Tequila And Tingles: Turtle Pine, Book 2 (2 page)

“Just yawn a lot and tell people Kent kept you up most of the night.”

“Good idea. He’s still trying to cut that tooth in, so Mom might have been up with him a lot.”

“Poor baby. It’s taking forever for this one to come through.”

“I’m starting to wonder if he doesn’t have two coming down back-to-back on the same side. Did yours do that?”

“Not that I remember, but it’s been a while. The older they get, the more of a blur the horrible parts are.”

Beth laughed. “Then hopefully these dreaded three-times-a-week swim lessons I’ve signed Katie up for will soon be a fading memory.”

Tina pulled through a drive through and passed over a big coffee and some breakfast. “I bet Katie has fun once she gets comfortable.”

“I’m not sure I’ll have the will to fight her stubbornness if she doesn’t want to go back. I figure it’s already going to be a chore to go the first time if she walks in and decides she doesn’t want to be there.”

“She loves to swim, so I bet she’ll be okay.”

“I hope so. That’s why I picked swimming instead of something she doesn’t know, like T-ball.”

“One day, you’re going to look up and she’ll have suddenly settled in.”

“Until then, she’s learned that crying makes everyone around her uncomfortable and we get to leave.”

“It’ll get better.”

Beth hoped so. If anyone would know about a kid adjusting, it would be Tina. Her dad had basically left her on her grandparents’ doorstep when she was a little girl, all on the heels of her mom dying. Confused, lost, not understanding half of what was happening to her, and there she was in a new home with a new family, new school, new everything. She’d come out well.

Even still, Tina hadn’t had an easy time of it. Beth remembered a lot of late-night talking where Tina had dreamed and hoped things would be different in the morning. For as long as Beth could remember, Tina had wished on first stars in the night, full moons and every wishbone that came out of a bird—whether it was Thanksgiving or not—that she’d wake up and have everything back to normal.

Beth didn’t want that for her daughter. It wasn’t fair for kids to be left out in the cold like that. A parent suddenly deciding he didn’t like this life anymore and wanted out? Asshole. Ugh.

Like their child support getting drafted from their check was supposed to replace the times they played games together, sang in the car on trips and shared rainy-day naps. What kind of dickshit could do that to a child?

A man she’d been married to, that’s who.

And what kind of a blind idiot did that make her since she’d never seen it coming? Beth sank against the seat.

Tina glanced to her. “I can hear you grinding your teeth over there.”

Beth flipped the visor up. “I would just feel a lot better about it if she had a friend. I’m afraid she’s going to start kindergarten and she won’t open up and play with anyone. She’s going to be all alone.”

A soft smile played across Tina’s face. “It won’t be like that. She’ll be surrounded by other kids and will settle right on in and find her place.”

Beth let out a long breath that left her chest heavy and achy. “I wish she had someone she could talk to while she’s going through all this, because she sure as heck isn’t sharing with me. You had a friend. I want Katie to have someone.”

“She’ll find someone, I promise. Probably in swim class. There’s ten kids in the class, and I heard Megan is putting her daughter in. She’s an only child and could be somebody for Katie. After a couple of classes, ask about setting up a playdate or something.”

“I like Megan. She was in the bank last week and we chitchatted a bit.” The woman talked a lot, but on a scale of one to ten, there were worse things to be annoyed by. Megan and her family were good people.

“See? There you go.”

“Thanks. I may need a lot more pep talks when it comes to Katie still.”

“Anytime.”

“It sounds awful, but I’m so glad Bill left while Kent was still a baby. Kent hasn’t seen or talked to him in nearly a year, and I don’t think he remembers a thing about him. It would suit me just fine if that didn’t change.”

“That’s not awful. That’s being a good mom. And if Bill ever tries to march back in their lives after deciding the
family thing
is his
scene
after all, I would talk to a lawyer to make visitation or anything a living hell. There’s got to be some sort of abandonment thing or something to keep him away.”

“I hope you’re right. Better yet, I hope I never have to cross that bridge.” The idea of one day dreaming that her kids’ dad would never be a part of their lives hadn’t existed. It was part of the white-picket-fence deal. Mom, dad, kids and a dog. Happiness farting out every corner of her life. That had been the plan. All Beth had gotten was the fence and the kids. She hadn’t even gotten the dog. Not with Bill’s allergies. And the fence was long gone. The only reason she was getting child support was because the court required it. When he still didn’t pony up the money, they took it from his paycheck. She didn’t want anything from him, but her stubbornness wasn’t going to keep her kids warm in the winter.

Tina shook. “Just thinking about him gives me the creeps. He better not find himself alone a dark alley with me, that’s all I’m saying.”

She laughed. “You and me both.”

Tina pulled in at Beth’s parent’s house. Beth’s car was still there from last night. As she got the door open, Katie was already coming out the front door with her green swimsuit on. Kent wobbled behind her, mastering the art of running.

“Mommy!”

She caught her daughter against her side. “There’s my tough girl. Did you have fun?”

She nodded. “Kent slept last night. All night.”

She gave Katie an extra squeeze. “That’s because you’re such a good big sister.”

Kent reached her side and she lifted him up on the other hip, leaving a series of kisses on his cheek that earned her a lot of giggles. And suddenly, the adrenaline-packed, hellish morning no longer existed. “There’s my handsome boy.”

She bounced Katie. “You ready for swim lessons?”

She got a shrug. Hey, it wasn’t a tantrum.

Chapter Two

Jason Johnson leaned against the doorjamb. A ruffle of blue whipping around the corner was all that was left of last night’s date. He shook his head and stepped back in his room with a bit of a laugh going over his tongue. He had a towel half around his waist and was in no condition to go chasing after her. He wasn’t even dressed enough to be leaning out the door.

What a night. It hadn’t gone in any way expected. Generally, when he flirted with a gorgeous woman looking at him like Beth had been, they tended to end up between the sheets. Not that he hadn’t gotten in bed with Beth, but that’s all he’d done. Literally gotten into the bed with her. Honestly, if the room had had double beds, that much wouldn’t have happened.

He’d known she was a little drunk. Hell, he’d been too. What he hadn’t expected was for her to strip and then pass smooth out midway through getting his shirt off. She’d hit the bed with a bounce, and for a heart-stopping moment, he’d thought she’d died. Until snores had racked out of her louder than he’d planned to have the headboard beating on the wall.

He squatted by the pair of shoes he’d left to dry on the bathroom floor and lifted them by the white sling thing that went around the heel. After she’d passed out, he couldn’t help but notice a smell filling the room and had found the source on the bottom of her shoe. When she’d run out of the room like a bat out of hell this morning, he supposed footwear hadn’t been at the top of her list.

He started to toss them in the trash but held back. She’d said she was from Turtle Pine, and that’s where he was headed. According to his sister, it was a small town. She shouldn’t be that hard to track down. Not just to return her shoes either. Even though the night had ended with him cleaning some sort of animal present—and the carpet where she’d tracked—he wanted to see her again.

Before she’d passed out, she’d been funny and sexy, and he could actually have a conversation with her. That was a combination he hadn’t come across in a while. Seeing as he would be in town for the foreseeable future, a little grownup company was something to keep in mind.

After the last two months of dealing with a spoiled teenager trying to claim they’d had an intimate relationship and he’d gotten her pregnant, he’d needed someone like Beth. She’d hit all the best spots on his radar. With a heavy sigh, he tossed her shoes in his bag and stood.

Time to get his things packed for the trip to his sister’s house. She’d already be anxious to wring his neck for skipping last night. Not that he felt too guilty, since that was how he’d met Beth. Now he just had to get into his sister’s good graces so he’d know where to find his Beth. He hadn’t exactly gotten her address off her last night, just that she lived in Turtle Pine. He’d confirmed he was headed there in the morning, and they’d laughed about meeting up and clicked glasses.

He checked out, grabbed some food for the road and was on the highway in half an hour. The slender two-lane road climbed hills and twisted between thick trees. He slowly crested over a final hill, and a green water tower with
Turtle Pine
proudly written across it stood in the distance.

A sign marked the turn into town, and he took the road descending into the valley and entered the quaint small town his sister had settled into years earlier. Following her directions of turning at the Quik-Stop, then again at the yellow fire hydrant—not the red one—then one last turn onto Ridge Street, he found her house.

The white two-story home was exactly as she’d described, complete with a front lawn bursting with pink flowers. The silver minivan under the carport was the only detail she hadn’t mentioned. His throat squeezed a little uncomfortably tight. Why was his sister driving a minivan?

He hadn’t seen her in some twelve or so years, but they talked. He’d seen pictures of her. He eyed the vehicle again. Stickers announcing love of soccer, football and baseball were sprawled across the back windshield. A green
Proud Teacher of Turtle Pine Elementary
sticker decorated the gray bumper on the left side. The right side sported a
Go Snapping Turtles!
sticker. If his sister had kids, she would have told him. Surely. Probably. Yes? That wasn’t something you hid from family. Not that they had been really close growing up, since most of his time had been spent in the pool, but they hadn’t grown up strangers either.

He shook his head and approached the front door as it swung inward. His sister stepped out, a big smile on her face. “Jason!”

She was in his arms, and his heart squeezed as she hugged him tight and offered no chance of escape. He patted her back and kept his eye on the open doorway for any potential toddlers or…older kids? None appeared. Yet. “Missed you too, Meredith.”

There was still no releasing him. If anything, she grabbed him tighter and squealed.

“You’re going to hug me to death.”

“Shut up and deal with it. I’m making up for years of no hugs. This wouldn’t happen if you’d visit me every once in a while. Or let me visit you.”

Yeah, he hadn’t given his sister his address where he’d been working last, or the time before that. She carried visions of a nice house with access to all the pools she’d ever want. Even palm trees and flowers with potential umbrella drinks. That wasn’t quite the case, and he just didn’t have it in him to tell her the truth. That his housing was a shitty one-bedroom apartment. And as a personal coach, he stood by an unglamorous training pool just as much as when he’d been the one in the water swimming laps. There were no luxurious naps under the shade of a palm tree. That life was for his clients’ parents. He’d saved what money he had left from sponsors after paying for his Olympic trip, and he wasn’t about to blow it.

Finally, Meredith let him loose. And got right to punching him in the gut. He groaned and rubbed the spot. “Hey. Go back to the hugging.”

Her eyebrows slashed down as her chin tipped up. “That’s for not coming last night.”

He chuckled and followed her inside. “I’m sorry. I got a later start than I planned yesterday.”

By the side-eye she gave him as he followed her into the kitchen, she already knew he’d purposely stalled. Besides, he’d stopped in Buckleberry last night at eight. He could have been here in plenty of time.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see his sister. Far from it. She’d gotten him this opportunity and basically saved his hide at the last minute so he wouldn’t have to dip into his savings. It was coming here. Jason liked big towns and the ability to disappear in a crowd. He liked having a life-changing job of training a kid for Olympic dreams. Not spending his days checking the chlorine levels in the water and whatever else this job might require of him. Turtle Pine was the exact sort of place like their old home, where disappearing wasn’t an option.

Small. Quaint. Not that he hated his old stomping grounds. They’d been his biggest cheer squad as his career had taken off, but opportunities were few and far between in a place so small. It was only because of a nearby town that Jason had had a chance of going somewhere with his swimming.

Meredith eased in behind a round kitchen table. A white mug of coffee was next to a plate with a half-eaten cinnamon roll. “I know coming here isn’t what you always dreamed of.”

Dreams. How his dreams had changed over the years. Somewhere along the way, he’d gone from the coolest job of Olympic swimmer to personal swim trainer, and now here he was—manager of Turtle Pine Community Pool. “It’s a job and that’s what I need.”

“That’s good, because your job begins in about thirty minutes.”

“What?” He checked his watch. “You said Monday.”

“Check your phone every once in a while.”

He pulled his phone off the clip and groaned at the number of messages. He’d put it on silent after meeting Beth last night, and with everything that had happened, he hadn’t thought about it. Hell, it’d taken him ten minutes to find his wallet, and he still hadn’t puzzled out how it had ended up across the room. “Sorry. That was my fault. Why am I going in today?”

“The lifeguard that was supposed to do swim lessons quit. Your new boss called to see if you could fill in. Since you were supposed to be in last night, I told him you could. I didn’t think you’d mind giving the lessons.”

He eyed her. As much as he loved training kids for gold, part of the reason he was here was to get away from giving lessons. He needed a break and time to clear his head. He also needed time off from bratty kids. “How old?”

She smiled. “They’re tadpoles. I expect the oldest to be seven or so.”

Little kids. That was different, and he had been wanting different, but he didn’t know. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“Come on.” She leaned forward. “These kids aren’t like what you’re used to. They’re young and playful. I think you’ll have fun, and they’ll be the distraction you want.”

“They don’t have anyone else?”

“No one. You can’t be so jaded against teenagers that you’re willing to disappoint a bunch of little kids. They’re not monsters yet.” She stuck her lower lip out. “All ten of their little sad faces, crying when they’re told no one will teach them how to swim and they’ll have to go home. They’ll be sniffling to their parents, sobbing into their pillows tonight.”

He shook his head. “You’re ridiculous. I’ll do it.”

She sat back, act gone. “Good. Time to go then.”

He stretched and pushed up from the table. “I need to get my clothes unpacked so I can find my swimsuit.”

“Let me help.” She drank from her mug, the coffee obviously cool as she downed the last bit of it. “I have my extra bedroom all cleaned out for you.”

“Hopefully, I can find my own place soon.” That would be dirt cheap with month-to-month rental terms. Manager of Turtle Pine Community Pool was the lowest-paying job he’d ever taken. And the month-to-month was so he could get out of here as soon as something better came up. Whenever he was ready for whatever that might be.

She punched him in the arm as she went by. “I’m going to like having you here.”

“You’re just saying that so I’ll kill all your spiders.”

“Found me out.” She scrubbed the top of his head and helped him lug in his few bags. Clothes for this trip and a few prized electronics to get him through. He wasn’t moving all his things to this town. Not when he didn’t have long-term plans to stay here.

He hadn’t managed to break that bit of news to his sister yet and had no plans to until he was leaving. Hell, at the act she’d given over those kids needing a coach, the sullen lip wouldn’t be pretend when it was time for him to go. Not after all the years she’d been begging him to come.

She gave him a slip of paper with directions to the center, and he navigated around the small town, through the two red lights on the square and past the umpteen stop signs, until he turned and pulled into the full parking lot in front of the redbrick building. A green-and-white striped awning marked the front, and
Turtle Pine Community
was written on a sign above in a scripted font screaming for an update.

He sighed and made his way through the front of the building. A girl wearing a pink shirt with
TPC
on the left breast flicked hair out of her way and tossed him a braces-filled grin. “Hi, ya.”

“I’m looking for Brandon.”

She pointed to the right. “Go down the hall to the glass doors leading to the pool. Can’t miss him. He’s setting up for today’s swim lessons.”

The stout smell of chlorine filled the hall as he came closer to the door. Forget coffee. That scent alone would put hair on a man’s chest. Somebody didn’t know what they were doing. Best he understood from his sister, he was about to meet that somebody. He pushed through the glass doors and found a man in a red shirt, same TPC marking on his chest, with a handful of small life jackets around him. He had short dark hair as Meredith had described, and a slightly chubby midsection that said he lifted more paper at the gym than weights.

“Brandon?”

The man looked up, and his shoulders dropped as a long breath eased from him. “I hope you’re Jason.”

He couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad thing that he wasn’t immediately recognized. The odds of anyone knowing that his former client had accused him of having sex with her and being the father of her baby had to be small. Even small odds were still too large for him. “Reporting for duty. Meredith said I had a swim class to teach.”

Brandon loosed the clipboard that had been clutched to his chest. He lowered his arms, and the board hung from his fingertips at his side. “Boy, am I glad to see you. I didn’t want to teach this class. My wife would kill me if I weren’t home in time for supper with her parents.”

“Happy to be here.”

Brandon glanced to the clock. “We have about ten minutes. Let me give you a fast run-through for shutting this place down. Jennifer, the girl at the front, will be here to help, but just so you know what to expect.”

“Sure.”

Jason followed for a quick tour of the building. He was taken into different rooms, given instructions to shut things down and other general things about the business. He found TPC was complete with a nice pair of locker rooms, including saunas and steam showers. As upscale as the facilities were, you’d seen one, you’d seen a hundred. And Jason had seen a hundred or more showers like these in his lifetime.

As the tour dragged on through more items and amenities he’d seen before, he couldn’t help but think back to this morning, when he’d woken and Beth had still been asleep. He hadn’t wanted to get out of bed but knew if he wanted to get to his sister’s at a decent hour, he had to be moving. He’d taken time to pull Beth’s hair away from her face and leave a kiss on her forehead. Lying in that bed, looking at her with the light barely touching her face, he’d decided to send her breakfast in bed, courtesy of room service, before slipping to a quick shower. Somehow, he’d managed to do all that and not disturb her.

Or so he’d thought. Getting out of the shower to the sound of the hotel door closing had shown how much he’d missed the mark.

Brandon pulled open another door and stepped aside with a wave of his hand. “I’m hoping you’ll know what to do with all this.”