Chapter Three
Elle clung to the faint hope that Jacqueline Holt wasn’t related to Harley until the last moment. However, when Jack ushered her, Hailey, and Edith into a cozy, sky-blue-and-white living room, the hope vanished. Against one wall, on a floor-to-ceiling étagère, a collection of trophies, pictures, medals and ribbons tastefully showed Jack’s pride in a family of winners. Although Elle didn’t snoop closely enough to read the plaque inscriptions, one photo stood out—the same one she and Rio had ogled in the article about Harley Holt.
Dang.
“Sit everyone, sit,” Jack said. “I’ll put on the coffee. Elle, dear, do you drink it? Say yes or you’ll never fit in.” She grinned. “Although I have tea or soda, and both are perfectly acceptable. We don’t truly discriminate.”
Chuckles of agreement made the rounds of the room.
“Coffee is good but I have to cop to liking it wimpy. With lots of milk?”
“Cream?” Jack asked.
“Oh! Who’d say no to real cream?”
“All right. Sit tight, everyone. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh no you don’t.”
Hailey clasped Jack’s good arm and guided her firmly toward a voluptuous, blue flowered armchair. “You will sit right here and I’ll figure out the coffee.”
“I am not going to let this make me an invalid. It’s a simple sprained wrist.”
“Well you’re taking one afternoon to recuperate, and I may tell those kids of yours to tie you down for tomorrow, too. Do you ever sit still?”
“Not easily.” Jack frowned. “And not very willingly.”
Hailey pointed firmly to the chair seat. “That’s true. My husband, Ty, runs a triathlon training center in town, and he’ll vouch to this one’s stubbornness. Sit unwillingly then, Jacqueline, and tell me where you keep the coffee.”
Jack sank into the chair, her shoulders shaking with resigned laughter. “Coffee in the upper cabinet left of the refrigerator. Brownies covered in cling wrap in the microwave.”
Hailey disappeared and Elle sat beside Edith on a blue checked sofa, moving bright yellow and bright red pillows to the side.
“You have such a pretty home,” she said.
“Thank you. We’ve been here twenty-one years now and the house has definitely morphed through several versions of decorating. It’s one of my vices—re-doing rooms.”
Elle took in the whole space from the built-in shelving around a massive, white-washed brick fireplace, to the antique sideboard filled with china and a collection of exquisite horse statues. Her eyes fell again on the display of awards. “Looks like your family is successfully into sports. Are those your children?”
Jack’s features tightened for one brief moment, but she brightened just as quickly.
“Yes. My crazy crew. With the exception of Aston on top there. He was my middle one, but he passed away five years ago.”
“Oh, Jack. I’m so sorry.”
She nodded. “Thank you, sweetheart. It’s true, no-one should ever lose a child. But, my other two have not allowed me to wallow—they are young spitfires make no mistake. I wish my oldest one would settle down and lose his need for speed, but you can’t tell him anything. Chris, at least, broke the family mold and chose a sensible sport.”
“Baseball,” Edith said. “And he’s going to bring this town a championship this weekend. Even at my advanced age I know that’s something special.”
“What does your older son do?” Elle wasn’t certain why the need to keep her knowledge of Harley and her own identity so quiet for now felt as strong as it did, but she wanted to hear Jack’s perspective as a parent.
“He races motorcycles. Or he did,” Jack said. “He’s moved to stock car racing, and I can’t lie. I’m not a fan of going fast in motorized vehicles.”
“Tell her why nobody blames you for that.” Sadness edged Edith’s kind smile.
“It’s no more than a mother’s protectiveness and overreaction. Aston was killed in a one-car accident going too fast through a hairpin turn. He, too, wanted to race. But what I have to allow for is that they had two uncles and a grandfather who all owned race cars. It truly is in the blood. I know this.”
Elle’s heart sank for her new…what? They weren’t yet friends, but Jack seemed like the kind of person it could never hurt to know or have on your side. She thought of her own mother with her four boys and two girls and the fierce protectiveness she never lost or apologized for when it came to her children.
“I understand,” she said. “I do. I’d be worried, too.”
She looked back to Harley’s picture—the stunningly handsome image seemed suddenly fragile, almost doomed, in the wake of his mother’s palpable worry. With a mental shake she stopped the ridiculous musings. Accidents happened, and they didn’t carry curses or voodoo or portents of future events.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Jack added. “Harley is a wonderful man. He’s smart and he’s careful. But, dang it, he does love speed. He’s got a garage that caters to high performance and racing cars—not that there are so terribly many stock cars in this area. He’s definitely trying to change that, but I do wish he could find his fulfilment working on normal engines.”
“Isn’t he trying to add some stock car races to this year’s summer festival?” Edith asked. “He’s been asking for sponsorships around town, I believe.”
“Oh he certainly is.” Jack nodded. The pain in her face had dissipated, and her eyes sparkled once more. “Tenacious as a cockle burr, my kid. He’s hired a new mechanic—says this one’s credentials will generate even more interest.” She laughed. “I’m so evil, I’d love to meet this fellow first and brainwash him into leaving before he settles in so Harley had to slow down a little with these plans. Isn’t that awful?” The spark in her eyes flashed hotter—half serious.
I’d love to meet him first…
Elle’s stomach lurched in comprehension. She was “him.” Oh, Lord, what would Jack do if she knew?
“Well if anyone could do it, you could.” Hailey returned with a plate stacked three high with brownies. “You could sell flying lessons to angels, Miss Jacqueline.”
“Pah. I’m not that addled.” The fire in Jack’s features settled back to normal. “As I said, it’s a mother’s neurotic fantasy to be able to bubble wrap her kids.”
“Hey, Elle, come on and give me a hand with the coffee,” Hailey said.
Elle stood, a little too eagerly wondering how she was going to get out of this one. Her mother had taught her that truth was always the best, but she couldn’t make herself open her mouth. As Jack and Edith’s conversation turned to other subjects, Elle followed Hailey into the kitchen, more than grateful for the excuse to leave, even for a moment.
The relief lasted about the length of time it took for Hailey to hand over two empty coffee mugs so Elle could set them on the counter.
“So what brings you to Sapphire Falls? Don’t mind me asking—the whole town is naturally a little nosy. Plus, it’s rare we get another girl who’ll fit right into our group—and I already think you will.”
Despite the nerves filling her insides with micro riptides that drowned her calm, Elle had to laugh a little. Hailey was like a full-fledged gale approaching without warning.
“I like groups. I’m usually the most obnoxious one in any I join.”
“I don’t believe that. You seem polite enough.” Hailey’s laugh was sophisticated despite her enthusiasm, as if she was very used to handling any conversation.
“My mom tried to teach me.”
“So you’re here for a job I think you said? Where are you going to be working? Or, wait, are you just looking for something?”
There was no way out of this one. Under no circumstances was she going to lie. It wouldn’t take any time at all for a fabrication to come back and bite her on the butt. Even a dodge, as hard as she tried to think of one, wouldn’t really help. She’d only be left explaining herself once everyone knew she was working for Harley.
She couldn’t keep a groan of resignation inside.
“What?” Hailey asked.
“You won’t believe this. I’m just not sure I want Jack to know now that she’s told me about her son’s death and what she hates about Harley’s life passion.”
“Okay. I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you know you’re going to have to spill the story now, right?”
“I’m here to work as a mechanic. A car mechanic,” she amended.
Confusion settled onto Hailey’s features, but as Elle was about to explain, she was saved—or maybe it was actually swamped and capsized—by the back door slamming open and a tall figure striding through it in cadence with some choice words.
“Damn it to hell and back, if this day got any worse I’d—”
Harley Holt in the flesh froze when he’d fully entered the kitchen and his eyes locked on Elle’s. A jolt of power so strong it nearly buckled her knees slammed through her, and she tried with no success to look away. Electricity, forceful as a downed powerline, tethered her to him and all she could do was stare.
The picture with which she’d become so familiar had to have been years old. This man was the same, but his face had widened, his eyes turned from fun-filled to soulful and unreadable, and his hair, though still blond and long, no longer shone like a California surfer boy’s. She honestly had never seen anyone so magnetic in her life.
Finally, almost painfully, feeling returned to her limbs and her torso, bringing with it tingling and a residual internal shimmering. She swallowed. Harley’s Adam’s apple bobbed at the same time.
“Dang it. Somebody call the fire department. I haven’t seen heat like that since Ty looked at me the first time.” Hailey’s voice broke through Elle’s fog and she took a step backward.
“You.” Harley paid no attention to Hailey’s comment and continued staring at Elle although his eyes softened considerably. “First on the road outside of town, then at the store, now here? Why are you following me?”
“Believe me it is not intentional.”
A short, hard breath blasted from Harley’s mouth and he pressed his hands to his face. Scrubbing as if trying to get the day’s troubles from his skin he finished by ramming his fingers back through his hair and scrubbing on his scalp.
“Hello, Hailey,” he offered. “This is a surprise.”
“We brought your mother home from the store so she wouldn’t drive herself.”
“How the hell did she get to the store? She’s supposed to be resting.”
“This is your mother we’re talking about.”
“I’ll strangle her.”
“How can you not have known she was at the store?” Elle couldn’t stop her accusatory tone. “You practically ran through her at the checkout line.”
“What?” He turned back to her, eyes dark once more. “I’m sorry, but who are you again?”
Hah, she thought, he honestly didn’t know yet. Well this was all just fantastic. She’d only been in Sapphire Falls for five hours and was already in a sit com with no hope of anything but a ridiculously stupid ending. Dewey would be choking on his I-told-you-so’s.
“Harley? Honey, are you back already? Did you get Chris to the field?”
Jack entered the kitchen, perkier than she’d been since Elle had met her.
“I did. Barely. What the hell were doing out and about?”
“I needed some simple things for the salad I want to bring to the game later, and I felt so good I completely forgot about the Percocet.”
“Mom, that’s because you’re on Percocet. Jiminy Christmas do I have to write big notes on the doors so you don’t leave?”
“Maybe.” Jack smiled, but she nailed her son with sarcasm nobody could miss. “I’m sorry. You’re right. But thank goodness these lovely ladies were there to take care of my doddering, drugged up self.”
“I’m not kidding. You drove under the influence. I should ban you from the game tonight and make you stay here as punishment.”
At that he stepped forward and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. Elle scowled, unable to reconcile the jerk from the road and grocery store with the chastising but cheek-kissing son.
“You won’t. Even though that’s what I’d have done to you, you know I have plenty of friends who’d come get me anyway.”
Harley growled at her. “Crazy woman.”
“Can you stay for a while? Edith is in the living room and we’re about to have girly tea time. You could add some interest to the party.”
At that request the anger returned full force to Harley’s features. His lips firmed into two terse lines as he spoke through his teeth.
“I don’t, thanks to the piece of crap in the driveway. It belched oil and smoke the entire way home, and I don’t honestly know how it got me here since it seized up in the driveway. I’m a frickin’ mechanic, and I can’t get an old car to run for five miles to the shop. I can take your car to the game, but only if I can move this one to get yours out. I also have to get Howard Schmidt’s truck running before tomorrow, too, or the parade down in Pigeon Cove will be out its Grand Marshall’s vehicle. I’d hoped to start that before the game, so, I’m outta here. No time for brownies.”
“I can take a look at your car,” Elle said quietly.
If she was going down, she might as well do it with flair.
“Pardon me?” Harley’s eyes trapped her again, surprising her even more this time. But, even though her heart continued pounding to some strange beat she’d never felt before, she managed to let go of the virtual electric fence she’d grabbed when he’d appeared.
“I’ll look at the car. It’s what you hired me for, right?”
She was being too flippant, but she couldn’t help it. The look on his face was totally worth the cheekiness.
“Hired?”
She held out her hand. “I’m Elle Mitchell. Nice to meet you. Boss.”