Diamonds and Dust (Lonesome Point, Texas) (6 page)

Their eyes caught and held, electricity leaping between them while a voice in Tulsi’s head wailed that her house of cards was about to come tumbling down. Surely, now that Pike had seen Clementine, he would realize the truth. Clem was tiny and blond—a miniature copy of all the women in Tulsi’s family—but surely Pike had to sense something. Surely…

The thought made Tulsi’s already pounding heart slam in triple time. She braced herself for the worst, but when Pike lifted his hand in greeting, he didn’t seem outraged. In fact, the look in his hazel eyes was warm and almost…welcoming. Like he was actually happy to see her.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a smile. “I let her in. I heard her knocking and I knew she had a bunch of toys back here, so…”

“No, it’s fine,” Tulsi said, shaken by the combined shock of seeing Clementine and Pike standing side by side and having Pike smile at her for the first time in seven years. She’d almost forgotten the way that smile made the bottom drop out of her stomach and her head feel like it was going to float off of her shoulders. “It’s not your fault. She knows better than to run off without telling me where she’s going.”

Tulsi shifted her attention to her daughter, grateful for the reprieve from eye contact with Pike. “What were you thinking, Clementine? Didn’t you realize I’d be terrified?”

Clem’s fists tightened around the doll clothes in her hands and a guilty look flickered behind her blue eyes. “I knew you’d say we didn’t have time. I didn’t want you to say no.”

“Not wanting me to say no is not a valid excuse for scaring me half to death,” Tulsi said, propping her hands on her hips. “Honestly, I have half a mind to keep you home from camp.”

“No!” Clementine wailed, her jaw dropping at the injustice. “Jesus, Mom! I’ve been so good it’s almost killed me. I want to go to flipping camp!”

Pike brought a hand to his mouth and coughed hard, but it was obvious he was trying to conceal a burst of laughter.

“Don’t encourage her,” Tulsi said, fighting a smile. “She’s a hellion already.”

“I can see that,” Pike said. “Must have gotten it from her mama.”

“Mama’s not a hellion,” Clem said glumly. “Mama’s good all the time.”

“Is that so?” Pike arched a brow and shot Tulsi a look she felt all the way down to the tips of her toes.

Her mouth went dry as visions of all the naughty things she and Pike had done together cantered through her thoughts like a herd of runaway horses, shaking the ground beneath her. Thankfully, Clementine broke the charged silence before Tulsi’s knees could get too weak.

“Please, Mama,” she said, wadding the doll clothes as she clasped her fingers under her chin. “I promise to be so good everyone will think I’m an angel come down from heaven. Just please, please, please let me go to camp.”

“We’ll talk about this outside,” Tulsi said, circling one hand as she prepared to herd Clementine out the door, needing to get them both away from Pike ASAP.

“You’re going to say no!” Clem moaned, tears rising in her eyes. “I can tell you are!”

Tulsi sighed, realizing her attempts to take the conversation somewhere more private were futile. “If I say yes, you have to promise not to run off while you’re there. You stay with the counselors and the other girls in your cabin. Do you understand me?”

Clementine nodded vigorously.

“And it’s church camp, so no taking the name of the Lord in vain, and no ‘flipping,’” Tulsi added with a hard look. “Everyone will know what you’re really meaning to say and they will be shocked.”

“You say flipping,” Clem said, her bottom lip pushing out.

“I am a grown up!” Tulsi shook her head in frustration. “Honestly, Clementine, how many times do we need to have this conversation? You are six, not sixteen. If you can’t remember that, you’re going to be in trouble once school starts. Your teacher won’t put up with the attitude.”

“I know, I know. You’re right.” Clementine said, backtracking now that it was obvious Tulsi had started to lose her temper. “I’m sorry, Mama.” Clem ran across the room and threw her arms around Tulsi’s waist. “I’ll be good, cross my heart and hope to die. Just please let me go. It’s all I ever wanted in my whole entire life.”

Tulsi sighed as she smoothed her hand over Clem’s silky hair, her daughter’s hug melting her anger the way it always did. “All right, drama queen,” she said softly. “Let’s get going. Hopefully, the bus hasn’t left without you.”

“Can I bring Monster Princess’s clothes, too?” Clem asked, already shoving them into the open duffel near Tulsi’s hip. “I know they said no toys, but these aren’t toys, they’re accessories.”

“Fine. But we need to go with a capital G.” Tulsi turned to Pike, pulse pounding all over again as their eyes met. “Thanks for keeping an eye on her.”

“No problem,” he said, the warmth in his voice making her chest ache. “It was nice to meet the infamous Clementine. Mia’s told me so much about her.”

“Bye, Mr. Pike,” Clem called, waving as she pulled Tulsi toward the door. “We can hang out more when I get back from camp. We’ll play poker for candy so make sure you stock up.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.” Pike grinned at Clementine before shifting his gaze to Tulsi, his smile remaining firmly in place. “See you around, Tuls. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Oh-okay,” Tulsi stammered.

She fought the urge to frown until she and Clem were back outside, but as soon as the shop’s front door closed behind them, her brows snapped together like opposite sides of a magnet. What the
heck
was that? That smile? That easy, breezy smile that made it seem like Tulsi was just an old friend Pike was glad to run into while he was back in town? What had happened to the pain and loathing from yesterday? Had she imagined it or read something personal into an unrelated foul mood?

Tulsi shook her head as she and Clem hustled down the sidewalk toward the bus. No, she hadn’t imagined it. Pike had practically glared a hole through her forehead. If looks could kill, she would have been lying beside the road, bleeding from multiple stare wounds.

So what had changed? What had happened between last night and this morning to banish the loathing in Pike’s eyes?

“I have to talk to Mia,” Tulsi mumbled, tugging her phone out of her jeans pocket.

“What?” Clementine panted, out of breath from taking two steps for every one of Tulsi’s.

“Nothing, baby.” Tulsi forced a smile as she tapped out a quick text to Mia asking her to give a call when she was up. “Just thinking out loud.”

“Grandpa says only crazy people do that,” Clem said.

Tulsi tucked her phone back into her pocket with a roll of her eyes. “Grandpa has a lot of big opinions. That doesn’t mean they’re the truth.”

Clementine nodded. “Opinions. Everyone’s got one.”

Tulsi laughed. “Yes, but don’t say that at camp, either.”

“Why?” Clementine asked. “It doesn’t have any bad words in it.”

“I’ll explain when you get home,” Tulsi whispered as they neared the bus. All the other kids were on board, but the storage area beneath was still open, and two of the counselors were crossing the parking lot from the nearby drug store carrying flats of bottled water.

“You found her!” Deb met them by the storage area under the bus as Tulsi tucked Clem’s duffel inside with the other bags.

“Yes, thank goodness.” Tulsi put an arm around Clem’s shoulders, hugging her close. “She was at Mia’s looking for her doll. We found it, so she’s all set.”

“Great!” Deb grinned down at Clem. “Hailey is saving you a seat. She’s so excited there are going to be two six-year-olds at camp this year. I bet you two are going to have the best time.”

“We are!” Clem was prancing with excitement as she turned to give Tulsi one last hug. “Bye, Mom. Love you!”

“Love you, too.” Tulsi hugged her daughter hard, holding on for as long as Clem would tolerate before setting her free. “Have fun, be good, and remember all the things we talked about.”

“I will!” Clementine waved before dashing to the front of the bus and disappearing inside, sending a pang through Tulsi’s heart. She’d been so scared when Clem disappeared she’d forgotten how nervous she was about the camping trip until she watched her baby climb out of sight.

“They’re going to be fine,” Deb whispered as they meandered a few steps away from the bus. “I know it’s scary, but Hailey and Clementine are both mature for their age. They’re going to have a wonderful time and make amazing memories.”

“I know. And Clem’s so excited to go.” Tulsi tried to smile, but couldn’t seem to get her brows to unfurrow. This entire morning had been too upsetting to snap back so easily. “She’s just so little. My mom didn’t let me go to camp until I was in third grade.”

“They’re growing up faster than we did,” Deb agreed with a sigh. “But I’ve heard Mrs. Grier expects so much of her first graders. Gaining some independence will probably be good for them.”

Tulsi nodded. “I’ve been trying to prepare Clem all summer. My friend Mia and I had Mrs. Grier when we were little. Mia was so much like Clem and she got in trouble all the time. Mrs. Grier has a zero free spirit tolerance policy.”

Deb cringed. “That’s what I’ve heard. It makes me wish there was another option. A parish school or a private school or something.”

“One of the hazards of a small town,” Tulsi said with a shrug. “At least we’ll all be in it together.”

“That’s true,” Deb said, lifting an arm to wave as the bus rumbled to life.

“Bye!” Tulsi called out, laughing as Clem made a silly face through the window before the bus pulled out onto the street. “That girl. What am I going to do without her for an entire week?”

“Start with getting a coffee with me?” Deb said, with a nervous laugh. “I have the morning off from the office. I know you have tons of friends, but even after a year and a half I haven’t quite found my tribe. If you know what I mean.”

“Of course, and I do,” Tulsi said, sympathizing immediately and feeling bad that she hadn’t been the one to reach out. “It can be so hard to make new friends once you’re a mom. We’re all so busy with work and—”

An alarm blared from her back pocket and Tulsi scrambled for her phone. “Sorry, it’s my friend Mia. I’ll just be a second.”

“No worries.” Deb smiled as Tulsi stepped away.

“You poor thing,” Mia said by way of greeting. “What a turd Clementine is! I can’t believe she ran off like that. Pike said you were white as a sheet when you came in the shop.”

“I was really scared,” Tulsi admitted, wondering what else Pike had said about her. “But we had a talk and I got her on the bus before it left. Hopefully, she’ll behave herself at camp.”

Mia snorted. “Well, we can always hope. I don’t think she can get into too much trouble, as long as they lock up all the archery equipment.”

“Oh, God,” Tulsi said, eyes squeezing shut. “Don’t say things like that, or I’m going to go chase down the bus.”

Mia laughed. “Don’t chase down the bus. This will be good for her. She’s going to have an amazing time at camp and you’ll have an amazing time with me. I was just filling Pike in on all the activities planned for the week. He’s really, really excited about them. I can tell.”

Tulsi made a noncommittal sound, wondering if Mia was being sarcastic, but too anxious that Pike might be listening in on the conversation to ask.

“You want to come over and have coffee with us?” Mia continued. “Sawyer already left for work, and Pike and I are just sitting around until I open the shop.”

“I would love to,” Tulsi lied. “But I’m having coffee with one of the other moms. But maybe you and I could meet up for lunch before my meeting? I’d love to pow-wow before I go to the Head Starts office.”

“Sure,” Mia said. “I was going to close up from twelve thirty to one, does that work?”

“That’s perfect. I’ll meet you at the diner for patty melts. My treat.”

“Do you want this to be just us?” Mia asked. “Or is it okay if I bring Pike along if he hasn’t found something important to do with himself by then?”

“I’d rather it be just you and me, if that’s okay,” Tulsi said, trying to keep her voice light. “I’m so nervous about the meeting, I don’t think I’m going to be very good company. I’d rather catch up with Pike when I’m not so stressed out.”

“That’s fine. He doesn’t look like he’s chomping at the bit to horn in on the girl talk anyway. See you at twelve thirty, and try to enjoy your day off, okay? You deserve some fun after how hard you’ve been working.”

“I’ll try. See you later.” Tulsi said her goodbyes and tucked her phone back into her jeans. After a brief debate on the virtues of quiche vs. eggs and bacon, she and Deb headed across the street to Tea for Two. Deb had decided on quiche, but Tulsi’s head was too busy swirling for her to care too much about breakfast. She couldn’t stop thinking about Pike’s easy smile—what it meant and if it even mattered.

Whether he hated her or wanted to be friends, did it make a difference? No matter how much the stupidly forgiving part of her would like to have Pike in her life again—even as a friend, no matter how painful that would be—there was too much at stake. She’d gotten lucky this morning, but if Pike and Clem spent too much time together, sooner or later her luck was going to run out.

And then her happy life in Lonesome Point, the safe, steady childhood she’d fought to give Clem, and everything that really mattered to Tulsi would be destroyed. And no friend was worth that kind of sacrifice. No matter what Pike felt or didn’t feel, Tulsi was going to continue to hold him at a distance. She had too much to lose to even think about a friendship—or anything else—with Pike Sherman.

CHAPTER FOUR

Pike

Pike was in trouble. Deep trouble.

Turned out being nice to Tulsi wasn’t nearly as hard as he’d thought it would be. In fact, a part of him had been thrilled to see her rush into the shop behind Clementine. It had been easy to smile at her, easier to tease her, and when their eyes had met, and he’d watched his steamier memories of their time together playing out behind her eyes…

All he’d wanted to do was pull her into his arms and kiss her until they brought the heat from their past surging into the present. It was obvious Tulsi still wanted him, and he wanted her so badly the only thing that had stopped him from taking her against the wall of his sister’s lingerie shop was the little girl standing between them. And Clementine would always be between them. Even if his cock could convince his brain that going to bed with Tulsi wasn’t dangerous, Pike couldn’t forget that there was a child involved. Tulsi was a mom, with a little girl who depended on her.