WATERCOLOR WISHES: Love Along Hwy 30A, Book Four

by Chambers, Melissa

  Marigold jerked a thumb in the direction of Fiona’s bedroom. “Greedy much?”

  Fiona smiled. “I guess I’ll stand down. He doesn’t have eyes for me anyway. But he definitely has them for you.”

  “I’ve got to watch my back. He and I are out for the same thing and only one of us can get it. For all I know, he’s planning on getting to know me and lower my defenses so he can get information from me to sabotage this deal or something. I probably need to cancel this date.”

  “You know, if that’s what he’s doing, that can work both ways.”

  Marigold considered it—using Dane and then dumping him. She winced. “I know I have my moments, but I don’t think I could do that.”

  “It doesn’t have to be all mustache-twirling evil. Just be smart. Listen and learn.”

  “I can do that, I think.”

  Fiona drew her thighs up to her chest, resting her coffee cup on her knee. “I may have some information on him, completely unrelated to the hotel business.”

  Marigold lifted an eyebrow. “What kind of information?”

  “He went through a bad breakup a while back. Like seriously bad.”

  “He mentioned his ex had two boys.”

  Fiona pointed. “That’s her. They had this really erratic relationship. She was all over the place. Took him on the ride of his life. Think roller coaster to hell.”

  Marigold’s chest went cold. “How do you know all this?”

  “Ethan and I went for a drink after one of those local business owner things. I asked where Dane was and the floodgates opened. Ethan was at the end of his rope with it all.”

  Marigold shook her head. “That couldn’t have been good for those little boys.”

  “That was the key to it all. Those kids. He felt responsible for them. They’d gotten really attached to him. I hate to say it, but from what Ethan told me it sounded like she used those kids to manipulate Dane.”

  “Geez,” Marigold said, suddenly relishing her freedom and feeling the need to protect herself all at the same time.

  The sliding glass door opened, revealing a tall, lean woman with tousled, auburn hair, a T-shirt that bared her midriff, and just her underwear down below. “Morning,” she said.

  Marigold held up her cup with a smile. “Hello. I’m Marigold.”

  “Bobbie.”

  Of course a girl as beautiful as this one had a sexy, gender-neutral name. Marigold indicated the kitchen. “There’s a single-serve machine in there. Coffee or tea pouches beside it. Take your pick.”

  The girl stepped out onto the deck and rubbed Fiona’s shoulders. “I’m not quite ready to get up yet.”

  Fiona cut her eyes at Marigold with a little smile. “I think I need a little more sleep, too.”

  “Mmm hmm,” Marigold said, trying to hide her smile with her mug.

  “You’re welcome to join us if you like,” Bobbie said, sizing up Marigold.

  Though she had given it a fleeting thought not too long ago, she’d decided fairly quickly she wasn’t exactly through exhausting her possibilities with men, as dismal as they were. She held up her mug. “I’m good, but thanks for the offer.”

  “If you change your mind…” Bobbie trailed off, letting Fiona pass by her, lingering for a moment to sufficiently make Marigold’s face a thousand degrees.

  “Leave her alone,” Fiona said from inside the condo, and a moment later the sliding glass door shut.

  Marigold envied Fiona, her comfort in her own sexuality. Marigold had not had sex in more years than she wished to count for reasons she didn’t like to think about. But Dane was waking up sexual thoughts her body hadn’t entertained in years.

  Marigold had been on an emotional ride since the incident back in college. It was so silly that ten years after it had happened, she was still experiencing emotional trauma from it. It wasn’t that big of a deal, she’d told herself so many times. She got away. That was what mattered.

  And she’d had sex since then, plenty of times. But not in recent years. There came a point somewhere along the way that she just needed out of the whole business of it. Right about the time she’d closed herself off to the possibility of sex, Sebastian had brought her into his new group of handsome, straight, wonderful guy friends. Being platonic with Blake, Bo, and Chase had been just what she’d needed to help heal. Three straight men who liked and respected her and wanted nothing sexual from her had been the most refreshing blessing she’d ever been given.

  Now that they were all hooked up and crazy in love, Marigold was left to figure out a way forward without them. It was time. It was so far past time. But was she ready?

  She shook off the idea. Picking up her phone, she let out the sigh of the century. She’d put it off long enough. It was time to contact her dad.

  “Hey there, honey,” he said by way of greeting.

  “Hey, Daddy. Are you busy?”

  “Never too much for you. What’s up?”

  “Well, I’ve got some news that might excite you,” she said, and then winced. That sounded like she was getting ready to break out an engagement story or something. “I mean, business-wise.”

  “Oh yeah? About the shop?”

  “No, actually, it’s about the hotel…or the possibility of one here on 30A, I should say. There’s some land that’s up for bidding on, and they’re allowing a boutique hotel.”

  “You don’t say.”

  She grinned at the sound of his interest. “I do. They’re giving preferential treatment to locals, so my years living here may finally pay off for you.”

  “That’s great. Are you interested in working for us there in South Walton?”

  “Actually, I was thinking more of a partnership. I assume this hotel would have a gift shop, right?”

  “All of ours do,” he said.

  “I was thinking a more elaborate gift shop with plenty of whimsy and color and a strong focus on local art.”

  “Like the one you have now?”

  She smiled again. “Exactly. It’d have an outside entrance, and it’d be wide open to the bar area.”

  “And it’d be yours,” he said, getting to the point, which she had to appreciate.

  “With a percentage of all profits going to the hotel, of course.” They’d talk numbers later.

  “I don’t know, sweetie. We have a few standard designs we follow.”

  Her heart took a hit, but she rebounded. “Just think about it, okay? I’m going to email you a link to the details for the bidding and you can see if this hotel is something you even want to pursue. We’ll take it from there, okay?”

  “I’ll take a look,” he said, but his tone was void of any sort of excitement or sense of urgency.

  “Okay,” she said, trying to remain hopeful. If he said he’d take a look he would. Whether or not he’d take her seriously was the question. “I’ll put together a business plan, how’s that?” She crossed her fingers, hoping she was speaking his language.

  “Okay,” he said with just enough of an uptick in his tone to give her hope.

  “Awesome. I’ll let you get back to work. Tell Mom hello.”

  “You could tell her yourself.” There was that hint of disappointment in his voice, the one that said she wasn’t engaging enough with them. How could they not see that this was the only way she could keep her sanity?

  “I will. I’ll call her when I get to the shop, okay?”

  “Bye, honey.”

  “Bye.”

  She hung up, exhaling. That wasn’t so bad. It was conversations like that one that made her think going back home to work wasn’t the worst idea on the planet. But she had to keep reminding herself why she left. She was the baby of the family, and her parents and sister never let her forget that. Sure, they didn’t specifically refer to her that way, but it was the condescending looks and tones that did her in. Subtle but deadly.

  She thought about Dane and how different his family life was—no father and a mother who wouldn’t defend her own son who Dane clear
ly cared more for than anyone on the planet. By comparison, her family life seemed like a dream.

  She let out a sigh, rubbing her forehead. She’d made the initial contact and set the groundwork. Now she just had to come up with a kickass business plan to impress. She knew just the person for that. She picked her phone back up.

  “Hello, beautiful,” Sebastian answered.

  7

  Marigold did a 360 for her friend Shayla who was sitting up on her bed. “Are the leggings too much?” She really hoped Shayla would say no, because she’d been dying to wear her Day of the Dead leggings somewhere fitting besides the shop.

  Shayla looked her up and down with that serious, discerning look of hers. “I love ‘em,” she said, deadpan.

  Marigold grinned. She didn’t have to ask Shayla twice. She was no-nonsense. You could take her at her word a hundred percent of the time, which was one of the things Marigold loved about her. “Thanks for coming over. You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I didn’t give you a choice. I just said I was coming. So tell me about this guy you’re going out with tonight. I just met him that one time at the bonfire a few weeks back.”

  Marigold collapsed onto the bed next to Shayla. “You don’t know who he is?”

  “No, I’m pretty clueless though. Remember, I was gone for a few years.”

  Marigold nodded. “He and his twin brother have a property development company.”

  “Ah, that must be how Chase knows him.” She lifted a dark eyebrow. “Twins, huh?”

  “Yep.” Marigold pulled up their website on her phone and showed Shayla the picture of the two of them together.

  She smiled. “They’re cute.”

  “I know, right?”

  “Which one’s yours?”

  “Ha! That one, but he’s not mine.”

  “He’s the better looking of the two,” Shayla said.

  “He always jokes that his brother is better looking.”

  “His brother is cleaner cut…more put together or something.”

  “He’s gay.”

  “There you have it.” Shayla handed Marigold back her phone. “It’s almost time for him to be here. I better go.”

  Marigold jumped up. “You’re sure this is okay? I was trying to stay away from sexy…you know, so I don’t encourage him to jump me or anything.” She made sure her facial expression conveyed her sarcasm.

  Shayla eyed her. “What’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing,” Marigold said with a squeak.

  “Something’s going on. You don’t want to have sex with this guy?”

  “Well, wanting to do something and needing to, or not to, are two completely different things.”

  “What would be wrong with having sex with him?” Shayla asked, not in a challenging way, but like they were working through a problem. Marigold loved this girl.

  She wanted to share with Shayla, but she hadn’t talked with anyone about her lack of sex, not even Sebastian. She checked herself in the mirror on the back of the door, rethinking the braid she’d woven just above her forehead and pinned to the side of her head.

  “Has it been a while?” Shayla asked in that easy, nonjudgmental tone of hers that Marigold really appreciated right about now.

  “Mmm,” Marigold muttered, inspecting her hair.

  Shayla got up off the bed and came over to her. “Hey.” She met Marigold’s gaze in the mirror. “What are you worried about?”

  Marigold turned to Shayla, running her hand down the braid. “I’m sort of…out of practice.”

  Shayla nodded like this was no big deal. “Okay, well, it’s super easy. And you can absolutely let him do all the work. He’ll be totally okay with that, trust me.”

  Marigold stared at Shayla, her heartbeat racing. “Can I tell you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ve never had real, good sex. Like, I’ve had plenty of college sex—hookups, friends with benefits stuff, sex with boyfriends who were shitty, but once I got in my mid-twenties, I sort of gave it up. It’s been a while.”

  “But you think you’re ready now, with Dane?”

  Marigold turned back to the mirror. “I don’t even know him. But I think that’s kind of the attraction. I mean, I decided I was not going to have any more meaningless hookups, and that I was going to wait until I was in love. But look at me now. Still no love for me. I think I need to have an adult, guilt-free hookup to sort of get me back in the game.”

  “Then do that.”

  Marigold rubbed her face. “It’s just…I’m not sure I’ll want to walk away from this one, or have him walk away from me.”

  Shayla just studied Marigold, letting her work through it.

  “God, I just want to be a normal, sexually active thirty-year-old-woman.”

  Shayla lifted an eyebrow. “Define normal.”

  “Well, look at you. You’re like this healthy, sexy woman with relationships with men who’s like probably had normal consistent sex since you were in your twenties or before. Am I right?”

  Shayla let out an exhaustive breath and sat down on the bed, Marigold following suit. “It’s true I’m in a healthy relationship now with Chase, but my last relationship was anything but healthy. I think you may have talked yourself into some idealistic relationship or person that just doesn’t exist. The idea of this typical, sexual person, man or woman, with no hang-ups or baggage from their past just isn’t realistic. Not that I’ve ever seen.”

  Marigold tossed up her hands. “I just don’t understand what’s wrong with me. I’ve kind of got this all-or-nothing personality. I guess part of me is afraid I’m going to have sex with this guy, and I’m going to love it, and I’m going to want to have so much more of it, then I’m going to come on too strong like I always do, then he’s going to scurry away, then I’m going to be back to square one. It’s just not worth it. I think I’m going to cancel.”

  Shayla chuckled. “Girl, slow down.”

  Marigold leaned into Shayla, resting her forehead on Shayla’s shoulder. “Are you re-thinking your friendship with such a screwed-up girl?”

  Shayla rubbed her back. “The only thing I’m re-thinking is that burrito I had for lunch.”

  Marigold pulled away adjusting her seat on the bed. “For a long time, I didn’t have to think about guys. I had Blake, Bo, and Chase. None of them wanted to date either, so it was like, this perfect safe haven with three of the hottest guys on the planet. We flirted and had fun, and texted and talked, and hung out, but it was all so safe. I had no expectations.” She smiled to herself, feeling the need to be totally transparent. “I had a little crush on Blake, but that was only because of the three of them, I knew he was the least likely nut to be cracked. I was fairly convinced he was gay.”

  “Which was probably what made you interested.”

  Marigold pointed at her. “Exactly. God, I’m messed up.”

  “You’re human, darlin’. There’s a big difference.”

  Marigold gave her a little smile, and then looked back down at her hands. “It’s like now that the three of them are taken, I’m being forced to think about it again.” She looked up at Shayla for confirmation. “You know?”

  Shayla nodded. “I know. You want Chase back?”

  Marigold laughed. “Would you give him back?”

  “We could arm wrestle for him.”

  Marigold held up her arm. “With these spaghetti noodles? You’d massacre me.”

  Shayla’s expression turned serious. “Maybe don’t put so much pressure on yourself about tonight. Don’t psyche yourself out here. Just go on the date, have a good time, and see how you feel at the end of the night. If you want to have sex with this guy, don’t think of it as the first time in years. And don’t worry that you’re going to fall head over heels. Just be in the moment and enjoy whatever you do tonight, okay?”

  Marigold smiled at her, wishing it was as simple as all that. “Okay.”

  A knock sounded at the door, whipping Marigold’
s head around. “Crap.” She rushed over to the mirror. “I shouldn’t have done this braid.”

  Shayla, her treasured friend, smiled at her. “You look beautiful.”

  Marigold let out a sigh, her core heating up just at the thought of Dane on the other side of that door. “I’m not going.”

  “Oh, yes you are.”

  Marigold nudged her. “Go answer it and say you’re me. We’ll make him think he’s crazy like in one of those old Twilight Zone episodes.”

  “Get your butt out there and answer that door.”

  Marigold checked herself in the mirror one more time. A knock sounded again.

  “Will you go?” Shayla said. “You’re making me nervous.”

  Marigold smiled. “I am making the unshakeable Shayla Harrison nervous? Someone put this down in the book of records.”

  Shayla opened the bedroom door and gave her a playful shove. “Go. Damn, I think I’m more nervous than you are.”

  Marigold giggled, Shayla’s nervousness somehow combatting her own. Marigold opened the door to find Dane standing there dressed in all black, T-shirt and casual pants. “Hey.” He smiled. “This is just a few buildings down from mine.”

  God, he made her feel good. “You live in WaterColor?”

  “Yeah.” He jerked his thumb to the side. “That way.”

  “Beachside?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yeah, like you.”

  “Well, except I’m borrowing this place.”

  He shrugged and then looked her up and down, focusing on her legs. “I like the skulls.”

  She slid her hands down her skull tights, grinning. She’d hoped she hadn’t gone overboard. “I like your all-black.”

  Shayla appeared beside Marigold and held her hand out to Dane. “Hi, I’m Shayla Harrison. Chase introduced us a few weeks ago at that bonfire.”

  “Yes, I remember. How are you?” Dane asked.

  “I’m good.” She turned to Marigold. “I’ll see you later.” She gave her a quick wink before turning back to Dane. “Nice to see you.” She scooted around the two of them, and they watched her head out toward her car.

  Dane turned back to Marigold with raised eyebrows. God, he was so freaking handsome she almost couldn’t take it. She grabbed her purse from the kitchen table. “Are you ready to go?”