She Loves Him...Not

by Elana Johnson

  Didn’t matter.

  Gwen’s name sat on the screen.

  “Hey,” he said easily, though every cell in his body was now firing at maximum capacity.

  “You wanted me to call?” she said, bypassing the fun, flirty greetings she usually gave him.

  “Yes,” he said, clearing his throat. “I once told Alan that if I ever dated or got married again, it would be to my daughter’s mother. That’s why he thought you were Caroline.”

  A very pregnant pause came through the line. Then Gwen said, “Oh.”

  “I’m in California,” he said. “And I’ve seen Caroline.” He had no idea how to say what he felt. “And she’s not the one for me, so what I said all those years ago is just more proof of how stupid I was.”

  “I see.”

  “We all say stupid things sometimes,” he said. “Right?”

  “I just called Steven by your name about ten times,” Gwen said with a sigh. “So yeah, we all say stupid things sometimes.”

  He chuckled, though calling someone by the wrong name wasn’t the same as making definitive life statements about how things would be.

  “I’m meeting Abby and her boyfriend for dinner,” he said, so glad he was able to talk to Gwen about this.

  “That sounds fun,” she said, a false note in her voice.

  “Yeah.” Teagan stood up and paced to the windows, working up the courage to say what he wanted to. “I wish you were here,” he finally said.

  Gwen’s voice was very low when she said, “I hope you find what you need in California.” She had to go a moment later, and the call ended.

  Teagan looked out the window at the sprawling city before him. He really disliked the city, even if it did have water on the west border. He’d grown up with sand in his hair and the sound of the surf in his ears. He loved islands and oceans and beaches.

  And he loved Gwen Heartwood.

  Don’t let her get away, he told himself.

  Make things work, Caroline had said.

  He could only imagine what Abby would say, and he couldn’t wait for their dinner that night.

  He stepped off the elevator and adjusted the jacket he wore. Abby had texted him to meet her and Scott at a “semi-upscale” restaurant a few blocks from his hotel, and he didn’t want to be late. He made the short walk quickly, entering the restaurant a few minutes early only to find Abby sitting beside a handsome man.

  She laughed at something he said, and with the two of them smiling like that, Teagan could sense their happiness way down in his toes. It was the kind of happiness he wanted for her—and for himself. It was the kind of happiness that filled a person and lasted. Not a fleeting moment of something good happening, but true happiness.

  “Abby,” he said, drawing her attention. He couldn’t believe he was nervous to see her, but he was. The last time had been a few years ago, when she’d graduated from high school. He’d flown out for one day, and he hadn’t spoken to Caroline at all.

  She turned toward him, and she was beautiful and radiant. “Dad.” Abby jumped to her feet and threw herself into his arms.

  Teagan held on, because such fierce feelings of love moved through him for this human he’d helped create. “Oh, it’s so good to see you,” he said. “And not just in pictures.”

  Abby held him tightly too as her boyfriend stood. Teagan just smiled at him and waited until Abby stepped back. She wiped at her eyes quickly and backed up to her boyfriend’s side. “Dad, this is my boyfriend, Scott Arrow. Scott, my dad, Teagan Hatch.”

  “It’s so great to meet you,” Scott said, extending his hand for Teagan to shake. He had a good air about him, and it was obvious he adored Abby.

  “And you,” Teagan said. They shook hands, and a sense of awkwardness descended on Teagan. “How long have you guys been dating?”

  “A while,” Scott said at the same time Abby said, “Eight months.”

  “Eight months?” Teagan’s eyebrows went up. “You never said anything.” And what about that cute guy she’d been talking to only a month ago?

  “You’d just broken up with Gwen,” Abby said. “I didn’t want to upset you.”

  “Abby.” Teagan sighed and looked away, feeling like a failure. “I want you to be happy. You having a boyfriend wouldn’t upset me.” His brain whirred. “And how did you know about me and Gwen?” Had he even told her Gwen’s name?

  “I just knew,” she said. “Even from across the country, Dad, you have a way of broadcasting your emotions.” She grinned at him and led them over to the hostess stand. “We’re all here now.”

  She grabbed three menus and led them to a table. Abby and Scott were very cute together, Teagan could admit that. “She’ll want a picture of you two,” he said. “Lean in close together.”

  Abby and Scott complied, and Teagan took a picture with his phone.

  “I thought you two broke up,” Abby said, reaching for her water glass.

  “I’m trying to get her back,” Teagan said. “And she’s my boss, so I still talk to her.”

  “And that’s why you wanted to meet with Mom,” Abby said, her voice notably cooler.

  “Yeah.” He looked up from his phone. “And you. I wanted to apologize for not being the greatest father on the planet.”

  “Dad.” She reached across the table and touched his hand. “We’ve talked about this. You were fine.”

  “Why don’t you talk to your mother?”

  “Why don’t you?” She glanced at Scott, but he wisely said nothing. When she looked back at Teagan, she wore a challenge in her eyes.

  “She’s…difficult,” Teagan said. “I don’t have to talk to her. But she’s your mom.”

  “She didn’t raise me,” Abby said. “Cindi did, using the money you sent.”

  Teagan cocked his head at her. “What? Caroline has lots of money.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Abby sighed. “She paid for the house and stuff, but Cindi would use your money to pay for my clothes, my lunch money, all of it.”

  Teagan had no idea what to say. Caroline Faye had been in dozens of movies. She could certainly pay for her daughter’s clothes. Couldn’t she?

  “Dad, I don’t talk to her, because she doesn’t care about me,” Abby said. “And you do.”

  “How do you know that?” he asked.

  “Because you text and call. You send me grocery money out of the blue just because you want me to be able to eat more than canned soup. You always call on my birthday, and you ask me about my classes and work and swimming.”

  “I didn’t know about Scott.”

  “Mom doesn’t either. And she doesn’t ask. Doesn’t send anything. Never calls. She doesn’t care about me.”

  “I’m sure—”

  “She didn’t come to my graduation. She doesn’t know where I live. She has no idea what I’m studying in school.” Abby glared now. “So don’t tell me you’re sure she does. Actions speak louder than words, Dad.”

  “She didn’t come to your graduation?”

  “Cindi did. Cindi helped me pack my stuff and move into a student apartment. Cindi calls and texts and sends cards on my birthday.”

  Teagan couldn’t believe what she was saying. “I’m so sorry, Abby. I didn’t know.” He would’ve done more. Maybe moved here to be closer to her so she didn’t feel so isolated.

  “It’s fine,” she said. “But whatever you’re beating yourself up about, you should stop. You’re a great dad, and I love you.”

  “I love you too, bug,” he said, sudden emotion choking him.

  “All right.” Abby shook out her dark hair, so much like Caroline’s. “So let’s start strategizing about how you can get Gwen back.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Just ask O for a room.

  Gwen read Celeste’s text and wondered if she really could just stay at the inn for a couple of nights. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t want to be in the house alone, and Celeste was off the island on a business trip.

  Okay, she sent t
o Celeste, immediately starting a text to Olympia too. Twenty minutes later, she picked up a keycard from Nancy at the front desk and headed to one of the eighteenth floor corner suites.

  Teagan was supposed to be back to work tomorrow morning, and the last seven days without him in the kitchen had been torture. He had texted and they’d talked the first day. He’d even sent a picture of his daughter and her boyfriend.

  But she hadn’t heard from him since.

  He didn’t have to report to her, a fact she recited to herself as she showered and got in bed for the night. She tossed and turned, waking often to check to make sure she hadn’t slept through her alarm.

  Finally, she got up before it went off, got dressed in the same clothes she’d worn yesterday, and went downstairs to the kitchen. Her nerves assaulted her as she unlocked the back door, anticipating Teagan’s arrival any minute.

  He didn’t come in, though. Gordon did. Steven did. Gage did. Harriett came to check on their bakery items. Their fresh fish was delivered. And still Teagan didn’t show up.

  He hadn’t texted either, and a quiet desperation built beneath Gwen’s tongue. She sent him a quick message—Where are you?—and went to see where Gordon would have her work that morning.

  No one else in the kitchen seemed to be expecting Teagan. No one asked where he was, and Gordon went through the head chef duties, as he’d been doing for the past week already.

  Just as breakfast service was about to start, Harriett’s voice crackled on the radio. “Gwen, I need you up in the bakery immediately.”

  She looked at Gordon, who said, “Go, we’re fine here.”

  Gwen took off her apron, though it was still pristine, and headed toward the door that would take her behind the bakery counter. It had been open for hours, but their hot service hadn’t quite started yet.

  She’d only taken one step through the door when she realized there was something afoot in the bakery.

  “He’s refusing to leave,” Harriett said, though she wore a smile and could barely deliver her sentence without giggling.

  Teagan stood in the middle of the bakery, at least two dozen balloons clutched in one fist. Their colorful ties kept the balloons from floating up to the ceiling, and he looked at someone on his right.

  Gwen couldn’t look away from him, even when everyone in the bakery started singing. A few seconds passed before the song registered in her ears and mind. They were singing Happy Birthday, but it wasn’t her birthday.

  They finished with a rousing cheer, the entire kitchen staff crowding into the space behind her, pushing her forward and around the bakery cases holding their breads, muffins, and doughnuts.

  “What’s going on?” she asked as the applause died down. She still stood a healthy distance from Teagan, because she didn’t trust herself not to kiss him in front of all these people.

  “It’s my birthday,” he said, his smile never wavering. “And I only want one thing.”

  Gwen’s pulse zoomed and zinged around in her veins as he stepped forward. “And that’s you, Gwen Heartwood. I know I’m not perfect. I know I’m not quite the man you deserve. But I’m in love with you, and I think if you gave me a third chance, we’d be able to….”

  Panic crossed his face and he looked at pretty young woman with dark hair. “Be able to have an amazing life together,” she said in a very loud stage whisper. Several people in the bakery—strangers!—twittered, and Gwen had no idea what was going on.

  “Right.” Teagan looked at Gwen again. “I think if you gave me a third chance, we’d be able to have an amazing life together.”

  Gwen wanted to give him all the chances he needed. Because she loved him too.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you everything at the Shores,” he said. “But I have now, and I’m committed to telling you anything else you want to know, when you want to know it.” He glanced at the woman again, and everything fell into place.

  She realized who she was at the same time Teagan said, “This is my daughter, Abby. She wanted to meet you, and I know you wanted to meet her.”

  Gwen stared at the woman, pure wonder filling her. She took a few steps and grabbed onto Abby, hugging her tight. “You helped him with this, didn’t you?”

  “Oh, my dad is hopeless with stuff like this,” she whispered back. “And hopelessly in love with you.” She pulled back, tears in her eyes even as she grinned at Gwen. “Maybe put him out of his misery?”

  They both looked at Teagan, who wore such a hopeful expression on his face. Gwen decided she didn’t care that there were strangers watching. Her entire kitchen staff. His daughter.

  She was going to kiss him in front of everyone.

  With her shoulders squared, she looked right at him. “I’m in love with you, too, Teagan. If you really want me, I’m yours.”

  The crowd cheered, and Teagan let go of all the balloons to take her into his arms and kiss her. Gwen laughed as she tried to kiss him back, so much love and joy flowing through her. She finally sobered enough to kiss him properly, so happy in that moment that she hoped it would never end.

  But end it did, and Teagan laced his fingers through hers. “I’m having breakfast sent out to the beach,” he said. “Let’s go. I have so much to tell you.”

  They left the bakery, which seemed to back to its normal operations before they’d even stepped out of the door. “What about the breakfast service?” she asked.

  “Gordon’s got it covered.”

  “Your daughter?”

  “She came with her boyfriend. They have plenty to keep them occupied.”

  Without another reason to hang back, Gwen finally just accepted that she’d be eating breakfast on the beach with Teagan. He said, “After I went to California, I went back to the Shores,” before they’d even sat down.

  He’d booked one of their cabanas, and none other than Gage, her sister’s boyfriend, appeared to serve them cream cheese croissants and orange juice.

  “I had to see my mother again,” Teagan said as he poured their juice. Gordon himself set down a platter of bacon and sausage links, squeezed Gwen’s shoulder, and left. Everything was happening so fast, and she just sat and waited while Steven appeared with pancakes and syrup.

  Teagan was very good, she’d give him that. When had Gordon and Steven even had time to make this food?

  “And I found some closure with the things I’d been stewing over,” he said. “With my ex-wife. With my daughter. With my childhood. With my mother.”

  “Wow.” Gwen took a sip of her juice. Maybe the sugar would jumpstart her brain. “That’s a lot of closure.”

  “I have the people in my life I need and want,” he said. “And that doesn’t include Caroline or my mom anymore. It is what it is.”

  “You’re not going to talk to your mother?”

  “Yes, I’ll talk to her,” he said. “But she doesn’t get to influence how I feel anymore.”

  “What happened with her?”

  “I said a lot of things that needed to be said. She apologized. Said she’d try not to make suggestions about my life I didn’t need.” He picked up a piece of bacon. “It went better than I thought it would, actually.”

  Gwen marveled at this man in front of her. He seemed identical to the Teagan she knew…but different too. Better. Happier.

  “I’m seeing a counselor,” he said. “I’m going to keep doing that for a while. I’m not in a rush to get married and have kids. Are you?”

  Gwen choked on her bite of pancake, swallowing it a bit too quickly. After washing everything down with another gulp of orange juice, she shook her head. “I’m only thirty. I have time to get married and have kids.”

  Teagan grinned at her and leaned over to kiss her. He was sweet and gentle, and Gwen felt loved by him. “Okay,” he said. “Thank you for being patient with me.”

  Gwen kept her eyes closed and leaned her forehead against his. “Thank you for coming back,” she whispered, sending the same gratitude toward heaven.

  Six
months later:

  “It’s not going to be warm there,” Teagan said from the doorway of Gwen’s bedroom.

  She turned, a bikini still clutched in her fingers. “So you’re saying I don’t need this.”

  “The ocean isn’t warm there like it is here,” he said. “Not until August or September, at least.” He eyed the swimwear. “But I’d like to see you wearing that.”

  Gwen hid the strappy swimming suit behind her back. “We’ll have to go to the Shores again.”

  “Done,” he said, finally entering her room. “Are you excited for our second trip together?”

  “Yes,” she said honestly. “I’ve never been to California, and I can’t wait to see Abby again.” His daughter had come to South Carolina for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it was her turn to shine on the California coast as she was graduating from college in just a few days.

  “She loves you,” Teagan said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “I’m so glad you like her, Gwenny.”

  “I love her,” Gwen said. “I mean, I know she’s not my daughter, but it sort of feels like she is.”

  “And the age difference isn’t weird?”

  She’d told him half a dozen times that it wasn’t. Abby had too, more than that. “No,” she said. “Will Caroline be there?”

  “I told Abby she should invite her, but I’m not sure she did.”

  His daughter had turned twenty-one in December, and Gwen thought Teagan did a great job of parenting an adult child. She wasn’t that much older than twenty-one, and she knew she liked making her own decisions at that age. Sure, she’d listen to her parents, but she didn’t always do what they said. Teagan didn’t take offense to it when Abby did the same thing, and Gwen liked that.

  “Hey, before we go,” he said, turning her in his arms so they faced one another. “My daughter is wearing a diamond ring, and I was thinking it might be a nice surprise if you showed up with one too.”

  Before Gwen could even move, he’d dropped to both knees, an engagement ring suddenly pinched in his fingers. “I feel whole with you, Gwen Heartwood. Utterly and completely whole, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you as my wife. Will you marry me?”