Second Chance at the Orchard Inn, page 26
Sure, he’d also somehow gotten Devin to commit to mustering up a volunteer squad from Meyer Construction to serve Sunday supper at Harvest Home—some church group had apparently made the finals in a choral competition and had to pull out at the last minute. But that was just more evidence of how much he trusted Devin.
Well, Devin was going to show him that he’d put his faith in the right man. He’d get enough guys from work to show up on Sunday—no problem. And twelve months from now, he’d make good on his promise to buy those undeveloped acres.
His own land, away from the crappy apartments where he’d grown up. Someplace quiet just for him, no nosy roommates or noisy neighbors upstairs. A home he’d build with his own two hands.
Just don’t screw it up, a voice in his head whispered.
Devin bit the inside of his cheek. Ignoring the doubt in the back of his mind, he reached for his beer and took a good swig.
“How’re you boys doing?” Zoe appeared at the side of their table in the corner. Heaven help him. She’d put on some lipstick or something since he’d seen her at Harvest Home. He couldn’t stop looking at her red mouth, and his best friend was going to murder him. Oblivious, Zoe glanced between the both of them. “Y’all ready for another round?”
Devin drained the last gulp from his glass and thunked it down in front of her. “Sure am.”
“Awesome.”
Devin should probably be pacing himself. He had an early shift in the morning. But he was celebrating. Letting loose for one night wouldn’t hurt.
Just so long as he didn’t slip up and let himself look at Zoe’s chest.
Crap. Too late.
He jerked his gaze away. “Maybe some water, too,” he croaked.
Zoe nodded. “Probably a good call.”
“Whatever he’s having, put it on the house.” Clay Hawthorne, owner and proprietor of the Junebug, wandered over. He clapped Devin on the shoulder, then shot a narrow-eyed glance at Han. “Not this guy, though.”
“Hey,” Han protested. “After all the free food I give you.”
“Fine, fine.” Clay held his hands up in front of his chest. “It’s all on the house, but, Zoe, don’t give them any top-shelf stuff, you hear?”
“Only the worst for my brother,” Zoe agreed. “Got it, boss.”
“You know I’m just giving you free stuff because it means I don’t have to write a receipt, right?” Clay told them.
Han shook his head. “You have really got to figure that stuff out, man.”
“I know.” Clay scrubbed a hand through his red-brown hair. “But math is hard.”
Devin gestured around. “When you get to big numbers like this it is.”
“Doomed by your own success,” Han sympathized.
Clay was a relative newcomer to Blue Cedar Falls, but you’d never know it. Devin didn’t make it out to Main Street all that often, but whenever he did, the Junebug was hopping, drawing in the tourists that flocked to the area and locals alike. Clay seemed to know everybody on a first-name basis—or if he didn’t at the start of the night, he did by the end.
He’d become good friends in particular with Han, which was great to see. Han had been Devin’s best friend since they were kids. He was a good guy—maybe the best. But he was so serious, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He didn’t get out a lot. The guy could use another friend in his corner.
“Tell me about it,” Clay grumbled. “This place was supposed to be small, you know. Just a hole in the wall for me and maybe ten other people.”
“Guess you should have told June that.” Han tipped his head toward the front door, which had just swung open to reveal the lady in question.
Clay’s complaining ceased, his whole demeanor changing as he lifted a hand to her in greeting. She smiled, too, broad and unreserved, as she crossed the space toward him.
Devin shook his head, rolling his eyes fondly as Clay swept June up in his arms. He’d never get over a big, gruff guy like that turning into a teddy bear whenever his girlfriend was around.
As they kissed, Devin looked away, because wow. They were really going at it. He happened to meet Zoe’s gaze, and they shared a stifled laugh at the PDA.
Then Devin had to look away all over again, because sharing anything with Zoe—especially something related to kissing—was a terrible idea.
“Get a room.” Han threw a napkin at Clay and June, and they finally broke apart.
Zoe swatted lightly at Han. “Don’t listen to my brother,” she told June. “He’s just jealous.”
“Ew.” Han recoiled. “I definitely am not.”
And okay, yeah, considering Han had dated June’s sister May for approximately all of high school, that made sense.
“How’s it going?” June asked, ignoring him.
“Fine,” Zoe told her. “Just commiserating with Clay about how you ruthlessly turned his dive bar into the most popular spot on Main Street.”
June shook her head and patted his arm. “Pretty sure that was mostly your doing.” She gestured around. “Everything here was your idea. I just helped you put it all together.”
“Okay, fine, it was a group effort,” Clay said, his smile wry. He then pointedly steered the conversation away from how business was booming—and, Devin noticed, away from the jabs Han had been making about how he needed to get his accounting figured out.
If anybody else noticed, they didn’t make a big deal of it, so Devin kept mum, too. They all made small talk for a few minutes. Inevitably, Zoe had to excuse herself to go check on her other tables. “You got everything under control?” Clay asked.
Zoe gave him a thumbs-up as she walked away. “On top of it all, boss.”
“Guess we should head out.” To Han and Devin, he explained, “Date night.”
“Have fun,” Han told them.
“And thanks again for the grub,” Devin said.
Clay tipped an imaginary hat at him before turning and steering June toward the back.
Devin returned to his burger, but after a minute, it registered with him that Han’s attention was decidedly elsewhere. And that he wasn’t happy.
He followed his buddy’s scowling gaze.
And kind of immediately wished he hadn’t.
Zoe stood over by a table on the other side of the bar, her head tipped back in laughter as a group of guys gave her their orders. One of them had sidled his chair awfully close to her. Another winked.
Devin fought not to sigh.
“Don’t do it,” he warned.
Han’s voice came out gruff and pinched. “Do what?”
“Whatever it is you’re thinking about doing to those jerks.”
The guy next to Zoe leaned over as if to pick something up off the ground, only there was nothing there.
Han bristled.
Zoe neatly sidestepped the creeper, but none of the tension left Han’s frame.
“Seriously, dude.” Devin shifted his chair to block Han’s sight line. If it also meant he couldn’t see Zoe anymore, well, that was just a bonus. “She can handle herself.”
The opening night of the Junebug had proven that. Han had lost it on the guys leering at his little sister, and she’d put both them—and her brother—in their places.
“I know,” Han grumbled. “But those guys are out of line.”
He wasn’t wrong, but still. “When it comes to Zoe, you think everyone is out of line.”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do.” Devin’s throat tightened.
Han had always been overprotective. When they were kids, it was cool. No one at Blue Cedar Falls Elementary could mess with either Zoe or their middle sister, Lian. But as the girls had gotten older—and after Han’s father died—Han’s overprotective instincts went out of control.
“I just…” Han picked at his fries before pushing them away. “I know she’s an adult, okay?”
“You sure about that?”
Han ignored him. “She’s an adult, but she doesn’t act like one. At her age, I’d taken over the restaurant. I was paying the mortgage, you know? She’s living in the basement.”
Ouch.
That wasn’t exactly fair, though. Their father had died during Han’s first term at the Culinary Institute in Raleigh. It’d been his decision to leave and help his mom out after.
It’d also been his decision to make sure Zoe and Lian wouldn’t have to make the same sorts of sacrifices.
Devin raised a brow. “You think she shouldn’t have gone to school?”
“Of course not.” Han blew out a breath. “It’s not even that I mind her living in the basement. It’s just—those guys are dirtbags.”
“Maybe dirtbags leave good tips.”
“It’s more than that,” Han insisted. “It’s like she likes dirtbags. You remember all the losers she brought home in high school. And none of them lasted.”
“So she dated a few guys.” Devin stared at Han pointedly. “Most people did.”
Han narrowed his eyes right back. “This is not about me. Or May.”
Han had been practically married to May Wu for the entirety of high school, and everybody knew it.
As Devin saw it, Han had never gotten over her, either. Just because he’d mated for life didn’t mean he should expect everybody else to.
“Uh-huh.”
“I didn’t go nuts on Lian, did I?”
Lian had also been a lot less of a wild child than Zoe growing up.
“I’m telling you,” Han insisted. “You know how Zoe and Mom would go at it. She’s always been rebellious. Mom says turn left and Zoe heads right. Mom says get a job in your field, and Zoe ends up waitressing in a bar.”
“In a job you got her.”
“Beside the point—I just wanted to get her out of the house, and Clay needed the help.” Han picked up a fry and pointed at Devin with it. “The guy thing is just a part of it. She’ll bring home anyone she thinks will piss Mom off.”
Was that it?
Devin fought not to squirm. If so, how far did it go? Their mom had her opinions, and yes, she and Zoe bumped heads about them. But was Han any different with his overprotective crap?
Would Zoe do something just to piss her brother off, too?
Suddenly, Zoe going all seductive temptress on Devin back at Harvest Home that afternoon took on a whole new light.
Something in his stomach churned. He’d known better than to act on her flirtations—for a whole host of reasons. But if she’d been doing it to get a rise out of Han?
Devin took a big gulp of his water to wash down the bitterness creeping into the back of his throat.
It didn’t matter. Han was Devin’s best friend. If he didn’t want anyone dating his little sister, Devin would respect that.
That didn’t stop him from asking one final question.
“So what if she brought home someone you did like? Someone with good intentions, a decent job. Treated her well.” Devin’s voice threatened to tick upward, but he wrestled it down. “What would you do then?”
Han chuckled. “Sure. That’ll be the day.”
“For real, though.”
“Look, I just want her to be happy. She brings home someone great, fine. But I don’t see it happening. She’s immature and messing with fire just to see if it’ll burn. I’m protecting her from douchebag guys at bars, sure. But I’m also protecting her from herself.”
“Who are you protecting from herself? Someone new?” Crap, where had Zoe come from? She set a fresh beer down in front of Devin. She snagged the other one off her tray and held it over the table like she was seriously considering throwing it in her brother’s face. “Or just me, like usual?”
Han reached out and grabbed the pint glass, but she pulled it away, keeping it out of his grasp.
“Way to prove how mature you are.” Han stood.
She set the glass down with a thud. Beer sloshed right to the edge, but it didn’t spill over. Clenching her jaw, she asked, “Anything else I can get you gentlemen?”
“Zo, don’t be like that.”
She ignored Han. “Devin?”
“Nah,” Devin said carefully. “I’m good.”
“Great, well, anything you need, you just let me know.” She smiled at him way too sweetly.
He swallowed hard, his heart pounding. The full force of her attention on him affected him way more than it should. He didn’t want Han getting a whiff of him being interested. He didn’t want her getting an inkling about it, either.
Maybe her earlier flirting had been genuine. But her being sunshine and roses to him now?
Yeah. That was definitely for Han’s benefit.
Which cast everything else in doubt, too.
Chapter Four
Stop.”
Zoe screeched to a halt with her hand mere inches from the knob on her family home’s back door.
So close.
Her mother cleared her throat, and Zoe prayed for strength before turning around. “Yes, Mother?”
Her mom stood in the kitchen, brows raised, arms crossed. Ling-Ling, the shepherd mix Han had adopted after Zoe left home, sat at her heels. If it was possible, the dog bore the same judgmental glare. “How many résumés did you send out today?”
“Mom—”
“How many?” her mother repeated, firm.
Zoe blew out an exasperated breath. “I didn’t, like, count.”
“And why not? We paid for a degree in accounting, did we not?”
“Would you like me to send you a spreadsheet?”
Her mom scowled, and Ling-Ling made a little growling sound. “No need to take that tone.”
Zoe could say the same herself. “Look—”
“You remember what we talked about earlier, right?”
How could Zoe forget?
“Yes, Mom.” Zoe wasn’t applying herself enough, wasn’t taking her future seriously, wasn’t considering enough options, blah, blah, blah. “Can I go now? I promised Uncle Arthur I’d open up Harvest Home for him.”
The severe line of her mother’s frown finally softened. “Fine.” She made a little shooing motion with her hand. “Go, go.”
Zoe turned to leave. “I just fed Ling-Ling, so don’t let her con you into a second dinner.”
Her mom never cut Zoe an inch of slack, but the dog walked all over her.
“You send me that spreadsheet tomorrow,” her mom called.
“I was obviously kidding about that,” Zoe cast over her shoulder, opening the door.
She kept walking right on through it, too, blocking out any further replies from her mother by swiftly—but gently!—closing the door behind her.
Still annoyed by the whole thing, she got into her sensible pre-owned Kia and started it up. Her fingers itched on the steering wheel, and the urge to put the pedal to the metal as she pulled onto Main Street tugged at her. She mentally shook her head at herself. The last thing she needed was Officer Dwight pulling her over and giving her a lecture, too.
As she begrudgingly maintained the speed limit, she ran over her mom’s words again in her head. With every iteration, she got more worked up. Wasn’t it bad enough that her mom had pressured her into going into accounting in the first place?
“Think about your future,” Zoe mumbled, imitating her mother’s voice. “You want good job, right?”
Fat lot of good the accounting degree had done her in that respect.
To be fair, Zoe hadn’t exactly had a better idea about what to do with her life. But it would have been nice to have had some options other than doctor, lawyer, or bean counter.
She chewed on the inside of her lip. At a stoplight, she impulsively hit the button on the dashboard to make a call.
Her sister, Lian, picked up on the second ring. Long and drawn out, her voice came out over the car’s tinny speakers, “Yes?”
“How did you know what you wanted to do with your life?”
“Well, hello to you, too.”
“I’m serious,” Zoe insisted.
Despite facing more or less the same pressure from their mother, Lian had forged her own path. She had a job as a teacher in the next town over, with a 401(k) and health insurance and everything and an apartment where no one harassed her every time she tried to get out the door.
Basically, living the dream.
“I can tell,” Lian said dryly. There were rustling noises in the background. “Give me a second to think.”
Zoe didn’t have a second. The drive to Harvest Home took only ten minutes, and she’d squandered at least seven of them stewing. “I mean, you must have felt pretty strongly about it. Goodness knows it wasn’t Mom’s idea.”
Lian laughed. “No, that it was not.” She hummed in thought, then said, “I guess…When you know, you just know. You know?”
“Clearly not.” Zoe groaned.
“Sorry, that’s what I’ve got.”
“You are so useless.”
“Uh-huh. Which is why you always call me first when you’re stuck.”
“I’m not stuck.” Okay, she was. Kind of.
She just didn’t know what to do with her life or how to get her mother off her back. But other than that, she was fine.
No, she hadn’t made any progress on Operation: Seduce Devin Until He Breaks, but she had her job at the Junebug, which was fun and paid well. Her leftover free time—when she wasn’t applying for jobs or making pointless spreadsheets for her mother—she spent at Harvest Home, and it was…well, great.
She sighed. If only she could convince Uncle Arthur to take that well-earned trip to Fiji he was always talking about and let her take over there full-time. She’d miss him, sure, and it wouldn’t exactly be a fancy corporate accounting job. But if she could rustle up enough grants to pay herself a salary, even her mother couldn’t give her a hard time about that.
As she turned into Harvest Home’s parking lot, she finished up her conversation with her sister. Sherry and Tania arrived just as she was heading toward the door.
