by Karis Walsh
Tam gave an indignant gasp and then held Maggie against her and tickled her side until she breathlessly begged her to stop.
“Say you’re sorry first,” Tam said, wrapping her arms around Maggie’s waist.
“Fine, I’m sorry I called your boat—”
“Not to me. To my boat.”
“Okay, okay,” Maggie said with a laugh. “I’m sorry, tiny boat…”
Tam laughed along with her and settled Maggie between her legs, with Maggie’s back pressed against her chest. “We’ll need to work on your respect for this craft,” she said. “But we’re both willing to forgive you and bring you aboard as first mate.”
Maggie turned her head and kissed Tam, lingering as their joking and playfulness subsided and her arousal grew. “First your secretary and now your first mate? We’ll need to discuss a role reversal before this relationship goes any further.”
Tam rested her hand on the side of Maggie’s face and kissed her again. “Then, in the interest of moving this relationship into the cabin, I’ll give you an immediate promotion.”
Maggie twisted around and rested her body flush against Tam’s. “As long as the boat has a bed, it’s big enough for me.” She kissed Tam with all the passion they’d shared in the pond, but without the need to push her away and force distance between them. Never again. She broke away from the kiss with all the willpower she could muster. “I’d like a tour of the cabin right now, please.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Tam said with a grin.
Epilogue
Mel rearranged some bottles of liquor on the small mahogany table to make room for the covered containers of cherries and lime wedges. She flipped through the thick stack of papers on her clipboard until she came to the page labeled Bar and crossed off the two items. Then she went over to the long folding tables lining the back wall of the studio and mumbled to herself as she made sure everything was in place. Stainless-steel chafing dishes and decorative glass dishes stood on the sea-foam green linens, ready to be filled with either hot or refrigerated food. Everything Mel could leave on the table during the ceremony was already there—pale peach plates and napkins, freshly baked rolls, and big bowls of early-summer fruit.
She went over her to-do lists one more time before looking up from her clipboard with a huge sigh. Hosting weddings at the inn was one of the most time-consuming and stressful parts of her job, but also her very favorite. She agonized over every detail even though she’d done so many weddings by now, she had the routine down cold. The responsibility of caring for a couple’s most important day was overwhelming, especially when the brides were her close friends.
Mel looked around the studio. The artwork usually took center stage here, but for this day it was relegated to a back corner. The task of moving the fragile items used to be easy, but now that Aspen was working here with Pam, there were large sculptures to move as well as Pam’s easels and canvases. Mel walked among the pieces, making certain any interested guests could move among them without jostling anything. She noticed a few new student sculptures and drawings in the mix. Heather was taking her role as Pam’s new partner seriously, and she’d kept a steady flow of visiting artists coming through the studio. The blend of ideas and approaches was exciting to Mel, both because the studio was a popular place for the inn’s guests to visit and mostly because she could see how much the fresh input invigorated Pam.
Mel turned away from Aspen’s recent work, a stunning life-sized nude female. The woman was twisting away from the viewer, and a curtain of hair and a raised hand kept the form general and not recognizable as a specific person, but Mel was pretty sure the model was Heather. She shook her head. TMI. The finished sculpture would be a gorgeous addition to any home or gallery, but Mel felt a little awkward looking at it too directly when she spent so many evenings sitting across a dinner table from Heather herself, either here at the inn or in Pam’s old beachside bungalow where Heather and Aspen now lived.
“Anyone order a cake?” A familiar voice interrupted Mel’s musings. “Oh, hi, Heather. I didn’t see you there.”
Mel came out from behind an easel and laughed when she saw Helen pretending to address Aspen’s statue. Helen and Jenny were carrying a piece of plywood with an enormous sheet cake on it.
Jenny gave a loud wolf whistle. “Looking good, Heather. But when the invitation said casual attire I don’t think it meant stark naked.”
“You two have to stop or I won’t be able to look the real Heather in the eye when I see her today,” Mel said. She looked at the cake Helen had made in the shape of a large open book. Beautiful cursive writing in icing spelled out the phrase The story of my life began the day I met you on the pastel fondant. “Helen, it’s lovely. What a perfect design for them.”
“It’s lovely and heavy,” Jenny commented with an exaggerated sigh.
Mel took one edge of the plywood and helped them carry the cake over to a table near the dance floor. She was more than delighted to hand over the job of cake baking to Helen these days. Before the Sand Dollar Bakery had become a fixture at Cannon Beach, Mel had made most of the cakes for weddings at the inn. The tiers were a nightmare to assemble, and the most intricate decorations she could make were frosting roses. Once they set the cake in place she leaned over and examined it more closely. “You do such marvelous design work.”
“Maybe you can ice a blouse onto Heather over there,” Jenny said, wrapping her arm around Helen’s shoulders as soon as her hands were free.
“I have an extra apron in the car. She can wear it during the reception.”
“Come on, you two.” Mel put her hands on her hips and tried to speak with mock severity, although her laughter betrayed her. “Aspen’s just expressing her love. It’s sweet.”
Jenny tilted her head and regarded Mel for a few moments. “Did Pam express her love through oil paintings when the two of you first got together?”
“Of course not,” Mel said. She felt her cheeks burn and knew she must be bright red. “Well, there might have been some sketches, but nothing we’d put on display.”
Helen turned to Jenny. “I’ll bet they’re in her bedroom. You distract her and I’ll go search.”
“What’s so funny?” Heather joined their trio. She still dressed in tailored and pressed clothes as if she was heading back to her old banking job, but Mel saw the transformation in Heather’s face. Her expression was soft and happy, a far cry from the tension and uncertainty she’d shown when she’d first arrived at the ocean.
“We were talking about Naked Heather,” Jenny said, gesturing toward the statue. “We’re debating whether to frost her or cover her with an apron.”
“Jenny!” Mel exclaimed at the same time that Helen punched Jenny lightly on the arm.
“Neither one,” Heather said indignantly. She looked at the statue and grinned. “I like her just the way she is.”
Mel excused herself from the laughing group when she saw Maggie and Tam entering the studio. As she left, she overheard Helen making a comment about some risqué drawings Pam had allegedly made. She wrote a quick note on her clipboard to lock the door leading down to the bedroom she shared with Pam in case one of the three went searching for them.
“How are you feeling, Tam?” Mel asked, giving her and Maggie a hug. Maggie’s gold locket gleamed against her simple ivory dress and her red hair was clipped off her face. She looked as radiant as her twin had when Mel saw her this morning. Tam, in contrast, was too pale and she leaned against Maggie for support.
“I’m fine,” Tam said, then she shrugged. “To be honest, I feel about as ill as you and Pam looked when I took you sailing. But in another week or two I’ll be back to normal.”
“And your father?”
Tam and Maggie exchanged glances. “His prognosis is good,” Maggie said. She rested her hand on Tam’s chest, just above her heart. “Thanks to Tam.”
Mel nodded and didn’t pry. She had never been told the details of Tam’s relationship with her dad, but she knew
enough to realize it was a touchy subject. Tam had made it through her surgery and she had saved a life, and that was all Mel needed to know.
“I’m very glad to hear it.” She held out her arm. “Why don’t we find you a seat in the garden, Tam? Jocelyn is upstairs getting dressed and probably wants Maggie’s help.”
Maggie kissed Tam and left to find her sister. Mel thought Tam might brush off her offer of support, but she linked her arm with Mel’s and they walked slowly out to the garden.
“Did you hear how she proposed?” Tam asked.
Mel stopped in surprise. “Maggie proposed to you? How wonderful!”
Tam laughed. “Yikes, no. Not yet. I mean we haven’t…I meant Ariana.”
Mel smiled. Tam wasn’t nearly as pale anymore. “Oh, my mistake. No, I haven’t heard the story yet.”
“She told Jocelyn it wasn’t fair that she always recommended books to other people, but no one did the same for her. So Ari gave her one to read. She’d bound a collection of her journal entries starting from the first day she met Joss. The last entry apparently was all about how much she loved Jocelyn and wanted them to spend the rest of their lives together.”
Mel sighed and started walking again. “How beautiful.”
“I know,” Tam agreed.
Mel stopped by a chair near the spot where Maggie would be standing during the ceremony and helped Tam settle in it. “I’d never have pegged you as a romantic.”
“Me either,” Tam said. She rested her hand on her lower abdomen and winced slightly as she shifted in her chair. “Until I met Maggie. She changed everything. They wanted to postpone the wedding in case I wasn’t well enough to come. I told Jocelyn I couldn’t think of a better place to recuperate than here, celebrating with them.”
Mel heard the wonder in Tam’s voice. Had Tam ever before experienced anything like the sense of family Maggie had brought into her life? She brushed her hand over Tam’s shoulder. Whatever healing Tam needed after her surgery, both emotional and physical, Mel was certain Maggie would help her through it.
*
Almost an hour later, Mel had finally laid aside her clipboard and was sitting next to Pam in the garden. The cry of a lone seagull whirling overhead blended with the pure scent of salt and enveloped them in the ocean’s distinct atmosphere. An old sailboat and some flowering shrubs decorated the small alcove, but Mel never had to add decorating to the myriad details she oversaw before a wedding. The curve of Haystack Rock, defined by sharp edges of basalt, and the thump and swoosh of the waves hitting the beach and then receding made this area more special than cut flowers or streamers could ever do.
Ariana and Jocelyn stood in front of everyone and recited the vows they had written. While Jocelyn was speaking, a soft breeze teased a few strands of her auburn hair free from their tidy coil, and Ari brushed them back in place with one gentle finger. Mel sighed and squeezed Pam’s hand. This ceremony was a formal declaration of their commitment, but small gestures like Ari’s seemed to show real love even more clearly.
Mel glanced at Pam and saw her watching the gull soaring on invisible currents. It was nearly a year to the day after the oil spill had threatened to strangle the life out of their home. Mel hadn’t been certain their business or town would survive the disaster, but here they were in a garden, at a wedding, surrounded by friends and love. The community hadn’t let the spill destroy them. Instead, the tragedy had opened hearts and lives in unexpected ways.
Pam looked at Mel and gave her a smile tinged with the depth of the past year. Sadness and hope mixed together. She lifted Mel’s hand to her lips and kissed it before cradling it on her lap.
Mel smiled, too, and returned her attention to the ceremony. The little gestures meant the whole world.
About the Author
Karis Walsh is a native of the Pacific Northwest and an adopted citizen of Texas. When she isn’t wrapped up in a book—either reading or writing one—she spends her time with her animals, playing music on her viola or violin, or hiking among the prickly pears.
Other Karis Walsh Titles Available Via Amazon
Books Available From Bold Strokes Books
Best Laid Plans by Jan Gayle. Nicky and Lauren are meant for each other, but Nicky’s haunting past and Lauren’s societal fears threaten to derail all possibilities of a relationship. (978-1-62639-658-6)
Exchange by CF Frizzell. When Shay Maguire rode into rural Montana, she never expected to meet the woman of her dreams—or to learn Mel Baker was held hostage by legal agreement to her right-wing father. (978-1-62639-679-1)
Just Enough Light by AJ Quinn. Will a serial killer’s return to Colorado destroy Kellen Ryan and Dana Kingston’s chance at love, or can the search-and-rescue team save themselves? (978-1-62639-685-2)
Rise of the Rain Queen by Fiona Zedde. Nyandoro is nobody’s princess. She fights, curses, fornicates, and gets into as much trouble as her brothers. But the path to a throne is not always the one we expect. (978-1-62639-592-3)
Tales from Sea Glass Inn by Karis Walsh. Over the course of a year at Cannon Beach, tourists and locals alike find solace and passion at the Sea Glass Inn. (978-1-62639-643-2)
The Color of Love by Radclyffe. Black sheep Derian Winfield needs to convince literary agent Emily May to marry her to save the Winfield Agency and solve Emily’s green card problem, but Derian didn’t count on falling in love. (978-1-62639-716-3)
A Reluctant Enterprise by Gun Brooke. When two women grow up learning nothing but distrust, unworthiness, and abandonment, it’s no wonder they are apprehensive and fearful when an overwhelming love just won’t be denied. (978-1-62639-500-8)
Above the Law by Carsen Taite. Love is the last thing on Agent Dale Nelson’s mind, but reporter Lindsey Ryan’s investigation could change the way she sees everything—her career, her past, and her future. (978-1-62639-558-9)
Actual Stop by Kara A. McLeod. When Special Agent Ryan O’Connor’s present collides abruptly with her past, shots are fired, and the course of her life is irrevocably altered. (978-1-62639-675-3)
Embracing the Dawn by Jeannie Levig. When ex-con Jinx Tanner and business executive E. J. Bastien awaken after a one-night stand to find their lives inextricably entangled, love has its work cut out for it. (978-1-62639-576-3)
Love’s Redemption by Donna K. Ford. For ex-convict Rhea Daniels and ex-priest Morgan Scott, redemption lies in the thin line between right and wrong. (978-1-62639-673-9)
The Shewstone by Jane Fletcher. The prophetic Shewstone is in Eawynn’s care, but unfortunately for her, Matt is coming to steal it. (978-1-62639-554-1)
Jane’s World by Paige Braddock. Jane’s PayBuddy account gets hacked and she inadvertently purchases a mail order bride from the Eastern Bloc. (978-1-62639-494-0)
A Touch of Temptation by Julie Blair. Recent law school graduate Kate Dawson’s ordained path to the perfect life gets thrown off course when handsome butch top Chris Brent initiates her to sexual pleasure. (978-1-62639-488-9)
Beneath the Waves by Ali Vali. Kai Merlin and Vivien Palmer love the water and the secrets trapped in the depths, but if Kai gives in to her feelings, it might come at a cost to her entire realm. (978-1-62639-609-8)
Girls on Campus, edited by Sandy Lowe and Stacia Seaman. College: four years when rules are made to be broken. This collection is required reading for anyone looking to earn an A in sex ed. (978-1-62639-733-0)
Miss Match by Fiona Riley. Matchmaker Samantha Monteiro makes the impossible possible for everyone but herself. Is mysterious dancer Lucinda Moss her perfect match? (978-1-62639-574-9)
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