And Then He Kissed Me (12 page)

When they were alone again, Casey took a deep breath. “There’s a job opening in Eagan, not too far from where I live. I already talked to the assistant principal about it. It’s head track coach, boys and girls, but there’s no teaching—only coaching. They’re top of their division and you get an assistant coach, plus athletics has its own secretary. You’d have administrative support as well as coaching staff.”

Casey finished just as Pauline came back to pour coffee and drop off Audrey’s orange juice. Audrey was grateful for the interruption because she wasn’t sure what to say.

Of all the scenarios she’d imagined when she got fired from her job, her least favorites were the ones that had her leaving White Pine. Her stomach twisted at the thought. But what else could she do? She couldn’t stay at the dealership forever, dressed in leather and working with Kieran Callaghan. But could she really put on her old track pants and go back to coaching again?

I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up,
Audrey thought.

“Well?” Casey asked after a minute. “What do you think?”

Audrey took a steadying breath. “Thank you for looking out for me,” she said. “I am so grateful for the help, but I’m not sure I’m ready to pack up and leave White Pine. Losing my job was hard, but it’s also given me time to—I don’t know, explore my options. I think I’ll always want to teach and be around people, but maybe there are other ways to do that besides coaching.”

“Nonsense,” Casey said, waving a hand. “You have a master’s degree and you need to put it to use. You can always stay with me until you get settled.” When Audrey didn’t answer right away, Casey reached for her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “But if you simply
had
to stay in White Pine, you could always commute.”

Audrey considered this, wondering if she’d be happy spending so much time in her beige car every day. She thought about the crowded school hallways and the anemic paychecks. Was that what she wanted? She stared at her orange juice, unsure.

“You’re not glad we live far apart, are you?” Casey asked after a moment. Her tone was teasing, but Audrey could hear the concern just underneath.

When Casey had first moved to Eagan for her accounting job, Audrey would have happily considered abandoning White Pine altogether. She’d missed her sister terribly, an ache that for a long time didn’t want to subside. But Casey’s absence had forced her to branch out in her friendships, and eventually she’d reconnected with her high-school pals Betty, Stephanie, and Anna—and then Willa. The separation from her sister had forced her to expand her family, and she had a new sisterhood as a result. She wasn’t at all sure she wanted to walk away from that, especially when she was still in the process of figuring out what she wanted to do next.

“I don’t want us to be separated by miles and miles,” Audrey hedged. “I just wonder if I can make a go of it here.”

“Doing what, exactly?”

Audrey shifted in the wooden booth. “That’s the thing. I may have found employment for right now. The pay is good, by the way.”

“Is it teaching?”

“It’s more like sales.” She stared at the scalloped edges of her paper placemat. “At the new Harley dealership in town.”

Casey went very still. “Where Kieran works?”

“He’s there, yes.”

Casey eyed her sharply as Pauline delivered their food. Audrey picked up her fork, but her sister’s hawk-like gaze was quickly eroding her appetite.

“Audrey. Whatever game you think you’re playing, just stop now. You need to leave that job immediately. Kieran Callaghan was bad news the first time around, and nothing has changed.”

Maybe I’ve changed,
Audrey thought, staring at her puffy, golden omelet.

“Kieran’s not an issue,” she said. She wanted to believe it.

Casey scraped a tiny amount of margarine over her toast. “No, he’s trouble. He is going nowhere fast, and you shouldn’t let him take you down, too.”

Audrey’s insides sank. Casey had given her the same lecture before—after Casey had met Kieran for the first time. Casey had grilled him about his past, about how much he had in his savings account, even chiding him at one point about not having a Roth IRA. Kieran had played it cool, but Audrey had been mortified.

Later, she’d confronted Casey, saying she didn’t care what Kieran looked like on paper, that her feelings for him wouldn’t be swayed. Casey had fought right back, saying Audrey was making a terrible decision that she’d regret soon enough.

To her credit, when Kieran left, Casey had never once said “I told you so.”

Audrey set down her fork. “Kieran aside, the hours are good and it pays well. And I think I can make a difference there.”

“Doing what, exactly?”

“Well, a few days ago, for example, there was this woman who came in and no one spoke to her. Not
one
salesman. So I went over and helped her as much as I could, which wasn’t a ton, but at least I talked to her. And I was thinking this dealership isn’t targeting women very well as a point of sale. So what if I got some training—”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“Audrey, just stop right there. You are not going to spend your time thinking about how a motorcycle dealership can sell bikes to women. It’s ridiculous.”

Audrey bit the inside of her cheek. It hadn’t felt ridiculous when she’d thought of it. In fact, the only reason she hadn’t moved forward with pursuing her idea was because Kieran, who had promised her riding lessons, had been racing from meeting to meeting, taking lunches with executives, and even getting his hands dirty in the service bays while he chatted with mechanics. She figured she’d use their lesson time to pitch the idea of women’s sales to him, only there hadn’t been any lesson time. Yet.

“I know it might sound a little odd,” Audrey admitted, “or at least very different from what I’ve been doing, but I think this position could work.”

“Right. Because everything you do around Kieran works out so well for you, doesn’t it?”

Audrey stared at her food, silent, until Casey set down her fork and folded her hands. “Come on,” Casey said, “look at me.”

Audrey raised her eyes and found her sister’s matching pair, shining with concern and love, staring back. “I know I sound like a jerk,” Casey continued, “but I’m worried about you. Losing your job was tough, but you’re talented and hardworking. I don’t want to see you throw away good opportunities so you can stay in White Pine and get hurt all over again. At least, if you stay, find something else besides that awful dealership with him inside of it.”

Audrey shook her head. “I appreciate your concern, but I like it there.”

Casey lifted a brow. “And I suppose you like all that makeup and this new wardrobe of yours, too?”

Audrey shrugged. “Who knows? I’m trying some things out. I need to be able to do that without feeling like you’re disapproving every step of the way.”

“I
am
disapproving every step of the way.”

Audrey almost smiled. “Then disapprove all you want, but let me live my life. If I don’t do it exactly the way you think I should, then that’s just something you have to come to terms with.”

Casey sat back. Audrey knew she didn’t usually disagree like this with her sister. But enough was enough. She was ready to shake things up, and if it meant she had to fight with her sister some, so be it.

“Fine,” Casey said. “But when someone else gets this great opportunity in Eagan, I can’t help that. And I may not be able to help find a different opportunity by the time you’re finally ready to face the facts. There’s a good chance you’ll be on your own. Is that what you want?”

Cold unease crept along Audrey’s skin. Her sister may have support and love behind her intentions, but right then she sounded downright threatening. “I’ll happily live with my own decisions,” Audrey replied, sitting up straighter in the creaky booth. “And if I make some mistakes, that’s part of figuring it all out.”

Casey took a sip of coffee instead of replying, but her disapproval was there, as plainly as if she’d spoken it.

Audrey adjusted the sparkling bangles on her wrist and prayed she wasn’t falling headlong into disaster all over again.

C
HAPTER
EIGHT

K
ieran watched Audrey exit the Paul Bunyan Diner, observing from the edge of a nearby alleyway. She glided away from the diner in tight jeans and a hot little T-shirt that had him sucking in his breath. She was impossibly beautiful. Several other heads turned her way on the street, leering across overstuffed planters and asparagus signs. She looked like the kind of woman who could do better than him. She deserved an investment banker, he thought. Or a lawyer or a doctor. Someone who didn’t have to keep his past hidden.

But today, he was willing to confront his mistakes and his past and try for her. He had to do at least that much, or risk wondering
what if
for the rest of his life.

And it started with her sister, Casey.

Audrey moved away, up the street toward Knots and Bolts, while Casey came toward him, her pace brisk, her sensible heels clunking along the sidewalk. Given the way she walked, Kieran wondered if she went anywhere without a purpose. But whatever her mission was today, he was about to interrupt it.

“Hi, Casey,” he said, stepping out in front of her.

She pulled up short to avoid plowing into him. But if she was surprised or caught off guard, she never showed it. The woman could play poker with the best of them if she wanted to, Kieran thought.

She regarded him with her brown eyes—the same color as Audrey’s, technically, but so much flintier. He wondered briefly if his hurting Audrey had added to her hardness. He couldn’t blame her if it had.

“Kieran,” she said. One word, flat and solitary.

“We should talk,” he said. “It’s been five years. There’s so much to catch up on.” His words were easy, even though his brain was buzzing with a lost sense of time. It felt like this interaction was years old, and he’d been here before.

“There’s nothing we need to say to one another,” Casey replied, trying to push past him. But he blocked her way on the sidewalk.

“I’ve paid back my debt,” he said, lowering his voice. “And I care about your sister. So let’s bury our secret once and for all, because I’m going to try and win Audrey back.”

Casey’s head shot up. Her features knotted in disapproval. “No.” From her lips, the word had a finality to it that chilled Kieran. Suddenly, the day’s sunlight was too thin around them, shifting from warm honey to weak white. Her chilly manner froze him through.

“Let’s go and talk about it,” he offered, shoving his hands in his pockets like this was any other conversation, and she was any other person. Like the stakes weren’t unbearably high.

“Where?”

“Just up the sidewalk here. Black Bear Bar—we’ll have a drink.”

“No.” The word came too easily from her lips, over and over. “I don’t want to be seen with you. Come to my car. It’s just down the block here. We’ll talk there.” She brushed past him with an assurance that belied her small size—five foot five, just like Audrey, and rock hard to boot, only not from muscles. From life, he thought.

Kieran inhaled to steady himself, and followed her down the sidewalk. He stayed a few respectable paces behind. When she slid into her car—a compact silver machine that looked as sensible as it was boring—she already had the key in the ignition. She wasn’t going to give him much time, it was clear. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to the punch.

“You will stay away from my sister,” she said. “There’s no discussion to have. You need to agree, then get out of my car.”

Kieran had to admire Casey’s bravado. The woman was half his size but acted like a mob boss.

“Or you’ll do what, exactly?” Kieran said. He settled into his seat, indicating he wasn’t going anywhere.

“You know what I could tell Audrey. You understand the deal we made.”

Kieran chuckled, even though his palms were clammy with nerves. Even though the memory of trying—and failing—to save his mom’s life had his heart grinding with pain in his chest.

He had to call Casey’s bluff, and pray it worked. “If you tell your sister about the deal we made, it makes us
both
look bad. Are you willing to risk that?”

“I’ll deny it.”

“Except I still have copies of the checks I wrote to pay you back. There’s a paper trail that links us.”

“So?”

“Your funds were conditional. You offered them up so I’d leave. Which I did. You think Audrey’s going to look past that?”

It was Casey’s turn to laugh. “That may be, but I’m her sister, Kieran. You’re just—I don’t know—some guy she banged a few years ago. I’m her flesh and blood. Do you really think she won’t forgive me? We’re family. But you? I wouldn’t be so sure. There’s no guarantee she’ll want anything to do with you when she knows the truth.”

Kieran wanted to rebuff her words, even though part of him knew she was right. Casey had looked at him with the same disapproving stare five years ago, after tracking him down in his shabby hotel room at the Great Lakes Inn.