SUSAN MEIER - Marrying Money

Playing with the locket at her neck, she looked him in the eyes and didn’t say anything until she had mustered her most firm, most authoritative voice. What came out was more like a squeak, but at least she was still standing.

“The kind with a lot of busy people on it.”

Apparently sensing victory because of her shaky voice, he smiled. “Tomorrow night, then?”

“Shop’s open Monday nights.”

“Tuesday?”

“It’s hot wing night at my dad’s bar.”

“Great. I’ll see you there.”

“All you’ll do is see me because I waitress. I won’t have time to stop and chat.”

“Are you ever free?” he asked in exasperation.

Bailey grinned. “Nope.”

Glancing from Tanner to Bailey and then back again, Norma laughed. “Tanner McConnell, I think you’d better give up before Bailey ruins your reputation of being a ladies man.”

Tanner turned his smile on Norma again. “I wouldn’t be placing any money on that bet if I were you.”

Norma giggled with happiness, but Bailey felt her heart swell with the frustration of wanting something she couldn’t have. She was very tempted to throw caution to the wind and spend some time with him. But all she had to do was glance around at her shop to realize she couldn’t afford three months of depression after he left her. She had utility bills, stylists’ salaries and a big loan to pay. Depression would stop all that cold.

“Okay, Tanner,” she said, then pointed him to her door. “I have work to do. Fun’s over.”

He smiled. “The fun’s only begun Bailey,” he said, then pivoted and made the best exit Bailey had ever seen anyone make through Flora Mae’s old shop door. Not just because he was smiling and walking tall, but because both Norma and Bailey got a very nice view of his back profile.

Norma sighed with female appreciation.

Bailey sighed, too. “You can say that again.”

Happy to have shaken up Bailey the way she continually shook him, Tanner left the salon. But as soon as he stepped out into the Sunday-afternoon sunshine, he realized he didn’t have a darned thing to be happy about. He hadn’t gotten a date. He really hadn’t made any headway. She obviously had her reasons for not wanting to go out with him, but he still didn’t know what they were. So far all she had given him were excuses, not reasons.

Though the obvious guess was that she was afraid to get involved with him because of the rumors after his divorce, he had a weird sense that Bailey couldn’t be scared off by something like that; she wouldn’t blindly believe gossip. She would give him a chance to have his say. So her reasons had to be more practical, more personal, but he still didn’t know what the hell they were.

With a sigh he started walking toward his car, but when he stopped to insert the key into the lock, he heard someone calling him.

“Tanner! Tanner McConnell!”

Tanner glanced up and saw Joe Johnson, one of his high school football teammates. “Hey, Joe!” he greeted as Joe ambled over.

A few inches shorter than Tanner and obviously going bald, Joe had kept himself physically fit and looked as strong and athletic as he had fifteen years ago.

“How the heck are ya?” Joe asked, vigorously pumping the hand Tanner extended.

“I’m fine. Actually, I’m glad I ran into you. You’re one of the people on my list to call before I move to Florida,” Tanner said. “How long has it been, anyway?”

“Would you believe since high school?”

“Yeah, I would believe it,” Tanner said. He didn’t come home often enough to keep in touch with his friends and he sadly realized that was another casualty of his divorce. “Why weren’t you at the dinner last night?”

“The renovation celebration?” Joe asked, frowning.

Tanner nodded.

“Are you kidding? Any self-respecting former jock wouldn’t be caught dead at one of those schmaltzy town functions.” Joe’s eyes narrowed. “You went?”

“My mother made me.”

Joe laughed heartily. “No kidding. Your mother made you? Somehow I thought you were one of those guys who stopped listening to his mother long ago.”

“Well, typically it’s not an issue because she usually stays out of my life.”

Tanner made the statement in a matter-of-fact way, but Joe eyed him curiously, and Tanner felt his reputation slip another notch. First Norma saw Bailey turn him down, now Joe knew he still listened to his mother.

Giving Tanner an odd look, Joe asked, “What happened this time?”

“I think she wants grandchildren,” Tanner said, deciding he might as well be honest. Events in little Wilmore, West Virginia, really didn’t have any impact on the rest of his life. This was a stopover, nothing more. Besides, he was cool. He had always been cool. Even his divorce from Emma hadn’t ruined that part of his reputation. If he played this right, he could make obeying your mother the hip, trendy thing to do.

Joe laughed. “Oh, you are in trouble.”

“It’s worse than you think. Not only did I go to the dinner dance, but I actually found someone I liked.”

“You lie,” Joe said, as if shocked.

Tanner shook his head. “Do you know Bailey Stephenson?”

Joe stared at him. “The beautician?”

Tanner nodded.

“Forget that!” Joe said. “She doesn’t go out with anyone.”

“Since when have I ever run from a challenge?”

“Never,” Joe said. “But Bailey’s not a challenge. She’s one of those crusader types. Revitalization committee, renovation committee, build a park committee. If there was a division of Save the Whales nearby she’d be on that committee, too.”

“So, she’s not avoiding me because she doesn’t like me personally?”

“I doubt it. The woman’s not interested in anyone and every man who’s ever been interested in her ends up on a committee. And after she gets the guy on the committee she keeps him too busy to have time to see her. Nobody’s ever figured out how to beat her system.”

“Maybe,” Tanner proposed, thinking this through as if it were a business deal, not a romantic possibility, “nobody’s ever tried to make the best of the time spent on the committee?”

Joe shook his head. “I don’t know. I only know that letting her know you want to take her out is the worst thing you can do. If you like her, the best thing to do is keep it to yourself…” He stopped to grin. “Of course, if you keep it to yourself, there’s no point in being interested, right?

For about thirty seconds silence reigned, then Joe again asked, “Right?”

Tanner knew Joe was looking for Tanner’s agreement that the situation was hopeless, but he didn’t precisely agree. The trick to getting time with Bailey appeared to be striking a balance. Being in her company because of the committee work and somehow wangling private time to go along with it. To him, the formula was obvious and almost foolproof.

But he didn’t like using formulas or trickery of any kind to romance a woman. On top of that, the last thing in the world he needed was to get involved with a crusader. And since he now knew that her justification for not wanting to go out with him was nothing more serious than that she was busy, there was no reason for Tanner to feel insulted or curious. He really could take no for an answer.

He really should take no for an answer.

But he still had that tingly feeling in the pit of his stomach that wouldn’t leave him alone. He wanted to go out with her. Really wanted to. Not because there wasn’t anything else to do in this one-horse town, but because he liked her. He liked the way he felt when he was with her.

In his teens that was the only reason to go out with a girl. Because he liked her and liked the way he felt about himself when he was with her. Being in Wilmore was bringing all that back for him. The wisdom of his youth. A sense of self that suddenly felt very comfortable. With everything in his life changing at a frantic pace, it felt good to have a kind of order or maybe roots. He wasn’t quite sure how he had turned into the guy who hurt Emma, but he did know it seemed right to get back to basics, and he wanted to follow those instincts and intuitions.