Love Rising: Spring (Mandrake Falls Series Romance Book 4) (15 page)

He met her eyes stonily. “I’m glad that you’re glad. How did
it go with Ryan by the way?”

Jocelyn caught her breath, stung by his heartlessness. “He
doesn’t want to go out with me. That’s how it went. Unlike you, I’m honoring
our pact to tell each other the truth no matter how stupid we look. Ryan is a
good guy. He didn’t mess me around. But we aren’t going to be anything more
than friends.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Are you?” She turned on him. “I thought you’d be thrilled. I
was the woman of your dreams. You were madly in love with me. Wow, that was
fast. It hasn’t even been a week. Maybe hanging out with the poor girl from the
dump and her sick dad killed your affection. It’s okay if it has. Just be
honest with me—like you promised.” Jocelyn crossed her arms over her chest and
fixed her gaze on the scene outside the window to keep from crying. Mandrake Falls
was carrying on with the day just as if nothing was happening.

“What is wrong, damn it!” Jeremy exploded. “What have I done
to piss you off? I didn’t end it with you—you ended it with me! Honoring our
deal—what a load of crap. You bailed the first chance you got. You know what? You’re
right. I’m
glad
it didn’t work out
with Ryan. You got exactly what you deserved. We could have figured out your
dad’s medical bills together but you have no faith in me or in anything that
isn’t a giant dollar sign. Money doesn’t solve everything.”

Jocelyn wrapped her arms tighter around her chest to keep
from clobbering him. Her mouth tightened to a hard line. She looked at him, so
angry that her face felt frozen in a mask of pure hatred. “Money doesn’t solve
everything?” she hissed. “Did you actually just say that to me? Are you
lecturing me about money? Money doesn’t matter until you find your father
half-dead in his crappy house and you have to get him medical treatment. Money
doesn’t mean squat until you can’t turn on the taps in your house because the
pipes leak and your slumlord won’t fix them. Speaking of medical treatment—the
hospital called and said my fiancé had taken care of Norm’s bill. There was no
cost. Now, how could that be, huh?”

Jeremy reddened and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “I guess
they accepted the extended coverage. That’s good. For your dad, I mean. How is
Norm doing now? Is he feeling better?”

“He’s doing great. He was released this morning. I brought
him home in a taxi,” she said icily. Jeremy had obviously decided to keep lying
to her. She’d given him every opportunity to tell her the truth and he refused.
“We’re all doing great. I have an investor for my business so I’ll be able to
pay you back for the hospital bill.”

He waved her offer away, looking ashamed, as well he should.
“That’s not necessary. It’s all covered, not out of my pocket. It’s the plan I
have through the theater.”

Another bald-face lie.

“I’m curious. When you said you loved me was that a lie to
get me into bed?” She met his chocolate brown eyes. He was obviously puzzled
and in deep distress and she didn’t care. “Well?”

“I—I love you. I never lied about that. I couldn’t if I
tried. I love you but you don’t love me so I’m trying to move on with my life.
I thought that’s what you wanted.” Jeremy seemed to hesitate and then he said:
“Have I done something wrong? Why are you acting so strange?”

She would not dignify that with a response. It was a trick
of guys to blame women for acting strange over shit they’d caused but didn’t
want to own up to doing. She wasn’t going to rise to the bait. Jocelyn tried to
look puzzled and innocent. “No. Why? Everything is fine.”

“Everything is not fine. You’re different with me. What
happened? I thought we were getting along pretty well.”

“Did you? I thought we were kidding ourselves. I thought we
were trying not to hurt the other person’s feelings.” Jocelyn seethed with
righteous indignation. If anyone was in the wrong here, it was Jeremy. She didn’t
care how wounded he looked right now.

Jeremy pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Don’t say that. You’ve
already told me you don’t care about my feelings. It’s one of the things I like
best about you.”

She nodded her head with sharp, jerky movements, privately
steaming. “Great. And you don’t care about mine so I guess we’re even. The experiment
is over. This contest, or whatever you want to call what we’ve been doing, is
finished. I won.”

“How do you figure that? It hasn’t even been a week and you’ve
already broken our deal by not wanting to talk to me anymore. You said you’d be
cool with me and we’d be friends and you’re acting like I’m poison again. You
tell me you’re going to jump into Ryan McIntyre’s bed not ten minutes after
leaving mine and I’m not supposed to be upset? Okay—yeah—you win because I am
upset. So I went out for a spaghetti dinner because I couldn’t stand to be in
my apartment without you. So my life sucks right now because you don’t want to
see me. Yeah, Jocelyn, you win. Congratulations.”

“Fine.
I won’t complain about the
crush you have on me or try to avoid you or be a bitch. Are we done here?”

“It’s not a crush.”

She turned on him, her face angry. “Call it whatever you
like. It’s not love. Congratulations to you too, Jeremy
Marks
. Did Daddy tell you not to be honest with the big bad gold
digger? Or did you come to that decision all by yourself.”

Jeremy skin color turned a shade of sickly green. “Who told
you?”

“Andrea
Tarnham
.” Jocelyn spat out
the name.
“Andrea-
hates-my-guts
-
Tarnham
.
She couldn’t wait. She practically jumped
out of her chair to break the news. I couldn’t tell her I already knew who you
were—because I didn’t! Andrea knew more about you than I did and I
slept
with you! You are a pig and a
bastard and I never want to lay eyes on you again. If you come near me, I’ll
call Sheriff McIntyre and get a restraining order. I don’t want to hear your
voice or know anything about you. Got it? I hate you, Jeremy Marks. So
congratulations.”

Jocelyn fumbled blindly for the door handle, wrenched it
open and practically fell onto the sidewalk. She slammed the door and jerked away
at a half-run down the street. She hurt like hell—every molecule in her body
felt bruised—but she also felt weirdly free. Free as the spring day. For the
first time since she was fourteen, Jocelyn Tate felt like her own woman.

She jogged home, a broad smile on her face.

Being
her own
woman was the
sweetest feeling in the world.

JEREMY LEANED back against the car seat, slightly out of
breath from the tension. He watched Jocelyn running down the street, trying to
get away from him as fast as she could.

“What the hell just happened?” he said out loud. “She was
getting everything she wanted and she
dumps
me?”

The
Gazette
was
across the street, a block away. He could see the sign from here. Jeremy jumped
out of the car and slammed the door without locking it first. Andrea
Tarnham
—he was going to wring her neck. How did she find
out about his dad’s money? No one in town knew he had a wealthy father.

He opened the door and stood in the reception area, his
blood boiling. Andrea wasn’t at her desk and the back offices were quiet.

“Hey!” Jeremy yelled. “Where is everybody? I want to talk to
Andrea!”

Jason stuck his head around the corner. “Hey buddy, what’s
up?” he asked genially.

“Where’s Andrea?”

Jeremy paced in front of the reception desk. He pushed his
glasses up on his nose and speared his fingers through his hair, wildly.

Jason came all the way into the room and sat on Andrea’s
desk. “She’s out on a story. Can I help with something?”

“If I don’t get some answers here, I’m going to lose it,
Jason. Jocelyn found out who I am and now she hates me because I didn’t tell
her. We had a pact to be upfront with each other for the sake of the experiment
and I broke my end of the deal. I was going to tell her eventually but thanks
to Andrea, I didn’t get the chance.”

“Tell her what? Who are you?”

Jeremy rounded his shoulders and settled his hands loosely
on his hips. “My father is Kenneth Marks. He owns Marks Communications. He’s
one of the five hundred richest men in the world.”

Jason whistled slowly. He shook his head and squinted at
Jeremy. “Are you sure? No offense man, but you don’t look like a trust fund
baby.”

“I’m not. I mean, I am but I don’t get the money until my
twenty-fifth birthday. That’s not the point. The point is Jocelyn hates me. I
don’t think about the money. It’s not mine, it’s my dad’s and that’s why I didn’t
tell her about it—because it’s irrelevant—but she doesn’t know that. If I had
time to explain—”

“Wait a minute,” interrupted Jason. “The way I understand
it, is you didn’t tell Jocelyn you’re rich because you didn’t want her to fake
being in love with you to get at your money. That’s totally reasonable given
her history.”

“No, no, no. You have it all wrong. But I guess that’s what
she’s thinking. She thinks I didn’t tell her because I don’t trust her.” Jeremy
pulled wildly at his hair. “What an idiot I am! I should have told her my whole
history but I totally danced around it. Jocelyn wouldn’t have pretended
anything. She didn’t bother with that crap with me. She would’ve treated me the
same as always.”

“Are you sure about that? That doesn’t sound like the
Jocelyn we know.”

Jeremy blinked at Jason. “Yeah, I’m sure. We had a deal and
she stuck to it all the way. Even after she found out, she told me what she
thought of me. I don’t know why I didn’t tell her myself. I like that I’m the
same as everyone else in town. You guys assume having money makes everything
easier, and it does. I’m not going to lie. The thing is it makes coping with
life so much easier that most of the guys I went to school with don’t know how
to cope at all. They feel like shit most of them time. Instead of figuring out
the problem, they go scuba diving or windsurfing or take recreational drugs. There
are plenty of distractions available for a guy with money. It’s not their
fault—they aren’t lazy. Their parents forgot how good it feels to accomplish
something. Being broke can be good for a person.”

Jeremy stopped and looked away, red in the face. “I’m
sorry,” he muttered. “Jocelyn already gave me shit for lecturing her on the
subject of money. For most people working is not an option. I’m not one of
them. After everything that’s happened, I think the best thing for me to do is
leave town. I don’t know what I was trying to prove—I’m a fraud. I pursued a
girl like Jocelyn because I have the same entitled attitude as my friends back
home. Who cares that I’m a total nerd—I’m
rich
.
Do you know the kind of husband a girl like Jocelyn could attract in my social
circle? A thousand years ago, my father would’ve had to cough up a goat to get
a woman like that for his son.”

“Well, why not you? You like her, she likes you. I don’t see
the problem. You’re saying money can’t buy happiness. Some of us would disagree
but I’ve never been in your position and had to cope with a life of ease.”
Jason grinned. “Although, I have to admit, I can’t see it making me unhappy.”

“You would. When I’m down to my last buck, I don’t freak out
because I have a golden safety net if I need it, right? Even if I don’t want to
use it, it’s there so I don’t have the same pressure on me that Jocelyn does.
But the downside is I don’t get the same buzz out of my accomplishments that
she does. For example, she was worried about how she was going to pay for the
plumbing parts. And then Lydia Rutherford bought her baby products and Jocelyn
was on cloud nine. I never get that kind of high from my work. If I’d piped up
with ‘Hey, I’m rich!’ do you think that would’ve made Jocelyn happier than the
sale did?”

“It’s a trade-off is what you’re saying.
Security
versus scrapping for survival.
Testing a man’s metal. You have to reject
your dad’s money to find out what you’re made of. I get it. It’s too bad you
couldn’t have explained it to Jocelyn like you explained it to me.”

“Andrea took care of that for me. I have no idea how she
found out.” Jeremy frowned. “I didn’t tell anyone. That’s what I came here to
ask her.”

Jason glanced at the back office and then at Jeremy. “I’ll
tell her you were looking for her. I wish I could be more help, but what can I
say—she’s a reporter. She finds out things.”

Jeremy nodded sadly. “I guess I better get going. I’ll let
Murdoch know she has to start searching for another stage manager. I can’t
stick around where Jocelyn is. I’ll make an ass of myself. She said she’d get a
restraining order if I came near her.”

“Hold up.” Jason bolted upright. “Jocelyn is angry with you
because you didn’t tell her.”

“She’s not wrong if that’s what you’re getting at. It was
kind of cool this deal we had. The rule was we couldn’t
fake
it like people usually do on a date. We figured out how to fix her plumbing
with no money. We broke our piggybanks to go out for dinner like regular people
my age do. She’s easy to talk to. I liked being with her.”

“And she’s furious that you didn’t tell her,” Jason said slowly.

“I know.” Jeremy tried to curb his annoyance. “I’m an
arrogant rich entitled fool—I get it.”

“No. You don’t get it. She’s
angry
,
Jere
—as in so angry that she doesn’t
want to hear from you or see you again.”

“I
know
. Holy hell,
do you have a plate in your head? I said she was finished with me. I’m an
asshole.”

“We’re all assholes at one time or another when it comes to
women but this time—” Jason broke off the thought. “Jeremy, tell me honestly.
What do you hope to come out of this thing with Jocelyn? After everything that’s
happened and what you know about her now, is she everything you thought she’d
be?”

Jeremy shook his head miserably. “No. She is so much more
than I thought she was. I thought she was beautiful and she never gave me a
second thought. But she did think about me. She noticed me. She thinks about
everything. She likes plants and show tunes. She wanted to marry rich to help
her dad and have a better life. There’s nothing wrong with that. My dad built
his company to get rich. He didn’t do it for his health. Jocelyn gets me, which
no one will believe but it’s is the truth. And I’ve lost her respect. I used to
have that at least.”

“No, no, no. Okay, yeah, you might have lost her respect but
there’s one thing you have for sure. Jocelyn loves you.”

Jeremy turned and stared at Jason. “What are you talking
about? She
hates
me.”

“Yes, because she’s in love with you. It’s the only
explanation. Think about it. What would a gold digger—”

“Don’t call her that.”

“Have it your way. What would a girl with Jocelyn’s ambition
turn her back on a rich dude?
Because you didn’t
tell
her.
You weren’t honest with
her. Don’t you see? That kind of moral shit only pisses off a woman who is in
love with her man. She expects him to tell her everything. I have two sisters-in-law;
believe me I know what I’m talking about. If she didn’t love you she would’ve
thrown herself at you as soon as she found out you were rich.”

Jeremy thought over Jason’s logic for a moment. A smile
broke over his face. “Jocelyn is angry because I wasn’t honest with her.
Jocelyn never wants to speak to me again. Jason, she hates my guts!”

“Remember, this is Jocelyn Tate we’re talking about—the girl
has said from the beginning that she plans to marry money. This is the girl who
never wants to see you again and she knows you’re rich!” Jason bounced to his
feet. “It’s
insane
. There can be only
one reason for this strange state of affairs, my friend.”

Jeremy was pacing, half-bobbing on his feet as excitement
swept over him. “She’s really in love with me. This is really happening. Oh
crap.”

“Go easy man,” Jason cautioned. “Women don’t like to be
rushed, especially when the guy is in the wrong. You have to win her
confidence. I’m just saying. She’s in love but that doesn’t make this a lock.
If anything, women are more volatile when they’re in love.”

But Jeremy couldn’t listen any longer. The urge to see her
was over-powering. He bolted from the newspaper office, running down Main
Street, past the diner, the Beauty Box, the library, the dress shop and bakery—he
ran and ran until he was at the edge of town. Jeremy veered right, sharp, heels
skidding and ran on with his arms pumping.

Be cool. Slow down.
She’s angry.

And the thought made his heart almost burst with joy.

♥

DARLENE STOOD at the window of the Beauty Box and observed
Jeremy Marks running down the street like a madman. And this not thirty minutes
after Jocelyn Tate had done the same thing. “What is going on in this town?”
she asked Paula, not really expecting an answer but unwilling to let this
strangeness go unremarked. “Is it an uprising?”

Her
shampooist
roused herself from
the funk she’d been in and said, “I guess you could call it that.
Works for some girls; not so much for others.”

Darlene ignored this cryptic remark and turned to ponder the
improbability of the information she had posted on the bulletin board being
wrong. “I took Jeremy and Jocelyn out of the ‘Available’ column when their
engagement was announced. But I heard from Ryan McIntyre’s secretary that
Jocelyn had a clandestine meeting with him on Wednesday.”

Paula flinched. “Sybil exaggerates. You know what she’s
like.
Gossip, gossip.
Nothing is sacred. Ryan McIntyre
isn’t going out with Jocelyn Tate.”

“How do you know?”

Paula Dunlop had sunk lower in the beautician’s chair. “I
ran into him at the diner on Monday and he told me he wasn’t seeing her.”

Darlene nodded and returned to the problem at hand: the
Relationship Status Report the whole town depended upon to be accurate. “It’s a
gamble but I’m going to leave it as is. Jocelyn and Jeremy are engaged until I
am informed otherwise. What do you think, Paula?”

“Oh, heck!”
Paula cried. “Did it
ever occur to you that some people in Mandrake Falls might find it hard to see
their names in the Available column month in and month out?”

Darlene blinked. “Everyone likes the Status Report! It’s
good for business. What’s got into you?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Paula mumbled. “I didn’t get much sleep
last night.”

“For heaven’s sake, go home then. I don’t need you moping
around here complaining about your love life. Yes, you were! Don’t try to hide
it from me, Paula Dunlop.
Things’ll
look brighter in
the morning. They always do.” Darlene turned back to the window.
“Oh boy.
There goes Ryan McIntyre now!
Sheesh
,
it’s like the running of the bulls around here—what the heck?”

Darlene heard the door of the Beauty Box slam. Her
shampooist
was charging down the street in her green pumps hard
on the heels of Ryan McIntyre.

“I guess I can assume Paula Dunlop and Ryan McIntyre are no
longer available,” Darlene mused aloud.

♥

“EXPLAIN IT to me,” Andrea said, coming out of the back
office where she had been eavesdropping on Jason and Jeremy. “Jocelyn knows the
dude comes from money but she dumps him anyway.” She snorted and flung herself
into her office chair behind the reception desk. “How does that work?”

“She loves him. Jocelyn is a simple girl, even though she’s
hot and Jeremy Marks isn’t very complicated either, even though he’s rich. You
heard him. Wealth can smother a person. They’ll get along better without it.”

“Sure, as long as Jocelyn has Jeremy’s trust fund to cushion
the fall.”

Jason jerked his eyes away from her. “The guy was ready to
leave town because of what happened.”

She craned her neck to observe Jeremy Marks running down the
street. “I would too if I were him,” she said with a complete lack of interest.
“Saddled with Jocelyn Tate in print ... even if it was bogus ... not a fun
scenario.”

Jason had planned to bring up the subject of Janice
Feron
with tact and diplomacy but Andrea’s obvious boredom
and chilling lack of remorse blew that out of the water.