by Olivia Miles
And that was when he must have snuck up on her, tapping her on the shoulder, right as she was reaching for the serrated knife to cut through the remainder of the crusty baguette she saved to use for the dessert bruschetta recipe featuring summer cherries soaked in one of their best-selling red wines.
The knife came dangerously close to cutting the hand she had just intended to make so pretty the next day, and she was quick enough to release it, sending it flying down into the grass.
She gave him a pointed look. “Good thing that wasn’t a steak knife or I can’t be sure I’d still have all five toes.”
He laughed. God, he had the best laugh. Deep and smooth and so familiar.
“I didn’t mean to startle you. Just thought I’d see how it was going.”
The women at the table had quieted down now, as they all took in the two men who had come to join them. Amelia couldn’t blame them—after all, they couldn’t all be engaged like the guest of honor, and the Bradford men were something of a legend here in Blue Harbor. One of the particularly pretty women stood and sauntered over to where Amelia had prepped her ingredients for the demo, her eyes never straying from Matt as she reached down and plucked a cherry from Amelia’s bowl and popped it into her mouth.
“Hi,” she said, a little breathlessly, her eyes only on Matt.
Amelia could feel the heat of anger and humiliation in her face. These girls were all dressed up, with long hair and perfume wafting over the cooking smells, and gold necklaces and cute little summer outfits. And Matt was a man. A very unattached man.
At least—she assumed he was. She realized that was one detail she hadn’t directly asked, not that he had mentioned anything about a girlfriend back in Minneapolis. Robbie never had either, unless he had intentionally omitted that information.
She held her breath, waiting to see how Matt would respond, but after a beat he simply said, “Enjoy the party,” with a polite smile, and before she could even fully feel the swell of relief when she saw the disappointment shadow the other girl’s face, he set a hand on her wrist and said, “Do you have an extra apron?”
Her wrist warmed under his touch, and it was only then that she realized just how long it had been since she had been touched. Or held. By someone other than Candy, that was.
She always carried a spare apron in case of accidents, and she could barely suppress her smile as she pulled one from the canvas tote she carried with her to and from work. And, really, everywhere else.
Practical. Just like Gabby had said.
The other women at the party all had cute little handbags, she noticed. Some had gold chains for straps. Some were even fun colors. Like pink. She had the strange desire to own a pink handbag, even if it did seem frivolous, or worse—like something Candy might carry. Usually, she poured all her income back into the café.
“Looks like we’d better get these ladies some food before they eat me alive,” Matt said with a flash of a grin.
“You might be spared. Looks like they’ve moved on to Robbie now,” Amelia said with a laugh as she handed him the bowl of cherries, still irked that her carefully measured ingredients had been cut short.
Sure enough, the women were all fawning over Robbie, peppering him with questions about his role here on the orchard and admiring the tan that came with working out of doors so much during peak season. Amelia could practically count down the seconds until one of them commented on the size of his biceps. If only they knew he spent the majority of his time behind a computer screen and the rest at home with his young daughter.
Britt didn’t try to stop them, but merely caught Amelia’s eye and moved hers skyward, before briskly walking over to the demo stand, which was nothing more than an old farmer’s bench complete with two burners.
Amelia added a drizzle of olive oil to one of the pans and waited for it to heat. Matt was standing beside her, looking rather adorable in the blue striped apron that everyone at the café wore. “After you slice the bread, you can grill it in this pan.”
She handed him the one she’d set aside for the toast and glanced at Britt, who was watching her in obvious amusement.
“You seem more relaxed,” Amelia remarked. She began pitting cherries—something she could probably do with her eyes closed after all the years of her childhood spent taking on the task.
Britt shrugged. “Those women don’t bother me. They’re just having fun, and that’s what we want, right? If you ask me, this is turning out to be a major success. I’m thinking we should book as many as we can, provided you’re up for it? We might get a few groups at once, or a second set in the early evening?”
Always thinking two steps ahead, that sister of hers.
“So long as I can make it work around my schedule at the café, I’m not in a position to say no,” Amelia said. She saw Matt frowning at her and, assuming he needed further instruction, handed over the cherries she’d already pitted. “Chopped, not diced, please.”
His eyes glimmered. “Is there a difference? Kidding,” he said, when he got the reaction he was looking for. “I’m actually pretty good in the kitchen. Years of being a bachelor will turn any man into a chef.”
Amelia slid her gaze back to Britt, who clearly hadn’t missed that statement any more than Amelia had. She muttered an excuse about the guests and went back to the table, where Robbie was clearly looking flustered by all the attention.
Amelia uncorked a bottle of the wine she was using in the cherry reduction and set it aside to breathe.
“So, a bachelor? I guess that’s why you don’t need to run off any time soon.”
“Just one of the reasons,” he said, giving her a look that made her stomach flip over.
He finished chopping the cherries as she passed them to him, doing an even and fine cut, if she did say so herself. But then, they’d always worked well together. Always had an easy relationship that had been one of the highlights of an otherwise rough time in her past, when her mother was sick and then passed, when she felt like the weight of her entire household was on her shoulders. With Matt, she could still be Amelia. Amelia who didn’t have two younger sisters relying on her to fill the space that their mother once held. Amelia who didn’t know how to make her father happy or how to even help him other than to stay busy in the kitchen.
“You know,” she said as she prepped the last few ingredients. The demo would begin soon, and judging from the hooting and hollering now going on with the bachelorette party, she couldn’t get to it soon enough. “I could always give you a job at the café if you decide to stick around.”
He laughed. “That’s a tempting offer. But I meant what I said the other night. If things go according to plan, I could be spending a lot more time here, overseeing a new project.”
“A new project in Blue Harbor?” Well, this was certainly interesting.
He gave her a little smile. “That’s the plan. But it hasn’t been approved yet.”
She nodded. He probably couldn’t share too much then. “Do you think it will be approved?”
She was holding her breath, she realized, wanting this for him probably as much as he wanted it for himself. Having him here, standing beside her, so close that she could feel the heat from his skin and imagine what it might be like to touch him again felt too good to lose again.
“If I have anything to do with it, I won’t be going back to Minneapolis for my final pitch without being absolutely certain the project will be approved.”
“My! You sound determined!”
When he met her eyes, his gaze was intense. “I am determined. This is my second chance with this town. And I intend to make the most of it.”
So did she, Amelia thought.
*
The women from the party were long gone, leaving a table of empty wine glasses, a few plates of uneaten food (though not many, because it seemed all the libations had eventually weakened whatever resolves they harbored for dietary restrictions) and smiles on the faces of everyone who had a part in making this ev
ent a success.
“I think this calls for a toast!” Britt said, reaching for one of the unopened bottles of wine. Robbie quickly gathered up four glasses, and Amelia glanced at Matt who nodded eagerly.
“Why not?” Amelia said, getting caught up in the moment. She had the evening off, and tomorrow too. So what if she usually used this time to meal prep and menu plan and grocery shop? She usually did her laundry on Sunday evenings, too, not that she’d be sharing that bit tonight. Matt may be a bachelor, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a social life. Or date.
And really, the mere thought of him dating shouldn’t make her stomach go all funny like that. He was a thirty-year-old man. She’d been his high school sweetheart. Chances were that he’d found a college sweetheart, too. That she was just a part of his past, much like this town.
“I suppose that my clean-up can wait,” she said, taking a glass. It was cool and sharp, and she didn’t even realize how hot she had become standing over those burners in the late afternoon sun until she took a sip.
It went straight to her head, and she was all too happy when Matt motioned to the Adirondack chairs set up near the back of one of the barns.
“So, do you think you’ll do this again?” Matt asked Britt and Amelia as they walked single file through the vineyard.
It was Robbie who answered, saying, “I don’t see why not.”
Britt gave him a rueful grin over her shoulder. “You’re just saying that because you had six women flirting with you.”
“Five.” Robbie grinned. “One of them was engaged, remember?”
Britt just shook her head. She was secure in the relationship by now. They’d committed to each other, even if the words weren’t yet official. But Britt hadn’t taken their reunion lightly, and neither had Robbie. And now, they weren’t just back together in the romantic sense, but they were also all but running the orchard together, even if technically their father had left it to Britt.
“Well, they’re headed in to town,” Britt said mockingly when they reached the chairs. She sighed deeply as she dropped into one. “Said they are on a wine crawl.”
“You mean they aren’t done for the day?” Amelia laughed.
Britt just raised her eyebrows. “So if you’re looking for a good time, you know where to go. And if you’re looking for some peace and quiet, you know what to avoid.”
“Chances are Jackson will find them before the day is through,” Robbie laughed, and Matt joined in.
Amelia sipped her wine and waited to see if Matt would make an excuse, leave, or mention his plans for the evening. He was staying with Jackson, after all. And Jackson often took Sunday evenings off if he had someone to cover the bar.
Amelia knew this because that’s how life in Blue Harbor was. You knew everything about everyone, for the most part, and what wasn’t directly told would all too soon be revealed.
She wondered if Robbie knew any more details of Matt’s plans than she did. She supposed he did. And if so, perhaps he’d shared them with Britt. She made a mental note to ask her sister when she had her alone. Discreetly, of course. She didn’t need her sister pushing her to get back together with Matt like Gabby had. It wasn’t that straight-forward. And Amelia knew that life didn’t always work out the way you wished it would.
“You going over to Dad’s tonight?” Britt asked her.
Amelia hesitated. Before Candy came along, she’d spent most of her nights off with their father, and sometimes Cora or Maddie had joined. Now, she didn’t feel quite so needed anymore. It was both liberating and a little depressing.
“I saw him the other night at the café,” Amelia said. “Besides, this is my busy season. Better make the most of it while I can.”
“I hope today helped,” Britt said. She understood just how seasonal work could be in a small, lakefront town like Blue Harbor, and Amelia was fully aware that Britt was hard at work strategizing how to get through the long, cold, winter without seeing a dip in the orchard’s profits.
“It did,” Amelia said. And it had been worth the extra effort, too. Especially since Matt had decided to stop by. “And I agree with Robbie and your ideas earlier too. We should do this again, Britt. It’s a great way to show off the orchard, and I have to admit that I didn’t mind the paycheck.”
“That makes two of us!” Britt remarked. To Matt she said, “I’m still trying to figure out a plan for the winter. My father used that as a break, but I think there is something to offer here, and maybe a reason to pull people into town, even for just a weekend.”
“Did you have anything specific in mind?”
Amelia laughed. “When doesn’t Britt have something in mind?”
“Guilty as charged,” Britt said, grinning. “I’m always coming up with new ideas for this place. It’s just so full of possibility, you know?”
Amelia knew. It was how she felt when she first took the keys over for the café. She could still remember the wonder of standing in the center of the room, staring at the counter and the tables and the windows, and knowing that it was all hers and she could do whatever she wanted with it.
Robbie leaned forward. “What about your ideas, Matt? You keep hinting at a reason to be in town. Are you ever going to tell us what you’re hatching?”
“Well, I shouldn’t give too many details away,” Matt said, but from the tone, he intended to do just that. “But I happen to think that if the project I’m pitching goes through, you will all see an increase in tourist activity around here. Year-round.”
Amelia caught the excitement in Britt’s eyes and sat a little straighter. “Really? What are you planning exactly?”
“A five-star waterfront resort,” Matt said.
Amelia frowned. Most of the accommodations in town were small and mid-sized inns, each old and passed down through the generations, most of them similar in appearance: white with black shutters. Several, like the Carriage House Inn, lined Main Street and farther around the coastline, several larger ones faced the water. But none of them were a resort. A resort meant amenities, and land to accommodate it.
“You really think it would work in a town like this? There’s not a lot to do,” she pointed out, but it was Britt who cut in excitedly.
“Relaxation would be the big sell!” She grinned at Matt. “I think it’s just what the area needs. A high-end option for a whole new set of tourists. You could offer water activities. Boat rentals. Oh, I assume there will be a spa.”
And probably a café, too. Or a restaurant. Maybe more than one. Amelia struggled to see how that would be good for business, but then, the customers who were attracted to such luxurious accommodations probably wouldn’t have much interest in her little café with the scuffed floorboards and the mismatched tables and the patio chairs that she’d painted pink and yellow as a contrast to the surrounding blue of the water and green from the trees.
“I’m just the architect, but the developer I work for would determine what amenities to include based on demographic pull and space use, of course. But I definitely think it could work. In fact, I think it could make Blue Harbor even better than it was before.”
Amelia wished she could feel more excited about this, but the thought of a huge new building in town made her uneasy.
“You don’t look convinced,” Matt said, looking a little concerned.
“I am,” she explained. “I mean, I’m sure it would be a big draw for tourists. But…” She shrugged. “I guess I like Blue Harbor just as it is.”
“Now you sound like Dad!” Britt scolded, but she waggled her finger in a mocking way. It was not lost on the four Conway daughters that their father didn’t like change—that was, until he surprised them by falling for Candy, and then promptly handing over the business he’d run for all of his adult life to Britt. He hadn’t even batted an eyelash when she immediately started making changes to his well-established ways—and that had been a surprise to everyone.
She pulled in a breath. Maybe change was good. It could bring Matt ba
ck to town, couldn’t it?
“It’s not all the same,” Robbie pointed out. “When I moved back I saw the changes. Good ones. Ones that remained true to the town. You had taken over the café, for starters. And Gabby has the flower shop.”
Amelia considered this. Gabby’s cousin on her mother’s side had Bella’s Books. A new generation had taken over, but the heart of Blue Harbor remained.
Fortunately, Matt had always loved the town’s charm every bit as much as she did.
“Maybe you can show me around?” Matt grinned at her. “Re-acquaint me with the town?”
Amelia knew from the burn of her cheeks that Robbie and Britt were watching this all with great amusement. Easy for them, when they’d settled into a happy relationship once again.
She swallowed hard and took another sip of her cool drink. Liquid courage. “I have Mondays off.”
“Tomorrow works,” Matt said. His gaze lingered long enough for her stomach to tighten, his eyes intense, and his smile pulling right at her heartstrings. “Looking forward to it.”
She bit down on her lip. So was she. Even if it meant she might have to try to squeeze that manicure appointment in tonight, if possible.
5
The only salon in all of Blue Harbor was located in the heart of town on Pine Street. It was a popular destination for most residents, including Amelia’s cousins. Amelia’s own mother had come here, back when it was still owned by Nina Payne’s mother, but Amelia had only been once: for her junior prom.
She smiled at the memory as she approached the storefront. She’d gone to the dance with Matt, of course. Worn a blue dress and had her hair styled into some elaborate up-do that she’d seen in a magazine. Her father had insisted, as a treat, his eyes shining with tears that her mother couldn’t be there to see her, looking so beautiful.
Amelia had felt guilty, but her father was right. It had been a treat. And a distraction. The Conway girls usually trimmed each other’s hair, Amelia taking over the task that their mother had once provided in the master bathroom every two months. No frills, no real style, just a good cutting of the split ends.