Bad Taste in Men (Clover Park, Book 3) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) (20 page)

Rachel leaned over to Barry to shake his hand. “Sold.”

Shane gritted his teeth. Enough touching already.

Barry pulled a hat out of a tote bag. “I had these hats made up too.” He gave them each a baseball cap that read We’re Street People. “It’s for the business owners so people know who to come to with questions.”

“Oh my,” Liz muttered.

Gabe put his cap on and grinned. “I’m street people.”

Shane refused to even touch the stupid hat. “You realize this sounds like we’re all homeless people living on the street, not professional business owners.”

Barry’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “Yeah?” He studied the hat from all angles. “No problem. I’ll have another batch made and add ‘fair’ to it. We’re Street Fair People.”

“I’m not wearing that,” Shane said.

“Come on, buddy,” Gabe said. “Where’s your sense of style?”

Shane snorted.

“How about just Clover Park Street Fair?” Liz asked.

“Yeah?” Barry asked. “You don’t think that’s too on the nose?”

“Not at all,” Liz said.

“Okay then!” Barry took out a pen and wrote the new phrase on a Dancing Cow napkin he pulled from the front pocket of his green Hawaiian shirt.

“I’m so glad the street fair’s next week,” Shane muttered under his breath to Rachel.

She patted his leg, and he was extra glad they were a week away from opening. Then she couldn’t pretend that working together was a reason not to be together.

“Now, now,” Rachel scolded quietly.

“Next order of business,” Barry said. “Tricycles. Anyone know where we could borrow some?”

Shane inwardly groaned. Liz came up with that solution through her network of parents she knew from teaching at Clover Park Elementary. The meeting finally wrapped up.

He walked out with Rachel. “Come and see the flooring.”

She smiled. “Sure.”

“Oh, can I see too?” Liz asked.

“Me too,” Gabe said.

“Wait up, guys!” Barry said.

And so it was that Shane led the entire group to the café, giving up his idea of getting Rachel alone and letting her flirt with him.

~ ~ ~

At Shane’s orders, Rachel had taken the afternoon off while the sign for the café and the furniture was delivered. He wanted to surprise her with the “full effect” once everything was in place. Liz was working the register at Book It, and business had picked up now that it was September. Families had returned from vacation and stopped by to pick up books for the long Labor Day weekend before school started.

She spent the afternoon at her sister, Sarah’s place playing treasure hunt in the backyard with the three oldest kids, David, Leah, and Olivia, while her sister napped with baby Jacob. After an hour nap, Sarah came out of the house, baby monitor in hand. “Thank you. I needed that nap.”

“No problem.”

“Mommy!” Olivia yelled, coming out from under the deck. She wrapped her arms around Sarah’s legs, leaving a muddy mess on her sister’s pale pink pajama pants. Sarah pressed Olivia close. “What are you doing under there?”

Olivia giggled. “Hiding.”

“Okay, guys, next clue,” Rachel said. “This tree has something that looks good to eat, but it’s really sour.” She made a face. “Bring me back one.”

“Crab apple!” David exclaimed. The kids took off for the crab apple tree.

Sarah sat in the chaise lounge and leaned her head back. “You’re so good with them, Rach. You’ll be a good mom.”

Rachel shook her head. “I nearly lost Olivia. She was hiding in the neighbor’s doghouse.”

Sarah waved that away. “I lose her too. But she’s usually in the yard or next door.”

The kids ran back, each with a crab apple in hand. Rachel took them. “Next clue, this is where secret clubs can meet. Bring me a flower from there.”

The kids took off for the playset.

“How’s things with you and Shane?” Sarah asked.

“Fine,” Rachel said. “The café’s almost ready. The sign and furniture goes in today. I’m supposed to go over there at five to see it. He wanted to surprise me.”

Sarah smiled. “Good. But you know that’s not what I’m asking. You ever think you two…”

Rachel’s usual quick
no
didn’t come out. This wasn’t the first time Sarah had asked the question. Her sister thought it odd that Rachel had a cute guy she spent so much time with just as a friend. “Maybe,” she allowed.

Her sister sat up and grinned. “Maybe? Maybe! Rach, this is so exciting!”

“Don’t make a big deal.” The kids came running back, panting and giggling, and handed her some buttercups. “Last clue, the big prize is hiding here…this is where the roses grow. But don’t pick them!”

The kids took off for the side yard.

“So you finally found your Mr. Darcy,” Sarah said.

Rachel shook her head. “He’s not. He’s just…he’s good to me.” She didn’t want to share any more than that. Her feelings were still too raw, too new. “How’re you and Mark?”

“Great!”

Rachel watched the kids running around, talking nonstop at top volume. She looked back to her sister in dirty pajamas, looking exhausted. “Doesn’t it bother you that he’s not around that much?”

“He’s got a job in the city. I know the drill.”

“I don’t know how you do it. I’d be so mad having to do all the work at home by myself.”

Sarah waved that away, smiling over at the kids. “He loves me, I love him. We’re happy. Yes, I’d love to see him more, but when he’s here, he’s great with the kids.”

“So you don’t feel like a single mom?”

“No! I’m not a single mom. Mark’s always here if I really need him.” She grinned. “I can’t wait for you and Shane to have kids.”

Sarah said it like it was the most natural thing in the world, as if she and Shane were about to marry. Why was everyone pushing her to marry Shane? They’d only kissed four times! A very nice four times, but still.

At Rachel’s silence, Sarah went on. “The cousins could grow up together. Wouldn’t that be so nice?”

“Geez, Sarah, no offense, but if I were you, I’d be a wine-a-holic. It’s just nonstop with the kids.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Sarah said, smiling serenely.

“I found it!” David hollered, emerging triumphant from the side yard. “Fifty cents!”

Leah and Olivia burst into tears.

“All right, everybody gets fifty cents because of the good teamwork,” Rachel said.

The girls immediately stopped crying and held out their hands.

“You’re a natural,” Sarah said.

It was with some relief that Rachel made her way back to the café. She parked around the back of her store and walked to the front of the café to check it out. Shane was sitting out front in a wrought-iron chair.

She did a double take. Shane had created an outdoor seating area with several wrought-iron tables and chairs. “Where did these come from?”

He smiled his dimpled smile. “I ordered them. I wanted to surprise you. Do you like?”

She couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t even thought of outdoor seating. Though now that she saw it, she couldn’t believe she’d overlooked it. “It’s perfect! I love it!”

He stood and pulled her a short distance from the café, pointing upward. “Check it out.”

She looked up at the sign. It was red with white raised letters: Something’s Brewing Café. A coffee cup with steam coming out of it was painted on one side. It was gorgeous.

“I had them add the coffee mug,” he said. “What do you think?”

She threw her arms around him. “I love it!”

He gave her a squeeze and put an arm around her shoulders. “Come inside. I want you to get the full effect.” He opened the front door for her, and she stepped inside.

She’d seen the flooring and the counters, but now that all the furniture was in place, it looked like a real café. She slowly walked in, taking in the arrangement of the tables, a long table on one side, away from the counter, smaller tables near the front, a reading area with two leather chairs and a coffee table. She sat in one of the cushy leather chairs.

“This is perfect for reading.” Her eye caught on the back wall, where Shane had hung a book cover poster. One she hadn’t ordered. It was the
Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling with a red cover and black elephant. A kids' book.

She stood and got closer. “You ordered all this…” Her voice trailed off as she realized what he’d done. In the back corner, he’d set up a small blackboard easel with colored chalk, a kid-size wooden table with four chairs, and a small basket of picture books.

He joined her. “I was thinking of Bryce. Then I thought, maybe moms with little ones would like their kids to have a spot of their own.”

She could just picture Daisy and Bryce here, Sarah with her brood. Her throat felt tight. She was
not
going to cry.

“Did I do the wrong thing?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, it’s perfect.” She swallowed over the lump in her throat. “Just perfect.”

He nodded. “Good. Now, you be the customer to get the full experience.” He went behind the counter and put on an apron. It was red with white letters that matched the sign out front and embroidered with “Something’s Brewing Café.”

“You thought of everything!” Rachel exclaimed in wonder. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

“It’s more fun to surprise you.” He grinned. “How can I help you today?”

She looked at the menu, but she already had it memorized. “I’ll take a cappuccino and a peach tart, please.”

“Coming right up.” She watched him prepare the drink, though after his thorough training, she could’ve done it herself. A few minutes later, he had served up two cappuccinos, a peach tart, and an apple muffin. The cappuccino had the perfect amount of foam with a decorative swirl that resembled a heart. God, he was so sweet. How could she compete with that?

She offered to pay.

“Are you kidding me?” he asked, feigning outrage. “Take a seat.”

She picked up her drink and snack and chose a table by the front window. He joined her. She took a sip through the foam. “This is good cappuccino.”

He sipped too. “It is.”

She looked around. “The café is amazing, and you played such a big part in making it that way. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. I probably would’ve made it like Book It, part two. But you took it to a whole new level. Thank you.”

He took her hand and squeezed it. “We did this. Together.”

She felt tears sting her eyes and turned away. Since when was she this emotional? The place was perfect. This was what they’d created together. This was their baby.

Chapter Sixteen

Rachel walked over to Daisy and Trav’s place on Sunday for an end-of-summer barbecue. The café’s grand opening was tomorrow, and she couldn’t wait. She just knew it would be a hit. It had to be with Shane behind it. She followed the trail of balloons to the backyard, where several tables with folding chairs had been set up on the lawn near the patio. Bryce was splashing around in a kiddie pool, wearing a cute little polka-dotted sun hat and swim diaper. Hagar was alternating approaching the pool and dashing away as Bryce smacked the water, screaming, “Ha-ha!” Short for Hagar?

Shane and Trav sat in beach chairs next to the pool, both wearing sunglasses, looking
très
cool.

“Hi, Bryce!” Rachel approached the pool but kept a safe distance from the splash zone.

Bryce turned, looked at her briefly, then went back to the important work of pushing a plastic boat through the water.

“Hey, guys,” she said, turning to the brothers.

“Hey, Rach,” Trav said, rising to kiss her cheek. “Almost the big day, huh?”

“Yup! I’m psyched.”

Shane smiled and stood to greet her. He kissed her cheek like his brother, but it left her wanting much more. He was wearing down her resolve with all his sacrifice and big gestures.

“Hey,” he said. “Long time no see.”

Rachel shook her finger at Shane. “Get back to work.”

“Yeah, work never ends, does it?”

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?”

He gave her braid a playful tug. “Nah, we’re all set. It’ll be good.”

“Ow!” Trav exclaimed. Rachel turned to see him rubbing his shin. “When do kids learn to stop being so rough?” He turned Bryce’s boat in the other direction.

“Give him another couple years,” Rachel said.

“I can’t believe he’s already one,” Trav said, gazing at his son.

Rachel smiled. “I bet you can’t wait to have another one.”

Trav’s chest puffed with pride. “I’d love to have two more just like him.” His gaze wandered over to Daisy, who was laughing and talking to Maggie and Liz.

Rachel still remembered when Daisy had first had Bryce. She’d returned to Clover Park and shocked Trav with the news that he was the father. Now, here they were, married and happy. Something ached in her heart. It wasn’t jealousy so much as…happiness for her friends. She shook off the uncomfortable feeling.

“You want to sit with us?” Shane asked. “I’ll bring another chair.”

“That’s okay. I’m going to say hi to the ladies.”

She approached the group on the patio and recognized Liz, Maggie, Jorge, and two of Daisy’s friends, Amber and Zoe. “Hi, all! Daze, Trav was just telling me he wants to have two more kids just like Bryce.”

Daisy shook her head, smiling. “He always says that. Bryce just barely turned one. I’m not ready to go through labor again.” She made a comical face of exaggerated pain. “I was such a dope too; I didn’t even realize I was in labor at first. I thought it was too soon and it must be those Braxton Hicks contractions. Remember, sis?”

Liz smiled. “I remember, and he came quickly too. That’s why she named him Bryce because he was in a hurry to get here. The nurse told her Bryce meant swift.”

Amber laughed. “I didn’t know that’s why you named him Bryce.”

Ryan came out of the house with a platter of hamburgers and hot dogs for the grill. “Hey, Rach, how’re ya?”

“Good. How are you?” she asked.

He grinned. “Excellent.” He smiled over at Liz, his heart in his eyes. Liz smiled back.

Rachel felt that odd ache again. It was just being surrounded by all these ridiculously in-love couples that was making her feel off.

Jack O’Hare arrived with his girlfriend, Gina. She wondered if he was upset about Shane selling the Shelby just to help her out, but he gave no indication, merely greeted her politely as he did everyone at their table. Rachel couldn’t help but notice that Ryan treated his father and Gina politely, but coolly. In fact, Jack wasn’t greeted warmly by anyone except Maggie and Shane. Rachel watched as Jack stayed to the sidelines, obviously not wanting to insert himself into his sons’ domain. Shane ran interference, frequently talking to his dad, trying to include him with his brothers. Trav and Ry remained distant and clearly uncomfortable. She couldn’t blame them, but she also couldn’t help but think about the size of Shane’s heart that he could forgive the man who had abandoned them, and then work so hard to bridge the gap in his family. The ache in her chest intensified until she finally had to tear her eyes away from Shane.