Champagne and Lemon Drops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance (29 page)

Oz gave her a familiar half-smile and Beth
lowered her gaze to stare at something safe, settling on the small,
round buttons of his tuxedo shirt.

Instead of getting closure and finding that
perfect reason to finally let go, she was finding more mysteries to
pique her interest. Was this what love did? It made you greedy to
know more about a person? Did it make you hold on even tighter when
you should be letting go? Or was this simply an urge to tame and
understand the unknown? Quite simply, it could be old-fashioned
regret for losing what might have been.

Whatever it was, it stung. It stung that
he'd been right about her. He was afraid she would laugh at his
dream like his father did, and what did she do? She laughed.

"Did it take long to build?"

He stepped back, exhaled loudly, and ran a
hand through his hair. "About two hundred hours."

She felt faint. Two hundred hours of
dedication and perseverance. For his dream. And he was able to do
it because she was gone.

"You always knew this was what you wanted to
do, wasn't it?"

"I had an inkling."

She ignored the painful twist forming in her
chest and promised herself she would do whatever she needed to do
to set him free. Completely.

***

The bride and groom took to the dance floor,
their wedding song's bass thrumming in Beth's chest. People gave
her sympathetic pats, telling her she'd soon be married, too. But
it wasn't that. It wasn't that at all. She needed some space so she
could come to terms with how she'd held Oz back from trying
something daring and new.

But if he'd seen so many things about her
that she hadn't, why hadn't he seen that he was more important than
her dream of a family? Family was all around her in Blueberry
Springs. Looking out, interfering, taking her in. Family was so
much more than blood and marriage. It was something she'd had all
along.

The couple's wedding song silenced and Beth
tucked herself behind Benny's ample height and width. Surely her
sister wouldn't mind if she didn't dance. Surely she wouldn't hold
a grudge and spoil Beth's own wedding dance two months from now if
she hid out instead of joining the smiling wedding party on the
dance floor. She risked a quick glance around Benny's arm to see if
Cynthia had noticed her absence and a hand clamped onto her
arm.

"There you are!" Oz gave her a grin and
pulled her toward the band.

Damn.

As they began to sway to the music's rhythm,
she studied Oz. How could he act so carefree when she'd just
laughed at him?

"It's too bad Nash isn't well tonight," Oz
said kindly. "Send my regards."

Beth kept her fake smile plastered in place
and stepped on Oz's left foot. "Sure thing."

Oz winced, giving her a surprised look. He
seemed more fit than he had been in months and he moved them
smoothly around the dance floor with easy athletic grace. The
warmth from his right hand crept through the material at her waist,
creating an inner ache. If he accidentally brushed against her one
more time, she was going to scream. Either that or do something
stupid. She was supposed to be working on closure and letting him
go, not whatever this was.

"Where's Gran?" he asked.

Beth flicked a gaze at Oz and clenched her
jaw. "She went home. Why, do you want to drop her on her hip
again?"

Oz's face reddened. He whispered, "I never
meant to hurt her." His mouth set in a grim line, he twirled her
out, yanking her back in again so quickly she had to put a hand on
his chest so she didn't smack into him. His chest was surprisingly
firm. She glanced up at him, but his attention was elsewhere.

A few weeks ago, he'd been granted special
permission to enter the hospital in order to apologize to Gran. But
had he apologized to Beth? No, of course not. She'd been on his
parents' side, not his. Everything that had happened had been
coming to her. They'd pushed Oz to continue with a business and
career he didn't want. Wedged him forward into a life he wasn't
ready for. Laughed at what he wanted. How could a man forgive a
woman for that?

Oz abruptly dropped her into a spin before
whirling her back into his arms. She caught her breath as she found
herself thrust up against him again. He could act as though they
were friends, but she was still pissed off with him as well as
herself. And doubly so for the way her body melted when in
proximity with his.

She shook her head. She had Nash. Wonderful,
sweet, lovely, detailed-oriented, list-checking Nash. She didn't
need Oz. He didn't need her. Looking up, she gazed directly into
Oz's eyes, unable to stop herself from trying to sort him out. He'd
found his dream over two hundred work hours ago. He hadn't asked
her back. Was it because she was already with Nash? Or was it
because the only way he could move forward was without her? Why
now? Why couldn't they have made it? How did she screw up? And was
she going to do the same with Nash?

How, why, why? Her brain was stuck in
toddlerhood.

Oz met her eyes, holding them for a second.
They collided into the couple behind them and Oz stepped on Beth's
right foot.

"Ow!" she squeaked.

"Sorry," he called over his shoulder as he
danced them to safety. He pulled her through a tight spot, leading
Beth with one hand as she danced around his moving body, his
tantalizing cologne wafting around her.

"My patients miss you, even though you're a
danger on the dance floor," she muttered. She felt an immediate
pang of loss at the idea of moving away from everything to be in
the city with Nash—which would undoubtedly happen. She may have
held a man back from his career dreams once, she wasn't about to do
it again. Even if it meant leaving.

Oz flashed her a grin.

"When did you start woodworking? Exactly?"
she asked.

Oz shrugged. "A few months ago. It's a good
distraction."

"From what?"

"Katie says to smile." He tipped his head
toward his sister who was joining the dance floor with Will. Oz
boosted his smile, making him look goofy.

Beth rolled her eyes and smiled despite
herself. This was the way it was with him, wasn't it? Mad and upset
at herself one second, lusting after him another, then sprinkle in
some curiosity followed by laughter.

"Much better," he said, pulling her close.
He spun her through the outskirts of the growing crush of dancers.
She was starting to feel dizzy. She wasn't sure if it was from the
dancing or the champagne she'd been using to fortify herself—and
she noted, people seemed to like champagne just fine despite
Katie's thoughts on the matter.

Oz regripped her right hand, the warmth of
his touch heating her straight to the core. She looked into his
eyes and there was warmth there as well. Everything about him was
so achingly familiar. Her resolve fatigued and she wrestled with
the temptation to rest her forehead on his shoulder. They settled
into a gentle, quiet rhythm, Oz resorting to spins only to direct
them out of the odd jam as the dance floor grew packed with
couples, eager to share in the wedded couple's joy and love. She
smiled as the song's last beats wound down. Finally. Oz led her
into a complicated move, her feet automatically taking the right
steps as he continued to gently guide and lead. As the song ended
he pushed her out into a fast spin, then bringing her in to dip her
low, chest to chest, before pulling her up and into one last, slow,
attention-gathering spin, her dress flowing out around her.

Dizzy and exhilarated, Beth
beamed. Without thinking she said, "Now,
that
I have missed!"

Their grins faded as nearby couples
applauded.

Beth smoothed out her dress and gave a prim
curtsy before removing herself from Oz and the dance floor. No need
for people to get the wrong idea.

Oz caught her elbow at the edge of the dance
floor. He whispered in her ear, "Can I talk to you for a
minute?"

Beth steeled herself before turning to face
his clean-shaven cheeks: her heart had stupidly forgotten that this
Oz, just because he looked like the old one, was not a man who
loved her back.

Not that she loved him. She couldn't. She
loved Nash. She just had to let go of Oz once and for all and all
those mixed up feelings would vanish like Easter eggs hidden at dog
level.

"Could I lure you to a secluded corner?" Oz
winked and tilted his head away from Mary Alice who was closing
in.

Beth acted nonchalant despite the way her
body was begging and pleading to be shoved up against his. "Fine,"
she said primly, crossing her arms.

He led her by the elbow
into the lobby and off into a large, unused coatroom which was
being used for random storage. Closing the door, the room filled
with the scent of his special occasion cologne. Honestly, she
should demand he return it to her. That and open the door. Being in
a closed coatroom with her ex was
not
the kind of rumor she wanted
getting back to Nash.

"How are you doing?" Oz asked, smoothing out
his shirt with a flat hand—which she noted went straight down from
chest to pants, no belly stopover. While she'd failed at Nash's
Buff Ex Plan, Oz had obviously succeeded. The bastard. Didn't he
know that was unfair in love and war?

She shivered. "I'm great. Really great." She
needed to get out that door. The one he was standing in front of.
Yes, they needed closure. Yes, there was lots to talk about such as
the small fact that he still hadn't sent over the papers to free
her from the trailer's mortgage, but she couldn't bear to have more
mysteries surface. She couldn't bear to be locked in a closed room
with him. Not today when everything about him was wonderfully,
comfortingly familiar from the tenor of his voice to the small scar
skirting his eyebrow from the time Mandy chased him into a metal
slide.

"I wanted to apologize," Oz said, running a
hand along the high coat rail, acting like he hadn't said a
thing.

She'd waited so long to hear those words,
but now they felt as though they would only usher in damage. She
bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. She couldn't do this.
Not now. Not on Valentine's Day. Not at her sister's wedding. Not
when her fiancé was tucked away, helplessly ill.

As she went to move past Oz, he spoke. "My
dad was right." He gave a sad half-smile and ran a hand through his
hair, making a piece at the back stand up and wave.

She stopped beside him, their shoulders
touching. She flicked her eyes up to read the emotion on his face.
He looked strained. Her worries slowly softened. Sighing, she
resigned herself to having another tough conversation. She closed
her eyes and asked, "He was right about what?"

"That if I didn't smarten up and be
responsible I'd lose you. That you wouldn't like the real me and
you'd run."

Exasperated, Beth said, "Did you ever even
let me see the real you? And I didn't run anywhere."

"I know. I know." Oz put up his hands in
surrender. "I was afraid."

She leaned against a small round table
situated behind her. "Do you know who the real Oz is now?"

He tipped his head up so he could look at
her with one eye. He sucked in a deep breath and paused as if
making a decision. He plucked a dusty wineglass from a box and
twisted it in his hands.

"I've always felt like my
father was running my life. Always telling me how to make a play in
football. He'd even override the coach. I didn't know who to listen
to." He raised a shoulder helplessly. "I don't even know if I
even
liked
football. It was such a relief when I twisted my ankle in my
final season." He paused before continuing. "And with the business
there was never really a choice. I was in there after school all
the time." Oz let out a disgruntled snort. "My dad didn't want me
getting into trouble with Mandy. I think he wanted me to date
someone who was less likely to speak their mind and call him on his
bullshit. And so he made me work in his office."

Beth raised her eyebrows, but kept her mouth
shut.

"Since I was okay at it, Dad kept training
me. It seemed like a good option for a kid like me who would
probably never go to college. Not like you."

She gave an absent smile, her thoughts stuck
on the fact that Harvey hadn't approved of Mandy. Even though
things were always tense between her and the girl, it wasn't like
Mandy was disliked around town.

Oz continued, "Mandy used to encourage me to
step out of my father's shadow and open up my own business. I think
that's a good part of why Dad didn't like her." Oz looked
thoughtful for a moment. "In some ways, I think she knew what I
needed even before I did."

"She tried to trap you," Beth reminded him,
furious that Mandy might have been a better choice somehow.

"Could you blame her? We'd been together for
almost eight years and she still didn't have a ring on her finger.
She was scared and we were growing apart. In some ways, I was all
she knew and I think she was afraid of being alone."

"Yeah, except Frankie Fall-Off-The-Tower
Smith was right there ready to catch her. Among others."

Oz let out a chuckle and the air between
them changed. Brought them closer. Beth tried to ignore the fact
that the lips in front of her had last kissed the very ex they were
discussing in somewhat positive terms. And that he'd chosen that ex
over her again.

But if Mandy was so great for him... "Why
didn't you change jobs when you guys broke up then?"

"I thought the work angst was due to the
tension between Dad and Mandy. By the time I realized it was
actually coming from me, it was easier to keep moving. And, I got
used to making a decent wage. Anyway, no job is 100% awesome all
the time, right?"