A Little Secret About Love (Silver Ridge Series Book 2)

by Karice Bolton

  What had she been thinking?

  Letting out one last grunt, she swung her car door open and crawled out before grabbing the groceries off her backseat.

  “What are you doing here, Dom?” she asked, balancing the paper bag on her hip.

  Of course, he didn’t offer to help.

  He never did, so why would he change now?

  All things she should have been asking herself along the way to the multiple engagements.

  “The hotel is overbooked, and my reservation got canceled.”

  Dina’s mind flashed back to Sam’s call. Had he canceled Dom’s room? She twisted her lips into a scowl and stared at the ground.

  “Still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

  “I don’t have a place to stay and my interview isn’t for two days.”

  Her brows shot up and she shook her head in disbelief. “So you expect to stay at my place for those two days?”

  “Four, actually. My flight out of Seattle isn’t for four days.”

  She stared at his two suitcases, wondering why he needed so much luggage for only four days.

  “Well, unfortunately, I don’t have time to babysit you. I’m sure if you call around, you’ll be able to find a place to stay.” She tried to glide past him to her front door, but he was making it extremely difficult with his items sprawled out on her porch.

  “Why not here?” he asked.

  She balanced the bag of groceries between her hip and the door. She didn’t bother to turn around. Instead, she unlocked her door and let out a sigh.

  “Because I’m tired of being nice to you,” she said simply, walking into her home and shutting the door behind her.

  She’d finally gotten to a place in life where she’d say what came to mind, but now instead of living with the regret of what she should have said in the situation, she lived with the guilt of what she had said in the situation. She wasn’t sure that was much better.

  Dina plopped the bag of groceries on the counter and let out an annoyed groan. She doubted Sam thought that Dom would’ve shown up at her doorstep for the night.

  Unless this was Sam’s way of getting back at her for ignoring him for two weeks. She chuckled to herself and started unloading her groceries as her mind wandered back to Dom.

  What was she going to do with him?

  She hated the guilt flooding her system. Why couldn’t she be a jerk and not care that he might sleep on a park bench overnight? It would serve him right for all he’d put her through.

  She rolled her eyes at her annoyingly nice self, picked up the phone, and dialed her best friend.

  “Hey, do you have any room at the inn?” Dina asked Autumn the moment she picked up.

  There was no time for niceties.

  “For how long? Did something go wrong with your rental?” Autumn asked.

  “No. It’s not for me,” Dina confessed, feeling the sudden fatigue hit her again.

  She stifled a yawn and glanced outside to see Dom staring at his phone.

  “The Blackberry Patch B&B has room tonight but no room tomorrow night,” she said in her official tone.

  “Okay. Can I send Dom over for tonight?”

  “I thought he was staying at the lodge?” Autumn asked, confused.

  “I think Sam was taking care of more than we knew today when he called over to the front desk.”

  Autumn laughed into the phone.

  “I don’t think he completely thought it through,” Dina added.

  “No, I don’t think he did.” Autumn’s laughter died down. “Send him over, and I’ll try not to put laxatives in his turndown cookie service tonight.”

  “Thanks, because I’d probably have to be the one who’d have to take him to the hospital.”

  “Don’t forget my man’s a medic. He’d be sure to take care of him.” Autumn giggled into the phone again, and Dina felt a million times better.

  It was nice to know everyone thought Dom was a creep, but even better to realize that they didn’t question why Dina wanted to find a spot for him to stay. She simply didn’t want to sink down to his level.

  She left the package of Italian sausage on the counter and made her way to the front door where it looked like Dom had been about ready to knock.

  “Dom, there’s a B&B in town. There’s a room available for the night. I’ll drive you down the mountain.”

  “What about tomorrow?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  A satisfied smile slid across his lips, and she wanted to knock it right off, but instead, she grabbed her keys and motioned for him to follow her to the car. The sooner she could dump him off, the quicker she could get to her plate of pasta and a nice, long bath.

  The ride to the B&B wasn’t a long one in miles, but it felt as if they were crossing the Mojave Desert on horseback. She sensed every time he’d cast a look in her direction or attempt to accidentally touch her. She didn’t even want to imagine how her life would change if he actually got the position as a ski instructor.

  The very thought put a cold chill straight through her.

  When she turned onto the street where the sprawling B&B sat, she finally started to feel better. Her friend had done an amazing job with the old mansion, and it always brought a sense of calm to Dina when she visited.

  Autumn had changed out the summer flowers for fall mums in golds and burgundies and placed pumpkins along the porch.

  This place was definitely too good for Dom, but so was the Silver Ridge Resort.

  She gave Dom a sideways glance and cringed when she noticed him staring right at her. Pulling in front of the B&B, she saw Autumn come springing out of the front door, apron tied around her waist holding a cookie.

  Dina let out a chuckle as she thought back to her earlier words and climbed out of the car. She didn’t want any awkward moments with Dom and wanted to thank her friend a million times over for saving her skin.

  “Well, won’t this be pleasant?” Autumn said, wriggling her brows as Dom got out of the hatchback.

  “Thank you so much for doing this for me.” Dina shuddered. “I don’t know what I would have done with him.”

  “Or you mean to him?” A wry grin spread across her lips as Dom pulled both suitcases behind him. “Geez, man. How many weeks did you think you’d be here for?”

  Dom barely glanced in Autumn’s direction as he climbed the steps to the B&B. Dina supposed she’d accidentally forgotten to mention to him that her best friend and closest ally owned the place he’d be sleeping tonight.

  “I owe you for this.” Dina gave her a friend a big squeeze. “But I’ve got spaghetti to get home to and a nice bath to draw.”

  “Sounds wonderful.” Autumn hugged her back and Dina took off back to her car.

  She felt a million times lighter getting him off her front porch, but it did little to help the exhaustion that was smothering her.

  By the time she got back up the mountain and pulled in front of her home, she almost didn’t care about the spaghetti, but she was determined not to let Dom spoil another plan she’d made in her life.

  Within minutes, she had a pot of boiling water on the stove, and the smell of sausage wafting through the air lifted her spirits. The garlic bread was cooking in the oven when her phone rang. She saw Dom’s nickname pop up on the screen, The Devil, and picked up the phone.

  “Yes, Dom,” she said into the phone.

  “I don’t even think this counts as a room.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “She put me in some room with a cot. It’s not even a real mattress.”

  Dina pressed her lips together in a thin line and tried not to sound as jubilant as she felt.

  “I’m sure it’s better than my couch, Dom. Is there anything else?”

  “I miss you.”

  “Well, the feeling isn’t mutual. Have a goodnight.” She hung up on him and stared at her phone, deciding to do something she rarely did.

  She turned
off her phone and slid it in her purse just as the oven chimed.

  Finally, she could get back to the evening she had planned the moment she left work. After plating her food, she grabbed Anton’s resume and began reading it over again. The truth was this kid was talented. He had a lot to offer, and she wasn’t sure the tasks she’d have for him weren’t menial, but she decided in the morning, she’d give him a call.

  After she’d stuffed herself with pasta, she waddled down to the bathroom and ran the bathwater. This was what she’d needed since her first ski lesson with Sam North. Her body had just hit its new level of exhaustion as she slid into the warm water and let her mind drift to the tulips that Sam North had dropped off today.

  She refused to read anything into his kind gesture. After all, he knew the moves to get the ladies, and technically, she was already gotten.

  But it didn’t matter. It was a nice thing for him to do, and maybe someday she could think a little harder about Sam North, but that time wasn’t now.

  Chapter Twelve

  Seeing the stems of the pink tulips gracefully draping over the beautiful crystal vase brightened Dina’s morning, almost to the point of forgetting her ex was bopping around her playground.

  Almost.

  Autumn called her this morning to warn her that Dominique was nowhere to be found at the B&B. His bags were gone, and his cot looked as if it hadn’t been touched all night. Dina didn’t really care other than she didn’t want him to show up at either of her doorsteps. She had a full day of sewing and consults with no time to waste in between.

  This Dom thing was wearing on her nerves, and she really didn’t feel like unleashing the new Dina on him.

  She shook the thought of him out of her mind and flipped on all the lights before heading to her workroom. This was her happy place where she could forget her worries, drape some fabric, and cut some patterns, and she had a beautiful bodice to begin today.

  The gown was actually for a local bride, which made Dina extra excited. If she could establish a local clientele that would only help strengthen her longevity here in Silver Ridge, and she had no plans of leaving.

  Even if Dom did try to ruin a winter or two for her.

  She shook her head and put him out of her mind again.

  Dina took a seat and began working on the bodice, and before she knew it, hours had passed. It wasn’t until she heard the chime of the door that she realized her first consult for the day had arrived. She quickly placed the piece she was working with onto the table and headed out to the front room, only to have her dreams dashed when she saw a drunken Dom wandering through her shop, picking up veils and putting them on his head.

  Dina glanced outside, grateful she didn’t see any brides or their mothers wandering toward her shop.

  “Dom, what in God’s name are you doing here?” She marched over to him and slid the veil off his head.

  “Trying to convince you to take the afternoon off.”

  “This is no way to go about doing it,” Dina assured him as she placed the item back on the display.

  “What do I have to do to get your attention?” he slurred his speech and was completely unable to focus his eyes on hers.

  “Believe me, you had my attention as of yesterday.” She put her hands on her hips and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall behind him.

  The bride and her mother would be here any second, and she didn’t need the trail of alcohol to be left behind when she finally chased him out of the shop.

  “So, what’s the deal with you and tulip man?” he asked, nodding toward the arrangement.

  “There’s no deal. He’s only a friend who happens to be very considerate, unlike someone I know.” Her brows shot up in hopes of him connecting the dots, but he was too far gone for that type of thinking.

  Although in hindsight, thinking was never his strong suit.

  Dina spotted a car pull up in front of her store and parallel park. Pure panic shot through her veins the moment she realized it was her first appointment of the day. Her heart started racing and she got clammy all over as Dom stared into oblivion without a care in the world.

  She turned to Dom and frantically began pushing him toward the workroom as he tripped over his own feet.

  “Go. I need you out of here. Use the back entrance.”

  “Is lover boy here?” his slurring was getting worse.

  “No, but a potential client is. Now get out of here. Shoo. Go out the back door.” She kept pushing him through the stools, mannequins, and workbenches until she got him to the back exit.

  But he suddenly turned on her and draped his arm around her shoulder. “And where do you plan on me going?”

  “I don’t know. Start walking to the B&B or wherever you stayed last night.” She shrugged the dead weight off her shoulders. “I really don’t care. Just go.”

  She pushed open the exit, and he stumbled out the door, knocking his knee against the metal door. She really didn’t have time for this.

  He hollered in a fit of pain and bent over, holding his knee as if his leg was broken, and all she wanted to do was shut the door on him, but she was worried he’d find his way back to the front of the store.

  Dina glanced at her purse, and with every fiber in her being hated what she was about to do. She quickly took her house key off her key ring and handed it to him.

  “Go back to my house and rest up. Be gone before I get home tonight and leave the key under the mat.”

  His cries of pain quickly turned into a look of overjoyed fulfillment, which only frustrated Dina more as she gave him one last heave out the door while she quickly locked it. She glanced at a spray freshener and began squirting it sparingly through the air to wipe away all things Dom.

  By the time she’d grabbed the champagne glasses and bottle of champagne from the fridge and made it up front, the mother and daughter were walking into her showroom, blissfully unaware how close they’d come to meeting a crazy man.

  Or at least one who’d temporarily lost his mind.

  “It’s so good to meet you,” the bride gushed, squeezing her mom’s arm before coming in to hug Dina. “I’ve been following you forever online, and I never thought I’d actually get to wear one of your designs, let alone meet you. Whatever made you come to Washington?”

  Dina couldn’t give herself time to be flattered as she spotted Dom wandering the street with a somewhat vague notion of which direction her house was located. She saved her smile for the bride and explained how she fell in love with the town when she was visiting her best friend who’d moved here.

  It seemed like the perfect explanation to segue into her design work and different options the bride-to-be was leaning toward.

  She offered them a glass of champagne, which they happily sipped, as they went over Dina’s portfolio.

  “I absolutely love the A-line look. If I were smaller, I’d want a ball gown.” The bride glanced at her mom who nodded in agreement, and Dina instantly realized what was going on. The bride wanted a ball gown, but her mother had told her it wouldn’t look good. She thought back to her own mother. She always tried to ignore the fact that her mother could have cared less about what wedding dress she wanted. In the bridal business, Dina had experienced all kinds of mother-daughter relationships, but she never quite found a relationship like the one she had with her mother. There was aloofness about her mom, and it didn’t matter what she did to try to close the gap, it always stayed wedged open.

  “Well, size has nothing to do with what fits well on a person’s shape. I’ve seen many A line dresses accentuate the wrong parts of the body as well. I actually have a ball gown in the back that I think would look phenomenal on you. You could try it on as an example…”

  The bride glanced at her mom, but quickly nodded, ignoring her mom’s displeasure.

  “Perfect. I’ll be right back.” Dina avoided eye contact with the mother and hurried to the back room. She’d actually fallen in love with this particular gown when she first designed it o
ver a year ago. It had only been used in a photo shoot for some promo material for a bridal convention, and she hadn’t had the heart to put it up on her site.

  The soft flow of the organza floated over the silk underlayment as she grabbed the dress and began moving toward the front of the store again. The moment the bride’s eyes connected with the dress, she knew it was first love.

  “I don’t know about that,” her mother muttered as Dina marched into the showroom.

  “We can try it on over here behind the curtain.” Dina pointed to the pale pink and grey striped curtain, and the bride quickly nodded, excitement still brimming her gaze. “I have a feeling this is going to be absolutely gorgeous on you.”

  “Me too,” the bride whispered as they went behind the curtain.

  Within a matter of minutes, Dina had the bride zipped and pinned into the ball gown, and she knew there was no way her mother wouldn’t love it.

  Crystal beading dotted sheer cap sleeves over a ruched silk bodice that was intricately beaded and boned to accentuate the bride’s waist. A wide, scalloped V-neckline showed off the bride’s beautiful décolletage, and the hand-patterned beading along the skirt of the gown only added to the subtle touches this dress offered. The dress was about a half-size too large for the bride, but she could take it in without any issue, or they could use this gown as a jumping-off point to design another.

  “This dress is a dream come true,” the bride whispered. “I think I would sell my soul for it.”

  “Don’t do that. Those are hard to come by.” Dina laughed but loved the bride’s excitement. There was nothing better than hearing someone’s excitement over something she’d designed. “Well, let’s hope your mom loves it too.”

  When Dina shoved the curtain aside, she heard the mother of the bride gasp, and she knew her work had been done. The mother and daughter squealed in delight, and Dina could finally let out a sigh of relief.

  Another mother-daughter crisis averted.