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They moved even with the house. This time it wasn’t a gloomy shadow Vince felt but the icy hand of guilt. His actions had left their family without a reliable parent.
“We’re remodeling the house.” Joe’s words rang with pride. “We tore down interior walls, ripped out all the flooring and removed everything in the bathrooms. You wouldn’t recognize it.”
Oh, Vince bet he would.
He bet he could mark an X on the spot where Dad had his after-work meltdowns. Or stand in the kitchen where Mom would smoke with the window open, hoping Dad didn’t notice the tinge of nicotine in the air.
Vince walked faster.
“Sam and I are living in the apartment above the garage until the house is done.” Joe stopped Vince with a hand on his arm. “I’m saving to buy you out.”
They stood in front of Vince’s old bedroom window. There was a reason nothing had ever grown beneath that sill. After dark, he and Gabe had used it as their own personal entrance.
“You don’t have to pay me.” The three brothers had inherited the property. Vince didn’t want anything from Harmony Valley.
“I can’t give you top dollar.” Joe set his chin the way he had when he was a kid and Vince had told him to go away. “This place was a wreck when we got here. Any value in it is coming directly from my pocket.”
“Keep your money. I don’t need it.”
“Say what you want. There’s a check coming your way.” Joe walked on, back stiff with all his honorable intentions.
If Joe had gone to Texas, he’d have done things differently. He’d have showed up at their mother’s door, introduced himself and told her off.
Vince lingered behind, taking in the property, the small house, the modest business, the cluttered field. Joe might believe things looked different now.
To Vince, things looked exactly the same.
* * *
“HOW ARE YOU holding up?” Vince asked Harley hours after they’d started.
He crossed the trampled paths they’d created to get the cars out, looking attractively scruffy.
Harley’s butterflies threatened to return.
Vince was eye candy. Not checkout-stand eye candy. Nothing that low quality. No. Vince was like the big Easter eggs Harley’s mother bought once a year from the gourmet chocolate shop. When Harley was a kid, she’d thought the fist-size eggs would be filled with more chocolate or thick cream. But, no, they’d been hollow. And so was Vince, carrots aside.
He wanted to project an image that wasn’t real to the people he should have been closest to. That was something she shouldn’t forget.
“Let’s take a break,” he said.
Vince stopped in front of Harley and peered at her face the way a doctor once had after she’d gotten a concussion trying to play basketball. That concussion had her sitting the rest of the season. Not that Harley considered that a failure. Being on the team had made her well-rounded on her college applications. She didn’t need or want playing time. She’d learned her lesson. Playing was dangerous.
Vince, with his thought-stealing kissing talent, supreme good looks and thought-stealing kissing talent—yes, it needed to be said twice—was dangerous. Harley knew about head-spinning danger. She was staying on the bench.
Vince took Harley’s hand and led her toward the garage, dragging her along like a small anchor behind a big boat. “We’ll check in.”
“I’ll go with you.” Gabe fell into step next to Harley, as energetic as an over-sugared fifth-grader.
“Gabe, it’s five. Harley’s tired and she’s a guest of ours.” It was Vince who sounded tired, no doubt worn out by his emotional homecoming.
Harley had seen how Vince’s gaze shadowed sometimes when he looked at his family’s garage. “I’m fine, but we can go if you like.”
“Harley?” Vince quirked an eyebrow. “You just told me you’re tired, didn’t you?”
She’d forgotten their scam, having been too busy thinking about his thought-stealing kissing talent. “Yeah. Sure.”
“I’m feeling a bit weary, too,” Gabe said, still his happy-go-lucky self.
“I just want to spend some time alone with my girlfriend,” Vince snapped. “Is that too much to ask?”
“Well, now I feel selfish.” Brit stopped inspecting an old car nearby and frowned at them. “I’m a bridezilla without realizing it. There’s just so much to do around here for the wedding and the house.”
“It’s okay,” Harley said. “I don’t mind helping.” That was no lie.
The Messinas were fun to be around. Brad and Sam danced about like puppies who didn’t understand exactly why they liked each other. Gabe wielded verbal volleys, taking shots at everyone, including Harley. The bride and groom snuck sweet kisses when they thought no one was looking. And through it all, they treated Harley as if she was one of their own.
“I think you guys should get going,” Gabe said unexpectedly. “In fact, I’ll make reservations at El Rosal for you. My treat.” He tugged a cell phone out of his pocket. “And while you eat, I can make sure your reservation is ready at the B and B.”
Vince tried to topple Gabe with a suspicious stare, but his brother didn’t fold.
“That’s very thoughtful of you.” Harley moved into peace-keeping mode.
“Gabe isn’t thoughtful,” Vince grumbled.
“Maybe I was selfish when I was younger and you outshone me with your huge talent underneath the hood.” An angel would have believed Gabe’s sincerity. He looked that earnest. “But I’m a changed man today.”
Vince scoffed.
“What do you do for a living, Harley?” Again, Gabe’s tone was innocuous. His smile that of an angel.
“She’s an architect,” Vince said before Harley could tell Gabe she was a tile installer. Vince gave Harley a look that telegraphed Let me handle this.
“How did you meet an architect working on an oil rig?” Gone was the angel. Gabe looked and sounded more like a hound dog on the trail of a fox.
“Vince doesn’t work on an oil rig anymore.” Harley pretended she was unable to translate Vince’s Morse code. Stick to the truth. Wasn’t that what they’d agreed? “I met him on a job site.”
They’d reached the parking lot.
“I’m working as a carpenter now,” Vince said through stiff lips.
Harley couldn’t fathom why he wouldn’t want his family to know about his job change or why he hadn’t told her his occupation was on a need-to-know basis. This was about his status quo, not hers.
They reached the door to the repair garage’s office.
“Brother, why don’t you use the shop sink to wash up?” Gabe opened the door and pointed to the stairs. “I’ll show Harley the second-floor facilities.”
Vince’s eyes narrowed.
“Sounds good,” Harley said, moving upstairs. Part of her role here was to stop Vince’s brothers from pestering him. A little distance between the siblings was called for.
The door at the top of the stairs led to a small, homey apartment with a galley kitchen. The kitchen table and living room furniture weren’t stylish retro, they were just old, yet well cared for. Three doors faced her. Two were closed. The open door revealed the bathroom. Harley went in and cleaned up.
When she emerged, Gabe was standing in front of the TV stand that didn’t have a TV. Instead family photos graced the top. He set one back down.
“I don’t want you to take this wrong.” Gabe sounded a lot like Harley’s protective older brother Taylor—overly confident and a tad self-important. Both characteristics were softened by Gabe’s unabashedly friendly smile. “I like you, but I know you aren’t dating my brother.”
Harley’s shoulders pinched in a near flinch at his assessment. She didn’t like lying, but she’d made an agreement with Vince to pretend they were dating. And there was just something about Gabe’s accusation that raised her competitive hackles. She’d never liked losing to Taylor, not in checkers and not in verbal chess.
“Really?” Harley forced out a chuckle and crossed the room to study the framed photo Gabe had been looking at. “Present your case, counselor.”
Gabe rubbed his hands together, clearly pleased that Harley hadn’t taken offense.
“First off, there’s your age difference. How old are you?” Not only did Gabe have no filter, he had no sense of boundaries. If it wasn’t for his good-natured demeanor, he would’ve been annoying. “I’m guessing twenty-four?”
“I’m almost twenty-seven.” Harley bent for a closer look. The photo Gabe had set down was of the three teenage Messina boys straddling motorcycles. An older man stood behind them with the same thick, dark hair and lady-killer grin as the boys. Their father? Harley leaned closer, taking in Vince’s multicolored striped shirt that seemed too short, blue jeans that seemed too long, and a grin that seemed too wide.
“When I was twenty-three, I dated a girl who said she was eighteen.” Gabe watched Harley closely, a spider patiently studying the fly. “Her daddy came after me with a shotgun.”
“Well, if we’re challenging each other’s relationships, I’d like to see the scars on your backside.” Harley straightened and laughed, more genuinely this time. “Are you implying I’m too young for Vince?”
“I think I’m spinning it the other way around.” He waggled his dark brows.
Harley shook her head. “Nice try, but seven years isn’t that big of a deal.”
“Sweetheart, it’s nearly eight years.” Gabe flashed a troublemaking grin. “More in dog years.”
“Clearly, it makes no difference to us.” Harley rolled her eyes. Gabe could have been cloned from the same genes as her brother.
“Clearly, there’s no zing between you two.” Gabe’s grin didn’t dim. “I’m only challenging your claim because we had a rough childhood and I feel responsible for my younger brother. You know, protective.”
“Pfft.” Gabe was more transparent than a new window in an old house. “You and Joe have a bet.”
Gabe’s eyes widened and then he began to laugh and nod. “Yep. Joe and I have a bet. Joe says you’re legit.”
Harley wanted to put Gabe in his place. And the only way she could think of doing it was to mention something personal about Vince, something he’d only tell a girlfriend, not an acquaintance. “Was this photo taken after your mother left for Texas?”
His smile disappearing faster than a cockroach on a midnight raid in the kitchen. “What did you say?”
Too late, Harley realized Vince must not have told his brothers about his mother’s location.
Vince opened the door, not looking like a man happy to see his girlfriend. No doubt, his expression would turn thunderous if Gabe asked about their mother.
The smart move would be to smile and make her escape, nose in the air. But then, nothing Harley had done this summer had been smart.
Instead she crossed the room, latched onto the collar of Vince’s polo shirt and kissed him hard.
CHAPTER FIVE
“I THOUGHT YOU said you wanted a kiss.” Harley’s nose was out of joint. She pushed through the door to El Rosal, Harmony Valley’s Mexican restaurant, without waiting for Vince to open it. “I gave you one. End of discussion.”
Vince followed Harley inside, past a chalkboard posting early bird specials. He glanced over his shoulder to watch Gabe walking across the town square toward the Lambridge Bed and Breakfast. What was his fun-loving, meddlesome brother up to now?
Something had happened between his brother and Harley upstairs. Gabe’s good-humored bluster had been deflated. He’d ridden in the back of Vince’s rented SUV to the restaurant in near silence. Gabe was never silent. And with his brother’s mouth on mute, Vince couldn’t fully enjoy Harley’s kiss.
She’d claimed him with that kiss, branding his lips in a way that still burned.
Oh, something had happened between Gabe and Harley, all right. And good or bad, Vince had benefitted from it.
Harley had grabbed him, then released him and marched out of the apartment. Vince had followed in the same stilted way a mummy followed its master.
The shock was wearing off. Or maybe it was the loud, bustling atmosphere in El Rosal.
The restaurant’s walls, tables and chairs were painted in primary colors: bright reds, yellows, blues and greens. The flat-screen television mounted above the bar was tuned to a muted baseball game. Pop music sung in Spanish filled the air. It wasn’t even five thirty, but the restaurant was packed, primarily with white-haired patrons, many of them having conversations at a volume that indicated their hearing aids might not be switched on.
Over a decade ago, the grain mill in town had exploded and the company subsequently shut down. Being Harmony Valley’s primary employer, jobs had dried up and with it businesses had closed their doors. Younger families had moved to find jobs and new opportunities. Older residents had hunkered down and stayed in their homes.
Now there was a new local employer, a small but growing winery. According to Joe, the bulk of the population was still over the age of sixty. And here was the proof. White-haired patrons dining on early bird specials.
A waitress led Harley to a table by the plate-glass window looking out on the town square and its lone oak tree.
She dropped into a yellow chair and hid behind the menu.
Vince sat across from Harley, studying the long, limp hair hooked behind her ears. She hadn’t looked this tired when she’d gone upstairs to clean up. “What did Gabe say that upset you? Whatever it was, I’ll talk to him.” Which was polite brother speak for an exchange of punches.
“Nothing.” Her blue eyes flashed over the top of the menu. “I let him get under my skin. The jet lag is catching up to me.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her, but something, almost like relief, allowed Vince to draw a deep breath, to pick up the menu, to realize he was hungry.
“You’ll want the mole chicken tacos.” An elderly woman who could stand-in for Mrs. Claus sat at the next table. She had thick, round glasses and thick, round curls.
She seemed vaguely familiar, but so did over half the restaurant patrons.
Across from her, an elderly Japanese man shook his finger at Vince in a friendly way. “I know you. You’re one of the Messina boys.”
“Yes. I’m Vince.” Vince braced himself for a chilly reception, having left town with a less-than-stellar reputation.
Mrs. Claus gasped and adjusted her glasses, squinting at him. “I should have known from all that black hair.” She reached across the aisle and gripped Vince’s hand as if she was happy to see him. “I used to admire how you handled a motorcycle.”
Vince didn’t know what to say. The compliment was unexpected.
“Not me,” the old man said, not at all embarrassed to admit it. “Don’t you remember how they’d speed through town, Mildred? Motors so loud it hurt your ears.”
Mildred tsked. “I suppose you don’t remember how I used to speed through town and up Parish Hill, either.” Mildred released Vince with a sigh. “The worst thing about getting old has been losing my eyesight and giving up driving. I miss burning rubber coming out of second gear.”
“Mildred Parsons?” The name suddenly clicked. She’d been a race car driver in her youth, one of the few adults to earn the respect of the Messina boys.
“Yes.” When Mildred smiled, the resemblance to the mythical Mrs. Claus increased. “And this is my beau, Hero Takata.”
Vince aimed a good-natured finger back at the man. “Old Man Takata?” The man who used to own the cemetery? The man who’d buried Dad?
“Some still call me by that name.” Hero smiled, bringing wrinkles to an otherwise ageless-looking face. “I’m older today than I was when I yelled at kids like you for running across my grass.”
Old Man Takata had lived on a corner down the street from the town square, a house located between the school and the ice cream parlor. Of course, kids wanted to cut the corner.
“Is this your wife?” Mildred blinked at Harley, but in a way that created doubt as to whether or not she actually saw her. “Do you have children? A little cousin for Sam to play with?”
“No,” Vince blurted. “No on all counts.”
Harley slanted a gaze at him that disapproved, folded her menu, and said, “I’m his date for the wedding.”
The boundaries that came along with her tone riled something inside Vince, and made him want to refute her statement. Which only went to prove that Harmony Valley was getting under his skin exactly like Gabe had gotten under Harley’s.
“Spoken like a woman who doesn’t need a man.” Mildred did a sort of snuffle-chuckle. “Bravo. What’s your name, my dear?”
Harley introduced herself.
The waitress brought Hero’s change and Mildred’s walker, which she unfolded and set between their two tables.
“Vince,” Hero said, dropping his change into his wallet. “Don’t take this personally, but I’ll report you if I see you speeding.”
Joe had mentioned how hard it was to be accepted by the town, but Vince hadn’t believed people would be so blatant about it. He felt the beginnings of a headache.
“Hero will only see you if you speed down Main.” Mildred stood, staring in the general direction of Vince’s face. “I’ll see Harley at the bridal shower, and we’ll see you two at the Couples Dinner.” And then her gaze swiveled toward Harley. “We’ll beat you, of course.”
Harley smiled in polite confusion. The subtleties of her expression probably went unnoticed by Mildred.
The server was waiting for her order, smiling patiently at her elderly guests as if Hero had given her a good tip.
Hero got to his feet with the aid of a cane. “They’ll have the mole chicken tacos, Leti.”
The couple moved slowly toward the door.
Leti disappeared into the kitchen.
“I think we’re having the mole chicken tacos,” Vince said, realizing their menus were gone. “Welcome to Harmony Valley.”
“I think we should talk about the Couples Dinner.” A grin twitched one corner of Harley’s cheek. “It’s a competition?”
“We can assume it won’t be a dancing one,” Vince said, nodding toward the elderly couple moving slowly down the sidewalk.
“Or a mudder.” Harley seemed to notice there was chips and salsa on the table, and dove in. “What is a Couples Dinner?”
“This is the first I’ve heard of it.” Vince managed to insert a chip into the salsa bowl she was hoarding. “The good news is Gabe won’t be there, seeing as how he doesn’t have a date for the wedding.”
“I heard the Messina boys were back in town.” An elderly man with shoulders bowed forward leaned on their table with gnarled, age-spotted hands. He wore a wrinkled burgundy-checked flannel shirt, sleeves buttoned at his wrists, and smelled like he could use a shower or his clothes a washing. “Are you right in the head?”
Vince choked on his bite of chip. The rest of it crumpled to the table.
“If not, we don’t want you here.” The old man pushed off and wobbled backward. “Had enough of that with your father. He jumped me in a bar fight once. No warning. Just pow.”
Because of the shock, Vince couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. He could only watch the old man shuffle away.
“Are you okay?” Harley switched chairs so that she sat next to him. She slid her hand to the nape of his neck. “Breathe in, breath out, remember? What was that about?”
Vince drank half the water in his glass before he attempted to speak. “My dad...” His voice sounded like sandpaper on metal. “My dad...”
He didn’t want to tell her.
“Drink some more.” Her hand shifted lower, rubbing across his shoulder blades. “But don’t rush it.” A minute passed, maybe longer.
He wanted to lean into her touch. He wanted to get up and run away without explaining.
One thought coalesced: it was a mistake to have brought her here.
With every greeting, with every event, his past was catching up to him. And Harley, as witness, was curious and wanting answers.
On some level, he supposed he owed her some.
“My dad had schizophrenia.” His words came out drenched in emotion and vulnerability, when he wanted to be detached and strong. He couldn’t meet her gaze, but he couldn’t stop speaking, either. “And depression. He was diagnosed late in life. That man...” Whoever he was. “He could have been referencing a time before Dad was diagnosed.” Or not. There was no magic solution for mental health challenges.
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want your pity.” There was the strong, detached tone he’d been looking for. Inappropriate now.
“I wasn’t offering pity.” Harley’s hand dropped away. She moved back into her chair. “I’m sorry your dad had mental health issues. And I’m sorry that man was rude to you.”
Harley was compassionate. Genuine. And the first to give the benefit of the doubt.
“That was...rude of me,” Vince said, struggling to find words when he was unaccustomed to explaining himself. “I didn’t have my guard up and he got to me. I took it out on you. I’m the one who should apologize.” And he did.
She stared at him a little too long, not smiling. Earlier in the summer, he would have held her gaze with a hint of a smile and then coaxed a smile out of her. He would have reached for her hand and drawn her close. He’d always felt better when she was near.
“I understand,” Harley said.
Vince wasn’t sure she did.
* * *
THE LAMBRIDGE BED AND BREAKFAST was a large, beautiful, Queen Anne Victorian home painted green with cream colored shutters.
Harley took in the large front porch, dominant Dutch gables, and asymmetrical façade. The kind of straight-lined architecture built to endure generations of family disagreements, brutal storms and intense heat.
Vince had endured much the same. He’d weathered family gales and ill winds from the community. Given his mom had left her family and his father had braved mental illness, was it any wonder he had no interest in getting married and having children?
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