Against the Wall (Stoddard Art School Series Book 3) (19 page)

Kay led her into the office. Dottie followed and shut the door behind them. Kay spun on her. “Why didn’t you tell me she was coming?”

Dottie’s forehead puckered. “Claire?”

“Of course, Claire. You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”

“I didn’t know for sure until last night,” Dottie held up her hands in surrender. “She mentioned something about coming up, but you know your mother. She doesn’t do well with schedules.”

“You could have at least given me the heads up.”

Dottie sighed and gave her a sad look. “And what would you have done?”

The edge to Kay’s anger softened. “I don’t know. Been more prepared. Dug a moat. Hired sharks.”

Dottie shook her head. “You have to stop this. The two of you. I’m tired of being in the middle.”

Kay held Dottie’s gaze. This was a familiar argument. It was the same one they’d had for years. “Then take my side,” Kay begged.

“I love you both,” Dottie insisted.

Kay countered in a small voice. “Love me more.”

“Kay…”

“No. She doesn’t deserve you. I deserve you.” Anger pushed past the hurt. “And she doesn’t get to show up here after how many years and…and…screw things up again. I can’t take this any more. I’m done. If I’ve learned anything in these last few years of being on my own, it’s that I don’t need her in my life anymore. Besides you, the only good thing between us was the cottage, and now she’s selling it. Did she tell you?”

A long, pregnant pause followed before Dottie answered. “She might have mentioned it.”

The words hit Kay like a slap. “So you lied to me?”

Dottie was quick to defend herself. “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you.”

“Not telling
is
lying. Aren’t you the one who is famous for saying that? Were you ever going to tell me?”

Dottie reached out and took Kay’s hand. “Sweetheart, I understand you’re upset, but there is so much more to this. So much you don’t understand. If you don’t swallow your pride, sit down, and talk with her—”

“I’ve already swallowed enough, thank you.”

“Kay…”

She pulled out of Dottie’s grasp and rubbed chilled fingertips over the ache between her eyebrows. “Don’t, Dottie. You can’t wrap this all up in a pretty bow. You, better than anyone, know what’s she’s like. I won’t do it anymore. I don’t care what her reasons are. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to understand, and I’m done.”

“Dot? You back here? You’ve got folks lined up at the register.” Claire pushed into the office with a sack of groceries in her arms. “Oh, there you are. I stopped to pick up a few things for dinner and found two bottles of the horrible wine you dr—” When she saw Kay, she came up short. “Kay.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Twice in one morning. I’m not sure I’m up for another go-round with you.”

Dottie fussed and took the bag out of Claire’s arms. Putting it on the desk, she shot Kay a worried glance. “I have to get back out front.” Her gaze darted between the two of them. “Maybe you two should make up a pot of tea and have a nice long,
calm
talk.”

Kay met her mother’s eye. “You’re staying here?”

Her mother crossed her arms over her chest. “Dottie insisted.”

“Well…” Kay’s brain slammed shut. Grabbing her bag, she dropped her chin and pushed between the two women. Dottie reached out to catch her sleeve. Kay shrugged her off, never breaking stride. “Don’t.”

Laughter from the customers in the shop deflected her into the storeroom as if she’d been a pinball. She pushed out the back door and nearly knocked Walter over on his way in.

“Special Kay.”

“I-I’m sorry, Walter. I’m in kinda a hurry.” Angry tear stung the backs of her eyes.

“Hold on.” He grabbed the same arm Dottie had seconds before. He dipped his head to look into her face when she refused to look at him. “Are you okay?”

Kay blinked at him. “Whose side, Walter? Whose side are you on?”

He cupped her cheek. “Not sure I know what you’re talkin’ ’bout.”

She sniffed and pointed. “My mother.”

“Oh, that.” Walter stood tall and rubbed at her arm. He gave her a sheepish shrug. “Ya know I gotta be on Dottie’s side, honey.”

Her heart weighed heavy in her chest. Part of her went numb. “Right. I get it.”

Walter cupped her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “She’s only trying to get you two to make some sort of peace treaty.”

Kay shook her head and patted Walter’s chest as she moved by him. “She’s about twenty years too late. Goodbye, Walter.”

She didn’t turn around. Making her way along the tourist packed sidewalks, Kay headed for the docks. She was due at the inn for work, but needed to pull herself together. All she wanted was to run to Bear and dissolve into his arms and let him kiss all the hurt away. But she didn’t want to be that girl. Hell, she’d never been that girl. She’d learned to stand on her own two feet long ago. As far as Bear was concerned, she’d already brought enough drama.

It would never work with her mother. Losing the cottage was hard enough, but the thought of losing Dottie and Walter in all this mess truly made her chest hurt. She guessed she couldn’t blame them. Dottie and Claire’s friendship went back decades. And Walter, well, he might be gruff around the edges, but he loved Dottie more than anything. He was as loyal as a Saint Bernard.

Kay strolled past the weekend fishermen lining the dock. The sun was warm as she stood at the very end and looked out onto nothing but sea. The mural would be done by the end of the week. Then what? She couldn’t stay at the cottage. The smart thing would be to go back to Stoddard and find a new place to live before the fall semester began, but…Bear. How could she walk away from him? It would crush her.

Seagulls swooped and cried. In the back of her mind, Kay knew come August they’d have to part, but somehow between blueberry-infused sex and falling in love with him, she’d let herself drift into the blind world of denial. Distance wouldn’t be a challenge. It would be a romantic opportunity to spend weekends together and share long lusty phone calls and suggestive e-mails. Absence would make the heart grow fonder. Reunions would be measured on the Richter scale.

There had to be a solution. She just had to get past the giant roadblock otherwise known as Claire and figure it out. Kay looked into the sky to watch the clouds skim by. “Some kind of sign would be nice.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth, Kay’s cell phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a New Hampshire number, but she didn’t recognize it right away. She almost didn’t answer it for fear it was Todd. If that was her sign, she’d throw herself off the dock.

Holding her breath, she pushed the button to connect. “Kay Winston.”

“Hi Kay, it’s Maddie Sullivan.”

“Oh, hi.” Relief flooded her. “Caller ID didn’t tell me it was you.”

“I’m calling from the house. I’ve got some good news.”

“I could certainly use some.”

“Everything okay?”

Kay turned back and headed for the inn. “It will be. What’s the news? Did I sell another painting? Make Daniel Bruce another tidy profit?”

“Not quite, but this may be just as good. I’ve been doing a little digging where you’re concerned, and I hit pay dirt.”

“Oh?”

“How’d you like to finish up your last year at Stoddard an entire semester early?”

Had she heard properly? She put her finger in her opposite ear to block out the street noise. “Is that even possible?”

“After our last discussion, I did some looking. I know how disappointed you were to miss the internship you were hoping for this summer. But even without it, your credits, now you’re in Luc Girard’s hot glass class—Jeez, say that three times fast. Anyway, it would be enough to let you graduate early.”

Maddie must be confused. “I can’t graduate without completing my internship.”

“Exactly.”

“Now I’m confused.” Kay stopped on the walkway to the inn.

“I spoke to the Internship Committee, and happened to mention your name. The success of the Bruce Gallery show has several people talking about you.”

“What has that got to do with the committee?”

“I’ve talked to a couple of the members and told them how you were working in Maine this summer. Well, they thought if your employer would agree to sign off on the project once it’s completed—you know, verify your time, scope of the project, satisfaction, et cetera—then they would consider your internship obligation satisfied.”

“Really?” Hope bubbled up in Kay’s chest. If she finished early, she and Bear wouldn’t have to spend so much time apart.

“I already dropped the paperwork in the mail. To the address I mailed your check. Care of Polka Dots, right? You should have them in a few days.

It meant she’d have to face Dottie again, but maybe that was good news, too. Everything could work out for the best. “That’s great.”

“Yep, I thought you’d be happy.” Maddie chuckled. “’Course the committee wants me to make sure we don’t have a repeat of what happened
last
year. Having a student get involved romantically with their internship provider has never happened before. I told them, you wouldn’t be foolish enough to have an affair with the inn’s owners. Ridiculous, right? I reassured them you’re engaged, but they’re such worriers.”

Kay’s hope took a nosedive. Looking toward the inn, she caught sight of Bear. He was installing the new porch lights flanking the front door. He was halfway up a stepladder, with his back to her. Kay stopped to stare. His shirt molded to the muscles across the span of his back. She’d soaped those muscles in the shower this morning. The snug fit of his jeans hugged the rest. What they were doing was so much more than an affair. She loved him.

Bear climbed down from his task and dropped a pair of pliers into the toolbox at his feet. Seeing Kay, he smiled and started toward her.

Maddie continued talking into Kay’s ear. “We sure as hell don’t need
that
kind of scandal again. I mean all’s well that ends well. Emily Baskins and Maximo Vega came out of their mess fairly unscathed. Did you hear they got married on Valentine’s Day? Daniel Bruce says both their work is back to selling strong on the west coast. Sometimes a bit of hot gossip works to help sales. But I don’t have to tell you, the school came under a serious firestorm from the alumna for their forbidden tryst. I sure as hell don’t need that headache again.” Maddie laughed. “Whatever you do, for Pete’s sake, don’t sleep with the man.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Bear’s arm circled Kay’s waist. She gave a nervous laugh into her phone. “Not a chance, Maddie.” He moved to kiss her, but she dodged him by switching the phone to her other ear and placed a halting hand upon his chest. “You don’t have to worry about that.” Not to be deterred, Bear brushed his lips along the side of her neck.

“Gotta run,” Kay insisted, her voice a full octave higher. “Bye.” She pressed the disconnect button just as Bear nipped at her collarbone.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt your call,” he murmured into her hair, tracing the outside of her ear with the tip on his tongue. “I was just thinking about you.”

A wave of scorching desire clashed with the sudden icy chill of panic as if Maddie could somehow see them.

“I was thinking about you, too.” Kay tried to take a step back, but he held her firmly by the belt loops of her jeans. When he tipped his head and lowered his mouth to hers, she was quick to lay two fingers over his lips. “Maybe we should go inside.” She shot a quick glance over her shoulder.

“Right, your mother could be lurking.” Bear kissed her fingers and released her. “I’m just starting to see color again.”

Kay gave a tight laugh and followed him as he gathered his tools and collapsed the short stepladder. “That’s only the half of it.” She held the door open for him. The coolness of the lobby after the heat from outside raised goosebumps on her arms and tightened the sensitive tips of her nipples.

“Did you hear from her again?” He propped the ladder against the welcome desk and stowed the toolbox behind.

“We crossed paths.”

“I’m sorry. I should have gone with you.”

“Thank you, but I think there’s been enough collateral damage for one day.” Kay rubbed a hand over her eyebrows. “There’s something else I need to ask you about, though.” She shifted her head from one side to the other trying to ease the tightness in her neck.

“Turn around.” Bear held her by the shoulders and nudged one side.

She stood firm and held up a hand. “I’m fine, it’s just—”

“No arguing, turn around,” he insisted.

Doing as he asked, Kay sighed as Bear’s large, warm hands gently kneaded the tension from her shoulders. “Oh my God, that feels good.”

“What did you need to ask me?” His voice was low and caramel-ly behind her.

“It can wait,” she purred.

Neither spoke for a long moment. The heat of him penetrated the thin cotton of her tank, warming her back. Bear kissed the top of her head as he continued the bone-melting massage. “Can we go back to thirty seconds before Shadow set off the cat alarm at your place this morning and start the whole day over?” His thumbs moved in firm circles. “It went seriously downhill from there.”

“I don’t know. This is pretty nice.” Kay sighed and leaned against the strength of his chest.

His mouth returned to the side of her neck. “You’re right. We can keep this part.” His hands moved down her body and spanned her ribs. “I get close to you and all I can think about is being with you. Kissing you. Makes me forget everything else.”

“Everything?” Kay moved one of his hands higher to cup her breast, arching into his palm.

He bit her earlobe. “Right now, I’m having trouble remembering my name.”

Kay turned in his arms and met his kiss with her own. She gasped his name into his mouth when those magic massaging fingers pushing their way under her top. “Bear…”

“I do remember some mention of mattresses,” he murmured again her lips as his gentle touches made her knees weak. “Fourteen to be exact.”

She smiled against his mouth. “So many. Do we need to test every one?”

“Not all at once.”

Standing on tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “And you promise to make the rest of the world disappear?”