“What does Ted do?” Warmth flooded her cheeks. It was a reasonable question under the circumstances, right? They were talking about what everybody did, and it wasn’t like she was more interested in him than in anyone else. Because she wasn’t.
“Honestly, Ted is the backbone of L&L. He’s been taking care of the order processing, shipping, payroll and all of the business administration stuff.” Paige’s expression grew solemn. “Frankly, we’ve all been a little worried about him lately.”
“Oh?” Cory’s curiosity piqued, she straightened. “Why is that?”
“He’s been unhappy. He snaps and snarls at everyone. Noah believes it’s because he has too much on his plate. He’s hoping having you take over a few of his responsibilities will help.” She shrugged. “I think it’s more than that.”
“Like?”
“He’s worked around the clock for the past five years and needs a break.” She leaned back in her chair and stretched. “My brother had the woodworking skills, but Langford & Lovejoy Heritage Furniture was all Ted’s idea. Noah agreed to form a partnership with him on the condition that Ted get his business degree. He did, plus a master’s, all the while putting in a ton of hours here. If you ask me, he’s suffering from burnout.”
Cory pondered what Paige had shared, along with what she’d heard in the hallway on her way to the conference room this morning. Ted’s issues went deeper than burnout. She was sure of it. What ate at him? “Why doesn’t he take a vacation?”
“Good question.”
Maybe she’d ask him once she had the chance. Then again, his problems were none of her business. As if he’d heard them talking about him, Ted appeared in the doorway with several papers in his hand. “You can fill these out this afternoon.” He laid them on her desk. “Are you two ready for lunch? The crew’s already headed over. Noah and Ryan are waiting downstairs.”
Ready for lunch in an unfamiliar setting with a group of men she didn’t know? Hell, no, but she wasn’t ready for this job either. She wouldn’t have taken it if Brenda’s words hadn’t scared her shitless. They’d ignited a tiny flame of self-preservation and whatever fight she had left in her. Brenda had been right. If she didn’t take a step in the right direction now, she’d end up an agoraphobic with no life and serious hygiene issues. “Sure.” She rose from her place and waited for Paige to precede her.
“Have you met the day crew?” Ted held the elevator door open for them.
The interior of the freight elevator loomed dark and sinister before her, and once again her heart raced, sending a chill down her spine. She swiped a palm over her damp forehead. “Um…I think I’ll take the stairs.”
Ted’s face fell. “Oh, right. Sure.”
She moved a little closer to Paige, relieved when they moved toward the stairway. “Bunny introduced me to the crew when I got here.”
Paige snorted. “How does a guy like Wesley Holt get a nickname like Bunny?”
“It’s from when we were kids. He’s the oldest of five, and he had to keep an eye on all of his younger siblings. His sister and I are best friends, so I was usually included in any games they played. Wes is fast. Nobody could catch him in a game of tag or capture the flag. Somebody said he was quick like a bunny, so we all started calling him Bunny.”
Ted smiled, his expression warm. “And Squirrel?”
“I was the resident tree-climbing expert. I started out as Monkey, but Wes said there weren’t any monkeys native to Indiana. So the Holt clan changed my nickname to Squirrel.” They left the stairs and walked into the production area. “Kid stuff.”
Stuff that had given her a sense of home after the rug had been ripped out from under her when her dad died. The Holts gave her a place to belong, and even if they were a ragtag bunch, they’d stuck together and protected one another.
They joined Ryan and Noah, leaving by the front door to walk to the diner with Noah leading the way. Ryan and Paige held hands in front of her, while she and Ted took up the rear.
She checked out the town of Perfect as they walked. Nice. Well maintained and litter free, the small town had an old-timey feel to it, as if the redbrick and limestone office buildings and storefronts had seen a lot of history. They all had window boxes or planters on the sidewalk filled with a variety of flourishing spring flowers in bloom. She suspected the town had an ordinance against shabbiness and peeling paint. How had she ended up here again?
“My ancestor founded this town.” Ted came up beside her, and she edged away a little. “My great-great-great-grandfather Tobias Lovejoy ended up here after the Civil War and decided to put down roots. There are a ton of Lovejoys living in or near Perfect. In fact, Noah’s wife and I are first cousins.”
“It’s nice. Quiet.” What would it be like to have a large extended family? Her mom had been an only child, and so had she. All her grandparents had passed, and it had been just the two of them for as long as she could remember.
Ted continued to walk next to her. “My aunt believes Perfect holds magical healing powers for veterans.”
She flashed him a skeptical look.
“It does. I’m here to testify to that fact,” Noah said over his shoulder. “Something about the peacefulness just seeps into your soul. Wait until you’re living in the carriage house for a while. You’ll see.”
“Ceejay and Noah’s house is right on the banks of the Ohio River.” Ted glanced sideways at her. “By the way, Noah has an appointment this afternoon, and he asked me to give you a ride home. Are you going to be all right with that?”
Alarm raced along her nerves, and she bit her lower lip to squelch the panic.
Relax.
Paige had assured her Ted was harmless, and he’d been nothing but nice to her so far. “Sure. Thanks,” she murmured.
“I know you heard me ranting about—”
“Yeah. You didn’t want to hire me.” She lifted an eyebrow and glanced at him. “I got that loud and clear.”
“No. It’s not that I didn’t want to hire you. It’s…” He shook his head. “It seems silly now. I’m glad you joined L&L.” One side of his mouth quirked up. “This is it. Aunt Jenny’s diner is a landmark in Perfect. Most days we have our lunch here. I hope you’ll join us.”
“We all hope you’ll join us,” Paige added.
She pasted a smile on her face, and remained silent. Whatever savings she’d managed to amass while in the military had been spent supporting herself and her court case for the past year.
Lunches out were not an option. In fact, she wondered how she’d make it to her first paycheck. Cory followed everyone into the retro diner. The black-and-white tile floor and red Formica tabletops looked like they were straight out of the fifties. And the smells. Lord, she’d fallen into comfort-food heaven. Her mouth watered and her stomach made embarrassing rumbling sounds.
Two tables had been pushed together in the back corner. Kyle, John and Xavier—the production crew—had taken the seats against the wall, leaving the end chair in the corner free. Noah headed for the corner seat as if he owned that particular space. Ryan and Paige took the places to Noah’s right. Ted offered her the chair next to Paige, which would’ve hemmed her in between them. “Do you mind if I sit on the end?”
“Not at all.” He switched places with her and sat down.
“Hey, kid. Where’s your aunt today?” Kyle asked, leaning forward to look down the table. “Is she OK?”
Ted tensed beside her, and she remembered how he’d shouted at Ryan for calling him kid earlier that morning. Was it being called kid that got to him, or was there something wrong with his aunt?
“She’s spending the day with Ceejay and the kids,” Noah answered. “We have our ultrasound this afternoon, and Jenny is babysitting.”
“Are you going to ask about the gender or keep it a surprise?” Paige asked.
“If they can tell, we want to know.” Noah grinned. “Ceejay has her heart set on a girl. So does Lucinda. I think Toby and Micah are starting to make our little girl feel outnumbered.”
“Where are you two from?” Cory turned to Paige. “You don’t sound like southern Indiana to me.”
“We were born and raised in Pennsylvania.” Paige picked up
the specials sheet. “Noah moved here five years ago, and I joined him a couple years after that.”
Ryan put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “She couldn’t resist me.”
“True.” Paige turned an indulgent, love-filled expression toward her husband.
Cory’s gut twisted, and a hollow ache spread through her. She’d never have what they had. Never. Sergeant Dickhead had seen to that. She let the conversation go on without her, noticing Ted didn’t contribute either.
After her conversation with Paige about Ted, and what she’d overheard this morning, the dynamics of the group fascinated her. Hyperaware of Ted beside her, she was dying to ask questions that were none of her business. Everyone ordered the special of the day, and she did the same. Her mouth watered at the thought of meat loaf and mashed potatoes. Yep. Her appetite was definitely coming back.
After lunch with the crew, they returned to work and Cory continued to set up her computer while making small talk with Paige. The rest of the afternoon flew by, and her nerves were on edge at the thought of the ride home. She’d be alone with a guy she didn’t know. Logically, she knew nothing was likely to happen. One man had raped her, and it didn’t equate that all men were rapists because of that experience. And yet, here she was, a shaky, quaking mess. Logic didn’t factor in.
Paige shut her computer down and straightened the piles on her desk. “What did you think of your first day?”
“Perfect seems like a really nice town, and this business is unique. I was military for eight years. It’s going to take some time to get used to the way things are done, but it’s great.” Taking her cue from Paige, she closed things down for the day.
“We all have our routines at the end of our shifts. I clean out the coffeepot and get it ready for the night crew. I’m sure we’ll come up with something for you.” She stood up and grabbed her purse. “Come downstairs when you’re ready to leave.”
Gulp
. “I’ll come with you now if that’s all right.” Ted and Ryan had headed down the back stairs ten minutes ago. She didn’t want to be alone in their office, or on the second floor for that matter. Wesley and his dog emerged from the third floor just as they reached the stairs.
“How’d it go today?” He scrutinized her.
“It went fine.” He’d changed since their days in the trailer park. Wesley’s face had grown more angular, more intense, all traces of youthfulness gone, replaced by a hardened maturity. His hazel eyes held a haunted look, and deep lines etched the sides of his mouth. She hadn’t seen him smile once since she’d returned to Indiana. She missed his smiles.
His brow lowered. “For real?”
Gratitude flooded her. “For real. I’m glad you’re here. You know that, right?”
“Same back.” He pulled her in for a quick hug, releasing her before she could react. “Things are going to get better. You’ll see.”
She nodded. Wesley was the big brother she’d never had, and she’d missed him terribly once he’d left to join the marines. Maybe he was right, and being back home in Indiana would help her. She stepped into the production area just as the night crew began to filter in. The presence of more unfamiliar men made her anxious to leave. Wesley and Paige introduced her. She nodded a greeting and left to retrieve her belongings. She’d stashed them in the closet located between the storefront and the work space.
Ted appeared with his car keys in hand. “Ready?” He took the cardboard box she carried.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She gripped the shoulder strap of her duffel bag and followed him out to the alley. He led her to a classic Mustang convertible. “This is yours?”
“Yep.” He set her box inside the trunk and turned to take the duffel bag from her. “My aunt’s husband was the original owner. He died in Vietnam, and it sat under a tarp in the carriage house bay for years and years.” He opened the passenger door for her and walked around to the driver’s side. “Aunt Jenny gave it to me when I graduated from high school.”
She hesitated before getting in. The top was down, and that helped. Plus, he’d been so courteous. Finally, she climbed in and ran her hand over the cream-colored leather bucket seat. Nice.
Ted reached back to the floor behind him and drew out a Dick’s Sporting Goods bag, dropping it in her lap. “I got you something.”
She jerked and stared at the bag as if it might be an IED about to explode in her face. Baffled, she asked, “Why?”
“Noah told me what happened to you in Afghanistan. I want you to feel safe at L&L. That’s my first priority, helping you to feel in control and comfortable at work.”
Her face heated at the way he talked so frankly about her experience. What happened to her was none of his damn business. Her neck and shoulders stiff, she poured the contents of the sack onto her lap. “Pepper spray and a stun gun?” Tears pricked at her eyes, and the tension leached out of her.
His gift was so thoughtful and considerate she could hardly stand it. No man would give a woman pepper spray if he intended to cause her harm, would he? “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Do you have the keys for the carriage house?”
She nodded, unable to speak for the emotions choking her.
“Let me have them for a second.” He held out his hand.
Cory riffled through her purse for the key ring Noah had given her and handed it over. She watched as he attached her keys to the ring on the end of the leather case holding the pepper spray.
“Use them, Cory. If you ever feel the least bit threatened, use them first and ask questions later.” He sat back and stared at her, one eyebrow raised. “Even if it’s on me.”
She had to swallow several times before she could speak. “That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said or done for me.” Glancing into the warmth and sincerity of his wonderful gray eyes, she experienced another flutter, and this time she didn’t mind it so much.
“I’m hoping someday you’ll trust me enough not to need those.” He started the engine and pulled out into the alley.
“Why would you care?” She frowned. “You just met me for the first time this morning. What possible difference could it make to you whether or not I trust you?”