Loving You (The Bridesmaids Club Book 2) (14 page)

“When you read the newspaper article Logan wrote?”

“No. I haven’t read it. Tess told me about it and I jumped from surprised to hopping mad in two seconds flat.”

Dylan scratched the side of his head. “So what were you upset about?”

“You didn’t tell me you’re rich. I thought you were getting yourself into too much debt. I feel like an idiot for worrying about you.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’m not so rich now. I might have to forsake my favorite breakfast of caviar and quail eggs in favor of toast.”

Annie sighed. “Not funny.”

“You want to be in my shoes. My uncle died ten years ago. He wasn’t married and he didn’t have any children. But he did have a portfolio of shares in high-risk IT companies. One of them paid off big time. Dad sold the shares when the market was high and divided the money between my sisters and me. I’ve been looking for a commercial property to invest in for the last few months.”

“How much money have you got left?”

Dylan’s eyebrows rose. “Do you want my bank balance down to the last dollar?”

Annie’s hands started fluttering so she held onto the edge of the counter. “An approximate amount would be fine.”

“Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“Is that after you’ve bought your house and the warehouse?” Annie’s voice sounded high-pitched and squeaky, like a pair of fingernails running down a chalkboard.

Dylan watched her carefully. “Yep.”

“Oh.” She took a deep breath. “That’s a lot of money.”

“Not as much as some people have.”

“That’s true.”

Dylan took a sip of water and put his glass down. “What happened?”

She knew what he was asking and knew it was time to tell him. But that didn’t make it any easier to say the words. “You don’t want to know.”

“Try me.”

Annie left her hands on the counter. She had a feeling she’d need to hold onto something while she told Dylan about her life. “I was pregnant when I got married. Paul was from a wealthy family and his parents weren’t impressed. They cut off his trust fund, hoping he’d see sense and go back home. I worked in a deli. It was hard.”

She looked out of her kitchen window at the inky blackness of the night. “Paul lost his job about six months after we got married. He didn’t want another job, so he stayed home and told me how much better off he would have been without me. After our daughter was born, things got worse. I divorced him when Ruby was a few months old.”

“You have a daughter?” Dylan looked around, as if mentioning her daughter was enough to make her real again. “Where is she?”

Annie’s hand shook so much that she had to put her glass down. “Ruby died in a car accident.”

“I’m sorry.”

She nodded and focused on the kitchen counter. “Paul went back to live with his parents after we divorced. He had access to his trust fund again and bought a new sports car. He picked Ruby up one weekend to take her to his parent’s home for the day. He had an accident on the way there and Ruby died.”

Annie closed her eyes and tried not to see the pictures the police had shown her. Paul had been driving too fast and had lost control. The car had flipped four times before hitting a tree. Ruby had been crushed. Paul had walked away with moderate head injuries and a few broken bones.

She opened her eyes and wiped her cheeks. “I was heartbroken. I guess I equate money with stupidity. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Dylan walked around the counter and stood beside her. “I don’t know…” He raised his arms, as if he was going to hug her. His hands trembled and sweat broke out on his forehead. “I can’t…”

Annie pulled a smile from somewhere. “It’s okay.”

Dylan rested his hand on her arm. “One day I’ll be able to hug you.”

“I know.” She took a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose. “Thank you.”

“Oh, fuck it.”
Dylan’s arms reached out and pulled her into his chest. Almost before the hug had begun he let go and stepped back.

Annie stared at him. “Are you all right? You’ve gone pale.”

Dylan nodded and took a deep breath. “I’m okay.”

“You did it.” A wide smile broke across her face.

Dylan looked shocked and amazed at the same time. “I did. I hugged you. I damn well hugged you.”

His grin lightened Annie’s heart, made her remember there was so much good in the world.

Tears filled Dylan’s eyes. “I haven’t hugged anyone in over three years.”

Annie opened a drawer and put a box of tissues in front of them. “You can officially say your hug drought is over.”

He gazed at her with a deep sadness clouding his eyes. “I’m sorry about Ruby.”

“So am I,” she said softly. She pulled a tissue out of the box and blew her nose. “Does this mean I don’t have to ride my bike behind you on Sunday?”

Dylan’s lips twitched. “You’re not getting out of our bet that easily.”

“Are you sure? What if I told you I’ve got four bags of sweet sugary fudge in the pantry behind you?”

“I’d say it was time for me to go home.”

The smile on Annie’s face disappeared. “Why does that make me feel sad?”

“We’re getting used to each other.” Dylan sounded as wounded as she felt. He left his glass in the sink and walked to the front door. “I’ll see you on Sunday morning. Enjoy the bowling tournament.”

“I will.” Annie opened the door and watched him leave. Dylan Bayliss had done the one thing he’d never thought he’d do, and she’d found something so special that it worried her. She twisted the ring on her finger. Love, loyalty, and friendship. Three simple things that had been hard to find.

Until today.

Chapter Six

Dylan glanced at his cell phone and smiled.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on or do I have to guess?” Logan bit into his toasted panini and sighed. “If Tess keeps making these with Camembert cheese I’m going to put on more weight.”

“Those love handles bothering you again?”

Logan laughed. “I have it on good authority that I’m perfect. So who’s been sending you texts all morning?”

“Annie. She’s letting me know how her bowling tournament is going.” Dylan picked up his coffee cup and glanced at Logan. “What?”

“You’ve smiled each time you’ve read her texts. What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

Logan put down his panini and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “I know what you’re doing and it won’t work. What’s going on?”

Dylan picked up his fork and speared a piece of chicken out of his pie. “Nothing’s going on. I texted Annie this morning to make sure she got to Great Falls. She’s been keeping me updated with the results.”

“And bowling scores make you smile?”

Dylan shrugged his shoulders. It wasn’t the bowling results that made him smile, it was Annie. Her sense of humor was almost as bad as his, and he liked it. He liked her. A lot. And that worried him.

“How’s your touching thing going?”

Dylan stopped chewing and looked around Angel Wings Café. Tess was the only person paying them any attention, but that only happened when she bustled out of the kitchen. The rest of the lunch crowd were too busy eating and talking to worry about the conversation at their table.

Dylan swallowed what was in his mouth and took a sip of coffee.

Logan waited.

“It’s going okay.” He kept his answer as vague as he could without making Logan suspicious.

“Define okay.”

Dylan frowned. Something stopped him from telling Logan he’d hugged Annie. Even though it had probably been the shortest hug in the history of mankind, it meant a lot. Too much to be shared over lunch in a busy café.

Logan picked up his coffee cup. “Tess said you’d offered to lease the kitchen in the warehouse to Annie?”

“How did Tess know?”

“Annie told them last night. She doesn’t think it will work.”

“Who doesn’t think it will work?” Dylan stuck his fork in his chicken pot pie and contemplated the likelihood of ever being able to cook as well as Annie and Tess. The chances were as slim as hugging someone.

“Annie.”

Dylan couldn’t think of any reasons why the lease on the kitchen wouldn’t work, but he wasn’t Annie. “Why not?”

“She’s worried about her boss.”

Dylan coughed. “I’m not that bad,” he choked out.

“Just saying.”

He leaned forward. “What else did Tess say?”

“I don’t know if I should tell you. It could be confidential information.”

“Tess wouldn’t have told you if it was confidential.”

Logan shook his head. “You have so much to learn. Annie was peeved that you didn’t tell her how much money you had. I take it from the texts that you sorted out a few issues last night?”

Dylan kept his face neutral. “You could say that.”

Logan frowned. “You like her. Annie’s texting you, so I’d say she likes you. How do you feel about that?”

“You sound like Pastor Steven.”

“Someone’s got to keep an eye on you.”

Logan and Pastor Steven were the only people in Bozeman who knew what had happened in Afghanistan. Logan knew what a big step it was for Dylan to let someone into his life. If he knew how far Annie had come he’d be even more worried.

“Annie’s my friend. We like each other’s company.”

Logan bit into his panini. “I hope so.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dylan waited for Logan to finish what he was eating before pushing him further. “You can like someone without anything else happening,” he muttered.

“Do you want anything else to happen?”

In between his normal run of the mill nightmares, it was the ‘anything else’ things that had been keeping him awake at night. A week ago he wouldn’t have said he’d ever be able to hug anyone. And now look at him. He’d practically plastered himself to Annie’s chest for all of two seconds. But he’d take it. He’d take his first step toward being close to someone. Close to Annie.

Logan sat back in his seat. “If you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks.”

“I mean it. Women can be fickle.”

Tess stopped beside Logan and raised her eyebrows. “I hope you’re not including that pearl of wisdom in your wedding speech?”

Logan grinned. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Tess smiled sweetly. “We might be fickle, but we’re usually right. How’s lunch?”

Dylan filled his mouth with pie. He wasn’t getting between the evil gleam in Tess’ eyes and Logan’s smart mouth.

Logan grinned at his fiancée. “Lunch was amazing, as usual. I love you, Theresa Williams.”

Tess kissed him quickly on the lips. “It’s not only women who are fickle. If you need more coffee let me know.”

Dylan watched Tess walk behind the counter and serve another customer. He didn’t know if Logan knew how special what he had was. Looking at the dopey grin on his best friend’s face, he’d say he did. “Lucky save.”

Logan sighed. “There’s no luck involved. It all boils down to love.”

Dylan thought about Annie. That’s what he was counting on, too.

***

“Are you sure you’re not trying to kill me?” Annie swerved around a mound of doggy poop and kept peddling.

She heard Dylan laugh from in front of her. “Keep going. We’re nearly at the end of the trail.”

“But then we have to turn around and go back to your truck.” She rung her little red bell and said hello as she passed another runner. The runner waved his hand and Annie smiled.

She hadn’t expected to enjoy herself so much. Between watching Dylan’s awesome body and riding through some of the prettiest scenery in Bozeman, she’d been having a great time.

“I’m getting hungry,” she yelled.

“You told me that ten minutes ago. Didn’t you have breakfast?”

Annie added more muscle to her peddling and caught up with Dylan. “My Fruit Loops disappeared half an hour ago.”

“You need to take a serious look at your diet.”

“And I suppose you have a power shake with seaweed, spinach, and yogurt?”

Dylan smiled. “Something like that.”

“All I can say is, yuck.” Annie slowed down and moved behind Dylan when a group of walkers rounded the next bend. She didn’t know so many people got out of bed early to exercise. Especially on a Sunday. Didn’t they know about sleep-ins and relaxing weekends?

Annie moved across to the right-hand side of the dirt trail. The female walkers smiled at Dylan and gave Annie a half-hearted wave. “You’re a babe magnet,” she yelled.

Dylan stumbled. “Warn me when you’re going to say things like that.”

“Okay. Here’s another one. You’ve got tight buns.” Annie burst out laughing when Dylan grabbed his butt.

“I’m blushing,” he said.

Annie sped up and took a quick look at his face. “No, you’re not. You’re secretly pleased that someone thinks you’re yummy.”