by Doreen Alsen
She stared into those lovely green eyes of his. “Sounds like a plan.” She shivered. The feeling like she was being watched skittered up her spine.
“You okay? Are you cold?” Tim’s voice was husky with concern.
She shook her head. “No. It just felt like someone was watching me.” Her skin crawled. “Must be an old reaction to always being followed around by cameras.”
He looked around. “Maybe.”
“Do you feel it, too?”
He waited a beat then shrugged. “No. I think we’re both a little camera shy.”
Wasn’t that the truth. “I guess.” Still, she couldn’t shake off the mood.
He leaned over to kiss her. “I’ll see you later. Will you miss me ’til then?”
She stroked his arm. “You know I will.”
He grinned and left, and she took one last look over the horizon before turning to go back into her own bungalow.
****
Tim stood and cracked his back. He’d been sitting at his computer for hours playing with the photos he’d taken of Angelique. Finally, it was complete. He’d toyed with retouching them to diminish the scar, but couldn’t.
He loved the scar. The scar was a huge part of the woman he’d fallen in love with. Without it, she was untouchable, just too damn beautiful to be real.
Without the scar she was an unattainable goddess; with it she was a warm, wonderful, generous woman.
He picked up the picture he liked best, one of her walking backwards on the beach, laughing and clapping for Chester to come to her. The sea breeze tossed and tangled her hair. Her mouth curved up in joyful abandon as she focused totally on the dog.
Glad he finally finished the album, Tim could finally come clean and show her how lovely he found her, scar and all.
He could show her how she touched him, beyond the visual, even though she’d given him his gift of sight back.
He finally had a plan. After the trip to Addington when he’d make Lucien know that he was serious about Angelique, whether Lucien liked it or not.
When he and Angelique got back to Lobster Cove, he’d show her the photos, get down on one knee, and ask her to marry him.
Maybe he’d jumped the gun, but he’d already bought the ring.
It seemed as if all his hopes and dreams were pinned on the next few days. He wished for two things; that his timing was right and that she was on the same page he was.
He brushed all thoughts of failure to the back of his mind. What had Jeff said? Faint heart never won fair lady.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The sign on the side of the road proclaimed “Welcome to Addington,” but Angelique broke out in a cold sweat. She didn’t know exactly how welcome she’d be.
She figured things at L’Enfer would be all oh-look-the-prodigal-has-returned, so that would be bearable.
The whole visit to Hope’s had her arse over teakettle about a couple of things.
First, Beth and Jeff had nearly gone into swoons over the prospect of Hope’s shrimp puffs, like they were manna from the desert. Hope didn’t even like to make them anymore because of the unsustainability of shrimp, but if Lucien asked her to make them, she would bite the bullet.
The second thing had her stomach churning. Going to Hope’s meant seeing Shane Baker again, something she did not look forward to.
She crossed her fingers. Maybe he’d stay in the kitchen. Or have the night off.
Angelique sighed. Color her the Queen of Denial.
“How long has it been since you’ve been back here?” Tim took a right onto Main Street.
“Centuries.”
He reached over and put his palm over hers. “It’ll be okay.”
“Maybe. It’ll be good to see Lucien.” Especially if he was the Lucien who’d shown up in Lobster Cove.
Tim squeezed her hand. “It’ll be okay. I’ve been told by all and sundry that I’m a pretty presentable guy. I’ll have your brother eating out of the palm of my hand.”
She snorted. “Just remember this. Don’t hate Lucien for being a jerk. He was just born that way.”
Tim snickered. “Don’t worry. If I can survive ISIS, I can survive Lucien Durand.”
“Who do you think trained ISIS?” She sighed. “Sorry, bad joke.”
“Hey, no worries.” Tim murmured. “Sometimes it helps to laugh about it.”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. Time to change the subject. “We’re stopping at the B and B first, yes?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s best, don’t you think? Or maybe you want to do something else?”
“No. It’s a good idea to check in and refresh.” Not to mention playing with her make up to make the scar less obvious.
How odd. She didn’t care one way or the other going out and about in Lobster Cove with her scar on display. This would be the first time she’d gone out in Addington après injury. She could only imagine people would have two reactions—glee or pity. She’d earned the one but not the other.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” He faked an outrageous yawn. “Might need a nap, too. Spending some quality time on a bed with you will be a great pick me up.”
“You have a one track-mind, but I like it. A quality nap it is.”
She wondered if they’d actually nap.
She hoped not.
****
“Does my brother know we’re coming?” Angelique asked as Tim maneuvered his car into the parking lot at L’Enfer.
“He knows a T. Baldwin has a reservation at seven o’clock.”
She rolled her eyes. “So we’re surprising him?” Not likely. No one surprised Lucien Durand.
“Yep.”
“What if he’s not here? Some nights he helps out at Hope’s.”
Aw crap. “Hope needs help?”
Angelique shook her head. “No of course not. But Lucien misses her. It’s sweet enough to put me in a coma.”
“Oh. Well let’s hope he’s here.”
“You can hope he’s here. I’m fine if he’s not.”
“If he’s not here and he’s not at Hope’s, where do you think he’d be?” Damn. Tim really wanted to get this business with her brother done.
“He might be out at the site where he and Hope are building a house. Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.” She squared her shoulders and sighed.
He took her hand and squeezed it, probably more for his sake than hers. He let it go to open the front door and usher her in.
There he stood just inside the lobby, the great Chef Lucien Durand. His eyes widened when he saw Tim with Angelique. After a beat of silence, he came around the host stand and pulled her into a hug.
“Ma soeur,” Lucien murmured. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?”
“We have reservations,” Tim crossed his arms across his chest.
Angelique pulled away from Lucien. She took Tim’s hand. “Lucien, you’ve met my next door neighbor in Lobster Cove, Tim Baldwin.” She smiled.
“Of course I remember,” Lucien said, his tone of voice pretty frosty.
“We didn’t really get a chance to get to know each other.” Tim said. “We’re here to rectify that.”
Silence. Then, “You said you have reservations?”
“Yes, under the name Baldwin.”
“I see.” Lucien took a couple of menus from the goggle-eyed woman behind the desk. “I will seat my sister and her friend,” he told her.
Lucien grabbed Angelique by the arm, leaving Tim to bring up the rear, and led the way to a table.
Jesus, what an obvious power play.
Heh. Let Durand play games. Tim was playing for keeps.
****
The small hairs on the back of Angelique’s neck prickled from all of the people in the restaurant staring at her. She kept her game face on, sure as shooting, but this evening was turning out to be a trial.
Tim hadn’t even spoken to Lucien yet about their relationship.
Lucien, of cou
rse, had taken over and decided they would eat all her favorite foods, not because he wanted to make her happy, but because he wanted to show Tim that he knew her better than Tim did.
Ten points for Lucien.
Tim, for his part, ignored Lucien’s chest beating and acted polite but not subservient. He manfully swallowed every overly spicy bit of food with no outside reaction.
Ten points for Tim.
Wait until Lucien found out they were heading over to Hope’s for dessert.
They all still had yet to have “the conversation.” Though she was not particularly religious, she sent a flurry of prayers out to whichever deity was around to listen.
“How did you enjoy your dinner, Mr. Baldwin? We always want to make sure that our famous clientele are satisfied.” Lucien pulled up a chair at their table and motioned for a bus-person to come over and clear the dishes.
“Lucien,” Angelique warned.
Lucien grinned all sharky-like.
Tim took one small sip of water, then another. “Very much. Your food lives up to your reputation.”
“I hope you have room for dessert. Angelique never eats sweets, tant pis, but you can indulge.”
“Actually,” she said, “we’re going to Hope’s for dessert. I hope she’s got her apple tart on the menu tonight.”
Lucien looked from her to Tim and back again. “I believe dessert tonight at chez Hope is a peach cobbler made from the first crop from her own trees.” He shrugged. “Or something cherry. So if you’re looking for apples, you won’t get them at Hope’s.”
Tim cleared his throat. “Peach cobbler sounds delicious. But as a born and bred son of Addington, I can’t go back to Lobster Cove without some of Hope’s shrimp puffs.” He grinned. “I have orders to take some back for my friends. They’ll run me out of town on a rail if I don’t bring them any.”
“Why are you here?” Lucien abruptly turned to Tim and changed the subject.
“I think that’s kind of obvious. We’re in love, Angelique and me, and we don’t want to hide it from you.”
Lucien threw Angelique a sharp glance. “He’s a photographer.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m aware of that.”
“What’s going to happen when he goes back to his work?”
“What do you mean?” Angelique frowned.
“Are you going to go with him when he goes into all those dangerous places just to take pictures?”
“That part of my life is over,” Tim interrupted.
“What are you going to do now?” Lucien turned his attention back to Tim.
Tim’s hands fisted by his sides. “I’m not sure yet.”
“So you’re hooking your future to a man who doesn’t have one,” Lucien told Angelique.
“Things haven’t gone that far,” Angelique said. “Neither of us know what’s next. We’re just enjoying the moment.”
Her answer didn’t sit right with Tim, but she was right. Neither of them were in a position to talk about the future.
Lucien looked at his watch. “If you want to get dessert at Hope’s, you should probably leave soon. She stops serving in about a half an hour, although she’d sans doute keep the kitchen open for you.”
Of course, she would, Angelique thought. He’s going to call her the minute we’re out the door.
“Sounds like a plan.” Tim said as he stood and came behind her to hold her chair. “Thank you for dinner. It was great.”
“Bien sûr,” Lucien said. “And Baldwin? Take very good care of my baby sister.”
“I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise.”
“Thanks, Lucien,” Angelique said as she grabbed Tim’s arm to pull him out of there. “Come on, Tim. We’ve got some peach cobbler calling our names.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
“So, I need to tell you something.” Angelique fiddled with her seatbelt. “There was this guy I dated and I treated him really bad.”
“I remember.” He had a good idea where this thing was going.
“Well, he works for Hope and there’s the possibility we’ll see him tonight.”
“Okay.” Really, what did she want him to say?
“We know for sure that Lucien was on the phone to Hope before we were out the door. Maybe she can persuade him to make himself scarce.”
He grunted. “I don’t need protection from ex-boyfriends.”
“No question. No question at all.” She pulled his right hand off the stick shift and brought it to her lips and kissed it. “It might be a little uncomfortable, is all.”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
She kissed his knuckles again. “Hope is really nice.” She grimaced. “Too nice. Much nicer to me than I deserve.”
He bristled. “Don’t say that. You’ve taken your licks and done your time. If she’s forgiven you and moved on then you should, too.”
He kept his gaze on the road but could feel her staring at him. “What?”
“I just wonder what you see when you look at me.”
“I see Angelique Durand, the imperfect woman I love.” He worked to not look at her. “I see the beautiful woman who accepts the broken man I am.”
“You’re not broken. Bent a little, maybe, but not broken.” She shrugged. “Us being in the same room with Shane is nothing. To me Shane is nothing but a huge regret.” She looked away from him.
“You wanted to love him.”
So much shame. “I didn’t. I didn’t care one whit for him. He was a diversion on the way to my ideal life.”
She dropped his hand and looked out the front passenger window.
“We don’t have to do this, you know. No amount of shrimp puffs is worth your discomfort.”
She shook her head. “No. I need to do this.”
Both were silent as he steered his car into the clamshell-covered parking lot of Hope’s. Really, it was New England. Every parking lot and driveway was covered in clamshells. “Here we are.”
She nodded. “Let’s go.”
“We don’t have to.”
“I know.” She put her hand on his stubbly cheek. “But I don’t want to see Jeff cry when we come back empty handed.”
Tim took her hand, pressed a kiss into her palm, and closed her fingers over it. “Yeah, he’s an ugly crier.”
Her hand felt small and cold as he held it while they walked to Hope’s entrance. Hope’s front gardens were in full bloom and delicately scented the warm summer air.
Tim had never been in Hope’s restaurant. She’d catered every party his parents had thrown back before his father retired. Her food never failed to make his mouth water.
Angelique disengaged from his touch as they entered the restaurant’s foyer. The hostess came forward, smiling. “Good evening, welcome to, uh“ Her eyes widened when she saw them then her face closed up in hostility.
Fortunately, Tim recognized her. “Renee Haven, is that you? How many years has it been?”
Renee barely spared him a glance, but a second later, her mouth turned up into a cautious smile. “Tim? Tim Baldwin?”
“In the flesh.” Damn, Angelique had turned into stone right next to him. “How are you?”
“Good! How are you? I followed your whole story from over in the Middle East. Everyone in town did.”
He swallowed. He hadn’t expected this. He should have. “As you can see, I’m none the worse for wear.”
Angelique still stood there, doing her statue impression.
“Do you think we can get a seat in the bar? Lucien promised us some dessert and I promised Jeff Myers I’d bring him back some shrimp puffs.”
“How is Jeff? I heard he and Beth got married and have a little boy.”
“They’re great, really great. Happy. And if I show back up in Maine without shrimp he’s going to make ISIS look like Romper Room.” See? Tim could make a joke about it.
Renee motioned toward the bar. “Right this way.” She craned her neck. “Oh. Maybe I should warn you…”
“Angie!”
The three of them looked in the direction of the excited howl that could only come from one source. Cookie Myers.
The little girl launched herself at Angelique. “Angie! Angie! Angie!”
Angelique caught her and gave her a big hug. Tim’s heart expanded to see the sheer joy on his lady’s face.
“Hi Uncle Tim!” Cookie grinned at him while clinging to Angelique like a limpet.
“Yes. Hello, ‘uncle’ Tim.”
Katie. Of course. Where Cookie was, Katie couldn’t be far behind. “Hi Katie. You look well.”
“So do you, or as well as you can after all you’ve been through.”
“Mommy! This is my new friend Angie! She lives in Lobster Cove with Uncle Tim.”
“Does she really?” Katie turned her attention to Angelique. “You’re the only person Cookie’s been able to talk about since her last visit to Maine.”
“Angie, as you can tell, this is Cookie’s mother Katie. Katie, this is Angie Doucette, a friend from Lobster Cove.”
“Hmmmm.” Katie extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I do have to say that you look very familiar. Do you have ties to Addington?”
Angelique cleared her throat. “I have some family here.”
“Really.” Her brow creased. “Somehow I think it’s more than that.”
“Look, Mommy! Angie has a scar but I think she’s really pretty anyway.”
Okay, Tim knew that the jig was nearly up. If anyone in the world could figure out that Angie Doucette and Angelique Durand were the same person, Katie was your girl.
Angelique had come to the same realization. “Actually, my name isn’t Angie Doucette. My real name is Angelique Durand. Lucien Durand is my brother. I guess I didn’t meet you when I lived here.”
Tim could almost enjoy the sight of Katie’s mouth opening and closing like a beached mackerel, if only Angelique hadn’t looked so uncomfortable. Neither of them had thought this whole thing through. It was stupid to think they could slip in and out of Addington without people recognizing her.
“Did somebody organize a party out here and not invite me?” A very tall, very blond, very tan man wearing an orange, turquoise, and yellow Hawaiian shirt walked into the foyer.