Perfect Together (32 page)

Her cranberry and hazelnut scones were a hit with the moms, and the kids loved the chocolate chip ones. The cinnamon and cream cheese muffins were treats everyone seemed to enjoy. And people ordered Lulu’s pies for their weekend barbecues. By the time the day ended, Nicole’s legs ached from being on her feet all day, but her emotions were running high with their success.

Then there was Sam. True to his word, he stopped by during the day. Not once or twice but three times, offering moral support and buying food. He didn’t stay to talk or hog her attention, but she felt his warm gaze on hers for the duration of his visit. His proud gaze.

And his words from last night came back to her.
You want to know why I want to be there for you when you need me? Because I love you.

Could he mean it, she wondered? And more importantly, could she trust him, especially after his insistence on not wanting or believing in relationships and love for himself?

Come to me when you're free—of everything. Then
we can talk.
Tyler never thought the day would come. In fact, up through last night, his father had been refusing to cooperate with the police, proclaiming his innocence and thrusting all the blame on his accountant. Only when Paul Farnsworth had refused to stand by him did Robert Stanton break down and confess. He’d truly believed that his partner,
Nicole’s father, would understand the need to bolster the firm during tough economic times, no matter the means.

Tyler was still coming to terms with his father’s betrayal of everything moral and right. His mother? He didn’t think she’d ever forgive her husband, and at this moment she was meeting with her attorneys. Not to delve into the legal status of her campaign funding, but to file for divorce. That was his mother. No second chances.

Before he could go talk to Macy, he had to do some legwork on something he hoped would prove to her that from this moment on, she came first. Whatever happened between them in the long run, Tyler knew it wouldn’t be for lack of trying.

Daisies. Sam sent daisies to the store every morning
for a week straight. Each day, they brightened up the area by the cash register, and when Nicole ran out of the room, they lined the windowsill overlooking the street.

“Someone’s in love,” Aunt Lulu said, turning the lock on the door and hanging the
CLOSED
sign from the doorknob.

“Are you talking about me? Or Sam?” Nicole asked her partner.

Aunt Lulu waggled her eyebrows. “Oh, a little bit of both of you.”

Nicole bit down on the inside of her cheek. “Is love enough?” She asked the question that had been nagging at her day and night.

“Oh, honey. Of course it is.” Aunt Lulu placed an arm around her shoulders and led her to a small table in front. “Sit.”

Not one to argue with this woman, Nicole did as instructed.
Aunt Lulu pulled up a seat beside her. “I lost my first love to cancer before we ever got married. If I could have him back, just to experience that love again, I truly believe all would be right in my world.” The woman who always seemed so together and strong looked suddenly frail and sad.

Nicole reached for her hand. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

Aunt Lulu shrugged. “It’s in the past. I can’t change it, so I just push forward. But I can advise you not to waste one single day.” She rose to her feet, obviously finished with sadness and reminiscing. “So aren’t you glad we hired people to help with the cleanup?”

“More than anything. I don’t know if I could handle it,” Nicole admitted, stretching her legs and wiggling her aching feet.

A knock sounded at the door. “Who could that be?” Nicole asked.

Aunt Lulu stepped closer and glanced outside. “A very distinguished-looking gentleman I’ve never seen before.”

Wary, Nicole stood and checked the visitor for herself. “Dad!”

“That’s your father?” Aunt Lulu asked. “Nice-looking man.”

“Yes.” But Nicole wondered what was inside him. “I guess I should find out what he wants.” She unlocked the door and let him inside. “You’re returning my unexpected visit,” she said. “What’s the occasion?”

“I have news,” he said.

“I see. Well, first meet my business partner, Lulu Donovan. Lulu, this is my father, Paul Farnsworth.”

They shook hands, Aunt Lulu lingering too long—more for effect—as Nicole had come to learn about her. She liked being noticed.

But
she was also observant and realized that Nicole’s father had come for an important reason. “I’ll go see to the cleanup,” she said, excusing herself.

Nicole waited until Aunt Lulu was in the back room before turning to her father, only to find him wandering around, taking in her bakery with his discerning eye.

“Very nice,” he said, surprising her.

She blinked. “Thank you. I take it Mom told you where to find me?”

“Your mother told me she paid you a visit. She was . . . upset about the business and Robert’s arrest, and you know how your mother gets when things don’t go her way.”

“Yes. She tries to manipulate them back the way she wants them.”

“She does,” he agreed.

“You’ve done it a time or two yourself,” Nicole pointed out.

His mouth twisted in a wry grin.

“It won’t work with me. Not anymore. I’m not leaving my life here—”

“I’m not here to ask you to.”

Nicole stepped back, taken off guard. “Then why make the trip here?” she asked, her heart suddenly racing, and she couldn’t figure out why.

He studied her, as if seeing her for the first time. “Something your boyfriend said.”

“Sam’s not my—”

Her father burst out laughing, the action and the sound so at odds with the man Nicole knew, she was even more off balance. “What’s so funny?” she finally asked.

Her father shrugged out of his suit jacket and placed it over the back of a chair. “Whatever you label the man, he
cares about you. Enough to call me out on ‘not giving a shit about you.’”

Nicole’s mouth went dry and she lowered herself into the nearest chair. “He shouldn’t have said that.”

Her father took up the chair Aunt Lulu had been in minutes earlier, his big frame awkward in the smaller seat. “Someone needed to point out what should have been obvious.”

Nicole glanced down at her hands. “I don’t know what to say.” And she was rarely at a complete loss for words.

He paused, clearly as uncomfortable as she was. “Your mother and I aren’t affectionate with each other,” he finally said, surprising Nicole yet again. “It shouldn’t be a surprise to me that I didn’t know what to do with children. Two girls, no less, and one with a mental disorder. And your mother is not exactly the maternal type.”

“You can say that again.” If he could state the truth, Nicole wasn’t about to hide her feelings. “She told me I was a disappointment.” She choked on the word and averted her gaze, embarrassed to show emotion in front of him.

“I’m sorry. From both of us. I realize that doesn’t change anything, but at least you know I’m aware now. And that’s why when Robert asked me to back him up and help him out of this mess, I refused.”

“He betrayed your trust and was using the business to launder money. Of course you wouldn’t help him.”

“No. I can’t say I’m that honorable. If he’d managed to pull us out of the recession mess we were in without getting caught, I might have turned a blind eye.” Her father’s cheeks flushed a ruddy color. “But to threaten you because of it? Robert crossed a line that’s unacceptable. I don’t care if I have to start over from scratch. I want him to pay.”

Her
father had defended her? Gone to bat for her? Nicole blinked back tears. “I matter to you?” she asked, hating that she sounded like a pathetic little girl seeking her daddy’s approval, even if that was exactly what she was.

The child who’d never gotten what she needed. Not when she made honor roll every semester. Not when she’d graduated cum laude from college. Not ever.

Until now.

Her father reached out and—awkwardly—placed his hand over hers. “You matter, Nicole. You and Victoria both do.”

She didn’t know how badly she’d needed to hear those words until her father said them. She wiped at the tears with the back of her hand.

“Now I want you to do something for me,” he said, ignoring her show of emotion.

“What’s that?”

“Find a man who deserves you. Someone warm and caring. Someone
not
like me.” His lips turned up again in a self-deprecating way.

She managed a laugh.

“Someone like that detective of yours.”

She blushed, unable to answer.

Her father wasn’t expecting a reply. He rose from his chair, pulling his jacket back onto his shoulders, and started for the door.

He grasped the doorknob and paused. “Nicole?”

“Yes?”

He cleared his throat. “You’ve done a wonderful job with this place.”

She blinked hard. So many surprises from him, she
couldn’t take them all in. “I . . . Thank you,” she said, to his retreating back as he shut the door behind him.

Macy lived in a garden apartment, a low-rise set of
buildings near The Family Restaurant. She loved the location, so close to work, and she also liked being surrounded by people. Her neighbors were composed of a mix of people her own age, married couples, and older folks who’d chosen to downsize from their homes. Macy, being Macy, was friendly with them all, and today was the day she normally checked on her next-door neighbor, Monique Tamm, a recent widow.

Yesterday Macy had picked up sticky buns, Monique’s favorite, so she could drop by for a cup of tea and a chat. She didn’t know why, but she found it easy to talk to people of all ages and always had, which was why her family had designated her hostess, not waitress, from early on.

She and Monique lived on the ground floor, the last two units near the end of the hall, which had the same apartment layout. Their kitchen windows overlooked the parking lot, which, despite its nature, was surrounded by beautiful flowers and trees. The backyard gave them each a view of a manmade lake.

She brought her bakery box with the brightly colored Lulu and Nic’s insignia and knocked. Monique opened the door. Her dark hair with no gray was pulled back in a sleek bun; she had a warm smile on her face and Macy was happy to see her looking relaxed and more at peace than she’d been in a while.

A few minutes later, they settled around the kitchen table,
and Macy was drinking the most delicious chamomile tea. As usual, conversation drifted from town gossip to Monique’s past. Today she focused on her early dating days with her husband.

Macy couldn’t imagine losing someone you loved so much, but at least Monique had had over forty-five years. She wasn’t ready to see anyone else, but she was open to the idea of companionship of a sort. Other people, like Macy’s aunt, never got over a loss and compensated in other ways, but Macy suspected her aunt was still lonely and often wished Lulu would find herself a nice man. But she preferred to be alone.

Macy didn’t feel the same way. She was getting tired of her own company. Her friends were slowly but surely marrying and moving on with their lives. And though she’d fallen for Tyler, she knew her feelings had to be superficial at best. After all, she hadn’t spent all that much time with him, so how well could she really know him?

The problem was, what she did know, she liked a lot. Putting his distinguished good looks aside, he was loyal to people he cared about, a good quality even if she was admittedly jealous of the way he looked out for Nicole. He was funny even when he didn’t realize it or mean to be, and she appreciated a man with a sense of humor. He clearly had a strong sense of right and wrong, if his current situation was anything to go by. And when he focused on her, he looked at her as if there weren’t anyplace else in the world he’d rather be.

The problem was, moments like that were few and far between. She didn’t want to hold his problems against him, or the fact that his ex-fiancée was entangled in them too. She just wanted to come first with a man, and until that time, she felt she’d had no choice but to send him away.

“My
goodness, you’re a million miles away this morning,” Monique said, snapping her fingers in front of Macy’s face at the same time.

She blinked, startled and flushed. “I’m sorry. My mind was elsewhere, and that was rude of me.”

“Nonsense. You’re probably bored by the stories I tell you about Charles and our courtship.”

Macy smiled. “No way. I love to hear you reminisce. Honestly.”

“Well, I appreciate the time you give me. Is there anything I can do for you?” Monique asked.

Macy shook her head. She wrapped her hand around the delicate teacup, absorbing its warmth. “No. Maybe.” She laughed. “It’s just that I met a guy and I thought we could have something special, but . . . a lot of time has passed and I think maybe he’s not really interested.”

She remembered seeing him at Nicole’s, the embarrassment she’d felt at his being in town and not coming to see her. Her face flushed at the memory.

“Well, his loss.” Monique patted her hand. “Oh! Are you expecting a delivery?” she asked, her gaze focused out the window over the parking lot.

“No. Why?”

“There’s a gentleman walking up the path toward our units with a large wrapped package. It looks like a painting.”

Macy rose and walked to the window over the sink. She looked out and gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Monique asked, coming up behind her.

“Not wrong, very very right,” Macy said, her stomach suddenly in nervous knots. “That’s
him
,” she whispered.

“Ah,”
Monique said, her voice lifting in understanding. “You should go, then.”

Macy turned to her and pulled her into a warm embrace. “Thanks for understanding.”

She ran for the door, making it to the outside walkway just as Tyler reached up and rang her doorbell. “Looking for me?” she asked, breathless and not from the short sprint into the hall.

He turned, leveling those green eyes her way. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi yourself. What are you doing here?” She rocked on her feet, nervous and happy at the same time.