Return to Pelican Inn (Love by Design) (21 page)

Bitsy was not wearing white when she entered the room, holding hands with Manny, but the pink sweater brought out the roses in her cheeks and the spark in her blue eyes.

Cy strolled in from the beach. “What’s going on?”

“You’re all here. Excellent.” Bitsy scanned the room. “We weren’t sure when the
Great Escapes
people would clear out, so we had to improvise. Manny and I are so glad you could all make it for our reception.” She held up their hands, gleaming with plain gold bands. “Our wedding reception.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

P
IKE
, R
OSA
AND
C
Y
spoke at once. “You got married?”

Pike gaped. “Married? Like, as in...matrimony?”

Bitsy laughed. “Yes, married. It’s a legally binding agreement between two people. You, especially, should know that, Pike.”

Pike’s eyes were wide with shock. “You and Manny. Together.”

She nodded patiently at her nephew. “Yes. We managed to find a gentleman just up the coast who agreed to do the deed. Normally he doesn’t do these rush jobs, but he decided at our advanced age...”

Manny grinned. “He figured we didn’t have any time to waste.”

Rosa tried to think of something to say.

Manny raised an eyebrow. “Lost your voice, princess? That doesn’t happen too often.”

Rosa shook herself to life. “It’s just sudden.”

“Yeah,” Pike said, nodding vigorously. “Sudden.”

“When you’re nearly seventy-five, nothing is sudden,” Manny said with a chuckle. “Somebody’s knocking on the kitchen door. I’ll get it.”

Bitsy took Rosa’s and Pike’s hands. Cy joined them, his arm around Bitsy’s shoulder. “Well, I say congratulations,” Cy said, giving her a smacking kiss on the top of the head. “You two make an awesome couple.”

“Thank you, sweetie.” She kissed him before returning her attention to Rosa and Pike.

“Listen. I know what you two are thinking, but I understand completely what I’m getting into. Manny and I are going to enjoy as many moments together as we possibly can, and we’re going to care for each other no matter what comes, like married people do.” She squeezed their fingers.

“Yes, but...” Pike started.

“We waited a lifetime to be together, and I think we’re entitled to as much happiness as we can squeeze out of the years we have left, don’t you?”

Rosa breathed out a sigh. Her father had loved and lost, and had a chance to love again. Her mother would not have begrudged him another shot at happiness. Who was Rosa to say otherwise? “Yes,” she said, kissing Bitsy’s soft cheek. “There’s no one who deserves it more.” They both looked at Pike. Rosa watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallowed. Hard.

“Bitsy, Manny and I have been through some stuff, and it will take a while to straighten it out.”

They waited.

He cleared his throat. “I’ve recently learned a few things about people and love. It doesn’t always go the way you script it in your mind.”

That’s for sure,
Rosa thought.

Pike shook his head. “I guess what I’m saying is that I wish you and Manny a long and happy life together.”

Bitsy let out a whoop of joy and threw her arms around Pike.

Rosa’s eyes filled. “When you find a place, I’ll help you decorate. My wedding present to you.”

Pike took a step back and then sucked in a deep breath. “There’s no need for that. The new owner will be delighted to let you stay here at the Pelican.”

Rosa stared. “Do you know him?”

“As it turns out, I do,” Pike said. “It’s me.”

The silence was so extreme that the ticking of the clock was the only sound.

“You bought the Pelican?” Rosa sputtered. “How? Why?”

Pike considered. “As to the how part, I sold my car and my condo and cashed in my stock portfolio and took out a loan, which I’ll be paying off until I’m an old man. The why...” He put his hands on his hips. “Well, Bitsy gave up her financial security to put me through school and...”

“Oh, Pike,” Bitsy moaned. “You didn’t need to do this.”

“I wanted to.” He laughed. “I think it just might be the smartest thing I ever did. I always thought I was the proud, practical type, but it turns out I’ve got a sentimental streak a mile wide.”

Bitsy gave voice to the thought running through Rosa’s head. “But your law career. You can’t give that up.”

“No, not for a while, anyway. I decided I could run a law office out of one of these fabulous rooms. Aunt Bitsy, you and...” he swallowed again “...and Manny can continue to live here.” He waved a hand at Rocky and Stu, who stood quietly observing from the corner. “Rocky and Stu will stay on and tend the gardens and do any handyman work, including bee removal and such. We’ll rent out the rest of the rooms.”

Bitsy and Rosa stared at Pike, open-mouthed.

“Honey, I can’t believe you did that for me.” Bitsy hugged him tight and then pulled him to arm’s length. “But I can’t have it. Manny and I have already chosen a place.”

Manny rejoined them. “We got ourselves a sweet little trailer with a view of the water and everything. Close, so we won’t miss a single marshmallow roast. It’s the best thing, to start fresh together.”

Bitsy nodded, her eyes brimming.

Pike flashed a slow smile. “I understand, but the deal is done. The Pelican is mine. And besides, the extra room will be helpful for the second part of my plan.”

“What’s that?” Rosa wanted to ask. Instead, her throat seized up.

Pike seemed to intuit the question anyway. “I thought maybe it might make a good headquarters for Dollars and Sense Design, if you and Cy are up for it.”

Rosa’s pulse danced a merry jig and she looked past Pike to Cy.

He grinned. “An ocean view and plenty of bike paths and surfing weekends? You know I’m in, sis.”

Pike folded her in an embrace and she felt the strength of his arms, the gentle thud of his heart. “Are you sure you don’t mind sharing a space with a lawyer?”

“I’ll adjust,” she said.

Julio approached, a plate piled with deviled eggs and cookies balanced on his hand. “It’s on. The contest live broadcast. They’re announcing the winner.”

They all crowded around the kitchen table where Cy had set up his computer.

The
Great Escapes
offices sprang into view, the same dreary corridor hung with old photos, the plain walls covered by uninspiring prints. The president welcomed all viewers and thanked the contest sponsors and participants.

“It was an extremely difficult contest to judge,” he said. “All of the locations were decorated with supreme skill and enthusiasm. There can only be one winner of the photo spread in
Great Escapes
magazine and the grand prize, however, and I’m pleased to announce....”

Rosa’s eyes were riveted to the screen. Something struck her as odd.

“The winner of the first annual
Great Escapes
contest is...”

On the wall behind the president were the photos of the magazine’s board members. The one that had been missing when Rosa and Bitsy went to withdraw from the contest was no longer missing.

“The Pine Crest Inn in Pillar Point, decorated by Amore Decor.”

There was a collective sigh from the room. Cy gave her hair a playful tug. “Oh, well. We gave them a run for their money.”

Rosa turned in slow motion, heedless of the conversation going on around her. “Aunt Bitsy, I smell a rat.”

“You do? Where’s Baggy? Maybe he needs a bath.”

Rosa poked at the screen. “There. The missing board member. See that photo right there, the one that was gone when we visited? That’s you, isn’t it?”

Bitsy flushed. “Well, er, as a matter of fact, well, yes. I made Wanda take my photo down before we visited. She must have put it back. Nice that they include the past board members, isn’t it?”

“Aunt Bitsy, explain yourself. What’s your connection to this contest?”

“I think I need to see to the punch bowl.” She tried to leave, but Rosa took her by the elbow.

“Oh, no you don’t. Let’s have it.”

She sighed. “I was a board member until last year when they proposed the contest. I retired at that time because the inn was such a big job, you see, and I was tired.”

“You’re stalling.”

“I thought, wouldn’t it be a great idea if your company entered the contest, so I pulled some strings.”

“What strings?”

She blushed. “I happen to know that Wanda borrowed some cash from the company funds a time or two to cover some debts. I sort of implied that if she didn’t find a way for Dollars and Sense to enter the contest, that information might sort of leak out.”

Cy stared. “You blackmailed her?”

“Encouraged. I encouraged her.”

“All this work to bring us here? Why? We would have come anyway, contest or not, and helped you out.” Bitsy’s comment from the beach flickered in Rosa’s mind.

I can’t believe it actually worked.

Pike’s eyes narrowed. “Hang on. The roof repairs. Just before Rosa came to work on the inn you pressed me to fix the roof. You said it was in dire need, and if I wasn’t able to come fix it, you would climb up the ladder yourself and do it. There were plenty of shingles missing in odd places. Almost as if...” He groaned. “Bitsy, you pulled up the shingles yourself, didn’t you?”

“Rocky did that for me, actually.”

Pike shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”

Bitsy’s cheeks were still flaming red. “I’m not sorry. I got together two people who were meant for each other, and I don’t regret any of it.”

Pike and Rosa exchanged glances. At the same time, they burst into laughter.

“And I thought my father was the sneaky one,” Pike said, between guffaws. “I can’t believe my sweet aunt tricked me so completely.”

“Me, neither,” Rosa said, giggling.

“I knew I was going to lose the inn soon, and it was my last chance to get two stubborn souls together. And it worked, didn’t it?” Bitsy demanded.

Pike gazed at Rosa, his eyes sparkling. “Yes, Aunt Bitsy. I believe it did.”

Bitsy let out a whoop and circled them in an embrace. “Let’s eat cake,” she cried as more Tumbledown residents arrived, crowding into the inn, oohing and aahing at the decor.

It was a grand party and Rosa did not feel the slightest sting about having lost the contest. What she had gained obliterated everything but happiness. When the cake was devoured and the guests settled in clusters to chat, Pike took Rosa’s hand and led her upstairs, past the attic, over the scarred threshold to the Captain’s Nest.

Without the illicit treasures, the room was itself again, a drab and dusty space neglected for decades. She and Pike stood at the window, gazing at the priceless view of the tumbling ocean. Pike wrestled open the small window and let in the distant roar of the sea.

“I was thinking,” he said, “that if business is slow for a while, maybe you can spend some time fixing up this room.”

“It’s a little out of the way for an office space,” she teased.

He pulled a plain gold band from his pocket. “True, but it would be a great room for us to share.”

She went goose bumpy, every nerve, every fiber flooded with a wild energy. “Pike...” she breathed.

He held the ring up to the light. “If you squint, you can see what it says inside.”

She took the ring with trembling fingers and read the inscription.

My heart, my home, my dream, my Rosa.

“Not bad for a lawyer, huh?”

Through the blur, she realized he was down on his knee.

“Rosa, will you marry me?”

She slipped the ring onto her finger and cupped his face between her palms. “Yes, Pike. I certainly will.”

He kissed her long and slow, erasing every pain, every disappointment in a sizzle of joy.

He broke away, drinking her in with his eyes. “I’m glad you said yes. Imagine what Mr. Herzberg would think if you turned me down right here in the Captain’s Nest?”

“I can’t imagine.”

He held her hand in his and Rosa let the sunlight dance off the slender band of gold. She could almost hear Mr. Herzberg’s delighted laughter mingling with the murmur of the surf, as the crooked weather vane clacked atop the roof of the Pelican Inn.

* * * * *

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ISBN-13: 9781460335543

RETURN TO PELICAN INN

Copyright © 2014 by Dana Mentink

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