“Nah-ah,
boy, you better take that dog on out of here.”Charlie Littleton tightened his
hold on Henry’s leash and shot Patty a look. “You know he doesn’t bark.”The
bakery owner placed a hand on her hip and cocked it for ef- fect. Like always,
she wore an apron with the AJ&P Bakery yellow- and-blue logo on it, though
you could scarcely see it through the flour and spices smeared across the
apron.
“Right,” Patty said now. “A dog that don’t
bark. Is that sort of like a man who don’t eat? Because as far as I’m concerned
that’s a fic- tional being. Like the dog. But if you do find a man who will
share his sandwich, you be sure to point him in my direction, okay? But seeing
as how that man don’t exist, kind of like that nonbarking dog don’t exist, I
don’t expect you to be introducing me to him anytime soon.” She winked at him
and clucked her tongue. “Now, you take that cute bottom of yours out of here,
leave the dog in your truck, then come back and I’ll make you a roast beef with
extra au jus.”
Charlie peered around the bakery, the smells
of fresh baked bread and toasted hot sandwiches hitting his nose. His stomach
grumbled. Of course, the small bakery and sandwich shop was packed today, half the
town there to witness Charlie getting put in his place. A part of him wanted to
remind Patty that his family’s farm supplied most of her produce and could just
as easily refuse to deliver, but he’d learned long ago to retreat slowly and
carefully when dealing with the bakery owner.
“Fine, but I’m holding you to that extra au
jus.”
Patty flashed him a grin. “It’ll be waiting
for you, honey.” Then she waved her hand through the air in a sign that he
better get mov- ing, and then she went to greet someone else. Someone without a
dog.
Resigned, Charlie pushed out of the glass
door and eyed his old Husky. “Sorry, boy. I’ll bring you some leftovers,
though.” He un- locked his Silverado, cranked the truck, and rolled down the
win- dows. It was a mild sixty out in Crestler’s Key, Kentucky, a perfect early
spring day, but Henry meant more to him than most of the peo- ple in the town,
and if he was going to be forced to stay in Charlie’s truck, then he’d do it
with a nice breeze.
With a long glance down Main Street at the
row of shops— Southern Dive, his family’s sports and outdoors shop at the very
end—Charlie couldn’t help wondering if he was making the right de- cisions in
his life.
He’d moved back to Crestler’s Key after
living in the Florida Keys for five years. There, he’d operated a small scuba
diving busi- ness, his life as much under water as above it. And he loved every
moment of it. Then there were the women, too many to count, al- ways around,
always eager to occupy a little bit of his time. He’d been content with that
life, never asking for more and never wanting it. He was a typical
twenty-something and enjoyed every bit of his young age.
Then he met Jade, and hell if he didn’t fall
hook, line, and sinker. Still to this day, years later, he remembered with
painful clarity her walking down the dock at the marina and stopping outside
his houseboat, long sun-bleached blond hair and even longer legs. She was
beautiful in that natural, God-made way—his kryptonite, when
it came to women, so all it took was one
look and he was gone.
It took mere days, maybe even hours, for her
to rope him into her world. She had innocence behind that beauty that he
couldn’t refuse, and weeks passed with them tangled in each other’s arms, a new
kind of happiness swirling in Charlie’s chest. She would never fill the spot
someone else had once filled, someone he was never allowed to care for, someone
he told himself he could—would—forget, but Jade made him feel good. They meshed
together perfectly, peanut butter and freaking jelly.
Until that fateful day when he woke to
discover she’d taken every- thing he owned. His dog. His wallet, which she used
to drain his checking account. His prized possessions. Even the coin collection
his grandfather had left him. Every. Single. Thing. Hell, if he hadn’t been on
the houseboat, he felt sure she’d have sailed off with it, too.
And while, yeah, the money thing sucked, and
the coin collection sucked even more, what really dropped him into the
depression bucket was losing his old dog, Rocky.
He’d rescued Rocky as a puppy from the
pound, more mutt than anything, and with a broken left leg. Thousands of
dollars in vet bills later, and that dog was his only friend down there. And
his idiotic self had let some vixen walk in and steal him.
The thought brought on a fresh wave of
guilt, and he contem- plated going to talk to Patty again, convince her that
they could sit out on the back patio, but then he’d been through this argument
with her before. Besides, this was Crestler’s Key, not Florida, and he knew
everyone in town. No one would take his dog.
Still, just to be safe, he hit the locks on
his truck twice, before heading back into AJ&P, determined to rehash this
with Patty before he left if she hoped to continue to get discounted produce
from the farm.
“There you are, cute bottom.”
Ah, crap.
Grimacing, Charlie pivoted to find his best
friend, Lucas, already seated at one of the white-washed wooden tables, a giant
smirk on his face. “Funny,” Charlie said. “You know, I was excited to see you
and then you had to go and open that big mouth.” The men laughed, then hugged,
because it’d been too damn long.
They took their seats and Lucas joked,
“Thought you were going to cry there when she said you couldn’t bring Henry in
here.”
Charlie peeked out the window at his truck
before returning his gaze to his friend. “Well, she ought to remember who’s
supplying all her produce.”
“So you’re going to hold her produce ransom
until she lets you bring in your dog? Dude, you need a chick in your life.
Stat.”
Charlie laughed, until he glanced around and
noticed several of the women he’d dated off and on eating at the bakery, half
of them glaring at him. “Yeah . . . think I’ll pass on that one. Thanks,
though.” “What’s the deal with your insane overprotectiveness of Henry
anyway? He’s a giant dog. He can take care
of himself.”
Yeah, well, Rocky had been a big dog, too,
and that didn’t save him from that thieving witch of a woman. Charlie had
searched for the dog for nearly a year, all to no avail. Jade was probably
halfway across the world now, with his money and his coin collection and his
dog. Damn woman. No, damn women. They were more trouble than they would ever be
worth.
Lucas continued to stare at him with a
questioning look, but all Charlie could say was the same excuse he always said.
Because no one, not Lucas, not his brothers Zac or Brady, no one knew about
Jade or what she’d done to him. The humiliation would be too much.
“Henry had a rough childhood. Gotta protect
the boy now.” “Right . . .”
MaryAnn, one of AJ&P’s waitresses, came
over then to get their order, and Lucas smiled a little too wide at his former
high-school flame before clearing his throat and trying for mock-cool. Charlie
suppressed a grin. MaryAnn, with her wavy blond hair and deep brown eyes, still
looked exactly as she did in high school. And just like in high school, she was
still 100 percent in love with Lucas. “Hey, there,” MaryAnn said, matching his
smile. “I didn’t know you were home.”
Lucas shrugged. “Three-day leave before
going back.”
“When is your tour over?” she asked, her
eyes filling with a bit of hope that she probably wished wasn’t there. She and
Lucas had mu- tually ended their relationship when she realized he intended to
be a career soldier, and having lost her brother in Iraq, she said she couldn’t
live that life. It was a mature decision, they had both said, but now ten years
later, they both still looked like they regretted it. And come to think of it,
Charlie couldn’t remember a single woman Lucas had dated seriously since ending
things with MaryAnn.
With another careful glance at his old
girlfriend, Lucas relaxed into his chair, the single thing between them now
back front and center. “Three months, then I’ll have a few weeks off, before
another one.”
MaryAnn nodded slowly, and then flipped her
attention over to Charlie for the first time, like she couldn’t bear to look at
Lucas an- other second. “Your regular?”
“Yeah, though Patty promised extra au jus if
I left Henry in the truck.”
“What’s up with you and that dog?”
Lucas laughed. “Didn’t you know? He’s
married to that dog. Pa- pers and all.”
“Again, funny.”
Both MaryAnn and Lucas laughed, until they
made eye contact with each other and both went mum. She took their order and
saun- tered off, her shoulders drooped a little, and Charlie couldn’t stand it
anymore.
“Seriously?”
“What?” Lucas asked.
Charlie deadpanned. “What? Are you freaking
kidding me? The whole town could feel that tension. Why not try?”
Lucas took a drink of his sweet tea, set it
down, then did it again, like he wasn’t
ready to speak yet. Or maybe he didn’t know what to say. “She made her
intentions clear years ago. Her mind’s not changing.”
“She’s older now. Y’all were teenagers then.
Maybe she wants you to make the first move.”
“Says the dude who hasn’t been on a real
date since . . .” Lucas cocked his head. “Come to think of it, I don’t think
you’ve ever been on a real date.”
“Whatever. I date.”
“Sure you do,” Lucas said, relaxing now that
the spotlight wasn’t on him. “You sound just like Lila, always deflecting.”
And just like that, just the mention of her
name, and Charlie sat up taller, eager to hear anything that might have to do
with Lucas’s little sister. “What’s up with Lila these days? Still in vet
school?” He thought of Lucas’s only sister, two years younger and forever tag-
ging along with the two boys when they were kids. She’d always been pretty in a
sweet, natural way, her smile and laugh infectious. Charlie looked after her
when Lucas left for basic, but then Charlie moved to the Keys and Lila moved away
to college, and he hadn’t seen her since.
“Actually she finished school. Went to work
in Charlotte for a while, but she moved back to town a week ago.” He took
another drink of his tea, his look distant now, and Charlie got the distinct
im- pression that Lucas was keeping something from him.
“Why’d she move back to town?” Charlie
asked. He wondered what Lila looked like now, if she’d kept her black hair
cropped short like she had when she was little. But then most women changed
their hair all the time, so it could be long now—beautiful. She probably had
men waiting in lines to get her attention, that bright smile of hers forever
turning the eye of everyone she passed. It had certainly caught his eye.
Lucas shrugged. “Work stuff.”
MaryAnn returned then with their food,
saving Lucas from ex- plaining, but something was definitely going on. Still,
it wasn’t Char- lie’s business, and he was never one to pry.
“She ever marry?” All right, so maybe he was
one to pry. “Nah, not her thing.”
Charlie perked up at the thought, his heart
light—happy. Wow, Lila wasn’t married. He’d expected her to be—
But before he could finish the thought,
Lucas pointed at him. “Don’t even think about it.”
Charlie threw up his hands. “Think about
what?” “Lila. And you. You and Lila.”
A sarcastic laugh broke from his lips,
despite the uneasiness in his chest. “You go insane again? This is me. She’s
like a little sister to me.”
Lucas settled in his chair again, but his
face was still tense. “Right . . . just like the last time. My thoughts on this
haven’t changed.” Cringing, Charlie thought of that fateful day in high school
when he’d asked Lucas about his sister. It was a simple question—Is Lila
around? Three words, nothing more. He and Lucas had always been best friends,
but somewhere along the way, Charlie started noticing Lila more and more.
Curious where she was, how she was doing. But needless to say, the conversation
with his friend didn’t go well.
Lucas went ballistic, shouting all the
reasons Charlie wasn’t to touch his sister, and their friendship meant enough
to him that he didn’t.
“Relax, man. I’m not going after your
sister.”
Besides, Lila was the furthest thing from
Charlie’s type now. He wasn’t into doctors or the professional type. Lucas had
nothing to worry about. Nothing. But still, he couldn’t deny that he was
curious what adult Lila looked like and whether she would remember the time
they’d almost . . .
No, surely not.
Even if he would never forget.
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