Good Girls Do Read online

  Julia relaxed. Okay, this was a question she could handle. “As I mentioned earlier, Serenity Falls offers a wide variety of things to do.” She was about to list them when he interrupted her.

  “Wrong answer. I asked what you do for fun.”

  “Me? Well, I read a book.”

  “Which wasn’t the original answer you gave me. So what do I get for stumping the librarian?”

  “Your choice of a mug or a keychain with the library logo.” Julia refused to lose her cool and throw either one of them at him.

  “The library has a logo?”

  “Actually, it’s the town logo.”

  “The town has a logo?”

  “That’s right.” He made it sound like a criminal offense. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you.”

  Jerk. She must have been an idiot to think he was attractive. Okay, so he was an attractive jerk. “Which would you like, the mug or the keychain?”

  “You’re not even offering a kiss for stumping the librarian?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Too bad.”

  “You might want to take the keychain, because it’s smaller and won’t break when you pack it and leave.” She dangled it in front of him.

  He captured her hand with his. “What makes you think I’m leaving?”

  “The fact that you don’t seem to like it here.” She didn’t mention the fact that his touch was just as powerful as the rest of him.

  “I like one or two things here just fine.” His rough-and-tumble sexy voice turned dangerously inviting.

  He leaned forward, slowly, inexorably. Her right hand flew to her cleavage to prevent him from looking down her dress, before belatedly realizing that she was still holding the keychain . . . and that his hand was still clasped around hers. The backs of his fingers brushed against her chest, their heat blazing through the bare skin of her breasts.

  And still he came closer. She tried to untangle her hand from his, her eyes from his, herself from him. But she couldn’t.

  Not because he held her by force. But because of the force zinging between them.

  For one spotlight moment, his mouth hovered against hers, barely touching her lips in an almost kiss that was even more enticing than the real thing.

  Oh yes, there was some incredibly powerful zinging going on now.

  The only thing strong enough to tear them apart was the bellowing sound of the mayor’s voice.

  “Luke Maguire!” Walt Whitman—no relation to the poet—managed to instill those two words with an incredible amount of disapproval.

  So hottie biker-man now had a name. And he had his hand back, because Julia yanked her fingers free.

  Unfortunately, her hasty motion resulted in the library keychain sliding down her bodice.

  Too bad. She wasn’t about to fish it out now.

  “I’m surprised to see you here.” Walt added the words as if they’d prod Luke into speaking. It worked.

  “Oh?” Luke raised one dark eyebrow, which made him look even more bad-boy sardonic. “And why’s that?”

  “Well . . . I . . . That is . . .” The challenge caught the mayor off guard, which always made him sputter. “You didn’t show up for your own father’s funeral, so I didn’t expect you’d ever return home.”

  “You better learn to expect the unexpected with me.” Luke turned and walked away.

  “Was he bothering you?” Walt was obviously concerned.

  “Not really, no.” Liar, liar. Luke had gotten to her, all right. Had he kissed her? Or seduced her? Her breast still zinged where he’d touched her. Unless that was the keychain she was feeling?

  “He’s a bad seed, that one.”

  Julia winced. She hated that phrase. And Walt certainly shouldn’t be casting stones, not when his son had just tried to turn one of the library director’s prized koi into sushi. But she knew from past experience that Walt believed his model son could do no wrong.

  “Luke Maguire was a real hell-raiser, pardon my language, as a teenager. I can’t imaging what he’s doing back here. Unless he’s come to sell Maguire’s Pub. Which would be a blessing. He’s not the kind of business owner who would help us in our quest to get on the Top Ten Best Small Towns in America list. We really do have to focus our attention on our preparations, because we have some very stiff competition coming from other towns right here in Pennsylvania.”

  Julia nodded, although her mind was still on Luke . . . and kissing and zinging.

  “This is an extremely important matter for our entire town.”

  She nodded again. “I’m not on the committee,” she reminded the mayor. At least this was one job she hadn’t gotten roped into. Instead, library director Frasier McGrady had that honor.

  “You don’t have to be on the committee to care about the outcome of this matter. It has the potential to affect us all in a positive way. Every resident of Serenity Falls. As I said, we have stiff competition from other towns in our state. Northumberland has the Priestly House. He’s the guy who discovered oxygen, as you no doubt already know.” She did, but Walt loved proving how smart he was. “And Williamsport once had more millionaires than any other place at any other time. So they’ve got all those historic mansions on Millionaires’ Row. And don’t forget Mifflinburg. They’ve got their own buggy museum. All we’ve got is the Falls. And our town square, along with the downtown district.” He waved his hand at their surroundings.

  The gazebo did look particularly charming this evening, festively decked out with gold and purple mums. Rows of pumpkins were lined up like jury members at the feet of hay bales placed around the town square. All courtesy of Greenley’s Garden Center.

  “And I haven’t even mentioned Lewisburg.” Walt was clearly on a roll now. “They have woolly worms at their Fall Festival—worms that give a winter prognostication. We need a hook like that.”

  A hook like woolly worms? Only in Serenity Falls . . .

  “See if you can’t come up with something we could use to predict the future. Weatherwise, I mean. Look how well that Groundhog Day thing has gone for Punxsutawney—another Pennsylvania competitor. So please do some research on the Internet and find something we can use here.” Satisfied that he’d come up with a plan, Walt moved on to another booth.

  Pam showed up as soon as he left and provided cover while Julia finally fished out the keychain. “I saw you with Luke Maguire earlier,” Pam noted. “He was the guy back at the library, the one asking for directions, right?”

  Julia nodded.

  Pam sighed. “You two looked . . . close.”

  “I just met him tonight.”

  “Yeah, well, you’ve heard that saying, that there are two types of men? The good guys and the ones your mother warns you about.”

  The only type of men Julia’s mother had warned her about were wealthy industrialists who polluted the environment and took advantage of third-world countries. And Republicans.

  “Well, Luke definitely falls under the mother warning category,” Pam continued. “When we were in high school, every mother in Serenity Falls was afraid of her daughter going out with him.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he was a rebel, constantly getting into trouble. He was always so intense. Skipping classes, drinking, smoking.”

  “Are you talking about Luke Maguire?” They were joined by Edith Peterson, who taught history at the high school and had since the Ice Age, according to her students. The reality was that she was in her early sixties and had no intention of retiring. “I just heard he’s back in town. I had him in my class. He almost failed the course. Not because he was stupid, but because he didn’t apply himself. He was a very disruptive presence in school. Was a great runner, though. He won several awards at state track meets. Then at graduation he refused to wear the cap and gown to the ceremony so he was barred from the event.”

  Pam nodded. “I’d almost forgotten about that.”

  “He drove
his motorcycle right past the front door, into the high school hallway, clear to the principal’s office to get his diploma and then he rode right out of town. No one has seen or heard from him since.”

  “His dad was the nicest guy. He ran Maguire’s Pub,” Pam added.

  Julia had met Tommy Maguire a number of times. Serenity Falls was a small town, where everyone knew everyone else—and most of their business. Secrets were very hard to keep, but Julia had managed so far.

  “Luke didn’t even come back for his own father’s funeral a month ago.” Edith shook her head in sad disbelief. “His father’s only child. To not pay your last respects . . . I just can’t understand that way of thinking. How could anyone be that cruel?”

  “What about his mom?” Julia asked.

  “Oh, she passed away when he was eight or so. Very sad. She died of some sort of heart condition complicated by pneumonia. And so young. She was only in her late thirties. Apparently, she’d had the condition and never knew it until it was too late. Tommy was devastated. She was the love of his life, and he never remarried.”

  “What about Luke?” Julia asked.

  “He was a handful even back then. I remember the time he knocked out the lights of the Hinkler Funeral Home sign so it read Fun Home. Shot them out with a BB gun.”

  “Why do you think he’s come back?” This time the question was voiced by Pam.

  Edith shrugged. “It must have something to do with Maguire’s Pub, I should think. But enough about Luke. Let’s talk about something happier. How has your evening been so far, Julia? Have lots of people stopped by the library booth?”

  “A fair number, yes.”

  “I meant to tell you earlier that you look so nice in your costume.”

  Rumors about Edith’s vision not being very good must be true. “Thanks. Yours is lovely, too.”

  The teacher beamed and carefully rearranged the sleeve of her colonial period dress. “I made it myself, following a pattern that dates back to 1771.”

  “I saw lots of people at your Historical Society booth.”

  Edith nodded. “Because we were offering hot apple cider. That always draws people in.”

  “I volunteered to help out at the bake sale table, and they were almost sold out.” Pam glanced at her watch. “Is that the time already? I’m supposed to be judging the pumpkin carving contest in three minutes.”

  “And I’d best get back to our booth as well,” Edith said.

  A moment later, Julia was alone with the vivid memory of the town’s bad boy and the image of his lips touching hers, his warm fingers brushing against her breast. One thing was sure, Luke Maguire made a hell of a first impression.

  Chapter Two

  The devil must be mighty cold tonight, because Luke Maguire had always sworn that hell would freeze over before he’d ever step foot in Serenity Falls again. Yet here he was.

  There were those in this uptight armpit of a town who’d likened him to a devil. He’d certainly done all he could as a rebellious teenager to earn his “bad boy” reputation. After a while, the stories got a life of their own, and got increasingly exaggerated with each telling.

  Luke had never bothered denying any of them. What was the point? He didn’t care what people in this town thought of him.

  His dad was the one all wrapped up in that. The one who kept up appearances of being a caring father while behind closed doors he’d take off his belt and show Luke the real meaning of obedience.

  When Luke had gotten big enough to best his old man in a fight, the beatings had stopped. He’d been maybe fourteen by then. After that, his father’s anger and disapproval had merely taken another form. Closed-fisted punches were replaced with verbal grenades launched to create the most damage.

  And all the while, the customers at Maguire’s Pub, his dad’s pride and joy, had sympathized with Tommy Maguire for having to put up with such a hellion son.

  So why had his old man left him the pub when he died? Why make him come back here by adding the stipulation that Luke had to run the pub for six months before selling?

  Luke would have loved nothing more than to tell the crusty old attorney what he could do with the offer. But he couldn’t afford to do that. Not now. He needed the money.

  The reasons why didn’t matter.

  The bottom line was that he did need it. He wasn’t proud of that fact. There were too damn many things in his life lately that he wasn’t proud of.

  He was far from perfect. Unlike Serenity Falls.

  Luke’s gaze wandered to the kids standing in a neat little line at the cotton candy machine. Even the rug rats had been trained to fall into place. Conforming was the rule around here, not rocking the boat.

  If he was going to be stuck in this godforsaken place, the least he could do was have a little fun while he was here. Shake things up. He was good at that.

  Yeah, the narrow-minded residents of Serenity Falls were in for a few surprises.

  One pleasant surprise since his arrival had been the sexy librarian. Not that he’d ever thought he’d link those two words together in this lifetime. Maybe he just had a thing for women in Bo Peep costumes.

  She was kind of cute with her shoulder-length blond hair. Her eyes were green with a bit of hazel going on. Her name was Julia. He already knew she had great breasts.

  But she’d aggravated him with her immediate defense of Serenity Falls. Just like the town, she had a controlled way about her that made him instantly want to shake her Bo Peep ruffles.

  Maybe being stuck here wouldn’t be as bad as he’d thought. Julia Bo Peep might just provide him with some much-needed distraction.

  Not that he was looking for anything serious. Hell, no. He wasn’t the settle-down type. Especially not in a place like this.

  To Luke’s jaded eyes, it appeared that nothing had changed. The sign over the Serenity Cafe still bragged they had the “Best Pies Around.” The clock on the village hall tower was still five minutes fast, just as it had been ever since lightning hit it during a freak storm the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.

  Time didn’t stop here. Instead, it crawled by in agonizingly slow increments, like a form of water torture. Tick, tick, tick. Drip, drip, drip. A relentless monotony that could wear down the most solid of defenses.

  “So the rumors are true. You are back in town.”

  Luke turned to find RJ Brandt III standing there, looking all self-righteous in his leather loafers and wool tweed sports jacket. Luke had disliked the guy in high school, and nothing about RJ’s attitude now changed his opinion.

  “You have a problem with that?” Luke countered.

  “I had a problem with you not even bothering to show up at your own father’s funeral.”

  “I’ll bet you were there, right?”

  RJ nodded. “Absolutely.”

  Right. No big surprise there. Luke’s dad had always thought more of RJ than he had of Luke anyway. RJ, the high school class president and star football quarterback, was the kind of son Tommy wished he’d had.

  “So why are you back now?” RJ demanded.

  “To aggravate you.”

  RJ’s expression reflected his disgust. “You never did take anything seriously.”

  Luke had worked real hard to make people think that. Apparently, he’d done a damn good job of it. Still was.

  Fine by him. That was better than ever admitting what was really going on in his head.

  Luke decided he’d had his fill of people. Needing some space, he headed for a relatively deserted corner of the square. Only when he got closer did he see the guy going through the garbage container placed there for this event.

  Luke didn’t recognize him. He had long, braided gray hair for one thing. That alone made him stand out in this podunk town.

  “This location is mine,” the guy said. “You have to find another one.”

  “Hey, it’s all yours. Knock yourself out.”

  Luke watched the guy remove aluminum cans and drop them into a black plasti
c garbage bag he held in his other hand.

  “So you’re into recycling, huh?” Luke had no idea why he felt the urge to speak. He wasn’t normally the kind to make small talk.

  The guy just grunted in reply.

  Luke recognized the sound. He’d made it plenty of times himself. It meant, Go away, you’re a pain in the butt.

  There was something about the guy Luke could relate to. A misfit. How rare to find one here. He doubted the guy’s disheveled clothing of a flannel shirt and threadbare jeans were a Halloween costume.

  “Come here often?” Luke asked.

  Another grunt.

  “Me, neither.” Sighing, Luke turned away. He could use a drink. The Fun Fair didn’t sell alcohol. But Maguire’s Pub did.

  So why didn’t he just stroll on over there and meet up with good ol’ Jack Daniel? What was stopping him? Fear?

  No way. Luke had faced more than his share of life-and-death situations. No way he’d blink an eye at something as stupid as ghosts from his past.

  He’d go later. When he was damn ready.

  Coward!

  The internal insult was actually delivered in his dad’s voice. How crazy was that? And how like the old man to try to haunt him even after his death.

  Luke’s momentary insanity was interrupted by the strident sound of a kid’s voice. “Yo, are you gonna tell my dad about the fish thing?”

  Luke frowned before remembering this was the twerp Julia had caught red-handed by the library pond. “Who’s your dad?”

  “The mayor.”

  “Walt Whitman is your dad?”

  “That’s right. Whitmans have been in local politics for generations.” The wanna-be juvenile delinquent suddenly sounded like he was forty.

  Luke nodded. “I know. It sucks.”

  The kid, what had Julia called him? Billy? Yeah, that was it. Billy stared at him in surprise. But Luke saw the acknowledgment there. Following in a dad’s too-large shoes wasn’t a job for wimps.

  “Most people don’t think it sucks,” Billy retorted.

  Luke shrugged. “I’m not most people, kid.”

  “I heard you’re a bad seed.”