Falling for Rayne (2 page)

             
Cleo snorted and stood up to walk over to the fridge. “That’s not the real reason.”

             
Rayne shrugged and took a sip of her juice. “Ivy relaxes around you. You can protect us and help my sister too.”

             
Cleo shook her head and took out the pizza box from last night. “You should tell her, Rayne.”

             
Rayne glared at Cleo and shook her head. “Absolutely not. She’s been through enough. She barely has her anxiety under control as it is. What would knowing there could possibly be someone trying to kill us do to her mental well-being?”

             
Cleo sighed and took a bite of the cold, pepperoni pizza. “She’s tougher than she looks, Rayne. Ever since you found out she has OCD and have her on the right medication, she’s been doing a lot better.”

             
Rayne groaned and leaned her head in her hands as she thought of last night as they stood in the bathroom and watched as Ivy had dyed strands of her hair near her neck bright pink from a box she’d picked up at the drug store.

             
“She’s twenty-three and she looks like a drummer for a rock band,” she complained just as Ivy walked in the kitchen. Ivy narrowed her eyes at Rayne and walked over to the fridge.

             
“I look like a drummer? Exactly what I was going for since I’ve been thinking about starting a band.”

             
Rayne closed her eyes and massaged her temples. “Of course you were. So what are your plans for the day?” she asked politely.

             
Ivy shrugged and grabbed a jar of Nutella out of the cupboard and began smearing a large amount on the left over brioche Cleo had picked up at the local bakery yesterday.

             
“Cleo and I are going to rent some jet skis and head out on the water. You should come with us. You know, live a little.”

             
Rayne’s eyes drifted to the pale, silver lines on Ivy’s arm where she’d cut herself and wondered how a girl who had tried so hard to hurt herself was far better at living than she was.

             
“Next time,” she promised and watched as her little sister rolled her eyes.

             
“It’s always next time with you. What are you going to do here? Walk around the yard? Read? Seriously Rayne, come with us or Cleo and I are going to start thinking you’re completely dead inside.”

             
Rayne swallowed and looked away from her sister’s taunting eyes and out the window at the yard that was begging for color and life. She
had
been feeling dead inside. Completely gray and lifeless.

             
“Actually I’m going to be planning out the flower arrangements because I have a meeting with our landscaper tomorrow afternoon. You two go on without me. We can catch a movie tonight when you guys get back, okay?”

             
Ivy frowned but nodded her head and left the kitchen. Cleo walked over and touched her arm. “Don’t forget the alarm system and always have your mace nearby.”

             
Rayne nodded her head and smiled. “Of course. Which reminds me, sometime this week I want to go pick out a guard dog. It will be an added protection and it’ll be good for Ivy.”

             
Cleo nodded and tilted her head. “It’s okay sometimes to think about what would be good for you too you know.”

             
Rayne blushed and looked away as Cleo walked out of the kitchen. There was too much guilt to think about what would be good for her. Because the majority of the people she loved had died, she was now a millionaire and the owner of a successful shipping business. It was such a horrible thing to think that because the people she loved had died, she profited. How could she enjoy that?

             
She stood up and walked over to the window and leaned her forehead against the cool glass. And to think that there was someone out there who very much wanted her and Ivy out of the way so that he could profit now. She thought of Graham Mitchell and shivered. Her half-cousin from her grandmother’s first marriage had been very vocal about his fury at being cut out of their grandmother’s will. He had a posse of lawyers who had tried to contest her grandmother’s will but they’d failed. A month after learning the verdict, her parents had died. Graham Mitchell was determined to have his share one way or another.

             
She listened to her sister and Cleo laugh as they walked out the front door and knew she’d do anything to protect her sister from him. Even if it meant hiding out in Fircrest, Washington while her private investigators worked to find evidence to prove that he had killed her parents.

             
Garrett instructed one of his clerks to put all the pansies on sale so he could make some of his money back. When Rayne Nyman had told him to take the flowers back he’d just about had a heart attack. They’d just barely opened up Murphy’s Nursery and the loan for the property and the flowers, trees and bushes along with the pots, soil and landscaping rocks was enough to make him grab his heart. Becket swore they’d pay off the loan within two years but he had his doubts. He hoped Becket was right because until they did he’d be up at night, sleepless with worry.

             
Hearing Rayne talk about ordering different flowers had sent his heart soaring though. A cute, little rich girl like her would probably order something ridiculously expensive and pay for ten thousand flats of pansies. Plus, if he could steer her towards flowers that would actually accentuate that gorgeous yard he could make it shine. Add in a tasteful little sign and there was his advertising. Get a few other wealthy clients and Murphy Landscaping would be sitting pretty. He couldn’t wait to tell Asher and Becket. He grabbed his phone and then remembered that Becket was out bidding a rock wall job and Asher was meeting with their accountant. Yeah, better wait. He’d tell them tomorrow when he had the actual numbers in front of him.

             
He walked into his office and pulled his laptop closer. He wanted to know who he was going to be working with. If he could get a little background info on Rayne Nyman he might be able to connect with her a little better. A better working relationship meant she’d be more comfortable signing that check at the end of the day. He hit Google and then blinked in surprise as article after article popped up.

             
“
Unreal
,” he muttered as he clicked on the first one. It was a review of her last concert in New York. Garrett leaned closer as he read about Rayne’s career as a concert pianist. His eyes started to glaze from all the words and so he glanced at the pictures. His eyes went wide as he stared. The girl who had stood there staring at her feet nervously looked nothing like the confident and glamorous woman in the photos. Garrett frowned and shook his head. She could barely look at him when they were talking today. Every time he caught her eyes, she’d blush and look at her hands until she’d finally just turned away from him.

             
He glanced through a few other articles and paused at the society page of a newspaper from San Diego. It was a picture of Rayne standing next to a guy named Liam Michaels. Garrett sneered at the guy with his slicked back, pale blond hair and pasty complexion. Looked like the guy never set foot outside.
To each their own
, he thought and then glanced down the article.

             
Acclaimed pianist, Rayne Nyman recently broke up with Liam Michaels. No word yet from her publicist on the reason for the break. Liam Michael’s secretary sent out a press release stating that the two remain close friends and that they will always care deeply for one another.

             
Garrett snorted and turned to grab a pop out of the mini fridge by his desk.
What was she? A Hollywood Star?
He couldn’t imagine living in a world where you had to send out a press release every time you broke up with someone. He scanned through a few more articles and paused on the one announcing the death of her parents. He frowned and ran a hand over his hair.
Poor kid
. She was all alone in the world except for her little sister now. He sighed as he read the next article about Ivy Nyman being admitted to the psychiatric ward in San Diego.

             
He slowly shut his laptop and took another sip of his pop. Rayne Nyman was a puzzle. On one hand she was a glamorous, talented woman who lived a life of privilege that very few people could even imagine. But the woman he’d seen today had been shy and nervous and refreshingly pretty. He was used to women being in your face with bright, tinted hair, fake eyelashes, fake everything and spray tanned to perfection. Rayne was the complete opposite. Her hair was long and brown and so shiny and glossy he knew it had to be natural. Her face had been pale with a sprinkling of freckles over her nose and her eyes had been a clear green that had been all about genetics and not contacts.

             
As a matter of fact, he’d ask her out if he didn’t know better. Garrett stood up and grabbed his Mariner’s baseball hat off his chair and grabbed his pop before walking back out into the nursery.
Nah
, there was no way a woman like Rayne would be interested in an average guy like him. He’d been through the trenches, literally as a Marine and now that he’d been home a few years, he was just trying to find a little peace and stability. He had his issues with PTSD and he saw a therapist once or twice a month to keep a handle on things but there were still moments when he woke up in the middle of the night gasping for breath and reaching for his gun.

             
Garrett paused by a flat of dahlias and leaned down to touch a delicate petal. Yeah, he wouldn’t be looking in that direction no matter how tempting the little piano player was. He knew what it was like to be rejected. Jane Kendall came to mind for one. He wasn’t closed off to love or having a relationship, but he wasn’t seeking it out either no matter how much his buddy Rob was pushing him. Now that Rob was happy he wasn’t going to be satisfied until all of his friends were happy and married like him.

             
Garrett grinned as he thought about Rob’s little wife Wren. She was amazing. If he could have a wife as sweet and fun and as talented as her he’d jump at the chance. Of course, he would have jumped at the chance of dating Taryn Downing, Rob’s little sister but she’d already been head over heels for Brogan and he hadn’t had a chance.
Of course that hadn’t stopped him from acting like a total idiot over her anyways
, he thought with a grimace.

             
Garrett jumped up in his truck and headed to the house he shared with his brother Asher. They’d inherited it from their dad before he passed away from lung cancer right after he’d gotten home from Iraq.

             
He and his brother had practically raised themselves. His mom had taken off when Asher had been in Kindergarten and he’d been in third grade. Their dad had been a trucker and so they were raised mostly by their Aunt Dannie who had spent most of her time watching TV and getting her hair and nails done. It hadn’t been the best childhood, but it hadn’t been the worst either. Seeing their dad when he was home had been the best though. Trips to the pizza parlor and movies and trips to the toy store. But then he’d be gone and it was just him and Asher again.

             
He knew going away and joining the Marines had been hard on Asher, but he’d wanted to get out. He’d wanted to do something that had mattered. And he had. It had changed him and damaged him in ways that he was still trying to figure out, but if he had the chance to go back and do it again, he would.

             
Starting a business with Asher had been a good way to spend time with his brother and pay the bills. Asher’s college education hadn’t come cheap even with the Pell Grant. When his buddy, Becket Lowell had come home they’d decided to combine their businesses. Becket owned a backhoe and was making money hand over fist doing rock walls. Add in the landscaping aspect of the business and now their nursery and they could take on any job that came their way.

             
He drove past a few of their jobs in town and grinned. They were starting to make a name for themselves. He smiled sadly and drove to the grocery store to pick up a few steaks for the grill.

             
It was about time.

             
Rayne stared in the mirror at herself and bit her lips. It was just a little lunch to go over what she wanted planted. It was no big deal.
So what?
They’d be eating together. People did that sort of thing all the time. She used to have lunch and dinner with people constantly.

             
But not like this.

             
She’d never once had lunch with a man like Garrett Murphy. The man oozed testosterone. He looked like Captain America in jeans and a t-shirt and could probably do more pushups. She sighed and shook her head.
Get real Rayne
, she told herself firmly. You’re just a glorified piano player. What would a man like that ever see in a girl like you?

             
She sighed but checked her hair again. She had decided to put clips in her hair to keep it from falling into her face. Or her plate. She hadn’t been wearing any make up at all when she’d decided to run out of the house yesterday. She’d had no idea she’d be talking to someone that made her forget her own name, but she’d make up for it today. She’d outlined her eyes with eyeliner and used a little smoky shade of taupe eye shadow on her lids. If she didn’t use mascara her pale eyelashes completely disappeared, but when she did, voila, she had big pretty eyes. Her green eyes were probably her favorite feature on her face. She didn’t mind her freckles although they had bugged her mom enough that she’d consulted a dermatologist to get them bleached off. She’d put her foot down on that though and they’d stayed. Her face was a perfect oval and her lips were a little too big. Bee stung was the word for it but the boy who had called her fish lips at school made her realize that too much of a good thing was still too much. She usually wore a nude lipstick or gloss to try to downplay them.

             
She glanced down at her knee length white skirt and blue and white striped t-shirt and knew she was going casual on purpose. If she was meeting Garrett for lunch for any other reason she would have gone all out. She slipped on her white flip flops and grabbed her purse and keys before running down stairs.

             
“And where do you think you’re going looking like that?”

             
Rayne stopped with her hand on the doorknob and turned slowly around to see Ivy and Cleo standing in the kitchen doorway. She glanced down at herself innocently and shrugged.

             
“I’m having lunch with the landscaper. We’re going over my ideas for the flower beds.
Why?
Do you think I look okay?”

             
Ivy walked towards her with her hands on her hips. Today she was wearing torn, black jeans with rips from the upper thigh down past her knees. Her t-shirt was an old concert shirt and her hair was up in a bun so you couldn’t miss the bright pink slash of color in the back. Cleo was dressed in her usual uniform of yoga pants and tank top with her hair in a ponytail. Her wide, tawny eyes were sparkling at her in amusement as if she could read her mind.

             
Ivy stopped in front of her and lifted an eyebrow as she breathed in deeply. “Is that
Cool Water
you’re wearing?” she asked.

             
Rayne blushed and grabbed her purse as it slipped off her shoulder. “Maybe it is. Why the sudden interest in my choice in perfume?”

             
Ivy tilted her head and studied her sister. “Cleo, remind me. Did Rayne mention whether or not our landscaper happens to be good looking?”

             
Cleo laughed and walked toward the two sisters. “I don’t think so, but in Rayne’s defense I’m not sure that she has to. She is twenty-six years old. If she wants to have a sinful little lunch discussing flowers, can we really blame her?”

             
Rayne gave up and grinned at Cleo and pushed Ivy in the shoulder making her laugh. “
Fine
, he’s gorgeous. He’s so gorgeous he makes me stutter and act like I’m thirteen. I’m so nervous I probably won’t even remember my name.”

             
Ivy clapped her hands and jumped up and down. “Let’s go Cleo! Please, please. We’ll sit in the corner and spy on them. And if you need help you can text us and we’ll meet you in the bathroom. It’ll be fun.”

             
Rayne frowned in horror. “
No!
No way, Ivy. That is the most immature thing I’ve ever heard of. I can just picture it now. You two in the corner, giggling and laughing and pointing.”

             
Cleo tapped her chin. “What if we promise to behave? I think it’ll be fun. And besides, we’re both bored to tears right now. A little field trip would be good for us and plus we’re hungry.”

             
Ivy’s pale green eyes lit up and she nodded her head. “We’ll totally behave. Besides, after seeing you date Liam for ten tedious years, it’ll be interesting to see who has caught your eye.”

             
Rayne sighed loudly and turned and opened the door. “Okay, but if you embarrass me, I will get revenge.”

             
Cleo snorted but ran to get her purse as Ivy followed her outside.

             
“I never did like Liam. He was so pompous and entitled. I hated it. We’d be at some party and he’d snap his fingers and you’d appear at his side so he could show you off.
See, look at her. Isn’t she divine? So beautiful. So talented. And all mine.
Be jealous
,” Ivy said in a good imitation of Liam’s nasal voice.

             
Rayne frowned and glanced at her sister. “He was proud of me, Ivy. There’s nothing wrong with bragging about your significant other.”

             
Ivy raised an eyebrow. “He was a jerk Rayne. The day you broke up with Liam was the day I regained my hope in life.”

             
Rayne paused with her hand on the door of her car and stared at her sister. “Well then, I’m glad. Anything that gives you hope is something I’m for.”

             
Ivy looked away in embarrassment. “So this guy you’re meeting. Would it be easy to dump this guy?”

             
Rayne blinked in surprise and imagined what it would even be like to be together and in love with Garrett Murphy and shook her head. “If I ever dated Garrett, I’d never break up with him. Do I look stupid? You’d have to pry me off with a crow bar.”

             
Ivy crowed in delight and pumped her fist into the air. “Hurry up Cleo! We’ve gotta check this guy out!”

             
Rayne laughed, knowing she’d exaggerated to get her sister to smile although she wasn’t sure she was lying. She waited until Cleo was in her Mini Cooper before pulling out into the street. Her house was in the older section of Fircrest and the restaurant was closer to all the stores. She glanced back in her rearview mirror at the house and smiled knowing very soon it was going to shine again. It had been built in 1907 and was a classic, Colonial Georgian with large porches that wrapped around the entire house and dark green shutters that popped against the white wood siding. It had been the first home that her grandmother Marion had lived in with her husband Joseph Stewart.

             
And now it was her home. She thought of the home she had grown up in but she couldn’t face that house anymore. Not with the memories of her mother and father everywhere she looked. She’d return someday. But not now. And not soon. Especially knowing Graham Mitchell was looking for her.

             
She’d heard just that morning from her investigative team that Graham had been making inquiries into her whereabouts. As long as she kept a low profile and kept her name out of the headlines, she and Ivy could hideout here for as long as she wanted to.
Or
as long as it took to arrest Graham for the murder of her parents.

             
She pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and waved at Ivy and Cleo as they drove down the road. She didn’t wait for them and walked inside and was immediately overcome by the most amazing scents. She closed her eyes for a second and breathed in the smell of basil and rosemary and garlic that surrounded her. Her taste buds jumped to attention and her stomach growled, reminding her that she was starving.

             
“Trust me, it’ll taste even better than it smells.”

             
Rayne’s eyes popped open and she turned her head to see Garrett grinning down at her. Rayne’s face flamed in embarrassment and she laughed lightly. “I hope you’re right. You’ll have to tell me what’s good here since you’re a regular.”

             
Garrett nodded and gestured toward the dining area. “I’ve already got us a table. Follow me.”

             
Rayne nodded at the hostess who was busy staring at Garrett but she couldn’t blame her. Garrett looked even better today than he had yesterday. Yesterday he’d been in a pair of grungy jeans and an old t-shirt. Today, he was wearing slacks and a simple white button down shirt and it looked like he had recently shaved. She kind of missed seeing him in his faded jeans and t-shirt.

             
He led her toward the back of the restaurant to a booth and waited as she sat down. She smiled up at him as he joined her and noticed he was smiling back at her with what had to be appreciation in his eyes. She blinked in surprise and looked away. No way could someone like Garrett find her attractive.

             
“You look pretty,” he said, not hiding the fact that he thought so.

             
Rayne looked down at her skirt and bit her lip before answering. “Thanks, and so do you.”

             
She looked up to see Garrett grinning at her and she blushed again. “I mean,
handsome
. You’re not pretty. Sorry about that. You’ve very, very handsome,” she added, only making it worse.

             
Garrett’s eyes warmed and he took pity on her, handing her a menu and changing the subject. “I can attest to the fact that the salmon here is the best in the world but honestly you could pick anything off the menu and it would be incredible. I know the chef, she’s the owner’s wife and she’s incredibly talented. She’s only working part-time now that she has a baby. Cutest little girl you’ve ever seen. The other chef, Kam Matafeo is really good too.”

             
Rayne took the menu in her hands and glanced at all the options. “It sounds like you’re pretty close to the owner and his family.”

             
Garrett nodded and looked over her shoulder with a smile. “Rob and I golf together and I went out with his sister once,” he said as a tall, gorgeous woman walked up to their table.

             
“I heard that Garrett. And even though it was just once, it was memorable,” she said before leaning down and kissing Garrett on the cheek.

             
Rayne looked back and forth between the two and knew that they would be perfect together. Garrett’s strength and perfect features were a match for this woman’s exotic beauty. She had dark eyes and long dark hair that made one automatically think she should be walking down the streets of Rome.

             
“Rayne, this is Taryn Moore, the manager of The Iron Skillet.”

             
Rayne smiled politely and nodded her head. “It’s nice to meet you.”

             
Taryn put a hand on Garrett’s shoulder and smiled back. “It’s nice to meet you too. So is this a friendly lunch or is this business?” she asked curiously.

             
Garrett smiled at her and sighed loudly. “All business Taryn. Rayne doesn’t seem to like pansies very much so she’s here to educate me on what she does like.”

             
Rayne cleared her throat and wished her hands weren’t sweating as Taryn looked at her expectantly. “My grandmother, Marion Stewart, left me and my sister her home over on Ashford Lane and I want it to look beautiful for her. I want the house to come alive again,” she said softly, trying to put into words what she wanted.

             
Taryn’s eyes went big and she grinned. “The big white house with green shutters and those big beautiful porches?”

             
Rayne smiled and nodded. “That’s the one.”

             
Taryn sighed and clasped her hands to her heart and sighed loudly. “I love that house. I can’t wait to see what you can do with it. And you’re right to veto those pansies. That house deserves something spectacular.”

             
Garrett nodded his head and grinned up at Taryn. “I promise to do everything I can.”

             
Rayne smiled at him as their waiter approached them. Taryn patted Garrett’s arm and then urged her to come back again before walking over to another table.

             
Rayne and Garrett both ordered the salmon and couscous with the house salad. Garrett picked up a sourdough roll from the bread basket and began buttering it. “You should try these rolls. They’re from Belinda’s Bakery and everything they make is heavenly.”