Mending His Past Page 6

  “Exactly. I’m convinced she’s already hearing wedding bells,” Trent said.

  “Sounds like a pretty foolproof plan.” Levi stooped to pick up a piece of driftwood. He threw it for Sport, but the dog continued his lazy stroll beside Trent, completely uninterested in exertion of any kind.

  “Right, and that’s where you come in,” Trent said. He climbed a small dune and tromped through knee-high reeds toward the rescue. Levi walked in step beside him. Trent stopped and faced his friend. “Levi, I miss her.” Actually, he’d spent the last ten years missing her. “But I don’t want to do anything stupid and mess up her life. She’s already had enough setbacks lately. If you work with us, you’ll be the perfect wet blanket to keep any sparks from flying.”

  “Thanks for the compliment.” Levi rolled his eyes. “You want me to hang around and be an annoying third wheel?”

  “Exactly. I just need to get through this job so I can get out of town.”

  Levi shook his head. “As much as I dislike being classified as one of your aunt’s ‘project vets’, I can’t afford to get in the way of her master plan. I need this job. Besides, I still think you should let Olivia decide what’s good for her and her daughter, don’t you?”

  Levi didn’t get it. Trent wasn’t about to swoop in and upend Olivia’s life. “All you need to do is work with us. That’s it,” Trent said. “I’ll handle Aunt Kat.”

  Trent’s new plan put a fresh spring in his step. With Levi and his smart mouth around, he wouldn’t have time to agonize over regrets or dream about impossible possibilities.

  Chapter Eight

  Olivia walked along the side of the road, holding Molly’s hand. The lunch boxes slung over her shoulder clattered when she adjusted the straps. The rescue felt much farther away this morning than it had the night before when Trent was following her home.

  The newly-risen sun shimmered on the ocean ahead of them. She’d lost count of how many times she and Molly had taken the mile-long walk down to the shore, but this morning was different. They weren’t walking for pleasure, but out of necessity.

  “We can play on the beach?” Molly’s clear, blue eyes looked up at Olivia, filled with expectation.

  “I don’t know, sweetie. The truck would have gotten us to the rescue a lot faster than our feet. There might not be any time left to play by the time we get there. Mama might have to get right to work.”

  “You can fix the truck, Mama?”

  Good question. Olivia was no mechanic, but even she knew it wasn’t a good sign when turning a key in the ignition did nothing but elicit a click from the starter. With her only vehicle flirting with geriatrics, she couldn’t say her current dilemma came as much of a surprise.

  “Yes. Mama will fix the truck.” How that was going to happen was still a mystery to her. She’d lost her retail space, and without a truck to take them to the flea market the next morning, that cash cow had given up the ghost as well. On top of everything, Eddie was out of work and unable to pay child support. The only money coming in was the small paycheck from her part-time position at the rescue.

  The knot in Olivia’s stomach tightened as nausea leached into her system. Maybe she wasn’t meant to have her own business, after all. The diner on Main Street was usually hiring for the evening shift. But what about Molly? How was she supposed to pay for childcare in the evenings if she could barely afford to keep the lights on? Stuck between a rock and a hard place like never before, she lifted her eyes skyward and whispered a three-word prayer. “I need help.”

  Her eyes burned with unshed tears that she refused to give in to. Life wasn’t supposed to be this hard.

  With the rescue in sight, Molly squealed in delight. “Look, Mama. A dog.”

  “That’s Sport.” And Trent. Her stomach did a dip when she saw him. Kat and another man stood on the side porch along with him, but she only had eyes for Trent, with his perfect posture and imposing build.

  “I like Sport. He’s my friend.”

  “Do you remember him from yesterday?” Olivia asked, trying to distract herself from the nerves coming alive in her belly.

  “Yes!” Molly leapt in the air to punctuate her response.

  Olivia chuckled. No matter how complicated life got, Molly was always able to put a smile on her face. “Well, let’s go say hello.”

  Mother and daughter walked up the long gravel driveway leading to the rescue, where a lively discussion met their ears.

  “This dog has taken to you like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Kat said to Trent.

  “I have no idea why.” He hooked his thumbs on his belt loops and took a small step away from the place Sport had lain beside his feet. The dog’s ears perked up and he stood with eyes locked onto him. “I didn’t come here to work for the rescue. I came to rebuild it.”

  “You’re with that dog all day long already. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you taking him out of his pen every morning. What’s so hard about bringing him home for a couple hours at night?” Kat’s lower lip jutted out in a playful pout as she fixed Trent with the most pitiful puppy dog eyes she could conjure.

  “Aunt Kat—”

  Sport closed the distance between himself and Trent and laid on the big man’s boots. A heavy sigh poured from Trent’s lungs.

  Molly rushed ahead of Olivia and hurried to the dog’s side, heaping him with affection.

  “Good morning,” Olivia said as she joined the small party on the porch. Her jaw dropped when she got a good look at the man standing next to Trent. “Levi? Is that you?”

  An grin tugged the corner of Levi’s mouth upward. “Afraid so.”

  “I haven’t seen you in…”

  “Too long,” Levi said with a warm smile. “It’s good to see you, Liv.”

  “Olivia, I’m so glad you’re here,” Kat said. “Will you please talk some sense into this stubborn man’s head?” She gestured toward Trent.

  “I don’t know. I never had much luck changing his mind once it was made up.” Olivia’s cheeks burned when Trent’s eyes flicked over to hers. He only held her gaze for a few moments, but she spied something elusive in their depths that caused her to hold her breath for fear of chasing it away.

  When Trent looked away, Olivia got a good look at the bright red tips of his ears. It was his tell. She remembered it well. Something was definitely going on beneath the surface, and she seemed to be the only one to notice.

  “What’s the trouble?” Olivia asked. She looked over at Kat while trying to push her own emotions down deep and out of sight.

  “He’s refusing to foster this poor, sweet dog,” Kat said.

  Olivia trained her gaze on Trent once again. He battered his vocal chords with a guttural clearing of his throat—another sign of his unease. She watched him, wondering what was churning inside him.

  “You know, Aunt Kat,” Trent said, with a rigid back and tension written on his face. “Levi here wants to help with the repairs. Olivia and I could really use an extra set of hands. He and I were talking about it earlier on the beach.”

  A small crease formed on Kat’s forehead as she quirked a brow. “Trying to change the subject, are we? I’ve got other plans for Mr. Levi.”

  “But he was really looking forward to helping us rebuild. Weren’t you, Levi?” Trent shot a pleading glance toward his old friend.

  Kat put her hands on her hips. “What’s he talking about, Levi?”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Davenport. I think Trent and I must have gotten our signals crossed. I was saying I wished I was handy with tools so I could help him out. But I’m a grease monkey, not a construction guy.” Levi let out a good-natured laugh. “Trust me, you wouldn’t want to be inside any structure I had a hand in building.”

  Trent’s lips disappeared into a taught line that puckered his chin. Levi sidled up close to him and slapped him on the back. “Besides, from what I always heard, these two—” he pointed at Trent and Olivia “—have amazing chemistry… when it comes to fixing things.” Levi pounded on
Trent’s back in time with each syllable of the last two words he spoke.

  Olivia couldn’t help but pick up on the unspoken communication that seemed to pass between the two men at lightning speed. She suppressed a smile. It was just like when they were all kids. Levi could barely keep a straight face, and Trent was all business. They were a perfect match for each other—a perfect match that had a history of getting under Trent’s skin a bit at times.

  Trent’s eyes narrowed with a phony smile. “Thanks, buddy.”

  A broad smile eased the frown lines that had formed on Kat’s face. “I knew I liked you, Levi. You were an ornery little stinker when you were a kid, but you turned out to be a fine—and perceptive—young man. Follow me, and I’ll show you the ropes around here.”

  Kat threw her arm around Levi’s shoulders and headed toward the door. She cast a glance behind her and called out to Olivia just before stepping over the threshold. “Try to talk some sense into him for me, will ya? He needs that dog just as much as the dog needs him.”

  The door closed, leaving Olivia and Trent to talk things over, with Molly still loving on Sport at Trent’s feet. Every muscle of his body created a hard line laced with tension as frustration pinched his face.

  “So, what’s the deal with you and this dog?” Olivia asked.

  The muscles of Trent’s shoulders softened at the sound of Olivia’s voice, and his features eased into an expression that looked more like fatigue than annoyance. “She wants me to foster him. But I can’t do that to him.”

  “You make it sound like a prison sentence or something.”

  “…Or something.” Trent mumbled the words, but they were loud enough for Olivia to hear.

  Molly looked straight up to gaze at Trent while patting Sport’s head. “He’s my friend.”

  “He’s my friend, too,” Trent said, kindness softening his features even more.

  “He can have a bed at your house? He’s scared of the dark here,” Molly said, a serious expression drawing her soft cheeks downward.

  “My house is dark at night, too.”

  An idea struck Molly and she leapt to her feet. “I know! You can turn lights on!”

  Olivia’s insides melted as she watched a transformation come over Trent. Talking to her daughter brought out the most tender side of him she’d ever seen.

  He pulled his boots out from under the dog and squatted next to the pair with a patient smile on his face. “That’s a nice idea, but—”

  Molly rested her tiny hand on his brawny arm. “I can come to your house and visit him?” Her round eyes sparkled as enthusiasm brought her to the tips of her toes.

  A puff of breath filled Trent’s cheeks as he dropped his head to his chest. “Sure. Any time you want.”

  Molly squealed in delight and knelt to hug Sport’s neck.

  “It’s nice what you’re doing for Sport,” Olivia said, warmth building in her chest.

  Trent stood and straightened his back. “Maybe.”

  Olivia followed Trent’s gaze as his eyes shifted to something over her shoulder. She turned in time to see Kat’s smiling face disappearing from sight in the picture window behind her, the curtains still swaying from their sudden closure.

  Trent rolled his eyes. “You wanna go for a walk?” He gestured toward the beach.

  “We can’t,” Molly said. “Feet take too long.”

  Trent looked at Olivia, his brows drawn together in a question. “Feet take too long?” he asked.

  “It’s something I told her earlier. The truck wouldn’t start this morning so we had to walk. She really wanted to play on the beach before work, but I told her we probably wouldn’t have time to play because it was taking us too long to walk here. Feet take a lot longer to get you where you want to go than a truck.”

  “What’s wrong with your truck?”

  “It’s twenty years old and pushing two hundred fifty thousand miles.” Olivia shrugged. “You name it, and it’s probably broken.”

  “Is it at the shop now?”

  Olivia shook her head in reply. Rehashing her financial woes was not high on her wish list for the day. Trent had always been very down-to-earth for the son of a billionaire. But there were some things about money that he’d probably never really understand—things like how life treated you when you had no cash.

  Trent shifted his gaze to the window once again. “Again, with the spying? I feel like a fish in a fish bowl. You sure you don’t want to take a little walk? Aunt Kat is relentless.”

  “You’re the foreman. The workday starts when you say so,” Olivia said with a chuckle.

  “This lazy old mutt could use some more exercise. Since I’m officially fostering him now, I suppose walking him on the beach would actually qualify as working.”

  Olivia laughed and reached a hand out to Molly. “Come on, sweetie. We’re going to the beach for a little while after all. Sport’s coming too.”

  “Yay!” Molly jumped up, took her mother’s hand, and tugged her toward the stairs. Sport stood and followed her.

  “He really seems to like her,” Trent said. “Maybe you two should foster him.”

  Molly broke free and took off toward the beach with Sport trotting after her. Olivia and Trent followed.

  “No way. I can’t afford to feed a dog his size. I’ve got truck repairs to pay for somehow, remember?” Olivia felt Trent’s eyes on her. Heat rushed into her cheeks.

  “Is money tight?”

  Great. She’d opened the door for the exact conversation she didn’t want to have. With eyes focused on the gentle waves lapping against the shore, she said, “Tight is a relative term.”

  “That’s an evasive answer if I ever heard one.”

  Olivia heard the smile in his voice and hazarded a glance in his direction. Yep. One side of his perfect mouth had pulled into a familiar half-smile that told her he’d seen right through her. How could he still do that after all these years?

  “All right, fine. Yes, things are a little tight right now. My retail sales have dried up, and without the truck, I can’t sell at the flea market tomorrow. I already paid my non-refundable booth fees for the rest of the month, and now I have to come up with who knows how much money to get this truck up and running again. So yeah, no gargantuan pets for us right now, if you please.”

  Trent got even quieter than usual. With brows furrowed, he walked through the shifting sand beside Olivia while Molly and Sport played ahead of them.

  The soft wash of the water’s edge as it relentlessly advanced and retreated across the smooth surface of the wet sand reminded her to breathe. The tension in her neck and shoulders relaxed as she watched her little girl perform a clumsy early morning ballet in her bare feet. They would be okay. Something would work out—she’d see to that.

  Olivia sighed. “Let’s talk about a less depressing subject. I still want to know why you didn’t want to take this dog. You two seem to get on really well.”

  “I just don’t see what good it will do him. I won’t be in his life for long.”

  “Maybe you will,” Olivia said. “Lots of people end up keeping the dogs they foster. Maybe you’ll realize you like having the company more than you thought you would.”

  “He’s a good dog. I like him. He just doesn’t fit into the plan.”

  “And what plan might that be?”

  “I’m starting my own business in San Antonio as soon as this job is finished.”

  An inexplicable and completely irrational sadness crept into her heart. She tugged at the hem of her shirt. “How exciting.” Her voice lacked any genuine enthusiasm, but Trent looked too preoccupied to notice. “Mind if I ask what business?”

  “I’m going to be a commercial developer. I’ve already rented out an office space and have a few potential properties lined up to go check out.” He dug in his back pocket for something. “Here.”

  Olivia examined the business card he handed her. “Wow. You weren’t kidding. You’re all set to go.” She reached out with the ca
rd in her hand, ready to give it back to him.

  “No, you keep it… in case you ever need anything, you’ll be able to reach me.”

  Olivia flashed as much of a smile as she could and tucked the card into her pocket. She was right. Life did always have a way of working out. She’d spent the night worrying how she was going to keep the walls between them in place while they worked together, and all the while Trent was planning to leave. Again.

  If having a dog was more of a relationship than he was willing to commit to, she could totally relax. There was no way he was looking for romance. They’d shared such an easy friendship before their hearts had complicated matters. She missed it more than she cared to admit. It would be nice to have him back in her life—as a friend.

  Chapter Nine

  After a few minutes of strolling down the beach behind Molly and Sport, the lightweight conversation between Trent and Olivia died down. The wheels in Trent’s mind began to turn as he struggled to find a way to establish boundaries between them.

  Since Levi had decided to go off-script, Trent found himself in the same predicament that had caused his stomach to churn earlier that morning. He’d already told Olivia about his plans to start his business in a city that was just over two hours away, but the discussion still only felt half-spoken.

  “So…” Olivia drew the word out, nodding as if to acknowledge the distinct lack of conversation happening. “San Antonio. That’s a good ways away.”

  That was his opening. It was now or never. “Yeah, it is. Hopefully I’ll settle in up there just as well as you and Molly have down here.” As in, my life is going to be there and your life is going to be here.

  “Oh, I’m sure you will. Life in the big city is perfect for a bachelor.”

  Trent’s eyes widened. Could it really be this easy? “I’m… I’m looking forward to it. Small-town life really isn’t my thing.”

  “I figured. After all the places you’ve seen, Liberty Cove must seem pretty small and boring to you.”