Sweet History: A Candle Beach Sweet Romance (Book 5)

by Nicole Ellis

  “I might know someone to fix you up with,” she said.

  “Really?” Sarah perked up.

  “Yeah. A friend of my brother’s. He’s not too bad-looking and he’s really smart.” She felt a small twinge describing Luke’s attractive qualities.

  “Does he have a job?” Sarah asked. “It seems like everyone I’ve met recently is unemployed and not really looking.”

  “Kind of?” Charlotte smiled. “He owns a food truck.”

  “Hmm.” Sarah appeared to consider it. “I’d love to meet someone with ambition, although at this point, I’ll take any adult male that can carry on a conversation. I’ve spent all year with fourth-graders. I need to spend some time with adults. I mean really, look at me here. I’ve spilled my life story to you and we hardly know each other.”

  Charlotte laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Sometimes I feel the same way. All I ever do is paint and work. I don’t think I even have time for someone to sweep me off my feet.”

  Sarah laughed. “Not even Prince Charming?”

  “If Prince Charming came to Candle Beach, I’d go out with him. Anyone else I don’t have time for.” She checked her watch and glanced over at Luke, who was still chatting with someone. She’d have to introduce him to Sarah later. “Speaking of Prince Charming and fairy tales, I’m going to turn into a pumpkin soon if I don’t get to bed.” She stood from the chair. “It was nice talking with you. I’m sure we’ll see each other a lot this summer with Dahlia gone. And if you ever start up an old maid’s club, make sure you tell me. I’d love to join.”

  “I will.” Sarah smiled at her. “It was nice talking with you too.”

  Charlotte approached Dahlia and Garrett to wish them a safe journey.

  “Hey,” she said, tapping Dahlia on the shoulder.

  “Char! I’m so glad to see you here.” Dahlia laughed. “This party has been so much fun. I’m thinking Garrett and I should entertain more. Did you get something to eat or drink?”

  “I did.” Guilty memories of the delicious barbecue ran through her mind. If Luke hadn’t still been present, she would have gone back for more.

  “I heard you and Luke were working together on the fundraiser for the Bike Barn. Maybe things will heat up between the two of you. He’s quite a catch.” Dahlia winked at her.

  When had Dahlia met Luke? Oh right, when she let him into Charlotte’s apartment.

  “We’re not exactly friends.”

  “Oh?” Dahlia cocked her head to the side. “I’m sorry. I thought you were. He said you’d known each other since childhood.”

  “Yes. We have. But calling us friends is stretching it quite a bit.”

  “I wouldn’t have let him in if I’d known.” Dahlia’s eyes became troubled and Charlotte felt horrible. She hadn’t meant to bring her friend down when she should be enjoying her party.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Charlotte flashed her a smile. “It’s not like he was there to kill me or something.” She laughed to let Dahlia know everything was okay.

  “Well, I’m glad you two are working together on the fundraiser. Maybe you can mend whatever relationship you have.” She frowned. “But I’m bummed I’ll miss the event. We’re coming back the day before Maggie’s wedding, but we won’t be back in time for the Bike Barn fundraiser.”

  “That’s okay,” Charlotte said. “You know, there’s still time to donate an auction item to make up for it.” A gleam formed in her eyes.

  Dahlia laughed. “Okay, okay, I can take a hint. I’ll drop something off at your apartment before we leave tomorrow.”

  “Thanks!” Charlotte cast a glance toward the back of the bookstore. “I’m exhausted though. I think I’m heading up for the night.”

  “Oh, sad,” Dahlia said. “The party’s just beginning.”

  “Yeah, but I’ve got too much to do. I think I’m going to work on my painting and then hit the hay.” She gave Dahlia a hug. “I’ll miss you though.”

  Her friend hugged her back. “I’ll miss you too. Did you meet Sarah?”

  Charlotte nodded. “I did. She seems nice. She’s Adam’s sister, right?”

  “Yes. I think she’ll do a good job with the bookstore while I’m gone. She already has some great ideas for the children’s section.”

  “I bet that with being a teacher, she’ll be a huge asset in that area.” She glanced back at Sarah, who was standing in a corner talking to Maggie, and then looked at the door to the back room. “Well, I’d better get going. Have a safe trip.” Charlotte hugged her again and left, trudging up the stairs to her apartment.

  To drown out the party noise coming through the floorboards, she stuffed wireless earbuds into her ears and turned up the volume on her phone to stream the classical music station she favored. It always helped her get in the right mood for painting. A few days ago, she’d started a landscape of Bluebonnet Lake, but something wasn’t quite right about it—the lake wasn’t the correct shade of blue. As much as she loved to paint, it frustrated her when she wasn’t able to capture what she could see in her mind’s eye. She fussed with the color until she was satisfied with it. An hour later, she hadn’t quite finished, but she was too tired to put in any more effort without making major mistakes.

  On a whim, she pulled out her sketchpad and sat down on the couch. She’d been to Europe with her parents as a teenager, but she had never been as an adult. How amazing would it be to go to Paris and sketch? Or to have someone special to experience it all with her? Her pencil moved across the paper. When she was done, she stared at it. For some reason, she’d drawn Luke, looking out over a river. Why? She stared at it until her eyes glazed over and she ripped it out and balled it up. This was ridiculous. She was so tired that she was drawing nonsensical things.

  She got ready for bed and slid under the cool top sheet, hugging a pillow. She’d been half serious when she told Sarah she’d like to meet someone, but the other half of her wondered if it was a good idea. She’d spent so many years trying to convince her family and everyone else around her that she was responsible, and right now she felt as though she was throwing balls into the air and praying she could catch them all when they fell. Having a special someone to travel with would be nice, but it was a luxury that she couldn’t afford at present.

  9

  “Okay, so the food order is taken care of, we’ve got tables and linens arranged, and the band is booked. How are the purchased auction items coming along?” Luke looked up from his list, his pen still touching the paper, ready to check off another box. His tall frame dwarfed the wrought iron chair he was sitting in at Donut Daze, Candle Beach’s donut shop.

  Charlotte sat back in her own chair and avoided eye contact with him. She really didn’t want to tell him what she’d done or why she hadn’t purchased the auction items they’d agreed upon.

  “I can’t buy the auction items.”

  “Didn’t you order them already? Some of those bikes we decided on will take a while to get here.” Luke stared at her.

  A growing sense of dread filled her chest. She’d placed an order with a bike shop in Seattle for some mountain bikes to auction off at the fundraiser, but they’d called that morning to tell her that her credit card had been declined and they wouldn’t be able to process the order.

  “I had a problem with the order.”

  “What’s going on? You said you’d take care of it.” He set his pen down on the table and leaned forward.

  “I can’t pay for them,” she said finally.

  His head snapped back. “What do you mean you can’t pay for them? I thought we were buying them with some of the funds that had already been donated.”

  “I spent that money already on decorations for the event.” How had she been so stupid? Math had never been her strong suit and she’d somehow miscalculated what she’d already purchased. She’d figured she could put the bikes on her credit card and worry about how to pay for them later, but they must have gone over the limit.

  His eyes widened. �
�You spent the money already? Charlotte—that’s all the money we had. How are we going to pull this off now? Please tell me you already paid for the food for the dessert bar.”

  She squirmed in her chair and picked at the remains of the sprinkle donut on her plate. It crumbled beneath her fingertips.

  “Uh.” Tears were pushing at the insides of her eyes and she fought to hold them in. “I haven’t done that yet.” She leaned forward and rested her head in her hands, staring down at the table. Between long hours at the shop and painting in every moment of spare time she had, she’d let her fundraiser duties slide. Now it was coming back to bite her. She hated having to admit all of this to Luke, of all people.

  “Hey,” he said, touching her arm lightly. “What’s going on?”

  She looked up, the tears now flowing down her cheeks without a chance of stopping.

  He froze, seemingly unable to take his eyes off her. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “Yes.” Then she broke down. “No. I don’t know. I’m so sorry. I wanted to help Saul with this fundraiser, but it’s too much. I’ve got the shop and an upcoming solo show at a gallery. I’m a little overwhelmed.”

  A smile crept across his face. “You’ve got a solo art show? That’s fantastic. People are going to love your paintings.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “Have you seen my paintings?” Other than a couple of paintings she kept in the trailer for inspiration, she didn’t usually show her art to people. To the best of her knowledge, Luke had never set foot in her trailer.

  Now it was his turn to blush. “I saw them in your apartment that day I came to apologize for calling you Chatty Charlie. You had your easel set up in the living room and some canvases against the wall.”

  “Oh, right.” She’d forgotten about that.

  His eyes met hers. “You have talent. I wish I had some sort of artistic ability.”

  She couldn’t do anything but stare at him, acutely aware that others in the crowded donut shop must think she was crazy for bursting into tears over her coffee and donut. Although she didn’t see anyone staring at the moment, she’d probably have several friends that heard about her crying fit calling her later to ask if she was okay.

  “Thanks.” She looked down at the table. “But it doesn’t really matter now. All people here in town will see is that I’ve completely screwed up this fundraiser.”

  “And why do you think they’d think that?” he asked.

  “Because I screw everything up.” She looked him straight in the eye. “Do you know what it’s like to grow up a spoiled little brat who can’t even take care of herself?”

  His lips formed an O. “I didn’t—”

  She interrupted him. “Yeah, I know that’s what you thought of me—probably do still think of me. Chatty Charlie—all she knows how to do is spend money and chatter with her friends.” She stood from the table and grabbed her plate. “Do you know how hard I’ve worked to get out from under my parents’ money and try to figure out how to manage things on my own?”

  He shook his head.

  “Well apparently, I haven’t done a very good job at learning how to manage money, because I got us into this mess!” She threw the paper plate in the trash and rushed out of the shop, afraid she’d burst into tears again in front of Luke. At least now she’d told him how she felt. It hadn’t been until college that she’d realized how dependent she was on her parents and she’d been striving to prove herself ever since.

  She left the donut shop and walked half a block down the hill, collapsing onto a wooden bench along the sidewalk. How had everything gone so wrong? She’d let everything going on in her life get to her and she’d completely messed up the fundraiser. Now Saul wouldn’t get the help that he deserved and it was all her fault.

  “Hey,” Luke said as he slowly approached her. “Are you okay?”

  She swiped at her eyes. “Oh sure, I’m fine. Can’t you tell?”

  He sat down next to her. “You don’t look or sound fine.”

  She glared at him in response. “Just go away.”

  “Sorry, I can’t do that. Parker would kill me if I left his little sister sitting here crying, alone on a bench.”

  “He probably wouldn’t care. He’s so busy with the new company and Gretchen—he never has any time for me.”

  “That’s funny, he says the same thing about you.” He tugged gently on her shoulder to make her face him.

  Her lip quivered as she struggled to meet his gaze. Why was he being so nice to her?

  “You’re working yourself to the bone. So you messed up on the accounting for the fundraiser. So what? Give yourself a break.”

  “Easy for you to say, you didn’t do it. I’m the one who ruined everything.” She slumped against the bench, pressing the thick wooden slats into her back. “My parents were right. I’ll never make it as an artist and I can’t handle money. I probably should go back to working for them. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this.”

  He stared at her. “You don’t mean that. Don’t listen to your parents—they’re wrong about you.”

  “No, they’re not. I spent all of the money we had for the fundraiser and now it’s ruined.”

  He sighed. “I can pay for the dessert bar and the bikes, okay?”

  “What do you mean? Was there more money raised for the event?” Her spirits lifted. The fundraiser would be a success and she knew they’d recoup all of their costs. Everything she’d already spent money on would help increase the donations—of that, she was confident.

  “Uh … I’ve saved a bit of money from my old job.”

  “Even after buying the food truck? Those things can’t be cheap. I spent everything I had on the Airstream for my shop and that’s nothing compared to what a food truck must cost.”

  “Yeah, Charlotte. I have plenty of money. This is just a drop in the bucket and I don’t mind donating it to the cause. If you give me the name of the bike shop, I’ll call them later today and give them my payment information.” He ran his feet along the ground in front of the bench and looked away, as if embarrassed to admit that he had money.

  Gratitude rushed through her. She’d never expected having Luke Tisdale come back into her life would be a blessing instead of a curse.

  She took a deep breath. “Thank you. I appreciate your generosity. And I swear I’ll be more careful with the funds in the future.”

  “I’m sure you will.” He smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it. You’ve put a lot of effort into the fundraiser and it’s going to be great. What did you buy anyway?”

  “Some decorations.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Just some decorations?”

  “Oh, all right. I bought an antique picnic basket, some nice checkered cotton tablecloths, a few old-time photographs for the walls, and a few other things.” She looked him in the eye. “I think they’ll really make a difference for the event. There will probably be some big donors there and I want this to be a quality event.”

  He returned her gaze. “Okay. I trust you and your decorating abilities much more than my own. If you think those items were necessary, they probably were.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled at him.

  “Now, can we go over the list again?” He pulled his notebook and pen out of his pocket and set them on his lap.

  She laughed. “Yeah, I think we can do that.”

  When they were through planning, they stood and walked together toward their shared parking lot. Luke watched her walking in front of him, her movements more subdued than normal. He’d never seen her so vulnerable. Usually she was bubbly and energetic, and he’d wondered if she was capable of being serious. When he knew her as a teenager, she’d been a spoiled brat, but she’d done some serious growing up over the years. She seemed to really care about the Bike Barn fundraiser and the people in this town.

  They reached the lot, said a quick goodbye to each other that was encouragingly amicable and retreated to their own businesses. It was close to
ten o’clock and although all the meats were already ready, he needed to get everything prepped for the lunch rush.

  By lunchtime, he was mobbed, but as much as he tried, he couldn’t concentrate on his customers. He somehow managed to mess up order after order and spent much of his time trying to fix his mistakes. Talking with Charlotte had really thrown him for a loop.

  “I ordered the barbecued brisket, not the pulled pork.” An elderly man wearing a fishing hat held up the food he’d just received from Luke.

  Luke grabbed the paper boat piled high with shredded pork back from him. “Sorry about that, sir.” He filled the order with the correct meat and stuck a cornbread muffin in a bag. “The muffin’s on the house. Sorry for any inconvenience.”

  The man looked at him in surprise and smiled, any anger dissipated. “Thanks.” He walked over to the bar seating that Luke had positioned against the back of the lot near the smoker.

  The line for the food truck stretched past Charlotte’s shop and out onto the sidewalk. His market research had been right. Candle Beach and its tourists loved barbecue. He looked past the waiting customers to Whimsical Delights.

  Charlotte was sitting just inside the door on a high stool, sketching something on paper. She regarded the drawing, bit her lip, then erased whatever was bothering her. There was something charming about how focused she was when engrossed in her art, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

  “Hey, man, I’d like to order,” an impatient man in his twenties complained.

  Luke flashed him a smile and snapped his attention back to his business. “Of course. What would you like?”

  When the crowd had cleared, Luke found himself watching Charlotte again. This time, she was outside with an elderly woman, helping her choose a flamingo lawn statue. The woman finally selected a flamingo with a beach umbrella and Charlotte picked it up for her. As they walked into the Airstream, Charlotte cast a glance in his direction, then quickly turned her head away. Hopefully she wasn’t worried about their interaction that morning being awkward. It had actually been endearing to see her in such an uncollected state.