The Perfect Hope

  “Forward them to me,” Owen told her. “I’ll start combing through.”

  “I will, and I’ll carve out time to do the same. It feels like progress.” Unconsciously, she laid a hand on Ryder’s shoulder as she spoke. “I have to believe we’ll find something.”

  “Why don’t you sit down a minute?” Before she could respond, Ryder just pulled her down on his lap. When she tried to push away, he grinned at his brothers and tightened his hold. “Screws with her dignity.”

  “My dignity remains unbowed. You’re sweaty.”

  “It’s hot. Eat some fries.”

  “I just had a yogurt, so—”

  “Then you definitely need some fries.”

  She knew full well he’d keep her pinned in his lap until she did. She plucked one out of his container. “There. Now—”

  “Wash it down.” He picked up his glass, put it in her hand.

  “Fine, fine.” She drank, put the glass down again.

  “Ry was saying you could use more help,” Owen began.

  Her back went stiff as a two-by-four. “Have there been complaints?”

  “No, but—”

  “Have I complained? No,” she answered for herself. “I know what I can handle and what I can’t. Keep that in mind,” she told Ryder, poking her elbow into his gut and pushing to her feet. “I need to get back to work.”

  “You’ve got a big fucking mouth, Owen.”

  “You just said she—”

  “A big fucking mouth. There’s the steel.” He took his sandwich with him as he walked away.

  “Definitely hooked,” Beckett observed.

  “He’s the one who said she was overworked.”

  “Yeah, ’cause he’s the one who’s hooked.”

  HE SENT HER flowers. Ryder’s working theory had always been if a woman was pissed off, no matter the cause or the blame, a guy sent flowers. Mostly that smoothed things out again. Then he forgot it in the sweat and effort of work until he was locking up for the night and she walked over.

  “The flowers are beautiful. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’ve only got a minute, which doesn’t mean I’m overworked. It means I’m working.”

  Damn Owen, he thought. “Okay.”

  “I don’t want you telling your family I can’t handle this job.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “If I need more help, I’ll talk to Justine. I can speak for myself.”

  “Got it.”

  A man could always hope that would cap that, but as he expected she—like most women—gnawed on it.

  “Ryder, I appreciate your concern. It’s nice, and it’s unexpected. Sometimes there’s a lot of stress and pressure involved. I’m sure it’s the same with your work.”

  “Can’t argue there.”

  “You could probably use a vacation, a long weekend or something.”

  He laughed at having his own words tossed at him. “Yeah, probably. The thing is, I’ve got the next two days off.”

  “How much time will you spend in the shop, or working out next week’s plan of attack, or talking to your mother about this job?”

  She had him there. “Some.”

  D.A. waddled over, nudged his nose at her hand. “He thinks I’m mad at you. I’m not.”

  “Good to know.”

  She stepped up, kissed his cheek. “Maybe you could come by after the fireworks tomorrow.”

  “I can do that.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

  “Hey,” he called when she walked away. “You want to go to the movies? Not tonight,” he added at the puzzled look on her face. “Next week, your night off.”

  “Ah … I can make that work. Sure. I’d like that.”

  “Set it up. Let me know.”

  “All right.” She smiled, but the puzzled look stayed in her eyes. “Do you buy a ticket for your dog?”

  “I would, but they won’t let him in.”

  “Do you have a DVD player?”

  “Sure.”

  “A microwave?”

  “How else would I cook?”

  “Then why don’t I come over to your place? We can watch a movie there—all three of us.”

  It was his turn to be puzzled. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

  “Wednesday night?”

  “Fine. You want dinner?”

  “Not if you’re cooking it in the microwave.”

  “I can toss something on the grill.”

  “Then yes. I’ll come by about six, give you a hand. I have to get back. Laurie’s on her own.”

  “See you later.”

  Ryder stuffed his hands in his pockets, watched her walk away. “Every time I think I get her,” he said to D.A., “I don’t.”

  THE NEXT NIGHT, as the sun lowered, Ryder gave the second half of his second steamer to Murphy.

  “You’re a bottomless pit.”

  “They’re good. And they ran out of ice cream.”

  “Ought to be illegal.”

  “We can put them in jail.” With a smile and steamer-sticky hands, Murphy climbed into Ryder’s lap. “Mom says we can go by the Creamery if they’re still open when we get there. You wanna come?”

  A hot July night. Ice cream. “Maybe.”

  “Mom says Hope couldn’t come ’cause she has to work.” Devouring the sandwich, Murphy licked steamer juice off the heels of his hands. “Is Hope your girlfriend?”

  “No.” Was she? Jesus.

  “How come? She’s really pretty, and she mostly always has cookies.”

  Considering, Ryder thought the combination was as much a no-brainer as ice cream on a hot night in July.

  “Those are excellent points.”

  “My girlfriend’s pretty. Her name’s India.”

  God, the kid just killed him. “What kind of a name is India?”

  “It’s India’s name. She has blue eyes, and she likes Captain America.” He pulled Ryder’s head down, whispered. “I kissed her, on the mouth. It was good. You kissed Hope on the mouth, so she’s your girlfriend.”

  “I’m going to kiss you on the mouth in a minute if it’ll shut it up.”

  Murphy’s gut laugh rolled out, dragged a smile out of Ryder.

  “They’re gonna start soon, right? Right?”

  “As soon as it’s dark.”

  “It takes forever to get dark, except when you don’t want it to.”

  “You’re wise, young Jedi.”

  “I’m going to play with my light saber.” He wriggled down, grabbed up the toy light-up sword Beckett had bought him, swished it through the air.

  His brothers immediately launched an attack.

  “That used to be you,” Justine told him.

  “Which one?”

  “All three of them. Why don’t you go on up to the inn? You can see the fireworks from there.”

  Ryder stretched out in his sling chair. “Montgomery family tradition.”

  “I’m giving you dispensation.”

  He laid a hand over hers. “It’s okay. She’s busy.”

  “Liam! If you don’t stop I’ll take that thing away from you.”

  Justine glanced over at Clare, sighed. “And that used to be me. It goes by, Ryder.” She turned her hand under his, laid the other over Willy B’s, who sat at her other side with Tyrone on his lap. “It pays to grab what’s good and right when you can.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve bought something else.”

  “You know what I’m talking about. It’s starting,” she murmured as a trail of light streaked skyward. “There’s nothing like the start of something big.”

  FROM THE PORCH of the inn, Hope watched the sky explode. Around her the guests applauded, oohed, ahhed. She’d made margaritas on request, enjoyed one herself while she watched the color and light.

  And thought of Ryder, down in the park with his family.

  Flowers, she mused. Such a surprise. She liked surprises, but she also liked to know what th
ey meant. An apology in this case, she concluded. Though it hadn’t been necessary.

  Then there was the movie business. Where had that come from? Straight out of the blue, as far as she could tell.

  Silly, she told herself. A movie was just a movie.

  But it was the first time he suggested going anywhere—a date?—since they’d started sleeping together.

  Were they dating now? Dating was different from sleeping together. Dating had a kind of structure and a set of rules—loose ones, depending, but rules and structure.

  Should she start thinking about that—about rules, and structure?

  And why was she complicating what was absolutely simple? They enjoyed each other in bed, and bonus, liked and enjoyed each other out of it.

  And, both of them were sensible, straightforward people with busy lives.

  Enjoy the moment, she ordered herself. Enjoy the fireworks.

  A hand closed over hers, so she turned. No one touched her; everyone’s eyes were trained on the sky.

  “All right, Lizzy,” she murmured. “We’ll enjoy them together.”

  When the last boom echoed, she went down to make a fresh batch of drinks. It pleased her, a great deal, to know her guests had a good holiday experience, and were even now talking about the show, the feel, the local color.

  It pleased her, too, to realize Lizzy wanted her companionship.

  She fixed more chips and salsa, plated the pretty mini cupcakes topped with American flags she’d gotten from the bakery. She left some on the counter for those who came down, trayed the rest to carry up for those who wanted more time out in the summer night.

  She carried up the tray. Belatedly thought Ryder might like something if and when he came by. She slipped out and down, plated a few more cupcakes. She had beer in her personal refrigerator now.

  And what did that mean?

  Just that she often had the company of a man who preferred it to wine, she told herself as she once again climbed the steps.

  And stopped short when Ryder came down from the third floor.

  “I didn’t know you were here.”

  “I put D.A. in your place. The kids wiped him out. Did you make those?”

  “No, the bakery—”

  He grabbed two, ate the first in one bite. “Good.”

  “Yes, they are. I was taking them upstairs in case you made it by and wanted some.”

  “Good thinking. I do.” He ate the second, then held out some sort of plastic wand with a star on the top. “I got you a present.”

  “You—What is it?”

  “What does it look like? It’s like a magic wand or a fairy stick. They sell these light-up toys down at the park. The boys got light sabers and ray guns. This is girly.”

  “It’s girly.”

  “They’re fun.” He pressed a couple buttons, had it singing and shooting off light.

  Laughing, she took it, gave it a little wag through the air. “You’re right. They’re fun. Thanks.”

  “Did you see the show?”

  “Yes, it was great. We had chips and salsa and margaritas on the porch.”

  “It’s not Cinco de Mayo.”

  “The guests are always right. And they’re excellent margaritas. Do you want to come out and have one?”

  “Really don’t. I’ve had my quota of people today. The park was jammed with them.”

  “Here. Take the cupcakes. I’ll be up as soon as I can.”

  “Am I supposed to save any of these?”

  “Yes.”

  “Always a catch.”

  “Beer’s in the fridge,” she said, and went out to her guests.

  IT WAS LATER than she’d hoped, but they made their own fireworks. With too little sleep, she climbed out of bed to work with Carolee on breakfast. By the time she managed a minute to go back up, he and his dog were already gone.

  See? Simple. Straightforward.

  Then she picked up the silly wand, turned it on.

  And felt her heart melt a bit—more, she realized, than it had with flowers.

  She laid it down again to go and begin the process of reordering her inn after the long weekend.

  As she hauled bags of linens into the laundry room to store till pickup, Avery poked her head in.

  “Take a break.”

  “I used to know what that meant. What are you doing in town?”

  “Dragging you away. Come look at the new place. You haven’t been in for more than a week.”

  “I wanted to, but—”

  “I know. Now everybody’s gone. Take a break.”

  “We have to turn all the rooms—and I have to order more supplies. We have a couple checking in later.”

  “That’s later. Come on. Clare’s coming. She just had to check something at the bookstore. You can take twenty minutes.”

  “You’re right. And I could use it. Just let me tell Carolee.”

  “I already did.” Avery grabbed her hand. “Come let me show off.”

  “I saw the sign. It’s great. Charming and cute and fun.”

  “We’re going to be full of charming and fun, and really good food.” She pulled Hope along by the hand. “Owen says mid-August, and I’m so excited about that—but the way it’s going, maybe sooner. I mean they’d be finished sooner and I’d have longer to set up and perfect.”

  “You’d have had sixteen people Saturday night, I can tell you that. I’m plugging you big-time.”

  “Appreciated.” As they crossed the street, Avery dug out her keys. “Prepare to be wowed.”

  “Prepared.”

  Avery threw open the door.

  The old dark tile was gone. Hardwood replaced it, deep and rich and protected by tarps and cardboard sheets, but Hope saw enough to be wowed. Stamped copper gleamed from the ceiling, and the walls were smooth, primed and waiting for paint.

  “Avery, it’s going to be even better than I imagined.”

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet. They tiled the bathrooms.”

  She kept dragging Hope, here, there—to see the tile, the fresh walls in the kitchen, through the now framed opening to the bar side.

  “Oh, they’ve restored the siding. It’s fabulous!”

  “Isn’t it?” Avery ran her fingers over the smooth wood. “This was the best surprise, and see my brick wall—it’s just right. They’re going to paint, and put in the lights, the bathroom fixtures, the kitchen … then the bar goes in. I may cry when the bar goes in.”

  “I’ll bring tissues. Oh, here’s Clare. And look at the raised platform; the kids helped build it. I may cry now. Honey,” she said when she got a good look at Clare, “are you okay? You’re a little green.”

  “It’s July,” Clare reminded her, and took slow little sips from her water bottle. “And it’s twins.”

  “There’s a step stool in the kitchen. Stay right there.”

  “I’m fine,” Clare began, but Avery was on the dash. “But I could sit.”

  “You shouldn’t be out in this heat.”

  “I’m not going to be for long. But pregnant or not, I have to live. Beckett’s dealing with the boys, the dogs, and the super-duper sprinkler.”

  “You hit the jackpot there.”

  “And I know it.” She didn’t argue when Avery came back with the stool, but sank onto it. “Thanks. It really looks good in here, Avery. Everything’s coming together just the way you imagined it.”

  “Even better. There’s a fan back there. I’m going to get it.”

  “Avery, stop. I’m fine. It’s a lot cooler in here than it is out there. I just got a little queasy. It’s passed.”

  “I’m walking you to your car when you go, and if you’re not a hundred percent, I’m driving you home.”

  “Deal. Now relax. There’s a lot of summer yet to get through. And don’t say anything to Beckett. I mean it.” Clare added a pointed finger. “He hasn’t been through this before. I have. I’d know if anything was off with myself or the twins. It’s just normal pregnant in high summer.”