CHAPTER 6
You’re being ridiculous, Brynn chided herself as disappointment flooded her because Axel hadn’t been outside when she’d left to walk to brunch.
She glanced down and had to admit to herself that the real reason she was wearing this dress was because she thought she might run into Axel. It had a floral pattern, spaghetti straps, wrap around front, and plunging neckline. She’d bought it on a whim when Ryder turned ten because she was trying to prove to herself that even though she was a mom of a kid in double digits, she could still be stylish and cute.
The fun, flirty dress had been in the back of her closet for three years and this was the first time she’d ever worn it. And there was only one person that she’d wanted to see her in it. She thought about going home and changing into something more comfortable, but with her luck, he’d be outside when she left and see her in the jeans and a T-shirt.
Yesterday, Axel had shown up and she’d been in a robe. And then not even that, she thought. She’d changed into cutoff shorts and a tank top because those were the first things she’d grabbed out of her dresser drawer. She’d considered dressing up for dinner, but she hadn’t wanted to look like she was trying too hard. Then this morning, he’d seen her in her pajamas before she’d even had a chance to shower or brush her teeth. Not that he could tell that she had morning breath, but still.
Was it really too much to ask for him to see her with a little make-up, her hair done, and a cute outfit?
Feeling more than a little silly, she tried to put Axel out of her mind as she walked the short distance from her house to Stone Castle, where she was meeting Ali and Jess for brunch.
The history of the “haunted” castle was that an English Duke, William Stone, had built the castle when he’d been banished to America in the late 1800s. He’d refused to marry the woman that his family had chosen for him because he’d been in love with a chambermaid.
The story was that he’d smuggled the young maiden he’d fallen in love with in a crate on the cargo ship he’d sailed over in. They’d lived happily as man and wife for over a decade before one day, like any other, he’d returned home to find the gruesome discovery that his wife, Emilia, his one true love, had been brutally murdered.
The urban legend was that William Stone, mad with grief, searched the woods, the town, and the lake surrounding the castle day and night, looking for her killer, until he finally dropped dead from malnutrition and exposure.
Supposedly, his mother heard of what had happened and, feeling guilty for having sent William into exile, bought the land and the castle in order to keep the last piece of her only son. And no one had lived in it since, except the ghosts of William and Emilia, who roamed the halls searching for each other in the afterlife.
A few years ago, Avery Stone, William’s great, great, great niece showed up and rented the property out to a production company to film a reality television show called Fairytale Love. She hadn’t stayed in Whisper Lake, but she had renovated and reopened Stone Castle. It was now a popular wedding and event venue and had brought a nice boost to the local economy. It also boasted a killer brunch and Brynn hoped that one of the girls had gotten there early enough to snag them a seat on the patio that overlooked the lake.
She rounded the corner and saw that her two friends had indeed scored a table outside on the patio and was happy to see that she was not overdressed for the occasion. Both of her friends were dressed up in their own unique ways.
Ali’s natural beauty was stunning as always. Her hair was pulled up in a topknot on her head and she was wearing a tangerine maxi dress.
Jess was the epitome of a fifties pinup girl; her dark hair half up and half down, her high-waisted jean shorts were perfectly matched with a fitted, sleeveless, white and black checkered button-up shirt that was tied in the front.
As she approached the table, Brynn was feeling better about her outfit choice. She noticed that she did have an extra pep in her step and she knew exactly what, or whom, she could attribute it to.
“Well, hello Mrs. McKnight and soon-to-be Mrs. Steele.”
She greeted her friends with hugs before sliding into the empty seat across from them. She was ready to hear all about Ali’s mini-moon and Jess’s first week wearing a ring on her left finger, but when she looked up she saw her friends staring at her with dropped jaws.
“What?” Brynn quickly glanced down to make sure that she wasn’t having another wardrobe malfunction.
“You look…” Ali started, but her voice trailed off.
“You’re glowing.” Jess stated before leaning in. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”
“No!” Brynn shouted, then glanced around to see if she’d drawn unwanted attention. She had. There were several diners looking their way. “Sorry,” she apologized before facing her friends again and reiterating, “I’m definitely not pregnant.”
“There’s definitely something different about you.” Jess emphasized the same word she had.
“Um…” Brynn licked her lips nervously and tried to decide how to broach the Axel conversation with her friends, or if she should even broach it at all. It wasn’t like he was anything more than a guy staying in her back house. She figured she’d start off with another topic. “I think I’m ready to start dating again.”
“Shhh!” Ali and Jess both hissed at her as they looked around to make sure no one had overheard.
Jess whispered as she leaned in, “They have ears everywhere.”
The “they” that Jess was referring to was Mrs. Dobrinski, Mrs. Chen, and Mrs. Weathersby, otherwise known as the matchmaking dons. The moniker was derived because the three women ran the Needlepoint Mafia, a knitting club that many people in town considered a front for their plan of total town domination. They were widely feared by the eligible thirty-somethings in town for their proclivity for playing cupid. The women orchestrated situations where the “young people” they deemed ready to settle down found themselves bombarded with meet-cutes, and awkward setups.
The women rarely got it right and from what Brynn had seen, their setups usually backfired on them. Still, Brynn wouldn’t mind the assistance since last night was the closest thing she’d had to a date in five years.
“So what brought on this decision?” Ali asked.
“Well, I’ve been thinking for a while now that something is missing in my life and I need to make some changes.” She ran her fingers through her hair and both of her friends gave her the obligatory praise for her new haircut. She hadn’t been fishing but she appreciated the support. “And Ryder is older now. It’s not like he needs me the way he used to. When I tried to date before, the guys I was going out with were in their twenties. I’m thirty now. I think I’ve hit my peak demographic.”
Jess scooted forward in her chair. “Do you have anyone in mind?”
Axel popped to the forefront of Brynn’s mind. Not that he had a long way to go since he’d been hovering on the outskirts of her every conscious thought since she’d laid eyes on him.
Jess pointed a finger at her, and in an accusatory tone she whispered, “You do!”
“No…I just…I met someone last night. I mean…I didn’t meet him. It’s not like that.” Brynn didn’t want to give them false hope. What little fantasy she’d allowed herself to have last night was shattered when she saw Ryder talking with Axel this morning.
It was one thing to date someone, but dating someone that is temporary and living five hundred feet from your back door was definitely not a smart move.
The waitress approached their table and dropped off their iced teas and took their orders, giving Brynn a much-needed reprieve to gather her thoughts before she told the girls.
“Where did you meet him?” Ali asked as soon as the young woman left.
“My house.” Brynn proceeded to tell the women about her mother’s new tenant and her mortifying first impression.
“He saw you naked?” Ali’s face had the appropriate amount of horror registered across it.
“Yep. The whole kit and caboodle.” Brynn waved her hand from her chest to her lap.
“Nice.” Jess nodded, looking more than a little impressed.
“What did you do?” Ali’s eyes were still as wide as saucers.
“I invited him in, went to my room, changed, came out and showed him the apartment.”
“Like a boss.” Jess lifted her glass.
“But that’s not all…” Brynn continued after clinking glasses with her friends. She took a breath. “When I was showing him the apartment, I accidentally felt him up.”
Jess’s brow furrowed and Ali’s head tilted like the RCA dog.
“You felt his boobs?” Jess asked in way of clarification.
“No. I felt his…” Brynn cleared her throat and circled her hand above her lap, “junk.”
“Wait…what?” Ali was in shock. “How?”
“I didn’t mean to. I dropped the key to the apartment and when I reached out to grab it…I grabbed him instead.”
“Nice.” Jess said again as she smiled from ear to ear.
“What happened after that?” Ali prodded.
“Nothing. Well, we had dinner.”
“You had dinner?!” Ali repeated.
“When I was showing him the apartment, my pizza showed up. Since Ryder was gone I asked if he was hungry.”
Brynn didn’t miss the side eye that Jess and Ali gave one another.
“Well, my sweetness, I’d say that you’re more than just ready to start dating again, you are dating,” Jess stated plainly.
Brynn shook her head. The girls were missing the point. She thought they’d be excited to try and set her up, and maybe that would get her mind off of the brown-eyed panty melter that was living in her backyard. She tried to get them back on track. “No, it wasn’t a date. We just had pizza.”
Jess’s brows lifted. “Any alcohol?”
“Wine,” Brynn confirmed with a sigh.
“So to clarify,” Jess sat up straighter, lifted her hand and raised her fingers one by one as she counted things off. “There was food, alcohol, nudity, and groping. That doesn’t just sound like a date, it sounds like a damn good date.”
Brynn shook her head. “No, it wasn’t like that.”
Ali and Jess exchanged knowing looks. Ones that made Brynn feel like her friends were quickly jumping to their own conclusions.
“So who is this guy? What is he doing here in Whisper Lake?” Ali questioned.
“Work.” That was the answer he’d given Max.
“What work?” Ali followed up.
“I don’t know.” Brynn wasn’t used to this kind of scrutiny since her love life had been non-existent for a long time. She was starting to regret bringing him up and hoped the subject could be dropped.
Jess didn’t drop it. “Okay, well how long is he going to be here?”
Brynn felt more than a little silly that she hadn’t asked any of these questions during their two-hour pizza dinner. And even sillier that she’d Googled him this morning and she still didn’t know. “I’m not sure. My mom said that he paid up-front for three months.”
“Three months?” Jess’s eyes narrowed as she rubbed her hands together and wagged her brows. “I love a good mystery. Okay, maybe he lost his wife in a tragic fire and he’s here to forget about her. Or maybe he’s on the run from the law.”
“Whoa, Nancy Drew.” Ali teased putting up her hands.
“He’s not a grieving widower.” Just an emotionally unavailable divorcé, Brynn thought. “And I don’t think he’s an outlaw.”
“Really?” Jess looked at her friends as if they were naive in their assumptions. “What are the facts we know about tall, dark, and gorgeous?”
“I never said he was gorgeous.” Brynn defended, adding, “Or tall.”
“Maybe not with your mouth, but the pink flush that sprung up on your cheeks when you talked about him tells a different story.” Jess winked.
“I was just embarrassed because I was telling you guys that he saw me naked.”
“So he’s not hot?” Jess asked, her tone implying she already knew the answer.
“He’s good-looking,” Brynn unenthusiastically admitted.
She wasn’t sure why she was so defensive about finding Axel attractive. It was just something that she hadn’t experienced for so long and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
“Right, so, tall, dark, and hot shows up on your doorstep after paying up-front for three months. When you asked him what brought him to town, he said work.”
“Max asked him,” Brynn corrected.
Both of her friends looked at each other like they were missing huge chunks of the story.
“Wait! When did Max meet him?” Jess might as well have asked, When did Satan meet him?
“This morning. Axel was out front when Max dropped Ryder off.”
“His name’s Axel?” Ali asked eagerly.
“Axel Vaughn.”
“Sounds like a rock star,” Jess observed.
“He’s named after Axl Rose,” Brynn revealed.
“Okay, we’ll get back to that.” Jess lifted her pointer finger. “One thing at a time. He’s here for work. It’s not like Whisper Lake is a thriving metropolis with unlimited employment opportunities. Especially this time of year.”
Her friend made a good point. Whisper Lake was a small, sleepy tourist town known for its festivals, haunted castle and a short-lived reality show. There were two busy seasons, winter and summer and one week in spring. This was fall. So it’s not like he’s here because he’s a ski instructor or boating expert or something.
“Maybe he’s a writer and he’s here to research his next novel,” Ali said as she leaned in, brimming with excitement. “Or maybe he’s here because there’s some kind of Loch Ness monster situation in the lake and he’s investigating it.”
“And you called me Nancy Drew?” Jess raised her perfectly sculpted brows.
“I think he works with his hands.” Brynn hadn’t meant to divulge that theory. It just popped out when she remembered how amazing the callouses on his palm had felt when he touched her.
“Annnnnd?” Jess’s chin dipped as she gave Brynn a pointed stare. “You can’t drop, I think he works with his hands, and not follow that up.”
Brynn’s left shoulder lifted as a thrill raced through her at the memory of his roughened touch. “He has callouses.”
“Exactly how much groping was there?” Jess questioned playfully.
“None. I mean other than me grabbing his…you know…”
“Junk.” Jess completed.
“But that wasn’t…I mean it wasn’t skin to skin. But when we shook hands I felt his callouses.”
“All right,” Jess smirked. “So a hot, well-endowed—”
“I never said well-endowed,” Brynn countered.
“Not with your words, but the glow that appeared on your cheeks said it all.” Ali confirmed.
Brynn was beginning to feel ganged up on.
“Exactly. So, he’s hot, well-endowed, and convenient since he’s literally in your backyard…so what are we missing?” Jess’s eyes narrowed. “What are you not telling us?”
“What do you mean? I told you everything.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing.” Brynn automatically shot back. “I mean, I don’t really know him.”
“I think what Jess is asking is, why not date him?”
“Oh, no. That’s too…complicated. He’s only here temporarily, and he lives in my backyard.”
“You’re saying that as if those are bad things.” Jess looked at her like she was crazy. “But think about it, it’s been…how long since you dated Tim?”
“About six years.” Brynn had told Jess about her last romantic entanglement when she’d been sitting in her chair getting her hair chopped off. Since Ali wasn’t there, she filled her in. “It wasn’t serious and only lasted for a couple of months. He promised to take Ryder and his friends to the water park but he bailed at the last minute to go to a music festival and I decided that it just wasn’t worth it.”
“Before that, I hadn’t dated anyone since Max. I was too busy, trying to raise Ryder, working, and going to school. Guys my age weren’t ready to settle down. I just didn’t see the point of complicating our lives for what? Mediocre sex and constant disappointment?”
“Wow. That’s a really sad way to look at relationships.” Ali sighed.
“It’s realistic,” Brynn countered.
“It is,” Jess agreed. “And just so you know, speaking as someone who was very recently in the dating pool, the water is not great. From my experience, the prince-to-frog ratio is about one to one million.”
“It’s not that bad,” Ali reasoned. “I went out with Keaton and he wasn’t a frog.”
Keaton Mills was one of the few eligible men in Whisper Lake. He ran an MMA gym and moved to town a few years earlier. With jet black hair and bright blue eyes, all the women had definitely taken notice.
“That’s true. And there’s Chris,” Jess offered.
Chris Hanover was a veterinarian that had taken over when Dr. Yanuck retired. He reminded Brynn of Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights.
Brynn rolled her straw wrapper in her hand as she wondered why the idea of going out with Keaton or Chris didn’t appeal to her. They were both appropriate ages. Had viable employment. And were easy on the eyes. She’d be lucky to date either man, so why didn’t she want to?
“And there’s him,” Jess said, almost breathlessly.
Brynn lifted her eyes and from the second she saw the look on her friends’ faces, she knew who they were looking at. The hair on the back of Brynn’s neck stood up and a shiver chased up her spine as she slowly turned her head.
Sure enough, Axel was walking toward her. He was wearing aviator sunglasses, a black T-shirt, and khaki shorts. He looked like he should be on the cover of Men’s Health.
Before he got to their table, a server approached him and handed him a to-go bag. That gave Brynn the opportunity to turn back to her friends and mouth, “That’s him.”
When she glanced back over her shoulder he was only a few feet away.
He lifted his hand and grinned. “Hey, I thought that was you. I was just picking up some lunch.”
“Oh, yep, it’s me!” Brynn wanted to facepalm. Why did she sound so happy about it being her? “Um, Axel these are my friends, Jessa and Ali.”
Jess smiled brightly and Brynn knew she was in trouble. Her raven-haired friend loved to stir the pot, and she had no shame when it came to embarrassing her friends if she thought it was in good fun. “Brynn was just telling us about you.”
Ali kicked Jess beneath the table as Brynn rushed to explain, “I was telling them that my mom has a new tenant.”
Axel’s expressive eyes were blocked from the reflective glasses so she couldn’t tell if he bought it or not.
“So, Axel what brings you to—” Jess continued but was cut off when Axel’s phone rang.
He looked down and Brynn knew who it was, from the way his jaw tensed. “I’m sorry. This is my sister. I have to take this. It was nice meeting you ladies. Nice to see you, Brynn.”
As she watched him walk away she knew two things to be true. One, he looked just as good going as he did coming. And two, his voice had lowered an octave when he’d said it was nice to see her.
When she turned back around, her friends were staring at her with mouths agape. Then suddenly all three of them burst out laughing.
The rest of the brunch was filled with talk of Axel, the wedding, and Jess’s engagement. But there was one thought that kept rising to the surface of her mind: he’d seen her in her dress.
Maybe it shouldn’t make her that happy…but it did.