by Delia Latham
“Look, Daddy, it’s Autumn!” Dalynn jumped up and shoved her way around him, making a beeline for the counter. “You found my Daddy’s booth. This is it. See, we’re right here.”
“Well, look at that…you sure are right here,” Autumn cooed. “I’m glad I got to see your pretty face again.”
Dalynn giggled, and Kelly handed over the small starter pot of honeysuckle fuchsia tucked into a cellophane wrap and tied with a thin ribbon the same color as the blooms.
Autumn reached across the counter and put the plant in Dalynn’s hands. “Would you give this to your Daddy, please? Tell him I said thanks for being such a gentleman.”
Russ found himself unable to cough up a single word in response.
The redhead winked at his daughter. “I sure hope we see each other again sometime.”
Then she turned and sauntered off into the crowd, perfectly rounded hips swaying just enough to capture Russ’s undivided attention. Darned if the feisty little thing hadn’t gotten the last word.
4
“You’re sure you don’t want to stay and get a mani/pedi with me?” Ceci tried the pouty face that almost always worked.
Autumn steeled her spine and shook her head. “Not today. Not in the mood.”
They were in The Lighthouse, Shay Light’s salon for all things having to do with pretty fingers, toes, and hair. Autumn liked to look nice as much as any other woman, but today, she simply didn’t feel like dealing with girl talk and wet nail polish.
Shay, the perky pixie-woman, was cute and bouncy and almost magical. She and Ceci deserved some time to renew the friendship they’d left behind in college. Autumn didn’t mind at all. Ceci could have all the friends she wanted…as long as they were women.
What itched Autumn’s skin was the whole Gabe thing—love and romance and marriage. After all they’d endured when their own parents abandoned the USS Matrimony, and all the other marriages they’d watched fizzle out after the initial blinding flame of love, Ceci ought to know better.
She owned a highly successful boutique, and offered exclusively designed products for her wealthier customers. Ceci Designs was fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in the California fashion industry. Cecily Adams was nobody’s fool, and yet, here she was, caught up in the ridiculous throes of infatuation, calling it love, and believing it was real.
With Shay also goo-goo-eyed over her fiancé, Greg, the Lighthouse conversation today would be hard for Autumn. No matter how pristine her intentions, her tongue would get away from her, and she’d say something outrageous—but true—and break her promise to Ceci.
With that in mind, she opted to explore the shops of West Village alone, leaving Ceci and her friend to sing the glories of love and the virtues of the “perfect” men who’d claimed their hearts.
“I’ll call you when I’m finished,” Ceci promised. “Maybe we can all have lunch together. Shay?”
“I’d like that, but it kind of depends on whether I have customers. I welcome walk-ins, and sometimes they drop in just before the lunch hour.” She giggled. “Not exactly at noon, right? Because then I could say, ‘Sorry, I’m just closing for lunch. Be back in an hour.’ No, they come in at eleven-thirty, while I’m finishing a customer that’s already here. And once they’ve waited that long, I can’t bring myself to tell them I’m closing. I just take a late lunch when that happens.”
Ceci laughed. “OK, Autumn. I’ll be in touch.” She hugged her and winked. “It seems I have a bit of business protocol to teach my funny friend.”
With a chuckle and wry shake of her head, Autumn took her leave. Shay was in for something more than talk about romance. Ceci would never be stuck in her boutique during the lunch hour, not unless a customer—and it would have to be one with a big pocketbook—had made special arrangements beforehand.
She wandered in and out of the touristy retail shops, many of which sold unique items she’d never seen. Apparently, Cambria was home to a good deal of creative talent. In one gallery alone, she viewed an entire range of creative arts, from stunning oil paintings and watercolors to intricate wood carvings, stained glass creations that took her breath away, and even jewelry designed and handmade locally.
She was particularly drawn to a couple of paintings by an artist named Logan Bullard. His work had been showcased in all three of the galleries she’d visited. Most were seascapes that drew Autumn right into the scene, but one gallery displayed a Bullard piece that left her breathless. A lovely, green-eyed woman dressed all in white knelt in a grassy glade with a young deer. The fawn nuzzled the beauty’s long, silvery blonde hair. The woman’s arms encircled the animal’s neck. Phenomenal. Autumn had to force herself away. The painting would without a doubt cost far more than she could afford.
Wandering into a display of wood carvings, she smiled. Front and center of the sizeable selection, a gorgeous blue jay caught her eye, reminding her of the brave little songster who’d welcomed Ceci and her to Paradise Pines. Autumn picked up the bird, noticing the sticker on the bottom. Declan Keller, Keller Art. Hadn’t that name been hanging over one of the booths at the Independence Day event? She set the bird down and turned away. Beautiful piece. Hefty price tag.
“Autumn!” A delighted shriek cut through the quiet of the gallery.
Her head snapped toward the source of the ruckus.
Russ Amundsen was shushing his daughter.
Despite her smile at sight of the child, Autumn heaved an inward sigh. Could she go nowhere in this town without running into the grumpy gardener?
“Hi, Dalynn!”
The little one wrapped both arms around her waist. “I’m looking for a birthday gift for my mommy.”
“That’s nice, sweetie. What kind of gift did you want?”
“Something beautiful!”
“Well, of course. Every mother deserves something beautiful for her birthday.” Charmed once again by the adorable tyke, Autumn grinned.
“Will you help me?” The child hopped from one foot to the other. “Please, please, please?”
“Dalynn. I’m sure the lady has better things to do than—”
“I’d love to.” Autumn had an uncontrollable obstinate streak and the troublesome trait chose just that moment to make an appearance. “What does your mommy like?”
“Uhm…” Big, blue eyes clouded. Dalynn chewed at her lip, her little brows knit. She lifted a troubled gaze. “Daddy, what does Mommy—”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Get her a mirror. She’ll love it.”
Autumn stifled a gasp.
Russ really had that whole “rock man” thing going today, right down to the flint-hard tone of his voice.
“Well, that’s doable.” Desperate to prevent the tears in Dalynn’s eyes from overflowing, she took the child’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Come on, sweetie. We’ll find Mommy the prettiest mirror ever.” She shot a scathing glance in Russ’s direction.
He stood with his eyes closed, regret almost visibly etched into his face.
She bit back the cutting words that trembled on her lips and addressed Dalynn instead. “I saw a lovely mirror in a store I visited just this morning. Maybe your daddy will let you go there with me. What do you think?”
Dalynn lifted a half-hopeful gaze toward her father.
Russ heaved a sigh and brought out a killer smile that nearly knocked Autumn off her game. Who knew the man possessed so much…what was the word? Magnetism? Charisma? Sex appeal? She almost rolled her eyes but thought better of it when she realized the guy was watching her. Couldn’t have the unpredictable dude thinking she found him attractive in any way. He had a wife and daughter.
“Well, Autumn? Where is this perfect mirror?” Russ surprised her further when he took her elbow and led her out of the gallery. “You’ll have to take us there. I’m afraid I don’t shop enough to know which store carries what around here.”
“You’re coming with us?”
Russ laughed. “Of course. I have to pay for this—” He paused
, lips thinning. His jaw worked for a second or two before he spoke again. “This birthday gift. Right?” His shoulders relaxed. With the hard, straight line gone, Russ’s lips became well-defined and just full enough…
Enough. She was not looking at this man’s lips in that way. He was Dalynn’s daddy, and some woman’s husband—although she had yet to actually see his wife.
She rolled her eyes. Maybe rock men forced their wives to stay at home, where wives belonged—cooking and cleaning like a good wife should.
“What was that all about?” Russ bumped her shoulder and she blinked, surprised to find him watching her. “That was quite the eye roll. Did you see something I missed?” He chuckled. “With all the tourists coming and going in Cambria, anything’s possible.”
A wave of heat rose upward to her face. “Did I roll my eyes? Really?” She laughed. “Must’ve been some passing thought that was here and gone.”
“Hmm.” His narrow gray gaze said he didn’t believe her, but he let it go. “So where are we going?”
“Right here.” Autumn stopped in front of the shop.
“Pat-ty’s P—Puh—Place.” Dalynn grinned, clearly proud of having deciphered the shop’s name on the door. “Patty’s Place.”
“Good job, princess!” Russ winked at his daughter.
Dalynn’s answering beam clutched at Autumn’s heart. If Russ was trying to make up for the harshness of his tone earlier, he was doing a great job. Dalynn seemed to have forgiven the man.
Autumn wasn’t quite there yet.
She led father and daughter to a table at the back of the store. A variety of gift items—handmade and otherwise—were artfully arranged on display tables. One entire glass shelf was devoted to a collection of lovely vanity mirrors.
“Ooooh!” Dalynn’s blue eyes widened, and fixed immediately on one mirror. “That one! Can we get that one, Daddy?” She pointed out a gorgeous tabletop mirror. Brushed silver, the piece boasted a jewel-bedecked back, with a mix of rhinestones and seed pearls, as well as seashells in a variety of size and color. A royal blue rope ribbon wove around the outer edge, culminating in a dainty bow at the base of the tilting mirror.
Russ picked it up.
Autumn laughed.
Dalynn giggled.
Russ drew thick brows together. “What’s so funny?”
“You look as if you’re holding a snake, and waiting for it to strike.”
He twisted his lips to the side. “I very well may be. If Linda doesn’t like this thing…”
“Why wouldn’t she love it? It’s gorgeous, and you and Dalynn are choosing it for her together. That’ll be enough.”
“You don’t know Linda,” he muttered. Still, he cocked an eyebrow at Dalynn. “You sure this is the one?”
“Yep. That’s the one. Can we get it, Daddy? Can we?”
“All right, then. If this is for sure the one…”
“It is! It is!” Dalynn hopped from one foot to the other. “Let’s pay for it now, OK?”
“You don’t want to look around? You might see something you like better.”
“Daddy!” The little girl placed tiny hands on her hips and heaved a dramatic sigh. “I like that mirror.”
He laughed. “All right, let’s go pay for this mirror.”
Autumn asked the lady at the counter about gift wrapping, and Russ shot her a grateful look. “Thanks. I never would have thought of that, and Lord knows I’d make a mess of it if I tried to do it myself.”
“I had a feeling.”
With the mirror purchased, boxed and wrapped, and tucked safely into a shopping bag, they walked outside.
Dalynn immediately pointed across the street. “Can we have an ice cream, Daddy?”
“Sure we can. We haven’t done that in a while.” Russ took his daughter’s hand and stepped off the curb.
“Well, I’m sure I’ll run into you two again.” Autumn wiggled her fingers at Dalynn.
“No! You come with us.” Dalynn pulled free of her father, rushed to Autumn’s side, and tugged on her hand. “Please, please, please, Autumn?”
“Of course she’s having ice cream with us.” To Autumn’s dismay, Russ joined his daughter’s effort. “I owe the lady for helping us find something for Mommy.”
“You don’t owe me anything.” Autumn squirmed. How to handle this? Part of her—a loud, demanding, clamoring part—wanted nothing more than to spend a little more time in this slightly off-balance family unit. But another part of her whispered, danger.
“Well, then come so Dalynn won’t pout over her ice cream cone.”
Russ’s crooked grin and the soft light in his often flint-like gaze did something to Autumn’s determination. Before she knew it, she was in the little ice cream parlor aptly named Seaside Freeze, eating a hot fudge sundae at a bistro table not quite big enough to seat three people and guard one’s personal space.
~*~
Russ jerked his gaze away from the woman across the very small table for the third time.
He hardened his jaw, nearly biting a tongue frozen by pistachio ice cream. This thing…whatever it was…that fascinated him about this woman had to be eradicated—and fast. He’d done the whole love-and-marriage bit already, and the only thing good that came of that was Dalynn.
Not that she wasn’t enough.
Despite himself, his lips twitched when his gaze fell on his daughter. Her blue eyes sparkled with laughter at something the witty redhead had whispered against her ear. Chocolate ice cream stained her chin, and just as Russ reached for a napkin, Autumn wiped it away. The sight of her vibrant auburn locks against Dalynn’s golden ones touched something long-forgotten in his heart, and he caught his breath.
“What?” Autumn grabbed her napkin and dabbed at her lips. “Am I wearing my ice cream?”
“No,” he growled. But then he grinned and touched a clean napkin to the tip of her nose. “Except a little right here, and…” Narrowing his gaze, he studied her face. Sweet Lord above, she has the most beautiful skin. “Here.” He moved the napkin to her chin. “You know, I’m surprised you even got a taste. Why, I believe I see some right—”
“OK, that’s enough.” She laughed and swatted his hand away. “You had me going for half a minute or so.”
Dalynn burst into a giggle fest.
Russ chuckled. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”
Autumn narrowed her eyes and sent him a glare that didn’t quite work with her wide smile. “Try harder next time.”
“You’re funny.” Dalynn bounced on her chair, her gaze adoring.
“Funny? Me?”
Autumn’s oh-so-innocent expression caught Russ unaware, giving his rusty attraction meter a hefty crank.
She pushed what was left of her sundae aside and curled the fingers of one hand into something resembling a claw—which she moved slowly toward Dalynn’s middle. “You wanna see funny, kiddo?” She lunged her hand forward and tickled his daughter’s tummy, sending her into a squirming mass of shrieking laughter.
Russ joined in. He needed to spend more relaxing days with his daughter. How long had it been since Dalynn had enjoyed a day so much? When had he? I haven’t laughed like this in a long time.
That had a whole lot to do with the woman across the table. The feisty little yapper from Paradise Pines who’d pushed his temper to the limit on every previous encounter. Despite the volatile clash of their personalities, the vibrant-haired beauty wouldn’t stay out of his head.
In a sudden panic, Russ vaulted from his chair and had to move fast to keep the flimsy thing from landing on the floor. “Let’s go, Dalynn.”
The laughter stopped. Four wide eyes fixed on him—his daughter’s blue ones, filled with disappointment…and a startled pair of slightly up-tilted, deep brown ones, shadowed with something similar. Right. Like Autumn cares one way or another whether or not Dalynn and I say goodbye and let her get back to her day. Didn’t matter anyway. For his own peace of mind, this little private party had to end. Now.
&nb
sp; “Come on, princess.” He winked at Dalynn, softening his approach while pretending not to notice Autumn’s puzzled gaze. “Time to go home.”
He muttered a hurried thank you and a quick goodbye and shot away from the Seaside Freeze as if he’d been launched off an invisible rocket. Dalynn marched at his side as fast as her short legs could pump.
Despite her reluctance to end their day in West Village, the pouting child fell asleep as soon as Russ started the engine—leaving him alone with his thoughts, most of which centered around Autumn.
She tugged on his emotions. No matter how hard he tried to think of other things, her pretty face and big, brown eyes got in the way.
Despite himself, Russ grinned. The woman had barely paused for breath while they ate their frozen treats, chatting with Dalynn as if she understood a little girl’s mind. Which she probably did—she sure looked young enough to still be in possession of all those memories. How old was she, anyway?
“Who cares?” He gritted the words through clenched teeth. He sure didn’t.
But honesty dictated he admit the truth, even though he wished he didn’t care about Autumn’s age, wasn’t charmed by her fun-loving disposition, and didn’t lie awake at night replaying their every encounter.
“God?” Russ whispered a prayer, respectful of the soft snores coming from Dalynn’s side of the truck. “I could be in trouble here. You know what Dalynn and I have been through. That whole thing with Linda broke both our hearts and left us with a big hole in our lives. I’m trying to fill it for her—with Your help—the best I can. The last thing I need is another female to come along and push us back over the edge. I can’t do that, not to my daughter. And truth be told, I’d kinda prefer not to suffer through it again myself.”
He sighed as he switched on his turn signal and pulled into the long driveway leading home. “I’m just asking for a little strength to resist this ridiculous attraction to Autumn. She’s not as yappy and annoying as I thought at first.” His lips twitched, recalling her staring him down that first day at the lodge…hands on perfectly curved hips, full lips parted and eager to spew her displeasure, anger lighting an amber fire in her deep brown eyes. “She’s actually pretty special, and Dalynn thinks she fell right through Heaven’s door. Maybe she did, who knows…but it can’t matter to us. So give me strength, OK? Thank You, Father.”