Maggie sucked in air. “Oh! The Finn Hastings? He’s a … billionaire.”
“Duh. So is your brother. You knew I was working for Hastings Resorts, right? What’s your point?”
“I hadn’t actually made the connection, Lacy, but now that you ask, I don’t know what to think. You’ve been seen around town with a hot billionaire, something you’ve kept a secret until now, and I’m supposed to believe the whole thing is accidental? I know my degree is only in hair—”
“Don’t go there. No one in this family has ever looked down on you for being a hairstylist. Thanks for the trim, by the way.”
“You’re welcome and I know that. I’m just saying, that despite my lack of a college education, I’m smart enough to know when something doesn’t add up.”
Lacy laughed lightly now. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Everything I’ve told you is the truth.”
Maggie was silent for several long seconds. “Okay.”
Lacy shot a look at her sister. “Okay, really?”
“Yes. If you say you’ve told me everything, then, fine.”
“Great. Let’s get back to the topic of your wedding.”
“Oh, Lacy, I can’t wait to marry Luke.” Her sister’s voice turned pliable. She didn’t know whether to smile or gag a little. “After the ceremony, we’re hosting a small dinner at Giovanni’s. They make fabulous Italian food and I know it’s going to be fun—I’m so glad you’ll be there.”
“You know what? I’m happy too. It’ll be something I can always hang over the rest of the family.”
“Oh stop it.”
Lacy smiled.
“Now about that plus one—”
Lacy gasped. “Are we back to that?”
“Listen, there is room, so if you decide you want to invite someone, please do. That’s all I’m going to say on the matter.”
“Well,” Lacy said, “I guess I could always ask Rafael if he’s available. Didn’t he accompany Daisy to a wedding not too long ago?”
“Yes, he did, and Jake’s still annoyed about it. And I’ve already told you why this would be a bad idea.”
Lacy laughed. Rafael managed to get under the skin of at least two of the men in the family. That took some talent. She finished up her call with Maggie and went back to reorganizing the bedroom. Everything had come off the walls, but when she surveyed her work, she frowned. Either she would have to patch and paint like crazy or find other suitable and non-personal art to close up all those holes.
She twisted her mouth. Even if she were to cover up them up with new pieces, she would always know those holes were there. And it would drive her crazy.
Reluctantly, Lacy slipped into her shoes and headed outside to the garage. She lifted the garage door, making a mental note that an actual garage door opener would be a key upgrade to finally pull the old house into the twenty-first century, and searched for her father’s tool chest.
She was rifling through it, looking for something to spread sparkling paste onto the walls with, when she heard a throat clear. Lacy jumped.
“My apology.” Finn stood at the opening of the garage, a warm smile on his face. He looked relaxed in an untucked button-down shirt, one hand stuck into the pocket of his shorts, and his eyes guarded by a pair of sunglasses. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s no problem.” She shut the lid of the toolbox and headed toward him. “You look rested.”
“Nothing like wearing myself out chasing grunion.”
She laughed at that. “We’ll make a Californian out of you yet.” She glanced at his leather sandals, which were looking rather pitted from the sand. “Next thing you know, you’ll be picking up a pair of flip-flops at Luke’s surf shop.”
Finn laughed heartily at this. “Don’t hold your breath.”
She reached up to close the garage door and Finn stepped forward, placing his hands above her. “Here, let me.”
Lacy blinked, unaccustomed to chivalry. The few men she dated—and she was quite picky—were inconsistent, sometimes offering to open her car door and other times too preoccupied with the phone in their hands to notice her still sitting next to them. Headiness washed over her and she had to remind herself that this was an extraordinary situation: He was her boss and here in Colibri for information—and that was it.
“I’ve had more time to think about that spectacle last night,” he said, “and I really do believe you have been holding out on me.”
She looked up at him, squinting in the sunlight, her own reflection staring back at her through his lenses. “Hm. How so?”
“Well, for one thing, I spotted the bicycle in the garage and that reminded me that you mentioned riding all over the place. Surely there is more to show me than where you took me yesterday.”
Didn’t he have a realtor to show him around? She thought it, but didn’t say it out loud, as it would sound like insubordination. Then again, she wasn’t on the clock right now. Last night had deluded her into thinking that maybe she and Finn had evolved past a professional relationship. Neither had expected to run into the other, but when they had, neither left the other’s side.
But then he walked her home with nothing but a rather impersonal goodbye. And that was that.
“You look busy.”
She glanced at the scraper in her hand and realized that she had completely forgotten to dig around for the spackling paste that Maggie had left in the garage. Lacy slipped some wayward strands of hair behind her ear. “Just puttering around today.”
“If you’re free, I would like for you to take me to some of your favorite spots.”
There’s only one, really.
He continued, “We can pick up some espresso for the drive.” He paused. “Have I convinced you yet?”
“I do have a favorite spot, but I’d hate to see it turned into a hotel.”
His eyes darkened, but she felt emboldened somehow.
“It might change someday, but I’d like to remember it they way it’s always been.”
He nodded. “I can respect that. Will you show it to me?”
A small piece of the crust on her heart broke away. She shrugged, though there was a good-naturedness to it. “Sure. Let me clean up and I’ll meet you back here in fifteen minutes.”
As promised, after she dashed inside to brush her hair, line her lips, and grab her old camera off of a shelf, Lacy met Finn outside. She’d taken those few minutes to think about whether to show him her favorite place in Colibri, and as she did, her mind flung backward to last night. Several times during that spontaneous grunion run, Lacy had caught unfettered joy on Finn’s face. With his money and connections, she knew he had access to yachts and ski chalets and, well, beachfront homes. And yet, he had laughed like a boy and lingered out on that beach, watching a show that was free for everyone who experienced it.
Maybe her favorite, most sacred spot in Colibri would be safe with him.
For the second time this week, Finn drove with the top down on his car. Her hair whipped around her, accentuating the freedom she felt as he whisked her through the foothills. He glanced at her more than once, sending a decided chill through her—the good kind—and for the first time in a very long while, Lacy felt anything but invisible.
They were just about to miss the turn when she gestured for him to slow down. The driveway was nearly hidden by overgrown bushes and a median filled with weeds.
He slowed to a crawl and craned his neck, looking for where to turn. “Here?”
He sounded skeptical and she second-guessed herself. Finn was staring at her, waiting for an answer, though, so she nodded quickly and he made the sharp turn. He whistled and put the car in a lower gear. Lacy shut her eyes, remembering. She had not been up to this spot in many years, and yet she expected—and fully hoped—that it had remained unchanged.
Finn gasped. He looked at her, another whistle escaping him. “Wow.”
As for her, a smile burgeoned on her face, one she could not control. She could feel
it. From her cursory glance, it appeared that the land had remained virtually unchanged, except for new growth on the bushes and trees. From the looks of things, nothing had been thinned out. The trees and garden were thick with undergrowth and the house still wore a faded coat of cottage blue.
Finn parked the car and, wordlessly, they both exited. She looped her camera strap over her head and let the camera itself rest against her. The land stretched flat and wide, one corner to the next, no sign of any other property beside them. There was a 360-degree view, nearly half of it facing the ocean.
He came to stand beside her, his eyes questioning. Instinctively, she knew what he wanted to ask. That alone amazed her.
She flicked a glance around and returned her gaze to him. “You want to know how I managed to get up here on my bicycle.”
He exhaled a chuckle. “I have no doubts about your athletic ability.”
“Of course not.”
Another chuckle escaped him. “However, yes, I was wondering what kind of drive a teen would have to have in order to pedal all the way up here. That was some hill.”
This was harder to answer. The view might have been answer enough, but she knew that it wasn’t all there was. She began to walk, to drag the toe of her shoe on the gravel driveway. Lacy could recall the times that she would jump on her bike and pedal around Colibri for hours at a time. She had passed this driveway often, but had always been warned to avoid it.
Then one day, she rolled back into her garage and her father looked up. “Are you going out on a bike ride, Lacy?”
He never meant to hurt her. He just hadn’t noticed that she had been gone. With five children piled up around the house, was that any surprise?
Lacy turned around to find Finn watching her. She gave him a small shrug. “I don’t know, exactly. I would just … just get lost for a while, and then one day, I decided to make the climb up here to see what I could find.”
“Quite the find.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Do you know who owns it?”
She quirked a smile at him. “No, I don’t.”
“Hm. Well, I would hate to be arrested for trespassing.”
She smiled wider now. “I doubt that would happen.”
“Because you’re one of the beloved townspeople?”
She scoffed. “Not at all. Hardly anyone knows me around here.” Lacy gestured toward the house. “Word is there’s a ghost in that house. He or she or whatever owns this place.”
Finn gave her a questioning look.
“Well, that’s what I’ve always heard.”
He crossed his arms and one of his brows shot upward. “Do you believe in ghosts?”
She thought about this. Two boys had told her the ghost story when she was about twelve. It intrigued her, but believe it? She looked at him. “Not really.”
What was important to her was that those boys—and everyone else around here—believed in it. Because it kept them away. Not that she didn’t help perpetuate the myth at times …
He nodded. “Me neither.”
She laughed and reached for his arm, pulling him along. Alarm bells went off inside her head, warning her that grabbing hold of her boss’s arm might not be the wisest thing to do. She ignored them.
“Here’s where I carved my initials into a tree.” She pointed at the gnarled trunk of a tree that had arched itself in the wind, yet stayed rooted all these years.
“Sounds romantic.”
“Um, no. I carved only my own initials.”
He chuckled. “Wow. That’s sad.”
She shrank back in mock offense and added a little gasp for emphasis.
He pulled off his shades and looked directly at her. “Are you trying to tell me that you did not have boys lining up to add their initials next to yours?”
“Oh brother.”
He continued to hold his gaze on her. “Was Rafael otherwise occupied that day?”
This time when she sputtered it was not put on. “Oh my gosh. What?”
He shrugged. “It is not difficult to imagine you as a teenager with a posse following after you.”
“And you think Rafael was one of them.”
“I saw the way he looked at you.”
Lacy had heard everything now. What was he saying … why was he mentioning Rafael? She shook her head. In some small way, she wished that what he suggested was true. But it wasn’t. No one really noticed her back then. Not her family, not guys … not anyone. She had thought about this more than once but had never had a conversation about it with her sisters or anyone who might have insight. The truth was, she had felt this way for most of her life—including at Hastings Resorts. She had been promised a promotion, but after a year, it had not materialized.
Lacy glared at him, suddenly annoyed. And exposed. Why did she bring him up here?
He continued, though his dark brows had dipped some. “Sore subject. I apologize.”
“It’s not a sore subject because it’s not a subject at all. Everyone around here knows Rafael because he’s one of the few from my age group who has stuck around. I don’t know what you think you saw, but you misinterpreted him.”
“I’ve upset you.”
She sighed and leaned against that tree, suddenly feeling silly about the initials, this conversation … even about bringing him here. “Not upset. I’m just … tired of everything.”
There was a shift in his countenance, a further darkening in his expression. Finn stepped closer to her. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”
Slowly she gazed up at him, expecting to see at least a hint of mockery. Instead, there was a certain earnestness in his features, his brown-black eyes affixed on hers, his speech suspended. Lacy had the distinct sense that Finn wanted to reach out to her.
Or was that because she wanted to reach out to him?
The truth was … she did. If he wasn’t the Finn Hastings, wasn’t the head of her company—a man who could have any woman he wanted—then she might have leaned into these feelings that were about to undo her. She sensed a quickening in her breath, a catch in her throat. If only she could tell him really what she was feeling.
He stared at her for a few seconds longer and then turned toward the expanse of sky that hovered over the sea. The moment disappeared and she began to question herself, to wonder if what she had felt had any place in her reality at all.
“I can see why you love this place,” he finally said, turning his gaze back to her. “I think I’m falling … too.”
She licked her lips, her throat suddenly dry, and forced herself to say, “It’s beautiful in many ways to me.”
He reached above her and leaned his arm against the tree trunk. “I can see that.” He gazed at her, the silence heavy, her own heart beating in her ears. Whatever worries she’d had about him in the past, even the recent past, had vanished. His eyes brushed over her face and lingered on her mouth. He pressed his lips together then, and slowly pushed himself away from the tree, pulling his gaze away from her and folding his arms at his chest.
Lacy took a step backward and nearly stumbled. He turned and reached out for her, but she flashed both palms. “I’m okay.”
He watched her, conflict on his face. A few seconds passed and he stepped back too, a resigned sigh in his voice. “Thank you for taking the time to show me around up here, Lacy. I appreciate it.”
She nodded.
“Ready to head back?”
She wasn’t. But she pasted on the smile that had helped her book hundreds of events over the years and followed Finn back to the car.
He could not go on this way. Finn tried to open his email for the umpteenth time this morning, but the glitchy Wi-Fi had finally sputtered to a near stop. Trying to open a browser felt akin to being stuck behind a student driver car when late for a meeting.
Finn shut his laptop. He stood and paced, his mind a tangle of unfinished thoughts. Part of him wanted to land on Lacy’s front porch, pull her into his arms, and stay there until sunset. T
he other wanted to avoid her with everything he had.
Either way, he had lost the battle. He flicked a look at the modem by the fireplace, a red light in place of the one that should have been green. The bakery in town probably had Wi-Fi he could use. That’s it. He would pull himself together and head into town for some unencumbered work. Anything to get his mind off of … her.
Minutes later, he headed outside, computer case under his arm.
“Well, hello there, Mr. Johnson.”
An elderly woman with salt-and-pepper curls blocked his car with her walker on wheels. A nurse stood next to her. He would not have known her if she had not called him by his pseudonym.
He put out his hand. “Hello. Call me Finn.”
The old woman lifted her chin and looked him fully in the face. She shook his hand with more strength than he had predicted. “And I am Wren. I’m terribly sorry I couldn’t meet you when you checked in. I-I don’t get around too much anymore.”
“That’s quite all right. Ms. Morelli was right on time.”
“Lovely! I knew she would be. I asked her to give you a map with my phone number on it. Is there anything you need?”
He smiled. “Yes, I received the map, and no, thank you. The home is nearly perfect. The Wi-Fi is the only issue I’m having, but in fact, I am on my way to the bakery right now to use theirs.”
The nurse winced. “Oh dear. I’m afraid theirs doesn’t work too well, either. Casualty of the beach area.”
He frowned. What year was this? How could a town—any town—not have powerful enough Wi-Fi?
Wren’s expression brightened. “Have you tried asking Lacy to use hers? Her brother Jake—he will be my son-in-law soon—did something in there to make theirs work better. I think it involved wires or something.”
Finn pressed his mouth into a smile. “Thank you for the tip. I will be sure to ask her.”
“Wonderful! Now if there is anything at all that we can help you with, I hope you will call.”
“Absolutely.”
He watched Wren and her nurse continue their walk. Reluctantly, he turned toward Lacy’s. He really did have several important emails to answer. No doubt, given her relationship with the company, she would understand his urgent need for decent Wi-Fi.
Lacy's Billionaire Boss Page 5
