Moonlight Cove (15 page)

“I’m not going to break Will’s heart,” Jess said defensively. “At least not on purpose. We’ve only been on one even semi-official date, for goodness’ sakes. And it doesn’t really count as a date because I sort of turned up in his office around dinnertime and he probably asked
me out because it seemed like the polite thing to do.” That was her story and she intended to stick to it. It was a lot less complicated than the truth. She frowned at Bree. “Why does Jake think this is any of his business, anyway? Tell him for me that his opinion doesn’t count.”

“He’ll disagree,” Bree said. “He and Will are best buddies. And he wasn’t saying anything that Connor or Kevin didn’t say when they heard, although apparently Connor has seen this coming for a very long time and Kevin started suspecting something was up when he helped out at the inn last week.”

“Did you all have some kind of family meeting in the middle of the night and forget to tell me about it?” Jess inquired irritably. She’d been the target of more than one family intervention in her life. She didn’t like them.

“We’re talking about the O’Briens,” Abby reminded her. “You know how news travels along the family grapevine. The vine’s been buzzing for weeks. It’s now reached a fever pitch.”

“This dinner was just last night, and it’s not even nine o’clock in the morning,” Jess said with exasperation. She scowled at her older sister. “And why are you bugging me about this, anyway? I thought you were all for it.”

“I am, as long as you proceed with caution,” Abby said. “The word I got last night suggested things might be moving at a more rapid pace. Then again, that could have been the source.”

“What source?” Jess demanded. “How did the word spread, for goodness’ sakes?”

“Pictures were included with text messages,” Abby explained, grinning.

Jess regarded her incredulously. “Who the devil spotted us, the FBI?”

Abby chuckled. “Dad, as a matter of fact. He and Mom were having dinner at Brady’s when you two arrived. They hung around to keep an eye on things, then sent out an alert to the rest of us. You know Dad. Now that he’s reformed, he takes great pride in being up-to-date on the latest family gossip. If he finds out anything first, he considers it a major fatherly triumph. And he definitely loves to share.”

“Oh, God,” Jess moaned. “That means they should be turning up here—”

“About now,” Bree said cheerfully as Mick and Megan crossed the dining room and pulled up chairs to join them.

“Anything new?” Mick asked.

Jess stood up and scowled at the entire lot of them. “Not one single thing,” she announced firmly. “Except that I am officially resigning as an O’Brien.”

Her mother laughed. “I don’t think you can do that, sweetie. Heaven knows, I tried, and look at me now.” She slipped her hand into her husband’s. “Back in the fold.”

“Everyone should be lucky enough to be an O’Brien,” Mick scolded Jess. “We care about each other.”

“We annoy each other,” Jess contradicted. “I’m going to work. I’ll tell the waitress to put your breakfasts on my tab. Have fun dissecting my life. Let me know how it turns out.”

She walked out of the dining room, went straight to her office and called Will.

“Prepare yourself. Apparently we’re hotter news than anything on
Entertainment Tonight.
”

“Don’t I know it,” he said with a resigned sigh. “I’ve just been joined at Sally’s by Jake and Mack. I’m pretty sure they’ve forgotten that I’m the one accredited to give advice.”

“Want to consider moving to Hawaii?”

“Nah. I like it here. In fact, it’s just started to get interesting.”

Jess laughed, relaxing at the sound of the humor in his voice. “Yes, it definitely has.”

And to think that it was Will who’d made it that way.

“Jess, I assume,” Jake said as Will disconnected the call on his cell phone.

Will merely held his gaze and said nothing. He’d been surprised when they’d called and insisted he meet them for breakfast, but once he’d arrived at Sally’s, he’d quickly discerned their agenda. His friends might be well-meaning, but he was determined not to encourage them.

“Of course it was Jess,” Mack said confidently. “She’s probably getting the same kind of interrogation over at the inn, but her family’s a whole lot more experienced at it than we are.
They’re
probably getting answers.”

Will laughed. “Which should be a pretty good indication that it’s time for you to give up.”

Jake shook his head. “Come on, man. You and Jess? You can’t be serious. I know you’ve had the hots for her for eons, but I thought you were just going to pine from a distance and then move on to someone more appropriate.”

“There is nothing inappropriate about Jess,” Will said indignantly.

“She hasn’t had a steady boyfriend in all the years I’ve known her,” Jake reminded him. “You’re Mister Dependability.”

Will’s expression immediately sobered. “She pointed out the same thing,” he told his friend. “Apparently it didn’t occur to her, either, that she’d been choosing the wrong men.”

“And you’re going to rush right in and succeed where others have failed?” Jake scoffed.

“I believe I am,” Will retorted. “Now, maybe we should drop this before I get annoyed. You’re part of the O’Brien family, Jake, and, Mack, you’re probably going to be one of these days if you and Susie ever start being honest with each other. You should be on Jess’s side, not tearing her down.”

Jake looked offended. “I am not tearing Jess down. I’m just being realistic. The woman has a few problems.”

Will stiffened. “If you’re referring to her ADD, it’s not a communicable disease, Jake. Let’s show a little sensitivity here.”

Jake winced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be insensitive. I like Jess. I’m just worried about you. You’re a steady, stable, one-woman guy. Jess…well, she’s always tended to play the field.”

“Sort of like Mack?” Will said wryly. “If he can change, and we both know he has, then why not Jess?”

Jake shook his head, his expression worried. “I just don’t see it.”

“Well, fortunately, you’re not the one who has to,” Will assured him. “Nobody understands the situation more clearly than I do.”

Mack sighed. “He’s telling us to butt out, buddy,” he said to Jake. “We should probably listen.”

Will smiled at him. “Exactly. Thank you. Now I need to get some work done before I pick Jess up for our date this afternoon.”

“So, you have no intention of backing off?” Jake asked.

“None.”

“Okay, then, I have a landscaping job I should get to,” Jake said. “Mack, what are you up to today?”

“Susie wants to go for a drive and poke around in some of the shops. She says it’s never too early to start Christmas shopping.”

Will laughed. “Not that there has ever been any doubt about this, but taking Susie shopping is a sure sign that you are down for the count, my man. Just give it up and ask her to marry you.”

Mack frowned at the suggestion. “We’ve never even been on a date. You don’t ask a woman you’ve never dated to get married. She’d laugh her fool head off.”

Will regarded him with pity. “How long are you going to keep trying to sell yourself on that story? None of the rest of us are buying it. I’m pretty sure Susie isn’t, either. If you don’t make a move, one of these days she’s going to find herself a man who will officially date her and marry her and have babies with her. Is that what you want?”

Mack looked sickened by Will’s words. “Of course not, but—”

“No more excuses,” Will said sternly. “Don’t lose her. It’ll hurt if you try and lose, but if you never try and lose, you’ll regret it the rest of your life.”

Mack met his gaze. “Is that why you’re finally making a move on Jess? So you won’t have regrets?”

“Something like that,” Will acknowledged. “To be honest, I came darn close to giving up myself without trying, but circumstances changed.”

“He’s talking about the infamous kiss in the bar at Brady’s a while back,” Jake said.

Will smiled at the memory. “I am. That and a few other things since then. I’ve been encouraged.”

Mack looked disconsolate. “If only Susie would give me some kind of sign that she’s ready for things to change.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Unlike Jess and me, Susie spends every spare second she has with you. Do you need her to issue an engraved invitation to her bed?”

Jake chuckled. “Like that’ll ever happen. She’s an O’Brien woman. They like their men to court them.”

“All women do,” Will said. “I have it on recent authority, they like to be swept off their feet. I’m pretty sure it takes more than flowers and candy. If I figure it out, I’ll pass along the tips.”

“Hurry up,” Mack pleaded. “This whole celibacy thing…” He shook his head. “I’m not cut out for it. The only thing that’s kept me from taking some other woman up on an offer of uncomplicated sex is knowing that I’ll be playing right into Susie’s hands. She’s just waiting for me to mess up and revert to that niche she’s stuck me in. I doubt she’ll ever believe I’m no longer some irresponsible player who’ll trample all over her heart. Sadly, that reputation has been carved in stone, or into her heart or something.”

Will gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I think you’d be
surprised about that, if you’d just get up the gumption to move forward.”

Mack still didn’t look convinced. Will had no idea what it was going to take to bring those two together. He just hoped they didn’t take so long that one of them got their heart broken before it happened.

C
onnie glanced out the window of her office at her brother’s nursery and saw Thomas’s hybrid car turn into the parking lot. Her heart picked up its pace, and she couldn’t seem to look away as he emerged and headed her way, carrying what looked to be two containers of coffee and a bag from Sally’s.

She cast a frantic glance toward Jake’s office, deeply regretting that he hadn’t yet left for his job site. Having Thomas show up here once had been awkward enough. Having him back again so soon was really going to stir up Jake’s suspicions. She wasn’t quite ready to deal with all the brotherly concern that was likely to ensue once Jake figured out why Thomas was turning up so frequently.

Maybe she could manage to keep the two men from crossing paths, she thought, getting to her feet and hurrying outside. She caught Thomas just a few feet from the office door.

“Good morning,” she said cheerfully, then added loudly enough to be overheard if her brother happened to be paying attention, “I wasn’t expecting you today.”

“Though I’m a bit out of practice, it occurred to me that women like the occasional surprise,” Thomas said. “I brought coffee and croissants. I thought we could have breakfast together, if you have the time to spare.”

“I had breakfast hours ago,” she told him. “I’m usually here at the crack of dawn.” Seeing the flare of disappointment in his eyes, she quickly added, “But I am definitely ready to take a break. Shall we take a walk and try to find someplace we can talk?”

Thomas regarded her with amusement. “You wouldn’t be trying to get me away from Jake, would you?”

“I am,” she admitted candidly. “Your last visit didn’t go unnoticed.”

“Do I need to have a talk with him? Explain my intentions?” Though there was a twinkle in his eye, he sounded willing to do exactly that if she thought it necessary.

Connie regarded him with dismay. “Absolutely not. He’s my brother, not my father, and my
younger
brother at that. I’m a grown woman, perfectly capable of making my own decisions.”

“Well, of course you are,” Thomas said, eyes sparkling at her indignation. “But Jake is obviously very protective of you. I can understand why he’d be concerned about the two of us seeing each other. I have no problem trying to put his mind at ease.”

“Really? Because I do,” she responded. “It may have been a long time since I’ve dated, but I think we’re long past the era when some man in the family either gets to pick out my dates or put a stamp of approval on them.”

Thomas grinned. “I wasn’t going to give him veto power, Connie. I thought it might be nice, though, to
have him on our side, before all the fuss starts with my family.”

She sighed. The O’Briens would definitely be an entirely different kettle of fish. “You might have a point about that,” she conceded. “Still, there’s a picnic table around back. Why don’t we go out there and discuss this? We can decide how we want to handle all the likely family interference.”

Thomas nodded. “Fair enough.”

Of course, what Connie hadn’t considered was that the picnic table was in clear view of Jake’s office window. They’d barely taken a sip of their coffee or a bite of their croissants before her brother rounded the building, a scowl on his face.

“Back again, I see,” he said to Thomas, his tone unfriendly.

“Jake!” Connie warned.

“I’m just wondering why he’s suddenly around here so much,” Jake said, his combative gaze never leaving Thomas’s face.

“You know we’re working together on foundation business,” she said, determined to keep up the appearance that their meetings were perfectly innocent.

“And I’ve been dating your sister,” Thomas said, ignoring her hint.

“Thomas!” she protested.

Jake sat down, looking stunned by the unexpected admission of the truth. He turned on her. “Is he serious? The two of you have been dating?”

“We’ve been out a couple of times,” she acknowledged.

“But he’s Mick’s brother,” he said as if there were a crime in that.

Thomas chuckled. “I can see why you might find that worrisome.”

“Oh, can you now?” Jake said sarcastically. “That makes you way too old for my sister.”

Connie frowned at him. “And exactly how old is too old?” she demanded. “Two years? Ten? Twenty? Do you even know how old Thomas is? Do you even care that after Sam, who had the maturity of a gnat, I might want a man in my life who knows who he is and what he wants?”

Jake looked deflated. “I’m just worried about you, sis. I know you’ve been lonely for a long time, and even more so now that Jenny’s gone to college. I don’t want anyone taking advantage of your vulnerability.”

She scooted closer on the bench and hugged him. “No one on earth could have had a better brother all these years, but it’s time for me to start living my life, Jake. I can make my own decisions about who’s right for me.”

“And you think Thomas is?” he asked skeptically.

“I don’t know yet.” She looked across the table and into Thomas’s clear blue eyes. “But I do want to find out.”

“And I assure you, Jake, I’m not playing games here,” Thomas said. “I don’t know where this is going, but your sister is the first woman in a long time who’s made me want something more in my life. Believe me, I thought long and hard before I asked her out. Nobody understands the family complications better than I do. We’ll have a few people on our side and a lot more who are as skeptical as you are, but I think we deserve to figure this out for ourselves, don’t you?”

Jake continued to look doubtful.

“I assure you that my intentions toward your sister are entirely honorable,” Thomas added persuasively. “I will do my very best never to do anything knowingly that will hurt her.”

Jake looked torn, but then he gazed directly into Connie’s eyes. “You want this?”

She nodded. “I want this.”

“Okay, then,” Jake said, looking reconciled, if not happy. “I’ll reserve judgment.” He scowled again at Thomas. “But if you hurt her…”

Thomas nodded. “Understood. I’ll need to watch my back.”

“Not your back,” Jake corrected. “You’ll see me coming.”

Connie noted the look of complete understanding that passed between the two most important men in her life. In some ways it made her want to shake her head in exasperation. In others, it made her feel cherished.

All in all, though, this potentially disastrous confrontation had gone a whole lot better than she’d anticipated. If they could get past the O’Brien gauntlet half as easily, they might actually have a shot at making this thing—whatever it was—last long enough to see if it could work out.

Will arrived at the inn around two o’clock to find Jess pacing around looking annoyed.

“Bad time?” he inquired.

“You’re late,” she accused.

“How could I be late? We didn’t set a time,” he reminded her. “I told you I’d stop by sometime this afternoon and we’d go for coffee or ice cream.” A prob
ably inappropriate smile tugged at his lips. “Did you miss me?”

“No, I thought you’d stood me up after all,” she admitted. “I figured Jake and Mack had gotten through to you and convinced you I’m a bad bet.”

“No one could convince me of that,” he assured her.

“But they tried, didn’t they?”

“Do you really want me to say something that will encourage hard feelings among the three of you?” he asked.

She uttered a sigh of resignation. “I knew it. They wanted you to back off.”

“Wasn’t that the message Abby and your family were sending, as well?” he inquired reasonably.

“It’s different when it’s coming from Jake and Mack,” she said. “I don’t know how, but it is.”

Will resisted the desire to chuckle. “Is anyone else’s opinion really important? I’m here. Unless you’ve changed your mind, we’re going out.” He studied her intently. “Or did
your
family convince you that it’s a bad idea to date me? Is this really about you having second thoughts?”

She gave him an obviously exasperated look. “Oh, they’re not worried about
me.
It’s you they’re worried about. How’s that for ironic? I think everyone’s united on that front. It’s a little annoying, to be perfectly honest.”

“I can totally understand why you’d be annoyed. Let’s prove ’em all wrong.”

“Until we’ve run off and gotten married and celebrated our fiftieth anniversary, I think that’s going to be all but impossible,” she said wryly.

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he said, holding her gaze.

She grinned. “How do you have so much faith in this when I’m scared to death?”

“I’ve had longer to get used to the idea,” he reminded her. “I was fourteen when I fell for you. You’ll catch up. Now, I vote we go for ice cream, but the decision is yours. Coffee or drinks are on the table, too, if you’d prefer.”

She looked intrigued. “My vote counts more?”

“On this date, it does.” He grinned, then warned, “It won’t always. We’re going to be very good at give-and-take.”

“Frankly, I’ve never enjoyed compromise,” she told him.

“You’ll learn,” he said, taking her hand in his. “It’s the basis of any successful relationship.”

“I’m an O’Brien. We like to win.”

“But there can be great rewards that come with compromise,” he assured her.

“Such as?”

“The first time you do it, I’ll show you,” he said with a wink.

She blinked, then laughed. “I’ll look forward to it.”

Jess wasn’t sure about the whole compromise thing, but she had to admit that spending the afternoon with Will had been more fun than she’d anticipated. Not once did she catch herself worrying about whether he was analyzing every word she said.

Eventually, when she said she needed to get back to the inn, he surprised her by asking if she could use an extra pair of hands.

“To do what?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Whatever you need. I’m not bad in the kitchen, if they need help in there, or I could wait tables or seat people.”

She regarded him with puzzlement. “Why would you do that?”

“Do you really need to ask? I want to spend more time with you. The inn matters to you, so it makes sense to me that I understand what goes on there.” He held her gaze. “And I like raiding that big old refrigerator with you. I thought maybe we could do it again when the restaurant closes down for the night.”

“You’re after a free meal?” she teased. “Is that what this is about? I thought you were making money hand-over-fist with your practice and Lunch by the Bay.”

“Even without the promise of more of Gail’s incredible food, I’d want to stick around. You’re the draw, Jess. Just you.”

She blinked at the heartfelt sincerity in his voice. “Then, by all means, come back with me and hang out for as long as you want. I’ll find something for you to do.”

What intrigued her more than anything, though, was the unexpected image she had of what the rest of the night might hold.

Mick wasn’t entirely satisfied with the way they’d left things with Jess that morning. She’d gotten her knickers into a knot just because the family had shown a little interest in her relationship with Will. They probably should have known better than to gang up on her, but they’d only done it because they all cared. Why hadn’t she been able to see that?

After dinner, he and Megan were settled down for
the evening when he stood up and announced, “I’m feeling a little restless. I think I’ll go for a walk. I won’t be long.”

Megan looked up from her book, her gaze instantly filled with suspicion. “You surely aren’t thinking of walking over to the inn, are you?”

“And what’s wrong with dropping in on our daughter, making sure things are running smoothly over there?” he inquired testily.

His wife laughed. “As if the efficiency of the inn’s operation is on your mind!”

He frowned at her. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

“You do realize that will tick Jess off just as much as if you walk in there with more questions about Will on the tip of your tongue? I think she’s had her fill of family concern today.”

“I can handle Jess,” he claimed, knowing it was far from true. She was the most sensitive and defensive of all of his kids. If he’d had problems understanding Bree’s uncharacteristically shy, reticent nature, he’d been even more uneasy dealing with Jess’s difficulties. He’d lost patience far too many times when he should have been sympathetic and supportive.

He’d thought for a time that the diagnosis of mild attention deficit disorder had been nothing more than psychological mumbo jumbo, an attempt to explain away the fact that she’d been a crummy student. It had taken too long for him to accept that it was a real disorder that could affect the way she focused and handled things for the rest of her life. He hated himself for all the pressure he’d put on her to buckle down and fix something over which she had no control.

Now, he thought, was his chance to make up for some of that. He wanted her to know she had his support in whatever she did. If that meant stepping in and making sure this thing with Will turned out the way she wanted it to, he’d do that, though he doubted she’d appreciate the interference.

He realized that Megan was watching him with an exasperated expression.

“You’re going over there no matter what I say, aren’t you?” she said.

“I am. The only question is whether you want to come along with me.”

She sighed heavily. “Well, somebody has to keep you from making things worse,” she muttered as she put aside the book she’d been reading. “Let’s go.”

He grinned. “You can stay in the background if you want to. You don’t have to say a word.”

“I’ll do just that,” she said, then grinned. “At least until I have to save you from yourself.”

Will’s admiration for Jess had increased a thousand-fold over the course of the evening. She seemed to thrive on the mini-crises that crept up in the kitchen, on dealing with the sometimes outrageous demands of difficult guests. She appeared to be everywhere at once, chatting with a customer, filling a water glass, even clearing the occasional table. He wondered if it was the fact that she dealt with things in the moment that made it so much easier for her to stay focused.