Chapter 3
3
Brian parked his truck in front of the small modular building that served as the sales office of his nursery. The usual satisfaction and pride he felt when he drove up and saw the greenhouse and rows of plants and shrubs lined up next to the building didn’t hit him. He was too distracted.
He shook his head and turned off the truck. Tracey’s problems were not his problems. She made it abundantly clear that she did not want or need his help when it came to her life. He got out and slammed the door. His footsteps were heavy as he marched into the office. His office manager, Natalie, sat with the phone held between her shoulder and ear while she tapped away on the laptop on the desk. Natalie was the best manager he could have hired. She understood the business, could calm down any irate customer or vendor, and even understood enough about plants to help him make selections. A good manager was worth their weight in gold. And if Tracey would get off her high horse and find her own perfect assistant, he wouldn’t have to rearrange his schedule to find a way to make this fit. Tracey’s last-minute request was annoying, but not something he couldn’t handle. He couldn’t believe she’d forgotten something so important and that she would rather stretch herself thin than to either make Jessica do her job or find someone else who would.
Natalie raised a brow and watched him with curious dark eyes. She was a year older than his thirty-five, white, with dark brown hair that she wore in a short style that stopped at her ears. She was dressed in her typical denim overalls and T-shirt she put on whenever she was working.
“Okay, Mr. Davenport, I’ll be sure to call you back when we get more azaleas. You have a great day. Bye-bye.” She ended the call, crossed her arms and frowned at him. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Two guesses,” Brian said. He went over to the water cooler in the corner and filled one of the small paper cups in the attached dispenser.
“Hmm…did someone order something, and when you delivered they said it wasn’t right?”
“Nope.” Brian drained the cup in one swallow.
Natalie tipped her head to the side. “Your ex-wife called again?”
Brian scowled but shook his head. “I blocked her number.”
Natalie shrugged. “She always finds a way to get through.”
She did, which was why Brian consistently screened his phone calls. He didn’t know why Renee insisted on calling him and pretending like they were still cool when they were not and never would be. But that was just like his ex. She didn’t take no for an answer or back down. Including when it came to accepting that things were over between them. Even though he accepted that he was partially to blame for that.
“Then, I’m out of guesses,” Natalie said. She sat back in her chair.
“I’m surprised you can’t guess. We’ve got a surprise order for The Fresh Place Inn.”
Natalie sighed and shook her head. “Tracey forgot to call with another order again?”
“She did.”
Natalie sat forward and made a few clicks on the laptop. Probably to bring up their inventory so she could quickly check and see if they had what Tracey needed. “When’s the wedding?”
“This Saturday.” Brian crumpled the cup and tossed it in the trash.
Natalie made a tsking sound, and pity filled her eyes. “I want to be mad, but then when I think about the circumstances…” She balled her hand into a fist.
“Nope. Nah, we’re not doing that. Her circumstances happened almost a year ago.”
“But still. That’s a lot to get over. Her husband cheating with her manager right under her nose. And then getting the woman pregnant! Then she has to get rid of him, hire a new manager and deal with all the reservation requests because of the small-town designation. That’s a lot.”
“That’s life. She can’t keep burying her head in the sand. Besides, she’s better off without that guy. This is her time to shine.”
Natalie narrowed her eyes. “You always act upset when you really want to help her. So stop complaining and tell me what she needs. I’ll get with Pat so he can deliver the shrubs.”
“I can complain because I’m helping her.” He moved toward his office.
“Just tell her you like her and get it over with,” Natalie said with a laugh.
Brian looked over his shoulder. “I don’t like her. I’m a small nursery, and she’s one of my best customers so I can’t piss her off. Besides, I can’t stand seeing people ruin their own lives.”
He went into his office and shut the door before Natalie could give another reply. Natalie was too damn insightful. He did like Tracey, always had. He’d always found her attractive and interesting. She was sexy. Large dark eyes, warm brown skin, full breasts and an ass that would make any man bite his lower lip combined with a sassy attitude that called to a primitive part of him. What was there not to like about her? She spoke what was on her mind, wasn’t afraid of confrontation and had overcome so much. He’d been in awe of her brashness and don’t-give-a-fuck attitude when they were in school. When he’d returned to Peachtree Cove after his divorce, he hadn’t been surprised to see she was opening a new bed and breakfast, despite town gossips saying she would fail. He had been surprised to find out she’d married Bernard Thompson, of all people. A stuck-up, judgmental, boring guy Brian had forgotten existed until he’d moved back to Peachtree Cove.
Then to learn the most boring guy in town was cheating on the most interesting person he’d known growing up had thrown Brian for a loop. A part of him understood how hard it was to leave a bad relationship. He’d been there. His disaster of a marriage with Renee had been nothing but loud arguments and tantrums followed by almost euphoric make-up sessions fueled with sex and weed. He’d sworn that was love, even though his dad told him over and over that it wasn’t. Then Renee cheated when he’d come home for his dad’s funeral, and Brian realized his dad had been right. He needed to get his life in order, and staying married to Renee wasn’t the way to do it.
So why couldn’t Tracey do the same? And why was he so obsessed with figuring out why she couldn’t break out of the funk caused by her ex-husband?
“You know why,” he mumbled out loud.
Guilt. That was why. He’d been the first one to see what was happening. The first person to bring it to her attention. And he’d been there the day it had all come crashing down. He didn’t regret her finding out the truth, but he did feel bad about being the one to bring it to her attention. He’d forever be connected with the start of the end of her marriage.
His cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen and cringed. The number was unknown but was coming from Southern California. More than likely Renee. He sent the call to voice mail. If it was her, then he’d block that number, too.
He searched for his friend Quinton’s number. Q answered after the third ring. “Brian, what’s up?”
“Just got back from a few deliveries. Checking to see what you’re up to tonight. Want to check out the game at Cyril’s bar?”
“Oh man, I would, but I’ve got something going on with Halle tonight.”
“What do y’all got going on?” He tried to hide his disappointment, but some of it slid into his tone. In the year since Quinton and Halle had started dating, his friend was always doing something with his Halle, or with Halle and their daughter, Shania.
“Well, Shania is staying at her cousin Kayla’s house so we’re going to go out, have a drink and enjoy the time alone.” The smile was evident in his friend’s voice.
“Didn’t you all go out a few days ago?” Brian remembered because he’d called Q and asked him about going out for drinks then.
“Yeah, when my parents were hanging with Shania.”
“Things are better now, right? Now that your parents have their own place. You and Halle get more time together.”
When Quinton’s parents first moved to Peachtree Cove, they lived with him and limited the amount of alone time he had with Halle. Brian understood wanting to spend time with your lady, but Quinton was never available. Brian was about to think he’d never get a chance to hang with his boy.
“Things are better, but you know how it is. Gotta enjoy the moments we can get together.”
Brian struggled not to roll his eyes. He didn’t want to hate on his friend and his new relationship. He liked Halle and he was glad that she, Quinton and their daughter were finding a way to make their unorthodox family work. But with the new relationship, Brian had lost his hanging partner. Cyril was his other friend, but he only saw him when he was working at his bar. When he wasn’t working, he was spending time with his fiancée, Imani, planning their wedding. Now they were looking at him like he should get paired up.
“I thought you had a date tonight?” Quinton asked in a way that implied Brian shouldn’t be upset about Quinton having other plans.
“Angelica,” Brian said remembering the woman his older brother introduced him to at a bar in Atlanta the weekend before. Brian had embraced bachelorhood after his divorce, but his brother had completely embraced the life of playboy bachelor from the moment he’d noticed women had tits and that all tits didn’t look the same. His brother had never acted foolish over a woman.
“Yeah, I told her I might swing through, but I’m not feeling it.”
“Why not? I thought y’all hooked up?”
Brian leaned back in his chair. “We did, but right after she asked me what I wanted from her. I mean, we just met. I don’t know where things are going.”
Quinton grunted. “So she basically rang the death knell on anything else happening with you two?”
“Aye, man, I’m not that bad.”
“But you also aren’t trying to answer the where-is-this-going question with anyone either.”
Brian shrugged and nodded. His friend had a point. “True, but I’m always up-front about that. I told her that I wasn’t looking for anything serious, and she said cool.”
“Then, what’s the problem?”
“She looked disappointed before saying she was cool. A sure sign that she said she was good with casual but isn’t. Which means sleeping with her again is a trap. I’m not looking for a relationship, but I’m also not trying to play with her feelings.”
“Well, if she doesn’t work out, I’m sure you’ve got someone else you can call.”
Brian did. He had a few women who were just as good with his let’s-just-hook-up lifestyle, but he wasn’t feeling that tonight. He wasn’t going to tell Quinton that. People happy in relationships tended to take any sign of a single person not being completely happy with being single as an invitation to start trying to get them committed to someone.
“We’ll see. I just thought we could hang. But it’s no big deal.”
“Another day,” Quinton said.
“Sure thing. Tell Halle I said what’s up.”
He dialed Angelica’s number. It only took a brief conversation to cancel his plans to meet up. She sounded disappointed, but not so much so that Brian felt guilty. He considered calling his brother, but he wasn’t in the mood to hear DeWayne say he needed to find a new person to warm his bed. As an investment banker his brother’s days were spent making money, trying to help his family get better with money and dating casually. Brian didn’t feel like hearing a lecture about how he needed to be saving for retirement or the reasons he should find a casual hookup to blow off steam. Brian wasn’t in the mood for a casual hookup either. Maybe it was because he’d been surprised by Tracey at the end of the long day. Seeing firsthand what a bad relationship could do to throw off a capable person soured his mood. He’d rather be alone.