Forgiving Patience (8 page)

He smirked. “So, is that your plan?
To try to wiggle the house away from me?” It was obvious to her he was looking
at this as a bet—something she knew he never backed down from.

“Honestly?” Anna asked.

“That’s the only way.”

She knew that was a lie if she ever
heard one.

“Yes, that’s my plan. I came home to
live in that house, and I expect to before I leave, regardless of whether you
have a rental agreement or not.”

“If you hadn’t rushed off earlier,
you would’ve noticed all of the improvements I’ve worked my ass off on.”

She’d noticed some of the changes
he—instead of Garret—obviously had done. He probably was the one who mowed the
grass, too. Thing was, she didn’t want anyone’s help. It was her house now, and
she needed to be the one to take care of the improvements. She didn’t have the
money or talent to make it look like a house of its era could look, but she was
responsible for it—not Garrett, and damn well not Jake.

“They’re not your improvements to
make. You had no right. Don’t you have better things to do…like help Bradley at
the farm?” She was curious as to why he wasn’t living at his brother’s
farmhouse. She knew the
Lawrences
had a pretty
sizeable farm, and it had taken both brothers plus a close family friend to
keep it running after their dad’s death when Jake was fifteen and Bradley
thirteen.

“I have time to do both.”

She wondered how he could do the work
required for running a farm and remodel her house at the same time. His knee
had to give him some problems…otherwise, why else had he left baseball?

They continued swaying to the soft
country music. “So, what did you have to talk to me about…that couldn’t wait?”

“We’ll get to that in a minute. Right
now I just want to enjoy this.”

Now, what?

Trying to wriggle out of his hold
hadn’t worked last time. If he wanted to continue this little song and dance—no
pun intended—then so be it.

“
Okaay
. So, I see Bradley over there,” she
said, cutting her eyes over at the other brother’s direction, where he was
still getting it on on the dance floor. “Who’s the woman? Is he married?”

Jake laughed. “Bradley? Shit, no.
That guy will never settle with only one woman. He hasn’t stopped going through
the population of single women in Patience and its surrounding cities over the
last ten years. That person there is probably some girl he met last night at
Ollie’s.”

“Ollie’s?”

“It’s a bar that opened about six or
seven years ago on the outskirts of town. Not something you would be into, but
it has cheap beer and sometimes live music.”

She tried to take what he said as a
good thing, but it seemed like a dig to her. “What’s that supposed to mean? How
do you know what I am into? I’ll have you know, I am no prude. I have been in a
bar before.”

“Honey, I never said you were a
prude. You just don’t look like the type who would enjoy hanging around a
watering hole like Ollie’s.”

God, if he only knew how
good
she was and how much she wished to
be bad. For once in her life she wanted to empty her past and allow herself to
live. She wanted to be careless, make rash decisions, and live out her
impulses.

“What’s going on in that ‘
lil
head of yours?” Jake asked, bending his head down so he
could peer into her downcast gaze.

The brief, concerned look was the
hottest thing she’d ever seen. The softness of his eyes left her insides
trembling—at least she hoped it was only her insides. She was feeling a little
more relaxed, probably because of the extra wine Jesse had insisted on plying
her with. She knew Jesse offered some useful
bad
habits. The wine was probably a bad
idea since she hardly ever drank more than one glass at a time, but right now
she was thankful for her fellow bridesmaid’s persistence. She could handle this
dance with Jake and anything else that came along. Not that she was thinking
about anything else. This dance would be it. Speaking of…it was time to end it.

“Can you tell me now what was so
urgent and the reason for this dance?”

“What, ready to leave me already?” He
snorted a laugh.

“The song’s almost over, and I only
agreed to one dance.”

“I don’t recall us agreeing on how
many songs we would dance to.”

“Well, I agreed to it in my head. So,
can you just start talking?”

“In your head?” He chuckled, white
teeth glowing against his tanned,
stubbled
face.

“Yes, in my head. Start talking,” she
demanded.

“Okay. Well, like I said before, we
have some unfinished business to discuss. I figured doing it in a public place
would be safer.”

“What business do we have? Unless
you’re moving out of my house, we have nothing to talk about.” When he said
nothing, she asked, “Are you moving out of my house tomorrow?”

“No.”

“Well then, it’s settled. We have
nothing to talk about, I listened…I danced.” She tugged against his hold, eager
to get away. He still gripped her hand, twirled her, and yanked her back to fit
nicely against his body again.

Even though he was becoming
impossible to deal with and he was a pain in the ass, she couldn’t deny her
attraction to him.

“I have a proposition for you.” His
smile turned mischievous.

She didn’t even know if she wanted to
know his proposition. The expression on his face told her everything she needed
to know. He was up to something, something she wasn’t going to like. Probably
something that would make her life even more complicated.

“You don’t even want to know what I’m
suggesting? I can see your curiosity is winning out. Why not just ask?”

“Fine. I’ll bite. What are you
suggesting?”

“Let’s just say…suggesting can mean
so many things.”

“Just get to the point,” she bit out.

“The way I see it, we have some
things we need to work out that are way overdue. You go on three dates with me
and I’ll move out of your house, not asking for a cent of the money I’ve put
into it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding…right?”

“What do you think?”

If it hadn’t been for Ms. Edna’s gaze
and the stares of probably everyone else who had nothing better to do, she
would have run from the room. Run far, far away and planned never to return.
She would throw her bags in her car and drive just as fast as she did the first
time she’d sped away from this town.

Was he joking? Blackmailing wasn’t
the right word, because he had nothing on her. Hostage negotiation, that’s what
he was doing. He was holding her house hostage unless she did what he wanted.

“We have no business together, if
that’s what you want to call it. What makes you think I would ever subject
myself to you again?”

“Because you want your house back.”

“I could just wait until your lease
is up and not have to worry with you at all.”

“Now, we both know you won’t do that.
You’ve probably already been to Garrett trying to find a way to get me out. You
want that house right now for some reason, so you will go on three dates with
me. Want to tell me why it’s so important to you now?”

She pulled her body from his hold
with more strength than she thought she had. Turning her back to him, she
didn’t care about the old women scoping out the newest drama. She couldn’t
stand there listening to his crap any longer.

She quickly walked half ran, past a
waiter holding a full tray of champagne glasses. When she swished past him, it
took all of the waiter’s effort to keep the tray from tipping forward. That
would’ve been just great if the champagne glasses went crashing to the floor.
Patience would be talking about it for years to come.

She hurriedly walked past the buffet
spread, dancing couples—including Em and Tommy—and all the eager eyes watching
to see what was yet to come in the next chapter of Anna and Jake.

Anna was quickly out of the stuffy,
overbooked hall and escaping into the night air, filling her lungs. She stepped
off the last step onto the pavement leading to the parking lot. She took a second
to look up at the vast sky—a little too long of a second, because a hand
circled around her arm, forcing her to turn around.

“Jake, I’m through listening to all
your crap. If you want to be a stand-up guy and keep my house,” she said
sarcastically, “then so be it, I can’t stop you. But I will fight you every
step of the way. As for this little idea you have in your pea-sized brain that
I will go on
a
date—let alone, three of them—with you…well, let’s just say
No
way in hell
. Now, if you
don’t mind, I would like my arm back.”

She stood her ground, and he finally
dropped her arm. He gave her a major headache but at the same time caused her
heart to beat rapidly because of the depths she could see in his eyes.

“I’m not intending to upset you. I
was just coming up with a way for you to get your house back.”

“How generous of you.” She crossed
her arms, trying to resist stomping her foot again.

She turned her back to him, making
her way to her parked car. He jogged after her, catching her arm before she
could open the car door. She wrestled it free.

“Anna, will you please listen to me
for one damn second without throwing some hissy fit?” He raked a hand through
his unruly hair, looking frustrated as hell.

“Hissy fit—hissy fit…do you hear
yourself when you actually talk?”

“Can you be calm, please? I was just
thinking we could go on a couple of dates and maybe get tangled up in the
sheets?”

She narrowed her eyes. “This just
keeps getting better. So now I have to sleep with you to get you out. Well,
screw you, Jake.”

With that she closed herself into the
sanctuary of her car. After opening the console, she took out the keys she had
placed there, and started the car. She backed out of her parking spot and left
Jake standing in the gravel lot.

Three dates? Sex? What is he, some
genie granting her three wishes? Hot damn, I’m the lucky girl who gets to spend
three very long dates and probably some great sex with the wonderful and
talented Jake Lawrence. I don’t think so.

* * * *

“Oh, Anna, it’s about time you got
here.” Em was dragging—hugging her, into the house. Her model-perfect friend,
eyes growing wide, was giddy at the sight of the friend she didn’t get to see
often enough. Anna had never seen her happier, and that was saying a lot
because Em had a contagious smile and was a total optimist. Her long blond hair
looked like silk, the sides swept up in a butterfly clip, complementing her
bronze skin. To top off the look, she had pink manicured nails and a flawless
face. The perky woman quickly had her parked in a stylish leather
chair—situated on a zebra print rug—looking ready to get down to business. Anna
just hoped it was about the wedding, running a marathon, or even ending world
hunger, anything other than who she had seen since crossing the Patience city
limits.

“What, I don’t get a tour of the new
house?” she asked, trying to bypass the Jake conversation. Em had always been a
big J-Anna fan. More than once, she had tried smoothing over the blowup that
had happened a decade ago, but Anna didn’t want to hear it. She’d moved on with
her life and didn’t want to be reminded of the hurt he’d caused to her already
vulnerable heart. After a few unsuccessful tries, Em gave up on the issue. Anna
was thankful.

She had a bad feeling about
Em’s
giddy attitude. “Nice rug.” Bringing up the subject of
the unusual print for a living room might’ve been her only chance to delay the
subject she had been dreading since yesterday. She knew that Em and Tommy had
worked overtime for a year just so they could buy the Cape Cod house. Talking
about it should be her saving grace. It was like talking about a new baby with
a proud mother. She knew Em couldn’t resist the opportunity to brag about her
accomplishments.

Anna became intrigued by the unusual
prints. Em was daring and bold when it came to décor. She brought everything
together and made it look strangely beautiful. If she ever got to open her
coffee shop, she would love to ask Em to help decorate it. She had always
envisioned it as being bold and colorful. A welcoming place to come and spend
an hour or two writing or just sipping coffee with a friend. One day her dream
would come true.

“It took me two months to talk Tommy
into allowing it in the house. It’s pretty rocking, isn’t it? Now, stop
stalling, we have some girl talk I’m dying to catch up on. So spill.” Her
gossipy friend meant well, but she worked in a hair salon and thrived on the
ins and outs of everybody else’s business.

Acting like she had no idea what Em
was talking about, Anna simply asked, “Spill what?”

“Don’t give me that. You know damn
well what I’m talking about. You lived in this town once. You know how the
gossip mill runs. It might look small and move slow, but when something juicy
happens the phone lines start humming. I’m just mad you’ve made me wait till…”
Em glanced at her watch, frowning at the time, “…almost three o’clock.”