The Girl He Knows (18 page)

Jayne snorts in disbelief. I narrow my eyes, remembering when I bumped into her and Josie huddled together at the bar.

“And who are
you
taking to the wedding?” I know it’s a mean thing to say since she’s been on an even longer dry spell than me. Apparently, Jayne is pickier than I am because I know she’s turned down several men.

“I’m not taking anyone, and I chose it to be so. You, on the other hand, have a secret man named Hank who sounds absolutely lovely and you should take him.”

I shrug at the mention of Hank’s name. “I think he’ll be out of town. Maybe I choose to go alone, too. Ever think about that?”

She rings the shoes up, along with a classic simple silver choker, earrings, and three-quarter gloves in silver, and hands me the purchase. “It’s quite possible you’re being a dolt where this man is concerned.”

“Which one?” She ignores my sarcasm.

“Both. Give me the hunky Hank. He sounds like a keeper.”

“You can have him. He’s like a brother to me anyway.” A flare of jealousy streaks through me as I picture Jayne with Hank.

Jayne looks off as if daydreaming; she purses her lips and crinkles her delicate British nose. “Hmm, isn’t it against the law to do those type of things with one’s brother?” She smiles.

Damn Josie and her very large, fat mouth.

I snatch up my bag and walk off in a snit.

“Have fun at Josie’s tonight. If you don’t want this hot nerd, throw him my way,” she calls to my back, chuckling.

I give her a flippant wave and huff out of the store, anxious to give Josie a piece of my mind.

* * * *

“Oh my God, you aren’t wearing your hair like that, are you?” Josie inspects me, scanning from top to bottom.

“You’re lucky I’m even here. I saw Jayne today and it seems someone has been telling her things about Hank.” I push my way in and throw my purse on the bench in her foyer.

“I haven’t said anything other than what you’ve told them. Just giving them my perspective. Nothing more. Come on, let’s do something with your hair. Brinn and Stacy haven’t landed yet, we have time.” She heads off toward her master bedroom, dragging me behind by my hand. It’s a complete mess with clothes and makeup scattered everywhere, so unlike Josie.

I’ve done nothing different or special with my hair and am wearing it au naturel, loose and curly. She pushes me onto the little bench in front of her vanity and starts fussing with my hair. But she’s mumbling and sighing impatiently and I as I watch her in the mirror she keeps glancing at her watch.

“Josie, how are you going to be married to Brinn for the rest of your life if you’re a nervous wreck every time he’s out flying?”

She shakes her head and starts gathering small sections of hair around my forehead. “I’m not nervous because he’s flying. It’s this start-up he’s doing. He’s competing against another company for the same area and with similar routes and it’s gotten ugly. There’s been more ‘accidents’ than normal at the hangar, things that could set us back or take us out of the running for good. Until this is behind us, I don’t think I’ll be OK.”

“Holy shit, Josie. I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” It explains a lot with her edginess and mood.

“Brinn wasn’t telling me. He was acting weird. I did a little digging and started putting the pieces together before I confronted him. He’s starting to fill me in now, though I know there’s more he’s not telling me.”

I grab her hand and our eyes meet in the mirror. “Tell me how I can help.”

She laughs. “You can help us have a good time tonight. We need a few laughs.”

“Did you say his name was Stacy? You know you aren’t painting a good picture here. I believe you’ve used words like nerdy, number cruncher, and his name is Stacy.”

She pulls the sides of my hair up and clips them with a small mother of pearl barrette. I like it.

“I believe I also used words like hot and....”

“Yeah, you used only hot. Hot could go either way. As in smoking hot to look at or excessively sweaty.”

We laugh and Josie busies herself touching up my makeup.

“Stacy is crazy nice. He’s been here a week looking for a house to rent. He’s funny—”

“Looking?” I ask.

“No, funny like ha-ha. One of those honest-to-God nice guys. Who happens to be good looking.”

“You do know calling them nice is the kiss of death for men? Nice guy, nerdy, carries a calculator... His pluses and minuses aren’t equaling out here, Jo.”

“Just wait and see. You’ll like him.” She twirls a brush in blush and lightly sweeps it across my face. She’s going back for a second sweep when we hear a door bang closed.

“Honey, we’re home.” It’s not Brinn’s voice.

Josie smiles and her shoulders relax. She tosses the brush on her vanity, grabs my hand, and drags me out of the chair and through the house to the kitchen where Brinn and his business manager, Stacy, are standing.

“I thought you guys were stuck circling the tower waiting for clearance.” She gives Brinn a hug and a kiss.

“We got clearance right after I texted you. We stopped and grabbed some beer, too,” Brinn tells her.

“Yeah, we would’ve been here sooner, but genius can’t figure out how many cans are in a six-pack. I told him to grab about three varieties so we’d have enough beer.” Stacy shakes his head and smirks.

He’s very good-looking, dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, and an easy smile. He stands as tall as Hank, though his lanky frame makes Hank look stocky.

“Stacy, this is my friend, Paisley. Paisley, this is Stacy,” Josie says.

We shake hands. Something about the softness in his eyes, the way they stay crinkled in the corner, and the gentle but firm way he shakes my hand puts me at ease.

“Thanks for joining us, Paisley. You being here will give me someone to talk to when those two get lovey and forget someone else is in the room.”

“Oh, they ignore you, too? I thought I was the only privileged one.” We laugh when Josie takes a playful swat at me.

“Come on, everyone in the car. We have reservations.” She steers us into the garage and drives to one of my favorite restaurants on the water. We sit outside and enjoy the Atlantic breeze coming off the ocean.

The evening goes remarkably well. I spend dinner getting to know Stacy better. He doesn’t have a wandering eye or a wandering hand. His attention is on us, the people he came with. He’s easy to be around. It’s as if we’ve been friends for a long time. He tells me about getting his MBA and how he’s always been a supernerd—his words—for numbers and math. I tell him about occupational therapy school and dissecting cadavers.

“Oh, Paisley,” Josie says, “Stacy needs to know which area has the better elementary schools.” She turns to him. “Your daughter’s going into third grade right?”

He nods. “That’s right. Where I look for a house is based on the school. I want to give Cordie as much stability as I can, considering everything is going to change for her.”

“Cordie?” I ask.

“Cordelia, I didn’t name her. Her mother did.” He gives me a smile and picks up his beer. “No, I don’t have a wife waiting for me at home. Or any other kids. I’m going to have to tell you the story aren’t I?”

I pause. “You don’t
have
to tell me the story, but I’m curious. Or plain nosy. Depending on who you ask, and it might be better if you do tell me, or else I’ll be forced to create my own story about your life.”

He laughs and clinks his beer with mine. “Who wouldn’t be nosy about this? OK, I dated Karen, Cordie’s mom, briefly in college. As these things sometimes happen, she ended up pregnant. As the guy in this scenario, I didn’t have too many options. It’s not like we’re given much say in these matters. I wasn’t going to marry her, but I was willing to date and see where things went. She wasn’t. She thought she could be a single mother. Two days after she delivered Cordie, she left her with me and took off. Haven’t seen her since.”

“Holy cow. You raised a newborn, alone, while in college?” I’m certainly impressed.

“I wish I could say yes. I’d look like a hero stud, but my parents helped. I moved back in with them and my mom stayed home with Cordie. I couldn’t have done any of it without them.” He pulls out his phone and shows me pictures of a cute eight-year-old with blond hair and his blue eyes.

“She’s beautiful,” I say.

“Yeah, she’s pretty spectacular. This move is gonna be hard on her with leaving my folks.”

“I bet it’s going to be hard on your parents, too.” Even when Momma and Sarah Grace are fighting, Momma still gets the twins for a full day and overnight. She starts missing them when she goes three days without seeing them.

“It’ll be hard on everyone. My dad is a photographer for
National Geographic
and it’s been my mom’s life dream to go with him on some of his assignments. Now’s the time for them to fulfill their plans. Now’s the time for me to start this adventure.” He nods to Brinn. “It’s all good stuff.”

I reach into my purse and pull out my phone. “What’s your number? I’ll text you some school names.” I send out names of the schools I think are the ones I’d like to see my kids or Sarah Grace’s twins go to.

Josie’s right. He’s a tad nerdy but in a hot way. I almost wonder if the nerdiness comes from his clothes and bad haircut and not so much his mannerisms. He’s laid-back and easygoing, has a good sense of humor, and can be quite wry. It’s attractive and I like him. Just not in the way Josie was hoping.

His leg brushes mine and I feel nothing. No spark. Stacy is the kind of guy women call a keeper, and try as I might he’s not for me. But he’s perfect for Jayne.

“Let’s get ice cream and head back to our house and sit on the beach,” Josie says.

We agree and Stacy picks up the tab. We’re getting up from the table when he asks, “Hey, anyone got a calculator? I can’t figure the tip on this bill.”

Brinn and Josie walk away. I look at him and snap my mouth shut.

“It’s a joke,” he tells me. “Nobody gets my math humor.”

I laugh. Not because he’s funny, but because he’s nice and I have a great idea.

“Hey, Josie?” I call. “Would you mind if I give Jayne a call and invite her? I know she’s home alone tonight.”

“Oh, OK,” she says.

“You won’t be offended if I invite another girlfriend to join us? Give these two”—I indicate Brinn and Josie—“ice cream and a lounge chair, and the end of them is near. Plus, you’ll have two girls to entertain you.”

“I like those odds.” He smiles.

“See, I got your math joke.”

“I like you, Paisley. You’re all right.”

“Wait till you meet my friend Jayne.
Prepare to be entertained
,” I say in my best game-show-announcer voice. “By entertained I mean clean wholesome fun, just so y’know.”

“Sounds great, but I’m not dancing or singing karaoke,” he says.

“Well hell, now you’ve gone and ruined it.” We laugh as I pull out my phone and dial up Jayne.

I haven’t seen Hank; he’s been working fourteen-hour days so our contact has been limited to casual e-mails and text messages. I haven’t given Jake much thought other than he’s still out of town. My days are my own, and I enjoy the stress-free time spent being a lazy cow. I’ve spent today sitting by the pool, under an umbrella, of course. As the sun prepares to kiss off, I head inside and place a pizza-delivery order. There’s a good book and a bottle of wine calling my name.

A knock on the door surprises me and with a spring in my step I fling open the door. My smile turns into a lip curl and I swallow a dry heave. Jake is holding a bag of Chinese takeout and waving a movie.

“Hey, babe, I thought we’d pick up where we left off.”

My stomach turns and with nerves steeled, I conjure up my resolve. I refuse to let him manipulate me.

He pushes his way in and kicks the door closed, kisses me on the neck, and heads toward my kitchen.

I scramble to come up with a reason why he can’t stay. I’m still in my swimsuit with a towel wrapped around me. I go to my room and toss on my cover-up, the one that hangs to my knees.

I want Jake to leave but no viable excuse is coming to mind. Think, I scream in my head. I remember what Jayne said about being honest. It’s not rude or unreasonable to ask him to leave even if I have no other plans. He may argue back, but I’ll stand my ground. I repeat this several times, hoping to make it true. I head to the kitchen, my speech prepared, when someone else bangs on my door. I scramble to get it.

Please be Josie, I pray. She’ll know how to handle it.

I swing the door open to see Hank standing there with his lopsided grin and his hair mussed. A motorcycle helmet hangs in his left hand.

“Hey.” His smile broadens.

My body tingles and I smile back, “Hey—”

“Hey, babe, where do you keep the forks?” Jake comes in, pulls the door open farther, and gives Hank the once-over.

“Who are you?” Hank asks.

“Her boyfriend. Who are you?”

“Wait. What?” I ask Jake. I shake my head and look at Hank. “He’s not—”

“I’ve caught you at a bad time. I’ll get going,” Hank replies. His shoulders slump as he steps back and winces. My heart breaks, leaps, and then freezes in panic.

He walks off. I face Jake and throw my hands up in question. Words escape me, and I dart out the door after Hank.

I follow him down the hallway and have to skip steps on the stairs to catch up with him. We reach the parking lot, and I stretch out trying to touch him but he’s just out of reach. He stops suddenly and turns toward me, causing me to skid to a stop.

“This is exactly what I was talking about, Paisley, at the park. On our date.”

I give him a puzzled look.

“Sleeping with you and sharing you with others. It goes against my nature.”

“It’s not—”

“Answer me one question. Are you sleeping with him?” He sets his jaw.

If he would shut up for a second, I would answer all his questions.

I turn my face up to him and try not to twitch or blink so he can see, without a doubt, I’m telling the truth.

“No. This is like only the third time I’ve seen him and I did not plan nor ask for this. He showed up uninvited. He is not my boyfriend.” His eyes search my face. “Scout’s honor.”