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“Thanks. I do feel good. It’s a mixture of fresh country air, rocky road ice cream, and peroxide.” Juliet said breezily, glad to have the focus off P.J.’s nosy nature and on to more benign things.
“Rafael does work wonders, doesn’t he?” Layla reached out and touched a lock of Juliet’s hair. Then she eyed her friend’s breasts with appreciation. “And do I detect that we have moved on from the training bra?”
“B cup.” Juliet giggled and proclaimed proudly.
“So, I hear you’ve become sort of a regular at the diner.” Layla bit into a shiny Macintosh.
“I do like their hot turkey sandwiches. And those pumpkin donuts?” Juliet sighed.
“To die for, I know.”
“But a regular? I don’t know if I would call myself that.”
“Well, Jerri Lee would be real upset if you didn’t show up for your usual half dozen on Saturday morning. She puts them aside for you every week, you know.”
Not too long ago this conversation would have stopped Juliet cold. The thought that someone had made themselves familiar with her food preferences and her comings and goings? That would have evoked heart stopping, gut wrenching fear. But now Juliet had begun to understand that there was no malicious intent or ulterior motive in the people of Port Harbor. Here, Juliet was not the hounded and disgraced wife of a monster. Here, she was just another cog in the wheel.
“So, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander!” Layla leaned back on the bench as she spoke between bites of the sweet, crisp fruit. “What do you want to know about P.J. McCabe?”
Juliet hesitated as she thought about the beautiful, haunting symbol that covered P.J.’s back in deep black ink, the scars on his knuckles, the way his piercing dark eyes seemed to cut through her like a blade.
She thought of the legacy of violence he had come from.
“Has he been here long?” Juliet asked as a sudden, strong wind picked up. It rustled the leaves and shook the low hanging apples off the trees. She drew her sweater tight around her.
“Yeah, it’s been a while now.” Layla chewed thoughtfully. “I bet I know what you’re thinking. Just doesn’t seem the small town type, does he? With all that…testosterone. He’s a gorgeous hunk of man, for sure. With all that muscle, those dark bedroom eyes and hard body…” Layla let out a lustful sigh, and her eyes seemed to glaze right over with totally impure thoughts. “Everything about P.J. McCabe just makes a woman want to sin.”
Juliet couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s expression. “And look at you…a happily married woman!”
Layla waved her hand in the air and laughed in that breezy way of hers. “Oh, I know. I love my Reggie to death. I’d never stray. Besides, I’m not entirely sure I could handle a man like P.J. McCabe. I’ve had my stab at the whole bad boy thing, and I wound up running home with my tail between my legs. Trust me when I tell you that my man is no pussy cat. Reggie’s got a wild side to him, for certain. But guys like P.J. McCabe? They take it to a whole other level. Ever notice how P.J. looks scary even when he smiles? He’s got thisbetter to eat youthing going on.”
“I know what you mean.” Juliet thought of the many occasions that P.J.’s grin had made her feel as though he was the wolf, and she was the outwitted prey in a fairytale that ends badly.
“Yeah, he’s a lot of man, for sure.” Layla continued. “But underneath all of that rough and ready, P.J.’s a real sweetheart. He comes to the house on Thirsty Thursdays and plays cards with Reggie and the boys. Always brings his own beer, too. Not like some of those other fools who drink themselves silly every week at our expense. If P.J. wins, he stays long enough to give the guys a chance to win some back. My sister and he had a brief thing, but it didn’t work out.”
“How brief?” Juliet asked too quickly. And when Layla raised a brow, Juliet added, “I mean, isn’t it weird when you all get together and stuff?”
“Not at all. It was a long time ago when P.J. roared into town on that motorcycle of his.” Layla started to divide the peck of apples into two smaller buckets as she reminisced. “Yeah, as you can imagine P.J. McCabe caused quite the stir. All brooding and bad boy, half of the girls in town were swooning over him. Kendra caught his eye, not that she didn’t put herself in his path at every opportunity. I’ll tell you, if I wasn’t so head over heels in love with that fool of mine, I might have gone after P.J. myself. But then again Kendra was always the pretty one.” Juliet couldn’t imagine anyone more beautiful than Layla Dumont. With her white blonde hair, blueberry eyes, and peaches and cream skin she was the definition of the word natural beauty. Not to even mention legs that went on for eternity and the kind of breasts that made men have a hard-time concentrating.
If Layla Dumont is P.J.’s measure of beauty, I’ll never stand a chancethe thought flashed unbidden through Juliet’s mind and made her blush. If Layla noticed, she didn’t say anything.
Layla handed Juliet one of the baskets and they started walking towards the car. “Kendra was always spoiled rotten and used to getting what she wanted.” Layla continued on. “And of course, what she wanted that summer was the resident bad boy. After a couple of weeks of the best sex Kendra had ever had in her life…her words. It just sort of ended. Kendra wouldn’t talk about it, but I think he scared her.”
“You mean…?” Juliet asked in alarm.
“No, no nothing like that. I think P.J. was just too much for Kendra to handle. Of course, she would never have admitted it.” Layla rolled her eyes. “But that was about a zillion boyfriends ago. Now she’s married to Doug the dentist. They have a big house, two ridiculous looking dogs, and a Lexus. They live in Texas now.”
“And what about P.J.?”
“What about him?”
“Did he move on too?”
“Now, that right there is the million dollar question. I’ll say this, he doesn’t dip in the town pond. But a big, strong, gorgeous hunk of a man like that has to have his needs, right?” Layla chewed her lip in concentration, then her eyes went wide as if she had just experienced an epiphany. “Hey, P.J. will be at our annual Harvest Party. It would be a good chance for you to talk to him. He really is a great guy if you can get past all thatRaging Bullkind of stuff.”
“I appreciate the sentiment but I’m not looking to be set up, Layla.” Juliet told her gently.
“Honey, even if you were looking for that, I’m no matchmaker.” Layla clicked the button on her key ring and unlocked the car. “And if a little hell cat like my sister, Kendra, hadn’t felt that she could handle P.J.? Well, in my book, that says a whole lot. Besides, no matter how tight you think you are with a guy like P.J. McCabe, there are lines that you just don’t cross and setting him up with a woman is one of them.” Layla put the key in the ignition and started up the jeep. Then she turned to look at Juliet. “Anyway, all I am saying is that he’ll be there, and you’ll be there.” Then Layla smiled wickedly when she added, “it wouldn’t hurt to wear something pretty.”
