The Best Man's Bride (12 page)

“How’d you get all wet?” she asked Abby Hamilton, whose blond hair was sodden, as were her tank top and shorts.

“There’s not a cloud in the sky.”

Only in her heart.

“Oh, there is,” Abby assured her. “There’s been a dark cloud hanging over my head since the minute I came back to Cloverville.”

Colleen laughed, with real amusement this time, and she remembered why she wanted Abby to move back home. She stood up so she wouldn’t fall off her stool. “How very Eeyore of you. You’ve been watching too many
Winnie-the-Pooh
videos with Lara.”

“You know that black cloud,” Abby insisted as she helped herself to a Popsicle from the freezer. “You call it Clayton.”

Colleen laughed again. “Clayton, a black cloud? The description fits him pretty well.” Her laughter faded as she realized who else the description fit. Nick. Ever since his arrival in town, he’d stormed her emotions, her heart.

“Where’ve you been?” Abby asked her. “I’ve hardly seen you at all the past few days, and you live here.”

A few days? Was that all it had been—all it had taken for everything to change forever for her? Her face heated as she thought of what she’d done with Nick. “I…I…”

Abby’s blue eyes narrowed. And Colleen thought about why she’d been avoiding her friend the past few days despite her promise to her mom that she’d help convince Abby to move home. She resisted the urge to squirm under Abby’s scrutiny and instead leaned back against the counter, as if she were carefree. Something she’d never really been, except for that one wonderful day when their entire group of friends had gone into Grand Rapids and gotten tattoos. Well, everyone but Abby. Clayton, working on a tip from Rory, had tracked them down before Abby had been able to get hers. And it had been her idea.

“Colleen, what have you been up to?” Abby persisted, her blue eyes narrowed with suspicion.

More like whom. She stammered, “N-nothing.”

“You’ve talked to Molly!” Abby accused, pointing the Popsicle at her as if it were a weapon. “She’s fine and there’s no reason for me to stay here any longer. You’re all just conspiring to keep me here.”

That had been the plan. But Colleen had been distracted—because of Nick. Her skin chilled as if Abby had pressed the frozen treat against her face instead of holding it a foot away. “I swear I haven’t talked to Molly.” She sighed. “I wish I could, though.”

She needed her big sister right now—she needed a shoulder to cry on and she didn’t want to distract Abby from Clayton. From the way her brother had been acting, Colleen suspected that he’d not be able to fight his feelings for Abby much longer.

Abby wasn’t too preoccupied with Clayton to notice Colleen’s unhappiness, however. “Are you
okay?
” she asked.

“Of course. I’m fine.” She fought to steady her voice. “I understand Molly being confused and needing time to think.”

Abby sighed. “Yeah, so do I.”

For the first time since she was fifteen years old, Colleen was tempted to run away again.

Nick rolled the paint onto the wall, and the green that Brenna had chosen for the kitchen blurred before his eyes. He saw only Colleen, naked in his arms, her face flushed with passion as he brought her pleasure. She’d brought him pleasure, too—ecstasy he’d never known before.

And never intended to experience again. He couldn’t risk it. He’d already fallen for her, and if he fell any deeper he might fool himself into thinking she could fall for him, too. That she could love him, not just now but
forever.

And forever wasn’t possible. For one thing, she was too young. She’d change her mind about him, grow bored staying at home alone while he worked long hours—like his sister-in-law had grown bored, and Josh’s first wife. Even with the shorter hours of private practice, he’d be busy, preoccupied with patients or the past. He didn’t have enough to offer her, to keep her.

Something wet and thick splattered his face, and he turned his attention to the roller. But the foam had dried out since he hadn’t bothered to dip it in the pan of paint again. More paint drops splattered his face and slid down his neck. “Hey, Buzz. I’m going to get you for that.”

Buzz had been giving Nick the hardest time during their various remodeling projects and he was responsible for most of the paint Nick had had to scrub off his body and out of his hair. Before turning away from the wall, he warned the little boy, “You better run.”

He whirled around, ready to chase down the wild little boy, but neither of the twins stood behind him. Only Josh, a dripping paintbrush in his hand, occupied the kitchen.

“Where are the boys?” Nick asked.

Josh’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Brenna took them back to her house for naps.”

“Naps?” They slept? He would have to see it to believe it.

“Working on the house tires them out,” Josh explained.

They weren’t the only ones. But Nick probably wouldn’t be that tired if he could manage to sleep at night. He couldn’t, however—not with thoughts of Colleen taunting him. It hadn’t even been a week since the wedding, but he was more exhausted now than he’d been during his internship, when he’d worked and studied weeks on end with almost no rest.

“I didn’t see them leave.” How had he not noticed the absence of their endless chatter and boundless energy?

“You haven’t been very aware of anything today,” Josh accused him. “I’ve been calling your name for a while now.”

He shrugged. “I often ignore you, so that’s nothing different.”

“You are,” Josh insisted. “You’ve been different since the wedding.”

“The wedding-that-wasn’t.”

Instead of being annoyed, as Nick was over everyone calling it that, Josh laughed. “You’re not going to distract me.”

“Probably not,” Nick readily agreed. “I don’t have red hair and big…”

More paint splattered his face from Josh’s dripping paintbrush. Nick blinked and wiped at his eyes and mouth, unable to finish his description of Brenna Kelly. But his best friend knew what she looked like—Nick had caught him staring at her often enough.

Righteous anger flashed through Josh’s eyes and tightened the line of his jaw. “Damn you!”

Nick laughed. “See, I distracted you. Or was that her…”

“Who’s distracting you?” Josh asked. “Or do I need to ask? Let me see. She has brown hair and big brown eyes.”

Hair the color of sable. Eyes the color of milk chocolate.

“And an innocence and vulnerability about her that suggests she’d be easily hurt.” Josh set his paintbrush weapon onto the plastic-covered counter. “Are you going to hurt her?”

“You didn’t marry her sister,” Nick reminded him. “You’re not her big brother.”

The same righteous anger Josh had shown for Brenna flashed through his eyes again, as he defended himself. “I’m her friend.”

“You’ve only just met her.”

Josh shook his head, his dark hair totally paint free. “I’ve known Colleen for years.”

“You have?” How had he not known this? How had
he
not known her or at least noticed her?

“From the hospital.”

“You knew she volunteered?”

“You didn’t?” Josh laughed. “Oh, that’s right. You make it a point to never pay attention to the volunteers or the staff. Only the patients.”

“It’s kept my life uncomplicated,” Nick pointed out. Then because they’d never pulled their punches, either literally or figuratively, he added, “Your life would have been better if you’d done the same.”

“Easier, maybe,” Josh agreed. His chin lifted with pride, he defensively added, “But not better. I don’t regret having my sons.”

“They’re good kids.” Despite their penchant for flushing things down the toilet and flinging paint. But apparently they’d gotten that last bad habit from their father.

Josh laughed. “I thought we’d sworn we would never lie to each other.”

“No, really they are,” Nick insisted. He hadn’t realized it until they’d moved to Cloverville, though. The town, and Brenna Kelly, had been good for them.

Josh grinned, his eyes shining with a father’s pride. “Yes, they are.”

Nick glanced around the half-painted kitchen—Josh’s half, not his. The other rooms in the sprawling brick ranch house were finished. They’d tackled the kitchen last because Josh figured he’d use a take-out menu more than the oven or stove. “The house is finally starting to shape up,” he realized.

“I’m not selling it,” Josh said, as if staving off another argument.

“No, I think you should stay.” Josh had been right all along—there was something here for him, just probably not what he’d originally expected. “This place suits you and the boys.”

“Cloverville could suit you, too,” his friend persisted.

Nick shook his head.

“I heard you looked at the Barber place.”

“Small towns…Nothing goes unnoticed.” He sighed. “I thought since there are no hotels, that it might be smart to have a place here. You know, for when the weather’s bad.”

Josh nodded. “Okay.”

His friend’s easy acceptance of his explanation didn’t fool Nick. He avoided Josh’s penetrating gaze and rubbed his hands over his face. “Not that I’ll need it. I doubt I’ll spend as much time in the office as you will.”

“I heard you were already lining up appointments at the hardware store.”

He laughed. “I didn’t really have a choice. It was either that or Mr. Carpenter was going to take off his shirt so I could examine his shoulder. And Mrs. Hild…” He shook his head. She’d been too busy matchmaking to worry about her knees.

She’d thought he and Colleen would make the perfect couple. The old woman really shouldn’t be so accepting of strangers. He’d probably hurt Colleen. Did she think he’d used her like that other guy had, the guy from her past?

The thought of any other man touching her, as Nick had touched her, knotted the muscles in his stomach. He had to stay away from Colleen, away from Cloverville. “Their appointments aside, I’m really not going to be at the office much. I’ll mostly be at the hospital doing surgeries. Nothing has to change all that much.”

“It already has,” Josh said, his voice gentle, as if he didn’t want to spook his friend. “
You’ve
changed.”

Nick’s guts twisted. Despite his efforts, Josh had scared him. “I haven’t changed. We’ve just been here a week.” But he’d made love to Colleen a couple of days ago.

“It’s been long enough for you to fall in love,” Josh mused.

“Don’t make me hit you again,” Nick threatened.

“You haven’t taken a swing at me since I got drunk in college,” Josh reminded him. Even though that wasn’t the first time Nick had hit him. The first time had been when Josh had told him Bruce was in trouble, that he’d lost it and probably needed professional help. Josh acknowledged, “I had it coming, then.”

“You do now, talking crazy.” Nick shook his head. “I know you don’t have much of a sense of humor, but this isn’t funny, even for you.”

“I’m not trying to be funny, but you know that,” Josh said.

“I’m trying to have a serious discussion with my best friend because I’m afraid he’s going to throw away his one shot at true happiness.”

“One shot. You think that’s all we get?”

Even though his eyes were serious, Josh laughed. “Not the rest of us. Only you. I’ve known you a long time, Nick, and you’ve never once let down your guard enough to fall in love.”

“I didn’t let down my guard.” He bristled. “I can’t.”

Defensive, he knew he spewed nonsense, but he couldn’t stem the flow of words. “She’s just like Amy, like Molly, looking around the hospital for a husband. I’m not fool enough to fall for that mantrap.”

Josh laughed again, unoffended. “You’re not as stupid as I am, huh?”

Nick said nothing to contradict the conclusion his friend had drawn. He had thought Josh stupid to fall not once but twice for women who wanted him more because of his profession and money than his personality. Nick hoped like hell he hadn’t made the same mistake himself. But it didn’t matter. He didn’t intend to act on his feelings for Colleen.

Josh’s mouth twisted into a derisive grin. “You’re an arrogant bastard.”

“Hey!”

“And a gutless coward,” Josh continued with the insults.

“You’re really pushing me to hit you again,” Nick threatened, his hand tightening around the handle of the paint roller.

“Come on, Nick. You’re grasping at any excuse just because you’re scared….”

He was. Of Colleen. Of his powerful, undeniable feelings for her. But she was the woman he could least risk his heart on. If she turned out to be like the sister she idolized and she ran out on him, he’d be destroyed. Like Bruce had been destroyed. “I’m not husband material.”

Josh laughed, with bitterness this time. “Apparently neither am I.”

“Come on. You believe in this crap.”

“Crap?”

“Love.” He snorted. “Happiness.”

Josh’s laugh grew heartier. “Only you would call love and happiness crap.”

“Anything that fleeting can only be crap.”

“Nick, it doesn’t have to be fleeting,” Josh persisted. No wonder he kept trying—he was a hopeless romantic.

Nick was just hopeless. He shrugged. “I haven’t seen any proof that it lasts.”

“My parents—”

“Since that’s the only example you’ve got, I’d call them a fluke. Look at all the people we work with, all the divorce horror stories we’ve heard.”

“Our job. Our hours. It’s hard on a relationship,” Josh acknowledged. “That’s why I wanted the private practice. We can set our own hours. As few—”

“Or as many as we want,” Nick agreed.

“You’re already pulling double shifts.”

“I didn’t have scholarships. I’ve got loans to pay off. And now we have another one.”

“You won’t regret opening the office here,” Josh assured him.

But he was wrong. Nick already regretted coming to Cloverville and meeting Colleen, because he didn’t know how he was going to forget her.

“For what it’s worth, you’re wrong about Colleen. But I think you know that,” Josh said. “If she has been volunteering in order to catch a husband, she would have been married long before now.”

Nick’s heart clenched painfully. He sucked in a breath but lowered his head so his friend wouldn’t notice his reaction—to the nagging thought of Colleen with another man.

“It may have taken you a while,” Josh taunted, “because you’re slow. But other men have noticed her. You can’t help but notice her, she’s so beautiful.”

“You?” He swallowed hard as jealousy rose like bile in his throat. “You asked her out?”

Josh nodded. “Just for coffee.”

He curled his hand into a fist, even more tempted to hit his friend now than when Josh had been insulting him.

“She wasn’t interested in me,” Josh assured him. “She wasn’t interested in anyone at the hospital.”

Was she interested now? Despite her promise that she wouldn’t fall for him, had she? Nick hoped not. He’d never intended to hurt her. “I have to get out of here.”

“Yeah, you need a shower. That shade of green doesn’t match your eyes,” Josh teased.

His pulse quickening as if he were already running, he shook his head. “Not just here. I have to get out of Cloverville.”

“I already told you I’m not leaving.”

“I’m not asking you to leave. You’re going to be fine here.” But he wasn’t. Like the colonel, he’d already lost his head—and maybe his heart. He had to leave before he lost his soul, too.

“You’re not worried about me anymore?” Josh asked.

“You’ve finally realized that I’m not Bruce?”

He hadn’t fooled his friend—Josh knew why’d he’d been sticking around and what he’d been afraid of. “No, you’re stronger.” Than his brother. If only Nick could be certain that
he
was….

“You are, too,” Josh insisted, friends so long that he’d probably read his mind.

Nick shook his head. “I don’t think so. And I can’t risk finding out.”

C
OLLEEN LEANED AGAINST
the doorjamb of Clayton’s old bedroom, which, with tan paint and expensive bed linens, her mother had converted to an elegant guest room. Abby had been staying in it, but she apparently intended to change that. The petite blonde pulled clothes from the dresser and wadded the garments into balls in her suitcase. “What are you doing?”

Abby glanced up at the question. “I think it’s obvious.”

“But why are you leaving now?” Colleen asked. Abby couldn’t take off when Colleen needed her friend most, when she’d gone and done something stupid again, like falling for a man who’d never love her back. “I thought you were actually considering moving here.”

“Opening an office, yes. Moving here?” She sighed. “I considered it.”

“I wish you’d open an office in Cloverville,” Colleen said.

“I could help you run it.” Maybe working endless hours would help distract her…from Nick.

“Sure, Clayton would love that,” Abby remarked with a derisive snort. “My stealing away his office manager.”

“If he rented you the space next door…” Dr. Strover’s old office. “I could manage both, with a little help. Mom even said she’d love working for you.”

“Well, Clayton won’t lease to me, so it doesn’t matter.”

“He’s an idiot,” Colleen said. Like Nick, he was afraid to be around a woman for whom he might fall. Remembering her brother’s moodiness, she figured it was probably too late for Clayton. He was just too stubborn to admit it. Like Nick? “You can lease a space somewhere else in Cloverville and I’ll just quit him and come to work for you.” As long as the office was nowhere near Nick’s new building.