Flowers on Main (27 page)

“Of course she’s not old enough to date,” Connie said dryly. “But when did that ever stop a teenager? Kids have a way of growing up when you’re not looking. You’ll find that out for yourself one day. I do like to keep an eye on her, though. Jake caught her making out in his office not long ago.”

Bree’s eyes widened. “What’d he do? Beat the boy to a pulp?”

Connie laughed. “I believe there was a very stern exchange and then he had a talk with Jenny. I want to believe he got through to her, but just in case he didn’t, I don’t want her alone in the house with this kid for very long.”

Bree saw real concern in her eyes and made a quick decision. “Why don’t we have that drink at your place. Would that work for you?”

Relief immediately spread across Connie’s face. “That would be great.”

“I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes,” Bree promised. “Want me to stop and pick up a pizza or some snacks?”

“Make it a couple of pizzas,” Connie said. She took a twenty-dollar bill out of her purse and tried to give it to Bree.
“Take it,” she insisted. “If they’re eating, they won’t be making out, and we can have our food without me jumping up every few minutes to check on them.”

“Keep your money. You’re providing the drinks. The pizza is the least I can do.”

“Okay, then. I’ll see you soon. You know we’re living back at my parents’ place, right? They were retiring to Florida just as I was getting divorced. Jake already had his own house, so I moved back home. The price was right. If I’m careful, I can just make it every month on the alimony and child support I’m getting. What Jake pays me goes right into Jenny’s college fund. It turned out to be a good deal all around.”

“Sounds like it,” Bree agreed. “You can fill me in on all the rest of your life when I get there. I want to hear everything.”

“I’ll bore you to tears,” Connie replied. “You’re the one with tales to tell. See you soon.”

As soon as Connie had left, Bree ordered the pizzas and an extra-large salad, then drove around the corner to pick them up. The pizza parlor was packed, so it took longer than she’d expected. It was over a half hour later by the time she pulled up in front of Connie’s and immediately spotted Jake’s truck in the driveway. For a fleeting instant, she considered turning right around and driving away, but Connie was already standing in the doorway beckoning her inside.

“Jake’s here?” Bree asked as she walked slowly across the lawn.

“He turned up a couple of minutes ago. I swear I had no idea he was coming over tonight. Sometimes he pops in to beg a meal.”

Bree didn’t entirely buy the explanation, but she let it pass. “Does he know I’m coming?”

Connie’s expression turned vaguely guilty. “Actually I just mentioned that I was expecting a pizza delivery any minute.”

Bree frowned at her. “I don’t think he’s going to be thrilled with the surprise. You should have warned him.”

“So he’d feel compelled to take off, even though I know he’d really like to stay? I don’t think so,” Connie said, reaching for the pizza boxes, but leaving it to Bree to carry the salad. “We’ll take this into the kitchen.”

As they passed the living room, which had once been almost as familiar to her as her own, Bree could hear Jake’s voice, along with Jenny’s and apparently that of the teenager’s boyfriend. For the first time since she’d been back, she heard the carefree sound of Jake’s laugh. That sound had once filled her with so much joy and she’d heard it often. It hurt to realize that around her he’d stopped laughing.

In the kitchen, she set the container of salad on the table and accepted the glass of red wine that Connie handed to her. She’d just taken her first sip when Jake walked in.

“I smell food,” he said eagerly, then stopped in his tracks. He turned an accusing gaze on his sister. “You didn’t mention you were expecting company.”

“Bree’s not company,” Connie said breezily, undaunted by his expression or his unwelcoming tone. “She was almost family once.”

“
Was
and
almost
would be the operative words,” Jake muttered.

Connie scowled at him. “Don’t be rude,” she scolded. “You’re the one who wasn’t invited. If you want pizza, sit down and behave.”

Jake’s lips twitched. “You sounded just like Mom then.”

“I meant to,” Connie retorted.

Bree couldn’t help herself. She chuckled at the ex
change. “This is just like old times. Connie always did boss you around.”

“She tried to,” Jake corrected. “She was never the boss of me.” He gave his sister a pointed look. “And these days, I’m her boss, something she might do well to remember.”

“Oh, hush,” Connie said. “You don’t scare me.”

Oddly, the squabble had the effect of relaxing Bree. She finally pulled out a chair and sat down. But when Connie left the room to take one of the pizzas and a couple of sodas to the kids, she couldn’t think of a thing to say to Jake.

“This is silly,” she said at last. “We used to be able to talk about anything.”

“Times change,” he said, sipping his beer and looking at her solemnly. He gestured with the bottle. “Used to be you’d be drinking one of these, instead of a glass of fancy wine. Did Marty help you develop your taste for the finer things in life?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Bree retorted, though without much heat behind the words. “Connie poured the wine. I accepted it. It’s not some huge statement about my preferences in alcohol.”

He winced. “Sorry. Connie’s right. If I can’t be civil, it’s probably better if I go.”

Bree locked her gaze with his. “Wouldn’t it be better to try a little harder to be civil? We managed almost an entire conversation earlier today. Please, Jake. Just try for tonight. Just for your sister’s sake. Something tells me she masterminded this evening. Let’s not disappoint her. Her heart’s in the right place.”

“And encourage her to go on meddling?” he suggested direly. “Is that what you want?”

“No, what I want is for us to get along. I miss being friends with you. How many times do I have to say that before you’ll believe me?”

He frowned at that. “And I miss loving you. Doesn’t seem to matter much, though, does it?”

“Of course it does,” she said, cringing at the bitterness behind his words. “I will tell you how sorry I am from now till eternity if that’s what you want. Is it? Does it help hearing me apologize?”

He stared at her, then dropped his gaze. “No.”

Since he hadn’t moved, she finally risked asking, “Does that mean you’ll stay? It’s an hour or two, Jake. No big deal.”

He gave her a wry look. “With you, an hour or two was never enough. I wanted a lifetime.”

The pain and vulnerability were back in his voice. She realized then just how scared he was of this, of
them.
Rather than forcing him to talk about it, she lifted the lid on the pizza box and pulled out a slice with pepperoni and sausage.

“Come on,” she taunted, waving it under his nose. “It’s just the way you like it. You know you want some.”

He hesitated for so long, she thought he might yet refuse, but eventually he reached for the slice, his rough fingers grazing hers. She wondered if he felt the same jolt of electricity she felt, but he was avoiding her gaze, so she couldn’t tell.

At least he hadn’t made good on his threat to leave. For tonight, that would have to be enough.

During a lull on Saturday afternoon, Bree thought about how pleasant the evening at Connie’s had turned out to be. Jake had even relaxed eventually and they’d all wound up playing cards with Jenny and Dillon. Jake had even walked her to her car, hands shoved in his pockets as if to resist reaching for her, and admitted that the evening had gone okay. In her book, it had been better than okay. It had been progress.

She was still relishing that when she looked up in surprise as her mother walked through the door of her shop.

“Mom, I wasn’t expecting to see you this weekend.”

“I wasn’t expecting to be here, but your father called last night and talked me into flying down this morning. He said he had a surprise for me later. Do you know anything about that?”

Bree shook her head. She hadn’t heard anything about a surprise. “Not a clue.”

“Well, whatever it is had better be good. He dropped me off at the house and took off again. I called Abby to see if she and the girls wanted to join me for lunch, but Trace said they’d already driven into town. Have you seen them?”

Bree looked up at the sound of the bell over the door and smiled. “Here they are right now,” she said as Carrie and Caitlyn bounded into the store, nearly knocking over a stack of ceramic planters in their exuberance.

“Slow down!” Abby commanded to little effect.

The girls were already behind the counter. Carrie immediately climbed up onto the stool and reached for the keys on the cash register.

“Can I ring up a sale, Aunt Bree?” she pleaded. “I know how.”

“I know, too,” Caitlyn said, trying to wedge herself between Carrie and the counter.

Bree hunkered down between them. “You know the rules,” she reminded them. “We have to wait for a customer.”

“But you keep chocolate in there,” Carrie said with obvious disappointment. “I want some now.”

Abby grinned at her. “Told you they were onto you. They know all about your secret stash.”

“Hey,” Megan said, regarding her granddaughters with an exaggerated scowl. “Did you not even notice that I’m here?”

Caitlyn beamed at her. “Grandma Megan, we weren’t ’specting you, were we, Mama?”

“We most certainly were not,” Abby concurred, slipping an arm around Megan’s waist. “But we are very glad to see you.”

“Will you be even happier if I take you all for ice-cream sundaes?” Megan asked the girls. “Your grandpa lured me to town, then abandoned me, so I’m going to indulge in a huge hot-fudge sundae.”

“Me, too! Me, too!” Caitlyn said eagerly.

Carrie clambered down from the stool. “I’ll come, too!”

Megan turned to Abby. “How about you?”

“Why don’t you three go ahead,” she suggested. “I need to speak to Bree for a minute.”

After Megan led the girls out of the shop, Abby turned to Bree. “So, did Mom tell you anything about this visit? What’s Mick thinking bringing her down here and then going off and leaving her?”

“Beats me,” Bree said. “She said he mentioned a surprise for later. Do you know anything about that?”

Abby shook her head. “He did call earlier and ask if we were going to be free this evening. He wanted us to stop by Gram’s around six o’clock.”

Bree thought about that. “He asked me to try to get out of here early so I could be there, too. You don’t suppose…?”

“Suppose what?”

“Is he planning to ask Mom to marry him again? He wouldn’t spring a question like that on her with everyone there, would he? That’s a surefire path to humiliation.”

Alarm flared in Abby’s eyes. “I agree. I don’t think Mom’s even close to being ready to remarry him. And, frankly, after everything that happened between them back then, I can’t even imagine that Dad’s ready to take that step.”

Bree nodded. “That’s what I thought, too, but what other surprise could there be?”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“And keep our fingers crossed that whatever it is won’t blow up in Dad’s face,” Bree added direly.

“From your lips to God’s ears,” Abby said solemnly, just as Gram would have done.

“Just in case, maybe you should track Mick down and try to find out what’s going on,” Bree suggested.

“Oh, no. I’m not meddling.”

“Come on, you have the O’Brien gene for it,” Bree reminded her.

“Nope. I’m one hundred percent reformed.”

“I don’t think that’s possible. Once a meddler, always a meddler. Besides, you’re the oldest. It’s your duty to check these things out, prevent calamities, that sort of thing. The rest of us rely on you for that.”

Abby frowned, but she reached in her purse and pulled out her cell phone. After she’d punched in a number, her frown deepened. “It went straight to Dad’s voice mail,” she said.

Bree was taken aback by that. “Really? Have you ever known Dad not to answer his cell on the first ring?”

“Maybe it’s part of his commitment to turn over a new leaf,” Abby suggested. “I’ll try again later, but I suppose I should go rescue Mom from the girls. Who knows what those two might be trying to talk her into. I think they have their eye on some kind of elaborate water slide at Ethel’s Emporium. It’s just the kind of thing Mom could be persuaded that they ought to have.”

Bree chuckled. “Then I’m amazed Trace hasn’t already bought it.”

“He’s learning not to grant their every wish,” Abby said. “See you at the house tonight.”

Bree nodded as Abby left, already distracted by trying to figure out what on earth Mick might be up to. Whatever it was, she had a bad feeling about it.

W
hatever Mick’s surprise was, Gram was obviously in on it. When Bree got home, she found the whole family assembled, except for Jess. Tables laden with bowls of salads and plates of fried chicken stretched across the porch and more tables and chairs had been set up on the lawn.

“Are we expecting an army?” Bree asked, surveying the amount of food.

“No, just one tired army medic,” her brother Kevin said, walking around the side of the house. He was out of uniform, but there was no mistaking his military bearing or the exhaustion in his eyes. His hair, which like Mick’s had a tendency to curl, was little more than a crew cut, which emphasized the gauntness in his face.

“Oh my God, you’re home!” Bree exclaimed, rushing into his arms. He picked her up and twirled her around until she was breathless. She couldn’t seem to make herself let go of him. “You’re too skinny. What have they been feeding you in Iraq?”

“Nothing like Gram’s fried chicken and potato salad, that’s for sure,” he said.

“My turn,” Abby said, pushing Bree out of the way, then punching Kevin in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell us you were
coming home? We weren’t expecting you for a few more months. Is your tour in Iraq over for good?”

Bree’s excitement dimmed at the shake of his head.