by Melody Grace
“One time, we were on vacation in Europe, and she nearly tumbled off a cliff, trying to get the perfect photo of the sun sinking into the water.” Peter launched into an anecdote about their travels together, while Letitia smiled, and nodded, and ate another hunk of cheese.
Was it just her, or did Peter talk about Amy an awful lot?
Letitia brushed the thought aside. Maybe he was just nervous, and looking for something to talk about. He’d probably had wedding on the brain all week, she decided.
“What about you?” Letitia tried to steer the conversation away from the bride-to-be. “Do you travel much? Would you ever think about relocating from Chicago?”
“Sure, for the right reasons.” Peter flashed a smile. “I always thought I’d like to wind up back on the East Coast again, raise my kids near the ocean.”
Much better.
Letitia relaxed again. “Are you from a big family?” she asked.
“No, I’m an only child. Growing up, I always felt kind of lonely,” he said, “So I want two or three.”
“Me too,” she agreed. “I grew up with my cousin, so it was kind of like having a brother around. But I like the feel of a big family, everyone looking out for each other.”
“Exactly.” Peter smiled back. “That’s what Amy says, too.”
Amy again.
Letitia grit her teeth. OK, maybe she needed to try a different direction. “She must be excited about the wedding,” she said. “Starting her life with somebody. I’m sure her fiancé must be a great guy.”
Peter looked away. “Sure. He’s fine. I mean…” he trailed off. “Did I tell you about the trip we’re taking after the wedding?” he brightened. “Two weeks in St Lucia. It’ll be a blast.”
Wait a minute….
We?
Letitia blinked. There was no way… Was there?
“You’re going on the honeymoon?” she asked, trying to keep the disbelief out of her voice.
Peter gave a laugh. “Not with them, of course. But I have a buddy out there, and I need a vacation, so I figured, why not? I’ll be staying right down the beach. Almost bunkmates!”
“Oh.”
Letitia took a sip of lemonade, her hopes sinking fast. Sure, Peter was smart, and polite, and had excellent manners. But he was also seriously hung up on somebody else.
Letitia winced. The man she was looking for didn’t have to be perfect, but ‘harboring a lifelong crush on another woman?’
That was a deal-breaker to her.
“Everything OK?” Peter asked, noticing her silence.
“Sure!” she exclaimed brightly, trying not to show how disappointed she was. “Here, try some of these strawberries.” She held out the basket of ripe fruit, so sweet it was already attracting the buzz of wasps.
Peter took one. “Mm, delicious. You know, Amy loves strawberries.”
Of course she did.
Letitia’s attention wandered. The square was busy, full of families and tourists browsing the market in the midday sun. There were plenty of couples, too, strolling hand in hand – all looking like they were having a way better time than her right now.
She caught sight of Chase, over with a couple of the Kinsella brothers. He saw her watching, and sent her a wave – and a grin so smug she could see it clear across the square.
Letitia snapped her head back around. Chase was rooting for her to fail; she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing the date was already a dud. So, she gave Peter her best attentive smile. “Tell me more about your work,” she asked, trying to seem interested
But Peter had a funny expression on his face. “I think, I’ve… been stung,” he said, clasping his hand to the side of his neck.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Letitia said. She offered her drink. “Here, press this against it, the cold should help numb the pain. Wasps are the worst,” she added. “Hazard of the great outdoors.”
But Peter shook his head. He looked kind of red-faced, she noticed. Hopefully, he wasn’t one of those people who freaked out the moment they saw a bug.
“Not a wasp,” he managed, sounding odd. “Bee.”
“Oh?” Letitia popped another strawberry in her mouth, wondering how much longer she had to sit here, knowing full well their date was doomed.
“I’m allergic,” Peter said, in a hoarse voice.
Oh!
Letitia leapt to her feet. “What do I do?” she asked, her voice rising. “Are you OK? Should I call 911?” She looked around for help. People were beginning to notice something was wrong, moving closer with concern. “Is there a doctor here?” she called.
She was met with blank stares – until Chase came elbowing through the crowd. He took one look at Peter wheezing and coughing and then turned back to Letitia. “What did you do to him?” he asked.
“I didn’t do anything!” Letitia protested. “It was a bee!”
Chase crouched down beside Peter. “Do you have an EpinPen?” he asked.
Of course!
One of Letitia’s nieces always carried one for her allergies, too. She was already rummaging in his jacket pockets when Peter nodded, and gestured vaguely. “Got it!” she announced, finding the package. She passed it to Chase, but he spent forever just trying to get the packaging open, so Letitia grabbed it back. She quickly scanned the instruction leaflet, brandished the pen, and plunged the needle into the side of Peter’s neck.
Whoosh.
Peter made a strangled noise, and for a terrible moment, Letitia thought she’d made it worse.
Then slowly, Peter took a deep breath. And another.
Oh my god. It was working!
“Everything will be alright,” she reassured him – and herself. Chase was already talking on his cellphone, telling the 911 dispatcher exactly where they were. “An ambulance won’t be long.”
But Peter gripped her arm tightly. It looked like he was trying to speak.
“Shhh,” Letitia comforted him. “Take it easy. You don’t need to worry.”
But he wasn’t. At least, not about himself.
“Call Amy,” he managed to wheeze, with what little strength he had. “Tell her… I’m so sorry, I might be late!”
5
Letitia had been on some bad first dates, but she’d never had one wind up in the ER. Thankfully, after running some tests and checking him over, the doctors assured Peter that he’d be just fine.
Their chance of romance, however, was well and truly done for.
“I can’t believe you nearly killed the guy!” Cal snorted, meeting her for early-morning scones at the bakery the next morning.
“I did not!” Letitia protested. “It was a mild anaphylactic shock, that’s all.”
Cal gave her a look, and she finally laughed. “OK, not the start of a beautiful relationship,” she agreed. “But he called me this morning: he’s back on his feet, and off to gatecrash the honeymoon as we speak. He was the perfect devoted boyfriend alright,” she added with a rueful sigh. “Devoted to somebody else’s wife!”
Cal shook his head, smiling. “I don’t know how you keep finding these guys.”
“You have to kiss a lot of frogs,” Letitia explained. “At least, you do when you haven’t found your perfect soulmate just yet.” She gave her cousin a friendly nudge, and he grinned.
“Eliza’s not perfect.”
“But that’s why you love her,” Letitia pointed out. “She’s just as opinionated and headstrong as you are.”
“Gee, thanks.” He laughed, but she could tell, he was happier than she’d ever seen him. Relaxed, at ease with himself…
“Moving here really worked out for you, didn’t it?” she commented, and Cal smiled.
“All that, and fresh pastries in the morning, too. Life in Sweetbriar Cove isn’t too shabby.”
She smiled. She’d had her doubts at first; she couldn’t understand why Cal would willingly give up the one thing she wanted more than anything – the Prescott Group. But he’d been determined to choose a diff
erent path, and it looked like he’d made the right decision. For him, anyway. And she had to admit, on summer mornings like this, with the bakery full of warmth and chatter, she could see the appeal of a slower pace of life.
She was taking a sip of coffee when her cellphone rang.
“Let me guess,” Cal said wryly. “Your dad?”
She scooped it up, checking the caller ID. “How did you guess?”
“Because he has a habit of calling on his way into the office, and expecting you to have been working for hours already.” Cal said. He gave a sympathetic smile. “I’m glad not to be on the other end of those calls anymore. Don’t pick up,” he added. “You’ll only encourage him.”
Letitia paused. Even though she’d stored up more than enough vacation time to take a few weeks off, Arthur Prescott hadn’t built a major media company by paying attention to pesky little things like ‘work/life balance’.
Sure enough, the moment his call was sent to voicemail, her phone buzzed with an impatient text.
‘How’s progress with the McKenzie estimates? Remember, I want Carter to double-check everything before you present to the board.’
Letitia read the message and winced. She’d been working on a big project for weeks now, but clearly, it wasn’t her opinion that mattered.
“Trouble?” Cal asked.
“Just this new hire at the office.” Letitia explained. “He’s barely out of business school, but has this annoying habit of interrupting me every time I speak.”
“Sounds like a real winner.”
Letitia sighed. “I wish I could just ignore him, but he’s got one thing I don’t that makes dad take him seriously. And I’m not talking about his receding hairline,” she added.
Cal gave a sympathetic smile. “You’ll run rings around him,” he said confidently, and Letitia hoped he was right.
‘Will send the draft ASAP,’ Letitia texted back her father and then stuffed her phone in her bag. The proposal wasn’t due until the end of the month, and she was already 90% finished. Just a little polishing, and she’d be all set to wow the board – without Carter’s feedback.
“So, what’s your plan for the day?” she asked Cal, teasing. “Buying groomsman gifts? Picking centerpieces?”
“You laugh, but I’ll have you know, I spent three hours last night hand-lettering place-cards.” Cal informed her. “But seriously: the sooner this circus is over, the better. I don’t need fancy gifts or formal photographs, I just want to say those vows and be husband and wife.”
Letitia felt a familiar wave of emotion: happiness for her cousin, mixed with envy. He was building a solid future she still could only dream about. “She will be, soon enough,” she reassured him, putting her own feelings aside. “And then maybe mom and dad will leave the two of you in peace for a while!”
“Is that a promise?” Cal asked with a grin.
“Buy me another scone, and I’ll make it so!”
Letitia stayed, chatting for a while longer, then headed home. She was planning to get right back to work on her list of eligible prospects, but by the time she arrived back at the beach house, her dad had sent another three emails, all of them cc-ing Carter, suggesting she get his approval before moving on with any of her ideas.
Clearly, he didn’t think that Letitia could manage on her own, even though she’d been working at the company for years, and knew the board members down to their favorite drink orders. Her blood was boiling, reading yet another reminder that Carter was the Golden Boy, so she changed into her workout gear, and set out on a morning run along the shore to work out some of her tension.
Letitia’s sneakers pounded the wet sand, and she felt the pull in her hamstrings, still steaming over the messages. She tried not to take it personally: It was an achievement that he even was asking her about financial reports, not dinner plans. For years, her father had kept her trapped in the PR department, planning parties and schmoozing with business VIPs. Letitia could host a five hundred-person gala with her eyes closed, but what she really wanted was a seat in the boardroom.
Deals, research, big-time negotiations… Some people thought it was boring, but Letitia had always loved the business world. She’d grown up eavesdropping outside her father’s office door, listening in on his meetings and staging hostile takeovers with her dolls, dreaming of the day she would be sitting beside him, helping steer the family company into the future.
Except it turned out, Arthur couldn’t see his little girl as more than window dressing.
It wasn’t just him. Both her parents didn’t understand why she wanted a cutthroat business career. They wanted to see her married, with a family of her own, and sure, Letitia wanted that, too, but she’d spent years trying prove to them that she was capable of more. More than hosting charity luncheons, and smiling on the arm of a successful man. More than leaving the guys to talk business, while she and the other wives busied themselves with their own plans. Letitia was determined to make her mark at the company, and now finally, she had her chance.
The business they were thinking of acquiring was a group of fashion and beauty websites, and she’d been brought onto the team to help analyze the deal. Letitia couldn’t have cared less what was on the screen – she was focused on click-rates and advertising revenue – but if shoes and lipstick was getting her foot in the boardroom door, she’d take it.
She was an expert multitasker. She could impress everyone at the office and find her future husband, no matter what.
Letitia tried to empty her mind as she ran another loop of the bay. It was a gorgeous day, and the ocean waves lapped the shore as she lengthened her stride across the sand. She could feel her heart pumping, and taste the salty sea breeze with every breath, and with every mile, her stress and pressures seemed to melt away. Much better than a treadmill, she decided, as she finally arrived back at her little stretch of sand, panting hard.
The Airstream was still parked right beside her summer rental, an eyesore against the seagrass and low dunes. Letitia looked around, but there was no sign of its infuriating owner, not even out on the water, so she found herself strolling closer, curious about Chase’s home from home.
Was he really living full-time in that thing?
Letitia approached the hulking thing and rose up on her tiptoes to try and peek through the windows. They were too dusty to make out anything, so she circled around and tried the door.
It swung open.
She paused. It wasn’t trespassing if she didn’t step a foot over the threshold.
Right?
Letitia nudged the door a little wider, and stuck her head inside, taking a quick look around. She was expecting a messy, unkempt bachelor lair, but when her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she blinked in surprise.
It was… surprisingly cute, like a sleek little cabin. Letitia couldn’t resist taking a couple of steps inside to take a closer look. There was a narrow galley kitchen, with chic grey cabinets, and a built-in bunk that doubled as a couch. In fact, it reminded her more of a fancy hotel pod than a scruffy camper van.
“What do you think?”
Letitia let out a shriek of surprise and spun around. Chase was standing behind her in the doorway, wearing jeans and a loose T-shirt, with an amused smirk on his face.
“You scared me!” she gasped, clutching her chest.
“Sorry to interrupt your snooping,” he said, grinning. “Please, feel free. Take a good look around.”
Letitia caught her breath, heart racing from the surprise. Not the sight of him, tanned and golden, standing so close to her.
Not from that at all.
“The door was open,” she lied, scrambling for an excuse. “I thought maybe you’d been robbed.”
“And you came running to bravely fight off any criminals?” Chase asked, still regarding her with amusement. “Wow, thanks.”
Letitia rolled her eyes. “You know, it’s not as awful as it looks from the outside,” she said, taking another glance. “It’s bigger than I tho
ught.”
Chase opened his mouth, but then Letitia realized what she’d said. “You know what I mean!” she protested, blushing.
He smirked. “I do. And thanks, I guess. We stripped out everything, and built it from scratch. When you don’t have much to work with, you have to find a way to use every spare inch.”
This time, it was Letitia’s turn to quirk an eyebrow. Chase gave a wry smile. “You know what I mean.”
“You said ‘we’ built it?” Letitia found herself echoing curiously.
“My brother and I,” Chase said. He moved past her, into the cabin, and opened one of the cabinets to reveal a mini-fridge. “You want a drink?”
“No, thanks.” Letitia answered immediately. “I’m fine.”
“Really?” Chase’s gaze seemed to drift over her, slow and hot. “You look like you could use cooling off.”
Letitia realized she was still in her workout gear: sweat-soaked Lycra clinging to her body. Real attractive. “I ran,” she blurted. “I mean, I run. For exercise. And to relax. Not that it’s relaxing while I’m doing it, but I unwind. After.”
Stop talking.
Letitia forced herself to shut up as Chase popped the tab on a soda. His arms were tan, dusted with golden hair, and as he brought the can to his lips and took a sip, she noticed his bicep curling gently under the thin fabric of his T-shirt. Taut. Strong.
Delicious.
Letitia gulped. Had she tripped and fallen into a Diet Coke ad? Suddenly, the walls felt like they were closing in on the two of them. Intimately close.
“I should, umm, go,” Letitia managed to say. She made for the door, but of course, Chase was blocking her way. “Oh.” She tried to step around him, but Chase ducked left at the same time, so she went the other way – as he did, too.
“Oof!” Letitia bumped into him, chest-to-chest, and for a moment, they were crushed close together in the narrow space.
Close enough to kiss.
She lurched back. This place needed better ventilation; clearly, the lack of oxygen was going to her head. “Goodbye!” Letitia blurted, finally managing to get past him. She hurried down the steps and practically sprinted away from the van.
