Moonlight Cove (6 page)

“He’s making my chicken and dumplings,” Nell told them. “I spoke to him a half hour ago, and he said his dumplings are lighter than air.” She looked doubtful. “We’ll see. It takes years of practice to get dumplings just right.”

“Oh, I think you can count on Kevin,” Abby said, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Gram might not be quite ready to yield her place as the family’s best cook. She seemed almost happier about their failures than about Kevin’s possible success.

Jess stepped in. “Gram, no matter how good Kevin’s dumplings are, they won’t be half as good as yours,” she assured her grandmother.

Nell looked pleased by the compliment. “I know you’re saying that just to spare my feelings, but I do appreciate it.”

Abby flushed guiltily when she realized she’d inadvertently upset Gram, but she wisely didn’t prolong the conversation. Instead, she turned her attention to Jess. “You look tired. Everything okay?”

“It’s been a wild couple of weeks at the inn,” Jess said, not about to reveal that she’d slept hardly a wink
since that infamous kiss Will had placed on her at Brady’s. She hadn’t been able to get it out of her head. Always restless, she’d been even more so than usual since that night.

Worse, Will had been making himself scarce. She’d even tried dropping into Sally’s at lunchtime, to no avail. Jake and Mack had been there without him. Since she didn’t want anyone to guess that she was practically chasing after him, she’d stopped going there or anywhere else she might bump into him.

“Then it doesn’t have anything to do with your social life?” Abby said, a wicked sparkle in her eyes.

“I have no social life,” Jess declared. “None.”

“Really?” Abby said. “Then Will didn’t—”

Jess cut her off. “I haven’t seen Will in ages.”

Gram listened to all this without a word, but Jess couldn’t help noticing the smile that was tugging at her lips. She frowned at her grandmother. “What?”

“I was just thinking that it’s a good thing Will’s coming for dinner today,” Nell said innocently. “The two of you will be able to catch up. Maybe get your stories straight.”

“Will is coming for dinner?” Jess repeated. “Who invited him?” If it was her father or Connor, she was going to kill them. “And what do you mean about getting our stories straight? There’s no story.”

“That’s not the way I hear it,” Gram said, then gave her a defiant look. “And I’m the one who invited him.”

“But—” She was about to protest, but Gram cut her off with a chiding look.

“You know he doesn’t have any family left in the area,” Gram said. “He should spend Sundays with
people who care about him. Will has always been welcome here. That is not about to change just because it might make you uncomfortable.”

“Who said anything about being uncomfortable?” Jess said. “I guess I’m just surprised that he accepted.” She’d have thought the O’Brien Sunday dinner would be the last place he’d want to be at the moment. Not only would he have to face her, but he’d have to deal with the prying eyes of her entire family.

“Of course he accepted,” Gram said. “Why wouldn’t he?”

“I just thought he might find it awkward,” Jess said before she’d considered the ramifications of such a remark.

“Why would Will feel awkward around us?” Abby asked, seizing on the comment. “Like Gram said, he’s practically family. He’s been hanging around with Kevin and Connor since grade school. I can’t even count the number of holidays he’s spent over here.”

“I just meant…” Jess began, then realized she had no reasonable explanation. “Oh, never mind. I’ll go see if Mom needs help setting the table.”

Before she could leave, though, her grandmother pinned her with a look. “You wouldn’t be trying to avoid talking about Will kissing you at Brady’s recently, would you?”

Jess regarded her with shock. “How do you know about that?”

Gram chuckled. “Word about a thing like that gets around.”

“Indeed, it does,” Abby agreed. Her broad grin proved she’d known about it, too. “Who knew Dillon Brady could be such a gossip?”

“I heard about it from his wife,” Gram added.

“Well, I have nothing to say about it,” Jess said, all but running from the kitchen.

“I imagine Will might be more forthcoming,” Gram called after her. “He’s awfully fond of my chicken and dumplings. I suspect that’ll loosen his tongue.”

Jess bit back a groan and kept going. If she could have, she would have bolted from the house and not looked back, but the commotion that would cause wasn’t worth it. Nope, she just had to stay here and do her best to steer clear of Will so that none of the too-eager observers in her family would get any wild ideas that something had changed between the two of them. If it had. She honestly couldn’t be sure.

When she found the dining room table set and no sign of her mother, she wandered outside. No sooner was she seated in a rocker on the porch than Will himself appeared, carrying a large bouquet of flowers.

She blinked at the lavish arrangement. “Will, that’s a really bad idea. You shouldn’t have brought me flowers. It will stir up a hornet’s nest.”

He laughed. “Then it’s a good thing they’re not for you. I brought them for your grandmother to thank her for including me today.”

Jess sat back, not sure whether she felt more embarrassed or deflated. “Oh, of course. She’ll love them. But you probably ought to know that she’s more interested in information.”

“Oh?” he said, immediately looking troubled.

“She’s heard about the kiss. So has Abby. I imagine everyone else knows about it by now as well. The way I hear it, Dillon and Kate are bigger blabbermouths than the O’Briens.”

He sat down hard in the chair next to hers. “I see.”

“Gram seems to think we should get our stories straight.”

He stared at her blankly. “What stories?”

“The ones where we deny it meant anything or try to convince them that our lips locked by accident,” she said with a shrug. “Anything to keep them from jumping on this and starting some kind of matchmaking frenzy.”

“Why do I think it’s probably too late for that?” he asked bleakly.

“Because you know the O’Briens. We’re nothing if not eager to meddle.”

“So what’s our story?” he asked. “Any thoughts?”

“I’m all for trying out the accidental lip-lock theory,” she said.

Will had the audacity to laugh. “No one who saw us that night is going to buy that. The first kiss, maybe, but there were two.”

Jess shivered. “I remember.” The second had been even more potent than the first. “Maybe they don’t know that.”

“Maybe instead of worrying about them, we should be focusing on what the kisses really meant,” he suggested, looking directly into her eyes in a way that disconcerted her.

Jess shook her head.

“Why not?”

“I’m not ready to start analyzing what happened,” she said.

“You’d rather pretend that nothing did?”

“I’d like to try,” she admitted wistfully. “But I’m pretty sure that’s going to be impossible.”

Will tried to conceal a smile but didn’t quite pull it off.

Jess scowled at him. “Don’t let that go to your head. I’m just saying it’s not so easy to un-ring that bell.”

“I wouldn’t dream of trying,” he said quickly.

She gave him a plaintive look. “Why did you come here today?”

He held her gaze for a long time before he said, “For your grandmother’s chicken and dumplings, of course.”

“You know Kevin cooked, right? It might not be the same as Gram’s.”

He laughed. “It’ll be close enough, I imagine. And it’s bound to be better than anything in my freezer.”

Jess felt guilty at even hinting that he shouldn’t have come. “Sorry. I’m being selfish. I’m just not ready to deal with any of this, I guess. Whatever
this
is.”

Instead of trying to define it for her, he plucked a white rose from the arrangement of hydrangeas and roses and held it out to her. “I don’t think Nell will miss it.”

She frowned, ignoring the flower. Maybe it was a sweet gesture, but suddenly she wasn’t in the mood for sweet gestures. “Thanks, but even that’s likely to arouse questions, Will. Just take the flowers inside and get them into water.”

He studied her quietly. “Jess, do we need to talk? We could leave and go somewhere else, if you want to.”

“What could we possibly need to discuss?” she said, not entirely sure why she was so annoyed. Nothing about this encounter had gone the way she’d expected it to. Truthfully, she wasn’t even sure what her expectations had been.

Will looked justifiably confused. “I’m not sure exactly what we need to talk about. I just know that you seem angry all of a sudden.”

“I’m not angry,” she said. Hurt, maybe. Confused, for sure. But not angry. Had that blasted kiss meant nothing, after all? Will was all about honesty and being direct, but he hadn’t said a single word to indicate that the kiss had affected him at all. She’d opened herself up—well, a little, anyway—but all he’d done was make light of what had happened.

Though he didn’t look as if he believed her denial about being angry, he simply nodded and stood up. “Then I’ll see you inside.”

After he’d gone, Jess sighed. This was going to be a whole lot harder than she’d anticipated. It was as if the kiss had unleashed all sorts of unexpected emotions, and now she was supposed to stuff them back inside and pretend they didn’t exist, not just in front of her family, but in front of Will, too.

A part of her wanted to march inside and throw caution to the wind, but she knew better, at least in this setting. Because if she did what she wanted to do and kissed Will in front of her entire family just to see if the experience was still magical, there would be no turning back.

And though she might not know much these days, she knew with every fiber of her being that she wasn’t ready for that.

W
ill didn’t have too much time to worry about Jess’s odd mood once dinner was over. They’d barely finished dessert when Susie appeared at his side.

“We need to talk,” she announced, her usually animated expression dejected. “Outside.”

Will glanced across the room, saw that Jess was slipping out through the kitchen and knew that she wasn’t likely to welcome him chasing after her. He forced a smile for Susie. “Sure,” he said. “Want to go for a walk on the beach?”

Though the fall day was surprisingly hot, there was a good breeze off the water. They fell into step and walked along the narrow strip of sand in silence.

He glanced over at her eventually. “You going to tell me why you wanted to talk to me?”

She sighed. “It’s Mack,” she said, then added in frustration, “It’s always Mack. The man is going to drive me insane.”

Will couldn’t keep himself from chuckling. “I think the effect is mutual.”

Susie waved off the comment. “Come on. Mack’s oblivious, and lately it’s been even worse than usual.”

“What do you mean?”

She paused and faced Will. “Can I be honest with you?”

“Of course.”

“And you won’t go running to Mack?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Okay, then,” she said, and drew in a deep breath. “I’m crazy about him. I have been for years.”

“Now there’s a news flash,” Will said before he could stop himself. He met her gaze and smiled. “I’m sorry. You’re not telling me anything I haven’t known before.”

She sighed. “I figured. I guess I knew it wasn’t a secret, but I kind of hoped I could pretend seeing him was no big deal. That way, if he walked away, which he’s eventually bound to do, my pride would still be intact.”

“Why are you so certain he’d leave you?”

“Because that’s what Mack does,” she said pragmatically. “He leaves. He thinks he’s just like his father, the sleaze who left before he was born. He’s spent his whole life proving it to himself by dating one woman after another and dumping every one of them. I think there were even a few along the way that he actually liked, but he didn’t stick around long enough to see if the relationship would work. I watched him do it all through high school and college. Even though I had feelings for him, I vowed it wasn’t going to happen to me.”

“So you decided to be his friend,” Will concluded.

Susie nodded. “Men might leave women, but they usually keep their friends. Just look at you, Jake and
Mack. You’re like the three musketeers or something. I wanted that kind of relationship with Mack, one that would last. I figured if it was easy, with no demands or expectations, maybe he’d relax.”

“And finally notice you?” Will suggested gently.

Susie nodded, her expression miserable. “A while back, when Shanna first came to town and got involved with Kevin, she told me she thought Mack was crazy about me. I actually started to get my hopes up. I figured, hey, if an objective observer noticed something, then maybe it was true.” She sighed. “But nothing changed. Now I don’t know if it ever will. It’s like we’re locked in this pattern and we’re both too scared to risk changing it.”

She gave him a hopeful look. “Do you think it’s possible to ever break out of the friend mold? Or have I doomed myself by making such a big deal of the fact that I’d never date Mack?”

Will thought about her question. “In some ways, I do think it’s harder to go from being friends to being something more. If the friendship matters, no one wants to take the risk of changing things.”

“Tell me about it,” she said gloomily.

“But here’s the thing,” Will told her. “If you don’t ask for more or expect more from Mack—if you just stick with the status quo—will you ever be truly happy? Sometimes you have to take the risk of losing it all to get what you really want.”

Susie blinked at the question, then grinned. “That sounds a lot like the pot calling the kettle black,” she said. “Have you ever asked yourself the same thing about Jess?”

Will frowned. He’d asked himself that very thing
just days earlier. He wasn’t about to discuss it with Susie, though. “I thought we were talking about you and Mack.”

“We can spend a couple of minutes on you, while we’re at it,” she said. “It’ll make me feel better to focus on someone else’s mixed-up love life.”

“Not necessary,” Will said adamantly. “You’ve told me why you and Mack got stuck in this nonrelationship thing, and I get it. Up until now you’ve been content to leave things alone. What’s changed?”

To his dismay, tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “The last couple of weeks, it’s as if he’s been backing away, and I have no idea why.” She met Will’s gaze. “If I lose him as a friend, it’ll be pretty ironic, don’t you think? Especially after all I’ve done to make sure that’s enough for me. I mean, I’ve been lying to myself for years now that being friends is better than nothing. Other guys have asked me out, but I wasn’t interested. Mack was always around, so who had time for someone else, anyway?” She shook her head. “I am such an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Will soothed. “You made a choice that seemed right at the time.”

“Well, obviously it was a lousy choice.”

Will resisted the urge to smile. “Really? You and Mack have been pretty tight for years now. You’re so close, you practically complete each other’s sentences, just the way a married couple does. Surely that’s worth something.” He met her gaze. “Have you tried to talk to him about this?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to make too big a deal out of it.”

Will saw the trap she’d created for herself. Friends
gave each other space. They didn’t crowd each other or sit down and have deep relationship talks.

“It’s quite a dilemma, isn’t it, trying to maintain the illusion that Mack doesn’t really matter to you?” Will said, regarding her with sympathy.

“It sucks,” she said candidly.

“Maybe it’s time to stop pretending,” Will suggested.

“I don’t know if I can. I don’t want to lose him, Will.”

“But you don’t have him now,” he pointed out.

“He’s my friend now,” she corrected.

“Then you should be able to go to him and ask what’s going on,” Will told her.

“I thought maybe you could just tell me, and then I’d know what he needs from me.”

Will laughed. “If I promised to keep your confidence, what makes you think I’d violate his?”

Her expression brightened. “Then something is going on and you do know what it is,” she said triumphantly.

“Talk to Mack,” he advised.

“You won’t even give me a hint?”

“Not a chance.”

“I guess I knew you wouldn’t tell me,” she said, looking resigned. “Do you want to talk about Jess now?”

“I do not,” he said emphatically.

For the first time since they’d begun their walk, Susie laughed. “I figured as much. We’re quite a pair, aren’t we?”

Will sighed. “We are, indeed.”

Jess had watched Will head off to the beach with Susie, and an unfamiliar feeling had stirred inside her,
one she’d never felt before, at least in connection with Will. It was flat-out jealousy. She knew it was ridiculous on a whole lot of levels, especially since everyone knew Susie had eyes only for Mack, but there it was. Jess didn’t like staying behind while Will was off with another woman, especially Susie. She’d had some kind of crazy rivalry going with her too-perfect cousin for years now. That’s probably all it was, not wanting to share Will with the cousin who already had everything Jess had always wanted: respect, academic success, popularity.

This cannot happen,
she told herself adamantly. She was not going to turn into that kind of woman. She already had enough insecurities without allowing Will to turn her into some kind of jealous freak. Nothing good came out of that dark emotion.

She probably ought to leave, just go back to the inn and dig into the pile of paperwork on her desk. It hadn’t gone away, and there was certainly enough there to keep her distracted for hours. Or there would have been, if she’d been able to concentrate on anything for hours. Her ADD precluded that.

She’d been cleaning out the attic recently, hoping to eventually convert it into another guestroom and bath. She could do that, she thought, her gaze still straying toward the bay as she watched for some sign of Will and Susie returning.

“Looking for someone?” Abby inquired, coming outside to perch on the porch railing in front of her.

“No,” she lied. “Just relaxing.”

“You could always go down to the beach and catch up with Will and Susie,” Abby said.

Jess scowled at her. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Because sitting here waiting for them to come back is making you crazy,” Abby said. “You do know you have nothing to worry about with those two, don’t you?”

“Of course I know,” she said.

“Then why the glum expression?”

“Because apparently I’ve lost my grip on reality recently,” Jess admitted reluctantly.

Abby chuckled. “You mean because you liked kissing Will?”

Jess nodded. “Who knew the man could kiss like that? It caught me off guard. I mean, that’s probably all it was, right?”

“Is that what you think?” Abby said.

Jess nodded, eager to seize on the explanation. “I’m sure that’s it.” She cast a plaintive look at her big sister. “Remember how you tried to fix Heather up with some guy from your office just to get Connor all worked up?”

“I remember,” Abby said.

“Why haven’t you ever tried to fix me up? Is it because you don’t think I’m capable of settling down?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Abby said. “I think when the right man comes along, you’re going to be a wonderful wife and mother. And if you’d ever asked me to fix you up, I’d have done it happily.”

Jess wasn’t entirely sure she believed her. “Really? Despite the whole ADD thing?”

“Sweetie, you’ve been managing that really well. Look at the inn. It’s a huge success. You’ve figured out what you need to do to handle all the demands of the job.
You’ve learned how to ask for help when you need it. You’ll do the same when it comes to having a family.”

Jess sighed. “I want to believe that. But even you have to admit, when it comes to men, my attention span has been pretty short.”

“Maybe that’s the ADD, or maybe it’s because none of them were right for you,” Abby said. “Remember all those jobs you had before you opened the inn? They just weren’t what you needed. The inn was. The same will hold true for a man.”

“I hope you’re right. If I ever do get married, I want it to last,” Jess said wistfully. “I want to have what you and Bree have found with Trace and Jake, what Kevin has with Shanna and Connor has with Heather.”

“You’re a gorgeous, smart, exciting, unpredictable woman, and I mean that in the best way. You’ll find everything you deserve. I promise you that.” Abby grinned. “And if you don’t find it on your own, you know Dad will stick his nose into it sooner or later.”

“Heaven forbid!” Jess said with feeling. She stood up, then cast one last look toward the steps up from the beach. Still no sign of Will and Susie, but she didn’t feel quite so crazed about it. “Thanks, Abby. As always, you’ve grounded me. I think I’ll head back to the inn.”

“If you need any help with the bills, let me know,” Abby said casually.

Jess bristled. “Between the accountant and me, everything’s under control,” she said.

“It was just an offer,” Abby chided. “Just a reminder that I’m here if you need me.”

Jess sighed. “I know. Sorry. Actually, though, I think I’m going to do something physical. I need to burn off some energy. I bought a bunch of boxes the other day,
so I thought I’d pack up some of the stuff in the attic and get it ready to give away. When I can free up some money, I’d like to get that area converted into another guestroom and bath, maybe even make it a honeymoon suite. There’s a glorious view from up there.”

She waited for Abby to scold her about spending money she didn’t have, but surprisingly, her sister, the family financial wizard, nodded.

“Sounds like a smart idea,” Abby said approvingly. “Why don’t you have Dad take a look and give you an estimate?”

Jess stared at her. “Seriously?”

Abby held up a cautioning hand. “It depends on the numbers, but yes, it’s worth checking out. We’ll see if we can figure out a way to make it happen.”

Jess threw her arms around her sister and gave her a fierce hug. “Thanks, Abby.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re the one who’s made the inn into a business worth expanding.”

Jess felt herself standing a little taller at the praise. “I have, haven’t I?”

All thoughts of Will forgotten for the moment, she headed back to the inn with her step considerably lighter than it had been just a half-hour earlier.

Jess had changed into old shorts and a tanktop before heading up to the dusty attic. Over the past few years, she’d spent a few scattered hours up here, getting lost in some of the old books she’d found in the trunks that had been stored here for years before she’d bought the place. Today, though, she was determined to stay focused.

Armed with boxes and garbage bags, she intended to sort things into three batches—items to be given away,
those she might be able to use in the inn, and trash that wasn’t worth keeping. Unfortunately, all of it came with a heavy layer of dust, so she spent almost as much time sneezing and wiping things off as she did making decisions.

She’d been at it for an hour when she heard footsteps approaching. When Will appeared at the top of the stairs, a grin broke across his face.

“You’re quite a picture,” he commented.

“Thanks,” she said wryly. “You might want to reconsider coming up here in your good clothes.”

“Everything I’m wearing is washable,” he said of his neatly pressed chinos and the dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up. Still, he stood hesitantly. “Want some help? Abby mentioned you were over here trying to sort through all this stuff.” He glanced at the trash bags she’d already filled. “I could at least haul those downstairs for you.”

“That would be fantastic,” she said gratefully, “if you’re sure you don’t mind.”