Last Chance Harbor (17 page)

“Uh, Julianne?”

“Yes.”

“I might need a minute.”

She looked down, aimed her stare below his belt. “Ah. You’re right. I’d better take point.”

He grinned.

On her way back, Jordan intercepted her in the kitchen, handed her a napkin. “You might want to freshen up your lipstick.”

Julianne felt her cheeks go pink—as if she were back in sixth grade and caught by a grownup playing spin the bottle. “I…we…were just getting some…fresh air. Is there anything I can do to help?”

She heard Jordan stifle a chuckle.

“Not a thing. I have Keegan and River making another pass with hors d’oeuvres.”

“I can’t thank you enough for welcoming me to town like this,” Julianne said while taking out her compact to reapply her lip gloss.

“Nonsense. I love any excuse to throw a party.”

“Come on, with the B&B to run, two active toddlers, guests to deal with, I’m aware this is a
very
big deal, especially since Nick’s time during the week is spent at the bank in addition to splitting time on the town council.”

“Like I said before, now is our slow season. As soon as business picks up in March, Nick steps back into the role of innkeeper—part-time at the bank. That was the deal he made with Murphy.”

Julianne watched as Jordan neatly loaded up one tray with bacon-wrapped chicken bites, then another with coconut shrimp. “I’ll take that. My turn to do more than lock lips with Ryder.”

When the man walked in through the back door, she grinned at him, gathered up one platter, handed it off before grabbing the other. “Let’s go feed the masses.”

Carting food gave them both the opportunity to chat with the rest of the partygoers. Despite the fact the get-together was in her honor, she knew Ryder needed to circulate, too. So they made the rounds.

Their ears pricked up when they realized the buzz had turned to the discovery of the box along with its contents—so much for their attempt at secrecy. Who needed the Internet when news traveled like wildfire in a small town?

Some of the more senior guests, like Wade Hawkins, the retired history professor and member of the town council, began to reminisce about Andrew and Layne Richmond. Wade scrunched up his face, pondered the past. “I remember Andrew. He used to stock his hobby shop with train sets and a treasure trove of baseball cards. Walk in there and Andrew could tell you anything you wanted to know about batting averages and the Southern Pacific Railroad.”

“Unusual blend of interests,” Ryder remarked.

“Indeed it was but that was Andrew. He passed what he knew down to his son. Eleanor never seemed happy with the man she married. That woman could pick Layne apart in public like a vulture on roadkill and leave him humiliated.”

Mayor Murphy nodded. “Now those two were an unusual pairing. Talk about opposites attract. I remember when word got out that Eleanor wouldn’t even let him take a shower in his own home—people were rooting for Layne to leave the witch.”

“Get out,” Brent said. “I never heard that story. Are you saying this man couldn’t shower inside his home? The home he paid for? How could he put up with behavior like that?”

Bran Sullivan shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s the simple answer. But for the most part he put up with Eleanor’s craziness because of the kids. Oh, every now and again he’d talk about getting out to his dad or to me or whoever would listen…”

“But then there were the times she’d go bat-shit crazy on him or the kids in a public place. Those incidents, no one could hide,” Murphy added. “Couple of times Eleanor stole things from the store. I saw her do it myself.”

“So no one was really surprised when she committed suicide?” Julianne ventured.

“Or that her husband took off?” Ryder posed.

“I never believed a word of it,” Wade said. “Layne loved those kids too much to leave. That’s why he put up with her crap. Cooper, Drea, and Caleb were his pride and joy. Eleanor knew that and used it to her advantage every single chance she could—did her best to turn those kids against their own father.”

“My God, so she used her own children to keep him churning out the income, bringing his paycheck home to her? How miserable the man must’ve been,” Julianne concluded.

“There has to be a way to check to see if Layne actually left town with Brooke, even if it has been twenty years,” Ryder offered.

“And there is—databases to check, a cold trail to follow. If they’re alive, I’ll find them,” Brent promised.

After the guests left Julianne walked Ryder out to his pickup as she had the night before. Feeling a bit sad on the heels of learning the details about Layne’s unhappy life with Eleanor, she had a hard time letting the subject go. “Do you think it was wrong of him to get involved with Brooke when he was still married?”

“Wrong? Sure. But the man was obviously unhappy living with a woman who wouldn’t even show him the most basic respect. What do you suppose the kids thought of him? You know, when they saw how their own mother treated their dad like a dog in his own home? Did you know Bran told me Layne spent three years sleeping on the couch? I don’t condone cheating, but that alone goes a long way to show Eleanor certainly wasn’t committed to making the marriage work.”

“Myrtle Pettibone told me it was common knowledge that Eleanor had a habit of shoplifting from every store in town. Eleanor wouldn’t let the kids have any friends over and she constantly complained that her husband never made enough money. That’s why she had to steal.”

“Yeah, she showed all the classic signs of a control freak. Right now, my sympathy is lining up with Layne.”

“Mine too.”

He drew air deep and the wind rushed into his lungs. “There’s a flea market over in San Sebastian. I thought you might like to go with me, check the place out. You might find something for your house or your business there.”

“Oh Ryder. What a great idea! That reminds me. While we’re at it, why not check out Cleef Atkins’ place? Logan says it’s the farm where everything from the school’s been stored all these years. It’s located south of town which means it isn’t out of the way at all. Why not stop in, see what he has left from that time-frame?”

“You mean the stuff’s been stored there all these many years?”

“Yep. We could decide for ourselves if any of it is worth bringing back, which would save a good chunk of the budget.”

“That
is
Logan’s mindset.”

“Then it’s a date.”

He took her hand, drew her in, and nibbled a line down to her chin and to her lips.

“Mmm, I’d forgotten making out could feel so good.”

“Here, let me see what I can do to make it feel even better.”

After the party
broke up, Ryder wasn’t the only one with a woman on the brain.

Troy took his advice and headed for town. He was waiting for Bree outside McCready’s when she walked out the back door carrying a trash bag headed for the dumpster.

“What are you doing here?” Bree asked before spotting what Troy held in his hands. “You brought me food? From Ms. Dickinson’s party? Oh my God, Troy, that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

Troy chuckled. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“No, really. I’m starving. I was headed home to eat a carton of yogurt or fix a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What have you got there?”

“Crusted chicken tenders, some mini meatballs, spinach sticks, a few empanadas, and for dessert, a plateful of strawberries and chocolate sauce.”

“There’s enough food here to feed four people. I’ll never be able to eat all this.”

“You couldn’t come to the party so I brought the party to you. At least a small sampling of all the appetizers. Jordan did mind me packing it up for you. Although they did run out of the mini lasagna cups.”

“Where should we eat this? Back at my place or sit on the dock and watch the waves come in.”

“You’ve been cooped up all night in that stuffy bar. I’d say the pier.”

Bree stuck her arm through Troy’s. “Excellent choice. It’s a beautiful night. Why don’t we take a walk?”

D
uring the morning milking, Ryder began to let doubt seep in about the wisdom of asking Julianne to spend the day with him. Not because he didn’t want to be with her. But as so often happened, when he thought of Bethany, it was like a layer of ice formed in his veins. It wasn’t fair to Julianne that he wasn’t ready to make a connection like that with another female. It didn’t take much for his self-confidence to nose-dive, especially when it came to the opposite sex. He needed to ask himself some hard questions. Was he attracted to Julianne? Hell yes. What man breathing wouldn’t be? But was he willing to risk his heart again? He thought about Layne Richmond.

“Layne was a great guy. He deserved better than Eleanor, that’s for sure,” Scott said out of the blue.

Startled, Ryder did his best not to show it. “You knew him?”

“Sure. I’d go into the shop to talk trains or trade baseball cards with him.”

“See, that’s what bothers me. How in the world do two people like Layne and Eleanor hook up and decide to stick it out and make each other miserable the entire time. I don’t want that for myself.”

“No one wants that.”

“Didn’t Layne have any idea she was so mean-spirited, let alone spoiled and self-indulgent,
before
he tied the knot?”

Scott cocked a brow at the question.

“I’m just repeating Ina Crawford’s list of Eleanor’s best-known personality traits. Ina talked my ear off last night.”

“I suppose the why of it remains a question for the ages.”

“I’m not in the mood for riddles.”

“Okay. How’s this? Layne used to be a teacher, a good one. He taught fifth grade. He was born to the role because he loved the classroom, connected with the kids. But too many years listening to Eleanor bitch made him give it up.”

“Geez, did this guy ever stand up to her about anything? Let me guess. The crappy salary didn’t sit well with Eleanor.”

“That, plus the fact being a teacher wasn’t as prestigious as touting that her husband was a business leader in the community, even if everyone knew it was Layne’s father who actually owned the store.”

“You knew Eleanor?”

Scott sighed. “Everyone knew the ‘Pelican Pointe Princess’ which is what we used to call her behind her back because of her snotty disposition. She had a habit of acting like she was royalty and better than everyone else.”

Ryder found that funny. “I guess she forgot about her penchant for stealing.”

“The five-finger discount wasn’t her trademark.”

“What was?”

“The shitty way she treated her husband. He deserved better.”

“That’s just sad, man. I would’ve walked. I don’t know a man who wouldn’t have. Why the hell didn’t he leave? Who would put up with the constant verbal assault?”

“According to Layne, she’d threaten to hurt herself, threaten to hurt the kids, if he left. She had him played. He even mentioned to a friend that one night he packed his bags to leave. But Eleanor was having none of it. She actually woke the kids up at some ungodly hour, marched them downstairs like little soldiers, and told them that Daddy was leaving and never coming back. The kids started to cry.”