The Posse (9 page)

“Music helps me work, and I
never could resist Sheila E.”

“Who could?” Logan grinned
and shook his head. “Sorry I interrupted your alone time. I’ll see
you later.”

“Logan.” He stopped at her
voice and turned back.

“Would you stay a little?
I’ve probably got another half hour of work here. I mean, if you
don’t have anything better to do.”

Logan thought of single
breast of chicken sitting in his refrigerator at home. “Nope, I got
nothing. But I thought you wanted to be alone.”

She shrugged. “I had some of
that. Now I want some company, if that’s okay.”

He unbuttoned his cuffs and
began rolling up his sleeves. “I’ll stay if you let me help. We’ll
get done faster, and then I’m taking you down the street to Jimmy’s
for an ice cream cone. Deal?”

Jude studied him for a
minute before smiling. “Deal.” She tossed him a rag. “Want to do
the cabinets?”

***

Cooper Davis knew women.

Raised by a single mother,
married twice and now the father of a teenaged girl, he was fairly
certain there wasn’t too much about the female species he didn’t
understand. So the idea of a relationship with Jude didn’t faze him
at all.

He knew marriage wasn’t in
the cards for him, not again. He’d vowed after his failed second
attempt that he wouldn’t go down that road again. But the way he
figured it, Jude wasn’t some starry-eyed girl. She probably didn’t
want to get married again either.  He pictured them in one of
those very mature, modern relationships. They could keep their own
houses, even their own lives. It would be nice to have a dependable
date for things like weddings and reunions, without all the mess of
marriage. And finding someone who already loved Alexis, whom Lex
loved, too, was a bonus he just couldn’t deny.

He was sitting in his
workshop, sanding down a credenza before he stained it as he
considered their options.  Being a carpenter was a calling,
and one he had always been content to have. The whole posse had
been proud of Logan when he’d gone to college and become an
architect, and of Daniel when he’d earned his business degree and
opened his general contracting business. But the great thing about
their friends was that they were no less happy for Eric when he
became a master plumber and for Cooper when he opened his carpentry
shop.

His phone buzzed, and Cooper
grinned when he saw the caller ID.
Jude.
Well, if that
wasn’t just like the universe, handing him an opportunity to lay
down some groundwork.

He answered, keep his voice
low yet professional. “Cooper Davis.”

“Hey, Coop. It’s Jude. Got a
minute?”

“For you, gorgeous, more
than one. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to check with you
about the piece for the bed and breakfast. The one for the foyer?
We’re working on nailing down the opening date, and I told Logan
I’d help him with some of the loose ends.”

Cooper flipped over a page
on his planner. “It’s on track to be finished by the end of next
week. I can have it delivered any time after that.”

“Oh, that’s great. I’ll let
them know, and one of us will get back to you about a definite
date.”

“Okay.” Cooper paused as
inspiration struck. “You know, Jude, I’m glad you called. I was
thinking about the stain for that piece, and I’d love it if you
could come down here, take a look at the choices.”

 “Oh, sure. I can do
that. Could I stop this afternoon, after we close? I could be there
before six, I think, if that’s not too late for you.”

“That would be perfect. I’ll
see you then.” He clicked off, ran his hand over the credenza and
nodded in satisfaction.

Jude was beginning to feel as though
she’d fallen into an alternate reality. First it had been Matt,
with the dinner that had veered dangerously close to date
territory. She’d convinced herself she was wrong about that, and
now that he was happy with Sandra, it was easier to accept.

And then there was the weird
vibe she’d been getting from Logan, culminating in their dance the
other night. She knew—
knew
—he had been about to kiss her.
Dancing with him had been stepping onto dangerous ground. When his
arms went around her, her stomach had gone liquid with an odd
feeling that had shot straight down her knees.

This was something Jude had
heard mentioned in her grief support group: lonely widows who saw
attraction or love behind every expression of support or comfort.
She was determined not to be that woman. After all, it had been
thirty years since she had even considered a man other than Daniel.
Being out of practice was kind of a given, and the last thing she
wanted to do was mistake compassion for passion.

So she had resolved to be
friendly and natural with all of her friends. In the mornings when
Logan stopped by, she kept their conversation light. She didn’t
stand too close to him, and she didn’t let her imagination
wander.

Not too far, anyway.

Driving to Cooper’s shop
after a long day at the Tide, her mind kept darting back to dancing
with Logan. How he had looked at her when they were fast dancing,
and then the slow melt of his eyes when the Madonna song came on.
The way his arms had pulled her flush to his body, fitting her to
him in a way that was both foreign and familiar at the same
time.

Snap out of it,
she
warned herself.
It’s Logan. He’s just doing what he promised.
Taking care of me.

Cooper’s shop was tucked
away on the far edge of town, away from the beach and farther east
than Jude’s house. He had bought the tiny Cape Cod dirt cheap for
the spacious workshop in the backyard. Eventually, he had gutted
the house, turning the dining room into his business office and the
bedrooms upstairs into an apartment of sorts, a place where he
could sleep when he worked late. It also became the spot where he’d
crashed between marriages.

The sun was setting as Jude
pulled into the driveway. Cooper’s pickup was still in the back,
parked at angle to the rear of the workshop, and the high whirring
sound of a sander came from inside.

Jude climbed out of the car
and followed the noise. She opened the door to the workshop with
caution; she knew how involved Cooper became, and startling him
when he was working with a machine could have some nasty
consequences.

He was at the far end of the
open room, holding the massive sander in arms that bulged with the
effort. Safety glasses protected his eyes, and he wore jeans and a
tight white t-shirt with boots Jude knew were steel-toed.

Cooper was tallest of the
posse. In high school, they’d called him Scarecrow until he’d begun
to fill out a little, but even now, he tended toward thinness. He
kept his black hair short, mostly because he said it was too hard
to keep the sawdust out if it got long.

Jude closed the door and
stood still, waiting until he saw her. Once he did, he turned off
the sander and turned to put it down on a nearby shelf.

Pulling off the goggles,
Cooper waved her over. “Hey! You been there long?”

Jude stepped carefully
around the furniture in various stages of development and smiled.
“No, just got here. I--” She stopped in surprise as Cooper swept
her into a hug the minute she was close enough.

“Sorry, I’m covered in dust.
But don’t worry, it wipes off.” Cooper grinned. “How was your
day?”

“Umm...” Jude brushed bits
of wood from her cheek. “It was good. How about you?”

He lifted one shoulder. “Not
bad. Busy in here, but no client meetings, so that’s always
good.”

Jude laughed. “Cooper,
client meetings are how you get new business. You know you have to
see people at some point.”

“I do. I’m seeing you,
right?”

She shook her head. “I don’t
count.”

Cooper’s mouth twisted. “I’d
have to disagree.” His eyes roamed over her face, and Jude froze
for a moment, and then forced her lips into a smile.

“For someone who says he
doesn’t like people, you sure are a flirt.”

An expression Jude couldn’t
define skittered across Cooper’s face. “You don’t get two ex-wives
without a little flirting, I guess. I can pull ‘em in, but the
‘not-liking-people’ deal makes it hard to hold onto them.”

“I’m sorry.” Jude touched
his arm. “I didn’t mean that. I was only teasing.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He
squeezed her shoulder and left his hand there as he turned them
around. “That table is in the back. Come on.”

Cooper had been working with
Holt/Hawthorne since their first project. He did specialty jobs,
things like banisters, mantles and built-in furniture. When Daniel
and Logan began delving into investment properties, like the bed
and breakfast, they’d increased Cooper’s participation and even
offered to bring him as partner. But Cooper hated the business end
of the job. For him, it was all about the wood and what he found
within in it.

Jude loved to visit his
shop. To her, it was miraculous that anyone could take a few pieces
of wood and turn them into functional works of art. She ran her
hand over a delicate desk with spindly legs and complicated carved
edges.

“This is so pretty, Cooper.
Who is it for?”

He spared it a passing a
glance. “Lady over in Lake Mariah. She had a desk like when she was
young, but it got lost at some point, and she wants to recreate it.
I made it from an old picture.”

“That’s amazing.” Jude
followed Cooper to a corner where a narrow table stood.  One
side had a straight beveled edge, while the rest of it curved into
a half circle. It was designed to stand flush against the wall in
the foyer and would hold baskets of information for the guests of
the bed and breakfast.

“Wow. This is going to be
perfect. I can just see it in the entryway.”

“Yeah, I think so. So here
are your stain choices. The initial order was for a chai latte
stain.” He held up a sample chip, laid it against the table. “But I
wanted to make sure you hadn’t added other furniture in that room
that might not work with this shade. Lot easier to change the order
now than it will be next week.”

Jude tilted her head. “What
are my other choices?”

“Gingerbread House. Hot
Chocolate. Apple Cider. Maple Syrup.” Cooper laid the squares on
the table in a perfect row.

“Are those really the names?
They’re making me hungry.”

Cooper shrugged. “Companies
make them up. If it were me, it would be dark brown, lighter brown,
reddish brown and golden brown.” He glanced at Jude speculatively.
“Did you want something to eat? I think there’s some fruit in the
house. Or maybe in the fridge in here.”

“Nah, I’m good, thanks.”
Jude rubbed her bottom lip with one finger as she studied the
stains. “I like the original choice, but you know, I bought a lamp
a few months back that would be perfect for the center of this
table. It’s Tiffany—well, Tiffany-esque.”  She smiled at
Cooper, who looked slightly lost.

“Anyway, the lamp is mostly
red glass, and I’m thinking that maybe that—what is it, Apple
Cider? That would look terrific.”

Cooper nodded. “Okay. It’ll
be ready next week. I’ll call you when we can schedule it for
delivery.”

“Thanks, Cooper. It’s going
to be gorgeous.”

He nodded, looking down the
sawdust-covered floor. “It was the last piece I planned with
Daniel. He told me what should go there, just a few weeks before
he--” Cooper’s mouth worked.

Jude closed her hand over
his. “I know. Lasts are the worst thing. If you knew all the times
I’ve thought about it...last year, when I finished using the final
tube of toothpaste I’d shared with Daniel, I cried for an hour.”
She shook her head. “Crazy, right?”

“No, not crazy.” Cooper
turned his hand, laced his fingers through hers. “It means you
loved him. Those things wouldn’t hurt if you didn’t.”