Hideaway Cove (A Windfall Island Novel) (14 page)

Still, she was a woman, and if he’d learned one thing in his life, there was no accounting for the moods of women.

L
ance unwrapped one arm from around his middle, juggling the gift for Benji he’d hidden under his coat so he could knock.

Jessi opened the front door, her smile fading away when she saw him. Not the reaction he wanted from her, but he knew how to be patient.

“Is Benji around?” He looked past her, but instead of his son he spied Hold Abbot sitting at her little table. “What’s he doing here?”

“Hello to you, too, Lance,” Jessi said.

“Where’s Benji?”

“He spent the night at Maggie’s.”

Lance opened his mouth, snapped it shut. He considered himself an expert on body language; he’d learned to read people well enough to keep his ass out of a sling during his years on the road, even to make a killing once in a while.

Add in that he’d known Jessi since they were kids, and he didn’t need to see her cross her arms and raise her brows to know he was treading on boggy ground. He had a lot to lose, he reminded himself. But he was too angry to listen.

Abbot sat at Jessi’s table like he owned the place, watching them with a half-smile and narrowed eyes—amused but protective. Proprietary. They’d had sex. If Lance had been in any doubt, the flush on Jessi’s cheeks would have confirmed it. She’d spread her legs for Abbot, those legs he could still feel wrapped around him, that would be wrapped around him again. No matter what he had to do to make it happen.

He took a breath, felt as if knives were stabbing into his chest. It should be him sleeping beside her, living in her house like he belonged there. Because he did.

He had to fight off the haze of fury, but fight he did, until he could focus, until he could think. He had plans, big plans. Much as he wanted to smash Hold Abbot’s face in, if anything happened to the asshole Lance would be Suspect Number One. No, Hold Abbot was safe from him, but Lance would see to it Jessi made him suffer when she dumped his ass.

“You’re early,” Jessi said.

“Yeah,” Lance shot back, then pulled himself back enough to say, “yes,” on a heavy exhale. Jessi wasn’t the sweet, malleable girl he’d left behind eight years ago, and he had a goal that wouldn’t be accomplished by ruffling her feathers. Nor would he reach it with Hold Abbot standing in his way. “It wasn’t my intention to catch you off guard, Jess, but, well, do you really think it’s a good for him to be here when Benji isn’t around? I mean, the talk…”

“What talk?”

“He’s not here doing paperwork.”

Jessi half turned, glanced back at Hold. “At the moment he is.”

“Tell me he wasn’t here last night.” And although he’d kept his voice even and his tone non-accusatory, she fired up. “I’m not passing judgment, Jess. I’m thinking about Benji.”

“And I’m not?” She shoved her hands back through her hair, barely holding onto her temper. But he could see the guilt in her eyes. “Do you really think you need to tell me—”

A muffled yip sounded from somewhere around Lance’s midsection.

Jessi’s eyes dropped to his coat, wriggling like he’d stuffed a dozen snakes inside.

“What the hell is that,” she demanded, and Lance gave up any hope of softening her up.

He opened his coat, pulled out a small black and white, flop-eared puppy, and set it down on the floor. It squatted immediately and peed.

Jessi marched into the kitchen, coming back with a roll of paper towels and a spray bottle.

“Windex?”

“Shut up.” She thrust the roll of paper towels at him. “I don’t have any pet cleaner because I don’t have a pet. Clean that up, then you can go. And take that,” she pointed at the pup, currently gamboling over to sniff at Hold’s shoes, “with you.”

Lance hunkered down, swiping half-heartedly at the puddle on the wide planks of the floor. “A boy should have a dog,” he grumbled resentfully.

“A boy should have a lot of things.”

“Like a father?”

Jessi snatched the towels from him, mopped up the puddle in a few economical strokes, sprayed the Windex on the damp spot, then wiped again with fresh towels. “You can’t win his trust in five minutes, Lance, and you can’t buy his love with a puppy.”

“I just want to give him a gift, Jess.”

“Legos are a gift. The latest animated movie on DVD is a gift. A dog is a commitment, and not just for Benji.”

“I’ll help.”

“For how long?”

“How long do you think Loverboy is going to stick around?”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t made me any promises. And just for the record? I haven’t asked him for any.”

“He just wanted in your bed.”

“My bed, and who’s in it, are none of your business.”

“On this island? I think everyone would say it’s their business, and I’m inclined to agree.”

“Well, you can make it your business, and you can make sure the rest of the town is talking, but who do you think is really going to pay?”

Lance snorted. “You’ll make sure Benji knows it’s my fault everyone is talking about you, but it’s not your fault for f—”

“Careful,” Hold said, voice lazy, body language still relaxed right down that fucking smirk on his face.

And yet Lance had no doubt Hold was ready to back up the threat in his voice.

“This isn’t about Hold and me,” Jessi said. “It’s about you and Benji, and me, Lance. You should have asked me first.”

“It’s from me, not you.”

“Yeah, and it’s for Benji. But who do you think is going to take it out to pee in the middle of the night? Who’s going to feed it and pay the vet bills?”

“He’s already had his shots,” Lance said, then stopped long enough to unclench his jaw. “He’s been neutered, and I have everything he needs: food, toys, bed. I didn’t bring it now, but I’ll drop it by later.”

Jessi started to say something, ended up just shaking her head.

“Whatever it is, just say it, Jessi.”

“What’s the point when you won’t hear me?”

Yeah, Lance decided, he’d miscalculated. Benji didn’t seem to be warming up to him, at least not fast enough to suit his needs. He’d hoped the puppy would help…and maybe it still would because, unless he was a complete moron, the roar of the engine he heard was Maggie’s Mustang.

Lance met Jessi’s eyes, but he had no choice, really. She’d already made it clear there’d be nothing between them. Except their son. They could have been a family again; instead she was making Benji into the rope of a tug-of-war contest. Lance had been on an eight-year losing streak that had started the day he’d knocked Jessi up; he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her beat him now.

As soon as Maggie turned the car off, Benji was out and rushing up to hug him—at least until he saw the puppy. The kid froze then, his eyes going to his mother, his little face, so like hers, shining with hope.

Lance could see that Jessi wanted to hold a hard line, but even as he told himself she’d never pull it off, her expression folded into lines of resignation.

Maggie, wearing a dark blue flight suit and a battered leather flight jacket, climbed out of the car. Lance fielded a long, cold stare from her before Jessi waved her off. “You’ve got a flight.”

“Yeah, I’m already running late. I’ll talk to you when I get back from Portland,” Maggie said. She sent Lance one last glare before she jumped back into the Mustang and roared off.

“Mom,” Benji breathed out, already hunching down and laughing as the puppy jumped on him and licked his face, then climbed on top of him when Benji collapsed onto the floor.

It was kind of cute, Lance decided.

He crouched down next to the tangle of boy and puppy. “What do you think, Benj?” He reached out a hand, only to jerk it back when the pup nipped his fingers. “You’ll want to teach him not to chew on stuff.” Like people, Lance thought. He kept the irritation off his face, but he reached out and gave the dog a swat that sent it ass over teakettle.

The pup scrambled back up and growled—stupid, flea-bitten mutt. He’d carried it around in his warm coat, gave it a good home, and this was the thanks he got? “You’ll have to name him. If your Mom lets you keep him.”

Jessi sent him a look, narrow-eyed, simmering, but this wasn’t about her, any more than it was about getting dog hair inside his good coat. It was about him, Lance thought, getting what he wanted, what he deserved.

“
You
got him for me?” Benji said, finally clueing in. He climbed to his feet, watching his mom, unsure.

Jesus, she was raising the kid to be a complete pussy.

“Can I, Mom?”

“We’ve talked about this, Benj. Having a dog is a huge responsibility.”

“I’ll walk him and feed him and play with him, I swear I will.” Benji spied the paper towels and Windex in his mother’s hands, and his face fell. “I’ll clean up after him when he has an accident, Mom, ’cuz he will until he knows—until I teach him what to do.”

“I got him on the mainland,” Lance said when Jessi didn’t respond. “So if he has to go back—”

“If he has to go back, you’ll take him,” she snapped, but she pulled Benji over and gave him a hug. “You promise you’ll take care of him? No whining when he has to go out, no matter what you’re in the middle of?”

Benji made a huge X over his heart. “I promise.”

She sighed. “Then I guess you’ll have to come up with a name for him.”

Benji whooped, running around in circles with his hands fisted in the air. The puppy chased him, slipping on the wood floor and tumbling head over heels before it scrambled back up.

Smiling but sure to keep it indulgent rather than smug, Lance started to peel out of his coat.

“It’s not two o’clock yet,” Jessi said.

“But—”

“Two o’clock,” Jessi repeated, with no room for compromise.

Lance might have pushed the issue, but Hold got to his feet and stood by the table.

Lance pulled his coat back on. But, he assured himself, Jessi wouldn’t always have a big, strong man around to protect her. Then the gloves would come off. It was the only option Jessi had left him.

He’d tried groveling, tried playing the game by her rules, and God knew he’d ingratiated himself—to her and the kid. Even the charm that had kept him from total failure the last eight years had failed to weasel him into her good graces.

The years had made Jessi strong. His betrayal had made her suspicious. And time had grown short.

Lance no longer had the luxury of taking the time to win her trust—even if he’d had the patience for it. He’d been brought back to Windfall for a reason, and he’d arrived armed with a goal of his own. If Jessi couldn’t be convinced to help him, he’d have to find another way to accomplish that goal. And he would accomplish it, no matter what it took.

Jessi shut the door behind Lance and just leaned on it for a second before she turned around to face her new reality.

Benji still wrangled with the puppy, the pair of them rolling on the floor with the puppy nipping at Benji’s ears, licking his face, and Benji laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Maybe the puppy was a good idea after all; it would give Benji something positive to focus on.

She just wished it hadn’t come from Lance. Jealousy, she knew; resentment. But still, she didn’t trust Lance. She’d tried to convince herself it was only the natural outcome of their history, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling he was up to no good—over and above the obvious trouble he could cause.

At the very least, Lance had forced her hand. If he spread gossip about her and Hold, sooner or later it would be thrown in Benji’s face—not by adults, but then adults weren’t always careful about what they said in front of children.

Taking a deep breath, she looked over, met Hold’s eyes. “Would you mind taking the puppy out?”

“I think we should talk first.”

Jessi exhaled heavily, all her energy seeming to drain out with her breath. When Hold walked into the kitchen, she followed him, thinking, right, first she had to deal with Hold so she’d know what to say to her son.

“You’re going to tell me we’re through,” he said the minute they were safely out of earshot of Benji.

Jessi rubbed her hands over her face, and while she understood Hold’s anger, on the heels of everything else she’d been through in the last twenty-four hours, it simply exhausted her.

“The line is,” Hold said, “
it’s been fun
.”

“Are you a mind reader now?”

“I don’t have to be when you’ve made your thoughts so clear.”

“So we wouldn’t have to do this,” she said, then instantly reined in her temper.

Hold got to his feet, slipped his hands in his pockets like he did when he was amused or upset—or waging a battle within himself, just as she was.

“Don’t you think you’re selling Benji short?” he said after a moment, his voice calmer even if his words stung. “He’s a child, but he’s not fragile, Jess. People come into your life and go out of it for any number of reasons, and sometimes there’s hurt. He needs to understand that, and to learn how to deal with it.”

“He’s already learned about people coming and going, Hold. Mostly going. Isn’t that enough?”

“It’s a tough break, Jessi, but it doesn’t mean you have to wrap him in cotton wool. Or close yourself off.”

That’s exactly what it meant, Jessi thought, and that’s exactly what she was doing. And so what? She’d been hurt, and badly. She wouldn’t apologize for trying to protect herself, and her son. “Why is everyone trying to tell me how to raise him suddenly?”

Hold pulled his hands out of his pockets, shoved them back in. A muscle in his jaw bunched, released, bunched. “You’re right,” he finally said. “I’m sorry it came out that way. It’s just…I know you’re regretting last night—”

“I’m not.” She went to him, laid her hand on his arm, tensed and hard as rock. “Last night was incredible, Hold. I wouldn’t trade one minute of it. I just don’t know how to explain it to my son.”

“You think telling him we’re not together is the answer? What will that matter if this becomes fodder for the town gossips? Will it make things better that I was barely here long enough to…” He shoved both hands back through his dark blond hair. “Hell, I don’t know what, Jess, but shouldn’t we figure it out before we throw it away?”