by Kim Boykin
“Yeah,” Declan said. “Both of us missed out.”
“Saw that place you got on Main Street. You think you can make a go of it?”
The gallery was opening in a couple of weeks. Instead of being high end, it would house selected originals until they were shipped out to other galleries, but the focus would be on selling affordable prints and giclees of his work and other Lowcountry artists like Jonathan Green and Douglas Grier. He’d hired a sharp guy in Charleston who had worked in galleries for six years and had a marketing degree. Sam had some good ideas and was excited about making fine art more accessible to the public.
“I’m going to try.”
“You putting down roots?”
“Gonna try that too. Closing on the Renault place at the end of the month.”
His dad nodded, still looking out across the water. “I’m gonna miss her,” he said.
“Me too, Dad. Me too.”
Declan wasn’t in any hurry to get home. After he checked on his dad around lunchtime, he met up with Sam at Magnolia Bay Cooks! to discuss the menu for the gallery opening. As the finest caterer in town, Diana Brock could give the best restaurants in Charleston a run for their money.
Neither he nor Sam was complaining when the “tasting” went on for three hours. The only problem was, every dish tasted better than the last, making it impossible to choose. Both he and Sam had made notes on the scorecard-type menu Diana had given them, but everything was so good, it all kind of ran together.
“Too much basil?” Diana asked, as the two of them barely nibbled a goat cheese tart.
“No,” Declan said. “It’s all great, Diana, but I can’t eat another bite.”
“Me neither,” Sam said, patting his stomach.
“But you have to choose, Declan,” she said.
“Wasn’t in your job description, buddy, but this one’s all yours, Sam.”
“Taking one for the team,” Sam said and popped the rest of the tart in his mouth.
“Thanks, man,” Declan said. He’d ridden to the tasting with Sam, but could easily walk to his home from Magnolia Bay Cooks! He stopped in front of his gallery but didn’t go in. The ancient pine floors that had looked horrible when he took ownership of the building gleamed, and a crew of electricians was hanging the last of the lighting.
He walked by the old Five and Dime that was now occupied by Big Jack Mauldin’s headquarters for his gaudy Arcadia Dunes development. Sad, no one had preserved the building. It didn’t look anything like it did when Declan was a kid. He’d spent hours there reading comic books, looking at toys. His first bike had come from that store. Even at seven, he knew what layaway was, knew there was no nice man with a white beard doling bicycles out.
The wind changed directions bringing the smell of Rocco’s pizza mixed with the salt air. The restaurant was sandwiched between a year-round Christmas store called Christmas Past and a new kids’ clothing shop called the Princess and the Pirate. Declan had worked at Rocco’s a few nights a when he was in high school and had gotten fired for carving a girl’s name on one of the wooden booths in the back. He wondered if it was still there.
Man, he’d hated Magnolia Bay growing up after his mother died, couldn’t wait to get out. But as he was walking down the brown cobbles that dated back over two hundred years, the place felt like home. He didn’t understand why, but Shelby felt like home. He wished he’d been paying attention back then, especially when they were in college. If he knew he’d feel the way he did about her now, things might have been different. He might have been different. Made her his.
It was almost four o’clock when he took a left on Bayshore Boulevard, headed to his house. Never in a million years did he think he’d own anything like the beautiful Charlestonian mansion. At first he’d rented the house as an in-your-face gesture to his dad, but Declan had grown to love the place for the architecture and the incredible view of the bay, and he was excited it would soon be his for keeps.
Walking up the stone walkway, he stopped short at the sight of a woman sitting on the porch.
She stood. An almost sly smile curved her lips.
“Elizabeth? What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Is that anyway to greet you fiancée?” she purred, moving toward him.
He pushed past her and unlocked the door. She followed him inside.
Chapter Thirteen
Shelby was still reeling hours after Elizabeth Lloyd sashayed out of Slick Chicks. She had her back to the door and was getting her purse to leave when the bell over the door sounded. “We’re closed,” she snapped. “We open tomorrow at—.” She looked up to see Matt Baker standing there.
“Don’t throw me out, Shell.”
“That’s exactly what I’d like to do until your head explodes. Does Chelsea know you’re here?”
“No.” He held his hands up in surrender. “And I deserve that.”
“Oh, you deserve a lot more than that, buster.” Shelby moved toward him and he backed up. “First you want kids, then you say you never wanted them. You broke my sister’s heart, Matt. If you think you’re getting a hall pass for that, you’re dead wrong,” she said, wishing she had Hannah’s gun.
“Look, I know I screwed up. I did want kids, as much as Chelsea did.”
“That’s not what you told her a few months ago before she landed on my doorstep,” Shelby snapped.
“You don’t know what it was like watching her world come to an end every month she didn’t get pregnant. She wanted it so badly, it scared me.” He shoved a hand through his blond hair. “I wanted to give her a baby. More than anything. After trying for so long, when that didn’t happen, I just wanted her to stop trying. To just choose me and just be happy.”
“But you told her you never wanted kids.”
“She saw a mom with a baby in the pool and she fell apart. We were on our honeymoon. I was angry. I was a jerk.”
“So, what took you so long to come looking for her?” Shelby bit out.
“Truth? I thought I could live without her, but I was wrong,” he said, his voice breaking. “I love her, Shelby; my life is shit without her. If she wants to adopt a million babies, I’m good with that. I just want my wife back.”
“So why are you here, Matt?” Shelby said, softly. “Why aren’t you over at my house, begging her forgiveness?”
“Because you matter to Chelsea. What you think matters to her. If I can’t convince you, I don’t have a prayer with her.”
“Some things never change,” Elizabeth purred from the couch. But that wasn’t true. Something was changing in Declan. He didn’t understand it at all, but he was hoping to get some answers from his fiancée or ex-fiancée. “No matter how much money you have, you’ll never try to impress a girl with a three thousand dollar bottle of wine.”
For Shelby? He’d buy her a three hundred thousand dollar bottle if it would get her to talk to him, but she wasn’t the kind of girl who was impressed by expensive things. Except maybe shoes; he knew for a fact she liked those. “Grocery store wine won’t kill you, Liz.” He sat down beside her and tasted the wine. It was okay, but then everything lately had been just okay.
“We’ll see.” She smirked and then winced at her first taste.
“Wanna tell me why you’re here?” With three shopping bags full of clothes from Shelby’s shop. Shit. He wondered what melodramatic bullshit his ex had spouted. She hadn’t been like that when he’d first met her, but a few acting classes later, it was hard to tell where Liz began and the actress ended. “And you’re wearing the engagement ring I gave you?” WTF
She sighed and held her left had out to admire the six carat diamond. God, he should have seen what a mistake he was making when she insisted on that flashy ring. “We had a good thing going, Declan. You picked out the cheap wine, and I picked out the diamonds. It worked.”
“For about ten minutes. So, are you going to answer my question, or are you going to drink my wine and admire that gaudy thing?”
Sh
e leaned forward to make sure her assets were perfectly showcased and gave him that pouty look she always suckered him in with. “I need you, Declan.”
“Since when?” He laughed. She smirked, moving closer until her leg was against his. She ran her hand up his thigh, pressing her breasts into his side. She knew how to work it, he’d give her that, but as drop dead gorgeous as she was, she didn’t do it for him anymore.
“Since I got offered a show.” Yep, this was his Liz. Always looking for the publicity she craved like a drug. “And before you say no—”
“No.” He moved away from her.
“Declan, just listen. Please,” she whined. Pouty sexpot lips. “The producers of the bride reality show are doing a show about rekindled romance. Our romance.”
“But there is no romance; we’re not even a couple anymore, and, to be honest, Liz, I’m not sure there ever was.” There’d been plenty of lust and sex and some fun times. But not nearly enough to say “I do” for. “We both wanted different things. You wanted your spotlight—”
“And you were just in love with the idea of being in love.”
Was he? At the time, he thought he really had loved Liz, but clearly he had not. Did he ever love Holly or Denise? Or was he, like Liz said, just in love with the idea of being in love? None of those breakups had affected him the way Shelby’s avoiding him had. He’d simply moved on, no harm, no foul. But now, he wasn’t moving on.
Was that why he felt so shitty? Because he was in love with Shelby Worthington?
Before he realized what had happened, Liz was practically in his lap. “Please, Declan, do this one little thing for me. The producers want to shoot here in Magnolia Bay. The house is perfect. Well, almost. Of course we’d have to change out some of the furnishings, and—”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Will you give me a chance to change your mind?” She was laying it on thick with a sultry look.
“No. But will you do me this one thing? A kindness?” he asked.
“Sure I can’t change your mind?” she asked.
“I’m positive,” he said, taking her hand. “But I want to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest with me. Did I suck at love?”
She threw her gorgeous head back and laughed. “I can’t believe you have to ask, Declan. You left me at the altar, and I wasn’t the first bride you ran away from.”
“So you think I did it because I suck at love?”
“I think you ran because you didn’t love me enough to spend the rest of your life with me. And to be honest, you did me a favor. If I hadn’t gotten all that extra media attention, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the movie I start filming next summer or the offer to do another reality show.”
He squeezed her hand and let it go. “I’d rather throw myself naked in an oyster bed than do another one of those damn things again, but I am sorry you’ll lose the show, Liz.”
“Oh, they want me. They’ve given me carte blanche to come up with the format. I just thought the rekindled romance angle would be a huge hit. Your Twitter and Facebook numbers were through the roof for the bride’s show. Not as big as mine of course, but the camera loves you, Declan. You have fans who love you.”
“And you?” He laughed.
“You’re easy on the eyes, but, no. I don’t love you.”
He nodded at the shopping bags. “I see you found Shelby’s boutique.”
“Is she your—” Her face went red as her hand flew over her mouth. “Is she the girl you’re in love with?”
“Yeah, I love her.” Man it felt good to say it out loud. Unfortunately, he was telling the wrong woman.
“Oh, God, Declan.” She was shaking her head. “Oh no.”
“What did you do, Liz?” he growled.
“I might have flaunted my ring and talked about my fiancé. And maybe I bought some really naughty things. She probably thought—”
“Shit, Liz. What were you thinking?” Worse yet, what was Shelby thinking?
Chapter Fourteen
Slick Chicks looked like the scene of a potential intervention. Shelby had been closed for two hours and was on the floor with shoeboxes strewn all around her. The lights were out in the store, and the place was dark except for the faint light from the front window displays. A box of handmade chocolates from the new shop two doors down was open, nine of those little paper wrappers were balled up and scattered about. And she was crying.
Shelby never cried. But seeing Matt, how very much he loved her sister, she couldn’t help but shed happy tears. Those lasted for about ten minutes, and he left before her crying jag deteriorated into a pity party. As happy as Shelby was for her sister, she wanted what Chelsea had so badly, she could hardly breathe, and then she tried another pair of shoes on, hoping to feel better.
But like any addiction, after the twenty-second pair, the drug wasn’t nearly as potent, the chocolate tasted just so-so, and she was left with the heartbreaking truth that she wanted Declan Enright more than anything, but she couldn’t have him. Or, more precisely, Miss Tall Sexy and Gorgeous had him, and there was no way, Shelby could compete with her.
She shoved another chocolate in her mouth. Why hadn’t she just given Declan a chance when he’d asked her to? Because she was stupid and a great big chocolate-eating chicken. And she was scared. He still scared her.
“What is wrong with me?” she whined with her mouth full.
“Absolutely nothing.”
Her head jerked up to see him there, so serious. Great, he was probably here to tell her about the fiancée. Or, oh shit. She scrambled to her feet with a five-inch heel on one foot and a cute Stuart Weitzman flat on the other. “Is Will okay?” she gasped struggling for her balance.
“He’s fine,” Declan said, slipping her shoes off. “But I’m not. I miss you, Shelby. I’m miserable without you. And looking at the shoes and the chocolate, I’m hoping to God you miss me too.”
“What about your fiancée?” Tears streamed down her face. “I saw her. And the ring.”
He stepped toward her and she took a step back, her eyes searching his. “She’s not my fiancée; she’s not the woman I want.” He reached for her hand and pulled her into him. And then everything stopped. Her heart. Her breath. Time. “You said you wanted a husband and kids and a picket fence. The Historical Society would have a cow, but I’ll give you a goddamn picket fence if that’s what you want. I’ll give you anything if you’ll trust me with your heart.”
She shook her head and swiped at her tears. “But you left all those girls at the altar, Declan, and I don’t think I could survive that. You can’t commi—”
“I can for you. I will for you. Just give me a chance, Shelby.”
Could she trust him? Was the fourth time the charm?
“I’ve never been in love before, Shelby. God, I don’t even know if I’m doing this right, but you’re it for me. You’re my last and my first. My forever.”
Her heart was beating out of her chest; the bottom had fallen out of her stomach, making her feel like she was teetering on top of a million shoeboxes stacked to the sky, and Declan was just above her, daring her to reach for the stars. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
Chapter Fifteen
Nine months later
Declan pulled the old truck into his dad’s driveway and hurried up the walkway just as the old man opened the door. “I’m coming. I’m coming,” his father had snarled without nearly the bite his words had had when Declan first moved back to the Bay. His father had handed over his keys without a word two months ago, only after he backed over a neighbor kid’s bike. Nobody was hurt, but the look on his dad’s face said he knew it was time.
“Where’s Shelby?” His dad slammed the truck door and rolled the window down and let in the crisp January salt air.
An hour ago, she’d been underneath Declan, screaming his name. He loved her body. Craved her. And didn’t know why something so very new felt like home until she told him he’d been her first
lover. He hated that he still didn’t remember that night, but he was going to make damn sure he was her last. Her always.
She’d moved in with him four months ago, and since that night in her store when he told her he loved her, she’d gone out every morning on the boat with him and his dad.
“She wanted to get her run in. She’ll meet us there.”
His dad nodded, looked him in the eye and growled. “Don’t screw this up, boy.”
“I won’t, Dad. Promise.” And he wouldn’t, not if he could help it. One thing he knew, after Shelby let him into her heart, was that things were different, or he was different, because what he had with Shelby was real. Yeah, as much of a manipulative nutcase as Liz was, she’d been right, he had been in love with the idea of being in love. He knew that now because what he felt for Liz and Holly and Denise was nothing compared to how much he loved Shelby.
He pulled the truck into the marina parking lot. Didn’t help his dad to the boat because that was a good way to set him off, but he did watch the old man carefully. He was definitely more jaundiced, moved a little slower, but he was taking his meds and doing the best he could. Especially where Declan was concerned.
He heard her footsteps pounding the dock and watched his dad’s face light up. She jumped off of the gangplank onto the boat and gave his father a huge hug. “Morning, Will.”
“There’s my girl,” Dad growled with a bashful grin. “Sky’s clear. Gonna be a good one today.” His dad nodded at the sun that was peeking above the horizon as they headed out toward their spot. Declan sat with his arms around Shelby, thanking his lucky stars that she was his. The salt spray misted them. She pointed toward a pod of dolphins that were racing ahead. Aside from being inside her, this was the best part of Declan’s day.
His father killed the engine. Packed his pipe and tottered toward the bow where Declan was wrapped around Shelby. “You’re right, Will. It is going to be a good sunrise,” she said.