Autumn Dreams (26 page)

He was still staring after her when the basketball hit him hard in the stomach. His air whooshed out, and he spun to Jared even as he rubbed his middle. What was the matter with the kid, throwing the ball that hard and without warning?

Jared stood, hands on hips, staring belligerently. “It’s your turn.”

It didn’t take much to realize that Jared had seen the kisses and was feeling very protective of his aunt.

“I wouldn’t hurt her for the world,” Dan said, deciding to tackle the resentment head on.

Jared looked skeptical. “Do you love her? Are you going to marry her?”

Did he? Was he? Dan didn’t know the answers to those questions yet. “I think she’s marvelous. I like her immensely and enjoy her company.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“It’s all I can tell you at the moment. I repeat, I won’t hurt her.”

“You’re going to leave.”

Dan sighed and nodded. He was, whenever God told him what He wanted from him, and implicit in his leaving was hurting Cass. He didn’t even want to think about how much he might be hurt too.

“I don’t think I want to play anymore tonight.” Jared grabbed his basketball and headed for the house.

“I didn’t force her to kiss me,” Dan said. “And you’re just afraid I’m going to whip the pants off you.”

Jared froze. He turned slowly. “In your dreams. And all I want is her happiness.”

Dan held his hands out for the ball. “On that we are agreed. And you just can’t handle the idea of being beaten by an old man like me, can you?”

Jared’s anger at Dan transmuted itself into aggressive play. In no time Dan’s lungs burned as the boy raced around the court, and he was forced to follow. He also felt an interesting crop of bruises develop from Jared’s very pointed elbows. When they stopped playing an hour later, Jared had trounced him soundly.

The good thing was that Jared had worked off his mad, and when they went into the kitchen and Dan suggested sharing the pitcher of iced tea, Jared joined him with all good humor.

The bad thing was that Cass was nowhere to be seen.

W
HEN HE STEPPED
outside Monday morning to jog, Dan wasn’t certain whether Cass would join him or not. When she bounced out the door with a sunny smile, even though she tended to aim it over his shoulder instead of at him, he relaxed. When she stayed well out of reaching-for-her range, he got the message. They set off amiably, heading for the boardwalk.

“Sleep well?” he asked. He hadn’t. Both she and Jared had floated through his mind all night. The memory of holding her and kissing her had warmed him while Jared’s hard questions had worried him.

“Never slept better,” she answered in spite of the bruised-looking circles under her eyes.

“Have any good dreams?”
Of me?

She shot him a look that let him know she realized he was on a fishing expedition. “I never remember my dreams. I’m not even sure I dream at all.”

“What? I thought everybody dreamed.”

She looked at him askance. “I,” she said quietly, “am not everybody.”

He couldn’t help grinning at her as they turned north on the boardwalk, running easily together. She wasn’t going to let him bait her no matter how hard he tried. Her ponytail bobbed with each step, and the exertion of jogging put roses in her cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes. Lovely, both inside and out.

He simply couldn’t understand her singleness. She wasn’t the kind of woman who rejoiced in being alone. She loved family and would make a wonderful wife and mother. Why there had been no takers was beyond him, not that he was complaining.

Of course, he didn’t doubt that she scared a lot of guys because she was so strong in opinions, ability, and spiritual maturity. She needed a man with a lot of self-confidence, a man who didn’t see her strength as arrogance, her abilities as a threat, and her opinions as bossiness. He guessed tall, assertive men with hearts for the Lord weren’t a dime a dozen in South Jersey any more than they were anyplace else.

They reached the end of the boardwalk and turned for home.

“I won’t be at SeaSong tomorrow night,” she said suddenly. “I wanted you to know.”

“Oh?” His step faltered. Where was she going? And with whom? That was the real question. He made a noise that he hoped conveyed friendly interest, not the stab of jealousy he felt. He blinked. Jealousy? Certainly not.

Cass continued, thankfully unaware of his reaction. “I’m making one of my reconnaissance trips.”

He frowned. “What’s a reconnaissance trip?”

She swiped a hand across her forehead. “It’s my form of industrial espionage.”

“What?” She never failed to surprise him.

She grinned. “A couple of times a year, I go spend a night at a top-notch B&B to see what my competition’s doing.”

“Alone?” As soon as the word left his mouth, he wanted to kick himself. Did he really think she’d go with a man? Such a suggestion would make her justifiably angry, and all because of his newfound tendency to jealousy, one of the seven deadly sins.

She nodded. “I can’t take Jenn and Jared out of school.”

The tension left Dan’s shoulders. She’d misunderstood his question.
Thank You, Lord
.

“Brenna’s agreed to spend the night with the kids,” she said. “Not that they really need or want a babysitter. Still, I’m not comfortable leaving them alone, especially with Jenn in her current state of mind. Then, too, there’s Rodney coming.”

“Rodney?” Who was he?

“The hurricane.”

“Oh.” Of course. He felt like a fool. “As for the kids, I could watch them.” After all, he was right there on site. Brenna wasn’t.

“Dan!” Cass sounded much too surprised at the suggestion. “I couldn’t ask you to babysit. You’re our guest.”

“You’re our guest.”
While he understood what she meant and why she felt that way, today for some reason he was more than miffed at that response. It was as if she were trying to keep him a safe distance away from her and her family. “Is that your not-too-subtle way of telling me to butt out?”

Cass stopped and stared at him. “What?”

He ran a circle around her. He was an idiot. Cass hadn’t an unkind bone in her body. She’d gone out of her way to include him time after time. “You heard me.”

He blinked at himself. Surely the devil had made him say that.

“Yes, I heard you, but I don’t understand.” Her eyes couldn’t open any wider if she tried. He could see concern and confusion in them.

He jogged to the rail and looked out over the beach. What was the matter with him, jumping on her like that? So she thought of him as a guest, a business acquaintance. Just because he got to eat with her family a few times and have breakfast and dinner with her every day, even lunch most days, just because she kissed him back enthusiastically didn’t mean she felt anything but the polite, considerate innkeeper toward him.

He frowned. She was more than the innkeeper to him. Lots more. She was his friend, for Pete’s sake. His good friend. His
very
good friend. His chest heaved as air huffed in and out of his lungs. He heard Jared’s questions:
“Do you love her? Are you going to marry her?”

Did he? Was he? He gripped the rail and stared at the sand, blown all wavy by the strong autumn winds.
Like an old lady with marcelled hair
, he thought.

He closed his eyes. Surely he was more to her than a guest. After all, she didn’t kiss any of her other guests or let them play bellhop. She liked him as much as he liked her. She did. She must.

She came and stood beside him at the rail, staring straight ahead. Neither said a word. After a time she bumped him with her elbow and looked up, frowning. “I’m not sure why you’re upset,
but please know I wouldn’t hurt you for anything.”

He studied her earnest face and felt that swelling in his heart that was quickly becoming the norm whenever he looked at her. He slipped his arm across her shoulders and hugged her gently. He forced himself to smile. “Low blood sugar must be making me cranky. I’m sorry.”

What he really wanted to say was, “Let me go with you on your spy mission,” but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. What if she didn’t want his company?

She smiled sweetly, and his breath caught. Very good friend, my foot.

“Come on, then,” she said. “Let’s go home, and I’ll get you a glass of orange juice.”

“Freshly squeezed?”

“Absolutely.”

Because I’m your guest? Your friend? Your what?
But he wisely kept his mouth shut this time.

A block from SeaSong, Cass and Dan stopped at the curb for the shiny red Seaside garbage truck. She glanced at the pair of disreputable-looking men hanging off the back. They looked like the same two as last week, their dirty jackets gleaming in the thin sunlight where the filth had turned the original color a shiny black.

The truck stopped, the driver’s window rolled down, and Clooney stuck his head out. “Still running, I see.”

Cass grinned, glad to see her favorite eccentric. “It’s good for you.”

Clooney shook his head. “Anything that takes that much effort can’t be good for you.” He turned his attention to Dan. “And you’re still here, I see.”

Dan nodded. “For the foreseeable future.”

Clooney pulled off his baseball cap, ran his hand over his head, and resettled the cap, pulling his ponytail out the hole in the back. “The foreseeable future could be a very long time.”

Dan looked Clooney calmly in the eye. “Could be.”

He and Clooney stared at each other for a moment. It was some kind of man thing, Cass decided, this sending and receiving of signals they didn’t want her to intercept. Did they think she was
dumb? She couldn’t figure out that she was the subject of their stare-down?

She wasn’t certain which one of them blinked first, but Clooney finally returned his attention to her. “Listen, darlin’, this may mean nothing, but I met a strange guy last night.”

Cass bit her tongue to keep from saying something smart-alecky. If the guys hanging off the back of the truck were any indication, Clooney knew lots of strange guys.

“I was down on the beach in the Gardens,” Clooney said, “in front of one of the new glass houses. They had a big party over the weekend, and people kept wandering outside to walk the beach or sit in the sun in spite of the chill. I figured they might have dropped a few things, don’t you know, and I didn’t want such treasures to be damaged by the elements.”

Cass grinned. “And you’re kind enough to care for any treasures you find with all the dedication of the previous owners.”

“More dedication. I don’t lose them once I find them.” Clooney fingered the huge diamond stud in his left ear. “Anyway it was almost midnight, and this dude comes walking along, taking deep breaths like he’s cleansing his lungs or something. We start to talk, and he asks a lot of questions.”

“How appropriate,” Cass said. “You’re a guy with a lot of answers.”

Clooney nodded acknowledgment. “Thing is, most of his questions had to do with you or SeaSong.”

Cass shrugged. “People ask questions about SeaSong all the time. I want them to. That’s one of the reasons for the web site and the PR material. Maybe people will vacation with us if their questions are answered to their satisfaction.”

Clooney shook his head and grimaced. “He wasn’t asking the way people do when they’re looking for a place to stay. You know, how much does it cost? What are the meals like? That sort of thing.”

Cass pointed a finger at him. “You didn’t like the guy, did you? I can tell.”

Clooney gave a short laugh. “You got that right. I didn’t. I get these feelings about people sometimes, and they’re always right. He’s a bad one.”

“What kind of questions did he ask?” Dan growled. He obviously
didn’t like the idea of a “bad one” inquiring about anything that had to do with her. She’d seen the brothers get all protective of their wives before, but this was the first time anyone had shown an inclination to shield her. She thought she liked it.

Clooney waved his hands as he talked. “Who runs SeaSong? Did I know Cass? What kind of a person was she? How old was she? Had she been here in Seaside long? Who else lived at SeaSong? Anyone new show up recently?” He made a disgusted sound. “I just looked at the dude on that one. ‘Anyone new?’ I said. ‘This is a resort town, and that’s a bed-and-breakfast. Of course there’s someone new. Lots of someones. She’d go out of business if there wasn’t.’ ”

“So a lot of his questions were about Cass personally?” Dan’s voice was hard.

“At first. Then when he learned she’d lived here all her life, he lost interest. That’s when he started the nonsense about anyone new.” Clooney twirled the end of his white ponytail where it draped over his shoulder. “You don’t have a guy with a funny looking ponytail staying with you, do you?”

“You mean a ponytail like yours?” Cass asked innocently.

Clooney grinned. “No, not like mine. Mine’s quite excellent. This guy’s was crooked.”

“Crooked?” Cass and Dan said together.

“Yeah. You know how girls sometimes think it’s cute to wear a ponytail on the side of their head? Well, his wasn’t quite that off center, but something was wrong. It was too dark for me to make out exactly what the problem was, but I’ve wondered if he wasn’t wearing a rug.”

“There’s no guy with a wig or a ponytail at SeaSong.” Cass glanced at Dan. “He’s my only guest right now, male or female.”

Clooney looked Dan up and down, nodding. “Good. In case this guy is as weird as I think, I feel better that you’re with her.”

“Me too,” Dan said.

“Jared and Jenn are with me too.”

Clooney heard her but kept talking to Dan. “Well, Jenn won’t do her any good, but Jared’s one big boy.” He pulled back into the cab. “Just keep an eye out for a young guy with a strange ponytail.”

Dan nodded. “Will do.”

Cass felt like waving her hand to remind them that she was
still here, that she had been taking care of herself all her life. She didn’t because she knew they’d listen as much as the brothers did, which was to say not at all. There were days when she despaired of men.

Then she remembered last night’s kisses and knew that men—correction, one man in particular—could also delight. She’d been both astonished and more-than-slightly giddy at discovering how much. All night she’d lain in her dark cubbyhole reliving The Clinch. She had been surprised when he actually kissed her. She thought that such an idea was only in her dreams. Was his grumpiness this morning because he regretted it? If that were the case, she never wanted to know. It would be too mortifying!