Valentine Wishes (Baxter Academy Book 1) (2 page)

S
eamus sets
a glass of iced tea down in front of me. “Yer date has a flat tire.”

Strike one. I frown and stick my straw into the glass. Should I even bother with waiting?

“Don’t go hard on him, Jackie.”

“How late is he going to be or is he canceling?”

“He didn’t say, but I’m ta get ya anything you want ta eat or drink and he begged me to keep ya here.”

I have half a mind to order everything on the menu and then leave, but I’m not that vindictive. Still, it pisses me off when people can’t be on time.

“He can’t control a flat tire and he’s a good guy.”

This gets my attention. “You know him?”

“Robak? Yeah. Good guy. Wait him out.”

I just nod as Seamus walks away.

At that second my cellphone rings and I grab it. Sure enough, it’s Ashley.

“He’s not going to show, is he?” I say instead of answering with a hello.

“Before you get upset, he does have a flat tire.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“By who?” she asked a bit surprised.

“Seamus. He already called the pub.”

“Clearly he cares about not leaving you to just sit and wonder because he called Sullivan’s and me, to make sure you were told.”

Begrudgingly I have to admit she’s right. A person doesn’t really have control over a flat. But, how do I even know he’s telling the truth? What if this is so unimportant to him that he lost track of time and is making up an excuse for being late. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened to me.

“What does he drive?”

“Drive?”

“Yeah, what does he drive?”

“An old Honda Accord I think. Why?”

“What color?”

“Goldish.”

“What direction and what road would he be on?”

“Just because the two guys you dated over a millisecond were dicks, doesn’t mean you have to go check up on Brett.”

She’s probably right, but I’d rather know now if this guy makes up lies if he’s running late before I invest anymore of my time. Not that I’ve invested all that much, but I don’t want to sit her and wait, endure a dinner and find out he’s no different than the rest. “Road?”

“28 from the direction of 87,” she says with reluctance. “At least I assume since he’s driving, though that does seem odd…”

“Why?”

“Nope. Not telling you anything else.”

“Thanks.” I click off my phone and grab my tea and walk to the bar. “Can I get this to go and another?”

“He wanted me ta keep ya here,” Seamus reminds me.

“Well, it is hot out and if he’s stuck at the side of the road I should take him a beverage.”

Seamus narrowed his eyes on me. “Don’t be judging all men on the actions of a couple.”

“I won’t.” I smile. “I promise.”

He shakes his head while he prepares two cups of iced tea and hands them to me.

“Put it on his tab,” I say as I walk out of Sullivan’s. My phone dings as I get to my car and I glance down at the text:

Dream girl unimpressed?

“What the hell?” I have no idea whose number that is and toss my phone in my purse. I’ll text back and tell them they have the wrong number later. Right now, I’m off to find an alleged stranded motorist.

S
weat is dripping
down my back and face and this is so not the first impression I wanted to make. If I wouldn’t have run to Poughkeepsie to get a few things for work, I’d have been within walking distance of Sullivan’s
and
been on time.

Hell, I don’t even know if I’ll like this Jacqueline, but that doesn’t mean I want to show up with grease on my shirt, hands and slacks.

Finally! The last nut comes loose. I set the cross wrench aside and begin loosening them, working my way around the tire to keep it in balance, before I am able to take them all off and set them on the ground beside me. Just as I’m about to put the spare on, a bright red Mazda Miata pulls up behind my car and stops. I know that car. My uncle, Quinn O’Brien, wrote a ticket to the driver this morning. I just observed and never got the details on the driver, but I did study that sweet car.

Behind the wheel is a girl with dark brown hair, but I can’t see her eyes because of the sunglasses perched on her nose. She cuts the engine and opens the door and gets out.

“Need any help?” she asks.

“I got it. Thanks.” I lift the spare and put it on the hub.

She doesn’t leave like I expected. Instead, she walks over and stands next to me. I glance at her but from this angle, I’m looking right at her legs. Nice legs. Really nice legs. If I wasn’t already late for a date, I’d take time to get to know her.

I look further up to the blue and white striped skirt and white top. She’s smiling at me.

“Are you sure you don’t need assistance?” She takes her sunglasses and pushes them to the top of her head. Her full, red lips are smiling and those green eyes are studying me.

“Thanks, but I’ve got this.” I don’t need this distraction right now. I need to get this tire changed, get to Sullivan’s, and hope Jacqueline is still waiting and that I didn’t blow it.

She cocks a hip and anchors a hand on it. “I can wait. Maybe we can get a drink when you’re done.”

What the hell? She doesn’t even know me. I stand.

“Do you make it a habit of stopping for stranded motorists and suggesting a drink?” Stupid shit like that could get her killed. Any number of guys would take her up on the offer.

“No.”

I’m not even going to question why she decided to stop for me. “Look, I’m already running late. I appreciate the offer to help, and the drink, but someone is waiting for me.”

“How late are you going to be?”

“At this rate, about an hour.”

“Are you sure she’s going to be waiting on you?”

I push my fingers through my hair and then mentally curse. Now I’ll probably have grease in my hair too. “I don’t know, but I’m not going to be a no show. So, if you don’t mind…” I gesture to the tire.

“I’ll wait.”

I blow out a frustrated breath. “Look. I’m sure you’re a nice girl. But, I have a date to get to.”

“Then, I’ll bring the drink to you.”

I don’t say anything and get back to tightening the nuts on the spare. Maybe I should call Sullivan’s again to make sure Jacqueline is still waiting. If she’s not, I’ll just go home and shower and call it a night.

The Mazda doesn’t start up like I assumed it would when the car door opened, but I don’t even look in that direction. Maybe she’s some crazy chick and the only way she’s going to give up is when I leave without her number.

After I tighten everything down, I lower the jack and grab it to put it back in my trunk. When I turn, I notice she’s leaning against the hood of her car, sipping from a cup and holding another one out to me.

What kind of woman drivers around with a spare drink in her car? The hair stands up on the back of my neck and I make a note of her license plate. I’ll ask an officer to run it as soon as I’m out of here. I’m sure as hell not going to drink anything she is offering. Maybe it’s just my profession, but my first thought is that she’s put something in the drink to incapacitate me somehow. I don’t know her intentions, but I’m not going to play into her hands and find out. “No thanks.”

“But I brought it for you.”

“Me?” What the hell?

“Hi, I’m Jacqueline Baxter.” She grins. “We’re supposed to have dinner.”

I
feel
bad that Brett has a flat tire, but happy that it wasn’t all a lie. So far, he’s scored points for calling not one person, but two to make sure I got the message. He scored more when trying to get rid of me, or at least, not being overly friendly, and explaining that he had places to be. And those points just kept mounting as I watched him change that tire. Damn, he looks hot in those black slacks and light grey button down shirt. And not hot in that he’s sweating and grease stained, but hot with muscles in all the right places. For once, Ashley and I agree on a guy.

His pants were hiked a bit while he squatted and lifted the tire and he’s wearing an ankle holster, which kind of surprised me. What kind of guy takes a gun on a date? Then again, he’s the same guy who was with the state trooper when I was stopped this morning. Maybe he’s an undercover cop or detective or something like that. Though, he’s kind of young to be a detective. He’s too clean cut to be undercover. Don’t they usually disguise themselves as unkempt druggies?

His ice blue eyes widen and then he relaxes, blowing out a breath. “I am so sorry I was delayed.”

“Hey, you couldn’t help it.”

He takes the cup of tea and sips from the straw. “How did you know where I’d be?”

“Ashley told me what kind of car you drive and what road she thought you’d be taking into town.”

“Thanks for the tea. I was thirsty.” He takes another sip and shakes his head. “I can’t believe you came looking.”

I bite my lip. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure if you were trying to get out of the date.”

He chokes on his drink. “And if you hadn’t found me?”

“I’d have gone home, and enjoyed two iced teas instead of one.” I shrug. “On you, of course.” I laugh. “I told Seamus to charge them to you.”

“I’ll make sure and settle the tab.” He laughs. “I’d still like to take you to dinner, but…” He gestures to his clothing and holds out a dirty hand. “I’m not sure you want to be seen with me right now.”

Maybe he is trying to get out of this. I’d be disappointed, of course. He is good looking and seems nice. “We can grab a pizza and go sit somewhere,” I offer and wait for him to make up and excuse.

“Really?” His blue eyes light with hopefulness. “You wouldn’t mind?”

He really does want to have dinner and I can’t help the giddiness bubbling inside, even though I try desperately to appear calm. “You know that little park area on Baxter Lane, right past the planation?”

“The one that runs along the lake? The private drive?”

“Yep. There’s a picnic area and beach on the lake. We can go there.”

“That’s private property,” he reminds me.

I laugh. “I know. My family owns it.” More specifically, me and my brothers own that small piece of land. It was my parents’ property but they never got a chance to build on it before they were killed. None of us will be building on that site now and turned it into a park like place to be used by all of the families for large gatherings. “Let’s call and order a pizza from Antonio’s and take it there.”

He’s grinning. “Perfect. What do you like on your pizza?” He asks as he grabs his phone.

“Anything but anchovies,” I answer, grinning. This is going to be so much better than sitting at Sullivan’s. Not that I don’t like Sullivan’s. But it was getting noisy with the Friday night dinner crowd, and at the lake, I’ll be able to have Brett Robak all to myself.

He calls in the order and closes his phone.

“I’ll meet you at Antonio’s and then you can follow me to the lake.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Then he completely surprises me by walking me to the driver’s side of my car and opening the door. I can’t remember the last time a guy opened a door for me. I think I’m liking this guy even more and more.

S
he could have waited
for me in the car, but Jacqueline follows me into Antonio’s and goes to the counter with me. The pizza isn’t ready yet so I duck into the bathroom. I can’t believe Jacqueline still wants to go out with me. Not only are my hands dirty, but there is a smudge of dirt on my forehead. Probably from wiping the sweat away. I grab paper towels and get them wet and soapy and try to scrub as much gunk from my face and hands as I can. Nothing can be done about the clothes, which are probably ruined, but at least the rest of me is clean.

She’s standing with the box of pizza and a plain brown sack when I come back out.

“You clean up well, Brett Robak.” She laughs.

I go to the counter to pay for the pizza but she already has. “I could have gotten it.”

“This date has already cost you a tire and two iced teas. It’s the least I could do.”

I follow her out and help her into the little red car then get into my own and follow her to the lake. I’ve only been back here once, and that was when I was riding with Uncle Quinn and he was showing me the area. It’s a very quiet, private community. Does Jacqueline live in one of those large lakefront houses? She said her family owned this land. Which made sense. She
is
a Baxter. One of
those
Baxters, who are rich and into the arts. They even run a summer art camp for underprivileged kids.

Jackie pulls into a small dirt parking lot and stops her car. I follow and she takes me to a picnic table closer to the lake and puts the box down. It’s a great night. The temperature is in the upper seventies, the sky is blue and the lake calm.

She opens the sack and takes out two sodas, plastic forks and knives, as well as napkins before opening the box. You can’t pick up a slice of pizza from Antonio’s. You need a knife and fork to cut into it. The lid of the box has a perforation and she tears it apart and we instantly have two, cardboard plates.

I take a seat across from Jacqueline and wait for her to take a slice before taking one for myself.

“So, tell me about yourself, Brett.” She gives me a jaunty grin. “Where are you from?” she asks before taking a bite of the pizza.

“Buffalo. You?” I want to know about her. Not talk about me.

“Originally from Chicago, but my family moved here when I was ten.”

“Siblings?” I ask.

“Two younger brothers. You?”

“Four sisters. No brothers.” I look over into her light green eyes that remind me of the fresh sage mom used to grow in her garden. “If Ashley would have bothered to tell either of us anything, we could have had all these preliminaries out of the way.”

She laughs. “She knows me too well and I would have found an excuse not to meet you. I assume you are a
cop
.”

I don’t take offense. Most people don’t like cops, unless they need one.

“At least you aren’t with the Sheriff’s department. Those guys are jerks.”

I chuckle, but don’t argue. “They aren’t all bad.” Though a few are dicks. “And, I’m not a cop. I was just riding along today.”

“I still got a ticket this morning.” She looks pointedly at me.

“I’m not the one who stopped you,” I defend.

Shit! Now I know why Uncle Quinn stopped her. That son of a bitch. “Did you bother to look at the ticket?”

“No. Just shoved it in my purse. I’ll deal with it later.”

“You might want to look now because it was a warning, not a speeding ticket.”

Her eyes widen a smile breaks on that gorgeous face. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I chuckle. “You were eight over but now I get why he stopped you.” And, I will be asking him about it.

“Why?”

I’m shaking my head before I answer. “The officer’s my uncle and we were at the rest stop, well, not to run radar. When I came out, he said he clocked the car and ran the license.”

“Gee, I feel so special,” she says without humor.

“No, he had already run the plate and knew the driver’s name.”

“He picked
me
out on purpose?” She seemed rather offended and I can’t blame her.

“He knew I had a date with you tonight. My guess is he wanted to get a look at you.”

“And that’s the reason he stopped me?” She asked with disbelief.

“You
were
speeding.”

Jacqueline shrugs. “True.”

“At least now I know why he was chuckling the whole time, and told me to have a great time tonight.”

“What? You mean you didn’t know it was me then?”

“No.” Unbelievable! “He didn’t tell me anything except that it was a warning, which shouldn’t put you into too bad of a mood.”

“All so he could check me out before your date?”

“Yep. At least I assume so.” I’m so going to kill my uncle for this. At least she’s laughing now and not pissed. Well, she did only get a warning. Had it been a ticket, this might not be such a pleasant conversation.

“So, if you’re not a cop, and just ride along, what do you do?”

I get the feeling she doesn’t like cops so I sure as hell don’t want to tell her what I really do. Instead, I just shake my head. “I’d rather know about you.”

“I’ll make Ashley tell me.” She quirks an eyebrow. Then she takes a bite of her pizza while looking me over. “Four sisters, huh?” I guess we aren’t going to talk about her. “All younger? You the big brother and all.”

“I wish.” I roll my eyes. “Two older and two younger.”

She gives me a fake pout. “Poor middle child. Were you neglected and ignored?”

I chuckle. “What? Have you heard that from your brother?”

“No. Friends who were middle children.”

“They probably had siblings of the same gender,” I begin to explain. “As the only boy, I had my own room, didn’t have to wear hand me downs because, well, that would’ve looked weird and got me beat up in school, and Dad liked that he wasn’t completely outnumbered in the household.”

“What was it like being the only boy?”

“It wasn’t so bad, after a while.”

Jacqueline smirks. “Like when?”

“Well, after I decided I liked girls.”

She stops chewing and looks at me a little wary and leans back.

“Not like that.” Geez what did she think I was? “They were girls dating guys, so, I’d sneak around listening to their conversations.”

“You weren’t caught?” Her eyes widen with surprise. “I hated it when my brothers would try and overhear my conversations, and a few times they paid dearly. Of course, they were looking for blackmail material.”

“I was too stealthy to be caught.” I wink. “I listened every opportunity I got, especially when guys pissed them off and why, what they liked, what they hated, all that. I figured with all this secret knowledge I’d get ahead of the game.”

She starts to ask me something else but sirens blare in the distance and she straightens.

“Those are close.” I look around but none of the houses are on fire. I don’t see any smoke or anyone in yards looking for an ambulance. I look back at Jacqueline and she’s standing, looking to the woods.

The sirens blare louder. They are getting closer.

“Where are they going?” I ask since she seems to have an idea.

“The camp.”

Before I can respond, she is dashing down a path through the woods and that’s when I first smell the smoke.