Welcome to Bluestone 1 - Bluestone homecoming (14 page)

“Come on. We’re going to Quinn’s.”

“I—can’t.” She glanced over her shoulder into
the house.

“You’ve got to. You want me to ask
permission?”

She scowled. “Wait here.” She ducked into the
house, closing the door behind her.

He strained to listen, but didn’t hear
anything other than the murmur of women’s voices. Trinity returned
a few moments later, looking pale, her lips drawn as she buckled
into the passenger seat. Since he knew what the trouble was, he
didn’t embarrass her by asking.

She turned to look at him. “What’s the big
deal?”

“Going to tell all of you together. Lily
should be at Quinn’s, right?”

“Why would tonight be any different?”

Okay, this wasn’t going the way he imagined
at all from the time he got his news. “I’m sorry I caused trouble
with your folks.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “Just
something else in a long day.”

“Sorry. You looked stressed when I saw you at
school. I didn’t have a chance to talk to you.”

“It’s fine.”

He got the feeling it wasn’t. When they got
to Quinn’s, she was out of the car before he could come around.
Yeah, not how he’d imagined this at all.

Quinn’s place only had a couple of patrons,
less than usual, but Lily wasn’t there. Well, hell.

“Stay here,” he told them both. “I’ll go get
her.”

But when he got to the landing, he learned
she was out on a launch. Who the hell went fishing on a Tuesday
night in April, especially when he had news he didn’t want to wait
to share? He rolled away from the counter with instructions to the
teenager behind it to send Lily to Quinn’s when she got back.

When he returned to Quinn’s, Trinity had a
beer in front of her, but didn’t look any more relaxed than she had
when he picked her up.

“Hey.” He took the stool next to her and
pulled over the beer Quinn had already set on the bar. “Lily’s out
with a tour. She’ll be over as soon as she’s done.”

Quinn grunted and walked away.

“So why do I feel like the only one in a good
mood?” Leo asked.

“Maybe you are.”

“Yeah, well, you’ll hear my news and feel
better.”

She gave him a half-smile. “But I have to
wait for Lily to find out? I thought I rated.”

“You rate.” He had to change the subject
before he spilled prematurely. “So are you thinking of getting your
own place? Living with your folks seems to stress you out.”

“You have no idea.”

“So why haven’t you?”

She set her beer on the counter and slid it
around in the condensation. “I came home with school loans, more
than I’d planned because I got my masters at the same time. And my
dad got sick, and the medical bills were outrageous. So I was
paying the loans and helping with the medical bills and saving
money in an IRA. Bluestone School District isn’t exactly a high
payer. Then the market crashed. I lost half of what I’d put away.
And then there’s the decision—as much as I love Bluestone, do I
want to live where my parents live? Because they’ll never stop
waiting for me to screw up again.”

That wasn’t the first time she’d mentioned
her past mistake. “What is it that you did?”

She shook her head. “Something they’ll never
let me forget.”

Now he was intrigued, and he shifted on the
stool to face her. “Tell me.”

She shook her head again, her lips pressed
into that same thin secretive line.

Well, hell. Didn’t she know he was a reporter
and he couldn’t resist a secret? She was important to him, so he
wouldn’t snoop, but the itch was there.

“Hey. I’m here.” Lily swung the door open and
strode to the bar, her cap pulled low over her eyes. “What the
hell’s the emergency?”

Quinn took a step back. “Jesus, Lil. What’s
your problem?”

“My problem? I don’t know.” She leaned on the
bar and glowered. “Maybe the fact that I’ve been surrounded by
stubborn men all day who don’t take, ‘It’s time to pack it in’
seriously. They got pissed because they didn’t catch much, then
gave me a five dollar tip. Maybe it’s that I haven’t eaten since
breakfast and had to pee over the water, and that only once because
I was so busy. And then I get back to a message that this one,” she
jerked a thumb in Leo’s direction without looking at him—how did he
get to be the bad guy? “Is looking for me, and I walk in here and
you give me attitude, which as you can see, I don’t need.”

“No shit. What is your damage?”

“I think I went over that. I’m not in the
mood to deal with your scowly face, and in fact I wasn’t planning
to come in here tonight just so I could avoid that very thing.”

“You’ve been in this mood since Friday night,
and I think I deserve to know why.”

“You know why!” she exploded.

“Hey!” Leo interjected, though, God, he
wanted to know why himself, and a glance at Trinity’s face told him
curiosity had her as well. “I got Maddox Bradley to agree to play
here Memorial Day weekend.”

A half dozen faces in the bar turned to face
him. Behind him a tray crashed to the floor and he turned to see
Beth standing frozen over it, a mess of broken glass and dirty
dishes at her feet.

“Well,” Lily said. “Looks like we have work
to do.”

Leo was so busy the next week with baseball
practice, going with Quinn to get the materials for the stage—which
he’d also decided needed a roof, since this was Minnesota and the
weather could change in a blink—and writing his article. He was
barely aware that Trinity was pulling away from him. He didn’t see
her when he picked up Max after school, and she hadn’t been at
Quinn’s the two times he’d been by after Max went to bed.

He missed her.

He figured she’d be at Eighties movie night
to watch
Sixteen Candles
with him. This time he didn’t pack
a dinner, since several groups would be running concessions as
fundraisers. Still, he and Max arrived early to secure the same
spot as last week. Leo waited for Trinity.

Finally he spotted her through the crowd,
wearing the brightest combination of colors he’d ever seen, working
at the soda booth with Lily. She hadn’t mentioned she’d be working.
Feeling out of sorts because his plans were skewed, he motioned to
Max and they abandoned their blanket to approach the booth.

“I didn’t know you’d be working tonight.” He
stepped to the front of the line, drawing out his wallet.

“We decided to try to make some money to
allay some of the expenses of the concerts,” Lily said.

Trinity didn’t meet his gaze, but her
turquoise mini-skirt swishing around her hot pink tight-clad legs
drew his attention as she served the teenagers in front of him.

“I thought we’d watch the movie together,” he
addressed Trinity, hating that his words sounded like an
accusation, a whine.

“Sorry. I should have told you.” Still, she
kept her blue eye-shadowed eyes averted.

He looked at Lily for help, but she held up a
hand to let him know she didn’t want any part of it.

“We’ve been looking forward to this,” he
pursued, but Trinity turned away to take the order of the family
behind him.

“Are you buying?” Lily asked, her tone not
unsympathetic.

He placed an order, but kept his attention on
Trinity. He and Max returned to their spot with their drinks and
corn dogs, but Leo couldn’t enjoy the romantic farce he’d selected
with her in mind.

***

Trinity knew she’d handled the situation with
Leo badly. She should have expected him to be waiting for her after
the movie. Still, the sight of him standing beside her car gave her
a jolt.

“Where’s Max?”

“At home with my parents, probably already
asleep.” He folded his arms over his chest and leveled a look at
her. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on.” She fiddled with her
keys in the oversized pocket in her oversized blazer. She hated
that he made her nervous. One of the things she loved about Leo was
that he didn’t usually make her nervous.

Loved about Leo. Yeah, that was the problem,
wasn’t it?

He heaved a sigh. “Trinity, I’ve barely seen
you all week. It’s like you’re going out of your way to stay away
from me.”

She dipped her head to hide her blush at the
truth of his words. “You’ve been busy, I’ve been busy.”

“It’s more than that.” He pushed away from
her car and reached for her. “I’ve missed you, Trinity.”

She took a step back, registering the flash
of confusion that crossed his face. “This just isn’t a good idea,
Leo. You have Max to worry about, and—”

“He’s doing fine.”

His dismissive tone put her back up. “I don’t
think he is. And even so, he’s a student at my school.”

“Has someone said something?”

She took a deep breath. She’d told Max she
wouldn’t say anything, but Leo should know part of it. “Max has
been trying to charm his way out of trouble because of our
friendship.”

His face reddened and his shoulders squared.
“What are you saying?”

She shook her head. “I took care of it. We
said we’d keep it between the two of us, and I shouldn’t have told
you, but it made me realize there’s another person in this
relationship, a person who has lost his mom. We have no idea what
he thinks about you moving on.”

His expression darkened and his mouth thinned
to a line. She took another step back, worried she’d gone too
far.

“You’re right. I should talk to him about how
he feels about you and me. But I’d feel like an idiot bringing it
up with him, only to have you walk away.”

She tossed her hands in frustration.
She
wasn’t the one who was going to walk away in the long
run. “That’s not what I’m saying. Before you get involved with
anyone, you need to find out how Max feels about another woman
coming into his life. You told me you barely talk to him about his
mother. How will he feel if you’re suddenly trying to replace
her?”

“I’m not trying to replace her,” he growled.
“I couldn’t.”

She flinched. Of course she’d known—been
pretty sure, anyway—that he’d loved Liv. She just hadn’t expected
him to be so defensive about it. “I know.” She softened her tone as
she might have done for his son. “But it could seem that way to
him. You need to talk to him, Leo.”

“And then?”

His hand twitched, like he wanted to touch
her. She wanted him to touch her, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t
want, not when so much was at stake.

“Then you should think about what you really
want.”

“And if I decide that’s you?”

Her heart tumbled over at his words, and
pushing him away was almost impossible. And reminded her of the
other impossible thing she’d done, that she wasn’t ready to tell
him about. She had to protect herself awhile longer.

“I’m not going to risk myself for someone
who’s not going to be around,” she said. “You said you’re just here
until summer. I’m not leaving.” She took a deep breath. “Talk to
Max, Leo, but don’t make it about me. Now, it’s been a long day.
I’d like to go home.” She nodded at her car.

He was still frowning and for a moment she
thought he wouldn’t move. Then he stepped aside.

“Good night, Leo.”

As soon as she turned the vehicle down her
street, she burst into tears.

***

“You look like hell, son,” Leo’s father told
him the next morning as the three Erickson men packed up their
breakfast for the boat. “You didn’t stay at Quinn’s too late, did
you?”

Leo rubbed his itchy eyes, eyes that hadn’t
been able to stay closed all night. He hadn’t been to Quinn’s at
all, instead sat by the lake and tried to reason out what Trinity
had said. She was right, of course. He’d thought this thing with
her would just be some fun, but as long as Max knew about it, it
couldn’t be fun. Nothing could be as it was before Max. Leo had to
think for two.

And she was right that he needed to know what
he wanted. He’d spent the better part of the night thinking about
his job, the one he’d lived for only a few months ago, the one he’d
craved. Now it seemed like part of another life. He’d thought
maybe, when he came here, that he’d get Max settled and head back.
But now he was involved, he was invested. He had the concert series
and the baseball team and Lily and Quinn. And Trinity.

He hadn’t given himself permission to think
about her as more than a friend with benefits, but after his
disappointment last night, his heart actually ached. He hadn’t
thought that possible.

So he was going to follow her advice and talk
to Max.

In retrospect, maybe their morning fishing
trip wasn’t the place for it, but he was tired and in his head it
all came out better. He should have remembered the way Max froze in
the car the last time he mentioned Liv. He probably should have
started with something other than, “I heard you and Miss Madison
had a discussion about her being friends with me.”

Max stiffened, and too late, Leo remembered
she’d told him that she’d taken care of it, that she’d told the boy
it would be between the two of them. Yeah, breaking her trust, not
a good thing.

“She said she wouldn’t tell you.”

“I’m not mad.” But he hadn’t known another
way to broach the subject. “I just—does my friendship with her
bother you? Like, if I wanted to date her, spend some time with
her?”

Max’s dark eyes glittered with temper.
“Aren’t you doing that already?”

“A little, but—I’m thinking I’d like to do it
more. I’d like to hold her hand, maybe kiss her.”

“You were kissing her after the movie the
other night.”

“I was.” He nodded. “Because I thought you
weren’t paying attention.”

Max rolled his eyes.

“I miss your mother, Max,” he said finally.
“I miss her. She was amazing. But I’m lonely and Trinity is—she’s
not like your mother, but she makes me happy. I want to spend time
with her.”