The Sea Star Bakery: A Willa Bay Novel

by Nicole Ellis

  “It looks like you enjoyed it,” Dana said, bringing him back to the present.

  Kyle looked down at his plate, surprised to see that only one fry remained. He dipped it into the smidge of ketchup that remained and popped it into his mouth. “I did.” He grabbed a new napkin from the holder in front of him and wiped off his hands, while looking over at her empty plate. “You seemed to like yours too.”

  She laughed. “I did. I think we were both so hungry that we ploughed through them and forgot anyone else was here.”

  Guilt washed over him. He’d been so caught up in his own thoughts that he’d neglected her. “Sorry,” he said with a sheepish grin.

  “No worries.” She looked at the huge clock on the wall. “Our lane opens up in about twenty minutes. I hope the waitress gets over here soon with our bill.”

  He raised his hand to flag down the waitress. She came over to them and looked at their plates. “I’m guessing everything tasted good? Is there anything else I can get you?”

  “The food was great.” Kyle smiled at her. “I think we’re pretty full, though. Can we please get our bill?”

  “Of course.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of paper slips, then handed one to him. “You can pay up at the register.”

  “Thank you,” he said. He and Dana both stood and walked over to the cashier, where Kyle paid for their meal, leaving a generous tip. He’d worked at one of the cafés in town when he was in high school and knew how hard the waitstaff worked.

  “Thanks for dinner,” Dana said. “The shoe rentals and lane are on me.”

  He grinned. “Sounds like a fair trade.”

  They rented their shoes, selected bowling balls, then made their way over to their assigned lane.

  Kyle hefted his bowling ball in the air to test the weight. “I have to warn you, I’m not a great bowler.”

  She laughed. “Me neither, but I always have fun.”

  He released his ball down the lane, and they watched as it rolled straight toward the pins. At the last moment, it veered left and only took down half of them.

  “Not bad,” she said.

  They continued playing through to the last frame, Dana narrowly beating Kyle by a few points. Then they returned their shoes and walked out of the bowling alley into the parking lot.

  “Good game,” Kyle said.

  “I kind of impressed myself. I’ve never done that well. You must be a good-luck charm.” She grinned up at him.

  “Yeah, I get that a lot.” He laughed, then nodded in the direction of his car. “Did you drive here?”

  She shook her head. “No, I walked. My apartment isn’t too far away.” She motioned to the street behind them. “Only a few blocks down Eighth Street.”

  “I can give you a ride,” he suggested. “Or I could walk you home.”

  She gave him a long, assessing look. “A walk would be nice. Thanks.”

  They walked side by side until they reached her apartment on the first floor of a small building. She inserted her key in the lock and turned it, then looked up at him. “I had a nice time tonight.”

  He automatically said, “Me too,” only then realizing that he really had enjoyed being on a date with Dana. They’d always been good friends, so maybe there was a chance for more between them.

  She hesitated, then stretched up to kiss him quickly on the mouth. “Thanks for tonight.” She darted into her apartment before he could answer.

  “Goodnight,” he called to her as the door was closing.

  She stuck her head out, her eyes dancing. “See you tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Kyle said.

  The door shut, and he walked away slowly. She’d kissed him. It was the first time he’d been kissed by a woman who wasn’t Cassie or someone related to him. It had been so quick that he hadn’t known what to think at the time, but it hadn’t been what he would have expected. Her lips had been soft and her touch light, but he hadn’t experienced that same zing of attraction when their lips touched that he’d always had when kissing Cassie.

  You’re older now, he reminded himself. He and Cassie had been high school sweethearts. He couldn’t expect to find the same sort of all-consuming passion that he’d known as a teenager.

  So what if that feeling had persisted through their first few years of marriage? He and Cassie had split up because they’d grown apart instead of growing together. They weren’t the same people they’d been as teenagers, and they weren’t right for each other now.

  His heart clenched, and he forced himself to think about the future. It was time for him to stop focusing on what might have been and move on with his life. This first kiss may have been lackluster, but Dana was a beautiful, attractive woman, and any future kisses were sure to be better.

  10

  Zoe

  Zoe watched from the beach as Shawn, assisted by a man he’d hired to help, hoisted a pre-constructed section of rafters to the top of the gazebo’s frame. For as long as she’d lived on the property, she’d loved seeing the antique wedding gazebo perched high above the beach, overlooking the deep blue waters of Willa Bay. She imagined all of the happy occasions it had already witnessed, and dreamed about seeing it as the centerpiece for future weddings at the resort.

  Tearing down the old building had pained her, but the original wood frame had rotted out and couldn’t be saved. In its place, a new pavilion sprouted from the earth like the flowers growing and blossoming along the base of the Inn’s porch. In time, climbing roses would be planted around the gazebo’s foundation, intertwining through the latticework to lend privacy to the structure’s interior.

  Pebbles tugged at the leash, and Zoe looked down at him. He gave her a doggy grin, then trotted off down the beach, pulling the line taut.

  “Hey, wait for me.” She jogged after him along the hard-packed sand near the surf. With every step of her sneaker-clad feet hitting the ground, her anxiety eased. There were so many projects on her renovation schedule that were not going according to plan. Seeing the progress on the gazebo made all of that seem less worrisome, at least temporarily.

  Zoe and Pebbles continued their walk for another twenty minutes before climbing the stairs up from the beach. On the way back to the Inn, she took a closer look at the gazebo. The hired helper was standing on a ladder, fastening the final rafter onto the frame, but Shawn wasn’t there.

  “Hello,” Zoe called out.

  The man looked down at her and smiled. “Good morning.” Small hand tools hung from a belt around his waist, and he looked as comfortable balancing on the rung of the ladder as Zoe did on terra firma.

  “It’s really coming along.” Zoe scanned the structure, her chest filling with pride. She could hardly wait until they were able to host events at the Inn. “It’ll be gorgeous when it’s finished.”

  “It will be.” He turned slightly and fondly patted the nearest support. “With proper maintenance, this beauty should last you for the next fifty years.” He looked down at her again, grinning at Pebbles, who was straining at the leash and yipping at a robin hopping on the grass about ten feet away. “I think he’s ready to go. Did you need something?”

  She laughed, reining in Pebbles so he wouldn’t scare the bird. “I was wondering if you knew where Shawn went?”

  He shrugged. “He got a phone call from someone and said he needed to meet with them for an hour or so.” He pointed behind them. “The last time I saw him, he was walking toward the Inn.”

  She flashed him a smile. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.” He pulled a hammer out of his pocket and tapped on a nail that wasn’t quite flush.

  Zoe let Pebbles lead her away and indulged him for a few minutes in his quest to find the robin, who’d since flown to safety in a nearby tree. On the other side of the Inn, someone had parked an unfamiliar car in the circular gravel driveway. Was this Shawn’s mystery guest? Was it a potential contractor? Her spirits rose. Maybe it was a roofing company.

  “Pebbles! Time
to go home.” She tugged at the leash, and he reluctantly followed her up to the front door and into the house.

  Once inside, she unclipped his harness, and he ran off down the hall, probably searching for Celia. The voices of Shawn and an unfamiliar woman floated toward her from out of the living room. Zoe knocked on the closed door before peeking her head in. The two of them were seated at the dining table. The woman, who appeared to be in her late twenties, was dressed professionally in a fitted cap-sleeve blouse over a floral calf-length skirt. And, of all things, they were chatting about weddings at the Inn.

  Zoe entered the room, closing the door behind her and walking over to them. “Hello.” Ordinarily, she wouldn’t interrupt Shawn when he was meeting with a contractor, but all the contractors she’d met previously lived in a uniform of jeans and a T-shirt, and she’d never heard them mention weddings.

  Shawn gestured for her to join them. “Zoe, I want you to meet Tia. She’s a wedding planner too.”

  Zoe held out her hand and smiled politely at the woman, but she still wasn’t sure what was going on. “Nice to meet you, Tia.”

  Tia shook Zoe’s hand with a firm grasp. “Nice to meet you too.”

  “Do you have time to join us?” Shawn asked Zoe.

  She looked between the two of them. “Uh, sure.”

  Shawn pulled out the chair next to him, and she sat down, folding her hands in her lap.

  “I know how much stress you’ve been under with the renovations, and it’s only going to get worse as you start meeting with potential clients prior to our grand opening.” His eyes were full of concern, and Zoe’s heart melted. She was constantly amazed with how attuned he was to her needs.

  She nodded. “True. But I can handle it.”

  Shawn gave her a half-smile. “I know you can, but I don’t think you should have to do it on your own. Meg and I are both so busy, and, frankly, we’re a little out of our element when it comes to planning events.” He cast a glance at Tia. “I was thinking it might be good to bring someone else on to help you with potential clients.”

  Ice ran through her veins. Prior to quitting her job at the Willa Bay Lodge, she’d been in line for the event manager position – that is, until the owner’s son-in-law had been offered it instead. The Inn at Willa Bay was her baby – her chance to create the premier wedding venue in the area. She fought to control her reaction and speak diplomatically. “I don’t think I need any help with events.”

  Shawn and Tia exchanged glances.

  “Do you mind if I speak with Zoe alone?” Shawn asked Tia.

  Tia’s gaze flitted over to Zoe, then back to Shawn. “No, of course not.” She eyed the window overlooking the front porch. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d love to check out the grounds. When I arrived, I saw some beautiful flowers I’d like to get a closer look at.”

  Shawn nodded. “I’ll meet you out there in a bit.”

  Tia stood and exited the room. From the hallway outside the living room came a faint click as the front door latched shut behind her.

  Zoe turned to Shawn. “You went behind my back to hire someone to take my place?” Her gut ached like she’d been kicked, and unseen pressure squeezed at her ribcage. What had Shawn been thinking? He had to have known she wouldn’t want this.

  “I wasn’t trying to go behind your back. Cassie mentioned that Tia was new in town and interested in taking on more clients. I know you’ve been stressed lately, and I thought this might take some of the burden off of you.” He searched her face.

  She glared back at him. “So, you don’t think I can handle it.”

  He sighed. “No, it’s not that – really.” He reached his hand out to her, but she didn’t move any closer. “Look, we don’t have to hire Tia, but can you please give the idea a chance? She seems like a nice woman and could be a huge help to you – and all of us.”

  Zoe pushed her chair back from the table and got to her feet. “I can already tell you, my answer is no.”

  “Zoe …” Shawn implored. “Please consider it.”

  She shook her head. “I need to get out of here for a few minutes.” She’d just been outside, but the walls of the house were closing in on her, and she felt an overwhelming urge to leave. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? Please tell Tia it was nice to meet her.”

  In hopes of not running into Tia – or anyone else, for that matter – she exited the house via the back door. Once outside, she gulped in the fresh air and walked rapidly across the grassy lawn to the safety of the woods surrounding the cottages along the cliff. Instead of entering her own home, she continued on past it.

  Most of the other cottages were run-down and hadn’t been occupied in years, but Shawn had recently moved out of the main guest house and into a cottage close to hers, which he’d fixed up to a livable condition. After the current renovations were complete, they planned to remodel the barn into a restaurant and then would focus their third phase of construction on the row of cottages on the cliff.

  Zoe picked her way around the tree branches and brambles that had taken over the road. Once upon a time, it had been a one-lane gravel path, just wide enough to allow the resort’s guests to access their accommodations by vehicle. She kept going until she’d passed the last building, almost on the edge of the resort’s property, then ducked through a gap in the overgrown brush. When she emerged, she was standing in the middle of a small, natural clearing.

  She’d discovered this spot last summer, and it had become one of her favorite places. She climbed onto the trunk of a massive tree that must have fallen during a storm years ago. Up here, she had a bird’s-eye view of the entire stretch of beach below the resort, and could even catch a peek of the marina miles down the road.

  She leaned against a sturdy tree branch and hugged her legs to her chest. Bringing the Inn back to life was a dream she’d never thought possible. But here she was, a part-owner of the resort, and with any luck, they’d be hosting their first guests in a few months. The Inn would offer the most beautiful and special wedding venue in all of Willa Bay, and she was a part of it. So why did everything seem so hard?

  Had she made a mistake in quitting her job at the Lodge? After the owner’s son-in-law had taken over managing events there, she’d been miserable at work. But it had been a steady paycheck, and she hadn’t been responsible for renovating an entire resort and promoting it to potential guests.

  She’d never been so naive to think owning a resort with her friend and new boyfriend wouldn’t come with its own hardships, but she hadn’t expected it to be this difficult. Meg wasn’t around as much as Zoe would like, but that wasn’t Meg’s fault either. They’d jointly made the decision for Meg to keep her job for the time being.

  Zoe sighed. Most of all, she worried about how the stress of renovations was affecting her new relationship with Shawn. She didn’t want this to come between them, but with the roofing debacle and Shawn bringing Tia to the Inn, it had.

  She was under a lot of pressure, though, and she knew Shawn had only been trying to protect her. Had she overreacted? She stretched out her legs and wiggled them awake before jumping down to the ground. Whatever the case, avoiding Shawn wasn’t going to make anything better.

  11

  Cassie

  Cassie stared at her computer screen. Maybe if she focused on them for long enough, the numbers on her spreadsheet would change. No matter how she arranged the figures, money would be tight after she received her last steady paycheck from the Willa Bay Lodge. She glanced at the Mickey Mouse calendar on the wall above the desk in her kitchen. Only one more week. One more week, and she’d officially be self-employed.

  She rubbed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. It had been a long day already, and the kids would be home from school any minute. From the desk, her cell phone buzzed, and an unfamiliar number filled the lit screen.

  “Hello?” she answered.

  “Hi, Cassie. This is Andy with Avery Construction.”

  “Oh, hi.” She and Andy had bot
h grown up in Willa Bay and had been friends since elementary school. When Cassie had signed the lease papers almost two weeks ago, Edgar had given her free rein to transform the interior of the building – on her dime, of course – so she’d contracted with Andy’s construction company to take care of the necessary renovations. They’d been at work since Edgar handed over the keys on Monday.

  “I’m calling because we came across something while we were tearing out the old drywall, and I thought you’d want to know about it.” He paused, waiting for her response.

  Her blood ran cold. She’d seen her share of reality TV remodeling shows. It was never a good sign to have your contractor call you out of the blue with news about finding something. What could it possibly be? An issue with removing the wall? Termites?

  She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. The ink was barely dry on the lease, and she was already running into problems. Although she was fairly certain she wasn’t responsible for termites, any issues could put her behind schedule, and she needed to get the bakery up and running as quickly as possible.

  “What did you find?” She gripped the phone, her gaze straying to the remodeling budget line on her spreadsheet. How much was this going to cost her?

  He cleared his throat. “It’s the strangest thing. One of my men pulled out a chunk of the wall across from the counter and found a mural or something behind it.”

  Her heart beat faster. “A mural?”

  “Yeah. It looks like someone painted the ocean and coastline on the original wall.” He laughed. “It’s pretty good, actually. I think it might be really old, so we thought you should take a look at it before we finish removing the drywall.”

  Cassie stood from her chair and paced the length of the kitchen floor. The kids would be home soon, but this sounded like something she needed to take care of immediately or the workers wouldn’t be able to continue. “Okay. I’ll be there in about half an hour. Thanks for letting me know about it.”