Better Than Before (RightMatch.com Trilogy) (3 page)

“Actually, what I meant to say is I’m glad you called.”

“That’s what I want to hear. Your voice is different from what I thought it might be from your picture.”

“Really, how?”

“Not sure. I’ll have to hear it again—a few times probably—to decide.” His tone was teasing, flirty. Cute.

“Are you asking if you can call again?”

“Can I?”

“Yes. I’d like that.”

“Great. Now I have to go. I’m meeting my mother for our weekly lunch.”

“How sweet.” They had that in common, too—devotion to their moms.

“Take a long nap. And rest tonight.”

“I wish I could. I’m starting a job at a restaurant in town and have to be there by five.”

“Why on earth would you do that?” She was surprised by his autocratic tone. “You already work at a spa, don’t you?”

 “Yes, but after I finish school, I’ll need another job until the fall. If I wanted this one, and I do, I had to take it when a position opened up.”

“You work too hard.” His voice lowered a notch. “I worry about you.”

Now, that felt good. It had been a long time since a man had truly worried about her well-being. Keith had, at first, until their relationship had gone sour.

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine.”

Hope wandered outside and waved to Annie.

“I have to make lunch for the kids.”

“All right. Email me later.”

“I will.” She clicked off, buoyed by the call. Spence was like her in so many ways, wanting what she did, sharing her values. Maybe, just maybe, he was a guy she could date.

o0o

Spence might have had a rotten track record with women, but there was one in his life he loved unconditionally. His mother, Ellison Brewer Wickham Moretti Matheson.

As he’d told Annie, he tried to have lunch with her weekly when he was in town. Today, he’d brought takeout to her house. They’d spent a leisurely hour talking over her favorite pecan-crusted chicken salad and now sat on the deck of her modest home. The day was pristine with sunshine dusting the wrought-iron furniture and the wooden decking. Cole and his dad, Rick, a retired music teacher, were golfing, and his mother was caring for Ellie. After an hour of cooing and gurgling, the baby had gone down for a nap.

His mother sat with the sun glinting off her golden hair, still slim and pretty at sixty-five. Though she’d had a hard life, you’d never know it by her appearance. “So, are you ready to tell me what’s going on with you and the boys?”

Taking a sip of coffee gave him room for hesitation. She didn’t know about the bet and he wanted to keep it that way. “Has one of them said something to you?”

Cole didn’t have a speck of deception in his gene pool and never could keep a secret. He and Joey had called their youngest brother Snitch for a whole year before Ellison had found out about it and put a stop to their teasing.

“No, they have not! One thing about our lives together that did go well was the three of you have always been close.”

“Our lives were fine, Mom.”

She squeezed his forearm. He’d taken off his suit coat and was in his dress shirt, rolled up at the sleeves. “You suffered because of the wrong choice I made the first the time around.”

“But Joe Moretti was the best and treated me like his son. So did Rick.”

“Yes, I was lucky to find both of them. Unfortunately, your father still influenced you.”

Spence stared out at the wooded backyard. A deer peeked through the trees. Annie would love seeing it. Since he’d talked to her an hour ago, he’d been having a hard time getting her out of his mind. Her voice been rich and sensual. It curled through him like old Scotch.

He turned back to the discussion about his father. “I’ve grown out of his influence, don’t you think, Mom?”

“In some ways. But the armor you’ve built around yourself to keep from letting anybody hurt you is still in place. Even when you were married, Louisa and Jocelyn could never dent it.”

Thoughts of his exes made him angry. “Mother, Louisa cheated on me and Jocelyn decided our lifestyle wasn’t working for her—when she said at the beginning that was exactly what she wanted. They both lied to me. People lie all the time in relationships.”

Once again, he experienced an uncomfortable feeling about the bet he’d made with Cole—that it had come from his desire to somehow prove that the nonexistence of lasting relationships in his life wasn’t his fault.

“You never shared yourself with either of them, dear. It’s amazing that you let the boys in as much as you do.”

“And you.”

She was quiet, her expression troubled. “You don’t really let me in, Spence.”

“I think I do.”

“Not your innermost thoughts. Even with Joey and Cole, you hold back some.”

Swallowing hard, he took her hand. He hated upsetting her. “It’s hard for me to open up.”

“You could start by telling me what’s going on now.”

He felt his face redden.

“You’re jittery talking about this and you’ve checked your email several times since you got here. It can’t be a business deal, because you’re stone cold during those.”

He couldn’t lie when she was staring straight at him. Even when he was little, he’d evaded the truth when they had one of these conversations. “It’s a long story, Mom.”

Though he knew it was more than the time it would take to tell her. His mother would wholly disapprove of the bet and his online deception. Basically, he was ashamed to admit to her how he was deceiving a seemingly lovely woman. So he checked his watch. “And I have to get back to work.”

“Now there’s a fib.”

“Fine, I haven’t been completely open with you, but I can’t tell you anything yet. You might think less of me.…”

“Poor Spence. You don’t have to be so perfect, so in control, you know. Life is messy. You never could accept that fact.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“I won’t judge whatever it is. Your father did, but I won’t.”

“Another piece of the bastard’s legacy.”

Thankfully, Ellie’s cry came through the baby monitor. His mother stood. “I’ll get her.” Before she left, she bent down and kissed his cheek. “We’re not done with this yet, Spencer.”

“I know, Mom. Don’t worry about me.”

“Impossible,” she called out, heading into the house. “Impossible.”

o0o

The phone shrilled. Annie startled awake, sat up and then got a glimpse of the clock. “Damn it.” She grabbed the extension in the bedroom.

“Annie?”

“Jules? Oh, God, I’m so sorry.”

“No problem. I was leaving the café and noticed you weren’t here.”

“I just woke up. I was at the animal hospital all night with Jake.” She explained the situation.

“You spoil that dog.”

“I’m a sucker for needy animals. I have to shower. I’ll be there soon.”

“Don’t kill yourself getting here,” Julia said. Her friend had always been solicitous, but since Annie’s divorce, she seemed even more concerned about Annie’s welfare. “No customers yet. I can’t stay, though, to see you. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Bounding out of bed, Annie raced to the shower, yanked it on and, after wrapping her hair in a towel, stepped inside. “Arrgh…”

The water was freezing. She needed to be woken up, but she wouldn’t have chosen to do it this way. As the temperature warmed, she kept her head forward and let the needle-like spray pummel her neck and shoulders, which were achy and knotted.

Luxuriating in the aqua massage, her mind drifted to how she would have preferred to be awakened. With a massage, but given by callused masculine hands—maybe Spence’s hands. The woodsy scent of his cologne would encompass her. She’d feel his body heat, his masculine presence behind her in the stall.

Laughing, Annie finished up and left the warmth of the water. Fantasizing about a man was
so
not her. She was probably doing it because he’d called this morning. After she dried off, she yanked the towel from her head and wiped a circle in the frosted vanity mirror. A very tired woman stared back at her. Circles under her eyes that hadn’t been there yesterday. Hair frizzing a bit from the moisture. Not bad skin for being forty. She shrugged, pulled back her hair, swiped on some concealer and blush, then hurried to the bedroom.

The one she’d shared with Keith. The one where she’d confessed so many of her hopes and dreams to
that
man, too, because she thought she’d be with him forever. Berating her romanticism, she dressed in the black skirt, white shirt and heels of the servers at the café, then she roused Jake. He yawned, nuzzled her hand and eased off the bed. Following her downstairs in his lumbering gait, the dog went out back to do his business while she got her purse, a light coat and car keys. After Jake came inside, she kissed his head and settled him in his bed and was out the door fifteen minutes after Julia’s call. She arrived at the restaurant a half hour late.

 Mary, who managed the wait staff, was at the entrance. “I’m so sorry, Mary. This isn’t the way to make a favorable impression.”

“No worries. A table of four came in just before you got here. Want it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I served drinks, so you have a minute.”

After Annie had stored her belongings, she went out onto the floor of Julia’s Café. The restaurant was well-appointed, with white tablecloths, maroon napkins and candles on every table. Working here was a big perk. Thank God for her best friends. Lauren Lanahan and Julia Camp were also wives of Keith’s cohorts from the country club, and the three couples had been tight. But after Keith had dumped her, the women had not. Refused, in no uncertain terms, to end their friendship.

That was when Annie had discovered the true meaning of loyalty. And in the two years she’d been divorced, the relationship among the three of them had become even richer.

After giving the new patrons time to enjoy drinks, Annie approached their table. Four people, dressed in chic clothes. She hoped they left a substantial tip. Maybe she could buy a new blouse for when she finally met Spence.

“Hello, everyone, I’m…” Her words trailed off. “Keith?”

Her ex-husband’s brows shot up and his features got taut. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“What are
you
doing here? You have the kids tonight.”

“They’re with a sitter. I have season tickets to the Broadway touring theater.” He glanced at the woman he had been engaged to before he met Annie, and had begun an affair with a year before he left her and the kids. Seeing Belinda Stevens always caused Annie’s insecurities to surface. She was the woman Keith should have married to begin with. His expensive suit complemented her silk sheath, his Rolex went well with her diamonds, and both had expensively styled hair—his dark and hers blond. Annie had to force herself not to tidy the wisps that escaped the clip at the back of her head.

Annie didn’t begrudge people their taste in fine things—she’d had them, too, when she’d been married to Keith. But no matter how dressed up she was, what plagued her, and had from day one with Keith, was a deep sense of inferiority to him. Oh, she’d tried to be what he wanted, but that had backfired and she’d ended up resenting that she couldn’t be herself with him.

“Excuse me a moment.” Keith stood, threw back his chair and loomed over her. “This is unacceptable.” Taking her by the arm, he dragged her away from the table to the coatroom near the entrance.

Stunned by his actions, it took her a minute to come to her senses. Before she could speak, his fingers bit into her arm and he whispered harshly, “Are you
trying
to embarrass me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Those people at my table know you and I were married. They’ll think I don’t pay alimony or child support. It looks bad to have my wife working as a waitress.”

“Ex-wife.” She flung off his arm. “Number one, you
don’t
pay me alimony.”

“Because you won’t let me.”

“Number two, if you ever manhandle me like that again, I’ll call the police and have you arrested for harassment. And to answer your question, I’ve taken a waitress job at the café.”

“Nobody told me that. And I haven’t seen you here in the past.”

“What do you mean? Julia never told me you frequented the place.”

“Only a few times. And your friend wasn’t working then.” He scowled. “In any case, I’ll make sure Lance puts a halt to your employment here.”

Annie gave a sardonic laugh. “You won’t have any more luck with that than when you told him to tell Julia she couldn’t be friends with me.” Straightening her shoulders, Annie lifted her chin, even though she ached inside at the confrontation. She’d once deeply loved this man. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll find somebody else to wait on you. I’ll ask to work in the other room, too, so I don’t…what did you say?…embarrass you.”

Head held high, she started away, then turned back. “Oh, and Keith, don’t come to the café again. I’m not quitting.”

She strode out of the alcove, quickly, so Keith wouldn’t see how upset she was. And how angry she was at herself for her reaction to him. She’d thought, after all this time, she was past letting him…
wound
her like this with his ambushes.

What had she been thinking to get involved with somebody like him? A girl from the wrong side of the tracks should marry her own kind, her mother had told her, but Annie hadn’t listened.

At least now she’d learned her lesson. Now she was going to stick to men like Spence. Thoughts of the widowed construction worker cheered her up. Maybe she’d ask to meet him.

o0o

Joe sat in Fire and Ice, the fire and police departments’ hangout, sipping a beer, listening halfheartedly to the drone of the ballgame on one of the huge TV screens. The Sox were down by nine and the game had turned boring. It didn’t take his mind off the brutal shift he’d just put in at the precinct, as he’d hoped it would.

A call had come in after five, and Joe and his partner, Shelly, had sped over to a small house on Orange Street. A break-in by a thief who was long gone when they got there had caused an elderly woman’s heart attack, and she’d died at the hospital. Thoughts of his inability to keep everybody safe had him ordering a shot of whiskey as Cole walked in through the door.