Bet On Love (5 page)

***

Pulling out my cell, I called my old friend, Kara. Between the two of us, we’d be able to devise a fool-proof plan to get Mary Beth and Cole together. As soon as she finished laughing, that is.

“Can we get down to business?” I tried to hide my irritation. Sure, we’d been best friends since first grade, and Kara knew all of my deepest secrets, but I was in no mood to have her rub this in.

“I’m sorry,” she said between giggles, “but do you remember how many years you silently longed for this guy? You went above and beyond a teenage crush, my dear. How many times did you and I do late-night drive-bys just to see if his bedroom light was on? Oh, man! You got what you always wanted, Shelby. Maybe it’s time you get used to the idea.”

“I’m so over him.”

“Are not.”

“Yes. I am. I’ve been over him for years; definitely after you guys told me he married Heather. And I’ve met their daughter.
Their
daughter, Kara. I repeat, so over him.” I closed my eyes tight for a moment, thankful she couldn’t see my face as I tried to convince myself of my own words.

“Listen, all it says is we were physically attracted to each other. We’d had more than enough to drink. Who doesn’t look good?” I said a bit too loud as a passerby raised her brows and hurried her steps. I lowered my voice, “The marriage thing should never have happened. We don’t know a thing about each other now that we’re adults.”

“Circumstances change, Shelby, people don’t. You and Cole are the same as you were in school.” Her tone was serious, making me want to change the subject.

“Hey, I didn’t call you to talk about me. I called to get Cole and Mary Beth together. She’s more his type, anyway, not me. You’re the Queen of Romance, so give me your thoughts.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry, you’re my best friend, I’ll forgive you for laughing at me. When it’s all over, I’ll probably have a good laugh, too. But for now put that pretty mind to work, and let’s do this.”

“No, Shelby. I mean, sorry but I won’t help you.”

“What are you getting at?”

“You and Cole. All those years you were so close and never knew how the other felt. What if one of you had found out? Maybe he never would have married Heather.”

“That’s just silly.” My heart tripped a beat in my chest, and I felt so lightheaded I plopped on a bench outside the nail salon. Even Kara brought to life what I had wondered for so long. “Neither one of us ever spoke up. How would we have known? It just wasn’t meant to be.”

“We do what we have to. You know I love you, Shel, but if you stop and think about this...
really
think about it, it’s kind of freaky.”

“Believe me I
have
thought of this. From the moment he left my hotel room, I haven’t
stopped
thinking about it. Every time I come to the same conclusion. This isn’t freaky. It’s wrong.”

“Why? You moved away never telling him how you felt. Looking back, the rest of us had it figured out and could never believe the two of you didn’t. Talk about right under your nose! Then he dated Heather and eventually married her, while you--”

“While I moved on to various relationships with losers, until I met Grant. He ended up--”

“At which point Cole and Heather divorced. Look at the writing on the walls, Shelby. Neither one of you has been happy with someone else. And now you found each other.”

“Stop being such a romantic! Sure we found each other, all right. We wound up in bed together! We certainly could have done that without the bond of marriage, don’t you think?”

“Well, I think it happened because deep down inside it’s what you both have wanted for a long time. Promise me you’ll think about it.”

“And as far as Heather is concerned, you own the skills to be diplomatic with her.” Kara continued as if she didn’t hear me. “And you’re still young enough to have children of your own.”

“Okay, this needs to stop right now. You’re sounding like Cole’s grandmother for God’s sake.”

“Listen, sit tight and see how things play out. That’s all I’m saying. You can’t make decisions like this overnight.”

“Apparently, we already did and
that’s
why we’re in this mess. Thanks for letting me know how you feel. I’ll figure this out on my own.”

Chapter Five

“So what did you do today?” Cole asked from across the table. I almost choked on my lettuce leaf, deciding not to tell him about my conversation with Kara. I stopped coughing long enough to wiggle all ten fingers, showing off my new French manicure.

“I took a lovely walk around town before stopping to get my nails done in the plaza. I can’t believe how much the town has changed after all these years, yet it still feels like home.”

Cole snatched my hand, studied my nails for a moment and then laughed. I slid my hand free, falling back into that same comfort zone which had landed me in this mess in the first place. What was it about this guy? No, I had to stick with my plan. A quick annulment, followed by a match-up with Cole and Polly-Perfect, and then I take the next plane back to California.

“Oh, and Mary Beth was off to give your grandmother some kind of homemade bread.” I watched as Cole slowly lowered his fork.

“I know,” he said. “She stopped by the hospital and left some for my staff.” He took a drink of water, eyeing me over the rim as if he expected me to get jealous or something. When he didn’t get the reaction he’d been waiting for, he resumed eating his baked potato.

“Lovely girl,” I prodded, wanting to get the scoop behind their situation. Something had to have happened to sour their relationship, and I was determined to make it right.

“Mmm Hmm,” he said with a mouth-full. I could tell he was going to remain tight-lipped on this one, which was okay, because I wasn’t about to give up. There was a negotiation technique for everyone, and I’d perfected them all.

“So why aren’t you two an item?” I tore a piece of bread and waited. Cole swallowed hard, and I wanted to laugh at his expression of pure terror.

“What did you say to her?” He narrowed his gaze, obviously catching on that I was up to something.

“Not much really.” I kept my tone even and relaxed. “She seemed in a hurry to be on her way to visit with Jane. From what I saw, Cole, she’s just your type. You two would look darling together.”

“Well, she’s not my type, and you’re sounding like my mother.” His voice held a note of aggravation, but I wasn’t about to be discouraged.

“How is that cute little thing not your type? She’s all but--”

“Drop it, Shelby.” He gave me a warning look.

“What? I’m just saying she seems like a good match for you. I think your mom knows what she’s talking about. Have you and Mary Beth even gone on a date?”

“Can we talk about something else?” He sighed, and I wondered if maybe he and Mary Beth had some kind of past. Something had to be holding him back from making a move.

“My Grandma used to say I was as determined as a honeybee on a gladiolus,” I crooned in my best southern dialect and fanned my face with my napkin.

“Where do you come up with this stuff?” He laughed once more, and I decided if we wouldn’t talk about his relationship, then we’d talk about our annulment.

“Have you heard from Judge Matt?” I sipped my iced tea and held his stare across the table.

“It’s probably going to be another week before he gets back into town. I hate to keep you here like this, so if you want to fly back to L.A. a day early, you can. I’ll cover for you and say you had to go back and wrap things up.”

“Okay,” I replied. Now that was a smart idea and quite possibly the perfect solution to our current predicament. My friends and clients would never need to know about the marriage, and Cole could explain everything to his family once it was over and I was gone for good. Now I wouldn’t have a chance to hook him back up with Mary Beth. But as long as he followed through with the annulment, I guess I didn’t need to worry about that anymore.

“Once Matt returns, I’ll put you on the next flight back to Mission.”

“Are you sure everyone will buy your story? This could get weird, not that it isn’t already.” I looked down at my salad and tossed the dressing around with my fork, disturbed by the multitude of emotions clawing at my heart. Cole cleared his throat to get my attention.

“Don’t worry, babe.” He winked. “I’ll be your alibi with the family. Trust me; no dishonor will befall you, fair maiden. I know how to spin a good one.”

“You are so full of it. And for the last time, I am not your babe.” I stabbed at a cherry tomato, needing to avoid his blue-eyed mischief. “But I appreciate what you’re doing.”

“I’m beginning to think the less time you spend here, the better. You have no idea how many times my mother and sister-in-law text me today about you, and Abbey too for that matter.” He looked at me as if he wanted to say something else, but changed his mind. “We don’t want everyone getting too attached.”

“Aww, they are so sweet,” I couldn’t help saying and meaning it. “You’ve always had the best family. It’s refreshing to see some things don’t change. And for the record, you’ve got a good point there.” Which meant Kara’s thoughts were way off base, and I had been right all along.

Cole and I together was a bad idea.

***

“What’s really going on?” Abbey asked the next day as we sat on the secluded flagstone patio to have a late lunch. Thick rows of trees lined Cole’s property on three sides. I thought I could see remnants of a tree house in one of the large maples toward the back.

“Nothing is going on.” Cole handed her the bag of pretzels. “Shelby has some business meetings and things she needs to take care of.”

“Right,” I added, tossing Cole an “uh-oh” look. “This was so unexpected, I forgot about work.”

“I’m not buying it.” Abbey narrowed her blue eyes. “Are you guys married or not?” She pushed her plate away and leaned back in the chair, crossing her arms over her hot pink T-shirt.

“Yes, we’re really married,” I said, pushing my own plate of food aside. This was only the first of many difficult discussions to come. Once again, Cole and I weren’t thinking when we decided me heading back to the west coast was a good idea.

“Dad, you’ve never kept anything from me. The blind dates, the repeat dates, the Mary Beth ‘incident’.” She air quoted. “But this whole Vegas thing was a surprise. Why?”

“It’s just one of those things, honey.” Cole stretched his arm and played with her ponytail. “Adult stuff that’s hard to explain.”

“Try me, Dad. I’m not five years old.” She leaned forward, the brown strands slipping through his fingers.

“Mary Beth incident?” I interrupted, feeling a slight twinge of jealousy over the fact that the two of them had shared some kind of past history worthy enough to be entitled an incident. “I knew there was a reason why you were skirting the subject.”

“Wait a minute, you two talked about Mary Beth? Wow, Dad, I’m impressed. You told me you would never bring it up again. Must be you really do love her.” Abbey pointed in my direction, and I held my breath.

“You’re great-grandmother brought up Mary Beth.” Cole’s intense stare made me nervous. “Shelby tried to talk about her, but I wasn’t biting. For everyone’s information, we are
not
going to discuss the crazy woman now or ever. Are we clear?”

“Crazy woman?” I arched a brow. “Sorry, but that’s not clear at all.” I fluttered my lashes at him, knowing exactly what he’d meant by “clear,” but I couldn’t help toying with him a bit. Call it payback for all the times he teased me.

“Yeah, she is highly obsessed with Dad.” Abbey kept her voice low, delighting me with an answer. “She filled his car with balloons on his birthday, and he found her half-naked in the back seat.”

“Wait a minute.” Abbey the super-sleuth raised a finger to the mid-afternoon sunshine, eyes wide as if she’d just found a clue. “If you two are really married and in love, then why are you telling my dad that Mary Beth is his type?”

“Oh, well, I...uh, a little help here?” I motioned to Cole, who seemed to be thoroughly engrossed in watching me squirm.
Now
, he was amused? Well, I wasn’t in this alone, and he wasn’t going to make me the bad guy. “Are you going to tell her, or should I?”