Orange Blossom Brides Read online

  Not able to help himself, he’d leaned in to brush his lips over hers. A shock wave had hit him. This kiss, unlike any other he’d ever stolen, stirred his rebel soul.

  She’d wrapped her arms around his neck. He’d circled her waist with his hands, dragging her closer as the kiss grew deeper. Lost in her arms, he’d barely noticed when everyone around them starting yelling. Lilli had broken the kiss, eyes wide in alarm. “What’s going on?”

  Only then had he heard the sirens.

  “C’mon.” He’d grabbed her hand, heading away from the beach. After a few feet Lilli had stumbled, breaking their connection. He’d tried to grab hold again but lost her in the crowd. Frantically searching, he couldn’t find her, so he doubled back just in time to see her take a miscalculated turn straight into the police chief.

  Max’s memories faded out. He saw the question in Lilli’s eyes. “We were a bunch of teenage boys out to impress cute girls by blowing stuff up at a prohibited bonfire.”

  “Which you had to know would alert the police.” Her eyes narrowed. “You left me behind when everyone ran.”

  “Not on purpose. We got separated.”

  “You could have come back.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I was already in lots of hot water. One more mistake and I’d have been on the first bus to juvenile detention.” He continued, “I did double back, but by that time the chief already had you.”

  “You came back for me?”

  He nodded.

  Her pert features softened a degree. “Still didn’t help.”

  “Is that why you turned me in? Because I left you?”

  She fiddled with her car keys. “After we were separated, I ended up with some of the other kids from the bonfire. I overheard them talking about how hanging around with you would get them all in trouble. So I decided to follow the group, but suddenly they took off and left me standing there, with the chief’s flashlight shining on me. I couldn’t run at that point.”

  “So why drop my name?”

  “He started talking about calling my parents and having them pick me up from jail. I panicked. Max, I was sixteen. I’d never done anything like that before. Going to jail scared me, so I blurted out your name.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “I didn’t do it maliciously.”

  “Maybe. But you went home. I had a longer stay.”

  Yeah. She’d been a kid, just like him, making decisions without thinking them through. Except that night, her turning him in almost ruined his life.

  “Look, Max, it’s the past. I can’t change anything.” She glanced at her watch. “I haven’t had dinner yet. Why don’t we finish walking down memory lane when my stomach isn’t growling?”

  What could he say? He was spoiling for a fight and she didn’t want to participate. Which made him even more aggravated. He didn’t know what he wanted. An apology? Answers? Whatever it was, Lilli didn’t seem inclined to oblige him.

  When he didn’t answer, she said, “See you around, Max.”

  He stood by the truck, watching her car ease down the road before the red lights turned out of sight. Edgy, tired from being cooped up in the office working on reports all afternoon, he didn’t want to head home. A walk on the beach might settle him down.

  He whistled for Jake Riley and headed the few blocks to the shore.

  When it came to Lilli, he’d be crazy not to be wary. Women with lists, especially ones who took copious notes, always scared him. She’d be talking him into running around town in a tutu if he wasn’t careful. You’d think after all their run-ins today, the way she’d expertly put him in his place, he’d be immune to this woman’s charms. Nope. Just when he figured he’d inched under her skin, she turned it around on him. A phenomenon he didn’t want to analyze, because if he did, he might do something idiotic like change his mind and volunteer for her fund-raiser. Silently, he called himself all kinds of crazy.

  He strode from the concrete sidewalk into the softly shifting sand, his bootheels sinking deep. Salty air cooled his flushed skin. As he neared the shoreline, the foamy tide lapped over the sand in small waves. The bright moon shone on the undulating water.

  He’d known coming back to Cypress Pointe wouldn’t be easy. Hadn’t wanted to dwell on it, not exactly proud of the wild teen he used to be. He hadn’t been using his head back then, driven by pure emotion. Which hadn’t worked out too well, especially when school officials or the local authorities called him on his truancy and mischief making.

  He kicked sand into the calm water, intending to churn it up like the unwelcome feelings swirling inside him. As much as he tried to squelch them, memories bombarded him one after another.

  His father had died when Max turned ten. Max had adored the man, shadowing his footsteps endlessly. Once he’d realized his father was never coming back, Max had taken on the role of family protector.

  Single parenthood took too much out of his mother, and a couple of years later she’d up and left him. At twelve years old, Max had been in danger of going into foster care until his grandmother took him in. Max, hiding the hurt of his mother’s abandonment, had generally made life unpleasant for his grandmother, much to his regret now. He’d wanted to take care of his mother, but she’d walked out on him. Expecting the same treatment from his grandmother, Laverne, he’d cut loose and done his own thing, waiting for the day she’d turn her back on him just as his mother had.

  During his senior year in high school, which he’d rarely attended, he’d met Denise, a spoiled-rotten rich daddy’s girl who went slumming with the bad boys just to make a point to dear old Dad. Max never could resist a challenge and had started dating her. They’d stayed together a lot longer than he’d expected. For a while, she’d made him forget the anger that had built up inside him after his mother left, the anger that had continually gotten him into trouble.

  It had been good, until she’d started getting all clingy and whiny. When he’d wanted to slow things down, she’d ignored him. Sure, she’d achieved her goal of making Daddy mad, but she didn’t want to let go of Max. He’d known her game all along, but realized too late that, deep down, he greatly resented being used.

  So he’d broken up with her. She didn’t take it well.

  “I’ve put a lot of time into our relationship,” Denise informed him when the crowd went to hang out at the beach.

  “By using me? Not a great relationship.”

  “According to you, we have no longer have a relationship.”

  He clamped his mouth shut.

  “I’m warning you, Max. You’d better change your mind.”

  “Not gonna happen.”

  “Fine.” With a furious stomp of her foot, she glared at him one final time and sashayed off to her friends.

  He’d intended to head home, tired of the drama. He went to tell his buddy, Dane, goodbye, and when he turned around he’d seen Lilli in the firelight. Of course, he didn’t know her, but that didn’t stop him from hanging on her every word. They talked as if only the two of them existed. And before he knew it, he’d taken her face in his hands and kissed her. He’d kissed other girls, but it had never felt like that.

  He shook his head, burying the memory. He didn’t want to examine how much that kiss still affected him.

  Things had gone downhill after that night. The chief had him thrown in juvenile detention to make a point. The vandalism, boosting of cars and petty theft were about to catch up with him. Close to getting a permanent record, he’d decided he needed to make a change.

  A few days later, the final straw came when the chief found him in the parking lot of Winn Dixie, standing next to his grandmother’s car, observing a cracked windshield and slashed tires. The damage was courtesy of Denise and her crowd, who didn’t appreciate him dumping one of their own.

  “Is there a problem here?”

 
“Yes, sir.”

  There’d been a few times when the chief had to question him about some mischief complaints. Standing beside a car with slashed tires probably matched up with his mischievous activities in the chief’s eyes. He might be wild, but he wasn’t an idiot. This was Laverne’s car.

  “You do this, son?”

  “No, sir.”

  He’d excluded Max as a suspect. Why the chief believed his story, Max was never sure. Maybe because the chief knew Max lived with his grandmother. She, on the other hand, had had enough and gave Max a tough-love ultimatum: straighten up or you’re out.

  Just as he’d expected. His grandmother didn’t want him, either.

  So he’d packed his things, only to find the chief waiting for him in the driveway when he tore out of the house. The older man had talked him into giving his grandmother another try. Where else was he going to go? From then on, the police chief had taken him under his wing. Probably a good thing, or he’d have ended up in jail. Later he found out Laverne had never wanted him to leave, but had believed Max needed to make a change.

  So Max had turned himself around. He’d made a better life for himself. He didn’t see a wife and family on the horizon—he wasn’t cut out to be a family man—but he would continue to help people, as he had in the navy and on the police force. He wouldn’t let little Miss Lilli Barclay or the past make him question his decisions. He’d come to Cypress Pointe to help his grandmother and build a successful business, and he didn’t plan on reverting back to being that troubled kid again.

  * * ** * *

  LILLI DROVE DOWN Main Street, passing the gift store where she’d bumped into Max just that afternoon. Had it only been a few hours ago? His face flashed in her mind and she didn’t bother holding back a smile. Then she groaned. What was wrong with her? After their most recent conversation, how could she possibly feel the old attraction surfacing again?

  A horn blared, bringing her attention back to traffic. As she eased along, she noticed all types of people lining the sidewalks, filling the trendy restaurants that had popped up since tourism increased. She cruised past Pointe Café and on impulse circled the block and turned into the parking lot adjacent to the restaurant.

  Clutching her purse, she hurried inside to read the menu and order dinner when she noticed the yummy-looking desserts featured in the glass display case. On impulse, she placed an order for baklava. Sticky and sweet. Her weakness. Sighing, she sucked in her tummy to loosen the waistband of her skirt. She’d worry about her muffin top tomorrow.

  She stepped outside, and had just reached a bistro-style table when she heard, “Lilli Barclay? What are you doing here?”

  She set her food down before forcing a smile and turning to the woman who’d spoken. “Marisa. Imagine running into you here.” And how she wished she hadn’t.

  “Chandler and I decided to take a break from the wedding planning and grab a cup of coffee. He’s parking the Corvette.” Marisa dropped her purse on the table. “It’s a good thing I ran into you. We need to discuss society business before our meeting at the country club.”

  Lilli didn’t need any more complications tonight. Especially from her lifelong nemesis.

  Before Marisa had a chance to dive in with her complaints, Chandler joined them. Handsome, rich and a successful financial investor, he was Marisa’s perfect fiancé.

  “Hey, babe.” Chandler leaned down to brush a kiss over Marisa’s high cheekbone. “Ready to get that coffee?”

  Marisa smiled up at her fiancé. Boy, she could go from cranky to lovey-dovey in thirty seconds flat.

  “I need to talk to Lilli first. Would you mind ordering for me?”

  “Sure. No problem.” He nodded at Lilli and strode away.

  “So, is your mother coming home anytime soon?” Marisa asked. Snarky personified. Snarky, but beautiful. Tonight she wore a pink silk T-shirt, ridiculously expensive designer jeans and killer heels. While Lilli still wore her work clothes covered in dog hair.

  She sighed. “I’m not sure.”

  “It’s so ironic your mother’s emergency occurred right before the benefit.”

  Okay, dig taken. “My mother is away on family business.”

  A waitress approached Marisa with a mug of coffee. “Your fiancé found a table and will meet you inside when you’re finished.”

  Preening, Marisa took the cup into her hand. “How sweet of Chandler. He’s always doting on me.” Marisa raised the cup to her lips to blow on the hot beverage. “So, what’s this about family business?” she asked in a tone that said she didn’t believe it.

  How had Lilli ended up here, at this moment, talking to her worst enemy?

  “Marisa, it’s late and I—”

  Just as Lilli spoke, Marissa choked and cried out, “This isn’t what I ordered.” A thundercloud formed in Marisa’s eyes. “I’ll be right back,” she said and stomped into the café.

  First Celeste and the historical society. Now Marisa. Soon enough, the club. Lilli shuddered. After practicing careful avoidance for a year, all paths were converging together into her complete and total nightmare.

  She bit into the sweet dessert and sighed as it melted on her tongue, taking with it the stress of the day.

  Marisa soon returned with a new coffee. “Are you looking forward to working at the club? We shared so many good times there.”

  Good? Miserable, more like it. Lilli had always felt out of place and dorky with the other kids at the club, strong-armed into activities that forced her to pal around with polished Marisa Vandermere. How many behind-her-back snickers had Lilli endured from a clique she didn’t belong to? Too many to count.

  When they were teens, Marisa had gone out with a new boyfriend every week, usually one she stole from another unsuspecting girl. Marisa had always loved a challenge. Even now, Marisa caught the eye of a young man a few tables away sitting with a date. Some things never changed.

  “So, what do you want to discuss?” Lilli kept her tone light but firm. Not that she wanted to engage in this conversation, but she knew Marisa well enough to suspect the woman wouldn’t leave until she’d had her say.

  “I’ll reschedule our committee meeting for sometime next week,” Marisa blithely continued, as if her announcement was a foregone conclusion. “With your mother gone, I’ll get the itinerary from Mrs. Rumpold and check the ongoing progress to find out where we are with the planning. I can take over from—”

  “No.”

  Marisa blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “There’s no need. The meeting is scheduled for Saturday morning. I’ve been brought up to speed on the progress so far. I’ll handle it.”

  “But...” Marisa stammered, uncharacteristically at a loss. “You aren’t technically a member.”

  “Sure, I am.” Thanks, Celeste, for signing me up. Lilli smiled brightly. “I’ve been on the roster for years.”

  Marisa’s eyes narrowed. She clearly hadn’t expected trouble from Lilli.

  “My mother is in charge and she passed the job on to me. I appreciate your help, but I’ll be fine.”

  “And you expect the ladies to follow?”

  Time to draw the line in the sand. “Yes, if they want to continue being part of the fund-raiser.”

  Marisa stared her down. Waiting for Lilli to back down? Oh, no, Lilli would not give her the satisfaction.

  “We’ll see about that.” Marisa rose and waved at the restaurant window. Shortly after, Chandler exited the building. Marisa took his hand to lead him away, but he paused.

  “Have a nice night,” he told Lilli.

  “Thanks.”

  At least one half of the duo had manners.

  With a slight smile, Lilli watched her nemesis storm away. Marisa may have had the last word, but after this run-in, Lilli decided to take the fund-raiser more
seriously. What could Marisa do about that?

  CHAPTER SIX

  “MOM, YOU TOLD ME fifteen times. I can handle it.”

  “Remember, don’t let the Vandemere women give you a hard time. They’re waiting for an excuse to throw you under the bus.”

  “Nice visual.”

  “I’m just saying, watch those two. Don’t let Marisa take over. She’s not the coordinator, but she’ll still try to run the show. Along with her mother.”

  “She’s already tried that tactic.”

  “You can’t let her.”

  “Don’t worry, I have it under control.”

  “Those two have been trying to take over for years. Last time Marisa headed a committee she dumped all the work on everyone else. I don’t want to see that happen to you.”

  “If she runs true to course, she’ll lose interest soon. I’m not worried.” Lilli paused. “Or you could come home.”

  Celeste went uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. “Not right now, dear.”

  So, something was wrong. Lilli had suspected it all along. Let’s face it, her mother had never run out on a fund-raising benefit before. Why would she now?

  “Mom, what’s going on?”

  “I need time, Lillian. Just time.”

  “But—”

  “Let’s focus on the task at hand. If you have any logistical problems, ask for Klaus, the club manager, or his assistant, Tom.”

  “Got it.”

  “Then that’s everything for today. What do you think?”

  “You’re asking me what I think?” That never happened.

  “Why, yes. You’re handling things during my absence. I know it’s a lot of last-minute work, but you’re more than capable.”

  Wow. She’d never heard that, either. “It’s all under control. No worries, Mom.”

  “Good. Show them the Barclay backbone.”

  “I’m getting ready to walk into the club, so I have to run. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

  The bright Saturday morning sun blinded Lilli as she slipped out of her parked car in the Cypress Pointe Country Club parking lot. She donned her sunglasses before grabbing her overflowing tote bag. She had a million things to juggle, as well as a stomach full of butterflies.