Magnolia Bride

by Tara Randel

  He led her across the scarred wooden floor to the display case. “Let me guess, still a vanilla girl?”

  “My taste has graduated.” She scanned the ice cream selection. “How about Rocky Road?”

  “Got it. Why don’t you get us a table outside while I take care of the order.”

  He watched Nealy head to the door, almost getting run down as Sierra and her boyfriend barged into the shop.

  “Nealy. How was the tea party?”

  “Turned out great.”

  “Cool. This is my boyfriend, Bobby.”

  He stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

  She glanced at Dane, a rueful smile on her lips. She didn’t look like a ma’am. More like a gorgeous woman of just the right age for him.

  “We came to get some ice cream before we go out on Bobby’s brother’s boat,” Sierra announced.

  “Everything okay at Cuppa Joe?”

  “Yes. Your sister is there. And don’t worry, Davey has everything under control.” Sierra took Bobby’s hand. “See you later.”

  The couple moved to the counter to discuss their choices. Dane watched Nealy step out into the warm afternoon sun, searching for an empty table. A family got up to leave and she hurried over to save a white, iron bistro table under a canopy. Dane joined her a few minutes later, handing her a cone.

  “Thanks.”

  He sat across from her. “So, Sierra and her boyfriend. Remind you of anyone?”

  She wrinkled her brow as she secured a napkin around the wafer cone.

  “Us,” he told her.

  “I don’t see it,” she replied, having a lick of her ice cream.

  Ever since he’d seen the young couple on the hotel grounds the other day, more and more memories of the summer with Nealy bombarded him. Some mingled with regret, others about the good times they’d made together. “C’mon. You have to remember how crazy we were about each other.”

  “No, I really don’t have to.”

  “We thought we had the world in our hands.”

  “Until we didn’t. It took me a long time to get over you, Dane.”

  “You think I had it any easier?”

  “All I know is one minute we were married, the next we weren’t.”

  “And I explained.”

  “Still, you’re determined to take us down memory lane.”

  He shrugged. Why was he pushing the issue? To get a response out of Nealy? Sure. But beyond the banter? He just couldn’t stop.

  “It would never work between us, you know. I’m going back to L.A.”

  “Did I say anything about getting together?” How easy it was to mess with her. “But if we did, ever heard of Skype?”

  “I’m going back to my life. My boyfriend.”

  “How is old...what’s his name?”

  “Sam. He’s fine.”

  “If I were your boyfriend, I’d have come with you.”

  “You aren’t, so it doesn’t matter.”

  “What’s his excuse?”

  “He’s working.”

  “So am I, but I still make time to see you.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “Just calling it like I see it.”

  A glob of ice cream dribbled over the side of the cone onto her finger. Without even thinking, he handed her a napkin and she used it to wipe her hand. It was a small gesture, but they seemed in tune, connected still to one another. Was it so effortless with Sam? he wondered. He met Nealy’s gaze. All sound and movement around him faded as he focused on her. How could he have believed they could take up where they left off, as if nothing monumental had happened between them? Not good. Not good at all. Especially when the longing in her eyes told him she wanted another kiss.

  Breaking the heated connection, Nealy rose to throw the paper napkin in the trash. A Beach Boys song rang out from her cell phone. She retrieved the phone from her bag and smiled when she read the caller ID. Holding up the phone in triumph, she said, “It’s Sam. I need to take this.”

  She stepped away from the table, chatting, with a big smile on her face. A forced smile? It seemed forced to him, but what did he know? He might not like her connection to some other guy, but he couldn’t ignore the reality right in front of him. Back off, Peterson, is what it said.

  She approached the table. “Yes. I’ll call you the second I land at LAX.” She sent ol’ Sam smoochy kisses before hanging up.

  “Air-kisses over the phone are not as good as the real thing,” he crabbed, not at all pleased with the images running through his brain, of her back in L.A., walking on the beach, her windswept hair and beautiful smile aimed at this Sam guy. He didn’t deserve this loyal, generous woman. “Sam would know that if he were here.”

  “And I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t appreciate you kissing his girl.”

  His girl, huh. “Point taken. But, Nealy, all I’m asking is to get to know each other again.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “It’s not like I’m asking you to get married again.”

  Nealy went white. She momentarily froze before dropping her phone into her bag. “I should go.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that.” He ran a hand through his hair. What was wrong with him? Picking a fight because he didn’t like the fact she had a guy waiting for her while he was sitting right here, wishing for something with her? Man, he was turning into his father, lashing out and on edge. Why? Because Nealy wasn’t a permanent fixture in his life?

  “No wedding bells. I get it, Dane,” she said, hooking her purse strap over her shoulder.

  In his frustration, he’d said the one thing to make her run. On purpose?

  “Don’t take off,” he said.

  “It’s okay, Dane. I need to get to Cuppa Joe anyway.”

  He stood. “Let me take you back to the hotel to get your car.”

  She waved him off. “I’ll have someone bring me over later.” Without another word, she turned on her heel and left.

  Dane watched her walk away.

  Maybe it was better if she went back to L.A. Back to Sam. Anywhere, so she wouldn’t get him thinking about what life would be like if she were his.

  * * *

  LANIE RAN A damp cloth over a table as David came rushing into the coffee shop.

  “Is Davey okay?” he asked, out of breath.

  Lanie straightened up. “Yes. He’s taking the garbage out.” She eyed him from head to toe. David, always neatly combed and pressed, looked a bit...rumpled. “What’s up with you?”

  “You called to tell me we have an emergency with our son. What do you think?”

  “I think I told you not to rush home.”

  “I did and neither of you were there.”

  “We’re working.”

  He glanced down at the apron she’d tied on over her skirt. “I can see. Care to tell me why?”

  “To keep an eye on Davey.”

  David ran a hand through his hair. She hid a smile. She’d noticed David reverting back to the nervous habit he hadn’t exhibited since college. Was she getting to him? “Lanie—”

  She shushed him as Davey slammed the back door. “Quiet.”

  Their son strolled into the main area, stopping short. “Dad. I thought you were playing golf.”

  Lanie shot him a quelling look.

  “I, um, came home early,” he said.

  “Cool.” Davey took a spot behind the counter. “Hey, Mom, you rang up the last purchase without making a mistake.”

  “I figured out your instructions.”

  “It’s not rocket science.”

  “He said to the technologically illiterate.”

  Davey grinned. “You’re picking it up fas
t.”

  “I am, aren’t I?” Lanie had come to the shop with the intention of spying on her son. Instead, she’d ended up working beside him, learning about the shop and enjoying every minute.

  “Why is Mr. Hollings always so crotchety?” Davey asked in a low voice while viewing the elderly man at his usual table. Their only customer this late in the afternoon.

  “I think he misses his wife.”

  Her son was knowledgeable about running the shop and he knew the customers by name. He had more than a little bit of Dorinda’s way with people.

  David walked up to the counter. “While I’m here I might as well get a cup.”

  “You’re up, Mom.”

  Davey stepped aside to let Lanie take care of the order. She poured a cup and set it on the counter. “Condiments are on the side.”

  As David went to doctor his coffee, Davey said, “You know, you two should talk.”

  Lanie blinked at her son. “What?”

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but you guys are acting weird.” He retrieved his baseball cap from under the counter. “I have an errand to run, but since the shop is about to close, maybe this would be a good time to figure stuff out.”

  So her son knew all along? How had she overlooked it? Because she’d been consumed by regaining the old magic with her husband? “I don’t know what to say.”

  Davey bussed her cheek. “I love you, Mom.”

  Her eyes watered. “I love you, too, kiddo.”

  He hurried out the door. David came to lean against the counter to watch their son leave. “Where’s he off to?”

  “I don’t know, but it has something to do with a girl. A much older girl.”

  David stared at her. “Our son?”

  “Nealy thinks he has a crush on Sierra.”

  “Sierra?”

  “The college girl who works for Grandmother.” She sighed. “We’d know all about her if we were engaged in Grandmother’s business.”

  “Explains why you’re wearing an apron.”

  Lanie poured herself a cup and motioned for them to take a seat at an empty table. The afternoon crowd had grown slack, giving them some privacy.

  “Have you had ‘the talk’ with Davey?”

  David turned pink. “Yes. Turns out they have a class about relationships in school. He filled me in on a few things he shouldn’t know about.”

  “At least you talked to him. He knows we care.”

  “So, this girl?”

  “Cute. Older. Pays attention to Davey. Has a boyfriend.”

  “Does he know?”

  “Yes. When the boy came in to pick Sierra up after her shift ended, he and Davey high-fived. Is that some kind of guy code I’m not privy to?”

  “Not if Davey likes this girl and her boyfriend knows about it.”

  “Then I’m confused.”

  David took a sip of his coffee. “This is pretty good.”

  “Which we’d all have known if we got our coffee here.” She stared into her cup. “What must Grandmother think of us?”

  “She knows we have busy careers.”

  “Yes, but after spending one afternoon here, I can understand why she’s thinking of giving the place up. It’s a lot of work and she is getting older.”

  “I thought she had help?”

  “She does, but we both know working long hours can be stressful. Plus, she has the added burden of worrying about the finances and running the operation all by herself.”

  “A burden she should be sharing with her family.”

  “You know she doesn’t want to be a burden.” Lanie relaxed and peered around the shop. “With the new coffee system coming Monday, we have lots to do tomorrow.”

  “We?” His brow went up. “What kind of work?”

  “Nealy asked if we’d help paint the inside of the shop. Dane is doing the outside work and when Grandmother gets back, she’ll have a whole new place.”

  David looked around. “It has grown a bit shabby.”

  “Davey told me there’s been pressure from the Merchants’ Association to fix it up. Grandmother had almost given up, until Nealy came home.”

  “Despite her stubbornness, we should have insisted on taking a part in running this place.”

  “She probably would have shooed us off.”

  “Yet she let Nealy come in and take care of some things.”

  “From what I understand, Grandmother asked her to look after the place while she was on the cruise, then dropped the remodeling idea in her lap once Nealy got here.”

  “Still, Nealy seems invested.”

  “Even given a surprise to-do list, she always loved this shop.” Lanie stared into her coffee. “My grandparents opened it together, ran it for years together. They were totally committed, to each other and their business.”

  David wrapped his hands around his cup. “It wasn’t hard to miss how much they loved each other.”

  Lanie felt a pang of remorse. She always thought she and David had that kind of love. Now she wasn’t so sure.

  “So, will you help paint tomorrow?”

  “Will you stop thinking about running for mayor?”

  “If it means we’ll spend time together, then yes. And Davey will be here.” She stood. “He knows something is up between us, by the way.”

  David grimaced.

  “I’m going to call my folks, too. We should make sprucing up Cuppa Joe a family affair.”

  David stared up at her, angled his head. His eyes flashed with a look she hadn’t seen in a long time. Interest.

  Cheeks flushed, Lanie covered her surprise by glancing down at her clothes as if she’d spilled something on herself. “What?”

  “It’s good to see you excited.”

  She reached across the table to take hold of his hand. Grew light-headed at the familiar rush she always experienced when touching her husband. “It’s good to be excited for a change.”

  David rose, carrying his cup to the trash. A customer walked in. Lanie took an order from the customer, not bothering to hide her smile when David came behind the counter to pour the cup. When he smiled and spoke to the customer with easy camaraderie, her heart went haywire.

  She loved this man. Taking the reins to recharge their marriage had to be done. They were worth it.

  She grinned. David’s brow rose in return. Oh, you poor, unsuspecting man. She would come up with a plan to make him remember when they first fell in love, even if it meant shaking him out of his staid, predictable world.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  SUNDAY MORNING, NEALY took a step back, tilting her head as she got some perspective of the accent wall behind the counter painted in a dark café au lait, a nice contrast to the other three walls painted in French vanilla.

  Davey came up beside her and threw an arm over her shoulders. “Great job, Auntie. Great-Gram will love it.”

  “I sure hope so.”

  “It looks awesome. The shop looks better than I thought it would.”

  She sent him a sideways glance. “You doubted me? I’m crushed.”

  He chuckled. “Nah. Just wasn’t sure about your choice of colors, but it looks like a real coffee hangout now.”

  “As long as you’re happy,” she said drily.

  “It only matters what Great-Gram thinks.”

  “Yes. It does.”

  With the shop temporarily closed, the Grainger clan had come out in full force to paint the shop and spruce up the place. Nealy was surprised, but pleased, her parents had donned old clothes to work without complaining. Lanie and David painted side by side. Davey supervised.

  The morning had flown by in a flurry of activity. While she enjoyed freshening up the interior of the shop, she hadn’t ventured outs
ide to inspect the progress of the storefront. If she did, she’d have bumped into Dane, who was busy at work tackling the proposed changes.

  He’d shown up earlier than the family, already at work with two helpers, removing the current stucco finish. By late morning, they’d started adding the weathered shingles. She’d kept her eyes averted from the maddening man. Given the scene at the ice cream shop yesterday, she wasn’t ready to face him.

  And last night, she’d walked away, after he’d made his point. No wedding bells for Dane. Didn’t matter, really. She had no intention of getting back together with him anyway, so the whole idea was moot.

  Since she’d been angry and upset, she changed course. Rather than go to the coffee shop, she detoured to the beach instead. She’d slipped off her high heels and sank her toes into the wet, gritty sand as she strolled along the shore. How she’d missed the unmistakable scent of the gulf. Her heart squeezed as she dodged children tossing a ball in the surf and others building a sand castle. After spending a week in town, she’d realized she was homesick for the place. Coming back to visit a few times seemed okay, but now? Twelve years had passed since she’d last seen Dane. A long time to hold a grudge, or grudges, actually.

  The continuity of small-town living was appealing versus the hustle and bustle of the big city. Here, folks may move at a slower pace than in L.A., but they seemed truly content with what they had and their future. To be honest, apart from her job, Nealy wasn’t as content with her life as she thought. Why try to convince herself otherwise?

  She’d missed spending time with her sisters. Missed watching Davey grow up. Realized good friends like Lilli were few and far between. And before Dane ruined the moment, she’d rather enjoyed bantering with him again.

  Swinging her shoes beside her as she walked, she’d expelled a heavy sigh. Any notion of settling down here would be years down the road. Her career was in high gear. She intended on making a name for herself in the industry. In order to accomplish her goal, she had to return to L.A.

  The steady waves washed over her ankles. Late-afternoon sun warmed her face and the wind ruffled her hair. While walking along the water had always brought her solace, now her insides churned.

  Dane’s words echoed in her head. It’s not like I’m asking you to get married again. It shouldn’t come as a surprise. He hadn’t wanted to stay married to her before, so why would he consider it now? Plenty of women in Cypress Pointe were interested in dating him. He had his pick. So why did he go out of his way to spend time with her? Why kiss her? What was up with him?