“I’ll talk to Mandy,” he said finally. “If she wants to see you, I won’t stand in her way. I’ll also make sure she knows not to rely on you sticking around because we both know you won’t.”
She flinched, but remained silent.
“Just so we’re clear.” He stepped closer, every protective instinct inside of him roaring to life. “If I think for one second you’re going to try to take her away from me, away from here, I will make sure you regret ever coming back to Butterfly Harbor. Is that clear?”
“Crystal.” She nodded again and cleared her throat. “Thank you, Sebastian.”
“You’re welcome.” Before he gave in to that protective urge, before he let himself forget the last fifteen years had ever happened, he walked away from the only woman he’d ever loved.
* * *
THE BOY SHE’D LOVED was gone. She’d known, of course. Even before she’d come back to town. She wasn’t so naive to believe that the Sebastian she’d fallen so hard and fast for still existed.
In his place, however, stood a strong, determined, protective father who still had the boy’s glint in his worried, gray eyes. The years had been good to him. He’d grown into the handsome features that had entranced her from the moment she’d spoken to him on her first day of school in Butterfly Harbor. He still had that natural air about him that made her feel equally unworthy yet desperate to earn his affection. He’d been so good to her. So kind. So loving. Encouraging. Always had her back. No one had ever believed in her the way Sebastian Evans had, and what had she done in return? Betrayed him. She’d let him believe a future for them together was possible. She’d forgotten how much she’d truly loved him—on purpose, no doubt—until she’d looked into his eyes once more.
“At least that part’s over,” she murmured to herself as the clouds above cracked open and spit down rain.
Brooke trudged up the beach, plucked up her shoes and hurried back to the main road. Feeling sorry for herself when she was the one responsible for her current situation wasn’t going to get her anywhere. If anything, she should be relieved that initial meetings with Mandy and Sebastian were at least over with.
With that worry behind her, she felt energized. There was no reason to hide any longer. From anything. She couldn’t if she expected to achieve any kind of relationship with her daughter. Not if she wanted even a fraction of the hostility in Sebastian’s eyes to disappear. She had six weeks before her mother returned from her trip. Whatever price Brooke had to pay, it was more than worth it if it meant earning a place in her daughter’s life.
Staying, however, couldn’t mean hiding in BethAnn’s house, waiting for someone to give her an audience. She’d struggled for years to get out from under her mother’s watchful eye, only to be pulled back for one thing after another. Those brief spurts of independence had been as close to perfect as she could get. Working part-time and volunteering for the rest. If she was turning over yet another new leaf, she needed to do that again.
Sebastian expected her to blow out of town as quickly as she’d arrived. Getting a job was a good first step in proving him wrong. The question was...who would be willing to hire her?
Brooke sat on the short stone wall and tugged on her shoes, then drew her jacket closer as the rain fell harder. People hurried past at increased speed, umbrellas popping up like tiny flowers in a spring meadow.
As the rain pounded and soaked her from head to toe, she scanned the lineup of shops one more time. Given what she’d heard over the years, she’d expected Monarch Lane, the main street in Butterfly Harbor, to be a ghost town, but to the contrary, nearly every building and storefront was occupied. From cute tourist shops, to a take-out deli, she spotted a few spots offering local artist goods, from handmade stationery to stained glass windows. Brightly decorated windows and filled displays, including the candy store declaring itself “Now Open,” enticed and tempted anyone passing by.
The only dark spot she saw was the now scorched lot at the far corner where the town’s historic pub had once stood. Other than that, Butterfly Harbor was like the phoenix rising from the ashes of economic difficulty, and now thrived beneath the radiant sunlight common to the California coast.
She heard the sounds of laughter and conversation emanating from across the street and looked over as a group of older people huddled together, then disappeared into the diner. Of course! The diner.
Brooke sat up straight and bit the inside of her cheek as she considered. BethAnn had told her Holly Gordon owned and ran the diner ever since Holly’s grandmother had passed. No, it wasn’t Gordon any longer. Saxon—it was Holly Saxon. She remembered Holly from high school. They’d been a year apart, but they’d worked together on various committees and events. They’d been...friendly, Brooke supposed.
The solution to her unemployment problem was literally staring her in the face.
She shot to her feet and headed across Monarch Lane, head ducked against the rain, and pulled open the door to the Butterfly Diner. The bell overhead rang as the warmth of the place surrounded her.
The stomach-growling aroma of frying bacon, fresh baked pastries and strong coffee had her automatically looking to the back right booth she and Sebastian had once claimed as their own. She half expected to find him sitting there, that eye-twinkling smile on his face, his hand stretched across the table to thread his fingers through hers.
“Be with you in just a sec!” The pencil-thin dark-haired young woman swept past her with a welcoming smile. “Or grab a seat wherever. New pot of coffee’s brewing.”
“Thanks,” Brooke called after her and headed to a booth behind the group of seniors, who were busy folding up rain hats and dismantling umbrellas. Brooke caught a flash of bright orange hair, equally bright red lipstick and enough flannel shirts on the men to supply a lumberjack convention. She sat with her back to them after having recognized a few faces she couldn’t put names to.
She unzipped her jacket, shrugged out of it, pulled off her hat and ran her fingers through her hair. As she skimmed the menu, she found herself smiling at the frenetic, insistent whispered conversation from the table behind her.
“I’m telling you, it’s her. Constance said she heard it from Harvey Mills, who heard it direct from Chad Gulliver, who was out working on his car when she drove right past him on Skipper Way. It was definitely Brooke Ardell.”
Brooke’s smile faltered and her chest tightened. “Can you imagine?” another woman said. “What that poor Sebastian must be thinking or feeling. And that girl of his? Why, it must just be heartbreaking. What kind of woman walks away from her baby like that? Just ups and leaves? I’m telling you, it’s nearly the most scandalous thing to ever happen in Butterfly Harbor.”
“It is not,” one of the men said. “It doesn’t even come close on, say, a Richter scale of scandals. You’d have to knock off every Hamilton who ever stepped foot in this town, including our current mayor, to make that claim stick.”
“Well, it’s just something, I’ll tell you.”
A person appeared beside Brooke and said, “I’m so sorry we kept you waiting.”
Brooke took a long, slow breath and lowered her menu. She registered the surprise in Holly’s eyes and purposely spoke before Holly did. “It’s not a problem, really, I can see that you’re busy.” She waited a beat. “Hello, Holly.”
“Brooke.” Holly blinked, lowered her order pad and pen. “Oh, wow. Um, hi. How are you?”
“Pretty good, thanks.” The table behind her fell silent and Brooke felt her lips twitch. Gossip was, after all, the life blood of any small town. Who was Brooke to get in the way of the flow? Besides, it wasn’t as if anything they’d said was untrue. “Getting reacclimated to town,” she said. “Quite a bit’s changed.”
“Yes, I guess it has.” Holly nodded, her eyebrows tilting into a V. “It’s good to see you. Welcome back.”
Someone behind her muttered s
omething and Holly took a step to the side and kicked their booth. Another someone yelped as Holly focused again on Brooke. “So. How are you? Have you seen...anyone else yet?”
“I’ve spoken to Frankie and Sebastian.” Might as well give the table behind her a bit of information. But she couldn’t bring herself to utter Mandy’s name. “Thought it best to start with them first, you know.”
“Right. Of course.” Holly sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be... This is just a surprise. Are you in town long?”
“For a bit.” Brooke drew up her courage. “I actually came in to talk to you about the job.”
“The job?” Holly’s frown deepened as she glanced over at the window. “Oh, the job. You want to work here?”
Brooke couldn’t blame Holly for looking as if she’d been caught in an ambush. She had little doubt there was anything more shocking than Brooke Ardell, the former banker’s daughter, back in town and asking for work at the local diner. “I do, yes.”
“Huh.” Holly hooked a hand on her hip. “You know what?”
Doubt crept in. “You don’t want to hire me.”
“What? No. Well, not... Excuse me, one second.” She held up a finger then took a step back to the booth behind. “Behave yourselves,” Holly snapped. “Or I’ll call Ezzie and tell her you’ve escaped from the home.”
“Ezzie knows where we are,” one of the men said. “Besides, we don’t need her permission to come in for our hamburgers.”
“And stop calling it the home,” a woman said. “It’s a home. Not the home. That’s the reason we all went in together on the house in the first place, so it was a home.”
“Well, you’re all acting like a bunch of snooty teenagers. And eavesdropping ones at that, so knock it off.”
“How else are we going to get the details out?” the same woman asked. “Everyone already knows Brooke’s back in town.”
“Well, I didn’t know,” Holly said. “Brooke, why don’t you come into the kitchen with me and we can talk in private.”
Brooke blinked. “Great.” She pushed out of the booth, and as she followed Holly, she gave the group an overbright smile. “If you’d like to discuss my return at a later time, I’m staying with BethAnn. Enjoy your hamburgers.” That she’d struck them speechless felt like another accomplishment for the day.
“What are you doing in here?” The sharp voice that greeted them had Brooke opening her mouth, only to see that the squat, spatula-wielding she-devil standing at the grill was talking to Holly. “Twyla’s swamped. You need to be taking orders.”
“Seeing as it’s my diner, yes, Ursula, I am aware. And Twyla’s managing just fine.” Holly stepped aside and gestured to Brooke. “We have an applicant for Paige’s old position. Ursula, you remember Brooke Ardell.”
Ursula cackled until she took a step forward, then all the humor faded from her face as her mouth went slack. “Well, I’ll be—” Ursula just stared.
“I should hire you on the spot for instantly silencing her,” Holly whispered to Brooke before she pushed her order pad into Ursula’s hand. “You go see if Twyla needs help while Brooke and I talk. Please, Ursula,” she added when the woman continued to gape.
“You can’t be serious,” Ursula spat. “After what she did, you’re going to—”
“I’m not going to do anything without talking to her.” Holly took hold of Ursula’s shoulders, spun her toward the door and pushed. “Which the rest of this town should probably think about doing. Spread that around if you feel the need,” she added. “Especially to table four.”
“Some people don’t deserve a second chance.” Ursula’s cool response had Brooke swallowing hard. Maybe this had been a bad idea. She should have waded into the pool gradually, instead of diving into the deep end.
“Seems to me a lot of people said that about my husband,” Holly stated. “Myself included. So forgive me if I’m a believer in second chances. Which reminds me, Ursula, Luke’s coming by with the twins around two if you’d like to stick around and see them.”
Ursula opened her mouth again, looked to Brooke, then back to Holly. She finally let out a growl that sounded oddly like a call to surrender, then headed into the diner.
“I’d apologize, but I’m guessing that’s a reaction you expected,” Holly said with a tight smile. “Would you like something to drink?”
“I’d kill for some coffee,” Brooke said. Her doctors would be freaking out if they knew about her current caffeine intake.
“There’s a fresh pot right over there. Help yourself.” Holly headed to the grill, where she flipped a couple of burgers, then lowered a basket of fries into the fryer. “We can talk while I cook.”
“I remember you being pretty talented with the pies.” Brooke found a mug and sugar, and poured herself a cup. “I lost track of how many blackberry ones I ate when I was preg—” She cut herself off when she caught Holly’s sharp glance, a look that immediately softened.
“Blackberry pie is how I hooked the sheriff. It’s powerful stuff.” Holly pulled out two plates, slid the burgers and the fries onto them, then passed them through the window after ringing the bell. “That’s the orders finished for a few minutes. Gives you a chance to tell me what you’re doing here.”
“I told you. I need a job.”
Holly shook her head. “You didn’t come back to Butterfly Harbor to work at the diner, Brooke.”
“No,” she admitted. “I didn’t. But I need something to do while I’m here.” Otherwise she’d go stir-crazy. Besides, what better way to get used to Butterfly Harbor again than to work at information central.
“It’s only part-time,” Holly said. “Mainly for mornings and some afternoons and weekends when I’ve got stuff for the kids. I need someone with a flexible schedule. It’s dirty work, Brooke. Serving, washing dishes. It doesn’t seem quite...you.”
“You’re not going to find anyone with a more flexible schedule than me.” There. She’d found something in her favor. “And I’ve had similar experience. I worked for a friend’s catering company back in South Carolina. I even served at a few events. It can’t be too much different.”
“You’d be surprised.” Holly looked at her. That dark assessing gaze made Brooke’s palms sweat. “Answer me one question,” Holly said as a flash of sympathy lit her eyes. She crossed her arms, still clutching a spatula in one hand. “Are you here to take Mandy away from Sebastian?”
“No.” Why was that everyone’s go-to assumption? “Holly, I promise you, I’m only here to try to get to know my daughter. I—” Words weren’t going to get her anywhere. This would take time and action. “I am not here to take Mandy away. This is her home. Sebastian is her father. That’s how I left things. That’s how things will remain.”
Holly looked at her for the longest time. “The pay’s not great.”
“It’s enough.” Brooke’s inheritance from her father meant she didn’t have to worry about money. Not that that tidbit of information would win her many friends. “I just want a chance, Holly. Please.”
“All right. We’ll give you a shot. We’ll do a week’s trial run. Sound good?”
It was the best—if not the only offer—she would probably get. “Sounds great.”
“I’ve got the schedule already filled for now. How about I see you back here at five thirty Monday morning?” Holly eyed her as if waiting for Brooke to balk. When she didn’t, Holly continued, “That’ll give you time to get settled. I’ll run through everything with you before we open, see how you do, then we’ll sort out a schedule. Jeans and T-shirts are fine, just make sure they’re neat and clean. You’ll want comfortable shoes.” Holly glanced down at Brooke’s designer flats. “Meals and drinks are free, coffee included. All right?”
Brooke nodded, a bit shell-shocked.
“Excellent. Now—” Holly arched a brow “—what would you like for lunch?”
CHAPTER FOUR
MANDY TYPED FURIOUSLY on her phone, responding to Eleni’s latest text by telling her they had to get together as soon as Eleni was back. Since her best friend wouldn’t be back in town until late Sunday night, they made plans to meet at the Chrysalis Bakery before school on Monday. There was so much to tell Eleni, none of which Mandy wanted to put in a text or try to explain over the phone because the questions would come flying faster than warp speed.
“I heard you had quite the day today, Mandy.” Ezzie Salazar, recent Bostonian transplant and Mandy’s self-appointed grandmother motioned to the cabinet by the sink in the kitchen of the town’s firehouse. As usual Ezzie had her jet-black hair piled in an intricate twist on top of her head and buzzed around the room like she was on a sugar rush. “We’re six tonight. Ozzy has the night off.”
“Got it.” Mandy pocketed her phone and grabbed plates, unable to wipe the smile off her face that had appeared the second Uncle Monty’s boat had hit open water. “Riding the waves today was amazing.” She clanked down the plates and actually spun in a circle her former ballet teacher would have been proud of. “It felt like I belonged out there, you know? I mean, I’ve always loved the ocean, but learning all about the boat and how it maneuvers... Uncle Monty even gave me my first diving lesson. I mean, I’ve snorkeled before, but this time I used tanks and a wetsuit and stuff. Don’t tell my dad, though, ’cause he would freak.”
“Come taste this.” Ezzie lifted the lid off the giant pot on the stove and released the now familiar aroma of roasted garlic, tomato and basil. She dipped in a spoon and held it out.
Mandy, now accustomed to countless hours with Ezzie in the kitchen, either here or during her volunteer time at Senior Central—the home where the members of the Cocoon Club lived—did as she was told and acted as taste tester. “I’d add some more red-pepper flakes.” She smacked her lips. “But it’s delicious. What kind of pasta?”
A Match Made Perfect--A Clean Romance Page 5