A Family Affair: Fall Read online

  “When it’s got eight bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a sauna, and a theater room? Yeah, I’d say probably so.”

  “Harry won’t think all those extras were such a great idea when half the town lines up to try them out. Lily’s been pestering him for weeks to get the pool finished.” Nate sighed and recalled his sister’s obsession with her uncle’s pool and her insistence that the garden hose and a few good rains would fill it up. Lily always had a plan for any situation, usually involving people and relationships. Thankfully, this situation really was only about a structure and a hole in the ground.

  “Something tells me Harry Blacksworth would hire a few lifeguards and a caterer or two and open his doors to anybody who showed up at his gate.”

  “Hmm. Maybe your buddy could be a lifeguard.”

  Cash laughed at that. “As much as the female population in this town would love it, I think he’ll be busy filling the sergeant’s position until Bud returns.”

  “You really think this is a good idea?” Nate still had his doubts. Cash had just admitted that while he and Ben were partners, there was a lot he didn’t know about the man. And since his accident and return to Magdalena, Cash knew even less.

  “Bud has another two months of rehab, if he doesn’t have another complication or decide to retire. Why the guy thought he could bale hay and stack it with a bum knee and an extra twenty-five pounds around his middle is beyond me.”

  “Did anybody tell Ben about Chief Hard-ass?”

  Cash shrugged and rubbed away at the edge of the table leg. “Rudy Dean might settle down once Ben gets to town. The man’s never had the opportunity to work with real police before and this could change his whole attitude.”

  “You’re kidding, right? Rudy never would have gotten that job if you hadn’t left town.” He paused, added, “And it didn’t hurt that he married Mimi Pendergrass’s niece.”

  “Yeah, well, Ben’s a big boy. He’ll figure it out.”

  “Oh, I can’t wait to see Chief Hard-ass and Mr. Handsome go at it.”

  “Ben’s a good guy. Very loyal.”

  “Sounds like your dog.”

  Cash ignored him, plowed on. “I think we were lucky to snatch Ben up before he changed his mind about city life.”

  That’s what didn’t sit well with Nate. Ben Reed hadn’t acted like he wanted to hang out in Magdalena a half second longer than necessary. Not that several of the town’s female population wouldn’t welcome an opportunity to change his mind. They’d lined up and practically shoved each other out of the way in an attempt to dance with Cash’s old partner. And when the slow dances started, well, that almost caused a stampede, but Ben stopped it when he took Gina Servetti’s hand and forced her onto the dance floor. Not kicking and screaming, but certainly stalling and scowling. By the third slow dance, Gina had disappeared. “Wonder what Gina has to say about her dance partner coming to town?”

  “Don’t know but Tess isn’t telling her; neither is Bree. They don’t want her to start on another tirade of Ben Reed’s invasion of her personal space. Damn, but she went on for weeks.” Cash leaned over and inspected his work. “Guess that leaves Christine, unless Pop gets a jump on the news and spills it at the garden club meeting.”

  “Hmm. Bet Pop beats Christine to it. The man loves a good drama.” Nate shrugged and said, “Let’s just be glad we’re not part of the drama this time.”

  Nate was still thinking about drama and Ben Reed an hour later when he pulled into Gina Servetti’s driveway. She lived on the north end of town in a white bungalow tucked among other bungalows and Cape Cods. Black shutters, red door, a giant oak, and a front yard that could be mowed in six swipes, maybe five depending on the sweep of the turn. Nice. Neat. Organized à la Gina Servetti style.

  And then there were her flowers. Random. Vibrant. Explosive. Beds of them, popping with color and scent, a clump here, a cluster there, boasting a more expansive variety than The Bleeding Hearts Society’s cumulative gardens. There were so many flowers Nate didn’t know what to look at first. Lily did, though. She hopped out of the SUV and ran toward a tall, fluffy looking purple flower.

  “Look, Nate! This is the one the little birds with the fast wings fly to sometimes. And the bees like it, too.” She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. “Gina said if we sit still and watch, we can learn all kinds of things.”

  That comment held true for a lot more than flower gardens. Nate eased out of the SUV and made his way toward his sister. “Let’s see if Gina’s ready for you.”

  “Gina said we’re going to pick our flowers very carefully, and then we’re going to lay them on a big piece of cardboard. And then, we’ll put them in the flower press and if we run out of room, we’ll use the big catalogs and put them between the pages.”

  “Right. In case you pick five hundred flowers and the flower press is too small.” He squeezed her hand and leaned forward to whisper, “Or maybe you’ll pick six hundred and poor Gina won’t have any flowers left.” They’d been hearing about the special flower-pressing event for three days. Between that and Harry’s waterless pool, Lily had filled up most of the conversations she’d had with their mother, Christine, Pop…pretty much half the town.

  Lily rang the doorbell and glanced at Nate. He still didn’t understand his sister’s intrigue with Gina Servetti. It’s not like the woman was the touchy-feely type who offered homemade cookies in boxes tied with bright ribbons like Bree Kinkaid did. As far as Nate knew, Gina didn’t cook, unless it had to do with a microwave or a reheat setting. Christine said Lily’s sudden interest in Gina had to do with the pressed-flower picture she delivered a few weeks ago. When Lily spotted it on the mantel next to Anna’s Christmas photo, she’d made a beeline toward it, leaned so close her nose almost touched the glass of the frame, and said she wanted to make flower pictures, too.

  And now here they were, waiting for Lily’s teacher to open the door and begin instructing.

  “Hi, Lily.” They turned to find Gina walking toward them from the side of the house. She looked more relaxed than usual, but maybe it was the jeans and T-shirt, or the pink gloves and red clogs. Those last two were an interesting combination for a woman he’d never seen in anything brighter than navy, with the exception of the bridesmaid gown she’d worn at Tess’s wedding last year. Gina nodded at Nate and said, “How about I drop her off in a few hours at your mom’s?”

  “Sure.”

  Lily ran down the steps and gave her a quick hug. “We’re going to pick flowers and make pictures, like artists, aren’t we?”

  Gina Servetti looked about as comfortable with that hug as a vegetarian at a pig roast. She met Lily’s gaze and said, “We’ll pick the flowers today but we have to dry them before we can glue them onto paper or they’ll ruin, remember?”

  “Uh-huh.” Lily eased her hold on Gina and stepped back. “We have to suck the water out of the flowers so they don’t lose their color. If we don’t, they get all rotten and brown.” She scrunched her nose and made a face. “And very wrinkly and ugly and nobody will want them.” She giggled. “We’ll make our pictures beautiful because everybody wants a beautiful picture, right?”

  Something in Lily’s words bleached out the tan on Gina’s face. What was it? Nate replayed the last few seconds, stopped when he got to the “beautiful” part, which was when the color eked out of her face. Christine told him Gina had a lot of issues with her looks and he’d bet that last comment had gotten to her. So the woman wasn’t a toothpick or a beauty queen? Who cared? Then again, the Servetti clan prided themselves on appearances first, intelligence and integrity second, or maybe tenth. Gina’s cousin, Natalie, certainly hadn’t been interested in integrity or anything other than trapping a man with her good looks and sensuality. She’d tried to trap him and when she’d failed, she’d joined up with Gloria Blacksworth in a blackmail attempt to destroy Nate’s marriage. If he never heard the Servetti name again, it would be too soon. Gina was the exception because she didn’t fit into the family “scre
w you” mold.

  And that had caused her years of misery and mockery—from her own family. He guessed it would be a nightmare to possess an overabundance of intelligence and integrity in a family like that. Kind of like being orphaned by your parents because you had the wrong hair color.

  “Bye, Nate. See you later.” Lily waved at him, her pink-sneakered feet fidgeting her impatience for him to leave.

  He hesitated, glanced at Gina. “Are you sure this isn’t too much for you?” Christine had assured him that Gina had a soft side even if she didn’t show it often. And she must possess a fair amount of patience or she wouldn’t be a physical therapist. And hadn’t she worked with Cash when he first got back to Magdalena and refused to act like a human being? And—

  “We’ll be fine, Nate.” Gina actually gentled her usually serious tone. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

  Was that sarcasm or sincerity? That was the thing about Gina Servetti; you just never knew. Maybe that’s why he’d never seen her with a guy, never even heard about a guy. They wouldn’t like the uncertainty and guesswork involved in the mating ritual, especially early on in the game. They’d pass her up for someone more transparent. Like her cousin. With Natalie, everything was on display and for sale, from the tight shirts and painted-on jeans to the short skirts and backless tops. But Natalie was more short-term parking than an extended stay, and no matter how hard she tried to entice her men to hang around, it wasn’t happening. His right temple pinched just thinking about the grief that woman had caused him. Once Ben Reed hit town, he’d be fresh meat and Natalie would be on the hunt. Somebody better warn the guy, but that somebody wasn’t going to be him. This husband knew the scent of danger, even if it presented in the form of stilettos, cleavage, and a killer smile. Maybe a woman should warn Ben Reed. He hopped in his SUV and glanced at the lawn where Gina and Lily stood. And maybe Gina Servetti was that woman.

  Chapter 2

  Lily Blacksworth might possess childlike innocence and naïve curiosity, but the girl saw things others didn’t, maybe because they weren’t looking or maybe because they simply weren’t interested. Lily was looking and interested, which made a lethal combination for someone like Gina who preferred to remain in the background with her own thoughts and opinions.

  But Lily seemed intent on dragging Gina into the open with observations and questions even Tess, Christine, and Bree didn’t dare mention. Like why wasn’t Gina married and did she have a boyfriend. And if that wasn’t horrible enough, she wanted to know why Gina only wore “sad” colors instead of “happy” ones, like orange, yellow, and purple.

  What on earth to say to that? They’d been working in the backyard for over an hour. Gina identified each flower, helped Lily snip the blooms and place them on a large piece of cardboard covered with paper towel. There were pansies, cosmos, dahlias, bee balm, and alyssum, in purple, pink, fuchsia, and yellow. Roses, butterfly bush, black-eyed Susans, and phlox. When the cardboard was full, they placed it on the deck and transferred the flowers to the flower press Christine had given her for her birthday, compliments of her husband’s woodworking skills. Old department store catalogs had served as presses long after their listings had grown outdated, and Gina still relied on stacks of the two-inch books when she encountered a season with an overabundance of blooms.

  They’d placed three layers of flowers in the press and started on the fourth as Lily chatted on about the velvety softness of a rose petal that reminded her of her niece’s skin after a warm bath, and the lavender phlox that was the same color as her Sunday shirt. She was full of stories and observations and as long as she kept her inquisitiveness aimed at the task, Gina could almost relax. But she should have known Lily would expand her questions before the afternoon was over, and those questions would include Gina.

  “You should get a dog.”

  Gina looked up from the white alyssum she held. “A dog?” A dog?

  “Yup.” Lily stretched out on the deck and leaned back on her elbows. “A black one.” She flashed a smile and added, “Or maybe spotted.”

  Gina placed the alyssum on the cardboard, careful not to touch the other flowers, and clamped the press shut. Something was going on in Lily’s head and it was about more than a black or spotted dog. The real question was, did Gina want to know what that “something” was? Absolutely not, but it didn’t matter because in the short period of time she’d spent with Lily, she’d learned the child said what was on her mind. So, she took a deep breath and asked, “Why do I need a dog?”

  The smile grew, split open until Lily said with great matter-of-factness, “Because you don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “How do you know I don’t have a boyfriend?” Okay, she didn’t have a boyfriend, hadn’t had one in years, eleven to be exact, but how did Lily know that?

  Lily reached for the glass of lemonade Gina had fixed for her, sipped through the pink straw, and set it aside. “Pop said you don’t.”

  “Pop Benito?” Why was he discussing her love life with Lily? And who else had he told? Was he blabbering about it at The Bleeding Hearts Society meetings? She’d missed the last two meetings…maybe that’s when Pop tossed in the boyfriend comment. But wouldn’t Bree have told her? Gina couldn’t say for sure because Bree’s response often depended on the state of her hormonal level and her pregnant versus nonpregnant state. Of course, after what happened to her four months ago, it was hard to tell.

  Lily took another sip of lemonade and studied Gina. “He said if you can’t get a boyfriend, you should get a dog because they’ll keep you warm and keep you company.” She giggled. “And they don’t leave their socks and underwear around the house.” Another giggle. “Dogs don’t wear socks and underwear.”

  Wait until she saw Pop again. She knew his game, knew he was aware Lily was coming to visit her and would eventually share what he’d told her. Exactly as he planned it. This all had to do with what happened at Tess and Cash’s wedding and that fake sprained ankle stint he tried to pull so she’d dance with Ben Reed. She should have reminded him she’d seen her share of sprained ankles in her line of work and his wasn’t one of them. But she’d opted for politeness and, truthfully, she’d been so flustered when Ben Reed pulled her into his arms that she couldn’t formulate a response. And that had bothered her as much as it annoyed her. Of course, Ben Reed hadn’t been similarly affected; he had enough alcohol and arrogance in him that night to carry on a conversation while clutching her against him. Way too close. The memory was not a welcome or pleasant one.

  “So, are you going to get a dog?”

  “No. I am not going to get a dog.” Or a boyfriend. She grabbed her lemonade and took a healthy swallow. “And I’ll have a thought of two for Pop on that subject.”

  “He says he thinks you’re going to end up with a dog and a boyfriend.” Lily tilted her head to the side as if considering this. “What kind of dog will you get?” Before Gina had a chance to tell her there would be no two or four-legged creatures walking into her life, the child pushed on with the imagination of a great fiction writer. “How about a beagle? They have a funny bark. Mr. Finnegan has two and he says they can sniff out a lie while it’s still in the person’s mouth.” She scratched her jaw, her eyes bright behind her glasses. “I want a beagle but Nate says you don’t get a dog for the tricks other people say he can do. And he says lies can sneak past anybody if they look enough like the truth.” She frowned and glanced at Gina. “You think that’s true?”

  Nate Desantro might not put a lot of polish on his words but he knew what he was talking about. “Your brother’s right.” She’d once believed lies that slid past her defenses with the smoothness of a milk chocolate truffle. Honest. Sincere. Heartfelt. And they had been none of those. By the time she realized the truth in the lie, it was much too late. She’d lost her confidence, her self-esteem, her belief that a man would want her for herself. The only way to get past the destruction of the betrayal had been to avoid relationships with men. And while there were poc
kets of loneliness and “what ifs,” they were bearable as long as she remembered the lies she’d once believed and the pain they’d caused.

  “Gina?” Lily’s curiosity sifted past Gina’s thoughts and pulled her back. “Pop says if you find the right man, he’ll be more loyal than ten Labrador retrievers.” She giggled. “Maybe you should find a boyfriend first and then you can both pick out a dog.”

  Maybe Gina should drop Lily at her mother’s and head straight to Pop Benito’s where she’d set him straight on dogs, boyfriends, and why he should stay out of her personal life. Just because she’d asked him for suggestions on the best way to cultivate her soil did not mean she wanted his assistance cultivating a male-female relationship. It was one thing to rally the town to get Cash and Tess back together, and yes, Pop had been successful in his matchmaking ventures, so much so that people now dubbed him “The Matchmaker of Magdalena” as well as the “Godfather of Magdalena”. But the man had no business intruding on her affairs and she planned to tell him that.

  “What about Ben Reed?”

  Ben Reed? She ignored the sharp twinge in her gut and said, “What about him?”

  “He’s moving to Magdalena.” Lily sat up, a smile stretching across her face. “He could be your boyfriend.”

  Hardly. Even if she were remotely interested, which she wasn’t, and even if she considered the man slightly intriguing, which she didn’t, and even if she were willing to risk heartbreak again, which she definitely wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter. She bet Ben Reed dated women with long hair, skinny waists, and skinnier IQ’s. The man was all about appearances and flash. Anybody could tell that from a two-second look and that’s all Gina had needed: the tan, the muscles, the blue eyes and soft voice all shouted player and dangerous. The first time she saw him had been in Lina’s Café, the afternoon he rode into town with his cousin, the “maybe” girlfriend Cash hadn’t told Tess about. There’d been an arrogant sense of self-assurance in the man’s voice and the way he held himself, as though he weren’t used to being questioned. Well, they had questioned him and at the wedding, when he’d tried to make small talk with Gina, she’d shut him down so fast, those blue eyes sparked with what looked a lot like annoyance. Why did people ask things they really didn’t care about? What did it matter where she’d gone to college or what she did for a living? It didn’t and it was not his business and she was tired of being polite, so she’d done what she thought Tess, Christine, and even Bree might do in a similar situation. She’d made up a story, a good one, too, according to Cash who said his buddy wasn’t pleased to learn the woman he’d been paired up with in the bridal party was not an aeronautical engineer with a patent pending but a physical therapist who worked in the local hospital.