Last Chance Harbor (31 page)

“You do that?”

“All the time.”

“Then wrap it up. I’m taking the flea market book too.”

Julianne had one more stop to make before heading out to the B&B. She dashed through the door of Drea’s Flowers. The place wasn’t as large as it looked from the outside because all kinds of greenery and blossoms took up the display space.

“Hey there, Julianne. What can I do for you?”

“I’m hoping to persuade you to put something together extra nice for Jordan. She and Nick have been so nice to me.”

“No problem. Yesterday I received some gorgeous, rare blue orchids especially for the fair. They’re tall and elegant and would make an impression on anyone. I’ll give you a great price on them.”

“Sold. Could I take them with me today? I’d like to give them to her while I’m here this time.”

“Absolutely. I’ll just be a minute.”

“You obviously love your job,” Julianne said, keeping up the conversation even though Drea had disappeared into the back.

“Oh, I do. I’ve always loved everything about flowers. Even as a little girl the best place on earth for me was the garden center, second to being around my dad, that is. He worked for his father, my grandfather, at the train store, the only hobby shop in town. It used to be across the street.”

At the mention of her father, Julianne’s heart went out to Drea.

But the woman went on, “All three of us would go in there to hang out to spend time with both of them. That is…” Her voice trailed off. “When my mother would allow it.”

“Your mother didn’t like the idea of you visiting your own father? That’s so…odd. Why?”

“My mother was ill.” Drea tapped the side of her head. “Up here. I don’t remember all that much about her. And what I do recall was…not good. Caleb was just a baby but I know Cooper loved that store. He’d sneak in there after school and spend hours and hours until she’d come to drag him out of there, Saturdays too. He’d get in trouble for it. Poor thing. My mother wasn’t very kind to her oldest for some reason.”

“How sad.”

“It was. But then she took her own life and it was like we’d been saved. I know that sounds horrible, perhaps even callous, but my mother wasn’t a very nice person.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, life isn’t perfect.” When Drea finished arranging the buds in a clear vase, she said, “Here you go. Will that be cash or charge?”

“Charge,” Julianne said as she handed off her MasterCard. Sensing this was the perfect opening to find out a little about the florist, she blurted out, “Do you ever wonder what happened to your dad?”

Drea ran the plastic through the reader, appearing unfazed by the question. “I used to. But years go by and you realize that no matter how much you wonder, I’m not sure we’ll ever really know. It was heartbreaking for us when our dad left though.”

“So you think that’s what happened? He left town?” But Julianne could see the words were difficult for Drea to handle. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that.”

Drea handed her back her credit card. “I went through all this with Brent. I hope he comes up with the answers.”

Julianne left it at that and made her way back to the B&B. On the drive, she tried to judge whether or not the florist had come across as honest. But then she realized Drea had been six years old at the time, no older than the children in her class. Eleanor’s suicide and the way it happened had to weigh heavily on Drea’s young mind. Julianne shook her head. Simply put, some women weren’t mother material.

After getting back, she almost chunked the whole night. What was the point of getting dressed up to go to a dance without a date? It was only after Nick and Jordan played the guilt card that she went upstairs to her room and changed clothes.

She put on her sexiest outfit that showed off her skin tone and dark hair—a short Aztec-patterned skirt, a blue silk top, and a bright red cuffed blazer. She added a layer of beaded chains around her neck, a clunky bracelet to match and three-inch feathered earrings that swung from her ears.

Slipping her feet into a pair of dark blue, four-inch, sling-back heels, she posed in front of the mirror. She beamed in approval. If she did say so herself, she looked ready to party.

Downstairs she was shocked to see Ryder standing in the foyer. He was decked out in a jacket, a button-down shirt tucked into a pair of crisp blue jeans. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to surprise you. Turns out Zach wanted to earn some extra cash. He took over guard duty for me tonight.”

“Remind me to find a way to thank Zach.”

It was all that dark hair cascading down her shoulders that had Ryder taking her by the hand, twirling her around. “Wow, you look fantastic. I should issue an advance warning. Wearing that outfit, don’t expect me to keep my hands off you.”

She leaned in and whispered, “I’m counting on it.”

Jordan came out of the kitchen, carrying the vase full of flowers. She was also in the process of giving last minute instructions to Emma Colter, the woman pulling babysitting detail for them tonight.

Julianne waited for her opening. “Before we go, there’s something I’d like to talk to both of you about.” She watched Nick trail Jordan who finally took a breath and stopped to arrange the bouquet in a prominent position on the table in the entryway.

“What’s that?” Nick said absently as he looked around for his keys. “We all really need to get moving. We’re running late as it is.”

“This won’t take long I promise.” With that, Julianne went into a spiel about her ideas for the summer once she got to town—concerts on the pier using local talent and movie night in the common area. “But what I really noticed right off was that the area in question isn’t really a park at all. It doesn’t even have a name. That space between Murphy’s Market and the bank is just wasted space. With a little work it could be an honest-to-goodness park. And if that happened, it would need a name. What I’d really like to do is propose to the town council that it be named for Scott. Make it Phillips Park or whatever you two think would be appropriate.”

Julianne immediately recognized her mistake when she saw Jordan stutter to a stop and her eyes grow watery. Even the flowers she’d thought would lessen the blow didn’t do the trick. A heavy silence followed. Even Nick seemed upset that she’d brought it up and blinked back at her with a sad expression on his face.

“Oh my God, what a wonderful idea!” Jordan exclaimed in a burst of emotion, wiping the tears away from her cheeks.

“Really?”

“It’s perfect. How wonderful that you thought of something like that for Scott, for Hutton. Why didn’t we?” she said, turning to her husband.

Nick nodded in agreement. “I’ll see to it first thing Monday that you’re slated to address the council at the very next meeting. You’ll want to make sure and stay for the vote.”

Once they reached
the truck, Ryder turned her into his arms. “That was a good thing you did back there.”

“For one long, drawn-out minute, I wasn’t so sure.”

“I’ve been waiting to do this all day.” He covered her mouth, had the blood pumping in an instant, drawing out the need.

The only thing that had them moving again was when Nick and Jordan flew out the door behind them.

“I’d suggest blowing this whole dance thing off but too many people are expecting us to show up.”

Ryder opened the door to the passenger side, helped her maneuver into the seat in the short skirt. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been to a dance in the park before. How does this work?”

“From what I understand, the food booths line one side of the park on the bank side, the dancing on the other next to Murphy’s Market. I don’t know. Maybe people drift out into the street to dance.”

Once they got to town, Julianne turned in the seat and said, “It’s silly I know, but I’d like to put a name to my little bungalow.”

“Why’s that silly? Logan refers to that place on the hill as Sea Glass Cottage.”

“He does? It was Scott who actually inspired the idea. He had me thinking about all the famous ghosts. Casper. Canterville. Grey Lady. Remember the house in that movie,
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
? They called that one, Gull Cottage.”

“You’ve obviously put some thought into this, so toss me some ideas.”

She pitched out a few, but none hit a homerun. “I’m still thinking it through.”

Ryder found a parking place the pickup would fit into on Ocean Street. They passed the wharf, heard the water slapping against the wooden pillars below.

Before they ever reached the park, they heard the music. The band Blue Skies had already tuned up and tested the sound by playing a lively tune that reverberated in between the buildings. The guitar refrain from Dwight Yoakum’s,
Guitars, Cadillacs
had couples pairing up, stepping and strutting in time to the beat.

As they approached the entrance to the common area, Julianne pictured the future, the concrete sign with Scott’s name carved on it, maybe a few more benches, even a swing or two, and a larger grassy area where the kids could play.

Just as they had thought, the crowd overflowed onto the street. The dance floor was a bump and grind where space allowed. Among the masses she recognized Troy and Bree—wondered how the waitress had talked McCready into letting her have the night off. Ethan and Hayden were dancing with the baby sandwiched in-between them. Julianne decided their babysitter must’ve backed out. She spotted River and Brent two-stepping in each other’s arms. Even Logan and Kinsey had wanted a night out and brought their two-week-old twins nestled inside a double stroller.

Julianne couldn’t resist leaning in and taking a peek at the newborn faces, the little fists, the soft pink and baby blue outfits.

“You both did a good job there,” she told the new parents.

“We did, didn’t we?” Kinsey said in agreement.

“They’re beautiful, kind of like their mom and dad. You look fantastic, Kinsey.”

“Now that little white lie just makes me like you all the more,” the new mom admitted. “But don’t stop. I love hearing it.”

“They got the beautiful genes from her,” Logan said, planting a kiss on his wife’s mouth. “So how many teacher slots have we left to fill?”

“Two. River gave me a lead on two out-of-town candidates in Santa Fe willing to relocate. I’m doing a phone interview next week with both. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Sorry to break up this talking shop, but I’ve been chomping at the bit to dance with my date. Come on,” Ryder said. Taking Julianne’s hand in his, he led her out to the makeshift dance floor, a stretch of framed plywood, painted and arranged over the grass. They moved and swayed while the fiddle led them into
Wild and Blue
. Keeping time to the beat, they rocked into Ricky Oden’s version of
Seven Year Ache
before sailing into
Guitar Town
. The throng weaved, twirled, until the band slowed down the tempo with
A Thousand Miles from Nowhere
.

They made another pass around the floor while the rendition of
Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk
played in the background. The song had Ryder leaning in, whispering, “Have we been here long enough yet? Can we get out of here now?”

“And go where? Last time we tried your place, we were interrupted by a cow emergency. I’m not taking that chance again. We can’t go back to my room at the B&B. Emma Colter’s there babysitting. I won’t traipse through the living room and sneak you into my room. I’d feel uncomfortable with her right downstairs.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

She poked a finger into his ribs, murmured, “The only place I know where we’ll have total privacy is my house.”

“Back in Santa Cruz? That’ll work.”

“Can you last until we get there?”

He nibbled her ear. “Can you? I’m willing to try.” The consent in her eyes had him wasting no time moving through the swarm of people. “Then let’s get out of here.”

Like a man on a mission, he drew her along the streets, down Main, up Beach toward the pier. On the rush back to the car, Julianne breathed air deep. “I smell rain.”

“Wishful thinking. I smell grilled burgers.”