Page 26 of Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat
‘You got many guests in?’Mikey asked, reaching for another slice.
‘Three cabins are full. A decent older couple from South Carolina who leave tomorrow. A family of four from Florida – the father’s obnoxious, mother’s a pain and the kids are all out brats. They’re here for the week.’ He hesitated a second before mentioning Fee. ‘There’s an English woman booked in for a month. She’s some sort of photographer.’ Tomcaught the knowing glance ricocheting between his brothers. He’d been set up.
‘We hear she’s a smart lady. She sure won over Pops.’
Mikey’s casual comment didn’t fool Tom for a second.
‘Good looker is she?’ Sandy chimed in, and Tom swallowed the last of his beer before pulling out another can from the cooler at his brother’s feet. He popped the top open and took a longdeep swallow.
‘Not particularly.’ He flat out lied. ‘Pleasant enough, I guess.’
‘Doesn’t float your boat then?’ Mikey’s blunt question meant he’d been stuck with the bad cop role tonight, leaving Sandy to play the nice guy.
Tom glowered. ‘I’m not interested. Thought you’d all have got that by now. Worst thing to ask today, don’t you think?’ Attack was often the best defence.
‘Fair enough.’ Mikey backed off with a conciliatory smile. Tom recognised it as nothing more than a temporary reprieve. He’d better stop drinking and keep his wits about him.
Soft, yellow lights glimmered on Tom’s porch and Fee, sitting outside her own cabin, strained to pick out the voices drifting up the road. She couldn’t decide if it was all men or maybe included a woman witha low, sexy voice.Pull yourself together. You’re not getting involved, remember?
She’d spent a lot of time thinking since her latest visit to Pine Ridge. Whilst bonding with Mary-Jo over a kid’s size serving of pear and pecan ice cream it’d been a cinch to extract the story she’d sworn not to ask anything about, finding out more about Gina Chambers than she really wanted to. It only tookthe minimum of encouragement to get Suzy-Beth to join in and gossip about her cousin.
It was a simple, sad story. Tom and Gina were childhood sweethearts from two long settled Pine Ridge families who got married as soon as Tom became a police officer. Fee hated the flash of envy when the women spoke about the beautiful, charming Gina whom everyone loved.
She worshipped him andeveryone assumed they’d grow old together but Tom worked a murder case and when the man he charged got out of prison he was set on revenge. Gary Higgins shot Gina while she and Tom were sitting on their front porch. Tom’s never been himself since. He went away for a while and worked as a security consultant in Iraq but couldn’t stay gone. There was no way he could return to police work so he madethe cabins his project and they saved him.
No wonder he’d recoiled at being drawn to her the other night. An unbearable sadness filled Fee at the idea that such a loving man would close himself down. This wasn’t simply about his clear desire for her but also the longing in his eyes when he played with Lulu. It didn’t take a genius to guess he’d been picturing the children he’d hoped tohave. After Pierre’s death she swore never to get close to anyone again because it’d hurt too much when things fell apart. If she was foolish enough to let Tom into her heart he’d let her down too because that’s what happened. She couldn’t take the chance.
Fee pulled her cold, bare feet up on the chair and tucked the soft red blanket in around her to ward off the chill in the air. Rockingback and forth she allowed herself to dream.
