Caleb didnt disagree with that. His grandfather had stolen away the woman Felix Parker loved, while his father had ruined Roland Parkers best chance at a college education.
There wasnt a lot about either man that made Caleb proud. I didnt do a thing to the Parkers.
Did you mention that to Jules? Matt asked.
Shes sticking to her storythat she had no idea I wanted to build a restaurant of my own.
Maybe she didnt, TJ said. You know, this wouldnt be the worst time in the world to take on investors.
This would absolutely be the worst time in the world to take on investors. Caleb had heard the pitch from TJ before.
One phone call to my clients, Caleb. And seventeen Neo locations across the US could become forty Neo locations around the world. A million-dollar loss here would be insignificant.
Read my lips, Caleb said. Im not interested.
TJ shrugged. Cant blame a guy for trying.
Then call her bluff, Matt said, crossing the deck and dropping into one of the padded chairs surrounding a gas fire pit.
Shes not bluffing, Caleb pointed out. She already extended the noncompete clause.
I mean pretend you believe her. That shes only after her own business interests, and this isnt some warped revenge against your family. See if shell be reasonable about coexisting.
TJ moved to another of the chairs. I see where hes going. Explain to her how Neo and the Crab Shack can both succeed. If shes not out to harm you, then she should be willing to discuss it.
They serve different market niches. Caleb sat down, thinking there might be merit to the strategy. And where they overlap, one could be a draw for the other.
Cross-promotion, TJ said.
Id be willing to push some customers her way.
Maybe dont make yourself sound so arrogant, Matt said. I dont think women like that.
Arent you supposed to be the big expert on women? TJ asked Caleb.
Jules isnt a woman, Caleb said. But even as he spoke, he envisioned her sparkling blue eyes, her billowy wheat-blond hair and her full red lips. Jules was all woman, and that just made things more complicated.
I mean, he continued. Shes not a woman in the way youre thinking about women. Not that shes not good-looking, she is. Anybody would tell you that. But thats irrelevant. Its irrelevant to the situation. Im not trying to date her. Im trying to do business with her.
Uh-oh, Matt said to TJ.
Thats trouble, TJ said to Matt.
Its not like that, Caleb said. The last time I saw her she was fifteen.
TJ grinned. And that was a logical comeback to what?
She was a kid. She was my neighbor. And now shes a thorn in my side. This has nothing to do with, you know, our recent discussions about the two of you getting back into the dating pool. Hows that going, by the way?
Both men grinned at him. You think were going to let you change the subject that easily?
Either of you dating? Caleb asked. Are you? Because I had a date last weekend.
Matt had just made it through a bitter divorce, and TJ had just passed the two-year anniversary of his wifes death. Both had committed to living Calebs bachelor lifestyle for the next year. And Caleb had committed to helping them achieve it.
Hey, Matt? came a female voice from below on the pier.
Speaking of women... TJ said, interest perking up in his voice.
Speaking of not women. Matt muttered under his breath as he rose to his feet.
Who is she? TJ asked, standing to look over the rail.
My mechanic. Matt raised his voice. Hi, Tasha. Whats going on?
I dont like the sound of MKs backup engine. Can I have a day to tear it down?
Through the rails, Caleb could see a slender woman in a T-shirt and cargo pants. She wore a pair of leather work boots. And she had a ponytail sticking out of the back of her tattered baseball cap.
Its booked out starting Sunday.
That gives me all day tomorrow, Tasha called back. Perfect. Ill make sure shes ready.
Thanks, Tasha.
Thats your mechanic? TJ asked as he watched the young woman walk away.
You want to date my mechanic? Matt asked.
Shes pretty cute.
Matt laughed. Shes tough as nails. I wouldnt recommend her as a starting point.
You calling dibs?
Fill your boots, brother. Shell eat you for lunch.
Caleb couldnt help but grin. Should we go into the city and hit a club tomorrow night?
Whiskey Bay was less than two hours from the nightlife of Olympia and it sounded like TJ and Matt could use a little push into the social scene. Caleb would be more than happy to forget his own problems for an evening.
Im in, said Matt.
Sounds great, said TJ.
Caleb finished his beer. In that case, Im going home to strategize. He rose. I like your idea to test Juless sincerity. Ill do it in the morning.
Good luck, Matt called.
Caleb took the stairs to the pier then left the lights of the marina behind him on the walk home.
Whiskey Bay was characterized by stunning steep cliffs. There was very little land at sea level, just an acre or so under the marina and another parcel of a similar size where Caleb intended to build Neo. The Crab Shack was located on a rocky spit of land to the south of the marina. It had been closed now for more than ten years, since Felix Parker had grown too old to run it.
Four houses sat on the steep rise of the cliff. Matts was directly above the marina. TJs was a few hundred yards to the south, then came the Parkers small house, with Calebs house last.
Back in the 50s, his grandfather had built a small place similar to the Parkers. But while the Parker place had remained intact, the Watfords had rebuilt numerous times. After his grandfathers death Caleb had bought the house from the rest of the family, gradually renovating it to make it his own.
There was a path halfway up the cliff that connected the four houses. Caleb, Matt and TJ had installed solar lights a few years back, so walking after dark was easy. Caleb had passed below the Parker house thousands of times. But in the five years since Felix Parker had moved to a care home, thered never been a light on there.
Tonight, it was lit. Caleb could see it in the distance, filtered by the spreading branches of cedar trees. As he grew closer, the deck came into view, and he had a sudden memory of a teenage Jules. It had to have been her last summer visiting her grandfather. Shed been dancing on the deck. Dressed in cutoff shorts and a striped tank top, her hair up in a messy knot, she was dancing like nobody was watching.
He could see her freckles. Thats how hed remembered shed had freckles. The sunlight had glowed against her blond hair and her creamy skin. Shed been far too beautiful, and far too young. Hed felt guilty for even looking at her back then. Hed been twenty-one, building his first Neo restaurant in San Francisco.
Spying on us? Jules suddenly appeared on the trail in front of him.
On my way home, he answered, quickly pulling himself back to the present.
She wasnt wearing cutoffs, and no tight striped tank top either. Thank goodness. Although her blue jeans and cropped white T-shirt werent exactly saving his sanity. In fact, it was worse, because she was all grown up now.
She wasnt wearing cutoffs, and no tight striped tank top either. Thank goodness. Although her blue jeans and cropped white T-shirt werent exactly saving his sanity. In fact, it was worse, because she was all grown up now.
Youre standing still, she pointed out.
He went with a partial truth. Im not used to seeing lights on in your house.
She glanced up at the deck. I guess its been a while.
Quite a few years. He gazed at her profile. She was quite astonishingly gorgeous. He couldnt remember ever meeting a woman so beautiful.
Did you know your family sent flowers? she asked. When my grandfather died.
I did. It had been Caleb whod arranged it.
Sent my dad off the deep end, I tell you.
Caleb felt a twinge of regret. I hadnt thought of that.
She turned to look at him again. So it was you?
Was that a test?
I was curious. It didnt make sense that your dad would have sent them.
No, it wouldnt. Calebs father had once been arrested because of an altercation with Juless father, Roland. Caleb had never heard all the details, but his father had often railed about the overreaction of the authorities, and how it was Felix Parkers fault they were called in the first place.
He might have sent a brass band, Jules mused.
I dont know what to say to that. Caleb wondered if she was looking for an apology.
It was a joke.
Okay. It seemed a little...
Inappropriate? To acknowledge your father might have wished my grandfather dead? She shrugged her slim shoulders. We can pretend if you want.
I meant to joke about your grandfathers death at all.
He was ninety. He wouldnt mind. In fact, I think hed like it. Youre still mad at me, arent you? She tipped her head to one side.
Heck, yes, he was still mad at her. But he was also massively attracted to her. Gazing at her in the dim glow of the trail light, anger was a pretty difficult emotion to dredge up.
We can pretend Im not, he said.
She smiled, and his chest contracted. You do have a sense of humor.
He didnt smile back. He hadnt been joking. He was perfectly prepared to pretend he wasnt angry with her.
She stepped unexpectedly closer. I used to have such a crush on you.
He stopped breathing.
I have no idea why, she continued. I barely knew you. Only from afar. But you were older, and it was summer, and I was nearly sixteen. And Im sure it didnt hurt that our families were feuding. Nothing like the Montagues and the Capulets, or the Jets and the Sharks, to get a young girls heart going. Its kind of funny now that you She blinked at him. Caleb?
He couldnt kiss her. He couldnt. He could not...
Caleb?
There was no way she was doing this by accident. She had to guess what it would do to him, to any mortal man. She truly was an evil genius.
You know exactly what youre doing, dont you? he managed to force out, annoyance in his tone.
She searched his expression. What am I doing?
The woman deserved an acting award.
Putting me off balance, he said. Dancing around on your balcony, tight shorts, tight shirt
What? Dancing where?
Youre twenty-four years old.
I know that.
Youre standing out here in the woods, alone, telling a grown man that you once had a crush on him.
Her expression fell, and she took a step back. I thought it was a sweet story.
His voice came out strangled. Sweet?
Okay, and a little embarrassing. I wanted to open up. I was trying to get you to like me.
He closed his eyes for a long moment. He couldnt let himself believe that. He couldnt let her get under his skin. He didnt know what to do with this, what to do with her, how to put her in any kind of context. Im not going to like you.
But
You should go.
Go? She actually sounded hurt.
I think were on two completely different wavelengths.
She didnt answer. The woods around him fell silent.
He opened his eyes to find her gone. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then the relief turned into regret as he second-guessed himself. He could usually read the signs with womentell the difference between flirting and an innocent conversation. With Jules, he couldnt.
* * *
You told him youd had a crush on him? Melissa asked from the bottom of the stepladder the next day.
Jules removed the next in a cluster of 50s movie star portraits that hung on a wall of the restaurant. I was trying to... I dont know. Shed had more than a few hours to regret her words.
Did you not think it would sound flirty?
Jules handed the portrait of Grace Kelly down to Melissa and reached for Elizabeth Taylor. I didnt mean for it to be flirty.
It was flirty.
I realize that now.
What were you thinking then?
That it would be charming. I was being open and honest, sharing a slightly embarrassing story. I thought it might make me seem human.
He knows youre human.
In the end it was just humiliating. Jules handed down the Elizabeth Taylor.
So, you learned something. Melissa crossed the room to set the portraits in a cardboard box on the bar.
I learned that he has zero interest in flirting with me.
I was thinking maybe a broader point about relationships, time and place, and appropriate comments.
Jules climbed down and moved the ladder, settling it into place where she could read the next three portraits. Oh, that. No.
Melissa grinned. Tell me more about the crush. I wish youd told me about it back then.
You were too young.
It still would have been exciting.
It had certainly been exciting for Jules. I was fifteen. He was tall, and he shaved, and he lived in a mansion on the hill. And I was fresh out of grade nine English class. Between the Brontë sisters and Shakespeare, I spun a pretty interesting fantasy.
I dont even remember him from back then.
Thats because you were only twelve.
What I remember most is Grandmas hot chocolate. It was so nice, coming here, spending time with her, especially after Mom died.
I miss them both.
Melissa gave Juless arm a squeeze. Me, too. But I dont miss the squirrels waking us up in the morning.
Jules handed Audrey Hepburn to Melissa. I hated those squirrels.
You really should have thought of that before we moved back here. Theyre going to wake us up every morning.
Do you think we could livetrap them, relocate them like they do with bears?
I dont see why not.
Jules thought about it for a moment as she handed down Jayne Mansfield. I wonder what wed need for bait.
Going fishing? The sound of Calebs voice startled her, and she swayed, grabbing the top of the ladder to steady herself.
Whoa. Caleb surged toward her.
Steady girl, Melissa said.
Im fine. Jules regained her balance.
She focused on his forehead instead of meeting his eyes. Shed pretend nothing awkward had happened last night. Hopefully, hed play along and they could both ignore it.