“Weren’t you worried? A single woman like yourself living in your car?”
“Not in the way you’re thinking. I’m pretty good at self-defense. But I was embarrassed about it. I had a gym membership at Fitness Heaven, so I had a place to shower. It’s open twenty-four hours. As much as I knew I’d get out of the mess I was in, I was scared to death about people finding out. Let’s face it: Living in a car sounds bad. It sounds dirty.”
His gaze softened. “And then you got the job with Daph?”
She nodded. “Yeah. It was a miracle.”
He smoothed his robe over his chest, and an unexpected smile lifted his lips. “You give me hope, Rebecca.”
“I do?”
“Yes. I’ve tricked myself into believing that this is who I am and that I’ll never be the type of man who can take care of Daphne again.” He laughed under his breath. “Amazing what a little youth can do for you.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Well, Rebecca, if you can come out of what you’ve endured with a smile on your face and hope that practically jumps off of your skin, then what the hell is a wise old bastard like me doing feeling sorry for himself? I’m going to borrow a little of your youthful exuberance and see if I can figure something out, too.
“Tell me something, Rebecca. This boyfriend of yours, is he a good guy? Because this is a racy town, and I’d hate for you to fall into something with a guy who isn’t worth his weight in salt.”
He’s the best guy. “Yeah, he’s a good guy.”
He smiled as Daphne came into the kitchen. “Morning, Daph.”
Daphne kissed his cheek. “Good morning. Are you calling the bank today about the mortgage?”
“I’ll take care of it. Can we please not talk about that at the crack of dawn?”
Rebecca shifted her eyes away, uncomfortable with the tone of their conversation. The fact that they’d needed to rent a room had told her that they were having financial difficulties, but she didn’t need to be privy to the details. That would surely underscore Henry’s discomfort.
Daphne touched the top of his head. “You’re right. I’ll wait until the crack of lunch.” Her hand slid down his shoulder, and Henry reached up and squeezed it.
They spoke to and touched each other like nothing the other person could do could change their love, and it warmed Rebecca’s heart to witness such comfort. She was beginning to sense that she and Pierce might be headed in a similar direction, and although it was a little scary that it was all happening so fast, she hoped they were.
“Where are you off to so early, Rebecca?” Daphne asked.
“The gym. It’s good for my brain.”
“Did you sleep okay?”
Not really. I missed Pierce. “Yeah. The bed’s wonderful.” And lonely.
As Rebecca walked away from the kitchen, she heard Henry say, “She has no one looking after her.” She stopped to listen, worried that he thought she couldn’t handle things on her own.
“Daph, I want to make sure this boyfriend of hers is good enough for her.”
“Oh, Henry. I knew you’d like her.”
With a smile on her lips, Rebecca gathered her clothes and gym bag and walked out the front door.
Chapter Twelve
IT WAS FOUR o’clock in the afternoon before Pierce had a second to breathe. He’d worked straight through lunch and had just come from a meeting with a national foundation that was wooing him as a sponsor for an event they were putting on next year. He pulled out his cell phone, intending to text Rebecca so she’d receive it after her shift. He was scrolling through several missed calls from his mother and siblings when Kendra knocked on his door.
He glanced up from his phone. “Hi, Kendra.”
“Sorry to bother you, Pierce, but you had a call from Jeff while you were in the meeting. It appears that he’s found issues with the Grand. I told him you’d call him back as soon as you were free.” She set the message on his desk.
Pierce sighed. “Damn. I was hoping my gut was off on this one.”
Kendra pointed her pencil at him. “Your gut is never off, Pierce. I’d think you would know that by now.”
“I’ll call Jeff.” He picked up the message with Jeff’s number on it.
“Luke called you, too, and your mom, and Treat wanted to know where to meet you for dinner Thursday night.”
As she listed his family members, he realized that he was waiting to hear that Rebecca was trying to reach him as well, which was silly, because she’d call his cell phone, and she was at work. He’d already mentally cataloged her in with the people he loved most.
“I’ll call them back. Thank you.”
“I had a nice chat with both Luke and your mother.” She raised her brows. “Want to tell me who Rebecca is?”
“Christ Almighty!” He shook his head. “My family just gave Family knows no boundaries a whole new meaning. I’ll have to alert my uncle Hal. It’s his catchphrase.”
“Catherine and I agreed that for you to mention a woman to Treat, she must be very special.”
He pictured the conversation between his mother and Kendra, scheming to pry more information out of him.
“Well, if you two are in agreement, then you don’t need my two cents.”
She smiled down at him. “Pierce, we’re all happy for you. She must be very special, but you don’t have to share anything with me. I’m happy just knowing that you might let a woman get to that big heart of yours. You’ve kept it locked away so tight that I worried you might never step out of your bachelor ways.”
He rubbed his temples with his fingers and thumb and settled back in his chair with a sigh. “Her name is Rebecca Rivera.” He flashed a teasing smile. He would be happy to tell Kendra all about Rebecca, but he was anxious to talk to Jeff and find out what kind of shit had hit the fan. And he enjoyed teasing Kendra as much as he enjoyed teasing his family members. “That’s all you get for now. I need to return these phone calls.”
“Rebecca Rivera,” she said with a nod. “I know you’re dying to call Jeff, but please call Catherine first. She’s climbing out of her skin over something Emily’s said.” Kendra spoke with a motherly tone, and while that probably should have annoyed Pierce, it was one of the things he liked about working with Kendra. She wasn’t afraid to share her opinions or put him in his place, and sometimes he needed that. She was trustworthy and loyal, and she treated his entire family like they were her own.
“Will do.” He dialed his mother’s number.
“You, my son, are the talk of Trusty,” his mother said when she answered the phone. He pictured her smiling with the tease, her brown eyes vibrant and full of joy. His mother was always full of joy. It took a lot to drag her down, and everything around her accentuated her positive spirit, despite what she’d gone through with his father before they’d moved to Trusty. Her front yard burst with colorful flowers, and her house was layered with rich textures, light colors, and photos capturing some of their best family moments.
“I’m going to strangle Emily.”
“Oh, Pierce. She followed your rules. She told us that you were going down fighting. Just because she added, Yeah, right, shouldn’t make a difference.” His mother laughed.
“And then you told Kendra?”
“Someone has to keep an eye on you there. Besides, Kendra knew something was up. She said you’ve seemed lighter on your toes lately.” Pierce’s mother, Catherine, was down-to-earth and close to each of her six children. She could be tough as nails, had instilled lessons of fairness, honesty, and strong work ethics into their heads as far back as Pierce could remember. She was also sensitive and thoughtful, and he was sure that if she’d been in the room with him, she’d have noticed he was lighter on his toes, too.
“Okay, Mom. Her name is Rebecca Rivera, and yes, she’s gotten to me like no woman ever has.” It felt good to say that out loud. Really good.
“I assume you’ve checked out her background?” she said in a serious tone.
“No.”
“Pierce, a man in your position—”
“Trusts his gut.”
“Okay. Yes, I can see that. But women are very sneaky,” she warned.
Pierce had never let anyone get very close to him, and he knew his mother worried because suddenly he was, and she wanted to protect him from being hurt the way she’d been hurt by his father.
“She’s not sneaky, Mom, though I appreciate your concern.” He spun around and looked out the window. “She is one of those women who does everything for herself.”
“Oh, one of those,” she said sarcastically. “The kind that takes care of herself.”
“Yes.” After a moment of thought, he added, “Like you.”
“Hm. She pays for her own stuff, then.”
“Exactly.”
“Gets mad when you try to do too much.”
“Yes. How do you know?”
“Because that’s the only type of woman who could hold your interest.”
“What exactly does that mean? I like to do things for her.”
His mother sighed. “Pierce, you don’t like easy.”