Isle of Hope (8 page)

Sarah bounced in her seat with a clap of hands. “Oh, I’m so glad—Nick’s backyard is absolutely perfect, especially as private as it is with Mamaw’s gardens overlooking the river.” She folded her arms on the table. “You are going to have a tent in case it rains, right?”

“You bet,” Nicki said with a gleam in her eye, “the whole nine yards. I got Mamaw to agree by telling her she’d get that gazebo and rock walkway she’s been wanting all these years, complete with landscaping.”

“Which is why we’re all here tonight, as a matter of fact.” Matt glanced around the table. “Nicki and I thought instead of you guys popping for a wedding present, renting tuxes, or buying bridesmaid dresses—which we’ll take care of—we’d see if you wanted to help build the gazebo and landscape Mamaw’s yard instead. We figure it shouldn’t take more than three or four get-togethers to get it all done, and Nicki’s dad’s paying for all materials.”

A silent groan clogged in Jack’s throat.
Three or four get-togethers?

“Not to mention that Mamaw will be providing all food and refreshments,” Nicki added with a waggle of brows.

“Oh, man, count me in,” Nate said. He cast a hopeful look at Nicki. “You will tell her to make those red-velvet balls, right? And that seven-layer dip?”

Matt laughed. “If that’s what it takes to get you there, Sherman, you bet.”

“Then count me in too.” Justin draped an arm over Sarah’s shoulder. “Especially if Sarah agrees to make her famous cannolis.”

“Done!” Sarah said with a quick brush of her hands.

“Well, I’m certainly game.” Kelly cocked her head to peer up at Jack, her smile an invitation. “This sounds like a lot of fun if Jack’s involved.”

“Well, that’s the plan all around.” Matt snaked an arm around Nicki to pull her close while Wanda delivered their drinks. He zeroed in on Jack with a crooked smile. “And of course Jack’s involved—he’s the only one here besides me who knows how to use a hammer and saw—not to mention he owes me big time.”

Jack smiled his thanks at Wanda, then passed the various sodas around the table, eyes in a squint. “Yeah? How you figure, Ball?”

A twinkle lit Matt’s eyes. “Because I’ve covered your sorry butt on house chores for four years of med school and three years of residency, O’Bryen, so it’s payback.”

“Payback?” Jack slowly took a drink of his beer, his eyes narrowed over the rim of his glass as his gaze flicked from Lacey to Matt, his voice laden with threat. “Count on it.”

But Matt only grinned while Nicki pulled out a notebook and pen, poised to take notes. By the time the food arrived, she and Matt had a workable plan and schedule in place and appetites were high. Both for the food and the prospect of Matt and Nicki’s “dream wedding,” which according to Sarah, “each of them would always remember.”

Jack tore into his burger. Yeah, that was the problem. He didn’t
want
to remember this wedding or anything to do with. Not when it meant spending time with a woman who left him cold. He popped a couple of fries while Kelly offered him the catsup.
Correction.
Left his heart cold. But his body? He pounded back a hefty swig of beer while Lacey laughed with Nate and Sarah. The sight of her tan and toned in a skimpy sundress—even if it was worlds more modest than what the other girls wore—pumped heat through his veins like lava, slow and hot.

Man, I need another drink bad.
He snatched his glass from the table and downed it in one long glug, caught off-guard when the room began to spin. Clutching the edge of the booth, he jerked his eyes wide open, blinking to clear the glaze from his vision. Heat crawled up the back of his neck when he saw Lacey watching him with a sad look in her eyes, like she felt sorry for him.
Yeah? Well, a little late for that, Carmichael.

“So, everybody okay with that?” Nicki’s voice broke into his stupor as she scanned the table with a lift of brows. “Good, then let’s meet at church next Saturday at seven, okay?”

Jack blinked, his hearing apparently as impaired as his vision.
Church?
“Uh, sorry—I missed that, Nicki. What’d you say?”

“Our next planning meeting will be at Hope Church next Saturday at seven. There’s a wedding Pastor Chase thinks would be simple and inexpensive to copy, so he invited us to check it out, followed by volleyball in the gym after.”

Jack nailed Matt with a narrow gaze. “I don’t
do
church,” he muttered, upending his empty glass only to scowl when nothing but dregs dribbled down his throat.

“It’s a wedding, Jack.” Matt’s tone was even with a slight edge of challenge.

“Followed by volleyball in a gym,” Nicki emphasized, head dipped as if daring him to defy the man she loved.

“Might do you good, Jack, you never know.” Lacey raised her Coke in a toast that was more of a tease.

He charred her with a look. “And what would
you
know about ‘doing me good,’ Carmichael?”

“
Allllllll righty now
,” Nicki said with a roll of her eyes, “moving right along …”

Matt shook his head, a low chuckle rumbling from his chest. “Yeah, Lace, it might do our boy some good, but I doubt the same for the church.” He hefted his glass with a wink. “The way Lover Boy’s been burning the candle at both ends lately, the place might just go up in flames if he darkened the door.”

French-tip fingernails latched onto Jack’s arm as Kelly moved closer. “Oooo, I’m a fan of fire myself, so you can darken my door any day, Lover Boy.”

Matt leaned back in the booth, one arm loosely draped over Nicki’s shoulder as he guzzled his DP, gaze sharpening on Jack. “Now don’t go all cray on us, dude—nobody’s forcing you to go to church, but you just may have a good time, Jack. Chase has some pretty cool friends joining us for volleyball, and a couple of them are real lookers.”

“Boy, I’ll say.” Justin offered Jack a thumbs-up before he devoured a handful of fries. “I got my eye on one, I can tell you that, so you should go, Jack.”

“And they’re
nice
girls,” Nicki stressed, her way of letting Jack know she didn’t approve of the wilder women he’d been dating. “With good heads on their shoulders.”

“I don’t like nice girls,” Jack muttered, signaling Wanda for another beer. “They’re only interested in marriage.”

“Mmm … well, this could be your lucky day then, Dr. O’Bryen.” Kelly peered up at him with a secret smile, French tips skimming through the dark hairs on his arm.

Matt slid Lacey a smile of apology, nodding his head toward Jack. “Sorry, Lace. This joker’s not the same boy scout you used to know, so sometimes you just have to ignore all his sulky moods and crass comments like I do.”

“Too bad,” Lacey said softly, those sober blue eyes tinged with regret. “I was rather partial to that boy scout.”

“But not enough to stay, eh, Mike?” He bit out the former nickname she didn’t like, his words clipped with a bitterness that all but swallowed him whole.

“
Oooooookay now
…” Nicki said with a stab of her salad. “This appears to be an appropriate time to decide who will be paired up with whom.” She slid Matt a sideways glance, her voice lowering as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear. “I know you want Jack as your best man, but maybe he and Kelly are better suited—”

“Oh, I second that.” Kelly nibbled a fry while giving Jack a coy smile.

Matt shook his head. “No, Jack’s my best man no matter how much of a derp he’s being.” His blue eyes narrowed in threat. “He’ll shape up, I promise, even if I have to do it with a fist.”

Shooting Nicki an unspoken plea, Lacey laid her sandwich aside. “Look, Nick, I don’t have to be your maid of hon—”

“No!” Nicki’s tone stopped Lacey cold and everyone else at the table. She slanted in, eyes snapping like dry twigs in a hot fire. “You are the closest thing I have to a sister, Lace, and I am not going to let some Hatfield and McCoy feud ruin my wedding, so
you’re
my maid of honor, case closed.” Eyes hard as topaz, she turned on Jack, gaze glowing hotter than a welder’s torch. “The best man
will
behave, won’t you, Jack?”

Glaring Nicki down, Jack balked at her tone, lips as thin as his patience as he belted back a healthy swig of fresh beer delivered by Wanda.

Nicki slammed a fist on the table, rattling the dishes. “
Won’t you
, Jack?” she repeated, revealing a touch of that red-headed temper Matt had always warned him about.

He cast a sullen look Matt’s way before drilling both Nicki and Lacey with a pointed gaze. “As long as she doesn’t get any hare-brained ideas that she and I’ll be friends.”

Lacey shot to her feet. “Oh,
puh-leez
, give me a little credit, will you? I have no interest in banging my head against a brick wall, bucko—I’m not that stupid.” She hurled her napkin on the table, all prior softness in her eyes erupting into bronze fire. She jutted her chin to the level of intimidation he recognized from the fights they used to have. “Or at least I haven’t been for the last eight years.” She slapped the strap of her purse over her shoulder while her gaze darted to Nicki. “I’ll be back, Nick—right now I need some air bad.”

She stalked off, leaving an awkward silence that Matt finally broke with a low warning aimed right at Jack. “Hey, lay off, man. The poor kid just got dumped by some other guy, so cut her some slack, will ya?” Stress lines ridged his brow as he pushed his plate away, mouth leveled in a tight line. “She doesn’t deserve your crap, Jack, and neither do I.”

Jack mauled his face with his hands, feeling like a royal jerk for doing this to Matt and everyone else. “Sorry, man,” he whispered, kneading the bridge of his nose. “Too much brew, I guess.” He pushed the nearly full beer away and lumbered to his feet, offering Matt a look of regret. Taking his wallet out, he tossed a wad of twenties down, then scanned the table with an apology in his eyes. “‘Sorry’ doesn’t cut it, I know, but at least I can cover the tab.” He nodded toward the door. “I’m gonna go, Matt, but I’ll be there next Saturday.”

The tension in his cousin’s face eased. “Thanks, man—appreciate it.”

Jack gave a short nod. “So long, everybody,” he muttered, barely hearing the goodbyes that followed him to the door.

“Jack, wait!”

He turned, not overly thrilled to see Kelly hurrying to catch up. “Why don’t you let me drive you home? I’d hate to see you get a DUI or put a dent in that pretty new car.”

“Thanks, Kelly, but three beers is well within my legal limit, so I’m good.” He gave her a half smile, the dizziness in his brain feeling anything but legal.

She moved in close, her arms slipping around his waist. “I know you’re good, silly, but you
could
be even better,” she whispered, lifting on tiptoe to nuzzle at his earlobe.

He closed his eyes, uncomfortable with the flash of heat her touch produced. Matt would skin him alive if he got physically involved with one of Nicki’s converts, no matter how luke-warm that convert may be. With a slow skim of his hands down her arms, he held her at bay, wishing he could just take advantage of the blatant invitation in her eyes.
Anything
to rid himself of the freakin’ fire Lacey had stirred in his gut. “Look, Kelly, you don’t want to get involved with a guy like me—you’ll just regret it. Then I’ll regret it, and Nicki will string me up for leading you astray.”

“I’m a big girl, Jack—I think I can handle it.”

He sucked in a deep inhale of air, grazing her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Yeah, but I can’t. I’m not looking for anything but a good time right now, Kelly, and that’s not what you’re looking for.”

“Says who?” She moved in close, her body flush against his, spiking his pulse.

He nodded behind her, one side of his mouth tipping up. “Says them.”

She spun around and groaned as Nicki and Sarah approached, causing his lips to quirk when he spied the mama-bear glint in Nicki’s eyes.

Nicki latched on to Kelly’s wrist, tugging her toward the ladies room with a stiff arch of her brow. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Kelly said, heels all but skidding across the slatted floor as Nicki and Sarah dragged her to the restroom.

Jack couldn’t help but grin as Sarah waggled her fingers in a goodbye before the trio disappeared into the hall, admiring their loyalty and common sense, if not their religion. Shaking his head, he waved to a number of his teammates before stepping out the door, a clean wash of sea air helping to cool the heat of both the bar and Kelly’s tease. He unlocked his car and opened the door, sliding in to grab one of the Tootsie Roll miniatures he kept in his cup holder, the need for his sweet obsession all the stronger after such a sour evening. With a toss of the paper into the ashtray, he popped the candy in his mouth and started to close the door. His fingers froze on the handle when he spotted a female shadow on Butterbean Beach. Moonlight shimmered behind her on the Skidaway Narrows, and he instantly frowned, wondering what female was stupid enough to walk at night by herself outside of a bar on the Redneck Riviera.

A breeze fluttered the woman’s dress, and the moment Jack saw a ponytail sway in the wind, he didn’t have to wonder anymore. He swore under his breath and got out of his car, slamming his door hard. Eyelids flickering, he lurched to a stop for several dizzy seconds to clear the haze of booze from his brain. Despite his bravado with Kelly, he was as close to hammered as a traditionally one-beer guy could be, which only fed his fury toward his ex all the more.