Just South of Perfect

by Grace Palmer

  “Because he has good taste,” Jace interjected.

  “—and I like him too. But I’m not moving here for him, necessarily. I love this town and the people here. And I hate my job. I’ve never really liked it. Mark gave my promotion to someone else yesterday because I took one week off work. It’s a toxic place, and I won’t miss it. I just want to know what you think before I do any of this.”

  “It doesn’t matter what I think,” Jace said.

  “It matters to me.”

  Jace sighed. He didn’t sound annoyed, but Stella could tell whatever he was about to say was serious. “Mom, I love you. I think you’re the best person in the entire world.”

  Stella’s throat swelled with unshed tears, but she swallowed and held them down, waiting for Jace to finish.

  “You have spent so much of your life making sure I’m okay. You’ve always done what is best for me. Now, it’s time to do what is best for you,” he said. “If moving and quitting your job will make you happy, I think you should do it. You deserve to be happy, and I’m supportive of whatever decisions lead to that outcome.”

  As he finished, Stella had to swipe at her cheeks to get rid of a few stray tears. “You sound so mature.”

  “That’s because you are an amazing mom, and you raised me well,” he said.

  “You’re an amazing son. You made the job easy.”

  They talked for a few more minutes before Jace had to get up and shower for school, and Stella sat on the porch with her coffee, listening to the sound of the ocean lapping against the distant shore, and thought about what it would be like to live here. To shed everything she had once used to define herself—her parental status, her job, her town—and come up with something new.

  It sounded amazing.

  A fresh start for a new phase of life.

  As the reality of her new decisions settled over her, Stella heard the crunch of gravel and looked up to see a familiar car driving towards the inn. Her car.

  Sam parked it in front of the inn, climbed out of the passenger seat, and rested his arms on the roof, smiling up at her. “I think maybe I forgot to mention it to you a few days ago, but your car is fixed.”

  Stella laughed. “That’s okay. I’ve had a pretty good time while it was being worked on. What do I owe you?”

  “How about dinner?”

  Stella set her coffee cup on the table next to her and padded across the porch. Sam met her at the base of the steps, one arm extended to pull her in for a hug.

  “I’m afraid I can’t do it tonight. I have to get back home and sort things out with my job, and my plants are probably dying of thirst. I forgot to ask someone to come water them.”

  Sam’s face fell noticeably, his expression clouded, though he tried to keep his voice even. “You’re leaving?”

  “Yeah, but I could do dinner in a few days when I come back with the first of my boxes.”

  She felt him start against her. He pulled away and looked down at her, dark brows furrowed in skeptical optimist. “Boxes?”

  “So I can move into my new apartment.”

  Before the words were even out of her house, Sam scooped Stella up and spun her around, letting out a whoop. “You’re moving here?”

  “It’s early stages, but it looks that way. Drew is going to help me get some freelancing jobs, Melanie is renting me her apartment because she is moving in with Colin, and, if nothing else, Georgia will hire me to be on the cleaning staff at the inn.”

  Sam smiled and shook his head. “I love those Baldwins so much.”

  “Me too,” Stella laughed. “They are very generous.”

  “Only for those who deserve it.” Sam pressed a kiss to the top of her head before pulling her around in front of him and wrapping his arms around her waist. “And you certainly deserve it.”

  Stella didn’t know if Sam would be forever. Maybe things would end horribly. Maybe they’d pass by each other on Main Street with awkward smiles and stiff waves. Maybe Stella would come to regret all of these decisions and her rashness…but she didn’t think so.

  She wrapped her arms around Sam’s neck, stretched up on her tiptoes, and pulled him down for a kiss. Just like the first time, all of her worries and doubts faded. When she was with Sam, everything felt right in the world.

  It felt like the beginning of a new adventure.

  19

  Three Months Later

  Christmas in Willow Beach was even more magical than summertime.

  Sure, Stella liked going to the beach and selling paintings to the constant stream of new tourists and attending the farmer’s market to buy fresh cut flowers and organic honey. But she couldn’t get a peppermint mocha latte from The Roast in the middle of the summer, so that basically made the entire season a wash.

  “I’m going to cut you off,” Vivienne Russell warned as Stella walked out of the door with an almond croissant in one hand and her latte in the other. “You’ve got an addiction.”

  “I’m on deadline,” Stella argued, blowing an amused Vivienne a kiss before she left.

  She’d been down to The Roast four times in the last two days to get a caffeine boost. Alma had been able to get Stella the job redesigning Willow Beach’s website, and the mayor and city council liked it so much that they hired her to head up their tourism department. She still needed other freelance jobs to supplement her income, but Stella loved getting to brag about Willow Beach on pamphlets that were shipped out all across the state and surrounding areas.

  Before breaking down on the highway, Stella had never heard of Willow Beach, and she wanted to change that. Everyone should be able to experience the magic of the place and people at least once in their lives.

  Her apartment was only a half block down from The Roast and directly above Melanie Baldwin’s veterinary clinic. Different-colored string lights hung from the buildings, lighting up the whole of downtown every night, and wreaths and red banners dangled from the street lights. Melanie had put a small Christmas tree in the clinic’s front window, decorated with pictures of every animal she treated at the clinic. Stella stopped outside the picture window and waved to Drew Baldwin’s girlfriend, Ashley, who was working the front desk.

  Ashley was still in veterinary school up in Portland, Maine, but she’d come back to town for the holidays, which had Drew happier than Stella had seen him in months. If Tasha was to be believed, Drew would be proposing to Ashley soon in hopes they’d get married right after she graduated. Tasha hoped her siblings, Melanie and Drew, would have a double wedding at the inn, but Stella had suspicions of her own that Melanie and Colin would be moving the date of their wedding up. Melanie had looked especially glowy lately. Not to mention, Stella had looked out her back window one day to see Melanie being sick in the alley behind the clinic. Bandit, Melanie’s rascally dog who still used the apartment above the clinic as his second home, would probably be getting a new brother or sister if Stella’s guess was correct.

  When Stella turned the corner to take the stairs up to her apartment, she found the way blocked by a very handsome, very greasy man.

  “Tough day at work?” she teased, nudging past Sam to unlock her door. “I thought we were meeting for dinner in an hour.”

  “You did?” Sam asked. “Why, then, do you have an almond croissant in your hand?”

  Maybe Vivienne was right. Maybe Stella was addicted.

  “Appetizer,” she said, pushing the door open and ushering Sam in with the command not to sit on anything until she’d laid down a towel.

  “What happened to you? I’ve never seen you this messy before.”

  Sam sighed and dragged an old towel across his face. “A car leaked while I was under it.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why you’re here an hour early and covered in grease.” Stella took a bite of her croissant, powdered sugar sticking to her lips.

  “I went home to shower, but I seem to have locked my keys inside my house. So, I went back to the shop, but Drew locked the door behind him when he
left for the day, so I can’t get in the shop, either. I’m stranded.”

  Stella looked at the clock and winced. “And it’s almost five o’clock on a Thursday. Jim is on his way to bingo.”

  The town’s locksmith, Jim Loch—Stella had been asking whether that was really Jim’s last name since she’d moved to Willow Beach, but no one seemed to know—was a devoted bingo player, and nothing could pull him away. He’d be busy for a few hours, at least.

  “Which is why I’m seeking asylum here,” Sam said. “Can I use your shower?”

  “Sure, but I don’t have any clothes that will fit you, and I doubt you’ll want to go to dinner wearing that.”

  The collar of his blue button-down shirt was splattered with grease everywhere his coveralls hadn’t protected.

  His face fell in obvious disappointment, and Stella hurried to make him feel better. “I can cook something. I have stuff for shrimp tacos, and I’m sure I have a bottle of wine around here somewhere. We’ll make a night of it. Don’t worry.”

  It was clear Sam was still disappointed, though Stella couldn’t imagine why. He’d always been the more flexible out of the two of them, willing to change plans at the last minute or do something spontaneous. She wrote it off as the side effect of a bad day, however, and sent him off to shower.

  By the time he got out, his dark hair wet and smelling like vanilla, she’d already pulled out the garlic cilantro lime slaw and was frying up the shrimp. Still, Sam’s brow was creased with disappointment.

  “Do you not like shrimp tacos?” Stella asked. “I have chicken defrosted, too. I can make something else.”

  “No, they sound great.” He walked up behind her and kissed her on the top of the head.

  But when he sat down at her tiny kitchen island, he propped his head up on his fist, looking like a kid who woke up Christmas morning to find coal in his stocking.

  After a few minutes of tense silence, Stella flicked off the stove burner and turned around, arms crossed. “What’s going on?”

  Sam jolted, eyes wide. “What? Nothing.”

  “You’re sulking, but I don’t know about what. Is it because you had a bad day?”

  “It was actually a pretty good day,” he said thoughtfully. “I went to lunch with the Baldwin kids and stopped by the inn to have a long chat with Georgia. It was a great day, actually.”

  Georgia was in a very happy relationship with her boyfriend, Joel, and Stella had long ago found out that Georgia and Sam had never been in a relationship. Still, Sam’s strange mood and the mention of Georgia sparked long-forgotten jealousy in Stella’s chest.

  Was he not happy with her? Did spending time with Georgia remind him of that?

  “I didn’t know you were going to do that,” Stella said casually. “If your day was so great, why are you so upset?”

  Sam seemed to sense the thoughts Stella wouldn’t give voice to, and he walked around the island and pulled her in close, his hands gripping her waist. “I would have invited you, but it was kind of a secret.”

  “A secret?” Stella pulled back to study his face. Was he breaking up with her? Was he cheating on her?

  She knew she was being ridiculous, but Sam had never acted this way before. Ever since he confessed that he lied to her about the delays on fixing her car, their relationship had been one of complete and total honesty. They didn’t keep things from each other.

  So, why was he keeping secrets now?

  Sam sighed, his shoulders sagging. “I’m sure you of all people will appreciate that I had big plans for today…and they didn’t quite play out the way I thought they would.”

  Stella crossed her arms to hide her nervousness. “What were these plans?”

  “Well, I was going to go to lunch with the Baldwin kids. You know I think of them like my own, and they have all come to love you so much, so I thought it was important that they be part of today.”

  “What is today?” Stella shook her head.

  Sam continued as though she hadn’t spoken, his mouth turning up in a smile. “Then, after getting their blessing, I went and spoke with Georgia. She played a pivotal role in the two of us getting together, so I wanted her to be in on the secret, too.”

  Stella’s nervousness shifted to something else. A heady kind of excitement that made her feel both nauseous and buoyant. Her heart was jackhammering away inside of her chest, but she ignored it, trying to keep her exterior composed and neutral.

  “Then, I was supposed to finish up one more appointment at the shop, pick you up for dinner at Romano’s, and then order a very special plate of cannolis for dessert.” Sam smiled wistfully at the thought before shaking his head and laughing humorlessly. “But I was so distracted while under the car that I made a mess of myself, and then I was locked out of the house and dirty and…you know all of that. Things didn’t go to plan.”

  Sam reached up and cupped Stella’s face in his palm, his thumb brushing over her cheekbone before he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small black box. “But if there’s anything we’ve learned throughout the course of our relationship, it’s that fate sometimes has other plans.”

  Stella gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth to bite back a sob, and Sam dropped to one knee in the middle of her kitchen.

  “I wanted to make this moment romantic and wonderful and unforgettable. I wanted to bribe you into it with cannolis and a crowd of onlookers,” Sam said, smiling when Stella let out a watery laugh. “But somehow, this seems better. I’d rather ask you to marry me and spend the rest of the night talking about our future than wait another twenty-four hours to do it the ‘right way.’ There is no right way, Stella. There’s just our way. Our way is fast-paced and a little reckless, but it’s worked for us so far. And, sweetheart, I want to keep doing things our way for the rest of our lives. So, Stella Pierce, will you marry me?”

  Stella threw herself at Sam, nearly knocking him over. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes,” she sobbed into his neck. “Absolutely, I will marry you.”

  The ring was a simple white gold band with a circle-cut diamond in it, but it could have been an old gum wrapper for all Stella cared. She was going to marry Sam Warren.

  Once they’d hugged and kissed and she’d ogled the ring, Stella gasped. “I have to call Jace.”

  Sam’s expression shifted again, his mouth tilting up in a smirk. “That’s actually another thing that didn’t quite go to plan. We were supposed to get engaged at Romano’s, and Jace was going to be dressed as the server who brought us our celebratory wine.”

  Stella sighed. “Oh, that does seem nice.” Then, she gasped. “Wait? Does that mean he’s here? In Willow Beach?”

  Before Sam could answer, there was a knock at the door. Stella turned to Sam, but he just shrugged, acting innocent. Stella ran to the door and threw it open to find a bag with a Romano’s logo stamped on the side.

  “Did someone order some wine and cannolis?” Jace moved the bag aside. “Hi, Mom.”

  The tears Stella had just gotten under control started falling again, and she pulled Jace into the apartment and wrapped him in a hug.

  “What are you doing here?” she sobbed.

  “Sam texted me a few minutes ago that the plan had changed. Before I left the inn, Georgia called Romano’s to get an emergency bag of cannolis ready for me to pick up.”

  “You’re staying at the inn?”

  He nodded. “Georgia has been hiding me away since yesterday afternoon.”

  Jace had been to Willow Beach to visit Stella several times since she’d moved in, but it still felt like she hadn’t seen him in ages. Every time she saw him, he looked broader and older. He’d grown out his beard and started working out at the university’s rec center.

  Everything about the dynamic of Stella’s family was changing before her eyes.

  Sam appeared and pulled Jace into a hug, thanking him for his help. The two had bonded over their love of cars and football, and Stella watching the two of them talk.

  As
they all settled in on the couch with cannolis and wine—soda for Jace—Stella realized that everything about her life had changed in a matter of months, and nothing had gone how she’d planned, but that didn’t matter. Sometimes, apparently, things had to go off track so you could get to where you were always supposed to end up.

  Stella looked around her apartment, decorated with her artwork and pictures of Jace over the years. She looked at the man who would one day be her husband and her baby boy who was growing into a man before her very eyes. Stella thought about all of the people she’d met and come to love and all of the memories she was going to make in Willow Beach, and she couldn’t imagine how her life ever could have been any different.

  As far as Stella was concerned, everything in her life was perfect.

  Thanks for reading! There’s more to come for the Baldwin family and friends in Willow Beach. Click here to check out JUST SOUTH OF SUNRISE now!

  It’s never too late in life to give love a second chance.

  When fate (and a stubborn niece) force fifty-something divorcee Liza Hall to take on a new catering client, the last face she expects to see is Benjamin Boyd.

  As in, the very handsome, very familiar Ben who broke her heart many years ago.

  That’s bad news indeed. Her quiet life in Willow Beach is just what she’s been searching for. Why give that up and invite the memory of heartbreak back in?

  But it’s tough for Liza to resist pressure from her young niece, the pleas of a desperate client, and the man who has always known how to tug on her heartstrings.

  And soon, Liza finds herself getting drawn closer and closer to a man she swore off for good.

  Can a second shot at love leave her better off than the first?

  Fate, family, and food all weave together in this heartwarming second chance romance women’s fiction novel from bestselling author Grace Palmer.

  Come back to your favorite seaside town, grab a cup of coffee with the Baldwin family at the Willow Beach Inn, and get ready to fall heads over heels for the later-in-life love story you’ve been craving.