Carved in Stone (2 page)

He looked at Michael, who only laughed, shrugged, and went on eating. His eldest son was crazy in love with a woman he couldn’t get along with for more than two minutes at a time, but even though the woman wasn’t in his life the way he wanted, Michael wasn’t always out chasing away the good memories with nameless, faceless blonds like Shane favored doing.

His oldest son had only done that kind of mindless dating when the woman he loved got married. When she was divorced, Michael stopped chasing blonds and resumed chasing her, which is the stage he was going through currently. While it seemed fruitless to Will to want a woman so badly who so obviously didn’t want you back, he still never worried about Michael as much. At least Michael cared deeply about someone. Will wasn’t sure Shane even had the capacity to genuinely love a woman.

“Shane, you’re missing the big picture. Do you even remember their names, what they did to you, what you did to them? Do you ever want to go back to any of them so bad you ache?” Will asked.

“No. But I’ve not been looking for that kind of experience,” Shane said, shrugging away his father’s disapproval.

Will pointed his fork at Shane. “Yes, you are. I raised you. You know I felt that way about your mother because I made sure you did. So I know you’re at least subconsciously looking for that whether you realize it or not. There is nothing like finding that one incredible woman who changes everything. There is nothing like exploring the full range of lovemaking with an equally devoted partner.”

“What happens when that one incredible woman changes so much that she leaves you and marries a younger man? Do you just give up?” Shane asked sharply, daring his father to answer his question less than honestly.

He and Michael both knew their father had taken the divorce very hard. They knew he had sincerely and faithfully loved their mother. Neither of them had really understood what had gone so wrong between their parents that it couldn’t be fixed. The divorce had not been easy on any of them, but their father was the one who hadn’t moved on.

“Look—every relationship is a risk in some way. I had thirty-three good years with your mother. We grew apart, and she fell in love with someone else. I don’t know why these things happen. They just do,” Will said, getting up and refilling his coffee. “I am sad about the divorce but not really depressed. When the right time comes, I’ll find someone and start dating again. I have an open mind about it.”

“Good. When?” Shane asked, watching his father walk back to the table and sit down heavily with a resigned sigh. He wanted to laugh at his father’s irritation with him, but he held it in. There was too much at stake to risk his father thinking it was just a joke.

“When I’m ready and I meet someone, I will start dating again. There’s nothing wrong with waiting for the right woman to show up. I don’t need to fill the interim with tall, leggy blonds half my age,” Will said firmly.

“Fine,” Shane agreed easily, his tone dripping with fake resignation. “I’ll take care of chasing all the leggy blonds half your age, Dad. Geez, you’re hard to satisfy. No wonder Michael is tired of you.”

When his father glared at him, Shane turned to look at his brother, his gaze full of wickedness. “What kind of women does Dad pawn off on you?”

“None—and I’m totally pissed now,” Michael said, putting as much anger in his voice as he could over the urge to laugh. “Dad’s always liked you better, Shane. When you buy your house, he’s definitely moving in with you.”

“Oh, shut up and eat—both of you,” Will said, stabbing his pancakes viciously, tired of being harassed by his adult children. “I’m getting my own damn place as soon as I can.”

“When? Mom said you gave all the money from the house sale to her,” Shane said sadly, shaking his head side to side in pity. “I guess that means you’re broke. That marble penis better grow a body soon.”

At the vicious swearing following Shane’s comments, Michael shook his head at his father as well and made sympathetic noises with his tongue. “Did you ever even use the f-word when you were a principal, Dad? I don’t remember you swearing in front of me or Shane, until
he
ran over your Harley with his car.”

Michael used his fork to point accusingly at Shane, whose glare matched his father’s, and made him want to laugh.

“Thanks, Benedict Arnold. Did you have to remind Dad about me killing his bike?” Shane asked, pancakes all but falling out of mouth. Backing over his father’s beloved Harley was the only thing Shane had ever done in his life so bad that his father had been truly disappointed in him.

“You’re the one making Dad mad this morning, not me,” Michael said, laughing at Shane’s pained expression.

Since it was his house, Michael reasoned he could say anything he wanted to defend himself under his own roof. This included shifting his father’s irritation in his brother’s general direction and away from him. His obvious success at having done so made his smile even wider.

“I’m definitely getting my own place soon,” Will said to his pancakes, even as both his sons laughed harder. “And I’m not inviting you two over for breakfast.”

Shane pointed his fork at his brother. “If I never get banana pancakes again, you are a dead man.”

Michael grinned and gave his brother the finger to let him know how afraid he was of him and his threats.

“I am serious,” Shane warned, stabbing the air between Michael and him with his fork like it was a weapon.

Will rolled his eyes to the ceiling and shook his head. Sometimes he wished they had both taken more after their less passionate mother.

Chapter 2

Though celebrating her birthday in the dreary March weather had been depressing, Jessica Daniels didn’t mind being forty-seven because she was mostly happy with her life. She was close to retiring from her teaching position, and her daughter who dreamed of being an eccentric college professor was finally about to graduate with a Doctorate in Philosophy from Ohio State.

While her daughter was just beginning her career at thirty, Jessica had started teaching high school art right out of college at twenty-two. Now she found herself constantly longing for a different life. She wanted to get back to her own art—whatever form it took now—before she got too old to want to do it.

In fact, she wanted to get back to doing a lot of things she hadn’t done in a while, before she forgot what it was to want them too. So when one of her favorite former art students, Melanie Simpson—now Melanie Madison—had suggested she come to the café to scope out the biker guy who was fast becoming a regular, it hadn’t taken much to talk Jessica into it.

Seeing him now in the flesh, Jessica totally agreed the balding biker was all tall-and-firm-body hunky, except for the massive arms and shoulders on him. The man looked to be six feet tall or better, which was not so intimidating for Jessica’s five-foot-ten height. She preferred tall men anyway. But the man looked big as well, which was a welcome deviation from the lanky, lean intellectual men she usually dated. You didn’t come across tall, big, and well-toned bodies very often, especially in men over forty.

As Jessica listened to him chat with Melanie, she decided that the biker was very articulate, polite, and well-spoken. She also concluded there was a sort of raw power in his assertive tone. The man had the kind authoritative voice that it was just instinctual to obey unless you had trained yourself otherwise. Being a teacher of wild and unruly high school students, Jessica had a lot of respect for what it took to speak with authority and command.

Yes, the biker was definitely intriguing to her, so Jessica stood and walked to perch on the bar stool beside him. She was very glad they were the only two patrons in the café at the moment. Jessica found it easier to flirt boldly when there was a smaller audience.

“Hey, big guy, I’ll pay for your coffee if you take me for a ride,” Jessica offered, instantly drawing his full attention to her.

His gaze traveled the length of her body before returning to her face and hair. “Very nice offer, but no can do. You need a helmet to ride and I don’t carry a spare.”

Jessica blinked and grinned at his refusal, but only laughed low in her belly.

Will noticed his body absorbed the sound of her laughter and vibrated pleasantly. Her reddish hair streaked with silver blond strands revealed her age as somewhere over forty, but no more than his shiny dome revealed he was way over forty himself.

“Well, I wasn’t necessarily talking about your bike,” Jessica said on a laugh, liking the way his face actually flushed at her innuendo. The man was certainly not accustomed to flirting or playing games, she thought. It was a fact she found enormously appealing, and she appreciated the edge it gave her.

“Well, I don’t have any safety of any sort, but could fix that if you can wait a bit while I go shopping,” he said on laugh, bringing his mildly embarrassed gaze back to her face, the amusement in his hazel eyes evident. “Does your offer have an expiration date?”

Well, well, Jessica thought, her smile broadening at his teasing tone. There was a fun guy in that great body somewhere, and she was immediately interested in finding him. There was also a little something-something buzzing between them causing arousal to flare. She really loved that first flaring of genuine attraction. Even though she dated a lot of men, it had been a long time since she’d felt the real thing.

“Well, I’d say my answer depends on what you intend to go shopping for,” Jessica said sweetly, leaning an elbow on the ancient counter, intentionally letting her shirt front gape to show both her breasts and the blue lace bra she wore.

Ignoring the cleavage, which Will figured she knew damn well he noticed, he instead studied her intriguing face and the fullness of her hair. Then he let his gaze drop to her jean covered legs. She had very long legs encased in well-worn jeans that fit snugly and intimately to all of her.

“I would buy a spare bike helmet, of course,” Will said sternly, keeping his laughing gaze focused in her lap as he spoke.

Jessica laughed loudly and squirmed in her seat. Suddenly all of her was really interested in what that look of his was promising. Okay, the biker was good, very good, she reluctantly admitted. He just seemed out of practice, and Jessica couldn’t help wanting to know why.

“Ms. Daniels, don’t be teasing Mr.—” Melanie began.

“—Williams,” Will interjected firmly, interrupting Melanie’s introduction to introduce himself. “I’m Everett Williams, but you can just call me Will.”

Melanie raised her eyebrows, but did not correct the proffered introduction. She did give William Larson—still Mr. Larson, her former Middle School Principal, to her—a questioning look and grin. He had just recently confided in her about his artistic
nom de plume,
and that he had used it to separate his art from the rest of his life.

Today he evidently wanted to play the bad biker artist for Ms. Daniels. How interesting was
that
, Melanie mused? Brent was going to love this story, and she couldn’t wait for his return tomorrow so she could share it with him.

Jessica put out a hand for Will to shake. “I’m Jessica Daniels. Sorry for teasing you. Melanie was my art student a couple years ago. I like to shock her with my flirting. It’s the cheapest entertainment I can find.”

“Ms. Daniels, I was your student almost ten years ago,” Melanie corrected with a laugh.

“Shush,” Jessica said, laughing. “I’m sure it was just two. What do you do, Will?”

She ignored Melanie’s laugh as the girl wiped the counter.

“I’m an artist—a sculptor. I carve people out of stone,” Will said easily. “What medium do you work in, Jessica?” He decided he liked her name and the way it sounded when he said it.

“Life,” Jessica answered quickly, well practiced in giving a smoothly polished version of her story. “I teach high school kids to express themselves artistically. I haven’t wholeheartedly pursued my own art in years. Maybe you can show me your work sometime.”

“How about today?” Will asked, the offer coming from some rusty place inside him. But after issuing the invitation, he smiled at how good it felt, how natural. He really would like to show her his art. “The art center in Berea has two pieces of my work on display, if you’re interested.”

“Sounds like fun,” Jessica said, thinking that seeing his art did sound like fun for a first date. Spending time with a man who genuinely aroused her with just a look was equally appealing.

Melanie walked back to them and slid a small tablet and pen over the counter. “I’m assuming you’ll need to exchange phone numbers and addresses,” she said to them both, laughing at her blatant interest in their conversation.

Jessica smiled at Melanie, pulled the tablet toward her, and began writing down her information.

Will studied her hands as she wrote, noticing the close trimmed nails and the total lack of a manicure. This was a woman who worked with her hands. He imagined her touch would be explorative but sure of its journey over him. Her grip would undoubtedly be strong.

When his jeans got tighter the longer he watched her write, Will let out the laugh he’d been holding in since she sat down. It was nice to know Ellen hadn’t taken
everything
from him in the divorce. Thank you, Jessica Daniels, for being interesting, he mused, smiling at her.