Frenemies to Lovers

Chapter Five

THEFIRSTVOICETamara heard when she came through the front door of her parents’ house was Thomas’s. She gritted her teeth and swallowed the curse rising in her throat. What the hell was he doing here? She’d gone through the trouble of getting her car towed to the tire-repair place and using a rideshare app to get to her parents’ house. She wasn’t in the mood to have to deal with an ex and a flat-tire repair in the same day.

As if sensing the swell of annoyance in the house, her mom came out of the kitchen into the entryway. The savory smell of her mom’s pot roast filled the house. Tamara’s favorite, but the idea of having to eat the meal with Thomas across the table diminished any enjoyment she’d typically have.

“Don’t start. He came over to borrow one of your dad’s tools and the two of them got to talking. You know how that goes.” Adele Bradford hurried over and hugged Tamara.

Her mom smelled like cake and baby powder. She was all softness and comfort as her arms surrounded Tamara. Some of Tamara’s annoyance eased just from being wrapped in her mom’s arms. Some, but not all.

“Mom, why does Daddy still entertain him? He knows we broke up,” Tamara said as she pulled back.

“You two broke up, but he’s still our neighbor. We aren’t going to stop talking to him just because you decided you needed space.” Adele said the words with a hint of censure. “He’s a good neighbor and your dad liked him before you two decided to date.”

Tamara had no comeback for that. Her dad had introduced her to Thomas. Well, reintroduced her. Thomas had graduated from high school two years before Tamara. Though they hadn’t hung out together, she’d known who he was. He’d left for college and returned a successful engineer because he wanted to be closer to his family. His firm was the only engineering firm in Peachtree Cove, and he had contracts to do work with the town and many of the surrounding cities.

“I don’t want to make things more complicated,” Tamara said. “Him hanging out with my parents after we broke up makes things complicated.”

“Well, you did say you needed time. Maybe seeing him will remind you that opportunity waits for no one,” Adele said with a wink.

Tamara suppressed an eye roll. “Not now, Mom.”

Adele threw up her hands. “Fine. He’s just about to leave anyway and your brother isn’t here yet. Come in and speak instead of standing in here.”

Tamara followed her mom into the kitchen. Her dad and Thomas sat at the table discussing something to do with alternators and car batteries. They both looked up and gave huge grins as she entered. Tamara went straight to her dad. She kissed his cheek, and he hugged her around the waist from his seated position.

Her dad was nothing but smiles and personality. Part of the job description for a former salesman, but that was also just who he was. Jacob Bradford never met a person he couldn’t talk to or take a few minutes to listen to what troubled them. He’d been a rarity. A salesman who cared more about helping his customers than meeting a sales quota. Something that many of his customers noticed, appreciated and was why they came back to buy from him again and again.

“Hey, Tamara, did your mom stop you from coming in here and shooting me the evil eye for having Thomas over here?” her dad asked with a grin.

Her dad’s direct words weren’t surprising. He never held back on what he thought, but her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She’d expected to continue to see Thomas after their breakup. He lived next door to her parents after all. But that didn’t mean she wanted him to know how much seeing him annoyed her.

“Not quite. Hey, Thomas.” She gave him a half-hearted smile and a limp wave.

Thomas stood and leaned in to kiss her cheek. She hesitated, but her dad gently nudged her toward him. Sighing internally, she leaned in so he could brush his lips across her cheek. Thomas was tall with a swimmer’s build from the laps he did in the YMCA pool every morning before work. He looked a lot like he did in high school, same open, friendly face, same smooth, gentle voice and nice-guy persona. He was a nice guy. He’d started talking about kids and marriage on their second date. He wanted everything she eventually wanted, but when he spoke about it, she’d felt more trapped than excited as she’d listened to him talk about his plans for their future together.

“You look nice today, Tamara. I hope you don’t mind running into me.”

“Not at all. You were my parents’ neighbor long before we started dating. Just because we broke up doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

“Right.” Thomas tried to sound cheerful, but she saw the disappointment in his eyes. “Well, I’ll get out of here before you officially start your Sunday family dinner. Mr. Bradford, thanks again for letting me borrow your drill. Not sure what happened with mine.”

Her dad nodded and waved off the thanks. “Anytime, Thomas.”

“Oh, Tamara, your dad mentioned the siding coming off your house in the storm the other week. If you want, I can come by and fix that for you,” Thomas offered with a hopeful smile.

“No need. It’s taken care of.”

Her dad frowned. “Really? Kenny is out of town, and I know he was supposed to get out there the other week to do that for you.”

“Actually, Andre Kemp did it yesterday morning.”

Thomas’s shoulders tightened. “Andre Kemp?”

“Yeah, he’s back in town because his construction company received the contract for the mayor’s revitalization project. And to be closer to his mom. He bought the Kestner place and is my new neighbor.”

Her mom opened the stove. “That was nice of him. His mom has been alone in that house for too long.”

Her dad nodded. “That’s true. I heard he was back in town. Must be doing pretty good to get that job.”

Thomas snorted, garnering the attention of the other three occupants in the room. “Sorry, it’s just doing well doesn’t make you a good person.”

“Really, Thomas?” Tamara asked with disbelief. “He didn’t have to help me.”

“Don’t trust him. I don’t like to talk about people, but he’s not a nice guy. Never has been. And he may say he’s here to help his mom, but he put her in an old-folks’ home last week.”

Her mom placed the pot roast she’d pulled out of the oven onto the top of the stove. “I didn’t know that. I’m surprised he’d let his mom go into a home. Not after she struggled to help raise him after his dad walked out.”

“Are you sure?” Tamara asked.

Thomas nodded. “My cousin helped move her the other week. He said she looked sad. Like she didn’t want to leave her place.”

Her dad grunted. “If he’s in the Kestner place, he could have let his mom move in with him.”

“He doesn’t care about anyone but himself,” Thomas said, scowling. “Did you know he broke my nose in high school?”

Tamara gasped. “What? He’s the person who did that to you?” She remembered when Thomas had broken his nose in high school. Word never got out about how it happened, just that he’d shown up at school one day looking as if he’d tried to box with a T. rex. “Why?”

“He didn’t want me with his cousin. He’s got a temper. A violent temper. You remember all the fights he used to get in back in school. And you know I’m the engineer for the hospital expansion project. He turned down the contract when he found out he’d be working with me. He threatened to break my nose again if I crossed him. His temper hasn’t gone away.” Thomas stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know you like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but don’t trust him. He snaps quickly and doesn’t hesitate to hurt anyone who gets in his way. He’s not a good guy. I know we aren’t together anymore, and I have no right to ask, but please consider not letting him come back to your place unless someone else is there. I’d hate for you to get hurt.”

Her mom spoke up before Tamara could. “Of course, she won’t let him back over there. If he hurts Tamara, I don’t care how much money he’s worth with that project. I’ll make sure to run him out of town.”

“No one’s hurting anyone,” her dad cut in. He turned dark concerned eyes on Tamara. “But let’s not tempt fate. If he comes sniffing around, let me know. And I’ll talk to your brother and cousin Kenny about driving out to check on you more.”

“Dad, I’ll be fine. Andre isn’t going to hurt me.” Andre was hard to read and, yes, a little short with people he didn’t care for, but he’d never been aggressive around her. Sure, she knew he had a temper back in high school, but he’d never been known to go after people unprovoked. The memory of Thomas’s busted and bruised face back in high school ran through her mind. Adding more spaces to fill in on the puzzle of Andre.

ANDRESTOODINhis mom’s suite in the assisted-living facility and glanced around the space. The luxury suite in Haven’s Crossing reminded him of a hotel room. Nicely decorated with little or no personality.

“Mom, when are you going to just move in with me?”

His mom shook her head before Andre stopped talking. “I’m not moving in with you.”

“That’s why I came back to Peachtree Cove,” Andre replied.

“You came to Peachtree Cove because of the job. Me not wanting to live alone and needing some assistance just added obligation.”

Andre gritted his teeth. His mom’s nickname should be Bullheaded. She was so damn stubborn. “You’re not an obligation. You’re my mom. Let me help you.”

Some of the fight left her eyes. “Look, I appreciate the offer, but you’ve done enough taking over my payments for this place.”

“I want to do more. I don’t like strangers looking after you.” What if they missed something? Coming home and finding his mom prone on the floor unable to get up after a fall had scared the shit out of Andre. Thankfully, she had only just fallen and hadn’t broken anything, but that’s when Andre accepted that his mom was getting older and needed someone to check in on her. She’d had him later in life, ten years after his four older siblings. He’d been the surprise baby. The kid who had stressed his parents’ already-strained marriage. The kid forcing them to stay together when they’d both mentally prepared to check out once his older sister graduated from high school.

“If we lived together, the only thing that would keep us from killing each other would be me eventually moving out,” his mom said. “Let’s not tempt fate.”

There was no judgment in her tone, but it still made Andre uncomfortable. He’d been angry when his dad left. Angry and grappling with feelings of abandonment. Back then, he hadn’t taken out his frustration with his mom, but he was sure she’d sensed it. She’d constantly pushed him to do better, be better than his dad. He’d eventually done that. He’d started his contracting business, gone back and earned a degree, become successful. He appreciated his mom for never giving up on him, but she was right. Their ability to get along so well was due to him not living under her roof anymore.

“Fine, but I won’t stop asking,” Andre said.

His mom chuckled before settling back in a leather recliner. “And I’ll keep saying no.”

“Are they treating you okay?” Andre walked the room. Inspecting the air vents, windows and light fixtures.

“Like a queen,” his mom said. “A nice nurse brings me my meds every morning. This very cute lil guy helps me exercise in the evenings, and no one bothers me when I watch my game shows in the afternoons.”

“They have daily activities, you know.” Andre ran a hand over the nail pops, areas where the nails pushed out against the drywall under the paint. Typical with new construction. Haven’s Crossing had only finished construction the year before. He’d fix that later. “You should participate.”

“I’m old and grown. I didn’t like being bothered before and I don’t like it now. I’m happy here minding my own business.”

Andre dropped the subject. His mom’s need to be left alone resonated with him. He kept to himself, too. He just didn’t want her to be alone anymore. That’s why he’d agreed to the assisted living after she’d made arrangements to move there after her fall.

“You talked to Leroy?” she asked.

Andre’s shoulders stiffened. “No.”

“You should call him.”

Andre shook his head. “No, I shouldn’t.”

“He’s your dad.”

“He gave that up when he walked out. No need to try and pretend now.”

His mom sighed. Andre didn’t care about her frustration. Hid dad had walked out of their life and stayed out of it for years. Outside of the occasional calls on Andre’s birthday or the Christmas presents that arrived by the New Year, he’d abandoned them. Only to, in typical shitty-person fashion, pop back up when Andre became successful. Andre knew love for his dad no longer lived in his mother’s heart, but her compassion for people in general wouldn’t allow her to completely ignore his existence. She periodically reminded Andre of the way he had missed his dad when he was younger and insisted that Andre reach out and try to reconcile with “before it was too late.”

“Leroy walked out, created a new life and never looked back,” he said evenly. “If he wants to talk to me, then he knows how to reach me.”

His mom grunted. “Life is too short to hold on to all of that anger. He’s still your family.”

“You’re my family, Ma. I’m doing okay.”

“Maybe if you settled down with someone, I’d believe that. Instead, you’ve taken what you saw with me and your dad and used that to push people away. Talk to him. Forgive him. Then maybe your heart can heal. Despite what you saw growing up, everyone needs someone to count on.”

The heartbreak in his mom’s voice made Andre’s chest tighten. “Ma, you and dad aren’t the reason I haven’t settled down. I don’t need to talk to my dad and heal some hole in my heart. I just haven’t found the right person.” He grinned, hoping she would stop worrying. “That’s all it is. Nothing bigger than that.”

“Start talking about a woman and not just one you work with and then maybe I’d believe that,” his mom replied with her own smile.

For some reason Tamara’s face popped into his head. Not the person he expected to think of when being pushed by his mom to find a woman to settle down with. He wasn’t looking for a wife. He wasn’t looking for anyone.

“Hey, have you been outside today?” He pointed to the window. “I haven’t seen the entire place. Let’s go down and you can show me the indoor pool and some of the other amenities.”

His mom’s side-eye said she knew he was trying to change the subject. Andre didn’t squirm. He was used to her side-eye. Eventually, she sighed and got up from her chair. “Come on. I’ll let you inspect the rest of the place the same way you inspected the room.”

Andre followed his mom as she took him on a tour of the facility. Several of the other people living there stopped them to talk. Proof that his mom was getting to know people despite her introverted ways, which in turn made Andre feel a little better. He still wasn’t excited about the idea of his mom moving out of her house into a retirement community, but he was less excited about the thought of her being in the house alone all day.

He left an hour later with a promise to come by and visit in a few days. Now that he was living in Peachtree Cove, he wanted to come by daily but knew she would view that as Andre being overprotective. Andre felt the need to be overprotective. His mom was his closest relative. His closest sibling was ten years older and they all had their own lives. They hadn’t been close growing up and they were out of the house by the time his dad walked out. After all his mom had been through, he wanted to make sure she was safe and taken care of.

As he was leaving the parking lot, the gas indicator light came on in his truck. He usually didn’t let the gas tank get low enough to turn on the light, but he’d been in a hurry to get here. He pulled in to a gas station and was fueling up when Tamara’s car turned into the station. She parked in front of the convenience store and went inside.

She’d been on his mind a lot after he’d left her place the day before. Her hot-and-cold comment had stuck with him. He wasn’t good at expressing himself, but he wasn’t cold. He sure as hell wasn’t cold when it came to her, and the flash of interest in her eyes when he’d told her that had kept him awake all night.

Andre put the gas nozzle back in the dispenser and strolled to the front of the store. The sliding doors beeped as he entered and the attendant at the register welcomed him to the store. Andre nodded at the attendant, scanned the customers until his gaze landed on Tamara in the back pulling a soda from the refrigerated section.

His heart rate picked up as he made his way through the aisles toward her. So what if they’d flirted a little bit before? He knew how to handle himself around women he was attracted to. Yet he still felt as nervous as he had the first day he’d opened his business.

Tamara turned his way and their gazes collided. Her eyes widened with surprise before she looked around. For a second, he thought she would pretend not to see him, but she met his gaze again and nodded.

He walked up to her. “How’s your house holding up?”

She nodded. “Good. Thanks again for fixing the siding. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Don’t mention it. Like I said, I can’t help but fix things like that. I see you got your car fixed.”

“Yeah, I got it towed to the tire-repair place this morning before visiting my parents.” Her lips lifted in a tight half smile before she shrugged. “Well, thanks anyway.” She moved to go around him.

Andre frowned and automatically stepped out of her way. Was she mad at him? He hadn’t done anything wrong. Maybe she was uncomfortable around him. He had told her he was always hot when it came to her. Had that weirded her out? Instead of coming across as confident, maybe he’d come across as creepy.

“Hey, look,” he said before she got all the way down the aisle.

Tamara stopped and faced him. In the aisle to their left, a dad tried to calm a wailing toddler who insisted on getting a bag of chips, and to their right two women chatted as they picked out candy. Andre hurried forward to Tamara.

“About what I said,” he said in a voice that wouldn’t carry to the people around them. “I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”

She shook her head. “It’s not that.”

“Then what’s up?”

Her brows drew together. “Did you really break Thomas Poole’s nose in high school?”

Andre blinked and took a step back. The hell? He hadn’t thought about that guy since graduation. He couldn’t stop the scowl that always took over his face whenever he thought of that asshole. “I did.”

“So you don’t deny it?”

“Nah, I don’t.” He’d do it again if he needed to.

She shifted the soda from one hand to the other and placed a hand on her hip. “Andre, he had to go to the hospital. When he came back to school, he looked like a truck had hit him. I knew you were angry back then, but you beat the crap out of him. Why would you do that?”

The women in the aisle over stopped talking and watched him and Tamara. The dad picked up his crying son and hurried to the front of the store. Great, now he was the big angry man in the gas station.

“It doesn’t matter why. That was years ago. Why are you bringing that up?”

“And your mom. Did you really put her in a home?”

Andre held up a hand. This was exactly why he hated coming back to Peachtree Cove. The people in this town made up all kinds of stories. “My mom isn’t in a home. She’s in the new retirement community in the middle of town.”

She shook her head and spoke before he could finish. “I didn’t want to believe it. I thought you at least had a heart underneath all that macho exterior you put up. You really are coldhearted.”

This time he stepped back. He scoffed and scratched his jaw. “You think that about me?”

Aside from repairing the siding on her house, he hadn’t done a lot to show Tamara that he was a decent guy. But the look on her face now, as if she’d discovered that every negative thought she ever had about him was true, was like a jagged knife to the gut. Did she really think so little of him?

“I don’t know what to think.”

The only thing worse than knowing she didn’t think much of him was the realization that he wanted her to think highly of him. That he wanted to see the smile she’d had on her face when he’d helped her the day before. She’d looked at him like he was some kind of damn hero, and that had made him feel like one, too.

He took another step back. His world was tilting. Shifting in a direction he didn’t understand and that scared him. He couldn’t have an emotional revelation in the middle of a damn gas station.

“You know what,” he said. “I’ll holla at you some other time.” He turned and walked out of the store. Tamara didn’t call him back, and that caused an ache in his chest he wasn’t sure he could ignore.