The Accidental Kiss

by Heatherly Bell

  He kissed her cheek. “There’s no woman.”

  “No woman? How else you going to marry and give us more Reyes boys?” She waved her spoon.

  Certainly not with a sixty-five-year old woman. He face-palmed again, something members of his family had him doing too often. “Meaning that I’m not engaged.”

  “Oh no, not another one of Charley’s—” his mother said.

  “Pranks,” Dylan interrupted. “And yes.”

  “I’ll never understand the two of you and your little games,” Mom said. “Is nothing sacred anymore?”

  No surprise, his mother also believed in the sunset kiss. True love and all that crap. “Don’t worry, I’m getting her back.”

  “For the love of God, just take the high road and forget about these silly pranks. It’s like you’re in third grade pulling on her pigtail.”

  “Nope, sorry. Can’t forget it. Especially when she expects it. Fair is fair.” He headed toward the patio to fix the screen and Mom followed him.

  “Actually, the screen is fixed,” she said, a glint in her eyes. “I had Tutti do it. Come and see what we’ve done to the patio since you were here last.”

  The flamboyant local Elvis impersonator, Tutti Blazes was the longest running boarder at two years and counting. That meant he’d stayed twice as long as the previous long-timer. It would be sad to see him go, but he’d been working to get to play Las Vegas where an act like his would shine.

  Dylan followed his mother toward the patio he’d re-paved a year ago. Since the home sat at an angle near the end of a hill and was built in 1910, it had endured some seismological changes over the years. As with so many homes in their neighborhood, the yard was narrow but deep, with a garden and sitting area for their guests.

  Dylan opened the patio door for his mother, and in the next second, he noticed Ashley Banning sitting at an umbrella table. They’d dated for a short time over a year ago, but Mom had been excited because Ashley told everyone who would listen that she was ready to get married and start a family.

  Which was part of the problem for him. A second face palm would have followed, but Ashley sat smiling expectantly at him.

  “What’s going on?”

  He shouldn’t be surprised at this because his mother was a matchmaker through and through. And every summer she tried to match Dylan up before Sunset Kiss weekend. Coincidence? He thought not.

  “I had a feeling you weren’t engaged to a sixty-five-year old. And anyway, I just thought I’d throw out another option for you if you were. Ashley is around your age and everything.” Mom reached up to tap his shoulder. “Now don’t you dare be rude. That’s not the Reyes way. She asked after you and wanted to know how you were doing. I invited her over so you two could re-connect. “

  Ashley stared at them, the smile gone, a furrow creasing in her brow.

  “It’s about time you settled down. You’re going to be thirty this year.”

  “Mom, for the love of—”

  She held up her hand. “You and I will talk later. You’re being rude. Go say hello to Ashley.”

  “Don’t go far,” Dylan said, gently touching her elbow. “We need to talk.”

  His mother turned and went back inside, waving him away. He strode toward Ashley. “Hey,” he said as he sat across from her.

  “Dylan, I’m sorry,” Ashley said. “She invited me, and I just couldn’t say no to your mother. I adore her.”

  “She’s tried to fix me up every summer before Sunset Kiss. Sorry she got you involved.”

  “I had a feeling you weren’t actually engaged. Another one of Charley’s pranks.” Ashley laughed. “Doesn’t your mother realize you’re not a believer?”

  “She conveniently ignores that pesky fact. It gets in the way.”

  “I’m sure she just wants you to be happy.”

  “I’d be happy if she gave up on me. I’m never going to indulge in that ridiculous fantasy.”

  “We’re both people of science so it makes sense that neither one of us believes. It’s a nice idea, you have to admit.”

  “Great for tourism. Guess it doesn’t hurt people to believe that something special happens in their own little part of the city.”

  Residents of Miracle Bay lived in a small pocket of San Francisco, away from downtown crowds and city life. Even the fog wasn’t as thick here. It made it easier to believe in legends and to feel set apart somehow.

  Ashley cleared her throat. “What about Charley? I heard she’s back in town for a while. Does she have a date for Sunset Kiss?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You would know.” She said this with such an air of confidence that it annoyed him.

  “I am her best friend.”

  “Sure. That’s what you’ve always said.”

  Ashley almost managed to make him feel guilty. She’d been, at least he’d thought at the time, unreasonably jealous of Charley. He’d explained over and over again that she was his only close female friend, and yes, it was possible to have a platonic relationship with a woman. True at the time. Now he wondered if deep down he’d always had a thing for Charley that he didn’t even want to admit to himself.

  “Because it was true.”

  “Was?”

  He cleared his throat. “I mean, it is true.”

  “Right.” She squeezed his forearm. “If you say so, I believe you.”

  Dylan might be missing something here because in his opinion they’d had little chemistry and he had a feeling she sensed that, too. When they’d parted ways, there were no painful recriminations, no drama or high emotion and he’d assumed both understood it had never been serious between them.

  “I took some time off from dating after us. Realized I had my priorities out of whack. I wanted marriage and family so badly and I know that scared you off.”

  “It didn’t help.”

  “But I had a feeling you weren’t all in from the start.”

  He didn’t speak but simply nodded.

  “I would like us to be friends,” she said.

  “We are friends.”

  “If nothing else, when Charley leaves again, and you need a friend to hang out with, someone to keep all the women you’re not interested in away, I’ll be around.”

  When she leaves. He’d pushed that little fact to the back of his mind. But it didn’t matter. He’d known all along that she would. He was taking this one day at a time. It had just been one kiss, he reminded himself.

  One explosive and electric kiss.

  After saying goodbye to Ashley, Dylan tried to find his mother. He did this every time she tried to fix him up, remind her that he didn’t want to settle down and have children. Other people could do that, like either of his brothers. He’d noticed she never pulled his on either one of them, but this was likely because he was the oldest and she liked to go in order.

  “She’s showing a room to a new girl,” Abuelita said.

  Dylan found her on the third floor with a wisp of a woman who barely looked eighteen.

  “We have the kitchen and two common rooms downstairs. Now, we’re like a big family here so if you should ever need anything, just ask. Anything at all. Do you have family nearby?”

  “Excuse me,” Dylan interrupted. “We need to talk. You got a minute?”

  “Not now, honey,” she said. “I’m showing a room, and if she’s interested, we’ll have to sign a lease and then—”

  “A background check,” Dylan gently reminded his overly kind mother.

  “I’ll take it,” the woman said.

  “Oh, that’s wonderful. You’ll fit right in. I’ll get the lease agreement and we’ll go over it together.”

  Two hours from now, his mother might be available for a talk but more than likely she’d be trying to fix up this tenant with one of her single male tenants. Sunset Kiss was only a couple of weeks away, after all. Much to be done for the happiest little matchmaker in Miracle Bay. His mother.

  “Okay, Ma, we need to talk later.”<
br />
  But she was already telling her new tenant about Miracle Bay and the legend of the sunset kiss, while the tenant nodded and smiled politely.

  11

  “Kiss the cook (if your name is Dylan Reyes.)” ~ Charley Young

  Charley took Milly to her doctor’s appointment and waited roughly a millennium to be seen. But it was worth it when they got to the ultrasound. A 3D video displayed the distinctive body of a baby. Head, eyes, nose, mouth, arms, hands. Fingers. Legs, stomach, butt. All parts present and accounted for. A real live baby. So, Milly was doing this. This was happening. The realization sunk in. It was one thing to witness Milly’s large and unwieldy body, but what was life at the bakery going to be like with a newborn baby?

  If Charley didn’t find the father, she’d be forced to stop traveling and stay with Milly. Goodbye, Paris for eighteen years.

  She hadn’t talked to Dylan since they’d kissed in the bakery by the ovens. “Taking five” had turned into two days and they texted back and forth as if nothing had happened. As if the earth hadn’t shifted.

  After he’d gone, she’d stood for several minutes simply staring at the closed shop door, shocked to silence, wondering if she’d dreamed it all. Despite time, distance, and other relationships, what they had together never seemed to change. She’d waltz back into the city and they’d take up where they left off. Friends forever. There were those who didn’t believe that she and Dylan had been nothing but friends for years. They’d obviously had to have been lovers at one time, but decided they’d be better off as friends. She’d heard the rumors. Even started one once.

  The rumors were all untrue. It was possible to have a chaste and totally platonic relationship with a man. Unfortunately.

  But now he’d called her beautiful. A knockout. Their kiss was hot.

  “Oh my God, look!” Milly cried out. “Is that her little arm?”

  “Holy wow,” Charley said, staring at the monitor. “Look at that.”

  “I told you,” Milly said. “I’m having a baby.”

  The technician laughed and continued the swipe of her wand over Milly’s swollen stomach. Charley hadn’t known a belly could stretch so much, and it looked ridiculous on thin Milly. As if she’d swallowed a basketball. When it was time for the physical check with the doctor, Charley stepped out of the office and waited in the lobby.

  Milly finally lumbered out a few minutes later, walking as she did these days, like she had a load in her pants. She made an appointment with the receptionist and waddled to the elevator.

  “I don’t like that doctor,” Milly said as Charley drove them down Portrero Avenue in Coral’s old sedan.

  “Why not?”

  “She said I have an ‘incompetent cervix.’”

  Charley wrinkled her nose. “What’s an incompetent cervix?”

  “It’s that thing where it’s my fault that the baby is going to come too soon if I don’t stay off my feet as much as possible.”

  “More bedrest? How much?”

  “Modified bedrest. I need to take it easy until I’m at least 36 weeks.”

  Milly in bed unable to work in the bakery for another entire month or more. No baby daddy to be found. New Orleans began to look like a dot in the distance.

  “What are we doing to do now?”

  “We? Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.”

  Ouch. Sure, Milly wanted to act like she didn’t need Charley but she knew better. She’d had every intention of coming home right after the little bean was born. This just meant that she’d extend her visit longer than planned. It wasn’t as if she was giving up Paris. Just New Orleans. It wasn’t going anywhere.

  “I’ll stay a while longer. You need me.”

  “Until the baby comes?”

  And what about after that? Maybe Milly would come to her senses before much longer and confess.

  “What about Chef Tati and New Orleans?” Milly asked.

  A job in the French Quarter. She had the chance to cook authentic Cajun food under the tutelage of the famous Chef Tati of La Bonne Nourriture. Not Paris, but still a good opportunity.

  “I’ll just tell Sean that I can’t take the job.”

  “You would do that for me?”

  She’d do anything for Milly and it was surprising she didn’t already know that. When Charley had wound up in a foster home with Milly and Coral, she’d already lived in approximately a home every year since age six. And she’d been ready to run away from Miracle Bay by day four. Coral was strict. She insisted on a regular nine o’clock bedtime even though Charley and Milly were both fifteen. She demanded homework be done every afternoon before anything else would take place. Smoking, drinking, or boys were not permitted for “her daughters.” Out of the question. Charley figured it was only a matter of time before she got kicked out anyway. But Milly was a good sister, who secretly commiserated with Charley even if publicly she toed the line with Coral.

  Charley chose her words carefully. “Maybe you should tell the father now. Everything’s changed. You’re having a tough time of it here, having his baby.”

  “I think you mean my baby. We don’t need him.” Milly rubbed her belly.

  We don’t need him. The words caused a slight ringing in Charley’s ears and a little twitch formed in her eye. Maybe Milly didn’t need him but someday her unborn baby just might. “Isn’t that shortsighted? You might want some help. It’s just going to be you and the baby.”

  “And our entire neighborhood. All of our friends.”

  “Okay, yeah, but who’s going to take turns walking her in the middle of the night when she’s got colic? Do you think the Padre or Mrs. Luna are up to two in the morning feedings?”

  “You don’t think I know what I’m getting into? I’ve read all the books.” As they rolled to a stoplight, Milly slid Charley a significant look. “I can handle it.”

  Stubborn woman. It was as if obstinate was in the air, drifting through like fog. The real miracle would be if her sister stopped behaving like a brick wall. Charley dropped off Milly in front of the bakery, and she lifted her body out of the car as if she was a crane.

  “Go lie down and I’ll be up after I park.”

  She watched Milly waddle into the bakery, carefully maneuvered to the one-car garage situated right next to the bakery, then pulled out her cellphone to call Sean Hannigan.

  “Hey, baby,” he said smoothly. “How you doin’, girl?”

  It never failed to surprise her how she’d at first missed the blatant fact that Sean was a player. Call it lack of experience. “Hey Sean, I’m sorry, but I can’t take the job with Chef Tati but thanks for the opportunity.”

  “Whoa. Now, that’s kind of sudden. You sure?”

  “It’s not sudden. You knew my sister was in trouble. Now she’s on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy and she needs me here to run the bakery.”

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  “But I’m grateful you thought of me, and—”

  “Look, baby, working with Chef Tati is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’ve already put myself on the line for you. It’s not a good time to make any quick decisions.”

  She heard the implication loud and clear. Maybe she owed Sean for this chance, but it didn’t mean she had to follow through when circumstances had changed. Yet she hated the idea of being thought of as unreliable in her career, because being a chef was the only place where she excelled. The one place where she shined, and where her colleagues thought highly of her abilities. Her career, no matter where she traveled to, was the one place where no one knew that Charley had once been a foster kid. No one knew that she’d been kicked out of homes for being mouthy. For running away. No one knew that for a long time, no one had wanted her. Just the thought that Sean would be talking about her behind her back sent a cold shiver to wrap around her spine. She wanted and needed to be respected as a sous chef. Sean was a work contact she couldn’t afford to alienate.

  Turn your life around, Charley, or you’ll wind u
p just like her.

  That girl is going to wind up just like her mother, wait and see. Might not even be her fault. I hear addiction can be genetic.

  More than one case worker or teacher had declared their lack of faith, either to her, or behind her back. She’d done her best not to live up to their expectations. She didn’t touch alcohol just in case they were right about that hereditary stuff. Never smoked. She refused to be anything like Maggie.

  “I wish it could be different. It goes without saying that I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

  Sean had been a sous chef longer than Charley and he had an entire network of connections. He also had an uncanny ability to bring out the worst in Charley. All the fears, suspicions, and worries she’d ever had that she’d never be good enough rose to the surface.

  “Maybe next time then,” Sean finally said after a long pause in which she swore she could hear him breathing. “I know of something coming up in September and I thought of you immediately. Paris.”

  Charley’s breaths came in short pants. Surely by then Milly and Bean would be settled and maybe even with the father. “Paris? As in…the Paris? Not Paris, Texas.”

  “No,” he chuckled. “Paris, France, baby. We could see the city together like we always planned. You interested?”

  The chance to work at the side of a master Parisian chef would be a dream come true. To walk the same streets that Julia had. Eat in the same bistros. Breathe the same air. No way could she ever turn Paris down.

  “Of course, I’m interested. Thank you! Milly will have her baby by then, and I’m sure this will all be resolved.”

  Charley hung up, crossing her fingers she’d hear from Sean even when she’d flaked on New Orleans. But she had something far more important to do at home first.

  When she had first come to Mission High School, she’d been teased relentlessly by the mean girls who made fun of her clothes and shoes. Milly had wanted to go to the principal about it, or at least tell Coral. But Charley hadn’t wanted the extra attention. She’d begged Milly not to tell anyone. Mostly Charley had been worried that, as with previous experiences, telling those in authority only made a bad situation worse. As in the time a well-meaning adult had reported to Child Protective Services that six-year-old Charley had wandered the neighborhood asking for food.