Love on the Boardwalk: A Cinnamon Bay Romance - Book One

by Barrett, Nikki Lynn

  It was evident by the soft look on Mac’s face that he loved his family deeply. “I take it you are close to your parents and brother?”

  “I am. I don’t get to see my brother as often as I’d like. He married his high school sweetheart and took a job in Chicago. As for my parents? I couldn’t have asked for better ones. Which leads me to another reason I stopped by tonight.”

  “Ah, so it wasn’t just to coerce me into telling you what I found out.”

  “You got me. The real reason I’m here is to see if you have any ideas on how I can get my aunt to talk to me. I stopped by again this afternoon, and she chased me off. I’m at a loss. Right now, she’s the only connection I have to my past.”

  “Funny you should bring her up. This afternoon I ran an errand before you got to the coffee shop and found some information for you. But then, you know, the whole fiasco after that had me forgetting to tell you.”

  A smirk crawled across Mac’s face. “Forgetting to tell me or choosing not to tell me?”

  Eva felt her face heat from embarrassment. “A little of both. But I’m telling you now.”

  She took a drink of her tea, then scooted her chair a little to allow her a better view of Mac. “I went to the library and found out there are Parkers all over Cinnamon Bay who might very well be your distant relatives. And the best news. Your grandfather’s house is not on the market yet because your aunt hasn’t gotten anyone to help her go through Macklin’s stuff and clean it out.”

  “More family?”

  Eva grabbed his forearm and gave it a shake. “Mac. Did you hear the part about your grandfather’s house? If we can talk Elizabeth into letting us help her, you should be able to find out anything you want about your family.”

  Chapter Nine

  MORE PARKERS! MAC already had enough reservations looking for information about his grandfather and meeting his aunt. He wasn’t interested in meeting any other members of his birth family now or anytime in the future.

  “Yeah. I heard what you said about my grandfather’s house, but I can’t wrap my head around the possibility of running into more Parkers.”

  “You don’t have to seek them out. Let’s just concentrate on finding a way to get your aunt to let us into the house.”

  This hunt for information on his birth family had somehow become more than he’d bargained for. In all reality, Mac just wanted to find out why his grandfather had allowed him to be adopted.

  The kitchen chair grated against the tiled floor as Mac stood from the table and began making a path from one end of Eva’s kitchen to the other. “I never wanted to meet my birth family. Not even Macklin.”

  “Can ask I why?”

  “Guilt. Fear. I don’t know. My parents were the best. Not one second in my life have I ever wondered if they loved me. I could have met my grandfather years ago, but I refused. I never wanted to repay my parents for a wonderful life by betraying them. What if I’d met Macklin and loved him? What if he had wanted to spend time with me? I think that would have killed my parents if they’d had to share me.”

  Eva’s melodic voice floated across the room in a gentle caress that helped calm his nerves. “I can understand that. I’d probably feel the same way. But I also have a feeling your parents love you so much, they’d only want for you to have whatever would make you happy. Do they even know you are here?”

  “They do. My brother does too. All of them encouraged me to come to Cinnamon Bay.”

  “Mac.” Surprised by the soft hand on his back and the closeness of her voice, Mac stopped his pacing and glanced over his shoulder. “Let’s take this one step at a time. We won’t even think about contacting any of the other Parkers right now or ever if you don’t want to. Concentrating on getting into your grandfather’s house will give you the answers you’re looking for and leave you with your autonomy. In the meantime, call your mom. Talk to her about how you feel. It might actually help.”

  Her words and soft touch were like a balm to his soul. And as crazy as it sounded, since he’d only known her for a few short days, Eva had somehow become what he needed. The voice of reason in his head, the key to opening his heart and the missing piece of the puzzle he’d been searching for.

  The sad thing was, he still planned on leaving Cinnamon Bay once he got his answers. Ignoring the ache in his chest at the thought of leaving, Mac turned to face the one person who could possibly make him consider staying.

  “You’re right. Let’s concentrate on finding a way into my grandfather’s house. You have any bright ideas? Because I have none.”

  “Weeelll.” Eva’s drawn-out response and scrunched face didn’t give Mac much reassurance or hope. “I was thinking we get Hattie, Trixie, and Birdie to talk to your aunt. If anyone can talk someone into doing something, it would be them.”

  “What? The gossip squad? Are you nuts? Everyone in town will know who I am.”

  “I’ve known them my whole life, and yes, they can get up into people’s business, but they don’t gossip. They will keep your secret, I promise. Now, they may want details, and they may try to fix you up with someone, but they will not tell your story to anyone else.”

  How had this all gotten so complicated? Mac rubbed the back of his neck in hopes of eliminating the golf ball-sized knots that had formed.

  “Fine. Explain to me how we are going to get them to help us.”

  Eva clapped in delight and squealed as a huge smile overtook her. Damn, he wanted to kiss her again. Just as he raised his hand to place on her cheek, Eva twirled around and headed back over to the kitchen table.

  “Give me a minute to clean up our dishes, then I’ll let you buy me an ice cream cone, and I’ll give you the deets. Deal?”

  “Let me help you clean the kitchen, then I’ll gladly buy you some ice cream, and we can go sit on the shore and watch the sunset while you give me the”—Mac made quotation marks with his fingers—“deets.”

  “I like your deal even better.”

  MAC AND EVA strolled through the side streets of Cinnamon Bay on their way to the boardwalk. Although it was well into the evening hours, the sun still sat high in the clear blue sky. But the well-lit walk didn’t diminish the intimacy Eva experienced every time Mac’s hand would brush hers or when they would bump shoulders while cruising down the narrow sidewalks.

  At first, there were the awkward apologies and the stepping away from each other, but after a few failed attempts at keeping their distance, Mac looped his fingers through hers.

  When his palm first slid over her hand, a zing of awareness traveled through Eva’s body, and she’d found herself moving a little closer to Mac.

  She asked him more about his family and what it was like growing up in Maine. In turn, Mac shared stories on a more personal level. Like the time he was playing with the kids in his neighborhood. They’d all been in the cul-de-sac shooting hoops when one of the boys asked if it bothered Mac that he didn’t live with his real parents. Of course, Mac got in the kid's face and yelled they were his real parents. The other boy shoved Mac, and then an all-out brawl had started.

  Eva squeezed Mac’s hand in support of the little boy he’d been, knowing that there had to have been times when Mac felt he didn’t fit in. She understood. Kids pointed out all the time that she didn’t have a dad.

  “Did your mom ever find out what the kid said to you?”

  Mac chuckled. “That time she did. She was the one who broke up the fight.”

  “And what did she say when you explained what had happened?”

  “That I was their son and that’s all that mattered. And if I ever got in a fight again, I’d be grounded.”

  “I think I’d like your mom.”

  “I think she’d like you too.”

  They’d reached the boardwalk, but Eva had made sure they’d stopped holding hands well before anyone could have seen. She may have been lost in the moment for a bit, but the ever-cautious woman in her always came out.

  Eva pointed to where Bay Freeze,
the local ice cream shop was located. “There it is. What are you going to get?”

  An exaggerated gasp came from Mac. “Rocky Road. Is there really any other kind of ice cream worth eating?”

  “Uh, yeah. Strawberry. It’s the only flavor I eat.”

  “Mystery solved,” Mac murmured.

  “What mystery?”

  “The mystery of why you taste like strawberries and cream.”

  She started. “What?”

  “In your office, when you accosted me. You tasted like strawberries and cream.”

  “I did not accost you. You kissed me.”

  “If I remember right, you had me shoved up against the door.”

  Before she realized it, her fist came out and connected with a rock-hard bicep. “I most certainly did not. Take that back.”

  “Then you had me in your chair and was about to, you know…before Kolby showed up.”

  Heat crept up Eva’s face. “Oh my gosh. You are as bad as Kolby.”

  “You’re cute when you’re embarrassed.”

  “Don’t forget, you still need my help. I suggest you get in line and come back with a triple scoop strawberry waffle cone.”

  Ocean blue eyes looked her up and down. “You cannot possibly eat that much.”

  Turning, Eva walked over to a bench where she took a seat and crossed her arms and legs. “Watch me,” she replied, flicking her wrist to shoo Mac away. “Now go get my cone, boy, or lose my help. I’ll be waiting right here.”

  ONCE MAC HAD gotten their ice cream, they walked a few more feet down the boardwalk to a set of stairs that led to the beach. They both sat on the bottom step and took turns holding each other’s cones while they removed their shoes.

  The sand, still warm from the hot sun beating down on it all day, slid between Mac’s toes. The sensation relaxed him, and Mac knew he could get used to walking the beach daily.

  Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, he was beginning to think he could stay here. Make Cinnamon Bay his home. See where this thing between him and Eva went. Because something in his gut told him it was the right move. But could he make a logical decision after only being here a few days?

  That was so unlike him. Mac was a thinker and a planner, not a spur of the moment, fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy. Which meant he had to give a move like this some thought and right now all his attention needed to be on finding any information he could about Macklin Parker, not romancing the beautiful Eva Halloway.

  “Well, let’s hear it. How do you think we can get the Golden Girls to help us out?”

  An eruption of giggles came from Eva. “You’ve come up with some great names for the trio, but this one is by far my favorite. Should we start calling them, Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche?”

  “You can call them Groucho, Harpo, and Chico if you want. I just need their help.”

  Eva’s attempted straight face couldn’t hide her humor. “If we tell them I might consider leaving Café Amour on the menu, they would march through the fires of hell for us.”

  “Good point. Are you willing to put it back on the menu?”

  Eva’s petite, well-manicured hand flapped in dismissal. “No, but they don’t need to know that.”

  “Is it the drink you don’t believe in, or is it love in general you have a problem with?”

  “I don’t have a problem with love. Why would you think that?”

  “Oh, gosh, I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with the fact you’re being a little hardheaded about selling the drink.”

  Eva’s stormy eyes turned an alarming shade of gray. Looked like Mac was in for tornado weather. “It doesn’t work.”

  “And you are basing your whole opinion on just your parents’ marriage? Because, if the stories flitting around town are true, the drink seems to have worked for numerous couples.”

  “Sean and I both drank the Café Amour not long after we met, and we all know how that turned out.”

  “So, you both broke off your engagement. I’m sure you had a legitimate reason.”

  A humorless chuckle burst from Eva. “It wasn’t mutual. Sean decided a few weeks before the wedding he didn’t want to be tied down. He opted to take a job overseas, leaving me here to deal with returning early wedding gifts and making the dreaded phone calls.”

  “What a douchebag. I would say you dodged the proverbial bullet.”

  “You’re right. He is a douche, but I dodged two bullets when he broke it off.”

  “Yeah? How’s that?”

  “My middle name is Mae.”

  Confused Mac quirked a brow. “And?”

  “If I had married Sean, I would now be known as Eva Mae Killigan.”

  Mac’s head fell back with a loud laugh. “Should I be afraid?”

  “Time will tell.”

  Chapter Ten

  EVERY TIME THE door opened to Brewed with a View, Eva glanced up, hope flickering within her that Mac would walk in.

  After last night at the boardwalk, she longed to see him again. If only her mind would stop with the what-ifs. She’d just told him about her broken engagement, but she kept thinking about him in more than a friendly way.

  Thanks a lot, heart!

  She couldn’t make up her mind about Mac. Some moments, he drove her nuts. Others, she wanted to kiss him again. And again.

  Feeling like a storm-tossed wave, she tried to focus on her task at hand, but the busy café didn’t keep her thoughts from straying too far from Mac.

  Where was he? Mac had told her he’d be here in the morning, as soon as possible, so that they could find a way to convince Birdie, Trixie, and Hattie to help.

  They would. She had no doubt.

  But at what cost?

  That was what Eva had no clue about.

  The dear ladies sure knew how to strike a deal.

  Eva just hadn’t imagined she’d be helping with said deal, and she knew darn well something was coming.

  Ah, anticipation.

  Kolby snapped his fingers close to her. “Eva?”

  “Hmm?” She glanced up.

  He pointed. “That’s a bit more than the customer wanted.”

  “Oh. Oh!”

  Eva reeled back. She’d been overflowing the milk for a drink and hadn’t even noticed! Damn! She set the jug down and rushed around for some towels or something to clean it up.

  “Be careful, Kolby!” she yelled at him when he almost slipped on the spilled milk.

  He just shot her a grin. “I got the customer. You just get the mess clean.”

  She continued to watch him, still unsure if he should be playing with danger around a spill. But Kolby handled it like a pro, handed the drink to the waiting customer, and went back to business.

  Eva stooped with the towels to clean up the mess.

  Damn Mac and his distracting ways, and the man wasn’t even here yet.

  “Hey there!” Kolby called.

  “Hi. Eva around?”

  Speak of the devil. Her insides warmed.

  “She sure is, but I’d watch it if I were you. She’s a space cadet today,” Kolby teased, his voice low, but she could still hear him.

  “Oh?”

  She held up a hand with a sopping wet towel. “I’m right here, you two, and I can hear everything you’re saying.”

  Mac peered over the counter. “Hello down there! What are you doing?”

  “It’s not often I hang out on the floor. Thought I’d get a new view from here,” she retorted as she finished cleaning up the spill.

  As she headed in the back to toss the towels in a pile away from everything, she overheard Kolby and Mac.

  “You sure know how to rile her up. You the reason she’s like this today?”

  “Kolby!” Eva called.

  He poked his head back. “Yes?”

  “Trash needs to be taken out. Would you mind?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  As Kolby left, Eva headed back out front. “Good morning.”

  Mac shot her one of thos
e grins she couldn’t stop thinking about. “Well, hello.”

  “He’s not going to shut up about yesterday, is he?” Eva grumbled.

  “Hmm? Kolby? I’m sure he’s just teasing you.”

  “But of course.”

  Mac turned around and searched the coffee shop. “I don’t see any of them today.”

  Eva chuckled. “Who knows, maybe they’re already plotting.”

  His mouth gaped open in horror. “Don’t say that! I wouldn’t put it past them!”

  She folded her arms over her chest. “Oooh, so they make you nervous. Good to know.”

  “You’re… Err,” Mac sputtered.

  “I’m what?”

  “Impossible. Evil. Adorable.”

  The last one caught her attention. “Oh really?”

  “Yes! You drive me crazy, woman.”

  “I like knowing that.” A line of several customers had formed behind him. “You might want to order something.”

  “Right. Right.” Mac got his usual coffee and headed off to a table to work.

  Kolby strutted out from the back with a scowl. “You tricked me.”

  “Did I?” Eva grinned, playing coy.

  “Nothing needed to be taken out.”

  “Oops. My mistake. I thought it did.”

  Kolby eyed Mac, then flitted his gaze back to Eva again. Then he shrugged and walked off to take care of the other customers.

  “I wouldn’t annoy him too much. He’s seen things,” Mac whispered playfully as he returned to the counter.

  Eva giggled. The man had a point.

  THE MOMENT MAC dreaded and looked forward to at the same time had arrived.

  The trio, side by side, entered the café, making their way to their table where Eva greeted them and took their orders. Of course, they mentioned the Café Amour drink again.

  “Have you reconsidered, Eva?” Trixie asked.

  “I thought we were leaving this alone, ladies?” Eva responded, her tone light and easy.