THE THING ABOUT being caught off guard was that it was hard to regain your balance. She’d never expected to see Luke Hollister standing on her front porch. The element of surprise, added to his complete and total hero vibe in that police uniform, was enough to force Jen to step back.
That was the only reason she’d allowed him inside. Obviously.
“This won’t be a long visit, right?” Jen asked, frozen in front of him. No weakness. He’s not a nice guy. Let him make his case and show him how the door works.
“Probably not, but I’d love to have the full tour.” He met her stare directly, a patient curl of his lips the only clue that he was prepared to wait her out.
His careful study, all directed at her, filled her with a restless energy and sent a pleasant but unfamiliar awareness through her. That was a very good reason to get him out of there quickly.
“The favor. Hit me with it.” She paused next to Hope’s couch. Jen hadn’t quite decided if the thing would have a permanent home here or not, but her dog seemed to like it.
“Nice place. I like what you’ve done with it.” Luke turned in a small circle. “Are you planning on renting it out for weddings and proms? Because I’m not sure we’re zoned correctly for that.”
If she’d been a friend of his, that might have been amusing, the little jab at her complete lack of decoration. But they weren’t friends. They weren’t going to be friends.
And the feeling of being two steps behind all the cool kids swamped her. This was why she’d wanted the best, so she’d never have to feel this creeping inferiority.
What does he know? Nothing. You don’t have to make nice with him.
“Funny. This is temporary, of course. The most popular decorator in Austin was working me into his schedule. We’ve parted ways.” Jen pointed at the couch. “He left this and Hope has claimed it. She might let you sit next to her but you will be shedding for days.” Proceed at your own risk, buddy.
Watching Luke perch on the seat she’d vacated was funny. He wiggled this way and that until Hope jumped up beside him. The fact that her dog had found the couch completely sleepable was no good measurement of its comfort. Hope could sleep standing on her head if she had to.
Luke wrapped one arm around the big dog and then leaned back, easing a bit of the tension in the room. That made it easier to unclench her fists.
“I’m not sure how happy the couch is to be here, but I don’t think you should plan on a long-term relationship.” Luke bounced forward and back in the cushions. “This is the least comfortable couch I’ve ever sat on.”
Hearing her own opinion from his lips made it harder to keep her distance. She eased down next to him and was reminded all over again how it felt to sit on a board. “And it’s scratchy, too. What idiot picked this fabric?”
Luke frowned. “Was it the idiot you were paying to choose these things?”
Yes. But she wasn’t going to admit that.
“Sarah and I are going to team up, make this place fabulous. The next time you see it, you’ll be amazed,” Jen said and then realized she’d suggested he was going to be visiting again.
He was not going to be making a habit of dropping in. No way.
“The favor? Your chances are dwindling and they weren’t that strong to start with.” Jen patted the cushion next to her to try to lure her dog to her side, but Hope was paying zero attention at this point. She’d dropped to rest her head on Luke’s uniformed knee and her lips were already whistling in and out in ladylike snores. So much for her protection.
“My brother. He’s flunking prealgebra. I hear through the grapevine that you used to be a tutor for the middle school kids.” Luke ran a hand down Hope’s back and it was hard to look away. When her dog sighed sweetly, Jen almost knew how she felt.
“I was, but not anymore. I don’t have any trouble paying my bills, so now I have hobbies and...things.” Jen stared hard at her hands. The manicure her mother had talked her into getting still distracted her now and then. The fact that she’d already scraped away the white tip of her pointer finger would have normally enraged her by now, but she was trying to come to terms with the fact that the things that came second nature to some people would always be too much trouble for her. The time it took versus how long it lasted? No, thanks.
“Spare time to do what you want. Must be nice.” Distracted by Hollister’s quiet voice, Jen glanced over to study his face. He looked even more tired than when he’d crashed Rebecca’s party. Not that it mattered. He was currently enemy number one.
If his tone and the expression on his face suggested he could understand her dream like no one else she knew, what did it matter? She’d rather be the odd man in the group than share something with Hollister.
Wouldn’t she?
“It is. I worked every job I could find for years to pay off student loans. Now I can afford dumb, uncomfortable couches and the idiots that choose them.” Jen sighed. “Everything is perfect.” Why was she having to force the words past her lips?
“I don’t believe you.” Luke’s smile was quiet, like he didn’t use it much and when it appeared, it surprised everyone.
“I think I’ll keep it this way. This one couch. People won’t stay for long.” Jen crossed one leg over the other. “I have room to stretch out. Before, this place was wall-to-wall leather and dark wood. This airiness suits me. I like my space.”
Luke glanced around. “Space, you’ve got. And quiet. I may never leave. Toys. Loud music. Even this uncomfortable seat could be overlooked for a while.” He squeezed his eyes shut.
“Sounds terrible.” She’d hate being always surrounded by noise and clutter and people. She had hated it.
But that wasn’t something to make her bond with the enemy.
“Pretty much inevitable with kids, as I understand it.” He blinked slowly. “They should warn a man about that.”
Jen’s reluctant laugh surprised them both. “Yeah, they come out screaming and then they get loud, huh?” She’d never decided what she thought about babies. Her students? At least with them, she could use her words. They might not listen, but she had a shot at communication.
“Could you make an exception to your plan for one needy case? That’s me, in case you were wondering. I know your friends are not fans of mine, but my brother... I need to get him some help.”
“Listen, Hollister,” Jen said, determined to send him on his way, no matter how uncomfortable he seemed with asking for her help. “I’ll give you a list of names, students who can do the job and who desperately need the cash, as long as you keep this our little secret. I don’t want to be caught fraternizing with the enemy.”
“Please, call me Luke. When we’re alone like this, at least.” He shook his head. “Shouldn’t happen often enough to get too comfortable.”
Jen crossed her arms over her chest and refused to answer his smile. If he was planning on being charming, she was going to have to turn up the volume on her disapproval. They weren’t going to be buddies.
“My sister Renita’s already tried to help. She’s a senior at Holly Heights and smart enough to do anything, but not quite firm enough to tackle Joseph,” Luke said. “He needs someone like you.”
“They call me the General behind my back.” Jen sniffed. “Did you know that?”
“I did not.” He frowned as he considered that. “You don’t have to sell me on hiring you, you know. You’ve got the job. Joseph needs someone to give him his marching orders. You could do it.”
“Math isn’t your strong suit? It seems you’ve got experience in trying to force people to follow your direction.” When her resolve weakened, the only hope Jen had of wiggling free in situations like this was a solid counterattack. Was she going to crumple under the suggestion of a needy kid? That had been enough in the past to convince her to do things she’d never do, like write checks to give away money she didn’t have and spend time doing things she didn’t want to. Was it going to work this time? With Hollister?
“No. I’m not sure I have a strong suit, other than investigation.” He rubbed his forehead, realizing he shouldn’t be bringing that up again. “Joseph is new to the family. His old life was rough, so he’s never had anyone to hound him over homework so his grades reflect that, but the kid’s smart enough to work everything to his advantage, so he can do this, too.”
Jen hesitated. “Tell me more about him.” She was totally going to do this. Sarah would hit the roof when she found out that a friend was abetting an enemy and she deserved to. In Sarah’s shoes, Jen would plot a clever and terrible revenge. Luckily, Sarah couldn’t keep a secret, so any plots could be foiled quickly.
Sarah would get over it, too. Helping kids made a good exception to any rule, even the one that said best friends automatically hated each other’s enemies.
“He wants to go home, back to the old neighborhood, but he had friends there who’d get him into trouble. My father died less than a year ago and my mother... She wouldn’t be able to handle losing Joseph.”
Jen studied his face. There was something he wasn’t telling her, but it didn’t matter. Understanding the danger to Joseph was easy enough.
“Moving here seems to be a big change, Hollister. You made it to help him?” Jen wanted to say she couldn’t understand the sacrifice. But she could. She’d have done the same to help a friend or family member. She would never have suspected Hollister would have similar feelings.
Maybe he wasn’t part bridge troll after all.
“Not just him. There’s my mother, too. I was afraid the grief would kill her. My mother always dreamed of a place with a nice yard. I could get that for her.” Luke smiled down at Hope, who’d snuggled up against him. “I never believed a place like this existed until tracking Sarah Hillman forced me to spend a few hours here and there downtown. It’s like the set in all those old television shows.”
He was juggling so hard right now. She didn’t want to feel this strange empathy, but it was impossible not to.
Jen rested her head against the couch cushion until the sharp corner hurt the back of her head, then she straightened in her seat. “Sure, if you’re from the right side, it’s pretty awesome.”
She didn’t meet his stare but could feel the weight of his eyes on her.
“You weren’t from the right side?” he asked.
“Nope.” And she had nothing more to say about that. “So maybe I can be persuaded to lend a hand to a kid from the wrong side. One last time.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t have any other math-challenged kids lurking, do you? Rebecca’s already mentioned your sister and her path straight to the top.”
“Renita is going to do awesome things.” Luke wagged his head from side to side. “Joseph could, too. He’s got the right parents. If my father was still around, this problem would have been solved in a heartbeat.”
Jen could see the grief and loss. He was doing the best he could in a difficult situation.
“It’s kind of you and your wife to step back and help out. That can’t have been easy.”
Very rarely would she have said a frown was cute, but watching him process her words was entertaining. Since he scratched absentmindedly at her ears, Hope enjoyed it, too.
“My wife,” he said slowly. Then he shook his head. “Um, no. No wife.” The way his lips slowly curled indicated he was as amused by her mistake as she was by his puzzling. “My sister. My niece.” It was hard to pin down what made her label that look smug but it was there, whatever it was. “Have you been thinking about me?”
Scoffing was the only answer. It had saved her from worse situations. “Are you kidding? Thinking about you? Thinking of routes to run you out of town, maybe. I thought Mari looked like you when I saw her. That’s all.” She tried a nonchalant shrug, but she wasn’t sure he was buying it.
“We’re all adopted.” He grinned. “Except for Mari. She’s Camila’s daughter, but the Hollisters got the rest of us from the foster care system.” He tipped his chin up. “I understand about being from the wrong side in a sense I doubt you ever will.”
Insulted and embarrassed, Jen narrowed her eyes. “You don’t know a thing about me or my life.”
“My first family? Was one woman who had me at sixteen and then did her best to forget about me until I was taken out of the ratty apartment at fourteen. Food was a treat and the men she kept around...” Luke scrubbed both hands over his face, disturbing Hope who lifted her head and put it back on his knee. “Never mind. I got lucky with the Hollisters. And my job to study people and form theories, I bet I understand you better than you think.”
Jen rolled her eyes. “I’m a teacher. I get that.” They were quiet for a long while. “She’s getting hair on your uniform.” Which might be the only thing that could improve how he looked in it. Luke Hollister in the Holly Heights police uniform made her think of truth, justice, the American way and being able to sleep soundly at night. A little of Hope’s hair made him a man, too. “She can shed every color of the rainbow.”
“Pink hair to match her bandanna?” he asked and bent to study Hope closer. The dog seized the chance to press her nose against his cheek, Hope’s sweet manner of kissing without getting into trouble.
“Every color of the dog fur rainbow, then.” Jen was surprised at how well they were getting along. Like this, he seemed easy, not uptight, and that he cared for his brother was completely human. “Hope’s not a big fan of men. She’s a rescue and I don’t know much about her past. She sure seems to like you.”
“Dogs and kids. I can’t keep ’em away.” Luke didn’t look up, but wrinkled his nose at Hope. who chanced a lick this time. “Not even when I’d like to.”
“Should I take her out?” Jen asked, ready to escort him to the door. The thing about sitting down with Luke Hollister was that bridge troll was quickly receding and all she could see was handsome man, one who knew how to make her dog sigh with happiness. Since she was head over heels for this dog, that made him so very dangerous. She and Sarah were friends now. If there was one thing Jen knew, it was that friends came before anything else. The ones who’d stick with a person through hard times were priceless. Sarah hadn’t had that chance yet, not for Jen, but she’d stuck by Rebecca when the Cole storm had threatened.
Seeing that loyalty in action had cemented their shaky friendship, at least for Jen.
And friends didn’t daydream about enemy number one.
“Nah, I should be going.” Luke made no move to get up.
Jen tangled her fingers together and bit her lip to keep from asking anything that would make him seem more like a human being.
“But I don’t want to.” Luke shifted on the couch again. “With one comfortable seat, this place could be my idea of heaven. No lightsabers or plastic blocks to step on. No surly teenager shouting at the television and his imaginary friends in a faraway universe. Even Renita, who is as perfect as any kid should be, listens to music that blasts our eardrums. My mother... She’s just... I worry.” He dropped his head back and then immediately lifted it. The improbably hard edge of a cushion convinced him to sit up straight, too. The couch had to go.
And he seemed like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders again.
The urge to offer to help him with whatever she could was on the tip of her tongue, but he slowly stood, saving them both from an awkward attempt that would catch her right between being neighborly and being loyal.
“Do you want to talk about a schedule or what I charge or...anything.” She wanted to know more about Joseph’s background. Being aware of something about a kid before she had him in class could help. Then she remembered a couple of times where it did more harm than good. She had a long history here in Holly Heights. Realizing one of her students was related to a kid who used to torment her was enough to color her judgment until she’d gotten a firm hold on it. No one should be held responsible for something someone else did and certainly not children.
The fact that her students were taller than she was and half a second from being launched into the world helped. Most of the time, she could see the people they were going to become. And most of the time, that was a nice thing.
It was easy to spot trouble in her class. If she had any way to contain those kids, she did it.
Maybe she and Luke had something else in common. She wanted to make sure her classroom was safe for everyone.
“You charge whatever’s fair. I’ll pay it. As far as the schedule, why don’t I bring him over tomorrow after my shift? You can talk with him and decide how often you need to meet with him. I’d choose every day because the kid needs as much help as we can give him, but you have a life, too.” His silent glance around the nearly empty house seemed to say he wasn’t sure where she kept that life because it didn’t happen at home, but he didn’t say it aloud.
“Fine. That will work.” Jen stood in order to give him the message that it was time to go. When he laughed at Hope’s big wide yawn, some little chunk of her hard heart melted.
“I know exactly how you feel, Miss Hope.” He rolled his shoulders and the audible crack of bones as he stretched made Jen wince. “Have you ever had to sleep next to a four-year-old? She travels. All the way across the bed, until her feet are planted in the small of my back.”
Jen didn’t laugh but it was a cute picture. “Maybe I’m not the only one who needs to buy more furniture.”
“The place is crammed with beds and comfy seats. She had a nightmare.” He shook his head. “That was all it took.”
Instead of going to her mother, she’d gone to her uncle? Jen didn’t say it, but that little girl had a good sense of who’d keep her safe from the monsters and wrapping him around her finger was smart, smart, smart.
Before he opened the door, he sighed. “Thank you for helping me. I’m very aware you didn’t have to. Are you going to tell Sarah?” He shrugged. “Just so I have my story straight.”
“Probably not yet.” Jen tapped her cowboy boot against the gorgeous hardwood. “Not that she’d have any trouble with me helping Joseph because she’s a good person with a good heart who will help anyone she can. Now.” Jen grunted. “But if you tell her I said that, I’ll have to kill you and that’s going to make us both unhappy, so don’t. I don’t want to hurt her feelings if this is a quick fix and I can avoid it.”
She watched him process that. When his eyes met hers, he reached out to squeeze her hand. The gesture caught her off guard and only wrapping her hand around his stopped the falling sensation. “I have a feeling she’s not the only good-hearted person around. You didn’t have to help. I will remember that.”
Unsettled but determined to keep everything on track, Jen rolled her eyes. “I’m a teacher, Hollister. It’s what we do.”
His smile was a curl of the corners of his lips but he seemed younger, more approachable as he stepped onto her empty porch.
“I don’t know if anyone told you this, but Halloween’s coming. Maybe you could pick up a pumpkin or two. Surely designers can’t object to that.” He waved a hand at the long, empty expanse. “It’s a seasonal thing. What normal people do.”
Jen pursed her lips. “I don’t see any witches or ghosts over on the Hollister house, either.”
Luke nodded. “You have a point. Now that we live with a little kid, we’ll have to fix that.” Then he frowned. “I’m guessing we won’t get many trick-or-treaters this far out. Mari will be disappointed.”
“Most of the party happens around the town square on Halloween. That will make up for some of the disappointment.” Don’t do it. Drop the conversation and let him go. “Also there’s a tour of decorated homes. You could get yours on the map. Then you’d have more traffic than you can handle.”
He braced his hand on the iron railing. “No, thanks. I hate traffic.”
She pursed her lips. “Then you aren’t going to be happy. Maybe you should take a look at settling in Piney. That town has nothing to celebrate. Should be very quiet. This year, this place is going to be lit up like... Well, I haven’t decided yet, but I’m going to enter and win the contest.” She shrugged. “There’s no other option, Hollister.”
He laughed. “Just like that. You decided it so that’s how it’s going to be?”
“Pretty much. It’s always worked for me in the past.” She stepped back, anxious to end the conversation before they got any closer.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe then you’ll call me Luke.” He winked. “Now that we know my wife won’t mind.” Whatever was weighing him down had lightened as he turned to walk away. Luke Hollister whistled a cheerful tune that she couldn’t quite recognize.
Which was a gift. She hated whistlers.
It might not be enough in his case.
Jen shut the door and leaned against it. “Handsome. Single. Enemy number one. This could be a problem, Hopey.”