Bella Cove_A Second Chance Romance

by Rochelle Katzman

  Gabe clenched his damn jaw again. She bet he was remembering the times in school when they spoke about their future children playing with their toys and running around in the playground. Kayla blinked back tears that were threatening to fall.

  “I would never want to hurt the kind people of Bella Cove.”

  How did he know they were kind?

  “Have you been in Bella Cove long?” Surely, she would have known if he was here. Someone would have told her there was a gorgeous man in town. That was how Bella Cove worked.

  “I came here about a month ago when I knew my grandfather was dying.”

  Kayla cleared her throat. “I’m sorry about your grandfather. I didn’t know him as well as Melody did, but he was always nice to me.”

  Gabe nodded. “I’d been staying at his house in East Hampton since the day he called me. After a week or so, he insisted I visit Bella Cove. So I did.”

  Kayla’s breath caught in her throat. In the two years she had known Gabe, not once had he mentioned that his grandfather owned properties in Bella Cove or anywhere else on Long Island. Yet she had mentioned many times how she’d grown up here and how much she missed it. At any point, he could have mentioned his grandfather, so why hadn’t he?

  “And what do you think of my small town?”

  Gabe ignored her question but continued speaking. “My grandfather said that once he passed on, the house in East Hampton would be mine, along with everything else he owned. But there was a piece of land in Bella Cove that was sacred to him. And after spending a few days here, I decided to check it out. My grandfather was right…it was perfect.”

  Kayla swallowed hard. “Perfect for what?”

  Gabe glared at her. “Perfect to build my house on and settle down.”

  Kayla was too stunned to speak. When he said settle down, did he mean he had a wife? She didn’t see a ring on his finger, but that didn’t mean anything. She tried to think of the right response, but there was nothing right about this.

  “You look shocked.”

  “I am.” Kayla paused. A million questions were flooding through her mind, but she could only ask the safe ones. “Have you been to Bella Cove before? I mean, when you were growing up?”

  Gabe put his hands in his pockets. She should probably ask him to sit in her office, but she still couldn’t move.

  “I spent a summer or two at my grandfather’s house in East Hampton, but he never took me to Bella Cove. He said I wouldn’t have appreciated it until now, and he was right.”

  “I told you I lived in Bella Cove.”

  Gabe nodded. “I knew there was a chance I’d run into you. But only a small chance. I had no idea I’d be your landlord.”

  She sighed. “Where’s the piece of land?”

  Kayla’s heart was thudding like crazy. She hoped the land was on the other side of Bella Cove. Far enough away that she wouldn’t bump into him too often. The town was small, but as long as he didn’t live nearby with whomever he was planning on settling down with, she’d be okay. She wouldn’t be happy about it, but she’d survive.

  Gabe took his cellphone from his pocket and started scrolling through it. Kayla held her breath the entire time.

  “The exact address is 23 Bella View Drive. It’s right up there on that hill.” Gabe motioned with his head in the direction of the hill.

  Kayla knew exactly where it was because she lived on the same street. She briefly closed her eyes. This was not good. To make matters worse, she knew of only one piece of vacant land.

  “Do you know where that is?” Gabe asked.

  Kayla opened her eyes. “I do.” She paused and took a deep breath. “That hill is where I live with my family. Bella View Drive is the street I live on, and the piece of land you own is right above my house. I’m at 21 Bella View Drive, but you must have known this. I gave you my home address when you mailed my clothes back to me.” Her face heated up.

  Gabe’s eyes grew colder, if that were possible. “I didn’t remember. I swear.”

  Kayla looked at her pretty toes again. It didn’t matter if he was telling her the truth or not. She couldn’t change the situation, although it made her life a hell of a lot more challenging. Her parents didn’t even know he existed. Now she’d have to tell them she’d not only dated him but had been planning to spend the rest of her life with him.

  And that piece of land had been vacant for generations. Even her nana had wondered who it belonged to. Her pop had tried to find out but couldn’t. Her family’s house was the highest on the hill. Their property was five acres—second in size only to his, which must be at least six or seven acres. It had the same bay view hers did, except his was slightly higher.

  Kayla exhaled a breath she hadn’t even known she was holding.

  “What are we going to do, Gabe?” she asked, her tone quiet.

  He stood up even straighter. “I don’t see a problem. We’ve barely spoken in the last two years. We’ll keep it that way. There’s no need to speak. You’ll mail the rent check to Alice, as you said. I’ll be busy building my house, but the land is big enough and private enough that we won’t have to see each other.”

  His words stung painfully hard, but she deserved them.

  “Okay. Are you sure you wouldn’t feel more comfortable living at the house you inherited in East Hampton?”

  Gabe shook his head. “The house I’ll be building is perfect to settle down in.”

  Kayla swallowed. How many times had he used the words settle down? She didn’t like it one bit.

  “Are you married?” She hated asking him, but she needed to know. After all, once the house was built, he would be her new neighbor.

  Gabe smirked. “No.”

  Kayla exhaled. “Fiancée?”

  Gabe chuckled. “No.”

  He might have a girlfriend, but she didn’t have the courage to ask that.

  “Okay.” Kayla wasn’t sure what else to say. She had a million more questions, but she could tell from his distant expression he was done answering.

  Gabe put his phone back into his pocket. He looked as if he wanted to leave, but she didn’t want him to. She wanted to continue talking to him, continue getting to know him again. But she had no right to ask him to stay. If it was up to her, she would ask him every little detail of what he had been up to since she left. She knew he had graduated from checking him out on the internet, but that’s all she knew.

  She watched Gabe take a deep breath. He hadn’t yet asked if she was married or engaged. Did he even want to know? Maybe he didn’t even care.

  “So you know how to proceed with me from this day forward?” Gabe asked.

  Kayla raised her eyebrow.

  “You know, mail the rent check to Alice?”

  “Yes.” Kayla swallowed.

  Gabe stared intensely at her, then turned around and started walking toward the front door. Kayla panicked. This felt wrong.

  “Gabe?” she said, louder than she’d intended.

  It got his attention, though. He stopped walking.

  “I was surprised to see you, but I’m glad about it, too.” Her heart was beating like crazy.

  Gabe smirked. “I wouldn’t have seen you if I knew you were here. I told you that.”

  “I know, but maybe this was fate,” she blurted out, then bit her tongue.

  “Fate?” Gabe paused. “Our fate was sealed two years ago. You were the one who sealed it.” He turned, walked out the door, and slammed it shut.

  Kayla leaned against the wall and sank to the floor. She placed her head in her hands. She wanted to cry, felt the tears but they wouldn’t flow. In fact, she felt numb. Maybe she was in shock from seeing him again. Or maybe it was the realization that two years ago there was a huge obstacle between them: her family.

  During their last phone conversation, he begged her to come back. As difficult as it was, she had to say no. She needed more time to make sure her family could stand on their own two feet again. But it ended up taking them longer than she’
d thought. Even though there were so many times she’d wanted to leave them and run back into Gabe’s arms, she couldn’t. They were her family, and she didn’t have the heart to abandon them. She loved them, too. And it hadn’t been the time or place for Gabe to meet them, especially since they were all healing over Nana in their own way.

  Kayla closed her eyes. Gabe was in Bella Cove. And not only was he her new landlord, he was also building his dream house right next to hers. She knew what his house would look like; they’d discussed it often enough. It would be a white-shingled house with a wraparound porch and windows everywhere. They had both dreamed of a house like that. But she could no longer think that way. Gabe had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her, and she had to respect that. After all, she was the one who had left him. If only he could understand that she’d had no option.

  Kayla sighed. Her first morning as the new owner of Magical Toys had been awful. The love of her life had walked into the store and then right back out. That wasn’t how she imagined seeing him again for the first time. But she couldn’t dwell on it any longer. Nothing had really changed except her heart. Today, she’d found out he wanted nothing from her. The knowledge hurt, but the only way she’d be able to deal with it was if she threw herself into a project that would get her mind off him. A large project, where she wouldn’t have time to obsess about Gabe living here. The only project she could think of was continuing to help her family. She might as well put her almost-a-degree in psychology to good use.

  With her newfound determination, Kayla stood and walked to the counter. She picked up the store phone and dialed her sister Lauren. The call went to voicemail.

  “Hi, Lauren, I need a little sister time. Would you mind stopping by Magical Toys around four? Love you.” Kayla wasn’t lying. Even though she lived in the same house as her sisters, she rarely had time to hang out with them alone.

  Then she placed a call to her younger sister Sarah, which also went to voicemail. Kayla repeated exactly what she’d said to Lauren.

  Kayla felt better. She had a plan. She’d survive Gabe Wademan’s unexpected appearance in her life.

  “Kayla, Kayla!” The bell rang above her door. Little Ben, a frequent visitor to her store, ran in and gave her a huge hug.

  “Hi, honey. How are you?”

  The little boy looked up at her, and Kayla’s heart clenched. He was four years old, and he had the most beautiful green eyes, just like Gabe’s. If she and Gabe had gotten pregnant two years ago like they’d talked about doing, their child would probably look like Ben. The thought brought a lump to her throat. Huh…Maybe she wasn’t numb after all.

  “Mommy said I could get a toy.”

  Ben’s mom, Erica, walked into the store. She was a pretty woman with long, dark hair and blue eyes. Ben’s father had joined the military and got shipped out while she was pregnant, and he’d died in combat. Kayla tried to help out by giving Ben free toys, which Melody had completely supported.

  “Sorry. I promised Ben I’d buy him chocolate if he cleaned his room, and he did. But instead of chocolate, he wanted a toy.”

  Kayla smiled, gave Ben a tight squeeze, and walked toward the toys for his age range. “No problem at all.”

  Erica grabbed Kayla’s arm. “I want to pay you this time. I sold some more of my jewelry this month, so I have extra money.”

  Erica made and sold beaded jewelry, and though her business did well enough to support her and Ben, it normally didn’t bring in enough for extras. Her jewelry business also allowed her to raise Ben without having to work a typical nine-to-five job and be away from him all the time. Kayla respected her for that.

  “It’s my pleasure to help you out in any way I can. Plus, by giving you a free toy, it helps me out, too.”

  “Really? How?” Erica gave Kayla a skeptical look.

  Kayla looked at Ben, who already seemed to have picked a toy he wanted—coincidentally, the same dinosaur stuffed animal Gabe had been checking out.

  “Because you’re constantly spreading the word about my store. And now, I’m the new owner.”

  “You are? Congratulations!” Erica gave her a big hug. “I’m so happy for you. This is huge.”

  Kayla laughed. “Thank you. So how about the next time you work at one of those craft shows in the Hamptons, you take along a stack of my cards?”

  Erica seemed visibly relieved. There was no way Kayla would allow her to pay for Ben’s toy. This seemed like the best solution. The folks in the Hamptons knew about her store and frequently visited, but she knew the “deal” they’d just worked out would make Erica feel better.

  “That’s a wonderful idea. I’d love to help you advertise.”

  Kayla smiled and handed her a bunch of cards from a rack sitting on the register desk. “Great. Then we both win.” Kayla turned to Ben. “Hey, honey. Would you like to take that dinosaur home with you?”

  Ben started jumping up and down. “Please, Mommy, please, Mommy.”

  Erica and Kayla laughed together.

  “Okay, sweetie.”

  “Yay!” Ben threw the stuffed animal up into the air.

  Kayla kneeled down and met him at eye level. “Ben, do you promise to take care of him?”

  “I will,” Ben responded.

  If Ben hadn’t chosen the stuffed animal, Kayla had been thinking of sending it to Alice and asking her to give it to Gabe as a peace offering. But it was probably a silly idea, and now Kayla wouldn’t be able to anyway. The little boy loved the stuffed animal, and she wouldn’t want to hurt him for anything in the world.

  “I’m glad to hear it. Give him a hug every day and tell him you love him.”

  Ben ran toward the front door. “I will. Thank you, Kayla,” he yelled as he ran out the front door.

  Erica followed after him, but when she reached the door, she stopped and turned toward Kayla.

  “Thank you, Kayla. I really appreciate it.”

  Kayla smiled as Erica left, closing the door behind her. Kayla used to tell Gabe every day how much she loved him and now she couldn’t. She hoped she could remain strong with him living in town, that she wouldn’t break down and tell him every thought she’d had about him these last two years. Then again, from the way he’d behaved earlier, he probably wouldn’t even care. She’d crushed him by not returning and she was too much of a coward to tell him the full reason why she picked her family over him.

  Chapter Three

  As Kayla expected, Lauren was the first to arrive that afternoon. For the last few years, she’d worked at a real estate office part-time in her ongoing search for a rich man. So far, she had only met married men who’d tried to flirt with her, but unless the conversation was business-related, she usually ignored them. It was challenging to meet single, eligible men in Bella Cove. Most were either married, in their early twenties and still trying to find themselves, or artists who hid in Bella Cove to escape the rest of the world. Kayla had spoken to some of the artists a few times, but mostly, they kept to themselves. Every so often, she’d see one of them painting by the bay or taking photos. Most seemed to be extremely interesting people but loners, introverts.

  At first, Kayla thought the best solution for Lauren would be to move to Manhattan. Kayla would have given Lauren enough of Nana’s money to live there for free for an entire year. Nana would definitely consider this an emergency, and that was one of the rules her grandmother had listed before she died—taking care of family emergencies.

  Kayla worked hard alongside their business manager of over twenty years. Mr. Goldstein made sure all their bills were paid and made certain they had enough funds for everyone in her family to survive. The furniture business still brought in a small fortune, so her dad and Matt also got a salary from there. The rest of the money was added to Nana and Pop’s money. Her family was all in agreement with the arrangement, as it made everyone prosper.

  Everyone except Josh. Kayla refused to give him a dime. Not now, anyway. And even though he worked at the furniture factor
y, he had to work off the damage he’d done. If he didn’t, Kayla would go to the police in a heartbeat and tell them everything.

  But when Kayla offered Lauren more of Nana’s money to move, she had refused. Lauren loved Bella Cove and had no intention of leaving, which made finding her a husband a difficult task. But Kayla was not giving up hope. She also wanted to teach Lauren that she didn’t need a man to be happy. First and foremost, she had to be happy within herself.

  Lauren’s biggest problem was that she always looked so miserable, but Kayla had an idea to change that…

  “Hi, Kayla.” Lauren entered the store smiling, which was a good sign.

  “Hi, honey.” Kayla walked over to her and gave her a huge hug, hoping her plan would work. “So what do you think?” She waved her arm in the air to indicate the store.

  She watched Lauren take it all in. First, she walked to the baby section and picked up the rattles and began shaking them. Then she picked up some magic wands and some dolls. She remained silent as she studied all the toys, which made Kayla nervous.

  “The store looks exactly how it looked when I visited last week when Melody owned it.”

  Kayla laughed. “I know, dork, but I wanted your opinion on how I can enhance the place. Since the store is mine now, I’m going to be changing it a little.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I thought I’d bring the dollhouse castle from the house and put it here somewhere. You know, the one we played with when we were kids?”

  Lauren giggled. “That was the ultimate dollhouse.”

  “That’s what I thought. I figured while the children are here, they can play with it while their parents shop. I also want to paint a yellow border on the ceiling and paint hearts on it, or something, to make the store more charming.”

  Lauren beamed. “I totally agree. It’s a great store, but if you add more of your flair to it, it’ll be even better.”

  Kayla smiled wide. Maybe her plan would work.