St. Helena Vineyard Series_Sneaking Up on Love

by Stephanie St. Klaire

  His subtle chuckle was met with a shy grin as she watched him pull his shirt over his head, covering the divine peaks and valleys of his chest and abdomen. Lord have mercy, he was hiding heaven under there. She thought about all of the ‘what ifs’ dancing around her imagination. If they had done anything, would he really be sleeping half-dressed on the chair in the corner, or would he be lying next to her wearing as little as, or less than, what she had on? Then it struck her; he may not remember. If she was drunk to the point of losing twelve plus hours, he might be too…the embarrassment of what she may have done in a drunken stupor was back and painted on her rosy cheeks, which were giving it all away.

  “We didn’t…you…didn’t…do anything if that’s what you’re worried about?” he chimed in.

  “I didn’t…we…didn’t…” she was shaking her head from side to side, unable to find the words to tactfully address what it was she was dancing around.

  He shook his head to relieve her of her worry but finding her shyness after such a bold night funny. He decided to let her off the hook rather than drag it out because he was pretty certain the hang over was going to be brutal enough.

  “Oh good! I was so worried! I’ve never done that before, and I would have felt so bad if we… I mean I thought we had or at least done something because I do remember something about blow…” His smile faded to something like disappointment as she rambled through her thoughts out loud, not going unnoticed by Molly, “I mean not that doing that…with you…would be bad, or…a…you know…that either, but… I mean I would love to, or I mean… I’m just not like that and don’t want you to think less of me if…well, you know!”

  “I get it. And we didn’t. You did ask me if I wanted a blow job though.” Eye’s wide, she covered her mouth to mute the loud gasp that erupted as the shock from his words struck her like a sharp bolt of lightning. “But you meant the drink. You kept your moral code intact, promise.” He winked.

  “Oh my God! That’s why I can’t stop thinking about blow jobs!”

  His laughter boomed, bringing awareness to the words she was spewing, confirming that the part of her brain that thought up all the words was still heavily sodden in booze. He moved to her bedside and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck tilting her stare upward.

  “Are you okay now? To be by yourself?” He asked sweetly.

  His tender affection brought a smile to her face and a sudden warmth she didn’t recognize, and she said in a small voice, “Yes, thank you.”

  He bent down to her level, kissing the top of her head while his hand slid from her neck down her back. “Okay, good. I’ll catch you a bit later. Call if you need me.”

  And he left.

  ***

  After a slow start to her morning and her head feeling like it was tightly locked in a heavy vice, Molly finally made her way down to her shop. There was a steady morning flow of business – the coffee shop was full while books seemed to be selling. All seemed right in the world despite her previous night’s escapades. Several gray heads could be seen around the large table near the back beyond the half wall dividing the space. ChiChi and her posse, who else could it be?

  A sobering cup of the strongest brew she could wrangle up was her first order of business before wandering to the table to see what they were up to and why they were there on a non-book club day. Chichi on her own was a handful. With her gray haired ladies, they were a force that she hoped one cup was enough to manage. She always sat at the head of the group like a fierce crime boss surrounded by her loyal geriatric soldiers on either side of her. She would be intimidating with her sharp and edgy presence if not for her sweet and doting nature that comes out when you least expect it.

  “Hey ladies, what brings you in today?” she questioned since it wasn’t book club day, and the group typically held their morning gatherings at the Sweet and Savory.

  “Have a seat, dear…” Chichi replied, gesturing to the seat at the opposite end of the table.

  Molly felt like this was judgement day, and she sat under the scrutinizing eyes of the jury that was to decide her fate in some catastrophic event or another. Chichi and the ladies had been good to her, very good, treated her like family, but there was a side you didn’t want to poke, and she hoped that wasn’t the side they were showing.

  “Okay…what’s up?!” she nearly shouted with excitement while tossing her arms out in an exaggerated attempt to derail her building anxiety.

  “Honey, calm down. We’re here to help.” Chichi said while Priscilla offered her a napkin. “Wipe the sweat from your brow, darling.”

  These ladies worked in unison and always knew what the others were thinking. One would act as the other spoke like a well-planned and practiced performance. It was either that, or they had frightening clairvoyant abilities that allowed them to share their thoughts and ideas to work in a creepy synchronized manner.

  “You’ve done well, my dear. We’re proud of you and young Seth.” Chichi said. The only thing missing from her stately monarchial like presence was a hairless cat in her lap to stroke and a butler at her side, waiting to dab her mouth after each sip of coffee and reapply her bright cherry red lipstick.

  “I don’t know what you mean?” Molly deluded, knowing full well what they were talking about. If there was anyone in town that knew as much or more as Nora Kinkaid, it was Chichi Deluca and her gang of gray haired followers.

  Lucinda slid a notebook across the table without a word. Molly exchanged a puzzled look before opening it to see what was inside when Lucinda nodded for her to do so. Now who was clairvoyant and reading the ladies minds?

  “I don’t understand, what is this?” she asked.

  “Have you looked at Facebook yet this morning?” Clovis questioned.

  “No, I haven’t just yet…” she paused, realizing that she and Seth may not have been the only ones on Facebook, shaking things up. She closed her eyes and said, “Nora?”

  She let out a deep sigh and opened her eyes to an iPad, her iPad, sitting in front of her, logged into her Facebook account. She questioned how they got it and how they managed to log into her account but quickly let it go when she saw what had been posted. She could only handle one nosey old broad at a time.

  Of course, there it was. In an attempt to settle their score with Nora the night before, they managed to provide yet another opportunity for her to capture them together to blast on Facebook for the whole town to see. The picture was innocent enough; it was of Seth checking the lock on the door from the inside of her shop late the previous night. Nora painted it as a promiscuous scandal with her caption…

  ‘Molly Anna Sexton – no Pollyanna…sleep overs with one of St. Helena’s finest? The coffee isn’t the only thing getting hot at Reading Grounds.’

  “So you can see why you need the notebook?” Chichi asked as if all of the pieces to the puzzle had just fallen into place, and their presence and the notebook made perfect sense.

  “No…help me out here.” She replied with a little more snark than she intended.

  “Excellent first round, honey. Loved what you wrote on Facebook last night…’wilted flowers of Garden Society Chairperson a close second to the faux silk dollar store variety’. Brilliant dear, just brilliant!” Clovis offered with enthusiasm and a cute little hand clap.

  “Oh to be a fly on her wall when she read that! I’m sure her panties were in a tight bunch after that one! Her flowers? Brilliant!”

  “How did she get this picture anyway? This was late last night, really late. We had been setting up the Facebook page and gathering information until well past midnight. In fact, I have noticed her driving by shortly after closing many times but never this late.” Molly said. Now that she was thinking about it, she seemed to see Nora going by at around the same time, same direction, most nights.

  “If it’s that often, it may behoove you to…look into it a bit, if you know what I mean? In addition to your Facebook exploits.” Chichi suggested.

  “I…I don�
��t know what you are talking about.” Molly’s words lacked as much confidence as the poker face she was trying to sell them. A smile about to break through, her lips quivered as she sat under the watchful stares of the ladies in front of her until she broke, and she whispered, “Okay! It was us!”

  A brood of cackles and knee slapping erupted at her admission until a few tears welled and sides pinched from the laughs they were sharing.

  “Oh dear…that was a good one. Talk about a punch to the gut. Her flowers!” Priscilla offered as they got ahold of their silliness and got back to the point of the impromptu meeting.

  “The notebook is full of information, things you won’t find online dear. We have each known her most of our lives, if not our entire lives. There is information in that notebook that will surely set her britches on fire! The best part is she won’t know where it is coming from because some date back decades!” Chichi delivered with pure joy.

  “Oh, I see! Why…are you doing this for me? I appreciate it, I do! I just don’t understand.”

  “Because we care about you, and the boy, and want you to have a fair shake.” Clovis replied with a sweet smile and single hand over her heart as if to hold in her emotion.

  “And because that Nora Kinkaid is a weasely little snake in the grass and deserves to get a little taste of her own damn medicine too! You give it to her good, girl!” Chichi said with a fierce tone and intention shooting her fist in the air.

  Molly and Seth had allies, the best kind in this town. It seemed that their first fire failed, and Nora fired back with a solid shot, winning this round. It was okay, though, they were just getting started and still anonymous under the cloak of mystery. She needed to call Seth; they had more planning to do. Nora one, Molly and Seth zero.

  CHAPTER 4

  Seth picked up Molly shortly after dark for their first late night stake out. She had sat in the dark at Reading Grounds the last few nights while Seth was on shift at the fire station. A certain car driven by a certain mean spirited old lady was the object of her attention. Sure enough, like clockwork, she passed by at the same time each night just as she had all the nights previous to their new plan.

  Molly found a strange sense of pleasure sitting, in the dark, hidden from her arch nemesis, able to take her own pictures of late night shenanigans without Nora suspecting a thing. She couldn’t use the pictures. It would be obvious where they were taken and who was taking them. No, she didn’t need to blast them on Facebook to feel gratified; she just enjoyed having an upper hand, even if Nora hadn’t a clue. Game on. Time for a stake out

  Seth chuckled at the sight of her when she pulled the door to the shop closed behind her and locked it. She was dressed head to toe in black. She even sported a black beanie that held her two long braids. She took this late night undercover agents with bloodhound skills to a whole new level. Looking both ways, she launched from the outside wall of her shop where she was leaning and sprinted to his running vehicle.

  “Go, go, go!” she whispered as she slapped the dash with each go.

  He laughed at her sudden paranoia and asked, “Why are you whispering? Nobody can hear us in here.”

  “You don’t know that! Nora is everywhere. We can’t get caught, or we hand her the whole game, trophy and all!”

  “Trophy?” he laughed, “There’s a trophy involved now?”

  “Well, no…kind of. We need to win this!”

  “Okay, whatever you say, boss. Let’s go catch an old lady!”

  “Shhhhh, not so loud!”

  “We’re in a car!” he laughed.

  She spent the rest of the drive sitting low in her seat peering out her window and watching in the side view mirror until they pulled onto the street opposite of Nora’s. They parked between houses under an overgrown tree that shadowed the glow of the street light, to stay off anyone’s radar under the cloak of darkness. Their nighttime super sleuthing made them feel like stealthy clandestine spy ninja’s when they settled in with a clear shot of her house, lights off, at the end of her cul-de-sac ahead.

  “Were we followed?” he asked sarcastically.

  She gave him the side eye with a snarky glare before tilting her head to the side saying, “Ha, ha! And no, we weren’t…followed.” She replied, provoking a contagious laugh from Seth.

  Binoculars were passed between them through a long stretch of silence as they stalked their prey…Nora. Molly jumped when Seth finally spoke, offering her something to drink and a snack. Remembering she forgot to eat a suitable dinner, his timing was appreciated as was the small cooler he pulled out from behind the seat.

  To her surprise, his choice of snack was a gourmet sandwich from Sweet and Savory that included their famous German potato salad and several drink choices, not sure which she would prefer. Drink choices made, he pulled out a pastry box that smelled like post dinner heaven to taunt her with. He carefully thought of everything as if this was a date at a drive-in, Nora Kinkaid was the star of the B-list movie of the evening. She wished she had a case of rotten tomatoes to toss at her.

  Molly was pulled from her thoughts when the front window lit up and the porch light went on followed by the garage door opening. She scooted closer to Seth to get a better look at what was going on down the street. When she moved over, she was so close their bodies touched, sending a bolt of heat straight through her. She looked at him, caught off guard by the sensation, assuming he felt it too given his proximity and deep seductive stare.

  Undeniable chemistry lingered between them like a forbidden attraction. Seth’s crush began the day he set eyes on Molly, hers on his first visit to her shop. They were friends though, each thinking the other only saw and desired said friendship. Tonight was a game changer though. This wasn’t just friendship, nor was it only a physical attraction. It was something they couldn’t identify any more than it was something they could tame, and at the moment neither wanted to anyway.

  Seth tilted his head and leaned in for a sweet kiss. With their lips finally locked, sending another wave of heat, there was a loud wrap at the window startling both of them out of their heated lust filled stupor, sending Molly back to her side of the SUV. A flashlight shining in their faces, it didn’t take a genius to figure out who was standing outside the vehicle, Jonah Baudouin.

  “Evening, Sherriff.” Seth said sharply to Jonah who also happened to be his boss Adam’s brother. This was going to earn him shit for days at the fire station, he could count on that.

  “Evenin’. What are you folks doing out here? Got a call about a peeper. You out peepin,’ Spangler?” Jonah said with a sarcastic tone and smirk while flashing his light around in the vehicle taking inventory of the scene.

  “Just out for a drive…” he fired back with his own cocky stare.

  “Well, Spangler, this here is parking, not driving. So…you out parkin’ tonight then?” he asked before turning his attention to Molly. “Hey there Molly. How are you tonight? You here of free will, darlin’?”

  “Oh for Christ sake, Jonah…are you fucking kidding me? Of her ‘free will’?” Seth shot back clearly irritated.

  “I am, Sherriff. We were out for a drive. Seth pulled over so I could dig something out of the cooler here.” Molly voiced with her best smile and sugary voice.

  Trying not to give up their gimmick, neither could help but notice Nora backing out of her driveway and turning around to head their way. Of course she noticed the Sherriff’s car and his bright light so she paused long enough for them to see a flash from inside her car…a picture, great.

  “Seems someone was a bit worried about a suspicious parked car sitting out here…cat burglar and peeping tom was mentioned.” Jonah informed them.

  Nora-fucking-Kinkaid. He didn’t even have to say it.

  “Well unless you need to cite me with some sort of infraction,” infraction smothered in sarcasm, “we’ll be on our way. It’s getting late.”

  “Ya, ya…this is just a warning, Spangler…next time I won’t be such a nice guy. Take the l
ady out on a real date, man… A cooler? On the side of a street in the middle of the night?”

  “It’s not a…” Seth didn’t finish, because it was pointless. He was going to be the ass end of every fucking joke at the station for weeks, compliments of the Sherriff…asshole.

  “Hey, tell Shay I said hi! I’ll see her at book club!” Molly offered up as a last minute silent plea to get Seth off the hook…she was playing the friend card.

  “Book club…” Jonah shook his head and flashed his cocky grin. “She doesn’t even come home with books half the time…” and that was that. He walked away, laughing all the way to the car.

  “Hey, keep this between us, Jonah; I don’t need shit from Adam or the guys at the station!” Jonah tossed up a wave as he got in his squad car to drive off. Seth was certain that this was not the last he heard on the matter.

  Seth and Molly pulled out behind him, mission aborted, plan spoiled. They would have to pick up where they left off another night. Seth walked Molly to the outside entrance to her apartment, rather than going through the front of the store, and made sure she got in safely. A quick hug, and few words, that was the end of their disappointing first stake out. Score one for Nora, Seth and Molly a big fat zero.

  ***

  Nora Kinkaid strikes again! It wasn’t as though Molly or Seth thought they would get away with a free pass from the Facebook banshee, but actually seeing it stung a little. That little flash from Nora’s car the night before was exactly what they suspected, a picture of them in Seth’s vehicle with the Sherriff at the window. It wasn’t entirely obvious who was in the vehicle, but what wasn’t clear in the picture was certainly made obvious with the snarky comment that accompanied it.

  ‘Good golly, Miss Molly is keeping late hours canoodling with “fire”! Looks like a St. Helena fire favorite has a little SEXton on the mind! Indecent!’

  “Can you believe this woman?” Lexi asked as she was dropping off the day’s pastries.