Love Finds You in Martha's Vineyard (25 page)

“Did you say
misery
date?” Her eyes twinkled as she returned with the keys.

“Yes. It was perfectly
miserable.
I was trapped and trying to figure a way out of it, and the next thing I knew I was on a sailboat. I nearly broke up with your stubborn cousin right there on the boat, but then I realized she'd probably tie the anchor around my neck and feed me to the fishes.”

Waverly laughed now. “Yes, probably so. And could you blame her? The way you've been leading her on?”

“I have NOT been leading her on.”

“You went out with her tonight, didn't you?”

“I was shanghaied by her tonight. I was shanghaied by the three of you, for that matter. Sicily, Janice, and you—you females all ganged up on me. It wouldn't surprise me if Louise was involved too. In fact, I think the only one of you five women that I can fully trust is your mother.”

“My mother?” She narrowed her eyes.

Now he knew he had to be careful. “Yes. Vivian, bless her heart, gave me a ride to town tonight so I could rescue her daughter.”

She put her hands on her hips now. “Is that so? Well, you both should know that her daughter does
not
need rescuing.”

“Says
who?”
He stepped closer to her now, glaring straight into her eyes like he meant to challenge her to a duel.

“Says me.” She leaned closer too, staring defiantly.

He didn't even know what came over him (although he would think of plenty of excuses later), or maybe he was simply confusing himself with Rhett Butler, but the next thing he knew he grabbed Waverly and kissed her. Solidly kissed her right on the lips. Even more surprising was that she kissed him back. Minty, sweet, and perfectly delightful.

Now they both stood there, staring at each other and saying nothing. In shock.

“What was that?” she demanded.

“I'm so sorry,” he said abruptly. “I honestly don't know what came over me. I don't usually act like this. It's just been a very bizarre evening.”

“I'll say.” She stepped back and, holding the car keys at arm's length, pointed to the door. “I think you should go now.”

He gingerly took the keys, apologized again, then headed to the same door he'd blasted through earlier. It wasn't until he was all the way outside on the deck that he remembered the stairs were gone. Concerned over the stability of the remaining deck, he held onto the railing and peered down.

“You're still here,” Waverly announced as she opened the door. “Oh, yeah, the stairs. I totally forgot. Come back in, Blake. I'll let you out through The Gallery.”

He turned and stared at her.

“What's wrong with you?” She peered curiously at him. “Honestly, you look like you just saw a ghost.”

“I
did
see a ghost.”

“Seriously?” She started to come out now.

“No!” He held up his hands to stop her. “Stop right there. It's very dangerous out here. The whole thing could go any minute.” He hurried to the door, pushing her back into the apartment, then closed the door and locked it.

With hands on hips, she stood peering out the window now, as if she expected to see a real ghost. “But, really, what did you see?”

“I saw a ghost…the ghost of your cousin's car,” he said in a serious tone.

“Huh?” She frowned at him. “What?”

“The fallen stairs—they fell on Janice's BMW.”

“No way!”

“It's true. The whole structure fell smack on top of her car. Crushed it.”

Waverly's eyes got incredibly big. “Seriously? Crushed it as in totaled?”

“I'm no expert, but that's my guess.”

“Oh no.” Her hands flew to her mouth. “What do we do?”

He shook his head. “Nothing for now. But…uh…can I use your bike?”

It wasn't until Waverly was on her way to get coffee that she remembered about Janice's car. But even as she replayed last night's strange visit and conversation, she felt like it had to be a dream. Blake looking for Janice, the stairs falling, that kiss—it seemed surreal in the morning sunshine. So, just to be certain, she went around back, and there, even worse than she'd envisioned it would look by the light of day, was a dusty heap of wooden rubble piled over the crumpled remains of a little red car. So sad. Waverly shook her head and turned away.

Walking to the coffee shop, she wondered how she would break the news to Janice. Or maybe Blake had already done so. Whatever the case, she was in no hurry to experience her cousin's reaction. As she sat down outside with a latte and a blueberry muffin, Waverly recalled the summer when she was about Sicily's age and spending a couple of weeks at Aunt Lou's while her mom went on a buying trip somewhere in Asia. As a joke, Waverly had tattooed Janice's favorite Barbie doll with a peace sign right on Barbie's well-endowed chest area. Unfortunately, what Waverly assumed were washable markers turned out to be permanent, and Janice had thrown a fit that lasted for days. Even when Waverly bought Janice a new Barbie, the complaints continued because the new Barbie was not “exactly the same.”

“You look like you're deep in thought.”

She glanced up to see Reggie standing with a cup of coffee and small bag. “Feel free to join me, although my company might be less than sunshiny today.”

“Something wrong?” He pulled out a chair and sat down. And she spilled out last night's story, leaving out certain details.

“You're kidding!”

“I wish I were. This morning I actually thought I'd dreamt the whole thing, but I went to look—and it was no dream. Now it feels like a nightmare.”

“Does Janice know yet?”

She shrugged. “I haven't told her. Blake may have, although I'm certain she would've called me by now.” She glanced at her watch. “But it's early, and I suspect she'll have a hangover.”

“Maybe you can convince Janice that she crashed the car while driving drunk. Might teach her to be more careful.”

She gave him a rueful smile. “Tempting, but I think not.”

“Well, hopefully she'll take it easy on you. After all, you're cousins, right?”

She rolled her eyes. “Blood might be thicker than water, but if Janice has her way, she might be spilling some of mine before the day is over.”

“It's not fair to blame you. Don't your mothers own The Gallery? Why not blame them for the faulty stairs?”

“I wonder if they have insurance.” Waverly was trying to remember what she'd seen while going over the books for the arcade. Surely there'd been insurance.

“I'd think Janice's car would be covered. Wasn't it practically new?”

“Ugh. Don't remind me. And it was such a sweet little car too. I really enjoyed driving it last night.”

“Maybe we should change the subject,” he suggested. “I'm glad I found you here. I was hoping to run into you this morning.” He smiled at her fondly.

“Really?” She tried to look interested, but seeing his expression reminded her of Blake…and last night. All she could think about was the way Blake had kissed her so impulsively—and how she'd returned the unexpected kiss. What had that meant? And why had she reacted like such a prim little old lady? And why had he apologized?

But Reggie was talking now, telling her about his friend who was giving a big party and how much fun it always was…and would she be interested in going?

“Who is it?” she asked, bringing herself back to the present.

“Belinda Vale.”

She blinked. “The actress?”

He nodded.

“I love her films!”

“And you should see Belinda's guest list. Not just Hollywood types either. She has a lot of connections in the art world as well.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Her father is Vince Vale of Boston—”

“The
artist
Vince Vale? That's her father?”

Now he listed off some more impressive names. “Want to go with me?”

“Well, of course. I mean, I don't know. When is it? And where is it? And are you sure she'd be okay if I came?”

He laughed. “Of course she's okay with it. Belinda and I go way back, and she loves it when I bring friends. The party is always on the Friday night before the Fourth. So it's this week. Belinda calls it Pre-Fourth Friday. She even has fireworks set off out over the water behind her mansion. Anyway, it's always a wonderful—”

He stopped talking now. With a serious expression he looked beyond Waverly, tipping his head. “Don't look now, but your cousin Janice this way comes,” he said quietly.

“Oh, no.”

“I could be wrong, but she looks rather angry.”

Waverly didn't know what to do, so she did nothing. And she continued to do nothing as Janice began ranting and raving at her, saying crazy things like Waverly had stolen her car, then intentionally wrecked it.

“I didn't steal it,” Waverly said. “Your mom told me to—”

“It is NOT my mom's car. Therefore you stole it, Waverly Brennen, and then you totaled it. I am holding you totally 100 percent responsible for—”

“Excuse me,” Reggie attempted to interrupt. “Waverly didn't total your car, Janice, it was the result—”

“If Waverly hadn't
taken
my car, it would not be totaled now. Therefore Waverly is responsible.”

“Well, certainly the building has insurance for things like this.” Waverly looked at Reggie for help. “Don't you think?”

“Oh, I'm sure of it.” He pointed to Janice. “And your auto insurance will cover the rest of—”

“No!” Janice held up her hand to stop him midsentence. “Waverly is 100 percent liable for this. And she will see that I'm recompensed for the full cash value—and I don't mean the depreciated value either. I mean the price of the BMW when I custom-ordered it from the BMW dealership over a year ago. Not only that, but I expect Waverly to cover the cost of an equal-caliber rental car until another identical BMW is delivered to my doorstep, spotlessly shining, with a big box of Lady Godiva chocolates and a heartfelt apology sitting on the fine leather seats. Furthermore—”

“You sound like you should hire an attorney,” Reggie wryly told Janice, and Waverly winced.

“I AM an attorney.” Janice tossed him a withering look.

Reggie glanced at Waverly with sympathy.

“Look, Janice, I'm really, really sorry about what happened to your car. And I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive—”

“You can talk to me about forgiveness after the replacement car is in my driveway with a big box of—”

“Yes, yes. I get it,” Waverly told her. “I just wish you could cool off a little, Janice. It's probably not good for your health to be so angry.”

Janice's face flushed a deeper red. “You steal and total my car, yet you sit there acting like I have no right to feel angry?”

Waverly held up her hands. “Fine. If you want to be angry, have at it. But if you give yourself a stroke or heart attack, don't try to sue me for that too.” She pointed at Reggie. “You're my witness. I told her to calm down.”

He smiled. “I'm sure she'll cool off eventually.”

“Don't be too sure,” Janice tossed at him. Now she pointed to Waverly's coffee. “I'd like one of those too, please, only make mine a skinny.”

Waverly was tempted to tell Janice to get her own stupid latte, then decided that would not only be juvenile but would exacerbate the situation. “Coming right up.” She forced a smile. “Anything else?”

“No.” Janice glared at her.

Grateful for this little escape, Waverly ordered Janice's latte. Then, seeing a dark chocolate raspberry bar, she ordered that too. Janice might turn her nose up at the peace offering, but it was worth a try.

Waverly was just exiting the pay line when Sicily came into the coffee shop. “Waverly?” she said quietly, motioning to her with a curled forefinger. “Come here for a sec.”

Carrying the latte and chocolate bar, she followed Sicily into a dim corner. “What's up?”

“Dad's out there with her now.”

“So you heard about it?”

Sicily nodded with eyes wide. “I think everyone in our neighborhood heard about it. I know it woke me up when she started yelling.”

“How did she find out?”

“Dad told her. I guess she stopped by for coffee, and he thought he'd break the news to her gently. But, man, she totally flipped out.”

“Oh.”

“He told her it wasn't your fault, Waverly, but she wouldn't believe him. It's like she thinks you intentionally wrecked her car. How wacko is that?”

“I know.” Waverly held up the coffee. “I better get this to her.”

“I hope she doesn't throw it at you.” Sicily looked seriously concerned.

“Oh, I don't really think…”

Sicily grimly shook her head. “I wouldn't put it past her.”