Because he wouldn’t get to be right about this. Never! Because oh hell yes, she was staying. She’d decided, and it wasn’t just because Dylan was here. Miracle Bay was her home, it had always been home, and all the residents were her extended family. She was planting down roots in Miracle Bay once and for all. Just call her Miss Tree, spreading her branches.
When Milly and Coral were discharged from the hospital, they’d come home with Henry, who stayed with them the first couple of nights. Then he had to get back to work and Charley stayed in Milly’s apartment for days. Easier that way. Charley didn’t need privacy anymore and Milly certainly didn’t. She loved the extra help.
And with Milly in the room, Charley was less likely to sit for hours with her thumb hovering above “send” on a text message to Dylan that read simply:
I’m going to prove you wrong.
She would send it, but she wasn’t speaking to him right now. Twice a day she deleted the text. Recently she’d revised her previous text message. This one read simply:
You should realize that you’ve already lost this argument.
The plain and simple truth. She hadn’t sent that one, either.
Something else tugged at her heart. Another Sunset Kiss weekend was wrapping up. On Miracle Sunday, the last day, the bakery did their greatest business. She’d already served many couples on their way to a rented sailboat to launch just before sunset. Lucky people, all of them, on an adventure of a lifetime.
The shop door opened, and Marco swaggered up to the counter. “Hey, Charley.”
“I’ve got your order ready.”
Health nut Marco had become a regular. She pulled the bag out she’d carefully packed him with the cheese encrusted paninis with her chicken salad. It was made with Kalani olives and walnuts tossed in an olive oil vinaigrette and Marco was its biggest fan.
“On my way to the marina,” he said, paying for his sandwich.
“Are you going on any of the sailboats later?”
“Ha! Hell, no. It’s just fun watching the dummies from the sidelines.”
And it was true that couples and families made a day out of Sunset Kiss. Packing picnics and hanging out.
“Dylan is going to be there,” Marco said.
“Oh, right.” He’d obviously be a part of the festivities. “How’s he doing?”
“He made a killing this weekend. You should come down. His boat is booked solid.” He leaned in close. “You could come with me. Like, right now. It’s fun to watch all the hopeless romantics.”
Charley tried not to take that personally. “Sure, I will. If I have time.”
“Seriously? You can’t leave for a few minutes?”
She gave Marco a patient smile and gestured around the shop. “As you can see, we’re quite popular.”
“That’s the best I can do,” Marco muttered as if he didn’t think Charley could hear him. “Come or don’t come but I’ve done my part.”
Alrighty then. Charley waved to Marco as he went out the door.
“You look tired,” Padre Suarez said as he placed his order. “Have you been sleeping?”
“Sure.”
Liar. She hadn’t been sleeping. Or eating. Two basic life sustenance requirements. She was doing okay on the breathing, though frankly, some days were better than others.
“Then there must be some other reason why your eyes are so swollen.” This was from Mrs. Perez.
“It’s allergies,” Naomi called out helpfully.
“I’ll say a rosary,” Padre Suarez said and paid for his doughnut and panini. “When’s Milly bringing that baby down?”
Little Coral was a week old but still hadn’t met everyone.
“She’s bringing her down today.”
“Well, it’s about time. Miracle Bay’s very own miracle baby. We all want to meet her.”
“Shhh,” Charley said. “Don’t call her that. Milly doesn’t like it. High expectations or some such thing.”
She glanced up at the clock. The shop was filling with their regular patrons, and they’d all want to see baby Coral aka the Miracle Baby.
“I’ll call her and tell her to come down.” She pulled the cellphone she kept in her apron at all times (in case Dylan called or texted because, face it, she was hopeless.) “Oh, no! No!”
“What is it?” Padre Suarez asked, hand to his heart.
No. It couldn’t be. She thought she’d closed that screen, but somehow, in a similar way to a butt dial she’d just apron texted Dylan!
You realize you’ve already lost this argument, right?
“I sent a text message and I didn’t mean to do it.”
“My dear, you really have to stop overreacting.” Padre Suarez shook his head and shuffled to a table.
Charley slipped the phone back in her apron. He’d told her in so many words that he didn’t want to be the only reason she stayed. That she couldn’t be trusted. Only time would prove that she could be trusted to stay. Beyond that, there was little left to say.
Five seconds later her phone buzzed in her apron and she was almost afraid to look.
Red Hot Heartbreaker:
Nothing new. I always lose arguments with you. Here’s my secret: it’s because I let you win.
Oh no he didn’t! Was he joking? Because it was not funny.
Ha! Just ha!
Okay, not all that brilliant but the best she could come up with in a pinch. Charley typed her answer back furiously, her thumbs flying. “You wouldn’t believe what Dylan just texted me!”
“What? You two are talking again?” Naomi asked.
“Arguing again, you mean. Boy, he has some nerve! He lets me win arguments? The ego on him!”
Naomi crossed her arms. “I hate guys.”
“Hey, everybody!” Milly appeared in the bakery, holding baby Coral wrapped like a burrito in a pink blanket.
Within seconds, Milly and her baby were surrounded.
“What an adorable baby!”
“Just look at those cheeks!”
“She looks just like you, Milly!”
“Coral would be so proud!”
“I’m going to say a rosary.”
“Our Miracle child!”
Milly didn’t seem to mind the reference today. She smiled and glowed with pride. “If you want to hold her, wash your hands first.”
There was a mad dash for the restroom and Charley took the moment to text Dylan:
You don’t let me win. I win because I’m right. I’m never leaving because this is my home. You’ll see.
Red Hot Heartbreaker:
You’re still here? Not texting me from Paris?
She couldn’t text back fast enough:
That’s not funny!
Red Hot Heartbreaker:
It is a little bit funny.
Charley could haul out a long list of times when she’d won an argument, though she wasn’t sure how she could prove he hadn’t let her win. Either way, this was a conversation better had in person.
“Naomi, take over for a while?” Charley pulled off her apron. “I’ve got to go.”
“Why? What happened?” Milly asked. “Everything okay?”
“She’s very upset about a text message she didn’t mean to send,” Padre Suarez explained, shaking his head and waving a hand dismissively.
“I’m going to the marina to win an argument.” She handed her apron to Naomi. “I’ll be back.”
“Take your time.” Milly gave Charley a huge smile. “We’ve got this.”
Charley hopped on the Vespa and drove, a light bay breeze whipping around the long hairs that stuck out of her helmet. She arrived and got lost again down the rows of boats that all looked so similar among the throngs of couples. Then she heard Dylan’s low whistle. As she re-directed and turned toward the sound, she saw Dylan onboard the Miracle One. The sailboat gleamed in the bright patches of sunlight breaking through the fog, looking brand new.
Dylan hopped off the boat. It was so good to see him again that her ange
r faded, and it took everything in her not to run and jump into his arms. But she stayed planted several feet away from him on the pier. Her knees knocked together, so loud she thought they could be heard over the sounds of the seals’ barking.
“We don’t talk or text for a whole week and the first thing you do is pick an argument with me?” Her breath hitched.
“Sorry about that, but I had to get you down here. I was going to call you just before you texted me.”
“That was an apron text. Kind of like a butt text. An accident.”
He slid her that boyishly one-sided grin, and her heart threatened to bust out of her chest because she loved him so much. She loved seeing that easy smile on his face, the worry lines gone from his dark eyes. He looked happy and that was all she’d ever really wanted.
“Still, I’m glad you sent it. Saves me the trouble of sending Joe to kidnap you. Marco was supposed to bring you here with him. He failed.” Dylan waved toward the sailboat. “What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful. I guess you’ve made a killing this weekend.”
“It could have been more.”
She snorted. “What, you couldn’t find enough desperate people to fill each day?”
Hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, he cocked his head. “I found one guy, and he’s pretty desperate because he was an idiot. He walked away from the best girl he ever had because he was too scared.”
Oh, my. That sounded vaguely familiar, but she didn’t dare hope that Dylan was the idiot guy. But when he walked toward her and stood only inches from her, the small hope she had left grew like a wildfire in her heart.
He pulled her to him the rest of the way. “Forgive me, baby. You’re right. I was running. Running from something stronger than I’ve ever felt before. If you want to know the truth, I’m terrified. But I can’t lie to myself anymore. Right or wrong, I’m not going to be able to let you go. I’m no hero, something I’ve been trying to tell people for a long time.”
“You? Y-you’re the idiot?”
He gazed at her from under hooded eyelids. “So, what do you say? Want to go on this sailboat at sunset? It’s available because I wouldn’t let anyone else rent it today.”
There went her heart. It was just a gooey mess inside her. He hadn’t rented the boat to anyone else today. “Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t even believe.”
“Here’s the thing. I’m in love with you, so in love with you that if this is what you want, then you’re getting a ride on a sailboat and a kiss at sunset.”
“Dylan—”
“But let’s get this straight. I don’t need a sunset kiss, and I don’t need a miracle. Because you’re the love of my life, and you’re all I need.”
Her heart swelling and tears wetting her eyelashes, she kissed him right then and there as couples bustled about them. Miracles happened often in Miracle Bay, but some took a little more time than others. Hers had taken thirteen years and it was worth every minute.
“I’m one lucky miracle bastard. You chose me.”
She went into his arms and wrapped her hands around his neck. “I choose you. I always will.”
“I love you, Charley.”
“I love you too. So much. I know where I belong, where I always have. With you. No matter where I am, it has to be with you.”
He tugged on a lock of her hair. “I want you to know that I’m going to work hard so you never regret staying in Miracle Bay.”
“This is my city and I’m staying here. Besides, I’m finally going to open up my own bistro.”
“Yeah?”
“And I already have the location. Sunrise Bakery and Bistro.”
“You got your dream.”
“I sure did, but it’s not the bistro.” She curled her fingers around his strong neck. “I claimed you a long time ago. You just didn’t know it.”
She rose to the balls of her Chucks and met his kiss. Tender. Sweet and long and hot and lingering. A salty breeze kicked up and rocked the boat, causing her to cling to him even tighter.
The seals could be heard barking and celebrating.
Welcome home, girl!
Because this time Charley Young was home to stay.
Epilogue
“Cupcakes are muffins that believed in miracles.” ~ Bakery plaque
Six months later on Miracle Sunday, and the grand opening of Sunrise Bistro
Charley adjusted her chef’s apron three times. She took off her chef’s hat. Put it back on again.
“I don’t know. Is the hat too much?”
Dylan, who’d been responsible for the remodeling that had taken place in the Sunrise Bistro in the past few weeks, came up behind her and lowered his head to her shoulder. “We’ve gone over this.”
“I know you like the hat.”
His breath tickled her neck. “Because it’s sexy.”
“Sexy is not what I’m going for. And you just think that because the first time I tried it on for you I wasn’t wearing anything else.”
“That didn’t hurt.”
“Fiancé privileges.”
He’d proposed to her last month in front of his entire family. At sunset. It seemed too fast to some people, if you wanted to call thirteen years fast.
“We’re ready.” Naomi popped her head into the remodeled kitchen. “And we’ve got quite a crowd.”
“This is it.” She turned in Dylan’s arms. “I’m really doing this.”
“Yes, you are.”
In the past two months, the bakery had been enlarged and remodeled into a small bistro where she and her small crew would serve lunch and dinner. There were now white cloth-covered tables and real silverware. A few tables were available for outdoor seating, with parasols for shade. The only things remaining from before were the red brick wall and Coral’s clock. There were memories in this place that tugged on her heart and made the bistro alive with her family history. And even though she’d changed so much about the bakery Coral ran for so many years, Charley felt certain that Coral was watching over her now giving her blessing. Proud that her hard work had paid off, all because she’d never given up on a hostile and hurting fifteen-year-old girl.
Dylan took Charley’s hand and pulled her toward the swinging doors that separated the kitchen from the eating area. “Ready?”
She adjusted her hat again, ignoring Dylan’s tipped grin. “Oh, wait a second.” She bent down to tie a shoelace on her pink Chuck Taylors. “Ready.”
Charley would greet everyone on their grand opening. The tables were already set up with hors d’oeuvres: cream cheese and olive biscuits with olive parsley spread; marinated chicken satays; pepper jelly goat cheese cakes. They also had tables set up with their usual pastries for the regulars who had supported them all these years.
She’d been experimenting with Julia Child classic recipes, putting her on spin on them, Dylan her willing guinea pig. Bruschetta, beef Bourgogne and, of course, ratatouille. But now that they would finally open their doors, she wondered once again just how smoothly the regulars would take to this transition. Hopefully they’d stick with her and not call her a culinary snob.
Naomi, Marco, who was filling in as a waiter today, and the sous chef she’d hired were standing by dressed in black pants and white shirts, ready to greet the crowd and ply them with trays of champagne and food.
“The line winds all the way around the block,” Naomi said. “I checked.”
Charley swallowed and squeezed Dylan’s hand. “Open the doors.”
Naomi flipped the sign from “closed” to “open.”
“It’s about time. I’ve been waiting,” said Mrs. Perez, filing inside.
“You haven’t been waiting any longer than I’ve been. And I’ve got about a decade on you,” Abuelita said.
Alice walked in with Joe, whose surf shop had just made a list of one of the top ten places to visit while in Santa Cruz.
Padre Suarez was also near the front of the line. “Will you still be requiring my blessing
every week?”
“I would really appreciate it. New restaurants need all the help they can get.”
A little knowledge was a dangerous thing, and Charley had too much knowledge on the success rates of new restaurants. Honestly, they were rather dismal. But she reminded herself that she was starting with existing customers she had no intention of chasing away. All the wonderful residents of Miracle Bay.
“Is Milly coming?” Alice asked, giving both Charley and Dylan a hug.
“She’ll be here a little later with Henry and Coral. They’re driving up.”
Their little family was doing so well that Milly had only called Charley once a day for the past week. Usually the calls came three times a day with at least a dozen texts and photos of Coral. Milly wanted Charley to know about every new and magical thing Coral had done.
The pastries were gone within minutes, but she was pleasantly pleased that Naomi and Marco were re-filling the hors d’oeuvres trays, too.
“Is this…jelly?” Padre Suarez asked, taking a bite out of a goat cheese cake.
“Red pepper jelly,” Charley said, and held her breath. She wasn’t sure Padre would think that jelly and red pepper belonged in the same sentence, much less together on a cake.
“Delicious.”
Dylan pulled her into his arms. “See? You were worried for no reason. Everyone loves your food just as much as I do.”
“Okay. You were right, and I was wrong.” She kissed him.
He gave great advice. Most of the time.
“Wait. I was right? Can I get that in writing?”
I hope you’ve enjoyed The Accidental Kiss. As always, thank you for reading!
This is my first book NOT set in a small town! However, as is the case with many large cities, smaller groups of people gather together in neighborhoods and communities. Such is the case with Miracle Bay, inspired by a family-friendly residential area of San Francisco named Potrero Hill, not far from the Mission District.
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