Second Chances (Pebble Harbor Book 1)

by Brenna Ash

  Damn. He snatched his house key and phone, shoved them in his shorts pocket and slammed the door on his way out.

  The day was hot with the sun high in the sky, the sticky humidity enveloped him like a warm, wet blanket. He headed in the direction opposite of town. The less traffic the better. Normally, he'd stick in his ear buds and listen to music while he ran, but here, everything was so peaceful, so he just listened to the sounds of nature as he pounded his feet into the pavement. He pushed himself, his legs and lungs burning. He hadn't done any type of workout since he'd been here. His body was letting him know that it'd been too long.

  The longer he ran, the clearer his mind became. Soon he wasn't thinking about anything except the surrounding trees and his breathing. His muscles were sore, but he didn't care. Other than sex, this was the best burn he could get.

  Sweat poured off him and he wished he'd thought to bring a bottle of water. If he remembered correctly, there was a store not too far from where he was. He'd pop in there and grab some before heading back home.

  Hayden slowed his pace as he approached the store so he could catch his breath before going inside. He'd been running for about forty-five minutes or so. He figured it had to be four or five miles. He'd have to drive it later so he could gauge it.

  When he walked in, the bell above the door announced his arrival. He smiled at the woman behind the register and made his way toward the coolers in the back. He found the biggest bottle of water that wouldn't be too much of a pain in the ass to carry while he ran back. Hayden broke the seal and took a big swig as he strode to the counter.

  The cashier stared at him when he placed the bottle on the counter. “Just this.” He lifted the bottle to show the woman he was ready to pay.

  “Oh my God! You're Hayden Wagner! I'd heard you were here but I didn't really believe it. And now, here you are. In my store!”

  Apparently, she'd found her on button. He smiled and waited for her to catch her wits. It was always odd when someone reacted to him, but it really was part of the job. He could be like some actors and be a total asshole to people that came up to him on the street or just happened to recognize him wherever they were, but that wasn't his nature. When you signed up for this gig, getting recognized and approached were part of the job. Most times it was a perk and people were usually very nice. Other times, well, you know, some people were just dicks and no matter what, those people wouldn't change.

  “I'm sorry. I'm sure you're asked this all the time, but could I get a picture? My daughter would just die!”

  “Sure.” She hurried around the counter, phone in hand. After taking a selfie with him, she went back behind the cash register, thanking him profusely.

  “You're welcome. It's nice to meet you by the way. Your name?”

  Now the poor woman was all flustered. “Oh, how rude of me. I'm sorry. I'm Sheila. I really appreciate the picture. I'm sure you get tired of doing that kind of thing.”

  “Not at all.” He handed her a five-dollar bill to pay for the water. “You have a nice day.”

  He felt her stare on him until he exited the store and stepped back out into the bright sunshine. One more sip of water and then he screwed the cap back on, taking off in a slow jog back toward his house.

  Chapter 9

  Sunny spent the day moping around the house, not even bothering to change out of her pajamas. After an hour of trying to find something to watch, she turned off the TV and attempted to read a Nora Roberts book she'd purchased recently, but couldn't concentrate on the words.

  She hadn't heard from Hayden. He'd probably woken up the next day and cursed himself thinking about what the hell he'd done. Still, she wanted him to reach out to her. For him to let her know it meant something. What they'd done.

  It was only a kiss.

  It probably meant nothing to him. He had his prime pick of women. Whatever made her think he'd choose her? She laughed out loud. “What are you smoking, girl?” Without her meaning to, she'd let him in. The small fissure that had opened in her heart was now cracking big time. She didn't think she'd be able to stop it now.

  Still, Hayden should realize she didn't give her heart out to just anyone. Maybe not, since she seemed to give in pretty damned easily once his lips found hers. She sighed at the memory. It was definitely one for the record books. She wouldn't forget it for a long time, if ever.

  At least when Sunny did her blog post this morning, she'd made it a nice one. She was tempted to call Sharon and grill her at more length about her true relationship with Hayden.

  But no new stories had come in from her source in the last few days. Maybe she knew Hayden wasn't in L.A. anymore so she figured it wasn't worth the time. If Sharon kept up with Sunny's blog, she definitely knew he wasn't there now.

  Still, you'd think she would still be pushing tips through. Just because he wasn't there didn't mean things weren't happening.

  It made Sunny wonder again if Sharon was really telling her the truth. A tinge of guilt tugged at Sunny's insides. Her time with Hayden was definitely clouding her thought process. He just didn't seem like that type of guy. He was still an all-around nice guy, and when Sunny looked at him, she didn't see an addict of anything. He'd matured since she'd last seen him, but she wasn't sure if he was capable of putting anyone else first yet.

  After setting the kettle on to boil, Sunny scooped some loose leaf chamomile tea out of the canister on the counter, filled her steeper, and plopped it into one of her favorite mugs. She tapped her fingers on the granite as she waited for the water to heat. Sunny had a custom order due for a client and she was procrastinating. Not because she didn't want to do the work. No, she loved creating items that made people happy. This particular order was for a pair of hair clips to be painted with purple and green dragonflies. Sunny knew exactly how she wanted to design them, but Hayden occupied her thoughts. If she closed her eyes, she saw his image. If she concentrated enough she could catch his fresh, outdoorsy scent.

  Damn, Marlene was right. She still had it bad for him. She really wished he'd call. Or text. Or email. Anything really. She just wished he'd reach out. To prove that whatever happened the other day meant something to him. He had beautiful women available to him every day of the week. Glamorous women. All glitzed up, Hollywood style. And she was pretty damn sure she outweighed those women by she didn't even want to think about how many pounds.

  Really. What did she have to offer him that would be greater than what he already had? Nothing. A trip down memory lane. That's probably all she was.

  Sunny hated herself this way. This was why he wasn't good for her. She turned into a slobbery mess with no self-worth. It wasn't healthy for her.

  She'd better keep reminding herself of that. What happened couldn't happen again. She couldn't wander down that rabbit hole again. She'd only get hurt in the long run, and she didn't think her heart could take it again.

  Tea in hand she sat at her work table and gathered the paints and brushes she'd need for the clips. Time to get to work and push all thoughts of Hayden to the side. She'd already done a quick sketch of what she wanted the final product to look like. It was just a matter of outlining the design on the accessories, painting them with bright, beautiful colors and then once dry, sealing the clips with a clear-coat acrylic to protect the finished product.

  Two hours later, she was just applying the final touches to the wings. The project was taking much longer than usual. Part of the problem was she constantly checked her phone to see if Hayden had sent a text. After setting the clips under a fan to dry, she stretched her stiff muscles, thinking that even if Hayden did contact her she needed to set him straight.

  ***

  “You can't keep ignoring him,” Marlene whined as she plopped onto the couch. “Just send him a text. What harm can it do?” She twirled a blonde lock around her finger before flipping it back.

  Sunny pointed at Marlene. “Now that is a loaded question.”

  “I don't get it.
I thought you wanted him to contact you, and now that he has, you're dissing him.”

  She put two stemmed glasses on the coffee table and filled them each with wine. She took one and handed the other to her friend and downed a long sip. “I don't know what to do, Mar. He's a good guy. But I don't think I can trust him. I trusted him before and look where that got me? Possibly pregnant and heartbroken.”

  “You know my thoughts on that. I've told you already. You need to talk to him about it. And you just deleting his texts isn't accomplishing anything.”

  “I'm not deleting them. I'm just not writing back.”

  “What are we, in middle school? Put your big girl panties on, pick up your phone, and answer the poor guy back. Now.” Marlene ordered in a stern voice.

  Her friend's insistence surprised Sunny. She never got mad. Or forceful for that matter.

  “What does it matter to you whether I get back to him or not? What hat do you have in this bag?”

  “I'm tired of seeing you mope around. This weird war that you've got going on inside of your pea brain needs to be brought out into the open and then put to bed.” She lifted a wooden butterfly Sunny had painted in bright metallics from the end table and studied it. “Why don't you make a nice dinner and then invite him over?”

  “I don't know if that's the best idea.”

  “Do it.”

  Sunny raised a brow in question at her friend. “What is going on with you?”

  Marlene sighed, “I think he's changed. Hayden and Drake have been talking--”

  “Wait. What? You've been seeing Drake?” Sunny gasped.

  Her friend scowled. “I never said that. Where's your phone?” She stood up and started searching.

  “Oh, no you don't.” Sunny rushed to retrieve her phone off the kitchen counter before Marlene got to it. “Fine. I'll send him a text,” giving in to the shift of subject back to she and Hayden.

  “A nice one?”

  “No, a nasty one, that way he's sure to accept the invite,” she countered sarcastically.

  “Touché.”

  Sunny didn't want to engage in a full-on conversation via text, so she just sent something simple.

  Dinner? My house, tomorrow night. 6:00

  Her phone buzzed before she even got the chance to set it back down.

  I'll be there.

  That was quick. She got a bit giddy thinking that he'd been waiting for her to reach out to him, but then Sunny remembered his line of work. He was probably tied to his phone and had it on him at all times. There were plenty of people that needed to call him on a daily basis. She fought the feeling that she was a nobody compared to his usual circle of friends.

  “Well?” Marlene broke into her thoughts. “What'd he say? No, wait, what'd you say?”

  “Very funny. He'll be here at six tomorrow.”

  Marlene clapped her hands like a teenager. “What are you going to make? Do you need any help?”

  “I have no idea what to make. I mean, what does he like to eat? He's been in California all these years, maybe his tastes have changed. What if he's a vegetarian?”

  “Yeah, right. Not a chance. You don't get his body without eating animal protein.”

  Sunny regarded her friend, a silent question in her eyes.

  “What? I've seen his movies. The man is a beautiful work of art. He's not going to throw that away on kale chips and carrot sticks.”

  She had to agree with Marlene there. “Okay, let me think. I could keep it simple and do something like a steak salad. No, wait. That sounds too much like something he'd eat for lunch.” She drummed her fingers on the counter, trying to think of what to make. “I could go classic and do steak and potatoes, but that sounds so boring.”

  “How about something Italian? Not spaghetti, for obvious reasons, too messy to eat, but like a stuffed manicotti or something like that. You can make a salad as a side along with garlic bread. And wine. Lots of wine. And remember gum or mints for afterward if you're going to do garlic bread, 'cause, you know, garlic.”

  “All good points. I could do a chocolate torte for dessert. That's easy enough. I could even make that tonight since it needs to be refrigerated.” It was the only dessert Sunny could make, but it was perfection on a plate.

  “See, easy peasy.”

  She rolled her eyes at her friend. “Easy for you to say. You're not the one having to cook while your nerves are all standing on end.”

  Marlene stood and gave her a hug. “You'll do fine. Let me know if you need any help.” She said, retrieving her purse from the hook by the back door. “I've got to go. Call me if you need me, seriously.”

  “I will, I promise. Thanks.”

  The door closed and Sunny was left alone with her thoughts. Not necessarily a good thing. She grabbed a notepad and pen and made a list of tasks to do before tomorrow night. The house had to be cleaned. She wasn't a messy person, quite the opposite, but she wanted everything spotless if Hayden was going to be here. Sunny jotted down a short grocery list. She'd make a quick trip to Edson's later this evening.

  She was glad she'd forced herself to buckle down and complete her art order earlier so she didn't have to worry about that. Sunny didn't have any outstanding orders which meant she was free all day tomorrow. She did have another blog post to put up, but didn't really have anything new to report, so she'd probably rehash some fluff and post pictures she had of him. Not new ones from here; Sunny didn't have any of those. Even if she did, there was no way she would post those online. Talk about a sure fire way of letting him know she was the blogger.

  She'd made a point of only posting positive things about him lately. The bad vibes she'd felt from Sharon were growing stronger, the longer Hayden was in town. Sunny decided to no longer accept any of the woman's 'tips'. Something she probably should've done a long time ago. Sunny only had her own bitterness to blame for that. From this point on, she was back to the reason she'd created the blog in the first place, to support Hayden and follow his career.

  She opened another bottle of wine, filled her glass with Chianti and powered up the laptop in her office. She sat at her desk and placed the wine on the celtic-designed porcelain coaster she'd painted herself. Sunny checked her email, and saw a couple new ones sent to the address specifically set up for her blog.

  One was from an email address she didn't recognize. Sunny clicked on the mail and recognized the picture embedded within. It was of Hayden and the two teenage girls at the mini-golf course the other day. One of the girls was granting Sunny permission to post the picture and tell her story on her blog. Sunny glanced over what the girl had written. It was a pretty true account of what had happened. She didn't have anything negative to say about him. Sunny could use this and it would be innocent enough. She saved the picture to her files with the name of the girl so she could give proper credit and closed the email.

  The other email was from Sharon. Sunny didn't immediately open the email. She debated whether she should just delete it unread. But curiosity won out and she clicked to read Sharon's latest 'tip'.

  I have it on good authority that Hayden Wagner has been caught with an underage girl at a party in Beverly Hills. Police are investigating. The teenager took selfies of Hayden sleeping beside her. She shared the pics with some friends and they were the ones who went to the police. Pictures are attached.

  Sunny opened the attachments and knew immediately that they were fakes. At a brief glance, if one didn't know Hayden as well as she did, one might think it was him, but to her it was glaringly obvious. The blonde hair was just a little too dark and a bit thinner than his wavy locks. The shoulder structure of the man in the photo was less muscular than Hayden's. Sharon didn't include a date for when this incident had allegedly taken place. Everything she'd sent in the past was something that had reportedly just happened, so there was no reason to think the woman had been holding on to it and just now decided to pass it on.

  Sunny let out a frustrated bre
ath. She was pissed. There was no way this story was true. A story like this could be career-ending for Hayden. She refused to be a part of it. Sunny saved the email, but would not be publishing the story. Sharon could go pound sand. Sunny didn't want any part of this.

  Sharon must have something against Hayden. No normal person would fabricate a story like that.

  ***

  The Scoop by Jules

  HAYDEN'S MAKING NICE

  I've got a few new pictures to share with you all. Our favorite Hollywood bad boy has been taking some leisure time for himself while he's on vacation and he was nice enough to have a chat with these lovely ladies and pose for pictures. Look how cute he is. That smile! It's a dazzler. The young women stated that he was 'totally down to earth and didn't mind that we totally interrupted him for pictures and an autograph'. That's our Hayden. If you happen to be in the same spot and catch him around town and are lucky enough to get a pic, send it in with your story and I'll see what I can do.

  Until next time,

  Sparkly Dreams!

  ***

  Sunny scheduled the article to auto-post during the night knowing she made the right choice to ignore Sharon's latest email. She needed to find more information about her. There had to be a way to find out if Sharon was even her real name. Sunny had her email address and her phone number. With all of the technology available today, someone had to be able to figure it out. When she had some time, she'd call up an old friend that was a genius in computers and see what he could find out. Her latest email crossed a line and while Sunny may have not acted with the greatest integrity previously, she would not tolerate blatant lies.

  She'd contact Linc this afternoon.

  Right now, Sunny had to run to Edson's for the items she needed to make dinner tomorrow night.

  ***

  Hayden's cell beeped on the nightstand letting him know a new blog had been posted. Wiping the sleep out of his eyes, he groaned. What the hell had the person reported on now? The upside was his phone wasn't blowing up from Ellen and Anna. Although that probably meant they just hadn't seen it yet.