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“It’s fun.” She rested her elbows on the table. “But I can be serious, too. Why a dog? Are you lonely?”
He was about to say no, of course not, when it occurred to him he might be. Work kept him busy and he enjoyed his coworkers, but his relationships with them were mostly casual. Until a couple of years ago, he’d had three of his four brothers in town, but Mathias and Ronan had moved to Happily Inc. and Nick was always off doing something.
He had friends. Guy friends. But everyone was busy with their lives. As for women, as the whole world knew, he’d done his damnedest to make sure those encounters never meant anything.
“I think a dog would be good for me,” he answered, aware he was avoiding the question. “I’d have to be responsible for it. Take care of it. I’d bring it to the office. Fay would like that.”
“Fay is...”
“My office manager. She handles the scheduling and gets the tours ready.” He hesitated. “Her daughter is Kalinda. She was—”
Shelby nodded. “I know Kalinda. She loves peanut butter cookies.” She sighed. “I’m glad she’s healing, but what a difficult road for her and her family.”
“Fay does her best to stay strong,” he said, grateful he didn’t have to explain about Kalinda’s burns. The teen would face more surgeries over the years. He knew for Fay there were good days and bad days, but whatever happened, she loved her daughter unconditionally.
Jo came by with a huge platter of nachos. There were plates for each of them, along with bowls of extra salsa and guacamole. Aidan inhaled the scent of the marinated pork and realized he hadn’t eaten much that day. His stomach growled.
“Me, too,” Shelby said with a laugh as she grabbed a chip. “I was playing around with custom cookie ideas and the day got away from me. Then I didn’t have time to eat or I would be late.”
“Next time, eat,” he told her. “I don’t expect you to be exactly on time.”
“It was our first gender encounter. I wanted to make a good impression.”
He liked her teasing. The fact that she could be so charming and open meant that her father hadn’t broken her as much as she feared. Intense determination filled him. He was going to help Shelby get whatever she wanted, he promised himself. Not only because it would help him, but because it was the right thing to do.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, then Shelby said, “You’re one of five brothers, right?”
“I’m the second oldest. There’s Del, me, Nick, Mathias and Ronan. The last two are...” Twins. He always said twins. Only they weren’t. They never had been. It had all been a giant lie.
“Aidan?” Shelby’s voice was soft. “Are you okay?”
“You’re right,” he said bitterly. “Some men do cheat. My father did. I don’t know how many women there were. He claims just one, but I have my doubts. There had to have been others.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “That’s so hard. Does your mom know?”
“She covered for him. For years.”
Shelby frowned. “I don’t understand. Why would it be an ongoing issue?”
He picked up his margarita and took a drink. “Because my youngest brother, Ronan, is his mistress’s son.”
Shelby’s blue eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect O. She looked shocked and strangely appealing. Sexy, maybe. He pushed that thought away and focused on what had happened with his family.
“Del, Nick and I were practically babies when my mom had Mathias. We didn’t know what was going on. All I remember is that I had twin brothers. Four years ago, my dad had a heart attack. It turned out to be pretty minor, but at the time, we didn’t know how bad it was. I guess he was afraid he was going to die or something and he told the twins the truth. That Ronan was the result of an affair. When Ronan’s mom was going to give him up for adoption, Dad told my mom, who agreed to raise him as her own.”
Shelby’s eyes stayed wide. “Seriously? I can’t imagine.”
“It happened. Some days I think she’s a saint and other days I’m convinced she’s a fool. That Dad played her. He gets everything and she’s stuck with some other woman’s kid.”
“That’s harsh, but I understand your point.” She reached for a chip. “What I don’t get is how she did it. I mean every time she looked at him, wouldn’t she see that other woman? Imagine her with her husband? It must have been incredibly painful.”
Aidan hadn’t planned to talk about this. He never did. He and his brothers had spoken about the situation a couple of times, but with as few words as possible. And without talking about the lingering effects on the family. But he found himself comfortable discussing it all with Shelby.
“You’d think.” He took another drink of his margarita. “But it wasn’t like that at all. Maybe at first—I wouldn’t remember that. But by the time I was eight or nine, I knew that Ronan was her favorite.”
“That’s not possible,” Shelby breathed.
“It wasn’t anything awful. She didn’t tell us that or make it obvious, but we could tell. We used to tease Ronan about being a mama’s boy. She was always fussing over him. They were the closest. Even in high school, they talked all the time.”
He remembered ragging on his brother. How Ronan had said it was because he was the superior brother. All good fun. Elaine had been there for all of them, so knowing Ronan was the one she loved just a little bit more hadn’t meant much. He’d figured it was something every group of siblings went through.
“After Dad told the twins, they left. Packed up everything and relocated to Happily Inc.”
Shelby smiled. “I’ve heard of that place. It’s outside of Palm Desert, right? A wedding-destination town. It’s supposed to be lovely, in the mountains, with an underground spring and—” She stopped and sighed. “Sorry, I was momentarily distracted. I blame the margarita.”
Her humor faded. “Wait a minute. I’m just now processing. Ceallach told the twins about Ronan and who he was and that was it? He didn’t tell your mom that he’d told the twins the truth and he didn’t tell you or your other brothers, either?”
“Not until last summer. We figured they’d gone to Happily Inc. to get away from Dad and pursue their art. No one thought anything of it.”
“But what about them? How are they? They were twins for what, twenty-five years, and they suddenly find out they’re not? Poor Ronan, to find out he’s not who he thought. That the woman he thought of as his mother isn’t. Has he met his biological mom? Are he and Elaine okay? Do you guys talk about this stuff now?”
He held up his hands in the shape of a T. “I’m willing to do the girl thing today, but you have to take it slow, okay? Not so many questions.”
To be honest, he didn’t have any answers. Mostly because he’d never really thought about the situation from Ronan’s perspective. When he and Del and Nick had found out last fall, they’d had to deal with who Ronan was, or wasn’t. Not that having a different mother made any difference in the siblings’ relationship. They were brothers and they would always be brothers.
“Sorry. I’m just shocked. Poor Ronan. That had to have been tough for him. And Mathias. I mean they were a team. Special by virtue of being twins. Now that’s gone forever.”
“There’s a cheerful thought.”
“But it’s true.”
Not something he wanted dwell on, he thought to himself. Families were complicated—his more so than most. At least that was his impression. Maybe not. Maybe everyone else was dealing with the same level of crap.
“Do you and Nick ever talk about it?” she asked.
“No.”
“Because you’re men and men don’t have those kinds of conversations?”
He nodded and picked up the pitcher to fill their glasses.
“Maybe it would help.”
He finished pouring and put down the pitcher. “There’s not a problem.”
“Of course there is. Are you seriously going to tell me that your two brothers taking off like that is okay?”
She had a point, not that he wanted to admit it. “Mathias and Ronan have each other. I worry more about Nick.”
The words were unexpected and made him want to swear. Where had they come from?
“Why?” she asked gently.
Hell. “Because he’s not as happy as he seems. He’s working as a manager at The Man Cave, but in his spare time he’s hiding out in his secret art studio. I know he’s doing all kinds of things up there, but he won’t talk about it. He doesn’t want Dad to know. God knows what the great Ceallach would say. How he would be pissed and bring Nick down. Yes, he wants his son to be an artist, but not one better than him.”
Shelby put her hand on his arm. “You should talk to Nick.”
“No.”
“It would help.”
“No.”
“You’re so stubborn. Guys need love, too.”
“Is this really what women do when they get together?”
“Uh-huh. We talk about our problems and our feelings. It’s cathartic.”
“It’s a nightmare.”
She smiled. “You’ll get used to it.”
“If I do, I’ll start to grow breasts.”
The smile broadened. “That’s very sexist of you.”
“I’m okay with that.”
She laughed and took another chip. Conversation shifted to the upcoming Cabin Fever Days and the ice sculptures taking shape in the park.
Later, when they’d left the bar and gone their separate ways, Aidan told himself that while he could go his whole life without having another afternoon like that, he had to admit talking about stuff was kind of good. He felt...relieved somehow. Not that he would share that piece of information with anyone. Ever.
CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_41d1b7a9-a0a6-5cb7-b6b5-ae279ff3cb3e)
NEARLY A WEEK LATER, Shelby found herself back at Jo’s Bar, but under very different circumstances. Instead of sitting across from a surprisingly chatty Aidan, she was with her girlfriends for lunch. She sat next to her very pregnant sister-in-law, who kept shifting in her chair.
“I can’t get comfortable,” Destiny admitted when Shelby asked if she was all right. “Some days are harder than others. I can’t believe I still have a few weeks to go. I’m so huge.”
From across the table, Isabel eyed her warily. “Please stop saying that. I’m going to be that big times three. All I want to hear is how wonderful you feel and how great every second is.”
Destiny sipped her hot lemon water. “I’ve never felt better. It’s nothing. You’ll be fine.”
Isabel sighed. “Thank you for lying.”
“Anytime.”
Taryn, perfectly dressed as always in a leather and wool suit and ridiculously high-heeled boots, pointed to the plate of cookies Shelby had brought to the lunch.
“Are those as good as they look?” she asked warily.
“I hope so.” Shelby’s voice was cheerful. “I can’t believe how great the response had been. People are going crazy for the ice-sculpture cookies.”
“You shouldn’t be surprised,” Madeline told her. “It was a great idea. We get so many tourists coming in for the festival. Who doesn’t love looking at the amazing carvings, all done in ice? To be able to buy cookies that look like them is fun.”
Shelby appreciated the compliment. Being a part of the bakery was still new to her. She wanted to get it right all the time. Not possible, she knew, but it was nice that her ideas had been successful so far.
“I’ve heard from a few more of the artists,” she said. “They want cookies for next year. And a couple of people have placed orders to have cookies shipped to them at home.”
Felicia, the woman in charge of the festivals, looked at her. “You could start a mail-order business at the bakery. You already have a website. It wouldn’t take much to expand it.”
“I’ve been playing around with the idea,” Shelby admitted. “I need to get all my thoughts together and have more information before I talk to Amber about it.”
There would be start-up costs, of course, but not that many. Still, she wasn’t sure what Amber would say. Her business partner hadn’t been convinced about the food-cart idea, although she’d agreed to try it. Now the Ambrosia Bakery cart was selling briskly at every festival.
“The biggest challenge is decorating them,” Shelby said. “While the work isn’t that detailed, it’s time-consuming. I don’t want to tie up our skilled employees with something like this, but to sell the cookies beyond Fool’s Gold, we’ll need a process. Plus, the sales aren’t going to be regular. So hiring someone means having to fill their workday with other things when we don’t have custom orders.”
“You need part-time help,” Madeline said. “Someone who would be willing to come in when you had orders.”
“You should hire teenagers,” Taryn offered. “Young ones. A group of fourteen-year-old girls would love to come in and decorate cookies for a few hours. They could do it in groups. It would give them a nice break from babysitting and offer them a chance to earn some money.”
Jo arrived with their lunches. After everyone had their food, Shelby picked up her fork. “I never thought of teenagers,” she admitted. “But fourteen. Isn’t that too young to be working?” Training wouldn’t be an issue. It was basically coloring, but on cookies.
“There are strict labor laws in the state of California,” Felicia announced. “They could only work for a couple of hours a day. There are also caps on the number of hours in a week. They’d each need a work permit. If you were in the entertainment industry, it would be easier, but it’s still doable.”
“How can you possibly know that?” Madeline asked.
Felicia shrugged. “I can’t help it. I read.”
“I don’t remember an article on child labor laws in my latest issue of Vogue, but maybe I missed it.” Taryn smiled at Felicia. “You are always entertaining and I say that with love.”
“Then I accept it the same way.”
Shelby laughed. “Okay, now I have a starting place for my research. Thank you.”
“I can be a temporary worker,” Isabel offered. “When I’m on bed rest. It’s not like I’ll have a lot to fill my day.”
“Poor you,” Taryn said, hugging her friend. “I’ll visit. That will be entertaining.”
“Yes, but not nearly enough. I’ll be going over the books for the store and ordering inventory, but I think I’ll still have some extra time. Decorating cookies would be fun.”
“If you didn’t eat them all,” Madeline teased.
Isabel wrinkled her nose. “These days I’m more into salty foods than sweet ones.”
Shelby thought about Isabel’s cravings for pretzel bread and figured her cookies would be safe.
“Thanks for the offer,” she said. “I may take you up on it.”
