Small-Town Dreams (20 page)

“Are you all right?” Cole whispered.

“Other than feeling like an utter fool, you mean? I’ll live. I’m tough. Hasn’t Daddy told you how strong and unshakable I am?”

“Sorry to destroy the legend, but right now you’re quaking like a California fault line.”

“Don’t let the watery eyes fool you. That’s pure rage you’re feeling.”

“Nice try, kitten, but I saw your face when you realized he wasn’t here alone.”

She dropped her forehead into the hollow of Cole’s shoulder. “Oh, no. Tell me he didn’t see.”

“No. And don’t worry. He isn’t leaving here tonight without the imprint of my fist somewhere on his aristocratic person.”

Hope looked up, and her startled gaze locked with his. “Don’t you dare! I probably wasn’t clear about my invitation. I was really nervous. I shouldn’t have been so vague. I should have remembered how totally dense he is about me. I don’t need you to fight my battles for me. Besides, if he doesn’t already know what he’s done, I certainly don’t want him to.”

“I’ll make a deal with you. You don’t tell me how to be a big brother, and I won’t tell you how to be a little sister. There are some perks that come with each position.” He wagged his straight eyebrows at her comically, making Hope laugh aloud. “Don’t spoil my fun. I’ve missed a lot of brothering over the years. You okay now?”

Hope nodded. “Thanks for the rescue, big brother. I’m fine.”

“Good, because the first in a horde of men is about to sweep you away. Hi, there, Hal. You here to ask permission to horn in on my date with this beautiful creature?”

“I certainly am. Hello, Hope.”

Hope nearly groaned. Harold Pendergrass had been following her around like a puppy since junior high. Why couldn’t she fall in love with him instead of a man who saw her as a sister?

What have I been thinking all these years? Jeff Carrington asked himself as he absently guided Elizabeth through the gallery toward the heated terrace where the band had set up.

He’d always insisted that Hope was the little sister his busy parents had never gotten around to providing him. And then he’d stepped inside Laurel House’s foyer tonight, and his illusions had dissolved like mist in the sunshine.

As Jeff stepped through the French doors, he caught sight of Hope laughing at Cole and was relieved to see that she was only dancing with her brother. Why he felt relief he wasn’t sure, and the bigger mystery was why he felt even more tense at the same time. It was the kind of tension you feel when you realize your life is about to change and you’re powerless to stop it.

What he felt when he looked at Hope bore no resemblance to anything he’d feel for a sibling. His feelings were most unbrotherly and troubling.

“Am I imagining something or did something monumental just happen back there?” Elizabeth asked, dragging Jeff back from his dizzying thoughts.

Jeff shook his head and grinned. “Don’t be silly.”

“So Hope Taggert’s new look didn’t just knock you for a loop?” She grinned knowingly. “And you aren’t silently thanking your lucky stars that I came here on a mission of mercy to rescue Cole from the old biddies we both know are lining up to pick him apart?”

“You’re as big a pain in the neck as Hope. You know that?”

“Ah, but when I emerged from the chrysalis several years ago, you never looked at me the way you did Hope just now in the foyer.”

Jeff swallowed. Had he been that obvious? “I was…surprised.”

“You always were a master of understatement. She didn’t look happy to see me. You did tell her I was coming along, didn’t you?”

Jeff shook his head, wondering what difference it made. “Not with my flight getting canceled yesterday. I barely got in the house in time to shower and dress. Besides, Hope wants what’s best for Cole, and having you at his side will make tonight easier for him. You play along, and I’ll charm us into being with the right partners. Cole won’t have any idea we’re taking pity on him.”

Jeff watched as Cole turned Hope over to Hal Pendergrass, and from the moon-eyed expression on the other man’s face, his feeling for Hope hadn’t changed a bit. Jeff grinned, wondering if Hope would wind up kicking her perpetual admirer in the shins the way she had in eighth grade. The grin faded when Hope smiled and slid easily into the other man’s arms.

Jeff mentally catalogued the feeling that arrowed through him. Jealousy. He didn’t want Hope dancing. At least not with anyone but him.

“Tell your lady friend you’ll be right back. We’re about to have a little talk,” Cole said as he stepped up behind Jeff.

Jeff excused himself to Elizabeth and followed Cole. He hated scenes, and Cole looked annoyed. And because Cole had once been his best friend before the distance between Pennsylvania and California had thinned the bonds. They’d managed to meet up from time to time over the thirteen years since Cole left. Whenever Jeff was competing near where Cole lived, they made a point to get together, but it wasn’t the same. As they turned the corner of the stone terrace, moving between one heated tent room to the next, Cole rounded on him and drove the breath out of him with a solid punch to his midsection.

“Oof.” He gasped, then drew in a breath that was a great deal more painful than the previous one.

“Ouch,” Cole said, shaking his hand in the air. “What are you doing, working out every day?”

“The Summer Olympics are this summer. Of course I am. Before I return the favor, you mind telling me what that was for?”

“It was for being a dense idiot and hurting my sister. There’s more where that came from if you do it again. If you don’t care about her, the least you could have done was let her down easily. You didn’t have to tell her how little you care by showing up with Miss Moneybags back there.”

Jeff blinked, rubbing his sore ribs. “What are you talking about?”

“Hope asked you here as
her
date, nitwit. Do you know how much trouble she’s gone through for you? She even cut her hair!”

Jeff stared at Cole in horror and thought back to the phone call. In spite of feeling lower than a snake, Jeff was oddly buoyed suddenly. “She cut her hair for me?”

“Yeah. Wipe that stupid grin off your face, or have you forgotten that you showed up with a date?”

Jeff lost the grin and groaned. He’d never meant to hurt Hope. He’d not only been dense about his feelings, but hers, as well. When he’d come in and looked at her, he’d instantly wished he’d come alone. But that had been before he’d realized who the vision was who stood staring at him from above. Hope was his friend, his confidante, his touchstone. And she was lovely.

And he’d been a blind fool.

“She called me at my hotel in L.A. and asked if I’d be back in time for the party since she hadn’t gotten my RSVP. I said that as far as I knew I hadn’t been invited. Nothing’s changed, by the way. Ross still doesn’t like me. I said as much when she asked me to come tonight. She said I’d be her special guest. I swear, Cole, I had no idea she meant as her date. I don’t even know what I’d have said back then if I’d realized what she was asking.”

“How about now?”

“Now I’d have been the one asking. I’m an idiot. No wonder I haven’t been able to find the woman for me. I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. She’s been right in front of me all along.”

“And when did you have this great epiphany?” Cole asked.

Jeff heard Cole’s skepticism. “When I looked up and I realized my best friend and baby sister wasn’t my sister at all.”

“Then it might be a good idea if you asked her to dance
before
you dance with—what’s her name?”

“Her name is Elizabeth Boyer. She’s Reggie Boyer’s daughter. You know, my coach. Don’t you remember her?”

Cole frowned, and Jeff knew a mental image of Elizabeth as his friend had last seen her must have sharpened in Cole’s mind. “The pudgy carrottop with the freckles and teeth? No way.”

“Yes, way.”

“She was a sixteen-year-old boy’s worst nightmare.” Cole searched out the woman in question. “And she’s every twenty-nine-year-old’s fantasy.”

“Then you’d be interested in keeping her company? In fact, why not take over for me tonight? I’ll tell Hope I brought her along for you and that you both misunderstood my intentions.”

Cole nodded. “I think I could make the sacrifice for my sister. But what about Elizabeth? I’ve hurt enough women in the last few years. Her heart isn’t engaged, is it?”

Jeff shook his head. As she said earlier, he’d never seen her as more than his coach’s daughter. But he couldn’t tell Cole the truth of why he’d brought Elizabeth. He had to be more subtle than that. If Cole had one failing it was that he had too much pride. “We’re just friends. Her father’s my coach, remember? Explain to her what’s going on and she’ll understand.”

Cole arched an eyebrow and grinned. “I’ll consider that your blessing, in that case.” Then the smile faded and his eyes turned cold. “Hurt my sister again, Carrington, and you’ll wish you’d never been born.”

He’d never seen Cole more deadly serious. “You don’t have to worry,” Jeff assured him, and turned away. Just then, he caught sight of Hope whirling in someone’s arms and his thoughts turned back to her and the evening ahead. He knew he was grinning like an idiot and he didn’t care who saw.

She’d cut her hair for him.

J
eff stopped short. Hope was dancing with Ross Taggert. If he asked her now, Ross might cause a scene and embarrass both him and Hope.

“If you’re going to let my father stop you, you may as well collect Elizabeth now and step out of my sister’s life,” Cole murmured from behind him.

“He hates me, and I’ve never known why.”

“I think you remind him of my mother’s social set, and he wants to keep you away from his precious little girl.”

“That can’t be right. Your father adored your mother. Everyone knows how he still grieves for her.”

“You think so?” Cole snapped. “Believe me, appearances can be deceiving. The song’s just about over. Go on. Go claim your date. Think of it as really getting his goat if it helps.”

Jeff turned to Cole. When they’d talked last, Hope had said the bitterness between Cole and Ross was even worse. It was sad, but Jeff understood more than most. His relationship with his own late father hadn’t been the best.

“I’ll try not to hurt Hope, Cole, but don’t you hurt her, either. You have no idea how responsible she’s always felt for the rift between you and Ross. Stop using her. You did it before, and you’re still doing it now. So is your father.”

Leaving Cole gaping, Jeff pivoted and approached Hope and Ross. They stepped away from each other as the song ended, but Ross kept hold of her hand.

“I hate to admit it, but Cole was right about cutting your hair. You’re beautiful. I never realized how much you look like my mother,” Ross was saying as Jeff stepped next to him.

“For once we agree on something, Ross,” Jeff said. Though he spoke to the father, Jeff’s couldn’t take his eyes off the daughter. “She certainly is a beautiful woman. I was hoping I could have the next dance. There’s a misunderstanding we need to clear up.”

Hope smiled but, in her bottomless blue eyes, Jeff saw how deep a hurt he’d caused her.

“What about Elizabeth?” she asked. “You haven’t even danced with her.”

So she’d noticed. “Elizabeth
is
the misunderstanding,” he told Hope, taking her hand. He turned her away from her father and into his arms, where Jeff was beginning to believe she just might belong. Now that she stood in his embrace, he wondered why he’d never noticed the way her nearness affected him. The only time he was ever truly happy when he was with her, he realized. And even Cole hadn’t been as good a friend as she was. There was almost nothing he could not or would not share with her. He felt a helpless grin tip his lips up at the corners. He even loved arguing with her. Her mind was quick, her heart fierce and her spirit pure. And he vowed at that moment that she would be his.

“What’s this about a misunderstanding?” Hope asked.

Her question yanked him out of his thoughts. “Oh. Elizabeth is Cole’s date, not mine. I thought it might make tonight easier for him if he had a lovely woman on his arm. One who’s also well accepted in the community. When he left, he wasn’t high on everyone’s list.”

Hope blinked, then gave Jeff a sad smile. “I never thought of you as dishonest. It’s always been one of your more redeeming qualities.”

Jeff winced. “I’m sorry. That was a half truth. I also misunderstood your invitation,” he admitted. “But I really did bring her for Cole. When she came to L.A. to visit her father last week, we got to talking about tonight and Cole. It really will be better for him if Elizabeth is with him. This community isn’t going to let him off the hook too easily.” Jeff hesitated and grinned at Hope. It was something that had been getting him out of hot water with women since he noticed they were a different gender. He only wished he knew why. “You aren’t going to desert me now that I gave away my dance partner, are you?”

Hope arched one of her delicately defined eyebrows, as if to say, Haven’t you learned not to try that with me yet? She said, “I’ll think about it.”

Jeff felt an unfamiliar jolt. “You don’t believe me.”

“Take it or leave it, Carrington.”

Jeff forced himself to relax. It would be fine. He would just have to charm her into forgiving him. Piece of cake. Undaunted, he grinned at Hope. “Then I guess the night’s mine.”

But when she brought her gaze to his, with a knowing look in her eyes, he realized two things. He was probably in love, and if he was then he was in big trouble. Hope was one tough cookie under the soft new look, and nothing where she was concerned would ever be a piece of cake.

The flowers arrived just as Hope and Aunt Meg came downstairs on their way to church the next morning. “Where on earth did he find a florist to deliver on a Sunday?” Aunt Meg asked as Hope closed the door after the delivery boy.

“He who? We don’t even know who they’re from. They could be from Harold Pendergrass.”

Aunt Meg arched one thin eyebrow. “My dear, I know a besotted fool from a besotted man. Those are from Jeffrey, believe me.”

Hope opened the card and chuckled at the inscription.

“Don’t torture your auntie this early in the morning. Read it. Unless it’s too personal, that is.”

“It isn’t all that personal. Just a little embarrassing. ‘Sorry we got our wires crossed. Thanks for a wonderful night. Lunkhead Carrington.’”

“See, I told you. What kind of flowers? Come on. Open. Open,” Aunt Meg urged.

Hope untied the satin ribbon to uncover a dozen white roses. “Oh. They’re so delicate,” Hope whispered, carefully touching the fragrant blooms.

“
And
out of the ordinary. Harold would have done red and sent them tomorrow. You see the difference? I think you picked a winner.”

“Last night Jeff took pity on two very hard up friends.”

“Let me tell you, the look on Jeffrey Carrington’s face when he looked at you all night had nothing to do with pity and everything to do with possession. Didn’t you notice an immediate lack of dance partners after he whisked you away from your father, when before that there was a steady stream of them?”

“Well, yes.” Hope smiled. “You think he really wanted to be with me, after all?”

Aunt Meg took the flowers and handed Hope her coat, then she gave the roses to the housekeeper, who crossed the foyer at that moment. “Sally, please put these in that Waterford vase I picked up at auction last month, then put them in Hope’s room.”

“Good idea,” Hope said. “That way Daddy won’t see them. May as well avoid one argument.” She sighed. “Remember when it was quiet and peaceful around here?”

Aunt Meg stared at her for a long moment. “Not since you set your sights on Howard Sothsbie’s position when he was approaching retirement. Cole’s livened things up more than is comfortable, but peaceful? Before? You should be on the sidelines.” She flipped her cape over her shoulders in a typical dramatic Meg Taggert move. “We’re off to church now, Sally dear. Thank you for taking care of the flowers.” She turned and strode through the front door, her cape flying in the winter breeze.

Hope shrugged and followed her aunt outside. She finally caught up with the fifty-year-old dynamo as Meg slid behind the wheel of her silver BMW.

“We need to have a chat, my darling,” Aunt Meg said as she turned the key in the ignition, then put the car in gear. “I sent those flowers to your room so you would have them to dream on. You cannot retreat to the old Hope. You took a stand with Ross and you have to hold your ground.”

“You make this sound like a battle.”

Meg grinned. “It is. As you learned when you quit Laurel Glen and started working for Lithum Creek Farm, peace at any price isn’t worth it.”

Hope turned in her seat to face Meg. “But there’s so much tension already right now. You’re getting a case of indigestion with every meal.”

Meg chuckled, her marvelous voice dipping low. She sometimes reminded Hope of a Christian Auntie Mame. “Let me worry about my digestion. I could stand to lose a few pounds. I’ll let it be known when I’ve had enough. My point is…well, look at this thing between Cole and Ross. Yes, it has been relatively peaceful around here these past thirteen years but the bitterness between them has gone way beyond where it was when Cole left to finish high school at sixteen. You see? Our peace wasn’t worth the price of the hatred they show each other now.”

“You’re saying by avoiding a clash over Jeff now, it could make it worse later. But I’m still not even sure there will be a later. He could very well have been being kind.”

“Let me tell you about men staking out their territory when a woman catches their eye. It’s an unmistakable expression that few men miss when it’s aimed at them. And your Jeff wore it all night after he claimed that first dance. Are you going to hide your relationship from Ross?”

“I don’t want to, but I don’t want to cause more friction right now. You saw him shooting daggers at Jeff all night. Can you imagine the arguments Cole and Dad will get into if I toss another thing for them to disagree about into the mix? You saw what my stupid haircut caused.”

“I understand, but if you start sneaking around, Jeff will soon see that he isn’t first in your heart. He’s never been first with anyone in his whole life but Emily Roberts, and she’s been on the payroll since before he was born. You have the power to change that young man’s life and touch his soul. Use that power carefully. And don’t make this too easy on him. A little groveling will be just as good for his soul. He has to work to get you.”

Meg flipped down the vanity mirror in front of Hope and tapped it to draw her attention to the new woman reflected there. It still surprised Hope after two weeks when she caught sight of herself in a mirror.

“And the reason he has to work to get you is that you, my dear, are a prize worthy of a bit of questing!”

Friday dawned as one of those rare February days that teases the senses with its promise of spring. It was a warm sunny fifty-five degrees, and since there’d been little rain or snow, the fields weren’t muddy. It was the perfect day for a ride, which was only one of the reasons Hope was so elated.

Jeff had once again sent flowers and had once again apologized for their mix-up. He’d called every day to ask her to do something with him. Taking Meg’s advice, she’d made excuses that she knew he was bright enough to figure out were just that. But this time he’d begged her to go riding with him. He’d sounded desperate, and she couldn’t hold out the full week Meg had suggested. She’d invited him to come over to ride with her. He’d agreed in a heartbeat but had sounded surprised that she invited him to come there. Meg was apparently right about letting Jeff know she’d stand up to her father over him.

A shoo-in for the United States Olympic Equestrian team and a possible gold medalist, Jeff had already ridden his mount early that morning in the practice ring, so he’d agreed to ride one of Laurel Glen’s mounts that needed exercise. She had both horses saddled and ready to go by the time she saw the roof of Jeff’s black four-by-four gleaming in the sun as it moved quickly along the drive toward the stables.

Dressed in tan riding pants and a hunter green jacket, he jumped out of the four-by-four and reached in for his riding helmet. Hope felt at ease in the riding outfit Meg had found for her. For once she wasn’t hideously underdressed in jeans and an old tweed blazer. Jeff, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight, didn’t comment on the change in her normal dress.

“What a day!” he called to her.

Hope jumped off the fence where she’d perched to wait for him, trying to look casual but feeling anything but.

“I know it’s just an aberration but I swear there’s spring in the air,” she said, praying she sounded as if this were just a day like any other.

“So, who did you give me?” he asked as she fell in step next to him.

As they made their way toward the stone stables and the paddock where she’d left the saddled horses, he settled his arm across her shoulders and tucked her against his side. Hope felt her heart pick up its already too quick beat. She knew in that moment that this was anything but just another ride with a friend. It was the beginning of something wonderful.

“Golden Boy or Ross’s Prize,” she answered around the lump in her throat.

Jeff stopped in his tracks, then stepped in front of her, taking her shoulders in his strong, gentle hands. Her heart was pounding by the time she gathered her composure enough to look into his silvery eyes. They were narrowed and grave as he spoke. “Hope, your father would have a fit if I rode Prize, and you know it.”

“He said both of them needed exercise. Which one would you rather ride?”

“Prize,” Jeff admitted and grinned, however reluctantly.

She took his hand and pulled him along, and a carefree excitement seemed to shimmer in the air. “Then let’s mount up and get at it. We’re wasting the warmth of the day. This weather won’t last long.”

They were on their way in seconds, and Hope lost most of her nervousness. This was Jeff. Her pal. Her friend. His laughter rang out as they put the horses through their paces, taking fences and hedgerows and riding rings around each other.

Hope made it a practice to sit back and watch him ride. He thought she was helping him perfect his form, but often she just watched the beauty of him in motion, so attuned to his mount—even a strange one—that they moved as one. She pulled Golden Boy to a halt at the top of a hill that afforded a view of both Laurel Glen and Lavender Hill, Jeff’s estate and breeding farm.