by Traci Hall
“Are you sure you didn’t pay him?” She had to know. It would be wrong, somehow, if he’d pulled extra strings.
“I can’t afford him. If he likes your stuff, he takes a cut. He seems to know what the next trend will be and is right there on the first wave.”
It was starting to sink in. “And he likes Happy Treats?”
“Loves them.” Franco pointed to the people in line waiting for food now that the smell of searing meat had reached beyond the grill. “Let’s do this.”
“What about Charlie?” She glanced back at her mom and Leland who had Charlie seated at a picnic table.
“He will wait. He knows a good thing when he tastes it.”
Sarah tossed her head back and laughed, letting the sheer joy of good fortune run through her body.
“It might not happen fast enough, though, to get the money for your roof.” Franco studied her through the steam.
She looked at the line of people ready to buy burgers. Every little bit helped against the boxes of treats she had to sell. “It’s okay, Franco. I have a plan. And it’s coming together just fine.”
She and Franco cooked burgers and hot dogs. Some people came back for more after tasting the seasoning on the meat. “What did you put in there?”
“Just a little something,” he said, eyes twinkling.
Sarah pointed to the full cash box, which Leland had thankfully taken over. “I can’t wait to see what we’ve got at the end of the day.”
Franco asked, “What time is it, anyway?”
“Three o’clock. Are you ready to retire your apron?”
“We still have people to feed.” He looked at her. “We work well together, don’t we?”
She nodded.
“It’s nice to be part of a team? To have a partner?”
“Yes!” He’d been stressing this partner thing all day. What did he want?
“Daddy! Sarah!” Bella barreled toward them with a fistful of balloons and cat eyes on each cheek. Martin followed behind, not looking quite as spry as he’d started the morning out.
Sarah chuckled and handed him a lemonade. “Thank you for being in charge of the entertainment.”
“Thank you, Martin,” Franco said.
Her one and only employee raised his hand. “She is the cutest thing, Franco. But there is a reason I was never compelled to be a mother.” He drank the lemonade. “I don’t have the energy. I think I’ll stick with my fur-babies and call it a day.”
Franco laughed. “I like your face painting, Bella.”
“Daddy, do you want some? The clown was really funny and told jokes. Want to hear?”
He nodded, giving Bella his full attention.
Bella looked at Martin, brow furrowed in concentration.
He whispered in Bella’s ear and she stepped back, taking a deep breath as if ready to recite something.
“Why can’t an egg tell a joke?”
Sarah and Franco looked at one another, and then shook their heads.
“Why?” Franco asked.
“Because it might crack up!” Bella bent over at the waist, laughing hard. “’Cause you crack an egg, get it, Daddy?”
“That’s a good one, princess.”
Martin and Sarah clapped. Leland came over, her mom and Charlie with him. “Sarah, why don’t you and Franco take a break and talk with this marketing genius here. I can man the barbecue.”
“I’ll help,” her mom said.
“Thanks. Let’s go into the office,” Sarah suggested. “Where we can talk in the air conditioning.”
Charlie wiped his forehead on his sleeve. “Sounds great to me,” he said. “This South Florida heat is killer on us red-heads.”
Franco didn’t move from his spot by the grill. “Are you sure, Sarah? I can wait out here if you’d like to handle this by yourself.”
Sarah reached out for Franco’s hand and pulled him beside her. “I would appreciate it if you’d come, too. I don’t know what questions to ask a genius, and since you know him, you might steer me in the right direction.”
His gaze warmed, making Sarah feel as if anything really was possible for them.
They went inside, where Benny and Pippa greeted them by the door. She’d kept Nashville at her apartment so the cat wouldn’t get lost or frightened by the influx of people coming in and out.
Benny and Pippa had been trained to stay inside and wouldn’t leave without her or being led by their leashes.
“These two are cute,” Charlie said. “Could they be the faces of Happy Treats?”
“Sure,” Sarah said. “Although Benny, the Chihuahua, is a little camera shy.”
“The black one? She’s got a beautiful face.”
“Pippa. Bred for beauty, lacking in just about everything else.” Sarah picked up the toy Pomeranian and tucked her under her arm. Charlie gave her a scratch behind the ears and she watched him fall in love.
“Is she for adoption?”
“She’s mine.” Sarah led the way to the kitchen. “This is where we made our first batch of treats. Franco helped me with the flavor combination.”
Franco held out his hands. “This is all you, Sarah.”
“It is us.” She got out a pitcher of carrot juice and offered it around. “Charlie, what would be the next step, if we signed on with your company?”
“Well…”He noticed the rocket drawn on the poster board. “What’s this?”
“I’m selling these treats, a box at a time, to get my new roof. I see that Martin has been keeping up on sales.” She eyed the print on the side. The rocket was three quarters filled in. “Wow. I’m really close.”
“I knew you could do it,” Franco said. His deep voice was thick with emotion and Sarah turned toward him. “I am very proud of you.”
Charlie sat down, smacking his palms against the table. “Are you two an item?”
Put on the spot and wanting to protect Franco, Sarah said, “No.”
Staking his claim, Franco said, “Yes.”
Charlie laughed. “This ought to be interesting.”
*****
Franco wished he could have some privacy with Sarah, to convince her things would be all right. But no. He had to make his plea in front of Charlie. He’d given the marketing guru enough fodder for the gossip mill for another ten years.
In uncharacteristic Charlie-style, the man let him off the hook and stuck to business. “I have an artist on staff, a photographer. I see these treats have appeal to the people. You’ve done all of these sales in a week?”
“Yes,” Sarah said. “Mostly. Desperation creates ingenuity.”
“We don’t want PetGiant getting your warehouse space,” Charlie said. “You’re going to need it for the animal shelter. I talked to the people supporting your event, and they like you Sarah. You have a place in the community.”
Franco nodded. “It would be great to keep things local, and give back. Maybe Sarah can widen her jurisdiction?”
Sarah’s face glowed with happiness. “I feel like this is a dream come true.” She looked at Franco. “You made this happen, by believing in me. Thank you, Franco.”
He was happy just to see her happy.
The chime above the door went off and the dogs barked, racing around the small kitchen table just in case Sarah hadn’t heard the bell, they were going to let her know that someone was inside.
Franco leaned back to see who had come in, not recognizing the couple who had a giant Saint Bernard on a leash. A tall, thin woman stood with them, off to the side. Sarah grinned and got up, walking toward them with open arms.
“Karma! Joe. Princey!”
Benny and Pippa darted around the giant dog’s paws, looking like chew toys in comparison. The big dog sprawled on the floor to get a better look and Pippa went nose to nose while Benny stayed at Sarah’s feet.
“That could be a selling ad, right there,” Charlie said. “I wish I had my camera.”
“Karma, Joe, this is Charlie. My marketing genius,” Sarah said wi
th a laugh. She pulled Franco close, linking her arm through his. “And this is my partner, Franco de Silva.”
“Partner?” Karma asked. She was a stylish blond with an athletic figure and a great smile. “I remember when you told me you didn’t have time for men.”
Sarah flushed but waved the comment away. “It’s complicated,” she said.
“Changes by the minute,” Charlie observed.
Joe had short dark hair, tattoos and a quick smile. “Nice to meet you both,” he said. “This is our friend,” he pulled the tall woman with caramel skin and high cheekbones forward, “Jolie Gordon. She runs a party charter.”
“Nice to meet you,” Jolie said. “I’d like to donate a charter to your fundraiser.”
“Wow! Thank you,” Sarah said. “I can tell we’re going to be great friends.” The two women laughed, but Franco bet they probably would be. Jolie had an easy way about her that reminded him of Sarah, when Sarah was on the water.
Joe cleared his throat. “We wanted to say hi to Sarah, and order a dozen boxes of those treats. They ran out already.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the table outside in the parking lot.
“You’re kidding.” Sarah nudged Franco. “I’ve got some in the warehouse. I think. I never thought I might run out.”
He slid his arm around her shoulders, so proud of her. “The roof is a done deal.”
“Celia told us how you were down to the wire,” Karma said. “We wanted to show our support.”
“My own fault. I kept wanting to do it all myself.” She glanced up at Franco. “Instead of asking for a little help.”
Franco slipped his arm around her waist.
Martin rushed in with Courtney. “Sarah, do we have any more treats? People are driving up from all over Broward County to help support the shelter.”
“In the back. Thank you so much. Courtney, I don’t what you did to get the news reporters here, but that has to be why, don’t you think?”
Courtney grinned. “Human interest stories. The public loves them! They came back to do a follow-up. Girl, if you don’t have these all sold, I’ll eat my hat.” She had her hair pulled back under a pink baseball cap with a sequined pelican above the brim. “They should be coming in, any minute now.”
Martin, who’d run to the back, came out with a crate full of treats. “Sarah, this is the last hundred. I’ve been keeping up with the orders on the website, tagging them so that we’d know where we are.” He fluttered his lashes. “We did it!”
“Uh, twelve of those are ours,” Karma said. Princey sat up, Pippa between his paws, safely out of the way.
Franco chuckled. “I was going to offer to buy what was left, but I don’t think there will be any.”
Charlie slid Martin a ten and took a jar from the box.
Sarah threw her arms around Franco. “Thank you for believing in me.” She lifted her face for a kiss just as the news reporter came into the office, camera flashing. Her mom, Bella and Leland were there too.
“Daddy and Sarah, sitting in a tree,” Bella sang as her mom clapped and hooted.
Embarrassed, Sarah bowed her head into Franco’s chest. “I guess we’re an item,” she said.
Franco tightened his hold, never wanting to let go.
His daughter gave him a happy grin, running over to grab his leg. He put his hand on her shoulder, and kissed Sarah’s head.
“We are a team.”
Chapter Twenty One
One month later
She had never seen the sky so blue. The air smelled salty sweet as pelicans flew above the clouds. Sarah sat next to Franco, shoulder to shoulder, on the beach blanket. They had a canopy for shade and a cooler of snacks Franco had prepared. Bella played with Madison, Bob’s granddaughter from New York, in the surf.
“Now this is what I needed,” Franco said, his leg stretched out next to hers.
“A morning away from the pet store?” Sarah asked, nudging his hairy big toe with her pedicured foot. She’d been taking some time for herself, remembering that she deserved some pampering too.
“No. You.” He turned toward her, his dark eyes glinting. “I missed you. I don’t like being away from you.”
Sarah’s heart welled with love. Learning about Franco, learning to care about another person as an equal partner, was teaching herself so much in the process. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“That is bullshit, querida.” He leaned over her as she sat back on the blanket, capturing her mouth in a kiss that left her wanting more. “Let’s go to the Keys.”
“Now?” Sarah laughed, loving his impetuosity. “I only have the day. The roof is done, Randall Wallace is off my case and there is no more talk of PetGiant. Not that anybody was supposed to be talking about it anyway. Small towns don’t keep secrets very well.”
“For our honeymoon.”
Sarah’s breath caught and she sat up so fast she pushed Franco backward. “Excuse me?”
He grinned, his dimple flashing. Reaching into the cooler, he handed her a miniature replica of the Happy Treat jar. “Open it.”
Fingers trembling, Sarah slipped off the glass top. Inside the mini treats was a band of platinum. Simple. Exquisite. Classic.
She couldn’t stop the tears spilling from her eyes as she took it out. “Franco, you shouldn’t have.”
“Will you marry me, Sarah? Be my partner in this crazy life? Since meeting you, loving you, I know what a relationship is supposed to be.”
She looked out over the water, at Bella laughing with her friend. “Are you sure, Franco? What does Bella think?”
“She helped me pick out the ring. I wanted something with diamonds but she said you wouldn’t wear it. She was right, I think.”
“Pretty smart for a seven-year-old.” Could she be a mother? A wife? They’d been inseparable, with the exception of sleepovers, making love in the day while Bella was at school. “I don’t know how to be a mom.” She clutched the glass jar.
“Saying yes means becoming a family. A mother. I can’t imagine a more perfect woman to guide my daughter, to love her and show her how to be a strong woman, with heart. Like you.”
Sarah sniffed as Franco slid the ring onto her finger. “I do love her. I love you.” He tilted her chin up, staring into her eyes. “You’ve shown me that independent doesn’t mean alone.”
“Say yes,” he asked, his deep voice rumbling over her. “You would make me the happiest man in the world.”
“Yes.”
His brown eyes brimmed with tears as he cupped the back of her head and brought her close. “Thank you. I will never let you down.”
Sarah curled her fingers over his bare shoulders, her hands warm against his skin. “Just don’t stop kissing me.” His kisses never failed to take her breath away.
With a low groan, he claimed her mouth, covering her lips with his. Velvet, firm. He made giving into temptation fun. With Franco at her side? Anything was possible.
The End
Be sure to read AMBROSIA by the Sea and KARMA by the Sea!
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About the Author
Award-winning author Traci Hall is multi published in genre fiction for adults and teens. She lives near the beach in South Florida.
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Traci Hall, Puppy Love by the Sea