Burned (19 page)

“Max and Holly are gone for the evening. They went out to dinner and won’t be back until late,” I explained. “We have the house to ourselves. Again.”

“Just like old times,” he joked.

“Just like,” I agreed. “Dinner isn’t quite ready yet.” Still holding his hand, I led him into the living room. The room flickered with candlelight.

Jake chuckled under his breath. “This is…this is awesome. I can’t believe you went to so much trouble.”

“Were you going to tell me at all?”

He gave me a sheepish look. “No. I just wanted to spend the evening with you.”

I bit my lip, trying to contain my smile. It meant a lot to me that Jake wanted to spend his birthday with me.

“Well then, lucky for you that’s exactly what I have planned.” I placed my hand against his chest and pressed him backwards. The back of his knees hit the couch and he dropped down onto it. His hands flew up, gripping my waist, taking me with him. With my knees on each side of him, I sat facing him. His hands slid to my thighs, skimming across my bare skin as they slipped under the edge of my skirt.

With a teasing glint in my eyes, I leaned forward and gave the birthday boy the kind of kiss he wasn’t likely to soon forget.

“Guess what!” Holly flew into my room the next morning. I wasn’t sure where she and Max had gone, but Jake was long gone and I was asleep by the time she and Max had come home. She was definitely wide awake and full of energy considering how late they’d gotten back.

I cracked an eye open.

The way she was bouncing up and down on her tippy toes, nearly twitching in excitement, made me sit up abruptly.

“What?” I asked as I tried to blink the sleep out of my eyes. “What’s going on?” She let out a little squeal and then wiggled her fingers in front of my face. The fingers of her left hand. Maybe one finger in particular. I nearly had to shield my eyes from the sparkle. The morning sun sliced through the crack in my blinds, catching the diamond just right.

I let out my own little shriek as I tossed the covers off. I nearly tripped over them as I stumbled out of bed.

“Congratulations!” I cried as I tossed my arms around my friend. She was still bouncing. I couldn’t stop myself; I bounced a few times too.

I’d seen the ring before. It was a family heirloom, belonging to Max’s great-grandma. Holly had known this day was coming but it was still fantastically exciting now that it was finally here.

“When? Where? How?! I want details! Lots and lots of details!” I demanded. “This is why you two were out so late last night?”

I cocked my head to the side, my sleepy mind now fully alert. “I thought you were going out to dinner with his grandparents?”

She sighed and a dreamy look settled onto her face. “That was just a cover story. He took me to this restaurant up the coast. We ordered our dinner and then he asked if I wanted to take a quick walk while we waited for the food to arrive.” She sighed at the memory. “I thought that was kind of strange—taking a walk, I mean—but we were seated outside. We could see our table from the beach.”

“Awww,” I said, letting my own dreamy sigh escape, “he proposed on the beach?”

She nodded. “We walked down a ways, so we had a bit of privacy, then the next thing I knew, he was down on one knee.”

My smile was so wide my cheeks hurt. A little squeal of excitement zipped out of my mouth.

“He had even asked my dad for permission. How sweet is that?!”

“Very,” I agreed. And
so
Max, a true gentleman through and through. “As if your dad would say no. He and your mom love Max.”

Her head bobbed up and down. “I know. Now they do. But he just wanted to be sure that they were okay with it.”

“Were you surprised?”

“Totally!” she squealed. “I mean, yeah, I knew this day was coming. And,” she bit her lip a moment, scrunched up her face before hesitantly admitting, “I thought he was going to propose back in Chamberlain. I was surprised and maybe a little disappointed when he didn’t.”

“But this made up for it.”

“I was not expecting a proposal on a Thursday night! Which is exactly why he planned it that way. I was so excited I could barely even eat! I wish he would’ve proposed before I’d ordered a lobster tail,” she said with a laugh. “After we left the restaurant we just drove along the coast. We stopped at one of the beaches and just talked for hours.”

So that’s why they’d gotten home so late.

“About…?” I pressed with a knowing grin.

“Everything. The past. The future. How great the present is.”

It was awesome to see my friend so happy. After spending years dating, and then engaged, to a total jackass, she completely deserved this. So did Max. He’d been in love with Holly forever. Even though I knew he’d be showing it differently, I knew he had to be every bit as excited as Holly was.

“Have you two lovebirds set a date?”

She shook her head. “We’ve tossed a few around. We don’t have anything definite yet. But when we do decide, you’ll be the very first to know.” Her smile faded and she became a little more serious. “I want you to be my maid of honor, of course. If you don’t mind filling that role. Again.”

“Of course! And I didn’t exactly take that role last time, since the wedding never actually took place,” I reminded her.

“True. Do you think Dani and Felicia will mind flying out here? I hope they’ll be my bridesmaids.
Again
. And I think I’ll ask Paige. And Clarissa?” She raised her eyebrows, waiting for my opinion.

I knew she and Clarissa had a bit of a shaky start to their friendship, all due to a misunderstanding, but they were on great terms now.

“You should definitely ask Paige and Clarissa,” I said. “Max would love that.”

He was friends with the girls dating way back. He’d been the one to introduce them to Holly.

“That’s what I was thinking too. It would show Max that I’m really embracing our new life here.” She wrapped her arms around herself, as if that would help to contain some of her excitement. Her eyes still sparkled and she gave off a vibe of excitement that was almost palpable.

“Will the wedding be here?”

She nodded. “At the vineyard, of course. It was nice visiting Chamberlain, but I really don’t feel like that’s my home anymore. It would mean a lot to Max’s grandparents to have the wedding at the vineyard.”

“And to Max too. He seems to live and breathe for that place. And for you,” I quickly added.

“I know.” She tugged a hand through her hair. “Oh, there’s going to be so much planning to do!”

I gave her shoulder a gentle nudge to ground her. “You’ve been helping with wedding planning for months now. You’re practically a pro at it!”

It was true. While Max’s main focus was the winery itself, Holly had a knack for helping to plan the abundant amount of weddings that took place there. She’d found her own niche in the family business.

We moved into the kitchen where she made us both a cup of cappuccino. We tossed around ideas about color palettes, menu options, and the best season for optimal weather. The wedding was, of course, going to be outdoors.

She wanted it to be perfect—as every bride does—but also as different from her almost- wedding to Collin as we could possibly plan it.

“We’ll come up with something fabulous,” I assured her. “Since you don’t even have a date set, we’ll have plenty of time. Besides, Collin’s mom was so stodgy, she wanted everything so formal, I’m sure we’ll have no problem giving this wedding a different feel.”

“I agree.” She took a sip of her drink. “I’m thinking less formal. Maybe even a tea length wedding dress and bridesmaids’ dresses? Some strappy sandals?”

I nodded. “I love the idea already.”

“I want to do something truly unique for a wedding favor. But oh my gosh, I have no idea what!” She tugged her hand through her hair again. It was an agitated gesture that I knew well. “Enough about this,” she decided.

“What? No! It’s your wedding! This is huge! We can talk about it all day long!” I said.

She shook her head. “No. I don’t want to stress myself out already. We’ll talk about it later. For now, let’s talk about you.”

I arched an eyebrow at her.

“How did your night go? Was Jake surprised?”

I smiled and grinned. “Yes. I should give Maggie a call to thank her. I’m so glad that I didn’t let Darby’s shenanigans ruin everything.” I grimaced. “I was so close to letting her destroy Jake and me.”

“But you didn’t,” Holly pointed out.

I fidgeted with my mug, swirling the remainder of my drink around. I glanced at Holly again. “I need your opinion on something.”

She nodded. “Go for it.”

“Do you think Jake’s biological dad is as indifferent as Jake thinks? I mean,” I rushed to add, “how can he be? He has a
son
. And he came to the hospital on a moments’ notice to donate blood.”

After her return to Harmony Bay I had told her what I’d learned about Jake.

She nodded, thinking it over. “What does Jake think?”

“He thinks it doesn’t mean anything. It was a matter of life or death so he either had to show up, or live with a guilty conscience for the rest of his life.”

“You don’t buy that?”

“I don’t know,” I said. I placed my mug on the table and began to gently twirl it between my fingers. “And that’s what bothers me. He
could
be right. But what if he’s not? What if he’s just too afraid of rejection to put himself out there? What if Frederic has left him so messed up that he let a relationship with his real dad pass him by because he was too afraid? Compound that with Darby walking away from him, the guy is bound to have some issues.”

Holly narrowed her eyes at me. “Why do I have a feeling you aren’t going to let this go?”

“Because I don’t think I am.” She nodded knowingly. “I think I want to find this guy, talk to him. See what he has to say.”

“I’m not sure that’s a great idea,” Holly said hesitantly.

“It’s the perfect idea,” I argued. “If his dad wants to see him, then maybe he and Jake can…I don’t know. Bond? Be a family?”

“And if not?” she pressed.

“Then Jake will never have to know. See,
perfect
,” I stressed. If this man didn’t want to see Jake, I would never tell Jake that. I wouldn’t hurt him that way. To me, it was the ideal solution. Holly didn’t look convinced. “You hate the idea.”

She leaned back in her chair. “I almost married a guy who cheated on me. The whole town knows that I caught him,” she cringed and looked a little ill, her hands waved in the air, “
you know
.”

I nodded. I did know. She had caught him in the act with his brother’s girlfriend. Real stand up guy, that Collin.

“I was engaged to a guy who still has his mother do his laundry. A guy who talks to his family’s Pomeranian as if it were a human. I,” she said as she poked herself in the chest, “am probably not the best person to give advice.”

“Great,” I said as I pushed my chair back. It was time for me to start getting ready for work. “I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.”

~*~*~

Hot air blasted me in the face as I exited the air conditioned Grove City Realty. One of the many advantages of loving my job was that the work days always flew by. Of course, it helped that I only worked part-time. Regardless, my work day was done.

I tugged my phone out of my oversized purse. I was hoping for a message from Jake, even though I knew he had a full schedule today. Instead I was alerted to four missed calls from my mother.

I sighed as I meandered down the busy sidewalk. As tempting as it was to ignore her, I realized the irony of the situation. How could I expect Jake to reach out to a parent while I was actively avoiding my own?

I settled into my car, cringing at the oven-like effect the summer day created. I rolled down the windows before pulling out of the lot. The missed calls seemed as if they were screaming my name.

By the time I hit the first stop sign, Mom’s line was ringing in my ear.

“Lanna!” She sounded truly delighted to hear from me.

“Hey, Mom. What’s going on?”

“I just miss you. That’s all.”

“Really.”

“Why do you always sound so surprised?” She laughed, a tinkling sound. She sounded genuinely happy.

Why did I sound so surprised? It wasn’t as if I could actually answer that with honesty. It would only hurt her feelings—and start a monumental argument. But the truth was that I never felt as if she wanted me around when I
was
around. So why would she be missing me now?

“I think you should come home for a visit.”

“I can’t,” I said, hands tapping against the wheel as I maneuvered my way out of town.

“Of course you can,” she admonished.

“No, Mom. I really can’t.” I sighed. “I just took two weeks off of work. I really can’t take any more time off.” I was not about to tell her that I probably could. Denise would appreciate the hours. But I had no desire to go home. Besides, I was afraid it would look bad to take more time off during the busy season. I wanted to stay on Terry’s good side. With a little bit of luck he’d hire me on as an agent someday soon.

“Then we’ll come to you!”

“We?” I echoed.

“Rick and me, of course.”

“Of course.”

“What do you think?”

I bit my lip. My car was silent, aside from the sound of my tires whirring across the blacktop. My initial response was to tell her no. But I realized I’d been pushing her away a lot lately. I had been upset about her reaction to Kyle. Maybe I needed to get over it. Holly was probably right. Mom did care about me. She probably had reacted the way she had out of concern.

“Lanna…?” Her tone was plaintive.

I pushed a smile into my voice. “Sure. You should come. You and Rick. How are things going with him?”

I was truly curious. It had been a few weeks since she made the proclamation that she was intent on saving her marriage. While a few weeks might not seem like much, in my mother’s world of revolving door relationships, two weeks was…encouraging.