Elli pulled herself together and moved away from him. He grabbed for her hand and laced their fingers. “You gonna talk to me?”
“I saw Holden this morning.”
“Oh?” His expression faded. “You don’t still have feelings for him, do you?”
“No.” She shook her head.
He looked relieved.
“He told me who you are.”
“Elli, you know who I am. We’ve been working side by side for days. You know me better than anyone. You’ve snuck your way right into my heart.”
“Why didn’t you tell me who you really are? I didn’t find you by accident on Facebook, did I?”
“I wasn’t trying to keep a secret from you.”
“But you did.”
“It just didn’t come up, and in the beginning it was because we were trying to keep things quiet on the second warehouse for R waveStyle to keep it from the competition. So, I’d been watching for any mention of Sand Dollar Cove on social media and I just happen to find your post. It’s not like I lied. I had every intention of doing that work for you. It was going to be kind of therapeutic for me. It has been.”
“It’s not like you needed the work.”
“I don’t think that was in the job description.”
“Well, I thought you were some kind of beach-hopping surfer dude.”
“But…I never said that.”
“You let me believe it.”
“Please don’t be mad. I didn’t know this was going to turn into…this. And I sure didn’t think what I do for a living would bother you so much. I also didn’t think in a million years that I was going to meet a girl I’d fall for. I’m crazy about you, Elli.”
When he said it she wanted to believe it. So badly, but she didn’t want to be hurt again either.
“Look at me.” He let go of one of her hands and swept her hair from her face. “I know this sounds crazy, but I’m in love with you. It’s fast. I know it. But it feels right. You are an amazing woman.”
“You could have anyone.”
“I’m well aware of that. And I’ve never picked any of them. This is different. Wouldn’t it be worse if I was pretending to be some successful guy with a profitable company, but was really a beach bum?”
She started laughing. “Yeah. Maybe?”
“I’m sorry. Elli, at first it was just a fun project. But then I started really liking this town, and Nana is amazing. Cooking with her and hanging out was like being with my own grandmother again, and it felt good after losing my dad. It was comforting. And then you…well, that was unexpected.”
“What about me?”
“Your spirit. Everything little thing about you. The way you make me feel. I’ve never felt like this. I like it. A lot. Please don’t let this ruin things.”
She dried her tears, but her mind was still reeling.
“I can understand you being upset if you’ve read all that stuff journalists have written about me being the kind of bachelor who will never settle down. And you know, it has been a pretty accurate account up until now. But that’s no longer true. I can see myself here. I want to be with you. Don’t let Holden try to win you back by making me into something that I’m not.”
“He said you were manipulating me so you can hold those surf competitions down here in the cove.”
“Elli, if we do that it will be because you and I want that to happen. Trust me, I don’t need to steal beach rights for R waveSTYLE. The company has enough money to make a deal pretty much wherever we’d like to. I want you to be a part of all that with me.”
“Really? But I’m just a small-town beach girl who loves selling the right house to the right people. You’re …”
“In love with you. Please tell me you’re feeling it too.”
She was afraid to say the words. Instead she tipped her chin and reached up and kissed him.
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” he said.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
On the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend, Elli hosted a party for everyone who helped with the rebuilding of the plaza. A huge celebration with whole hogs on smokers and kegs of beer being pumped from giant vats of ice, and Ed was going to perform.
Nana was moved into the Lazy Daisy, and Ed was in the process of making arrangements to move into Sol~Mate.
The festivities were low key, and the weather was perfect for it. A bonfire on the beach lit up the night, and people were talking and laughing. It felt just like the first weekend of the official tourist season should.
Each shop in the plaza was open for a practice run with the locals.
Ever-SOL-Pops was serving up free mini-popsicles. Last year’s recipients were there training the kids selected to take over this year, and it looked like they were having a pretty good time.
In the other two kiosks, they’d set up all the utensils for the barbecue and were serving up dinner. Lines were moving quickly, and it appeared the layout was going to really work.
Nana looked like she was queen for a day holding court in the new SandD’s Gifts. Brody had hung the sign for her, and it looked brighter and prettier than it ever had on the old building. Her windows were filled with not only her sand dollar art but also art from other North Carolina artisans, which had taken a burden off of her, and she was having so much fun educating everyone on the different pieces.
In the brand new place called Sea Foam they’d be selling beer from a local Carolina brewery on tap and serving tapas. A fun and different place for locals and tourists that planned to be open year round.
R waveSTYLE took the last spot. They were using it to do prototyping on a new line of skimboards, picking up where Elli’s granddaddy had left off, renting them by the day to tourists and offering sales of custom boards. They also had outlet prices on overstocks of all of their resort wear. Elli had a feeling the locals might buy out all their stock before they ever got to the weekend.
At seven o’clock Elli had promised announcements and entertainment. Ed had graciously offered to play some acoustic songs, and then a DJ would be pumping out the latest popular music from up in the brand new lifeguard shack R waveSTYLE had sponsored. A donation barrel was set up at the bottom of the guard shack, and people had been dropping in bills all afternoon.
Elli climbed the stairs up to the top of the lifeguard shack. Ed and Brody were already up there.
“You ready?” Brody asked.
“Yep.”
Brody flipped on the floodlight. Everyone’s attention spun their way. Elli picked up the microphone. “Hey y’all. Can I get your attention?”
Everyone quieted down.
“Thanks. I wanted to first off thank all of you for coming out tonight to celebrate the grand reopening of the plaza.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it.”
“We’re here for ya, girl!”
“Whoop.”
“Yeah, okay, well I should’ve known all y’all would show up for barbecue and beer no matter what, but I really do want to thank everyone who helped with the renovations. Can we give a big round of applause for those that gave their time and sweat to the project?”
A loud round of applause, peppered with whistles rose from the beach.
“Nana and I both want to thank you for pulling together to help us rebuild the Shoppes On The Cove. We couldn’t have done it without you. Also take note of the boards along the back walls of each shop. Those include the names of all of the original Buy A Board Campaign donors, and all of you who volunteered. I hope everyone will really enjoy the new shops and this end of the beach for the first time in a few decades.”
Everyone clapped.
“And a special thank you to our newest resident of Sand Dollar Cove, Ed Rockingham.”
“’Freebird’,” someone yelled from the crowd.
Ed laughed. “One in every crowd,” he teased.
“We realize you moved here for some quiet and anonymity and you really went out of your way to help us. We promise you we will make y
ou glad you chose Sand Dollar Cove for your home.”
He raised his longneck beer in the air. “Already am, gal!”
“Now, let’s party and start the countdown to opening day!” She cheered, and Brody caught her mid-leap in the air and swung her around.
“Hang on,” Ed said. “My buddy here wants to say something before I play.”
Elli looked at Ed and shrugged. Maybe he expected a more formal introduction. Did he mean her? She’d made all the announcements she’d planned to.
Brody took the microphone from Ed. “Thanks. I have something to add.”
“What are you doing?” Elli whispered.
“I also wanted to share that R waveSTYLE has reallocated some of our marketing fund to host an annual skimboarding competition here on the beach, and Elli has been helping me with the details. Marketing will go gangbusters tomorrow worldwide for the end of July event.”
Everyone cheered, and Elli hugged his neck and he pressed a kiss to hers.
He turned his attention back to the people at the gathering. “When I decided to set up an East Coast operation for R waveSTYLE, I had no idea just what a great location I’d found. Not only is it perfectly located along the Eastern Seaboard, and on one of the nicest beaches around, but the people here are exactly the kind of people I want to work for us. And exactly the kind of people I want to spend my time with.” He turned to Elli. “Especially you, Elli Eversol.”
He reached for her hand.
“I figure if we can rebuild a building in just a few days, meeting my future wife in just the course of a couple months is about the accurate speed calculation for how fast things can happen in here in Sand Dollar Cove.”
Someone wolf-whistled from the crowd.
“Elli, if you’d do me the honor, you’d make this surf bum the happiest wave rider around.” He took to one knee. “Will you be my bride? Because the first day I showed up at the Sol~Mate, I met my soul mate, and I don’t want to spend a single day without you by my side.”
Her legs went weak. Thank goodness he was holding her hand, because otherwise she might topple right over. She grabbed his arm with her other hand. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Brody handed the microphone back to Ed, then gathered her into his arms.
It didn’t even matter that hundreds of people looked on as he kissed her, because nothing but Brody mattered at this moment. Her heart was so full she could barely breathe. “I love you,” she said.
“2020.”
His sweet mention of the loving tradition her grandparents had shared made joyful tears tickle her lashes. Every moment her love seemed to deepen for him.
Ed put the microphone in the stand and played a few chords to one of Cal’s most popular songs. “I’ll host the wedding right here. How about it? Beachfront wedding?” Ed said.
The crowd cheered, but the noise seemed to fall away. She looked into Brody’s eyes. “Can we? Would you be okay with that?”
He moved closer, his breath fanning her face. “Whatever you want. Just don’t make me wait too long to start our forever.”
“It’s already begun.”
About Nancy Naigle
USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle whips up small-town love stories with a dash of suspense and a whole lot of heart. She began her contemporary romance series, Adams Grove, while juggling a successful career in finance and life on a seventy-six-acre goat farm.
Now happily retired, she devotes her time to writing, antiquing, cooking, and the occasional spa day with friends. A native of Virginia Beach, she now calls North Carolina home.
Barbecue and Bad News is the sixth book in her popular Adams Grove series, with the next one already under way.
An International Thriller Writers Debut Author for 2011/2012, Nancy's active in several writer organizations, including:
Romance Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
International Thriller Writers
among others.
Nancy also enjoys collaborating with other authors on projects like her humorous women's fiction, THE GRANNY SERIES, co-written with Kelsey Browning. Honey, these are not your momma's grannies. These gals are just like Dirty Harry...only over 50, female and from the South! Get all the details on that series at www.TheGrannySeries.com.
Stay in touch with Nancy at her website,
www.NancyNaigle.com
and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads
Christmas Eve: A Love Story
Chapter One
December 24, 2001
8:05 PM
It was snowing. An icy, dry snow, and in the porch light the drifts on the steps in front of Trina Crawford looked like piles of diamonds.
Oh, if only…
Trina pulled her gloved hands into her pink coat and blew into the sleeves. The blast of heat from her breath was a quickly fading comfort. So was the thought of diamonds.
Nothing is going to help me. Nothing.
“Enjoying the view?”
The voice made her jump. It wasn’t her mom's voice, which was the one she wanted to hear, but it was a really nice voice all the same.
“Dean?”
“In the freezing flesh.”
Dean McKenzie came out of the dark at the edge of the house, wearing his serious snow gear. He must have driven an ATV the back way over the creek that ran along the border between their families’ properties.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, though she didn’t really care why he was here. It was like taking a sip of water only to realize how totally thirsty you are.
Seeing Dean was like that. She was never lonely until he showed up.
“My mom said your mom left. I figured you might want some company.” That was pity on his face. He tried to hide it, because he was her friend and he knew she hated pity, but she could still see it.
“She’s coming back.” Trina had to say that. She had to believe it. Otherwise it was just her and her dad forever, and she couldn’t wrap her head around a future so crappy.
“Totally.” He nodded, definitively on her side as he had been for the sixteen years they'd been friends. “But maybe…you want some company?”
“That’d be awesome.” She shifted over on the blanket she’d placed between her numb butt and the wooden porch.
“I brought you some supplies.”
“Supplies.”
“Yeah, you know. Stakeout supplies.”
“You think me sitting here is a stakeout?”
“Sit-in?” He collapsed next to her. “Strike?” Their arms touched for a moment, and even through the layers of their coats she could feel his arm—or thought she could—and that was enough to make her twitch away.
Jenny at school said that she and Dean broke up because Dean was secretly in love with Trina. Which was ridiculous. They were neighbors. Friends. And not at all into each other. Not like that.
And besides, their dads would KILL them. Like kill them dead. If they ever got together.
In fact, it would make her father so angry she actually considered dating Dean, just to watch Dad register any kind of emotion in her direction.
“Well,” Dean said. “Whatever it is. You need some food.” He handed her a plastic bag full of fancy party food: shrimp (gross!), olives (yay!), little cubes of cheese. Toothpicks sticking out of some of the stuff had pierced the bag, and olive juice was everywhere. “And I hope you’ll notice, I remembered you’re a vegetarian and didn’t bring you the elk sliders. Even though they were awesome.”
“This is so nice, thank you,” she said, ignoring the shrimp.
“And here’s something to drink.”
He opened the thermos in his hand and steam poured out. Hot chocolate and something minty. Probably schnapps.
Even better.
“Thanks.” She took a sip, and the heat and the booze burned down her throat.
“Where’s your dad?” Dean asked, stretching his long legs out in front of him. He opened the neck o
f his snowmobile suit and she saw a glimpse of a black tie.
He’d come right from the party. With olives. It was such a nice thing. Like…maybe one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her.
“Inside.”
“Really?” For a second he looked panicked. Seriously, that’s how ridiculous it was between their fathers.
“Don’t worry, he’s passed out in the den. After he and Mom fought, he didn’t stay awake long enough to watch her go.”
“She’s left a lot of times before.”
She didn’t have to say that this one felt different. It was Christmas Eve, after all. What kind of mom would drive away on Christmas Eve unless she meant it?
More booze seemed in order. Lots more booze. The heat and alcohol didn’t burn this time. She could feel it spreading through her body, a stream of light warming her fingers and knees and the tip of her nose. “She told me I was old enough now. That when I graduate in May, I can leave. Just like her. And never come back.”
“Nice.”
She laughed at his sarcasm. “Parents of the year, I tell you.” A coyote howled, and they both turned toward what was left of the McKenzie property, which ran on the other side of the creek.
“Your dad worried about that coyote?” he asked.
“I have no idea.” Her dad never told her anything. He used to talk to Dean about that stuff. Coyotes and high pastures and grazing yields. Dean had once been the son her father never had. “You know, I never told you how sorry I was that he fired you.”
“Sure you did. Like eight hundred times.”
“Well, I’m still sorry.”
“It was ages ago,” Dean said. Dean’s family had sold off most of their herd, and Dean had been working summers for Dad since the minute he’d been able to sit on a horse and drive an ATV. Which was roughly about five minutes after being born.
“It was two summers ago,” she reminded him. It had been during the bright white-hot months of the fight between their fathers. “And it sucked.”
“It did. I liked that job.”
Sweet Talk Boxed Set (Ten NEW Contemporary Romances by Bestselling Authors to Benefit Diabetes Research plus BONUS Novel) Page 109
