by Cara Colter
“Forever,” Vivian responded, then wagged her spoon at Kelly Hurley. “And it’s not so crazy, Kelly. Lots of business owners do exactly what I’m doing.”
“What would be so bad about staying here and running this place yourself, Viv?” Kelly, who’d been Vivian’s friend for years, leaned against the wall behind the front counter of the Frozen Scoop, the ice cream parlor Vivian had opened two weeks ago. Dark wash jeans and a light blue T-shirt hugged Kelly’s curvy frame, and she’d swooped her chestnut hair into a loose ponytail. “What, are you afraid people might think the wild child is finally settling down? Even you are allowed to have a life, you know.”
“I do have one.”
“I meant one with something—and someone—to come home to.”
Vivian’s gaze went to Kelly’s left hand, to the simple gold band adorning her ring finger. Of all the people Vivian had known, Kelly was the last one she would have expected to settle down and live the suburbia life. Yet here she was, wearing a wedding band, sporting a “My Kid is an Honor Student” sticker on her minivan and working at a small-town store.
For a second, a flash of envy roared in Vivian’s gut, then she pushed it away. Regardless of how much of a sales job Kelly tried to give the benefits of “settling down,” Vivian knew better. She’d considered making a stab at that “normal” life once before—
And had it backfire in her face like a twentyyear-old car in need of a tune-up.
“I can run this shop from California,” Vivian said. “You do the day-to-day, I do the behind-the-scenes. Easy as pie.”
“I love working here, don’t get me wrong. I think you’re doing a great thing with the kids you hired.” She lowered her voice and gestured toward the kitchen, where Rosanna Simmons and Jimmy Penner, the first two hires, were busy doing dishes and cleaning up from the lunch crowd. The two teens laughed quietly as they worked, a dramatic shift in the sullen attitudes they’d had a few weeks ago. Simply seeing them change their views on life, to see that a future existed for kids like them—
The reward outweighed any financial benefit Vivian could ever imagine.
“I’ve really seen a difference in those kids, just in the few weeks we’ve been open. Who knew ice cream could have such power?” Kelly grinned. “And I love working for you, but…”
“What?” Vivian prompted when Kelly didn’t finish.
“When are you going to take a risk?”
“Are you kidding me? Risk is my middle name.”
Kelly snorted. “Right. That’s why you’re running back to California the first chance you get. If you’re going to buy a business, stay here and run it, don’t drop off some money and rush out the door.”
Vivian winced. That had pretty much been exactly how she’d opened the ice cream shop. She’d planned on being in town only long enough to choose the location, offer Kelly the job as manager, then hire the contractors who had turned the former antiques shop into a bright, cheery treat stop. After that, she would oversee the Frozen Scoop entirely by phone and e-mail.
Allowing her to stay far, far away from St. John’s Cove. The best plan all around.
“This is an investment, Kelly, not a career.”
Okay, so it wasn’t much as investments went. One ice cream shop wasn’t going to pour profits into her pockets.
Then what are you doing surrounded by chocolate mint and cherry cordial?
Kelly pushed off from the wall and crossed to Vivian. “This is all about that day in Mrs. Simmons’s class, isn’t it?”
“A little. Maybe.” Vivian turned away before her friend reached her, and toyed with an extra spoon on the pink-and-black-speckled tabletop. Sophomore year of high school, she’d had an assignment to write an essay about her dreams for her future. For the first time in her life, Vivian Reilly wrote down the God’s honest truth.
She wanted to own a little ice cream parlor. Marry the man of her dreams, live in a pretty white house with a fence and raise two children, a boy and a girl.
Writing the essay hadn’t been the bad part. Being told half the grade was based on delivering it orally was. She would have refused—but her English grade was already on shaky ground, and she’d spent enough time in detention to last her a lifetime. So she’d read her essay to the class—
And heard the snickers almost from the first word. No one could believe Vivian Reilly, party girl, wanted anything so “cheesy.” At the end of class, Colton had come up to her and said, “That was a joke, wasn’t it, Viv? That whole thing about you wanting to settle down, spend your life doling out double scoops?”
Instead of telling him the truth, she’d just nodded and affected a cool sneer. “Of course. Who wants that? I was just trying to get a good grade.”
That had been the end of that. The only one she’d confided in had been Kelly, because if she’d told any of the Group of Six that the essay had been true, word would have gotten back to Colton. Even back then, she’d been half infatuated with him, and she couldn’t stand to hear him laugh at her dream. She could only pray he’d forgotten the whole incident since then.
“Okay,” Vivian conceded. “So maybe for a split second, I dreamed of living a normal life. Open up a place like this, run it during the day, and…” Her voice trailed off.
“Go home to a husband and two kids every night,” Kelly finished for her.
Vivian scowled and held up two slim pieces of paper to the bright sunlight streaming through the plate-glass windows. “You know what this place needs? An awning. I was thinking striped. White and…which color? Cotton Candy Pink or Light Lemon Yellow?”
“Viv, it’s not a crime to want a regular life.”
“Definitely the yellow.” Vivian waged the color chip. “It seems more friendly. And it matches the sign better.”
Kelly sighed, clearly sensing it was time to drop the subject. “The yellow for sure,” she said. “It’ll invite people in, whether the owner’s here or not.”
Colton had never seen a man look more miserable. “Here.”
Charlie took the opened beer, and nodded his gratitude. “Thanks.”
Colton settled in the second Adirondack chair, and propped his own drink on the small table to his right. Night had begun to fall, draping a soft blanket of deep purple over the manicured oneacre yard. Dozens of flowering plants and fancy shrubs lined the space, plants Colton couldn’t name and didn’t tend. He rarely had time anymore to enjoy the yard, and had finally hired a landscaper to take care of it.
He missed the simplicity of taking time to plant a tree, trim branches. He could see his future ahead of him—the same life his father had lived—filled with political events, endless days in the office and the inevitable campaigning, and knew that investment of time came with the reward of building the community he loved.
He might not be able to make a difference with the rhododendrons, but at least he would with the streets and businesses.
Charlie let out a long sigh. “I never thought marriage was supposed to be like this.”
“It’ll get better. You guys have been together for a long time,” Colton said, returning to his friend’s problems instead of his own. “Plus, we’ve all been friends forever. You’ll work it out.”
Charlie harrumphed.
“Did you ever think it might be hormones? You know, her being pregnant and all?”
“I did. And I said that to her when we argued about going to my mother’s. At Sam and Ethan’s wedding.” Charlie glanced over at Colton. “That’s when she threw her shoe at me.”
“Oh.” Colton took a sip of beer. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” Charlie took a longer gulp. “She’s still mad at me for telling my mother she was pregnant when we got married. She thinks I married her because…” He let out a sigh.
“Because you had to.”
Charlie nodded.
“Did you?”
“Hell, no. I love Mandy. She’s just not listening to me when I tell her that.” He glanced down at the beer. “Do me a favor, Colton
. Don’t get married. It’s way overrated.”
“Marriage is not in my plans, Charlie.”
That empty feeling returned again, as if Colton was missing out on something. He poured himself into his job, and yes, found fulfillment there, but a part of him wondered—
Was that all there was?
Marrying a life of politics with a regular life, though…Colton couldn’t see it happening. Not for him, not for his father, and not for his grandfather. Not a single St. John man had been happy in his marriage. Edward had picked the “right” woman, something he had lectured his son about over and over again, as if a wife were a registered pedigree puppy.
Colton had no intentions of making the same mistake. He’d already seen how that kind of preordained union worked out.
Better to stay single. Much better.
“Trouble is, I’m already married.” Charlie twirled the bottle between his palms. “And I love her. Love her more than anything.”
“Then go talk to her.”
Charlie glanced at Colton. “Come on, Colton. You know Mandy. She’s stubborn. I’ve been talking for the last month, and it’s gotten me exactly nowhere. We’re right back where we started.” Charlie rose, leaving the beer bottle on the small table. “Which is circling around the big D word.”
He let out a curse and then he was gone, leaving behind a heavy air of sadness.
Colton sat there for a while, wishing he could do something to help two of his best friends work out their problems. But really, what could he do? Go talk to Amanda? And what would he say?
Best to stay out of it.
Charlie’s sorrow gnawed at Colton. Enough that he abandoned his half-finished drink, and headed out of his house and down the street toward the one person who knew both Charlie and Amanda as well as he did.
Vivian.
CHAPTER FOUR
HER father was grinning—never a good sign.
Vivian put down her pencil, and pushed aside the legal pad she’d been jotting notes on, all plans for the Frozen Scoop. Business had been good at the shop ever since the doors had opened, and now Vivian was running the numbers to see about hiring more help for August and September. There were so many teenagers—too many—that she wanted to give a helping hand to, provide with a new direction, a vision of a future. The Frozen Scoop might not be able to employ them all, but she’d do what she could.
“What?” she said to her father.
“Someone’s here to see you.” He practically sang the words.
She eyed him with suspicion. “What has you so chipper? Have you been sneaking pie again? You know what the doctor said about watching your cholesterol.”
“I’m dessert free.” Daniel held up his hands as evidence. “Now come on out and say hello. It’s not like we have company marching through this door every five minutes, you know.”
Vivian shook her head, then rose and headed into the living room, figuring Kelly had stopped by to try once again to persuade her to stay in town and operate the ice cream parlor herself. “I’m not going to—”
She stopped talking.
Colton stood in the living room, tall and impossibly handsome. Just by his sheer presence, he had a way of tempting her to stay awhile, to linger in the one place she’d never wanted to hang around. There was just something about the way he stood, the deep comfort in his blue eyes, that called to her. And that was dangerous.
She needed to head back to L.A. Immediately. Staying in St. John’s Cove would have her considering crazy thoughts—like getting involved with Colton.
“Hey, Viv.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too.” He grinned.
“I didn’t mean that, I meant—” She glanced over her shoulder. “Dad, I’m not seventeen anymore.”
Daniel harrumphed. “At seventeen, you were climbing out your bedroom window and hopping on the back of a motorcycle at two in the morning. This is the most traditional date you’ve ever had.”
“This is not a date. Colton’s a—”
“Friend,” Colton finished for her.
Her gaze met Colton’s and something Vivian refused to call disappointment sank in her gut. “Exactly. A friend.”
The way she wanted things to stay.
Uh-huh. Then why did her heart skip a beat when a grin curved across Colton’s face?
“You’ve been a hell of a mayor, Colton. I’ve really noticed a difference in this town since you took over.” Daniel leaned in conspiratorially. “If you don’t mind my saying so, you do a better job than your father. You relate to people. Talk to ’em. And even better, listen to their problems. Then, surprise, surprise for a politician, you solve ’em.”
Colton chuckled. “Thank you, sir.”
“Yep, this town is better for having you.” Daniel glanced at his daughter, then back at Colton.
She could feel her father staring at the two of them, as rapt as a preschooler in front of a full cookie jar. She could stay here, and let this soap opera unfold with a patriarchal audience, or take the conversation somewhere private.
“I was just about to go out for a bite to eat,” she said to Colton. “You want to come with me?”
“We just had dinner,” Daniel cut in. “You and Colton should stay here. Have a soda, some barbecue chips. A snack, ya know?”
“Thanks, Dad, but I was thinking more like—”
“Wings at O’Reilly’s?” Colton said.
Their old hangout. The place they’d both loved, for its anonymity and easy style. “You read my mind.”
And then she was gone, before her father threw some potato skins under the broiler. And started quizzing Colton about his intentions. If there was one person in town who did want to see Colton and Vivian together, it was her father.
Vivian climbed into the passenger’s seat of Colton’s Mercedes. The luxury vehicle wrapped her in a cocoon of quiet and lush, comfortable leather. “Let me guess. You came by to check up on me? Make sure I wasn’t expanding my crime wave to something bigger, beyond sneaking into the neighbor’s pool?”
“Like grand theft auto?” he finished before she could.
Vivian laughed. “That was a fun night, wasn’t it?”
“One of the best memories of my teen years.”
She noticed the distance he added at the end—teen years. Another signal Colton had put those moments behind him. He had moved on, past whatever he and Vivian might have had in common.
Still, some masochistic part of her kept searching for the thread that used to extend between them. “Well, you know who to call, next time you want help putting the principal’s car on the roof of the high school.”
“Not to mention helping to steal that crane—”
“We were borrowing it, Colton. Get your terms right.” She laughed.
“Okay, borrowing. Too bad the St. John’s Cove cops didn’t agree.”
“Until your father talked the company into dropping all charges,” Vivian pointed out. “Thank goodness, because we would have been in so much trouble if they didn’t. We were stupid teenagers back then, weren’t we?”
That was the Colton she remembered, not this more formal, all-business Colton who had clearly become mayor. Who had stepped into the very shoes he had fought so hard not to wear.
Why? What had changed?
“That stunt cost me a year’s allowance and two months of privileges.” He chuckled softly. “And it was worth every second of the home confinement.”
“And I spent a week in the principal’s office, doing all my class work ‘under supervision.’” Vivian laughed. “Of course, I probably needed a lot of that in those days.”
“You weren’t the only one,” Colton said. “We got into a lot of trouble back then. Fun trouble, but trouble all the same.”
Instead of continuing to reminisce, Vivian was silent for a long time, her gaze on the dozens of beach houses passing by outside the window. Just beyond them, the ocean curled gently in and out, small whitecaps a
nnouncing each wave.
If Colton didn’t know better, he’d say Vivian looked almost melancholy. Impossible. Vivian was always the party girl, the one ready to run off on a wild tear and bring everyone else with her.
“Do you ever…”
Colton glanced over. “Ever what?”
Vivian straightened, back to her usual sassy self, as if the thoughtful moment had been an aberration. “Nothing.”
What had she been about to say? And what’s more, what was with this mood of hers? Ever since Vivian had arrived in town, she hadn’t seemed the same.
Then again, what did Colton really know about what was ordinary for Vivian Reilly? She’d been gone for years, and in that time, she’d surely changed. Just as he had.
They weren’t the same old gang anymore, no matter how much they wanted to think they were. The six had grown up, some had gotten married. They were diverging along their own paths now, the kind of grown-up paths that meant it was time to stop reliving a past that couldn’t become the present.
Because there were responsibilities waiting in the morning.
A minute later, they pulled up to O’Reilly’s, a busy bar in Stone Harbor, the next town over. The distance wasn’t much, but it was enough for Colton to feel like he’d stepped away from work. Put some distance between himself and the spotlight of being mayor. Most of the St. John’s Cove locals stuck to the town’s bars, and few ventured to the neighboring establishments. Here, he felt normal, like a regular guy, not a St. John. It was a nice change, from time to time, just to be.
“Tonight when you came by, you seemed like you had something on your mind,” Vivian said. “Want to talk about it?”
He could have asked her the same thing. Probed into what was warring within her. There was something…but what it was, Colton couldn’t even begin to guess. Once again, he was reminded of how things had changed in half a decade.
Instead he said, “Charlie and Amanda.”
Vivian sighed. She’d been around the newly married couple enough in the last few weeks to see what Colton had seen. Heck, astronauts in space could have seen the discontent in the Weston marriage. “Things haven’t gotten any better between them?”
