“There is no such thing.”
Vanita pointed her spoon at Celeste. “Don’t you go talking like that. You’re gonna find someone who appreciates you. Meanwhile, don’t be such a pushover for a great bod and a nice smile.”
“I’m not that shallow!”
“No, but you’re just too... I don’t know. Eager.”
Yes, she supposed she was. But darn it all, she only wanted a good man and that TV sitcom happy life she’d yearned for as a kid. Not that her mother and grandparents hadn’t given her and her sister a good life. But there’d been a key part missing. A dad. Her father had died when she was a baby.
So was that her problem? Was she always looking for the father she’d never had? Did she need therapy?
No, darn it. She needed a man who wouldn’t cheat.
“You gotta start protecting your heart, girl. And don’t be givin’ it away to every man who comes along with a smooth line.”
“Hey, no shaming,” Celeste said irritably.
“I’m not shaming. I’m lecturing. Get tough.”
Get tough. Yeah. She could do that. Next time she went to the gym and saw Emerson... Eew. She didn’t want to go to the gym anymore. She was bound to see him there.
What if she did run into him? What if he told her he realized he’d been a fool and he wanted her back?
Heaven help her, she’d probably take him with open arms. She had to get out of town.
“Why don’t you go spend some time with your sister this summer,” her mom suggested when Celeste told her that she and Emerson were no more. “Life is always good at the beach.”
“Life isn’t good anywhere right now,” Celeste grumbled.
“It’ll get better,” her mom promised. And if anyone should know, it would be Melody Jones. Widowed young and left with two little girls to raise, she’d carved out a happy life for herself. And all without a man. “Meanwhile,” she added.
“I know. Look for the rainbow in the storm.”
“Exactly.”
Her mom was right. What was the sense in moping? When the going got tough, the tough...went to the beach.
So as soon as school was out, Celeste packed her bikini and flip-flops and drove to Moonlight Harbor, a small beach town on the Washington Coast, to stay with her sister and niece and great-aunt. Jenna had been more than happy at the idea of her sister coming for a long stay. Between running the Driftwood Inn, keeping her massage business going, and being mother of the year, Jenna was always busy. She’d insisted she could use the help as much as Celeste could use a change of scenery.
And there was no better place for that than Moonlight Harbor. Mom had brought Jenna and Celeste there for many happy visits when they were kids, so it felt like coming home as she drove through the white stone gateway at the town’s entrance.
There was Nora Singleton’s ice cream parlor, where their great-uncle Ralph took them for sundaes back when he was alive. There were the cute cabana shops she’d enjoyed visiting her last time down. There were the deer, grazing on the grass in the median. They drove the town’s gardeners nuts, eating up flowers before they could bloom and strolling across lawns like they owned the place, which they did, but Celeste thought they were sweet. She loved their big, trusting brown eyes. They all had brains the size of a peanut and often trotted out in front of oncoming cars, but luckily for the deer, people always stopped for them. Yes, here people cared for the clueless and trusting. Moonlight Harbor was the perfect place to mend a broken heart.
Or get stopped by a cop. She could feel her sunny smile slipping away as she pulled over. She was scowling by the time one of Moonlight Harbor’s finest came up to her car window. He was cute, with sandy hair and hazel eyes. He, too, probably had a six-pack just like Emerson.
“What?” she demanded, making him blink.
“Uh, you’ve got a taillight out,” he stammered, his cheeks turning pink.
“Oh.” Okay, she needed to holster her guns. “Um, thank you, Officer. That was really nice of you. I’ll get it fixed right away.”
He nodded and told her to have a good day, then returned to his car.
“Everyone is not an Emerson,” she told herself. But she was so over cops.
The very thought of Emerson put that frown back on her face, until she pulled into the parking lot of the Driftwood Inn. A one-story building with only twenty rooms, it was a relic from the sixties. But it was a refurbished relic with lots of charm, painted blue with white trim. The office had driftwood outside it and a fisherman’s net hanging on the front exterior. And the pool, that was the best. It had a mermaid swimming under a full moon painted on the bottom. The whole place called, “Come on back to when life was simple. Stay and have a good time.” She intended to.
Her sister was working the front desk when she walked in, and Jenna’s face lit up at the sight of her. “You’re here!” she cried and rushed to hug Celeste.
“I am so ready to turn into a sand crab,” Celeste said.
“And we’re all ready to have you. Perfect timing, too, since my latest maid quit.”
“You’re going to work me to death in housekeeping on my summer break?”
“Only mornings,” Jenna said with a grin. “Come on, let’s go over to the house.”
“Don’t you have to stay in the office?”
“No one’s due to check in,” Jenna said. “Besides, my cell number is posted in the rooms. If anyone has an emergency they can call me.”
Only the week before Jenna had been summoned to a room to deal with an overflowing toilet. Her sister was a saint.
Their great-aunt’s house where Jenna and her daughter, Sabrina, lived was an old, two-story charmer complete with gables and a big front porch. Jenna had focused her first summer on getting the motel up and running. This summer the house was getting a facelift with blue paint and white trim to match the motel. Work had begun, and the second story was already half-painted.
They went inside to find Aunt Edie settled on the couch, crocheting granny squares for an afghan. Jolly Roger, her parrot, was perched behind her, supervising. She was wearing her favorite elastic-waist slacks and a pink sweatshirt that clashed with her cherry-red, tightly permed hair and her coral lipstick.
“Look what I found,” Jenna announced.
“Oh, Celeste darling!” Aunt Edie cried, pushing herself up from the couch and coming to greet her great-niece. In her early eighties and still active and happy, she was an inspiration.
“Thanks for letting me come,” Celeste said, bending over to hug her. What there was of her. Father Time had stuck Aunt Edie in a compactor, shrinking her.
“You know you’re always welcome here,” she told Celeste. “Isn’t she, Roger?”
“Always welcome,” Roger repeated, walking along the top of the couch back. “Call the cops.”
“No more cops,” Celeste cracked.
This made her aunt look at her in concern. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” Celeste said. “I had a lucky escape.”
“Not all police are like that. We have some good ones here. And several of them are single.”
“Oh, yeah.” Jenna grinned. “Frank Stubbs would be more than happy to help you heal your heartache.”
“I was thinking of that nice Victor King,” said Aunt Edie.
“I might have met him on my way in,” Celeste said. “Kind of tall. Blushes easily?”
“That would be the one,” Jenna said. “He’s a sweetie.”
“There is no such thing. Not when you’re talking about cops.”
“Oh, my,” said Aunt Edie, sounding worried.
“Call the cops,” advised Roger.
“We have to teach him some new words,” Celeste said. “Emerson’s a rat. Can you say that, Roger? Emerson’s a rat.”
Roger shook out his feathers and shut
his beak.
“You men all stick together,” Celeste muttered.
“Well,” Aunt Edie said briskly. “You know where to put your things. I’ll get some lemonade and cookies.”
“And I’ll call Sabrina,” Jenna told Celeste. “She and Tristan are at the tennis courts with Jennifer and Hudson, trying to play tennis.”
“Don’t drag her away. I’ll see her soon enough.”
“No, she’s going to want to see you. Anyway, she’ll just bring the whole gang here. They’re all addicted to Aunt Edie’s cookies.”
Lemonade, cookies and her family. What more did a girl need?
Sex.
Sigh.
Chapter Two
Celeste’s first evening with the family was a happy one. The kids returned from the tennis court sweaty, happy and hungry, and devoured Aunt Edie’s beach sandies, one of her cookie specialties. Of course, everyone decided to hang out for dinner and Pete, Aunt Edie’s not-so-handy handyman, was sent across the parking lot to fetch goodies from the Seafood Shack. After eating more than his share of the popcorn shrimp, he announced his intention to go to The Drunken Sailor for a beer.
“Too damn noisy here,” he complained.
“Gee, we hate to see you go,” Jenna murmured as he slumped out the back door, Aunt Edie seeing him on his way. “Why she keeps him around, I’ll never know.”
Pete, with his laziness and mooching, was a constant irritation for Celeste’s hardworking sister, so of course she couldn’t help teasing, “He’s her boy toy.”
Who knew what was going on between Aunt Edie and grizzled, old Pete? Probably nothing, since she had to be a good ten years older. But it was fun to yank her big sister’s chain.
Jenna looked as if she’d eaten raw seaweed. “Eew. Just, eew.”
“Love is blind,” Celeste quipped. Boy, was it ever. She suddenly didn’t feel in such a party mood.
But there had to be partying when you had a teenager. And partying was the best medicine, so Celeste was soon engrossed in the fun and games. Aunt Edie hung around for the milder ones like Apples to Apples. After she went to bed, the kids all wanted to play Spoons, a more rambunctious game that required cards, some spoons and a very competitive spirit.
“Nobody beats me at Spoons,” Celeste bragged, and she proved her superiority when she almost broke poor Tristan’s wrist wrenching one from his hand and making him yelp.
“You gotta be tough,” she informed him with a smirk.
That was true on so many levels.
The kids finally went home, and Sabrina went to bed to read the new novel she’d started about a blind female superhero who was busy saving her fellow teens in a post-apocalyptic world where all the parents had been killed.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said before she left, hugging Celeste.
“Me, too,” Celeste said.
“Me, three,” Jenna said.
With everyone else gone, the two sisters poured themselves some lavender lemonade and moved to the living room. “Was it cheesy of me to invite myself down for the whole summer?” Celeste asked as they settled on the couch. “I mean, you’re stuck sharing a bed with me.”
“Just like every time you visit. You know that’s not a problem. I’m glad you’re here. That way I can keep an eye on you.”
Celeste frowned. “Obviously, I need someone to keep an eye on me.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over the cheater. That’s all on him, not you.”
“I shouldn’t have rushed into the relationship. You tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen.”
Jenna shrugged. “Women in love do stupid things.”
“I’m done being stupid. And I’m done falling for a handsome face and a hot bod. Maybe I’ll find me a rich, old geezer who needs a trophy wife.”
“Yeah, I can see that happening.”
“Or maybe I’ll stay single and adopt a child.” It wouldn’t be the traditional family Celeste had always dreamed about but, oh, well. “And get a dog,” she added with a smile. “Dogs are loyal.”
“Which is more than you can say for some men,” Jenna said, and Celeste knew she was talking about her ex, Damien the artiste, who’d left her for another woman.
“Well, then,” Celeste said, raising her glass, “here’s to dogs.”
“To dogs,” Jenna said and they clinked glasses and finished their lemonade. “And now I need to go to bed. I’ve got a ton of paperwork waiting for me tomorrow and clients lined up for massages as soon as Courtney comes in to relieve me.”
“And I have to start my first day as a maid,” Celeste said.
“It should be a light day. We’re only half full at the moment, and all you need to do is make the beds and clean the bathrooms.”
“I can help work the check-in desk, too, you know.”
“I might take you up on that.”
“Anyone interesting staying here?” Celeste asked as they went upstairs to the bedroom.
“Two couples, a family with two little kids, a group of girlfriends who are taking three of our rooms, a pair of newlyweds—make sure you call ‘housekeeping’ loudly before going in—and we’ve got more people checking in on Friday and one on Sunday. That should be enough to keep you busy.”
“I’d say so.” But Celeste wanted to be busy, too busy to think about her lame love life. Doomed to be a love loser.
Oh, yeah, that was positive thinking. Look for the rainbow in the storm, she reminded herself. That wasn’t hard. She was with the people she loved best and she was at the beach. She’d do a beach walk first thing in the morning before starting maid patrol. Maybe she’d get lucky and find an agate.
She didn’t find an agate the next morning, but she did find some inspiration. The steadiness of the waves, the vastness of the ocean, the cry of the seagulls—it reminded her that there was a big, beautiful world out there and more to life than one disappointment. The waves swooshed in, washed away the writing in the sand and provided a clean slate, so to speak. That was what she was getting down here. Now, if she could just forget what had been written...
When she returned to the house Aunt Edie was already at the stove, making breakfast. Jenna was giving Pete his to-do list for the day and Pete was complaining about his sore back. Yes, some things never changed.
The aroma of coffee drew Celeste over to her aunt’s vintage coffeemaker. She pulled a mug from the cupboard, filled it and took a sip. Oh, yes, a great way to start the day.
There was something so cozy about hanging out in her aunt’s kitchen. Maybe it was because the kitchen was packed with happy memories—baking cookies with Aunt Edie, working on crafts at the kitchen table or playing anagrams, drinking hot chocolate in the morning and eating...
“Pancakes,” she said happily, looking over her aunt’s shoulder. “Do you need help?”
“No, you sit down and enjoy.”
“That won’t be hard. Pancakes are the best.”
“Pancakes are the best,” Roger echoed from his kitchen perch.
Jenna was getting up as Celeste sat down. “Where are you going?” Celeste asked.
“That paperwork is calling. Come on over to the office when you’re done and I’ll give you the key to the supply room.”
“She’s gonna work you to death,” Pete predicted.
Jenna frowned at him. “A motel is like a farm, Pete. We all work. It’s what keeps us in pancakes.”
He grunted. “You’re gonna kill me.”
“You’re too tough to die,” Jenna said, obviously unconcerned with Pete’s precarious future. She kissed Aunt Edie on the cheek, said, “See you later,” to Celeste and left.
“That woman’s a slave driver,” Pete said and forked more pancake into his mouth.
Celeste didn’t mind working. She much preferred staying busy to sitting around moping over the sad ending
to her latest love story.
She was happy to find no plugged toilets on her first day as a maid, and only nice guests who all told her how much they were enjoying their stay.
“I love it here,” said one of the women who were having girl time at the beach. “Good stress relief.” Her name was Shari and, chatting with her, Celeste learned that she was a nurse.
“Good to know in case I hurt my back or something,” Celeste joked.
“Be careful how you lift things,” Shari cautioned.
Hopefully, Celeste wouldn’t have to do much heavy lifting.
An older couple asked about the best places to eat in town, and Celeste was happy to tell them. “And don’t forget Good Times Ice Cream Parlor,” she added. “Their huckleberry ice cream is to die for.”
The newlyweds had the Do Not Disturb sign hung on their door. No visiting with them. Celeste figured she’d have to come back later with clean towels. Maybe days later.
She was wheeling her cart of cleaning supplies and dirty towels to the supply room to start a load of wash when Jenna’s other Driftwood Inn resident and part-time handyman, Seth Waters, appeared. Unlike Pete, he actually paid rent on his room. He had a mold removal business that kept him busy most days, but he helped around the place when he could.
He was gorgeous and sexy and crazy about Jenna—and as commitment-shy as she was. The looks they sneaked in each other’s direction were hot enough to set the dune grass on fire, but so far they were resisting becoming a couple. Talk about willpower.
Then there was Brody Green, the other man in her sister’s life. He was always taking her out to eat. With a man like Brody you’d never need dessert. Two great guys. At some point Jenna was going to cave and give love a second chance, but it was still anyone’s guess which one she’d cave with.
Right now Seth looked pretty yummy in his paint-spattered T-shirt and jeans. It wasn’t hard to figure out what he was dressed for.
“Welcome back,” he greeted her. “Your sister sure didn’t waste any time drafting you.”
She held up her scrub brush. “You can call me Your Majesty. I’m now queen of the toilets.”
The Summer Retreat Page 2