Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
J ade flipped the signed to closed for lunch and set off towards the resort, praying she wouldn’t run into Liam. It had been four days since their encounter in the shop and so far she’d managed to avoid him. Jeremy had assured her Liam wasn’t around today– Saturday– but it wasn’t until she saw his yacht not in its usual mooring place that she breathed a huge sigh of relief.
To think she’d defended him, thought there was more to him than that cold, aloof facade. Turns out once again she’d shown appalling judgement when it came to men.
Frustratingly none of that stopped her mind from flashing up images of the mortification on his handsome face when he’d seen the takeout cup of tea in her hands. The one they both knew he’d come into the shop to give her. If Mary had come in five minutes later… No! She was not going to think about him anymore. She was done with the guy.
Spotting Jeremy’s red hair from across the courtyard she marched towards the resort café, smiling for the first time in four days when she saw the people sitting, waiting for her.
Friends, she thought, a warmth invading her chest, pushing away the hurt over Liam. Mary, Emma, Claire, Jeremy and Philip all greeting her with cheery smiles. Thankfully, the two men who made her uncomfortable, Adam and Henry, couldn’t make it. Good. She didn’t need their negativity.
‘We got you a drink.’ Jeremy waved at the empty seat and it was only then she saw a teapot in front of it, together with a cup and saucer.
‘Where on earth?’
He laughed gleefully. ‘They don’t call me the best guest-services manager on the planet for nothing. Anything a guest wants, I can provide.’
Touched, she sunk into the chair. ‘That’s the second cup of tea I’ve been bought this week, though definitely the best presented.’ Too late, she realised her error.
‘Who bought the first?’ Emma asked, but it was Mary that Jade made the mistake of looking at. And Mary who chuckled.
‘I’ve a feeling it was the enemy. At least I assume that was a takeout cup bulging out of Haven’s pocket when I bumped into him in the shop, and he wasn’t just pleased to see you.’
The table erupted at Mary’s awful joke and Jade groaned, putting her hands over her face to hide her blush. ‘Cancel what I was thinking. You guys aren’t friends. You’re wicked.’
Mary reached to pat her arm. ‘We are totally your friends. That’s why I knew I could make that joke. I wouldn’t dare have made it with someone I didn’t feel comfortable with.’ Her face creased in concern. ‘But I didn’t mean to upset you.’
Jade shook herself. ‘Sorry, I just…’ Think I’m halfway in love with the man you just called the enemy . ‘I’m feeling a bit homesick today.’ She pasted on a bright smile and picked up the teapot. ‘But nothing a cup of tea won’t fix.’
Her gaze slid to Jeremy, who gave her such a sweet, understanding smile she felt tears prick her eyelids.
She took a moment to pour the tea, to take a sip and push all thoughts of Liam Haven out of her head. ‘So, after first congratulating you all on an awesome event in the library last week, which I hope we can repeat, I’m going to drink lots of tea, while you guys throw some ideas at me for our next campaign.’
Jeremy narrowed his eyes. ‘Let’s have your ideas first, because I know you’ve got some.’
‘I may have.’ And why was she being so coy about this? The bookstore was her responsibility, the team her idea. She was the leader, so it was about time she stopped cowering in the second row and pushed herself to the front. ‘I was thinking we could do like a pop-up book clinic where we give book recommendations for people in a reading slump.’ She gazed around the table. ‘We’re all here because we have an interest in books, and I reckon we also know people who read, so we should have all the genres covered. I’ll man the clinic, but if it comes to questions on genres I don’t think I’ve got enough knowledge on, I could have a list of people to contact.’
Emma smiled. ‘Phone a friend.’
‘Exactly.’
Jeremy nodded. ‘Sounds good. Why don’t you try it out at the resort? We’ve got hundreds of tourists who spend their days with a nose in a book.’
She flashed him a warning look. ‘I’m not sure Liam would go for that.’ In fact she knew he wouldn’t. Tough enough to sell when they were talking to each other– by the way, can I use your resort to try out my next idea to boost interest in the shop you want to get rid of. After the way they’d parted… any day now she was waiting for the letter to terminate her contract.
Following a bit more discussion it was agreed Jeremy would sound out Liam– yeah, good luck there– and Emma would ask her mum, who happened to be the town manager, about gaining agreement for a pop-up clinic in the town centre.
As everyone said their goodbyes, Jeremy caught her eye. ‘Don’t rush off.’
She grimaced. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not sure I’m up to your form of gentle, torture with kindness, interrogation.’
‘How about if I use the Liam Haven version and just ask what the fuck happened between you two on Tuesday?’
She waited a beat, felt annoyance rather than upset, and smiled. ‘That worked. He came into the shop, saw me talking to Mary about trying to get some books together for his grandma, and flipped.’
Jeremy frowned. ‘Had he asked you to help his grandma?’
‘God, no, as if the great Liam Haven would stoop so low.’ It earned her a smile from Jeremy. ‘But he had told me she was finding reading more difficult, so I thought large print books or audiobooks might be worth a shot. I knew the library had a better collection than the shop, so I asked Mary to help. Which was apparently the wrong thing to do because they’re private people and do not want others to talk about them, or, God forbid, receive help from anyone.’
‘The man is more prickly than a cactus cross-bred with a holy bush.’ He sighed. ‘And I asked him to be my best man. I must be a few fries short of a happy meal.’
She gaped at him. ‘I thought you couldn’t stand each other?’
Jeremy chuckled. ‘Maybe you’re right, at least on his side, but from my side.’ He shrugged. ‘Can’t help but see a man wearing an aloof suit that’s not an easy fit. I think he wants to shrug it off, make attachments, but habit and history keep him from doing it.’
‘And pig-headedness,’ Jade added sourly.
‘A good dollop of that, too.’ He smiled. ‘But I’ve got used to his grumpy ways over the last five years and hey, no man who loves his grandma as much as Liam does, can be all bad.’
‘True.’ She let out a frustrated sigh. ‘I’ve seen him without that suit, and he’s kind of adorable. But then he acts like a total arsehole and I wonder which is the real Liam Haven.’
‘Define asshole… arsehole in this context.’
‘Aside from telling me off for trying to help his grandma? He thanked me for sleeping with him, told me it was just what he needed and walked out.’
Jeremy shuddered. ‘That comes under the definition of asshole, all right. Maybe it’s a good job he didn’t accept.’
‘He was rude enough to turn you down?’
‘He totally ignored my question and asked me about the budget, which I’m taking as the same thing.’
Beneath the careless shrug she saw his hurt and squeezed his arm. ‘He might come to his senses yet. And failing that, sod him. You can find a better best man.’
He looked at her quizzically. ‘The wedding is at the end of next month, when you’ll still be here.’
‘Second best am I now?’ She laughed and kissed his cheek. ‘I’d be honoured to be your substitute, but give Liam time. You probably surprised the hell out of him.’ She thought back over what he’d told her about his childhood, about what she knew of the man. ‘I don’t think he’s ever had a close friend before.’
Maybe it was why he’d pushed her away, too. But it didn’t excuse his rudeness.
* * *
Liam’s first thought, when he saw his grandma waving at him as he secured the yacht to its mooring was that she looked happier.
At least one of them was having a good week.
Of course his had been all right until he’d sabotaged his friendship with Jade. And then ignored Jeremy’s shocking request. As if he knew anything about being a fucking best man.
But for Jeremy to ask it of his boss, it must have taken balls as well as a lot of thought.
‘What’s wrong?’ Damn, he’d forgotten his grandma was watching. He’d barely opened his mouth to reply when she interrupted. ‘And don’t you tell me nothing. I know when you’re upset. I knew it when you were a boy, pretending you were quite happy to go back to boarding school when I’d already heard you sobbing your heart out, and I can tell it now.’
He double-checked the boat was secure, mainly to give him something to focus on besides the swell of emotion that had found its way into this throat. When he thought he had himself in check, he marched up to her and gave her a big hug. ‘Hello, you.’
She shook her head at him, chuckling. ‘Hello back. But don’t think you’re going to avoid my question.’
‘I wouldn’t for one minute.’ He threaded an arm around her waist. ‘But first answer me this. If you knew I hated boarding school so much, why did you keep sending me there?’
Sadness crept across her face. ‘I kept thinking you’d settle and make friends. I called the head once and he assured me you were fine and doing well academically. And you were so good at putting on a brave face I guess in the end it was easy for me to pretend you were fine.’
‘I was fine,’ he asserted.
‘Academically, yes, but we both know it left scars.’ She bustled him inside. ‘Now tell me what’s wrong because I’m older and wiser now and I won’t stop until I hear the truth.’
He decided to go with the easiest of his issues. ‘I was asked to be a best man the other day.’
Joy lit up her face and she clasped her hands together. ‘That’s marvellous. By who?’
‘Jeremy.’
‘The delightful guest-services manager?’
‘Your words.’ He let go of her and walked into the kitchen, busying himself with getting a glass of water so he didn’t have to look at her. ‘I didn’t accept.’ He waved a hand in her direction. ‘Before you get all up in my face, I didn’t turn it down either. I…’ Guilt, hot on the heels of shame, cannoned through him and he had to take a breath before he felt steady enough to face her. ‘I ignored the question.’
‘Liam Haven.’ He didn’t know which was worse, his own feelings of guilt, or seeing the disappointment on her face. ‘I didn’t bring you up to be graceless or rude. Being asked to be a best man is an honour and you should have treated it as such. Especially as it must have been hard for him to ask his boss such a thing.’
‘I know. It just took me by surprise.’ Understatement of the century. He’d have been less shocked if Jeremy had asked him to strip off and do a naked tour of the resort with him. How the hell had he allowed both Jeremy and Jade close enough to upset his equilibrium this week?
Had to be something mystical about the letter J.
‘Well, now the surprise is over, I hope you’ll apologise. If he’s got any sense he’ll have asked someone who appreciates the honour,’ she grumbled, rubbing salt into the wound.
‘Okay, message received.’ He took the glass of water he didn’t need and set it on the island. ‘Let’s talk about you.’ His eyes skimmed over her face, the pink dye in her hair, the shine in her eyes. ‘You look happier than last time I visited.’
‘Do I?’ She frowned. ‘Well I’m not sure why that is… Oh—’ She clasped her hands together. ‘It must be the books you brought over. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed reading until I got stuck into some of them. I’m not sure how to set that electronic thingy up, I’ll leave that for you to show me, but the big print really helped. And at night, when my eyes are tired, I listen to one of the audiobooks. Did you say you can get more titles?’
‘Yes.’ But only if he pulled his head out of his ass and apologised to the woman he’d wronged. His heart did a familiar, painful flip. He’d tried ignoring it but it didn’t make the ache in his chest any duller. He missed her. Missed seeing her smile, listening to her, and yes, even fucking talking to her.
Bardot appeared, weaving around his legs. Grateful for the distraction, he bent to lift her into his arms. ‘That’s what you wanted, huh?’
Bardot purred, squeezing her eyes shut as he stroked her ears.
‘You can give that cat all the attention you want, but it won’t let you off the hook.’ His grandma walked over, gave Bardot a smile and then lifted her gaze to him. ‘Something else is going on with you and the way you’ve suddenly gone quiet tells me it has to do with this new shop manager. Jade, I believe her name is.’ To drive the point home that she still had plenty of contact with the island, she added, ‘A gorgeous blonde with a sunny attitude who, I assume, was sweet enough to get these books together for me.’
He sighed, wondering how he’d got this transparent recently. For years he’d been able to hide everything, now he had his grandma, Jeremy and Jade all thinking they could read him. ‘You need to feed a man first before you expect him to spill his guts.’
‘Fine. I made you a fish pie. It’s in the fridge all ready, just needs warming up. You sort it out and pour us both a glass of wine. Then we’ll talk.’
A steel edge ran though her voice and he knew she wasn’t going to be happy with anything less than the truth. With the sluggish movements of a man on his way to the gallows, he slipped the pie into the oven, sliced some bread to go with it, then poured out two glasses of sauvignon.
Bardot gazed up at him with her big copper-coloured eyes and he took pity on her, feeding her a few of the treats his grandma wasted her money on. ‘Only fair, considering we’re about to eat fish pie in front of you.’
Fish pie had been his favourite as a kid and it touched him that she’d made it again for him tonight, even though the last time she’d cooked it she’d put a tin of the cat’s salmon into it because she’d forgotten to get some. God knows what she’d substituted tonight.
‘So, this Jade who has you all in a bother,’ his grandma announced the moment he handed her a glass. ‘Are you dating her?’ Nope, we’re just fucking . Christ. He couldn’t have this conversation with anyone, let alone her. ‘Oh, I see, it’s like that, is it?’ Eyes fading in terms of their sight, still saw too much. ‘You’re having sex with her but haven’t bothered to ask her on a date?’ Disappointment threaded through her voice. ‘I’m sure I brought you up to respect women more than that.’
Should he try to explain that was how Jade wanted it too, even though he wasn’t convinced it was true anymore, for either of them. Something had changed between them that last time. She’d seen him distressed and come to help. He’d been rude, tried to push her away, but she’d refused to budge. More, she’d listened, consoled him… gone out of her way the next morning to gather large print books to try to help. And in return, what had he done for her?
His stomach rolled over, acid inching up his throat.
He’d asked what would make her regret sleeping with him again, and then done exactly what she’d asked him not to. Made her feel cheap.
Agitated, he rubbed at his face, feeling like the shit he was. ‘I’ve treated her badly and she doesn’t deserve it,’ he admitted.
His grandma gave him a sober look. ‘Are you going to apologise and make amends?’
‘Yes.’ He didn’t have a clue how, but he did know this raw ache inside him wouldn’t let up until he did.
‘Good. Then I hope she’s as warm-hearted as everyone says.’ She took a sip of her wine and settled back against the sofa. ‘By my reckoning the fish pie will take forty minutes to warm up. Plenty of time for you to tell me the whole story, from the start.’
Bardot jumped up onto the sofa and curled into his lap, looking up at him as if to say yep, I want to hear this, too .
Damn, the women were ganging up on him.
He sighed, took a big gulp from his glass, and started to talk.