Georgie on His Mind (17 page)

Nice going, big mouth.

Walt could see his uncle's concerned stare from the corner of his eyes, so he quickly stopped beating himself up and
pasted on a fake smile. "Nope, it's my day off, so I'm here to
visit with you for as long as you want me"

"That's great. It's so nice to have a chat now and again.
Keeps my mind from worrying about the store" His uncle
leaned forward, shifting the pillows behind his back. He and
Walt were sitting companionably outside on Al's deck. The
weather was a little crisp to sit out for too long, but Al was
dying to get some fresh air since his knee surgery. The doctor had said his uncle was coming along fine and moving about
the house with his walker with no problem, but he'd still be
out from work for several more months.

Al's face suddenly lit up as he pointed toward the beach.
"Hey, look. There's some dolphins."

Walt pretended to follow his uncle's gaze, but his mind remained elsewhere. Nothing could hold his interest now-not
a visit with his uncle or dolphins swimming in the morning
sunlight. Heck, he wasn't sure if Angelina Jolie in a bikini
could hold his attention right now. He couldn't stop thinking
about the tears he'd seen in Georgie's eyes.

And, worse, how he had put them there.

"You seem troubled, Walt. Do you miss the city? Are you
adjusting to small-town living okay?"

Walt tried to take a deep breath, but his chest felt as if he
had a car parked on it. He really wished that the town itself
was the source of his problems. "No, I like Maritime City.
The people are just as nice as I remember. And business is
doing a little better too. I think the diabetes expo will make
an even bigger impact."

"Yes. Georgie had a great idea there. I told you she was
smart as a whip."

Walt could only grunt in response.

Al looked at him sharply. "I'm afraid I'm not quite up to
date with the young person's lingo. Is that grunt code for
something? Georgie giving you problems?"

Major problems. With her brother. With the store. With
his head. And most of all with his heart. "No, no problems
that I can think of."

Al sat back again. "Oh, that's good. Well, tell me, has
Georgie met any nice young fellows yet?"

"No," he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest and
giving in to his grouchy mood. "In fact, she's gone and won herself a date with that Clay Hayes character. A Hollywood
actor! Can you believe that one?"

"Ah, yes," Al said calmly, nodding. "I read that in the paper.
Well, that's nice. It's for the town and charity after all."

"Charity my big toe," Walt scoffed. "All that guy is after
is a little small town diversion with a pretty redhead who
happens to be too stubborn to realize that she's the small
town diversion."

Raising his eyebrows a clear inch up his forehead, Al
cleared his throat. "Oh, I see"

Walt caught the knowing look on his uncle's face and
grew defensive. What was the point of admitting how he felt
about Georgie? She had obviously put up a six-foot fence
around her feelings. He assumed that's why she'd picked
that fight with him at the pharmacy. That was her way of
dealing with things-lashing out then pushing away.

Well, maybe it was time for him to listen to her and
move on.

"No, Uncle. You don't see anything."

"But-"

"There's nothing to see"

"Oh, Is-"

"Don't say it again," he warned.

"If you say so"

"Well, I do"

Several seconds ticked by.

"So, how long have you felt this way about Georgie?" his
uncle finally asked.

Walt let out the breath he'd been holding and hung his
head in defeat. "I think ever since she accused me of stealing
those stupid condoms"

Al made a tsking sound. "Then I'm afraid you've got it
bad, my boy. Does Georgie know?"

"Yes. No. Sort of. Well, she knows I'm attracted to her.
And she's attracted to me. That's the kicker. But she keeps
shutting me out. It doesn't make any sense. Everything is so
crazy. She's crazy." And loyal, and hardworking, and smart,
and beautiful, and everything I could want in a woman.

Al looked at Walt like he was the one who was crazy.
"Georgie's crazy like a fox I'd say. She's probably just playing hard to get"

Walt wished it were as simple as a woman playing hard to
get, but he knew differently. Something more was going on.
"No, she's not a game player, not like Kiera was. Georgie is
unique. She's a very upfront woman, which is one of the things
I really like about her. I think she's got this notion in her
head that I'm like her brother, that I don't take her seriously.
I do take her seriously, but she misinterprets my caring about
her as interference. I don't know how to get through to her."

"Well, people besides her brother have been looking out
for Georgie for a long time. I think the whole townincluding myself and your aunt-took her under their wing
because she was so young when her parents died. It's only
natural that she'd get tired of the attention and want some
space to stand on her own two feet after a while."

"Thanks a lot," he shot back. "You're a big help. So you
think I should ignore my feelings and let her enjoy her independence, is that it?"

"Not at all, son. What I'm saying is that Georgie may
think she knows what she wants, but true feelings are always
in the heart, not in the head. Unfortunately the mind is a
pretty formidable opponent. Just show her the difference,
and you'll be fine"

Walt stared at Al for a few more moments, hoping more
aged wisdom would come from his uncle's mouth. When nothing else came forth, Walt made a face. "That's it? That's
the best advice you could give me? Am I the only person in
this town that can make sense?"

Al picked up the newspaper on the table and swatted Walt
with it.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing the back of his head. "Why did
you go and do that?"

"To knock some sense into that thick skull of yours, boy.
Listen up. I'm giving you some advice, but obviously you're
too dang proud to hear it. If Georgie thinks you're acting like
Brad, then for heaven's sake stop acting like a brother. Treat
her like she wants to be treated, so she can realize her feelings.
Don't just roll over and play dead"

Walt lowered his hand and thought for a minute. "So
you're saying I should ignore what she's been telling me and
just go after her?"

His uncle crossed his arms with a satisfied smile on his
lips. "The man can be taught"

Walt shook his head and chuckled. Obviously Uncle Al
was a romantic at heart, but he didn't understand the complications of how a man and woman dealt with one another in
this generation, especially when a man had to deal with as
big of a complication as Georgie Mayer. But at this point, he
had nothing to lose, aside from his friendship with her
brother. It was a risk he had to take. Starting right then, Walt
was going to show Georgie just how "unbrotherly" his feelings toward her were.

Georgie narrowed her eyes and gazed around the room
filled with people. Jake and Kendall's engagement party was
jumping. Groups of people huddled together in various spots
around the house, mingling and eating and laughing. She wanted to join them but she couldn't let herself relax and enjoy it quite yet. She had business to attend to first. She was
determined to help Brad out, whether he wanted it or not.

Jake's tiny rancher was jam-packed, only with very few
single women. Two out of the three firefighter platoons had
shown up to congratulate him on his engagement to Kendall.
Quite a few cops from the police department showed up too.
Kendall was beaming all night, but Georgie could tell she
was disappointed that Brad wasn't there. He surprisingly decided to put in for some overtime at work at the last minute.
He told Georgie that he'd try to swing by at the end of his
three to eleven shift, but that news didn't make her or Kendall
any happier. Brad seemed to be resorting to hermit status, purposely going out of his way to avoid a good time.

What was going on with him?

Georgie suddenly zeroed in on another potential date candidate for Brad and pulled out a small spiral notepad she'd
brought with her. She jotted down the name, then reviewed
the page. So far she had a pretty good list going. Eight women
in all. Not too shabby, especially in this type of atmosphere.
Georgie hated to use her friend's engagement party as a vehicle for acquiring dates for her brother, but the situation
was desperate. She had just heard from Dee that Brad had
already volunteered to be put on as one of the police escorts Clay Hayes would need when he got into town. Good
Lord. Hopefully, Brad wouldn't get the assignment. All
she needed was her brother accompanying her on a date.
She wasn't sure how much more of his overprotectiveness she
could take.

"At it again, are we?"

Georgie jumped even though Walt's question was said
soft and sexy in her ear. Where had he snuck up from? She
had seen him arrive at the party a little less than an hour ago but had craftily managed to avoid him-up until now,
that is.

She snapped her notebook shut and turned around, trying
not to let the delicious smell of him distract her. "No, as a matter of fact, we are not at it again. I am at it again." She shot her
hand to her mouth and winced. "Uh ... I mean, I'm not up to
anything. Just standing here, uh, enjoying a lovely party."

He grinned. "Right. I can see that," he said, motioning toward the notebook she had in her hand. "But as Brad's best
friend, I think I have to warn him this time."

"Well, as my friend, could you at least wait a few weeks
before you go and blabber to him about it?"

Walt's expression turned serious, and he dipped his head
so he could look directly into her eyes. "I don't know. Are
we still friends, Georgie?"

She smiled and allowed herself to get lost in the greengray depths of his earnest eyes. For only a moment, her
heart could afford just one small indulgence. "Yeah. I guess
we are"

Walt made a show of wiping imaginary sweat off his forehead.

She chuckled, and her heart felt ten times lighter, knowing
that they were still able to enjoy each other's company. The
last couple of days since their fight had been rough. She'd
missed this, his friendship, being able to laugh with him
again.

"Look, Walt, I've been meaning to say this to you but I
haven't had the chance. I ... I want to apologize for overreacting the other day in the pharmacy. I was in a mood, and I
took it out on you. I'm so sorry."

"Apology accepted," he said with a solemn nod. "But only
if you accept my apology first. I was way out of line too.
I shouldn't have called you a flighty brat"

"Thank you"

"I should have called you a conscientious brat instead."

She laughed but punched him on the arm. "Are you mocking me?"

Walt took hold of her fist and flattened her hand against
his heart. "Never," he said huskily.

As startling as a needle being pulled off a record player,
all joking ended between them in that split second. Red flags
waved in front of her eyes, and she suddenly grew wary of
his simple touch. She blinked and tried to weakly pull her
hand away from his, but he wouldn't let it go. He just kept
looking at her, his eyes steady and searching for something
she wasn't ready for him to see. Suddenly, she felt as if she
were standing in quicksand. And sinking fast.

"Don't," she whispered, tugging her hand again.

Walt tightened his grip, keeping her hand firmly against
his chest. "Don't what? Don't look at you? Don't touch you?
Don't be your friend? What exactly do you want from me,
Georgie?"

"I ... I .. " She groaned inwardly. What she wanted and
what she was afraid to want seemed to be the same thing.
Could she allow herself a little indulgence with Walt and still
keep her emotions in check? She didn't think so. She was so
afraid to let go and grow attached to someone again. Walt
hadn't been in town long. He hadn't even found permanent
housing yet. What if he decided to leave and move back to
Philadelphia? She had to protect herself.

"Well, well, Georgie," a woman's voice drawled from behind her, "you sure are batting a thousand this month"

Georgie slipped her hand from Walt's grasp, turned around, and saw Vivian Reynolds. Vivian moved to town a
few years ago with her husband, a frequent customer of the
pharmacy. She was a few years older than Georgie, now di vorced, and dating one of Jake's buddies in the fire department. But at the moment she'd seemed to have forgotten that
last little tidbit of information, seeing that her attention was
solely and inappropriately directed toward Walt.

"Hi, Vivian," Georgie said with a frown. "What do you
mean I'm batting a thousand this month?"

Vivian licked her clear-glossed lips, her half-lidded gaze
still focused hungrily on Walt. "I just mean, first you win a
date with that gorgeous Clay Hayes and now I find you holding hands with this charming specimen of a man. By the way,
I don't believe we've met," she said, shifting around Georgie.

Georgie folded her arms, not appreciating the sneaky way
Vivian had just inserted herself between her and Walt.
"Well, maybe if you shopped in the store more, you'd know
that this `charming specimen of a man' happens to be the
new pharmacist."

Vivian cocked a blond penciled eyebrow at Georgie's
curt tone, then turned her attention back to Walt. "You don't
say. Well, I'm Vivian Reynolds," she told him, holding out
her French-manicured hand to Walt, who politely took it
with a smile. "I'm sure you'll be seeing me around the store
a lot more"

"Oh, and why is that?" Georgie asked with exaggerated
innocence. "Did you hear about the sale we're having on
foot odor products this month?"

Walt raised his hand to muffle up his chuckle. Vivian shot
Georgie an evil scowl. "Well, I can see I'm crossing a heavily guarded line here. Are you and Walt dating?"