Love Rising: Spring (Mandrake Falls Series Romance Book 4) (6 page)

“Is that all it is between you?”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Jeremy stammered.

What
did
he mean? What
the hell was he asking? He wanted to find out if Jeremy Marks had designs on Paula
Dunlop. And if he did, Ryan was going to tell him to back off.

“What are your intentions toward Paula?” (What are your
intentions?
God, McIntyre, you sound
like a fossil.)

“Uh, well, I like her. We had a good time at the wedding. I
don’t know. I didn’t really think about it. Why, did she say something about me?”
Jeremy’s face was scarlet. “I would’ve called her today but this notice in the
Gazette
threw everything off. Paula is a
great conversationalist. She’s funny and she’s a good dancer. I would ask her
out again if that’s what you mean but I don’t have a clear plan or anything,”
he added lamely.

Ryan’s pulse was thumping. He felt like punching Jeremy
Marks in the face and he didn’t know why. “You’re not in love with Paula. You’re
in love with Jocelyn. So why would you ask Paula out?”

Jeremy swallowed. “This is kind of a weird conversation,
sir, if you don’t mind my saying. I like Paula. I don’t know—maybe it’d turn to
love one day if I gave it a chance.” He tried to laugh. “I’ve more or less given
up on Jocelyn. She came over this morning to show me the notice in the paper but
she’s interested in you if that’s what you’re wondering. If that’s what Jocelyn
wants then I want it for her too.”

Ryan frowned.
“Very noble.
You’ll have
trouble keeping a girl with that attitude.”

Jeremy pushed his glasses up on his nose and slouched toward
the door. “I can’t keep what I don’t have. Jocelyn Tate is not interested in me
and I have to respect her feelings, right? I’ll give Paula Dunlop a call. Who
knows, maybe she’s the one and I’ve been too blind to see it. My dad always
said the first love isn’t the one that lasts.”

“Your father is probably right. Someone at lunch today said
love is chemistry between two people. We can’t ignore the chemistry. It was an
interesting conversation.”

Ryan thought about Paula and her gray eyes widening as he
cleaned mayonnaise off the front of her dress. Paula Dunlop was too young and
too unlike him in every way. She was not a woman he could see spending the rest
of his life with. The woman he had in mind was sophisticated and ambitious. Paula
worked in a beauty parlor for God’s sake. He touched her breasts and now he
couldn’t stop thinking about her.

“Sounds like hormones to me,” Jeremy was saying and for a
second, Ryan thought the boy had read his mind. “Chemistry, I mean,” he
continued. “Isn’t that just another name for sexual attraction? You
know—hormones.” Jeremy’s glasses concealed the expression in his eyes. “I think
it was just hormones with Jocelyn. She’s hot and I thought I was love. Paula is
pretty hot ... and she’s everything else too, you know what I mean?” Jeremy
looked up with a wide smile of relief. “I owe you one, Mr. McIntyre. You really
helped to clear things up in my head about Jocelyn. I hope it works out for you
two. It’d be cool if one day we were all friends and could hang together.”

“Not if you keep calling me Mr. McIntyre. I’m not that old.
Call me Ryan.”

Ryan burned with a mixture of anger, frustration and
jealousy for Jeremy Marks who could blithely embrace a future with Paula Dunlop
when he couldn’t.

Jeremy ducked his head and grinned.
“Got
it.
See you, Ryan.

Ryan couldn’t leave it like that. Jeremy was going to call
Paula. And then Paula would fall in love with Jeremy because that made sense,
whereas Ryan was better matched with the stunning, ambitious Jocelyn Tate.
Nature had clearly designed them to be together.

Except that Ryan couldn’t stop thinking about Paula Dunlop
since that moment in the diner.
The little
shampooist
with the red hair, wide gray eyes, blue raincoat
and sudden questions.
Paula Dunlop of all people.

“Jeremy—
wait
. Maybe you should
figure out what’s going on with this ad before you make any decisions.
Something happened to me today that I didn’t expect because of this engagement
notice. Maybe it was meant to be.”

Jeremy’s hand was on the doorknob. “Maybe what was meant to
be?”

Ryan moistened his lips. “I had a good time with Jocelyn but
I’m not sure I’m the guy she wants.” He was taking a big risk here. Jeremy
might really be over Jocelyn and call Paula anyway. “It wasn’t me she came to
when she saw this ad—it was you. Think about that.”

Jeremy’s jaw clenched. “She came to accuse me of putting it
in the paper.”

“That’s the excuse she gave you but I don’t think that’s the
reason. Like I said, I had a good time with her at the wedding but she was ... distracted.
If I were you, I’d hold off on calling Paula Dunlop for a few days. You said it
yourself—you thought you were finished with Jocelyn until this happened. A word
of friendly advice: don’t start something with another woman until you are sure
it’s over with the last one.”

“Thanks, but it’s not up to me. Jocelyn isn’t interested.”

Ryan shrugged and moved behind his desk, trying to appear
casual. “Maybe she is and maybe she isn’t. Jocelyn and I had one date. There
would have been more if this ad wasn’t in the paper but it was and I have to
take that into consideration. I like Jocelyn. She’s been through a rough time
with Hudson and now this bullshit engagement notice.” Ryan sighed. “It makes
her look like a fool. If people see you out with Paula they’ll think ‘there
goes Jocelyn, making an ass of
herself
again.’ She
needs you now, Jeremy. Be a friend to her. Back her up in public; defend her if
necessary. When the retraction comes out in next week’s edition, then you can
call Paula.”

“I’ll stand behind Jocelyn, of course, I will. I don’t want
her to get hurt, but I don’t want to get in her way either. What about you—won’t
you want to see her?”

“It’s only a week. I can wait a week until the dust settles
and we’re all clear about ...
 
everything,” he added vaguely. At this point, Ryan wasn’t clear about
anything except his need to see Paula again. How could that thought be crystal
clear when there was no logic to it?

Jeremy nodded and moved to shake his hand. “Thanks Ryan.
Thanks. I never thought about her needing me to back her up. She’s not as tough
as people think she is. I’m glad she’s got you in her corner.”

The young man left the office and Ryan was left alone with
his conscience.

There followed a mammoth struggle in which Ryan McIntyre
tried to do as his conscience instructed and wait the week out as he promised
Jeremy. But even the terror of where this could all lead wasn’t enough to drive
the desire to see Paula Dunlop out of his mind.

The Beauty Box wasn’t listed online. He had to look the
number up in the local telephone book. Darlene had enough customers to keep her
in business for the next five years. She wasn’t looking for more. Ryan picked
up the phone and pressed the numbers.

“Hi, it’s Ryan McIntyre,” he told the female who answered. “Would
Paula Dunlop be available to come to the phone?”

His heart was pounding. His palms were sweating. He tugged
on his necktie and took a slow deep breath to calm down.

“Hello?”

“I need to see you. I think I’m—”

“Yes.
Me too.”

JEREMY KNOCKED on the front door of the little house.
Jocelyn rented a small, rundown house on the edge of town. It was one of those
forgotten houses in the poorer neighborhoods, usually occupied by students.
Tenants rotated in and out of the neighborhood on a bi-monthly basis. Jocelyn’s
landlord had obviously stopped trying to keep up with repairs. The front porch was
sagging and the clapboard needed painting. There was a garden in the front yard
behind a white picket fence. Crocuses had pushed up through the melting,
granular snow.

Jocelyn answered the door, red-eyed and tear-stained. Her
blonde hair hung straight and long, screening her face.

“I just tried to call Ryan and his secretary blew me off.
She said he was on the other line which means he’s not taking my calls. I said
don’t talk to him and you went anyway! Don’t deny it—his secretary told me you
just left there. She thinks you and me are engaged! She thought I was calling
to speak to you and when I asked for Ryan, she blew me off, obviously acting on
instructions from her boss. Ryan hates me now. I said
don’t talk to him!”

“Ryan likes you; he said he wants to see you again. He was
cool about the whole thing. He said we should wait until the
Gazette
prints the retraction and then
we’ll go back to our regular lives.”

She wiped her eyes. “What does that mean?”

“It means he’ll call next week after everyone has read the
retraction and knows you had nothing to do with it.”

“He’s dumping me.”

Jeremy shook his head firmly. “No. Where do you get that? I
said he’s going to call you next week!”

“After the gossip dies down.
After a retraction appears in the paper.
I’ve been through
this enough times to know the language. He’s being polite but he’s dumping me.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Oh really?”
She crossed her arms
over her chest. “Let me ask you this—if this was you, would you need a week for
a correction to run first before you could see me again?”

Jeremy shook his head. If he had the chance with Jocelyn
that Ryan had, he wouldn’t need a week. He wouldn’t need five minutes. But he
was in love with Jocelyn and Jocelyn was in love with Ryan. The twist was now
he had to protect the man she loved so she would be happy. Love was a merciless
taskmaster.

“Give him a chance,” Jeremy mumbled. “Don’t take this
decision to mean anything. You can wait a week.”

Jocelyn turned away and he followed her over the threshold.
Jeremy stepped into a house that smelled of winter trapped inside. Ventilation
was poor and there were too many houseplants. Humidity clung to the walls and
dripped down the panes of glass. It was a homey living room though. Crowded
with plants and mismatched furniture. He stood in the middle of the small room,
awkward and yet at home because she was here. For all the differences between
them, Jocelyn was the one girl he felt at home with even though she was
gorgeous and didn’t love him. Jocelyn was always straight with him, which was
brutal sometimes. But it was better than guessing what a girl wanted when she
was just being nice and then realizing he’d guessed wrong. Jocelyn had more
respect for him than the girls who were nice to him out of pity. Jocelyn Tate
didn’t pity him at all.

“What else did he tell you?” Jocelyn’s face was wary but he
could tell she was already coming around to the idea of keeping the Ryan dream
alive.

Jeremy pushed his glasses up on his nose and linked his
hands behind his back. “Well, he said the classified ad was a sign and he
wanted to know what my intentions were toward Paula Dunlop. I think he wanted
to make sure he wasn’t crossing the line by asking you out. I said I was going
to call Paula for a date but he talked me into waiting a week.”

“Why?”

“He thought I shouldn’t leave you hanging high and dry until
the
Gazette
clears up the
misunderstanding.”

“Oh, I get it.” She nodded her blonde head. “I would look
pretty ridiculous if you took Paula out. Jocelyn Tate does it again. Yeah,
never mind. I don’t care. If you want to call her, call her. I can handle
myself.”

Jeremy lifted his eyes to a water stain on the ceiling. “I
know you can but I think Ryan has a point and if it’s all the same to you, I’d
rather wait it out.”

Jocelyn scrutinized him. Just a minute ago he said he couldn’t
wait a week to see if her if he was in Ryan’s shoes, but he’s willing to wait a
week to call Paula. She wanted to kiss him on the mouth for that. She didn’t
realize how scared she was about facing the public until Jeremy said he’d see
this thing through with her. A bogus engagement announcement wouldn’t be such a
big deal if she hadn’t blown her credibility over Hudson.

“Ryan thought we should find out who put the engagement
notice in the paper. I doubt it will change anything but I’m willing if you are.”

She sighed and smoothed a strand of hair from her forehead.
“I guess we could.
If it’s important to Ryan.”

“Why do you care about his opinion so much?” Jeremy snapped
impatiently. “Do you actually give a shit about Ryan McIntyre or is it his
money you’re horny to get your hands on.”

Jocelyn slapped him—a hard crack across the face.

They stared at each other in shocked excitement for several
seconds. A crimson bloom oozed over Jeremy’s cheek.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

She was trembling. “Then why did you?”

“Because I’m jealous.”

Jocelyn reached out and touched the red mark on his cheek
with her fingertips. “I’m sorry I hit you but don’t say cruel things to me. I
can take it from anybody else but you. Especially since you don’t know what you’re
talking about.”

“You want to marry rich. You told me so yourself.”

“You’re such a hypocrite,” she said bluntly. “You want a hot
girlfriend. How does that make you any better than me? Do people go around
accusing you of being shallow because you want a beautiful wife? I’m not the
one who said good looks had value—society did. I’m poor as all hell but I have
great cheekbones and clear skin. I’d be stupid not to exploit that asset.”

“I hate every word of that sentence.”

“You can hate it all you want. We can both hate it but don’t
hate
me
because it’s the way things
are.”

They were standing in the middle of her living room with her
hand pressed to his cheek. Jeremy thought it was strange they hadn’t moved but
he wasn’t going to be the one to break contact. His eyes were drawn to her
lips. Jocelyn’s face was wide-open and innocent, that’s what made her beautiful.
Her mouth was full, pale pink and pulled up at the corners making her appear
fragile. He thought she must be lit from within because her skin seemed to
radiate; it was glowing like the sun and flawless. Her blonde hair sparked and
twinkled with reflected light. And her eyes were so blue, robin’s egg blue with
hard black rings around the iris as if to contain the blue depths. Her
expression was wary and curious as though she couldn’t make up her mind about a
person but she was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

She must have noticed him staring at her because she shoved
him lightly and then crossed her arms over her chest. Jocelyn looked at her
feet, embarrassed. He’d actually embarrassed her.

“If you want, I could make us some tea,” she said. “It’s all
I have on hand.
Unless you have to get going.”

“I’ll have some tea if you’re making some. The library can
wait.”

He followed her into a tiny kitchen. The floor sagged and
water stains showed through the paint. She’d decorated her house with bright,
cheap fabrics and a hodge-podge of furniture and lamps. The kitchen was tiled
in red and yellow linoleum. There was a table and two chairs for dining. Not
enough room for anything else. He sat on one of the chairs and she put the
kettle on.

Jocelyn opened the fridge to get the milk and Jeremy noticed
how little food she had on hand. That might only mean she had a bevy of men
taking her out every night. In his worst despairing hours he imagined Jocelyn
out every night of the week, sleeping with one man or another. He was more
surprised than anyone when he found out the man she was rumored to be sleeping
with this past Christmas was not Hudson Grace after all.

But she always hurried off after rehearsals. Jeremy just
assumed she had a date. If she wasn’t seeing Hudson, then who was she seeing?

“I can’t even offer you a cookie. I spend most of my money
on ingredients for my soaps and organic creams for my store. I had a good year
last year. My profits paid my rent. The house is more than I can afford right
now but I need the backyard to grow my herbs. The rent on the store is hard
enough to keep up with. There isn’t much left over at the end of the month. I
think I’ll probably have to move soon.”

“To where?”
He tried to keep the
alarm out of his voice. “Where would you go?”

“Back to my dad’s place, most likely. He’s stressed these
days. Maybe I can help out with the mortgage. This place—I like living here but
there’re problems and I can’t afford to get them fixed and I can’t get the
landlord on the phone. The
plumbing is hit and miss
.
Every tap in the house leaks so every time I turn on the water I have to deal
with a flood.”

“I’ll take a look at it.”

Jocelyn raised an eyebrow skeptically. “You know something
about plumbing?”

He pressed his hand over his heart, expansively. “I know
everything
about plumbing. I know more
than a stage manager should be required to know about plumbing. Who do you think
has been fixing the pipes in the theater for the past two years? Prepare to be
dazzled, Jocelyn. I know how to handle a wrench. Where is it leaking?”

“Under the sink.
I have a bucket
there to catch the flow but I think the water is getting behind the cupboard.
There’s a musty smell in here. Do you smell it?”

“Yeah, I noticed it when I first came in. It could be as simple
as replacing the washer.”

“Seriously?”
Her eyes widened.
“Okay, if you think you can fix it that’d be amazing—only I don’t want to give
you any wrong ideas. I haven’t given up on Ryan. I wouldn’t want you to get
hurt or be pissed with me when this doesn’t go anywhere. I like you—”

Jeremy groaned and raked his fingers through his hair. “It’s
all right—I get it. You’re not going to fall in love with me because I fix your
tap. No one is going to get hurt, except maybe your landlord if he doesn’t start
doing his job. But you’re in the clear with me. We’re friends. It’s a leaky tap,
not an engagement ring.”

He removed his corduroy jacket and then pulled his sweater
vest off over his head. Jeremy pushed his body under the sink to get a look.
His white button-down shirt was getting dirty but he didn’t seem to care. The
jeans he was wearing were baggy and loose but the shirt fitted his body snugly.
He rolled up the sleeves, revealing tanned, surprisingly strong forearms.

Jeremy handed her the bucket so he’d have room to work and
asked her if she had a flashlight and wrench. Jocelyn scrambled to find them,
hoping the batteries still worked. Nothing seemed to work for long in her house
and there was never enough money to replace the broken stuff. She had gradually
learned to live with less and less until she was pretty sure she wasn’t living
at all.

Jeremy held his hand out to take the wrench and when she
gave it to him, their fingers touched. Jocelyn never really noticed his hands
before. Jeremy Marks had big square strong fingers, the kind that blue collar
guys developed over the years. He did a lot of physical labor with the theater
but there was also in his other job with the forestry service. Jeremy used to
work with Hudson occasionally before he got the contract with the theater.

Jocelyn blinked and looked closer. Good god. Jeremy Marks
had muscles. They bunched under his shirt. Not huge muscles but strong enough
to wield the wrench which was quite heavy. He banged on one of the pipes.

“Hold the flashlight for me,
Joce
.
Aim it up here. The cold water tap is leaking but I think the whole unit has to
be replaced. It looks like the pipe is cracked.” He grunted and pushed with his
heels to leverage himself up. “I’ll try to get a better look.”

“That sounds expensive. Wait! Don’t take it apart!” she
cried as Jeremy hammered on the pipe. “I’ll call the landlord again. Maybe he’ll
deal with it if I sound like I mean business.”

“He’s ignored your calls so far. He’s not going to respond
now that the problem is a real problem. We’ll fix it ourselves and take the
cost out your rent.” He removed his glasses and handed them to her. “Hold
these.”

Jeremy gave the downspout another bang with the wrench and
the join was loosened. He twisted on the metal sleeve and the drain pipe separated.

“The landlord isn’t going to agree to take less rent.”
Jocelyn winced as the plumbing under her sink was dismantled.

“He has no choice. It’s the law.”

“It is?”

“Sure it is. You told him about the problem, he hasn’t fixed
it, you had to fix it yourself so you take it off the rent. You have to have
water in your kitchen,
Joce
.”

He eased his long body out from under the sink. She was
squatting beside him, still holding the flashlight. His hair fell in thick
waves in his eyes. “Come on. We’ll go to the hardware store, get everything we
need and then you can submit the receipt with your rent check at the end of the
month. Your landlord will just have to suck it up.”

“You mean we’re doing this
today
?”

“Do you have plans? I can come back tomorrow after work.”

“No, I’m totally available but I don’t have enough cash at
the moment so if we could do it next week, that’d be better.”