Lakeside Hero (Men Of Millbrook Lake Book 1) (9 page)

He appreciated her, though.

Marla stared at the old oaks mushrooming out over the water and wondered if she’d have to accept appreciation when what she really wanted was...something stronger.

Chapter Eleven

“Y
ou have my number, right?”

Brandy gave Marla’s frantic question a wry reply. “Uh, yes. I’ve had your number since I was twelve, Marla. You know we did go through school together even if you are older than me.” She grinned and fluffed Marla’s hair. “Will you relax? Gabby-bug and I will be just fine, won’t we?”

Gabby giggled and ran to Brandy’s outstretched arms. “We will, we will.” She stood back and smiled up at Brandy. Then she reached one hand toward Marla. “Mommy, come dance with us.”

Marla laughed and joined in. She’d texted Alec and told him to call her and she’d meet him behind her shop. A set of stairs behind the shop led up to a small deck and the back door to her kitchen. Brandy would make sure Gabby was distracted so Marla could make it out the door.

A covert operation but a necessary one.

Still laughing and dancing to one of Gabby’s favorite animated songs from the movie
Frozen
, she felt the buzz of her phone against the pocket of her jeans.

“Whoa, got to go,” she said, giving Brandy her cue.

“Gabby-bug, tell your mama night-night. She has to go do a good deed for someone.”

“A nice man or a scary man?” Gabby asked, her dark brown eyes going wide. She dropped her hands and went still while she waited for Marla’s answer.

“A nice
person
,” Marla replied. “Give me a kiss for sweetness,” she added, leaning down.

Gabby reached up and hugged her tight and for a minute, Marla wanted to stay right here with her little girl. But she’d have to venture out sooner or later and she’d already waited until later—way later. Maybe God was nudging her in a new direction.

“I’ll be back early,” she told Brandy. “Be sweet, Gabby.”

“I’m always sweet,” Gabby said. Then she ran back toward Marla. “I have to be a good girl.”

Marla heard the trace of pain and fear in that innocent statement. “You are the very best girl I know, but you don’t have to worry. Remember, we’re safe here.”

Gabby bobbed her head and went back to dancing.

“Let’s dance in your room,” Brandy suggested. She turned and danced toward the hall to the bedrooms.

Brandy ran down the hall after Gabby, their laughter sounding in Marla’s ear as she hurried out the back door, locking it behind her.

Dear Lord, I hope I’m making the right decision by helping Alec. I know You’ll show me the way
.

She bounced down the stairs and hurried to where Alec had parked on the street behind the shop, glad that the window to Gabby’s room was located on the front of the apartment.

Alec was waiting for her in a two-seater convertible.

“How many cars do you have?” she asked, out of breath from her quick getaway.

“More than I need,” he admitted with a grin. “You look nice.”

Marla’s heart did the happy dance. Why did she feel this way with a man who was all wrong for her? A shard of guilt hit at her, making her edgy and confused. Was he wrong for her? Or did she tend to use her husband’s bad habits to push away a second chance at happiness? Was she holding back on purpose, citing her own issues and her daughter’s fears as her reasons?

“Just old jeans and a clean shirt,” she said to downplay his compliment. Glad he was dressed casual, she felt a little better. This was more about business than fun, after all.

“I like you in old jeans and a clean shirt,” he said with an amused smile. After opening her car door, he held the door and stared down on her. “It’s good to see you again, Marla.”

Marla nodded, shocked at how his amber eyes could make her feel. Her whole being buzzed with awareness.

When he came around and got in the car with her, she was instantly aware of the tiny space between them. This date might be about business, but her heart was definitely calling the shots with a beat of that something more she’d tried to put out of her mind.

“Are you okay?” Alec asked with a quick glance.

“Fine,” she replied. “Just glad to be able to help you.”

He gave her a gaze that told her he didn’t believe that.

But he left it alone and soon they were zooming along in traffic. Marla hadn’t even bothered to ask where he was taking her.

* * *

Alec pulled the convertible off the road and onto a gravel lane. “I thought we’d eat out at the River House.”

Marla’s pleased expression gave him hope that she truly did want to be with him tonight. That she was willing to help him because she wanted to, not out of some sense of guilt.

“I haven’t eaten here in a while,” she said after he’d parked the car underneath a moss-draped live oak. “We didn’t come here often when I was a kid. My daddy thought it was overpriced.”

“It is expensive, but the food’s worth it,” he said, wondering if her comment was a dig toward his wealth.

Marla didn’t think that way, did she?

“We came on special occasions,” she explained. “My birthday or their anniversary. My high school graduation.”

Alec didn’t mention that he and his mother used to come out here just about every Sunday after church. “I hope you enjoy it.”

Marla looked down at her clothes. “Maybe I should have dressed.”

“You’re perfect,” he said. “The food is good and the atmosphere is casual, especially on a Thursday night. Not as many tourists.”

“I guess you’re right,” she said, her gaze sweeping over the big covered patio. “Can we eat on the porch?”

“Sure.”

They were greeted by a cute hostess who gave Alec an interested smile until he turned his head. Then the young girl looked shocked but she managed to catch herself before she outright gawked at him.

“Right this way,” she said, clearly trying to decide what had happened to him.

He gave Marla an apologetic gaze, wishing he could get past having a scar slashed across his face. Others had come home with deeper, more serious wounds.

Marla surprised him by hooking her arm in his and shooting him a bright smile. “It’s not every night I get to have dinner with a real hero.” She spoke in such a loud voice that Alec gave her a concerned stare. “I mean, a
real
hero. A soldier.”

The girl glanced back at them. “Wow, that’s pretty cool.” Then she looked sheepish. “Thank you for serving our country.”

Alec nodded and tried to ignore the interested glances coming from the other diners. “Just doing my job.”

After the girl seated them at an intimate table for two out over the water, he looked over at Marla. “That wasn’t necessary,” he said, touched nonetheless.

She looked embarrassed. “Did I make it worse?”

Alec didn’t think it could get worse. “I’m used to it but, no, you didn’t do anything wrong.” He wanted to reach across, take her hand and tell her that few people would be so kind. “In fact, it was pretty amazing. I believe you did what my mother and Aunt Hattie would call a bless-your-heart moment. You explained things to that poor girl in a way that didn’t offend her. She probably hasn’t even realized you politely put her in her place.”

“My mama taught me to be tactful,” Marla said. “And the girl didn’t mean anything hurtful. I’m sure she’s wishing she hadn’t stared at you like that.”

“You handled it better than I usually do,” he said. “Thank you.”

Marla was a good person who’d had a great tragedy in her life. Like his mother. But unlike his mother, Marla hadn’t allowed bitterness to close her off from the world. Maybe that was why he was so attracted to her. She brought out the hope in people.

She stared at her menu now as if it was a really good novel. “I...I can’t decide what to eat.”

“Marla?”

“What?” She finally glanced over at him.

“I appreciate you.”

She put down the menu. “If you keep telling me that, I might lose my appetite.”

Shocked, Alec blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You appreciate me. That’s great, Alec. But you’ve said that to me a couple of times now and if we’re friends you don’t need to keep saying that. Friends help other friends. That’s the rule.”

“I don’t always go by the rules,” he said, a sense of relief moving through him. She cared about him. More than she wanted to admit. “Maybe I could say something else to you?”

She picked up her menu again. “What would that be?”

He did lean in this time. Crooking his index finger over the menu, he tugged it down. “That I like you and I’m sorry about how we ended things last time we were together. That I’ve missed you this week and it felt like a year instead of a few days. And that I want us to work this out, somehow.”

Her expression changed from stubborn and stoic to smiling and soft. “I would say I appreciate that, but...”

They both burst out laughing, causing heads to turn yet again. “We’re the topic of the night, I think,” Alec whispered. “We’d better order before we get kicked out of here.”

“You bring that out in me,” she said, shaking her head. “I become reckless when I’m with you.”

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked, thinking they had not been anywhere near reckless in his mind.

“It could be,” she admitted. “I think I’ve pushed you away because I’m afraid. But I’ve used every excuse I could find.”

“And what about Gabby?”

Marla’s expression changed again, her eyes going a misty green. “She’s certainly not an excuse but I have to take this one step at a time. She misses her daddy and she’s still shy and frightened around other men. I think since she’s known my dad since birth, she isn’t afraid of him. It’s about trust. I’d have to teach her that she can trust you.”

“And how do we go about doing that?”

“I don’t know,” Marla replied. “I’m so afraid, Alec. I can’t bear to see her in pain.”

“I’d never do anything to hurt her,” he said, reaching for Marla’s hand. “I’ll follow your lead. Will that help?”

“Yes,” she said, clearly relieved. “That means a lot to me.”

“Good.” He motioned for the attentive waitress. “Let’s order, and then we really will talk about this fund-raiser. I need a good caterer and since everything you cook is
marvelous
, I’d like to hire you for the desserts at least.”

“I’m pricey,” she said with her usual sass back and intact.

“I’ll pay whatever price,” he replied, his gaze holding hers. “No matter the cost.”

Alec wanted her to know this was about more than cakes and cookies. This was about his life.

And hers.

The waitress came over with a beaming smile. “Have you decided what you’d like to order?”

Alec glanced at Marla. “Ladies first.”

“I’ll have the shrimp and grits,” she said, her mood decidedly more relaxed now. “And a house salad.”

Alec ordered the catfish platter with all the trimmings. His appetite had definitely returned.

The waitress left them but they both noticed she kept grinning at them.

“A friendly girl,” Alec said, more interested in talking to Marla than wondering what was up with their waitress.

By the time dessert came around, they had planned a tentative menu of all kinds of bite-size desserts. Minicupcakes, cookies, miniature éclairs and small tarts filled with peaches and apples.

“I can’t wait to sample all of that,” Alec said over coffee. They’d ordered banana pudding and it was great but he wondered if Marla could make that, too. “How do you do it?” he asked, thinking she
was
a marvel.

And clueless about it. “Do what?”

He watched the way the candlelight hit her strawberry-blond curls, making her hair shimmer like sun on water. “You’re a single mother who runs her own business. Don’t you get tired?”

She laughed at that. “Always. But I love what I do.” She sat back and stared at her coffee. “I had just started out, working from home, when Charlie got killed. That day, I had to make dessert for a huge luncheon at the clubhouse in our neighborhood. One of my first really big jobs. I asked him to pick up Gabby from preschool and told him I’d be by for her as soon as I made my delivery.” Touching her cup, she traced the gold pattern on the rim. “I stopped to explain to the staff how to serve the tiered lemon cake I’d made. I was five minutes late getting to the jewelry store. By the time I got there, the police were already there.”

Alec could imagine what that scene must have looked like. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Me, too. I blame myself for Gabby being there. I go over and over things in my mind, thinking if he hadn’t had to go by her school he might have been there earlier and he would still be alive.”

Alec saw the pain in her eyes and wished he could wipe all of this out of her memory. “Hey, you can’t change any of this. Just be glad your daughter’s safe.”

“I am. And I’m glad his employee is okay, too. But Charlie didn’t deserve to die in such a bad way.”

“No, he didn’t,” Alec said. “But you can’t blame yourself for what those criminals did that day. It’s not your fault. A million things could have happened differently.” He stared out over the water. “I rethink things all the time, but I can’t change anything from the past. And for a while, I couldn’t imagine anything in the future, either.”

She smiled over at him. “I have to keep going, for Gabby’s sake, and now you’ve found a purpose by helping others.”

He nodded at that statement. “I have to keep going for the sake of all the men I watched die.”

Marla put a hand to her mouth. “Here I am, going on about my woes when you’ve been through worse.”

“Hey, I don’t like to talk about what I’ve been through. But you make it easy to accept it.”

They were sitting there smiling like goofy teenagers when the waitress brought their ticket. “I need to let you know, sir, that your bill has been paid in full.”

“Really?” Alec glanced at Marla and then back to the girl.

“Who paid it?”

She waved a hand across the restaurant. “Everyone. They all offered to pay it, so we decided it’s on the house. A free meal because you fought for our freedom.”

Marla gave him a sweet smile. “Isn’t that nice?”

Alec glanced around and everyone in the place started clapping. He was so overcome, he couldn’t speak at first. “Nice, but not necessary. I don’t consider myself a hero.”

“Hey, accept it and be glad,” Marla said.