Sweet Home Colorado (The O'Malley Men) (8 page)

Chapter Twelve

“You can’t pay Tyrone extra to do a job he’s supposed
to do, anyway,” Jack said.

“I was paying him extra to do
my
job!” Grace explained. “All that sanding was killing my hands. Plus, it’s
boring.”

“What happened to you helping out with the renovation?”

“I’m helping! I’m just giving the guy some extra cash to do the
dull bits. Anyway, you and I both know I don’t have to do any of this if I don’t
want to.
I’m
the one paying the bills. Stop being so
high-handed.”

Unmoved, Jack crossed his arms and said, “Then we’ll have to
find a job that doesn’t involve getting your precious hands dirty.”

“I’m good at picking paint colors.”

“Which takes all of ten minutes.”

“Um, sweeping?”

“I heard you offering to pay Ace to do that.”

“The broom gave me splinters!”

“Then wear gloves.”

“It’s too hot to wear gloves!”

“This sounds a lot like nagging to me. Pretty soon you’ll have
to make good on our bet.”

“The hell I will!” Grace protested.

* * *

A
FTER
ASKING
J
ACK
what to
wear to Friday dinner and being told “country casual,” Grace went back to
Perkins Clothing and Boots, the store where she’d bought her steel-toed
boots.

The store was an interesting mix of Western fashion, footwear
and even haberdashery, much like the stores of a hundred and fifty years
earlier. Grace had noticed some nice denim skirts and checkered shirts when
she’d bought her boots. As she walked inside, she was assailed by the scent of
leather and something like old tobacco smoke. She made her way to ladies’
apparel and hunted through the skirts, settling on one that reached her knees
and another that was considerably shorter. She picked out some scoop-neck
T-shirts, since Jack didn’t seem able to keep his eyes off her cleavage when she
wore them, and for modesty at the O’Malley dinner table, Grace also chose
several checked cotton shirts. After trying the clothing on, she paid for her
goods and left the store, feeling very pleased with herself.

She bumped into Becky and a young teenage boy on their way into
Perkins. “Grace!” Becky said. “What are
you
looking
so smug about?”

Grace held up the packages and stopped herself from blurting,
“Step one accomplished in the seduction of Jack O’Malley,” and said instead,
“Successful shopping trip for an outfit for tomorrow night’s dinner.” She
glanced at the boy and held out her hand. “Hi, you must be Becky’s son. I’m
Grace.”

The boy grinned, his freckles nearly joining up as he shook
Grace’s hand. “Nick. Mom’s making me get clothes here. She thinks I’ve grown out
of everything. I’d rather shop in Denver.” He rolled his eyes.

Laughing, Grace said, “When I was a kid, I used to feel exactly
the same way about shopping here in town. Now, I’m more than happy with what I
found.”

“What did you get?” Becky asked, trying to peek into the
bags.

“You’ll see tomorrow,” Grace said, holding them away from her.
“Meanwhile, I need a manicure. I have yet to meet your sisters-in-law and I
don’t want them thinking I’m a slob.”

“Trust me, they won’t. Each of us had to learn that life in the
mountains—especially life with the O’Malleys—isn’t about appearances, but about
heart. And they’ve all got plenty of that.”

“Still...I’d feel better if my hands looked a little
nicer.”

Becky smiled and said, “Then go and see Patty and tell her I
sent you. Her salon is above the craft store. Anyway, I need to buy some new
jeans for this son of mine or he’ll burst out of these standing here on the
doorstep. I can’t believe how fast he’s growing!”

Being a pediatrician, Grace had heard that from mothers so many
times. “Just be happy he’s growing and healthy, Becky. Trust me, he’ll slow down
one day, although don’t expect that until he’s almost out of his teens.”

“He’s just turned thirteen!” Becky protested. “Maybe they sell
jeans I can get taken down.” she muttered under her breath.

“Mom!”

“Oh, all right,” Becky said, “I was only trying to economize.
See you tomorrow, Grace, if not before.” She waved as she stepped through the
door Nick was holding open for her.

Smiling, Grace wandered down Main Street toward the manicurist
Becky had recommended. She doubted she’d get an appointment this late in the
day, but she could always sneak out tomorrow.

“Gracie Saunders!”

Grace spun around to see who’d called her, and her heart sank.
Letitia Malone. She’d know that supercilious look anywhere. Lettie had been one
of the girls who’d teased Grace about her hand-me-down clothes in high school.
Grace had hoped she’d run into Letitia the day she’d arrived, driving a European
sports car and wearing her Christian Louboutin pumps. Instead, here she was,
dressed in dusty jeans and steel-toed boots.

“Letitia. You’re still living here?” she said in a voice meant
to convey that Letitia hadn’t done much with her life if she still lived in the
same town she grew up in.

“Yeah, I’m married with five kids. You?”

“Oh, I live in Boston now. I’m a pediatrician.”

Letitia smirked. “You’re a foot doctor?”

It took Grace a moment to realize what Lettie was talking
about. “No. A
pediatrician
looks after kids,” she
explained patiently. Lettie had never been the smartest girl in class. She made
up for it by being the meanest.

“So, how old are your kids?” she asked.

“Thirteen, eleven, seven, four and two.” Lettie patted her
stomach. “I’m pregnant again,” she crowed, clearly proud of her reproductive
powers.

So Lettie had gotten pregnant right out of high school. “And
your husband? Did you marry someone local?”

“’Course. Jamie Whitaker,” Lettie said smugly.

Jamie. The football jock. He’d been popular with the girls, but
never particularly discriminating. He’d tried to hit on Grace once, but she’d
just given him a look and walked away. It had been a mistake, because then he’d
spread the rumor that she’d slept with him. The in crowd had believed Jamie,
although no one else did. But it had hurt, and Jack had gotten into a fight with
him. Jack had lost. Grace winced at the memory. It was one of the many unhappy
incidents of her school life she’d endeavored to overcome. The fact that she was
standing in the middle of Main Street reliving the experience was proof she
hadn’t been entirely successful.

Wanting to get away from Lettie and the memories, she said,
“I’m so glad it all worked out for you, Lettie. You and Jamie deserve each
other. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment.” She turned away, hating
her bitchy tone but nevertheless triumphant at the shock on Lettie’s face.

“Yeah, well, just make sure you keep away from him!” Lettie
shouted to her back.

“That won’t be a problem,” Grace muttered under her breath.
“Damn!” she said, angry that she hadn’t been dressed to the nines when she’d run
into Lettie. It shouldn’t matter what some skank from her past thought of her,
but Grace had wanted to show at least one of the girls who’d been so mean to her
how successful she’d become.

Successful!
Ha! What a joke. She
had money and nice clothes and a prestigious career. But “Loosie Lettie” had the
kids and the husband. Grace had no idea why that annoyed her so much. After all,
who in her right mind would want to be married to Jamie Whitaker?
And
have his kids!

Flustered, Grace missed the manicurist’s shop and had to double
back. She dreaded bumping into Lettie again. The woman had made her feel so
uncomfortable that all Grace wanted to do was flee, get out of Spruce Lake and
away from the bad memories.

“Hey! What’s biting your butt?”

Grace met Matt’s concerned eyes. “You okay, Grace? You look
like you want to punch something,” he said.

Grace took several deep breaths, trying to compose herself.
“Hi, Matt. I’m sorry.” She shrugged. “I just ran headlong into my past and I
didn’t enjoy it.”

“Care to discuss?”

“It’s only stupid teenage angst.”

Matt crossed his arms. “Which you’re apparently still dealing
with.”

“You got that right,” she said, and shook her head. “I
shouldn’t have come here thinking I could...”

“Could what?”

Matt was too astute, which probably made him a good cop, but
she was too wound up to talk.

She shook her head. “Nothing. I...need to go.”

“Why don’t we grab a soda?”

Grace knew Matt wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Shouldn’t you be out hunting down criminals?”

“If you told me who upset you, I could go hunt them down and
arrest them.” He caught her elbow and steered Grace into the café they were
standing in front of. Grace collapsed into a chair and Matt sat opposite her,
resting his big arms on the table. The waitress arrived with two glasses of
water. Matt ordered his diet soda, while Grace asked for a pot of herbal tea.
Tea always helped calm her nerves.

“What’s the statute of limitations on bullying?” she asked
Matt, half hoping it was twenty-five years.

Matt frowned. “Someone bullied you in the street?”

“No, it goes way back. To high school. I ran into someone who
used to make my life a living hell.”

Matt nodded. “Lettie Malone.”

“How’d you guess?”

“She’s one of the few girls from that group who stayed in the
district. She married that no-hope football jock, Jamie Whitaker. I know what he
said about you, Grace, and it was so unfair. We all knew it was blatantly
untrue. I remember Jack came home with a black eye and bloodied nose.”

Jack, her hero, had tried to protect her honor and had suffered
for it.

“Being bullied at school can affect people for the rest of
their lives,” Matt said. “If it’s any consolation, Jamie got his comeuppance. He
got Lettie pregnant. Lettie’s father brought out the shotgun and they had a
quickie wedding. That pretty much spelled the end of his football career.” Matt
shook his head. “He had so much talent and threw it away. What an idiot.”

Grace was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Matt to be this
critical of someone.

“Yet they’re still married,” Grace said.

“She tell you that?”

“Not in so many words. Did I get that wrong?”

“Jamie plays around. They keep separating but she keeps taking
him back. Or forcing him to come back by getting pregnant to ‘save’ the
marriage.”

Grace had no time for women who clung to men who cheated on
them. Thank goodness Edward hadn’t been a cheat—just a controlling jerk. “How
pathetic of her. I do feel sorry for the children, though.”

“Me, too. As expected, they’re turning out pretty much like
their parents. The oldest boy’s been in court on shoplifting charges. The oldest
girl is boy-crazy and headed for a teen pregnancy if she doesn’t smarten
up.”

“Not much chance any of them will smarten up with parents like
that.”

Matt smiled and said, “’Atta girl. Lettie and Jamie covered
their stupidity in high school with bullying and lies. Unfortunately,
intelligence has nothing to do with fertility.”

“Ain’t that the truth. In my practice—” Grace cut herself off,
not wanting to talk about Boston or her career. And especially not about Lettie
and Jamie and their kids.

“You were going to say?”

Grace waved his comment away. “Let’s talk about
your
family. A much nicer subject! Fill me in on who’s
married to whom and what the children’s names are so I’m prepared tomorrow
night.”

Matt spent the next fifteen minutes doing just that, sharing
anecdotes and making Grace feel more at ease about meeting them all. Now they
didn’t seem like such a horde of strangers. “I’ve met Nick already. He was going
shopping with Becky,” she said.

Matt grinned. “She bemoans the way that kid’s growing, but
secretly, I think she’s damned proud he
is
growing.”

“Something the matter with him?”

“You didn’t notice his limp?”

“No. We bumped into one another in the shop doorway. Why does
he have a limp?”

“Cerebral palsy. His father ran out on them pretty soon after
his birth. Becky raised him on her own and held her career together. She was so
determined she could do it all, didn’t need another man in her life. And then
she met my brother.”

“And they’ve lived happily ever after since,” Grace
finished.

“Not quite as simple as that. Becky wasn’t easy to convince.
Will had to pull out all the stops to show her they were meant to be
together.”

Grace nodded. “Becky did mention that Will made Nick fall in
love with him before she did.”

“Nick was a pushover. He was a great little guy and so starved
for male attention. Will didn’t know he was Becky’s son for ages. Not until it
was too late—for Becky. I must say, I learned true respect for my former ski bum
of a brother because of the way he treated Nick. He taught him to swim and how
to deal with bullies. That kid just blossomed under Will’s care.”

“If Will could convince Becky to marry him and make it work, it
proves there’s someone out there for all of us.”

Grace looked up as a dark-haired man entered the café. He had a
two-year-old girl perched on his hip and he seemed flustered. “That
is
Will, isn’t it?” she asked, suddenly unsure which
O’Malley man she’d identified. But she was sure of one thing—he was definitely
an O’Malley.

Matt turned in his seat and Grace saw the brothers notice each
other at the same time. Will smiled at Grace and said to Matt, “You seen my
wife?”

“And hello to you, too,” Matt said, taking the toddler from
Will’s arms. She went happily and he kissed the top of her head, then settled
her on his lap. “Will, you remember Grace Saunders, don’t you?”

“Sorry, yes. Hi, Grace. How are you managing with my
brother?”