by Drea Stein
Mandy drew herself up to her full height, and he braced himself for the coming gale. But then the anger seemed to leave her, and she gave a small shrug. “You really mean it.”
He nodded. “I love her. I love Darby, and, well, we were meant to be here together. I am truly thankful for all you did, Mandy. You were the best publicist a tough kid from the Midwest could want. But . . . .”
“That’s fine,” she said, looking at her fingers, pretending disinterest. “I was going to fire you anyway.”
“Shouldn’t I be firing you?” he said, almost laughing.
“You’re a crap client. No offense. I need to find someone else now.”
He did laugh then, realizing that it was going to be okay. Mandy was taking it better than he had expected.
“I have no doubt you will. Thank you, again, for everything. It’s not you; it’s me.”
“That’s what they all say. Good luck and all that,” Mandy said. She started to walk away, and then she turned, threw her arms around him, and kissed him, twining his hair as she pulled his mouth down to hers, hungrily devouring him.
And that’s how he felt—like a prey that had been snapped up by a predator. Her tongue was lashing at him, and he could feel her moan and writhe up against him. But there was nothing. Not a reaction. He pulled away, and when she tried to stay closer, he reached up and forcibly removed her arms from around his neck. He settled them down in front of her and took a step back.
“What was that for?”
“Something to remember me by. And you really must love her if you felt nothing.”
“I do. I love Darby,” he said, feeling his heart fill with the strength of saying those words out loud.
“Well, then, I’ll leave you to it,” Mandy said, throwing him one last look and turning on her heel. Sean breathed a sigh of relief and all but sagged against a railing.
#
Darby had decided to take a walk, after closing up for the day, to take a moment to savor how everything had worked out. She had sent her dad home, and he went, saying he was eager to go fishing but had one stop he had to make first. She knew he was going to go have a drink with Quent first, to tell him the deal was off.
She wandered down the hill, toward the harbor, hoping to be able to catch Sean on a break. She hadn’t seen him since he’d walked into the cafe earlier that morning. After charming her parents, he’d bolted, saying he had something to take care of. Of course, she’d see him later, she knew, but she just wanted to say thank you for how he had come to her rescue.
Then she saw him standing there, out on the boardwalk that overlooked the harbor. Her pace quickened and she was about to call out to him, her heart going into its familiar pounding rhythm whenever she got near to him.
But he wasn’t alone. She sighed in annoyance. Mandy was there as well, and she had Sean pulled in close to her, as if she were showing him something. There was the way she rubbed his arm and the fact that he didn’t pull back from her. And then Mandy leaned up on her platform sandals, and it looked to her as if Sean leaned down and into her, kissing her.
She didn’t wait to see more. She’d seen enough. Had it been going on all along? Or had it just restarted? It was enough. She wasn’t going to be played for anyone’s fool. So much for his claims of commitment. The sun, which had been shining a few hours earlier, was playing peekaboo with the clouds, and there was a freshening breeze off the water. Suddenly, she felt cold, very cold, and knew she had to get away, anywhere but here.
Chapter 39
The rain had indeed come, and come with a vengeance. Darby looked at the world outside the windows of the cafe. The sky was a sullen, heavy blanket of gray and rain lashed against the glass. Inside, it was still warm and snug and since she hadn’t wanted to go home, she was readying the last of the preparations for tomorrow before she headed to her parents for dinner.
She heard the swing of the door in the kitchen and barely looked up. She figured someone had forgotten their umbrella so she didn’t even look up as she said, “It's on the back hook.”
“Were you expecting someone else?” Sean came in. His eyes were clouded and the tips of his hair danced with raindrops. He had on a light windbreaker, but his khaki shorts were drenched.
“No,” she answered, finishing wiping down the counter. She was almost done, and she was ready to leave. Truth be told, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her own bed, pull the covers up, and stay for about a week. But she couldn't do that anymore. She had responsibilities.
“I came to see how your day went? What happened?” Sean made as if to grab her arm but she danced neatly out his way.
“Don't,” she hissed, slapping the cloth down, ready to fight. She shouldn't let him get away with this. Her determination to be an adult about it was warring with her need to cry.
“I can’t touch you now? What’s going on, sugar?” She could hear the confusion in his voice, couldn’t believe he was going to take that tack with her.
“You had your summer fun. Now you can go back to your real life.”
“My summer fun?” he asked, his voice dangerously low.
“I know you’re a busy man, with lots of opportunities and you should take them. It was great while it lasted, but you and I both have to get on with our lives.”
The words cost Darby but she figured this was the easiest way. That way she wouldn’t have to accuse him, and he wouldn’t have to lie—or worse yet, admit that he had a thing going on with Mandy all along.
After all, Mandy wanted to be with him, in the city, pushing his career. Darby on the other hand, was happier here, in Queensbay. She had learned that the fast-paced life wasn't for her, but she couldn’t force anyone else to make that choice. Especially Sean who so obviously wanted something and someone, else.
“You want to get on with your life? What are you talking back?”
“Yes, especially if you have feelings for someone else,” Darby said, raising her chin and willing back the tears. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry for him, wouldn’t use that trick to even make him think twice.
“Feelings, what are you talking about?” His brown eyes were dark, angry. Darby was glad there was a counter between them, relishing the distance it put between them.
She turned away. “I saw you and Mandy today. Look, I know there was something between you two once and that it’s hard to give that up.”
“Me and Mandy . . . today?” Sean held up his hands. “Look I don’t know what you think you saw . . . .”
“Stop,” Darby said, anger replacing her hurt. “Don’t try to lie to me. I won't be played for a fool.”
“A fool, is that what you think?”
“Go. Get out of my restaurant.” Darby said the words firmly, a horrible weight of finality crashing down around her.
He looked at her, and she couldn’t read any emotion in his eyes. “If you can’t trust me, Darby, if you don’t think . . . .”
“Get out,” she repeated, not giving him a chance to finish.
He gave a short, sharp laugh. “As you wish, sugar.”
And then he was gone. Darby sagged against the counter, finally letting the tears flow.
Chapter 40
“We need to shake her out of it.” Chase marched into Caitlyn's office, dropping a bag with her lunch on her desk.
“Delivery? Since when did the Osprey start to deliver?” Caitlyn said, looking up from her computer, where some of the numbers were actually starting to swarm in front of her eyes.
“It’s your usual from The Golden Pear and we need to talk.”
“About what?” Caitlyn was confused.
“Darby and Sean.”
“There is no Darby and Sean. They broke up, you know, because he was two-timing with his publicist, Mandy.” Caitlyn had heard all about it, more than she wanted to. Darby had been a wreck. It had been a week, and though she went about her business, served her customers, and generally seemed to be holding it all together, underneath
she was very close to losing it.
Chase said, “Look, Sean said Mandy kissed him. And then fired him. It wasn’t what Darby thought she saw.”
Caitlyn looked down at her screen. “It doesn’t matter, a cheater is a cheater.”
“Are you so jaded by your own bad experience that you can’t help out a friend?”
“This isn’t about me, Chase. This is about Darby. Her heart’s broken. She really had it bad for Sean. I think she thought he was going to settle down, stay here, that he wanted to be part of the community.”
Chase ran a hand over his close-cropped hair. “But he does. He is.”
“Then where did he go?” Caitlyn asked.
“He had to take care of something in Indiana. With his mom. She’s okay, but he needed a few days off. Look, Sean is not going anywhere. He’s working on a cookbook featuring recipes from the Osprey Arms and he’s just about talked me into opening up a cooking school. The man is not running off with Mandy.”
“What about the TV show?” Caitlyn asked, trying not to sound as if she cared. “You know, the one that’s supposed to be filming in Los Angeles?”
Chase shook his head and pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of his jacket.
“An announcement in the paper, about the casting of show on a startup food network. As you can see, Sean’s name is nowhere in there. The only TV show he’s interested in is one on the local network.”
Caitlyn’s eye narrowed as she scanned the article. She looked up at Chase. “So Mandy got Will Green the job on that TV show.”
Chase nodded. “Now do you believe me? Please, you need to help me. Sean’s moping around the kitchen looking like somebody killed his puppy. He can’t even work up the energy to yell and, worse yet, his cooking’s off. One more raw sea bass entree and we’ll have to call ourselves Sushi at the Osprey Arms.”
Caitlyn looked at Chase for a long moment, deciding she was enjoying see Chase beg, even just the tiniest bit.
“Please, you have to help me. They need to be together. I mean I was just at The Dory. Even Darby’s cookies are off. The people of this town shouldn’t have to suffer because our two young lovers had a misunderstanding.”
Caitlyn knew Chase was only half joking. She felt herself relent just a little. “He’s really in love with her?”
“Never saw a guy more head over heels in love with a woman, except for you and Noah.”
Caitlyn shot him a look. “Don’t go there, okay? Look, Darby’s in love with him too, for what it’s worth.”
“See, we’d be doing a public service, right? Queensbay won’t know how to thank us.”
Caitlyn looked at Chase fondly. “After all the trouble we caused when we were younger, I guess we do owe the town a good deed.”
Chase smiled and sank back in his chair. “Thank you. I knew you would help me. So here’s my plan . . . .”
Chapter 41
“I don't understand why you wanted to go to this wine tasting,” Darby whined again. “Some of us have to open a restaurant first thing in the morning.”
“And I have an investor call at nine. We don’t have to stay for long, I promise.” Caitlyn pulled her arm.
“Don't you have other friends?” Darby mumbled.
Caitlyn shot her a look. “No, not really. You’re all I’ve got.”
Caitlyn had suggested she wear a dress, try to make it look as if she cared, and so she had, a simple wrap with a plunging v-neckline. September was still holding onto the summer, at least during the day, but at night the temperature dropped quickly. She’d thrown a silky wool wrap over her, but she still thought she could see her breath hanging in the air as they made their way down toward the pier and the Osprey Arms.
It would be nice to light a fire, curl up under a throw, pour herself a glass of wine, and watch some mindless TV or flip through the pages of a book that she wouldn’t quite follow. Or then there was just listening to some mildly depressing girl music. A little Norah Jones, perhaps.
That was the kind of mood she was in, the kind of mood she had been in. She knew she should shake herself out of it, since Sean had clearly moved on. And that she should too. The cafe was doing great, sales up almost a hundred percent, and already there had been one write-up about them in the paper. More and more people were seeking them out, coming for lunch, making inquiries about a few catering jobs, and she had even agreed to ship some cookies to Ohio as an engagement present. Everything in her life was going better than she had planned. So why did her heart hurt a little more every day?
“Are you sure he’s not going to be here?” she asked for the hundredth time. On the one hand, she knew seeing him would be inevitable. After all, Queensbay was a small town. But she’d done a successful job of avoiding him for over a week.
“Yes, Chase assured me he’s still away. You’re perfectly safe. It’s just a glass or two of wine, right?” Caitlyn said, her words sounding forced and too cheery to Darby.
With another sigh she followed her friend into the Osprey Arms.
#
“I thought we were meeting a new winery rep?” Sean said, glancing over at Chase. “I guess he’s running a little late,” Chase answered, then checked his watch again.
“Do you have someplace else you need to be?” Sean asked, feeling irritable. It was a Monday night, a slow one in the kitchen, but still Sean would much rather be there than here, having to be social, trying to look and sound as if he cared.
“Let’s go up, okay, maybe he’s already set up,” Chase said.
Sean shrugged and nodded, then followed Chase up. The stairs were in the center of the room and as they ascended he could look out through the big plate glass windows. Full dark had fallen and the floodlights were on, illuminating the small lawn area around the docks and then the docks themselves. Boats were still moored there and even further out he could see the twinkling lights of the houses that ringed the bluff lining the harbor.
“Here we go,” Chase said, stepping aside. Sean shot him a look, but Chase only took his arm and propelled him into the room. Shrugging, he went in and pulled up short.
“You,” he breathed. Darby’s back was to him, but he could see the fall of her reddish hair. It was curling in loose waves down her back. She was standing by the window but she turned slowly.
“What are you doing here?” she said and he could hear the surprise in her voice.
“I'm supposed to be meeting a winery distributor.” It took him a moment to find the words, to form a sentence. The last time he had seen her, she’d been in shorts and t-shirt, wearing an apron. She’d been about to cry and he had thought she never looked more beautiful. But tonight she was wearing a dress, something that crossed and nipped in at her waist, skimmed her knees, and left just enough skin exposed along the v of her neck line that he could easily imagine getting lost in it.
“I’m supposed to be at some sort of wine tasting, except that the table is set for two.” She waved her hand, and he saw that there was indeed a small round table set close to the windows, set as she had said, for two, with a white cloth, two candles, and two glasses of wine.
“Dinner for two,” he breathed, thinking about all those times they’d never quite gotten around to dinner.
There was the sound of a crash, then a giggle, and a voice, Caitlyn’s called out, “Everything's okay here.”
Sean smiled, feeling relief flooding through him. “I think we’ve been set up.”
Darby smiled too, but it was a sad one. “Seems like it.”
She looked at him, assessing him, taking in his features. “How have you been?”
“Fine. You?”
“Okay,” she answered, looking anything but. The silence stretched between them.
“Look, I need to go,” she said, and tried to move past him.
“Darby, please, don’t,” he begged. “Let me explain.”
She took a step back, closed her eyes. “You don’t have to. I mean I saw the paper. I saw that Will Green got the show, that
Mandy’s his publicist.”
“Truly, what you saw that day . . . .”
“Was Mandy being Mandy?” She gave him a rueful smile and he felt the first stirrings of hope.
“She does have an interesting way of conducting business.”
“I’m sorry,” Darby said, giving him a small smile. “I should have believed you, given you the chance to explain. It’s just I must have wondered why you wouldn’t want her, the show, everything she was offering. It was your chance back, to get everything that you wanted.”
Sean shook his head, took a step toward her. When she didn’t move away from him, he stepped closer, until his hands touched her arms, and he could look down into her face.
Sean's hands clenched and unclenched. “I really did fire her.”
“I know.”
“She did kiss me, but I didn’t kiss her back. I know I probably should have thrown her into the harbor, but, well, she kind of caught me by surprise. Told me she wanted me to know what I was giving up, what I was throwing away.”
“Why, don’t you want it? Your big chance?” Her green eyes searched his, searing into them.
“If you had asked me that question a few months ago, I would have said yes. But things change, people change.” He brushed the top of her forehead. “Darby Reese, you changed me.”
“I changed you?” she asked.
“You did, this town did. For the first time in my life I was happy. I thought maybe it was the restaurant, but now that I lost you, I know it wasn’t. I was happy because of you, Darby, because of how I feel when I’m with you, how you make me feel. I’m miserable without you.”
His lips brushed down her forehead, and she leaned up, reaching into him.
“I’m pretty miserable without you, Sean Callahan.”
“I wanted to stay for you, Darby. You’re the first thing that's really mattered to me in years. Besides a business, besides a restaurant. I want to be with you.”
“Really,” she breathed, and before she knew, she had taken a step and he pulled her toward her and kissed her.
