by Kay Lyons
Worth The Risk
Seaside Sisters Series
Kay Lyons
Kindred Spirits Publishing
WORTH THE RISK Copyright © 2020 by Kay Lyons
All rights reserved.
Cover art copyright © 2020 @kiuikson
978-1-946863-79-9
978-1-946863-84-3
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
For more information about Kay Lyons, please visit her website at www.kaylyonsauthor.com.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Untitled
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About the Author
FAQ
Chapter 1
Frankie Cohen ignored the trembling in her hands as she rolled her Harley Softail Slim to a stop and flipped the kickstand into place. She forced herself to inhale and exhale a timed breath as she cut the engine and removed her old-school helmet. Another breath, counting as she did it. Finally she swung her leg over the seat and winced at the instant pull of muscle and scar tissue in her hip and back. She blamed the pain on too much time spent waiting at the airport and sitting cooped up in economy on the flight back to Wilmington, North Carolina, rather than the fact she'd just logged about a billion jolts of tension during her ride to London's Lattes after catching a glimpse of a man behind the wheel of a large Dodge.
Maybe she should keep riding? Go down to the end of the island and back before seeing anyone in her family, much less her too-perceptive twin?
It wasn't him.
She sucked in another deep breath and put her feet into motion.
It wasn't him—and she needed coffee.
"Hey, you're back," London said.
Frankie had barely stepped inside when her sister spotted her. "I'm back," she repeated, looking around the nearly empty space because it kept her from having to face London.
"Well? Did you have fun? Was it as beautiful as the pictures?"
"Yes." Frankie crossed the floor of the old building, her boots making little noise as she found her usual seat at the bar. "Load me up."
"Really? Full-throttle coffee is not going to help your sleep issues. Despite a week's vacation and traveling, you don't want to go home and crash?"
Frankie glared at her younger-by-thirty-seconds sister and waggled her fingers in a bring-it-on motion. "I have a lot of work to catch up on at the garage and I don't want to wait until Monday."
London frowned in disapproval and Frankie eagle-eyed her sister to make sure London didn't try to gyp her by grabbing the decaf. "So what have I missed? Get me up to date."
"Well, Carolina and Silas are going strong and making plans. They really are kind of adorable."
"Plans?"
"Yeah, she contacted the agency that wanted her to house-sit and convinced them to do a test run of allowing them to house-sit as a family. Silas has to have a background check and all, but if things work out, they may be heading somewhere in Europe over the winter break."
"What about Lucy?" she said, referencing their sister Carolina's boyfriend's daughter.
"She's going with. And already researching places she wants to visit while they're there. That kid's brain—"
"I know, right? Can you imagine being that smart at eight?"
"I can't imagine being that smart now," London said with a shake of her head. "Oh, that reminds me, Lucy and Samuel were asked to present their special school project on the tides again at the school's fall festival."
"Bet Sammy loved that."
"Yeah, but Lucy is excited," she said. "Sammy is trying hard to get out of it and just wants Lucy to do it all."
London set a large mug in front of Frankie and Frankie took a steadying sip. "Anything else?"
London leaned against the other side of the bar, huddling closer.
"One of us is pregnant."
Frankie had taken another sip and swallowed the wrong way. She started coughing, eyes watering as she struggled to breathe. "What?"
London handed Frankie a napkin to wipe her eyes and Frankie stared at her, waiting. "Well, don't keep me in suspense."
London grinned. "Ireland had to come clean and tell Mama about her and Dominic eloping because there's no way she's fitting into that gown come June."
"Wow."
"I know, right?"
"That's fast." Dominic had come to Carolina Cove in May, a year after his first wife's death from cancer, and fallen in love with their eldest sister, Ireland. Five months later, they were not only married but expecting?
"They're over the moon with the news, and even though no one is supposed to know about the baby yet, Ireland couldn't keep the secret from us, of course. But Mama and Daddy don't know yet," she clarified. "Considering Mama's reaction to them getting married so soon and keeping things secret, Ireland didn't want to spring something else on her."
Oh, but when their mother heard the news, Frankie could only imagine the reaction. "Wow," she said again, wondering how two weeks could change so much. "You couldn't have texted me any of this while I was gone?"
"You were supposed to be on a vacation. Well, what counts for you as a vacation considering you were still technically working. You needed to relax, not worry about stuff here."
Her working vacation was actually making the delivery of a special project for one of her father's military buddies. She'd rebuilt a classic Harley the man had somehow lucked into and taken it to him in the Florida Keys upon completion. Frankie wasn't sure what, if anything, her father had told the man other than she herself was former military with some mad mechanical skills, but the guy had offered her the use of his oceanfront condo as a bonus. She'd been smart enough to accept after working nonstop on building her business since her medical discharge from the military. "Any shocking news with you, Cooper, and his munchkins?"
London smiled like the woman in love she was and shook her head.
"Nope. He'll be here soon with Rocco to work, and the nanny is taking the twins to the beach today. Oh, my goodness, Bella has fallen in love with octopuses for some reason, but get this— she calls them yuckapuses! It's the cutest thing ever."
Frankie took another long sip of her coffee, wondering how her single sisters had suddenly found themselves either dating or married to men with kids. Granted, Dominic's kids from his first marriage were in college, so he was the one having a second go-round with Ireland's son, Sammy—and now a baby on the way—but London's boyfriend had adopted his four-year-old twin niece and nephew, and Carolina's boyfriend was a single dad to Lucy. Holland was the only sister left unattached.
Well, and her.
But she had a feeling she would be permanently single. She had plenty of male friends. She tended to get along with everyone, but because of her tr
aining as a mechanic, a lot of men found her intimidating, whereas the women looked at her as though she was an alien because of her interests, though they appreciated the fact she wasn't out to rip them off as some garages did when a single woman came to them for help.
Still, she wasn't into dating for the heck of it, and if she wasn't interested in a guy, she didn't want to waste his time or hers, so the problem boiled down to the fact that not a lot of men interested her.
Except him.
"Oh. Customers. Welcome! What can I get you?" London asked the couple who'd entered.
Frankie tuned out, her thoughts returning to the Dodge truck and the flash of the man behind the wheel.
What were the odds that it was him?
Movement caught Frankie's attention across the room, and she leaned back in the stool where she sat, her gaze on the kid standing in the tourist trap section featuring T-shirts, mugs, bumper stickers, and the generally overpriced stuff one picks up while on vacation in Carolina Cove, North Carolina.
A glance at London proved her twin sister was still busy with the couple, so Frankie sipped her oversized cup of black brew and kept an eye on the boy she figured to be around twelve or thirteen given his baby-smooth face and lankiness he had yet to grow into. Don't do it, kid.
The boy quickly glanced at London to make sure she wasn't paying him any attention, but he didn't see Frankie watching as he slipped a stuffed animal off of the shelf and into his backpack. Ah, kid. Way to go lowering my expectations of the future generation.
While London had some nice T-shirts, stuffed animals, and keepsakes, nothing in the store was worth stealing, but apparently the kid thought differently.
Put it back and I won't break your kneecaps.
Because no one messed with her family—much less her twin sister—without also experiencing the consequences. Was she really going to have to call the cops on the kid?
Sadly, it wouldn't be the first time. Far too many people chose the five-finger discount when it came to shops and stores like those her parents and London owned.
Frankie took another sip and waited out the nervous-looking boy. He wasn't an experienced shoplifter because he was way too obvious. The nervous glances, the lack of smoothness. Besides, common sense said take something from hand or ground level so that you weren't making any attention-grabbing motions for people-watchers like herself to see. But, no, he was a top-shelf thief.
London was still chatting up her patrons, which left Frankie sliding off her seat at the counter to cross the floor and get to the door when the kid tried and failed to nonchalantly head that way. She let him get across the threshold for legalities’ sake before she turned to face him and blocked his exit, forcing him to take a step back inside.
"Excuse me."
Well, at least he has some manners.
She stared into the kid's baby blues. When he grew up, he was going to break some hearts, if he wasn't already. "Yes?"
"I need to… I'm leaving."
"So soon?" She gave him a hard stare. "Because I think you forgot something."
"No I didn't."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you did," she said, watching him pale beneath his summer tan. "Dude, last chance. Did you forget a trip to the cash register?"
A bright red flush began creeping up the boy's neck into his face, replacing the color he'd so recently lost.
The teen made a noise and tried to slip by her, but she sidestepped and blocked him again. "Really, kid? You'd rather I call some friends of mine at the police station so you can explain the lack of receipt to them?"
The kid's eyes widened and he swallowed hard.
"You're crazy."
Frankie sighed, crossing her arms over her front as she waited him out. "Yeah, well, I'll own my crazy, but insulting me isn't the way to get on my good side. Now, I can't be certain if you stole the mermaid or the cat, but either way, I watched you shove several things into that bag of yours." She lifted her chin toward the backpack hanging from his shoulder. "Open it up."
"What? No."
"It's not a problem if you didn't take anything. Right?"
"What's going on?"
London joined them and glanced from Frankie to the kid.
"I'm London. What's your name?"
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."
That one left Frankie chuckling. "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to steal either."
"Frankie—"
"Dead to rights, Londy. No question."
"I see," London said, her expression changing to one of dread mixed with resignation. "Well, if that's the case, I suggest you give it back or you pay for whatever it was you took, otherwise I'll call the police."
"I didn't take anything."
"Ah, yet another commandment broken." Frankie didn't budge from her slouch against the door, but when the kid looked confused, she sighed again. "The commandments? From the Bible? You know, the one about not telling lies? It goes with the one about not stealing."
London pulled her cell phone from her apron pocket and when the kid looked her way, she quickly snapped his photo.
"Hey—"
"You get a good one?" Frankie asked.
"Don't I always?" London said. "For all of the problems it causes, social media does come in handy, doesn't it?"
"Kid, it's time to fess up," Frankie told him. "You've been caught, now do the right thing."
"What's your decision?" London punched in 9-1 and left her finger hovering over the final digit. "Are you going to deal with us or the police?"
The kid glared at them before shrugging off the bag and shoving his hand into the opening. Frankie watched as he yanked out a stuffed cat with big plastic eyes. "I so totally would've gone with the dog. He's way cuter," Frankie said to him. "What else you got?"
London took the cat from him, and the kid dove in once more to pull out a hot pink Carolina Cove T-shirt.
"Hmm. Not sure that's your color."
"It's for my girlfriend. For her birthday."
"You'd give your girlfriend stolen presents?" London asked, tsking.
The kid's face heated up again and Frankie shook her head. "Come on, open the bag all the way. Now. No holding back on us."
The kid's shoulders sagged but he reluctantly did as ordered. This time Frankie dove in and pulled out a box with a wave ring and matching necklace. "You really went for it, kid. Jewelry, clothing, and a stuffie. Anything else?"
"No. I was only going to take one thing but I didn't know what she'd like."
"Well, I'm pretty sure she'd like it better if it wasn't stolen," London said.
"Definitely." Frankie tilted her head and noted that the kid looked on the verge of tears. Because of embarrassment? Anger? Or part of the innocent act? She honestly wasn't sure. "Londy, how much is all of that added up?"
"Uh, I don't know. Let's see." London did a quick calculation and stated the total.
"Is this the first time you've done this?" Frankie asked. "Or are you a regular visitor in juvie?"
"I haven't… I didn't… I just wanted to get her something nice and I didn't have enough money. We only just started dating and—"
"And you wanted to shower her with stolen gifts." Frankie grimaced. "Way to make an impression, kid."
A shrug was his response, but Frankie noted he did look a little embarrassed by her observation.
"Look, any girl worth impressing wouldn't want something you've stolen. She’d understand you needing to earn the money for a gift."
"But I'm a kid."
"Who is what? Thirteen?" Frankie guessed.
"You have to be sixteen to get a job here," he said, sidestepping the question.
"Not necessarily. You could help clean up yards for your neighbors, walk some dogs, or wash dishes in a restaurant kitchen. You don't need to be older to do those types of things."
"That's what my dad said. But there's still not enough time before her party and… I didn't want to show up and not have anything."
"All I
'm hearing are excuses. Where's your integrity?" Frankie watched as the kid shrugged. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and exhaled. "When's this party?"
"Saturday night."
"And you say you have no time," she said, scoffing. "That gives you two whole days."
"To make that much?"
London exchanged a glance with Frankie and she prayed her sister didn't regret whatever it was she was about to say given the look on London's face.
"If you work hard, yes," London said. "So this is what you're going to do. You're going to come to work for me tomorrow after school, and all day Saturday, and I'll cover the cost of the things you tried to lift—or I can call the police."
"Sounds fair to me," Frankie said.
"If you accept, I'll even wrap up the things you chose all nice and make them pretty—once you actually pay for them."
The kid's head swung back and forth between the two of them like he wasn't sure what to make of the offer.
"What'll I have to do?"
Frankie smirked. "Whatever the boss wants you to do. But you don't show tomorrow, then that photo goes to the police and hits social media so everyone in the area knows to be on the lookout for you. Oh, and look right up there," she said, pointing. The kid followed her pointing finger and she watched as he swallowed hard again. "Ah, there's another nice photo for the cameras."
The kid's expression revealed his fear as well as his utter lack of enthusiasm, but after a long moment, he shrugged. "Whatever. I guess I'll do it."
"Smart decision." With his backpack free of stolen merchandise, the kid shifted to the side to try to get by Frankie once again. "Hold up."
"I don't have anything else."
"Yeah, but you forgot something."
When the kid stared at her blankly, she sighed. She hated to sound old but… kids these days. "Don't you think you ought to apologize and thank London for not calling the cops?"
