“Of course, if that were to happen, St. Dennis would need a world-class event planner right here in town full-time.”
Lucy leaned back in her seat and smiled. “And if that day ever came, I’m sure I could help find someone.”
He made a left onto Charles Street, then a right onto Kelly’s Point Road.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“There’s no way you can leave St. Dennis without a visit to Scoop and some of Steffie’s amazing ice cream,” he said solemnly. “It would be wrong.”
“It would be wrong,” she readily agreed, “except that I did have some at Vanessa’s the other night. But we can stop if you’re in the mood for ice cream.”
Clay drove past the municipal building and headed to the far end of the lot across the road. He parked in the section nearest the ice-cream shop and turned off the engine.
“I wonder if she has any of that peppermint divinity fudge ice cream that she brought to Vanessa’s.” Lucy got out of the car and slammed the door. “That was amazing.”
Clay slammed the driver’s-side door and offered his arm to Lucy. “You don’t sound like someone who’s only stopping in to keep me company.”
“Well, as long as we’re here, I wouldn’t want Stef to think I didn’t like her ice cream.”
The sign out front—ONE SCOOP OR TWO—blew slightly in the wind that was kicking up from the Bay.
“It feels like snow again,” Lucy observed, “but we’ve only had that one little bit since I’ve been home.”
“Were you hoping for more?” he asked as he opened the shop’s door.
“Not particularly. I don’t really like the cold.” Lucy waved a greeting to Steffie, who was behind the counter filling one of the containers in her freezer case.
“Hey, Lucy,” Steffie called to her. “How was your tour?”
“It was fabulous. I’ve been in a lot of really spectacular places since going into business, but that place is unlike any other I’ve ever seen.” Lucy took off her coat and placed it on the back of a chair. “There’s something so special about it. It’s gloriously elegant, and there’s all that history, and at the same time, the atmosphere is so warm and inviting. I loved it.”
“That’s exactly what everyone said after the house tour. That the place is gorgeous, like right out of a magazine, but that you feel at home there.” Stef came around the side of the counter.
“That’s it exactly,” Lucy agreed. “I was telling Clay that it would make the most wonderful event site.”
“Oh, my God, could you imagine the weddings they could have there?”
“Exactly.”
“So what flavors do we have today?” Clay wandered to the display case.
“We have the standards—vanilla, seven variations of chocolate, pineapple-coconut macadamia nut … what are you in the mood for, Clay?”
“I know what I want,” Lucy told her. “If you have any of that—”
“Peppermint divinity fudge?” Steffie shook her head. “Alas, I ran out of white chocolate. But I do have a chocolate chili that I just made this morning.”
“Chocolate chili?” Clay repeated, one eyebrow raised.
“Just enough of a chili pepper kick to be a manly flavor,” Stef deadpanned. “At least, that’s how my husband described it.”
“Manly or not, I’d like to try it,” Lucy said.
Steffie dipped a small plastic spoon into the container and handed it to Lucy.
“Wow. It leaves just a hint of heat in the back of your throat.” Lucy nodded. “I’ll have one scoop in a dish.”
“Clay?” Steffie held up an empty spoon. “Sample?”
“I’ll take Lucy’s word for it. Make mine two scoops, also in a bowl,” he told her.
Clay took off his jacket and put it on the chair over Lucy’s. He’d thought they’d just pick up cones and walk along the Bay, but Lucy apparently had other ideas. Which was perfectly fine with him. If they were outside walking, sooner or later, she’d get cold and they’d leave. Scoop was nice and warm, cozy and inviting, and he’d have that much more time to spend with her.
He walked back to the counter, paid Stef for the ice cream, then carried both bowls to the table Lucy had selected by the window.
“One scoop,” he said as he passed her dish and spoon to her.
“Thanks.” She smiled up at him when he sat next to her.
Her smile always took him back to a time when they were both younger and had shared all their secrets. Those days were obviously gone, he reminded himself. These days, there was almost as much mystery as there was familiarity about her.
“It’s such a pretty view from here,” Lucy was saying. “I’ll bet it’s lovely to sit here on a summer day and watch the sailboats out there.”
Clay nodded. “It’s a pretty view at any time of the year. Even today, when it’s overcast and gray, you have the whitecaps and the geese flying overhead, the gulls swooping down around the docks. Doesn’t matter the time of the year or the weather, St. Dennis is a good place to be.”
“Tough to argue with that,” she replied. “Though in California, we have such lovely weather all year round.”
“Don’t you miss the change in seasons?”
“We have seasons. The changes just aren’t as dramatic.” She paused. “But yes, I do miss the way the landscape changes around here. I don’t think about it so much, unless I’ve been here for a few days. Then when I go back to L.A., I look out my windows and wonder where the Bay is.”
“You always did love the water,” he recalled.
“I still do.” She ate a few spoons of ice cream. “Remember when we were little and your granddad took us fishing down at the cove and taught us how to put bait on the hooks?”
Clay laughed. “What made you think of that?”
“I don’t know.” She was grinning at the memory. “I remember sitting down on the dock and getting splinters in my butt and not wanting to say anything because I didn’t want him to make me go home and have the splinters removed. I remember it was early in the morning and it was warm and quiet and there were swans on the other side of the cove watching us because they had a nest there.” She dipped her spoon into the ice cream again, and paused with it halfway to her mouth. “Do the swans still come back to the cove, Clay?”
“They’ve never left, LuLu. Next time you’re home, I’ll show you.”
“I’d really like that.”
“When will that be?” He tried to sound casual. “The next time you’re home?”
She shook her head. “I’m waiting for Dan to give me an open date for the Magellan wedding. Hopefully he’ll have that worked out before I leave tomorrow because this wedding is going to take months to arrange. Once we have a date, I’ll be able to schedule my trips back and keep my work out there running smoothly as well. I have the feeling Susanna is going to have me here every chance she has.”
“I hope she gets her wish.”
“She’s the boss,” Lucy told him. “At Shaefer and Sinclair, we aim to please. The client is always king. Or in her case, queen.”
“Please give her my thanks.” Clay put down his spoon. “What time’s your flight tomorrow?”
“Early. I have meetings on Monday that I can’t postpone.”
“Can you have dinner with me tonight?”
“I would love to. I really would.” She looked as if she meant it. “But I think I need to spend tonight at home with my mother. The only night I’ve been home since I got here was the day I arrived. I think she’d like to have some mother-daughter time.”
He nodded. “I understand. We’ll do it next time.”
He did understand. He knew how much Grace missed her only daughter and he knew, too, that he’d spent more time with Lucy this visit than Grace had.
They finished their ice cream and chatted with Steffie while they got into their coats. Stef came around from the back of the counter to give Lucy a hug.
“Come back soon,” Steffie told her.
“We’ll do another girls’ night. My place, next time.”
“You’re on.” Lucy hugged her back. “I’ll look forward to it.”
They took the long way back to the parking lot, walking hand in hand along the Bay until it became obvious that neither of them was dressed for the change in the weather. The tiny flakes that had started to fall while they were in Scoop were turning to ice. They headed back to the car and sat for a moment while the engine warmed up.
“Thanks again for a terrific last day in town,” she said when he began to back out of the parking space. “I really enjoyed myself.”
“I’m glad. I enjoyed the day, too.” He made the light at Charles and drove back to the inn.
“I am sorry you’re leaving tomorrow,” he told her after he parked in front of the double doors.
“I’ll be back soon.”
He nodded, then leaned across the seat and took her face in his hands. “It can’t be soon enough for me.”
She turned her head and kissed him, taking him by surprise. He could taste the last little bit of heat from the chili peppers in the ice cream on her tongue, hot and spicy. He could have sworn it tasted even better now, and he went back for a second dip. When she finally sat back, she touched the side of his face with her fingertips.
“I’ll let you know when my next meeting with Susanna is going to be,” she told him.
He pushed a strand of hair back from her face and nodded. “I’ll be here.”
She kissed the side of his face and jumped out of the car before he could grab her and kiss her again. He looked out the window and saw her mother in the doorway. Grace waved and he waved back, then with a final wave to Lucy, he drove around the loop and headed back down the lane.
He took the long way home, driving somewhat aimlessly, and tried to sort out his feelings. He found himself at the cove they’d talked about earlier, and parked and got out of the car. The sky was the same shade of gray as the water, and the afternoon had already made its first turn toward dusk. The swans he knew still nested there were nowhere in sight, and slivers of ice pelted his face. He stood looking out over the water until his face stung.
He didn’t want her to leave tomorrow. He didn’t want her to ever leave again, but there was nothing he could do about it. He understood that she had a thriving business—one she’d worked hard to build and was justifiably proud of. She had a whole life somewhere else that he wasn’t a part of, and while he didn’t like it one bit, that was the reality. He wished he could do something that could change what was, but those were foolish thoughts and Clay wasn’t generally a foolish man. But Lucy owned a big part of his past, and with luck, perhaps there’d be a place for him in her future.
Whatever it took, he’d told her, and he meant it. As far as he was concerned, he was in this for as long as it might take and wherever it would lead. Of course, he was hoping it would all lead her back to St. Dennis, and to him.
Time would tell. He was in no particular hurry. After all, he’d already waited twenty years.
Chapter 12
ON Monday afternoon, Lucy was just wrapping up a call with a potential client when Bonnie swept into her office. Lucy held up one hand in a give-me-a-minute gesture, and Bonnie paced until the conversation concluded.
“Sorry. That was a possible November wedding,” Lucy said as she hung up. “What’s doing? Where’d you go?”
“I was in Sacramento,” Bonnie replied. “Just for yesterday and this morning, but I needed to spend some time with my honey.”
“Your honey?” Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Who’s your honey?”
“Bob, of course.”
“How did he go from ‘the ex’ to ‘my honey’ so quickly?”
Bonnie shrugged. “When it works, it works.”
“So it’s going well.”
“It’s going … well, yes, surprisingly well. He’s a different man since he stopped drinking.”
“Just take it slowly, Bon. You know what they say about a leopard and his spots.”
“No one is more cautious than I am,” Bonnie told her. “Believe me, no one knows better than I. But he really has changed, in big ways and in more subtle ways as well. I’m willing to take it day by day. I’m still in love with him, what can I say?”
“And he …”
“Says he’s still very much in love with me, and I believe him. The move up north was the best thing he could have done for himself. He’s painting again—good stuff, too. Gorgeous landscapes.” Bonnie slumped in the closest chair. “He should never come back to Southern California. Not even for a visit. It’s like poison for him.”
“Because of his family being here?”
Bonnie nodded. “But enough about me. How was your little vacation in charming little St. Dennis?”
“Too short.” Lucy smiled. “But charming.”
“Do we have a date for the Magellan wedding?”
“We do. My brother had to do all manner of finagling with other reservations, but they have nailed down the last Saturday in June.”
“Which is what the bride and groom wanted, right?”
“That was their first choice, yes.”
“Well, then, hallelujah. Get that contract signed.” Bonnie took off her shoes and lifted her feet to rest on the chair next to the one she was sitting on.
“I’m working on it right now, but it’s massive. I called Susanna, told her we could confirm the date, but I need to work our pricing. She said send the contract ASAP and she’d sign it, to put in a flat fee for me and add an ‘as required’ clause plus estimates for all the extras.” Lucy sighed. “I’m not comfortable doing that—I like the numbers solidly nailed down—but this woman is tenacious. She said just put in a clause to the effect that all numbers are estimates and subject to revision. She wants to get moving on this since now we’re down to a little more than five months till the wedding and there’s a lot of work to be done.”
“As long as you have her name and Magellan’s name on the contract and he signs it, I don’t know what else you can do at this point but send it.”
“That’s what she wants, that’s what we’ll do. I am trying to be as thorough as possible, but some of the things she wants I can’t get a price on right now. Some things will have to wait until my next trip to St. Dennis.”
“Which will be when?”
“End of the month.”
“Do what you have to do to keep her happy. We’re going to make a killing on this one. The publicity alone is going to be priceless. Just look at the mileage we got from the MacGregor wedding. We’re still getting calls from brides who saw the pictures in People.”
“As long as we don’t have to turn away too many other affairs because I’m tied up with Susanna and there’s no one here to handle them.”
“Not to worry. We have Corrine Miles lined up to start in …” Bonnie pulled up her sleeve to look at her watch. “Four days. And Ava handled the Carlton wedding on Saturday like a pro. Which she is.”
“All well and good, but I still think we need more support staff, more assistants. We can afford to hire more people.”
“True enough. So let’s work up an ad and have Angie place it in all the appropriate places. How many assistants do you think?”
“The way things have gone so far this year—and remember, it’s only January—I’m thinking another full-time assistant for each of us. That would be four, with the addition of Ava and Corrine as full-time event planners.”
“Then we’ll hire four new assistants.” Bonnie eased herself off the chair. “By the way, how’d you make out with the Tollivers this morning?”
“Better than I expected,” Lucy confessed. “The contractor really knows his stuff, for which I am infinitely grateful. Knows exactly what to do to build that skating rink and can do it in under six weeks, so we’re good.”
“What’s he going to do? The least technical version, please. Keep it simple.”
Lucy laughed. “Basically, he’ll build a modular rink. W
ooden sections that he’ll piece together on their grounds. Then he’ll put some kind of thick plastic liner down, install a refrigeration system, and then just flood the thing and let it freeze. It’s going to use a ridiculous amount of electricity, because he’s going to have to do at least one test run to make sure it freezes, then keep it cold until the party. But the party girl will have her skating rink and everyone will be happy.” She paused. “I still have to find some cattails to plant around the sides.” She made a note on a small pad, then looked up. “Beverly wants as much ‘authentic atmosphere’ as possible.”
Bonnie rolled her eyes and lowered her legs from the chair. “No one can say that Shaefer and Sinclair doesn’t deliver the goods.” She stood and stretched. “I have about fifty calls to make, so I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
“I’m glad you and Bob are making an effort to work things out,” Lucy said when Bonnie had reached the door.
Bonnie shrugged. “I don’t know that it will work out, but I do know that I could not live with myself if I didn’t at least make the effort. Some things are just worth it, you know?”
“I suppose.” Lucy tapped her fingers on her desktop and watched Bonnie cross the hall to her office.
For her partner’s sake, Lucy did hope that Bonnie and her ex-husband could work out their problems, but if, as Bonnie seemed to feel, Bob was better off in Sacramento than in Los Angeles, what exactly did that mean for the “Shaefer” in Shaefer & Sinclair if they did get back together? It would make for one hell of a commute.
Not my decision, Lucy reminded herself. Not my life.
She opened the electronic file she’d started on the Magellan wedding. First up was to put everything in order of priority—those details that would take the longest to work out, the items that would take the most time to order, what could be accomplished from her office and what could only be done in St. Dennis. She’d need a schematic of the tent and of the gazebo, which, she recalled, would have to be moved. She had to get the contact information on the landscaper Brooke mentioned. She’d need to bring Dan into those discussions, since he was the majority owner of the inn.
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