A Fresh Start for Two (15 page)

Ryan said, “Dad, we’re all right. I’m all right.”

Jake shrugged his shoulders, “Yeah, we were just being stupid.”

“Promise me you won’t fight like that anymore? I can’t handle it. Every time I see you boys close to fists, I have to walk away. I feel like it’s my fault.”

Gramps stood up and chuckled. “Leave it to Gram to get us talking. Feisty old Scottish woman.”

Their father wiped his tears again and then stuffed his handkerchief into his pocket.

Ryan hugged his dad. “Jake and I are fine, Dad. He’s my brother, and I love him. Maybe Gram’s idea about us coming over here to talk about the war is a good one. Seems we still have some hang-ups. I know I still have nightmares and PTSD episodes. They haven’t happened as often since I met Cait, but they’re still there.”

As soon as Ryan released his dad, Jake stepped forward to hug him. “Yeah, Dad. We’re here and we aren’t going back. Ryan and I were just being stupid. If I’m being honest, I still think about the war too much. I wish more than anything I could just take a hose and wash the whole experience out of my brain, but I know it doesn’t work that way.”

The door opened and a female voice shouted, “I didn’t hear any plan for healing, boys. One, your grandsons just reached out to you. Are you going to do anything about it?” Then the door closed again.

Gramps looked at the three of them, shrugged his shoulders and said, “Wednesday night work for you boys for a Ramsay war night?”

Ryan rubbed his ear subconsciously, “Yep. Damn, Gram is still so good at that ear thing.”

Jake laughed, “I didn’t think she had it in her anymore. Remember how she used to put us on the couch and make us sit there forever?”

Ryan grinned. “We’d get so bored we’d start making funny faces at each other and then we’d burst out laughing.”

“Or Mallory would suddenly appear and stick her tongue out at us.” Jake put his arm around Ryan’s shoulder. “Sorry about what happened with Cait. I was being hot headed, and it won’t happen again.”

Gramps walked into the kitchen and returned with two bags of ice. “Looks like you two are going to need this, though it could be too late.”

Ryan touched the skin around his eye and took a bag. “Jake, you throw a pretty good punch.”

Jake felt his cheek, winced, and took the other bag. “You’re not so bad either, Ryan.”

Ryan said, “I’ll go pick up Cait and we’ll head over to the inn for dinner. I want to hear about your problems with Julia and I’d like to help, if I can.”

Two said, “We could sure use your input, Ryan. You have some experience with stalkers, and from what Jake has told me, this situation is going to come to a head Friday or Saturday. Lorraine was holding dinner, so we’ll all meet on the porch.”

Jake opened the door and walked right into Gram. He covered his ear automatically. She laughed and stood on her tiptoes to kiss the reddened appendage. “Sorry boys, but you had it coming. You need to be working together, not apart. I’ve been telling Gramps for months now that somebody needed to deal with you two.”

Ryan stepped out onto the porch with Jake and Gram. “Hard to believe we’ve let this much time pass without really speaking about what was bothering us.” He stared at the ground and shook his head. “Jake, I shouldn’t have ignored you either.”

“What the war did to each of you was unfortunate, but the energy between the two of you is so strong. If your mother were still here, she’d want you still to be best friends.” She leaned over to kiss Ryan’s ear. “Now go to your lassies. They both need you. We’ll see you at the inn.”

Chapter Fifteen

Julia had been watching out the window for a while, hoping Jake would return soon. There was no real reason beyond that she just wanted to be with him.

As soon as his car pulled in, she ran out to meet him. She took one look at him and screamed and threw herself into his arms.

“What? I’m glad to see you, but don’t you think you’re overdoing it a little?”

“He punched you, didn’t he? Oh my God—it’s already happening, isn’t it? What are we going to do?” She reached up to place a light kiss on his bruised jaw.

“Oh, that? No, babe, that’s from Ryan, not Vincent.” He gave her a sheepish look.

She stepped back and planted her hands on her hips. “Ryan did that? Your own brother punched you?”

“Yeah, we got in an argument. I did something stupid, but we’re fine now. Come on. I’ll explain later. Let’s go inside.”

“What happened to your ear? It’s all red and swollen.”

“My ear? That would be Gram, not Ryan.”

“Your grandmother? Oh my, I think I’m glad I missed that scene.”

They made their way to the back porch. Lorraine took one look at Jake and said, “I’ll ask about it later when everyone’s here. Would you mind helping me in the kitchen? I roasted chicken breasts, so nothing fancy tonight.”

“Sure, Lorraine. I’d be glad to help,” Julia said. “Jake, go put some ice on that. It looks horrible.”

Jake and Julia headed into the kitchen. Lorraine tried to fuss over Jake, but he wouldn’t let her, instead jumping in to help Julia set the table.

Lucia and Maria came in the back door, and as soon as Lucia gasped, Jake held his hands up. “No, it wasn’t Vincent. I’m fine. It was my brother. Ryan and I just settled a little squabble.”

“A little squabble?” Lorraine echoed.

“We’re fine, Lorraine. I promise we won’t upset dinner plans.”

Lorraine sent them off with the plates and silverware, so they all pitched in and had the porch set up for dinner in no time.

Not long after, Ryan and Cait headed into the kitchen with Mallory, followed by Two and Three.

Mallory squealed when she saw Jake, “Oh my gosh. It finally happened. You beat the crap out of each other, didn’t you?” She looked from Ryan to Jake.

Just then, Gram walked in and joined the fracas. “Well, they tried to while One and Two stood by and watched them pummel each other. I had to take matters into my own hands.”

Mallory grimaced. “Yeah, the ears don’t look so good, guys. She got you again, didn’t she?”

“You sure you don’t want to stick your tongue out at us like you used to?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, you were always sneaky,” Jake said. “Do you remember the time…?”

Mallory interrupted, closing her eyes. “Oh, no. I didn’t think this one through. They’re best friends again. Now it’s those two against me, just like it used to be.”

Everyone laughed, including Jake and Ryan. “That’s right,” Jake said. “You better be careful now.”

With a huge smile on her face, Mallory wrapped an arm around both of them. “I’m just kidding. It’s time for you to be united again. Together, you’re unbeatable.”

“Good thing. Because I need help. We have work to do after dinner.”

To Julia, it was all like being at a special party. The warmth, the love, the sharing of laughter warmed her insides. She watched the man she loved beam at each of his family members as they joked and teased each other. She wondered what the holidays would be like here. How she hoped she would find out someday.

Maria stayed by Lucia’s side, but the Ramsays and the Grants treated them like family.

Spencer, Daniel, and Paige joined them, though there wasn’t much room left. Lorraine knew how to give them each something to do and sent them to the porch, each carrying a different dish. Once Lorraine joined them, they all sat down together, Gramps saying a quick prayer of thanks that his grandsons had both came home from the army.

Julia marveled at the way the large family worked together, now with a sense of purpose that humbled her. An hour later, they had a plan. Maybe there was hope for them, after all.

***

The next night, after another large family dinner, Jake, Julia, and Lucia headed out to his car to go to their seven o’clock class.

Ryan came and followed them out the door. “What building is your class in?” he shouted.

Jake spun around, surprised by his brother’s question. “Huh?”

“I’m going to follow you. Cait can stay here with Mallory and talk nursing for a while. I don’t want you to go alone with the ladies.”

Spencer and Daniel came running out the front door. “Wait up! We’re coming, too.”

Jake stared at the three of them in surprise as Julia and Lucia climbed into his car. “I doubt there will be any trouble tonight. A cruiser has been patrolling his house all day. No movement.”

Ryan grasped his shoulder. “I’m not letting you do this alone. Get in. We’ll follow. What time is your class over?”

“Eight-thirty.” He locked gazes with his brother and said, “Thanks, Ryan. It means a lot. You, too, Spence and Dan.”

Ryan had no idea how much it meant. After all this time, Jake finally had his brother back,
really
back, and he wanted to shout to the stars.

Once they reached the college, he searched the parking lot for any occupied cars, but there were none. It appeared that Vincent had stayed away once again. He escorted the girls inside, nodding his thanks to his brothers on the way in.

They sat in their usual spots. This was their night to present their business venture, and they would have been more nervous had they not been so well prepared. Lucia had put together a PowerPoint presentation explaining the overall venture, Julia would discuss their inventory and the capitalization, and Jake would go over the financial statements at the end.

It didn’t take long, and when they finished, they took questions from the other students. Theirs was one of the last presentations, and he was surprised to see they were the only ones who’d planned a retail establishment for Summerhill. Most had come up with new websites, hoping to become the next Facebook or Twitter. Once they’d answered all the audience’s questions, they awaited their professor’s comments.

The room was quiet as he stared at his notes, then he stood up and applauded. Jake looked from Julia to Lucia and back again, all three of them breaking into grins.

“I must say, of all the business plans I’ve seen, this one shows the greatest potential for success and early profitability. Julia, you’ve done a nice job of selecting and pricing out your inventory. Your marketing and advertising plan looks great, Lucia, though I think your sales predictions are actually a bit low. Have you considered actually opening a shop like this here in town? Summerhill could really use it. I think it would boom in the summer, but your inventory would keep you marketable year-round on the Internet. If you’re smart, you’ll give this venture serious consideration. Nice job on the financial statements.”

“Actually, the rest of class is dismissed, but I’d like to talk with the three of you, if I may.”

Jake gave an encouraging smile to Julia and Lucia, hoping they were about to hear good news from their professor, and texted Ryan to explain that they would be a few minutes late.

Once everyone else had left, the instructor continued. “The Small Business Development group in the Finger Lakes area has received some funding to support the growth of business in the area. I’m on the Board of Directors, and I can tell you we would be more than pleased to see a business such as the one you’ve planned as part of our downtown area. There are a few empty storefronts in the downtown areas of a couple of towns that we would like filled. We are also looking for businesses that would draw young people to our local Main Streets while staying viable during the down season. There is a contest and they will be awarding funding to two businesses that agree to settle in a local Main Street shop. Are you interested in Orenda Lake Main Street as you proposed? Would you seriously consider launching this business venture if you could get low interest bank loans and some grant money?”

Jake glanced from Lucia to Julia. “Ladies, this one’s on you. I can be involved in the background, but I’m not going to quit my job at the police department. Tell me, Professor. Would the grant money be enough to cover three to six months of the lease for the property and the employees’ salaries? We would have to hire people to work in the shop.”

“Oh, absolutely. Much of the funding has come from a private owner who lives on Canandaigua Lake and wishes to see the area flourish. He’s arranged for it to be given as part of a Federal Grant, but it requires his approval. He’d expect to see a sound written business plan and a marketing strategy, especially for the online portion of the business. That’s part of the contest entry, so you would have to fine tune what you have completed for this project, but you’re almost there. What do you think?”

Julia glanced at Lucia and a huge grin broke out on each of their faces. “We would love to do this. When is the deadline for the entry?”

“Three weeks. Will it give you enough time? You would still have plenty of time after your final exam.”

“Yes, I say yes.” Julia bounced on her tiptoes as she awaited Lucia’s response.

“Let’s do it, amiga. Between the three of us, I think we can handle this.”

“Perfect. Here is the link. You can find the contest entry online. If you need assistance with anything, please ask me. I would love to help.”

“Thank you, Professor. This is wonderful.” Jake shook his hand.

“Well-deserved. The three of you did a great job.” He shook Julia’s hand and Lucia’s, then departed.

They gathered their things, not really celebrating until they walked outside. But they didn’t get much time to bask in the glory of their success. Once in the parking lot, Jake noticed an occupied car. Since they were the last to leave, he didn’t expect to see many cars left in the lot. Ryan pulled into the lot with Spence and Dan and headed directly toward the car. A patrol car followed him.

Jake ushered Julia and Lucia into his car and told them to lock the doors. Ryan pulled up on one side of the occupied car, and the cruiser stopped in front of it, just as the door to the suspicious car opened. His officer’s training taking over, Jake found himself moving forward and taking up a position on the other side of Ryan’s car. The patrolman, a friend of theirs, got out of his car and headed to the driver’s window of the suspicious vehicle.

The window rolled down and a teenager said, “What’d I do wrong, Officer?”

“License and registration, please.”

While the teen fumbled for his wallet and his license, the officer asked, “I don’t see a permit from the college to park here. What are you doing in this lot?”

“I…I…I…some guy paid me to deliver something to that girl who just came out.”

“Step out of the car with your hands up.” The officer stood back to give him space to vacate the car.

The teen got out of the car, still flushed. “It’s no big deal, Officer. This guy gave me a bouquet of flowers to deliver to her. I’m just supposed to tell her that Vincent loves her, that’s all.”

The officer searched him for a weapon, but found none. He took his license and registration. “And the name of this guy?”

“I don’t know. I work in the flower shop. He paid a lot of money and my boss sent me out with the flowers. They’re in my back seat. Do you want to see them?”

“Description of the man who paid your boss?”

“Uhh, gray hair, a little stocky, maybe five feet ten. That’s all I remember.”

The officer left him to go back to his car. “Don’t move.” He ran the license, looked in the back seat of the kid’s car, and then walked over to Jake. “He’s legit. No priors, works at Lakeside Florist. You got any other questions?”

“No. Get rid of him.”

The officer told the kid to scram. “Keep the flowers and don’t come looking for her again.”

“Yes, sir.” He hopped in his car and left without a backward glance.

The officer strode back over to Jake. “Vincent’s the guy’s name, right?”

Jake nodded. “Yeah, but he doesn’t have gray hair, so he had someone else do his dirty work for him. That worries me.”

Ryan stood beside him. “He’s not acting alone. That worries me, too.”

The officer headed for his car and stopped beside the driver’s side door. “Sounds to me like you boys got some work to do tomorrow. Sarge has somebody working the case tonight, so I’ll fill him in on the situation with the flowers. Have a good night.”

After the officer left, Julia got out of her car, but she didn’t move toward them. Ryan grasped his brother’s shoulder and said, “We’ll get him. He’s way outnumbered. Go home and get a good night’s sleep. He won’t do anything else until tomorrow. He’s playing both of you right now. He’ll do that a few more times before he makes his big move. Right now, he’s just trying to stress both of you out. He wants her to be so afraid she’ll do whatever he wants.”

“Thanks, Ryan.” He strode back to his car, wrapped an arm around Julia and kissed her on the cheek.

“I overheard what the guy said. Vincent is playing with us.” She gripped his arm, clearly frightened by this sign that Vincent hadn’t forgotten his threats.