I give up on trying to see the hands on the clock and pull my cell out of my back pocket. Fifteen more minutes and I can turn the sign on the door from open to closed. I’ll finally be allowed to sit back, eat one of the delicious lobster rolls I’ve been serving for three hours, and enjoy the end of the Bruins game on TV. I scrub the counter and glance around the lobster shack. It’s not really a shack, but my grandparents named it Hawkins Lobster Shack when it actually was a shack beside the dock they sold live lobsters and clams out of.
My parents built the much bigger structure that is the thirty-table restaurant when they took it over twenty years ago. Still, the name never changed. The only person in the family to call it anything else is my older brother Declan. He recently started calling it Hawkins Family Lobster House and has been bugging us to officially change the name. He says our food is too good, and since we renovated the place six years ago and added a liquor license and built a bar made from river rock and reclaimed wood, it’s too nice to be called a shack anymore. Every time Declan brings it up, my dad says, “We’re a simple, good old-fashioned Maine family serving simple, good old-fashioned food with a simple, good old-fashioned name.” My mom is more blunt, telling her first born repeatedly, “I need a fancy new name like I need a hole in the head. Now shush.”
I smile thinking about it, but then the woman who has been sitting by herself at a table at the back catches my eye, and my smile falters. She’s been glaring at me all night. I walk down the counter, tossing the cleaning rag in the sink behind me, and stop in front of my best friend Jake. He showed up half an hour ago, sat himself at the counter between one of the five tiny, fake, fully decorated Christmas trees Nova put out, and is waiting for me to finish so we can hang out. I lean my elbows on the counter. “I have a question for you but be subtle when I ask you.” I say, lowering my voice.
He nods and takes a sip from his bottle of Sam Adams. “Sure thing.”
“Do you know that woman sitting by herself at the back?”
There are only two other parties in here. Four twenty-somethings that seem to be on a double date and an older couple finishing their lobster chowder. Jake puts his bottle down and spins around on his stool quickly and dramatically, drawing the attention of every single person in the place. I sigh and mutter “asshole” under my breath.
He spins back, grinning like a dick. “Nah. I don’t think so.”
“She’s been glaring at me all night while she drinks gin and tonics. Ordered a lobster roll but hasn’t even touched it,” I explain.
Jake just shrugs. Nova comes through the doors from the kitchen with a clean rack of glasses for the bar. “Almost closing time! Luckily the weather has kept this place dead tonight and clean-up will be minimal. I’m in desperate need of a bubble bath.”
I glance out the window at the whiteout conditions. “You have snow tires, right? If not, I can drive you home.”
“Logan Hawkins, gunning for the Ocean Pines Hero Award,” Jake says snarkily and I level an equally snarky stare at him.
“You donated a kidney to my sister, you get the lifetime achievement award in heroism,” I remind him. It feels crazy that all that went down—Jake donating a kidney to Terra because her Lupus had destroyed hers—only a month ago. He also declared his love for my sister, and she gave in to her lifelong crush on him. My best friend being with my sister is still weird. But the fact is, I love them both and they’re pretty great together.
“He’s got you there, hero,” Nova says and wraps her arms around Jake and gives him a big, strong side hug. She’s such a ball of love and light, it’s almost too much. But I’m a grump, as my family loves pointing out, so maybe I’m not the best judge. She turns to me as she lets go of Jake. “Declan had my snow tires put on yesterday.”
The older couple have finished and are standing up to leave. I head over to their table. They’ve left the money on top of the bill in the center of the table. I pick up their empty chowder bowls and smile as I watch him help her with her coat. “You two drive safely. It’s a mess out there tonight.”
“First Nor’easter of the season,” the man says. “Been living here my whole life, so I’m used to it.”
The lady leans towards me and puts a hand on my forearm. “The only thing that’s worth braving this weather is your chowder.”
I grin. “My mom’s secret recipe. I’ll be sure to tell her you said that. She’ll be over the moon.”
“Will you be entering the chowder in the annual contest at the Seafood Festival? We go every year,” the lady says and lowers her voice to a stage whisper. “I think you were robbed last year. Your chowder is much more savory than Stan’s chowder.”
I smile at that. We’ve been hearing that since Stan’s Seafood on the other side of Saco Bay beat us in the state competition. “We’ll enter again, but our focus is on the Best New Dish contest.”
“Oh! Your momma coming up with something new? I can’t wait!” the lady says with a grin. “She’s a culinary genius, she is.”
“I will definitely tell her you said so,” I reply. “And I completely agree.”
The man crooks his elbow so his wife can take it. Nova is already at the front door and holds it open for them as they go. “See you again soon Mr. and Mrs. Beasley.”
We’re lucky to be such a respected family in such a caring community. If we ever lost that – the respect and the community support – because of my stupidity five years ago, I would never forgive myself.
I can feel the woman in the corner’s eyes boring a hole into me again, so I walk over, still holding the empty chowder bowls as Nova flips the sign in the window to closed. The twenty-somethings start putting on their coats, and Jake walks over to bus their table. He may not officially work here anymore, but he always helps out when he’s around.
“Is the lobster roll okay?” I ask because she still hasn’t touched it.
“This is ridiculous,” she says in an angry tone. “I mean I know we said no strings attached, but that doesn’t mean you get to act like you don’t even know me.”
What the… oh shit. Not again.
“You have me confused with someone else,” I try to explain, but that twists her pretty face with even more anger. Because I look exactly like the person she thinks I am. Exactly. From the long, straight nose with the slightly flared nostrils, the light blue eyes, to the thick, wavy on top, brown hair, and scruff all over my jaw.
She stands up abruptly from the table, her wooden chair scraping aggressively across the floorboards. Fuck. I swallow and try again. “Look, I know it’s crazy but I’m not—”
“You told me you worked here,” she interrupts, and she’s gripping her gin and tonic so tightly her fingers are white. “And now you’re ghosting me to my face? You think I’m the type of girl you can do that to?”
“No. Of course not.” My eyes dart around the room for help, but all I get is an amused smile from Jake, who is probably wishing he had popcorn to eat while he watches the show. Nova seems to have gone into the kitchen again, which is probably for the best. She doesn’t need to see this. The foursome of twenty-somethings is halfway to the exit but have frozen in place like they’re witnessing a train wreck. They probably are.
“We’ve never met,” I say. “I’m not Fi—"
“Lying asshole,” she tosses her drink, dousing my shirt and face and even managing to nail me in the forehead with one of the ice cubes. The other customers gasp.
“He’s really not,” Jake says, rushing up behind me. “He’s Finn’s twin brother. Identical twin.”
The blonde blinks. “What are you talking about? He never said he had a twin.”
“I’ve been asking him to have it tattooed on his ass to make sure women know, but he refuses,” I mutter and take the napkin Jake offers me to wipe my face. “Selfish prick.”
Jake takes the chowder bowls from me and turns to the other customers. “Sorry about that folks. Nothing more to see here. Have a great night!”
They leav
e and I turn back to the blonde woman. Her delicate hands are now covering her open mouth. “Oh my God. Are you seriously his twin brother?”
I nod and reach for the napkin dispenser on a nearby table, grabbing a few more and patting my damp shirt. “Unfortunately.”
As if on cue, the bells above the door jingle, and Finn walks in. He shakes the snow off his coat and smiles innocently. “Hey Deidre! What are you…” he starts to clue in when he kicks an ice cube with his foot and steps in a small puddle of gin and tonic that missed me and hit the floor. “Umm…everything okay?”
Deidre turns and does a double take from me to him to me again. “Oh my God, you must think I’m such a psycho. I am so sorry! I am truly, deeply sorry.”
“It’s a misunderstanding. Don’t worry about it,” I give her a small, but tight smile. “I’ll just head to the restroom and clean up.”
Finn’s eyes widen and he starts to grin as I turn and head to the bathroom. Then I hear his belly laugh so I flip him the finger before swinging open the door to the men’s room. When I come back out a few minutes later, Dierdre has left, Finn and Jake are at the counter on stools, both with fresh beers in front of them, and Nova is behind the counter. She’s the only one with a sympathetic look on her face. There’s a third open beer in front of her, and she holds it up to me.
“Your assailant felt bad and asked me to give you this before she left in shame,” Nova says.
“Did you tell her I don’t drink?” I ask and walk up to the counter next to Jake.
“I wanted to but then Finn interrupted and accepted the beer on your behalf,” Nova says and her eyes slide to my brother.
Finn grins at me. “Free beer for me.”
I lean across the counter and take the open bottle from Nova. No one blinks, they know without a doubt I am not about to drink it, and that makes me feel good. There was a time in my life, not so long ago, when my family and friends worried incessantly about me being within ten feet of alcohol. I’ve earned their trust back, and it feels so good that my mood lightens again. I hold the bottle above my head and say, “I bequeath my free beer to Nova Escalara Hawkins. You can buy me a Perrier though, Finn, since you’re the reason my simple shift turned into a gin and tonic shower.”
I hand Nova the beer, and she grins, takes a sip, and walks over to grab a Perrier out of the fridge. She hands it to me as I sit down. Finn leans on the counter. “She’s really a nice girl. Just a little…overzealous.”
“You think?” I reply with an eyebrow arched by sarcasm.
“You usually keep your love life away from the business,” Nova says and I watch my brother’s face darken for a second. No one else would notice it. I am acutely aware of all his facial expressions because they’re mine too. And his moods. I can read him almost before he walks into a room. It’s not some weird psychic twin thing, it’s just that we have always spent a lot of time together, and I know him as well as I know myself. Plus he’s told me all his secrets.
“I don’t usually tell people where I work,” Finn admits, his tone serious. “I’ve been out with her a few times, so I guess it just slipped out.”
“So it’s serious?” Nova questions and her big brown eyes grow even bigger. Her shock is normal. Finn hasn’t had a serious girlfriend since high school.
“No,” Finn replies flatly and I can feel his discomfort growing. He hates talking about his love life because it’s not a love life, as Terra once pointed out. It’s a lust life. He turns to me. “So, how’s the new place?”
His eyes are pleading with me to change the subject, and I shouldn’t bail him out because he’s the reason I’m covered in gin, but I give him a break. “It’s great. Everything is new and clean. It’s not a big place, both bedrooms are small, could barely fit a queen in mine. And the ceilings are low. But it works for me and Chewie.”
“And River?” Nova asks, eyebrows raised.
“Hopefully, yeah,” I nod, sip my Perrier, and think of my son’s freckled cheeks, sandy hair, and big blue eyes. “He hasn’t seen it yet but I bought him a cool bed shaped like a boat and hung up some hockey posters in his room.”
She frowns. “So Bethany hasn’t let River spend the night?”
I shake my head. “She will. Eventually. The social worker has to come check out my place first and make sure it’s suitable, and then I’ll get overnight privileges.”
Nova lets out a string of Spanish expletives. Finn laughs at that. He loves when she gets pissed off about something and explodes. “Or Bethany could just say she’s okay with River spending the night at his dad’s place and save everyone unnecessary hassle. That woman makes me crazy. Argh!”
She disappears into the kitchen again, letting another set of Spanish expletives fly.
“How our robotic older brother ended up with that ball of fire will remain one of the biggest mysteries of my life,” Finn says under his breath. The statement is more to himself than Jake or me.
“Nova is right though. Bethany’s pulling typical Bethany bullshit,” Jake says, scowling. “She could keep the courts out of this if she didn’t want to be petty. Your record with River has been impeccable.”
“It has…since I sobered up,” I agree confidently but don’t allow myself to feel the indignation he and Nova do. I made my bed and I will continue to lie in it. “I’ve never been late with a pick-up or drop off for my day visits.”
“Never late with your child support payments either, which are more than the court said you had to pay,” Finn adds.
“But I was an alcoholic who missed River’s birth and a good chunk of the first few months of his life because I was black-out drunk somewhere. I spent his first birthday in rehab and then broke up with Bethany the second I came home,” I remind everyone of the pertinent details I can’t ever forget. “So I’m willing to jump through all the legal hoops.”
“Just for the record, though, bro,” Finn says as Nova walks out of the kitchen with a tray of lobster rolls and onion rings just for us. My mouth instantly starts to water. “You’ve made amends and shouldn’t have to keep feeling like a fucking villain. So the big question is why are you letting her treat you like one?”
“Deep question, Finn,” I say with a sarcastic smile because he knows why I feel like a villain. “Here’s a better one. Why do you date women who automatically assume the worst about you and then throw drinks on me?”
Jake and Nova laugh and I can’t help but join in. Finn shrugs and responds back with the same amount of sarcasm. “You know if you actually started dating, you could have girls throw drinks at me.”
“Sounds like a lot of work for a little revenge,” I reply and reach for my lobster roll just as my phone rings. Damnit. Then I see the name flashing on the screen and my heart stops. Casco Bay Memorial Hospital. Someone is hurt? Is it River? My parents? Is something wrong with Terra’s kidney transplant?
“Hello?” I say and walk away from the counter and head to the back corner of the restaurant where my family can’t distract me.
“Logan Hawkins?”
“Yes.”
“Paramedic Logan?”
“Yes.”
“I thought it was you. I mean how many Logan Hawkins are there around southern Maine? It’s Liz, head nurse at Emerge at Casco Bay,” she says and her casual tone tells me that whatever this is, it’s not life or death.
“Hi Liz. How are you? What’s up?”
“A woman named Chloe Hale was brought in. She has a head injury.”
“Who?”
“Chloe Hale,” Liz repeats. “She said you were her emergency contact.”
My brain starts spinning like a Tilt-a-Whirl at a carnival. I’m confused and although I have all the pieces of this puzzle, they don’t want to fit together. Chloe Hale, my landlady, has a head injury and told the hospital to call me? Hell, I don’t think I’m Jake’s emergency contact and I actually know him. I didn’t even remember Chloe’s last name until Liz just said it. She must have one hell of a head injury to pick me to
call.
“You don’t know her?” Liz says, sounding panicked. “Oh shit. Did I screw up?”
“You didn’t screw up. I know her. I just…what happened?”
“Ms. Hale slipped on ice and hit her head on some steps while shoveling snow,” Liz explains. “She was knocked unconscious, and her neighbor called nine-one-one. She doesn’t want to be here, but she should be. All signs are saying she’s concussed and you know we can’t discharge a person with concussion symptoms if they’re alone.”
“Right. They need to be picked up by a friend or relative,” Of which I am neither, I think to myself. “Okay. I’ll be right there.”
I hang up and walk back over to my family at the bar. “Gotta go.”
Finn’s face is filled with disappointment. “But we were going to watch the end of the game. And what about the lobster rolls?”
“Hospital called about some paperwork. It’s easier if I just go in,” I say, keeping it vague because if I tell them specifics they’ll have as many questions as I do. Especially because I haven’t told them my landlord is a beautiful woman my age who I think about more than I should. Nova hands me my jacket from behind the bar. I shrug into it and reach for my lobster roll. “And I’ll have this finished before I reach my car. Later kids.”
I take a massive bite of the lobster roll as head toward the door.
“If you’d just stuck to being a lobster fisherman like Dad, you’d be able to have fun tonight!” Finn calls out as I go. “But no, you had to be a do-gooder!”
I ignore him and step out into the blizzard, pushing my feet through the unshoveled sidewalk, which is already a foot deep with snow, toward my car. As I make my way to the hospital, I wonder why Chloe gave the hospital my number. She’s barely said more than hello to me since I moved in and I haven’t gone out of my way to be friendly either. It’s beginning to feel like we are purposely avoiding each other. In fact, I know I was purposely avoiding her. Because on the rare occasions we did chat, she had a warm smile and there was a sweet twinkle in her eyes that captivated me. Plus, the way she loved and doted on those dogs of hers…she was definitely my kind of person. I needed the apartment more than I need to develop any sort of relationship with the pretty landlord so I kept my distance.
The Winter We Collided: A Small Town Single Dad Romance (Ocean Pines Series Book 2) Page 3
