by Nicole Ellis
“I know,” he said. “I’ll figure something out to fix this.”
“And you almost got me killed by not having a ladder,” she accused him.
A nerve on his forehead pulsed. “You could have helped more with the setup. Why did I get stuck with all the outside setup while you were only in charge of lining up a few brochures inside?”
She stared at him. “You never asked me for help. When I said something to you, you said you had everything under control. I didn’t feel like you wanted me to help.”
He sighed. “I know.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I thought I did have it under control.” He looked miserable and she immediately felt bad about being so harsh on him.
“It’s okay. We’re still figuring out this partnership.” She patted him on the arm. He smiled at her and she withdrew her touch before he got the wrong idea. “I’ll go home and get a new tent. My friend has one she uses for the summer market, which doesn’t start until June.” She grinned. “And I’ll bring my telescoping ladder so neither of has to visit the hospital emergency room on Monday.”
“Thanks.” He wrapped his arms around her in a giant bear hug. Before she realized what she was doing, she laid her head on his chest and melted into his embrace. After the stress of the morning, it felt good to be comforted. Then she pulled away. “I’d better get to Candle Beach to get that tent.”
“Okay.” He grinned. “I’ll have the caterer set up next to the house.”
She returned his smile. Maybe they’d make good partners yet.
“This has been the most exhausting weekend of my life,” Gretchen said. “I’m so glad it’s over.”
“We sold four houses.” Parker shrugged. “I’d say that’s an accomplishment.”
“But now for the cleanup.” The catering crew had left at five when the Memorial Day weekend event ended, but their job was just beginning.
“We’ve got to get this back in order.” That would be an all-night job on its own. They’d shown the model home and reviewed floor plans with potential customers all weekend. Other than basic maintenance, they hadn’t put much focus on organizing the model home after each long day. Boxes of brochures were pushed haphazardly against a wall and the garbage bins overflowed with red plastic plates and discarded barbecue items.
The event had been a success, but now they had to pay the price.
“Where should we start?” he asked.
“Let’s start outside,” she replied. “Then we can come inside toward evening when it gets chilly.”
He nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll get the trash bags.”
Next to the model home, the caterers had removed their cooking paraphernalia, but the canvas tent she’d borrowed from Dahlia remained, as did several bags of garbage. They hauled all of the garbage down to the curb for Tuesday’s trash pickup and folded the tent back into the bag. The wind had blown napkins and paper cups around the development, so they spent the next two hours gathering stray garbage. When they couldn’t see anything else to pick up, they returned to the house.
Gretchen collapsed on a patio chair on the back deck. “It’s like someone threw a raging house party. But without the fun of it.” She rubbed her back.
“No kidding.” Parker leaned back in a lounger and put his feet up. “That’s why I never was the one who threw the parties in college.”
They sat that way for a few minutes, enjoying the water view.
“Hey, I saved us some hot dogs, do you want one?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said. “But then we’ve got to get back to cleaning.”
He flashed her a smile, then retrieved two hot dogs from the fridge.
“Do you want yours heated up?” He held the two plates on one arm and grabbed two Pepsi colas out of the refrigerator.
“No.” It had been a long day and she just wanted something to eat. They sat down at the umbrella table on the deck. She guzzled her soda, savoring the coolness. They sat together in companionable silence.
She peeked at him from behind her soda can. He was quiet, sipping his Pepsi and staring out at the ocean thoughtfully. After the first mishaps with their sales process, they’d developed a good system and had handled everything well over the weekend. Working with him had turned out to not be so bad.
He set his can down on the table. “You ready to start on the inside?”
“Not really, but let’s get it over with,” she said.
Together, they straightened the stacks of papers, hid the boxes away in a closet and restocked the floor plans. He wiped down the kitchen counters while she swept the main floor.
It was dark outside when they finished. She felt drained, but at the same time, exhilarated. They’d made it through a big marketing push and sold four homes already. Most of all, working with Parker had been a positive experience.
They turned off the lights and walked out to the front porch. The street lights were on, but the area where they’d parked their cars wasn’t lit. He walked her over to her car. She put her hand on the door handle and turned back to him, not wanting the weekend to end.
“Nice night out.” He jangled his car keys in one hand while looking up at the moon.
“It is,” she agreed. The profile of his face glowed in the moonlight, mesmerizing her.
He turned, as if he knew she was watching him. He looked at her and smiled.
His eyes drew her in like a swirling whirlpool that she couldn’t get out of. He put his hand on her shoulder and she instinctively moved toward him. He leaned down, planted a soft kiss on her lips, and then stepped back, as if to judge her reaction. She stood motionless for a moment. What had just happened? She was completely over him, right? So why had it felt so good?
“What was that?” she asked in a breathy voice.
He shrugged. “It seemed like the thing to do. You looked so beautiful standing there.”
She stared at him, not knowing what to say or think. They’d worked so hard to get an amicable working relationship in place, and now this. Wordlessly, she got into her car.
He got into his own car and drove away. She watched him leave and then put her head on the steering wheel. What was going on? Did she still have feelings for him?
15
Tuesday morning came too soon. The sun shone through the kitchen window in the carriage house’s studio apartment and burned into Gretchen’s eyes. She groaned and rolled over in bed, covering her head with a pillow. Reilly barked at her a few times from his perch on the loveseat.
Groggily, she sat up in bed. She needed to take Reilly out for a morning walk before work. Although she took him to Kyra’s Doggy Daycare on days she worked, she liked to get some quality time in with him before dropping him off. She regarded her nighttime attire. She’d left her work polo shirt on when she went to bed. Good enough. She pulled on some jeans and a sweatshirt and plodded over to the door. Reilly trotted eagerly behind her.
After Reilly was taken care of, she was slightly more awake but badly in need of coffee. She made a cup of coffee and a piece of toast and carried them over to the kitchen table. While eating alone, she had way too much time to think about Parker and the kiss they’d shared the night before. Did it mean something to him? She’d been exhausted and her defenses were down, but it had felt surprisingly real.
Her alarm rang to notify her it was time to leave for Oceanview Estates. She’d worked out a deal with her parents to work at Candle Beach Real Estate on her two days off and work five days a week for Martin. Mondays and Tuesdays were Parker’s days off, so she’d be alone at the sales office today.
She dropped Reilly off at doggy daycare and arrived at work five minutes late, but there wasn’t anyone else in the parking lot. After the rush of prospective clients over Memorial Day weekend, today would seem anticlimactic. She unlocked the door to the model home and sat down at her desk to review some paperwork. She noticed she was out of some of the floor plans, so she wrote a reminder on a sticky note and affixed it to her desk. S
he needed to find the box where they kept the floor plans, but she wasn’t sure where Parker had stored them.
She gazed out the window and the temporary parking lot where he’d kissed her drew her attention, bringing back all the emotions of the night before. Her skin tingled and flushed at the memory and she crossed the kitchen to grab a drink of water from the sink.
The sound of crunching gravel outside pushed away her unprofessional thoughts. She smoothed her skirt, walked to the front door and pasted a big smile on her face.
A woman in her mid-forties had exited her car and was assessing the development with a critical eye.
Gretchen called from the porch, “Can I help you?”
The woman’s gaze snapped to her. “Yes, I was just admiring the views from here. I’m living in Haven Shores right now, but I work in Candle Beach, so I drive past this development every day. I’d love to live closer to work.”
“Well, I can help you with that.” She smiled at the woman and held out her hand. “I’m Gretchen.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Natalie.”
“This is a wonderful development,” Gretchen said. “You’ve already noticed the views, which will be visible from every house in the development, but let me show you an example of the interior.” She smiled and motioned to the front door of the house.
“That would be great.” The woman followed her inside.
Gretchen showed her the different floor plans and the examples of interior finishings. As she ticked off the items on her ‘must show’ list, she gave herself a silent high five. She was on her game. Maybe this would be sale number five and her first solo sale.
“I’d like to see the lots now.” The woman walked over to the back patio for a moment. “Which of the houses will have the least obstructed view?”
“That would be the Cliffside lots or even those at the crest of the hill,” Gretchen said. “Which would you like to see first?”
The woman thought for a moment. “I’d like to see the Cliffside lots.”
A thrill shot through Gretchen. They were the most expensive of all the lots. If she could sell one of those on her own, the commission would be huge.
As they walked the few blocks to the lots Natalie wanted to see, Gretchen made small talk.
“So what do you do in Candle Beach?” she asked. “I’ve lived there for most of my life, but I don’t think we’ve met before.”
“I’m a lawyer at Franklin and Franklin. The elder Franklin retired last year and they brought me on to help out.”
“Ah, that makes sense. I’ve known the Franklin family for years. How do you like working in Candle Beach? It must be different working in a small town.”
“You know, I wasn’t sure when I started, but I really enjoy it. I have more time to get to know my clients. Candle Beach is such a cute town and I’d love to live there. Or here, if the house meets my needs. I don’t know how I can pass up these views.” She stared in appreciation at the ocean below.
When they reached the Cliffside, Natalie went off to explore the lots on her own. Gretchen stood to the side to allow her some privacy. She stared off into the vast expanse of ocean and her mind drifted back to the kiss she’d shared with Parker. Which led her back to thoughts of their romantic date at Arturo’s and the Haven Shores boardwalk. Was there a possibility of rekindling things? Or had last night been an accident not to be repeated?
A voice broke into her reverie. “Gretchen.”
Natalie stood in front of her, looking quite irritated.
“I’m sorry, did you say something?”
“Yes, I’ve asked you three times about which floor plans are available for that lot.” She pointed at the middle lot in the Cliffside section.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you.” Gretchen consulted her notes. “It looks like the Haven and the Pacifica plans are available on that lot. Each of those is over 4,000 square feet.”
The woman nodded. “Good, I’d hoped for the Pacifica plan.”
“Would you like to take a look at the plan again? I’ve got it right here.” She fumbled in her folder for the floor plan, but wasn’t able to find it. “I know I had it here.”
Natalie gave her an exasperated look. “Can we go back to the model home and look at it? I’d like to take it home to show my husband.”
“Sure, no problem.”
They sat down at her desk and Gretchen opened her desk drawer to grab a Pacifica floor plan. The sticky note reading, “restock floor plans” caught her eye. She groaned silently. Thoughts of Parker had distracted her and she’d forgotten to get them.
“I seem to be out of them. If you’ll wait here, I can go get some from the back room.”
Natalie stood. “I’ve really got to get to work, I have a client meeting. I’ll stop by some other time. Thanks for your help.” She rushed out of the sales office.
Gretchen leaned back in her chair. She’d lost a sale that could have potentially been the biggest of her career. And all because she’d been thinking about Parker. The unbidden thought swirled around in her head. She had to keep her eye on the prize, or rather her goal to get out of Candle Beach. Parker was a distraction from that goal. Nausea churned in her stomach at the thought of giving up any possibility of a relationship with him, but she knew it was a necessary sacrifice to reach her goals.
When Gretchen arrived at work on Friday morning, Parker was already there. He jogged up to her in the parking lot as soon as she exited her car.
“Hey, good to see you.” He smiled at her, but there was uncertainty in his eyes.
“Good to see you too. How’s business?” She circled widely around him, determined not to get too close. “Did you make any big sales?”
“I had a few people say they were coming back this weekend with their spouses. One in particular seemed really interested. I think she said she was a lawyer in Candle Beach.”
She closed her eyes for a second and then opened them to make eye contact with him. “Did she say her name was Natalie?”
“Yes, I think so. I have her business card inside.” He gave her a quizzical look. “Do you know her?”
“She stopped in here on Tuesday, but had to rush off for a business meeting.”
“Oh,” Parker said. “She didn’t mention meeting you. I spent quite a lot of time with her.”
They’d had an unspoken rule that whoever worked with a prospective client first would earn the commission unless otherwise discussed. But was that fair in this situation? If Natalie and her husband came back and bought the most expensive property in the development, which of them should get the commission? She didn’t respond to him. If Natalie did return, they could deal with it then.
“So, do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
“About what? That woman?”
“No. About the kiss on Monday night.” He brushed his hand through his hair.
“We were both exhausted. It didn’t mean anything.” She pushed past him to get into the model home. This mess with Natalie reminded her of how dangerous it could be to get involved with him.
He cornered her at her desk. “It didn’t feel like nothing.”
“Well, it was.” She turned on her laptop. “If you don’t mind, I’ve got work to do.” It seemed to take forever for the computer to boot up.
He stared at her. “Sure, no problem.”
Gretchen raised her face to the late June sun and relished the warmth. It felt good after being stuck inside day after day. Between her two jobs, she hadn’t had a day off in over a month and it was starting to wear on her. Dahlia had called her that morning while she was with a client at Candle Beach Real Estate. She’d left a voicemail asking for her to come to the To Be Read booth at the summer market over her lunch break.
The market was in full swing at noon and she had to weave her way between people balancing loads of veggies and flowers to get to the bookstore’s booth. A small child engrossed in licking a gigantic ice cream cone bumped into her as he walked past with his mother.
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“Sorry!” he cried. His weary mother looked over her basket of fruit and shook her head. “Sorry,” she mouthed as they walked away.
Gretchen smiled. If she had an ice cream cone that big in front of her, she wouldn’t want to take her eyes off it either.
“Well, I almost got a photo of you covered in ice cream,” someone teased her from behind.
She turned.“Adam, hi.” He wore a casual t-shirt and khaki shorts, with his camera hanging on a strap around his neck.
“How’s it going? I haven’t seen you around much.”
“I know. I’ve been really busy with work, both at the new development and in town. It’s been a crazy summer.”
He nodded. “We should get together sometime and catch up. I’d love to hear about your new job.” He grinned at her.
Her mind raced. Was he asking her out on a date again? If so, did she want to go out with him? Dating a guy she wasn’t friends with first hadn’t worked out so well for her. There was something to be said for knowing someone for a long time. At least with Adam, she knew what she was getting.
“Sure, that would be great. It’s been a while since we hung out.” She smiled at him. Adam was a nice guy, so why not take a chance on him? After all, she was totally over Parker, right?
“Really? How about Friday? We could grab dinner.”
“Sounds good. Maybe around six?”
“Six it is.” He smiled at her again.
Then Dahlia waved at her from across the green.
“Oh, I’ve got to go. I’m meeting Dahlia.”
“See you Friday.” He waved at her and then wandered off with his camera up to his eye.
Gretchen approached Dahlia’s booth.
“Hey, you made it.” Dahlia got up and hugged her friend. “I wasn’t sure you got the message.”
“Yep, and I’m happy to be out of the office. This sun feels great.”
“You are looking a little pale,” Dahlia said. “You need to get out more.”