Spring Secrets: Pine Point, Book 3 (8 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Sienna looked at the clock a half-dozen times Friday afternoon. The emotional chaos of Wednesday night had faded, and she’d woken on Thursday with fresh resolve to tackle the challenges of her research. Her kids had gotten through a whole day without a major meltdown, and she’d rewarded herself by going to the gym. She’d worked out on the machines and stayed for the kickboxing class, but she hadn’t seen Mike at all.

“He had some meetings downtown,” the thick-necked blond guy at the front desk said when she’d asked.

So she hadn’t had a chance to remind him about her invitation to visit the class. Maybe he’d forgotten. Maybe he’d brushed it off. He didn’t owe her anything, that was for sure. If anything, she owed him. Billy and Bailey hadn’t left the comfort of the beanbag chairs in two days, except to go to lunch and the bathroom.

Silas still preferred his rocking chair, and Caleb had avoided the beanbag chairs entirely since Wednesday, proclaiming them too soft and pushy.

“Do you mean squooshy?” she’d asked him.

“No. Pushy. I can’t get out of them. They’re too tight,” he said with an agitated motion of his hands, and she finally realized the way they conformed to the body made him feel claustrophobic.

I have to get his parents to agree to testing
, she thought for the tenth time.
He’s definitely on the autistic spectrum
. He was also bright as hell, way beyond his age for reading and writing and math. She suspected his IQ might lie in the near-genius range, but his parents so far steadfastly refused to believe he was anything except a little quirky.

She scratched Caleb’s name on a notepad beside her computer. Caleb’s father ran a dental practice in Silver Valley, and Caleb’s mother was an interior designer whose work had been featured in a local magazine last month. Sienna bet a child with any kind of special needs didn’t fit into the family, especially with an adorable, completely normal daughter two years younger than Caleb.

“Miss Cruz?” Caleb broke into her thoughts. “It’s two minutes past read-along time.”

“Ah, yes, it is. Thank you, Caleb.” She looked around the room. Well, if Mike was coming, he’d have to join them mid-story. “Dawn, would you like to choose today’s book?”

The girl stared at her from a beanbag chair that she’d pulled into the far corner of the room. She blinked a few times, and then she stood and walked to the bookcase. Her clothes, beautiful and impeccable as always, belied the terrified child trapped inside the body.

Just talk to me,
Sienna wanted to say.
I can’t read your mind.
But the girl remained silent no matter what strategies Sienna tried.

Dawn stood for a long minute in front of the bookcase and then chose
Where Are My Shoes?
and
Bears in Winter.
She turned and held them out.

“Those are perfect,” Sienna said with another glance at the clock. Ten minutes after two. She settled herself in the rocker with Silas on her lap and began to read. Each time someone passed her door, she looked up, hopeful.

It was only when they’d finished both books, and Caleb announced they had ten minutes to pack up and walk to the buses, that Sienna’s hopes fell. Mike wasn’t coming by. Dropping off classroom supplies was one thing. Spending time with her and her students was something else altogether.

We’re friends,
she told herself as she fastened the boys’ coats and wrapped a scarf around Dawn’s neck.
Casual ones at best. Nothing more.
But that didn’t stop the disappointment from hanging on her heart like a stone.

* * * * *

At one thirty, Mike started looking at the clock.
I could stop in for the last hour of school. She invited me. Said it would be good for the kids.
Plus, part of him wanted to see if they liked the beanbag chairs. “I’m going out around two,” he said to Hans.

“Okay.” The kid texted with a mad blur of his thumbs.

“Who the hell you talking to?”

“Liesel.” Hans grinned and finally put his phone down. “She’s amazing, man. So hot. So funny.”

That could be a good combination, but Mike could’ve told Hans that women always seemed hot and funny when you first met them. Let them into your life, add them to your bank account, share some of your deepest fears, and see what happened then. He pulled up the membership numbers since the first of the year and was about to tweak the class schedule when Zane strode in the front door.

“Hey, man.”

“Hey, yourself.” Mike folded his arms on the desk. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the Glen?”

“Working the four o’clock shift today.” Zane winked. “Good thing too, since Becca stayed over last night. We slept in until almost noon. Well, didn’t really
sleep
.” He winked again.

“Shit, what’s that make? How many nights in a row? When’s she moving in?”

“Ah, not anytime soon. We’re taking it slow.”

“Good idea.” Mike elbowed Hans. “Hear that? You can have a good time with a woman and still not get all wrapped up in her.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hans muttered, bent over his phone again.

“I wanted to see if I could leave these here.” Zane handed Mike a stack of red and white flyers.
Pet Me! Love Me! Take Me Home!
read block letters at the top. Red hearts emblazoned both sides of the page. Brightly colored photos of dogs and cats with pleading eyes lined the bottom.

“What’s this?”

“Pine Point Paws is having a fundraiser,” Zane explained. “It’s next Saturday. Open visits and adoption fees waived during the day, and a dinner and dance and silent auction at night. Over at Villa Venezia in Silver Valley.”

“Becca set all this up?’

Zane nodded. “She’s been at it nonstop since she got back from Florida. Oh, and that reminds me. I’m supposed to ask if you’d be interested in donating a gym membership or a gift certificate for the auction.”

“Sure.” That was a no-brainer—tax write-off plus free advertising. “Do I get to come to the dinner and the dance?” he joked.

“Yeah, if you want.” Zane took the flyers and arranged them on the desk. “Actually, Becca told me to ask if you and Sienna wanted to come.”

It didn’t matter how many times a day he thought her name. When someone else said it aloud, Mike’s heart did a stutter step. “Yeah, I don’t know…”

“You still doing that friends-only thing?”

Hans looked up with interest.

“Yes,” Mike said, looking first at Zane and then at the kid. “So it might be kind of weird for me to ask her to go. Like it’s a date.”

Zane shrugged. “Whatever. Just thought I’d mention it.”

Mike took a few flyers and stuffed them into his jacket pocket. “I’ll put some on the desk out at the garage too.”

“Thanks. It’s a good cause and all that.”

Mike grinned. Might be a good cause, but it looked as though his friend was already halfway to falling in love with Becca Ericksen, and feelings like that could make you leave flyers around town, ask for donations, or adopt stray animals in a heartbeat.

“I’ll get that gift certificate to you next week,” Mike said as Zane turned for the door.

“Thanks.” With a touch of his hand to his forehead, he was gone, though not before bumping into a broad-shouldered guy walking into the gym at the same time Zane was walking out.

Mike almost didn’t recognize him in the bulky winter coat and red watch cap. He wished a second later he hadn’t, or that he’d left for the school ten minutes earlier. Because the absolute last person in the world he wanted to run into, the last person he thought would return to Pine Point, stood on the other side of the desk with a crooked grin.

“Hey, Mike. Long time no see.”

Not long enough.
Bile rose in the back of his throat, and he had to fight to keep his hands at his sides. The last time Mike had looked Al Halloran in the eye, the two of them had been on their way to serving time in the Los Angeles county jail.

Chapter Sixteen

Mike glanced at Hans and then walked around the desk and steered Al back toward the door. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Al unzipped his coat like he was planning to stay.

“When did you get back?”

“Last night.” Al pulled off his watch cap. Gray peppered his dark, close-cut hair. He’d served fifteen months to Mike’s eight, and the time had definitely worn him down. Wrinkles cut into the corners beside his eyes, and he needed a shave. Stubble covered his chin and throat.

Mike glanced over his shoulder. Most people in town probably remembered Al. His younger brother had moved away years ago, but his dad, Doc Halloran, had worked as Pine Point’s family doctor for decades. Mrs. Halloran had split when the boys were still in grade school.

“What do you want?”

Al grinned, and Mike could see a missing eye tooth. Prison fight? Probably. “Looking for a job. Thought maybe you could help me out.”

“Why don’t you ask your father?”

Al sneered. “That fucker disowned me years ago.”

“Can you blame him? Stealing prescriptions isn’t exactly the way to get on Daddy’s good side.”

Al’s breath hitched, and for a minute Mike thought he might throw a punch. Then he laughed. “Hell, guess you’re right.” He looked over Mike’s shoulder. “I heard you opened a gym. Had no idea it was this fancy.”

“It’s not.”

“Fancier than what I got going on.”

“Getting off the drugs would help.”

The front door opened, and two middle-aged moms walked inside. “Hi, Mike.”

“Hi, Beth. Sherry. Have a good workout.”

“We will.”

Al waited until they’d checked in at the desk and walked toward the locker room before speaking again. “You can get yourself some tail here pretty much anytime you want, huh? Good plan.”

Mike cracked his knuckles and didn’t bother with a response. “I gotta get back to the desk.” The clock on the wall read five minutes to two. So much for visiting Sienna’s class.

“Do people here know?” Al asked.

“Know what? About L.A.?” Mike shook his head. “I don’t think so. Like to keep it that way.” He leaned closer to Al and lowered his voice, “I don’t need you running your mouth. Telling people isn’t gonna get you a job either.” His arms tightened. He had twenty pounds of muscle and an inch or two on Al. If the guy knew what was good for him, he’d turn around and leave. Leave Springer Fitness, leave Pine Point, leave the whole damn country.

Except felons couldn’t cross international boundaries.

Al twisted his hat in his hands. “Don’t worry. I won’t blow your secret. You think I want people here knowing what we did?”
Don’t use the word
we
.
Mike’s jaw clenched. Now the clock read two-oh-two.
The only thing I did was try to get back what was mine.

“Just stopped in to say hello,” Al said, “and ask if you knew of anyone hiring.”

“I’m sure you can find a construction job when the weather warms up.”
As long as you don’t have to fill out an application.
Checking that box at the bottom to answer if you’d ever been convicted of a crime could be a major downer.

“Yeah, maybe.” Al’s gaze moved past Mike again, taking in the gym full of equipment, the locker rooms, the sleek wooden desk, and the smoothie bar behind it. “Keep me in mind.”

Mike had no intention of doing anything of the kind. “Sure.” He opened the door for Al. “See you around.”

* * * * *

Four hours later, Mike stormed up the front steps and into his mother’s living room. He turned over his phone in his hand. He’d thought about texting Sienna a half-dozen times. But to say what? He hadn’t promised to stop by her classroom. She’d probably forgotten she’d mentioned it to him at all. Besides, he was still so worked up over Al’s reappearance that he’d probably say something stupid. The last thing he needed was Sienna finding out about the mistakes in his past.

“Mike?” His mother poked her head out from the bedroom. “I didn’t expect you here.”

“I know.” He often stayed late at the gym on Fridays to close up, then went out for a burger and a beer. Not tonight.

The bedroom door closed and then opened again a few minutes later. His mother emerged wearing a pretty flowered top and blue jeans. She had hoop earrings in her ears and a silver watch around her thin wrist.

“You look nice.” Mike sat up and put his phone away. “You going out?”

“Martha and I are having dinner at the diner. Nothing fancy.”

“That’s nice.”

She nodded but looked concerned as she joined him on the couch. “Would you like me to stay home?” She patted his leg. “You look like you’ve had a rough day.”

“It’s that easy to see?”

“I’m your mother, sweetheart. Of course it is.”

Mike hesitated. Ma knew everything that had happened in L.A. She’d written letters to the governor asking for his early release. She’d bought his plane ticket home. He could tell her all about Al’s reappearance, and she’d know exactly what to say to make him feel better.

“Don’t stay home for me,” he said. No reason to bother her. With any luck, Al would take the next bus out of Pine Point. Doc would never let him live in his childhood home around the corner.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m positive.” He stood. “I’m going to take a hot shower, order a pizza, and watch the Knicks game.”

“All right.” She stood too and looped her purse over her shoulder. “I won’t be late.”

He kissed her cheek. “You be as late as you want.”

She smiled as a horn beeped outside. “That’s my ride.”

Mike waved from the front window as the two women pulled away and drove down Cornwall Road. Actually, a shower and a pizza would be the perfect ending to this day. He headed upstairs, peeling off his jacket and shirt as he went.

But under the shower, his thoughts returned to Sienna. Had she waited for him today, looking up from her book as she read to her students? Had she thought of him at all? He shampooed, rinsed, and then soaped up from head to toe. He still didn’t take the luxury of a long hot shower for granted. His hand closed around his cock, and he stroked it as he thought of her.

Was he a complete idiot for keeping his distance? His hand moved faster, harder. He rested one arm against the wall, the water moving over his shoulders and down his back as visions of a naked Sienna filled his head. He wanted to kiss her, He wanted to touch her, to feel her move underneath him. He wanted to fill her up with—

His orgasm shook him, and his legs wobbled as the release came. Mike let out a long breath. This was the situation he’d doomed himself to with that brilliant move of shaking hands over a friendship-only arrangement. Sure, Sienna was leaving town in a few months. Did that mean they couldn’t enjoy each other’s company in the meantime?

Mike rinsed and then toweled off. Yes, he was trying to start a new life in Pine Point. No, he didn’t want to make the same mistakes he had in the past. But he hadn’t just met Sienna. He knew her last name and her goals, and he admired the hell out of her career. He wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out to the living room, where he picked up the clothes he’d dropped on his way in the door.

As he hung up his jacket, his fingers closed on the stack of papers he’d stuffed inside hours ago. He pulled them out and laid them on the kitchen table, smoothing the wrinkles.

Pet Me! Love Me! Take Me Home!

Boy, would he like to do that to Sienna. His cock stirred under the towel again.

“Fuck it.” Life was too damn short to deny himself every pleasure. Maybe they’d be friends, maybe they’d be something more, but he was tired of sitting home alone when a woman he honest-to-God liked lived less than ten miles away.

Mike reached for his cell phone and dialed before he could talk himself out of it.