Sweet Nothings: A Bethany Beach Romance

by Lacy Hart

  I went to the back of the bakery and tried the door and saw it was still locked, so I knew I was the first one here today. I entered and started my routine, putting my apron on, getting the ovens and machines going, taking my supplies out, and turning the radio on. I could hear myself quietly singing along, my hips swaying to the music, as I rolled out pastry dough to make turnovers.

  “What has you in such a good mood this morning?” Jodie asked as she entered the kitchen.

  I glanced up and smiled as I rolled out the dough to the best thickness for the turnovers before I grabbed the filling I wanted to use.

  “I just love life, sis,” I said to her. I spread the apple filling onto the dough and gave perfect mounding portions to each piece I planned to cut.

  “You’re adorable when you’re getting some on a regular basis,” Jodie answered as she put her apron on.

  “Classy as always, Jodie.”

  “You wouldn’t expect anything less.” Jodie grabbed a few trays of cinnamon buns we had proofing in one of the refrigerators and put them out on the counter before sliding them into one of the ovens.

  “I take it you had a good night last night?” Jodie asked me.

  “Jodie… I can’t even put it into words. Damian makes me feel like every part of my life is perfect. He doesn’t judge; he likes me for me, not what I do for a living, what I look like, or where I live or how much money I have. I just want to spend time with him, and when I’m not with him, I want to be with him, you know?”

  “Kelly, are you in love with him?” Jodie asked me seriously.

  I stopped folding turnovers long enough to look at her as she stared at me.

  “I am, Jodie. I know that sounds crazy after a few days, but I am in love with him. He’s everything I want – caring, responsible, funny… and sexy as hell.”

  We both laughed as we went back to work, and a few minutes later Mom and Alex entered the back door, ready to start their days.

  “Good morning!” I said happily while I placed the turnovers in the oven.

  “Good morning to you too,” Mom said with a smile as she hung up her sweater.

  “Good morning, little sister,” I said to Alex, patting her head as I walked past her.

  “Who gave you happy pills this morning?” Alex grumbled as she walked out into the shop to start the registers.

  Mom reached into her purse to pull something out and then walked over to me.

  “I forgot this yesterday,” she said to me, handing me a stack of mail. “I stopped by the post office yesterday to pick up the mail.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” I said, scanning over the stack. There were plenty of advertisements and the typical invoices that didn’t come in over email today. There was one large brown envelope on the bottom that I picked up and looked at, seeing it was from an address in New York.

  “Did anyone notice the new surf shop that’s two doors down?” Mom asked. “I saw when we walked by that the place is cleaned out and closed up. I wonder what happened.”

  “That’s odd,” I answered, running my finger under the glued flap of the envelope to open it up. “They haven’t been there very long. Too bad; they were some nice guys running that place. Do you know what’s up with Harry next door, Mom? The place has been closed for two days now.”

  “No, I haven’t seen him,” she yelled from the storefront.

  I pulled the pages out of the envelope and looked at them. The top page was a letter on official stationery. I read over the letter again, just scanning it at first, before I stopped myself and started reading with more earnest from the top again.

  Dear Ms. Barton,

  This letter is to inform you that as of September 1, 2018, ownership of the building you occupy will have transferred to our company, STW Enterprises. As the new owners of this property, we would like to inform you of our intention of creating new office space for our company at your location and the adjoining locations here on the boardwalk that were purchased as part of the transaction.

  We hereby give you notice that your lease has been terminated and you will have sixty (60) days to close business and vacate the premises. As an incentive for you, should you vacate within the first thirty days of this notice, you will be awarded a cash payout of $75,000.00 as thanks from us and to assist you with any relocation efforts or future endeavors.

  Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the phone numbers or email address listed in the header of this letter. Thank you for your attention.

  Paul S. Austin

  Chief Attorney, STW Enterprises

  I was completely stunned. Beneath the letter were copies of my lease and pages to sign and submit should I want to vacate faster than the sixty days. I placed the papers down and just stared at them.

  “What’s all that?” Jodie asked as she walked over to me. “You okay, Kelly?”

  “They’re eviction papers,” I said softly. “We’re being told to get out.”

  “What? They can’t do that. We have a lease with the management company.” Jodie picked up the papers to look at the letter herself.

  “Apparently, they sold the property, and the new owners want us out. Not just us, but everyone around us. We have sixty days to close.”

  “This can’t be real,” Jodie said loudly.

  Mom and Alex came into the kitchen when they heard me knock an empty tray over and it clanged loudly against the floor.

  “What’s wrong?” Mom asked.

  “They’re going to make us close the bakery,” Jodie said with shock, passing the letter to Mom.

  Jodie, Alex, and Mom huddled near each other, reading the letter over and over as I stood in stunned silence. Everything I had worked hard for and dreamed of was dashed in just a few sentences.

  “Kelly,” Jodie said to me. “The company that bought the property… STW Enterprises… that’s Damian’s company.”

  I grabbed the letter from Mom’s hands and looked at the letterhead. My stomach suddenly felt sour, and I wanted to throw up. I leaned over the sink for a moment as I breathed heavily. I didn’t know what to feel anymore as anger, resentment, and sadness all coursed through me at once.

  I stood up, calmly took off my apron, and gathered up the paperwork.

  “You keep working,” I said to Jodie, Mom, and Alex as I moved towards the back door.

  “Where are you going?” Jodie asked.

  “To see our new landlord,” I growled, slamming the door behind me.

  18

  Damian

  Leaving Kelly’s place, all I could think about is how amazing it was to be with her and how lucky I was to have found her. Even though we had only known each other for days, it felt like I had made a connection with her unlike any other before. My thoughts were occupied by her image until I pulled up to the gate at my house and buzzed myself into the driveway.

  I crept the truck up alongside the limo, still parked in the same spot it had been since we arrived in town. I stepped out of the truck and stretched for a minute. My muscles were aching a bit after last night and the last few days, but it was an ache I would gladly accept anytime. I made my way into the house through the garage so that I was downstairs. I tried to keep the noise down since it was still early, and James and Shannon were likely still asleep. As I shut the interior door and turned around, I saw James coming out of Shannon’s room with a towel wrapped around his waist, carrying items from Shannon’s room tucked under his arm. He was clearly startled and fumbled with the items he had, nearly dropping them to the floor.

  “Sorry, you caught me off guard,” James said, seeming unusually flustered.

  “What’s going on?” I asked James as I slowly started to put the situation together in my mind.

  James looked straight at me and gave a bit of a grin to me. He shrugged his shoulders as he could see I knew what was going on.

  “How long has that been going on?”

  “Honestly boss, it just kind of snuck up on us. We’ve been spending all this time t
ogether like we never had before, without pressures of work or anything else. I think we just started to click, and then last night, well…” James' voice trailed off.

  “You don’t have to give me any of the details, James,” I answered.

  “Shannon is quite a woman,” James added. “She’s smart, funny, a great athlete, and someone I like being around.”

  “I’m glad you two have hit it off, James. I really am,” I answered, patting him on the shoulder.

  “Do you need a hand with that stuff?” I pointed to the pile of items under his arm.

  “Oh, that would be great, thanks.” James passed me the bag and other items he had lost his grip on and then used his now-free hand to keep his towel in place.

  “Where am I bringing these things?” I asked him.

  “Shannon is up by the pool,” James answered. “I’m just going to go back to my room for a second.”

  “What do you need? Maybe I can help you.”

  “No thanks, boss,” he said with a smile. “I… well I just need to put a bathing suit on.”

  “Gotcha,” I answered as I turned towards the stairs to head up to the pool.

  When I got to the pool area and opened the door, I could see Shannon sitting in one of the deck chairs. The lights were turned down low but still on, and the lights in the pool were on as well to create a romantic atmosphere.

  The pool door swished closed behind me as I walked in.

  “Oh good, you’re back,” Shannon spoke without turning around. “I was starting to miss you.”

  I walked up quietly behind her and passed her bag around to her.

  “I’ve been missing you, too,” I said softly.

  Shannon gasped and practically jumped out of her chair, knocking her bag over.

  “Damian!” she said loudly. “I didn’t know you were back. I thought you were…”

  “Thought I was who?” I stood smiling at her as she blushed.

  Shannon was at a loss for words, something that was unusual for her.

  “How was your night?” she said to me, trying to change the subject quickly as she picked up her belongings.

  “No complaints. What about yours?”

  Shannon stood up and looked at me, seeming flustered again.

  “It was fine,” she answered quickly. “We had a nice time.”

  “So, I heard.”

  “What… what did James tell you?”

  “He really didn’t have to say too much since I saw him walking out of your room with a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing else on.”

  Shannon sat down on the lounge chair, shaking her head.

  “Damian,” she began. “I… I didn’t plan anything like this, and you know I would never do anything that would get in the way of my job. Spending time with James, getting to know him and seeing how much we enjoy each other’s company, well it just happened. I’ll understand if you think it’s a bad idea or if you want me to resign…”

  “Shannon, hold on,” I interrupted. “You’re the best assistant I have ever had. You are the right person for this job. You’re allowed to have a personal life outside of work you know. In fact, I encourage it. You have always spent way too much time wrapped up in doing your job. Don’t worry about it.”

  Shannon breathed a big sigh of relief.

  “I have been so worried about how you would react. Even after we…” Shannon stopped herself from talking too much about the previous night. “Well, I told James that maybe it wasn’t a good idea since we work so closely together all the time. He managed to talk me out of it.” Shannon flashed a bit of a smile as she said this.

  “I’m sure everything will be fine,” I told her. “I hope this makes you happy.”

  “It does, Damian, more than I have been in a long time. Thanks for giving me the chance to be here, and to let me see what I have been missing out on.”

  Shannon stepped over and gave me a big hug, pressing her body to mine. I hugged her back and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

  I heard the door slam shut and looked up, still holding Shannon in our embrace. There stood Kelly, looking at the two of us standing there hugging, with a shocked and angry look on her face that slowly turned to a pained one.

  “Kelly… what are you doing…”

  “Don’t Damian,” she said scornfully. “Just don’t say anything. I see how things are.” She held a piece of paper up in her hand, turned on her heels and stormed out.

  “Wait!” I shouted and ran after her.

  19

  Kelly

  I moved quickly out of the house, up the driveway and to the boardwalk without pausing or even looking back. All I could hear was a pounding in my ears and head, and I could feel my body getting hotter and hotter with each stride I took. It was bad enough to see that letter from Damian’s company this morning but watching him embrace some other woman crushed me. I didn’t know what to think at this moment; I just knew I had to be away from him.

  I took long, fast steps, and felt my feet pound on the wooden planks beneath me, stomping like I was going to push right through them and have the boardwalk and the beach just swallow me up so I could disappear. Faintly in the background, I thought I heard Damian’s voice call to me, far away at first, but getting closer. I refused to acknowledge it though and just made my way back towards the bakery.

  When I got back to the bakery, Mom and Alex were behind the counters as they helped some early customers. I had flung the door open with such force that it bounced on its hinges and then slammed closed. The crash startled everyone in the shop. All heads lifted and spun towards me, but I just ignored them and stormed towards the counter, tossing the opening back so I could get into the kitchen, away from everyone.

  I pushed through the swinging doors, and they rattled against the walls behind them. Jodie looked up quickly from the counter where she was working on icing some cinnamon buns. She saw the pain in my face and eyes and came over to me.

  “What’s wrong?” she said to me.

  All the emotion that had built up inside me started to spill out.

  “I went there… to his house… and… and” the words would not escape of my mouth without being surrounded by tears and a loss of breath.

  “Kelly, calm down,” Jodie said, as she led me over to a stool to sit down.

  Just as I sat down, there was a bit of a commotion out in the shop. Damian’s voice was distinctly in the shop, and he tried to find out where I was and what had happened. Within seconds, he had come through the kitchen doors and stood across the room from Jodie and me.

  Damian’s forehead was covered with sweat, and he worked to catch his breath as he looked over at us.

  “Get out, Damian,” I uttered, looking down at the floor. I knew if I had looked at him, I wouldn’t be able to control myself.

  “Jodie, can you give us a minute, please?” Damian panted, his hands on his hips.

  Jodie went to leave the kitchen, and I grabbed her arm tightly.

  “Don’t go,” I said quietly. “She’s not going anywhere. We have nothing to talk about,” I said more loudly to Damian.

  “Kelly, what the hell is going on? You burst into the house, don’t say anything, and then run out right away. What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong?” I looked over at Jodi and let out a crazy laugh. “He wants to know what’s wrong, Jodie. Like he has no idea what’s going on.”

  I stood up quickly from the stool, pushing it to the side and walked right up to Damian, getting right in his face.

  “What’s wrong is you used me. You toyed with me for a few days while you had your people back in New York working on things the whole time, didn’t you? Then once everything was done and you got what you wanted, you could celebrate with your girlfriend with a nice swim.”

  “What are you talking about?” Damian said to me.

  “First we get this nice letter in the mail telling me I have to close the bakery and vacate because your company has bought up the whole strip so you
can build some monstrosity office building or whatever else you feel like having with a view of the ocean. To top things off, you go back to your house after spending the night with me to whoever it is that’s at your house so that you can have a good laugh at my expense.”

  Damian looked at Jodi and then looked at me. I was sure he could see my body as it trembled as I held the letter tightly in my right hand.

  “What letter? I didn’t buy anything,” he professed.

  “You must think I’m really ignorant, Damian. Just some small-town girl that will swoon over you and your money, get taken in by you, and then just roll over and go away. You can save the act for your bimbos back in New York. God, I can’t believe I fell for this, and for… for you.”