Beloved in Blue_Sweet Contemporary Beach Romance

by Elana Johnson

  “Just a hint,” Gretchen said.

  “He’s an old friend.”

  “Oh, that doesn’t narrow down the playing field at all.” Gretchen flipped to the RECEPTION CENTER tab in her binder. “You grew up in Hawthorne Harbor, and so did just about everyone else who still lives there.”

  Janey didn’t want to detract from her friend’s weekend, so she focused on the binder. “Magleby Mansion will be beautiful at Christmas.”

  “Mabel is decorating it herself.” Gretchen flipped a page. “I need to decide on the menu, though.”

  “Are you doing a full dinner or cake and refreshments?”

  “Mabel said I could have whatever I wanted.” She met Janey’s eyes. “Aaron and I had a simple wedding, because we didn’t have any money. Is it wrong of me to want to splurge?”

  “Heavens, no.” Janey looked at the paper. “So this is a full menu. Oh my goodness. This one comes with crab legs?” She scooted the binder closer so she could read the scrumptious descriptions of the food. “Mabel can do all of this?”

  “She has three chefs that come in for weddings.” Gretchen pointed to the second one down. “I was thinking of the salmon. It says Washington, and it’s Drew’s favorite fish....”

  They worked through the menu, the cake flavor, as well as the design, and gushed over the photographer’s online portfolio. By the time lunch rolled around, Gretchen was happy with their progress, and Janey couldn’t wait another second to see Adam and find out the answers to her questions.

  Gretchen got up and stirred the soup she put in a slow cooker after breakfast. “Can you get out the rolls and slice them?” She replaced the lid and moved to the back door. After going out on the deck, she called everyone in for lunch.

  Janey finished slicing the rolls and set them in a basket next to the butter dish. She took pitchers of strawberry punch out of the fridge and braced herself for the fray as the dogs arrived first. Then Jess and Dixie. Adam entered, chattering with Drew, and he stepped right over to where she stood in the kitchen, sweeping one arm around her waist.

  “Hey.” He grinned down at her and twined his fingers in hers before realization made him freeze.

  Everything had happened so fast, Janey hadn’t had time to breathe, think, or react. Adam stepped back, but a hush had fallen over the kitchen.

  “See?” Jess said to Dixie in a know-it-all voice. “He likes my mom.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Adam had lost his mind. Lost it completely. Maybe it had been addled by the sun. Or burned by the wind. Something.

  He tore his eyes from Janey’s stunned ones and looked at Jess. “Hey, that was a secret, remember?”

  Jess’s eyes rounded and his half-tanned, half-sunburned face paled when he added, “You want me to spill your secrets?”

  The boy shook his head, and Adam nodded before looking at Drew, who gaped at him like he’d never seen Adam with a woman.

  “Are you—?”

  “We’re dating,” Janey blurted before Adam could say anything. She edged toward Jess as Adam’s mom and Joel entered the house.

  “Oh...okay,” his mom said, taking in the scene. “What did we miss?”

  “Janey and Adam are dating!” Gretchen squealed the words, her voice pitching toward intolerable levels by the last word.

  A flurry of activity happened then, almost too much for him to catalog. Gretchen hugged Janey. Janey gripped Jess’s shoulders and asked him something. He nodded. Smiled.

  Drew clapped Adam on the back like he’d just gotten engaged instead of having gone out with a woman for dinner a couple of times. He kept one eye on Janey until the clamor died down. He wanted to lace his fingers through hers, but that was what had gotten him in this mess to begin with.

  “So when did this happen?” his mother asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Janey said evasively.

  “The night you two kept Jess while Janey went up to the lodge. We went to dinner.” He’d enjoyed their secrecy, and he wanted it a little longer, at least with the people in town. “We were keeping things simple,” he said. “Private, because of Jess, and because of my job.”

  “But Adam told me last night.” Jess grinned at him, and a flash of love for the boy bolted through Adam. He’d spent the whole morning watching him and Dixie play in the water, build sandcastles, throw a football, and play with Drew’s dogs. They were great kids, and Adam was glad he’d get to be Dixie’s step-uncle. As for Jess...he wasn’t sure what to hope for yet.

  The thought of replacing Matt was laughable. Adam had never been as good as Matt, and he’d always known it. It was why he was on the offensive line in high school, while Matt was the quarterback. Why he’d faded into the background and let Matt date Janey. Why he’d swallowed his feelings until they went away. Why he’d thought for years that even if he’d gotten to Janey first, she still would’ve chosen Matt over him.

  “I’d still like to keep it between us,” Adam said, finally latching onto Janey’s hand, glad when she squeezed back. “The people of Hawthorne Harbor like to...speculate about my relationships. Can we do that, as a family? Keep this to ourselves?”

  Murmurs of assent and nods went through the group.

  “Great.” Adam looked at Janey. “Time for lunch?”

  “Yes,” she said, her dark eyes bright and filled with laughter. “Time for lunch.”

  Adam woke on Monday morning, in his own bed, the ghost of Janey’s hand still in his. Once he’d announced that they were dating, he’d got to walk down the beach with her and laugh easily with her. Jess hadn’t said anything else about it, and they hadn’t talked about Dixie either.

  He’d run and laughed and played with her just fine, so he was obviously much better at hiding his feelings than Adam was—at least since that dinner at the lodge. He’d been quite adept at keeping everything hidden before the door had been opened and that soup had been consumed.

  Who would’ve thought that soup would be the reason he’d finally get to be with Janey Germaine?

  He rolled over and knew from the light streaming through the bedroom window that he’d overslept and didn’t have time for a run before work. So he got the dogs fed and let them into the yard, packed himself a lunch, and went to the station.

  “Morning, Sarah,” he said as he passed.

  “Messages on your desk.”

  He suppressed his groan and made it to his office before sighing. He’d known his job would come with a lot of desk time, but he didn’t have to enjoy it. He worked through the messages, calling people back and setting up meetings with the appropriate people.

  Public works, the traffic team in his own department, emergency services. All of them had to coordinate and work together to handle the influx of people for the Fall Festival. He pulled out his calendar and realized he only had a month to get everything in place.

  He’d been able to stay on task at work while dating before, but there was something different about Janey. She seemed to consume his every thought, take almost all of his mental energy, and he couldn’t devote so much attention to her. At least not while at work.

  The alarm on his phone went off at the same time his phone beeped. “Trent’s ready for you,” Sarah said over the intercom.

  He swiped his phone off his desk and left his office. “Where is he?” he asked.

  “Conference room two.” Sarah swiveled toward him. “You need this.” She handed him a folder and he perused it as he maneuvered through the desks and down the hall to the conference rooms.

  Trent and two other officers were already inside, fiddling with the projector. “Maybe if I push this button.” Trent did and twisted to look at the screen. “Ah, got it.” He met Adam’s eye. “Hey, boss. How was the beach?”

  “Relaxing,” he said with a smile.

  “At least the rain held off until today,” Lex said, one of the leaders of the traffic crew at the department.

  Adam glanced out the window, where a steady drizzle had made most of the landscape g
ray and foggy. “Yeah. Lucky, I guess.” He exhaled as he sat at the end of the table, facing the screen. “So where are we with our parade route?” He tapped the folder. “Lisa is getting pretty anxious to get the website updated.”

  “Right,” Trent said. “We’ve got that info for her. As well as a schedule of when the roads will be blocked, and which officer will be where that Saturday.”

  The Fall Festival went for a full week, with a culminating parade on Saturday, which was the most work for Adam’s department.

  “All right,” he said. “Lay it on me.” He managed to listen and contribute while Trent went over their plan, and then while Lex detailed how many cops they’d brought in from Bell Hill and Port Williams to help with crowd control and general peace-keeping.

  By lunch, he couldn’t wait to escape to his office and eat his simple peanut butter sandwich. Because then he could think about Janey. Maybe even text her.

  Before he could do any of that, a text came in from a number he didn’t have saved in his phone.

  Hey, Adam, this is Jess. I was wondering if I could come over and we could work on that motorcycle sometime?

  Adam smiled, the thought of tinkering in the shed with Jess more appealing than Adam even knew.

  Sure. Tonight?

  Let me ask my mom.

  I can swing by and pick you up on my way home from work. Make it easy for her.

  Several minutes went by, and Adam waited to text Janey until he heard from Jess. He’d reached out, and Adam wanted to give the boy a chance to make his plans.

  She says she can bring over dinner and then we can do the motorcycle. Is that okay?

  Is she cooking?

  Haha, Jess responded. She said she’ll get pizza.

  I like pizza. What time?

  Six-thirty?

  See you then.

  Six-thirty came quickly, as Adam always had too much work to do and not enough time to do it in. He’d just finished straightening up the living room when Jess knocked and then entered the house without waiting for an invitation.

  “Hey,” he said, carrying a skateboard under his arm and dripping rain from his waterproof poncho. Gypsy barked from the kitchen and came running toward the front door.

  “Hey.” Adam grinned at the boy and fist-bumped him as the dog arrived. “Where’s your mom?”

  “She let me skateboard over while she went to get the pizza. She’s always running late.” He put his board down, pulled off his poncho, and scrubbed Gypsy’s head. “At least she let me have my board back.”

  “Oh? Did you lose it?”

  He dipped his chin. “Yeah, for a week. I shouldn’t have skipped school, and I promised I wouldn’t again.”

  “Smart move,” Adam said. “And not only to get the board back.” He walked down the hall and into the kitchen. “You want something to drink? I have Diet Coke.”

  Jess followed him, his wet shoes squeaking against the floor. “Yeah, sure.” He crouched down to pat Gypsy, and even Fable came over for a quick scrub. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something too, real quick before my mom gets here.”

  “Shoot.” Adam pulled out some paper plates and plastic cups, wondering if he should use real dishes for pizza or not. He normally wouldn’t, so he stuck to the decision.

  “Will you teach me how to cook?” He straightened and looked at Adam. “Your mom’s been doing some stuff, and I really like it.”

  Adam glanced at him, wanting to stare but not wanting to make him uncomfortable. “Yeah, sure.”

  “I know you’re doing soups for the Fall Festival. I could just watch until that’s over.”

  “You can help.” Adam leaned his weight into his palms and looked squarely at Jess. “I mean, everyone has to pick up a knife sometime, right?”

  Jess chuckled. “Yeah, just don’t tell my mom.”

  “Don’t tell me what?” Janey appeared, a stack of pizza boxes in her hand. “Door was open. Hope you don’t mind that I came right in.”

  “Not at all.” Adam’s smile felt giddy and foolish, but he couldn’t straighten it or tame it. He took the boxes from her and set them on the counter.

  “So.” She stepped over to Jess and drew him into her side. “What are we not telling me now?”

  Adam spread the boxes out and started opening them to see what kind of pizza Janey had ordered.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” Jess said.

  “I’ve heard that before.” Janey cut Adam a look.

  “He’s just going to teach me how to cook. That’s all.” Jess met her eye, and Adam realized that they were very nearly the same height now.

  Something pinched crossed Janey’s face, but she wiped it away quickly. “Sounds great. Now, I’m starving. Should we eat?”

  The conversation stalled for a few minutes while they selected slices and poured drinks. When they were all seated around his tiny table, Adam said, “Are you sure you’re okay with Jess learning to cook?”

  “Your mother does it.”

  “She hasn’t let him pick up a knife,” Adam said, watching her, keenly aware Jess was too. “And I will.”

  Janey nibbled on her pizza. “It’s really okay. It’ll be good for Jess, and if I’m not here, I don’t have to see it when his fingers get cut off.”

  A beat of silence passed, and then she laughed.

  Adam wasn’t sure if he should join in or not, but Jess did, and when the tension broke, he said, “I’m certified in first aid, in case you didn’t know.”

  Janey rolled her eyes. “Of course you are.”

  “Oh, wow,” Jess said. “Watching you two flirt is almost painful.”

  Adam’s eyes flew to Jess, and Janey’s chair scraped the floor she jerked so hard. “We’re not....” she started. “Flirting.”

  Jess rolled his eyes and said, “Can we go out to the shed now?” He got up without waiting for Adam to answer and left through the back door, taking the dogs with him.

  Though Adam wasn’t finished eating yet, he stacked two more slices on his plate and picked it up. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

  She nodded, and he left her sitting at his kitchen table.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Janey remained at the table, her piece of pizza only half consumed. Keeping the relationship with Adam under wraps was almost easier than being able to flirt with him in front of her son.

  Jess hadn’t seemed bothered by the flirting, just...disgusted by it? Maybe.

  When she’d suggested dinner, his enthusiasm for the evening had dropped a bit. Maybe he wanted to spend time with Adam alone. Janey could certainly understand that. She’d like to be out in the shed with Adam too. Watching him get his hands dirty, fitting little parts together to make a much more powerful machine run.

  She left her dinner behind and moved to the front porch while dialing her sister. It was time to figure things out and make sure she wasn’t doing damage to her son by dating Adam.

  “Hey, there. Are you all tan and glowy now?” Annabelle laughed and then said, “Don, can you take him?” in a much quieter voice.

  The unhappy squeal of Annabelle’s one-year-old came through the line. “All right. You have all of my attention. You’re calling about your mystery boyfriend, right?”

  Janey sighed. “Yeah.” She didn’t want to deny it. “We told Jess about us, and he seems okay with it, but I’m not sure.”

  “You know, it would really help if I knew who he was okay with.”

  Janey looked at her Jeep parked beside Adam’s cruiser. The rain dripped steadily against the windshield. Any of his neighbors could see it. Would know that it wasn’t the first time she’d been here in the past week. Any number of conclusions could be formed.

  “It’s Adam Herrin,” she said, preparing herself for an unearthly scream from Annabelle by holding the phone away from her ear.

  It came, and Janey smiled.

  “I can’t believe it,” Annabelle said breathlessly. “I mean, Adam Herrin. He’s so handsome, and tall, and wow. Matt’s best friend.�
��

  The enthusiasm hushed, and for some reason tears pricked Janey’s eyes. “It’s okay for me to date him, right? I mean, Jess seems to like him. They’re in Adam’s shed right now, building a motorcycle together. I could never give Jess an experience like that.”

  “Oh, honey, you’ve always been too concerned with what kind of experiences you can give Jess.”

  Janey nodded. “I know. I know that. I just—” She just wanted him to have what other kids did. A loving family. Fun vacations. Awesome birthday presents. “He asked Adam to teach him how to cook.”

  “Well, that’s not bad,” Annabelle said. “Why do you sound so upset?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, let me go all big sister on you for a minute.” She drew in a deep breath, all pretense of giddiness gone. “Adam Herrin is the Chief of Police. There is no better man in this whole town. You shouldn’t feel guilty for going out with him. Heck, you should be enjoying every last moment of it.”

  “I know, I—”

  “No, you don’t know, or you wouldn’t be sitting wherever you’re sitting, talking to me about this.”

  Janey pressed her lips together, knowing Annabelle would continue whether she spoke or not.

  “Jess will likely struggle with parts of you dating him, but in the end, there is no better man to take Matt’s place.”

  “No.” Janey shook her head. “No one’s taking Matt’s place.”

  “And Adam won’t want to,” Annabelle said. “But he’s perfect for you, and he’d make a great step-dad for Jess. So Janey, listen very carefully to me. Don’t get too far into your head on this. Just enjoy it. Act first. Think later.” She scoffed and gave a short, barking laugh. “That’s the opposite of everything I tell my kids right now. But you tend to overthink things, right?”

  “Maybe a little,” Janey said.

  “More than a little,” Annabelle teased. “It’s a miracle Matt was able to sweep you off your feet so easily.”