Love in Catalina Cove

by Brenda Jackson

  “Yes, Mr. Lacroix. I’ll meet with you for lunch.”

  “Good.” He sounded relieved. She could only hope that’s how she felt after they met.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “YOU’RE LEAVING, NANA?” Kia asked her grandmother who’d just announced at the dinner table she was going back to her home in Philadelphia next week.

  Gloria Harris smiled at her granddaughter. “I have my home in Philly, Kia. I need to go there and check on it. I’ve been here for two months and it’s time for me to go home.”

  “But Gramps is not there,” Kia said in a sad voice. She missed her grandfather and found it hard to believe he was gone, although it had been two years.

  “I know, sweetie, and it’s been hard but I’ve accepted that as my new normal.”

  Kia wasn’t sure she could accept it as her new normal. Other than her father, Gramps had been the most important male in her life. She always looked forward to spending the summers with her grandparents, and Gramps had been so cool.

  “You sound like your grandmother won’t come back to visit us,” Percelli Harris said to his daughter as he cut into his pork chop.

  Kia glanced over at her father. “I know, Dad, but...”

  “But what?” Alma Harris asked her daughter.

  “Nothing. I’m just going to miss her.”

  Gloria reached out and took her granddaughter’s hand. “And I will miss you. But remember, we have our trip to Barcelona in July. I can’t wait to tour Spain.”

  Kia couldn’t wait either and the thought made her smile. She had taken another Spanish class to be ready for it. It would be the first trip abroad she and her grandmother would take without Gramps. She intended to make it fun and wondered if she was the only one who noticed how sad her grandmother looked around the eyes.

  Hours later as Kia was getting ready for bed she felt a pain in her stomach. It was different than the cramps she got every month, sharper. Drawing in a deep breath she sat on the side of her bed. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. It happened last weekend, but it went away, like it was doing now.

  Easing into bed she wondered if she should mention it to her mom, but quickly dismissed the idea. The first thing her mother would do would be to haul her to the doctor and she hated being seen by doctors. There were too many things going on in her life to be sick, especially with majorette camp around the corner. Now that she’d made the majorette squad, a number of the older girls had promised to help her perfect the dance routines and she couldn’t miss out on that.

  She rested on her side and hoped the pain in her stomach wouldn’t come back.

  * * *

  “DON’T GET ANY crazy ideas,” Vashti muttered to herself as she lay on her back in bed and gazed up at the ceiling. By rights she should be concerned with what Reid Lacroix wanted to meet with her about next week. Instead she was thinking of Sawyer Grisham. If she was honest with herself, she would admit to thinking about him all day, all weekend. Quite a lot since seeing him last and engaging in their one and only kiss that she couldn’t forget.

  On top of that, his parting words were eating at her. Forcing her to not only think about their kiss but what he’d meant by what he’d said. Bryce thought he was letting her know he held her in high regard. Did she care how he held her? What bothered her more than anything was that she was spending time thinking about it, was affected by it. And she knew the only person who could explain his words was him.

  She shifted in bed to lie on her side, the way she preferred to sleep. Now she was staring at the wall while thinking of him, remembering how she’d felt when they had kissed. It had been years since she’d gone to bed thinking about a man. Definitely not since her teen years and Julius. During those times her days and nights had been filled with thoughts of them and what she hoped would be their future. She didn’t have a future with the sheriff so why was she thinking about him so much?

  She tried to think of something else and decided her state of unemployment was something she should be concentrating on. When she’d assumed that she would be ten million dollars richer, she hadn’t much thought about not having a job and not using the skills she’d not only gone to college for, but had worked ten years perfecting. She’d been good at what she did, had received a number of bonuses over the years as employee of the month, had received promotions and raises in a timely manner. Everything had been on point regarding her career goals. Then all of it had come to a screeching halt because of Mr. Nunes’s decision to sell his hotels.

  Even with that she was sure some other hotel chain would have contacted her by now. The job site that was posting her résumé said it was impressive. But over a month later and still no job offer was a cause to be concerned, although the agency she was using tried assuring her that it wasn’t. But she knew her severance package, no matter how generous, could only last for so long. She had some time and had curtailed her spending, but the bottom line was that she needed a job. She wasn’t used to spending her time every day doing practically nothing.

  She hoped a job opportunity came her way and that it came soon. But what if it didn’t? And did she really want to start at the bottom of a company and work her way back up the corporate ladder? What choice did she have? You could do as Bryce suggested and go back to the cove and reopen your aunt’s inn.

  Vashti wished Bryce hadn’t planted that seed in her head. More than once since returning home the possibility had flowed through her mind and more than anything, she wished it hadn’t.

  * * *

  SAWYER EASED OUT of bed and sat on the side of it. Glancing at the clock he saw it was close to two in the morning. The house was quiet and it should be. It was a school night so Jade had gone to bed long ago. He’d stayed up past eleven to watch his favorite cop show and then he’d gone to bed himself. Now he was awake and thinking about Vashti Alcindor. In fact, he’d just awakened from a dream he’d been having of her, which was probably why his pulse was rapid and he was in an aroused state.

  Hell, he wasn’t some randy teenager but a thirty-six-year-old man. But that hadn’t stopped him from getting an out-of-this-world pleasure kick thinking about her. He needed to cool down since heat was swirling through his blood in a way it had never done before. She had appeared in his dream dressed in a way that had made his imagination go wild.

  She’d been wearing a dress that had been so short it had barely covered her thighs, and her long gorgeous legs had been encased in a pair of sexy-strappy high-heel sandals. Her hair had cascaded in a mass of waves over her shoulders. At least he had seen her in that hairstyle, the day he had stopped her for speeding. The first time he had looked into her face.

  And tonight in his dream, he had held that very beautiful face between his hands just moments before closing his lips over hers. His tongue coming into play had been automatic. So had hers as they had proceeded to kiss each other with an intense greed like the last time. A greed that filled him with a gigantic sexual need. It was only when he was about to strip her naked had he awakened.

  He stood and walked over to the window and glanced out. Maybe it was a good thing his dream had ended when it had. Vashti Alcindor had become his fantasy girl and it seemed she would remain that. Just a fantasy. For a crazy moment last week he’d thought she could be more, thanks to Leesa for putting the idea in his head that a long-distance romance might work for them.

  He’d even figured the time Jade was away visiting her godmother in Texas next month during spring break would have been the perfect time to visit New York. But it seemed that was not going to happen. Vashti had let him know that as far as she was concerned, no time was the perfect time. Chances were he wouldn’t ever see her again. If that was the case, then why was she constantly on his mind, even during some of the oddest times? How could one kiss do that to a man? There had to be more.

  Sawyer knew he had never been a man easily swayed by a beautiful f
ace. It took a lot to capture his interest. There had to be substance in her character and from the little time he had spent with Vashti at Kaegan’s party, he’d known there was more to her than met the eye. There had to be a reason he’d been so strongly drawn to her from the first. His attraction to her just wasn’t normal. At least with a man like him it wasn’t. A man known to hold tight rein on his emotions, except when it came to Jade.

  After the pain of losing Johanna he’d been determined that no other woman would be the mainstay of his life, but for a short while Vashti Alcindor, a woman he barely knew, had threatened that decree. So maybe it was a good thing she was gone and their paths wouldn’t be crossing again.

  Johanna’s death had taught him that everything happened for a reason. That had been a hard and bitter pill to swallow but over time, he had. In that same vein he had to believe not getting anything started with Vashti Alcindor was for the best as well.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  SAWYER READ OVER the Miller file again. Vaughn Miller lived in Catalina Cove years ago and after college he never returned. Five years ago he was accused of a white-collar crime in which he claimed he was innocent, yet he’d served time but had gotten released after a couple of years for good behavior. Now he wanted to return to the town where he was born. Under normal circumstances Sawyer would not even be looking at a file such as this; however, he’d gotten a call from a friend, a former FBI agent, who knew Miller personally, believed in his innocence and wanted to make Miller’s return to the cove as easy as possible. There would be people who were aware that Miller had served time and there were some who wouldn’t. Sawyer didn’t expect trouble and he couldn’t stop people from talking. However, he would make sure the man was treated fairly. One thing he discovered about the people of Catalina Cove was that if they liked you, they liked you. If they didn’t like you, then they didn’t like you. And if Reid Lacroix liked you, they loved you.

  He had closed the file and was putting it in his out tray so Trudy could refile it when the intercom on his desk buzzed. “Yes, Trudy?”

  “You have a call, Sheriff. A woman who didn’t give her name.”

  It wasn’t Leesa. She would have called his cell number. Could it be Vashti calling him? She didn’t have his private number so if she wanted to reach him she would have to call him here. “Put her through.”

  The moment the connection was made, he said, “This is Sheriff Grisham. May I help you?”

  The person did not begin speaking immediately. It was as if she’d taken a pause once she heard his voice. Would she hang up without identifying herself?

  He was about to restate his greeting when she said, “Yes.”

  He raised a brow. “Yes?”

  “This is Vashti and yes, you can visit me in New York if you still want to, but there is a stipulation.”

  He drew in a deep breath, imagining he could smell her luscious aroma through the phone. “Name it.”

  “I want you to explain your actions on the day I left, when you chased me down with the scent of another woman all over you.”

  He could do that, or at least try. “Okay. I’ll try to explain my actions. I’m looking to be up your way in a couple of weeks,” he said, knowing he hadn’t planned a trip to New York until now. “May I have your number so I can let you know when that will be?” He reached for his cell phone on his desk.

  “Yes, you can have my number.” She gave it to him and he keyed it into his phone’s contact list.

  “And I want you to have mine,” he said, not waiting for her to ask for it. “I’m sending you a text now so you’ll have it. As soon as I know the date, I will call you.”

  “That’s fine. Goodbye, Sawyer.”

  “Goodbye, Vashti.”

  He smiled when he hung up the phone. Why was he feeling all cheerful? Hadn’t it been just a few nights ago when he’d concluded that not getting involved with her was for the best? That was then and this was now. For the first time in seventeen years he was going out on a date. A real date.

  * * *

  VASHTI CLICKED OFF her phone thinking, yes, she was crazy. Of all the idiotic things she’d ever done, calling Sheriff Grisham probably headed the list. However, it was either that or endure more sleepless nights.

  Why was she allowing herself to get pulled into anything related to Catalina Cove? She and Reid Lacroix would be meeting for lunch next week. His secretary had called and everything was set.

  The way she figured things would go down, she and Sawyer would meet for dinner and that would be it. She didn’t indulge in long-distance romances, no matter how tempting. And the thought would be tempting. The degree of sexual chemistry she shared with Sawyer still boggled her mind. Would it be that way when they saw each other again? If it was, then what?

  She was about to go into her kitchen when her phone rang. It was the ringtone she’d given her parents. “Yes, Mom?” She figured it was her mother since her father never initiated a call to her.

  “I spoke to Lottie this morning and she said you’ve been to Catalina Cove. You didn’t mention to me or your father that you had plans to go there.”

  Vashti drew in a deep breath. Lottie Mercer had been her mother’s best friend for years. She’d spoken to Lottie at the zoning meeting and figured the older woman would let her mother know she’d seen her. As for telling her parents that she was going to Catalina Cove, it wasn’t as if she and her parents talked often. They didn’t. If they exchanged calls once every other month that was fine. A part of her wished things were different, but they weren’t. It was only when she got older did she accept her parents had a controlling streak. She hadn’t been able to do anything about it when she’d been younger, but as an adult she had. Putting distance between them had been a decision she’d made and it ended up being for the best.

  “I didn’t think it was important. Bryce got an offer for the inn and I went there to meet with the developer.”

  “You sold it? That’s great!”

  She could hear the happiness in her mother’s voice and truly didn’t understand it when that inn had meant the world to her mother’s sister. When her parents left Catalina Cove to move away, it was as if they’d expected Aunt Shelby to pack up and move as well. Vashti was convinced it bothered her mother to discover her aunt had a life that didn’t cling to them.

  “No, I didn’t sell it. The zoning board refused to approve what the developers wanted to do with it.”

  “Which was?”

  “To turn it into a tennis resort.”

  “That’s a pity. A tennis resort would have boosted the cove’s economy.”

  “I know but it was their decision,” Vashti said, leaning against her sofa table.

  “So what do you plan to do now?” her mother asked.

  “Nothing. It’s back on the market. Bryce will let me know if another offer comes in.”

  “Then you’ll have to go back there to finalize things?”

  Vashti frowned. Why was her mother concerned about her going to the cove? Was she worried that the townspeople would stir up the old scandal about her, which meant their names would get pulled into it since she was their daughter? She could alleviate her mother’s fears and tell her how Reid Lacroix had welcomed her back and everyone had followed his lead. Surprisingly, she had enjoyed the short time she’d been there. Seeing the Witherspoons again, seeing Kaegan and Ms. Gertie, although the older woman hadn’t recognized her.

  “I got to see Ms. Gertie.”

  “You did what?”

  Vashti frowned again. Was she imagining things or did her mother just ask her that in her freaking-out voice? “I said I got to see Ms. Gertie.”

  “Lottie said she has dementia.”

  “She does. She didn’t even recognize me.”

  “Then why did you go to see her?”

  Vashti honestly thought that was a stupid questi
on. “I went to see her because I’ve always liked Ms. Gertie and she was always nice to me.” She didn’t add that the woman had been nice to her when others, including her parents, had acted rather mean. “I’m sure if you ever return to Catalina Cove that you would drop by and see her as well.”

  “No, I would not. And I did return there for your aunt’s memorial, which you didn’t attend. I did not drop in to see Gertie. If you recall she was rather upset with me and your father for sending you away. Gertie thought we were slighting her because she was the cove’s midwife.”

  If Ms. Gertie thought that then she was wrong. There was no way her parents would have let her remain in the cove to have her baby, when they’d done all they could to keep it a secret. She hadn’t told her parents until she couldn’t hide her pregnancy from them anymore.

  “Well, I guess I’ll let you get back to work.”

  Vashti knew now would be a good time to tell her parents she was no longer employed, but decided that would be a conversation she would have with them another time. “Thanks, Mom, and it was good hearing from you.”

  She said that since she rarely did. Whenever she and her parents talked, she usually would be the one to call first.

  “Alright and your dad said hello.”

  She knew her father had said no such thing, but Vashti’s response was, “Tell him hello as well.”

  When she hung up, Vashti thought the people of Catalina Cove had been more gracious than her own parents were to her. No one even brought up her teenage pregnancy, whereas it felt like her mother never missed an opportunity to use it to put her down.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  REID LACROIX CHECKED his watch before taking another sip of his coffee. He was early and would admit to looking forward to this trip since his secretary had made the reservations. He just hoped that he would be able to convince Vashti Alcindor to go along with his plan.