Defend Me: A Frazier Falls Novel Read online

  I thought about Carla Stevenson’s wedding, which I was going home for in a couple of weeks, and how my own future wedding would be so different. Not better, but different.

  “What’s that look on your face all about?” Nick asked as he ordered us two cappuccinos. “I’m happy for your blossoming relationship and all, but I won’t pretend it doesn’t sting to see you nab a guy who has everything when I’m lonely and single.”

  “Oh, I was thinking about how different my life is from my childhood friends’. It wasn’t about you.”

  “Plan to do some rubbing in your successes when you get home?”

  “Of course not. I’m excited to have something to share. Weddings are contagious, you know?”

  He walked over and rubbed my arm. “Too bad you aren’t a four-leaf clover because I’d stick you in my wallet.”

  I stuck my tongue out at Nick as we were handed our coffees. “James is already taken. You’ll have to find your own man.” We took our coffees back to the office because there was no rest for the wicked in our line of work. “In other news, did you know that Dalia from HR interviewed for a job over at Vogue?”

  He nodded. “I actually heard from her supervisor this morning that she didn’t get it. Bless her tiny little soul. Bet it’ll be awkward going back into the office after this.”

  “How did her supervisor know? I thought she was trying to keep the interview secret until she knew for sure if she got the job?” In five minutes, we were in the elevator heading back to our floor.

  Nick leaned in and whispered, despite us being alone. “Her supervisor’s sleeping with the head of HR at Vogue.”

  “No way.” My head spun. There were lots of ways to get to the top. Hard work was my plan, but some chose the lazier on-their-back route.

  “Yes,” he said. “It would seem to me to be a conflict of interest.”

  I burst out laughing. “Ooh, what an HR scandal.”

  “Who do you think cleans up the mess when the heads of human resources are the ones in question?”

  “I’m not sure, actually,” I replied, holding a finger to my chin as I thought on it. “Maybe that’s a job for the CEO?”

  “I’ll get all the dirty details and let you know.”

  “Don’t interrupt my date with James.”

  The elevator door opened, and we reentered the office. With a busy afternoon ahead of us, my primping time before meeting James for our date was limited. In ordinary circumstances, this would be less than desirable, but I worked for a fashion magazine, and we got lots of samples.

  “Where’s the date? Smith & Wollensky’s? Per Se?”

  “He’s taking us to the little late-night café where we first met.”

  Nick wrinkled his nose. “That sounds underrated but cute.”

  “I suppose it is. We had both left the same charity fundraiser and bumped into each other at the café. Clearly, we’d had the same sobering-up idea … coffee and bacon.”

  “This isn’t a dress-up affair.”

  I flashed him a smile. “We’re going to that new bar called Blaze afterward, so it definitely is a dress-up occasion.”

  “Not fair. I’ve been trying to get on the guest list for weeks.”

  “Turns out James’ roommate from college is one of the partners, so we got on the list no problem.”

  He scowled at me. “I don’t suppose you thought of poor old me when you found out about this wonderful connection of yours?”

  I pulled out my cell phone and showed him the guest list. “I did. Thought I’d surprise you. Got you a plus-one in case you can rummage up a date.”

  “I’ll let that one slide. All I need to do is swipe right,” Nick said, his brows waggling. “This is going to make for a great night.”

  Hours later, with the workday finally finished, Nick helped me decide between a pair of classic stiletto heels or more delicate heeled wedges to pair with my slinky, backless dress. It was midnight blue, and according to Nick, looked amazing against my pale skin and fair hair.

  Nick pinched his chin between his thumb and index finger and frowned. “I get what you’re trying to do with the wedges, and it does feel like summer with this unseasonable heat,” he mused, “but I think you should go full-on sex queen and choose the stilettos. Keep your hair boho-chic if you want to take the edge off things, but definitely go for the red lipstick.”

  I slipped on the heels, doing up the clasps on the straps before applying a layer of dark, blood-red lipstick and fluffing up my hair around my face. I blew Nick a kiss as I grabbed my bag and headed for the exit. “Thanks for the second opinion.”

  “Second? My opinion is the only one that counts,” he teased. “Let me know how it goes with Mr. Dream Boat,” he called out after me. “Love you.”

  “Love you more.” I did love him. He was an everything guy. My brother. My sister. My best friend. Tonight, he was my personal stylist.

  I hailed a cab to take me to the café where I’d first met James Rivers. I resisted the urge to order a coffee as I sat at a rickety outdoor table waiting for him. I checked the time on my cell several times, looking for messages indicating that he’d be late, but there was nothing.

  “Odd,” I murmured, “he’s usually early.”

  Twenty minutes later, there was still no sign of James. I had sent him a couple of texts which he hadn’t responded to, so I risked giving him a call. Again, no response.

  Forty minutes later, I was well on my way to a case of nerves. What if something had happened to him? What if he was in the hospital and nobody knew to contact me? Maybe it was simply traffic. I hoped it was the latter. Although, if it was the latter, he should have called.

  Over an hour and one terrible espresso later, I had to admit that James wasn’t going to show for whatever reason. As I rose from my seat, my phone buzzed. My heart raced with excitement, only to be full of disappointment once more when I saw it was Nick who had messaged me.

  Get your ass over here now, the message read. Unless Mr. Dream Boat has an evil twin, I think there’s something you need to see.

  Another buzz of my phone and Nick had sent me a photo from the bar I was supposed to be at.

  On my screen was James kissing another woman like his life depended on it.

  I got to the bar in under ten minutes, struggling to maintain my composure as I walked up to the doorman and told him my name. He glanced at me, surprised.

  “Miss Rose Rogers already entered the premises with Mr. James Rivers, ma’am.”

  I pulled out my ID and my credit card. “Then someone must be pretending to be me. I’m Rose Rogers.”

  He looked away uncomfortably, as if he knew something bad was about to happen, but he waved me in, nonetheless.

  I locked on to James immediately. It was hard not to, what with his entire body currently entwined with some dark-haired stranger. They were an inch short of copulating on the dance floor. I marched up to them without thinking of what I’d do when I got there.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nick mouthing “destroy him” to me.

  I pulled them apart, but James didn’t even look surprised.

  “Oh hey, Rose,” he said, looking as if he was about to return to sucking the face off the woman who stared at me with open animosity.

  “What the hell is this?” I waved a hand at the two of them. “You were supposed to meet me at Rico’s over an hour ago, and I find you here cheating on me?”

  James chuckled. “I didn’t mean to forget. I’m sorry. I’ve been drinking with my work friends since lunchtime. Forgive me?”

  “Forgive you?” I reached up to wipe the red lipstick from his lips. “This should be mine!”

  “James, who is this?” The dark-haired stranger sounded agitated.

  I turned on her. “Who am I? I’m his girlfriend. Who are you?”

  The woman’s head snapped back as if she’d been slapped. “You never mentioned a girlfriend.”

  “We’re not exclusive,” he said, waving a hand dismi
ssively.

  “We’re … what?”

  James looked uncomfortable. “Rosie, don’t make a scene. We can talk about this—”

  “Don’t you dismiss me!” I screamed. “I was thinking you were going to ask me to move in with you and then—”

  He held up a five-finger stop sign. “Wait, hold on. What on earth made you think that?”

  I glanced around the room at everyone watching us. Part of me knew it would be better to take the high ground and walk away gracefully. This was something that should be discussed in private. The wounded part of me wanted an answer now.

  “What has this past year been to you? Was I simply a place-holder girlfriend you could introduce to your mom and dad and your boss while you snuck around with other women behind my back?”

  “Rosie, it’s more complicated than that …”

  I grabbed the closest drink I could find, which happened to be a martini held by a woman nearby, and I threw it at him.

  “We’re done!”

  He didn’t even run after me. Nick did. Now I had to add savior to his list of titles. He’d spared me from the biggest mistake of my life.

  “Oh my God, Rose, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be.”

  He continued to rush after me as I hailed a cab, and he grabbed my arm before I got in one. “Where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  “Rose, you live, like, five minutes from here.”

  “I mean home, home.”

  “Frazier Falls?”

  “I have use or lose days I need to take, so consider this an extended, overdue vacation.”

  Nick looked conflicted. “Are you sure you should go feeling like this?”

  I gave him a quick hug before flinging myself inside the cab.

  “When you start at the bottom, there’s only one direction to travel.” How could I possibly feel worse than I did now? Even returning to Frazier Falls was an upgrade to my current situation.

  Once I got there, I’d forget about James freaking Rivers entirely—or so I hoped. I’d run from Frazier Falls years ago to prove I was more, and now I was returning feeling like less.

  Chapter Three

  Paxton

  “Who’d have thought after the awful winter we had we’d get such a warm spring, Paxton?” Lucy folded herself, heels and all, into the plush furniture on the deck. She held her wine like a cup of tea with a pointed pinky out to the side.

  “I suppose we shouldn’t complain. Wouldn’t want to jinx it.”

  “No, but it’s wonderful to be able to use my garden right off the bat. Though I’m sorry to drag you over to mow the lawn so soon after the last time—all this sunshine has the grass growing like nobody’s business.”

  I smiled as I wiped the back of my hand across my forehead, mopping the sweat from my brow. It was warm for May. The kind of warm that came with fireworks, picnics, watermelon, and cold beer. “It’s not a problem, Lucy. I wasn’t doing anything, anyway.”

  “Oh, that makes me feel worse.” The pout was fake, but it was her. Seemed to be a family trait. “I’m taking up all your free time.”

  Lucy Rogers was in her early fifties and didn’t look a day over forty-five. She was more than capable of looking after herself, but when her husband suddenly died almost three years ago, I found myself stepping in to help her out with everything he’d done around the house. Though I was well aware that she had taken to abusing this, I didn’t mind. She was an excellent cook.

  “Do you have plans for the rest of the afternoon?” I asked politely as I readied the lawnmower. It needed maintenance, so I made a mental note to bring motor oil from the office the next time I came around.

  “All I plan to do is sit here and enjoy a nice glass of wine while a young, handsome man cleans up my garden.” She held up the glass and made herself comfortable on the outdoor sofa. It was part of an elaborate outdoor furniture set that she had spent a small fortune on. “Who needs an all-male review when I’ve got a private show each time you mow my lawn?”

  “I might begin to suspect you’re objectifying me, Mrs. Rogers.”

  “I never.” She held her hand against her heart in mock horror. “I’m a perfect lady, Mr. Cooper. Tell me a time when I’ve shoved a dollar in your pants.”

  “I have no use for dollars, but that pasta you made last week was amazing.”

  I plucked a few weeds from the garden while Lucy idly chatted away.

  “Three weeks until Owen and Carla’s big day. You must be getting excited for them, no?”

  “If they didn’t have me building a stage for them on the creek that would need dismantling the next day, then yes.”

  “I’m sure that’s no problem for you. You’re a strapping young lad.”

  Lucy’s compliments were often piled on rather high.

  “I’m sure he’ll pay you back in kind when it’s your turn to get married.”

  I let out a bark of laughter, which I entirely failed to turn into a cough.

  Lucy frowned. “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing,” I murmured. “Don’t see myself getting a girlfriend, let alone getting married.”

  “Ah, you Cooper brothers are all the same. Were Owen and Eli not exactly like you before they met Carla and Emily? And now look at them. Two fools in love if ever I saw them. I remember when my Rupert used to look at me like that—even after I turned forty. That was true love right there.” Her wistful sigh filled the air.

  How awful to have loved and lost. Sadness pricked at my heart. The loss of a loved one was profound. It ate at a person’s soul bit by bit. I remembered how my mother and father used to look at each other, and how lost my father had been when Mom died. It was as if he no longer had the will to live, despite having three sons who desperately hoped he’d make a recovery.

  He never did, not until the day he died. That was the first day we’d seen him look peaceful since Mom had passed away. I wasn’t the religious type, but even I had to admit that the idea of my parents reuniting in some kind of afterlife was a wonderful thing.

  “How long were the two of you together?”

  She looked over at me, surprised by the question. I rarely asked such personal things. She smiled as the memory seemed to wash over her. “I met him in college. It was love at first sight. Everyone thought I was ridiculous, getting pregnant with a man I barely knew at twenty, but I’d never been surer of anything in my life. I wanted Rupert’s baby, and I wanted us to be a family.”

  This was why I stayed quiet and listened. There was so much to learn and take in. “I bet you were a looker too.”

  Lucy sipped her wine. I didn’t know if the blush on her cheeks was from the alcohol or the compliment.

  “I finished college because an education is important,” she happily rambled on now that I’d gotten her started. “My father would’ve never forgiven me if I hadn’t. It was tough being pregnant in my senior year, but I managed it. Even managed to graduate early. That may have been more to do with the fact I couldn’t go out partying with my friends due to the pregnancy.”

  “When did the two of you marry?”

  “Not until little Rosie was five. We didn’t have a lot of money, and we wanted it to be special. You don’t remember it, Paxton? Your parents brought all you Cooper boys along to the reception.”

  “I don’t remember at all,” I lied smoothly.

  In truth, I tended to blank out anything and everything concerning her daughter, Rose. Even at the age of five, she had picked on me. Her bullying had only gotten worse when we reached middle school. It was in high school that she finally grew bored of it and left me alone.

  That was a godsend given that I had Brady Huck to deal with. That was another matter altogether.

  “I suppose it was thirty years ago.”

  “Twenty-six,” I corrected. “Don’t make me feel even older than I already am.”

  “How old do you think it makes me feel?” she laughed. “I’m a widow, and I have a grown daughter.”


  “You don’t look a day over forty-two, and you know it.”

  “Oh, you spoil me too much. I tell you what, young man. Give up on this silly notion that you don’t need a girlfriend. My Rosie is coming back to town in a couple of weeks for your brother’s wedding. She was always such good friends with Carla back in the day.” She moved her hand through the air as if she was directing a symphony. “Lord knows what a fashion-conscious cheerleader and the biggest tomboy in Frazier Falls had in common, but they hit it off regardless. Maybe you and Rosie should go on a date.”

  Her eyes grew as round and large as dinner plates while she considered the idea. It wasn’t the first time she’d brought it up. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that, out of all the women in all the world, the last one I would choose to go on a date with would be her daughter.

  “She has her own life in New York,” I replied, carefully avoiding answering Lucy’s suggestion. “Doesn’t she have a boyfriend? Jake or Jack or whatever.”

  “Oh, you mean James?” I knew it was James, but I didn’t care. “I’m surprised you remembered me mentioning him before.”

  “Only vaguely. You haven’t said anything about them breaking up, so I’m assuming they must still be going strong.”

  Her face twisted into a grimace. “Truth be told, I hope it doesn’t last. I don’t know why I don’t like him when I haven’t even met him, but I don’t.”

  “I’m sure he’s great.” It would serve Rose right if he was a selfish, arrogant ass. Karma was a bitch, and a bad boyfriend would be the least she deserved. That was harsh since I didn’t actually wish anything but kindness on Rose and her family, but even I could admit that old wounds healed slowly.

  “I guess I’ll see him at the wedding. Rose is being coy about whether she’s bringing him, but she did say she’d be bringing a plus-one.”

  “Great.” I started the lawnmower’s engine, happily cutting off the topic of conversation about her daughter. I didn’t want to think about her, much less talk about her to her mother. At least if the topic of Rose were to come up with my brothers, they would understand my less than amicable feelings.