Only for You Read online

Tim most likely drew his own conclusions—maybe assumed PMS. As long as she didn’t make any big deal about it, he would hopefully forget the whole thing. In fact, he probably already had. He never noticed anything when it came to her, anyway.

  Several photos of him had surfaced online—mostly from Great Wide Open’s Facebook page. They were being shared nonstop as fans of Behind Closed Doors apparently got acquainted with the man Melissa had dumped for Dak.

  “I’m sure people are exaggerating,” her mom said, eyes fixed out the window now. “Just because these fans are taken by his charm doesn’t mean they’re suddenly going to buy T-shirts or a bunch of sporting gear.”

  “Apparently they were all trying to book his guided snowshoeing tours when the site crashed,” Nana verified. “But I can see why he’s getting the attention. Such a charming young man.”

  Emily almost swore color bloomed in her grandmother’s cheeks.

  Her mom leaned forward, between their seats. “Too charming if you ask me. Your father was always like that. A little too sure of himself for his own good.”

  Nana turned in her seat, blocking Emily’s view of her passenger side mirror. “Please, Lynette, Tim Fraser is nothing like Phil. Besides, half the problem between you and Phil was that the two of you were too young.”

  “We were not too young.” Her mom’s voice escalated. “Phil’s problem was that he flirted with every single—”

  “You two need to stop,” Emily interrupted. “I’m trying to freaking parallel park here!”

  By the time they were seated with their menus, Emily had lost her appetite, struggling between checking in with Tim to see if he was okay and putting distance between them.

  All three ordered their usual eggs Benedict when the server came by. Emily waited until he refilled their water glasses and walked away before bringing up the bad news. Would Nana’s rosy opinion of Tim change?

  “So, Nana, about your birthday. I think we should explore a backup plan.”

  Nana’s back stiffened, and she set down her cup, sloshing Earl Grey tea over the side and onto her linen napkin. “Why would we do that?”

  Her mom lowered her cutlery to her plate, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temple.

  Emily waited until her mom’s eyes fluttered open again and gave her a pointed look—a plea for support—before continuing. “I contacted Tim to book the tour, but there’s a problem. He’s booked solid.” She explained the conference and proposed all the options for alternate dates and venues.

  Nana’s eyes remained glued to her plate. Her perfectly lined lips formed a downward curve, and her shoulders sagged.

  Evelyn O’Hara’s shoulders had never sagged a day in her life.

  “Oh,” she finally said, a slight tremble in her voice. “I see.” She lifted her cup again and sipped.

  Gone was the spark Nana normally emanated. She looked small in her fitted Chanel blazer, small and…sad.

  Emily pressed a hand to her chest. Snarky Nana would have been easier to handle. It would have been expected. “I’ve gone ahead and tentatively booked the boat for all the alternate dates so we don’t miss out on another opportunity. When you decide on a date, we can confirm with Tim. And Rosalia’s is of course on standby, too.”

  “Sure,” Nana’s voice sounded old. Tired. “We don’t have to decide now. It’s months away. To be honest, I just got caught up in the idea of it. I don’t even need a party at all.”

  “Now, of course we’re still going to throw you a party,” her mom piped up.

  “We wouldn’t dream of not having a party,” Emily put in. “And whatever you decide on will be just as swanky as what you originally envisioned, I promise.”

  “I think something private in the courtyard at Rosalia’s would be really nice,” her mom offered, tucking her highlighted hair behind her ear.

  Nana nodded without committing. She changed the subject to a fundraiser she helped organize for the food bank and picked at her food for the remainder of the meal.

  Emily exchanged a look with her mother when Nana wasn’t looking. They had an unspoken understanding. Whatever they ended up doing for Nana’s birthday had to be epic.

  By eight o’clock the next morning, three dozen chocolate cupcakes cooled on the counter in Tesoro’s kitchen. Emily put away ingredients and wiped off the stainless steel countertop. The brunch with her mom and Nana yesterday still weighed on her. Nana was never easy to sway when she got an idea in her head, but until she saw the disappointment, she hadn’t realized just how much the party meant to her grandmother.

  Tapping on the front door interrupted her thoughts, and Emily craned her neck out the kitchen door to check who it was.

  Her mom stood outside on the sidewalk. Emily let the kitchen door swing shut behind her and went to unlock the door. “Hey, you’re not working today?”

  Her mother managed Bella, a high-end clothing boutique a few blocks over. In her younger years, she had studied fashion design. Bella gave her the opportunity to go on several buying trips a year, which somehow made up for staying in Sapphire Springs all these years and scaling back her career goals.

  “I am, but there’re two of us on this morning in case we get flooded with returns, so I can take my time.” She scanned the shop. “Are Harlow and Lauren not working today?”

  “No, I’m staying closed on Mondays for the winter. Business will be slow for the next few weeks, so I gave them some extra time off, and it gives me a full day a week to myself in the kitchen.” Emily motioned for her mother to follow her over to the counter, so she could assemble some cake boxes while they chatted.

  A rainbow of treats gleamed under the refrigerated glass display case. Her mom tugged at her scarf to loosen it before claiming one of the stools. “Are you all right? You look a little tired.”

  “I’m fine,” Emily tilted her head away, focusing on the small white box she folded into shape. “I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. What’s up?”

  Her mother propped her chin into her fist. “Nana is still in a funk. We’ve gotta figure something out for this birthday party. I can’t stand being under the same roof when she’s in this kind of mood.”

  “What is going on with her? She’s always been opinionated, but she’s acting…”

  “Like a child?”

  “Yes.” Emily came around the counter and lowered into the stool next to her mother. “Exactly. Cute boots, by the way.”

  Pointing the toe of the leg she’d crossed over the other, her mom glanced down at them. “Thanks. I got them last year.” She pivoted on the stool to face Emily. “I wasn’t planning to tell you about this yet, because I didn’t want you to worry, but Mom is having a few tests done next week, and though she pretends she’s fine, I know it’s why she’s so out of sorts.”

  Emily’s stomach clenched. “What kind of tests?”

  “A biopsy. They found a spot on her lung.”

  “What?” Emily pushed off the stool. Tears that had been hovering close to the surface for days sprang into her eyes. “And you weren’t going to tell me?”

  Her mom got up and plucked a tissue from a box on the coffee table and passed it to her. With a gentle tug, she guided Emily over to the loveseat to sit with her. “She’s had a lingering cough since back in the fall. The spot showed up on a chest X-ray. Mom didn’t want to say anything to anyone before the holidays. She made me promise. The doctor says there’s a good chance it’s benign.”

  “But Nana obviously isn’t so sure.” Emily dabbed the tissue at the corners of her eyes, trying not to mess up her mascara.

  “No, she’s putting on a brave face, but she’s scared.” Her mom rung her hands together. “She had a couple of glasses of wine on New Year’s Eve and started getting depressed and talking about how this could be her last year. I think that’s what prompted the early planning of her birthday, and wanting to spend it on a boat like when she married Dad.”

  Ugh. Why did this damn conference have to be in town on Nana’s birthday? Sudde
nly all that mattered was Nana having anything she wanted. Emily stared at the magazines on the table in front of her until they all blurred together.

  Her mom’s warm hand rested on her shoulder. “Please try not to worry about this. If we have reason to worry, we’ll take it as it comes. For now, the worst thing we can do is dwell on it. Your grandmother will pick up on it, and I’m trying to keep everything as normal as possible.”

  But her mom was worried and trying to be strong for everyone. Emily could see it in the dark circles under her eyes.

  “The best thing we can do is stay positive.” Her mother straightened her posture and held up her little finger. “Promise me?”

  Pinky swears were ironclad among the three of them. As a child, Emily would hold out each hand and pinky swear with her mom and Nana at the same time. Nostalgia welled tears in Emily’s eyes again, but she nodded and linked little fingers. “Pinky swear.”

  Her mom’s eyes glistened too, but she didn’t give in to them. She exhaled sharply. “Okay. I need to get to work.” She fixed her scarf and buttoned up her coat. “I’ll call you later this week.”

  Hugging her arms to her body, Emily got up and followed her mother to the door, then watched as she crossed the street and cut through the square. She went back to the loveseat and sat, dazed.

  Nana was a force to be reckoned with, but she’d give you the shirt off her back if she thought it would help you. She volunteered countless hours fundraising for the food bank and the local women’s shelter. She’d welcomed her grown daughter and teenage granddaughter into her home when they’d had nowhere else to go. She had been there for her and her mother always, teaching them both how to be strong independent women. And she was the driving force behind Tesoro becoming a reality, with both financial and moral support.

  And all she wanted was a birthday party on a boat.

  Emily tapped her glossy nails on the leg of her jeans as a new idea formed.

  Maybe there could be something in Tim’s proposal for her after all. Maybe she just needed to take a stand and make a few demands.

  Chapter Six

  The constant nagging on social media called for a task as far away from his cell phone as he could reasonably get without leaving the premises. Tim had just turned down an interview request from a tabloid, and something told him it wasn’t the last he’d hear from them. He grabbed a hammer and some nails and set to work installing new signage for winter camping gear on the side of the shop facing the narrow street leading to town square. He’d be wise to get it done early, before more fans showed up.

  It had been a busy weekend at Great Wide Open, with much more walk-in traffic than Tim had anticipated post-holidays. On Saturday morning Blake joked that it wasn’t so much shoppers as curiosity over the shop’s owner. Tim had laughed it off until mid-afternoon, when he saw some women taking selfies in front of the Great Wide Open sign and realized he hadn’t seen a male customer the entire day.

  By the time he’d called it a day his eyes burned from exhaustion, so he spent the evening in with Thai takeout and a six-pack. Normally he’d check in with Emily on the weekend to see what she was up to, but she’d been quiet since turning down his proposition, and though she said they were fine, Tim sensed she needed some time to cool off.

  Sunday, he headed to his mother’s to help with a few things around the house and indulge in a long snowshoe excursion through the woods on their land. The solitude brought with it some clarity. This fiasco had to pass eventually.

  He’d spent the better part of the evening feeling better about the whole thing, but when he got to work today to another voice mail from the show’s producer, followed by having to listen to Blake paraphrase some of the inbox messages the store received over the weekend inquiring about Tim hosting a boat tour for a summer bachelorette party, his optimism faded.

  If only Emily had agreed to go along with the fake relationship.

  Any hope that the interest would fade once a new episode of Behind Closed Doors aired was fading. The audience had turned on Melissa and Dak, and it seemed the more airtime they received, the more Tim’s popularity surged. It might be time to try to come up with another tactic to ward off the attention.

  The breeze off the lake had a bite to it, but braving the elements still beat being inside next to the ringing telephone. He drove the last nail into place on the sign and took a walk out to the parking lot to get the full effect.

  As he stood there, he heard the hollow clomp of heels on concrete rounding the corner to the harbor.

  Emily.

  He didn’t need to verify that. He knew the sound of her walking down the sidewalk, though today it sounded like she clipped along with purpose. On a mission. “You’ll break your neck wearing those boots on these icy roads,” he said without turning around.

  The steps came to an abrupt stop. “I think I can handle it.”

  Tim whirled around, her snappy tone taking him by surprise. Dark sunglasses guarded her eyes from the vibrant sunlight, and her black wool coat cinched tight at the waist, accentuating her petite frame. He jingled the leftover nails in his coat pocket. “What’s going on? Wanna grab a coffee?”

  “Already had one.” Her breath puffed out in a fog and floated past her glossy pink lips. “I’m here to discuss the little idea you proposed last week.”

  A change of heart? Didn’t seem likely, given her mood. He picked up his hammer, pointing it toward the main door of the shop. “Okay…” Was he still in the doghouse with her for not thinking it through? “Why don’t you come inside?”

  She followed him into the store, and he led her through the racks of outerwear, past Blake, who opened his mouth to say hello and then closed it again, pretending to study the computer monitor.

  He ushered Emily into his office and closed the door. “Have a seat. Can I get you anything? Water? Tea?”

  She’d pulled her hair back in a tight twist, which somehow matched her curt tone.

  “No, thank you.”

  Brisk as the breeze off the lake. Rather than sit in his chair, he leaned on the desk. The attention was his problem to solve, and he hated that he’d put her in such an awkward position. Though she’d said they were okay, clearly, they weren’t. “Okay, what did you want to discuss? The deal is off the table, right?”

  Propping her sunglasses on her head, she sighed. “That depends on what you’re willing to sacrifice so there’s something in it for me.”

  Was she actually coming around to the charade? Tim crossed his arms, cautiously clinging to a glimmer of hope. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I’ll go along with your sham on one condition.” She jutted out her chin. “Nana gets her party.”

  His shoulders slumped. “I already told you, I’ve been booked for that date for months.” How could he feasibly consider canceling on more than fifty people in one shot?

  “So figure it out.”

  She wasn’t kidding. There wasn’t a hint of sarcasm or humor to be found. She just sat there, back ramrod straight, insinuating he cancel one of his VIP events for her nana’s, what was it, eighty-third birthday? “Why is it so important that your nana have this boat party? I mean, isn’t she—”

  “Doesn’t matter. If you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend, figure it out. Tell them you double-booked or something.”

  He pushed off the desk and stood, extending a hand toward his desk calendar and shaking his head. “I don’t do things like double-book. I’m anal, and I make lists. Do not laugh,” he pointed at her, smirking himself when he caught a hint of her twitching upper lip. “My point is, I’m very organized about those kinds of things, and I don’t want a bunch of VIPs thinking I just screwed up.”

  Emily shrugged, the anal joke cracking her exterior slightly. “A computer malfunction, then. A glitch in your booking system. These things happen.”

  God damn it, the woman had an answer for everything.

  Blake tapped a knuckle to the door and poked his head in. “Um, sorry to
interrupt. I have good news and bad news.”

  Tim closed his eyes and drew in a long breath. “Let’s hear it. Good news first, please.”

  Blake waited a beat, probably trying to figure out the best way to say whatever it was. “The new moonlit snowshoe tour we posted sold out in four minutes. The bad news is the influx of activity crashed the website again.”

  A guttural groan rolled out of Tim, and he fisted his hand in his hair. How much longer would this crap mess with his life? “We’ll deal with it later.” When Blake slipped out the door, he turned his focus back to Emily again. “Look, I really don’t feel right about canceling on that group.”

  She popped out of her chair and slapped her leather gloves against her open palm. “Okay. Forget it then.”

  His desk phone started ringing at the same time his cell phone began to vibrate.

  For Christ’s sake. He yanked the phone cord out of the wall and strode toward her, catching her arm a fraction of a second before her hand closed over the doorknob. “Wait.”

  She stared at the phone cord dangling from his hand and wet her lips before her gaze fell on the loose hold he kept on her arm. When she met his eyes, a brow lifted. Something passed between them. An unspoken acceptance.

  “I don’t feel right about it, but I’ll cancel the group this afternoon.” He tossed the cord onto the floor.

  Emily acknowledged him with a nod and a deep breath. “Okay, so we’re doing this then.”

  With his hand still on her arm, he guided her back to the chair. “Should we lay out some terms?”

  Unbuttoning the top buttons of her coat, she tugged it away from her neck and leaned back into the chair. “Terms seem like a smart thing to establish. Like for one, are we telling anyone the relationship is a farce?”

  Tim settled into the chair behind his desk and extended his index finger. “Well, Blake will know, because he’s the one that came up with the idea. I don’t see how we can pull the wool over Jay’s or Rob’s eyes, either,” he added, holding up three fingers.

  “Or Leyna’s,” Emily put in. “I tell her everything, but even if I didn’t tell her, Jay would.”