Riptide [Kismet Cove] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

“Easy.” Evan brushed his sandy blond bangs out of his eyes and chuckled as he climbed into the passenger side of the truck. “I smile and you’re always frowning. I stay quiet and listen while you always have to be heard. Oh yes, and I don’t curse in front of your mother.”

“Smart ass,” Rory grumbled as he started the truck and backed onto the gravel road that connected all the residences sprawled around their collective home.

“If you’re done insulting me, I’m still waiting for my thank you for saving us from the misery of being married to that bitch from the Haida Gwaii colony.”

Rory grinned over at his best friend. “I’m going to do more than say thank you. Tomorrow night you and I are going to drive into town and celebrate our freedom, however fleeting it may be.”

“Breakers?” Evan grimaced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Trish is still mad at me.”

“Serves you right, too. Tucker warned you about hitting on his staff, but you just couldn’t keep your hands to yourself.” Rory laughed as he pulled into their driveway and shut off the motor. “You earned that beer shower. But no, I didn’t mean Breakers. You and I are going to drive over to Nanaimo and enjoy ourselves. My treat.”

“Holy shit, you’re spending real money on me? You really are happy that your dad agreed to forget about marrying Renee.” Evan hopped out and headed for the house the two of them shared. “I’m holding you to the celebration idea, but honestly I did it for my sanity, not just yours. That bitch would barely give me the time of day. I’m fine with sharing, but I have no plans on being celibate for the next sixty years!”

“And I would rather be celibate than face a lifetime of sharing a bed with a woman who could give frostbite to a penguin.” Rory followed Evan inside and went to the fridge to grab them both a beer.

“So how long do you think we have to find a compatible mate?” Evan asked as he cracked open the bottle and flung himself into the nearest piece of furniture.

“Not long. We better start praying for a miracle.”

“And you better learn to start smiling, or you’re going to scare them all off,” Evan teased and took a drink.

“I do just fine with the ladies, thank you very much.”

“Oh sure, and every one of them was human and short-term only. We’re selkies, we’ve been seducing human women for centuries, they’re easy. I’m talking about wooing a selkie mate.”

“It can’t be that difficult. If my father managed it, anyone can.”

Evan burst out laughing. “You really should ask your mom about that one day. It’s a fascinating story. She made your dad and Torin work their asses off before she agreed to marry them.”

“What? I never heard that story. How the hell did you know that and I didn’t?” Rory stretched out on the couch and downed his beer, shooting daggers at Evan the whole time.

“See? This is why she thinks I’m a sweetheart. I actually listen to her. You should try it sometime. It may make the difference between us getting married to a compatible mate and us spending the rest of our lives with the likes of Renee.” Evan shuddered.

“I’ll abdicate first,” Rory vowed.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’m supposed to be the bonded blood-brother of the next colony leader. I have great plans to live a life of luxury while you see to running things one day.”

“Nice to know you’ve got ambitions of your own,” Rory muttered.

Evan just grinned. “Drink your beer. You need to get your liver primed for what we’re going to do to it tomorrow night.”

Jess stepped out of the terminal and immediately regretted that she hadn’t thought to pack an umbrella. Everything was shrouded in fog and it was raining. By the time Jess found her car her hair was plastered to her skin and she knew she was going to look like a drowned rat when she met with the realtor to get the keys to her new home.
A drowned rat with purple streaks in her hair. What the hell was I thinking letting Vivian near my hair after we’d been into the tequila!

She started the car and then fiddled with the seat adjustments until she could comfortably reach the pedals. “In my next life, I want to be a long-legged redhead,” she muttered and then laughed. With her luck that would mean she’d be reincarnated as an Irish Setter.

The fog got thicker as she drove through the heavily forested area to her new home. She was straining to see the road at all when a darker shape appeared out of the mist and she had to hit the brakes and swerve onto the shoulder of the road to avoid a collision.

“Holy shit!” Jess swore as the shape came close enough for her to recognize what it was. “Oh my god, there’s a deer in the middle of the road,” Jess muttered, suddenly aware that she was a long way from downtown Toronto.

Amazement slowly faded to irritation as Jess realized that her unscheduled wildlife encounter was going to make her late. She was supposed to meet Nadine, the realtor, at the cabin at four o’clock, and time was growing short. Uncertain how one got a deer to move along, she flashed her high beams a few times. Nothing.
Shit.
Feeling foolish, Jess rolled her window down halfway, getting wet all over again as she leaned out and yelled at the deer. “Hey Bambi, move it! Go on, shoo!”

The deer startled at the noise and went bounding off the road and out of sight. “And so begins Jess’s grand country adventure.”

She made it to the cabin only a few minutes late, and was relieved to see she’d beaten the realtor. Leaving her things in the car, Jess got out and made a dash for the porch, trying to dodge the heavier raindrops that were starting to come down.

The place looked familiar and yet different at the same time, and Jess’s head was flooded with memories as she walked around the wraparound porch. The old, heavy driftwood picnic table still sat in the middle of the small back lawn, but beyond it was a gazebo that looked out over the small, mist-shrouded headland that marked the edge of the property.

“Is that a hot tub?” Jess wondered aloud as she managed to spot what looked like a vinyl cover jutting just above the gazebo walls despite the fact it was nearly dark now.

“Yes, it is. Sorry to interrupt your exploration. I’m Nadine.”

Jess spun around and was met by a sight she knew would have to make it into one of her books, if only she could find the words. Nadine was wearing a lime green and hot-pink poncho that looked like it had been handwoven, and a matching hat that was so long the end was wrapped around her neck like a scarf and still had enough length to trail down to her waist. She was wearing a pair of bright pink duck boots and Jess could have sworn the woman’s pink lipstick had been selected because it was an exact match to the rest of her ensemble.

“Hi Nadine, it’s nice to meet you.” Jess managed to avoid giggling as she offered the woman her hand in greeting.

“Your father kept the place very well maintained, and I think you’ll find it’s been vastly improved since you were here as a child. I understand it’s been more than twenty years since your family last used the place. There’s a gas fireplace, a modern kitchen, and of course, the hot tub and storm watching gazebo.” Nadine took Jess’s arm and led her around to the front of the house again. “Do you want me to give you the tour? Or would you like to settle in and relax? The keys are on the table, and I put a casserole in the fridge last night, so you have dinner all ready for you. I didn’t think you’d feel like going grocery shopping after all that travelling. Oh, and I baked you some brownies for dessert. I hope you like chocolate!”

Jess blinked at Nadine in shock. “You made me dinner and brownies?”

“Why, of course, dear. I just hated the idea of you having to drag yourself out to the store again tonight. Goodness, do you even know where the store is? There’s the shops in Tofino of course, but if you need a carton of milk or an ice cream fix one night, then Jo-Jo’s is just up the road to your left about a kilometer of so.”

“That’s so nice of you, thank you so much!” Jess felt a little overwhelmed by Nadine’s kindness and she caught herself tearing up. Her mother would have liked Nadine. They were both good-hearted women.

“Well, I’ve been taking care of this place for nearly a decade now, and even though I never met your parents, we certainly talked on the phone enough that I considered them friends. Now I know you’ve had a tough time of it, so if you need anything, you just call me, all right? I’ve kids of my own and I know I’d want someone to be looking after my girls if they were a long way from home.” Nadine patted Jess’s arm. “I’ve left a list of contact numbers by the phone, the one at the top is mine. My husband, George, is the local handyman, and he’s been the one looking after things here and seeing to the hot tub. If you like, we can just keep doing that for you.”

“Oh, yes, please!” Jess sniffled and suddenly found herself engulfed in a wet, wooly hug. “We’re a bit different out here on the west coast, dear, but you’ll find we take care of our own, and since you’re going to be living here for the next while, you’re part of the family.”

Nadine hugged her again and then released her so quickly Jess nearly stumbled over backward. “Now, get your things and get in out of this weather. Umbrellas are by the door, and next time you’re in town, you find yourself a proper raincoat or you’ll catch your death of cold.”

With that, Nadine was off, striding through the puddles toward a bright-green Volkswagen camper van that was older than Jess. As it wheezed to life Jess made a dash for her car and had her luggage on the porch before Nadine had made it to the end of the driveway. With an asthmatic honk of her horn, she turned onto the road and vanished out of sight.

“Now that was the oddest welcome I’ve ever had.” Jess laughed to herself as she dragged her bags inside. The moment she crossed the threshold, she felt like she was coming home. It didn’t matter that the harvest gold appliances were replaced with gleaming chrome, or that the fireplace had been converted to gas, this was still the place she remembered from her childhood. Jess dropped her things and ran to the living room’s bay windows that overlooked the ocean. The view was exactly the same, and in her mind’s eye she could see her parents and the girl she had been wading through the waves, all three of them holding hands and laughing.

There were tears in her eyes as she turned away from the view, but for the first time, the sadness didn’t feel like it would crush her beneath its weight. “You were right, Mom,” she whispered into the air as she hugged her arms to her chest and then went to unpack. Before anything else, she needed a hot shower and some quality time with her hair dryer.

She grabbed her suitcase and went to what had once been her room, then stopped and put it in the master bedroom instead. With her bag of toiletries and a towel in hand, she headed down the short hall to the bathroom. Jess still wasn’t sure how she felt about taking her parent’s old room, but all thoughts along that line stopped dead at the sight that greeted her. Instead of the faded, powder-blue vinyl bathtub surround and matching toilet she remembered, the entire room was done in soft creams and glass. The tub had been replaced with a walk-in shower, the entire bottom paved with dark gray river rock that matched the marble tiling.

“Holy hell, that’s some remodeling job.” She shed her travel-creased clothes and turned on the shower, nearly cheering in delight as she realized the showerhead was one of the new rainfall types, positioned so that it hovered overhead. A second, more standard shower head with a detachable handle was set in the wall as well. She turned on the water and let it run as hot as she could stand before stepping under the gentle cascade.

She groaned and rolled her shoulders, easing the tension that had built up in them over the last frantic days of packing and getting herself ready to leave. The cold that had seeped into her bones since her arrival was banished by the hot water, and she felt some of the fatigue and worry being washed away between the stones that curved beneath her feet.

“I could get used to this,” she sighed. “And once Vivian sees it, she’s going to want to move in with me.”

After her shower Jess felt more like herself, and as she put the kettle on she made a mental note to find out where in town she could find a decent espresso machine. If she was serious about getting back to her writing, then she was going to need the proper fuel. On her way back to the fireplace Jess grabbed her phone and hit speed dial, only to be surprised when the call didn’t go through.

“Right, she’s long distance now.” Jess had switched her phone plan to reflect her change in location, one of the hundred details she would have never remembered if Vivian hadn’t been there every step of the way.

She dialed in the number manually and smiled the instant she heard Vivian’s voice on the other end.

“Hey stranger! How’s the new place? Met any cute guys yet?”

“Hey yourself. Things are good here, but I miss you already.”

“I miss you too. So, are you settling in all right? Is it like you remembered it?”

“I’m settling in just fine. The realtor actually made me a casserole and left it in the fridge, and she baked me brownies, too. It’s not quite the same as I remember it, they have had some serious renovations done in the last few years, but yeah, it feels familiar.” Jess curled up in one of the overstuffed chairs near the fireplace and looked around her. “It feels good here. You were right to encourage me to get out of Toronto.”

“You timed it well, too. We’re supposed to get the first blizzard of the winter hitting sometime tomorrow.”

“No snow here, but it hasn’t stopped raining since I landed.”

“There’s a reason they call it the wet coast, you know.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Jess laughed. “And yet you let me leave without reminding me to take an umbrella, or a proper rain jacket.”

“You’re right, I have completely failed you as a friend. When I get out there in a few weeks feel free to punish me by making me sit in the hot tub for hours on end while consuming copious numbers of Irish coffees.”

“You got yourself a deal.”

“Hey, Jess?” Vivian’s voice got softer.