A Fresh Start for Two (2 page)

Chapter Two

Three days later, Julia hurried through the back door of the restaurant, part of The Brooks Inn, and grabbed her order book. She almost ran straight into her best friend, Lucia Ramos, because she was so anxious about being late for work. She had met Lucia at the restaurant two years ago, and they had been close ever since. Lucia’s family was from Madrid, and she had three brothers and a little sister. Julia just loved her wavy dark hair and her beautiful smile.

Lucia said, “Slow down, slow down, why are you running so?”

“I’m late. The boss hasn’t said anything, has she?”

“No, she’s busy talking to her husband. Slow down.”

Julia closed her eyes and tipped her head back, taking a deep breath. “Okay, I’m here, I’m ready, give me a table.”

“You have section three. No one’s there yet, but I just saw a few more customers come in the front door.” She peeked around the corner. “Yes, you have one table. Dawn gave them their menus, so there is no need for you to be in such a hurry. What’s wrong?”

“Vincent’s angry with me again.”

“Why?”

“Because I signed up for a class at the community college.” Julia played with her black blouse, trying to tuck it in right. Mrs. Brooks was a stickler for her servers being dressed nicely. She didn’t need anyone else to give her a hard time.

“So why does he care?”

“Well, he finally agreed to pay for a class, but he wants it to be a Fine Arts class.”

“Why?” Lucia leaned forward, her hands on her hips.

“Because he’s determined
his
wife would only attend school to earn a Liberal Arts degree. He doesn’t want me taking certain classes.”

“Okay, still not seeing the problem.” Lucia’s gaze narrowed. “You can take a business class and still get a Liberal Arts degree.”

She knew Lucia didn’t particularly like or trust Vincent. Quite rightly, she thought he was controlling. His family owned a few wildly successful restaurants in Rochester, and had for years. He worked for the family business in some capacity, though Julia wasn’t sure exactly what he did. But while Julia had come to hate his overbearing ways, he was loaded, and had promised to help her family after they married. Thus, the problem. Her mother needed the money and didn’t care if Julia was really in love with the man. To her, he was a means to an end.

At first, Julia had been flattered to have someone wealthy interested in her. She had even hoped he could help her realize her dream, opening her own shop somewhere, but he had made it clear after he proposed that his wife would never work. Her fairy tale dream had fallen apart bit by bit. The more she learned about Vincent, the more she was convinced that she was about to make a huge mistake, but how could she convince her mother of that?

“The problem is I signed up for an accounting class. He paid the tuition for me, but he didn’t check to see what class I was enrolled in until he saw the accounting book in my car. And…” Julia stared at the floor.

“And what?” Lucia asked, her arms crossed in front of her.

“And I never told you about the other day at the restaurant. Vincent and I argued and someone called the cops.” She checked her table and saw that her boss was joking with the group.

“What happened?”

“The cop just sent us home separately. And you wouldn’t believe it, but one of the cops is in my class. I hope Vincent never sees him walking in the parking lot or anything. Between that incident and the issue with the accounting book, he has not been happy.”

Lucia grinned. “You should have gotten the digital text. That way he’d never know. I’m so proud of you for doing what you wanted.” Her face twisted into a scowl. “He didn’t take his anger out on you physically, did he?”

“No. We had a horrible argument, but I had to leave. He wasn’t happy about
that
either.” She rubbed the back of her neck, hoping to ward off the stress headache she knew was coming.

Lucia reached over and tucked a stray hair back into Julia’s ponytail. “Honey, promise me he doesn’t hit you.”

And if that didn’t make the headache worse. “No. He’s never hit me, but…”

“But what?” Lucia tipped her head while she waited for her to finish her sentence.

“I could tell he wanted to… He lifted his hand before setting it back down.” At first, she could have sworn he was going to swing at her, but he’d jerked his head and stalked away from her at the last moment. She peered at her friend to gauge her reaction.

“Dios mio, you need to be very careful around him.” Lucia brought her hand up to her forehead. “I knew it. One can sense these things. He is a bad man.”

“It really doesn’t matter, I guess. My mother would still tell me to marry him.”

“No, she wouldn’t, would she? Your mother loves you.”

Julia peeked around the corner at her table and saw they were still perusing the menu. “Yes, she would. It’s all about her. She needs the money.” She heaved a huge sigh. “And to a certain extent, I understand. She’s been a cashier for a long time. It doesn’t pay well, and she’s spent most of her money on Tiffany and me. We’ve been struggling to get by since my father died when I was a kid. Vincent is always buying her new things—a phone, a tablet—things she’s never had before. I can understand why she doesn’t want to let that go.”

“I thought you said you gave her your paycheck and tips, too?”

Julia stared at the ground. “I do, but I wish I could give her more. If I marry Vincent, I can. I will.”

“You shouldn’t marry someone you do not love, amiga.” Lucia stared at her.

“I thought I loved him once…maybe that feeling will return someday. I better get to my table.” She squeezed her friend’s hand. “Thanks for listening.”

Julia glanced over her shoulder as she walked away and smiled back at her friend. Lucia just shook her head. Though she understood her friend’s bafflement, she still felt stuck. She had to marry him. If she didn’t, she would lose what little she had left.

***

It was Saturday morning and Jake Ramsay was headed to the family inn, the name he and his five siblings had given the family home after their father had married a second time to a widow with six children. Jake’s stepmother, Lorraine Grant, always insisted they all meet for a big lunch every Saturday. The house featured a huge sun room overlooking Orenda Lake, big enough to hold all of them.

Jake loved their Saturday picnics, and it didn’t hurt that Lorraine knew how to cook for a crowd. But the thing with family, especially families like his, was that you couldn’t escape. And sometimes it was hard for Jake, who was the second eldest Ramsay, to know how to talk with his big brother Ryan.

Just a year apart, Jake and Ryan had been inseparable growing up, so much so they’d enlisted in the army together along with Ryan’s best friend, Chad. They had all been stationed together in Iraq, which had been great until the day it wasn’t…

When disaster struck, they were in a convoy, with Jake in the truck ahead of Ryan and Chad’s. Chad hit an IED, instantly blowing up his truck. Though Jake and his partner had instantly stopped their truck, they’d had no way of telling whether the others were alive or dead. There had been no time to check before they dove for cover and started firing at the insurgents who’d lain in wait for the explosion.

The moment he first set eyes on his brother’s injuries would be ingrained in his memory forever. Ryan’s leg had been hit so bad he could see the bone surrounded by torn flesh. He didn’t see the rest of his injury—the part that made him puke his guts out—until later, when he realized that Chad was dead.

Later, Jake had visited Ryan in the hospital only to find they’d amputated his left leg below the knee. At the time he’d been too engulfed in the fog of the drugs they’d given him to even tell Jake was there. Jake had just sat in that chair and sobbed.

Their relationship had never been the same since then—though they worked together on the force, it felt as if they grew further apart each year. But Ryan had married a wonderful woman recently, and with Caitlyn’s help and love, he seemed to improve every day. Jake kept hoping to encounter his old brother one of these days, but to no avail.

He tossed a chewed toothpick into the garbage bag he kept on the passenger-side floor, got out of his car, and strode toward the house, passing first Ryan’s car, and then their sister Mallory’s. He marched into the sun room and yelled a greeting to all his siblings and step-siblings. Everyone was already seated, so after giving Lorraine a kiss on the cheek and speaking to his dad, he headed over to the table where Ryan, Cait, and Mallory were sitting.

“Hey, Jake. You’re late. What’s going on?” Mallory asked.

“Not much, but I’ve been thinking of taking up a new hobby.”

“Like what?” Ryan asked.

“I don’t know. Something fun and physical. Maybe I’ll find somewhere to go parasailing, parachuting—that kind of thing. I’ve been getting a little tired of the same old, same old.”

“Trying to kill yourself?” Ryan asked out of the corner of his mouth.

Jake noticed Ryan had been smiling when he entered the room, but now he frowned—like he often did around Jake. “Nah, just looking for some excitement, Ryan. I don’t have a beautiful new wife like you do.” Jake winked at Cait. The expression on Ryan’s face was the same one Jake had seen many times since his welcome home parade. So the old Ryan was down for the count this week too—at least as far as his brother was concerned. Jake reached for a toothpick, but then put it back since they were about to eat.

He got up and grabbed a plate, filling it with food since his belly had been rumbling for the last hour. He sat down with a thud.

Cait picked up a carrot stick and munched on it. “Ryan and I are getting a boat. Do you water-ski? That might be a little more manageable than some of the other hobbies you’re considering.”

“Yeah. Sure. Ryan and I used to do it a long time ago, but I’d love to try it again. It’s been a while.” Not quite what he had been thinking of, but he did enjoy water-skiing. Or at least he’d enjoyed it back when Ryan had two legs. He noticed Ryan didn’t second the invitation.

No one said anything for a few moments. Jake could see the tension knitting his brother’s brow—the usual thing that happened whenever they talked of his leg or the war. What the hell had happened to them, he wondered for what had to be the millionth time. They used to be best friends. When they were younger, they were always getting into trouble together.

Mallory must have been thinking the same thing. “Cait, you should have seen them when they were younger. They would punch each other all the time, right up until Gram marched over and grabbed both their ears to pull them apart.” She was grinning from ear to ear as she said it.

Cait looked at Ryan. “Ouch. Really?”

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. “It worked.”

Clearly loving this, Mallory said, “She would haul them up and make them sit in the living room, one on each couch so they were facing each other. She wouldn’t let them move until they were laughing.”

Cait’s eyes widened. “And it worked?”

“Every time.” Jake laughed. “Besides, Gram had a hell of a grip.”

Ryan laughed at that and nodded in agreement. “Nasty. Happened so many times, it’s a miracle she didn’t rip them off.”

Reaching up to the top of his ear, Jake said, “Yeah, right here.”

“And you never moved from the couches?”

Jake said, “Hell, no, I tried it once. She went right for my ear again. No, we learned to stay put.”

Ryan jerked his head toward his sister. “Don’t look so innocent.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mallory said, batting her eyelashes. “I’m practically a saint.”

Jake barked, “Yeah, you were always sticking your tongue out at us, trying to provoke us and get us into more trouble.”

She stuck her tongue out at him before turning to address Cait. “See what you missed out on?”

They all laughed and then Jake returned his attention to his meal, feeling as if he hadn’t eaten in days. When he finally came up for air, he noticed that his sister and Cait were sharing a pointed glance. What the hell could that be about? Of course, Mallory and Cait were friends, so it made sense that they’d share secrets with each other, but he had a hunch they were up to something.

What Cait said next confirmed it. “You guys ever talk about the war?”

Ryan and Jake answered at the same exact moment. “
No
!” They glared at each other before turning their attention to their food.

“You guys were best friends before the war, don’t you think it would help to talk about it?” Mallory asked, her voice soft.

“What’s changed?” Caitlyn added.

Jake scowled. Cait had asked the exact same question he would like to ask his brother, but of course Ryan didn’t reply at all. All he could do was shrug his shoulders. He had no idea why Ryan had a problem with him. Of course, the injuries he’d suffered would bother any man—he’d lost one of his testicles in addition to part of his leg—but now that he’d found a woman to love him and a career he enjoyed, it didn’t make sense that he’d ice out his own ever-present connection to the army.

“Maybe you should talk about it,” Cait whispered.