by Rachel Hanna
With that, Brad shut the door and left Ronni standing there, befuddled and confused. Why did she want to follow his instructions?
“So, where’s California girl?” Kyle asked when Brad returned to the yard.
“She’s coming. I hope, anyway.”
“You hope?”
“I gave her an ultimatum… kind of.”
“And she took you seriously?” Kyle laughed.
“I think so, actually. Of course, she’s a pain in the ass, so it’s hard to tell.”
“Man, she’s got you tied up in knots already,” Kyle said as he punched Brad in the shoulder.
“No, she doesn’t. She’s my boss. That’s it.”
“Ooohhh…. Somebody’s sensitive,” Kyle said. Before Brad could respond, Ronni was walking across the yard. And damn, she was hot.
She was still wearing her long red skirt, likely to cover the gash on her shapely leg, but she was now wearing a form fitting white tank top too. Her long blond hair draped over her perfectly tanned shoulders, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
“Ronni Blair, this is my brother, Kyle,” Brad said as Ronni reached out and shook Kyle’s hand. “He’s the one who got married recently.”
“Oh, congratulations,” she said, a hint of something in her voice. Was it sadness?
“Thanks. How are you liking January Cove so far?”
“Well, I’ve only been here a few days, but it’s growing on me. I’ve enjoyed the quiet compared to my normal fast-paced lifestyle in California.”
“I bet. Oh, Jenna’s waving me over,” Kyle said, pointing across the yard at his new wife waving for him. “Nice to meet you, Ronni.”
“And you too,” she said smiling as he walked away. She looked around anxiously for a moment and then looked up at Brad. “Well, here I am, at your service. How do we woo these people? Pork rinds?”
“Was that supposed to be a Southern joke?” he asked, tilting his head.
“No. I’m sorry. That was rude.”
“No surprise there…”
“Look, Brad, I’m here, okay? Just tell me what I need to do. I can’t afford to lose my job, so I’ve got to make this work.” That was one of the first honest things he’d heard her say.
“If you’re serious, then let’s get to work.”
“How?” she asked, hands on her hips again.
“Well, you can start by being nice. And then we’ll eat pie and watch fireworks…” he said, gently putting his hand on her back and leading her toward the people.
“And how will that help?”
“Because then people might think you’re nice. And normal…” he said, smiling as she seethed at him.
Chapter 5
The mornings in January Cove were almost as hot as the afternoons this time of year. July was a hot time in Georgia, but at least the constant ocean winds kept the area manageable.
Brad had been working with Ronni for over a week now, but chipping away at her outer shell had been close to impossible. Although she had made some connections at the 4th of July get-together, her tough exterior remained.
But she was smart. Super smart. Smarter than anyone he’d ever met.
Her business sense was astounding. And sexy. And irritating.
On this morning, they were scheduled to meet with the local City Council to go over the final plans for the Lamont. Brad was more “dressed up” than usual, wearing a pair of khaki pants and a navy blue golf shirt. When he spotted Ronni getting out of her car across the parking lot at City Hall, she was breathtaking.
She wore a gauzy white dress, and he could just make out the hint of her shape underneath it. Now he regretted wearing his tighter pair of pants.
“Good morning,” he called to her, placing his ever-filling briefcase in front of his ever-growing…
“Good morning,” she said, not a hint of a smile on her face. She was all business, as usual. “Is that a uniform of some kind?” she asked, pointing at his attire.
“Very funny.”
“I thought maybe you were flipping burgers after this,” she said, a hint of a smile playing across her lips. Then it was gone as soon as it came.
She carried her own briefcase, and with a determined look on her face, she barreled toward the front door. Brad grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.
“What are you doing?” she asked, yanking her arm away.
“Don’t you think you need to know a few things before you go charging in there?”
She sighed. “This town takes way more work than I anticipated.”
“Look, this is small town America, Ronni. These people care about each other and what goes on here. It’s been this way for generations, so you can’t go in there with this big city mentality about ‘change is good’ because they won’t buy it.”
“So what do you want me to do, Brad?” she asked, her arms crossed.
“Well, first of all, uncross your arms,” he said. She begrudgingly did it. “And second of all, smile. And listen to them. And open your mind and your heart to what they’re saying.” She finally started nodding along like she was taking mental notes. “The head of the City Council is Ben Gay.”
Ronni let out a loud laugh. “Like the ointment?”
“Yes,” Brad said trying not to laugh himself. “And he hates when people make fun of his name.”
“He should’ve changed it then…”
“Not really the point right now,” Brad said, rolling his eyes. “Two of the other members who have a lot of say-so in what goes on around here are Elmer Drysdale and Wilma Farmer.”
“Good Lord. These names…”
“Focus, Ronni.”
“Sorry. Okay, can we go in now? I think I’ve got it. Ointment guy, Elmer and Wilma.” He stared at her for a minute. “What?”
“I’m right there if you need me,” he said, unsure of why he said it. She looked a little stunned, so he opened the door and waved her in before she could say anything.
“So, Miss Blair, what exactly does your company plan to do with our Lamont? Tear it down?” Wilma Farmer asked, her glasses pinching the end of her substantial nose.
“No, certainly not,” Ronni said, standing tall as she pulled out the stack of colorful presentations she’d brought with her. Brad was impressed with her preparedness, but he wasn’t sure the current audience would be so excited about the stodgy file folders. “We want to maintain the integrity of the historical value of the Lamont.”
The entire room stared at her, and Brad swore he heard crickets chirping. This was not going well.
“What Miss Blair is trying to say is that she wants the locals to still feel like the Lamont is a part of their history. The plan isn’t to change everything, but to add to it and showcase the history of our town,” Brad said as he walked back and forth across the front of the room. Ronni looked at him, trying to hide her astonishment at his sudden ability to speak in front of a room like he’d done it a million times before. “The Lamont is important to the people of January Cove, and that’s one reason Miss Blair hired me for the job. Ya’ll know how much history I have at the Lamont,” he said as a few of the members giggled.
“Yes, we do, Brad Parker. Do you remember when you pulled the fire alarm and cleared out the whole theater?” Elmer asked, his puffy face red with laughter.
“Yes, sir, I do. I was just trying to get a few minutes alone with Sissy Candell,” he said with a crooked smile.
“Did it work?” Elmer asked, sitting forward on his chair.
“I can’t kiss and tell, Mr. Drysdale,” Brad said which caused a huge chuckle to come from the mostly elderly council members. From his side, Brad heard one of Ronni’s famous sighs sliding from her lips. “But back to the Lamont…”
“Yes, back to the Lamont,” Ronni started to say, but Brad cut her off yet again.
“The plan with the Lamont is to use it as a bridge between the locals and the tourists in January Cove. We all know that we can’t survive and grow our town without
encouraging a little more tourism,” he said as Wilma wrinkled up her nose and crossed her arms. She was not a fan of turning January Cove into a tourist mecca at all. She was in her seventies, and her family had practically founded the town starting with her grandfather.
“Tourism, hmmph,” she snorted. Ronni’s eyes were as big as saucers as she looked between Wilma and Brad for what seemed like hours.
“Now, Ms. Farmer, you know I’m telling the truth,” he said, smiling at her as he leaned on her side of the table. “We want to build the botanical gardens, right?”
“Well, yes,” she said, begrudgingly.
“Then we have to raise more capital, and the Lamont is our biggest asset. Having all of those tourists here can only be a boon to the economy in January Cove, but we can’t do it without the support of the City Council. And that’s why Miss Blair and I would like for you to all take a look at these numbers…” he said, nodding his head to Ronni as she passed out the folders.
The sun was beating down when they finally made it back outside after the meeting. The council members left as a group, heading out to eat lunch at one of the local restaurants, which left Ronni and Brad standing outside alone.
“Okay, look, before you start yelling at me…” Brad started, fully prepared to get the onslaught of irritated comments about how he took over and didn’t let her speak.
“Yelling? You think I’m going to yell at you?” she asked with a laugh. “You were fantastic in there! I could kiss you!”
Brad stopped mid-walk as they headed for their cars. “Oh yeah?”
“It was a figure of speech, but still, you were amazing in there. I didn’t know you could…”
“What? Talk like a normal human?” he said with a laugh. “Yeah, I can string sentences together and everything.”
“You know what I meant,” she said, waving her hand at him as they reached their cars.
“No, I really don’t, but it doesn’t matter anyway. We’ve got them eating out of our hands now, and with their support the project will go a lot smoother,” Brad said. “So, congratulations.” He reached out his hand to shake hers, and she slipped hers into his. Her hand was soft, delicate and warm, and he didn’t want to let it go. But apparently she did. “I guess I’ll see you at the theater after lunch,” Brad said as he turned for his truck.
“What? No celebratory lunch?” she called to him.
“You want to go to lunch with me?”
“Well, I’m hungry and it’s lunch time. That would make logical sense, wouldn’t it?”
“No salad today?”
“Don’t that have salads at the restaurants around here?” she asked with a smile.
“I have to admit, this place isn’t half bad,” Ronni said as she took the last bite of her clam chowder. “I don’t think I’ve ever had better chowder, actually.” Brad had brought her to The Wharf, which was one of the town’s nicer restaurants, situated with a stunning ocean view.
It was nice to see her loosen up for a bit, and she was starting to feel like a friend. Or at least an acquaintance that might donate blood to him if he needed it. Maybe.
“Glad you like it. This place only opened about five years ago, but it’s usually hopping on the weekend nights. Not a huge lunch crowd, though.”
Over lunch, they’d kept most of the talk to work related issues, but he had learned that Ronni was an only child and her mother wasn’t exactly the most stable person in her life.
The rocky relationship she described between her and her father made Brad wonder if it was one of the reasons she seemed so snippy at men. Or maybe she was only that way with him.
Brad called the waitress to get the check, but the ringing of Ronni’s cell phone interrupted their discussion. She looked down, and concern briefly swept across her face as she checked the screen.
“Oh. I need to take this. Do you mind….?” she asked, pointing at the check.
“My treat,” Brad said as she stood up and walked to the door. Realizing he had enough cash in his pocket, he laid it on the table and walked outside to find her.
“Yes, I understand the deposit is non-refundable. Trust me, this was an unexpected turn of events,” she said in a low voice from around the corner. Brad couldn’t help but listen in, curiosity getting the better of him. He knew it was wrong, but he wanted to know what this woman’s deal was, and maybe eavesdropping would give him the details.
She continued. “I’m really very sorry. Yes, yes, I know. Please don’t raise your voice with me, okay? I’m very upset too. I was supposed to be on my honeymoon right now!” she said in a high pitched whisper, and Brad’s stomach dropped. Her honeymoon?
Too bad cell phones can’t be slammed down because that would’ve given Brad an indicator that she’d hung up and was coming back around the corner where he was standing. Instead, she ran smack dab into his chest with a thud and almost fell backward.
“Brad! My God, you scared me to… Wait? Were you listening to my conversation?” Brad stood there looking like the cat that ate the canary, unable to find words for the first time in his life. “Answer me!”
“I… um… I didn’t mean….” Maybe he was having a stroke, he thought. He had no words, and his thoughts were zooming a mile a minute.
“You’re so infuriating! You had no right to eavesdrop on me!” she said, and he could’ve sworn tears were welling in her eyes before she started walking quickly back toward the parking lot. Luckily, they’d taken his truck and it was way too far to walk back to the Lamont.
“Ronni! Wait!” he called to her, surprised at how fast those lean legs of hers could move. When he caught up to her at the truck, she wasn’t even out of breath and he felt like he was going to die. Note to self - need more cardio.
“Unlock my door,” she said in a low growl as she stood there, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
“I’m sorry. I really am. I came outside and heard you talking, and before I knew it, I heard you say you’re supposed to be on your honeymoon right now. It wasn’t intentional, Ronni. Really,” he said, knowing full well that wasn’t the total truth but he would rather not get strangled at the moment so he went with it.
She took in a deep breath and finally looked at him. “I guess you want the whole story?”
“Only if you want to tell me,” he said softly. Sure, he wanted to know, but it was obviously painful for her.
“I guess it doesn’t matter now, and it will only distract you from work if I don’t tell you,” she said with a hint of a smile.
“Ah, you already know me well.”
“Can we walk?” she asked. He was surprised that she wasn’t aching to get back to work as usual.
“Sure. Let’s walk down to the beach,” Brad said, pointing behind him.
They walked quietly for several minutes, only the sound of sea gulls and waves between them. When they reached the sand, she stood for a moment and breathed in deeply.
“I love the smell of the ocean,” she said in almost a whisper.
“Me too.” He had decided during their walk to just let her do the talking and not push although it was against his every natural inclination not to start battering her with questions.
Ronni walked over to a jagged rock near the water and sat down, pulling her long, white dress under her as she tucked her feet under one hip. Brad said down across from her, his back to the water he loved so much.
“His name is Evan.”
“Evan. Got it.”
“We were supposed to get married two weeks ago. Our honeymoon was going to be in Aruba this week. The call I got was from the caterer. I lost my deposit, but they want me to pay for the whole thing since they lost out on getting other events for that date.”
“I see… The wedding got called off?”
“Yes. Evan called it off. My whole world was turned upside down, so I told my boss to send me somewhere… anywhere. And anywhere turned out to me January Cove.”
“I’m sorry, Ronni.”
“Don’
t pity me, Brad. I’ll be fine. I’m just not meant for love,” she said, a sad look spreading over her face as she stared out at the water. “And I don’t like to talk about personal stuff, so I’d appreciate it if we could just leave this conversation here.”
“That’s not true.”
“What’s not true?”
“That you’re not meant for love. Evan must be an idiot to have given up a woman like you, Ronni.” His voice was soft, and it was taking every ounce of strength he had in him not to lean over and kiss her square on the mouth. Never had he felt such an instant attraction to a woman in his life.
“You don’t really know me, Brad,” she said quietly. “I can be hard to deal with sometimes.”
He grinned. “No. Really? Impossible.” He faked his shock by putting his hand on his heart and allowing his mouth to gape open.
She leaned over and took a hand full of sand from the ground before tossing it into his lap. “Oops, sorry. Did I mess up your uniform?”
“Oh, you’re going to pay for that!” he said as she jumped up and started jogging toward the water. He chased her down, grabbing her around the waist and spinning her. When they stopped, she fell to the ground and he toppled down behind her. They both lay on their backs, staring up at the blue sky.
“You know, I’m almost kind of glad that we met,” she said, so softly that he could barely hear her over the waves. He popped up onto one elbow, his mouth hanging open.
“Excuse me? I think I have sand in my ears.”
She laughed and the rolled to her side too. “No, I actually said that. And I’m not sure why.”
“Maybe my wonderful qualities are finally winning you over, Miss Blair,” Brad said as he reached out and chucked her shoulder lightly.
“Let’s just say I could use a friend right now.”
“So we’re friends?”
“Aren’t we?”
“You just put sand on my crotch.”
“Do you have to say crotch?”
“What am I supposed to call it? Because I can describe it in other ways…”
“Nevermind. That’s okay,” she said as she sat up and looked out at the ocean, her feet pulled close to her as her white dress blew lightly in the breeze. Brad sat up too.
