Snowfall and Secrets (The Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 1) (4 page)

They fell into a quiet steady rhythm. Lukas helped Estelle spread out the fudge. There were some things she was getting too old to do. That stayed unspoken though.

They worked all day. People wanted their fudge even when they couldn’t come to the island and get it.

“I know you know this, but you don’t have to punish yourself forever,” said Estelle finally as they were finishing for the day.

“Not going over this again,” he said with a shake of his head.

Estelle gave him a sideways look. “Female company would be good for you.”

Lukas groaned.

She laughed. “Seriously, though, boy. It’s not right the way you let your guilt eat you alive and how it keeps you from finding any happiness.”

Suddenly, the boxes he was fixing were the most interesting things in the room. Estelle was one of the few people around him who understood that Lukas intended to punish himself for the rest of his life. She was also the most vocal with her disagreement.

“Even the most damaged of plants blooms in the spring,” she carried on. Lukas turned so she wouldn’t see him roll his eyes at her platitudes.

“Not everything bounces back,” he said.

“Nonsense.” She huffed. “So tell me about this girl. I already sussed out she was young and pretty.”

“Estelle.” Lukas chuckled. He wasn’t getting into this argument with her. Not again. Last spring, when the tourists and seasonal workers returned, she tried her damnedest to find a girl she thought would crack him. She paraded women in front of Lukas like they were shopping for new furniture.

“Well, if you won’t tell me, Doc will.”

Laughing, Lukas piled the fudge-filled boxes for Mark, the delivery man.

“Doc won’t like you pestering her. He wants her transition here to be smooth,” he warned her.

“Where’d she come from?” Estelle sawed off a small chunk of fudge. She cut it in two and helped herself to a tiny bite. The other half she put in a box, and pulled out some red ribbon.

“Miami and I think the PTA moms already left her some fudge.” Lukas leaned against the counter, most of the work done except for the cleanup. He never let Estelle wrangle the large copper pot.

“But it wasn’t yours.” Estelle tied a frilly bow. “Yours is best, remember? Miami. The poor duck will be out of her own water.”

She had no idea. He couldn’t help but grin as he pictured Tess trying to get her jeans on over those ridiculous tights.

“Go home,” he ordered, but gently.

Estelle curled the ends of the ribbon.

“Give it to her.” Estelle smiled at her creation. “And give yourself a chance.”

“She’s my renter.”

“Perfect, you have first shot at her.” Estelle looked at him, her eyes creased with concern. “Be happy, Lukas. I can’t leave this frozen rock until you are.”

“So you are thinking about flying south?”

“Stop trying to distract me. I mean it.”

“So do I. Your kids would like you to spend time with them.” They had this argument at least once a month. More in the winter.

“You need me more.”

“I have parents,” he countered and waited for the inevitable derisive snort. She was good friends with his mom, but she hated that they left in the winter. Something she needed to do herself.

She smacked his arm instead.

“Promise me you’ll give her this.” She nodded to the small gift box. He shook his head.

“Not happening. The risk is too great. She seems like a nice girl. Out of her element and she deserves better,” he said quietly. His trump card. Estelle didn’t usually argue with him after he reminded her of that.

“Lukas, every man has been broken. What makes a man is how he comes back. Don’t live in misery with just that dog.”

She left the package on the counter and got her coat.

“Oh and Chapman needs some firewood, if you have extra.”

“Yeah. I should have some,” he said without looking at her.

Estelle left without saying anything more about Tess or the sorry state of Lukas’s love life. She was sharp and funny, and approached everything with a hint of wit. However, when she went for the jugular, it hurt. Problem was, Lukas was too broken. He wasn’t some spring flower damaged by the winter wind. The cracks in his soul weren’t going to heal by the summer sun. It hadn’t yet, and as far as he was concerned, nothing had changed because some cute young thing moved into his carriage house.

But, when he locked up the shop, he slipped the ribbon-covered box in his coat pocket.

B
y the time Tess got home, she had a terrible thumping headache between her eyes, and her neck ached. The kids were great, but it was such a different style of teaching and her encounter with Chris weighed heavily on her.

Sara suggested steering clear of him. What kind of a solution was that? Tess didn’t want to make waves and seriously doubted there was much of a sexual harassment policy. She was supposed to be starting a new life, not rocking this tiny school on its heels.

After dropping her keys on the coffee table, her bag hit the floor, and she headed straight for the kitchen, anger boiling her stomach. Food. She needed to eat. Then maybe she wouldn’t feel like finding a lit teacher and going all Shakespeare on him. Normally, she wasn’t so angry. She might’ve liked the attention back in Miami. In her current predicament though, the last thing she wanted was unwanted male attention.

She dug the peanut butter out of her cabinet, and a knock came at her door. Her new landlord stood there in his snow gear and his hair curled over his forehead. The tips of his ears were red from the cold, and he grinned rather sheepishly. Great. Just what she needed. A sexy representative of the currently hated male gender, who she wouldn’t mind getting to know better.

“What?” she growled. His brown eyes widened.

“Bad day?” He leaned against her doorframe like he owned the place. Which, well, technically, he did. She wanted to push him into the snow. “Doc won’t like that. You should talk to him about it.”

Yeah, Tess got the impression from Sara that Doc knew he had a problem with Chris, but as long as he could decipher the iambic pentameter, it was all good.

“Can I help you?” She licked her spoonful of peanut butter, and Lukas coughed.

“Making sure you’re comfortable and everything is working okay.” He nodded to her gas fireplace. “That thing giving you any trouble?”

“Where’s Dio?” She peered around him. There were only his footprints in the snow though.

“I haven’t been to the house yet.” He shrugged. “I wanted to check on you.”

“I’m fine. Not such an empty-headed beach bum I can’t figure out how to turn on the heat.” She left him there at the door, figuring he knew how to shut it when he left. Grabbing a blanket, Tess curled up on the couch, boots and all.

Instead of taking the hint, Lukas invited himself in and pushed the door closed. He took off his coat and tossed it over a chair. Tess ate another spoonful of peanut butter as she watched him kneel down and check the fireplace. The view of his flannel shirt pulled tight across his shoulders was the best thing she’d seen in a while, and that irritated her more.

“I said it was fine,” she grumbled.

“Spoiling for a fight, huh? Must have been a bad day.” He didn’t even look at her. “Did you not like the kids?”

It took every ounce of discipline she had not to chuck her jar of peanut butter at his head. Not get along with the kids? He must not have gotten the memo from Doc that she was the best teacher to hit this island in the last decade. Then again, Doc kept that disgusting Chris employed. Doc’s expectations must not rise above warm bodies that stayed past September.

Another bite of PB kept her from saying something inappropriate.

“Seems to be working fine.” He stood and dusted off his hands. “Everything else working?”

He looked through to her kitchen.

“Yeah, I’ll let you know if the fridge spontaneously combusts,” she said, and he snapped his gaze to her. She closed her eyes for a second and took a couple of deep breaths. She was angry, but that was Chris’s fault. She shouldn’t be taking it out on Lukas. But he was here and didn’t seem to realize she was not fit for company.

When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her.

“What?” She asked and dished out another spoonful.

“Nothing, I just, never mind.” He turned and reached for his coat. He put it on and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“You know, I hate it when people say stuff like that. If you have something to say to me why don’t you just say it?” She wanted to chuck a vase at him. If he was going to intrude, he could at least include her.

He withdrew his hand from one of his pockets.

“Here.” He handed her a small box with a red ribbon tied around it. That was it. Tess had enough male assumptions today.

“What is it with the men on this island?” Tess slammed down her peanut butter and shot to her feet; her blanket fell away. “I didn’t ask for any of this attention, and yet none of you can seem to keep your comments and your unwanted presents to yourself.”

“This…” Lukas lifted the box and shook it. “Is from Estelle. She felt bad for the rose petals.”

He slammed it down next to her peanut butter.

“Oh.” Tess sucked in a deep breath. Well, maybe she shouldn’t have projected her anger onto him after all.

“So who are we talking about?” Lukas demanded.

“No one.” Tess waved to dismiss the whole thing. She just wanted a shower and her bed now.

“Tess?” Lukas stepped in close to her. Too close. She could smell sugar and pine on him, a strange scent that was all his own. And the heat rolling off the man nearly knocked her over. Her fireplace could be broken for the rest of the winter and all she had to do was stand near him.

She put her hand on his chest with every intention of pushing him out of her personal space. His muscles were firm, and her intentions slipped away. Her fingers twitched.

“Nothing. It was a long day.” She pulled her hand away and rubbed her forehead. There had to be a way to get some air between them. He could move.

He didn’t.

“Is there someone who wasn’t welcoming to you?” he asked quietly, his voice husky.

She snorted. What a small town thing to say. Chris had been welcoming alright, too welcoming.

“Can we drop it, please? I’m sorry I was so irritable.” She curled her hands into fists to keep from grabbing him, and she definitely wasn’t going to look at his lips. Funny how two minutes ago, she wanted to bean him in the head, and now she couldn’t think about anything but kissing him.

“Are you sure?” he demanded.

“Positive.” She raised her eyes to his and melted. She sat down rather than lean into him. He didn’t bring her a gift, she repeated in her head. His housekeeper did.

He grabbed his coat.

“I’ve got to let Dio out.” He shoved his arms into his sleeves. Tess hated that he was leaving angry. “But if you need anything…”

“Yes, I know. Call you if the furnace goes out.” She watched him as he left.

He stood at the door. He looked as if he was about to say something, or was having a private conversations with himself.

“Yeah,” he said finally and left.

With shaking hands, Tess opened the small box from Estelle. Fudge. More delicious fudge.

T
he next morning, Lukas was up early watching as Tess waiting for her winter taxi. If he kept this up, he’d officially be classified as a creepy stalker. What he wanted to do, though, was follow her to school and find out who upset her. He had a feeling it was Whitters. For Doc’s sake, whomever it was that was bothering her needed a good punch to the nose. If someone didn’t, Tess might head back to Florida.

Dio whined and pushed her nose into his hand.

“Alright,” he said and finished off the now cold cup of coffee in his hand. He was about to leave the window when a snowmobile pulled up. One he recognized, and it wasn’t a taxi.

Estelle.

Tess slung her bag over her shoulder and slogged through the snow only to be met by a gray-haired Estelle as she pulled off the helmet Lukas insisted she wear.

Dio whimpered, and Lukas ignored her. No way was he letting her out there now. She’d be up in the middle of that, jumping on Tess and irritating Estelle. Of course by the time he got his gear on, it would probably be all over, and Estelle would be here pestering him.