Authors: Leanne Banks
Cecelia spent the next hour digesting what Nick had told her. Sometimes when she looked at him, she felt caught between two men. There was the flirty, fun guy, and the other, deeper Nick. The Nick who did favors for people who couldn't pay him back. The softy. Oh, Lordy, he would hate being called a softy, and the truth was he was pretty darn tough. But underneath the fact that he was hardheaded and way too devil-may-care for her taste, he had a good heart. He sure seemed to try to hide it, but the truth leaked out every now and then. And lately it grabbed at her in a vulnerable place.
From across the room, he met her gaze and gave her a nod. Her stomach took an odd dip.
Behind her, she heard the sound of a girl crying. Cecelia automatically turned and saw a young teen covering her face as she stood in a darkened corner. Cecelia glanced toward Nick and twirled her finger to let him know there was a problem. She walked toward the young teen.
“Hey,” Cecelia said. “Anything I can do to help?”
The teen shook her head then sobbed.
“Are you sure?” Cecelia asked. “Maybe a cup of punch?”
“No,” the girl said. “My life is ruined. Justin broke up with me.”
Nick walked toward them. “Problem?” he asked.
“She's not having a great time at the dance,” Cecelia said. “Her boyfriend broke up with her.”
Nick looked at Cecelia helplessly.
“You want a cookie? I like to eat when I'm upset,” Nick said. “And Cecelia likes to bake.”
The girl lowered her hands and swiped at her cheeks. “You do?” she asked. “Are guys mean to you?”
Cecelia bit her lip. “Sometimes,” Cecelia said. “Unfortunately some guys can be jerks at any age. Right, Nick?”
“Well, yeah,” he said. “That's what I hear. I mean, I'm not a jerk,” he added, shooting Cecelia a glance of extreme discomfort.
The girl looked from Cecelia to Nick. “Are you two together?” she asked.
Nick nodded. “Yep. We're both chaperoning tonight.”
“No,” Cecelia corrected. “We're just friends.”
“Oh,” the girl said, looking disappointed.
“We've been friends a long time, though,” Nick said. “Since we were kids. Sometimes having a good friend is better than having a romance.”
“That's what Justin said. He just wanted to be friends.” She glanced at the dance floor. “He's dancing with Katie.”
“Rearview mirror,” Nick said firmly.
“What do you mean?” the teen asked.
“Justin's in your rearview mirror. You need to see what's in front of you. Find someone else,” he said.
“Oh, I don't know if I'll ever get over Justin,” she said, her face starting to crumple.
“How about you hang out with us for a while, then?” Cecelia offered. “We won't be dancing, butâ”
“Definitely not dancing,” Nick said.
“Okay,” the girl said. “I'm Jessica.”
Cecelia chatted with Jessica while she supervised the punch table. Nick came over and talked with her for a few minutes while Cecelia took a restroom break. When she returned, Jessica was on the dance floor.
“How did that happen?” Cecelia asked Nick.
“I went to get her a cookie and some guy was talking to her. Before I knew it, she was on the dance floor.”
At that moment, the DJ announced the last dance.
“Best news ever,” Nick said, and brushed his hands together. “The root canal is almost over.”
“Who's being a drama queen now?” she asked him.
Within minutes, the kids cleared out of the community center. Nick and Cecelia helped the other volunteers clean up then headed for his truck.
Cecelia seemed especially quiet as she got into the passenger seat. Nick wondered what was bothering her. He glanced at her as he drove to the rooming house.
“Looks like Justin is officially rearview mirror status,” he said with a nod. “Women are fickle.”
“And men aren't?” Cecelia returned. “Young hearts break easily. Thank goodness they heal pretty quickly, too.”
“You sound like you know a lot about it,” Nick said, pulling next to the curb.
“I know enough,” she said. “I understand how Jessica feels, although I'm out of the drama teen zone.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
She gave a heavy sigh. “I don't want to be used, but...”
“But what?” he asked. He hated it when Cecelia was unhappy.
“At the same time, I still would like for a man to look at me as, wellâ” She broke off and shook her head. “Forget it.”
“No way,” he said, touching her arm. “Finish what you were saying.”
She shrugged. “I want a man to look at me as sexually desirable.”
Nick blinked, at a temporary loss for words. “Oh.”
Her eyes darkened with sadness. “So, it's that impossible without a skirt or red lipstick,” she said.
“No,” he said. “But you have to remember guys areâ” He cleared his throat. “Most guys can be a little slow. That's why I told you to wear lipstick.”
“But what if no one wants me without lipstick?” she asked, and her expression nearly broke his heart.
“It won't happen that way,” he said. “The lipstick is the lure. It's like bait for a fish.”
“So I'm going to end up with a dead fish?” she asked. “That's what I'm going to get for wearing lipstick and a skirt?”
Nick cringed and swore under his breath. This was turning out to be a lot harder than he'd expected. He searched for a diversionary topic, but his brain was filled with sugar from the cookies at the dance. “Hey,” he said. “Hey.”
She looked at him in confusion. “Hey, what?”
He nodded. “I think there may be something brewing between Beth Crowder and Will Duncan,” he managed.
“What?” she said in shock. “But...but she's so much younger.” She broke off and lowered her voice. “He's a grandfather.”
“But he's a really good guy. She said that to me. I told her he was looking for paid help and she said she wouldn't feel right about it.”
“That doesn't mean she has special feelings for him,” Cecelia said. “Although...”
“Although what?” he prompted.
“I asked her about her visit to the Duncan family and she was a bit evasive.” She paused and met his gaze. “Do you really think this is possible? It would be so great, but I'm afraid to hope for it.”
“Maybe we should push it along,” he said, even though he was against marriage for himself.
“How?” she asked.
“We can put them together,” he said.
“How?” she repeated.
“I don't know. There's got to be a way,” he said. “Sleep on it,” he said as he got out of the truck.
“Hmm,” she said, joining him as they walked up the steps to the porch. “I'll think about it.”
Good,
he thought. Think about that instead of the dead fish.
* * *
The next morning, Cecelia rose early. She'd had a hard time going to sleep as she thought about Nick and his memories of dancing. She tried to refocus and plotted and schemed about getting Beth Crowder and Will Duncan together. She wondered if she should be doing all this scheming and decided it shouldn't hurt anyone if it didn't work out. Hopefully.
After taking a shower, getting dressed and carefully applying her lipstick, she went to Nick's room and knocked on the door. No answer. She knocked again and the door whipped open.
Nick stood, a towel wrapped around his lower body and water droplets dotting his shoulders and chest. “What?”
She cleared her throat and tried not to focus on his bare chest and shoulders. “I have an idea for Beth Crowder and Will Duncan, but you need to help. I need you to get down to breakfast ASAP.”
“What's the idea?” he asked.
The sight of those water droplets made her feel suddenly thirsty. “Just come downstairs and follow my lead,” she said and turned away. “Hurry.”
She heard Nick grumble then close the door. Cecelia slumped in relief. She never wanted to see him half-naked again. Never. Ever.
Cecelia cooled her heels a few moments until Nick appeared from his room. She was so grateful he was dressed although he looked more than a bit cranky. “This better be good,” he said to her.
“It will be fabulous,” she said even though she was still formulating her plan.
“What put this bee in your behind?”
“You did,” she said. “You mentioned it last night.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “I guess I did. So what's the plan?”
“Follow along,” she said and led the way down the stairs.
“I'm not a good follower,” he muttered.
“Work on it,” she said over her shoulder and continued toward the kitchen. “Oh, hi, Beth, how are you today?”
“Good,” the middle-aged woman said. “And you?”
“Great,” Cecelia said and fixed her own plate of eggs and toast. She skipped the apple pie because she rarely wanted to eat whatever she cooked. It was a curse. “Listen, I'm a little concerned about Will Duncan.”
Beth's eyes widened. “Has something happened?”
“Not that I know of, but Will wouldn't ask for help until he was in the hospital. Right?” she asked, nudging Nick, who was just behind her.
“Right,” he said. “He's all about suffering in silence.”
“I wondered if he might be more responsive to you,” Cecelia said.
“Me?” Beth echoed. “Why me?”
“Well, for one thing, you're neutral. And you're so kind. You make everyone feel at ease,” Cecelia said.
Beth dipped her head. “That's nice of you to say.”
“So what do you think? Do you mind checking on the Duncans during the next couple of weeks? I don't mean to add to your busy schedule, butâ”
“No, no,” Beth said. “I'm happy to check on them. Will is such an outstanding man. It's the least I can do.”
“But don't do it out of pity,” Nick said.
Both Cecelia and Beth stared at him.
“He's a man. He wouldn't want your pity,” Nick said.
Beth gave a slow nod. “Of course,” she said. “I never thought of pitying him. He's such a strong man.”
Cecelia exchanged a quick glance with Nick. She saw a glint of understanding. “Of course you didn't, Beth. Now,” she said, “can I help you serve breakfast?”
“Oh, no,” Beth said dismissively. “I'm ahead of the game this morning. Quiche, bacon, sausage, potatoes and your fabulous apple pie, which is almost gone.”
“Gotta get that,” Nick said, rushing toward the counter.
“You've already had two pieces,” Cecelia said.
“That was yesterday,” he retorted and began to fill his plate.
“I have a friend,” Cecelia said. “She says men are pigs.”
“There are times when I would have agreed with you,” Beth said. “But I think that expression is extreme. Men can be primitive.”
“True,” Cecelia said. “Very true.”
“But your Nick has a good heart,” Beth said.
“He's not
my
Nick,” Cecelia said.
“So you say,” Beth said with a grin. “Excuse me. I need to refill the hash brown potatoes.”
Cecelia frowned as she filled her plate.
My
Nick? she thought. That wasn't good. Why would anyone think that? It wasn't as if she and Nick spent that much time together. Except when they went to the bar. Or got a doughnut. Or ice cream.
She bit her lip then took a seat at the table and dug into her breakfast.
“We hooked her,” Nick said in a low voice. “Why aren't you happy?”
“I am,” she said and took a bite of quiche.
“If that's happy, I'd hate to see sad or mad,” he said.
“Just eat,” she said. “You got your apple pie. You've got your different girl-a-week,” she said and stuffed another bite in her mouth.
“Different girl-a-week?” he repeated.
So conflicted she couldn't stand it one moment longer, Cecelia stood. “Just stuff it.”
* * *
Just as Cecelia stepped out of the general store, she spotted her longtime friend Jazzy Cates parking her car across the street.
“Hey there,” Cecelia called.
Jazzy glanced up and smiled. “Hey to you! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever.”
“What are you doing in town?” Cecelia asked as she walked toward Jazzy.
“Dropping off a few packages. You want to grab a cup of coffee?”
“Sure,” Cecelia said and they walked toward Daisy's Donut Shop. Once inside, they ordered their coffee.
“It's so nice out. Do you mind if we walk instead of sit? I want to enjoy every bit of good weather before winter hits,” Jazzy said after they'd made their purchases.
“And since it's Montana, winter could hit next week,” Cecelia said as she and Jazzy stepped from the small shop into the sunshine.
“How have you been doing?” Cecelia asked.
“Crazy busy,” Jazzy said. Then she smiled. “But very happy with Brooks.”
Cecelia felt a rush of happiness for her friend. At the same time, she couldn't help feeling a slice of envy. “Who would have known you could end up happily married after your fake marriage?”
Jazzy smiled again. “We're both pinching ourselves that things turned out so well. I do love him,” she confessed.
“I'm happy for you,” Cecelia said. “I really am. I just don't know what's in my future.”
“What do you mean?” Jazzy asked.
“You have to swear you won't tell anyone,” Cecelia said.
“Of course I won't,” Jazzy said, and took a sip of coffee.
“I'm starting to have feelings for Nick,” Cecelia confessed.
Jazzy gaped at her. “Oh, no. Tell me that's not true.”
Cecelia winced. She had half hoped that Jazzy would think she might stand a chance with Nick. “I don't know when it happened, because heaven knows I've been able to keep a wall up against him in the past. Ever since he's been trying to help me find a man, I've been struggling with my attraction to him.”