Meant to Be (21 page)

“You think anybody in that bar is going to look better than this?” At that moment, Joe spotted Beth standing on his parents’ porch and his heart stopped. Then her eyes met his across the distance and his heart started racing double time. “Dempsey,” Sid said, flicking his nose through the screen.

He answered Sid’s question with a lie. “Maybe. We stick to the terms of the bet.”

Sid narrowed her eyes and huffed. “Fine. But I’m coming to collect tomorrow.” She turned to walk away, and a scent caught in the air.

“Hey,” he said, stopping Sid before she reached the first step. “What are you wearing?”

“A dress, dumb-ass. What does it look like?”

“Not that. The perfume.”

Sid sniffed her wrist. “Something Beth had in her room. Why?”

He wanted to tell her not to wear it again, but didn’t. “No reason. I guess I’m not used to you smelling like anything other than motor oil.”

“Go back to wanking off, Dempsey.” Sid moved down the steps with more agility than he would expect looking at her shoes. She threw a parting shot over one shoulder. “And stop looking at Beth like that or I’ll kick your ass myself.”

J
oe spent an hour imagining liquored-up tourists drooling over Beth. The idea of sweaty middle-aged men buying her drinks, sliding hairy knuckles over her pale skin, and invading her space made him irritated enough that he knew he had to do something. Since going to the bar and dragging her out wasn’t an option, he drove over to Dempsey’s, figuring he could either help out bussing tables or snooker Alvie out of a few bucks in pool.

The crowd was thick when he arrived, so bussing tables it was. A group of college kids celebrating the start of summer filled a back corner, keeping Joe busy clearing empty longnecks and wing baskets. On the third clearing, a young thing with dark curly hair glanced his way with encouraging green eyes.

A picture of Beth smiling up at a bartender while he looked down her dress resulted in Joe throwing bottles in the bus tub harder than necessary. Beer splashed on the pretty brunette, removing any trace of encouragement from her expression. Joe found the other busboy and offered to switch sections. When Mitch spotted the college girls, he agreed without argument.

What Joe hadn’t realized was that someone much worse than a younger version of Beth occupied a booth in his new section.

“I wondered when you’d make your way over.” Cassie flashed him the smile that once upon a time would have put him at her feet. Tonight the effect was a slight tightening in his jaw.

“I didn’t see you before.” Avoiding eye contact, he asked, “Are you done with those dishes?”

Cassie leaned away from the table. “Yes, you can take them.” Then as Joe reached for the empty wineglass, she grasped his wrist. “Why don’t you put that mess in the kitchen and come have a seat. We need to talk.”

“I don’t think—”

“Joe,” she said, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand. “One conversation. You can give me that much.”

Ironic words, since their relationship had always been about what he could and couldn’t give her. Or maybe what he wouldn’t give her.

“Right. I’ll be back.”

Stalling, Joe cleared two more tables on his way to the kitchen. The only thing they had to talk about was the development deal. Maybe she wanted to negotiate. Him for the island. As soon as the thought entered his mind, he chided himself for the arrogance.

Cassie didn’t want him that bad. Even if she did, the answer would still be no.

Once the dishes were loaded into the dishwasher, Joe removed his apron, sliding it over the hook near the back door.

“Where are you going?” asked Tom, exiting the pantry with a large bag of pretzels.

“Cassie wants to talk.”

Tom’s brows shot up and then he blinked as if Joe had said, “I’m having a baby.”

“You’re going to talk to her? Here?”

Sitting with the enemy in public wasn’t his smartest move, but maybe he could talk her out of this crazy idea. Explain where the islanders stood and how determined they were to hold out. He’d take the blame for whatever had happened between them if it would get Cassie and her father to leave the island alone for good.

Drying his freshly washed hands on his jeans, Joe navigated the tables and slid into the booth, taking the seat across from his former fiancée. She’d grown more beautiful, but, like the smile, her full lips and dark blue eyes had lost the effect they once had on him.

The face remained model perfect, but now he knew the real woman behind it. For the first time in more than two years, the guilt and self-contempt were muted by a feeling of relief. He’d been stupid. That wouldn’t change. But he’d dodged a bullet and finally saw the end of their relationship for what it was. A lucky break.

Feeling lighter than he had in a while, Joe asked, “What do you want to talk about?”

Cassie’s mouth pinched into a flat line. “I’d think that was obvious.”

Knowing never to assume anything in regards to a woman, Joe remained obtuse. “You’ll have to enlighten me.”

“I’ve been on this crappy island for more than a week, and we both know I’m not here on vacation.” Joe leaned back and crossed his arms, not interested in hearing her true feelings about his home. Again.

Recognizing her error, she tried again. “The resort we have planned could put this island on the map, Joe. You have to see that.”

“The way I see it, you and your dad are trying to wipe us
off
the map. We’ve been here for a few centuries, and so far people have found us just fine.”

Cassie snorted. “A dingy lighthouse and a patch of old tombstones isn’t cutting it anymore. Anchor may not be dead yet, but it’ll be on life support in less than five years.”

“We don’t think so.” If Cassie was in charge of the Wheeler sales team, her tactic would take them under long before Anchor went anywhere. “If we’re so bad off, why do you want the place so desperately?”

Cassie looked down, one nail tapping the table. Maybe his instincts weren’t so far off after all.

“This isn’t how you get revenge, Cass. These people didn’t do anything to you. And in the end, neither did I.” Saying the words felt good. “We were wrong from the start. I was a way to piss off your daddy, and you were a bird in a cage looking for a way out.”

“I guess our memories on the matter differ. If all I’d wanted was a way out of the cage, there were plenty of other men I could have chosen.” Pride kept her chin up, but the spoiled little girl still pouted behind the makeup.

“Ivy League boys after your name and your money. That would have meant going from one cage to another. And you
knew it.” A one-mile piece of dirt at the bottom of a barrier reef must have seemed like a cage, too. “Move on, Cass. We both need to move on.”

She stared a long time and something in her face changed. The pouting child replaced by an angry woman. “Your ego needs a reality check, Joe. I’m not here for you. Anything personal between us ended when you made your choice.” Reaching into her purse, Cassandra pulled out two twenty-dollar bills and dropped them on the table. “This is a business trip. And I intend to close the deal.”

“Are you drinking that wine or waiting for it to evaporate?”

Beth set the glass on the bar. “I drank the first two too fast. I already feel like I could fall off this stool.” Turning at the sound of new arrivals, she asked for the fourth time, “Is that him?”

The new O’Hagan’s patrons were two young women who didn’t look old enough to be in a bar.

Sid snorted. “Stop watching the door and drink your wine.”

Sid had yet to share the name of her mystery guy, and why he had to remain a mystery was a mystery to Beth. A dizzying thought that confirmed the wisdom of nursing her current drink.

Sid’s makeover created even better results than expected. Every male in the place took notice the minute the two women walked through the door. An hour into the night and they had yet to pay for a drink.

Smaller than Dempsey’s, O’Hagan’s Pub catered more to locals and the college-age crowd. Where Dempsey’s sported large windows along two sides, O’Hagan’s offered a more cave-like ambiance. The lack of windows left dim sconces and table lamps as the only light sources other than randomly hung neon signs.

According to the bartender, a slender woman named Will who wore bangle bracelets and army boots, the first three rounds were gifts from two different groups of men. Getting a good look at their benefactors was impossible in the shadows and smoke.

“So where are you from, anyway?”

“Me?” Beth asked, surprised by Sid’s question. The woman had until now shown little interest in learning anything about her.

“No, the stuffed leprechaun hanging from the bar behind you.” Makeup and heels may have changed Sid’s appearance, but the mouth would always give her away. “Yes, you. You grow up in Richmond?”

“Just outside,” Beth said. “Small town.”

Sid sipped her rum and Coke through a small straw, which Beth didn’t think was a good idea. “This town have a name?”

Giving the name couldn’t hurt. “Louisa.”

“A town called Louisa?”

Beth twirled her wineglass. “I told you, it’s small.”

“Right.” Sid spun on her stool, turning her back to the bar. “Your family still there?”

A more difficult question. “I don’t have any family.”

“Oh.” Sid spun back around. “That’s tough.”

An awkward silence fell between them, so Beth filled it. “What about you? Any family other than your brother?”

Sid looked over as if surprised by the question, then focused again on her glass, chewing her bottom lip. “Mom died when I was eight. Dad when I was fourteen. By then, Randy was twenty and had been bouncing around the globe for two years, diving into whatever adventures he could find.”

“That explains the pictures on his office wall.”

“I think he was determined to climb up or jump off every cliff he could find.” A smile softened her face. “He was here on Anchor with some surfing buddies when the doctors called to say Dad was dying. Brought me back with him after Dad passed, and we’ve been here ever since.”

The sting of being an only child surfaced, as it often did when anyone talked about family. “You’re lucky to have a brother like that.”

Sid wrinkled her nose, swirling the ice in her glass. “He can be a pain in the ass, but what guy can’t, right?”

“Pain in the ass” was a good way to describe Joe. He’d definitely been a pain in her head all day. She knew he’d seen her on the porch before they left for the evening. The least he could have done was come over and thank her for doing this. Not that she wanted him to see her in the revealing dress. That wasn’t it at all.

She really did suck at lying. Even to herself.

“Here’s another one from the two old guys in the corner,” Will said, sliding a fresh rum and Coke in front of Sid. “You ready for your next one, hon?” she asked Beth.

“Not yet, thanks.” Will nodded and made her way to another customer. “Are you sure this mystery guy is supposed to be here tonight?”

Sid licked the straw from her finished drink, slid the glass back, and pulled the new one forward. “These things are going down easy tonight.”

“Shouldn’t you slow down? You’re our designated driver, you know.”

After a long draw on the straw, Sid said, “The drinks are a gift. I can’t be rude and not drink ’em.”

“Then who is going to drive us out of here?”

Sid slapped her hands on the bar. “Good Lord, woman, unclench your sphincter and have another drink.”

“You’re already too far gone to drive.” Beth pushed her glass away. “I’d better stop now.”

Sid pulled the glass back. “This is a girls’ night out. We’re going to drink and have a good time, and if we can’t drive, then Randy will come and get us. When was the last time you cut loose and had a good time?”

Beth searched her memory. There was that party sophomore year of college. “A long time ago,” she said, avoiding the specifics. “I guess I could have one or two more.”

“There you go,” Sid said, waving for Will to bring another glass of wine. “So how did you end up in Richmond? Wait.” Dark brows drew together. “Probably not a lot of lawyers in Louisa.”

“Howard Maplethorn.”

“Howard who?”

“Maplethorn. He’s been the only lawyer in Louisa for as long as I can remember.” Beth finished her wine in two
gulps. “Gosh, he must be pushing seventy by now. Thanks, Will,” she said as another drink appeared before her.

“You two look like you need some food to go with this liquor.” Will glanced at the Miller Lite clock behind the bar. “Kitchen is open for another hour. How about an appetizer?”

Beth caught the sound of the front door opening again. Spinning her stool to look, her head went fuzzy and one foot slipped off the bar rail.

“Whoa there.” Sid steadied her, stifling what sounded like a giggle. “If you fall off that stool, I’m pretending I don’t know you.”

“Chicken wings and french fries coming up.” Will walked away, presumably to put in their order.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Sid said.

“What question?”

“How did you end up living in Richmond?”

“Oh, that question.” Beth shrugged. “My grandparents sent me to law school at UVA. They wanted me to have a better life than what Louisa had to offer. Pap died before I graduated, and I didn’t want to be far from Granny, so I settled in Richmond.”