Burned (5 page)

He seemed to weigh the question. “Yes and no. Dating was not a priority. I’d had my heart pretty much shattered. But also, I needed to keep my head on my schooling. I guess you could say I’m taking a break from the dating world.”

“Gotcha.”

“What about you?” Jake said. “You haven’t dated much since you’ve come to town. Or at least, not that I’m aware of. I mean, not that I would know. It’s just that Max has never mentioned it,” he rambled. “And I’ve never seen you out with anyone.”

“I guess I’m taking a break too. It’s not like I swore to it in blood or anything. But yeah, that seems to be how it’s working out. However, I am in a semi-committed relationship with Netflix and my bottomless stash of microwave popcorn.”

“Since I told you my sob story, do I get to ask what’s up with you?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Why did you ditch your trip to Chamberlain?”

“My mom.” A partial truth was still the truth, so really, I reasoned, I was being totally honest with him. Besides, Holly didn’t know—or maybe she did now that she was home—about my latest emotional trauma. It seemed wrong to fill Jake in when I’d been carefully keeping my best friend clueless. I sighed. Sometimes, I felt like such a bad friend.

“You don’t get along?”

“We’re not exactly getting along right now. Actually, we pretty much get along
never
. It’s complicated and messy but she’s working on divorce number three of four.” It was four. I knew it was four. I just had a hard time saying it out loud. I shrugged apologetically. “I thought I could deal with seeing her, but the closer the trip got, the more freaked out I felt. I just didn’t want to go home right now.”

He nodded in understanding. Of course, he had no idea I’d bailed on Holly without an explanation.

“And your dad?”

“Short version? My dad was killed a few months before I was born. He was at work. The factory was in violation of several safety codes. There was a lawsuit. My mom won a pretty big settlement. She’s set for life. I have my own inheritance and all I can say is that money has brought me nothing but trouble.” And a Camaro. But mostly trouble. “My mom tried to overcompensate by getting me a brand new dad every few years,” I said sarcastically. “Obviously, that has not worked out real well for either one of us.”

“So you came here to get a break away from her?” he guessed.

“Yes.” Among other things.

“Well,” he said with a frown, “this has been a completely depressing conversation.”

“I agree.”

“Do you know what we need now?”

I eyed my empty wine glass. I hoped he didn’t say a refill.

“I have no idea,” I admitted.

“I don’t know about you,” he said as he stood from the couch. “But I need something greasy. I think a walk to the café is in order. I’m thinking chili cheese fries.” He reached out his hand to me. “Are you in?”

“Will there also be onion rings?” I asked as I slipped my hand into his. He gave me a tug as he hoisted me off the couch.

“Absolutely.”

“Then I’m in.”

I rolled out of bed the next morning, grateful that I had the next two weeks off. The house was quiet and I wondered if Jake was around…If things would be awkward…If he’d act like we hadn’t just unpacked loads of baggage, dumping them on each other…Or maybe, just maybe, last night had bumped us up to friends instead of simply casual acquaintances.

I was anxious to find out. I quickly pulled a brush through my hair before twisting it into a knot at the back of my head. A quick foray through my dresser turned up a pair of cotton shorts and a tee-shirt. Not exactly my best outfit but it was quick and comfy and I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard.

Even though trying to impress Jake wasn’t something I was opposed to.

I just didn’t want to be obvious about it.

I wandered out to the kitchen, prepared to find him gone.

He wasn’t.

He was sitting at the kitchen table. A cup of coffee rested next to a plate that was speckled with crumbs. He held the local paper in his hands. It seemed that he was studying it pretty intently. This didn’t surprise me in the least.

“Morning,” I said as I went to the cupboard to pull out a glass.

He shifted in his seat, lowering the paper so he could see me over the top of it.

“Morning,” he returned. “I didn’t think you’d be getting up so early.”

“Internal alarm clock,” I explained. “This is about the time I normally get up for work.”

I poured myself a glass of orange juice while contemplating some toast. I decided to skip the toast for now. I grabbed my glass of juice and leaned against the breakfast bar. I tried to think of something casual to say. My mind remained blank so I took a sip of my juice as I watched Jake read his paper. His brow was furrowed and he looked intent.

I decided maybe I should go out on the deck. I felt like I was hovering. Maybe some fresh morning air would clear my head.

As I passed the table on my way to the sliding door that led outside, his phone buzzed. It was resting beside him on the table.

He picked it up, scanning the text. Then his eyes narrowed as they landed on me. “Lanna.”

“What?” I paused with my hand on the door handle.

“Are you avoiding Holly?” he asked, clearly perplexed by this.

“No,” I said immediately.

“Because Max said that you haven’t been answering her. He was checking in, making sure you were okay.”

“Oh,” I waved my hand dismissively. “My phone broke. Remember?”

He touched his temple and grimaced comically. The Hello Kitty Band-Aid was long gone, peeled off moments before entering the café last night. “Right. How did I manage to forget that?”

I smiled. “I planned on getting a new phone right away this morning. I’ll call her later.” I moved toward the sliding glass door.

The look he gave me was one of pure disbelief. “You
are
avoiding Holly. Did you two have a fight?”

I stared at him. How did he
know
that? Was I really that obvious? Probably. My smile felt forced and my muscles as taught as a violin’s strings.

“No, I just…,” I cut myself off when I realized his fingers were busily bouncing across his screen. “Hey, what are you doing?”

Without looking up he said, “I’m telling Max to tell Holly not to worry. That you’re right here and you’re just fine.” He glanced up at me after sending the text. “I get it. You didn’t want to go to Chamberlain. But are you sure that was entirely about your mom? Not Holly? Because when I brought her up, you pretty much got this look on your face that—”

“I’m
not
avoiding her. It’s just that—”

His phone vibrated again. “Max,” he announced, obviously taking a call this time, instead of a text. “Hello? Oh. Holly.” He eyed me up as he listened to whatever she had to say. Then he grinned at me. “No, it’s fine. I don’t mind…Sure, she’s right here.”

He handed me his phone and I scowled, feeling slightly betrayed.

“Lanna. Hartman.”

I could tell by her grim greeting that she knew. She knew why I’d stayed in Harmony Bay. Hell, she knew why I’d come in the first place. Why I hadn’t left and why I had so artfully dodged a return trip to Chamberlain.

Ignoring all of that I cheerily replied, “Hey, Holly, what’s up?”

I turned away from Jake, making my way outside. I pulled the door tightly shut behind myself. Despite the fact that I was on his phone, he didn’t protest. I was already dreading the conversation and I didn’t want to have it while entertaining an audience.

“You know what’s up. Since when do you ignore my phone calls?” she demanded. “I wanted to let you know that Jake would be showing up. Actually, I wanted to see if you were okay. I’ve been worried about you. Since when do you ignore me?”

“I wasn’t ignoring you. I was just…I got busy last night. Jake showed up, as you know, and we ended up talking. It’s a long story but I broke my phone. I didn’t know you were trying to get a hold of me. I swear.” It was mostly true. I hadn’t checked my phone before it shattered. Never mind that I had
intentionally
not checked it because I’d assumed she’d try to get a hold of me. I hadn’t known for a fact that she’d called.

Technically, I wasn’t lying.

But it kind of felt like I was.

“Lanna,” she said quietly, “your mother called me last night. She was pretty upset that you didn’t come home. And I guess I understand why…I just wish you would’ve told me. I knew you were upset about the situation with her and Rick. I thought that’s why you’ve been…not yourself these past few months. I wish you’d told me that there was a lot more going on than that.”

I let out a sound awfully close to a growl. Of course my mother would blab. The whole town probably knew by now how utterly stupid, naïve, and gullible her daughter was. “I can’t get into this now.”

“I’m not asking you to,” she said sympathetically. “I’m just asking you not to shut me out.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, really? Or are you just saying that? You should’ve told me about what happened with Kyle. I thought we shared everything?”

I hated that she sounded disappointed in me.

“I’m not shutting you out. I just really don’t want to get into it over the phone.”

“You’ve been living with me for months. You’ve had plenty of time to bring it up.”

“The fact that I didn’t should make it clear that I don’t want to talk about it.” My words came out a little sharper than I’d meant them to. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I’m just frustrated with the situation. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

“Don’t worry about it. But we are going to talk about this when I get back. Your mom filled me in but I want to hear your side of this,” Holly said. She kept her tone light but I could tell I’d hurt her feelings. She immediately changed the subject. “Like I said, I tried to warn you that Jake would be staying at the beach house. It was all so last minute and Max didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

“Of course it’s not a big deal. It’s Max’s house.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it. How are things going with him?”

“Good.”

She hesitated, waiting for me to elaborate. When I didn’t, she pressed for more. “Good as in just okay? Or good as in
good
?” I could hear the amusement in her tone. If she’d been annoyed with me at all, the feeling had already faded.

“Good as in…not bad.”

She groaned. “You are impossible.”

“So I’ve been told,” I agreed. “But no, seriously, don’t worry about us. We’re getting along just fine. There’s plenty of room here for both of us.”

We continued with some more small talk before disconnecting. I made my way back into the house. I placed Jake’s phone on the table. He glanced up at me. “Everything okay?”

“Yup.” I crossed the kitchen, deciding to make some toast after all.

“Want some?” I asked as I dangled the bread bag in the air.

“Nah, I’m good. I’d take some company though,” he requested.

“Sure.” I made two pieces of toast, slathered them with honey and cinnamon and dropped down at the table across from him.

“Everything okay with Holly?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

If he could ask a personal question, I figured I could too. I kept my tone light but still prepared myself for him to tell me he was done talking about this. “So I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what you said last night. I can’t believe that Frederic took it all out on you. You were so innocent in all of this. You didn’t know. I can’t believe he kicked you out and not your mom.”

Jake’s expression shifted. “I gave you the glossed over version. He’s making my mom pay. In his way. I sometimes think maybe I got off easy. Getting kicked out is probably a hell of a lot easier than dealing with his anger on a daily basis.” He noticed my wide-eyed, questioning look and shook his head. “He would never physically hurt her. I’m sure he thinks something like that is to…I don’t know,
plebian
for him. He prefers mind games.” Jake paused and frowned. “He’s damn good at them too.”

“So why doesn’t she leave him?”

He scoffed. “She’ll put up with whatever he dishes out. As long as she gets to throw her fancy parties, take her ritzy vacations, go to charity balls with her friends…She’d put up with just about anything to keep her lifestyle. As far as I’m concerned, she can have it.”

“What about Maggie and Tanner?” I was absurdly proud of myself for remembering their names considering how wine-soaked my brain had been at the time. “Do you see them often?”

A smile flickered across his lips. “I see them once in a while. Maggie’s going through a rebellious stage. Now that she has her driver’s license she visits her big brother a few times a week. I’m not so sure it’s because she misses me. I think it just makes her feel bad ass to be disobeying her dad.”

I shook my head. “I’m sure she misses you.”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Probably. I miss her.”

“Do you see your mom?”

His smile faded and he studied the paper on the table for a moment. “No. Not if I can help it.”

“And your birth dad? You have no interest in him?” Given my background, this baffled me. “He had to have been as shocked as everyone else by what happened. Maybe you two could—”

“No,” Jake said with a sharp shake of his head. “No. Not happening. The thing is, he
knew
about me. He knew about me, and he was perfectly content with letting some other guy raise me. So no. I have no interest in him.”

I blinked in surprise. “Oh. I didn’t realize. I’m sorry…” I had just assumed that his birth dad hadn’t known about him.

A few moments of silence hung between us. Jake strummed his fingers across the newspaper.

“I am sorry. I was being nosey. I overstepped.”

He shook his head. “No. It’s fine. I appreciate your concern.” His tone was formal, clipped, and left no doubt that this conversation was over.

I went back to my toast, though my appetite had faded.

Jake sipped his coffee.

I cursed myself for ruining the easy comfort between us.

“So, hey,” Jake started.

I flicked my gaze to him. He hesitated, as if rethinking whatever it was he was going to say. “Yeah?” I pressed.

“I was wondering if…”

I lifted my eyebrows waiting for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, I asked, “What?”

He shook his head. “Never mind. It was probably a bad idea.”

I shrugged. “I’m used to bad ideas. I have them all the time. Just spit it out.”

A resolved expression settled onto his face. “Well, obviously, you can say no.”

“Jake, seriously, just get on with it,” I said with a laugh.

“Okay. I have this thing I have to go to tonight. I was planning on going alone. Even though I really don’t want to go at all.”

He stopped again. The guy was a seriously dreadful conversationalist at times.

“And…?” I waited again but he just looked at me hesitantly. He’d planned on going alone. And now…? “You want some company?” I guessed.

He nodded. “Yeah. Maybe. Look, it’s my cousin’s wedding. She and I have never been real close, but she’s family so I kind of have to go. But all of these people are going to be there. All of these people from my old life. And I just really would rather skip it. But I shouldn’t. Even though you have no idea how tempting that thought is.”

“People from your old life…like your ex-fiancé?”

He blew out a breath and his cheeks may have taken on just the slightest tint of red. “Yeah.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my head to the side. “So you want me to go as your date so you can make her jealous.”

“What? No.
Hell, no
. I just hate these things. Not to mention I’m not real crazy about most of the people that will be there.” He leaned back in his chair. The front legs lifted off the ground and he eyed me cautiously.

“So you want me to come along for moral support,” I inferred.