Love At First Ink: A Woodbine Valley Romance (Tate Family Book 1) Read online

  She huffed.

  The boys ran into a side table, and Elle jumped to save a glass pitcher from crashing to the ground.

  "Outside," she said.

  Ned and Ian ignored her.

  Justin waited, fighting to hide a smile.

  Elle put down the pitcher with a thump. She reached up to tighten her ponytail. Her face was set, serious in a no-funny-business look like one he remembered getting from his mom.

  Ponytail ready, she reached into the tumbleweed of boy—a chaotic mess of limbs and shrieks—and tapped the older boy on the shoulder.

  Justin wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but he knew a ladylike tap wasn’t going to cut it.

  He smirked.

  She tapped the boy again. This time, he looked.

  "You're it," she said, and then she ran.

  The two boys paused. Justin let out a surprised laugh. There was a scramble as they fought to be the first to stand, pushing and pulling the other as they rushed out the door after Elle.

  "That's cheating!" the older boy cried, racing after her.

  Elle, meanwhile, was flying. Justin followed, a bit slower, but not too slow. He knew this wasn't something he wanted to miss.

  Elle had kicked off her sandals and ran barefoot through a terraced garden toward a long green expanse. The boys ran after her, pumping their arms at their sides and whooping like miniature warriors.

  The stuck up princess he'd met on the plane was long gone. Justin took off his hat and rubbed a hand through his hair.

  “Come on,” Elle called to him from the greens.

  The boys joined her. “Yeah,” said the older boy. “You chicken?”

  The younger one started flapping his wings and squawking. It could have been Justin and his brothers when they were kids. The thought made him smile.

  “Oh, you’re in for it now,” he yelled back. He hopped the fence and loped down the grounds toward them.

  Ned and Ian stared.

  “Better run, boys,” Elle said with a wide, happy smile. “I think he’s it.”

  Eowyn, one of Theo’s sisters, arrived after Elle and Justin had been there for an hour. A small dog followed her, trotting along like it belonged at Eowyn’s side. The boys greeted Eowyn and her dog—called Jane, apparently—with great fanfare, acting as though Elle and Justin had tortured them instead of playing a very athletic game of tag, which had led to playing frisbee with their sorry-looking mutt, then a rousing game of duck, duck, goose that somehow devolved into the boys jumping on Justin.

  One look at Eowyn and Elle was happy to give up the pretense of keeping up with Ned and Ian.

  “You’re an angel,” she told the other woman. Minutes after arriving at the scene, Eowyn had somehow gotten the boys to focus on “looking for bugs,“ and the two were absorbed in picking up rocks and digging up the garden. Brilliant.

  “I’m not so sure about that,” Eowyn said with a laugh. She was short and curvy and had black hair and bangs that made Elle think of Betty Page. That, or perhaps it was because of the red lipstick and pedal pushers she wore. “You’re Theo’s college roommate, right?” Eowyn asked.

  “One of them,” Elle said. She had never met Eowyn in person since Eowyn had left North Carolina after high school and had only returned a year ago. Elle introduced herself and turned to include Justin.

  “Oh, you don’t need to introduce us,” Eowyn said. She smiled at Justin. “Right, Justin?”

  He groaned. “I was hoping you’d forgotten.”

  Elle looked back and forth between them. “What am I missing?” she asked.

  Justin rubbed a hand over the back of his neck while Eowyn laughed.

  “We dated in high school,” Eowyn told Elle.

  Justin shook his head, but he was smiling. He put a hand over his heart. “Just dated? Ouch. I thought it was love.”

  Eowyn shook her head. To Elle, she said, “Justin was the bad boy in high school. One of those lone wolfs all the girls sighed over.”

  “And what about you?” he asked Eowyn with a teasing grin. “I happen to know for a fact you were a heartbreaker in high school.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Eoywn said, brushing off his words. To Elle, she explained. “Theo probably told you that we grew up in upstate New York.”

  Elle nodded. “She said that your parents moved you here when they bought the inn.”

  “Right,” Eowyn said. “So they pack up and move us from New York to some hick town in North Carolina. And let me tell you that was one bumpy transition. The first day of school was pure culture shock. I’m pretty sure a guy drove to school on a tractor.”

  “Hey now,” said Justin. “You’re talking to a genuine debutante.”

  “Sorry,” Elle said when she saw the look on Eowyn’s face.

  “You’re friends with Theo, you can’t be that bad,” Eowyn said.

  “You’d be surprised,” Justin grumbled.

  Elle smacked his arm.

  A tall man with a crew cut joined them. He moved close to Eowyn, putting his arm around her waist. Eowyn smiled up at him before turning to introduce him to Elle.

  “Elle, this is Sam. Sam, meet Elle, one of Theo’s college roommates.”

  Sam and Justin already knew each other. They shook hands and shared some talk about a construction project Sam had helped with at Oak Bramble.

  “I was just telling Elle about how Justin and I dated in high school,” Eowyn told Sam after he and Justin caught up.

  “Should I be jealous?” Sam asked her.

  “Never,” she said. “I only had eyes for the geeky hall monitor.”

  “Liar,” Sam said.

  Eowyn laughed, and the couple shared a look.

  “Hey y’all,” Theo called from the porch. “I’m taking a break. There’ll be sweet tea on the porch in ten.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t just say ‘y’all’,” Eowyn said with a groan. “Elle, I blame you. She wasn’t anywhere near this southern before college.”

  Elle laughed.

  “Oh, get over it,” Theo told her sister. “You stay here long enough, it’ll happen to you too.”

  “Never!” Eowyn cried.

  Theo just shook her head. “You wait and see.”

  “She asked me to grab her pocketbook yesterday,” Sam chimed in.

  Eowyn smacked his arm. “Don’t tell my sister that!”

  Theo laughed.

  Elle and Justin excused themselves, happily leaving the supervision of the boys to Eowyn and Sam.

  "They should have babysitting workouts at the gym," Elle said to Justin once they were on the porch. "Instead of tossing tires around or spinning, you could chase small children."

  He laughed, a low, amused rumble.

  It was a good thing she was already flushed from the aforementioned children-chasing. That laugh of his did strange things to her insides.

  They pulled up seats to a patio table with the large pitcher of iced sweet tea between them. While they waited for Theo to return from the kitchen, Elle and Justin kicked back with their icy drinks.

  Justin shook his head. "It's been awhile since I've spent time with kids. And those two ..."

  "What lovely things are you saying about my children?" Theo asked as she walked onto the back porch.

  Unlike her appearance that morning, she looked refreshed and pulled together. Her dark hair was glob-free and pulled into a low ponytail. Her blouse was tucked into a breezy long skirt, and minimal makeup completed the look of perfect mommy. It was as though the woman who'd tossed her children in their direction that morning never existed.

  Theo joined them at the table and poured herself a tall glass of iced tea.

  "So," she said. "Justin."

  Elle sighed. Here we go.

  She knew that voice. Theo was the eldest of her two sisters, but she acted as though Elle and Isabelle were included.

  "It's nice to meet you," Theo was saying. "Elle tells me you work at Oak Bramble. You must be one of Jess' boys."

  Ell
e did not like the smile on her friend's face. It was part Godfather (mess with my family and I'll have you killed), and part sweet, southern lady (don't let my manners fool you into thinking I can’t destroy you). Theo might have been raised by Yankees, but she had the southern skill of sugar-sweet threats down pat.

  One corner of Justin's mouth quirked. "Yes, ma'am."

  "She's done wonders with Oak Bramble. You're partially responsible, I hear."

  Justin didn't answer but gave a grudging tip of his chin.

  "Are you single?"

  Elle gasped. "Theo!"

  "What?" Theo asked. "The man looks like Chris Pine, and he survived an hour with my children. Is it so wrong that I'm curious?"

  Justin laughed, then shook his head. "I'm single," he said.

  Theo beamed.

  Elle knew for a fact that her friend wasn't interested for herself. She put her glass of iced tea to her neck, then her forehead. It wasn't working, though. She was consumed by a full-body flush. She caught Justin eyeing her, likely wondering if she'd lost her mind.

  "What's the last serious relationship you were in?" Theo said next.

  This time, Elle cut in before Justin could answer. "Don't answer that," she told him. To Theo, she said, "One more question like that and I'm out of here."

  Theo tilted her head. "Was it something I said?"

  "You know very well what you're doing," Elle said. "This is just like in college when you'd tear apart my dates—“

  "I did no such thing," Theo said, affronted.

  "Oh, right. Are you forgetting my freshman year boyfriend? The one you grilled because he wore a suit jacket.”

  Theo studied her glass of iced tea. “Elle, no real college student wears a jacket like that on a date. He could have been a serial killer. Or a sex offender!“

  "You made him cry," Elle said.

  Justin dipped his head. The corner of his mouth twitched.

  "He wasn't right for you," Theo said. "You only liked him because he was in the right frat.”

  “Not true!” Elle said.

  “Then it was his accent,” Theo shot back.

  Elle refused to respond.

  "Oh, I have to hear this," Justin cut in.

  Elle sighed. "You can tell him, Theo, since you're doing such a good job of spilling my past."

  Theo smiled sweetly. "The boy was from Boston and told Elle that he had a 'wicked crush' on her."

  Justin chuckled.

  "He was so sweet," Elle said. "But he never came back after you made him cry."

  "Good riddance. For being from a place with such terrible weather, the boy had no backbone. He wasn't for you. You know I love you like a sister, but you’ve been making that same mistake as long as I’ve known you."

  Elle needed a moment to recover. "Excuse me? Are we really talking about this right now?" She was going to strangle her friend. For whatever reason, Theo wanted to bring Justin in on Elle's personal history. She didn't like it. Not one bit.

  "Justin here doesn't need to be present while you air my dirty laundry."

  Justin made a noise of agreement. "Yeah, in fact, I think I need to be going. I promised to help my mom out.”

  “Oh, that’s sweet,” Theo said. When Justin stood to leave, Theo not-so-subtly checked him out.

  Elle jumped to her feet. "Sounds great. Let's go."

  Theo gave Elle a knowing look, but said, "Thank you for helping with the boys. You're lifesavers."

  Justin tipped his baseball hat and headed to the door. Before Elle could follow, Theo caught her arm.

  She pulled Elle aside. "That is one fine man," she said.

  "Lower your voice," Elle hissed.

  "Elle, sweetheart. You are falling for him, and I don't blame you one bit. Did you see him with the boys?"

  Elle put up a hand. “Theo, you're pushing."

  "I know, you hate pushing."

  They started walking through the house. Elle kept her voice low. She didn't want Justin to hear what she had to say next.

  "He's handsome and loves his momma, and yes, he was a star with your hellions, but he is not the man for me. Besides, I just broke up with Carter. I'm not ready to jump into something new. Especially not with him."

  "Why?" Theo asked. "Why not him?"

  "You know what I want," Elle said.

  "A house you can decorate like some Southern Living ad, with matching setters and two tow-headed kids who say 'yes, sir' and 'no, ma'am'. I know, I know. I’ve seen your vision board. And a guy who looks like Justin isn't who you had in mind."

  "No," Elle said. "He's not."

  Theo narrowed her eyes.

  "Don't give me that look," Elle said, pausing in the hallway. "It's not just that he's scruffy, or has tattoos running up and down his arms like some sailor—

  "God those tattoos are sexy," Theo interrupted. "And his hands. Wow."

  Elle glared. "You're not helping."

  "Sorry," Theo said. "Keep telling me about how the sexy, sweet man with the tattoos is completely wrong for you."

  "I want a certain type of future," Elle said with a huff of frustration. "And he's not the one to give it to me. He lives in a shed, Theo. An honest to God shed. Do you remember what I said in college? When you asked why I only dated men who always looked like they dressed for Sunday dinner?"

  Now it was Theo's turn to sigh. "Yes. I do. But—"

  "No buts."

  "I know you only date men who you think could be the man you marry, but sometimes rules need to be bent."

  Elle shook her head.

  "You're not happy, Elle," Theo said softly. "These men you date, they're all men your momma would approve of, aren't they? How about finding a man who makes you happy instead?"

  "That's not fair," Elle said. "I don't just date men my mother would like."

  Theo gave her a knowing look.

  "Shoot. Do I?" Elle thought back. From Carter—who didn't count because she knew her mother approved of him—back through all the men (and boys) she'd dated after she left home.

  Yes, she vetted potential boyfriends against the values her mother had instilled in her since she was a little girl. Money. Upbringing. Family name. But when had her mother's values become her own?

  Elle wanted a kind man. A man who would be honest. A man who would be a good father. Someone she could rely on, someone who would make her want to be a better person.

  None of those things were on her mother's invisible list of requirements.

  "Well darn it."

  Theo patted her arm. "I shouldn't gloat."

  "But you're going to anyhow, aren't you?"

  Theo smiled. "Now run along with the handsome man who would make your momma break out in hives. Do something I wouldn't do, okay?"

  Elle was quiet as they left the Murphy House. They had to pass through downtown Woodbine Valley to get to Oak Bramble, and Justin slowed once they reached town.

  “You hungry?” he asked. “I know a place that serves a great breakfast.”

  It was only mid-morning, but Elle’s early-morning croissant seemed long ago.

  “I’m famished,” she said. “Breakfast would be great.”

  After he parked, they walked through town to the diner. Downtown Woodbine boasted a main street lined with shops, art galleries, an ice cream shop, and a few other businesses. Elle people watched as they walked, picking out the tourists and noticing a few families who looked like they could be locals.

  The diner was one of those old-style places, with lots of chrome and a bar with stools. They picked a booth, then ordered from a waitress who greeted Justin by name.

  ”I’m sorry about Theo giving you the third degree," Elle said after the waitress left. "And for her boys. It was nice of you to help me."

  "It was no trouble," he said. “And don’t worry about the third degree. I get it. She’s your friend. She’s just looking out for you.” He paused while the waitress delivered their coffee with a “here you go, sugar” directed to Justin.

  Once s
he left again, he said, “Besides, you should tell her not to worry so much. It’s not like we’re dating.”

  Elle winced. “Believe me, she knows. Honestly, I don’t think it matters. I showed up at her place with you in tow. Therefore you’re on her radar.” She sighed. “She could be a little less caring when it comes to my personal life if you know what I mean."

  He chuckled. "Yeah. I used to have a friend like that." He paused. "So how'd you two meet?

  “We were placed in the same dorm our freshman year in college. I met both Theo and our other friend, Isabelle. After our first year, we got an apartment together and lived together until graduation. I suppose we just ... clicked. She moved out here when she had Ned, to be closer to her parents. I haven’t seen enough of her since then.”

  “You miss her.”

  She glanced at him, then nodded.

  Justin nodded, seeming to absorb the information. The waitress returned with food, a full breakfast for Elle, and a piece of pie for Justin. Elle couldn’t remember the last time she’d ordered bacon and eggs with real, old-fashioned biscuits—complete with pools of melted butter. It smelled almost as good as Jess’ croissants.

  "You like living in the city?" Justin asked her after a few minutes. She was so focused on the rich food, it took her a moment to answer.

  “Yes and no,” she said after she finished chewing.

  It was a simple question. Or, it had been a simple question with a simple answer. Today, though, something was different. Today, when she thought about where she wanted to live, she thought of the view of the mountains from Oak Bramble. Blue peaks in fog for as far as she could see. Mist cloaking the trees. The crisp air. Singing birds. The chatter of crickets.

  She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "I do like it," she said, "Or I did. But I don't want to be there forever." She thought back to her conversation with Theo. "I know it sounds silly, but I have a dream of owning a big house. Not in the city, but maybe not so rural as this place.”

  Justin nodded to let her know he was listening.

  "Chapel Hill was a great place for school and work. Now that I've been there for a few years, I'm ready to move on." She hadn't known it until that moment, but the words felt right. Something had been off lately. She loved working in a library, but she wanted to try something new. Something with fewer stacks of scientific journals and socially inept researchers, and more time with people who gushed about books. Or maybe a job where she could make something beautiful, she thought, thinking back to helping Jess with the table settings. Such a small thing, but it had made her feel creative and energized. It was a good feeling.