Chance at Love on Mystic Bay (Island County Series Book 6)

by Karice Bolton

  He straightened up and flashed a sinfully delicious smile.

  “You okay?” he asked again. His eyes moved to my hand rubbing my head. “That was quite a thud.”

  “Yeah. I’ll be fine. Nothing a glass of wine and a good book won’t fix later tonight.” I dropped my hand. “I’m used to these kinds of injuries.”

  “Are you Maddie Wildes?” he asked, still holding a small box.

  “That’s me,” I said, attempting to turn down the music, only I flipped the dial the wrong way blasting us with Salt-N-Peppa’s finest lyric. “In all my tea glory.”

  His blue eyes sparkled with a delicious curiosity as he took me in, and I suddenly got nervous.

  “Nice taste in music.” His smile turned to a mischievous grin as he handed me the box.

  “Thanks. It was my junior high anthem.” I returned a smile and grabbed the featherlight box from him. His fingers grazed mine and a tingle went up my hand.

  I let out a silent sigh.

  It was official.

  It had been far too long since I’d gone on a date. If I suddenly felt the need to jump some poor, unsuspecting delivery driver, my sex life had dried up in a drought of epic proportions.

  The song went to repeat, and I cringed as the sex-filled lyrics screamed into the room.

  “Is it true?” His voice was low and playful.

  “Is what true?” My gaze flashed to his, confused.

  “That men are your weakness.”

  “Well, I do like ‘em wild, but those kind are a bit hard to find on Fireweed Island.” I couldn’t believe my life had come to this.

  I was speaking in lyrics from Shoop in order to flirt with a complete stranger because I had absolutely no game.

  There was no way he would find this cute because I was ready to crawl under a pile of mint leaves and never come out.

  “Is that so?” His lip curled up slightly.

  “Well, sometimes I like them wild.” I stared at my blank monitor. “Not always . . . Actually, I’m not sure I would like ‘em wild at all. I’m more of a movie at the house with wine kind of girl and that’s only on Fridays.”

  “Then I guess I’m out of the picture.” He shook his head, laughter filling his eyes.

  “You’re wild?” My eyes widened, not sure where to go with this.

  “Extremely.” He winked and my entire body warmed.

  Why? I had no idea. He only said one word.

  Extremely.

  I let out a sigh and laughed.

  “Well, then I guess it’s good we get something like this hammered out in the beginning before things between us get too far.”

  “Indeed,” he agreed, giving a slight nod.

  “You know, Dorinda never asks these kinds of questions when she drops off packages.”

  “Would you want her to?” He looked amused, and I thought back to the promise I made to myself. Befriend the next male who walked into my store. Not one of my brightest ideas.

  “Possibly not.” I chuckled. “I’m so grateful Hildie sent the lavender over. I could’ve been in a real pickle.” I opened the box and took in a deep breath. “Scrumptious.”

  Hildie Harlen was the owner of the lavender farm over on Hound Island. She was our supplier for all things lavender, and she happened to be one of the sweetest women I’d ever met, next to Dorinda, who I was desperately missing.

  I pulled the lid off my huckleberry tea. “Let me give you some tea for your trouble. It was really sweet of you to come so late.”

  “Do you smell that?” he asked rather urgently.

  “Yeah. It’s huckleberry and lavender. Isn’t it great?”

  “No, not that.” He shook his head, alarm filling his features. “Like something’s burning.”

  I shook my head while taking in a deep breath. All I could smell was lavender.

  “You really don’t smell that?”

  I glanced around me, feeling self-conscious. What exactly was it that he was smelling?

  “It’s getting stronger.” He looked behind me toward the back room while I began sniffing the air.

  And that’s when I saw it.

  “My tree.” I squealed, hopping up and pointing behind him.

  I grabbed the phone and dialed 9-1-1 while the man spun around to find the bottom of the tree engulfed in flames.

  Within an instant, he grabbed one of the hot water urns I had lined up for tea samples and flipped off the lid. Running over to the tree, he unplugged the lights and dumped the water on the flames as the 9-1-1 operator told me the fire department was on the way.

  I was shaking as I watched my world go into slow motion while the stranger threw another urn full of water on the tree.

  The sirens wailed off in the distance as I stood completely in shock. He’d managed to extinguish all the flames with the last urn of water, but I was left with a smoking, charcoaled tree missing just about all the needles.

  This was awful.

  The man sat the empty urn on the floor and glanced up at me before opening the door to let the smoke outside.

  “We got it just in time.” He slowly walked over to where I was standing. “You okay?”

  My entire world could have gone up in smoke.

  Again.

  But he saved everything.

  I owed this stranger so much.

  The smell of smoke was thick in the air, and all I could think about was how lucky I was that this guy was here when the flames ignited. Had I gone home or been here by myself. . .

  I shuddered as the flashing red lights of the fire truck bounced off the walls inside.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, feeling dazed.

  “I’m just glad I was here.”

  “Me too.” I slowly backed away and saw two of the firemen hop out of the truck. “I need to go tell them it’s okay.”

  “They’ll want to come in.”

  I nodded and quickly made my way outside.

  “Jake?” I asked, surprised to see him.

  He usually volunteered at the other end of the island. He was the fiancé of one of my favorite people on the island, Jewels Jennings, librarian extraordinaire.

  “Maddie, what were you doing still inside?” he asked, his tone admonishing.

  “The fire was put out,” I assured him. “Thank God your mom sent over a box of lavender or my place would’ve gone up in smoke.”

  “A courier?” His brows pulled together as the stranger walked outside. A smile touched Jake’s lips, but it quickly fell.

  “He’s the guy who managed to put out my flames.” I pointed at the sexy stranger and Jake let out a laugh.

  “He did, did he?” Jake looked extremely amused. “He has a reputation for that.”

  “Not now.” The guy scowled at our local fireman like he knew him. “This is serious.”

  I nodded. “The tree is a total loss, but it could have been so much worse. I could have lost my store.”

  Three firefighters rushed past me.

  “I didn’t think you covered downtown?” the man asked Jake.

  “This close to the holidays, we cover whatever we can, whenever we can.” He turned his attention to me. “Are you okay? When something like this happens, it’s really traumatic. Do you want me to call your sister?”

  “No, she’s on a date. So do you two know one another?” I asked, pointing between the two men.

  “You could say that,” Jake answered as the other man said “no”.

  “Okay,” I said, confused.

  “Will you be okay?” Jake asked again.

  I was surprised at how calm I felt considering my shop could have burned down. I glanced at the mysterious stranger. He seemed to be contemplating something as he stared at the sidewalk.

  “I think I’m in shock. I’m going to go check on the tree . . . see if there’s any ornaments I can salvage.” Both men nodded and I wandered back inside.

  Even with the door wide open, the smell of burned wood filled the air, and I looked at my poor burned tree.r />
  It looked a bit like Nightmare Before Christmas met the Grinch.

  The firemen stood up and glanced over my shoulder as Jake walked in.

  “Faulty string of lights,” one of the men said.

  “That’s an understatement.” I shook my head. “Thank you guys for coming so quickly.”

  “Would you like us to dispose of the tree?” Jake questioned.

  “You can do that?” I asked and he nodded.

  I took in a deep breath, still smelling the sharpness of the smoke. The tickle began irritating the back of my throat and I held in a cough.

  “Thanks. I’d really appreciate it.”

  “Absolutely.” He spun his finger in the air and several of the firemen began to unscrew the tree from the stand.

  “Oh, shoot,” I said, watching the man wander back into the shop. “I need to get you the check for Hildie so you can be on your way.”

  Jake shot the guy a suspicious look as I went to my drawer, got my checkbook, and began scribbling the amount out.

  I looked up to see the firemen hauling out the crispy tree. It felt like a death march watching the men carry the tree away to its burial grounds.

  “So you’ll be headed back to Hound Island?” I asked, writing out my check for him to return to Hildie.

  “I will be, but not for a couple of days.”

  “Is there anything else you need?” Jake asked. “We’ve got a call for a man stuck in the chimney.”

  “Seriously?” I asked, holding in a chuckle.

  “Yup.” Jake smiled and shook his head. “And it gets even crazier the closer we get to Christmas.”

  “I shudder to imagine, but I’m good. Thanks again.” I waved as Jake marched out of the shop, and I turned my attention back to the courier.

  “You weren’t kidding when you said you were wild and exciting to be around.”

  “I never said exciting.” Chance laughed. “But this wasn’t quite what I meant. Don’t blame me for the charcoal tree. You heard the men. Faulty wiring.” His smile was charming.

  “I better call Hildie then. I told her I’d give the courier the check so she didn’t have to wait for payment via mail. Usually, Dorinda heads back to Hound right after the delivery.”

  His smile widened. “I think she’ll be okay with me holding on to it for a couple days.”

  “Well, it’s the holidays, and I don’t want to leave her hanging in case she needs the money right away,” I countered, shaking my head.

  “That’s awfully kind of you.” He leaned his hip against my worktable and folded his arms across his chest, as I picked up the phone to dial Hildie on speakerphone.

  “Well, I know how hard it can be to run a business,” I continued as the phone rang, and I waited for Hildie to pick up.

  He watched me carefully as I spoke into the phone once Hildie answered.

  I quickly explained to her that if I gave this man the check, she might not receive it for a couple days, and I’d gladly mail it if that would make it better.

  I finally took in a breath, and the delivery guy cleared his throat, still watching me while I tried to ignore him. The blue plaid flannel shirt stretched across his shoulders, and his forearms looked well defined. Obviously, I’d done a poor job of ignoring him.

  “Not a problem at all,” Hildie answered over the speaker. “I was expecting him to stay on Fireweed for a couple days with his brother.”

  “Oh, your courier has a brother on Fireweed?” I asked, and the man’s smile widened.

  “Don’t you remember, dear?” Hildie asked into the phone, sounding concerned. “My son, Jake, lives on Fireweed.”

  My gaze flashed to the man standing in front of me, and I scowled at him, which only made him chuckle.

  “This is your other son?” I asked, my voice almost hoarse. “Jake’s brother is standing in front of me?”

  “Didn’t he introduce himself?” Hildie questioned. “Who did he say he was? I can never keep track of what my boys are up to. Chance, are you giving Maddie a hard time?”

  “I’d never do such a thing, but I did manage to save her shop from burning down. Maybe I can get her to come to dinner.”

  “Oh, Chance. Don’t scare off the poor thing.” Hildie laughed into the phone, probably not believing her son about my store almost turning to ash. “I’m sure she has plans other than entertaining one of my sons.”

  I refused to look in Chance’s direction.

  “If you have any problem getting rid of Chance, let me know, and I can send his older brother over to take care of the situation.” She chuckled.

  “I’m sure he’ll be on his way now that his cover’s blown,” I assured her.

  Hildie chuckled. “Behave yourself, Chance. Have a nice night.” And she hung up.

  I placed my hands on my hips and realized I still had my Christmas apron on, which probably made me look more like Mrs. Claus than sex vixen, and stared at Chance.

  “Well, what do you have to say for yourself?” My brow arched.

  “I’m glad I’ll be hanging around the island for a few days.” He cleared his throat. “Maybe I’ll bump into you.”

  I shook my head and slid the check to him.

  “It’s on the house,” he assured me.

  “I can’t do that.” I finally got my words back.

  If it was business, I could always function.

  “Consider it a gift from Hildie. We thank you for an amazing year.”

  “I . . . umm.” I quickly untied my apron and tossed it over a stool. “I don’t know what to say.” My eyes fell to the check.

  “Have dinner with me sometime?” he asked.

  “Umm.” It was like all of a sudden my strong command of the English language dwindled down to an inaudible muttering of sounds.

  How wild was he? Or was he only kidding? I looked down at my jeans and Santa sweater and internally recoiled from my fashion choice. Having on a sweater where Santa’s eyes jiggled seemed like a good idea this morning. I should have kept my apron on.

  “So what do you say?” he asked, scribbling his number on a piece of paper. “Dinner sometime?”

  I glanced at the puddle of water where the tree once stood and reminded myself of the promise I’d made. He was the first male to walk into my shop.

  “I’ll only agree if you let me buy you dinner. It’s the least I can do for saving my little store.”

  “Then it’s a deal.”

  Chapter Three

  “Moving here was the best decision of my life.” My sister fell onto the blue velvet chaise where the Christmas tree once stood.

  She looked good, happy, rested, and completely oblivious to the fact that the tree no longer had a home in our shop.

  “Is that so?” I smiled, quirking a brow.

  Since moving here only a couple months ago, my sister Holly had somehow managed to fall for Fireweed’s most notorious bachelor. And Nick fell for her too.

  Hard.

  He seemed like a great guy, all rumors aside, but I was still worried for her. He had a bit of a reputation. However, I knew from my own past experience, more fiction than fact often created those legends.

  When my sister first moved here after getting let go from her job, I was nervous she might not like island life and would feel stuck, but she bought a fixer-upper and never looked back.

  “Definitely so.” She took in a deep breath and placed her hand against her forehead. “I think I’m in love.”

  “Love?” I stiffened.

  That was like a foreign emotion in my world.

  Been there, done that and it really wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

  “Yup.” She stood up and glanced out the window, probably expecting to see the snow the weatherman promised. “He is the most amazing man.”

  “So the rumors weren’t true about him?” I teased, relaxing a tad.

  “Which ones?” Holly twisted her long blonde hair into a messy bun and slid a clip into the strands before tying an apron around her wa
ist.

  I shrugged.

  “Some might be.” She flashed a wicked grin, and I giggled, wondering if there were any rumors about Chance floating around these islands.

  That was one thing I quickly learned about island life. Everyone knew everything about everybody, even if half of what was said wasn’t quite accurate. There had to be a way to start fishing without being obvious.

  I gritted my teeth and pushed Chance right back out of my head. For the last twenty-four hours he’d been sneaking in and it was disturbing. All he did was ask me out to dinner and I said I’d pay for it.

  I had a plan that I intended to stick to and getting sidetracked with a fling wasn’t going to grow my tea store, gain an online following, or open more tea shops all around the northwest.

  “Do you even notice anything?” I asked.

  She glanced around the front of the cheerfully decorated shop and her cheeks flushed.

  “The tree? What happened to the tree?” Her hands rose to her mouth.

  “It went up in smoke.” I shook my head, chuckling. “You really are in love.”

  “I thought I smelled something funky.”

  “Well, that was our tree.”

  “Where’d it go?” she asked, standing up and suddenly interested.

  “The fire department hauled it away. If Jake’s brother hadn’t been here, the store would be a total loss.”

  “What was he doing here?” she asked, sliding her hands into her back pockets.

  “Hildie sent him over with the lavender instead of Dorinda.”

  A funny look covered Holly’s face and she chewed on her bottom lip.

  “Interesting.”

  “What’s interesting?” I asked.

  “She’s really been pushing for us to go visit her farm.” She grinned coyly. “But I don’t think that’s because of me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think she’s got her eye on you for her son.”

  “Oh, please.”

  “But I heard he was going to be moving to Portland in a couple months.” She shrugged.

  “Portland?” I fought the brief sense of disappointment before reminding myself that maybe my plan had a shot. Chance and I could get to know one another, he’d give me insight that I couldn’t gain anywhere else, and then he’d be off and running and neither of us would feel bad.