Sweet Days by the Bay

by Kay Correll

  Ashley turned back towards Whitney. “No, he left that part out.”

  “He not only owns the tavern, he owns some rental properties around town. Remember how great he was with math in school?”

  Ashley nodded.

  “Well, it turns out he’s not only good at math, he’s good at playing the market and investing.”

  “Really? He didn’t say a word.” Ashley crossed back to the kitchen table.

  “He doesn’t really like to talk about it. You know Will. He doesn’t care what people think about him. He’s pretty low key about the success he’s made.” Whitney’s eyes shone with pride. “I’m proud of him, though. I always knew he’d do something with his life.”

  “But… he dropped out of high school. I thought he just wanted to float through life…” Ashley pulled out the chair and sank onto it. “I don’t understand.”

  “He dropped out of high school to take a second job. Hasn’t he ever talked to you about it? I know when we were kids we swore each other to secrecy… but didn’t he talk to you? Our father disappeared that year Will turned eighteen, his senior year in high school. We were running out of money and never knew when Dad would show up. He… he was a binge drinker. He’d just disappear for weeks at a time. This time it had been a month and… well, I was worried that social workers would come and take me away.”

  “He never mentioned a word of this to me.”

  “I did make him promise. We just pretended Dad was around, or out of town on a brief business trip if anyone asked. I don’t think anyone knew how often Dad was gone.”

  Ashley’s heart plummeted. She’d judged Will so harshly all those years ago. Here he’d given up everything for his sister… and in return, Ashley had broken up with him because of what she thought was his lack of ambition. She thought back on the day they’d broken up, all those years ago. He’d tried to talk to her, asked her to listen to him, but she’d cut him off. Then he’d gotten frostily silent and his eyes had glinted with anger. He’d turned and walked away from her and hadn’t said a word to her the rest of the school year. Then she’d headed to college and hadn’t seen him until he showed up in Indigo Bay a few weeks ago.

  Ashley sighed. “Well, now I have another problem.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Now he’s going to think I only want him back because I heard he’s had such success with his life.”

  Whitney grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down Will’s address. “You need to go and talk to him and sort things out. Talk to him.” Whitney handed the paper to Ashley. “But, you’ll probably find him at The Lucky Duck, anyway.”

  “Thank you.” Ashley clutched the paper. “I’m headed out first thing in the morning.”

  “What about the clinic?”

  “Doc Browning is back.”

  “I thought you wanted him to hire you on and you’d join his practice.” Whitney set her glass on the table.

  “I thought so, too. It was my dream, my plan. Now the only thing I want is to make things right with your brother.”

  “Well, he’s a stubborn one.” Whitney grinned. “But hopefully you can get through to him.”

  Ashley gave Whitney a quick hug. “Thank you. You’re a great friend.”

  “Good luck. Make him listen to you. Tell him I said not to be pigheaded and a chump.” Whitney laughed.

  Ashley hurried out the door to go pack. She was going to get an early start in the morning.

  Tomorrow.

  Tomorrow she was going to see Will.

  Chapter 19

  Will swiped at the countertop at The Lucky Duck. Not that it needed wiping off, but he’d tried to keep constantly busy since he’d returned. He looked up to see two regulars, Jamie and Harry, come into the tavern. They took two seats at the bar.

  A group of three young women came in laughing and joking and took a table near the window.

  “Go ahead.” Harry tilted his head towards the women. “We’ll wait.”

  “Nope, I’m good.”

  “Since when do you wait on us when some pretty ladies come into The Lucky Duck?”

  “Since now. You were here first. I’ll get them in a minute.”

  Jamie shook his head and turned to Harry. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him since he came back from visiting his sister.”

  “I don’t either.” Harry said in an exaggerated whisper. “It’s like he’s forgotten he’s a lady’s man.”

  “Knock it off.” Will banged a bowl of nuts down in front of his friends.

  “Just teasing. How about one of your famous basil-mo-tonic drinks.” Jamie settled on the barstool. “I heard your concoction is going to become the rage all over Florida real soon now.”

  “I’m sure it is, just you wait and see.” Will pushed all their friendly teasing aside. They were right. Just a few short weeks ago, he would have left them and hurried over to serve the women, possibly angling a date out of one of them. Now? Well, he just didn’t care. One customer was just like the next.

  “One famous drink, coming up. And you, Harry?”

  “I have a cold draft.”

  “Sure thing.” Will got their drinks and placed them on the bar. “You guys eating, too?”

  “Nah, I’m headed back to the inn, but promised Harry a quick drink tonight.”

  “Well, glad you came in. I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.” Will walked over to the table the window and took the ladies’ orders.

  He served the ladies their sweet, froufrou drinks… couldn’t convince them to try the basil-mo-tonic—and went back to visit with his friends.

  “Who’s that? It looks like she’s looking for someone.” Jamie tilted his head toward the door.

  Will turned to see and dropped the dish cloth he was holding. He stood paralyzed, afraid he was seeing a mirage.

  What was Ashley doing here at The Lucky Duck?

  Ashley stood in the doorway of The Lucky Duck, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light after being in the bright sunshine outside. She blinked a few times and took another step inside. Her glaze swept the room, looking for Will.

  She froze when she saw him standing behind the bar, not moving a muscle, like an opossum trying to hide. She wasn’t having any of that. She took a deep breath and crossed the distance to the bar. “Will.”

  “Ashley, what are you doing here?” Will’s voice was a low growl.

  “I came to see you. To talk to you.”

  “I don’t think we have anything to say.” Will reached behind him and picked up a clean dishtowel from a stack on the far counter.

  “We do. Please.”

  The two men sitting at the bar looked back and forth between Will and her. The red-headed man looked back at Will and grinned. “Don’t you think you should talk to the lady?”

  “Stay out of it, Jamie.” Will glared at the man.

  “Jamie boy is right. If the lady wants to talk, don’t you think you should listen?” The other man joined in.

  “Aren’t you two about finished?” Will glowered at both of them.

  “Nope, staying right here.” The red-haired man sipped his drink and relaxed on his barstool.

  “Will, can we please talk?”

  “Talk away. I don’t suppose I can stop you.” Will grabbed a glass and started drying it. Over and over.

  “Fine. I’ll talk here.” Whitney had been right. Her brother was stubborn. “I’m sorry, Will. I am. I apologize. I know there’s no reason in the world you should believe me this time, but I came to ask you to give me another chance. I want us to try again.”

  Will put down the glass.

  “Please. I made a mistake sending you away. I’ve been so miserable. I’ve missed you so much. All that time chasing my dream of being the big doctor in town and everyone accepting me… well, none of that made me happy. You make me happy.”

  The red-haired man stood and dropped some bills on the bar. “Um, come on Harry. I think we’re finished, aren’t we? Let’s leave these two to sort things
out.”

  The other man took one last swig of his beer and slid off his barstool. “Listen to the woman, Willie. You’ve been a cranky old geezer since you came back from your trip. Should have known it was woman troubles.” He turned to her and nodded his head. “Ma’am.”

  “He’s a stubborn one, but make him listen to you.” The red-haired man tossed over his shoulder as the two men walked away.

  She slid onto a vacated barstool. “Will, I love you. I want to be with you.”

  Will still looked doubtful.

  “I told Whitney I didn’t care if you wanted to be a bartender your whole life if it made you happy. I’ve learned that doing what makes you happy is what is important. Not following a plan, not worrying about what people think of you.” She paused. “And I decided I wanted to be with you before Whitney told me you owned this tavern and some other places around town… so don’t think I’m being superficial and I’m here now because I know how much you’ve done with your life.”

  Will came around the bar and sat on the barstool next to her, still not saying a word.

  “Will… can you please forgive me? I promise I won’t waver again. I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”

  Will’s eyes sparkled. “Really?”

  “Really.” She reached out and took his hands in hers.

  “I can’t imagine my life without you, either. These last days since I left Indigo Bay… they’ve been the loneliest days of my life. You… you complete me and make me whole, Ash. You always have. Ever since we became friends as kids. You just… get me.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t set me straight all those years ago on why you dropped out of high school.”

  “You know?” Will’s forehead wrinkled.

  “Whitney told me. You should have told me back then. I was so self-righteous with all my big plans. But Whit said it was your secret with her and no one else knew. I get that. I just… I’m just so embarrassed at how I treated you then.”

  “It’s okay.” Will’s voice was low.

  She squeezed his hands. “So do you think we can try again?”

  Will leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips. A thrill of joy raced through her as she kissed him back. He stood and pulled her from her seat, wrapping his arms around her. “I think there is nothing I’d rather do than spend my entire life working things out with you. It might take a long time. Years and years.”

  “Yes, we should try for a very long time.” She whispered against his neck.

  “We should try forever.” Will whispered back.

  The next morning Will stood at Lighthouse Point with Ashley by his side, watching the sunrise. “The sun rises in the east, over the bay here at Belle Island, but the reflections in the clouds over the ocean are pretty great. We throw a mean sunset here, too.”

  “I think this is the most beautiful sunrise I’ve ever spent with you.”

  Will smiled and pulled her closer. “You know, we have a town legend about Lighthouse Point here on the island.”

  “What’s that?” Ashley snuggled up next to him.

  “If you make a wish at Lighthouse Point and throw a shell into the ocean, your wish will come true.”

  Ashley turned her face up to his and smiled. She pulled away, leaned down, and picked up a shell with her slender fingers. The morning light lit up her face and she turned a brilliant smile to him. “Let’s make wishes.”

  He reached down and picked up a perfect shell near his feet.

  He watched while she closed her eyes for a moment then opened them. She turned and threw her shell out into the waves. He closed his own eyes, then opened them and tossed his shell after hers.

  “What was your wish?” Ashley looked at him.

  “My wish?”

  “Yes, tell me.” Ashley eyes shone with happiness, a good look on her.

  “I…” He took a deep breath and dropped to one knee. “I wished that you’d marry me.”

  Ashley’s face broke into a smile, her eyes glistened with tears. “I wished that we’d get married.”

  “So that’s a yes? You’ll marry me?”

  “That’s a yes.” She dropped to her knees beside him on the sand and leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around her while the sunrise exploded into brilliant colors around them.

  I hope you enjoyed Will and Ashley’s story. Will is a regular character in the Lighthouse Point series. When you finish these Indigo Bay stories, you’ll want to jump right into the first book in the Lighthouse Point series.

  Wish Upon a Shell - Book One

  But for now… continue on with Sweet Holiday Memories.

  Copyright © 2017 Kay Correll

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any matter without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental

  * * *

  Published by Rose Quartz Press

  110117

  This book is dedicated to the umpteen—my mother always used that word—ornaments I’ve collected over the years, and the bittersweet memories that many of them hold.

  Merry Christmas to all my readers.

  Chapter 1

  Meredith bumped her hip against the door of her friend’s shop, Coastal Creations, juggling a stack of cookie boxes as she pushed out into the bright sunshine. She spun to clear the doorway, but a corner of one box caught on the closing door. She gasped and fruitlessly scrambled to juggle the packages as they slid, traitorously, to the sidewalk.

  “Darn it all, anyway,” she muttered under her breath. She bent down to retrieve her packages. As she piled the boxes into her arms again, two packages of cookies teetered precariously, and without a thought of how they were going to ruin her day, spilled out onto the cement, their broken pieces, powdered sugar, and sprinkles bedecking the sidewalk with Christmas cheer. “Perfect. Can this day get any better?”

  She backed up a step, stomped on another box, and tumbled to the ground in a not so graceful sprawl.

  “Ma’am, may I help you?”

  From her eye level on the sidewalk she looked at a pair of worn cowboy boots and up the jean-clad leg to a hand stretched out to her. She took the calloused hand, and her rescuer pulled her deftly to her feet. She brushed off imaginary dirt, along with her pride, and looked at the man standing before her.

  His blue eyes twinkled and he tossed her a lazy grin. “Let me help you with these.” He reached down and started to collect her boxes while eyeing the broken cookies on the pavement. “Looks like those are goners. Pretty sure they are past the five-second rule.”

  She must have given him a confused look.

  “You know, the five-second rule. If you pick up dropped food within five seconds, you can still eat it,” he slowly explained as if she were a bit addled, which she was.

  Meredith sighed. “Yes, I’m afraid these are way past saving. My friend Whitney made them. I’m going to have to go home and bake some more. I was picking these up from volunteers, but I can’t have them baking more because of my clumsiness.” But where was she going to find the time?

  “How about I help you carry the ones that made it through your… uh… mishap?”

  She wasn’t going to turn down perfectly good help from a perfectly good-looking stranger. She pointed to her battered but reliable car parked a few spaces down the street. “Thank you.” She gathered the few remaining boxes and led the way to her car.

  She carefully set the boxes on the hood of her car, dug around in her purse for the keys, and unlocked the door. The Good Samaritan handed her the boxes, and she placed them on the floor of the backseat. She’d run them over to the town hall for tomorrow’s bake sale, then head home to bake yet more cookies. She was going to see cookies in her sleep soon. “I appreciate your help.”
<
br />   “No problem.”

  “You just visiting our town?” She didn’t remember seeing him around before. In a small town like Indigo Bay, you got to know most of the townspeople.

  “No, I just moved here. I did use to live here when I was a kid.”

  “Really?” She squinted and looked at him again. He was tall with brown hair. The light sunburn on his face proclaimed he wasn’t used to being out in the sunshine. He still didn’t look familiar, though he did look about her age. Give or take. It was always hard to tell with guys.

  “I bought a small house on the beach. Still unpacking my things.” He flashed a warm smile at her, the late afternoon sun accentuating his chiseled jawline. “Where are my manners? I’m Austin Sullivan.”

  She smiled back at him. “Nice to meet you, Austin. I’m Meredith Snowden, but everyone calls me Merry.”

  “Nice to meet you. Do you live here in Indigo Bay?”

  “I do. I’m in charge of the bake sale this year. That’s why I have all these boxes of cookies. We’re raising funds for the library. I work there and we need some upgrades to our computers and a fix for a leaky roof. There just aren’t available funds from the town’s budget, so we’re trying to raise the money through fundraising.” She grimaced. “You know, if I don’t destroy all the baked goods and hence any profits.”

  “You sell pies at your bake sale?” Austin cocked his head to one side.

  “Yep. They go quickly, too. Everyone wants them for their holiday dinners. That’s why we’re having the sale so close to Christmas.”

  “Well, I’m an expert pie baker. Learned from my mom. Honest, I’ve been making them since I was about eight years old. How about I bake some for your sale?”

  She looked at him skeptically. “Well, it’s tomorrow…”

  “I’ll get to it tonight and bring them by in the morning.”

  “I’m certainly not going to turn you down.” She reached into the car and grabbed a scrap of paper. “I’ll write my phone number down. If you need me to pick them up, just call.”