by Melody Grace
“Ha!” Chase finally managed to whack the ball up onto the fairway. “No chance. I’m the exception that proves the rule. The exceptional exception,” he added, looking up at her with a smug grin.
“Sure you are.”
As they headed over to the putting green, Letitia paused to check her phone. No new messages.
“Expecting a call?” Chase asked.
She flushed. “No, just… My date from last night suggested we do something this weekend. I was seeing if he’d set a time, that’s all.”
“Wait, this would be a second date?” Chase stopped.
“Third, actually,” Letitia admitted. His eyebrows shot up even higher.
“Why haven’t I heard about this?” he asked. “Here I am, trawling for men for you, and you’re ready to call the whole thing over. Did I introduce you guys? Which one is he – the architect?”
“No. I met him on my own, a couple of days ago. He’s called Seth, he’s visiting friends here on vacation,” she explained. “And it’s not game over. We had a lunch, and then got drinks as well last night.”
“And?” Chase prompted, strolling beside her. “He must tick the right boxes, to meet your high standards.”
“They’re not high!” she laughed.
“Fine, your medium-sized standards,” he corrected with a grin. “Come on, spill the details on this fine, upstanding gentleman.”
Letitia gave a shrug. “I don’t know him all that well yet, but… He’s nice.”
Nice, kind, cute, friendly… They’d struck up conversation in line at the bakery about Summer’s famous sticky morning buns, and soon been chatting about their summer plans. So far, they’d eaten club sandwiches at a café up the coast, and met at a wine bar for a fun tasting event – and nobody had delivered a lecture or required medical intervention. To Letitia, that was a success, but Chase clearly didn’t agree, because he winced.
“Ouch,” he said. “Nice is the kiss of death.”
“For you, maybe.” Letitia laughed. “To the rest of us, it counts as a positive. He’s funny, and kind, and runs an environmental nonprofit, saving the trees.”
“Sounds peachy,” Chase drawled. “So what’s the catch?”
She paused. There wasn’t one, not yet. Seth was easy to get along with, and seemed to have all the same values as her. That was a good thing, right?
“No catch,” Letitia said finally. So what if she hadn’t felt tingles when he’d kissed her goodnight? She wasn’t looking for wild sparks. Those would come in time. “He’s got definite potential. Which is why I’m seeing him again. Giving things a chance to develop some more.”
“But a third date… You know what that means.” Chase gave her a meaningful look. Letitia blushed harder.
“It doesn’t. Not necessarily. Not everyone acts like a randy college kid on Spring Break, you know,” she added, feeling weirdly flustered.
Were they really talking about her sex life right now?
“First of all, we clearly had very different college experiences if you went around waiting three whole dates,” Chase said with a laugh. “And second, of course you don’t have to anything you’re not comfortable with. But just know, a guy will have certain… hopes, when it comes to that big third date. Especially if you show up in that blue dress you were wearing the other night.”
“Which dress?” Letitia paused, confused. Her wardrobe didn’t exactly scream, ‘sexy’.
“The one with those little straps,” Chase said, with a smoky grin that did something to her blood pressure. “And the buttons down the front.”
“Oh.” Letitia could feel herself blushing again, so she turned away, and focused on her golf ball, instead. It was positioned just a few feet away from the hole, a straight shot. She could have sunk it in her sleep.
He’d noticed her dress?
She swung, and hit the ball way too hard. It skimmed over the hole, and disappeared down the hill.
“Look at that!” Chase crowed. “Not so perfect now!”
Letitia managed a faint smile. What was she supposed to say? ‘Sorry, but the thought of you undoing the buttons on that dress makes my head spin and my knees weak.’?
“I guess my grip slipped,” she replied instead.
Get a grip, Letitia scolded herself. On her golf club – and her focus, too. She had a list of suitors a mile long, and Chase wasn’t anywhere on it. He’d made it clear, she was just a friend; an amusing project for his summer, and Letitia felt exactly the same way. Even if the way he gripped that golf club, his biceps rippling in the summer sun, was a sight to behold.
The man could even make golf shoes look good.
The man could also find a single woman to flirt with any time, anywhere. He sent a wave behind her, and Letitia turned to find that he was checking out a hot woman on the terrace.
Reason #423 that Chase Kinsella didn’t belong anywhere on her list.
“Ready for you shot?” she asked, waiting as he flashed the girl a smile.
“You know, you finish up here without me,” Chase said. “I’m suddenly in need of a cold drink.”
“Thirsty, huh?” Letitia remarked dryly.
“Parched.” Chase gave her a wink, and strolled back towards the clubhouse, leaving her alone.
She sighed, lined up her next shot, and sunk the ball in one.
See? Her path was crystal clear. She just needed to stay focused, and everything would work out.
Letitia left Chase flirting with his tennis pro, and drove the winding coastal road back to Sweetbriar Cove with the windows down, and the breeze whipping in her hair… At least, until she reached town and had to slow to a crawl. On a summer’s day, the streets were crammed with tourists, and she could barely find a parking spot; fighting her way down the busy sidewalks, full of vacationers taking in the midday sun.
“It’s packed out today!” she exclaimed, meeting Eliza, and her sister, Paige, outside their favorite coffee shop.
“I know, I always forget how busy this place gets in summer.” Eliza said. “I had to drag Paige away from the store.” Eliza’s sister was a renowned lingerie designer, and ran a cute boutique nearby.
“We have some gorgeous new things,” Paige added, “You should stop by and check them out.”
“I will, but not to shop.” Letitia grinned. “I’ve already bought half your stock.” And it wasn’t as if she had anyone to show them off to.
Yet.
She paused, remembering Chase’s words of advice. Would Seth really be expecting them to take things further on the next date? And how did she feel about that… Considering there was currently only one person who made her pulse race?
Letitia didn’t want to think about it. “Coffee?” she asked instead.
“Always,” the sisters both replied, so Letitia ducked inside the coffee shop, and ordered them all a round of iced lattes, re-emerging with the cold drinks and today’s task back on her mind.
“So, how’s the blushing bride to be?” Letitia asked, teasing, as they strolled across the town square. “Cal is staying remarkably cool about the whole thing.”
“Lucky you.” Paige smirked. “I’ve been dealing with a real Bridezilla.”
“I’m not!” Eliza protested. “I just can’t for the life of me figure the difference between sweet pink and baby pink. And also, why there’s any pink in this at all, since I can’t stand the color and I’m pretty sure I banned it from the ceremony! Am I going crazy?”
Letitia laughed. “Don’t worry,” she reassured her. “This happened to all my friends. The final countdown makes everyone a little loopy. But it’ll all be worth it.”
“Is that a promise?” Eliza asked, with a wry grin. “Because your mom called me last night. And this morning. And ten minutes ago. Apparently, if I don’t finalize my flowers ASAP, the earth will spin off its axis and my marriage will be doomed to fail.”
Letitia winced. “I’m sorry. You know Cal is like a son to her. And since I haven’t made it down the aisle just ye
t, she’s channeling all her mother-of-the-bride energy into you.”
Eliza gave a smile. “I know. And it’s nice that Cal has family involved. Just… maybe not this involved. You know, she asked if I was planning on going off my birth control before the honeymoon, or after.”
“What?” Letitia exclaimed, almost choking on her latte.
“Oh yes,” Paige agreed. “I had to talk her down.”
“Luckily, I was driving, and went through a cellphone dead spot. At least, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it,” Eliza added with a grin.
“I’ll tell her to back off,” Letitia promised, laughing. “Way off. And don’t worry about the flowers: everyone says that Blossom is the place to go on the Cape.”
They arrived outside the little storefront, set back just off the square. There were buckets overflowing with freshly cut roses and hydrangeas arranged outside, and as Letitia stepped through the door, she was immediately transported into a floral wonderland.
“Oh, these are beautiful!” Eliza’s happy exclamation told Letitia that she’d come to the right place. Her mom had her list of approved florists, of course: the fancy, big-bucks people they used for every big Prescott event, but Letitia had a hunch, Eliza would want something more eclectic and personal. And looking around the store, eclectic was right: huge bunches of vivid blue irises jostled with sunshine yellow sunflowers, and the whole back wall was covered in a cascade of living mosses. A dark-haired woman was kneeling in the corner, arranging lilies in a vase.
“Rose?” Letitia asked, and the woman turned. “I’m Letitia, we’ve been emailing about the Prescott wedding?”
“Of course!” Rose broke into a welcoming smile. “Which must mean you’re Eliza.”
“I think we’ve met before,” Eliza said, greeting her. “At the last LobsterFest. Also, you’re a florist named Rose?”
Rose laughed. “I know. The irony is, I’m named after my grandmother – and she hated flowers. Allergies.”
Letitia smiled. “Thanks for squeezing us in. I hope we’re not leaving it too late to finalize the arrangements,” she added. “I had a friend leave it to the last minute, and it turned out, there wasn’t a calla lily left in the tri-state area.”
“The horror,” Eliza gasped, teasing. “Was the whole wedding ruined?”
“She made do with roses instead,” Letitia said. “But it caused way more stress than she needed. By the time she got to the rehearsal dinner, she was breaking out in hives.”
“Well, we don’t want that.” Rose agreed, smiling.
Eliza nodded. “I plan to be hive-free, at the very least.”
“So demanding,” Paige teased. “I told you: Bridezilla!”
For the next hour, they browsed through flower choices, and centerpieces, and party favor options, until everything was almost set.
“OK, that’s it, I’m decided.” Eliza finally declared. “It’s going to be sunflowers. I know they’re not luxurious enough for your parents, but I like them. They’re cheerful, and bright, and fun, and that’s the kind of wedding I want.”
“I think they’ll look great,” Rose agreed. “It’s your day, after all.”
Letitia bit her tongue. She could already hear her mom’s meltdown over having such a simple flower, but what Eliza wanted, Eliza would get. “Maybe with the irises, too?” she suggested. “The blue would be gorgeous with all that the yellow.”
“It is Cal’s favorite color,” Eliza agreed. “Let’s do it.”
They said their goodbyes to Rose, and headed back outside onto the street. Letitia consulted the to-do list on her phone as they strolled, pleased to check off another item.
And so was Eliza. “That’s everything, right?” she asked, a hopeful note in her voice. “Please tell me it’s everything.”
Letitia smiled. “Flowers are chosen, caterers booked, and the rehearsal dinner is all set at Sage,” she said, naming the best restaurant on the Cape.
Eliza relaxed. “Declan didn’t really have a choice, considering Cal owns half the business.”
“That just leaves the bachelorette…” Letitia paused.
“I’m on it,” Paige said, with a mysterious smile. “It’s a surprise.”
“As long as you didn’t book me a male stripper.” Eliza said.
Letitia laughed. “Do they even have strippers in Sweetbriar Cove?”
“Sure they do,” Cassie said, crossing paths with them on the sidewalk in time to hear Letitia’s question. She was eating an ice cream, with a mischievous grin on her face. “Hank from the hardware store moonlights on the weekends.”
Eliza groaned with laughter. “I don’t need that mental image!” she protested. “If you’d said your brothers, on the other hand…”
“Eww, now that’s an imagine I don’t need!” Cassie laughed.
They found a shady picnic bench under the trees, and sat, as Letitia tried not to think of Chase stripping down to— Well, she didn’t know what he wore under those faded jeans, but she was guessing he wasn’t a tighty-whitey kind of guy.
When she looked over, Cassie was watching her with a curious look in her eyes. “So…” Cassie started meaningfully. “How’s my brother doing?”
Letitia thought about playing dumb, but that would just make this a bigger deal than it most definitely wasn’t. “He’s fine, I think,” she gave a casual shrug, but Cassie wasn’t so easily deterred.
“You guys sure have been spending a lot of time together,” Cassie continued, with a smirk. “Golf today, drinks the other night… And Jackson said he saw you guys getting coffee in town, too.”
“Do you guys have an alert system or something?” Letitia joked lightly, but her friends immediately perked up.
“Wait, you and Chase?!” Eliza demanded, turning to Letitia. “Why haven’t I heard about this?”
“You’ve been choosing centerpieces for an hour!” Paige agreed. “And haven’t said a word about the hot guy you’re seeing? Spill!”
“Because there’s nothing to tell!” Letitia protested, feeling self-conscious. “We’re not seeing each other. At least, not like that. We’re just friends.”
“Mmhmm?” Cassie murmured, looking skeptical. “Sure. Because Chase always spends a ton of time out with women he has no intention of sleeping with. No offence,” she added.
“None taken!” Letitia insisted, loudly. “Because like I said, there’s nothing going on. He’s actually helping me meet other men,” she added, when her friends didn’t seem convinced. “He’s a great wingman. He’s found me tons of dates!”
Cassie frowned. “Really?”
“Really!” she insisted. “I promise, I’d tell you if there was anything going on.”
Anything apart from her pesky imagination, that was.
“Besides, me and Chase would be the worst idea,” Letitia added firmly. “Can you imagine?” she forced a laugh. “He’d drive me crazy!”
And not just in a good way.
“I have to admit, I was surprised,” Cassie admitted. “I mean, you’re great,” she added quickly. “He should be so lucky. It’s just, you’re actually looking for something serious, and Chase is… Well…”
“More the no-strings kind of guy?” Letitia finished for her. “I know. Believe me, I know. I have plenty of other options. Long-term options,” she said, as much to remind herself as to convince the others.
“Well, as long as you’re sure…” Cassie said. She gave Letitia another curious look, but thankfully, the conversation moved on, and soon the question of Chase’s romantic suitability was forgotten.
At least, to everyone except Letitia.
Because she drove back to the beach house that evening, her unease grew. She wasn’t naïve; she knew the warning signs. This was a slippery slope she was on. Sure, she said she was focused on dating other guys, but was she really giving it her best shot, when hanging out with Chase was the part that filled her stomach with an inconvenient flutter, and he was the only one who made her wake in the middle o
f the night, gasping from an unwanted fantasy?
She should be over the moon that she was already at a third date with this Seth guy, he ticked all the right boxes. Instead, she had a sneaking suspicion, she wouldn’t even be disappointed if he never called again. Compared to Chase—
But there, that was the problem. Letitia stopped herself. She shouldn’t be comparing them, because there really was no comparison. Only one of them wanted a mature, adult relationship. Only one of them wanted to date her at all!
It was supposed to be different this time, she reminded herself sternly. She’d spent too much of her life following her hormones, and not her head. There was a time when she would have hurled herself at Chase, and embarked on some mad, passionate affair with him, throwing caution – and her underwear – to the wind just for another taste of his intoxicating kiss—
Letitia paused. Where was she? Oh yes, wisdom. Consequences. Future plans. Sure, a summer fling would be fun – no, spectacular – but then where would she be? Chase would drive off in search of the next wave, and she would be left exactly where she started: No closer to her dream of love and a family, and nursing one hell of a broken heart.
Her plan made sense. Chase’s help was working out great. The last thing she needed was for her pesky fantasies to throw the whole thing off-course. So, when Chase texted her that evening, asking if they were going to hit the local pub, Letitia reluctantly begged off, saying she needed to catch up on some work. And when her phone buzzed with a call from Seth, she answered with her most upbeat voice.
“Hi!”
“Hey, sorry I didn’t call earlier,” Seth said immediately. “I thought I might have to go back to the city for the weekend, and I didn’t want to make plans only to cancel again.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” Letitia said.
“But, it turns out I’m free, if you’d like to get together again?”
“Sure, I’d love to!” She braced herself for the suggestion she come over to his place for dinner, or some other late night, romantic idea, but instead, he surprised her.
