Seaside Dreams (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers, Book One) Contemporary Romance (10 page)

Bella drove straight to the Chocolate Sparrow and bought a hunk of fudge. She needed a dose of sugar to chase away the ills of reality. She sat outside the little white shop with a thick chunk of peanut butter fudge, silently giving herself a pep talk. Of course she’d run in to this type of thing. Why would she think otherwise? Teenagers were teenagers. They weren’t wired to be well behaved all the time, but if they didn’t have the opportunity to focus on more productive ideas and challenge themselves in ways that were conducive to a responsible future, then what did people expect? Idle hands…

She closed her eyes for a second and tilted her head up toward the sun, thinking about Caden. In a few hours, he’d be at her cottage installing extra locks to ensure her safety. She still thought the locks were unnecessary, even with the recent break-ins. There had never been any trouble at Seaside. Someone was always home, and they were tucked away from the main road. She felt safe there. But she loved that he cared enough to do it, and she was excited to see him again.

After his comment about calling her, she made a point of bringing her cell phone with her today. She pulled it out now, and her cheeks flushed with the thought of the selfie she’d sent him. The first racy picture she’d ever sent a man. Boy, he sure was tugging her toward the edge of Love Mountain. She looked at their picture, which she’d set as the wallpaper on her phone.

Bella was nothing if not practical, and as she stared into his dreamy eyes and ran her finger over the image of his windblown hair, she knew the feelings that were making her feel warm all over were coming too fast. They went against her plan to figure out her life, but, boy, did she like Caden Grant. He was about as committed as they came, having raised his son alone for all those years, but that didn’t necessarily mean he’d be as committed to her. Or even if he started out as such, that he’d remain that way. Hell, she knew men didn’t come with guarantees, the same way she didn’t come with one.

Her mind drifted to Evan. He was a sharp, respectful kid, and she could tell by the way he interacted with Caden that they had a good relationship. Mr. Healy’s adamant rejection and Wilma’s speculation about wayward teens fueled her desire to get the program off the ground for kids like Evan, who wanted to do and learn more than what was readily available to them. She finished her fudge, which took the edge off her frustration, and headed to her next appointment with rejuvenated hope.

Almost three hours—and three rejections—later, Bella drove down the back road that ran parallel to the ocean on her way to Seaside. Four kids on bikes came flying out of Payton’s Campground directly into her path. She slammed on the brakes, and with her pulse racing, she recognized Evan’s mop of chestnut hair and long, skinny legs as he pedaled away. After the initial shock of almost running them over subsided, a flood of childhood memories came rushing back.
She and the Seaside girls pedaling their own bikes to the beach, flaunting their bikini bodies, waving to cute boys, then spending all day in the sun. Evenings spent gathered around the pool, rehashing their long afternoons in the sun, and sneaking out to sit in the darkness and whisper about things they hoped to do when they were older.
Not much had changed. They were still the same close-knit friends they’d always been, and she hoped, as she drove into Seaside and parked in front of her cottage, that Evan was building the same type of cherished memories.

“Hey, girlfriend.” Leanna waved from her deck as Bella stepped from her car. She held up a muffin. “Come over and try my newest creation.”

“Thank you,” she said as she took the warm muffin from Leanna. “Somehow the peanut butter fudge I bought from the Chocolate Sparrow didn’t hold me over. I’m starved.” She took a bite and her eyes widened with the delicious burst of banana and cranberry melting in her mouth. “Leanna, this is…” She swallowed the last of it. “Scrumptious.”

“Hmm.” Leanna crinkled her nose. She wore a pair of cutoffs and a tank top streaked with red jam and muffin batter. “Jenna said it was orgasmic, so I’m thinking that scrumptious is a level below that.”

“Was Pete here when she said it?” Bella asked.

Leanna’s eyes widened. “Oh, right. She was talking about Pete. I swear, you guys are always much quicker on the uptake with things like that than I am.”

“Nah, it’s just that it’s Tuesday, and every Tuesday morning, Jenna’s thinking about Pete and orgasms she hopes he’ll one day induce.”

Kurt came out of their cottage. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to hearing you guys talk about men like we’re here only to pleasure you.” He wrapped his arms around Leanna from behind and kissed her neck.

“Mm.” Leanna reached up and stroked his cheek. “Why? Because you hate doing it so much?”

“No. Because it makes me wonder what you guys said about me.” Kurt kissed her again and sat down at his laptop.

“We didn’t have to say a thing. You guys said it all by leaving your windows open.” Bella blew Kurt a kiss.

He shook his head and began typing.

“How’s the project? Did you get any companies to sign on yet?” Leanna walked with Bella over to her cottage.

“No. I met with four today, and two turned me down flat. The other two were receptive, but noncommittal. I just don’t get it. It’s like everyone’s afraid to hire teenagers.” Bella hadn’t asked Leanna to take part in the program with her jam business because she knew Leanna would say yes just to help her out, and she didn’t want to put her in that situation in case she really didn’t want to be part of the program.

Leanna followed her inside. “I’m sorry it didn’t go well, but I can’t imagine that all of the businesses will be that way. If anyone can sell this, you can.”

The fact that Leanna didn’t offer to join the program confirmed to Bella that not asking her had been the right thing to do. “I hope so.”

“I know so. Want to get your mind off of it and go down to the pool with me? Kurt is writing for another few hours, so I thought I’d hang out there. Jenna and Vera are already down there.”

“Sure.” Bella went into the bedroom and changed into her bathing suit, and then they headed down to the pool.

Jenna and Vera sat beneath an umbrella, engrossed in a game of gin rummy. Jenna had a glass bottle of Perrier on the table.

“Jenna, if Theresa sees you with glass by the pool, you are dead meat. Rule number seventeen: no glass on the pool premises.”

“Theresa’s not here, but I’ll keep an eye out for her car. Thanks for killing the joy, babe.”

“Nice to see you, ladies.” Vera wore a floppy white sun hat and the same white cover-up she’d worn for the last three summers. Dark spidery veins mapped her pale legs. She smiled up at them and pointed to the empty chairs. “Sit, please. Jenna is letting me win again.”

Jenna blew out a breath. “Oh, please. I think Vera was a card counter in a previous life. Either that or she’s using marked cards.” Jenna ran an assessing gaze over Bella. “Uh-oh. Hard day at the office?”

“You could say that. I didn’t think this was going to be easy, but I didn’t think I’d be shot down every time.” Bella sprayed sunscreen on her arms and legs, then handed the bottle to Leanna. “Maybe my pitch is off or something.”

“Gin.” Vera laid down her cards.

Jenna rolled her eyes and put her cards on the table. “Okay, I’m out for a bit. Congrats, Vera. I owe you about a million dollars.”

“You owe me nothing. It’s kind of you to play with an old lady like me.” Vera patted Jenna’s hand, then turned her attention to Bella. “You know, Bella, Evan was quite a gentleman when he was at our house. I enjoyed spending time with him.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” She thought of him speeding out of the campground on his bike. “They moved here a few weeks before summer, and Caden said he hadn’t made any friends yet, but Evan met a few boys at the flea market the other day.”

“Yes, that’s what he told Jamie. It sounded as if they were getting on just fine,” Vera said.

“They might be. I saw them riding bikes on my way here. I know Caden is nervous about him going off with a new crowd, so I hope they’re good kids.”

“I hope so, too. He seems like such a sweet boy.” A smile spread Vera’s thin lips. “You’re very fond of this man, aren’t you, dear?”

“That’s one way to put it,” Jenna said as she dragged her chair into the sun.

Bella shook her head at Jenna. “Yes, Vera. I am, but I’m trying really hard not to commit to a relationship while I’m putting the pieces of my life together.”

“Why is that?” Vera asked.

“Well, as you know, I’m trying to get the work-study program off the ground so I can get a full-time job, and then I need to sell my house in Connecticut. My life isn’t exactly stable at the moment, and I think adding a relationship into the mix just makes it more confusing.”

Vera patted her hand. “Bella, dear. Your life is stable. You’ve always been stable. You’re just in a transitional state of your stable life. Sometimes having a relationship makes everything else easier to deal with. Sometimes all it takes is that one piece of the puzzle to pull the rest of them together and have them all make sense.”

A transitional state of my stable life
. Bella looked away and let those words settle in.
Could Caden be the missing piece in my life? No. I don’t need a man.
But Vera wasn’t saying she did. “As much as I’m trying to deny what you’re saying so I can stick to my no-commitment rule, I know what you’re saying makes sense, Vera.”

“You mentioned to me that the man you were dating in Connecticut had lied to you about getting back together with his wife, and I know you well enough to realize that you probably have had enough of men lying to you.” Vera leaned closer to Bella and lowered her voice. “Sweetie, if you live your life afraid to be hurt, you’re not really living your life, are you?”

Bella sighed. “Tell me this, Vera. Does wisdom really come with age, or did you have all this figured out when you were our age?”

“No, honey. At your age I was fumbling through my emotions just like the rest of you. Once you have more wrinkles than orgasms, that’s when wisdom sets in.” Vera smiled, as if she knew she’d just blown them all away.

Bella laughed. “Hopefully, I have a long time before that happens. I really do like Caden, and I like Evan. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and stop fighting my feelings for him.” Vera had just given Bella the validation that she hadn’t realized she was waiting—maybe even hoping—for. “Yes, you know what? You’re right, Vera. I think it’s time for stable Mable to throw caution to the wind and give this thing between us a name. I’m going to
date
him.”

“Good for you, Bella. I know it’s hard for you to feel like you’re breaking your promise to yourself, but think of it as renegotiating the plan. That’s how it was with me and Kurt,” Leanna said. “You guys remember how scattered I was, trying to make things work, and Kurt sort of brought all of my chaos into focus.”

“Trust me, Leanna. We all hear him bringing your chaos home a little too often.” Jenna wiggled her eyebrows.

Leanna blushed.

“Now, now, girls. You’re not kids anymore. Making love is part of coming together as a couple. It’s a beautiful part, and…Oh, now, there’s a thought. Bella, does it bother you that Caden has a son?” Vera’s voice was serious.

“Bother me? No. It’s not like it’s an option for him to
not
have a child.”

Vera smiled warmly. “That’s a very smart way to look at things. I think some women might feel jealous.”

“Of his son? I guess some women might, but Evan was there before me, and he’s Caden’s world. Besides, I don’t think a person has room only to love a child or another adult. If they did, marriages with children would never work.” She thought about Caden and how he’d changed his whole life for Evan, and she wondered if he would have turned out to be the man he was if Evan hadn’t been in his life.

“I think you can tell a lot about a man by his children, and Evan is a lovely boy.” Vera had known Bella and the others since they were toddlers and their families first bought the cottages. She’d always been careful about injecting her opinions on Bella and the others. The fact that she was offering her opinion now meant a great deal.

“Evan is lovely, but I’ve been working with teenagers for a long time, and if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that even good parents can have delinquent kids.” Bella stretched her legs in the sun. “And the opposite is true, too. Delinquent parents can have really well-behaved kids. I don’t think there’s a formula.”

“Maybe that’s the answer for your project,” Vera suggested.

“What do you mean?”

“When we spoke the other day, you mentioned that the project was for kids who might otherwise have too much time on their hands and get into trouble, but what about kids who are looking to break the cycle? Those children who
want
to learn a trade, or want to do more with their lives but they aren’t necessarily being forced into it. I’m not saying to use those words, but instead of presenting the program as a saving grace for kids who might be destined for delinquency, how about selling it as a program for kids who are trying to better themselves because they want to? Like Evan learning from Jamie. No one forced him to come over, or to make another date with Jamie next weekend.”

Bella drew in a hopeful breath. “Vera, you’re brilliant. Maybe I’ve been looking at this all wrong. Maybe it should be a little bit of an exclusive program.” Bella stood and paced. “Maybe the application should be expanded to include more than the fields the kids are interested in and why, but what their goals are after high school. And, taking it even further, we can add an essay requirement about why a company should hire them. Nothing big, just a few paragraphs.” She wrapped her arms around Vera.

“Thank you! This sounds so much more appealing. I mean, no kid is going to write an essay unless they want a job, right? And it would make them really think about the fields they are interested in.” Bella sat back down. “And the kids who need the program but aren’t as inclined to fill out the paperwork can be recommended by the guidance counselors, so they have an in. They’d have to complete the same forms, of course, but maybe then we add…Wait, that sounds like we’re playing favorites. That won’t work.”