Yours, With Love: A Sweet Contemporary Romance (Finding Love Book 5) Read online

  “I need to go, too. Landris will be home soon, and I haven’t even started dinner.”

  At a few minutes past six, Ellen realized she’d forgotten to turn the sign on the door. Before she could do so, Quinn appeared on the other side. It almost seemed fitting that he should be there. He’d been on her mind all day.

  “Did you forget another birthday?” she asked as she let him in and then locked the door behind him.

  “No, thank goodness. I was surprised to see your car outside when I drove by. Why are you still working?”

  “It’s been one of those days.” She motioned him to follow her into the workroom. “What are you doing in this part of town?”

  Quinn sat down on one of the stools. “I was at the health department. I see patients there on Wednesday afternoons. I also met your charming ex-boyfriend today.”

  Ellen made a face as she pulled several yards of white mesh off a spool. Then she reached for a pair of scissors and carefully cut the fragile material. “How did that happen?”

  “He’s the new legal consultant assigned to the hospital committee I serve on. I overheard him talking to someone about that infamous meeting here yesterday.”

  “Given what I know about Mark, I’m not sure how successful his marriage will be. For an attorney, he had trouble telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Hopefully, he’s changed.”

  “Have you found a replacement for him?”

  “You sound like my mother. I haven’t been looking for one.” She held out the bow she’d just finished. “Something’s not quite right about this.”

  He looked at it for a few seconds. “I’m no expert, but the right side seems bigger.”

  “I think you’re right. I’ll redo it.”

  * * * * *

  As Quinn watched Ellen’s slim fingers remove more material from the spool, he knew it was going to be next to impossible to remain indifferent to her. Already she was consuming his thoughts and influencing his behavior. She epitomized everything he wanted and everything he couldn’t have. Like a piece of forbidden fruit dangling just out of his reach.

  A small part of him wished she hadn’t reentered his life again, arousing unwanted desires and disturbing the calm surface of his existence like a pebble skipping across water. She was a complication he hadn’t anticipated and wasn’t prepared for. Like a patient dealing with the effects of anesthetic, the emotions he’d put to sleep all those months ago were slowly waking.

  With an effort, he forced his thoughts in another direction. “What colors would you choose for your own wedding?”

  “Probably blue, as long as my husband-to-be agrees, of course.”

  “Why would he disagree? You’d look pretty in blue.”

  “I wouldn’t be the one wearing it.”

  “Well, then, you’d look pretty in white. How’s that?”

  She glanced at him and smiled. “Very nice.”

  Quinn felt that dizzy sensation sweep over him again. He frantically searched his mind for another topic of conversation. “What do you do when you’re not arranging flowers?”

  “During the week, I usually come home and collapse on the couch. If I’m feeling energetic, I’ll do a few rounds on my treadmill. On the weekends when I don’t have a wedding, I like scouring antique stores for unique items to use in the shop. Other times I go to the park or to Cumberland Island.”

  “I haven’t been to Cumberland Island since high school. It was a fieldtrip with my science class. I didn’t pay much attention to the scenery or the wildlife. I was too interested in trying to sneak away from the group so I could be alone with your sister.”

  “That sounds normal for a teenage boy.”

  Ellen reached in front of him for the floral wire, close enough that her hair brushed against his cheek. His pulse leapt to life as if she’d actually touched him. He swallowed quickly, feeling more like a teenage boy than a man old enough to have a teenager.

  “I’m going to get the chance to redeem myself. I’m taking a photography class. One of our projects is to capture the essence of Georgia’s barrier islands. I was planning on going to Cumberland Island on Sunday.”

  “In your preoccupation with Bethany, you might not have noticed that there are no amenities over there except water fountains and bathrooms.”

  Quinn grinned. “I didn’t remember that, but my photography teacher mentioned it.”

  “Would you like some company? I promise not to get in the way.”

  He wasn’t sure what to think about this development. The more time he spent with Ellen, the more difficult it would be to keep his distance. Tonight was a perfect example. There had been no urgent reason for him to be here. He’d used the excuse of being close by, but that’s all it had been. An excuse to see her.

  “I’ll probably be there all day,” he felt compelled to point out.

  “I don’t mind. I’d much rather be outdoors than stuck inside cleaning. My mother would have a fit if she saw the cottage right now. She’s a meticulous, borderline obsessive, housekeeper. There’s never anything out of place in her house, and you can eat off the garage floor. It wasn’t until I was out on my own that I realized the earth wasn’t going to stop rotating on its axis if I left the dishes in the dishwasher overnight or didn’t make my bed every morning.”

  Quinn stretched out his legs and crossed his arms. “I’m not overly concerned with those things myself. You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but Jase is something of a neat freak. I told him he could knock himself out on the rest of the house, but to leave my office and bedroom alone. The maid service that comes once a week hardly has anything left to do as it is. Jase even does the laundry. The one thing he won’t do is cook, but that’s okay. I don’t mind doing that if he’ll clean up the kitchen.”

  “It’s obvious you two have a good relationship. Bethany and I were close when we were young, but as we grew older, we also grew apart. When I realized that she preferred her friends at school to spending time with me, I felt abandoned. I know now that she was just being a teenager.”

  “The period between thirteen and eighteen is rough. You feel torn in so many directions. You’re not a child, and you’re not an adult.”

  She sent him a mischievous glance. “And in the midst of all that confusion, my sister brought home a new boyfriend. Instead of treating me like a member of a subhuman race, he talked to me. After he discovered I liked gummy bears, he brought me a huge plastic container filled with them. He also didn’t laugh when I showed him the poems I wrote. And when he found me in tears because someone made fun of my freckles, he told me he liked them.”

  “I don’t remember doing all that.”

  “I’m sure you don’t. You were just being yourself, and from what I can see, you haven’t changed.”

  “Not on the inside at least,” he added in a low voice.

  Ellen put down the bow in her hand. “That’s the only place that matters.”

  “It sounds good in theory, but it doesn’t always hold up in real life. We live in a society that judges by appearance. I can’t blame anyone for doing it; I used to do it myself.”

  “That may be true at first, but as you get to know someone, you’re less concerned with what they look like and more influenced by what kind of person they are. If you come to really care for and love them, you will see them as being beautiful or handsome.”

  “Until something changes. It’s easy to love when everything’s going well. The real test of love is what you do when everything goes wrong. In my case, she called off the wedding.”

  “Then I have to question whether she really loved you. Love isn’t dependent on something as transitory as appearance.”

  “It shouldn’t be, but appearance has a lot to do with getting the process started.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost seven. Don’t you think you’ve worked long enough for one day?”

  She laughed as she started clearing away ribbon and floral wire. “I always feel like there’s more I can
do, but you’re right. This can wait until tomorrow.”

  Quinn walked with her to the small parking lot at the end of the street. His reluctance to leave her was yet another sign that he was in serious trouble. He needed a dose of reality, like a quick glance in a mirror, to remind him how impossible this was. “Enjoy what’s left of your evening.”

  “You, too,” she said as she unlocked the car. “Should we have a race to see who can get home first?”

  “That’ll have to wait for another time. I’m heading in the opposite direction. My grandfather lives at Magnolia Manor, an assisted living facility. I usually stop by and play a few hands of cards with him and his buddies. We use M&M’s instead of money which is just as well since I’m a terrible card player. I’ll see you later.”

  As Quinn drove the short distance from Ellen’s shop to Magnolia Avenue, he couldn’t help comparing her easy acceptance of his appearance (and his company) with Avery’s. It would have been hard not to given the stark contrast between the two experiences. Ellen didn’t avoid looking at him nor did she seem uncomfortable being around him. Avery, on the other hand, had found one exposure to him so horrible that she never tried to repeat it.

  He knew the situations were different. Ellen was coming from the perspective of an old acquaintance. And while he didn’t think she would have made her aversion so obvious, he couldn’t assume that had she been in Avery’s shoes she would have been any more willing to marry him.

  In spite of her eloquent arguments, there was a big difference between what someone would accept in a friend versus a spouse. What woman would want to wake up and see his face first thing in the morning?

  Chapter Four

  During the evening and through much of the next day, Ellen thought about the conversation she had with Quinn. His remarks went along with what Jase had told her. The combination of his physical injuries and Avery’s rejection had severely damaged his self-worth. He was focusing on only one aspect of attraction and forgetting all the other things that brought two people together.

  If he would let Ellen get close to him, maybe she could help him see things differently. It would be a way to repay him for all the nice things he’d done for her. When he realized that one woman didn’t mind his scars, maybe he would feel more confident pursuing someone he could be interested in.

  Two major disasters occurred on Friday morning that put the problem of Quinn on the back burner. The first involved one of the two refrigerated cases in which she kept her flowers. Fortunately, the broken compressor was covered by an extended warranty. It was just a matter of getting the repairman to the shop. Since it was the end of the week, he wouldn’t be able to come until the following Monday. That meant she and Frank had to move all the flowers from the larger case into the other much smaller one.

  The second calamity was a last-minute shortage of white calla lilies. This problem forced Ellen to order from a less reliable supplier at a much higher price. Not only did that circumstance cut into her profit margin, but it also cost her valuable time because she had to wait for the flowers to be delivered. Once they did arrive, she and Frank worked feverishly to do the arrangements and convey them to the church in time for the wedding.

  As they left the parking lot, Frank let out a loud, gusty sigh. “That was a close one.”

  “Too close for my nerves. I didn’t think we were going to make it. Thanks for your help with the mother of the bride.”

  “No problem. For some reason, those motherly types really like me.”

  Ellen laughed. “It’s your boyish charm.”

  An hour later when she pulled into Quinn’s driveway, she saw him standing in the garage, head and shoulders tucked under the hood of an older model sports car. Faded jeans clung to his slim hips and muscular thighs. He turned around as she drew up behind him; his usually neat hair was ruffled and there was a streak of grease across his cheek and another on his t-shirt. With the exception of the scars, he could have stepped out of the pages of one of those hot rod magazines.

  Ellen’s mouth went dry as she returned his smile and wave. Telling herself to stop acting silly, she exited the car and walked over to where he stood. “Is this a new toy?”

  “No. I’ve had it for a while.”

  “I bet this thing is a real girl magnet.”

  He laughed as he reached for a rag to wipe his hands. It reminded her of the time he worked on Bethany’s car. Wanting to be near him, Ellen had volunteered to hand him the tools.

  “Jase seems to think so. He drives it every chance he gets.”

  Ellen walked around to the driver’s side and peered through the window. “Where did you find it?”

  “In the back of a vacant lot. I’ve got the before and after pictures if you want to see them.”

  “I’d love to see them. Was this one of those extreme makeovers?”

  “You can decide for yourself,” Quinn replied as he pointed to a line of pictures tacked on the wall behind them.

  Ellen couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “That’s what you started with?”

  “There’s a reason I got it so cheap.”

  “It’s amazing. Absolutely amazing. Did you do all this work yourself?”

  “Jase and I did everything with the exception of the paint.”

  “How long did it take?”

  “Three months.”

  She walked back over to the car. “Your Jaguar is nice, but it’s got nothing on this little beauty. There’s something about classic cars. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but they’re just…”

  “Super hot and cool at the same time?” he suggested.

  She nodded. “Exactly. When I was in high school, my dad bought a restored Chevy Camaro. It was royal blue, covered in chrome and had those fat tires with the sporty rims. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and of course, I wanted to drive it in the worst way. Dad just kept putting me off which wasn’t surprising since I’d barely passed my driving test.

  “During the summer before my senior year, I offered him a deal. If I made straight A’s, he had to let me drive the car to school once a week for my final semester. He agreed, and I worked like I’d never worked in my entire life. In December, just before Christmas break when the grades came out, I had A’s in every class except one. I was so disappointed. When I handed him my report card, he wouldn’t take it. He said he didn’t need to see it because sometimes it’s not the results that are so impressive, it’s the effort behind them. Then he handed me the keys.”

  “He gave you the car?” Quinn asked, smiling a little.

  “Not to keep, but until I left for college in August, he drove my Malibu and let me drive the Camaro.”

  “Does he still have it?”

  “Nothing short of death would separate him from that car. He drives it to work every day.”

  He picked up a wrench and wiped it on the rag before putting it in a large red tool box sitting on a bench close by. “There’s a car show in Kingsland tomorrow. If you’d like to ride along, you’re more than welcome to come with me.”

  Regret swept over her. This was the downside to having a business where she had to work on Saturdays. “I would have loved to, but I’ve got two weddings. Are you still planning to go to Cumberland Island on Sunday?”

  “I am. If you’re serious about coming, I’d like to leave at eight so we can catch the nine o’clock ferry.”

  “Of course I’m serious. I’ll be waiting for you right here. Have you and Jase eaten dinner?”

  “I haven’t, but there’s no telling with Jase. He doesn’t keep to any kind of schedule.”

  “I was feeling energetic last night and made a huge pan of baked ziti. If you don’t mind leftovers, I’ve got plenty.”

  “We don’t mind leftovers. Can I help with anything?”

  “No, thanks. I’ll heat it up and throw together a salad. It should be ready in twenty minutes.”

  * * * * *

  After Ellen disappeared into the cottage, Quinn put away the rest of
his tools and closed the hood of the Chevelle. The little he had left to do could wait until tomorrow. He couldn’t eat dinner with Ellen in greasy clothes and sweaty hair. If he hurried, he might be able to squeeze in a shower. Never one to turn down the offer of food, Jase was easily persuaded to postpone his NCIS marathon.

  Not long after, the three of them squeezed into her tiny breakfast nook. There was never a shortage of conversation when Jase was around. His amusing anecdotes about the life of a struggling author kept them all entertained, but it wasn’t successful in drawing Quinn’s attention from Ellen. If anything, having his brother there made it possible to observe without being observed. If he imagined this study would render Ellen less fascinating, he was bound for disappointment.

  After the impromptu meal, their offers to help clean up were politely refused. Quinn headed to his home office to finish the article he couldn’t seem to make any progress on. To his surprise, his brother followed him into the room and sat down.

  “So you and Ellen are going to Cumberland Island on Sunday.”

  Quinn leaned back in his seat. “I’ve got that photography project to do. If you’re free, you can come, too. Who knows? You might find the setting for your next book.”

  Jase tapped his hands against the arms of the chair. “Safety in numbers, Quinn?”

  “Ellen is a friend.”

  “Then you don’t need a chaperone.”

  Long after Jase had gone, Quinn sat staring into space, the article needing his attention once again forgotten. Never had he felt more conflicted about something. He knew he couldn’t pursue the interest he felt in Ellen. His mirror didn’t lie. He was hideously ugly, and he always would be. No woman could be attracted to him, let alone actually fall in love with him. He’d just be setting himself up for disappointment and ultimately rejection.

  It was only later when he was facing his reflection in the bathroom that he realized what was really bothering him. It wasn’t the fact that there was no future for him with Ellen or anyone else. He’d already dealt with that. His problem was that he couldn’t do anything to stop the snowball that was even now rolling down the hill gaining size and momentum with each passing second. The feelings that Ellen had sparked within him weren’t going to disappear because he wanted them to or because they had no chance of being returned. It was too late. All he could do was hold on tightly for what was going to be a long, bumpy ride.