Whiskey and Gumdrops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance (28 page)

She hated herself for doing it, but she pivoted the chair back to face her. "I came by to see if you wanted a job. If you wanted to explore your culinary prowess on your own terms this time. I'm going to need someone to take over the catering aspect."

Her brother watched her, wary.

"Your terms. Your menu." She swallowed hard and released his chair.

He eased his chair back. "We didn't exactly work well together last time we tried this, Mandy."

"I know. But there would be more freedom to put our own Blueberry Springs twist on things this time. I'm hoping you'd be willing to take over Jen's stuff. You can use my kitchen and my bulk buying power." She waited a few seconds to let him consider the offer. "We both had a lot going on and I hope we can try working together again." Swallowing her pride, she added, "I can't do it all on my own."

"Is that an apology?"

"Yes."

"I'm not a charity case, you know." He set his jaw, his head held high.

Mandy couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I am!"

"Technically, you have to pay everyone back, space cadet."

Mandy laughed until tears sprang to her eyes. "You know how long I'm going to be in debt?" She groaned and wiped her eyes. "This had better work out."

"I can start tomorrow." He pointed at her with a finger. "But my terms. And I know exactly how much you need me in there."

She pointed back. "If you don't wash your hands and wear a hairnet, you are so out of there. And you can't leave me hanging. Two weeks notice if you bail."

He mimicked her, then stared at her for a moment. "The catering business is mine. Full ownership."

She inhaled slowly, then, smiling, nodded.

Ethan slowly reached out to shake her hand. "We have ourselves a deal, little sis. Just don't ever treat me like an invalid and I won't have to release cockroaches in your dining area."

"You wouldn't dare!"

For the first time in years, she saw that playful glimmer return to his eyes. "How long have you known me?"

* * *

"Okay, just over a bit. No! Just a bit! There. Perfect. Now stop touching it!" Mandy tried to hold her patience. Her brothers were messing with her and she knew it. But it had been a very long and very,
very
early morning of getting everything in place for the grand opening and she'd about had it with their shenanigans. It
so
wasn't funny anymore.

Just thinking about her grand opening had her bending over and breathing deeply so the room would stop spinning. An hour. In an hour, her place would be filled—she hoped.

"You know what?" Ethan said from his wheelchair, leaning forward, hand propped in his chin. He angled his head slightly to the right. "I think it's still crooked." Her other two brothers shot him a wicked grin.

"Shut up. It's fine." Nudging her eldest brother, Devon, out of the way, she climbed the ladder and smacked down the level on top of the specials chalkboard Liz had slipped her from the hardware shop's storeroom.

"No, really," Ethan insisted. "I think it's a bit off."

"You're a bit off," she said, pointing the level at him. "I'm about to go snap show on your ass if you don't stop it."

She climbed down the ladder and stood beside Ethan, glancing up at the board nailed to the wall above the coffee counter. "See? It's... god
dammit
!" She threw the level on the ground and gripped her hair in frustration.

"Look," pointed out her middle brother, Cody, finally taking pity on her, "the ceiling is sloped. It only makes it look off level."

"I have bigger things to worry about than whether my specials board looks crooked," she grumbled, heading for the kitchen.

She checked her list and breathed through the edge of her mood. How was she going to enjoy her grand opening if she felt nothing but panic? And where the hell was Frankie? If they were back to being friends, shouldn't he be here cracking jokes and putting her at ease? Sure, Blueberry Cruise was a good excuse for him not to be here, but still.

Screw it. If she couldn't have a dose of Frankie to calm her, she'd go for the next best thing. She grabbed the bottle of whiskey she'd bought for the whiskey brownies and sloshed a bit into a paper cup. If there was one thing that would take the Ginsu edge off her mood, it was a shot of spiced whiskey.

Ethan rolled in and, pointedly donning plastic gloves, began arranging sample trays. Mandy knocked a couple of ice cubes into the cup from the drink dispenser, along with a splash or two of Coke. Looking through to the front windows, she saw a stylish, restored Bentley parked out front, right beside a 1970s Camaro. And lots of people milling outside on the sidewalk as the show and shine got into full swing. Lots of people who would get hungry and thirsty over the course of the warm fall day. Oh hell, there was that spinning sensation again. Clutching the counter for support, she knocked back her drink.

She blinked a few times, gasping at the whiskey's sting. What was she thinking? Drinking before her opening? She ducked into the tiny office off the kitchen and dug through her purse for mints. She shoved a handful of Tic Tacs in her mouth and chewed hard. The room's purple color suddenly felt much too optimistic.

When she was sure her breath was okay, she barreled out of the office in seek of her to- do list. Sensing something had changed, she spun on her heel and halted, almost losing her balance.

Frankie stood tall in a button-down shirt and faded jeans. Her knees went all Jell-Oey and the amount of oxygen in the room seemed to suddenly diminish significantly.

The hungry look in his eyes—the one he used to mask as soon as she noticed it—was there. Unmasked. No hiding. No protection. The same truth she had in her heart and had been sheltering for years, behind pretense and fears.

She took a step toward him and he shot her a soft grin, exposing all those wonderful white chompers.

"Taking the edge off?" he asked. He took a step forward, his hands running up her arms and making her body tremble. She forced herself to remain rigid so she wouldn't tumble into his arms and make a fool of herself. Despite that fiery look in his eyes, they were still only friends. It was his move. "I can think of much better ways that won't leave a telltale scent on your breath."

If he was insinuating what she thought he was, she was going to pass out and miss it all.

"Then how should I chill out?" she asked, hoping and praying he was going to suggest something involving his body.

He tugged her into her office, shutting the door behind her. She tilted her head back to look at him, her mind failing to succeed in reminding her body to cool it and that there were important things to be tending to on the other side of that closed office door.

Frankie reached out to give her chin a gentle nudge. "You did it, huh?" But instead of his knuckle gliding off her chin in his mock hit, his finger gently ran the length of her jaw.

Inadvertently, she sighed and sagged toward him. Then, catching herself, she pulled back.

Instead of tensing, Frankie eased closer, trapping her in the tight space between the filing cabinet and doorframe. He rested a hand on top of the helium canister for the balloons she still hadn't put up. Frankie's dark eyes sent her soul calming messages and left her feeling relaxed and safe. Loved. Forgiven.

And maybe they were asking questions, too.

She gently placed a finger over the soul patch below his lip, testing its softness. He was well worth the risk. Always had been. She would take what he was willing to give and she wouldn't know what that was unless she stepped in and accepted.

She rested against him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she leaned her head against his chest. His heart throbbed against her. "I love you, Frankie," she whispered. She froze, her eyes flying open.

Oh, crap. That was out loud.

Oh, fuck, oh, fuck.

She wasn't going to push it. She was...

Oh hell. What did it matter, anyway?

She'd painted her feelings on the freaking tower and she'd told him straight out how she felt on national television and then also announced her intentions on the local news.

She tipped her head back to see his reaction and his lips were upon hers, his right hand flying into her hair, holding her close as he kissed her long and hard. His hand slipped up the back of her shirt and every touch against her skin sent lightning through her veins. They butted up against the filing cabinet and he suddenly upped the intensity, as though his revving engine had finally been released at the starting line after all those years.

Every emotion they'd experienced over the past few months crashed into their kisses as they hit the floor, Frankie on top of her, pinning her while cranking up the heat. She moaned and thrust her hands under his shirt, her fingers roaming every back muscle as though she was deciphering an urgent braille message. Every muscle she'd pretended not to admire over the years was inventoried as they rocked against each other, panting. Frankie's hand found her breast and she wrapped her legs around him as their lips tightly sealed around each other.

This
was what she had been missing.

Right there on the cold tile floor, she promised herself she would never miss an instant of this for the rest of her life. No matter what. This was the reward she'd always been seeking. The love of her best friend. He was the man who could help her through anything. He was the one.

The one.

* * *

Mandy handed out another balloon and grinned. She couldn't help it. Her lips felt as though they'd swelled to twice their normal size, prompting Mary Alice to frown and squint and ask if she'd undergone lip enhancement surgery until she'd happened to catch a glimpse of Frankie grinning from his spot by the sample table. Mandy had simply beamed like the fool she was.

A lovesick fool.

She shot Frankie a wink, which he returned with a smile. Trying not to be such a sap, she handed out another balloon and invited a family to try some samples. Less than two hours in and they were already running low. But people were actually purchasing items off the menu, and Benny, bless his heart, had sent Gloria over to help run food out to tables.

She could already see what Wrap it Up would become here in Blueberry Springs and how she would convince the other franchisees that this was the way to go—a blend between what Wrap it Up had been and a regular restaurant. A hybrid.

Frankie sidled over and, grabbing her around the waist, pulled her in for a long kiss. The restaurant cheered and a few clinked their plastic forks against their cups as if it was a wedding reception. Mandy blushed and smiled at her boyfriend. They hadn't discussed it, but she knew they were already far more than exclusive and things would continue to do nothing but heat up between them. It had only been a few hours, but things were already different than they had been with anyone else she'd ever been with.

She couldn't wait to close up for the night and see where the future took them.

Her brother wheeled up and whispered, "We're out of brownies."

"Good." She nodded. "People will have something to come back for."

"The brownies are all gone?" Benny asked, coming closer. "Huh. Well, it looks like you've got a hit on your hands—and I don't just mean the brownies." He raised his brows at the full room of bustling, happy eaters. "This place is what the town needs, especially with all these youngsters coming in to enjoy the outdoors. You'll do well." He rocked back on his heels and frowned in thought. "I may have to build an apartment building for all these youngsters to live in." He turned, catching John by the arm and immediately began discussing how to amend zoning bylaws.

Her heart skipped half a beat when she realized the next people waiting to talk to her and offer congratulations were Oz and Beth. Beth was cradling her barely rounded out midsection with a cupped hand and beaming like a crazy fool.

Man, life happened fast.

But I guess if you knew, you knew. She used to hate that reply when she'd ask people how they knew if it was true love:
You just know.
But now she understood. Completely.

Beth and Oz reached out at the same time to give her a double hug. "Congratulations," Mandy said to Beth. "You're going to be an awesome mom."

Beth blushed, looking immensely pleased to be harboring a baby. "Thank you."

They watched each other for a second, and then suddenly the tension, that had been there between them for all those years dissipated. They shared a soft smile of understanding.

"I'm happy for you two," Beth whispered in Mandy's ear. "He's always been so crazy about you."

Mary Alice pulled Beth away to chat about morning sickness remedies and Mandy felt relieved. It was one thing to drop the gloves, and quite another to start talking about their men and love. The couple blended back into the crowd and out on the street, the cars began a slow cruise up and down Main, honking and waving at the spectators. A success outside. A success inside.

Frankie pulled Mandy back into his arms. "I heard Ed bought thirty tickets for the whiskey and gumdrops raffle. He's desperate for a whole tray of those things."

Mandy laughed. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask... Who
was
that blowtorch girl, anyway?"

Frankie frowned in confusion.

"Sorry, I mean Justice," Mandy amended quickly.

"Nothing," Frankie said, a glint in his eye. "Why? Were you jealous?"

Mandy felt her cheeks burn.

Frankie pulled her closer. "Just a girl who needed a break. I may have let people think there was something between us. You know, so I could be sure a girl I had my sights on wasn't just playing me."

She playfully pushed him away and shook her head. He pulled her back in, brushing his lips against hers. "Mmm. Did I ever tell you how good you smell with food in your hair?"

Shivers raced down her spine and the glee inside threatened to erupt like a dropped can of beer. When life was good, it was
good
. "Are you trying to change the subject?" she asked.

"No, just admiring how delectable you are. If I were going to change the subject, I'd tell you I loved you."