Deconstructing Lila (Entangled Select) (11 page)

Jake walked a wide circle around her, like a wolf around a wounded mate. Watchful, but incapable of removing the pain.

With her bra and top back in place, she gained her feet and headed down the road, leaving Jake to his silence. She’d covered maybe twenty yards when she heard the tread of his boots behind her.

“Lila.” His tone told her to be reasonable. She wasn’t in the mood any longer to be reasonable. She wanted to knock him on his ass, make him hurt as much as she hurt. But it wouldn’t accomplish a thing, except to drive him further away.

God. Wouldn’t it feel good, though? For just a minute?

“Lila.” He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. “Where are you going?”

“To civilization. We still have work to do. Miss Pru is waiting.” And according to
her
sage advice, when one problem couldn’t be fixed, a woman should turn attention to another. Eventually, the unsolvable would solve itself.

The deepening crease between Jake’s dark brows told her he knew she hurt.

“So we’re just going to go back to town like nothing happened out here?”

“If you can act like nothing happened, so can I.” She turned and resumed her march to the road. But she couldn’t act like nothing had happened. It had. Her hand snaked across her belly, rubbing the flat plane of her stomach.

What if they did make a baby? What would she do then?

Love it. Raise it. Be the best damn mother she could be. With or without Jacob Winter.

No use in worrying over an uncertain future.
Hell, it was her own advice; she might as well follow it
.

Lesson Number Eleven —

Love resides everywhere, in everything. If you open your heart to the land and people around you, chances are good love will find you.

Chapter Thirteen

J
ake flipped the switch for the overhead light. His kitchen fell under the harsh glow of fluorescent bulbs. Not the most welcoming lighting for an early-morning visit to the refrigerator, but then his mood wasn’t so pleasant, either.

He plucked the carton of orange juice off the glass shelf and pulled a chair out from under the breakfast table, the fridge door slamming behind him. The juice slid down the back of his throat, quenching his need for stronger spirits.

He’d given up heavy drinking years ago, but since Lila had come back to town, he found the pull of the bottle stronger, something in which to ease the turmoil.

And turmoil she created. His heart and his head were out of sync. His head pushed him one way, further away, all while his heart pulled him closer to her.

The notice for his appointment lay faceup on the table. Jake reread the words for the hundredth time. Yearly screening for cancer patients was rote, no big deal. But each time Jake had to lie on that long, icy steel table, he felt a degree of himself slip away. Never to be recovered.

He pushed the paper across the table, out of sight.

Rising out of the chair, he padded down the hall to his bedroom. Sleep would continue to evade him, so he might as well meet the day head-on. Plunging his body under the warm jets of the shower, he considered the previous day and how he’d been a completely selfish prick.

What the hell was wrong with him?
Taking what she too easily gave up. He should have reined himself in, told Lila she deserved better. The woman had fought too long and too hard for her reputation and successful business to throw it away on coming back to Hannington and to him.

He hadn’t said word one. Instead he dived inside her like they were having sex for the first time, barely slowing down to reflect on the consequences. Or, Jesus, to even take off their clothes.

He’d been too long without her company. Her support. Her compassion and courage. But damn, if she hadn’t felt good in his arms, writhing under his fingers, igniting him with the touch of her delicate hands.

Lila had managed to keep her distance the remainder of the day, speaking to him only when necessary. After a passing truck had stopped an hour into their trek and given them a lift to the nearest gas station, she’d called Rose for a ride, leaving him for good.

He sure the hell couldn’t blame her. He’d have left his dumb ass, too.

To make amends, he’d fetched the new store lock and installed it that night under the blaze of a shop light hung from a rusty signage hook under the store’s canopy. He wanted her to know he took her seriously. The job, anyway. At least he could give her that.

Shutting his front door behind him, Jake stepped out into the predawn light. Stars twinkled overhead, wrapping him in familiar comfort. He could always count on the sky being the same, each and every day.

It used to be enough.

But not anymore.

“L
ila Jean! It’s Jake again!” Granny’s voiced barreled into the kitchen where Lila washed fresh-picked tomatoes in the cast-iron sink.

“Tell him I’ve gone out, please.” She shouted right back, not the least bit inclined to take his call. The humiliation of the other day washed over her anew, bringing heat to her face.

When would she learn?

“You get over here and take this call, girl. This is the third time the poor man’s called today and I won’t lie to him again!”

Stamping her foot, Lila twisted the tap off and marched into the den, drying her hands on a Florida souvenir dish towel as she went. Granny sat enthroned in her favorite recliner, an icy glass of tea at her elbow, the phone smothered between her hand and the side of the chair. When she saw Lila, she shoved the phone at her, her gaze threatening punishment if she didn’t behave with the good manners taught her.

Sticking her tongue out, Lila grabbed the receiver and smacked it to her ear. “What?” her belligerent voice shouted across the line.

“Good afternoon to you, too.”

Granny snatched the towel out of her hand and whipped it around, smacking Lila on the backside.

She danced out of Granny’s reach as the matriarch waved a finger in warning.

“What do you want?” And why the hell did he sound in such a good mood?

“As your contractor, I’m reporting the progress thus far on the store.”

Lila slouched on the brocade-covered ottoman. Crap, and she’d harbored hopes he’d called to apologize. “What progress?” She heard his warm chuckle across the line. She could picture his head thrown back, his sable-colored hair brushing the collar of his shirt.

“Oh, what a short memory you have. I fixed the lock on the door. Good as new.”

He’d fixed the lock? After the other day, she’d figured he’d given up the job for good. She hadn’t seen him around and truly, hadn’t bothered to look. She’d needed time to lick her wounds and revise her plan.

“The next step is getting inside and assessing the damage. I need to know what you intend to salvage and what can be tossed as we break the place down.”

“Oh.”

“I have the rest of the afternoon free. Why don’t we meet and go over a rough plan?”

Did she want to meet with him so soon after her disgrace? She caught Granny’s frown out of the corner of her eye. Heck, she couldn’t miss the downward curve of her rose-red lips.

“Hold on and let me check with Granny.” She held the phone out, covering the receiver and feigning an inquiry.

“What’s going on between you two?” When Lila kept her silence, Granny sat forward in her chair, rocking the footrest downward. “Do I need to get in the middle of this like I used to? How about I call Jake’s mother and find out what this is all about? I’m sure she would be interested.”

“Ssshh!” she pleaded with her grandmother, almost laughing at the way the woman resorted to the tactics she’d used when she was a teenager.

“Don’t tell me—”

Lila jerked the phone back to her ear, cutting Granny off before Jake could overhear her lecture. “Okay, I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.”

She slammed the phone down and spun on her grandmother. “Don’t you have a domino game with the Bombshells?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. If you’re going into town, you can drop me off at Alta’s.” Disengaging herself from the chair, she flipped off Montel Williams and headed for the back of the house. “I’ll be ready in five.”

She saw the back of Granny’s good hand as she sauntered down the hallway. Good grief, the woman could go head-to-head with the best of them and still come out a winner. Unlike her granddaughter, who still learned lessons the hard way, one painful experience at a time.

T
he garish glow of pink flamingos lining the driveway greeted them as they arrived at Alta’s house. The birds perched on spindly legs sporadically throughout the front lawn, interspersed with painted wooden tulips and metallic-colored rocks. Whirligigs hung in pairs across the shaded porch, limp in the hot July sun.

Lila refrained from commenting on Alta’s exterior decor, although the urge almost overwhelmed her. “What time should I pick you up?” she asked Granny, bumping the car into park behind the stationary RV.

“Earl said he’d drive me home. That way you and Jake can work things out.” Granny released the seat belt and reached down for her purse.

“There’s nothing personal Jake and I need to work out. We’re discussing business.”

Granny flipped the visor down to check her white curls in the mirror. “Uh-huh. Then why were your eyes all red and puffy the other night?”

Dang, if her grandmother didn’t have eyes like a hawk.

“It’s allergies. You know they bother me out here.”

Granny flipped the visor back into place and shoved the car door open, giving Lila a stern, disapproving look. “You know you can go to hell for lying to your grandmother like that, don’t you?”

Lila gaped. She watched her grandmother’s back scoot across the seat and out the door. The woman could move, despite the cast.

“Don’t wait up for me. It’s a tournament tonight and I intend to win!”

The door slammed and Lila sat in the deafening silence. How was it possible that a little seventy-two-year-old woman could shock the hell out of her?

Because Gentry blood ran through her veins, that’s how.

She recalled the story Granny had once told her about the way her parents had met in the town bank. Her father worked as a teller at the time before he went into the service, and her mother was a customer visiting the vault to deposit her coin collection. Smitten, Michael asked Sarah out on the spot. But she wouldn’t agree. So he locked her in the vault until she said yes. And Lila was born eleven months later.

Shaking her head at Gentry grit, she pulled the Lexus away from the curb and headed to the town square and Jake. She wished she could lock him in a vault until he agreed to her demands, like she’d done in high school on a dare, but things weren’t quite that easy.

She found his truck parked outside the store when she arrived, his face hidden beneath the brim of his hat as he slouched back in the seat, seemingly asleep.

Taking a deep breath, she squelched her nervousness. She wouldn’t push him. Not again. The ball fell in his court now.

Tapping on the window, she brought him upright, his hat sliding smoothly back into place. He stepped out into the street beside her, his denim-clad legs unfolding with animal-like ease.

“I was beginning to think you’d changed you mind.” His stare appraised her.

“No.” She didn’t owe him an explanation as to why Granny took fifteen minutes to spray her hair and find the right sandals.

He expected more, but she left him hanging. Looking up to Miss Pru’s, she noticed the shiny new lock nestled against the worn wood of the door.

Rushing up the steps, Lila investigated the new fixture. “This looks great. Where did you find it?” She stroked the hardware in appreciation. It was almost identical to the original.

“At the salvage yard in Temple.” He pulled the key from his pocket and offered it to her. The key slid home and the door swung open at her light touch. Not what she’d expected.

“Did you fix the door as well?” Surprise colored her voice and she tried to deny the appreciative smile that touched her lips. Jake wouldn’t weasel back into her good graces so easily.

Okay. He might.

“I figured I might as well get started, and this rusty mess seemed the logical place.”

She found the light switch and stepped through the door, with Jake right behind her. It looked worse the second time in the flood of full daylight.

She sneaked a peek at his face beneath lowered lashes, wanting to catch his reaction to the interior. Would he see the potential she had? He wasn’t surveying the mess, but looked directly at her.

Not the tender, toe-curling look she wanted, but a look born of incredulity. Her spine went rigid and her head shot up under his perusal. “What?”

His fingers drummed a staccato on his buckle and he shook his head in disappointment. “What were you thinking?”

She looked around at the store and then back at him. “About what?”

He kicked up dust as he moved around the store, his eyes never leaving her face. How he could maneuver without watching where he placed his feet, she didn’t know.

“About what? About this place! It looks like a bomb went off in here!”

Lila’s hackles came up all at once. This was her baby! “It’s not so bad. I’ve seen worse.”

“When?”

“Dallas. Numerous abandoned warehouses on the east side of town. We went in and made them viable storefronts. There are some major players lining those streets, thanks to us.”

Jake grunted. His attention focused in on the ceiling overhead. “And you plan to turn this heap into a day spa?”

She bit her nail, doubt creeping into her mind. She didn’t want anyone telling her it couldn’t be done. She didn’t want Jake rolling off reasons why she couldn’t stay in Hannington.

It could. And she would.

“Well?” Jake strolled up alongside her, so close she could see the flecks of gold in the depths of his green eyes.

“A day spa,” she affirmed.

“You really think the residents of Hannington are going to pay for that kind of pampering? In a former whorehouse?”

Her idea would work, dammit.
She knew this business; he didn’t!

“The tourism to this area would support a spa. I don’t go into business without doing the preliminary research, Jacob. I’m not an amateur.”

He stepped back, holding his hands up, palms out. The formal use of his name usually elicited such a response. “Whoa. Whatever you say, boss lady. I just do what I’m told.”

Lila turned away, clenching her teeth together. “You have no idea how I wish that were fact and not fiction,” she mumbled, straddling debris as she made her way to the staircase in the back corner.

“Knock knock!” An unfamiliar voice drifted to the back of the store. Lila craned her neck around the staircase to see the source of the cheery feminine drawl. A plump woman in her midforties crossed over the threshold and into the store.

“Goodness! Will you look at this place?” Her ash-colored pageboy haircut swung as her head turned every which way, taking in the disaster.

“Afternoon, Carrie. What brings you by?” Jake greeted the cherub-like lady with an easygoing grin. Lila envied her.

“Afternoon yourself, Jake.” She picked her way across the store to stand next to him. Lila stood partially hidden behind one of the candy cases, so the woman didn’t spot her immediately.

“I heard someone finally bought this old place and I couldn’t wait to come by and meet them. I’ve been hoping for years this day would come, and I couldn’t stay away another second and not know who it was.”

She stared at Jake with a sweet, appreciative Southern smile.

“Lila? I want you to meet someone.” His voice drew the woman’s attention to where Lila stood.

“Hello there!” the woman called merrily, waving her jeweled hand in Lila’s direction.

Picking her way back across the store, she tried to ignore the way Jake’s eyes followed her every move. She hoped she didn’t have dirt on her face or something stupid like that. She checked to make sure her clothes were in order, no embarrassing peekaboos. And then she actually blushed. If he wasn’t interested, why the hell did he stare so much?