Flowers on Main (31 page)

“Hey, you have a whole roster of paying patients. Worry about their problems,” Mack advised.

Will grinned. “But yours are so much more fascinating.”

“Night, Will,” Jake said, walking off and leaving him standing in the middle of the court.

“See you tomorrow,” Mack called out. “We’ll meet at the pizza place. Is that okay with everyone?”

“I’m in,” Jake said.

Will sighed heavily. “See you then.” His expression suddenly brightened and there was a dangerous glint in his eye. “Maybe I’ll mention lunch to Bree and Susie.”

Both Mack and Jake turned on him. “Not even mildly amusing,” Mack said.

“Out of the question,” Jake added for good measure.

Will didn’t seem impressed. “I think confronting the issues in our lives is much healthier than pretending they don’t exist.”

“How are we supposed to pretend they don’t exist when you keep bringing them up every few minutes?” Jake asked.

“It’s very telling that the mention of Bree or Susie upsets you both so much,” Will said.

“I swear if you don’t shut up about this, I’m going to start bringing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to work and eating them in my office,” Jake declared.

“Avoidance,” Will said, nodding knowingly. “Very revealing.”

Jake could have told him what to do with his opinion, but
there were a bunch of high-school kids playing ball on the next court. He was a big believer in setting a good example for the next generation.

Instead, he walked away with Mack right on his heels.

“You don’t suppose he’d really invite Bree and Susie to lunch, do you?” Mack asked.

“If he does, we kill him. Simple as that,” Jake said grimly. He couldn’t even say with certainty that he wasn’t dead serious about it, either.

When Bree closed her shop at noon to run around the corner to grab the slice of pizza and salad she’d ordered, she didn’t expect to find Jake, Will and Mack sitting inside. Will was the first one to spot her, and his complexion turned pale as she waved. She started in their direction to say a quick hello, but Will seemed to be frantically gesturing her to stay away. She shrugged and headed for the counter. Eighteen-year-old Gary Gentry had her order ready when she got there. He blushed all the way to his spiked blond hair when he spoke to her.

“Hi, Ms. O’Brien,” he said.

“Hi, Gary,” she said, trying not to show how amused she was by this tongue-tied crush he seemed to have developed for her in recent weeks. “How are you?”

The question flustered him even more. “Okay, I guess,” he said, not meeting her gaze. “That’ll be six-twenty, same as always.”

Just then she heard the crash of a chair and turned to see Jake towering over Will. “You did it, didn’t you?” He gestured toward Bree. “You told her to come here today, even after I specifically told you not to. Some kind of friend you’ve turned out to be.”

Mack hadn’t budged, but his complexion was almost as pale
as Will’s. “I suppose Susie will be walking in the door next,” he said, though with far less heat than Jake had displayed.

The instant Gary realized Bree was the object of Jake’s anger, he looked as if he was about to charge around the counter to protect her, but Jake wasn’t interested in Bree. All of his fury was directed at Will.

Will tried to protest that Jake had it all wrong, but his protests fell on deaf ears. Jake grabbed his slice of pizza and his soda and stormed across the restaurant, careful to steer well around Bree as he went. As furious as he was, he still paused long enough to hold the door for two elderly women.

Looking thoroughly guilt ridden, Will stood up and crossed the restaurant. “I’m so sorry,” he said to Bree, who was still rooted in place. “I was giving him grief last night about inviting you to join us today to clear the air between you, and when he saw you just now, he thought I’d done it.”

The explanation was hardly soothing. Bree sighed. “I’d hoped by now that he would have…” She shook her head. “Never mind. I need to get back to the shop.”

“I really am sorry if his behavior embarrassed you,” Will apologized, trailing after her. “You could join Mack and me. And just so you know, I didn’t invite Susie either, so it’s safe enough.”

“If Jake saw me with you, it would only confirm his worst suspicions,” she said. “But thanks, anyway. Don’t worry about it, Will. The problems between Jake and me aren’t your fault.”

“He still loves you, you know. That’s why he behaves like such an idiot.”

Bree appreciated Will’s attempt to spin the situation, but she wasn’t buying it. She was pretty sure all the love between them, at least on Jake’s side, was dead and buried. And a few more incidents like this one and she might have a hard time recalling her own recently rediscovered feelings.

What she didn’t understand was how Jake could still be so angry after reading the manuscript she’d given him. She’d bared her soul on those pages, poured out all the grief she’d never allowed herself to feel, much less share with him. There was only one explanation she could think of. He hadn’t even read it.

And that told her all she needed to know about how little he cared about making things right between them.

W
hen Bree walked back to her shop after the awful encounter with Jake, she found Jess inside waiting on a customer. As soon as the woman left, Bree regarded her sister with curiosity.

“Thanks for opening up and making a sale, but what brings you by in the middle of the day? Don’t you have your own business to run?”

“I’ve been thinking about Kevin and Georgia,” Jess admitted, getting a soda out of the small refrigerator Mick had hooked up behind the counter, then sitting on the stool by the cash register. She regarded Bree worriedly. “Do you think we’ve been mean to her?”

“Not unless you’ve done something to her that I don’t know about,” Bree said. “Guilty conscience weighing on you?”

“Of course not.” She grinned. “Well, not since I had the maid at the inn short-sheet their bed in the honeymoon suite, anyway. I’ve just been so thrown by Kevin showing up here married that I’m afraid we haven’t been as nice as we should have been. Maybe we should throw Georgia a shower or do something, you know, sisterly. She is an O’Brien now, after all.”

Bree’s gaze narrowed. “Has Kevin been on your case?”

“No, but he’s barely said two words to me, so I think he’s ticked that I haven’t done more to make Georgia feel like one of us.”

“Or maybe he’s feeling guilty about springing this on all of us without any notice,” Bree speculated. “Plus, they didn’t even ask us to come along with Dad for the wedding. I know it wasn’t an elaborate ceremony, but still, they should have asked. I don’t think any of us are quite sure how to handle the situation. As for a shower, I think that’s out of the question. What could we possibly give her that she could take back to Iraq?”

“Sexy lingerie?” Jess suggested, though without much enthusiasm.

“Not terribly practical in a war zone,” Bree replied. “I think we should hold off on a shower until they’re back in the States for good. Then we can throw a real humdinger of a shower to help them get settled.”

Jess brightened at the suggestion. “That’s a great idea. But maybe you, Abby and I should at least invite her out to lunch in the meantime. We could even involve her in planning the party.”

“It’ll have to be tomorrow,” Bree said. “Georgia was able to extend her leave past the original couple of days, but she’s definitely flying out the day after tomorrow.”

“Why don’t we do something special for her at the inn. I’ll invite Gram, too. Can you find someone to cover for you here?”

Bree had no idea. Though she’d thought about finding someone to help out part-time, especially now that she was eager to write again, she’d been so swamped she hadn’t done anything about it. This lunch, however, was too important for her not to make the effort to be there.

“I’ll work something out,” she promised. “Maybe Connie can spend her lunch break from the nursery over here.”

Jess’s eyes widened at the suggestion. “How’s Jake going to feel about that?”

At the moment, Bree didn’t give two figs how Jake felt about anything. If it irked him, so much the better. That little scene of his earlier might not have been much, but it had been unnecessary. A little payback would feel good.

“I’ll call Connie right now,” she said decisively. “I’ll leave it up to her to deal with her brother.”

“Okay, then, I’ll let Abby and Gram know,” Jess said. “See you tomorrow, if not before. Noon, okay?”

“Perfect,” Bree said.

As soon as Jess had left, Bree dialed the nursery’s number from memory. Thankfully, Connie answered.

“Hey, it’s Bree,” she said. “I have a huge favor to ask you. And if it’s something you don’t want to do or can’t work out, feel free to say no.”

“Sounds intriguing. Is it going to annoy my brother?”

Bree wasn’t surprised that she’d picked up on that without Bree having to say a word. “More than likely.”

“Great. He’s gotten on my last nerve today. What do you need?”

Bree explained about the impromptu lunch for Georgia the next day. “Do you think you could take a long lunch hour and cover for me here?”

“Absolutely,” Connie said without hesitation. “But when you decide you’re looking for a long-term solution, I might have an idea. Jenny’s looking for a part-time job after school and on Saturdays. She worked at Ethel’s Emporium over the holidays last year, so she knows how to work a cash register, and she really is very reliable. She mentioned after you were over here that night that she’d love to work for you if you were looking for someone. You were always her favorite surrogate aunt.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to have her working for me?” Bree asked. “That might really tick Jake off.”

“Too bad,” Connie replied without hesitation. “Jobs are scarce around town.”

“I’m sure Jake would find something for her,” Bree said.

“I doubt that working with her uncle and me is her idea of a dream job. She doesn’t like taking orders from either one of us as it is.”

“Okay, then tell Jenny to stop by to see me after school one day this week and we’ll talk,” Bree said. Though she’d thought of finding someone older, Jenny’s enthusiasm might make up for her lack of experience. “In the meantime, if you can help me out tomorrow, I’ll be indebted to you forever.”

“What time do you need me there?”

“Eleven forty-five,” Bree suggested. “We’ll do this lunch thing at noon and I should be back by one-thirty or two at the latest. Is that okay?”

“Not a problem,” Connie said. “I don’t punch a time clock around here, and even if I did, I have so much comp time owed to me, I could take off for a month.”

Bree hesitated, but then couldn’t resist asking, “Why are you annoyed with your brother?”

“He’s been in a foul mood since that dinner the two of you had the other night. I tried to ask him about it, but he bit my head off, so all I know is what I’ve heard around town.”

Bree winced. “Which is?”

“You walked out on him before the meal even came. Is that true?”

“Afraid so. I doubt he wants to discuss it, either.”

“And today? You have anything to do with the black mood he was in after lunch?”

“Indirectly,” Bree admitted and told her about Jake’s
mistaken assumption that Will had invited her to join them for a very public confrontation over their issues.

“Oh, no,” Connie said, failing to stifle a laugh. “I swear, one of these days I’m going to lure you both into a room, lock the door and throw away the key until you come to your senses.”

“It’s entirely possible we’d kill each other first,” Bree noted. “So, don’t even think about it.”

“That just means I need to fine-tune my scheme,” Connie said, still chuckling. “See you tomorrow.”

Bree wished she found the remark half as amusing. The one thing she remembered most about Connie was that she rarely let go of an idea once she’d latched on to it. There was every chance she and Jake were doomed.

Jake had almost refused his sister’s offer of meat loaf and mashed potatoes for dinner, but it had been over a week since he’d spent any time with his niece. He liked Jenny knowing he was around if she needed him, and he’d also resolved to keep a close eye on her and that young Casanova she was still dating. Unfortunately he had a hunch that tonight’s meal was going to come with a healthy serving of unsolicited advice. He hadn’t missed the determined glint in his sister’s eyes when she’d issued the invitation.

He’d put off going into the kitchen for as long as he possibly could, but Jenny was clearly anxious for him to leave her alone with Dillon.

“Guess I’ll go see what your mother’s up to,” he said eventually, earning a grateful look from his niece. He turned and gave the boy a pointed look. “You staying for dinner?”

“No, sir, my mom’s expecting me at home,” Dillon replied in the same carefully polite tone he’d used with Jake ever since the incident when he and Jenny had been caught in Jake’s office.

“You need a lift?” Jake asked.

“No, I have my mom’s car. I got my license last week. I’m allowed to drive it in the neighborhood,” he said proudly. “I figure one of these days she’ll turn me loose as long as I follow the rules for now.”

“Good plan,” Jake commented, then left them alone, resolving to make sure his niece got nowhere near that car. The kid could barely concentrate on his homework with her around. It made Jake shudder to contemplate what could happen with her beside him when he was behind the wheel of a car.

“Did you know that Dillon has his driver’s license?” he asked Connie when he found her bent over the oven checking the meat loaf.

“I heard,” she said, closing the oven door. “It was all Jenny could talk about last week.”

“You’ve forbidden her from riding with him, haven’t you?”

“I haven’t had to yet,” she admitted. “His parents have told him he can’t have anyone in the car with him except one of them. If he breaks the rule, he loses access to the car keys indefinitely.”

“You think he’ll stick to the rules? I imagine they also told him to keep his hands to himself around girls, but he’s obviously ignored that one,” Jake said dryly. “You need to keep a close eye on those two, Connie. I mean it.”