Regardless of what his father had been telling him in those letters, Kaegan had trusted Bryce. He’d believed the plans they’d made for their future were solid and that some guy like Samuel wasn’t going to turn her head. He hadn’t cared they were attending Grambling together, which gave them every opportunity to be close. Bryce was his girl and that was that.
Although it was close to two in the morning when he’d arrived in the cove that night, he’d immediately gone to Bryce’s house to surprise her. He’d been anxious to ask her to marry him and to give her the ring. Since her brothers had married, she had taken over the garage apartment at the back of her parents’ home.
He had walked toward the garage when suddenly the door to the apartment opened and a man came out. She was walking him to the door and the man was Samuel Abbott. Kaegan had stopped and stared at them. Neither had detected his presence since he’d been in the shadows. In total shock, he watched Bryce lean up on tiptoes and wrap her arms around Samuel’s neck. Angry and hurt, Kaegan turned and walked away while pain had sliced through him. He left town that night without Bryce or his parents knowing he’d even been there.
It had taken a week before he’d called Bryce. He’d even refused to take her call, the one she made to him every Sunday. When he did call her, he didn’t give her a chance to say anything. He told her of his surprise visit home the week before, although he didn’t tell her why he’d specifically come home that night.
Kaegan told her about seeing her in Samuel’s arms on her doorstep at two in the morning. He’d told her he hoped to never see her again and that he would be blocking her calls. When he ended the call, he figured that would be that. She’d cheated on him and had been caught. There had been no one he could talk to about the pain he felt. Not even Vashti. She’d left town years earlier, the week after she’d graduated from high school, saying she would never return to Catalina Cove again. She had her own issues with the town and the people in it. He was left to deal with the pain of Bryce’s betrayal alone.
He certainly hadn’t expected Bryce to show up in North Carolina a week later wanting to see him and tell him her side of things. There was nothing she could tell him. It hadn’t been about what his father had told him but about what he’d seen with his own eyes. He doubted he would ever forget seeing her in Samuel’s arms as they’d been about to kiss.
Coming back to Catalina Cove to live was the last thing he’d planned to do. When he had returned home after his father’s death it was to find a seafood shipping company that was barely making ends meet. On top of that, the machinery and boats were in need of repair or replacement, and it had been weeks since the crew, shrimpers and oyster shuckers had been paid.
He had made the decision to close down the company, pay the workers out of money he had saved and move his mother with him to Maryland, where he’d settled after his military career ended. He had a pretty good job working for NASA as a program manager. The plans to return to Maryland changed the day he was approached by Reid LaCroix, the wealthiest man in the cove.
Reid had invited him to his home and had made Kaegan an offer that nobody in their right mind could refuse. Everyone knew Reid was a man who detested change. He believed family-owned businesses in the cove should stay in the family. As a result of that belief, he’d offered Kaegan a low-interest loan to do whatever was needed to bring the shipping company up to par, but only if Kaegan returned to the cove and ran things.
Sensing there had to be some catch, Kaegan had asked his attorney and friend Gregory Nelson, back in Maryland, to review the contract. Gregory indicated it was a damn good deal and he could only assume the reason Reid LaCroix had made him such an offer was the man’s doggedness to keep the family-operated companies in the cove in business so there would not be a need to bring in any new ones. Gregory saw LaCroix’s generosity as a really good strategy if LaCroix was as anti-progressive as Kaegan claimed.
Even with such a good offer, Kaegan had to decide if moving back to Catalina Cove was something he wanted to do. He’d weighed the pros and cons. Living in Maryland and working in DC meant dealing with congested traffic, which had begun wearing him down. Then there were the advantages of being his own boss, an idea that he liked.
Returning to the cove for his father’s funeral had shown him how much the people in the town had changed for the better. The old sheriff, who’d thought he ruled the town, was gone, and there was a new man in charge, a man he’d liked immediately upon meeting him—Sawyer Grisham. For the first time since leaving he could see himself making Catalina Cove his home again. The only problem he saw impeding his return was Bryce. Since there was no way the two of them could ever get back together, he figured the best way to deal with her was to ignore her very existence.
After much consideration, Kaegan had accepted Reid’s offer. With the injection of money, Kaegan was able to pay his workers their back pay, call back the men his father had laid off, buy four new boats and update every last piece of his machinery. Reid even gave Kaegan and his crew permission to farm for tilapia and catfish on a tract of land off the ocean that Reid LaCroix owned but never used. That turned out to be an added investment for them both.
With numerous restaurants in the area needing fresh seafood daily, Kaegan’s business began booming immediately. It was still doing well and in two more years he would be able to pay off his loan to Reid. Kaegan had discovered that without his father making his life miserable, he actually loved being on the water with the men. And he felt he had a dynamic office staff.
The one thing he did make clear to the townspeople was that he didn’t want to be called K-Gee any longer. He couldn’t forget it had been Bryce who’d first begun calling him that in first grade when she couldn’t pronounce his name.
Once he’d settled back in the cove, he’d done a pretty good job of keeping his distance from Bryce and vice versa. The only time they would run into each other was when he went into her parents’ café, which he tried limiting. At least he did until he and Sheriff Sawyer Grisham became good friends.
They’d bonded because they’d had a lot in common. They’d both been marines who’d served multiple tours in Afghanistan. They’d even figured they’d been in the area about the same time, although their paths never crossed. They’d enjoyed sharing war stories over beer in the evenings at Collins Bar and Grill, or in the mornings over coffee and blueberry muffins at the Witherspoon Café.
A couple of years later Ray Sullivan relocated to the cove to work for Kaegan. Since he was new to town and hadn’t known anyone, they extended their friendship to Ray, and the three of them would start their workday by meeting at the Witherspoon Café.
Bryce was a Realtor in town but often helped her parents out at the café with the breakfast and dinner crowd. Just like he didn’t want to have anything to do with her, she had the same attitude toward him, which he found crazy because she was the one who’d been caught cheating. He’d also discovered that although most people in the cove knew they were no longer together, no one, not even her parents and brothers, knew the reason why. He figured she’d been too ashamed to admit to anyone that she’d betrayed him and people had known not to ask him about it, so the reason remained a mystery to everyone.
Even though he saw her more often because of his daily breakfast meetings with Ray and Sawyer at her parents’ cafe, he’d made it a point to ignore her. He’d done a pretty damn good job of it until Vashti moved back to town. She was determined to reclaim her two best friends and couldn’t understand why two people who’d once been so into each other could share so much animosity.
Sighing deeply, Kaegan put the box back in the safe and drew in a deep breath. Seeing it was a reminder that long-term relationships weren’t for him and he never intended to trust another woman with his heart again.
CHAPTER THREE
“GOOD MORNING, SHERIFF. Good morning, Ray. The usual?” Bryce asked the two men when they sat down at o
ne of the booths.
“Yes, I’ll take the usual,” Ray Sullivan said, smiling up at her.
“So will I,” Sheriff Sawyer Grisham chimed in, smiling, as well.
Bryce walked off while thinking that Vashti and Ashley were two lucky women to have found two men who were such jewels. Maybe one day her luck would change. She recalled an article she’d read just last week in a popular women’s magazine. It stated women outnumbered men four to one. With so few men, she needed to get motivated and find her Mr. Right. She’d once had high hopes for Marcel, a guy she’d met at a real-estate seminar in Atlanta. They’d dated for almost eight months. When his ex-wife had reentered the picture, he’d dropped her like a hot potato. That had been four years ago, and although she dated occasionally, she hadn’t gotten seriously involved with anyone since then.
“You okay, honey?”
She glanced over at her mother and pasted on a smile. “Sure, Mom, I’m okay. Just had a busy weekend. I showed five houses on Saturday and one after church yesterday.”
“How did that go?”
“I think it went well. No buyers yet, but I think one of the couples are really interested in the Flemings’ place.”
“That’s good. Hmm, I wonder where Kaegan is this morning,” her mother said.
Bryce bit down on her lip, coming close to saying that she didn’t know, nor did she give a royal damn. Of course, she wouldn’t say that since the woman standing beside her was her mother, although she’d been mistaken for Bryce’s older sister a number of times. Her mom looked just that good for her age and her father wasn’t bad-looking for his age, either. Good genes.
Years ago when her father, Chester Witherspoon, had graduated from Catalina Cove High School, he had fled to Canada to avoid fighting in the Vietnam War. It wasn’t that he’d been a coward or anything; he just didn’t feel the country needed to go to war. A few years later after the war had ended he returned with a Canadian-born wife and baby in tow. It was then that he’d decided to do his patriotic duty and enlist in the military for six years. During those years Bryce’s parents had another son, Duke. Four years after Duke they had their only daughter, Bryce. Both Ry and Duke lived in Catalina Cove and were partners with their parents in the family-owned café. Her brothers were happily married to wonderful women with two kids each.
Although no one ever said it, if anyone cared to do the math, it would be quite obvious that Debbie Witherspoon had gotten pregnant before she’d married Chester. That fact never bothered Bryce. Her mother had adopted the philosophy that if you lived in a glass house you shouldn’t throw stones. That was the main reason why, unlike a lot of the other parents in town, the Witherspoons hadn’t bashed Vashti when she’d gotten pregnant at sixteen and refused to reveal the identity of her child’s father. The Witherspoons had stood up for Vashti and had been quite outspoken in saying it wasn’t anyone’s business what Vashti decided to do and whom she told or didn’t tell.
“I think I’ll go help your dad and brothers in the back. Time to put my pies in the oven for the lunch crowd,” her mother said.
“Okay, Mom.”
Moments later, while Bryce was placing their orders in front of Ray and Sawyer, she felt heat behind her and didn’t have to look to know Kaegan had arrived.
When he sat down she glanced over at him. “Your usual, K-Gee?”
He glared at her and she wanted to smile but managed to keep a straight face. He hated that nickname and she’d only called him that to annoy the hell out of him.
“Yes, my usual, Brycie.”
She momentarily went still, not expecting him to retaliate by calling her that. Brycie had been his special name for her whenever they made love. Not able to deal with the memories right now, instead of saying anything she nodded and walked off to the kitchen.
When she saw her mother busy mixing up her pies, she said, “Kaegan is here now, so you can stop fretting.”
Her mother chuckled. “I wasn’t fretting. I’d just noticed he hadn’t arrived at the time he usually does.”
It was no secret that Chester and Debbie Witherspoon always had a soft spot for Kaegan. In fact, very few people knew that it had been Bryce’s mother who’d gone to the school board and pushed for Kaegan to attend regular school and not the fake homeschooling his father claimed he was getting.
It might bewilder some people as to how her parents could still be so fond of a man who’d obviously hurt their daughter. But she knew her parents. The one thing she could give them credit for was not getting involved in their children’s business. They accepted the fact that Bryce and her brothers were adults and treated them that way. They got along with their daughters-in-law, and whenever disagreements would come up, they didn’t take sides.
She understood her parents’ feelings for Kaegan. He’d been a part of their lives just as long as he’d been a part of hers back in elementary school. They loved him like another son. Although her parents didn’t know all the details of their breakup, they believed it was something she and Kaegan would eventually work out. And just like the situation with her brothers and their wives, when it came to her and Kaegan, they refused to take sides.
Her brothers weren’t as easygoing as her parents. All they knew was that Kaegan had hurt her, and in the beginning that had been enough for them to take sides. But when she refused to tell them what Kaegan had done, they soon took the same position her parents had. Kaegan was like a part of their family. Ry and Duke figured whatever had pushed her and Kaegan apart, they would either work it out or they would not. Her brothers made the decision to let her handle her own business when it came to Kaegan and not get involved, and she appreciated that.
Placing hot blueberry muffins in the basket to take to Kaegan’s table, she wondered if his tardiness had anything to do with the woman who hadn’t been able to keep her eyes off him at the party. It appeared everyone had left the party Friday night, but that didn’t necessarily mean she hadn’t returned later for a weekend sleepover.
Reminding herself that what Kaegan did wasn’t her business, she went to pour his coffee.
* * *
“YOU’RE NOT VERY talkative, Kaegan,” Sawyer said, stirring his coffee.
Kaegan glanced up. “Not much to say this morning.”
Ray chuckled. “Well, I have a lot to say, mainly about Friday night. That was a damn good party and the food was fantastic, as usual.”
“Glad you enjoyed it.” And because he considered these two men his closest friends, he figured he needed to give them a reason for his solemn mood, even if it wasn’t the only reason. “I anticipate a busy week. I got another big order for the Chappell Group that needs to go out Thursday.”
“I’ll be able to help,” Ray said, smiling. “Ashley’s parents are coming for a short visit. When it comes to her mother, I have to take her in small doses, so trust me, you’ll be doing me a favor.”
Kaegan chuckled. “Was it that way before, when you were that Devon guy?” For a few years Ray had lost his memory.
“It was worse. I think at times she’s trying to determine how much of ‘Devon’ is still in me. Her only saving grace is that I understand she’s happy and excited that I finally got her daughter pregnant. She’s always wanted grandchildren.”
“And now you’re giving her doubles,” Sawyer said, grinning. “You’re going to love being the father of twins.”
“Says a man who should know,” Kaegan said, also grinning. He was happy for these two. He recalled how just a few years ago the three of them had been single men, without a thought of a female in their lives. All of that had changed. At least for two of them things had.
“I saw Farley’s sister at your party. She came without him?” Ray asked.
“Yes. He wasn’t feeling well, and I guess she didn’t want to miss a good party,” Kaegan said, chuckling.
“She’s a divorcée, right?” Sawyer asked.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“She’s pretty,” Ray said, looking at him over the rim of his coffee cup.
He glanced at Ray. “Is she? I hadn’t really noticed.”
In truth, he had noticed, but not enough to warrant his interest. She wasn’t his type. Not that he believed everything he heard, but on more than one occasion he’d heard his men whispering that she was into kinky stuff and that threesomes were her specialty. Personally, he wasn’t into sharing.
He glanced up when a cup of coffee and a basket of blueberries were placed in front of him. When his and Bryce’s eyes met, something stirred deep within his gut and he immediately resented the feeling. He also resented that he was noticing how pretty she looked this morning. Could it be the hint of blush she’d added to her cheeks? Or that her lashes seemed a little longer than usual? In the past, Bryce only put on makeup when it suited her. Was there a reason she was wearing some now? Was there a man coming into the café that she wanted to impress?
“Will there be anything else?” she asked him.
He hated that his thoughts had been on a past that could never be rekindled. She was glaring at him and he automatically glared back. “From you? No.”
He saw her bite down on her bottom lip, probably tempted to tell him where he could take the coffee and muffins and shove them. Instead she turned and walked off. He watched her leave and figured that even if he no longer cared one iota for her, he could still appreciate a good-looking ass in jeans. He kept his gaze glued to her backside until she disappeared behind the counter. He wished he didn’t remember a time he considered that ass and every damn part of her body as his.
“Keep it up and one day you’re going to get hot coffee thrown in your face, Kaegan,” Sawyer said, breaking into his thoughts.
Finding Home Again (Catalina Cove) Page 3