TOML SW 2015-04-09 (10 page)

Bonnie touched Tori’s hand. “You’re an artist. My gypsy. Surely, I thought you’d be happier, and be more likely to get the things you wanted in life if you would learn to plan for the future. But I never once thought you were anything but my sweet, perfect girl.”

Tori tried to hold back tears. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’ve made this wedding very special for me. Do you know that? From the rings, to the decorations and the flowers, the whole reception. You did everything, all while you were struggling with your own business.”

Tori’s mouth fell open. “How did you know?”

“Melanie might have mentioned something when I ran into her in town yesterday.” She picked up Tori’s hand. “You could have told me yourself. I would have helped you with anything.”

“I know, Mom.”

“And instead, I gave you a mountain of work to do on top of it. I’m sorry for being so selfish.”

“Are you kidding? You’re the opposite of selfish. You’ve taken care of me and the winery all these years by yourself. I’m the one who never even noticed you were lonely.”

Bonnie opened her arms and Tori leaned in for a tight squeeze.

“I had to park in the street,” said Bonnie. “Your parking lot is full.”

“I think I love that. Say it again.”

“Your parking lot is full.” She smiled, her eyes shining. “Is there anything I can do to help you, honey? Anything at all with your shop, or the wedding?”

She needed money, but she couldn’t ask her mother for that. It was such a relief just to be asked the question, to know she was cared for, to know there was someone she could lean on who knew the truth. “I don’t think so.”

“Well if you think of anything, you let me know. I’m going to head home. Gabe’s girlfriend is coming in tonight, and I need to go shopping.”

Gabe’s girlfriend.

The moment of truth was quickly approaching. Would Gabe show any interest in Tori at all, or would Tori be cast completely aside in the shadow of this mystery woman?

She took a deep breath. Jed would be there. He would protect her, keep her from feeling like she was hanging onto the edge of a very tall building. For that she was grateful, even if her own feelings for Jed were terribly confusing.

“Do you want to come over and meet her?” asked Bonnie.

Over my dead body.

“No thanks, I have a lot to do. I’m just going to grab some take-out so I can finish up these rings.”

“All right, then.” Her mother smiled. “I love them so, Tori. Thanks again.”

~~~

The line outside the Chinese restaurant was long, but at least it wasn’t another cheeseburger. Jed could hardly wait to get home and cook himself a decent meal after two weeks of eating take-out.

He spotted Tori walking toward him and smiled when she headed for the Chinese food line. “Great minds think alike.”

“This line is ridiculous,” she said. “Did you call in your order?”

“No, I was just walking around looking for something different to eat. I thought you had a lot to do.”

She put her hands in her pockets. “Yeah, well, that didn’t include cooking dinner.”

“I passed an Italian place back that way. Care to join me?”

She cringed. “I’ve really got to get home.”

“Tori, are you avoiding me?”

“No, of course not.”

Jed narrowed his eyes. “I think you are.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll join you for dinner, but we can’t stay out too long.”

“Deal.” They started walking. “How was the rest of your day?” he asked.

“You know, it was actually pretty great. I mended some fences with my mother that have been broken for a really long time. How about you?”

“I trashed some fences. Broke some pickets, that sort of thing.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. Let’s talk about something else. How’s your treasure hunt going?”

She groaned. “Pass.”

“Really? I thought it was going well?”

“I won’t talk about your family if you don’t talk about my treasure hunt.”

“Deal.” He held open the restaurant door for her, and they were seated at a table with a view of the sun setting over the lake. He ordered a bottle of wine. “Let’s see. We’re not talking about anything that matters, so…small talk. Did you start out wanting to design jewelry?”

Tori snickered. “That’s the best you can do?”

“Give me a little credit here. I’m trying.”

“It’s like a bad blind date.”

“Hey, I’m every blind date’s dream.”

She smiled. “Nightmare, is more like it.”

“Play nice.”

She sighed. “Yes, I always wanted to design jewelry.”

He gestured for her to continue.

“I don’t know, it was never a conscious choice. When I was little, I would use any materials I could find. Coins, leaves, pipe cleaners. In elementary school, I made a necklace out of dental floss and Cheerios.”

“Did you eat it?”

The waiter poured her wine and she took a sip. “I sold it to Heidi Homuth for ten bucks.”

“An entrepreneur, even then.”

“That’s when my parents realized I was serious. They started to buy me real supplies. Basic stuff at first. Wire and beads. Sheets of metal. I used my dad’s tools for everything. It just sort of evolved from there. Now I have a degree in metalworking and jewelry design. Your turn. Did you always know you wanted to go into business?”

“I wanted to do what my father did, and be better at it than him.”

“Why?”

He picked up his glass and swirled his wine in a circle. “To show him he’d made a mistake when he decided I wasn’t worth his time.” He met her eyes. “Too honest?”

“You can never be too honest.”

It occurred to him that he hadn’t put that thought into words before, though he suspected he’d known it all along. Tori did that to him, made him want to show her who he really was, and the realization was a little frightening.

“How come you and Gabe don’t get along?” she asked.

“That’s a long story.”

She smiled sweetly. “I’ve got all night.”

“No you don’t.”

“Oh, right.”

“Anyway, it’s a long, personal story.”

“Never too honest.”

“There is such a thing, you know,” he said. “Too honest. Some things belong in the past.”

“Only things we haven’t made peace with. And they never really stay in the past, do they? They just keep coming in like the tide.”

He pursed his lips. “It was a woman,” he said, carefully gauging her reaction.

“I figured it must be. Only a woman could split up two brothers.”

“Half brothers.”

“But you loved him like a brother, before.”

He leaned back in his chair. “How do you know that?”

“For all your ‘I don’t care’ rigmarole, I think he hurt you.” She tilted her head, indicating the other side of the restaurant. “And I can see on his face how much he misses you.”

Jed turned around, and Gabe was indeed sitting behind him, with a woman who must be his girlfriend. Gabe tentatively held up a hand in a wave, and Jed’s fingers twitched, but remained in his lap.

He did miss his brother, more than he would admit to anyone. Aside from his mom, Gabe was the only other person Jed considered family. Maybe Tori was right, and it was time to make peace with what Gabe had done. Jed raised his hand to acknowledge his brother, just as the woman Gabe was with turned around.

The room seemed to stretch into one long tunnel, his former fiancé at the end of it all.

Evelyn.

Noises grew louder, talking and laughter. She was staring at him, her eyes full of some emotion he didn’t want to see. He looked back to his brother, the accusation screaming from his stare.

How could you?

“Jed, what is it?” asked Tori.

He snapped his head back around. “What? Nothing.”

“Your face is all red. What just happened?”

“Nothing.” He signaled the waiter walking by. “Check please.”

“That’s not our waiter, Jed. Are you okay?”

“Of course I am. I’m fine.” He had to get out of here. Had to avoid the scene that was already unfolding, the confrontation he had no desire to be a part of.

“That woman must be Gabe’s girlfriend. Have you met her before?”

Jed counted out cash, enough to cover the wine and then some, propping it between two glasses as he stood. “Let’s go.”

“Wait, I’m not done with my wine, and I think your brother’s coming over to say hi.”

“I don’t want to talk to him.”

Tori stared at him. “You’re being rude. Sit down.”

He sat back down and stared into Tori’s eyes, not facing Gabe and Evelyn, though he could sense their approach like an oncoming train.

A hand rested on his shoulder. “Jed?”

He didn’t turn toward Evelyn, only stared at Tori’s confused, beautiful features. The face of an angel. “Tori…” he began.

“Hi,” said the woman, moving on from Jed to offer her hand to Tori. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced. I’m Evelyn. I used to be Jed’s fiancé.”

~~~

Jed was seething, his voice rising in an angry bark. “You had no right to bring her here.” He’d gone to bed last night in a rage over Evelyn’s appearance in Moon Lake, and woken the same, seeking out his brother to give him a piece of his mind.

Gabe hoisted a bright green kayak over his head and carried it past Jed, setting it down on the rocky shore of the lake. “You should listen to what she has to say.”

“Don’t you tell me what I should do. You’re the reason for this whole mess. If you’d kept your dick in your pants and your hands off my woman, this never would have happened.”

“Like you’re keeping your hands off my woman?”

Jed narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Tori.”

“She never belonged to you.”

Gabe raised his chin. “Like hell she didn’t. We were an item that summer, she and I. I cared about her.”

Jed scoffed. “You’ve never cared about anybody in your life.”

“I make one mistake, and you write me off like a dead man.”

“You slept with my fiancé. It’s not like you borrowed my car without asking. You screwed up my life just to prove you could do it.”

“It wasn’t like that, man.”

The fingers of Jed’s hands curled into fists, the muscles of his arms flexing of their own volition. “Tell me then,” he said quietly. “Tell me what it was like to screw the woman I was going to marry.”

Gabe ran a hand through his hair. “She was upset.”

“So you decided to calm her down.” Jed took a step toward his brother and punched him in the jaw with one quick jab. It felt good to do it, his self-righteous fury finding purchase where it belonged.

Gabe worked to get to a stand. “It was all your fault. She knew you didn’t love her. That’s why she came to me. She confronted you and begged you to say it, but you just couldn’t do it, could you?”

“Shut up.”

Gabe pushed him, hard. “You’re the one who sent her running, straight into my bed.”

Jed came back at him and gave him a solid punch to the gut, doubling him over. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, little brother.”

Gabe came up swinging, crashing into Jed’s cheek with his elbow. Stars burst into Jed’s field of vision, an explosion of pain. Gabe leaned into Jed’s face as he spoke. “How does it feel to know you brought it all upon yourself? That you send everyone who loves you screaming out of your life?”

Jed swiped at his cheek and his forearm came away bloody. “Evelyn is the one who did this.” He glared at his half-brother. “Evelyn and you.” He swung his leg up in a sharp kick to Gabe’s side, making the other man cry out.

“Screw you, Jed.” Gabe came at him, fists flying, landing several punches to Jed’s body before Jed got hold of him and threw him off.

Gabe was on the ground in the gravel and rocks, his knee bleeding profusely. He pointed to Jed. “If you don’t want to hear what Evelyn has to say, that’s on you. But you can’t have Tori.”

Jed took several steps and stood over his brother. “Oh yeah? Who’s going to stop me?” He grabbed Gabe’s shirt, pulling the other man’s face close to his. “I know you never got a piece of that one, brother. I’ve gotten farther with Tori in a week than you got all summer.”

A woman’s sob brought Jed’s head around fast. Tori stood there, her hand over her mouth. “How could you?” she yelled, her face a mask of pure betrayal.

She moved to Gabe’s side. “Are you all right?” She gasped. “You’re bleeding.” She ran her hands tentatively across his cheeks.

Jed moved toward her, a sharp pain in his side making him wince. “Tori…”

“Go away, Jed.” She pointed to the street. “Just get the hell out of here. You’ve done enough damage for one day.”