Chapter Three
Where the hell is he?”
Holly played with the straw in her Diet Coke as she peered across the booth at Cody. It was Wednesday afternoon, and they were at the diner.
Zack hadn’t been seen since Monday night.
“I have no idea,” she confessed.
“Why is he here?”
“Again . . .” At this point she felt bad that she’d called the brothers in the first place, which she’d done the instant she’d gotten Zack settled in at the house. She’d honestly thought Zack would be contacting them. “I have no idea. Jerry picked him up Monday night. I haven’t heard from him since.”
But his Benz was gone from the middle of the field. And her granny’s headstone had already been fixed.
Jerry Whitlow was the local tow-truck driver. Holly had been shocked when she’d heard the low growl of the flatbed outside her bedroom window late Monday, and even more so when she’d peeked out to see Zack climbing into the passenger seat beside him.
She supposed Zack had been right. He could get people out on a holiday. Even in Sugar Springs. “Maybe he’s somewhere getting his car fixed,” she added. Though why he hadn’t gotten a rental and come back while the work was being done, she didn’t know.
She just hoped he did come back.
If not, he was one cruel person. And though she had no doubt he was a jerk and a pompous ass, she hadn’t sensed cruelty.
Cody drenched his fries in ketchup as he quietly worked through his thoughts. They were good friends. Had been since almost the moment he’d arrived in town. But even so, she had no idea what to say to make this better.
“I’m sorry, Cody. I thought he would call. I thought . . .”
That his being here would be a good thing, she finished silently. She’d let her optimism assume the best. Instead, Zack’s arrival was blowing up in her friends’ faces. Hurting them one more time.
“It’s not your fault,” Cody assured her. He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “He’s playing some kind of game.”
“Well, it’s a ridiculous game.”
“Yeah.” He chuckled without humor. “But then, he was pretty ridiculous when we met him.”
He held out a fry, asking if she wanted one, but she shook her head. She wasn’t in the mood to eat. She also wasn’t in the mood to think about Zack. But darned if he hadn’t been poking in and out of her head over the last two days.
Not just wondering when he would get around to hunting up his brothers, but also thinking about what it had been like when he’d been sitting behind her on the horse. His body had outlined every last inch of her backside.
If it hadn’t been him back there, it would have been nice.
Clearly it had been too long for her when she kept thinking about all the places the heat from his body had slid into instead of thinking what a jerk he was for not calling his brothers.
Places that she didn’t need to be heating up.
Especially by him.
She slumped in her seat, humiliated by her own thoughts, and stretched her feet to the bench across from her. Then she sulked.
Cody eyed her as if able to read her thoughts. The very idea made her cheeks burn. Then he angled his neck and took in her feet. He gave a quick nod of approval.
“Cute,” he said.
Holly tapped the toes of her University of Tennessee orange sneakers together and gave him a languid smile. The shoes had come with white laces, but she’d changed them out for bright green. They looked like little pumpkins with the green on top. “I found these in Chicago the last day I was there. I love them.”
She loved all shoes. As long as they were cute and eye-catching. And more often than not, they didn’t match her outfit. It was silly, but doing something that made no sense made her feel special. Noticed.
“So how was Chicago?” Cody asked.
Changing the subject from Zack was probably best.
Changing it to Chicago wasn’t.
She lifted a shoulder. What could she say? She’d hated it. They’d hated her. She was a failure. “It was fine.”
Cody eyed her again, this time as if not believing her despondent words, but instead of pressing her for answers he returned to his burger and fries.
They both grew silent and she took the moment to look around at the simple decor of the dining room. Since she’d been busy at the house the last few days, she had yet to return to working at the diner, but just being there now was already beginning to ease her stress. The place always had that effect on her.
Wood-block tables and booths filled the room, with the occasional mismatched chair. The chairs were a hangover from her grandparents’ days. Vintage, vinyl-topped stools lined the counter in front of the grill window. And large, unpaned windows took up the space along the front of the building. The windows overlooked the square.
All of it was easy. Comfortable.
It felt like home.
A couple regulars were sitting at one of the tables, hanging on past the lunch hour, and gave her a welcoming chin nudge as her gaze passed over them. She returned the greeting with a wink and blew them a kiss. She’d seen several people in passing since coming home. They’d all waved as if glad to see her back, some pointing out that she’d been missed in the diner. But there had yet to be a chance to really talk to anyone. Being out today was nice.
Cody was one of the two local veterinarians, and regularly slipped over for a late lunch. When she was around, she often took a break and joined him. Today she was there because he’d called. It was good to see him again.
She looked at him then, at his dark hair and eyes and his hard jaw. And she thought about how much Zack looked like his brothers. Even the anger lurking in Zack’s brown depths she’d seen in Cody’s plenty of times. When he’d first returned to town, he’d been much harder than he was today.
That didn’t mean Zack wouldn’t bring that back out of him.
She suspected very much that he would.
Cody caught her looking and lifted a brow in question as he shoved another fry in his mouth. She just shook her head. “Nothing,” she mumbled.
No doubt he was merely biding his time before he forced her to talk about Chicago. She’d left Sugar Springs too excited about the trip, spouting that if things went well she would be moving there for good. He had to be wondering what happened. She appreciated him giving her an out for the moment. She needed a few more minutes to gather her thoughts.
The bell on the outer door dinged and Holly looked up to see Lee Ann London enter the restaurant. Lee Ann was Cody’s fiancée. She’d once worked mornings at the diner, but now focused full-time on her photography and on raising her and Cody’s teenage daughters.
Lee Ann spotted them and headed their way. As she did, Beatrice Grayson slipped in behind her, a quick blur of gray hair and feet too fast for an eighty-year-old.
Ms. Grayson ran her gaze over Cody sitting with Holly, then to Lee Ann, before shifting her attention to the remainder of the guests in the diner. She’d seen her share of living, and was currently considered the town mouth. If there was a secret, she knew about it.
If she didn’t, she made it up.
She took a seat at a nearby table as Lee Ann neared their booth.
“I heard a rumor that you were back.” Lee Ann gave Holly a hug. “Your mama and daddy must be glad to have you home.” She slid in beside Cody, kissing him on the cheek, and Holly lowered her feet so they weren’t stuck between the two lovebirds.
“They seemed pleased,” Holly confirmed. “Got me working at the B&B already.”
“Ah.” Lee Ann nodded. “That’s right, they were going out of town for the week. When did you get in?”
“Saturday afternoon.”
“I was just asking her how it went,” Cody added. He studied her with narrowed eyes. “She’s quieter than usual today,” he added. “I think Chicago changed her.”
His words surprised her. She didn’t think anyone would notice. She focused on her drink as she sucked at the straw.
“So you finally blowing out of this place for good then?” Cody pressed. “Just come back to pack more bags?”
Holly swallowed the liquid and looked up at the two friendly faces waiting to hear her plans. There was true caring etched in both of them. She appreciated that. She’d missed that.
“Nope.” Holly shook her head and grabbed a fry off Cody’s plate. Tears suddenly threatened, but she held them off. “Everyone was right. I’m a Sugar Springs girl.” The whole town had told her that for years. “I’m not cut out for the big city. I believe it now.”
Lee Ann’s gaze turned warm with concern. Her mouth lost its smile. “What happened?”
Holly shrugged. “Just didn’t work out. I don’t belong there.” She looked away from the concerned eyes of her friends and chewed on the inside corner of her lip.
She’d long said she’d outgrown Sugar Springs. And she knew she was the only one in the town who believed it. She was only twenty-five. Her life stretched out before her. She’d thought there was more out there for her.
Yet here she was, back at home like a whipped puppy.
She watched a couple more people enter the diner and take a seat: Jerry, the driver of the wrecker who’d picked Zack up, and Tucker Brown, the sixth-grade math teacher. The two had been friends for years. Jerry was weathered and rough around the edges, and Tucker had perfectly trimmed hay-colored hair and looked like he belonged in a tweed sport coat holding a pipe. He was one of the most serious people she’d ever met, and he and Jerry were two of the most mismatched people in the county. Yet their friendship had held over the years.
She turned her head back to her friends. Lee Ann and Cody had a friendship similar to Jerry and Tucker’s. They’d been through a lot together, but even stupid mistakes and years apart hadn’t broken the bond they held. Holly wanted something like that for herself.
If she were the wallowing sort, she might let her lack of direction in life get her down. Might let the fact that she had no one to share her secrets with bother her. Instead, she refused. After thinking about her mother’s words over the last few days, she’d decided that her mom was onto something. She needed a man.
And Holly had done a lot of mulling over her possibilities.
She licked her lips and pasted on a smile, ready to present her new plan. If she couldn’t have her dream, she’d make a new one. “I changed my mind,” she announced proudly. She lowered her voice and leaned into the table to whisper when she caught sight of Ms. Grayson angling her head in their direction. “Instead of moving to a bigger place, I’m staying here. I’m getting married and having babies.”
Cody choked on his drink. Lee Ann wasn’t much better. Only, she had no liquid in her mouth. She simply choked.
“To who?” Cody and Lee Ann asked at the same time.
That was the problem.
She glanced to the other side of the room where the two men had sat down, and eyed Tucker. She’d had a bit of a crush on him for years. But then, only because he was cute. In a scholarly kind of way. Stiff shirts did it for her, apparently.
Everything else about him, though . . . she feared would bore her to tears.
But she had to start somewhere.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lee Ann follow her gaze.
“Really?” Lee Ann asked. Her voice held more than a bit of unease. “You’re finally going to go for it with him?” Lee Ann had been aware of Holly’s semi-crush.
“Who?” Cody was clueless.
Holly nodded slowly, more than a little hesitant. If she had to choose someone in Sugar Springs, Tucker was a decent catch. He had a good job, with nice health benefits. The school system was one of the best places to work when it came to benefits. Plus, summers off. That would be good for having kids. Plenty of time with them. They could take family vacations.
All in all, he would make a good choice for a husband.
He might be a bit on the stiff side, but she figured they could balance each other out.
She looked back at Lee Ann, realizing she was less than enthused at the thought. But it wasn’t like Sugar Springs was a hotbed of potential husband material. Not material that hadn’t already been caught up and taken. “I heard he broke up with Teresa while I was gone,” she said.
“He did.” Lee Ann nodded.
Tucker had been dating the fourth-grade teacher who’d moved into town last year. Apparently it had ended with the school year.
“Who?” Cody asked again.
Both women shot him an annoyed look, then Lee Ann nodded her head in the direction of Tucker. Men could be so obtuse.
Cody finally got a clue that the man of their conversation was in the room. He scanned the area twice, landing on each person in the dining room, before going back to Tucker. He narrowed his eyes on the other man, before bringing his head around to Holly. “No,” he said without preamble.
“Why not?” she asked. As if Cody’s no would stop her if Tucker was who she wanted. “He’s cute.” And she liked a man who looked good in a sport coat. Or a suit.
Zack Winston materialized in her mind, standing beside her horse in his mud-covered shoes. She fought a smile.
“He’s too . . .” Cody paused.
“What?” Holly asked.
He glanced at Lee Ann as if to get her to help him out, but Holly reached over the table and grabbed his wrist. She squeezed until he looked at her.
“What?” she asked, her voice harsh. “You don’t think I can get him?”
“Of course you can get him.” His look of incredulity eased her mind. “The question is,” Cody added, “why would you want to?”
She turned loose of him and sat back with a thunk. “Why wouldn’t I want to? He’s respectable. He has a good family. He’s a total catch.”
“He’s boring as shit,” Cody stated bluntly. “Has he ever looked at your shoes?”
Holly snapped her mouth shut. She’d once explained to Cody that her shoes were an indicator of her first impressions about people.
“What group does he fall into?” Cody persisted when she didn’t answer.
“I don’t—”
“What group?” Cody asked. “He’s probably too mannered to turn his nose up at them.”
Like Zack had, she thought. She’d seethed for the last two days over the snotty way Zack had looked at her shoes. They’d been perfectly good shoes. Vintage Mary Janes. And the fringe had been fun. She’d added that herself.
“And I can’t see him liking them,” Cody went on. Lee Ann simply watched the two of them without saying a word. “He probably isn’t amused by them,” Cody continued. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen ‘the Professor’ amused by much of anything.”
“I’ve seen him laugh at plenty of things,” Holly blurted. Which wasn’t really true. She had seen him laugh once. He’d been doing a spot for a local tourism ad, but his laughter had been so forced that it hadn’t made the final cut.
“So that leaves only one group,” Cody finished. He tilted his head and looked down his nose at her. “He’s never even noticed them.”
“Not everyone has to notice my shoes,” she pointed out. She didn’t know why they were talking about her and her shoes when she’d come there to talk about Cody and Zack.
Cody just stared at her. He knew that if people didn’t notice her shoes, it was worse than people thinking her odd or off her rocker. She used to think ignoring them was worse than sneering at them too. Until Monday.
“You’ve never explained the shoe thing to me,” Lee Ann said. “I thought it was just you.”
“It is just me,” Holly stressed. “I like shoes. And I like to be different.”
“And she makes snap decisions about people based on their reaction to them.”
Holly made a face at him. “That’s only one factor.”
“It’s what you used to decide about me. And you claim to hold a ninety-nine percent accuracy record.”
“I do hold a ninety-nine percent accuracy record.” She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been wrong about her first impression of someone. Rarely was she wrong about anything when it came to people. She watched them. Made studied observations.
“What was your first impression of him?” Cody asked. He glanced across the room to Tucker as he said it. Tucker was, as always, sitting straight and looking serious. He was explaining something to Jerry while Jerry watched the TV hanging in the corner.
“I’ve known Tucker my whole life,” Holly hedged. “There wasn’t a first impression. Or if there was, it happened when I was a kid and I don’t remember.”
They weren’t the same age, but they’d been in high school together. He was a couple years older than her. She also remembered her first impression of him. The word dweeb came to mind.
He hadn’t been cute then. He’d been awkward and hadn’t yet filled out into his body. But he had been as boring as he was today.
She had a vision of the two of them sitting in a house together, years from now. Tucker would be telling her all about his day at work; their children would be politely listening—maybe one or two of them would be engrossed in a book . . .
And all her fun shoes would be tucked away in a box in the attic.
Great.
She couldn’t go out with Tucker. Cody was right. The man had never even noticed her shoes. She didn’t want to think about finding herself long-term with a man who couldn’t be bothered to look at her from head to toe, much less not appreciate her stellar collection of footwear.
Fine. She silently seethed. But she needed someone.
She thought about Zack sitting straight and stiff on the back of her horse.
No!
No matter how cute he’d been in his awkwardness, she didn’t need him. For one thing, he wouldn’t be sticking around. He was big city. She most decidedly was not.
Secondly, he’d looked down his nose at her.
And he’d hated her shoes.
Cody’s cell rang.
“Yeah,” he said, putting it to his ear. He listened a minute and then mouthed, “It’s Nick” to Lee Ann. A line creased his brow, and he turned to peer out the large window by their table. Holly and Lee Ann followed his movement. “Now?” he asked into the phone.
Holly couldn’t hear the reply, but whatever was happening, she got the impression it was supposed to be happening now. The fingers of Cody’s free hand began to tap on the tabletop.
All was quiet outside, with the statue of the town’s founding father standing tall in the middle of the square. Banners announcing the upcoming Firefly Festival flanked him on every side. It was high tourist season, but most people had either headed into the mountains or taken to the river today. Only a few nonlocals could be seen going in and out of the different shops. A couple stood outside Cakes-a-GoGo with cupcakes in one hand and pieces of paper in the other. Probably the tourist brochures that could be found stocked at each business.
A slight breeze rattled the trees spaced out along the sidewalks.
And then a low-sitting sports car came purring down the street.
It gleamed in the sunlight, and Holly’s body heated at the sight. There was just something about a hot car.
And a hotter man.
She caught Cody’s groan and glanced at him in time to see the quick flash of anger harden his face.
“I’ll call you back,” he bit out, then hung up the phone.
Ms. Grayson chose that moment to set aside the tea she’d been drinking and stood to leave. Holly blew out a breath of relief as the older lady made it to the door. It was best not to have the biggest gossip in town hanging around for the first sighting of Zack.
Especially since it would be too easy to see whom he was related to.
“That’s him,” Jerry said from the other side of the room. He pointed to the window. “The man I took to Knoxville Monday night. Picked him up out at the Marshall place. He paid me a week’s salary to cancel my plans for the night and load up that fancy car of his. I drove them both to a dealer.”
So that’s where he’d been.
And how he’d gotten Jerry to get off his couch on a holiday.
“Who in the world is he?” This came from Janice, one of the waitresses who worked the morning and lunch shifts. She was in her forties and had lived in Sugar Springs her whole life. Her husband had hit a rough patch lately, leaving her with the need to pick up extra shifts to support them and their two teenage sons.
Holly and Lee Ann looked at Cody. The minute someone saw the men together, it would be clear.
The room grew quiet as the car passed outside the diner window and everyone got a good look. Zack’s profile could easily be Cody’s or Nick’s—even with the sunglasses. The only difference was that he sat straighter and his hair was shorter and a shade or two lighter. Also, he had on yet another suit.
It would likely take a lot to get Cody or Nick in a suit.
Then all eyes in the diner turned to Cody.
They didn’t even know he had a second brother, but Holly suspected they’d just figured it out.
“He looks just like you,” Janice declared. She made her way over to their table.
“I knew he looked like someone.” Jerry joined them. He shook his finger in the air as he spoke, and Holly couldn’t help but notice that the backs of his fingers had an excessive amount of hair on them. It was kind of gross. “I just couldn’t place him,” Jerry finished.
Since Jerry had come over, Tucker wandered their way as well. He gazed out the window as Holly peered up at him. He really was a good-looking man. Clean-shaven, seemingly no wayward hair on unsuspecting body parts. She’d do fine to get him. Except for the fact she’d have to be around him day in and day out.
She shuddered at the thought.
So much for bachelor number one on her list.
“He’s my brother,” Cody finally admitted. A soft gasp came from the small crowd. Then the Benz disappeared down the street.
“He’s a year older than us,” Cody added. “Thirty-three.” He glanced back out the window and Holly watched his jaw grow tense. “He was given away for adoption at birth. We found him in Atlanta earlier this year.”
“Well, I never,” Janice whispered.
Tucker looked down then. He glanced around the table, giving a slight nod when his gaze landed on Holly, but that was it. No gleam in his eye. No mooning look on his face.
Yeah . . . the man wasn’t for her.
Maybe Jerry?
She almost snorted her Diet Coke up her nose at the thought. Jerry wouldn’t have the first clue what to do with her. But she’d give him points. He had noticed her shoes in the past.
The group of them chatted about Zack for several minutes longer, Cody explaining in brief detail how his older brother had wanted nothing to do with them. His words were spoken pleasantly with an air of unconcern, but she and he were good enough friends that she felt the longing for more beneath their surface. He and Nick had gone to Atlanta hoping to have a relationship with the brother neither of them had known existed. They’d both come back hurt.
She glanced at Lee Ann, and the two women exchanged knowing looks. It bothered Cody, having Zack show up like this. Not knowing his intent. And most likely, not knowing what he himself wanted to happen. No doubt Nick would feel the same.
The unannounced arrival suddenly made Holly angry on behalf of her friends. It also irritated her that Zack had arrived nearly forty-eight hours earlier, yet hadn’t made so much as a phone call to either of them.
When Cody finished talking, everyone returned to their tables with a gleam burning in their eyes. News would now spread, and Zack would have a town full of enemies before he ever even spoke to anyone.
Though she still thought the guy was a jerk, it almost made Holly feel bad for him. Gossip here could be brutal.
As the talk died down, her gaze once again turned to Tucker. He was the only one without his cell out to call or text the gossip on to the next person. Probably not because he was such a good, upstanding guy as much as because he had no one to text. Definitely off her list of potential mates.
That didn’t mean she couldn’t still look for someone, though. She just had to be resourceful.
She returned her attention to her table and gave a solid nod. She was going to do this. “I’ll have someone by the time of your wedding,” she proclaimed.
Shock hit Lee Ann’s face, and she and Cody both looked at Tucker. “Him?” Lee Ann asked. Dread now filled her voice.
Holly shook her head. “No. But someone.”
Lee Ann’s eyes narrowed as she studied Holly. “As in . . . a date to our wedding?”
“As in have,” Holly stated calmly. The words sounded more secure than she felt, but she was going to give it her best. “Someone I’m interested in a long-lasting relationship with. I’m not playing around anymore. I’ve got to do more than wait tables and work at the B&B when Mom and Dad are out of town. So I’m catching a man. And then I’m going to set my own wedding date.”
“But our wedding is in—”
“I know when your wedding is,” she cut in.
They were getting married on July Fourth and had invited the whole town. It would be a casual affair to go along with the annual fireworks show. Everyone was looking forward to it.
“But . . .” Lee Ann’s words died off.
Holly gave her a tight smile. She had less than six weeks to find the man of her dreams.
And then what?
She glanced out the window again, and this time her eyes landed on the consignment store on the far corner. She’d sold several of her creations in the store over the last couple of years. Nothing special, but people seemed to like them. A few tourists had even gone home with one. Maybe she could continue doing that, as well. It would be better than nothing.
Supplemental income for the marriage.
A hand touched hers and she turned back to the table.
“Let me know if you need any help,” Lee Ann said. “We’ll get you whoever you want.”
Holly smiled and nodded. That was the problem. There wasn’t anyone she wanted.
She just wanted to have a purpose.