Love Finds You in Carmel by-the-Sea, California

by Sandra D. Bricker

  Once a lull rolled along, Annie got up and started clearing coffee cups from the table and floor. Nick grabbed what she couldn’t carry and followed her into the kitchen.

  “I appreciate the flowers,” she told him. “But it wasn’t necessary.”

  “Yes, it was,” he replied, moving toward her.

  She was deciding whether to set the cups on the counter or into the sink when he leaned forward, right out of nowhere, and planted a kiss on her lips. It was quick and somewhat tender, with a sort of electrical spark to it there at the last. Annie never saw it coming.

  “What was that?” she asked when he pulled away. “You’ve got a lot of nerve.”

  “No one’s ever accused me of being without nerve,” he told her, and he took the cups from her hands, set them in the sink, and crossed the kitchen. At the doorway, he turned back and narrowed his eyes. With a somewhat mischievous lilt to his voice, he told her, “At least one of the three males in this house was going to do that tonight. I wanted to be the first. Now you have something to compare them to.”

  Annie stood there, speechless, as he returned to the living room and joined the conversation without ever missing a beat. Her lips tingled—and her fingers and toes as well, she noticed.

  It had been such a long time since she’d been kissed like that, she didn’t know how to respond. Part of her wanted to march right into the living room, pour the last of the coffee in his lap, and call him an arrogant jerk. The other part… Well, Annie didn’t want to think about what that part of her wanted to do.

  While she mulled that over, Zoey sauntered into the kitchen and slipped into a chair at the table. For a couple of moments, she just stared at Annie with curious, wide eyes. Finally she nodded, encouraging Annie to speak.

  “What?”

  “Oh, come on,” she whispered. “There are three men in that room all bidding for your attention. This is, to say the least, a bit unusual, isn’t it?”

  Annie leaned back against the counter and stared at her briefly. “You think that’s strange?” she said, still somewhat stunned by Nick’s behavior. “Get this. That Nick Benchley? He kissed me.”

  “What do you mean? When?”

  “Just now. He walked right up to me and kissed me, right on the lips.”

  “What did you say to him?”

  “I said he had a lot of nerve.”

  “Good girl.” After a moment, Zoey added, “How was it?”

  Fortunately, they were interrupted by Colby’s presence and Annie didn’t have to respond.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you, Annie,” he said. “You too, Zoey.”

  “Are you leaving?” Annie questioned.

  “We have a radio thing first thing in the morning up in San Jose.”

  “Oh. Well, I’m glad you stopped by.”

  “Listen,” he said, moving a bit closer to her. “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I called you sometime.”

  “Oh. That…would be great. I’d like that.”

  “Good. I’ll get your number from Merideth, then.”

  “Okay.”

  Annie and Zoey exchanged facial contortions as he floated out of the room.

  “He’s gorgeous,” Zoey mouthed.

  “I know!” Annie returned without audio.

  It seemed to Nick that everyone decided to sweep out of Annie’s house at the same time. Except for Evan, who was still seated casually on the sofa and looking for all the world as if he lived there.

  Annie walked toward the front door behind him, and he could feel her there. When he’d kissed her, he’d smelled that same distant scent of jasmine. He stopped and turned around, and she almost smacked right into him.

  “Listen,” she said softly. “Don’t ever do that again.”

  “Do what?”

  “You know what. That thing you did in the kitchen before,” she said, her voice in a whisper but exaggerating the shape of the words with her mouth.

  “Oh, you mean,” he said, leaning closer, grinning at her, “when I kissed you.”

  “Yes.”

  “Never?”

  She bit her lip, and he could almost watch the turning of her thoughts in her hazel green eyes. He made her crazy, and Nick loved it.

  “I’m not kidding,” she reiterated. “A kiss is a very private thing, and it should be agreed upon, not stolen.”

  “Well, when you put it that way,” he began, falling silent for a long moment and mulling over the idea creeping up on him. “I’ll tell you what, Annie Gray. The next time I kiss you, if I ever do kiss you again, it will be because you’ve asked me to. Deal?”

  “I wouldn’t hold your breath for that,” she replied. “But do I have your word on it?”

  “You have my word.”

  “Okay.” She nodded. “Thank you for the flowers.”

  “And thank you. For the coffee, and for your grandmother!”

  “I didn’t give her to you, Nick.”

  “No, but thanks for letting me borrow her for a little while. Dorothy Gray! She’s spectacular.”

  Nick meandered down the front steps before he turned around to face her once he reached the sidewalk. Despite the agreement they’d just made, he already recognized the inner struggle against breaking it. Nick really wanted to kiss Annie again.

  Instead, he told her, “You have some very nice friends, Annie Gray.”

  “I know,” she replied with a grin. “Good night.”

  “Sleep tight.”

  He opened the front gate, and she called after him, “By the way, Nick. How did you find my gram’s house anyway?”

  “I’m a cop,” he told her. “I can find anyone’s house.”

  “You’re a…cop?”

  Annie woke up at four o’clock the next morning because of a series of dreams straight out of a movie she’d once seen. Chased by hundreds of grooms down the middle of the Cabrillo Highway, Annie spotted Evan, Colby, and Nick at the front of the pack. When they backed her up against Exit 399B to Monterey, which was closed again for some new construction need, Nick emerged from the group, walked right up to her, and shoved her to the ground. He tossed a bunch of flowers at her before stalking away, and the petals fell upon her in colorful slow motion.

  Three cups of coffee after sundown is not a good thing, she decided. From now on, I’m sticking to something that won’t betray me this way. Something that won’t promote bad dreams of rebellious grooms.

  Annie sat down at the kitchen table. The only light streamed gently through the doorway from the bay window at the front of the house. She’d never been a big proponent of herbal teas and the like, but it seemed like a really good night to try one. A few minutes later, she dunked a chamomile bag she found in the back of the cupboard into a cup of water made too hot in the microwave.

  Sherman wobbled in, blinked several times, and made himself comfortable at her feet. His chin felt warm where it rested on her bare toes, and she wiggled them a little to give him a tickle that he was too tired to appreciate.

  Nick’s flowers seemed to wave at her from the vase on the counter. She figured the buzz on her brain could be attributed to an overdose of caffeine, but Nick Benchley seemed to be right there at the root of it as well. She found herself replaying his visit until her brain started to ache a little.

  Two fingers flew to her lips, which were stinging again at the memory of his kiss.

  It’s been such a long time since… Why did it have to be Nick Benchley?

  He did have very soft lips, though.

  And very appealing dark eyes.

  And the brash manners of a donkey to go with them.

  Annie made a mental list of the overabundance of men currently floating through her life, omitting Evan’s name before proceeding. Like the exit to Munras Avenue off the Cabrillo, that road had closed. Better to take an alternate route.

  Colby might be a nice detour, though.

  Annie giggled out loud at Merideth’s straight-on matchmaking in bringing him right to her door, and Sherman
shifted to his side, irritated at her lack of consideration. His beauty sleep was pending, after all.

  Colby seemed almost too handsome to consider—and too handsome to dismiss, as well. But Nick Benchley?

  His leather jacket with the suede inlays came to mind. With his force-of-nature entrances into a room and his just-walk-right-up-to-you-and-kiss-you-whether-you-like-it-or-not-ness, well, he had to go too. She crossed him off her mental list with a large, thick X and then scribbled over his name just for good measure.

  Annie resolved to call Merideth in the morning and thank her, maybe suggest she give Colby a little nudge along with that phone number. Meanwhile, Annie would take care of one more pesky item on her list and find herself some really great hair.

  I’m going to do something drastic. And if Jake won’t help me, I’ll find someone in the region who will.

  Rubbing her front teeth with her index finger, she reminded herself to have them whitened then abandoned the drab cup of tea and headed upstairs to her bedroom. She’d already crawled beneath the covers when she heard Sherman’s paws scamper-thumping up the stairs and down the hall. He landed on the bed with a thud, made a full circle, and tilted over sideways. He was snoring before she could turn off the light.

  Clearly, Sherman hadn’t had three cups of coffee to keep him awake. Perhaps a lesson could be found there.

  Chapter Seven

  “I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges.”

  Alfonso Bedoya, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948

  Important fact about undefined relationships: if you introduce someone to your gram, don’t expect them not to love her.

  Aside from the relationship questions, Annie had to admit that Evan had been an exceptional friend to her and her grandmother. The bistro where he worked in the village was just a few minutes’ walk from Gram’s house, and he’d been visiting Dot on a regular basis long before Annie gave up her Monterey apartment and came to live in the attic upstairs.

  It seemed only natural that Gram had given him a key and asked him to look in on Sherman on days when Annie worked and she had one of her women’s group meetings, luncheons, or yoga classes. Annie couldn’t think of a kind way to revoke his privileges, but doling out keys was not indicative of where their relationship had finally landed. Still, why should Sherman suffer because of grown-up issues? Annie had begun to suspect over time that that relationship might be the real purpose in their association anyway. They were soul mates, Evan and Sherman.

  But as she headed up the walk toward the front door on this particular evening, carrying a bag from the pharmacy containing a new teeth-whitening system, Annie questioned the wisdom of the whole key-giving thing.

  The rattling of pots and pans drew her straight into the kitchen, where the back door sat propped open. As she stepped into the doorway, Evan and Sherman looked very much like housewife and child to her. She couldn’t shake the comparison that she was the Ozzie to Evan’s Harriet, and she stifled a hearty laugh.

  “How about cucumbers?” Evan asked Sherman. “Do you like cucumbers as much as you like lettuce?” Standing happily at Evan’s feet, the beagle wagged his tail hard in reply.

  Evan tossed him a slice, and Sherman gave it mild consideration but ultimately rejected it. Annie picked up the slippery thing from the floor and deposited it into the garbage disposal.

  “Welcome home!” Evan exclaimed.

  “Thank you,” she replied curiously, looking around at the obvious dinner preparations. “What’s going on here?”

  “Dot asked me to come over and check on Sherman so she could go out for dinner. So I had a brainstorm: why not make dinner for Annie tonight? So here I am.”

  “Here you are.”

  “Why don’t you go and get cleaned up; change into something comfortable if you want. And I’ll get dinner on the table.”

  So enthusiastic, so hopeful. So eager to please.

  Annie glanced down at Sherman, still happily panting and wagging at Evan’s feet, and the comparison just couldn’t escape her. She didn’t believe in reincarnation, but if she did…

  They might have been brothers in another life.

  Annie returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, having donned her favorite pair of jeans, an oversized chambray shirt, and flip-flops. It wouldn’t be a formal evening, but no one would have known it from the spread Evan had prepared.

  His wonderful potato soup graced Gram’s stoneware bowls, and the creamy fragrance of onions, potatoes, and garlic served as a lovely greeting. Warm turkey sandwiches also waited, precisely placed on the edges of two small plates and piled on freshly baked whole grain bread. Nut stuffing and cranberry sauce peeked out from between the diagonally cut slices. Chilled grapes and chunks of watermelon formed a vibrant mound between them.

  “Every meal with you is an event, Evan.”

  “Sit,” he said with a warm smile. “And tell me about your new job. How do you like it?”

  They covered general topics, such as Deke and current investigations, Evan’s restaurant, and the amazing food he’d brought to her table. Not until they were just about finished eating did the real entrée come to light.

  “So…which one of those pretty boys from the other night are you interested in?”

  Annie dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a napkin and stared him down.

  “I don’t know that I’m interested in either of them,” she told him. “I haven’t learned enough about them to know if there’s anything there. Why do you ask, Evan?”

  “I don’t know. You seemed very chummy with that Nick.”

  That Nick. Like “that dog” or “that pencil.”

  It occurred to Annie that men like Nick Benchley sort of forced “chummy” onto a person when he or she wasn’t looking. Nick always seemed to know Annie far better than he actually did, and it drove her batty. But she chose not to share those observations with Evan.

  “Does that bother you, Evan?”

  There. It’s out there. I’ve called you on it. What do you think of that?

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I can’t help but notice. It seems to bother you.”

  “No,” he managed, before immediately popping to his feet. He began clearing dishes as he added, “It’s none of my business who you date anyway. I was just making conversation.”

  She considered pointing out to him that she wasn’t dating either Nick or Colby—or Evan himself, for that matter.

  “It just doesn’t seem like either one of them is your type, that’s all.”

  “I didn’t know I had a type,” she remarked, carrying her dishes to the sink.

  “Dessert?”

  She raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Tempt me.”

  “Oatmeal raisin cookies. Baked this afternoon.”

  “Sold!”

  “I think I’ll leave them with you and take off,” he said, handing over a small white box tied with string in a perfect bow right at the top.

  “You sure?”

  “I have some things to do.”

  Evan didn’t have things to do, and Annie felt confident that they both knew it. He also hadn’t come over on a whim to cook her dinner, either. He came fishing. But the information he’d hooked with potato soup bait was definitely being thrown back.

  Annie had been checking the newspaper often in search of a convertible she could afford. The newspaper ads referred to them as “pre-owned,” which sounded much more hoity-toity, of course, but it really just meant “used.”

  Deke happened into the office just as she circled a good possibility: a 2005 blue Ford Mustang convertible. Great condition, low miles, one owner.

  “I’m car shopping,” she told him.

  “Whatcha looking for?”

  “I don’t care about the make. I just want a convertible.”

  “Well, don’t make it too flashy,” he warned. “Private investigators need to blend in while on surveillance. Stay under the radar.”

  Deke looked over her should
er at the newspaper and shook his head. “A Mustang?” he exclaimed with a chuckle. “Yeah, I guess you can’t get more nondescript than that.”

  Oh well. Maybe I’ll hang on to Taurie a little bit longer.

  Deke headed back to his office but paused in the doorway. “Speaking of surveillance,” he said, “are you up for a new assignment?”

  Am I! Dialing down her enthusiasm a notch or two, Annie nodded. “Sure.”

  “Come on in. Bring a notepad.”

  Dr. Dwayne Biddle personified her next case, an orthopedic doctor specializing in performing unnecessary surgery in order to jack up the medical bills of arguably injured car-accident victims.

  “These are the files from Northern California Life and Casualty where we’ve been able to link inconsistent behavior with injuries,” Deke told her, handing over a stack of a half dozen folders. “It’s going to make a tighter case for fraud if we can tie in the lawyer and the doctor with the claims and lawsuits filed.”

  Deke sparkled when he talked about his business. And if Annie wasn’t already excited about this new career choice, she imagined he would play a great role in getting her there.

  “I’m visiting the lawyer, a fellow named Zach Gleason, this afternoon, to see if he tries to hook me up with Biddle,” he explained. “Meanwhile, you make an appointment with the good doctor and see if he returns the favor to Gleason. They’ll probably make you wait a day or two for the appointment, but get one as soon as you can.”

  “I can fill the time by studying up on these other cases,” she suggested.

  “That should be a top priority,” Deke agreed. “But how are you coming on that client database?”

  “Another couple of hours to clean it up and it will be fit for human consumption.”

  Deke’s astonishment sent Annie’s heart soaring. “You got all that information into one place that quickly?”

  “Yep.”

  “Okay, Speedy Gonzalez,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m officially impressed.”