“Hi there. I’m Lucy Hawkins, Terra’s mom.” She extends her hand.
“Also the co-owner of Hawkins’ Lobster Shack and creator of almost all our recipes including this magical hot chocolate,” Terra says, beaming proudly up at her mom.
Lucy waves off the praise with one hand and takes my empty mug with the other. “She’s my favorite child.”
“She says that to each of us several times a day,” Terra informs me with a wry smile.
“I like to pass the title around,” Lucy says and then leans forward and whispers. “Are you Terra’s study buddy?”
“I am,” I also did naked things with your son last night, my inner voice adds. I extend my hand. “Chloe Hale. Nice to meet you.”
“She’s just heading out, Ma,” Terra says.
I look out the window and realize it’s snowing really hard. Big, fat, wet flakes. Ugh. I hate driving in snow.
“Do you want some chowder to go? It’s perfect on a stormy night of studying,” Lucy suggests.
“Just say yes because she tends not to take no for an answer,” Terra says smiling.
“That would be lovely,” I reply. “But I insist on paying.”
Lucy waves a hand at me, dismissing me like she did Terra earlier, and walks away, back into the kitchen. Terra’s grinning. “She’s going to ignore that and you better let her. Lucy Hawkins doesn’t let people reject free chowder.”
I laugh as Terra grabs my empty mug and walks back to the counter with it. I put on the last of my things—gloves, hat, scarf—and realize my cheeks ache a little from smiling. God, I can’t remember the last time that happened. I walk over to the counter and Terra points toward the kitchen door. “I’ll be back in a second. Gonna help Ma with your chowder. Make sure she tosses in some cheese rolls. They’re Nova’s recipe and incredible.”
I almost want to eat at the bar because I love being here, but I have to get home before the weather gets worse. And I have a date tonight with Logan. When I woke up this morning I found a note taped to my front door.
Didn’t like waking up to find you gone. You can make it up to me by letting me take you on a date tonight. Seven? Text me.
I texted him and apologized for disappearing and said yes to the date.
Before I can sit at one of the bar stools, my cell starts ringing in my pocket. I yank off my glove and pull it out. I don’t recognize the number and think it might be Aspen. We’ve been texting all day, talking about what an idiot I was for leaving Logan without a word, and also she probably wants to know how this meeting went. She’s been really invested in my job here. I think because she recommended me to Terra, she feels responsible.
Aspen has about three different cellphones. She says she needs them for her private eye work, and I don’t have all the numbers memorized.
“Hello?”
“Hello Chloe.” The voice is chilly and condescending, and I recognize it immediately. My whole body goes stiff. “How are you feeling?”
“I told you not to contact me anymore,” I say flatly to Paul Turner, my husband Jackson’s older brother. I glance up and see Nova is watching me curiously, so I give her a small smile and motion that I will be outside. I head for the door. No one needs to overhear this because I know it’s going to get ugly. It always does.
“You said to stop coming by the house, and I have,” Paul replies.
“You knew what I meant. I meant stay the hell away from me on every level,” I say fiercely as the door to the restaurant swings shut behind me. I tuck myself against the wall so the slight overhang of the roof shields me at least a little bit from the blowing snow.
“You should have been more clear, Chloe,” Paul lectures me like I’m a remedial student in one of his shitty, online fake college classes he teaches. Or taught, before the website was shut down for unethical practices and issuing worthless diplomas. “You of all people should know how wording matters. After all, you stole our family legacy because of unclear wording in my grandmother’s will.”
I sigh. Here we go again. Shit. It’s been five years and he will not let this go. “The wording was very clear. She didn’t just leave it to Jackson, she left it to Jackson Turner and Chloe Hale. Plain and simple.”
“Because she wanted it to stay in the family,” Paul argues. “Jackson wasn’t supposed to die five months after her.”
“You’re right. He wasn’t. We agree on something,” I snap back. “Good-bye Paul.”
“You didn’t answer my question. How are you?” he repeats before I can hang up. “Recovered from your little slip and fall yet? I heard you had to be taken away by ambulance.”
My blood gets even colder than it already is standing outside in a snowstorm. “How the hell do you—”
“You know the whole street still calls the house the Turner House, right?” Paul says smugly. “Because they loved my gran. Especially Mrs. Green.”
Fucking Mrs. Green. Argh.
“You know that house is too much for you to handle, clearly. And think of all the money you could put toward your medical bills if you just sold it. To me,” he says.
“You’re a broken record, Paul. It’s out of control, and I swear I’m calling the cops if you contact me again in any way, shape, or form. Is that clear enough for you?” I am trying really hard to keep my voice down because the last thing I need to do is make a scene while at a client’s, especially one that also belongs to my potential boyfriend’s family.
“She also mentioned you’ve had some guy hanging out. Spending the night,” Paul says and his tone gets harder, meaner. “You’re with some other guy in Jackson’s house? That’s really classy of you Chloe.”
“What I do in my house is none of your business,” I say. “Oh, and go to hell.”
I punch end so hard I’m surprised I don’t crack the screen.
The door beside me swings open, and Terra is standing there holding a Hawkins take-out bag. Her brow is heavy. “Everything okay? You seem…off kilter.”
I nod and realize I’m shaking. Shit. I force a smile to my lips. “I’m fine, just a business call and I needed some privacy. I’m a little freaked out about the drive home though. This weather is getting worse by the second.”
“If you wait a half hour or so, Jake will be by to grab his dinner. Boy can’t cook to save his life,” Terra rolls her eyes but she’s smiling. “So when I’m working, he comes here and Ma still feeds him like a stray cat. Anyway, I can have him drive you home.”
I shake my head. “No. I’ll be fine, just need to get going before it gets worse.”
She hands me the bag. “Thanks again for everything. I’ll get back to you ASAP with the photography dates.”
I nod, wave goodbye, and head to my car. It stutters as it starts and sure enough starts billowing dark gray smoke as I make my way out of the parking lot. I really need to get it to a mechanic. But at least I have new snow tires, I think to myself as I stare at the snow falling on the windshield.
15
Chloe
I sit in the parking lot a few minutes as my car warms up and I call Denny, Jackson’s younger brother. It goes straight to voicemail which probably means he’s working, so I leave a brief message. “Denny, it’s Chloe. Hope all is well. Look, I really need to talk to you about Paul. He’s at it again. I know you barely talk to him, but can you say something to him? I’m running out of ways to tell him to leave me alone. Call me when you can. Thanks.”
I drop my phone back in my car and jump out to brush the snow off my windows and roof. I nearly choke to death on the thick gray smoke coming out of my tail pipe. I promise myself as soon as this job is done for Terra, I’m fixing the car. Yeah the medical bills are still piling up but I need a reliable car and right now, this isn’t it. I sigh, toss my snow brush in the back seat, and buckle my seatbelt.
The drive home is not treacherous but it still stresses me out. I’m still not great at driving in snow and Paul’s phone call has me even more frazzled. Jackson and Paul never got along.
In fact, when we met in high school, it was several weeks before I realized he even had two brothers because he only ever mentioned his younger one Denny. Paul was already out of the house, at his first year in Vermont, when Jackson and the rest of his family moved to Hawaii. Jackson’s original plan was to go to college in Maine but after we started dating, he decided to apply to college in Hawaii like I was doing. His dad was transferred again, so his parents and Denny moved to Florida, and I didn’t see his family again for years. And since Jackson and I eloped while we were in college with no one but my dad at our wedding as a witness, I never even met Paul until after we were married. And after college, Paul moved to Portland, which was a mere twenty-minute drive from their grandmother, but he never visited. Ever. It was Jackson and I who visited once a year and helped her with maintenance when we did, and made arrangements for her, from Hawaii, for someone to shovel her snow in the winter and mow her lawn in the summer. That’s why she left the house to Jackson and me. His younger brother Denny accepted that. Why couldn’t Paul?
Thoughts of Jackson and his dysfunctional family disappear when I pull into my driveway and see Logan standing there with a shovel in a heavy winter coat. My stairs are completely void of snow, and the path is halfway done. I am so relieved I could cry, but then I’m also slammed with guilt. I jump out of my car and he starts talking before I can.
“I know I didn’t have to do it, but I was home before you and I don’t mind,” he says as he sticks the shovel in the snow bank beside him.
“But—”
“No buts,” he says and takes a step closer to me. “How’s your head doing?”
He’s standing right in front of me, only inches away, and he pulls off a glove and reaches up and touches my chin, tilting my head toward the light above the garage. I watch him as he examines the wound. His cheeks just above his beard are slightly pink from the cold and exertion. The hood on his jacket falls back and his brown hair is visible. His fingers on my chin are gentle and warm. He finally brings his eyes to mine. “Nausea? Headaches? Dizziness?” he asks because I’m just staring and not answering.
“I’m a little lightheaded right now,” I say honestly, and he smiles slightly and steps closer.
“But not freaked out enough to go run and hide and leave me naked and alone on my couch?” Logan asks, and I blush—hard.
“I’m sorry about that. I am,” I reply sheepishly. “I told you I’m not good at this dating thing.”
“You were great at everything last night,” he murmurs and tips his head to kiss my cheek, slowly. It’s a simple, soft gesture, and it’s hot as hell.
Chewie bounds around the corner of the house, his dark fur covered in pristine white snow. He must have been diving through the snow banks. He sees me and starts toward us at a gallop.
Logan turns and shields me as he hollers. “Chewie. Heel!”
Chewie slows immediately and skitters to a stop about a foot from us, his tail wagging furiously. I walk around Logan and pet his head. “A Canadian breed that loves winter. What a shocker.”
“He is obsessed with snow. He tries to catch it while it falls and dive bombs snow banks,” Logan explains. “I’m betting Stevie and Boss are not big fans.”
I shake my head. “No. In fact, when I drag their butts out here in a minute, they’ll be basically suicidal.”
He chuckles. “Let them out and I’ll keep an eye on them while I finish shoveling the path.”
“I can’t let you do that,” I say, the guilt coming back.
“As your personal medical professional, I can’t let you over-exert yourself,” he replies and smiles at me. His smile is made of some kind of magic because as soon as his lips move upward, my body temperature rises. “As your tenant, I actually want to do it. I promise. So please don’t feel bad. And as your date tonight, I need to do it so you can go get ready and we can leave on time.”
“Well, I guess I can’t argue that,” I give in with a grateful smile and head back to the car and grab the food from his family’s restaurant and my bag. His eyes get wide when he sees the food.
“You’ve been to the restaurant?”
“Yeah. Your mom insisted on giving me free chowder,” I say, and he looks suddenly panicked. I realize he might think I told her about us, and I panic too. “She doesn’t know about you and me or anything like that. I was there to meet Terra, and she told everyone I was a study buddy from school. Your mom is an absolute doll, by the way.”
“She’s the best,” Logan agrees and his smile becomes warm again. “Now, get up there and get your dogs so I can finish shoveling and we can go on this date I’ve been looking forward to all damn day.”
I smile as I climb the clean stairs. He follows and scoops Boss and Stevie up when I open the door, and they charge onto the porch. “See you in fifteen minutes or so?”
“Perfect.”
16
Logan
Her laugh is the best damn thing I think I’ve heard in my entire life. It’s light, not too high, and so filled with genuine joy that it makes me feel like a king when I cause it. She’s lying back in the snow, and she tugs off a mitten to wipe the tears from that unbridled laughter out of her eyes. I’m sitting up beside her, grinning like a loon as the snow falls, lightly now, around us.
“I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to try tobogganing. It’s fantastic!” she says when the giggles subside.
“And you still feel okay?” I double check. She should be fine, but concussion symptoms can pop back up days after a fall and sometimes even weeks.
“I feel great!”
She sits up and readjusts the hat on her head before putting her mitts back on and standing up and grabbing the rope on the front of the toboggan. “Let’s do it again. Just one more time.”
We’ve had about ten runs down the hill and my stomach is grumbling for the burger I have planned for our future. But if she’s going to smile and laugh like that again I am not saying no. I stand up next to her, take the rope from her with one hand, and use the other hand to hold hers as we climb the hill again. It’s a perfect night since the snow let up a bit. It’s chilly without being cold and there’s not wind.
“This is the first hill I ever tobogganed on. I was four,” I tell her as a kid zooms by on a Krazy Karpet. “We weren’t allowed those plastic ones because my mother thought they went too fast and we’d kill ourselves, so we used this bad boy.”
I nod my head at the wooden toboggan I’m pulling behind us. “So we used to pile two or even three of us on here at a time and took turns being the person in the back who steers. Except my brother Finn was banned from steering ever again at the age of eight because he steered us into a tree and busted Declan’s lip open and Terra went head-first into a snow bank.”
She gasps but I just smile. “Don’t worry Terra got even with him the next winter when she knocked him unconscious during a family snowball fight on this exact hill.
“Sounds like being a Hawkins sibling is pretty dangerous,” she replies, smiling.
“It has its precarious moments,” I reply as we reach the summit and I hand her the rope for the toboggan. She looks confused. “Go ahead. You position her and steer.”
I see a strong flicker of hesitation in those warm gray eyes. “I don’t want to steer you into a tree.”
“You won’t. I trust you, like you trusted me.” I lean my head down and give her a quick kiss on the cheek, then nuzzle my face against the crook of her neck and she giggles. “But if you do, the good news is you’re now pretty familiar with concussion protocol and can nurse me through it.”
I watch her position the toboggan and then climb on. I wait patiently as she struggles to position herself behind me. Her tiny legs are barely able to make it around my body on either side. I’m a hundred percent certain she can’t see around me so when she sighs in defeat and admits it, I’m not shocked. We both get up and switch positions so she’s in front of me and I’m behind. As soon as she is snug against my chest I whisper ag
ainst the shell of her ear, “I like this position better anyway. You fit really well like this.”
She shivers and I give us a shove and we begin our careen down the hill. Her squeals of delight make me happy and hard at the same time. I could tell from the second I met her there had been a lack of joy in her life. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to her. I get Chloe. Even if I don’t know why she’s like me, she is.
I’m doing great at steering until we hit a bump I didn’t see coming and suddenly we’re flying as the toboggan comes right up off the snow. As we land with a thump, we wipe out completely and there’s a second of flailing limbs as the toboggan continues down the hill on its own and Chloe and I come to rest in a heap in a fluffy pile of snow.
I roll us over so Chloe is directly on top of me. “Are you okay?”
She laughs. “I officially love this, and Maine winters don’t seem so bleak anymore.”
And then she kisses me. It goes on way longer than it should considering there are kids and parents here, but I’ll be damned if I’ll stop it. Finally, she pulls away and glances around. The way the pink hue to her cheeks instantly darkens I can tell someone spotted our PDA. I turn and follow Chloe’s guilty gaze then lift a hand and wave. “Hi Mrs. Cofax!”
The restaurant regular, who is constantly trying to pimp out her daughter’s speed dating, is standing a few feet away holding a toboggan in one hand and her grandson in the other. She waves at both of us, her mouth curved up in a smile that somehow looks sad. We both wave back and Chloe remarks, “Is it just me or does she look disappointed to see us?”
“She’s disappointed she can’t recruit me for her daughter’s speed dating,” I reply and press my lips to hers again, playfully this time.
She breaks the kiss, and glides a mitten-covered hand over my cheek. “You’re getting ice crystals on your stubble and I thought your stomach rumbling was a bear in the woods on the last run. Is there somewhere we can get a burger and a hot chocolate?”
The Winter We Collided: A Small Town Single Dad Romance (Ocean Pines Series Book 2) Page 15