Meant to Be (10 page)

“For Lola’s sake, I hope more than one woman came in.”

“Of course, but this wasn’t your usual tourist looking for a high-end souvenir. Her name was Cassandra Wheeler.”

Patty nearly poured her own iced tea into her lap. “Cassie is on the island?”

“You know her?” Beth asked.

“Oh, we know Cassie Wheeler. Though Joe knows her better than anyone else.”

“Joe?” Since Cassandra matched the description of the fiancée Joe expected Lucas to bring home, and he’d made it clear the “blonde bimbo” wouldn’t be welcome, Beth assumed the Wheeler woman would be no friend of Joe’s.

“She was his fiancée.”

If Beth had been taking a drink, Patty would have gotten a face full. “Joe was engaged to Cruella de Vil?”

Patty laughed. “She does have that air about her, doesn’t she? They met a couple years ago when Cassie spent the summer working for the parks department.”

“But isn’t her father Tad Wheeler?” Picturing Miss Hoity-Toity doing menial labor did not compute.

“He is, but how do you know that?”

Beth scrambled for an answer. Lying to her future mother-in-law twice in as many days had to be bad. But she couldn’t mention Cassandra’s meetings with Lucas. Not before she’d talked to him about them. “Her business card said Wheeler Development, and I put two and two together.”

“That makes sense.” Beth exhaled as Patty went on. “But he wasn’t always wealthy, and he decided his daughter needed to understand what it meant to do real work. Of course, he paid for her to live in one of the nicest cabins on the island, and made sure she had all the money she needed.” Patty crossed her arms. “Not exactly character-building circumstances.”

This still didn’t make sense. “What was Joe doing with someone like her?”

“For one, she’s gorgeous, as I’m sure you noticed. They would have made beautiful babies.” Patty got a faraway look and Beth felt nauseous. “I’m also guessing Joe was the kind of guy who would drive her daddy nuts. He likely wanted her to marry a doctor or a lawyer, which is another reason she picked Joe instead of Lucas.”

“She knows Lucas, too?” A loaded question since Beth had seen the woman come out of Lucas’s office on at least two occasions in the last month.

“He met her briefly the one time he came home during that summer. Lucas is married to his work, so he wasn’t here long.” Patty seemed to realize what she’d said. “I mean—”

“It’s okay,” Beth said. “I know how much time Lucas spends at work. He’s determined to be the youngest partner the firm has ever had, and that requires sacrifices.” He’d given her the “sacrifices” speech so often, Beth could quote it verbatim.

“Once you’re married, I’m sure that will change.”

Beth was under no such illusions, so she swung the topic back to Joe the hypocrite. “What happened with Joe and this Wheeler woman? Why aren’t they married?”

Patty shrugged. “No one knows. He went to visit her in Richmond, and when he came back, he just said it didn’t work out. Less than a week later the ring arrived in the mail.” No surprise Cassandra Wheeler wasn’t the sentimental type. “As far as I know, Cassie hasn’t been back to the island since, which is why I was so surprised when you mentioned her.”

“I’m pretty sure she’s not here on vacation. She looked ready to storm a boardroom this afternoon.” And then steal a litter of puppies for her fur coat.

“I wonder if Joe knows she’s here. I don’t think we’ll see him tonight, since he asked me to feed Dozer for him.” Patty tapped a finger on the arm of her chair. “Maybe I should leave him a note.”

“He’s driving me around the island tomorrow,” Beth said, attempting not to grind her teeth. “I’ll make sure I tell him first thing in the morning.”

“He’s driving you around the island?” Patty looked as surprised as Beth had felt when Joe made the offer. “Did Tom tell him to do that?”

“I don’t think so. He offered during lunch today.” How she’d jumped at the chance to get to know Lucas’s mysterious
brother and win his approval. Now she longed to tell him where he could stick his approval.

“Amazing.” Patty leaned back and crossed her arms again. “He’s just full of surprises these days.”

“He’s full of something,” Beth said, relieved when her fiancé’s mother smiled.

Joe parked the Jeep between his house and his parents’ place, then noticed his gas gauge floating close to E. They’d have to get gas in the morning.

They. Shit.

He’d been waging a war in his head since leaving Beth at Dempsey’s. As if getting distance from the source of the sparks would allow his brain to function again.

What in the hell was he thinking?

Stepping from the Jeep, Joe heard Dozer’s dog tags rattle from the porch. He should have been in the house, not outside.

“Dozer?”

“I’ve got him,” came Tom’s voice out of the dark.

“Dad?”

“Who else would it be?”

“I don’t know,” Joe said, climbing the stairs. “People don’t usually hover in the dark on my porch.” Dozer stood up, tail wagging, and Joe scratched around his ears. “Hey, boy.”

“Sit down,” Tom said. “We need to talk.”

“That statement is never good.” Joe slid into one of the large white rockers he preferred to Patty’s colorful Adirondack collection. “What did I do now?”

“Nothing. Yet.” Tom hesitated as if buying time. Joe hoped this wouldn’t take long. He needed a hot shower and a cold Bud. “Patty says you’re taking Elizabeth sightseeing tomorrow.”

“I offered, sure.” The Bud changed to a shot of Jack. “What about it?”

“You called her Beth last night. I saw the way you looked at her today.” Leave it to Tom Dempsey not to pussyfoot around an issue.

Joe ran his hands over his face. “She told me the first night she was here she preferred Beth. So that’s what I call her. Ask her if you don’t believe me.”

“What about today?”

“What about it? We had lunch. You were there.”

“And I saw how you looked at her,” Tom repeated. “She’s a great girl, I get that. But she’s your brother’s fiancée.”

“Trust me, I know. Whatever you think you saw, it’s nothing.” Maybe he should save everyone some time and jump off the pier now. “I’m calling it a night.”

Joe stood up and Tom followed suit. “Just be careful. That’s all I’m asking.”

“Got it.” He watched his dad walk down the steps then stopped him at the bottom. “Hey. Did you tell Patty about this?”

Tom held out his hands. “Nothing to tell, right?”

“Right.” Joe ran a hand through his hair. “Just checking. I don’t want her saying anything. You know.”

“Yeah,” Tom smiled in the moonlight. “I know.” Then with one word, he summed up the situation. “Women.”

“Exactly,” Joe agreed.

The next morning, Joe found Beth waiting on his parents’ porch. Dozer reached her first, receiving a chin scratch as a greeting. One leg thumped the floorboards in canine bliss, and Joe ignored the spike of jealousy.

“You ready to go?”

She turned and smiled, though something in her eyes looked…different. Like a woman with a plan. Not the most comforting look in the world. “Ready when you are.” She gave Dozer one last scratch, then hopped out of her chair.

A short white skirt that looked as if it should have been a tube top hugged her hips. Joe’s mouth went dry. The simple V-neck T-shirt was a sea-foam green, which brought out her eyes.

“Dozer’s coming too, right?” she asked, with the dog following her as if in a trance. So much for loyalty. Damn dog.

“Yeah, he’s coming.” Joe opened his Jeep door. “Get in, Dozer.”

The dog continued to sit next to Beth, tongue lolling to the side. Beth gave Joe another smile. “I think he’s with me.” She opened the door on her side and the dog jumped in without being told.

“Keep it up, buddy. Keep it up.” Joe climbed in as Beth clicked her seat belt on. “That treat jar can disappear real quick.”

Beth reached up and scratched under the canine’s chin once more. “Don’t you worry, Dozer. I’ll give you treats.”

“You don’t even know where they are.”

She looked toward his little cottage and shrugged. “It’s not a big place. They can’t be hard to find.”

“Let me guess, along with waiting tables, you did breaking and entering to work your way through college?”

She raised one brow. “There’s a key inside your parents’ kitchen door.”

“Spoken like a true criminal.” Joe dropped the Jeep into reverse and threw gravel as he backed onto the street. “First stop, gas. Then the lighthouse.”

And then the horses and his obligation was done. The sooner he got this over with, the better.

“So I met a friend of yours yesterday,” Beth said.

He knew everyone on the island, so she’d have to be more specific. “Who was that?”

“A woman,” she answered.

“Can you narrow that down? I know a lot of women.”

“A lot of women?”

“Did Patty put you up to finding out about my love life or something?”

Beth picked invisible lint off her skirt, drawing his attention to more exposed thigh than he needed to see. The Jeep swerved, throwing Dozer off balance.

“What was that?” she asked, reaching back to steady the dog.

“Squirrel.” Seemed like a good answer. “About all these questions?”

“Nothing to do with Patty, though she’s the one who enlightened me about the—how shall I describe her?” She tapped her chin, feigning deep thought. “I know. A tight-assed
blonde bimbo. And though I didn’t actually look outside, I’ll bet she was driving a fancy car.”

Shit almighty.

“I’m sure she was.” He looked over to see the sweet smile had disappeared. “Where did you meet Cassie?”

Beth ignored the question. “You were engaged to exactly the kind of woman you assumed I’d be that day on the ferry. You insulted me and your brother with the same stereotype that you almost married.”

“When you put it that way…”

“Wait.” She turned as far as the seat belt would allow. “You’re not surprised to know she’s on the island. You knew she was here.”

“She paid me a visit at the dock on Saturday.”

“How nice.” She flopped back around to face forward. “I’m sure you had a great time catching up. I hope you discussed what a hypocrite you are.”

“Look, I’m sorry. It’s not like you said, ‘Hi, my name is Elizabeth and I’m your brother’s fiancée.’”

She turned again. At this rate she’d have rope burn from the seat belt before they reached the gas station. “I didn’t even know who you were. And I told you, after you gave the oh-so-complimentary description of what you expected me to look like, I didn’t think it was a good idea to introduce myself as the person you’d just insulted.”

“Amazing.”

“Wha…what?”

“You don’t have a problem calling me out on shit right now. And you didn’t mind hurling insults at me while I was taking care of your blisters. So forgive me if
this ‘I didn’t want to embarrass you’ thing isn’t working for me.”

“Because. Well. I just don’t do that.”

“Really?” he snorted. “You could have fooled me.”

“I’m not rude, unlike some people we know.”

Joe pulled the Jeep off the road. “I didn’t sign up for this. I’ve apologized for making assumptions. I would apologize for the woman I nearly married, but I don’t see how that’s anything to you. And trust me when I say I’ve more than paid for that mistake.”

Beth’s mouth resembled a fish gulping for air, while Dozer whined in the backseat.

“It’s okay boy,” Joe said. “Are we going to do this or am I taking you back to the house?”

“You can’t back out now.”

“I can if you’re going to chew my ass all day. What are you so pissed off about, anyway?”

“She’s just…” Beth crossed her arms. “You were engaged to Cruella de Vil.”

Now she’d lost him. “I was what?”

“You work on a fishing boat. You wear”—her hand gestured up and down in front of his chest—“khaki shorts and old flannel. You drive a Jeep.” She pointed to Dozer. “You even own a giant mutt. What would a guy like you be doing with, well, a tight-assed blonde bimbo?”

In two years he hadn’t been able to answer that question. “Hell if I know.” Then he turned to face her. “You’re smart. Or seem to be. You wait tables like a professional, so you know what work is. You like my dog, so you have taste. What are you doing with a self-absorbed, overly ambitious workaholic?”