishing those sketches.”

Walker held up his hands. “I'm on duty tomorrow.”

Bobby glanced at his sister. “You? You have someplace better you need to be?”

“Nope. It's summer vacation. I'm free as a bird.”

“Good. Then you can meet me at Earlene's for breakfast and we can preempt Daddy's visit to the yacht center. We'll have this whole discussion over and done with by eight o'clock.”

“I think you're being overly optimistic,” she said. “But I'll be there.” She glanced around the table. “Everybody ready for dessert? I baked a strawberry-rhubarb pie and there's vanilla ice cream to go with it.”

Walker's eyes lit up. “Now you're talking.”

“Should I call the kids?” Jenna asked.

“No,” Bobby and Walker said in a chorus. At her startled look, they both grinned.

“More for us,” Bobby explained. “You'll understand once you've tasted Daisy's strawberry-rhubarb pie.”

Daisy shook her head. “You two men are such pigs. Neither one of you likes to share, which, I might add, sets a very bad example. But that is exactly why I baked two pies. Jenna, call the kids.”

Bobby sat back as Jenna stepped outside and hollered
for Darcy, Tommy and Pete. The three of them came racing inside, filling the kitchen with the sound of laughter. The commotion could have been overwhelming, but he loved it. He realized just how much he wanted all of this for himself.

Once Ann-Marie had devastated him by turning to his best friend, Bobby had pushed all thoughts of marriage and family firmly aside. He'd run off to Europe to study cooking, burying himself in the excitement and adventure of being on his own in France and Italy, of learning the skills of his trade from a range of international master chefs.

By the time he'd come back to Trinity Harbor, he'd thought his heart was healed, but back then one glimpse of Ann-Marie with her new little family had been enough to tear him apart all over again. From that moment on, he'd shut himself off emotionally. He'd bought the yacht center and buried himself in the work it took to turn it around and make it a successful restaurant and marina. Then he'd begun acquiring riverfront property.

But his workaholic days were over, he thought, watching Jenna move to Daisy's side to help her scoop ice cream onto the pie. She fit in here, he realized with a sense of amazement. He barely knew her. She'd only met his sister a few days ago. And yet right here and now, he could imagine her being in his life forever.

The fact that such a thought had even crossed his mind scared the hell out of him.

He glanced across the table and saw Walker studying him with a commiserating look.

“Goner,” Walker mouthed silently, his amusement plain.

Bobby cast a surreptitious glance back at Jenna, then turned back to his brother-in-law with a shrug. Why even bother to deny it?

Still, he leaned in Walker's direction and said in a low voice, “You say one word to my sister and you will live to regret it.”

Walker laughed. “My lips are sealed,” he said, his grin spreading. “For now.”

Daisy paused as she was about to set a plate in front of her husband. “Sealed about what?” she said, eyeing the two of them curiously.

Walker tugged her into his lap and snagged the plate. “It wouldn't be a secret if I told you, would it?”

Heat flared at once in Daisy's eyes. “Oh, I think I know how to get it out of you,” she said, then stood up primly and straightened her T-shirt, pulling it just a little tighter across her breasts in the process. “But that can wait till later.”

“Hey, you two,” Bobby protested. “There are children in the room, to say nothing of the fact that
I'm
here. There are some things a brother does not need to see.”

Daisy winked at him. “And some that could be a lesson to him,” she teased.

Bobby glanced at Jenna, who was watching the byplay with evident fascination. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I'll definitely keep that in mind.”

K
ing stared at the headline on the front page of
The Trinity Harbor Weekly
and muttered a curse. There it was again. His family was stirring up talk all over town. It was getting so he was afraid to show his face.

Despite that, he braced himself for a barrage of questions and headed for Earlene's. Right after he had a substantial breakfast, he intended to find his son and ask a few questions of his own, such as why Bobby had gotten it into his head to pay a visit to that trollop who'd humiliated him all those years ago. King had heard all about the social call Bobby had paid on Ann-Marie the night before…while her husband wasn't home, no less. What none of those reporting had seemed to know was why the ice had thawed between those two after all these years.

He spotted Pete and the rest of his buddies in their usual booth by the window, but before he could join them, he was waylaid by his son. King frowned at Bobby, not at all sure he wanted to get into the various private matters he'd intended to discuss right here in public. He'd figured once he'd listened to more of the gossip he'd have time to work up a really good head of steam
before having his little face-to-face with Bobby over at the yacht center.

“What are you doing here?” King groused.

“Same as you, I imagine,” Bobby retorted cheerfully. “Having breakfast. Daisy's with me. Care to join us?”

Though it had been phrased as a question, King got the distinct impression that Bobby didn't intend to take no for an answer. King cast a longing look at his friends, then shrugged. “Might as well,” he said and followed his son.

He frowned at the sight of Daisy's expectant, amused expression. “What's this? Some kind of ambush or something?”

“Consider it a preemptive strike,” Bobby said. “I wanted to be the first to tell you that I was over at Ann-Marie's last night.”

“Too late,” King said succinctly.

Daisy's grin spread. “Told you,” she said to Bobby.

Bobby seemed unconcerned. “At least you can't complain that I didn't tell you myself,” he said to King.

“Seems to me you're a little late, but I'll let that pass,” King said magnanimously. He had other fish to fry. “Mind telling me what possessed you to go scurrying off to her place after all this time? I thought you were finally getting some sense, now that that Kennedy woman is hanging around.”

“Leave Jenna out of this,” Bobby said, his good humor vanishing in a heartbeat. “I'm not discussing her with you.” He cast a pointed look at his sister. “Or anyone else, for that matter.”

King took comfort from the fact that Daisy smirked knowingly. He was pretty sure that meant she knew things that King didn't. Positive things. He'd have to find some way to corner her later, but for now he intended to concentrate on getting an explanation about last night's activities.

“Look, son, you know how people in this town talk about everything a Spencer does. You dropping by to visit with your ex-fiancée is big news. If you intend to make a fool of yourself, that's up to you, but remember that what you do reflects on all of us.”

“I'm not worried,” Daisy said cheerfully.

Bobby scowled at his sister, then turned his attention to King. “Did any of the self-appointed gossips who called you happen to mention that both Anna-Louise and Jenna were with me?”

Now that put an entirely different spin on things, King decided, taking heart. He should have known the callers had left out something that would have rendered the gossip far less juicy.

“No,” he conceded.

Bobby regarded him with tolerant amusement. “Feel better?”

King stubbornly shook his head. “I won't feel better until I know what you were doing there. For all I know, Anna-Louise was trying to negotiate a truce between you and Ann-Marie. One of her missions in life seems to be making peace between old enemies. Once she has everyone getting along like a house-afire, this town will be downright boring.”

“Actually, that was an interesting by-product of the meeting,” Bobby told him.

“Dammit, son—”

“Simmer down,” Bobby said, cutting off the tirade King was about to launch. “That wasn't why we went there.”

As Bobby described the bullying incident, King's hackles rose. “Have you spoken to Tucker about this?”

“I mentioned it,” Bobby said.

“I should hope so. Those kids have been hanging around down by the river for too long now with no adult supervision. It was bound to take a nasty turn eventually. What about the other parents? Did you talk to them?”

“Every one of them,” Bobby confirmed. “Everyone's taking it seriously. And I suspect you'll be hearing a sermon on the topic this Sunday in church. Anna-Louise doesn't intend to let the subject drop.”

King turned his gaze on Daisy. “Much of this stuff go on in school?”

“I hear some, but there's probably a lot more I don't hear,” she said, her expression thoughtful. “I think I'll recommend that the teachers have some workshops on how to deal with this before school starts in September.”

King nodded approvingly. “I imagine Anna-Louise and Frances would both have some valuable things to say.”

“Speaking of Frances, are you two still seeing each other?” Bobby asked, leaning back in the booth and feigning innocence. “She hasn't been out at Cedar Hill for Sunday dinner for a couple of weeks now.”

“She's been busy,” King said, instantly defensive.

Daisy regarded him with alarm. “She didn't break up with you after that fight the two of you had, did she?”

“What fight?” Bobby asked.

Daisy shrugged. “All I know is that Daddy said something to offend her and she went tearing out of here.” She peered at King. “Did you send flowers?”

“Of course I did. I told you I would, didn't I? I went straight from here to the florist. Picked out a real pretty bunch of posies.”

“And?” Bobby prodded. “Did you two make up?”

The truth was, King hadn't had the nerve to call Frances after the prickly way she'd reacted to the topic of moving their relationship forward to another level. And she hadn't even called to thank him. Instead, she'd sent a polite little note to the house:
“The flowers were lovely. Thank you. Frances.”
Prim and to the point, he thought, still disgusted with the impersonal nature of her response. She hadn't exactly left the door open for further contact.

“Not yet,” King said tersely, all but squirming under their attentive gazes.

“Why not?” Daisy demanded. “Daddy, you know that Frances is the best thing to happen to you in years. Don't you dare let her slip away.”

“Oh, for goodness' sakes, it's not as if I asked the woman to marry me and she turned me down,” King retorted impatiently. “We've just been out a few times. It's no big deal if we go on seeing each other or if we don't.”

He realized Bobby was studying him with a thoughtful expression.

“Is that the problem, Daddy? Is Frances expecting marriage?”

King balked at getting into that. It was none of Bobby's concern. Daisy's, either, for that matter. “I am not discussing this with either one of you. It's between Frances and me. We're both adults. We're both perfectly capable of deciding what we do and don't want.”

Bobby hooted at the response and grinned at Daisy. “I guess he told us.”

“Sure did,” she agreed, grinning just as broadly.

“And I, for one, intend to remind you of those precise words the next time you decide to interfere in my love life,” Bobby declared.

“As if you even had one,” King muttered, not meeting his son's gaze.

“Well, if and when I do, you can be sure that you'll be the last to know,” Bobby replied.

King chuckled at that. “Not unless you're carrying on in Richmond or
Baltimore,
” he said, deliberately placing a little emphasis on Jenna's hometown. “Anything you do in Trinity Harbor, I'll hear about within the hour.”

Bobby sighed heavily in apparent recognition of the truth in King's words. “What ever possessed me to come back here, when I could have stayed in Paris?”

King gaped at the suggestion. “This is home,” he said with the indignation of a true believer in the supremacy of the American South. “Anyplace else in this country
would come in a poor second. You leave the United States of America, and it's no contest at all.”

Bobby met his gaze. For an instant, it looked as if he might make some smart-alecky reply just to annoy King, but he finally shrugged. “Yeah, bottom line, I guess you're right. But there are days when you make being here a real challenge.”

“Well, of course, I do,” King said proudly. “Any father that doesn't give his children fits to make them better people isn't doing his job.”

“Any idea when you'll consider the job done?” Bobby inquired dryly.

King grinned at him. “I'll keep you posted.”

 

The mystery of the missing carousel horse, which was front page news in
The Trinity Harbor Weekly
for two straight editions, got picked up by the Richmond media, then slowly spread around the state. Just when he'd thought he could put the ridiculous incident behind him, Bobby started hearing from classmates he hadn't talked to since they'd moved out of town ten years ago. He was delighted he was able to provide so much blasted amusement for everyone.

It was all Jenna's fault. If she hadn't had the cockamamie idea to send that horse in the first place, none of this would be happening. His resentment of that bubbled up until it was just as heated as it had been on the Sunday he'd found the horse on his front lawn. He determinedly set out to ignore the attraction that had been simmering in the interim.

As a result, he'd flatly refused to see Jenna on any of the occasions when she'd dropped by his office with her completed proposal for the boardwalk. Maggie was fit to be tied.

“I am not lying to her one more time,” she told Bobby firmly, scowling at him across his desk. “You promised that woman an appointment and you're going to give her one, or you can kiss me goodbye. Frankly, I can't think of anyone else in town who'd take the job, either.”

“Good for you,” Daisy said, walking into his office without even bothering to knock.

This was all he needed, he thought with a resigned sigh. It was the first time Bobby had seen his sister since the morning they'd confronted King at Earlene's. He'd been deliberately avoiding her, too, since he knew she'd be an even worse nag than Maggie about his bad manners, to say nothing of the fact that he'd gone back on a promise. In fact, she grinned at his secretary now and shooed Maggie toward the door.

“I'll take over,” Daisy said, looking like a woman on a mission.

“Thank you, Lord,” Maggie replied fervently, casting a gaze heavenward. “I certainly can't get through to him.”

She took her own sweet time about leaving, though, probably because she was hoping to overhear at least the start of Daisy's lecture. Unfortunately for Maggie, his sister kept silent until the door was closed. Then she sat down opposite him.

“Okay, what's going on?” she asked, her penetrating gaze never once wavering from his face.

Bobby refused to flinch. If he'd learned nothing else after all these years of being her brother, he'd learned that it didn't pay to let Daisy know when she had the upper hand.

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” he said mildly.

Daisy rolled her eyes. “You're avoiding Jenna. Why?”

“What did she do, come running to you, begging for help?”

“She mentioned that you refused to see her or even to look at her proposals for the boardwalk. Backing out on a promise is not good business, and you know it, Bobby. So something else must be going on. I decided on my own to see what it was.”

“
This
is what's going on,” Bobby said, picking up a stack of clippings and waving them under Daisy's nose. “This place is the laughingstock of the entire state, thanks to that woman.”

“Really?” she said, sounding doubtful. “Because somebody stole a carousel horse from your front lawn?”

The way Daisy phrased it, it didn't sound that bad. “Because it was there in the first place,” he muttered. It didn't help that someone in town had sold a snapshot of him in his boxers to one of the state wire services. He pointed to the picture. “I look like an idiot.”

“Oh, you do not. You're gorgeous. Women everywhere are probably fanning themselves over their cereal just at the sight of you.”

Now it was Bobby's turn to roll his eyes.

“You ought to consider all of this a blessing,” Daisy advised. “Every single slip at the marina is filled. Your
restaurant hasn't had so much statewide publicity since you opened it. It's been booked solid. I know, because Walker and I couldn't get a reservation all weekend long.”

That was news to Bobby. He knew they'd been busy, but he'd had no idea his sister had been turned away. “You should have called me,” he apologized. “There's always room for family.”

She regarded him impatiently. “You're missing my point. You're making a fortune as a result of all this publicity. You should be thanking Jenna, instead of shutting her out as if she ruined your business. And what about Darcy? Ever since you rushed in to save the day, you've been that little girl's hero, and you've been ignoring her, too.”

Bobby sighed. Daisy was right. He'd been deluged with customers for the last two weeks. Even midweek, the place was packed.

And every single one of those nights, Jenna with her accusing eyes and her green-haired daughter had been at a prime table where he couldn't miss them as he came and went from the kitchen. Apparently
they
had no trouble getting reservations. That was Maggie's doing, no doubt. He'd had to harden his heart and make himself ignore Darcy's hopeful expression, then pretend he hadn't seen how shattered the kid had looked when he'd passed by without a word. Daisy was right about that, too. He was a complete louse.