Meant to Be (25 page)

“How did he know to come and get us?” Beth asked, desperate to fill in the blanks.

“After a couple rounds of Meatloaf karaoke, which wasn’t bad considering how far gone you both were, Beth flipped from happy to tears, crying about being an orphan and something about being a work widow for the rest of her life. The line between happy party girl and sloppy drunk crossed, I suggested you two call someone, and Sid called her brother.”

“What was that?” Sid asked.

“What?” Beth and Will said together.

“I’m talking to Will.” Sid sat up, resting her elbows on the table. “Every time you mention my brother, you get that weird look on your face.”

Will kept her eyes on her cup. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Did Randy yell at you about letting us get drunk?” Beth asked, prepared to stick up for Will if necessary. No one poured those drinks down her throat, and she’d be sure to tell Randy that.

“Randy was pissed, but not at me.”

“Then what is it?” Sid pushed. Will squirmed, her eyes darting between Sid and something in the distance.

“I don’t like big guys, that’s all.”

“Big guys?” Beth said.

“Yeah, big guys.” Will shrugged. “I’ve had some not-nice run-ins with muscle-bound dudes like that.”

Sid relaxed, leaning back in her seat. “You know Randy’s a big teddy bear, right?”

“If you say so.” Will didn’t look convinced. “Anyway, Randy showed up and took you both out of the bar. I don’t know what happened after that.”

Beth hadn’t considered the possibility she’d put the moves on Randy instead of Joe. Randy seemed like the type to laugh it off, but that didn’t explain Joe’s cologne in her cleavage. Or how she got in the house.

“I don’t remember any of this,” Sid said, tapping her cup on the table. “Randy’s never going to let me live this down.”

Beth ignored her. “I still feel like there’s something missing.”

Will rose from the table. “Like I said, once you were outside the bar, anything could have happened. Sid got belligerent as soon as she saw her brother, but you were a ball of charm. When not crying, you were the friendliest drunk I’ve ever seen. And I’ve worked in a lot of bars up and down the coast.”

Sid lowered her sunglasses as she moved out from under the umbrella. “Thanks for your time, Will. Sorry if we ruined your night.”

“No reason to apologize.” Will grabbed two empty cups from the next table over and threw them in the trash. “The guys buying your drinks were good tippers. Gave me enough to buy that necklace I’ve had my eye on up at Lola’s.”

“What men bought us drinks?” Beth asked, hoping the beard burn didn’t come from a total stranger.

“What men didn’t? I don’t think either of you paid for a drink all night long.”

“Great,” Beth mumbled, throwing her own cup away. “At least I didn’t pay money for this headache.”

“I expected you to have way more than a headache,” Will said, pushing in chairs around the deck. “You mixed a lot more alcohol than Sid. If I did that, I’d have puked my guts out before I made it home.”

The image of Joe in the bathroom returned, clearer this time. Beth closed her eyes and remembered her legs wrapped around Joe’s hips. Heat scorched her skin as images flashed before her eyes. The memories came rushing back. Where he’d touched her. How he’d touched her.

And what happened when he stopped touching her.

Beth dropped to the ground, bouncing off a chair on her way down. Palms pressed to her eyes, she rocked, chanting, “No no no no no.”

“What happened?” Sid said, taking Beth by the shoulders.

Heat of a different kind raced up her neck and burned to the tips of her ears. Mortification covered her like a heavy blanket, suffocating her as her worst fears were confirmed.

Will’s voice sounded far away. “If she’s going to be sick, get her to the edge of the deck.”

“You’re not blowing chunks on me, Curly. Come on.” Sid tugged on her arms. “You’re heavier than you look.”

“I’m not sick,” Beth said, finding her voice again. She couldn’t let them know what had happened. No one could know. “I thought I was, but I’m okay now.”

She focused on breathing, running affirmations in her mind.

I can fix this. I can make this right. I
have
to make this right.

Just as on the ferry, the words were no help. “I need to go home,” she said, meaning back to Richmond, where she could hide. Where she could pretend none of this had happened. Pretend she hadn’t betrayed her fiancé with his own brother.

“I’ll get you home,” Sid said, lifting Beth to her feet with Will’s help. They tried to carry her to the truck, but Beth pushed them off.

“I’m fine. I can walk on my own.”

Oblivious to the world around her, Beth climbed into Sid’s truck and stared out the window. She’d spent the morning struggling to remember the night before. Now she longed to forget, but the memories came like body blows one after another.

Joe’s forehead pressed to her chest.

His words playing over and over.

I can’t do this.

What had she done?

R
elaxing on his back deck, sipping a cold beer, Joe pondered the serious predicament of having feelings for his brother’s girl. He’d been telling himself for days the sparks between them were nothing but a meaningless attraction. Lust that would go away once she went back to Richmond. Back to her life with Lucas.

But his conversation with Cassie had done more than close an old wound: he’d gained perspective. What had seemed complicated turned out to be simple. And what should have been simple could be really fucking complicated.

The sun sank low in the distance, shades of orange and red setting the horizon ablaze. Joe watched the colors shift and change, accepting what he had to do.

“Got a sec?”

Joe looked back to see his dad coming through his screen door. “Sure. Want a beer?”

“I’m good, thanks.” Tom took a seat and remained silent for nearly a minute. Enough time for Joe to know exactly why he was there.

“Nothing happened,” he said, in answer to the unasked question. He couldn’t blame his dad for being concerned.
One wrong move on Joe’s part could implode their entire family. But he also didn’t intend to embarrass Beth by sharing any details.

“Patty said Elizabeth looked pretty rough this morning. Said she didn’t remember how she got home last night.”

Joe hadn’t counted on Beth not remembering. That would solve a lot of his problems. “Did you enlighten Patty?”

“Nope. Didn’t see the point,” Tom said, staring out at the darkening sky. “No need to get her worried about what might or might not be going on between you and Lucas’s fiancée.”

“There’s nothing going on,” Joe said. At least there wouldn’t be after last night. “She was drunk. I brought her home.”

He wanted to be angry with his dad for doubting him. Believing he could actually hurt Lucas that way. But it wasn’t as if Joe hadn’t considered it. Considered what would happen. If the family would survive.

The answer had come like a mainsail to the back of the skull. Another reason he knew what had to happen next.

Tom rose from his chair. “I trust you to do the right thing.”

Before his dad could say more, the small plastic table holding Joe’s beer rattled as Dozer hopped to his feet, tail wagging with excitement. “What’s with you?” he asked.

The dog hopped off the deck and charged around the right side of the house, returning seconds later with Beth in tow. She kept her focus on the bouncing fur ball, reaching the bottom step before looking up.

The blush on her cheeks brought out the green of her eyes, and he answered the hesitant smile with a reassuring grin of his own.

“Hi there,” he said, fighting the urge to reach out to her.

“Hi,” she replied, crossing and uncrossing her arms, finally settling on tucking her hands in her pockets and looking at Tom. “I didn’t mean to intrude on a private conversation. I’ll go back to the house.”

“Stay,” Tom said, descending the stairs. “I was just leaving.” He turned to Joe at the bottom, looked ready to speak again, then closed his mouth. A pat on Beth’s shoulder and he was gone.

Once Tom faded from sight, Beth asked, “Is he okay?”

“You’d never know to look at him,” Joe said, “but he’s a bit of a worrier.”

“What’s he worried about?”

“Nothing important.” Joe took a sip of his beer, waiting for Beth to make the next move.

She rocked on her heels, petted Dozer, then crossed her arms again and finally met his eye. “How are you?” she asked.

“Probably better than you are. Have a seat.”

Pursing her lips, she nodded. “Okay.”

Joe held his tongue as she folded into the rocker, sliding one leg beneath her bottom then switching it out for the other. Once she settled for more than a few seconds, he asked, “You want something to drink?”

Beth shook her head. “No, thanks.” Staring out to the sunset, she said, “I owe you an apology.”

“For what?” he asked. He was the one who needed to apologize.

Her eyes flew to his, wide with a mixture of hope and fear. “For what I did last night. Or what I think I did.” Pinching the bridge of her nose, she spoke more to herself than to him. “I feel like such an idiot.”

So the memories had come back. “I’m as much to blame as you are. More so since I was the sober one.”

Covering her face with her hands, she asked, “Did I really throw up in your sink?”

Joe chuckled. “You did. I’m used to people getting sick off the side of my boat. In my bathroom, not so much.”

“I’m never touching another drop of alcohol as long as I live.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but avoiding tequila might be a good idea.”

Beth moaned, bringing Dozer to his feet. His large head landed in her lap. “Thanks for the sympathy, Doze.”

Joe exhaled. “We need to talk about what happened before you got sick.”

“I know.” Beth leaned back in the chair, scratching Dozer behind an ear. “The details are sketchy at best, but I remember enough. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“The tequila was thinking for you. I should have controlled the situation better.”

Beth’s snort took him by surprise. “I realize it’s more manly to fall on your sword and take all the blame, but as you said,
we
took part in what happened. I downed that tequila all by myself, and I instigated the kiss. That part I remember.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a big boy.”

“That part I remember as well.” A pink hue crept up her cheeks as if the words had come out before she could stop them.

Joe tried to ignore the compliment but his ego won out. “Right.” How long had it been since he’d blushed? “But that’s not what I meant. Pretending there isn’t something between us won’t make it go away.”

“There can’t be anything between us,” Beth insisted, though the statement sounded more like a plea. She ran a hand through her hair. “How did this get so complicated?”

He didn’t have an answer, but he had a plan. Make it simple again.

“There’s only one thing to do.”

“I know. I need to leave.”

“What would that solve?”

“Don’t you think distance would be a good thing right now?”

If he hadn’t spent the day working out their problem, he might have agreed with her. “Then what happens the next time? What happens when you’re here for Christmas and we’re next to each other at the dinner table?”

“I didn’t think of that.” She stared at her feet. “What do you suggest?”

“We become friends.”

“Now you’re the one on tequila. Haven’t we tried that already?”

Joe leaned forward, determined to convince her. “What we’ve tried is dancing around each other ignoring the whale in the back of the boat.”

“Is that the fisherman’s version of the elephant in the room?” Beth’s smile hit him in the chest. This would not be easy.

“Something like that.” He turned his eyes to the distance. Pastel shades of blue, yellow, and pink painted the horizon. “If
you’re going to become a Dempsey, we can’t avoid each other. So we become friends. Or family really. You’ll come to see me as a brother and I’ll eventually see you as a sister. In-law.” Meeting her eyes again, he played his trump card. “For Lucas.”

Beth bit her lip. Regardless of the hesitation, he could see he’d pushed the right button. With a stiff nod, she agreed. “For Lucas.” Relaxing into the chair as if a weight had been lifted, she closed her eyes. “I’ve tried to call him three times. No answer. I hate keeping this a secret, but confessing would hurt him so much.”

“We’re not going to hurt Lucas. If you’d been sober we never would have kissed.” Another lie to add to the pile. “It’s never going to happen again, so there’s no reason to tell him.”

“Never again,” Beth whispered, staring out to the now sunless sky.

Joe lifted the bottle to his lips, ignoring the hint of disappointment in her voice. “Problem solved.”

The chimes attached to the front door of Island Arts & Crafts made a violent sound thanks to Beth pushing the door open harder than intended. The last twenty-four hours had frayed her nerves to the point of breaking, making her skin prickle as if she were carrying a live grenade.