"It's part of being the one left behind." Her mama grabbed a tissue from the box on the table, dabbing the tears from Lu's cheeks. "I bet Sergeant Cates is dealing with the same thing. Maybe worse because he was there. Joe was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's war."

She scrubbed her hands down her face, getting rid of the evidence of her tears. "Are you sure about Tynan?"

"When Joe's unit came home a few of the men stopped by to visit his family. Sergeant Cates's quick thinking actually saved lives that day . . . just not Joe's. They wanted to write him up for a medal, but he wouldn't have any part of it."

"Boy, I screwed up." Lu stared at her hands, bracing herself for the disappointment on her mother's face before looking up. "Big-time. Um, why are you smiling?"

Her mama's smile grew bigger. "Because, sweetheart, from this mama's point of view, for the first time in three years, I'm seeing my old Lu again. Full of energy. Animated. Wearing her heart on her sleeve."

"That Lu is a colossal idiot."

"She's not. She does things all or nothing. Until three years ago she took on life with no fear. Always jumping in before she could think. First one into the water at the quarry. First up the mountain or across the creek on a hike. I can still picture poor Joe, laughing as he tried to follow you every which way, hoping you didn't get hurt."

That got a laugh out of her. "Yeah, only where's Joe when I need him to help me clean up my mess?"

"You're strong, Lu. You can do this."

"I know. I can't keep hiding from life. I mean, that's the whole reason I tracked Sergeant Cates down to begin with." She reached over and hugged her mama.

"Go on back to Climax and make things right. It's the right thing to do." Her mama hugged her back, then gave a light tug on Lu's ponytail. "Only stay the night. Your father's on a business trip, so we'll put on our pajamas and cut into that pie you made."

"Love to."

"And maybe you'll tell me what it is about Sergeant Cates that makes you blush every time I mention his name."

Oh boy.

Chapter Fifteen.

It had taken Tynan a long workout at the gym and then three hours of chopping wood to get to almost calm. The asinine thing was, he had known from day one that Lu wasn't telling the truth. He knew when he saw her pink set of Barbie tools. He knew when his crew had to teach her how to use a nail gun-and every other tool. He knew by the way she'd hurt his crew like they had a bounty on them.

Stupid him, he'd been trying to be nice to her, doing her a favor because he thought she was running from something like abuse or a lost job. He was a grade A sucker all right.

It wasn't even the lying or her stealing the cabin that was bothering him the most. He was a pretty open guy. If you knew him, odds were you knew how he felt on almost any subject. He was an out-there kind of person.

With the exception of a few things, like what happened in the war. He didn't open up about that, because most people who hadn't served-h.e.l.l, who hadn't been in-country in a war-couldn't understand. There were also things about what had happened over there that he was still trying to accept three years on.

The other part of his life that he kept private was the one that made him the outgoing person he was today. That hyperactive, can't-sit-still-long-enough-to-learn kid who found out before he was ten years old that he'd rather be considered wild and disobedient than stupid. And he hadn't talked to anyone about that-not even his ma, although he was pretty sure she knew.

So the fact that he'd opened up to Lu about how much that week at the cabin had meant to him, shared something he'd never even told his family, and she'd taken it and used it against him-that hit hard. His ego had taken a hit. It wasn't easy to be attracted to someone, let himself be vulnerable in a way he hadn't with any other woman, and then find out she was lying about everything.

Tell me one real thing about you right now. Name one thing most people don't know about you. h.e.l.l, he might as well get sucker tattooed on his forehead. He'd shared some things with her that he'd never told anyone. And she had turned around and stabbed him in the back with it.

The acid still roiled in his stomach as her words rolled around and around his head. I wanted to take something from you that you cared about. It honestly didn't even matter why. h.e.l.l, maybe he'd dated her years ago and dumped her-although, no, he'd have remembered that mouth. And those eyes. Maybe she hated the military and this was her crazy way of sticking it to them. Maybe she was just plain coo-coo-for-Cocoa-Puffs crazy. Yeah, he'd bet money on that one. Who knew, and frankly, he didn't care.

He would do his best to shove Lulubelle Swan out of his life. Out of his head. He was going to pack up all thoughts of Lu, especially the hot, s.e.xy ones, like the way he wanted to bite her plump lower lip and the way she'd moaned and whimpered in his ear while he'd made her come. Gone. The slice of empathy that had slashed at him in the moments after she'd betrayed his trust-as he watched her face transform from triumph to confusion to pain. Nope. His concern that she was running from something . . . needed to escape or some help. Not his concern anymore. If she'd been running from something, only she knew. He was done being the nice guy.

He'd heard a rumor through the Grapevine that yesterday-probably right after he'd fired her-she'd packed up, checked out of the Honeybee Hotel, and left town. Good riddance.

Lu walked into Dave's Diner Monday morning, headed straight back to the center island in front of the kitchen window, and hit the silver bell on the counter to get Dave's attention. "I accept the job offer. That is, if it's still on the table."

Dave turned his head at his slothlike speed, then moved over to the pa.s.s-through window. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Her eyes darted away, but then she girled up and looked Dave straight in the eyes. "Because I messed up, and if Climax is anything like my hometown, y'all circle the wagons when an outsider does that. But I'm back to fix it."

Dave nodded. "Job offer is still on the table."

"Okay, then." She nodded, and her tense muscles relaxed for the first time in two days. "When do you want me to start?"

"Last week!" Renee called over her shoulder from where she was taking a lunch order at a booth.

Lu snorted. Heck, if she'd taken the job last week, she might not be in the mess she was in now. She had to duck her head a bit to peer into the kitchen because Dave had gone back to the grill to flip the burgers he was cooking. "So, when should I start?"

"Right now." Dave looked up from the grill. "You can cook, right?"

"Absolutely."

"You telling the truth? Because last I heard from the Grapevine, you could do construction too." His gaze narrowed on her. "And I heard how well that went."

"Okay, well, that one I lied about. But I'm a trained pastry chef and took a one-year course in running a farm-to-table restaurant." She looked him straight in the eye, then held up her fingers. "Scout's honor."

His gaze held her under a microscope for a bit longer until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, okay. I was never officially a Scout, but the part about the cooking is the G.o.d's honest truth. I came through with the burgers, didn't I?"

"Then get back here and prove it. I got a whole mess of customers who are hoping and praying it's true."

"Yes!" Renee and practically every customer in the diner clapped. The antic.i.p.ation was buzzing around the place, but then, Dave had been serving up food in Climax for five long, antacid-filled years.

Lu moved around the counter and into the kitchen, grabbing an ap.r.o.n from a hook on the wall. After washing her hands she inventoried the walk-in refrigerator and figured out a few dishes they could offer up for dinner in five hours. And then she made herself at home.

Dave had enough supplies for her to create one new entree for tonight, but first she'd bake up a dessert. The diner actually had a nice selection of pies that Dave ordered in from Aunt Marie's Bakery, but the dessert case was looking a little depleted. Time and existing ingredients dictated something simple, so she whipped together a triple chocolate sheet cake with candied walnut b.u.t.tercream frosting. While the cake was baking she started on a rub for a spicy salmon.

The three-hour drive back to Climax this morning had given her plenty of time to think things over. Although her first instinct was to slip into town, apologize to Tynan, and head right back home again, a voice inside asked, home to what?

Worried faces, people she loved walking on eggsh.e.l.ls around her, and decorating cakes for a living? She wouldn't have made it through the last three years without each and every one of those people. They had been her refuge when she'd needed a place to mourn and accept. But at some point she'd let the refuge become a crutch.

Decorating cakes had given her a reason to get out of bed every morning, but it didn't excite her. It wasn't why she had spent the extra year in culinary school. She wanted to cook with the freshest foods. Create dishes from simple food with new twists on spice and taste combinations. Dave was going to let her do exactly that, so staying in Climax was the perfect next step to getting her life unstuck.

She also needed to find an affordable, long-term living situation; the Honeybee Hotel was lovely, but it wasn't cheap. But next on her list was the apology to Tynan. She'd wanted to do that in private, but so far, the man wasn't cooperating. She had tried first thing this morning, but when she'd shown up at the library she'd been told she couldn't enter the construction site for safety and liability reasons. Excuse me? What about the fact that she had just worked there last week? Huh, Craig? Juan? Bueller?

Mumbles, red faces, gazes lowered to their work boots was about all she got. She understood. They were Tynan's friends and his loyal employees. They were protecting Tynan from her. Remembering the look on his face the last time they'd talked-she might never be able to make that up. She hadn't told her mama about kissing Tynan, but maybe that was because the kiss wasn't the real problem. It was her reaction to it that she had to deal with.

For now she'd just focus on making sure Dave didn't regret hiring her by preparing the best dishes she could. Renee called back into the kitchen that it was standing room only in the place. What? It wasn't even five o'clock. Lu had one moment of nervousness, but all her schooling and training kicked in and she focused on the food.

A few hours pa.s.sed before the first lull in the dinner crowd and she could finally take a break. She sat on Dave's stool next to the prep counter with a large cup of ice water. Her feet and back were a little worse for wear, but hearing Renee say the customers were raving about the food sure made the pain magically disappear.

Renee poked her head into the window. "Lu, Cheryl had to run to the ladies' room; can you go take the order at table nine?"

"Sure thing." Lu had done plenty of waitressing in high school. Grabbing an order pad off the counter on her way past a harried Renee, she felt good about all the smiling faces, knowing her food was a part of that. Happiness bubbled up until she saw who was sitting at table nine.

Well, heck. This wasn't in her plan. Which part of private apology did the universe not understand? Her stomach twisted and her footsteps faltered, totally unsure of how to handle this. Should she not say anything, waiting for a more private place to offer her apology? Or should she apologize as soon as she got to the table because as stubborn as he is, this might be the only chance she would get? There was one thing she was certain of. Either way, she was sure she was about to p.i.s.s him off again.

Lu put one foot in front of the other until she stood next to Tynan's booth and spoke as quietly as she could. "Tynan, I just wanted to say I-"

"What are today's specials?" Tynan looked up at her, his eyes icy cool and distant.

"Oh, um . . ." She lost her nerve at his aloofness. "Our special today is blackened spicy salmon on a bed of vegetables."

"Sure, I'll try that. If you're as qualified to cook as you are to work construction, this should be interesting." He handed the menu back to her and then the impossible man had the nerve to look away and completely ignore her as she stood right there next to his booth.

Well, what had she expected? She'd been wrong and he had every right to be p.i.s.sed. So she'd go cook up his salmon and apologize another time, a time without an avid audience. "Sure. Okay, I'll just go . . . um, get that going."

She flipped around rather than stand there staring at the back of his head. More than a little p.i.s.sed at herself because even staring at the back of his neck got a reaction from her. Gah! Surely he'd work through his anger soon. She just had to be patient. She'd be the picture of nice and respectful until he'd calmed down enough to see she was truly, sincerely sorry.

This would work. She would fix the mess she'd made and then she could move forward with a clear conscience. With that worked out, she returned to the kitchen and grabbed the other order tickets sitting in the window, looking to see what else was needed.

"Seriously, Renee?" Lu read the tickets with a sinking feeling in her stomach. What were the odds? It was the order of oysters that made her cringe. And the one for guacamole.

Renee grinned and shrugged.

Maybe someone had simply ordered guacamole and it had nothing to do with Tynan whatsoever. She nodded to herself and got to work on the orders.

She went into the walk-in and grabbed two avocados for the guacamole and shallots for the mignonette sauce she liked to serve with oysters. For the mignonette sauce she minced the shallots, then added red wine vinegar and some freshly cracked pepper and set it aside to marinate. Next, she peeled and mashed the avocados, added some diced tomato, onion, and lemon juice. She cut and fried up another batch of her homemade tortilla chips, dusted them with lime-flavored sea salt, and then plated both appetizers.

Dave yelled, "Order up," and she slid all the plates up in the window and rang the bell for Renee. Darn it. Renee was over in the far corner, taking an order for a large party. And Lu wanted Tynan's salmon to be perfect, so after staring at it while it sat cooling in the window for a minute, she grabbed the plates back and onto a serving tray.

No problem. Renee was busy and Cheryl's whereabouts were still a mystery. She would deliver the orders to the tables herself.

But her plans rarely went the way she envisioned lately. When she stopped by tables seven and fourteen to deliver the appetizers, what do you know, they both said to deliver them to Tynan's table. Oh h.e.l.l.

Chin up. Tynan's a reasonable man. He would know not to blame her. She pushed her shoulders back and walked over to Tynan's table wearing her biggest smile.

"Here you go, Tynan." She slid his meal in front of him. "The blackened salmon on a bed of vegetables, just like you ordered."

Then her eyes slid away from his as she pushed the oysters and guacamole onto his table too. He didn't say a thing, and she finally peeked at his face to see his reaction. Gah! Big mistake because his gaze, always intense in that otherworldly way, was blazing with accusation under his formidable frown.

"What? Oh no. Those aren't from me. Someone else in here ordered them for you." She looked around, but oddly enough, suddenly everyone was minding their own business. Oh, ha ha, people. Fine, then. "Trust me, I did not order these for you."

"Trust you? I'll pa.s.s, thanks." Tynan's frown slid into a wide smile. He picked up one of the oysters, held the sh.e.l.l up to his lips, and slurped it into his mouth. His mmm of pleasure sent her hurtling back against the library wall, her jeans tossed to the side and Tynan down on his knees in front of her like he was- Oh good Lord, she'd forgotten one really big item in her calculations to return to Climax. The fact that one glance from Tynan Cates had every cell in her body in launch mode. The man was s.e.x on a stick. Just when she had herself under control and ready to string a few words together, he raised an eyebrow at her.

"That's right. You know exactly how little I need these, but what the h.e.l.l, right?"

She bit her lip to keep a moan from escaping.

He grinned at her, then reached out and dipped a chip into the guacamole and popped the whole thing in his mouth and chewed. "Mmm, oh baby. If everything they say about oysters and guac is true, then I'm going to make some woman very happy very soon."

The serving tray slipped from her hands, smacking the edge of the table with a loud crack. She fumbled with it, grabbing it up against her stomach before it fell to the ground. Totally fl.u.s.tered when certain parts of her body screamed pick me, pick me!

The man sucked down another oyster and two more guacamole-loaded chips while she stood there, fixated in place. She couldn't tear her gaze from his mouth, watching his tongue slip out to swipe at the dusting of salt on his lip. Oh man, she could imagine taking care of that for him. What finally broke her trance was his lips sliding into a c.o.c.ky grin. Blinking, her gaze rose up to his. He nodded and relaxed back in his booth, looking all I-could-rock-your-world c.o.c.ky.

Heat flushed up her neck and over her face. Something fluttered in her stomach so strongly, she wouldn't have been surprised if a kaleidoscope of b.u.t.terflies flittered out of her mouth when she spoke.

She gave Tynan a frosty nod and left, heading straight for the safety of the kitchen.

"Lu, dear, a minute, please."

Lu turned to see who had hailed her. The Simon sisters sat waving at her from the booth closest to the kitchen. Glancing to see they were both eating the salmon, she hoped there wasn't a problem with the dishes. "h.e.l.lo, ladies. Is everything all right with your food?"

"It's delicious, dear. Simply delicious." Beatrice smiled up at her. "Your seasoning brings out a nice, smoky flavor. The vegetables are-"

Agatha cleared her throat. "Yes, yes, it's excellent, and that's why we have an offer for you. We'd like to tempt you to stay in Climax, but the Honeybee will get too expensive for long term. So we'd like you to come stay with us while you look for a place to rent. We've got three empty bedrooms in our house and plenty of s.p.a.ce."

"Gosh, I don't know what to say." Lu's relief was immediate. It wasn't just the money, although they were right; staying in the hotel was adding up fast. No, it was also that they were willing to accept her even knowing what she'd done to Tynan. Dave was the tail end of the Grapevine; if he'd heard about it, then everyone in Climax had. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"You won't be imposing at all, especially when we're hoping to get a few meals out of the deal for ourselves." Beatrice reached for Lu's hand and squeezed gently. "So say yes."

"Okay. Yes, I'd love to stay in one of your extra rooms. Thank you."

Step three down. But could she keep skipping step two, the apology to Tynan? If she wanted to stay and work in this town, she would need to figure out what to do about Tynan, because being patient and nice had just backfired in her face. Lord knew ignoring him wasn't an option either.

Chapter Sixteen.

A week later, Lu decided she wasn't ready for her next run-in with Tynan yet. Especially with an audience at the book club meeting. Yes, she was a big chicken. "Agatha, I'm heading out shopping. I totally forgot I need to get a . . . um . . . one of those thingamajigs to use with the whatchamacallit."

"Why, Lulubelle Swan, I never would have taken you for a coward." Agatha gave her a beady-eyed look and dusted her hands together. "But there's no need. Tynan graciously turned down our invitation to attend tonight's meeting. So the coast is clear for you to attend."

Part of Lu sagged in relief and . . . part of her didn't. She knew she needed to make things right with Tynan, but he wasn't having any part of it. She'd crossed a line by lying to him. And buying the building out from under him. Especially because she sort of used insider information to do that-personal insider information.

And all of that was peanuts compared to her biggest deception; not telling Tynan who she was from the beginning had been a seriously bad idea. In her defense, though, she hadn't known it would matter. She'd thought she'd be in and out of his life and never see him again. There was no way she could have predicted it would matter. That he would come to matter to her. The more she thought about it, the guiltier she felt.

"I'm that obvious? Well, the man is a little upset with me, and his upset is intimidating." Lu decided in that moment she needed to be honest with herself. No more fibs to others and no more running from the truth herself. "And I'm trying to deal with it, but he isn't cooperating."

Beatrice laid out a platter of crackers and cheese. "It's never good to put things off, dear. Life moves too fast; isn't that right, Agatha?"