Redemption Bay_Contemporary Romance

by RaeAnne Thayne

  Lindy-Grace laughed, though it didn’t mask the worry in her eyes. McKenzie suspected by a few things her friend let slip that her marriage wasn’t completely rosy. Mac Keegan could be a jerk sometimes, loud and annoying with a tendency to drink a little too much on the weekends and ignore his hardworking wife and cute kids.

  If dinner and a night away at the small romantic boutique inn where Eliza Hayward used to work would help reignite their burners, McKenzie was more than willing to help out.

  Now, if only she could help her town as easily.

  * * *

  HE SERIOUSLY WANTED to deck Aidan Caine.

  The man might be a genius and Ben’s closest friend, but right now, if the other man happened to walk through the doors of the small Haven Point city offices, Ben would be tempted to take him out with one punch.

  He wasn’t much happier right now with McKenzie Shaw, the little trickster.

  When the mayor called him that morning and asked him to meet her here, he expected they would have a quiet, closed-door meeting at city hall, a chance for her to give her spiel extolling the magnificent virtues of her town.

  He had every intention of nodding politely while he tuned her out and went to some distant happy place in his brain—somewhere with palm trees rustling in the trade winds, for instance, or an alpine meadow somewhere with granite boulders surrounding a glacial-fed lake.

  Instead of a personal, private discussion with McKenzie, he had showed up to what appeared to be a full-fledged breakfast banquet, apparently attended by every business owner and dignitary in town.

  McKenzie bustled through the middle of everything looking like an exotic butterfly in a field of gorse. Her features were animated and bright, her hands constantly in motion as she floated from group to group like a good hostess, making everyone feel comfortable.

  This was definitely her party. A sign over the head table read Haven Point Mayor’s Advisory Council. If he had known she planned to embroil him in a small-town political meeting, he definitely would have come up with some excuse. An emergency appendectomy, maybe.

  Everyone seemed to be staring at him out of their peripheral vision. It was almost amusing to watch people whip their heads away and try to pretend they weren’t watching whenever he would happen to catch their gaze. The noise volume in the room seemed unnaturally loud—a little too much conversation and convivial laughter to be real.

  So much for his plans to come into town under the radar, carry out Aidan’s wishes about the feasibility study, then sneak out again without anyone making a fuss. He supposed he’d deep-sixed that idea the moment he decided to go to Serrano’s for breakfast a few days earlier.

  If everyone in town didn’t know by now exactly why Ben was here, they likely suspected it had something to do with Caine Tech.

  He had been shortsighted not to realize that his return after all these years would stir up the town’s curiosity like poking a hornets’ nest with a stick. He had too much baggage here, too many connections to everyone.

  “How are you enjoying the Sloane house?”

  He glanced at Roxy Nash, the real estate agent who had worked with Ben’s assistant to arrange the rental property on Redemption Bay. She had the long, lean build of a marathon runner and a hungry look in her eyes that he suspected had nothing to do with food.

  “Good. It’s a beautiful spot overlooking the mountains.”

  “Have you had a chance to take that boat out yet?”

  “A few times.”

  “And how’s it running, after all these years?”

  He shrugged. “It’s a Kilpatrick. Still as tight as ever.”

  “Your family made good boats, from what I hear, though that was before my time in town.”

  “Yes.”

  The little twinge of guilt took him by surprise. Closing the boatworks had been the right decision at the time—the only choice, really. The company had been losing money steadily for years because of market factors and Joe’s general mismanagement.

  “I’ve always loved Redemption Bay,” Roxy went on. “It’s a great location, within the city limits but far enough on the outskirts that you sort of feel like you’re out there on your own and the walking path from downtown to the bay around the lake is a huge bonus.”

  “It’s been nice so far,” he answered.

  She looked around—surprising a few people who quickly turned away from them—then pitched her voice low. “You know, if you’re interested in purchasing a place of your own in town now that you’ve sold Snow Angel Cove to Aidan, I might have a few possibilities. The property three houses over from where you’re staying now, just on the edge of the bay, is about to go on the market. I’m not supposed to say anything yet but I think you can get it for a steal.”

  Yeah, that wasn’t happening. He forced a smile. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

  “Are you thinking about moving back?” When Ben wasn’t looking, Russ Warrick had approached them and now he faced Ben with an arrested expression.

  “No,” he was quick to answer. He didn’t need that rumor going the rounds in Haven Point now. “Aidan keeps me plenty busy in San Jose, believe me. I’m not coming back.”

  He would have liked to leave the matter there but Dr. Warrick wouldn’t let him.

  “You should seriously think about it, son. I know you’ve sold your holdings to Aidan but your roots in Haven Point go as deep as an oak.”

  “I’ve been gone a long time, Doc. I’ve got a pretty good life in California. Some trees are able to throw down roots just fine in a new place.”

  “Maybe. It’s worth considering, though.”

  The doctor wanted something from him and Ben didn’t have the first idea what that might be. He was actually grateful when McKenzie went to the front of the room and asked everyone to take a seat so the breakfast could begin.

  Before he could figure out a way to sneak out, McKenzie pointed at him and then at an empty seat near her, clearly ordering him to sit. Bossy thing, wasn’t she? At least she wasn’t making him sit at the head table or something.

  Not sure why he wasn’t obeying his instincts to leave, he slipped into the seat as McKenzie went to the microphone. He was struck by how lovely she was, with that dusky skin and dark hair and the high cheekbones that made her look like some sort of Aztec princess.

  “Thank you all for coming to the annual mayor’s Lake Haven Days Luncheon, which as you know kicks off four days of crazy fun here in Haven Point. I’ve been to several of these but this is my first one in the hot seat. I’ve got to say, I much prefer sitting where you are, eating lousy pastries and exchanging gossip with my neighbors, than having to stand here at the microphone and say something pithy.”

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t have thrown your hat into the ring for mayor,” a burly man with a big dark beard said from the audience.

  When the general laughter subsided, McKenzie made a face. “As you will recall, Larry, I didn’t precisely throw any hats here. I was nominated at an election meeting I was unable to attend because I had the flu. But that’s beside the point.”

  So that explained how she had become mayor of Haven Point. She hadn’t seemed avidly political to him. It made sense that she had stepped up out of a sense of civic duty.

  “The point is, Lake Haven Days provides a priceless opportunity for those of us lucky enough to call this place our home to pause and reflect about all the things we find meaningful about living here. The lake is a big part of it and that’s what we celebrate with the wooden boat festival, but there’s more. It’s about the neighbors who show up at 6:00 a.m. with their tractors to plow your driveway after a big storm. About the basketful of tomatoes another neighbor might drop off on your doorstep or the dinner in your refrigerator when you’ve got the flu.

  “We all have the chance to give back next week with our
annual community service auction. As members of the mayor’s advisory council, I expect every one of you to participate. You can donate something from your business to be auctioned off or if you have a particular skill or talent, you can donate that instead. Larry, I know you make a mean Dutch-oven chicken dinner, since I’ve been lucky enough to be invited over for it, and I’m sure someone in town would be thrilled to bid on that. Karen, with your graphic arts skills, I’m sure someone in this room would love to bid for an hour of your time to help them redesign a logo or a website banner. I expect everyone to help.”

  Ben heard a little good-natured grumbling but people mostly seemed receptive to her order. In his role as the public face at Caine Tech, he had become very good at assessing the mood of a crowd and right now he could see that McKenzie seemed very well-liked among her constituents. She came across as energetic, enthusiastic and warm.

  “Will you still be in town for the service auction?” Doc Warrick asked him after McKenzie ended her welcoming speech and sat down.

  “I don’t know yet, to tell you the truth. I haven’t figured out how long I’m staying.”

  “It’s only another week and some change. If you are still here, the service auction is an event you should not miss. If you want to know this town’s heart, you should see us in action.”

  He wasn’t really interested in seeing the town’s heart. He had seen enough when he lived here, watching them all kiss up to Joe, even though his father had been an ass and a bully.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said with a polite smile.

  Yeah, he was going to wring McKenzie’s lovely little neck. She should have told him what he was getting into when she invited him here to meet her.

  Breakfast was served buffet style. While everyone left their chairs to queue up at the platters filled with pastries, fruit and bagels, Ben opted to remain in his seat to enjoy a surprisingly good coffee.

  A moment later, he was joined by a vaguely familiar older man with a shock of white hair and sun-wrinkled features.

  He set his plate down and eased into the chair with stiff, jerky movements. “Young Kilpatrick, isn’t it? Ben.”

  He nodded.

  “Thought so. You’ve changed a bit from the days when you were a punk driving too fast up and down the street but I could recognize your mother’s eyes. Lovely woman, your mother. How is she these days?”

  “Good. Thank you.” He assumed as much, anyway. With a niggle of guilt, he remembered Doc Warrick’s conviction that he should tell his mother he was back. He hadn’t called Lydia yet. Maybe after breakfast.

  “Do you remember me? Mick Sargent.”

  Right. He had worked at the boatworks as long as Ben could remember. The man had always been kind to him.

  “Was that you I saw the other day out on the water in an original Delphine?”

  “Yes.”

  “Named for your grandmother,” Mick said with a solemn nod. “From where I sat on shore, she looked sleek and feisty—much like the original Delphine, as I recall.”

  He smiled at this, wishing he remembered the woman. Those who had known her, universally spoke of her with admiration and respect.

  “Did you restore her yourself?”

  He shook his head. “When I found her, she was in terrible shape, rotting out. I sent her to someone I know in the Bay Area and he managed to find mostly original parts to bring her back to her glory.”

  “She is looking fine, at least the quick glimpse I got on the water. It’s only right you should bring her back here. Good decision, son.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’ve got a Verlaine myself. She’s not quite as smooth as the Delphine but she’s solid and dependable.”

  “Good.”

  “I don’t think I’m alone in hoping the reason you’re back in town might have something to do with new plans to open the boatworks again. Fine-crafted wooden boats have made a big comeback in recent years. Look at you, pouring all kinds of money and time into restoring a Delphine. You’re not the only one who sees the beauty there.”

  He hoped he wasn’t going to have to defend his decision to close the factory all morning long. “I’m not in the boat-building business anymore,” he said quietly, hoping this would be the end of it. “My job at Caine Tech takes all my time and energy.”

  “That’s fine for you,” Mick said in a low, even tone that matched his own. “What about for the people of this town? You’ve got obligations here, like it or not.”

  He wasn’t responsible for these people. He barely knew them! Simply because his father had once owned the company that had once been the town’s largest employer did not make Ben some sort of feudal lord, for heaven’s sake.

  He was saved from having to answer when another guy of about the same age as Mick sat down on his other side and asked Sargent a question about irrigation water shares.

  Ben used their conversation as an excuse to get up. He started to head for the exit, hoping McKenzie wouldn’t notice. Unfortunately, at the same moment she began to walk toward him. She wore a tailored white shirt and a chunky blue-and-green necklace that reminded him of sunlight shifting across the lake. All that lovely dark hair was tangled up in some kind of a twist behind her head. She probably thought it made her look crisp and businesslike but he only wanted to pull a few pins out and trail his fingers through the soft strands.

  The impulse came out of the blue, shocking him to the core, and he curled his fingers into his palm to keep from acting on it.

  “Hi, Ben. I hope you’re enjoying breakfast. I wasn’t sure you would come.”

  “I get the impression people don’t say no very often to the Haven Point mayor.”

  Her mouth twisted into a wry expression. “You’d be surprised. Most people have absolutely no problem saying no to me.”

  “That’s fairly shocking. I can’t believe I’m the only one in town who considers you a force of nature.”

  She laughed a little but it still relaxed the tension in her features. “Not a force of nature. Mostly a pain in the butt. I have a...bad habit of putting high expectations on people. Some have even called them unrealistic.”

  Who? Her family? He had been a teenager when McKenzie came to town and could clearly remember hearing gossip around town about the big-eyed, exotic-looking daughter who had suddenly shown up and moved in with the local attorney and his family.

  It had set tongues wagging all around town. McKenzie had obviously been the product of an affair, as she was a few years younger than the Shaws’ only other living child, Devin.

  What had life been like for her in that household? Adele Shaw had always struck him as a nice woman but she wasn’t a saint, by any stretch of the imagination. It couldn’t have been easy for her to have her husband’s love child suddenly thrust upon her.

  He didn’t have the local monopoly on shitty childhoods, he suddenly realized.

  “When you have unrealistic expectations of people, you’re setting yourself up for a firestorm of disappointment,” he said. “That’s a tough way to go through life.”

  She shrugged. “I may be naive, but I like to put my faith in people, even if it’s overly optimistic. In my experience, if you demand much of people, they usually want to rise to meet those expectations.”

  Or they fight back and do their damnedest to shatter them, he thought, but didn’t say.

  “I overheard you talking boats with Mick Sargent.”

  “He was talking about boats. I was mostly listening.”

  Her smile was like the sun sliding over the peaks of the Redemptions after a miserable night. “That’s usually all you can do once Mick settles in for a chat. He’s a character. Eighty-three years old and still going strong.”

  “He seemed old when I was a kid. I remember seeing him work a sander and wondering if he was goin
g to keel over any minute.”

  “Isn’t perspective a funny thing? When I was a girl, thirty seemed absolutely ancient. Now that I’m staring it right in the face, I feel like I’m still a baby.”

  “You are still a baby. You’re probably the youngest mayor in the history of Haven Point, aren’t you? Though apparently not by choice.”

  “Not really. I never sought this position and didn’t want it.”

  “Why did you accept the nomination? Nobody can force you to run for office in this country, unless there’s some bizarre Haven Point compulsory service bylaw I don’t know about.”

  She sighed. “You’re absolutely right. I could have said no.”

  “But you didn’t.”

  She gave a shrug that seemed both eloquent and simple. “This is my town and I love it here. People here embraced me when I was a strange kid who showed up out of nowhere. They have supported my business and opened their hearts to me in friendship. Haven Point isn’t perfect. We have our problems, like any other town—the economy being at the top of the list—but in general, this is a warm, caring place.”

  She looked around the room. “I love this community—and if I can make it a better place to live for my neighbors and friends, I have an obligation to step up and do my part.”

  He studied her, wondering if her earnestness could possibly be genuine. Yeah, he might be a cynic, but it seemed a little too good to be true. No one could possibly have this rosy a view of her hometown.

  “And how’s that working out for you so far?”

  He regretted the caustic words immediately, especially when her lovely dark eyes clouded and her mouth tightened.

  “Great. And as a delightful perk of my job, I get to entertain all the visiting ass—” She caught herself at the last second before she could complete that particular sentiment and quickly amended the thought. “Er, awesome dignitaries.”

  He deserved the original pejorative, he acknowledged. Finding himself the center of attention left him feeling awkward and uncomfortable and he was taking his unease out on McKenzie. Though she had misled him about the meeting, he still didn’t have the right to be a jerk to her.