Sarah barged through the front door, ran to Kayla, and wrapped her in a hug.
Kayla laughed. “Hey, hey, hey, good morning to you, too.”
“You’re going to love me after I tell you what I’ve come up with.” Sarah released Kayla and started jumping up and down. She’d always jumped, even as a kid.
“I love you already. I couldn’t imagine loving you anymore than I already do.” There had been many times in the past when Kayla had acted as Sarah’s mother. In fact, when anyone asked who her mom was, Sarah told them Kayla, and that had gone on since elementary school. Kayla always corrected Sarah, saying she was her sister, but Sarah disagreed.
It wasn’t as if they had a bad mom, but Mom was so consumed with herself and her problems, she didn’t have time to think of her children unless it involved planning meals and cooking. Her mom should have been a baker or chef. When Kayla took over monitoring Nana’s money, she had asked her mom if she’d like to open a bakery or a restaurant. She would have even used the funds to make it happen, but Mom wasn’t interested, which was such a shame.
“Kayla, your mind’s wandering. I want to tell you my idea.”
“Sorry. Yes, please, tell me.” Kayla had to admit, her mind had been wandering a lot lately.
“I figured out a way for the store to generate more income.”
“Okay.” Kayla hoped it was an idea she could support.
“I think we should have classes here, like Mommy and Me classes, and art classes for kids. The storage room is huge, and there’s so much empty space in there. We can divide the room in half, make the other side look pretty, and hold the classes there. And I could run them.”
Kayla smiled. “I absolutely love the idea. Let’s do it.”
“Really?” Sarah clapped her hands.
“Yup—when there are no customers, we can start cleaning the room. I’ll even pay you according to how many kids show. So let’s say we charge ten dollars for the Mommy and Me class; you’ll get five for each Mommy and Me pair, and the store gets the other half. How about you call our insurance company, too, and see if we need to add more coverage to the plan?”
“You don’t need to pay me, Kayla. You already pay me more than enough. I want the store to benefit.”
“The store will benefit. Oh, and call the fire department, and see how many people we can have in the room.”
Sarah threw her arms around Kayla again and gave her an even tighter hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Kayla laughed. Between Sarah and Jessica, the day was already a success. Not to mention her dream morning with Gabe. Kayla would have time to obsess over how amazing it was when she had time alone.
Sarah also had another idea. She thought they should hang paper hearts above the girls’ toy section, since the snowflakes were such a hit with the kids. So they cut out paper hearts until Sarah decided to go to the fire station to ask how many people were allowed in the updated storage room. Kayla tried to convince her it wouldn’t matter if she flirted all day with the men at the firehouse. Rules were rules, and they wouldn’t change them because Sarah was beautiful and great at flirting. But Sarah was convinced going in person would help their case.
Kayla was left by herself to stand on her stepstool and attempt to hang the hearts. If only she had Gabe’s ladder, the task would be so much easier. Sarah had suggested she call him and ask if they could borrow it, but Kayla didn’t think bothering Gabe was such a great idea right now, especially since they’d spent the morning together. Kayla could have told her sister that but wanted to keep thoughts of that special time to herself.
Her stepstool was pretty high. It had three tiers, so Kayla stood on the highest one. She was petite, so she had to stand on her tiptoes. Sarah’s vision was to punch a hole in the top of the heart, tie a string in the hole, and use an adhesive sticker so it would stick to the ceiling. But that method made Kayla’s job harder. She had tried to convince Sarah to ditch the string and just tape the hearts on the ceiling, but Sarah didn’t think that would look as nice. And since Kayla was trying to give Sarah extra confidence, she had agreed—much to her chagrin now.
The stickers were especially hard to stick on the ceiling. If she was taller, the job would have been a whole lot easier. She groaned, stretching as high as she could, as she tried to attach the sticker onto the ceiling. At least there was no one else in the store besides her. Anyone who passed by could see under her dress. As long as no one walked by and stopped to look through her window, she’d be okay. Today of all days, she’d just had to wear the damn navy sundress to impress Gabe. The higher she stood on her tiptoes, the higher her dress rose.
Finally, she managed to adhere one of the stickers on the ceiling, but when she pulled her hand away, she almost fell over. She grabbed the top of the stepstool just in time. With any luck, Sarah would bring back a firefighter who could help her. That could be one benefit to Sarah flirting. A tall man could finish hanging these stupid hearts in five minutes. Kayla had managed to hang one in thirty.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Gabe stormed into her store, looking less than pleased.
“Hanging up some beautiful artwork Sarah and I made.” Kayla pushed down her dress to cover up her thighs. Not that it mattered. He’d seen them this morning.
He rushed over to her and grabbed the hearts out of her hands.
“They look like paper hearts to me.”
“You don’t think I could hang them in a gallery in Manhattan?”
Gabe didn’t even crack a smile. “No, I don’t. I also don’t think you should be standing on that rickety stepstool. You’re too short to hang those.”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”
“Why didn’t you ask me to do it?”
Kayla frowned. “I don’t feel comfortable asking my landlord to hang hearts on my ceiling.”
“Ah, so now I’m back to being your landlord. Don’t forget, I’m also your neighbor, and helping out now and then is the neighborly thing to do.”
Kayla groaned. “That’s not what I meant. I wasn’t going to ask you to hang them for me because you may be many things, but you’re not my handyman,” she said, her tone sharp. “But could I please borrow your ladder?”
He clenched his jaw. There went the easygoing attitude from this morning.
“No, you may not. But I’ll bring the ladder here and hang your hearts. There’s no way I’m going to let you climb the ladder. You could fall,” he said, his voice stern.
“You could, too, and I’m strong. I’m way more physically fit than I was at school.”
Gabe gave her a no-nonsense look, which she remembered from two years ago when he’d been determined to have his own way. His expression made her laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Clearly, nothing about this situation was funny to him.
“I haven’t seen that look on your face since school.” Kayla paused and smiled. “I’ve missed it, even though you’re being an arrogant asshole.”
Gabe clenched his jaw even tighter. “And yet, you left me anyway. You threw away everything we had.”
Kayla huffed. She’d thought they’d made progress this morning, but maybe she was wrong. “I left you, but not the way you thought. The last few months we were together, your attitude changed. We were still moving forward with the engagement, but you became cocky. Arrogant. You were planning a life for us, but there was no room for me to tell you what I wanted. Maybe I didn’t want to work for your dad. Maybe I didn’t want to move into the guesthouse in back of their house until we had enough money to buy a place of our own.”
She paused and inhaled. “Even with that being said, when I came back to Bella Cove, I had every intention of returning to you—but as I’ve told you, I didn’t realize how screwed up my family was. I also had no idea you were also going through your personal hell. Had I known, I would have handled things differently. But I had no way of knowing I was abandoning you because you never told me.”
Gabe’s jaw was
still clenched. “What would you have done differently?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “Maybe I would have spent the weeks with my family and the weekends with you. I honestly don’t know, Gabe. But I would have done something differently.”
They stared at each other for another moment. Then Gabe nodded and started to walk away.
“I’ll be back with the ladder.”
Kayla sat on the stepstool and placed her head in her hands. She wanted to cry. She even tried to force the tears to come, but her eyes remained dry. Maybe she was just tired, fed up, and angry.
Five o’clock came, and Gabe still hadn’t shown with the ladder. She tried using the stepstool again, but it wasn’t any use. She still couldn’t hang the hearts. Sarah tried, too, when she got back but she struggled as well, and she was tall. Unfortunately, she hadn’t brought back a firefighter. Although, Sarah talked Kayla’s ear off about the firefighters she had met. She even had a date with one, but she reiterated that she had no intention of getting married or being in a long-term, committed relationship.
Kayla rolled her eyes at her sister. Love had a way of sneaking up on people. She didn’t want to admit it had happened to her, but it was the truth. She still was in love with Gabe. Spending time with him this morning had confirmed her feelings. Too bad they had to get all serious when he caught her on the stepstool. At least she’d found the courage to communicate with him. Without communication—even communication that might hurt sometimes—they didn’t stand a chance.
Gabe showed up at 5:10. Kayla was adding descriptions of new toys into the computer database, and Sarah was on the floor, rearranging the bottom shelf of family board games.
“Hey, Gabe,” Sarah said. She stood, brushed off her jeans, and gave him a huge hug.
Kayla’s heart tightened. Sarah hugged him naturally, and yet, Kayla couldn’t imagine throwing her arms around him so casually like that, even though she had a strong urge to do so.
He hugged Sarah back with one hand while holding the ladder with the other. Kayla was grateful. No matter how upset he was with her, at least he was still kind to her family.
“You brought your ladder.” Sarah clapped and jumped up and down.
Gabe smiled at her.
“Gabe to the rescue!” she yelled, punching her fist into the air.
“Thank you, Gabe.” Kayla smiled warmly.
Gabe didn’t say anything. He simply nodded. Still, she caught the look in his eyes. She’d do anything to be able to read his mind.
“Okay, I’m ready. Where are the hearts?”
Sarah ran to the register desk and grabbed the adhesive stickers and hearts.
“Do you know where to hang them?” she asked.
“I think I do.”
Sarah told him anyway, pointing to each place while giving him her most flirtatious smile.
Gabe smiled back, that charming smile that Kayla always loved. Then he climbed the ladder and began hanging them, making the job look easy as could be.
“Hey, Gabe?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah,” he said, his focus on placing the stickers in the exact spots Sarah had indicated.
“Did Kayla tell you the great news?”
Kayla looked up at Gabe. He had stopped hanging hearts and had turned to look down at Sarah.
“What’s the great news?” he asked.
“We’re going to split the storage room in half. One side will still be for storage, and the other side will be an area where we can hold classes. We were thinking of having Mommy and Me classes and maybe art classes for kids. And Kayla said I can run them.”
“You wouldn’t know my sister was twenty-seven,” Kayla told Gabe.
“Hey! I’m young at heart,” Sarah responded.
“And that’s why I love you.” Kayla couldn’t help but tease.
“I think it’s a great idea. And I know you’ll make it a success.” Gabe smiled at Sarah. “And I like your young-at-heart attitude. It’s who you are, and that’s why you’re so adored.”
“Thank you, Gabe,” Sarah said sweetly, batting her eyelashes dramatically as she pretended to flirt.
Kayla thought of something. “Oh God, you’re not going to raise the rent now, are you? Kidding. Okay, maybe I’m not.”
Gabe’s gaze tore through her, making Kayla feel as if they were the only two people in the world.
“No,” he said looking directly at her. “But that’s not the only power I hold over you.”
Kayla swallowed hard. She wanted to tell him she agreed. He held her heart and her body. She clenched in her deepest places just from his tone alone. Was he referring to that, too? God, she missed having sex with this man.
Sarah cleared her throat. “Hello? Have you forgotten I’m here or do you guys need to get a room?”
“Sarah!” Kayla’s cheeks heated. Actually, for a minute there, she had forgotten her sister was in the room.
“What?” Sarah asked. “I know you guys used to be together, and then all hell broke loose with our family, but the tension in the room seems to rise the minute you two are together. This is one of the reasons I have no interest in being in a relationship. You guys have a second chance of being together, and yet you can’t get out of your own way.”
Kayla had no idea what to say. She looked over at Gabe, who was pushing his hands through his hair.
“You’re right, Sarah,” he began. “But, please, don’t let what happened between your sister and me screw up any chance you might have to form a great relationship. It wasn’t just the situation with your family that had an impact on breaking us up. Apparently, I was also being hard-headed toward the end. I had a vision of what I wanted Kayla’s and my life to look like, but I failed to consult my partner.”
“Gabe,” Kayla cut him off.
“Let me finish. But while the Conway family was going through hell when your nana passed, I was going through my own hell.”
“What happened?” Sarah asked, leaning against the wall.
Gabe continued hanging the hearts as he spoke. “My parents were going through a divorce, and I felt abandoned all around. My parents were barely communicating with me, and my brother chose that moment to move with his new wife to Oregon. We spoke a bunch of times about it, but he didn’t want to have to deal with it, so when his wife got a new job, he left.”
“I’m sorry, Gabe,” Kayla said quietly, meaning it with her whole heart.
“I’m sorry, too,” Sarah said as she looked at both of them. “But Kayla’s here for you now. And I don’t believe in abandonment issues. I took a yoga class once where my teacher said the only people who are truly abandoned are babies who rely on eating through the help of their moms or someone to give them food. You had a shitty situation, and Kayla did, too. But you both survived. You didn’t die from it.”
“Sarah,” Kayla said warningly, as she straightened the toy cars.
“No. If you both don’t want to be together, that’s fine by me. But please do something to relieve the tension I feel whenever you two are together. The way you guys look at each other makes me want to run home and touch myself.”
“Thanks for the visual, sweetie,” Kayla said.
Sarah blew her a kiss. “No problem, beautiful.” Then she looked at Gabe. “And hurry up hanging up those hearts so I can drive you crazy and make more.”
Gabe chuckled. “You Conway women are so demanding.”
“That’s right, we are. Conway women power.” Sarah raised her fist in the air.
A few customers came in, so Kayla couldn’t say anything else. What she wanted to tell Sarah was that she wasn’t going to abandon Gabe ever again.
A few minutes later, Gabe finished hanging the hearts and left. He said goodbye to Sarah, but he barely glanced at Kayla.
It was turning out to be a week of discoveries. Today alone, she’d learned two very important things. One, she understood why he couldn’t let go of what had happened between them, and two, she needed to make sure they spent more tim
e alone together. As long as he wasn’t dating anyone else, maybe they could get out of their own way, as Sarah put it, and have their second chance.
Chapter Thirteen
Once Kayla closed the shop, Sarah ran to the gym as if she had no cares in the world. Kayla envied her sister’s lighthearted attitude, especially since Kayla’s own cares seemed to be growing. Once Sarah had said her piece to her and Gabe earlier and gotten it off her chest, she was happy as a clam.
By the time Kayla walked up the back porch to her house, she was wiped out. The sun hadn’t set yet, so she sat on the rocking chair and rocked back and forth, drawing in deep breaths of the fresh air coming in off the bay. The smell of Bella Cove always soothed her. There was nothing in life more peaceful than this.
She glanced toward Gabe’s property, which was a mistake. Why did she automatically always look there? He stood there as strong and determined as always, looking over the work the builders had done so far. Kayla couldn’t believe the progress, but Gabe had hired them to work seven days a week.
Her dad walked onto the back porch and sat on the chair next to hers. He didn’t say anything at first. He just leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.
“Beautiful view,” he said finally.
“I love it here,” she said, continuing to rock back and forth.
Her father grew silent again, and then he took a deep breath.
“I wasn’t talking about the bay. I was talking about the gentleman standing over there. Gabe Wademan.”
Kayla’s heart froze. “He’s a nice-looking man.” She didn’t know what else to say. A part of her wanted to tell her dad everything and cry on his shoulder, but if her mom found out she had told her dad before sharing her secret with her, it would only ignite another battle between them. And that’s the last thing she wanted to do.
“I thought the sparks between the two of you were going to light the barbecue on fire the other night at dinner. You wouldn’t have needed me to cook.”
Kayla bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. Sarah had said something similar earlier. “He’s my landlord and my new neighbor.”
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