Serendipity (37 page)

“You found me,” Kelly said, sounding calmer than he did.

Like that kiss hadn't affected her at all. A look at her told him that unless she was one hell of an actress, it hadn't. She appeared completely unflustered, whereas he was snapping at Tess because the hunger Kelly inspired continued to gnaw at him.

“Ethan and Faith want to talk to you,” Tess muttered in a sulking tone.

Obviously she didn't like what she'd seen between him and her sister. Unlike Nash, who'd liked it a lot.

Too much, in fact.

From the pissed-off look on Tess's face, kissing Kelly and biting Tess's head off were going to result in a huge setback in trying to create any kind of relationship with his new sister. And to think, if asked, he'd have said things between them couldn't get any worse.

“Why don't you go tell them I'll be right there?” Kelly said patiently to Tess.

The teenager now folded her arms across her chest. “How about not?”

Kelly raised an eyebrow. “How about I'm the one in charge while Ethan's on his honeymoon and if you don't want to find yourself grounded and in your room for the duration, you'll start listening now.”

With a roll of her eyes and a deliberate stomp of her foot, which wasn't impressive considering she was wearing a deep purple dress and mini-heels from her walk down the aisle, Tess stormed away.

“Well done,” he said to Kelly, admiring how she'd gotten Tess to listen without yelling or sniping back.

“Yeah, I did a better job than you.” She shot him an amused glance. “But I can't take any credit. You saw what she was like before Ethan took over. This change is due to his influence, not mine.” Her expression saddened at the fact that she'd been unable to accomplish helping Tess on her own.

He knew the feeling. “Don't remind me about Saint Ethan.”

She raised her eyebrow. “There's always tension between you and Ethan. Why is that?” she asked.

He definitely didn't want to talk about his brother or his past. “Is asking about my life your way of avoiding discussing the kiss?” He deliberately threw a question back at her as a distraction.

An unexpected smile caught hold of her lips. “Why would I want to avoid discussing it when it was so much fun?” she asked, and grabbed hold of his tie once more.

Her moist lips shimmered, beckoning to him, as did her renewed interest, and he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. Easier to keep them to himself that way.

“Kelly! We're waiting!” Tess called impatiently, interrupting them again and reminding him of why he had to keep his distance from Kelly from now on.

“Coming!” Kelly called over her shoulder, before meeting Nash's gaze. “Looks like you got a reprieve.” A mischievous twinkle lit her gaze.

A sparkle he found infectious. She had spunk, confidence, and an independent spirit he admired. His ex-wife had been as opposite of Kelly as he could imagine, more sweet and in need of being taken care of. Kelly could obviously hold her own.

And Nash didn't plan on giving her the upper hand. “I don't know what you're talking about,” he lied.

She patted his cheek. “Keep telling yourself that.”

He would. For as long as it took to convince himself this woman would only cause him and his need to have a relationship with Tess boatloads of trouble.

 

 

Kelly Moss stood at the bottom of the circular stairs in the house that was nothing short of a mansion and yelled up at her sister. “Tess, let's go! If you want to have time for breakfast before school, get yourself downstairs now!” It was the third time she'd called up in the last five minutes.

“I said I'm coming!” came Tess's grumpy reply.

Ethan and Faith had left yesterday morning for their honeymoon, one week on the beautiful, secluded island of Turks and Caicos, where they had their own villa complete with private butler. Talk about living the life, Kelly thought. Hers wasn't so bad either, since she got to stay in this huge house with her own housekeeper while they were gone.

Tess's door slammed loudly, startling Kelly back to reality as her sister came storming out of her room, then stomping down the stairs.

The old days, when Kelly had been raising Tess alone and doing a god-awful job at it, came rushing back and Kelly clenched her fists. “What's wrong?” Kelly only hoped it was something easily fixable, not a problem that would lead Tess to turn back to running wild.

“This!” Tess gestured to the uniform her new private school required she wear, a navy pleated skirt, white-collared shirt, and high socks. “I hate it.”

Kelly knew better than to say it was better than the all-black outfits the teenager used to wear, including the old army surplus jacket and combat boots. “You'll get used to it.”

Tess passed by Kelly and headed for the kitchen. “It's been a month and I still hate it.”

The clothes or the school? Kelly wondered as she followed behind her sister. “Is it the skirt? Because you didn't mind the dress you wore at the wedding.” In fact, she'd looked like a beautiful young lady.

“It's the fact that I
have
to wear it. I hate being told what to do.”

“Tell me something I don't know,” Kelly muttered, having been Tess's primary caregiver for longer than she could remember.

“I heard that.”

Kelly grinned. Tess really had come a long way thanks to Ethan Barron. Kelly shuddered to think of what might have happened if she hadn't taken drastic steps.

Both Tess and Kelly's mother, Leah Moss, had been a weak woman, too dependent on men and incapable of raising Tess. She'd been different when Kelly was young, or maybe that's how she wanted to remember her. Or maybe it had been Kelly's father's influence that had made Leah different.

Kelly would never know because her father had died of a heart attack when she was twelve. And Leah had immediately gone in search of another man to take his place. Her choice was a poor one. Leah struck up an affair with her married boss, Mark Barron. Yet despite how wrong it was, for Kelly, her mother's years as his mistress had been stable ones, including the period after Tess was born. But with Mark Barron's passing ten years ago, Leah had spiraled downward, and both Kelly and Tess had suffered as a result.

She'd immediately packed up and moved them to a seedy part of New York City, far from their home in Tomlin's Cove, the neighboring town to Serendipity. Leah said she wanted them to start over. In reality, their mother had wanted an easy place to search for another lover to take care of her. But Leah never found her next white knight, turning to alcohol and a never-ending rotation of disgusting men instead.

Since Tess had only been four years old at the time, a sixteen-year-old Kelly had become the adult, juggling high school, then part-time college with jobs and raising Tess. Fortunately, her mother had moved them into a boardinghouse with a kindly older woman who'd helped Kelly too.

But last year, their mother had run off with some guy, abandoning her youngest daughter, and something in Tess had broken. Angry and hurt, she'd turned into a belligerent, rebellious teenager, hanging out with the wrong crowd, smoking, drinking, and ultimately getting arrested. Desperate, Kelly had turned to the only person she remembered from their years in Tomlin's Cove, Richard Kane, a lawyer in Serendipity who'd put her in touch with Ethan Barron.

Kelly's heart shattered as she basically deposited her baby sister on a stranger's doorstep and ordered him to step up as her brother. But it was that, Kelly sensed, or heaven knew where Tess would end up. So here she was months later, starting her life over but still rushing Tess out for school, she thought, grateful things were finally looking up.

She and Tess ate a quick breakfast, after which Kelly dropped off Tess and headed to work. Another thing for which she owed Richard Kane, her job, working for him as a paralegal, in downtown Serendipity.

She stopped, as she did daily, at Cuppa Café, the town's coffee shop. Kelly had worked hard all her life and she'd learned early on to save, but her entire day hinged on that first cup of caffeine. It had to be strong and good.

Kelly stepped into the coffee shop and the delicious aroma surrounded her, instantly perking her up as if she were inhaling caffeine by osmosis.

She was pouring a touch of milk into her large cup of regular coffee when a familiar woman with long, curly blond hair joined her at the far counter.

“You're as regular as my grandma Emma wanted to be,” Annie Kane joked.

Kelly glanced at her and grinned. “I could say the same for you.”

“Good point.” Annie laughed and raised her cup in a mock toast.

Small-town living offered both perks and drawbacks. Running into a familiar face fell in the latter category. Kelly and Annie frequented Cuppa Café at the same time each morning and they'd often linger to chat. If pressed, Kelly would say Annie was the closest she had to a real friend here, if she didn't count Faith Harrington, Ethan's wife.

Annie was Richard Kane's daughter, though from the pictures on Richard's desk, Kelly noticed Annie looked more like her mother than her dad. From the first day they'd met at her father's office, Kelly had liked this woman.

Kelly took a long, desperately needed sip of her drink.

“So what's your excuse for being up so early every day?”

“Routine keeps me young,” Annie said.

Kelly rolled her eyes. “You
are
young.” She looked Annie over, from her slip-on sneakers to her jeans and light cotton sweater. “I bet we're probably close to the same age.”

“I'll be twenty-seven next month,” Annie said.

“And I'll be twenty-seven in December.”

Annie raised her cup to her lips and Kelly couldn't help but notice that her hand shook as she took a sip.

Kelly narrowed her gaze but didn't comment on the tremor. Instead, she dove into cementing her life here in Serendipity. “Listen, instead of quick hellos standing over coffee, how about we meet for lunch one day?” She was ready for a real friend here, someone she could trust and confide in. Kelly adored Tess, but a fourteen-year-old hardly constituted adult company.

“I'd like that!” Annie said immediately. “Let me give you my phone number.” As she reached into her purse, her cell phone rang and she glanced at the number.

“Excuse me a second,” she said to Kelly. “Hello?” she spoke into the receiver.

Kelly glanced away to give Annie privacy, but she couldn't help but overhear her end of the conversation.

“I'm feeling better, thanks. Yeah. No you don't need to stop by. I called the plumber and he said he'd make it to the house by the end of the day.” Annie grew quiet, then she spoke once more. “I can afford it and you don't need to come by. You weren't good with the pipes when we were married,” she said, amusement in her tone.

Some more silence, and then Annie said, “If you insist, I'll see you later,” she said, now sounding more annoyed than indulgent.

She hung up and put the phone back in her bag. “My ex-husband,” she explained to Kelly. “He thinks because I have MS I need his constant hovering.”

The admission caught Kelly off guard and she felt for Annie, being diagnosed so young. Richard liked to talk about everything and anything when he was in the office, but he'd never mentioned his daughter's disease. Kelly didn't blame him for omitting something so personal. In fact, she was surprised Annie had mentioned it at all.

“I'm sure you noticed my hand shaking earlier, and if we're going to be friends, you might as well know,” Annie said as if reading Kelly's mind.

Kelly met Annie's somewhat serene gaze. Obviously she'd come to terms with her situation. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Hey, if I go MIA one day, at least you'll know why.” She shrugged, as if the notion were no big deal.

Kelly didn't take her new friend's confidence or situation as lightly. “Well, if you ever need anything, just let me know.”

Annie smiled. “Thanks. But I think my ex will always be around to handle things,” she said through lightly clenched jaw.

“That could be a good thing,” Kelly mused, “having someone at your beck and call when you need something?”

“Not when you've told him you want to be independent,” Annie muttered. The frustration in the other woman's voice was something Kelly understood.

Like Annie, Kelly didn't need or want a man who felt the need to take care of her. She was determined to be smart and self-sufficient, the opposite of her mother in every way. No matter how many obstacles life threw in her way. And unfortunately, there were more to come. Utter humiliation loomed in the not-so-distant future, courtesy of a man she'd once loved. The affair was long over. The fallout was not. Kelly could handle the mess. Her younger sister could not. And Kelly did not want Tess exposed to gossip and innuendo just as the teenager was doing well and making better choices. Kelly only hoped the distance between Manhattan and Serendipity would spare Tess when trouble hit.

“Men just don't get us women, do they?” Annie asked, a welcome interruption from Kelly's troubling thoughts.

Kelly shook her head and sighed. “No, they do not.”

“Firsthand experience?” Annie asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Kelly frowned, the memory of spending the last year getting over having her heart and trust betrayed still fresh.

“I'm sorry.” Annie blew out a long breath. “I don't know about yours, but my ex means well. He just takes the word ‘responsibility' to the extreme.”