Lush (9 page)
“Hello, you.”
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Her mother turned her face up to receive Mary’s kiss.
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“Hey.” The huge puzzle on the table was nearly fi nished.
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She’d taken up puzzles back when they were kids. Their dad had
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told them she needed it to calm her nerves after parenting them
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all day. Which was probably true.
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“He’s probably already eaten four of those salmon patties.”
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Lauren Dane
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Her mother spoke absently, her glasses perched on her nose as
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she looked over the remaining puzzle pieces.
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“Probably. But they’re good for him. I made a batch for Ryan
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too, but took them to his house fi rst. I know they’d never get
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out of here.”
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Her mother laughed. “You’ve got your dad’s number. How’s
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business?” She looked up, taking a sip of her tea. “There’s tea.
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Freshly brewed.”
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Mary got up to get herself a glass and to top off her mother’s.
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Her father wandered into the room and began putting things in
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the fridge.
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“Good. I’ve got jobs for the next several months. I can pay
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my staff without stress. An agent called me three days ago. Said
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she thought I should put a cookbook together.”
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“That’d be something now, wouldn’t it? Our Bess being a
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published author? And why shouldn’t people want to buy a
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cookbook with her recipes in it?”
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She loved her parents more than anything. They were kooky,
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no doubt. But they were good, solid people who’d raised her and
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her siblings well. Always proud and supportive of them.
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“I’m working up a proposal. We’ll see. I need to talk to Daisy
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about doing the photography for it.”
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“You have your own talent with a camera. You might be
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stretched too thin though, so I’m sure Daisy would be a huge
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help. How’s that boyfriend of hers?” Her mother shot a glance
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in her dad’s direction as he opened up the second container of
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the salmon patties. “At least use a fork.”
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“He digs her. She’s not quite sure what to do with him.”
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Mary snorted. “He’s big and bossy and handsome and sort of
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Lush
overwhelming. But he adores her. He buys her things. Takes her
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places.”
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“She’d be bored shitless with a man who wasn’t like that.
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Girl’d run right over a lesser man.” Her mother had a way about
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her. Always seeing to the heart of things. It was sort of scary,
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and yet Mary admired it all the same and hoped the best parts
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rubbed off on her.
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“Probably.”
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“And why shouldn’t he buy her things? It’s not like she
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expects it. But he’s got the money and wants to treat her. I hope
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I raised you well enough not to turn down gifts from people
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when they want to do for you.”
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“I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to land a rich older boyfriend
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to know for sure.” She winked at her dad, who glowered for a
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moment.
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“Jeanne, you stop it now. Bess makes her own way.”
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Her mother sighed. “Of course she does. She’s not a whore.
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I’m saying that people should be able to do for others. Mary
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brings us food how many days a week? We never pay her for it
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because it’s her way of taking care of us. She does it for every-
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one. Levi does for Daisy because he can. I bet you the girl makes
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amazing art for him and gives it to him as a gift. Given her tal-
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ent, that’s sort of the equivalent of jewelry or a trip. Generosity 23
is important. “
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She was tucked into bed with a book hours later when her phone
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buzzed with an incoming text.
S28
Damien.
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Sitting here drinking an excellent glass of red wine after an
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awesome steak. Was thinking you’d probably have something
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far more tasty to accompany it than the plain old potato
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they served.
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She picked her phone up and started to type.
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Probably. But I’m gifted that way. What city are you in?
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Her phone rang.
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“I’m in St. Louis.”
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There was a lot of noise in the background.
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“Sounds like it’s busy where you are.”
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“I’m in my hotel room. Well, actually, Paddy’s room. They’re
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blowing off steam. Big show tonight.”
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She blew off steam in really different ways apparently. It
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sounded loud and wild and she was glad she wasn’t there. Well,
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mostly though she wouldn’t mind jumping on Damien if she had
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him in the fl esh.
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“Ah.”
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“Little word for all you’re feeling.”
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She laughed. “Just thinking that my blowing off steam usu-
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ally means I make ice cream or go for a bike ride or hike. But I
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remember the last story I saw about you guys, so . . . ”
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“Don’t believe everything you read.”
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He didn’t sound amused.
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“I didn’t mean to offend you.”
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“I’m sorry. You didn’t. It’s just . . . it gets old having the tab-29N
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loids follow you around and make stuff up. You never know
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who’s gonna say what.”
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She got that part. Knew Gillian had to deal with it now. But
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at the same time, what she heard in the background didn’t sound
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like they were playing backgammon.
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“Adrian said you guys were coming out to MSG next month.”
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He wished he hadn’t snapped at her. Their ease had stiffened
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up a little. And god knew she was mainly right.
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She answered, not sounding angry or hurt at least. “Yeah.
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Looking forward to it. Adrian even managed to get me some really
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wonderful reservations at my coveted restaurants. Be nice to
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me and I might let you be my plus one.”
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He realized he wanted to see her enjoying food from the
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standpoint of the consumer, not the producer. What would
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she be like in a restaurant? He knew she wholeheartedly em -
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braced enjoying sex; he bet she was like that when she ate
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out too.
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He found himself smiling, really smiling, for the fi rst time in
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a few days. “Yeah?”
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“Yeah. If you’re not busy you can come along. That way I
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can try more things off the menu and no one will think I’m
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a hog.”
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She made him smile. A lot. “You have an ulterior motive?
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I’m scandalized.” He had no plans. Once he heard from Adrian
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that she’d be there, he’d kept his schedule clear during non- show 25
hours so he could be with her.
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“I do. I’m sneaky that way.”
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He grinned, though she couldn’t see it. “Okay then. Good
S28
N29
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to know that in addition to all your other . . . talents, you’re also 02
sneaky. It’s a good quality.”
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They spoke for a little while longer before he hung up and
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went back into the main room where his brothers drank, smoked
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and shot the shit about the day’s events. A few women lounged
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around and he couldn’t fi nd it in him to invite anyone back to
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his room.
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He told himself it was that he was tired. But really, he knew
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on some level that Mary would disapprove if he was fucking
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other women right before he fucked her when she visited New
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York in a few weeks. And to be truthful, he wanted her to think
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well of him.
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The specter of his past rose. He wasn’t ashamed of his hard
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living. But because he’d been that way and openly so, it had
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played in the media. He wasn’t just the drummer of Sweet Hol-
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low Ranch. He was the party- boy, sex- hungry, hard- drinking
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drummer.
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From the outside, he could see it all bringing pause to Mary.
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He liked her. He wanted to know her better. And he wanted
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very much for that reputation to not get in the way.
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eez, a private plane too?” Jules waggled her brows as they
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got settled in for their fl ight to New York.
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“Erin, I wager. She loves to give presents.” Daisy said.
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Levi sat next to her, his hand in hers.
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“I bet you Levi is no stranger to private planes. Look at him.”
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Mary winked at him and he snorted. They had a good back and
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forth. Once she accepted that he was good for Daisy and would
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continue to be so. She also liked that Levi had wanted her to
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approve. Some guys wouldn’t have cared.
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“I did my time in coach.”
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“You make it sound like prison,” Daisy scoffed.
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Mary laughed. “It is! If I could do this every time you’d never
S28
see me in coach ever again jammed in the center seat for seven
N29
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hours while I begged for peanuts after having to take my shoes
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off in an airport.” She shuddered.
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“Jules says you’re doing a food- truck tour tomorrow. Is there
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room for me?” Gideon Carter, Jules’s other man, looked at her
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hopefully.
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“Defi nitely.”
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“Is the rock star coming?” Cal asked, trying to be casual.
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Ryan, their brother, groaned. “You have no fi nesse at all.”
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“And you do?” Cal tossed back. The two of them bickered a
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lot, but it was a front. They were, as her mother often said, thick 11
as thieves. But they did love to poke each other.
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“I could have found out if Damien Hurley was coming along
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way smoother than you. And I wouldn’t have agitated her in
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fi nding out.” Ryan shrugged.
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She snorted. “Boys, please. Yes, he’s coming along. I think
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he is, anyway. I think one of his other brothers is coming too.”
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She was admittedly a little nervous about that. Sure, they
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were just having fun and all, but she knew he was tight with his
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family. Didn’t want them to think ill of her.
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“So what do you envision this thing between you being any-
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way?” They took off easily as she sat back and let Ryan pepper
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her with questions. She’d probably want to know if their situa-
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tions were reversed so she’d answer until she thought he went
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too far.
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“Look. He’s an adult male with a busy schedule. I’m an adult
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female with a busy schedule. Occasionally, for however long
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this works, we meet up and hang out awhile and then go back
