Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set: Love in Bloom

by Magda Alexander

  Jace shook his head.

  “Been around since the twenties. They say gangsters used to meet here, those real cool ones in the suits and wing-tip shoes and shit.”

  “Yeah?”

  The kid nodded, his face awash in admiration for another time and place. “That must have been the place.”

  Jace headed for the restaurant without another word. The voice in his head hadn’t stopped whispering. The place. Why did the words resonate so much? At the front door, he stopped in his tracks. That’s it. That’s my answer.

  Maybe he could have both. Maybe he could find a way to make the business deal work for both him and Pearl. And Dolly. He pulled open the heavy door, wheels turning in his mind. And maybe Marshall and Evans would laugh him out of the restaurant.

  Still, it was worth a try. Once a McClintock decided to go through with something, woe to the person who got in his way.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Pearl and Dolly finally made it home around midnight. Some of their neighbors and shop owners up on Venice Avenue had dropped by to help, and though a professional cleaning company would have to repair the smoke damage, the diner had almost looked like itself by the time they finished.

  “It’s not that bad; we’re very lucky,” Dolly kept saying as people stopped in and called with their concerns, and Pearl knew she was right. Still, every time she looked at the buckets full of dirty water and the blackened shop front, she wanted to cry.

  The electric company had fixed the transformer early in the evening, so they’d had light to work by, and around ten Dolly made everyone burgers and fries.

  “Thank you, thank you,” she said as she passed out plates of food. She circled the diner, hugging their friends and longtime customers and acting like they’d just stayed open for a special dinner celebration instead of trying to mop up a giant mess and restore a building that had already been balancing on its last unsteady legs.

  “Well, that wasn’t the way I expected to spend today,” Dolly said as she shut off the porch light and locked the door. In the kitchen, under the fluorescent fixture, the circles under her eyes stood out like dark bruises. She wiped her hand under her nose.

  Pearl hugged her, hard. “I’m sorry.” Dolly’s shoulders shook, and for a long time they simply stood there, mourning, fatigued beyond words. Finally Dolly straightened. With a pat on Pearl’s back, she took the teapot and held it under the faucet. “Want some?”

  Pearl shook her head. “Think I’ll just go to bed.”

  Her aunt nodded.

  “What happens tomorrow?” Pearl asked, one hand on the stair railing.

  Dolly pushed her hair from her face. Loose strands had long since fallen from the twist at the back of her head. “I have to confirm with the cleaning company first thing in the morning. Hopefully they can fit us in, and then…” She turned off the faucet an instant before the teapot overflowed. “Then I guess we’ll see.” She didn’t look at Pearl as she set the pot on the stove.

  “You’re not -” Pearl couldn’t finish the question. A lump crawled into her throat.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Dolly answered. She rubbed her hands together, wrinkled from being in and out of water all day. “I do know that everything happens for a reason, same as I’ve always said, and that I need to take a good, long listen to the universe to see what it’s telling me this time.”

  Pearl nodded, her chest tight. In the past year they’d suffered through the hurricane, Bill’s death, and now their current situation. As much as she wanted to hold tight to everything that was left, maybe the universe only sent so many subtle messages before it finally shouted, Hey, you! Wake up! Time to let go of the familiar and get the heck out of Dodge.

  But letting go from her moorings had never been Pearl’s strong suit. Too much unknown waited out there, once you left shore.

  She climbed the stairs and collapsed on top of her bed, without even taking off her shoes or pulling down the covers. Sleep came immediately, deep and heavy, and only once did she dream of a tall, brown-haired man who reached out his hand and urged her to take it. When she woke the next morning, she couldn’t remember if she had, or if she’d simply looked at it, too far away, and watched it disappear in the fading sun.

  *****

  Pearl rolled over, squinted, and threw both arms over her face to block out the sun.

  “Hello? Honey?” Dolly tapped on her door.

  “Mmmph.” She kept her arms where they were.

  “I’m going to the diner.”

  Pearl blinked against the flesh of her forearm. “What time is it?”

  “A little after noon.”

  In slow motion, she dropped her arms and sat up. As if nothing at all had happened the previous day, the sun streamed into her bedroom. Birds chirped outside her window from where they sat in the clementine tree. “I can come, too.” She yawned. “I just need to shower first.” She looked down at herself. Shorts, long-sleeved shirt, and sneakers. And - ugh, a very bad odor emanating from her.

  “Take your time. There’s no rush.”

  “Did you hear from the cleaning company?”

  Dolly nodded as she leaned in the doorway. She wore a red jogging suit and matching red sneakers and looked about fifteen years younger than her age. Pearl marveled at her resilience. “They’re coming around three.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there by then.”

  “I put coffee on,” Dolly said as she closed the door. Her footsteps faded down the stairs, the kitchen door opened and closed, and the house was quiet again.

  Pearl slid off the bed and reached inside her purse for her phone. Dead. Well, of course it was. She hadn’t charged it since the day before. She plugged it in and headed for the shower, determined to scrub away the fire and her dreams and focus on moving forward, helping Dolly, doing whatever she could. Little steps. One at a time.

  By the time Pearl emerged from the bathroom, smelling and feeling a lot more like herself, her phone was fully charged. Five messages waited. Towel wrapped around her head, she pulled on a t-shirt and jeans. The first, third, and fourth were from friends who’d heard about the fire and wanted to know if they could help. The second and fifth were from Jace.

  She dropped the towel on the floor and combed the snarls from her hair. His first call had come a couple hours after the fire.

  Hey, Pearl. Just wanted to see how you guys were doing.

  Well, that could have meant anything from Hope the fire’s out to I’m sorry this happened and I couldn’t stay to help. She yanked the comb through a stubborn curl and listened to the next message, which had come that morning .

  Hi again. Listen, I’m sorry things ended like that yesterday. Can we talk? I’d really like to see you.

  She lowered her hand to her lap. He wanted to see her? He was sorry? Butterflies did a swooping dance inside her chest. Of course, he wasn’t saying anything had changed. He wasn’t calling to tell her the Evans deal was off. In fact, she’d be surprised if he hadn’t told his bosses about the fire. But before she spent the next hour over-analyzing Jace’s motives, she picked up the phone.

  He answered on the second ring. “Hey. I’m glad you called.”

  “Hi.” Nerves dried up her mouth.

  “I have something to tell you,” he said.

  “Good or bad?”

  “I think it’s good.” He went away from the phone for a minute, and she could hear the muffled sound of conversation in the background. A woman’s voice. Laughter. Then high heels clicking away. “Sorry,” he said when he came back on. “So I was thinking…” He trailed off.

  “What?”

  “Meet me at the diner tonight. Around nine?”

  “It’s closed then.” Her jaw snapped shut. Who cares if it’s closed? That means you’ll have him all to yourself!

  “I know. Dolly told me.”

  “You talked to her about it?”

  “Kind of.”

  Pearl’s head spun. “What does that mean?”


  He chuckled, and the sound of it brightened the whole room. She smiled, happy down to her bones. I like this guy. Really, really like this guy.

  “Meet me there at nine,” was all he said. “It’s a surprise. Something special.”

  What happened between yesterday and today? she wanted to ask, but she didn’t dare. If Jace had come to some realization, and it was culminating in a late-night tryst that involved the two of them and no one else, then far be it for her to question.

  “Okay.” She dropped her robe and traced the skin of her belly. Heat rose on her flesh from the thought of him touching her. Kissing her. For so many years, she’d dreamed about that man. Maybe Dolly was right: the bumps in the road only made you appreciate the ride that much more. “I’ll be there.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Pearl floated through the rest of the afternoon about a foot above the ground.

  “Hi!” she said as she burst through the diner door. Somehow in the light of day, it didn’t look as bad as it had last night. Or maybe it was the rose-colored glasses which had fixed themselves to her face after Jace’s phone call.

  “Well, hi yourself,” Dolly said. She was re-taping cardboard into place over the broken front window. A faint smoke smell still lingered over the diner, but the piles of dirt and glass were gone, along with the awning outside and the garbage bags they’d left at the curb after finishing the cleanup. “Looks like someone got herself some coffee.”

  “Coffee. Yes.” Pearl slid onto a stool and spun in a circle. “It doesn’t look too bad, does it?”

  “Not at all.” Dolly laid the roll of duct tape aside as her phone beeped with a text message. For someone who hadn’t owned a cell phone until a year ago, Pearl’s aunt had turned into a savvy techie. She studied the screen, her brow furrowed in deep concentration. With careful thumbs, she typed a message in return.

  Pearl spun herself again, little-girl happy. “What do you need me to do?” She hopped off the stool. “Is the cleaning company coming? Do we need money? Should I go to the bank?”

  “My goodness, how many cups of coffee did you have?” Dolly laughed. She shook her head. “I don’t have to give them anything today. They’re just doing an estimate.” A shadow crossed her face. “I’m not sure we have enough to pay them straight out, anyway.”

  “What about insurance?”

  “It won’t come right away. I filed the forms this morning, but -”

  “Is there someone I can call? To put a rush on it? Or I could probably go over to the local office and talk to someone.”

  Dolly walked over and pressed her hands on Pearl’s arms, as if stilling her. But Pearl didn’t want to be stilled. She wanted to float, to fly, to dance through the hours until she saw Jace again.

  “Oh, I wanted to ask you,” she said, insurance money forgotten for the moment. “Jace said he talked to you about meeting me here tonight?” Her cheeks flushed and she waited for the teasing smile, the twinkle in her aunt’s eye. And what might that meeting involve? Dolly would ask.

  But instead her aunt just nodded. “Oh, yes. He asked for a key.” She searched her pockets, distracted. “I told him I had an extra.” She looked up at Pearl with concern. “But he didn’t…I thought -” She stopped. “Never mind. I’ll leave it up to him.”

  “You’ll leave what up to him?”

  Dolly’s phone beeped again, and she pulled it out. “You know what, honey? I have to run over to Englewood and take care of some things. I’m going to close up. Go enjoy yourself this afternoon. I’ll give you a call later and we’ll talk, okay?”

  “Uh, okay.” She stood there for a moment, startled at the abrupt dismissal. Talk about what? she almost asked but then thought better of it. Dolly probably had a hundred things to do to get the diner open again, and if she wanted to do those things alone, then Pearl would let her.

  Besides, she knew just where she’d spend this perfect afternoon.

  *****

  A golden orb in the sky. The waves pulsing on the shore. Seagulls squawking and swooping above her. And her toes in the sand, warm and gritty. Pearl leaned back on her palms and watched the sun inch toward the horizon. She’d spent all afternoon walking this length of beach. She knew the rock formations by heart. She recognized the fishermen who cast their nets and poles from the pier. The smells and sights of the Venice beaches were ingrained in her blood.

  How could she ever leave?

  Yet the longer she walked, the calmer her pulse became. She’d always have the ocean in her blood — how could she not? But maybe Jace was right. Maybe letting go was the first step in finding something new. She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun. She’d spent her life here. She couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t know how to swim. The tide in her ears was as normal as breath.

  Maybe that meant she could take it all with her.

  Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket.

  How are things? Dolly asked.

  Good, Pearl typed back. Enjoying some alone time on the beach.

  Nice. Are you okay for dinner by yourself? I got hung up at the lawyer’s office and still have some other errands to run

  Sure, Pearl typed before she could ask why Dolly was at the lawyer’s office. Did that have something to do with the insurance money? Her thumb rubbed along the screen of the phone, and she almost wrote another text to ask.

  Then she changed her mind. She’d worry about that later. Right now, she had four hours and counting until she saw Jace again, which left her just enough time to eat something at home, then shower and doll herself up for their diner date. As she stood and dusted the sand from her palms, her mind flashed back to the night of Jace’s graduation.

  Pearl smiled as the waves lapped against her bare toes. Let’s hope there’s more of that tonight. Five years and that man still turned her heart inside out. At sixteen, she hadn’t known how to tell him that. He’d kissed her, and she hadn’t said a word, and he was gone the next day. She wasn’t letting that chance slip by a second time. Whatever happened later that night, and wherever it took her, she’d be ready.

  *****

  “I’d like to see it again,” Carl Evans said. “Tonight, if possible.”

  Jace checked his watch. This hadn’t been part of the plan. At half-past six, he needed to be back at his apartment, showering and deciding what to wear. But the deal teetered on the edge of closing just the way Jace had hoped it would, so what Evans wanted, Evans was going to get.

  “I could arrange that.” Jace drummed his fingers against his desk. Most people had left the office for the day. Jace himself hadn’t meant to be there, but a late-afternoon meeting with a new client had pushed back his paperwork, and he’d stayed at his computer long after the other associates.

  “You said you talked to her, right?” Evans leaned against Jace’s desk, not bothering to sit or put himself at Jace’s eye level.

  “I did. I didn’t quite -”

  Marshall rapped on the open door. “All good in here?”

  Both men nodded.

  “Just finalizing some details,” Jace said, his throat tight. Six forty-five. He’d planned to leave Tampa by eight, but now it looked as though that time might have to be moved up. In a hurry.

  “How about eight-thirty?” Jace asked Evans. “I can meet you there.”

  “Fine.” With a short nod, the man straightened. “I’ll let my driver know.”

  A driver. Of course. As if Carl Evans might take the wheel himself. Jace loosened his tie as he and Marshall disappeared down the hall. Jace couldn’t imagine letting someone else take him where he needed to go, even if he did become a millionaire someday. Driving on the open road was one of life’s small pleasures. So was meeting a beautiful woman for dinner without anyone else around. He wondered when the last time the three-times-divorced Carl Evans, or the perpetually-single Marshall Reagan, had done that.

  Jace stuffed the unfinished paperwork into his briefcase, locked his office door behind him, and hurried for the stairs
. Enough of that. Right now he had to figure out how to get rid of Evans in time to meet Pearl at the diner. This was one hell of a mess he’d gotten himself into.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Pearl changed her clothes three times. First denim shorts and a navy t-shirt. Too casual. Then her favorite red sundress, slit up above the thigh. Too presumptuous. Finally she settled on a blue-and-white print maxi skirt and a cropped white shirt, with the tiniest bit of skin showing when she raised her arms.

  Perfect.

  Flip-flops for comfort, and her hair loose around her shoulders. A little makeup, a squirt of perfume, and she was ready. Her stomach danced as she ate a dinner of tuna salad on crackers, all she could manage.

  Why am I so nervous?

  She’d spent four days on a cruise ship with the guy, for goodness’ sake. She’d certainly been alone with Jace before. But somehow, it suddenly felt different. A deeper resonance in his voice, the way they’d left things so emotionally charged the day before…the possibilities and what-ifs muddled in her mind, and finally she poured herself a glass of white wine to calm them.

  Seven o’clock.

  Seven-thirty.

  She washed the dishes, finished her wine, thought about a second glass, then replaced the cork and set the bottle firmly back in the fridge.

  Dolly hadn’t come home yet, and she hadn’t texted either. Pearl hadn’t realized there was so much to take care of. Probably, she should have offered to help, though she doubted Dolly would have let her. Now that she thought about it, her aunt had been pretty close-lipped about anything to do with the diner recently. No mention of phone calls from Marshall or Carl Evans at all.

  “I hope she’s not thinking about selling it.” Pearl checked her makeup one last time and then headed out the door. She couldn’t sit around the house another minute. She’d get to the diner early, maybe set out some candles for ambience. Maybe she’d even leave a note for Jace on the front counter, saying something about needing his help in the back hallway, where they’d first kissed all those years ago.