Angels in Seashore Cove (Love and Laugh in Seashore Cove Book 2)

by Maggie Van Well

  A tall woman, possibly in her early fifties, with a pretty angular face and deep dimples made apparent by her beaming smile, stood on the other side. “Hi, I’m Angie Wheeler. I just moved into Betty’s apartment next door. I hope I’m not interrupting, but I was wondering if I could borrow some eggs. I only need two.”

  “Of course.” She gestured Angie inside “I’m Dianna Sheldon. Welcome!”

  Her new neighbor stepped over the threshold and looked directly into Dianna’s eyes, smiling. In that instant, Dianna somehow knew this woman would become very special to her.

  And she had no idea how she knew.

  “So what brings you to our neck of the woods?” Dianna asked as she led her into the kitchen.

  “My husband and I—uh, oh, my goodness!” Angie’s eyes grew wide. “This kitchen is amazing. Are you a chef?”

  “Cake designer.” When Dianna had taken up the trade, word of mouth had spread fast, forcing her to renovate her kitchen to keep up with the orders. She designed it to have a generous amount of counter space, room for the necessary small appliances, and two professional ovens. The rest of the house remained small and cozy. “Angie Wheeler, this is my friend, Sean Donovan.”

  “Good to meet you.” Sean shook her hand; his eyes squinted. “I met someone named Wheeler earlier today.”

  “Really?” Angie asked, surprised. “Tall, broad shouldered man with dark hair, graying at the temples? Beautiful blue eyes?”

  Sean shifted and tugged at the collar of his T-shirt. “Well, they were blue.”

  “That’s my husband, Jack.”

  “Yeah, that was his name. Really nice guy.”

  Dianna put two eggs in a plastic baggie and handed them to her neighbor, but she seemed in no hurry to leave. They chatted for a while about nothing in particular. Dianna found herself warming up to the older woman even more, having a strange desire to tell her everything that was on her mind. Things she had a hard time even sharing with Sean.

  “I’d better go. I’ll talk to you later.” Sean leaned down and kissed Dianna’s cheek. “Our discussion isn’t over,” he whispered then turned to Angie. “Always a pleasure to meet such a charming lady.”

  After Sean left, Angie faced her with a knowing smile. “My goodness, he’s handsome.”

  “And boy, does he know it.” Dianna stared out the window, watching her friend hop into his Porsche. She wasn’t blind. Sean was a very attractive man, and she wasn’t immune to his charms. There were those rare occasions when he looked at her in a certain way, like before in the kitchen, when she thought there could be something more in those electric blue depths, but she squashed those thoughts almost as quick as they came. There was no way a guy like Sean would want a girl like her.

  She tried not to think about those times.

  “Are you and he…?”

  Auto-response kicked in and Dianna blurted out, “We’re just friends.” Scolding herself, she turned to Angie and smiled, realizing her instant reaction might seem a tad rude to someone who didn’t know her and Sean. “I have yet to meet The One.”

  “You will.” Angie patted her arm.

  “Yeah, yeah. Everyone tells me I’ll know him when I meet him.”

  “That’s not always true. Sometimes the man of your dreams is right in front of you but for some reason you don’t see it.”

  “Well, I know I would.”

  “Maybe.” Angie pulled in a deep breath. “Mm, something smells good. Are you baking right now?”

  “Oh my gosh, my cakes!”

  Dianna ran to the oven and pulled out the three pans, kicking herself for not remembering to set the timer. The edges were a golden brown and the sweet, buttery aroma was hunger inducing. “Thank goodness they’re not burned.”

  “Looks like I’ve taken up enough of your time.” Angie held up the baggie. “Thanks for the eggs.”

  “Always willing to help.”

  After seeing her neighbor to the door, Dianna removed the cakes from their pans and placed them on a cooling rack before placing them in the fridge to make it easier to shape them later. Plenty of time to take a shower.

  As the hot water sprayed over her body, an unexpected sense of dread came over her. What if her new friend was right? What if she had met the man God wanted her to be with and she’d let him get away?

  Dianna sorted through all the guys she’d dated over the past twelve years and none of them really stood out as the one she should’ve given more of a chance.

  Well, there was one, but she chose not to think about him.

  Of course, it didn’t help that most men she became friendly with saw her as just one of the guys. A pal. Someone they could hang with, be themselves and not have to worry about putting on a façade. Maybe she was just supposed to be alone all her life.

  Okay, enough of the gloomy shit. As much as she would love to dwell on the woes of her nonexistent love life she had a cake to finish.

  Wrapping a towel around her head, she walked into her bedroom, drying her hair vigorously before tossing the towel into the hamper. She combed the long tresses, absently looking at the framed photograph on her dresser. The picture was of her and her brothers, taken at Eddie and Shirley’s wedding, right after the local pharmacist and the owner of The Oceanfront Café on Main Street, known to the locals simply as Shirley’s café, had tied the knot.

  She studied the smiling faces, grinning as she remembered that day. The picture caught her younger brothers, Patrick and Derek, scooping her up off the dance floor. Even though she was the oldest, they were very protective of her.

  She wasn’t a bad-looking woman. Her eyes were a startlingly deep shade of green and she’d received many compliments on her long blonde hair. And even though she wasn’t a size four, her curves were certainly in the right places. So what was it about her that made guys treat her like a buddy and not the girl you took home to Mom and Dad?

  Dianna’s smile slowly faded as she looked at Sean, standing on the sidelines laughing, remembering what Angie had said earlier. Yes, Sean was a very handsome man. Too handsome.

  Dianna violently shook her head and prepared for the evening.

  ***

  “The first encounter with our charges seemed to go fairly well.” Jack tossed a French fry to a hovering seagull. “Although, mine went a little better.”

  “I think I did okay.” Angie hurried next to him, finding it difficult to keep up with his long strides despite her own advantage in height.

  “Going over to borrow eggs? A bit cliché, isn’t it?”

  “At least I didn’t get tipsy at my meeting.”

  Jack’s mouth twisted into a wicked grin. “That would’ve been awesome.”

  Angie couldn’t help but smile herself. “So what do we do now?”

  “Come up with a plan.”

  Walking along the boardwalk where they’d first returned to Earth, Angie tilted her face toward the sinking sun. The ocean rushing to the shore created its own beautiful symphony. “It feels so odd, being here again.”

  “What do you mean again?” Jack threw another fry before taking one for himself. “You’d never visited Long Island. As far as I know, you never left Maine.”

  “Oh, I did too.” She shushed him with a playful slap. “I meant Earth.”

  “I don’t mind being here. As long as I don’t have to wear a suit.”

  “You don’t like wearing suits?”

  Jack stopped and looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “All I ever did was complain about wearing one. You used to threaten me with violence because I fussed about it so much.”

  Speechless for a moment, Angie stifled a gasp as memories of Jack always tugging at his tie came flooding back. “I knew that. Of course I knew that.”

  He placed his hand on her shoulder. Warmth seeped into her skin from his touch. She looked into his eyes so filled with concern. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “I’m just a little hazy still.”

  His gaze stayed with hers, the concern
in his eyes changing to something she couldn’t identify as his hand traveled across her shoulder to cup her cheek. He stared at his thumb brushing her skin as if he wasn’t sure why he’d placed it there. She caught her breath.

  Slowly, he lowered his arm. “It’ll come back soon enough.”

  “I hope so.” She headed for the steps that led them down to the sand, hoping to distance herself from the troublesome feelings his touch brought forth—and the line of seagulls that would probably now commit murder for him if he asked them to. “So, what do you think of Sean?”

  “I like him. And did you get a load of his car? A Porsche 911. The man has taste.”

  “Goodness you’re still obsessed with sport cars.”

  “Oh, sure, that you remember.”

  Yes, that memory was clear as day. Jack had been a greatly sought after mechanic for high-end vehicles, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous. What bothered her was why did she recall that memory and not the other?

  With a sigh, Angie pushed the thought aside. All this memory purging was giving her a headache. One thing she did not miss while in Heaven. Of that she was sure. “Just don’t let your obsession get in the way of our job.”

  “You should talk. Weren’t we here only twenty minutes before you simply had to run into that second-hand bookstore?”

  She let out a laugh as she sank to the ground and took off her new sandals, wiggling her toes in the warm sand. “Touché. But do you have any idea how much I’ve missed reading? Besides, I need to find out what happened with the Harry Potter series. I’d only read books one through three.”

  Finishing the rest of his fries much to the seagulls’ chagrin, Jack folded the cardboard container and pushed it into the back pocket of his khaki shorts. “So, what do you think of Dianna?” He sat beside her, shooing the angry birds trying to grab the fry container from his pocket.

  She smiled at the mention of her charge. “I adore her already. She’s smart, she’s strong, but—”

  “But?”

  Her smile fell as concern ushered in a frown. “I feel like she’s about to make a decision she’ll regret for the rest of her life.”

  “I got the same feeling from Sean.” Jack was silent for a moment before asking, “Looking back, do you have any regrets?”

  Unfortunately there was no struggling to find the answer to that question. “Never having children, but that wasn’t my choice. How about you?”

  He stared up the shoreline, his face pensive. “Maybe I should’ve gotten married, at least once.”

  She took his hand and squeezed it. “Well, as of now you have a wife, even if it’s only pretend.”

  “Pretend? We have a certificate that Heaven itself created declaring our marriage. I say you’re my wife.”

  Her breath hitched at the thought. Why would thinking of Jack as her husband have such a primal effect on her? Because it was primal. And sexual. So she tried to make a joke out of it. “Would they really be that cruel to you?”

  “I could do a lot worse.” He glanced at her, the sadness on his face gone, and winked.

  “Such a charmer.” Goodness, he had a wicked grin.

  “And I’ve gotten better. I think I honed my craft while in Heaven.”

  “Oh, sure, it couldn’t possibly be because you’re one of God’s angels now.”

  “You’re such a spoilsport.” With a grunt he rose to his feet and held out his hand. “C’mon woman. We need to get back to work before these seagulls plan my demise.”

  ***

  “Do you not see what you have done?”

  “I did what I had to do, Jude.”

  Adriel walked with his hands clasped behind his back as he strolled along the shore, keeping his distance from Angie and Jack. Even though he had every confidence in them, he wanted to keep tabs, especially since they hadn’t read the instruction manual yet.

  Besides, he’d yet to miss an opportunity to visit Earth’s beaches. He glanced down at his shoeless feet, flexing his toes in the sand.

  “Had to? You took away their feelings for each other.”

  Adriel turned and focused on the archangel trailing behind him. Rays from the setting sun bounced off Jude’s armor as he stumbled along in the sand. Every few steps he lost his balance and had to flap his massive wings to regain it. “Do you need help?”

  “I am not accustomed to walking in this terrain.” He finally caught up and glared down at Adriel. “Explain.”

  “I didn’t take away their feelings. I simply put a lid on them.”

  “That makes no sense.”

  “It’s like putting a pot of water on to boil. It seems to take forever. Put a lid on it and even though you can’t see the water, it boils quickly.”

  “We do not have time to boil water, and besides, I do not have a pot with me.”

  Adriel stared out over the ocean, giving himself a few moments to gather his thoughts. “It’s obvious something happened along the way to keep them from expressing themselves in life. It didn’t correct itself as they passed through the barrier into Heaven. Returning them to their former selves was risky enough without allowing them to remember what they’d felt, and the reasons behind why they never shared their feelings with each other. By covering up their love, I’m moving them onto a new path.”

  Jude stroked his chin. “So you are allowing them to fall in love all over again in the hopes that this time it goes according to Heaven’s law?”

  “Exactly.”

  “No need for pots?”

  Adriel chuckled. “No pots. Just love.”

  Chapter Four

  SEAN SAT IN SHIRLEY’S CAFÉ, repeatedly dipping a fry into the pool of ketchup as he stared vacuously at Sonia while she griped on about one of her clients. It was one thing to vent, that he could handle. But whenever he tried to offer advice, all she did was accuse him of never taking her side.

  It didn’t help that when it came to the customer service portion of her job, she was god-awful. As a massage therapist, Sonia was top of her game, but she should be easing stress not causing it.

  Yet, there she sat droning on about how she should be allowed to take a summer vacation and not have to explain herself to anyone.

  Maybe he should’ve taken Dianna up on her invitation to go to her cousins’ party with her. It was guaranteed to be a lot better than this.

  So, why was he here? Because if they had gone to the party it would’ve been a nightmare full of glares and tight-lipped conversations. God only knows why, but his mother didn’t like Sonia.

  Most of the time, Sonia Perillo was great. Okay sure, she gossiped a bit too much, and could have somewhat of a temper when pushed the wrong way. Everyone had faults. But she was fun and confident. An Italian beauty with dark eyes and thick brown hair, cut to a short stylish pixie, she knew how to make him laugh and damned if he couldn’t beat her at Trivia.

  “…so I said, I’m sorry you’re having back pain, but I’m not taking an hour drive just for you.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  She speared her fork into her sirloin. “Have you heard a word I’ve said?”

  “Yes, I just feel it’s better to remain silent.”

  She clicked her teeth and sawed the knife through her steak. “That’s because you never see my side of it. Just like my client. You men are all alike.”

  “It has nothing to do with being a man, it’s about customer service. If you were my massage therapist I would’ve fired you a long time ago.”

  “This is so typical—”

  “Sonia.” Sean took her hand. “Let’s not argue again.”

  With a deep sigh, she nodded and squeezed his hand before letting it go. “You’re right on both accounts. Maybe I should take the drive and see if I can help him with his pain.” She winked. “I’ll just charge him double.”

  They chatted easily through the rest of the meal. With the last bite of his hamburger, Sean sat back with a sigh. “Do you want coffee here?”

  “No, I’d rather go back to yo
ur place.”

  “Okay. I’ll get the check.”

  Sean paid the waitress and they walked to Sonia’s car.

  “I’m sorry about you having to drive tonight.” Sean headed for her gold Chevy. “But I really needed to get that scratch on the driver’s side fixed.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I know how much you love that car.” Sonia pressed the keyless entry.

  Sean opened the driver’s side door for her. “I really do. I’m so glad I listened to Dianna—”

  “Do you think we can get through one evening without bringing her up?” Sonia slipped behind the wheel and slammed the door.

  Sean closed his eyes and counted to five. So now he wasn’t even allowed to mention her name? This was getting ridiculous.

  Irritated, he walked around to the passenger side and slid into his seat. He didn’t want tonight to end like last night and the night before. But he’d be damned if he was going to walk on eggshells because his best friend happened to be a woman. As they drove to his house, Sean kept up a strained conversation. By the time they entered his foyer he was done trying. What happened to those fun evenings in the beginning where they did nothing but laugh, talk, and make out like teenagers? The knowledge that this just might not work out began to form a slow ache in his gut.

  Another bad choice. Another inevitable break-up.

  After taking Sonia’s sweater from her, he hung it on the coat rack right inside the door then he reached into his jean’s pocket for his cell.

  “I’m going to check my messages. Make yourself comfortable.” He headed down the hall to his office to listen to his voicemail. The first two were from work. He’d have to call them back.

  The third call was from his brother. “Hey big bro, it’s Tucker. Grab your lady and get your butt over here, we’re having a groovy time baby!” The last bit of his sentence came out in a poor imitation of Austin Powers.

  “And ask him to bring his guitar.” Dianna’s voice caught him, and apparently his heart, off guard. It leapt at the sound of her sultry tone.

  What. The. Hell?

  Pushing aside that odd reaction, he jammed his finger on the button to delete the message. “I should’ve gone to the damn party.” It sure would’ve been better than sitting around trying to make up for one small comment all evening. He loved playing the guitar while Dianna sang. Her voice was so good; at times it gave him chills. Maybe he could think up some excuse with Sonia and go? No, he couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be right. His mind should be on his girlfriend.