Step with Me: Love Amiss... A Christian Romance (Seaside Chapel Book 2)

by Jan Thompson

  Claude had suffered an emotional breakdown at a concert in the metro Atlanta area, when he was filling in for the conduction one unexpected evening. He cussed out the entire audience and walked off the stage. Disappeared into the night and hadn’t been seen since.

  Five years, God. Please bring my brother home.

  Emmeline sniffled. This was why she had to do this trade with Sebastian regardless of what Skye had called it or what she had implied. Unsavory. Beneath her.

  Whatever.

  Besides, Sebastian was supposed to be in love with that Talia Cavanaugh-Perry. If Talia knew what was good for her, she wouldn’t have dumped Sebastian.

  From what Emmeline had gathered from her single female friends at church, Sebastian was one of the eligible bachelors on the sea islands, second only to Jared Urquhart, who was now dating Talia.

  Must be a small world among the wealthy.

  Talia, the younger daughter of Argo Perry, who had worked all his life to start and keep the Scrolls independent bookstore. Talia, the spoiled trust fund baby who didn’t have to work a single day of her life. Talia, the biological daughter of the wealthy Blaise Cavanaugh-Perry, also known as old money.

  Talia, the spoiled. Talia, the—

  Uh-oh.

  God, forgive my tongue.

  Emmeline hung her head.

  My tongue is a fire.

  Like it says in James 3:6.

  She tried to remember the other verses Olivia Gonzalez had told them last Tuesday night at the Seaside Chapel Women’s Bible Study Group. She’d have to look up those verses later. Whatever they were, she knew she was guilty of them all.

  Meanwhile, here was a world of problem—

  “Need any help?”

  That voice.

  Rafferty!

  Emmeline spun around. “You did this!”

  “Let’s work together.” Rafferty was reaching for her arm again.

  Emmeline shrank back. “I told you. Don’t. Touch. Me.”

  Rafferty kept walking toward her.

  “You heard the lady.”

  Emmeline and Rafferty both turned their heads toward the voice.

  There was Sebastian, a head and shoulder taller than Rafferty, two cans of soda in his hands.

  “Who are you?” Rafferty puffed his chest.

  Emmeline rolled her eyes.

  “I’m her knight in shining armor.” Sebastian stepped into Emmeline’s personal space, as if to protect her. “And who are you? The court jester?”

  Emmeline saw Rafferty tighten his grip around his xylophone mallets. He looked like he was about to snap the rattan handles into pieces.

  “Ah, a stage actor in our midst,” Rafferty said. On his way out of the music library, he raised his voice. “This is not over yet, understudy!”

  Emmeline waited until he was out of sight. When she turned toward Sebastian he was staring at her.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly.

  Sebastian shrugged. “I do that all the time.”

  “Sure you do.”

  “You have an admirer, I see.”

  “He was lead in our last Romeo and Juliet, and apparently it hadn’t worn off.” Emmeline explained the Theater by the Sea to Sebastian. “I joined a few months ago.”

  “I know. Skye told me. I’d like to see a play or two sometime.”

  “Well, we’ll have a series of outdoor plays before summer is over. We’re doing Jane Austen parodies this year.”

  “Sounds good.” Sebastian pointed to the glass door. “If I close that door, will we have some privacy?”

  Emmeline raised her eyebrows.

  “To talk?”

  “Oh yes. Of course.” Duh.

  If Sebastian did anything she didn’t want, all she had to do was call Pastor Gonzalez and he’d be taken care of. Or she could file a harassment suit and the public would take down his signature restaurant, that Italian seafood place she had heard much about but had never been to. She was sure Sebastian wouldn’t try anything stupid. He had a reputation to keep.

  Additionally, they were both Christians and would have to answer to God and to her parents—especially to her father.

  My father can beat up your father.

  She chuckled.

  “What’s the inside joke?” Sebastian sipped his Fanta.

  “Nothing.”

  Why is he looking at me like that?

  She glanced down at her dress to make sure her bra wasn’t showing. And at her skirt to make sure it covered her knees. No point giving a single man any idea.

  Since Emmeline had started attending the Women’s Bible Study a few months ago, she had felt a conviction to develop her inner character and work on modesty. She had sold her low-cut blouses and short skirts through consignment sales. From the sale, she had bought some modest clothes from Matt’s thrift shop. She felt freer wearing them. No danger of wardrobe malfunctions.

  When Emmeline and Ivan McMillan had that fling a year before, she had been naïve about flaunting her assets. She had since learned by watching Ivan’s then fiancée, Brinley, that God appreciated inner beauty more than her outer, decaying self.

  Decaying? Yeah, decaying because she was getting older, after all.

  Twenty-five years old and nothing to show for but a music undergraduate degree. It was her minor in music librarianship, not her major in harp performance, that had gotten her this job at SISO. When the principal—and only—harpist had left for big city orchestras, Emmeline auditioned for the job and earned it.

  “How old are you, Sebastian?” Emmeline put away the music sheets as fast as she could.

  “Thirty-four this November.”

  Emmeline studied his face. His mousey brown hair was kind of cute hanging over his forehead. “Thirty four? You don’t look over thirty.”

  “Thanks! Skye said you just turned twenty five. Happy belated birthday.”

  “We’re nine years apart in age.”

  “Not that it matters. Hey, I appreciate your doing this for me.”

  “I think I get the better end of the deal,” Emmeline said. “Two months might not be enough to get Talia’s attention.”

  “We’ll keep up the charade even after you go back to UGA—if we have to.”

  The charade.

  “Oh, I almost forgot about the house rules,” Emmeline said.

  “House rules?”

  Emmeline nodded. “No touching. No hugging. No kissing.”

  “I get the no kissing. But holding hands? Hugging? They all make our stage play.”

  “Stage play? Is that how you look at this?”

  “We have to make this realistic enough for Talia to believe I’ve moved on.”

  Emmeline sighed. “You know, I’m not entirely sure this is going to work.”

  “Sure it will.” Sebastian crushed his soda can. Tossed it into a trash can nearby. “Talia is the jealous sort. She sees me moving on, she’ll want me back. Just you wait and see.”

  Emmeline didn’t know Talia at all, except that she was the daughter of her employer at Scrolls, the fledging independent bookstore whose doors stayed open only because the owner had other income sources.

  “Could we at least hold hands?” Sebastian asked.

  “Let me think about that.”

  Something buzzed. Emmeline reached for her purse. The text message came from the van service center. She called them back.

  “That sounds bad.” She walked about near the windows. The afternoon sunlight shone in, warming her up. She stood in the sun for a while listening to the bad news. “I don’t know, Joey. Sounds over the top.”

  Emmeline looked in Sebastian’s direction. He was staring back at her, eyebrows wiggling.

  “Look, Joey. I’m not putting in three thousand dollars for a refurbished engine into a van that’s worth half as much.” Emmeline drew a deep breath. “What do you mean I don’t know? I saw my van’s value on Kelly Blue Book.”

  She paused. “Fifty dollars? What? You want me to give you my van for fif
ty dollars? Listen here—no, you listen—”

  She turned around and smacked into Sebastian’s chest. He motioned for her to hand him her phone.

  “Now?” she mouthed.

  He nodded.

  “Hold on a sec, Joey.” She gave the phone to Sebastian.

  Emmeline tried not to chew her fingernails. She went back to filing the scattered music sheets.

  Things have got to get better for me, God. Please?

  She was stacking up music folders as she listened to Sebastian.

  “Joey, right? Good. This is Sebastian, Em’s boyfriend. Tell me what’s wrong with her van.”

  Em? He’s calling me Em?

  Chapter Five

  By the time five o’clock rolled around, Emmeline was lying prone on the pine floor of the music library, the last stack of folders next to her.

  All done.

  Whatever Rafferty had flung at her had been corrected. Well, it wasn’t really his fault. Emmeline had been late to work. Ironically, if not for Rafferty—as disorganized as he might be—the rehearsal wouldn’t have happened.

  Great. Now I have to thank Rafferty.

  Emmeline’s gaze went to the window. The sky had turned overcast. It was supposed to rain this evening. If she hurried up and walked fast, she might make it home before it rained. Sometimes there were abandoned umbrellas in the lost-and-found closet. Or maybe a poncho of some sort.

  Every bone in her body ached. She had never ached like this. It might be stress.

  Once she walked home, she had to call a cab to take her to dinner and back. She had the money now, but what a pain.

  Well, maybe she could cancel or reschedule the meeting. After all, he had given her the check. He could email her Talia’s schedule. There was no need to meet in person—

  The door flung open.

  “Dinner’s served!”

  What?

  Sebastian’s long strides taking him to her faster than she could sit up, Emmeline found herself looking up at an imposing man. He stretched his arms to give her a hand. He gently pulled her to her feet.

  “I thought you left,” Emmeline said.

  “Skye told me that you have no car to get home.”

  Why did Skye do that? “I was going to walk.”

  “Then how were you going to make it to our dinner meeting?”

  “I was going to borrow a car, call a cab, or reschedule.”

  Sebastian nodded. “Uh-huh. I knew that could be an issue, so I brought dinner to you.”

  “How do you know what I like to—oh yes, Skye told you.” Again.

  Emmeline straightened her skirt.

  “You two have enough lunches together for her to know your favorite dishes.”

  “So you’re now thinking for me.” Emmeline put away the last folders.

  “I wouldn’t put it that way. Getting Talia back is the most important project I have right now.” Sebastian ushered her to the door. “I want to go over her schedule for the next two months.”

  “Seriously, you could email it to me.”

  “You and I barely know each other. To pull this off, we need to spend time together, everyday, or at least more than I see Talia at work.”

  Emmeline knew that Talia co-owned Saffron on Jekyll with Sebastian. It was because of that restaurant that Talia had quit her occasional gig in SISO. Emmeline had no opinion on Talia at the timpani because they often didn’t rehearse together.

  “Too bad she doesn’t play the timpani anymore,” Emmeline said.

  “Yep. Making her jealous would’ve been easier if you two were at the same events more.” Sebastian invited her to go ahead of him to the break room.

  What awaited Emmeline wasn’t what she had expected. One of the folding tables where SISO members had eaten lunches and snacks had been converted into a proper dinner table complete with white tablecloth and two place settings.

  “A bit much for a takeout.” Emmeline stared at the covered dishes.

  “Our business meeting. You didn’t expect us to talk about the most important project of my life over greasy hamburgers, do you?” He pulled back a folding chair.

  “I’d better wash my hands. Dust from the music sheets.” She walked nervously to the sink. She couldn’t find any hand soap. She used the dish liquid instead. Now her hands smelled like lemon zest.

  After she sat down, Sebastian placed a cloth napkin over her lap. He lifted the lid on her dish. It was salmon. Her favorite!

  “Wild Alaskan Salmon,” Sebastian said. “Grilled with thyme and butter.”

  The way I like it.

  “I’m going to have a chat with Skye about telling people things about me,” Emmeline said.

  “I’m not one of the people. I’m her brother, and your boyfriend for the next two months.”

  Boyfriend.

  That word rubbed Emmeline the wrong way.

  “Don’t blame Skye. She’s a reluctant witness. She thinks this whole ruse is a stupid idea.”

  “She tried to warn me.” Emmeline glanced at the door.

  “No one can hear us. Everyone has left the building,” Sebastian announced. “It’s just you and me.”

  “Should I be scared?”

  “You can trust me. I don’t want you. I want Talia back.”

  I don’t want you.

  Neither does anyone else.

  Chapter Six

  “You and I are actors on stage and Talia is our audience,” Sebastian explained to Emmeline as they ate.

  He could tell she was a bit wary about this play. But she needed his help to find her brother, and if he could convince her that this was nothing more than a theatrical production, she might buy it and the whole project would work. Still, seeing her looking doubtful made him wonder whether his plan—wrought in the pit of lies and deception—might have been better off abandoned.

  He watched Emmeline chew another small piece of salmon.

  Why isn’t she eating much? What happened to this being her favorite dish?

  “Have you tried reasoning with Talia? Talk to her? Tell her how you feel about your non-relationship? Have a meeting like this one?”

  Sebastian smiled. “Talk doesn’t work with Talia. She’s visual.”

  “You hope that she sees the errors of her ways and decide to marry you.”

  “Something like that.”

  “You can’t make people decide, Sebastian. You’re not God.”

  “Of course.”

  “What if instead of an object lesson for Talia, it’s one for you?” Emmeline asked.

  “What do you mean?” It’s all my fault now?

  “What if her dumping you is God’s way of telling you to move on?”

  “Move on?” Sebastian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Talia is the only one for me. We’ve known each other since we were both seventeen. She was my first—uh…”

  Emmeline’s eyes got bigger. Calmly, she spoke. “So you’ve dealt with premature intimacy.”

  Whoa.

  Sebastian cleared his throat. Skye hadn’t said anything about Emmeline being this brusque, this unvarnished.

  She had been a thing of beauty until she opened her mouth.

  “God’s timing is everything,” Emmeline continued. “If she was the one for you, you wouldn’t have taken advantage of her.”

  “Me? Not me. It was her—How dare you!” Sebastian held his breath and counted to ten. “Okay. Are you always this blunt, Emmeline?”

  She gasped.

  Then her shoulders sagged.

  “I do have a problem with my tongue,” she bleated.

  “I’d say. Look, it’s not cheap paying a PI to find your brother, okay? All you have to do is to hang out with me and make Talia see what she’s missing.”

  “Then you get her back.”

  “Right.”

  “Whether or not it’s God’s will for you.”

  Wow. This is a mistake. This woman is the wrong actress. Is it too late to fire her? She could tell the world. Then what?
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  “This game of pretense could backfire,” Emmeline said.

  “If it does, I’ll blame you. You’re the actress here.”

  “I’m not a very good one at it, you know. I was fired from the last local production of Les Misérables because I couldn’t remember my lines.”

  Sebastian wondered now. “Play along and you’ll be fine. It’s not like we’re going to do anything serious. Most of the time we’ll just be going everywhere Talia goes so she’ll see us.”

  “Business partners. This could get complicated.”

  “Well, I’ve arranged for her to do more publicity the next two months. Various ensembles from SISO is going to play every Friday at Saffron. We’ll also be more involved in some charitable work around town, like feeding the homeless.”

  Emmeline’s fork dropped with a loud clink on her plate. “Sorry, sorry.”

  Sebastian thought Emmeline looked shaken. Why? He decided to ignore it.

  “Anyway, I’m thinking about four events in two months.” He stared at her. Those eyes… That hair…

  He cleared his throat again. “Do you have anything going on the next two months?”

  “We have SISO concerts and the Theater by the Sea to keep me busy. I work in the SISO music library year round. I’m also preparing to go back to UGA. The rest of the time I work at Scrolls—”

  “Scrolls? Perfect. You’ve interacted with Talia then?”

  “She doesn’t talk to us. She’s the boss’s daughter and all that.”

  “Sounds like Talia.” Sebastian picked up his iPhone sitting on the table next to his plate. Swiped and tapped. “What’s your email? I’ll send you Talia’s schedule. I want you to send me yours. Date, time, venue.”

  Emmeline gave him the information he wanted. Then: “What if it’s not God’s will for you to get Talia back?”

  “Are you rephrasing your earlier concern in a different way?”

  “I asked you the same question and you didn’t seem to know.”

  “What are you now, Em?” He pocketed his iPhone. “My conscience?”

  “Oh, that’s above my pay grade. I’m concerned. You’re my friend’s brother. If you’re hurt, she could be hurt too. I don’t want to see Skye hurt. She’s like a sister to me.”