Lean on Me (6 page)

“You dreamed up that scenario kind of fast,” he said.

Do not blush. Do not blush.

“Being seen with Mitch this morning puts all that nasty gossip to rest. Well on the once-and-done issue, so no one thinks it was a bam-and-run.” Darla leaned in. “Which is a little touchy since you’re wearing the same thing today that you wore last night to dinner.”

Cassidy dropped her arms to the table and ignored the stares she got from the other tables as a result of the loud smack. “I need to start eating somewhere else.”

“This is still the best choice in town.” Mitch reached across and took a long drink from her water glass.

“It’s like I stepped back into the 1700s.”

“If you’d kissed me in in public back then, we’d already be married.”

She had no idea what to say to that. “I think I should leave.”

“You’re not going anywhere until we have a little talk.” The intensity of his stare didn’t let up until he turned and smiled at Darla. “Can I have coffee and eggs over easy. It’s early but I’ve worked up an appetite.”

“I’m sure you have, hon.” Darla winked at him. “Cassidy, anything for you?”

“An air sickness bag, or whatever the equivalent is on the ground.”

Mitch slipped his hand over hers. “Didn’t you eat with Allan?”

The touch zinged right through her. What was grumbling hunger deep in her belly morphed into something else. Something that flipped and spun and had her reaching her free hand to press against it.

She glanced down to where his fingers covered hers. When she looked up again, she noticed quite a few of the diner patrons were checking out the handhold too.

Having spectators broke the spell weaving around her. “He never showed.”

“Be right back.” Darla tapped her order book against the table then rushed off to a customer who was waving a check in the air.

All around them the room buzzed with activity. Cassidy noticed for the first time that almost every booth had people packed on its benches. There were men lined up at the counter, several of whom threw her glances over their shoulders. Sitting there, they were on display. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out.

“Schmidt’s hasn’t seen this much activity…ever,” he said as if reading her mind. “And before you ask, the reason is you. This is what we call gawking traffic. You’re probably the best thing to happen to the diner in two decades.”

“I guess I should be flattered.” But she was too busy watching his thumb rub against the back of her hand, feeling skin against skin and trying not to tremble in reaction.

“Look at it as being a crowd pleaser.” His fingers tightened on hers for a second then they were gone. He pulled back and balled his hands into fists in front of her.

She guessed he remembered how much she ticked him off. The air grew thick enough to choke her. Tension radiated off him and smacked her in the face.

She could play this one of a thousand ways. Ignore, justify… “Look, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

When his face stayed blank the small amount of confidence she’d stored up for this encounter crumbled. “Huh?”

“The lying, the trespassing, throwing me in shit? Any or all of those?”

Darla picked that moment to dump a cup of coffee in front of him and freshen Cassidy’s. Putting the silverware on the table and dropping of napkins took even longer. With the rough questions hanging out there, the whole process dragged on for what felt like years.

Cassidy waited until Darla scampered off again to lean in. “When did I lie?”

“Oh, come on. Really?” His bored expression gave way to one that said he’d walk out if the conversation didn’t turn around soon.

So much for thinking she could wiggle out of this with some dignity. His drawn features said “patience expired” as sure as if he’d held up a sign. “I can explain—”

“And you will. Later.” He picked up his mug and took what felt like the world’s longest sip. “Right now we’re going to sit here and eat breakfast like normal people.”

“I’m not really hungry.” Putting this off for another second would make her head explode. The heat and pressure pounded in on her until it became harder to keep her eyes open.

“Cassidy.” Just that. Her name in a tone of pure warning.

Seeing the flat line of his mouth made her wonder how close the edge his temper had gotten. Testing that limit struck her as an invitation to a loud scene she didn’t want. “I can have toast.”

“Smart choice. Here are the ground rules.” And his penetrating stare told her she’d better not question them. “We are not going to talk about last night or where you’re currently staying or where you have been staying since you got into town. And if you mention the Inn I will go apeshit. You’ve been warned.”

She didn’t need him to add that last part. She got that from the way he ground out the words between clenched teeth. “Okay then will—”

“There’s more.”

“Of course there is.”

His mug shook as he slowly returned it to the table. “We are certainly not going to talk about why you keep breaking into the nursery or if you were skulking around the other night when I did a final check of the buildings.”

She was stuck on the first part of his comment. “I didn’t mean to—”

“Your stuff is in my truck and it will stay there until we talk this all through. Dragging the bags in now will only confirm the gossip that you stayed with me last night and it didn’t go well, which is the theory I heard from the kid at the gas station, who heard it from a few people who came in before me. The kid actually offered me free condoms to make up for our suspected miss.”

She tried to drag enough air into her lungs to breathe again. “Please be kidding.”

“He said ‘Hey, dude, maybe next time,’ which totally made my morning.”

“People think we had sex and didn’t like it?” It took her a few tries to get the words out and they sounded as bad in the open as they had in her head.

“Hard to imagine, isn’t it? I’m assuming it will be great, but we’ll see.”

“Wait—”

“There are too many people here for this conversation or for answers.”

She knew he was right on that score because she felt the heat of all of their stares burning into her skin right now. “You think people are listening in.”

“I think the phone tree will start if I so much as frown at you. Never mind the yelling. And there will be yelling, Cassidy. Count on that, but we’ll be alone at my house when we rotate around to the anger portion of the day.”

Alone. His house. The warnings bells in her head dinged loud enough to drown out the low mumble of chatter in the diner. “You’re not really selling me this plan.”

“What you keep missing is that I’m trying to help you.”

The vibration in his voice finally penetrated her brain. She was trying to keep from jumping out of her seat as the anxiety inside her bubbled and churned. He was wrestling with his control and on the verge of losing. She doubted he was doing all of this for him. He could walk way and never look back. No, he was doing this out of some misguided need to help her. That made all the difference in her reaction.

She inhaled nice and deep, focusing on the stiffness of his shoulders and realizing she put it there. She reached her hand across the table and sighed in relief when he slipped his fingers through hers. “I know you are.”

“You haven’t acted like it so far.”

“I get it, so you can stop scowling.”

He squeezed her hand but didn’t let go. “Back to Allan. What happened with the breakfast date at sunrise?”

It could have been the reassuring strength of Mitch’s hand or the soothing calm of his voice, but she spilled. “You’d have to ask him. For some reason he’s ducking me. He cut our call short when I first got here, ran out when we saw him at the house and now skipped the breakfast he set up. It’s like has somewhere else to be. Anywhere I’m not.”

“You guys have a fight?”

“No, that’s why none of this makes sense. We were in constant contact until I got here. We called and wrote each other.”

“Thought you didn’t have a cell.”

Her body jerked at the sudden whip in his voice. “Back when I still had one.”

“About that.” He pushed his mug aside to bring their joined hands closer to him. “Tell me why a practical woman who has walked in soaring heights usually reserved for moving airplanes doesn’t have something as simple as a cell.”

“I had to get rid of it.”

For the first time since he sat down, he smiled. “Had to?”

That sexy dimple had her transfixed. “Yes.”

“When we talk about everything else, we’ll cover that issue too. No more hiding.”

“I’m not really comfortable with any of this. After all, it’s my life. My business.”

“That argument would be more compelling if I hadn’t spent an hour washing shit out of my hair last night.” When she laughed his smile fell. “It’s not funny.”

She held two fingers a half inch apart. “Maybe a little?”

“We’ll see if you think so once we get to that yelling I promised you.”

So much for the hope he’d forgotten about that part. “When is that joyful event happening?”

“I rearranged my schedule after our…encounter—”

“Is that what we’re calling it?”

“—but I have to go to work for a few hours.”

Every muscle in her body groaned in relief. “Have fun.”

He spun his mug around and grabbed the handle. “Nice try.”

That voice meant trouble. He spoke and a thumping started at the base of her neck. “What?”

“As if I’m letting you out of my sight.” He took a long drink of coffee. “You can come with me, maybe do a little work since you clearly know your way around the place. Hell, you might work harder than some of my existing employees.”

She should have enjoyed the praise but something inside her shriveled. “The town would love me if I got people fired and took their jobs. Are you trying to make my life more difficult?”

He frowned at her in that what-are-you-talking-about way men tended to do. “No one is losing their job.”

Still, his solution sounded like a nightmare. Put her body right in the middle of gossip central? No. Thank. You. “I’ll pass on a trip to the nursery.”

His hand tightened until the mug in his hand shook. “Cassidy, I’m not in the mood for—”

“Believe it or not, I’m not being contrary.”
Well, maybe a little.

“Could be you’re unclear on the definition of the word, because it sure feels like it.”

“I have to find Allan.” She said the words in a rush, hoping they would keep Mitch from crushing the ceramic cup in his hand. She could only imagine the name the town would give to that move.

“Sounds like you’re trying to avoid me today.”

She almost nodded. That and try to figure out how she was going to handle the yelling battle Mitch promised. “Of course not.”

“Fine.” Mitch said it in a way that sounded anything but fine. Probably had something to do with the clenched-jaw delivery.

Not the response she expected, even though he really didn’t have any say in what she did. “Happy you agree.”

“Don’t think you’re off the hook.” He signaled to Darla and pointed to his empty mug. “I’ll come find you.”

“Are you trying to scare me?”

“Just making it clear that you can’t hide.”

Clearly he underestimated her.

Chapter Seven

After a temple-pounding breakfast where he fought the battle between wanting to drag Cassidy across the table for another mind-blowing kiss and shake her, Mitch went to work despite the temptation to skip and keep an eye on her. He’d gotten in early because of the stupid breakfast meeting hour Allan had picked and then ignored. The extra hour should have provided some breathing room for Mitch’s bad mood but the entire staff picked today to arrive early. Just his luck.

Every single employee on the nursery floor, or so it seemed, wanted what promised to be only a minute of his time. Each minute turned into ten or more. He held his temper in check while everyone stopped him to ask the billion questions he didn’t care about. He’d almost lost it a few times but thought he’d cleared all the human and nonhuman obstacles until he opened his office door and found Spence sitting in his chair with his feet balanced on the desk.

Mitch figured that would teach him to keep his head down to avoid eye contact. Walking normally he would have seen through the window, spied Spence and made a U-turn.

So much for the belief he could come in, slam a few things around and silently complain about Cassidy’s attitude while he conducted a full Internet search of her life. Something made her guarded and secretive. Mitch wanted to know what before he faced her again. That way he’s have a fighting chance to uncover any lies as she told them. The only way to get around the wall she’d erected was to figure out why she built it in the first place.

“Did we have a meeting?” he asked, knowing he’d never missed a meeting in his life.

Rather than get up, Spence leaned back in the soft leather with his arms crossed behind his head. “In case you were wondering, your fun time in the parking lot last night has officially been dubbed The Kiss by the town. Cleo stopped me while I was getting coffee this morning to tell me all about it. She heard it from Mary Walters at the dry cleaner, who heard it from the paperboy who was sitting by the window when the make-out session went down.”

“That’s just fucking fantastic.” Mitch dropped his keys on the blotter then fell into the chair usually reserved for guests.

“Thanks for the heads-up, by the way. I do have a phone.”

Mitch glanced at the wall clock. Not even eight and his day had gone to hell. “Next time I’ll send photos.”

“That would be good since I heard you rolled all over the hood of your truck with The Chosen One. Not that I want to see you naked and panting, but she’s not a hardship on the eyes.”

Almost everything about Spence’s comments bugged Mitch. He went with the highlights, or as he viewed them, lowlights. “We did not roll around anywhere. It was one kiss.”

A great kiss, but there was no way he was filling in that blank for Spence.

“Sorry to hear that.”

“And don’t call her by that nickname.” The gossipy crap annoyed Mitch and he’d only been hearing it for two days. He couldn’t imagine living with it as a nonstop soundtrack. No wonder Cassidy never came home.

Spence’s smile flattened around the edges. This time his feet hit the floor and his shoulders lifted off the chair. “You’re pretty protective of her.”

“Someone has to be.”

His eyes narrowed to match his mouth. “What does that mean exactly?”

This was the part that could backfire. Spence would read things into any comments, no matter how carefully Mitch chose the words. The lectures and warnings would start. The reality was, yes, he felt something for Cassidy. A strong kick of attraction he kept writing off in his head as lust, but the real answer was he hated seeing people dragged into the role of victim, especially women.

He rephrased his concerns in a way Spence might understand. “I think it wouldn’t kill people to be a little less hostile. She could use some support.”

“And you know this how?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Mitch saw it in the way she pretended she didn’t hear the comments and refrained from fighting back. In the way her shoulders slumped when the whispers got too loud to ignore.

“Asks the guy who was busy tonguing her in the parking lot at Schmidt’s.”

So much for trying to explain in nonsexual terms. That’s what a guy got when he tried to wade into this emotional bullshit. “Can we change the subject?”

“Fine, I actually wanted to talk with you about something other than your sorry excuse for a sex life. Travis mentioned a trespasser and some items on the lot.” Spence slid the mouse on the pad.

The scratching noise worked on Mitch’s raw nerves. He reached over and put the mouse on the other side of the monitor where Spence would have to work at it to reach it.

“I’ve got the property situation under control,” Mitch said.

“You going to drag the person in here and hand them a bill?”

Handling a smart-ass Spence was much easier on a full night’s sleep. Mitch didn’t need a lot but he preferred more than two hours, and thanks to Cassidy’s stunt, that’s all he’d gotten. “You’re more annoying than usual today.”

“We need to extend the motion sensor lights to the lot. Having them on the building isn’t enough. And cameras. We need them everywhere. We catch the little weasels and file charges. Dad’s right about stuff like this. You have to crack down and be serious about it. If you let it go because it seems minor, the problem increases.”

“You told your dad about this?”

“No, I’m repeating a general rule he harped on over the years. I have Travis buying the supplies right now.” Spence had snapped back into owner mode and getting him to downshift would not be easy.

Mitch cursed his piss-poor timing. “Call Travis back.”

“Because?”

“I’m taking care of the problem.” And he’d used a mix of threats and sexual attraction to get started on that project this morning.

“How?”

Now there was information Mitch had no intention of sharing. He planned to handle Cassidy on his own, and as often as possible. “Spence, stop. I got this. I’ll look into commercial-grade security systems and have one installed. I’m on it. No need for you to get involved.”

Spence blew out a long breath. “You used a lot of extra words right there.”

Mitch stilled. “And?”

“Admittedly I’m not the smartest guy in the world, probably not even in the room, but I sense there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Just a few things about criminal activity by a woman Spence already clearly disliked. “You have three master’s degrees.”

“You’re avoiding my point.”

“We agreed I’d handle the business problems and let you focus on inventory and planting and all the crap I don’t know anything about.”

“So, this is a division of labor thing?”

They’d never had one before and Mitch had no intention of introducing one now. “No. Just trying to be practical and not put all of our resources on this small issue. There’s no reason for more than one of us to work on this. I got it.”

Spence’s eyes widened. “I’ll be damned.”

“That’s the general consensus, yes.”

Spence pointed his finger and kept pointing. “It’s Cassidy.”

Mitch swallowed a groan. Spence was a lot of things but dumb wasn’t one of them. Unfortunately. He had two master’s degrees and a heap of common sense. The combination made getting anything important by him tough.

“Travis said it was a woman.” Spence shook his head. “Unbelievable. She just doesn’t stop.”

Mitch tried to imagine a worse ending to the conversation and couldn’t think of one. “Are you done talking to yourself?”

“Am I wrong?” Spence shot back.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I catch the person on the property.” And from now on Mitch vowed Cassidy wouldn’t be anywhere near the property unless he was at her side.

“But yet for some reason you think you don’t need all the security supplies I ordered. You have some superhero way of figuring this out.”

Mitch could almost see the wheels turning in Spence’s head. “Superhero?”

“Couldn’t think of another word.”

“I see and no.”

Spence let his arm fall to the desk with a thud. “Promise me one thing.”

No way was Mitch agreeing to that, so he stayed quiet.

“When Cassidy screws you over, and she will, my friend, let me be the one to escort her out of town on your behalf. It’s the least I can do before I say I told you so.”

There was only one way he wanted to think about Cassidy and screwing, and Spence didn’t have a role in that at all. “Only if you agree to beg her forgiveness when you finally figure out she’s not the woman you think she is. I’m thinking you should be on your knees while you do it.”

The smile returned to Spence’s face. “Sounds to me like you agree to that beer bet after all.”

* * *

If she was going to get yelled at, and Mitch basically promised that would happen, Cassidy vowed she’d know exactly what was going on with Allan first. Without his waffling and hiding and storytelling, she’d be in the house and not in the nursery trespassing mess.

Not that she blamed Allan for her current twisted state. No, she’d created most of the mess in her life without much help. Except the money part. She’d never had that much extra, despite what people thought, but there was enough of a nest egg to keep her going as she put her life back together and tried to figure out what type of business she could create with her odd set of skills.

Or there was money until it all disappeared. Yeah, she refused to take the blame for that one. Rick Anderson bore that sin alone.

She stood on the small stoop leading up to the back door of the house. Allan hadn’t answered the phone when she called from the diner. He didn’t come to either door now despite her lying on the bell and pounding on the wood frame. She’d peeked in the downstairs windows and walked around the house and all over the two acres attached to it. Other than seeing some unexpected empty rooms, she didn’t find anything.

The boiling frustration in her gut at his antics mixed with worry. Allan was hiding something and she no longer believed the something was a female someone. Cassidy actually hoped for a new woman at this point. The thought made her squirm but she’d accept it. He deserved to be happy.

But this was so much bigger than dating.

She cupped her hand against the back door window and looked inside. Stacked boxes filled the kitchen table. Cupboards stood open. Not exactly the look of a place packed up for fumigation. The handmade sign on the front door wasn’t convincing either. While she didn’t know much about exterminators, she assumed they didn’t use signs in the homeowner’s handwriting. They probably blocked windows and doors too, and none of that was happening here.

She rattled the doorknob but Allan had remembered to lock up the place when he rarely did it while she was growing up. Interesting how his mind held that but not an early morning breakfast date with his stepdaughter.

A quick flip of the doormat showed the outline of where the key used to sit. That left few options. She glanced at the hanging basket of dead flowers. Up until a few seconds ago that had been her Plan D. Having run through the viable, noncriminal ones that left vandalism, a potential charge on the rap sheet she feared she’d soon have.

Her motto had always been go big or go home. Looked like she might need to amend it to go big and likely end up in jail.

Reaching up, she lifted the planter off the hook, testing the weight in her hands. This thing would fly through a window. She pulled back, ready to hurl it and duck from flying glass.

A strong hand curled around her wrist and snatched the pot. “You have lost your sweet mind. Do you want to end up in prison?”

She spun around. The blue eyes lit with an angry fire stopped her from squealing to shouting or making any noise other than a wheeze-like sound she had trapped in her throat. “Mitch?”

“Of course. Who were you expecting?” He dropped the planter on the porch but didn’t let go of her hand.

Clearly there was no need for her to shout since he was doing enough for both of them. “No one. I thought you went to work.” She had kind of counted on that. “A pile of work or not, I just had this feeling I needed to take off today.” He shook his head. “Good thing I left when I did. What would you have done if Allan had installed an alarm and the police showed up?”

“Run. Explain my stepfather lives here, that I grew up here.”
Possibly thrown up a little
.

“So, you didn’t have a plan.”

His overbearing demeanor put her on the defensive. Her knees locked and his chin rose. “I thought I just laid out my plan.”

“I figured my choice was to head over here and stop this nonsense or raise your bail money.” The harsh words contrasted with the gentle brush of his thumb against the soft inside of her palm.

She ignored the shiver that raced to her toes at his touch. “How did you even know I was here?”

He dropped her hand and the ache of loss torpedoed her stomach. For those few seconds, the connection blocked out the cold and uncertainty. Even as he yelled, she knew she wasn’t alone.

“I called Allan but couldn’t reach him. My next call was to Darla. She told me you tried to get in touch with him too and seemed upset when you couldn’t.” Mitch looked in the window but didn’t say anything about the pile of boxes. “I added up the obvious clues and figured you’d come here looking for him.”

“You talked to Darla about me?” That admission killed off the last blossom of calm inside Cassidy. “Are you trying to start more gossip?”

“I’m dumbfounded that’s the part of my story that concerns you.” He rested a hand on his hip. The stance should have come off as relaxed but actually gave a frustrated vibe. “And, honestly, how can whatever anyone says be worse than what’s out there already about you?”

The man had a point.

“I want to make sure Allan is okay.” The trip started out as fact-finding but had switched to recovery. Right now she wanted to lay eyes on Allan. The questions could wait.

“He’s with his friend Mike. They’re working on Mike’s boat, have been since yesterday.”

Relief warred with something that felt like envy. Allan was her relation yet Mitch knew how to find him.

“How can you possibly know that?” Unless the town instituted some sort of closed-circuit monitoring system, she had no idea how everyone found out everything so quickly.