Angels in Seashore Cove (Love and Laugh in Seashore Cove Book 2)

by Maggie Van Well

  Her alarm. Shit! With a start, she grabbed her cell and checked the time. Eleven O’clock? Holy crap, she needed to get started on that cake.

  Her fuzzy brain was slow in waking, so it wasn’t until Dianna jumped up that she realized she was naked, and why.

  She spun around only to find the other side of the bed empty. Had she dreamt it all? No, of course not. She hadn’t had that much wine.

  Last night had been real. Finally, she knew what sex was about. But it had been so much more. The connection, the intimacy, the thought of being so close to another human being—no, not just any human being—Sean, flooded her eyes.

  Memories of last night had her heart singing with joy. A feeling she somehow knew she could have never reached with any other man.

  So where was he? A small smile pulled at her lips. If she knew him like she thought she did, he was in the kitchen making her breakfast. She inhaled deeply, hoping to catch the aroma of freshly made coffee or frying bacon. But all she could smell was the lingering scent of his wood and spice cologne.

  And it was quiet. Too quiet.

  Reaching for her robe, Dianna pulled it on, but left the belt hanging open. That should get Sean’s attention, right? Walking around, barely covered has to be at the very least enticing. Forming an evil grin, she left her room, thinking she was going to like this new non-virginal her.

  But her evil grin soon melted as she searched her tiny home. It didn’t take long for her to come to the conclusion her heart simply wouldn’t allow her to accept.

  Sean had left.

  Without a word.

  A wave of dread smashed down on her as the reality sunk in. She stumbled to the nearby chair, finding it hard to remain upright. Last night had meant nothing more to him than any other one-night-stand he’d ever had.

  The dread threatened to manifest itself into gut-wrenching sobs, but she swallowed them, tamped them down until she had them under control.

  Well, what had she expected? That he would declare his undying love after thirty years and demand that they give romance a try?

  She knew what she’d been getting into when Sean asked her why she wasn’t stopping him. She knew the man he was. But a small part of her had hoped for the silly, happily ever after she’d read about in books.

  She forced herself to stand. No man was going to bring her to her knees.

  Back in her room, her alarm sounded again, but this time she recognized it as her text alert.

  With a slow hand, she reached for the phone sitting on her nightstand. She brought up the messages.

  Sean.

  He had an appointment? Well, okay, maybe he’d overslept like she had and was in a rush, but he could have at least said goodbye. She allowed just a smidgeon of hope to enter her thoughts, but she wouldn’t let it get too big. They needed to talk about some heavy-duty shit first.

  The sudden ringing of her doorbell startled her.

  Dianna tied the belt of her robe as she headed for the front door.

  “Ah!” she gasped as Derek threw her over his shoulder. “Put me down.”

  “We’re overexerted and hungry,” Patrick said. “Feed us woman.”

  “I don’t have time to cook for you. I have a cake to make.”

  “So we’ll help.”

  “Okay, fine, just make this moose put me down.” She swatted Derek’s back.

  “Bro, you heard the lady.”

  He did as instructed with a kiss to her cheek. “Got any bacon?”

  Dianna closed her eyes and shook her head. “Can’t you ever call first?” She stomped into the kitchen.

  “Why? We never have before,” Patrick pointed out.

  “But I’m not even dressed yet.”

  Derek checked his watch. “It’s kind of late for you to be sleeping, even if it is Saturday.”

  Patrick retrieved the coveted bacon from her fridge. “Hot date last night?”

  She hoped her shrug conveyed nonchalance as she gathered a bowl and whisk. “I guess you could say that.”

  “With who?” Derek puffed out his chest, his face firm and serious. God, you’d think she was some vestal virgin, not allowed in the presence of men without an escort.

  Well, technically up until last night, that was kind of true. “Oh, like I’m stupid enough to tell you.”

  “Aw, I wasn’t gonna hurt anyone.”

  Patrick placed the eggs, butter, and bacon on the counter beside her. After placing long strips of bacon into the skillet, she turned the gas up to medium.

  “Coffee?”

  “I’ll make it.” Patrick went to her pantry and retrieved the coffee.

  Getting a bowl from her cabinet, Dianna cracked six eggs into the bowl with an expert hand.

  “Better make that eight, sis.” Derek said. “We’ve been playing basketball.”

  With an eye roll, she cracked two more, using the whisk to beat them to a creamy yellow. Once done, she pulled out tongs and turned her focus on the bacon.

  Pat held up his hand for Derek to give him a high five. “Yeah, boy did we kick Sean and Tucker’s butts.”

  Dianna’s hand slipped while turning the bacon and she burned it on the frying pan. “Ah!”

  In an instant her brothers surrounded her.

  “What happened?”

  “What’d you do?”

  “I’m fine.” She moved to the sink and shoved on the faucet before sticking her hand under the cold water. “Did you say you played basketball with Sean?”

  “I wouldn’t say play, exactly…”

  “More like slaughtered.” Another high five.

  The shooting pain from her hand, from her heart, had Dianna pulling in deep breaths. If she didn’t, she’d stop breathing all together.

  Tossed aside for a basketball game? Did last night really mean so little to him?

  “Watch the bacon for me, Pat. I’m going to get dressed.” Before he could respond, she ran from the room.

  Once behind the closed door, she finally let a sob escape.

  Thrown over for a game. By her best friend.

  No, former best friend.

  And that thought was what finally let open the floodgates. Because in her heart she knew it would never be the same again. And that loss hurt more than anything else she’d suffered through this morning.

  With clothes in hand, she tiptoed to the bathroom, hoping her brothers didn’t see her. Explaining away a foul mood was easy—red, swollen eyes, not so much.

  A quick shower did little to sooth her broken spirit, but at least it’d given her time to let the swelling in her eyes go down.

  Dressed in her usual T-shirt and yoga pants, and with her stiff upper lip in place, she left the bathroom to eat brunch with her brothers.

  Two men who would always be there for her.

  Always.

  “It’s about time,” Derek said. “The bacon’s done, so we went ahead and cooked the eggs. Just like you and Vicky showed us when we were still in high school.”

  “You did?” Stop. Stop crying right now. “Thanks, guys.”

  Derek studied her. “It’s just eggs, sis. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. It’s just that you mentioned Vicky and it’s been a while since I heard from her. I miss her.”

  Which wasn’t a total lie. She did miss her dear friend. But mostly guilt threatened to swallow her whole. She’d broken a promise to, not only Vicky, but all the other SIS’s.

  Dianna Sheldon, the girl who never broke a promise, was the only Saving it Sister to do so.

  How was she going to face them? Even if they just shrugged it off, as Dianna suspected they might, she couldn’t.

  She’d broken a promise.

  With a man who swore he’d never hurt her.

  Well, screw him. She’d spent enough time sulking over what she couldn’t change.

  Accept the things you cannot change Vicky would tell her. The deed was done and she couldn’t take it back.

  Time to move on.

  Spending time wi
th her brothers helped ebb the pain, throwing affectionate insults at each other before moving on to new and creative ways to lovingly torture their parents. They took great pride in their cleverness.

  When the boys left, she had three nine inch layers chilling in the fridge along with enough fondant flowers to feed a small village. She’d taught her brothers well.

  She waved from her door as they pulled away, Dianna wishing she could’ve begged them to stay longer. But she had a call to make, one she dreaded.

  Vicky would be the first to tell her confession was good for the soul.

  Time to confess.

  Sitting in her tub chair, she reached for her landline, and, with a deep breath, dialed the number she knew by heart. But when she was met with a disconnection message, she remembered Vicky had changed her number. Again.

  Searching through her address book, she frowned at the number of cross-outs she had under Victoria Brooks’ name. That girl probably couldn’t make up her mind over which cell service to stick with.

  She dialed the new number, holding her breath.

  “Hey gorgeous! Haven’t heard from you in a while.”

  Dianna’s frown deepened at the obvious strain to her friend’s voice. “All the more reason to call you now.”

  There was a slight pause before Vicky asked, “What’s wrong?”

  Seeing no sense in playing dumb, she jumped right in. “I broke the SIS pact.”

  “Oh, I see.” Another pause, longer this time. “That’s not like you.”

  She swallowed over the rock in her throat. “I’m so sorry. I felt you should be the first to know. I’ll call the other SIS’s after I’m done with you.”

  “Are you okay?”

  With anyone else, well, except maybe Sean, Dianna would be surprised at how perceptive her friend was. But Vicky Brooks was annoyingly smart and perceptive, to the point of being obnoxious. “In time.”

  “What happened?”

  Another deep breath. At this point, she’d need Tucker’s hyperventilating bag. “I slept with Sean.”

  After a clear gasp, Vicky let out a jovial laugh. “Goodness, girl you had me freaked out for a minute! I thought you’d really broken the pack. Good one. You got me.”

  “No, I’m serious.” Of all the reactions she’d expected from her friend, laughter and thinking Dianna was playing a joke was not it. “I did. We had sex.”

  “Oh, I believe you slept with him. But you didn’t break the pact, you silly goose.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Our pact was to wait for The One and you did. I’m so happy for you!”

  “You’re wrong.” She launched into a vague explanation of what happened the night she and Sean were together, how it wasn’t planned and that they were barely holding onto their friendship now.

  When she reached the end, Dianna held her breath.

  “Oh, Dianna. How can you be so smart and yet so stupid?”

  Okay, sure, she broke a promise, but her friend didn’t have to be so mean about it. “Oh, that’s real nice.”

  “You didn’t break the pact because Sean is the one for you. He always has been. You’ve been in love with him since I met you.”

  “That-that’s not true.”

  “Yes it is. And one day you will thank me for making you aware of it. I accept Godiva chocolates and Starbucks gift cards as gifts.”

  Dianna didn’t have it in her heart to argue. Maybe because she just didn’t want to admit that a small part of her knew her friend was right.

  “I will keep that in mind.” Time to change the subject. “How is the start of the new school year going?”

  “Oh…okay.”

  Odd. Vicky loved her job as the head of the music department at her small university in Westchester County. She’d been the one to teach Dianna how to sing properly and brush up on her piano skills.

  So why did she sound so tense?

  “Vicky, what’s wrong?”

  “Just something I’ve been dealing with. Nothing I can’t handle.” Before Dianna could respond her friend rushed on. “I have to run, but promise you won’t beat yourself up over the pact. Give it a few days, have faith, and you’ll see that I’m right.”

  After that, she rang off, leaving Dianna to stare at the receiver in her hand. Something was bothering her friend, but she clearly didn’t want to talk about it. Dianna would let it go for now, but at some point she was going to harass the woman until she came clean.

  Until then, she could take comfort in the fact she didn’t have to make any more such phone calls. At least, not right now. She had a job to do, and her customers were eagerly waiting.

  By the time she delivered the cake, she was feeling like her old self. If Sean wanted to treat her like a one-night-stand he regretted the next morning, she wouldn’t let it get to her.

  He was who he was. Even if it did make her ache.

  Dianna had just waved goodbye to the very happy parents of a sweet sixteen-year-old when her cell rang. As her hand hesitated over her purse to answer the call, some of her fight left her. What if it was Sean? What would she say to him? Holding her breath, she peeked at the caller ID. Not Sean. But her shock outweighed her disappointment.

  Or was it relief?

  “Hello, Dean.”

  “Hi, Dianna. How are you?”

  Oh, you know, heartbroken, and ashamed for breaking a promise, despite my clearly bummed out friend’s reassurance. You know, the usual.

  “Not too bad, what’s up?”

  “I texted last night, but it was late. Sorry, I hadn’t gotten in touch with you before then. I was in Hawaii, so I couldn’t call or text.”

  No, of course not. God forbid. The roaming charges would be outrageous. “No biggie.”

  “I was hoping maybe we could go out to lunch.”

  Should she go? What was the customary length of time one should wait after having a one-night-stand with one’s best friend? There should be a manual.

  “I actually just had lunch with one of my clients.” Upon delivering the cake, Jesse’s mother insisted on feeding her. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, Dianna nibbled on a few things offered at the large buffet, but found she wasn’t terribly hungry.

  “How about dessert then? I wanted to talk to you about something. We could meet at that ice cream parlor on Main Street.”

  “The Main Street by me? Not some random destination that’s precisely halfway between you and me?”

  “Yes, the one by you.”

  Dianna frowned. When he mentioned dessert, she’d assumed it was some kind of euphemism for sex. But he sounded dead serious. What could Dean possibly want to talk to her about? Probably to tell her he didn’t want to pursue a relationship, sexual or otherwise. That seemed to be the way her day had been going. Might as well get it over with.

  “Are you paying?” Okay, so maybe she wasn’t being very civil, but given his past and how she was feeling right now she figured she had that right.

  Did he actually chuckle? “Yes, of course.”

  “Well, in that case, I’ll see you there. Give me twenty minutes.”

  Dianna drove back into town wondering why she’d accepted Dean’s invitation. Sure, she was curious to know what he wanted to talk to her about. And maybe a part of her wanted the distraction. But deep down, she knew it was neither of those things.

  She was meeting with Dean to get back at Sean.

  Not that he would care. Why should he? He never promised her anything. Well, except that he would never hurt her, but did he even know she was hurt? Was sex such a casual thing to him that it never occurred to him she would be upset?

  When she pulled into the parking lot, she noticed Dean standing outside the parlor. If nothing else, the man looked scrumptious in a collared gray shirt and black trousers that hugged him in all the right places.

  Creamy Goodness Ice Cream Parlor was a quaint little mom and pop shop with a blue and white awning hanging over the entire length of the building. A small patio right
out front held several old-fashion ice cream tables, further adding to its picturesque charm.

  When she reached Dean, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Hey, thanks for meeting me. Shall we go in?”

  “Yup.”

  He held open the parlor door for her. “Get whatever you want. As promised, it’s on me.”

  Wow, she was getting the full treatment today. Good Lord, she hoped he wasn’t dying or something. Although why that would make him suddenly turn into Mr. Generous was anyone’s guess. She was pretty sure that wasn’t a requirement to get into Heaven.

  After they ordered a double-scoop of cookies and cream for her and a hot fudge sundae for him, they found an empty table outside on the edge of the patio facing Main Street.

  They ate their desserts, Dianna feeling awkward as she scanned the area, doing her very best not to look in the direction of Donovan’s Pub. Instead, she focused on the town florist diagonally across the street before moving on to search out anyone she knew coming out of the local bakery she’d often designed cakes for.

  “How is your ice cream?”

  Dianna smiled, holding up her spoon. “It’s wonderful, as always.”

  “This sundae is really good. I’m glad I suggested this.” He took another taste.

  “Speaking of, why the golden treatment today?”

  Dean took his time licking his spoon. “I felt I owed you an explanation.”

  “About?”

  “Why I acted the way I did on our date last week.”

  She paused with her spoon pressed to her lips. “Can you be more specific?”

  He chuckled. “Boom, and another zinger finds its mark.”

  She allowed a small smile. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I deserve it.” He pushed his unfinished sundae aside and folded his hands on the table. “When you called me out of the blue two weeks ago I was shocked. I figured you’d be married with a baby on the way by now.”

  Well, if he was attempting an apology, pointing out what was lacking in her life wasn’t a good way to start. Not that she needed to be married and have kids to be a success, but still.

  “Even though I’d dated a few women—”

  She quirked a brow.

  “Okay, a lot of women, since Natasha and I broke up, you were the only one I ever thought about.”