Read Smart Girls Think Twice Online
Authors: Cathie Linz
Tags: #Romance, #Man-Woman Relationships, #Pennsylvania, #Single Women, #Contemporary, #General, #Sociologists, #Fiction, #Love Stories
“Come on, Mutt,” Oliver said. “We’re not wanted here.”
He’d barely closed the door before Jake had Emma in his arms again. He was peeling her T-shirt off while kissing her with fiery urgency. “I got more condoms,” he told her.
“Good.” She removed his T-shirt and undid his jeans. “I hope you brought more than one.”
He held out a handful. Her eyes widened as she started counting. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven—”
“Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?” a naked and fully aroused Jake demanded before scooping her in his arms and depositing her on the still unmade futon.
The only talking she did after that was to shout his name each time he brought her to the heights of an orgasm.
“I call this meeting to order.” Bart Chumley banged his gavel to indicate he meant business.
Bart had invited Emma to attend tonight’s community meeting because he wanted to address the concerns some of Rock Creek’s citizens had stated. She recognized many of the faces in the meeting room, including Roy. She sat as far away from him as possible.
Emma was still finding it a little difficult to concentrate after her marathon sex with Jake, a fact that Oliver had noticed when he and Lulu accompanied her to the meeting. Tonight Lulu was wearing her ALLERGIC TO STUPID PEOPLE T-shirt.
Emma hoped that Oliver wouldn’t make any comments about Jake not coming home last night.
She really didn’t want her private life being dissected by Lulu or anyone else.
“As you know, some people have expressed certain concerns regarding the revitalization of Rock Creek,” Bart said. “I’m here this evening to assure you that these changes are all positive ones.”
“It’s not positive when a man can’t even walk into his local bar without out-of-towners getting all pissy on you,” Roy said. “There was nothing wrong with this town before.”
“Except that a majority of the buildings along Barwell Street were empty.”
“As long as the bar stays open, I don’t care.”
“You should care,” Bart said. “This is your hometown, and if we don’t take action, then it’s going to die. The young people will keep leaving and pretty soon the place will be a ghost town.”
“We don’t need people like her”—Roy stood and pointed directly at Emma—“coming in and stirring up trouble.”
“Emma, would you care to say a few words?” Bart invited.
o, I’d rather eat bugs.
She reluctantly stood.
“Do you want to come up here to the podium?”
o, I want to leave the building.
Instead Emma made her way to the front of the room, pretending she was just speaking to another freshman class of students, albeit a hostile class.
“I’m really only here to observe and not interfere.”
“Yeah, right,” Roy scoffed. “If you believe that, then I’ve got some Enron stock to sell you.”
“You should all be proud of the way that Rock Creek has continued to evolve,” Emma said.
“She’s one of those evolutionists,” Roy told the others. “They invade God-fearing towns with their liberal ideas and beliefs.”
“Yeah, and then we snatch your body and ship it to outer space,” Lulu said.
Roy’s face flushed as several people laughed at Lulu’s mocking comment.
“Nothing you did would surprise me,” Roy said.
Sister Mary stood to speak. The crowd quieted. “Most of the small businesses are entrepreneur driven, and I believe the concern some have is that those kinds of businesses don’t create a lot of jobs.”
“Right,” Roy said. “We need something big like the lunch-pail factory.”
“Those jobs are gone,” Bart returned to the podium to say. “And they aren’t coming back.”
He held up his hand to quell the crowd’s grumbling. “But I agree that we do need larger-scale businesses and companies that are able to offer more jobs, and that’s something we need to investigate further.”
Bart gestured for Emma to add a few words. “You know it’s natural for people to be afraid of change,” Emma began when Roy interrupted her.
“I’m not afraid of anything!”
“No? I heard she beat you up her first day in town,” someone in the back row yelled out.
Emma refused to let things get out of hand. She’d once had to deal with a food fight in the middle of one of her classes. She could certainly deal with this. “Violence never solves anything,” she firmly stated.
“Then why did you beat Roy up?”
“That’s not what happened. Regardless, that incident was a mistake and I’m sorry. Now if we could return to the matter of Rock Creek. I think we all share the same love for our hometown, and we all want what’s best for it to continue.”
“Not if it means turning the place into some haven for weirdos,” Roy said.
The meeting deteriorated after that, with the attendees leaping to their feet and shouting their differing opinions.
“And that concludes our meeting tonight,” Bart said with the calmness of a circus ringmaster.
“Thanks for coming out this evening, folks, and drive home safe.”
Wednesday morning, 10 a.m. Jake stood outside of Crumpler’s Auto Parts for fifteen minutes trying to screw up his courage to go inside. He studied the sign in the window—
WE HAVE THE BEST PARTS AROUND—as if it held the answers to all the questions he had. Stupid. Finally he just walked inside.
“Hi, there,” Nancy greeted him. “Do you need a part for your Jeep, or have you come to get those NASCAR lessons I offered you?”
“Neither.” Jake paused, uncharacteristically nervous. Speeding down mountains was what he did best. This interpersonal stuff was not his strength. He’d been trying for days to come up with a good way to approach the subject and he had nada. “Look, I know this sort of comes out of left field, but bear with me here. I, uh . . . hell, I’m just going to flat out ask you.” But he didn’t know how to do that without sounding like an idiot. “I was adopted as a baby. I’m, uh, doing a kind of personal search.”
“And you need my help in your search for your birth mother?”
“You could say that.”
“Well, hell yes, I’ll help any way I can.” She patted his hand reassuringly. “What do you want to know?”
“Is it you?”
Nancy frowned in confusion. “Is what me?”
“Did you have a baby and give it up for adoption?”
“Are you going around town asking all the women this question?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what makes you ask me?”
“You’re the right age. I don’t have much to go on,” he admitted. “Just that the birth mother is from Rock Creek and her age. The investigator I hired narrowed it down to three candidates.”
“And I’m one of those candidates? Because of my age?”
“And other factors.”
“Well, before you get your hopes up, I can’t be your birth mother since I never had a baby that I gave up for adoption.”
He believed her.
“Who are the other candidates?” she asked.
“I’d rather not say.”
“Am I the first one you asked?”
“Directly asked, yes.”
“Is that why you’re here in Rock Creek, to find your birth mother?”
“Yeah, and I’d appreciate it if you kept that piece of information to yourself.”
“No problem. I can do that. I’m good at doing that.”
“Yeah?” he wasn’t really paying attention because it was starting to sink in that Zoe was winning the possible-birth-mother race by default. Odds were she was his birth mother, unless he’d messed up and none of them were.
“Yeah,” Nancy said. “What about the resort rumor? Was that just a story to cover your real reasons for being here?”
“I didn’t start that rumor. People just made assumptions.”
“Yeah, people tend to do that. Does Emma know?”
Jake shook his head.
“I don’t usually give advice . . . well, okay, I do. But only to people I think deserve my help.
But I think you should tell Emma.”
“She’s busy with her sister’s wedding plans.”
“Well, right after the wedding then.”
“I’m not the kind of guy who talks about my private life.”
“Not even with the woman in your life?”
Jake shrugged.
“So you haven’t told Emma much about your life?”
Another shrug.
“You don’t think she’s going to find out when you discover who your birth mother is? And you don’t think she’s going to be hurt that you didn’t confide in her? Didn’t trust her?”
“It’s not a matter of trust.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Okay, so maybe it is. So what?”
“So who else knows the real reason you’re here?”
“Just you.”
“And you only told me out of desperation.”
“I wouldn’t put it that way. I was running out of options so I decided to just come out and ask you.”
“If it’s not me, do you know who it might be?”
“Yeah, I have an idea.”
She waited for him to say more. He kept quiet. She sighed. “Okay, I can tell you’re not going to give me any more information. Just know that if you need any moral support, I’m here. My sister is a nun. Some of that empathy has rubbed off on me. Not a hell of a lot, but some.”
“Thanks but—”
“You’re a loner used to doing things on your own. I got that. But I still think you need to tell Emma . . . soon. Especially if the two of you are getting close.”
Jake made no comment. Emma had gotten close to him in ways he hadn’t expected and didn’t quite know how to deal with. So he preferred not to think about it. The sex had been great. He knew it was more than sex, knew she made him feel and think things he never had before. And that freaked him out more than he liked.
Chapter Fifteen
“
Oh
no!” Emma consulted her Blackberry and the detailed wedding “Master Schedule”
Leena had painstakingly entered into a Microsoft Outlook spreadsheet program.
7:45 a.m.—Hair for bride and bridal party
9 a.m.—Makeup for bride and bridal party
11 a.m.—Videographer arrives
Noon—Limo arrives for bride and bridal party
12:20 p.m.—Groom arrives at church
12:25 p.m.—Groom meets photographer at St. Francis
church parking lot for groom and groomsmen photos
Emma stopped checking her Blackberry and glanced at her watch: 7:55 a.m. Damn, she was already late. Leena was going to kill her.
Reaching into her parked Prius, Emma grabbed the garment bag holding her cornflower blue bridesmaid’s dress, her backpack, and a tote bag filled with miscellaneous stuff and took off toward the groom’s house behind the Rock Creek Animal Clinic. Leena had taken over the large house and temporarily given her groom-to-be the boot during the preparations. “Sorry I’m late,”
Emma was breathless from running . . . and from the memory of making love with Jake until the wee hours of the morning.
“I was a little late too.” Mindy, Leena’s friend from high school and a fellow bridesmaid, gave Emma a reassuring smile.
Leena was not equally welcoming. “I told everyone to be here earlier than the schedule said.”
“I know, I know.” Emma hung her head.
Sue Ellen sidled up to her and whispered, “Bad hormone alert.”
Emma looked at her.
“Not me,” Sue Ellen said. “Leena.”
“Just a reminder, I’m not doing the bouquet-throwing thing,” Leena stated. “I’m not lining up my single friends and humiliating them.”
“Because they feel bad enough as it is. Isn’t that right, Emma?” Sue Ellen said.
Emma got defensive as all eyes turned to her. “Why ask me?”
“Because you’re single.”
“And likely to remain that way for the rest of my life, right?”
“Uh, maybe.” Sue Ellen blinked, clearly surprised by Emma’s attitude. “You told Mom you didn’t want to get married.”
“Maybe I lied.”
“You don’t usually lie, do you?”
Emma squirmed guiltily before regaining control. “Why are we even having this discussion now? Leena is supposed to be getting ready for her wedding. Aren’t we supposed to be getting our hair done now?”
“Right.” Leena clapped her hands to get their attention. “Everyone, this is Cherry. She’s the best hair person in the state. She’s here with Kelly, who is our makeup artist. They’ve both worked on high fashion shoots so they know what they’re doing.”
“Speaking of high fashion photo shoots, what did you decide about trashing your wedding dress?” Sue Ellen asked Leena.
Seeing Emma’s startled expression, Leena explained. “The top wedding photographers in the country are taking cutting-edge photos of brides rolling in the sand with their grooms, or splashing through the surf, or standing in the water of a large fountain. They create photos that are unique and creative, not stiffly posed. Some brides even buy less-expensive wedding dresses specifically so they can get them dirty.”
“So are you trashing your dress?” Emma asked.
“It’s a Vera Wang,” Leena said reverently. “I decided I just couldn’t do it.”
“Besides, we’re miles from the ocean,” Sue Ellen said. “But there is a large fountain on the church grounds.”
“Right. We’re taking photos there before and after the wedding ceremony,” Leena said.
“Check your schedules and you’ll see what I mean. The section is marked ‘Groom sweeps bride off her feet by fountain.’ The photos will be creative.”
“Just not dirty,” Sue Ellen said.
Emma looked at her sisters and almost snorted the orange juice she was drinking from the bottle.
A split second later they were in the midst of another Riley sister estrogen-driven gigglefest.
Mindy looked on in concern. “Are you all getting hysterical?”
“I’m—” Leena hiccupped. “I’m fine.”
“Where is Mom?” Emma asked, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.
“I had a limo take her to a top-notch spa for a luxury treatment this morning,” Leena said.
“She’ll be done by eleven to get dressed.”
Three hours later, Emma looked in the full-length mirror Leena had set out and couldn’t believe her transformation. The strapless tea-length bridesmaid’s dress had a sweetheart neckline that suited her to perfection. The cornflower blue color complimented her ivory complexion, which Kelly had highlighted with smoky eyes and a rosy pink lipstick. Cherry had coaxed Emma’s hair into a cascade of loose curls that tumbled to her shoulders in a style that was sweet and sexy. “I look
really
good.”
Leena laughed. “Yeah, you do. Not as good as me naturally.” She grinned. “
I am
the bride after all.”
“You look gorgeous,” Emma said, turning to face her.
“I always wanted to wear the wedding dress at a fashion show, but that never happened.
Until today.”
“Everyone’s eyes will be on you.”
“Except for Jake’s. I suspect his eyes are only going to be on you, Em. Think you can handle that?”
Leena looked concerned.
“Absolutely. Bring it on.”
That confidence stayed with Emma through the short limo trip to St. Francis Church. The Gothic Revival style church had always been one of her favorite buildings in Rock Creek.
As a little kid, she’d thought the steeple was tall enough to scrape the sky.
The church grounds were ample, filled with mature maple and oak trees as well as that fountain Leena had talked about.
The reception was being held in a huge tent behind the building, complete with dance floor and seating for one hundred. Skye’s friend Pam Denton from Bloomers in Serenity Falls was in charge of the floral arrangements.
When they all walked by on their way to the church’s back entrance, Emma couldn’t resist pausing to take a peek inside the tent. The tables were draped with crisp white cloths. In the center of each one was a violet-and-blue colored centerpiece matching Emma’s nosegay bouquet of blue delphinium and hydrangea with purple lisianthus. The place already looked magical.
The weather was cooperating with blue skies and no threat of rain in the forecast. Thinking of rain reminded Emma of the last wedding and making out with Jake in the back of his Jeep.
Making love with him was even better and was the reason she’d been late this morning. She was just glad her sisters couldn’t tell, that her face didn’t give her away. This thing she had with Jake was too new to share yet. She hugged it to herself the way she had hugged a Kermit the Frog stuffed toy she’d had as a little kid. Not that Jake and Kermit had anything in common. She had to laugh at the idea.
“What’s so funny?” Leena asked.
“Nothing.”
“Let’s stay focused, people. The videographer is taking video of the beautiful landscape and side rose garden area as we speak. We’re going to meet him now and get some shots of me with my bridesmaids. Phil the photographer will be there too.”
During the ensuing photo shoot Leena checked both men’s work, adding her own critique as she looked at the photographer’s digital camera display. “Sue Ellen, you’re posing too much. You need to face the camera more.”
Sue Ellen pouted. “That makes me look fat.”
Emma and Leena shared a look. Sue Ellen was starting to show and wouldn’t be able to hide the truth of that baby bump of hers much longer.
“Everybody here knows you’re pregnant,” Leena said.
“Do they know you’re pregnant too?” Sue Ellen retorted.
Leena glared at her. “They do now. Thanks for being discreet.”
“You started it.”
“Smile ladies,” Phil the photographer cheerfully requested.
Leena and Sue Ellen instantly turned to the camera and put on a happy face. Emma was sure she and Mindy had more of a deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression.
Cole joined them shortly afterward along with his three groomsmen—his brother, and his friends Nathan and Algee. The guys all looked great in their formal attire. More group shots were taken before they moved to the fountain with St. Francis in the center. The statue of the saint had a bird perched on one hand and was petting a deer with the other. The artist had given St. Francis an expression of calm that Emma envied at that moment. She was tired of all this picture taking.
“Look, Mommy, it’s Bambi!” Skye’s daughter Toni exclaimed as she ran out to join them.
Nathan scooped his stepdaughter up in his arms. “Aren’t you the beautiful princess.”
“You look pretty too.” Toni patted his cheek.
Sue Ellen dabbed at her eyes. “Just think, in another few months I’ll have a little one of my own.”
“You’re going to have your own Bambi?” Toni was impressed. “I want one too.”
“Come on you.” Skye took her from Nathan. “Let’s go before you con your way into getting more pets.”
“It seems fitting that a veterinarian is getting married in a church named after the patron saint of animals,” Nathan noted with an elbow jab at Cole. “Unless you’re wishing you eloped like Skye and I did?”
“No way.” Cole didn’t appear the least bit nervous. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”
“No you’re not!” Maxie exclaimed as she hurried to join them. “You’re not supposed to see the bride before the wedding.”
“That’s an old wives’ tale,” Leena said. “I wanted our photos taken while we look good.”
“Why wasn’t I consulted about this?” Maxie demanded.
“Because it’s
my
wedding,” Leena said.
“I need the parents of the happy couple to join them for photos,” the ever-cheerful Phil said.
Cole’s parents were very sweet. They played well with others, as the T-shirt saying went.
Despite the early sparks between Maxie and Leena, the wedding went off without a hitch.
Nathan escorted Emma down the aisle of the beautiful church to the musical accompaniment of Pachelbel’s Canon. The stained glass windows created splashes of color on the marble floor around the alter, lending a mystical feel to the setting.
Bart Chumley sat near the front of the church, not because he was the mayor but because he was a good friend and mentor to Leena.
Emma found herself getting emotional several times during the ceremony as her thoughts flashed back through the many childhood memories she shared with Leena—walking around in their mom’s high-heel shoes, arguing over which New Kids on the Block member was the cutest, lamenting over the length of time between Johnny Depp movies.
Emma and Leena had shared a bedroom for the first nine years of Emma’s life, until Sue Ellen had moved out at eighteen and Leena had moved into her bedroom. Emma had had a hard time sleeping that first night because she’d missed the sound of her sister in the same room.
And now here Leena was, moving on again into a new chapter in her life. And once again Emma was having a bit of a hard time. Of course, she was thrilled for her sister, who was marrying a great guy. Emma had always liked Cole. She kept telling herself that she wasn’t losing a sister, she was gaining a brother-in-law.
And it really was inspiring to see the love on both their faces as Leena and Cole repeated their vows. Sentimental tears threatened again, but she was saved from making a fool of herself by catching sight of Jake in the third pew. He was seated directly in her line of vision, and he was grinning at her as if he knew what she was thinking.
Jake was wearing the same black shirt and pants that he’d worn to Sue Ellen’s reception.
Naturally that reminded her of him peeling off his clothing before skinny-dipping at Serenity Falls at midnight. The look he gave her heated up as if he, too, was remembering that night.
Then there was last night . . . Emma’s face flushed as images of how he’d used the burgundy tie he was wearing to tie her hands to the bedpost of his bed and have his totally wicked way with her, much to her delight. Hours earlier he’d made a point of putting a sock on the apartment doorknob, giving them the freedom to move around his apartment without worrying about Oliver showing up.
Emma hadn’t felt guilty about giving Oliver the boot for the night since he’d spent the time at Lulu’s apartment.
Love or lust, call it what you would, it was definitely in the air in Rock Creek these days . . .
and nights.
Emma was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t even realize the ceremony was over until Sue Ellen nudged her. Leena and Cole were already kissing before turning and walking out of the church.
“Get a move on,” Sue Ellen hissed. “I have to pee really bad!”
Jake couldn’t get over how great Emma looked. He’d watched her throughout the ceremony, unable to take his eyes off her. She’d left his bed early that morning, her face flushed from their night of awesome sex, her lips still rosy from his kisses. And now here she was, at the reception, her hair curling with a silky abandon that made him long to reach out and wrap a strand around his finger. She wore more makeup than usual, making her eyes stand out. The pink shimmer of her lip gloss tempted him to kiss it all off.
“How are you holding up?” Nancy Crumpler’s question interrupted his thoughts.
“Fine.” Jake still felt like an ass for confronting her the way he had.
“I’m assuming you haven’t had that talk with Emma yet?”
“What talk?” Emma said from behind them.
Nancy shot him an I’m-sorry look before turning to Emma. “You look so lovely in that dress,” she told her. “Don’t you agree, Jake?”
“Yeah.” And to think he used to be a smooth talker. Apparently those days were gone, along with the rest of his racing career.
“The dress is a big improvement over my last bridesmaid’s dress,” Emma said with a laugh.
The sound made Jake hot. Since when did a woman’s laugh turn him on? Especially since Emma snorted when she laughed really hard. He knew that because he’d tickled her until she’d snorted and then he’d laughed
with
her, not at her.
She was really smart about a lot of things and really innocent about others—like sex. He got such a thrill out of teaching the sociology professor the pleasures to be had in that arena.