Sweet Talk Boxed Set (Ten NEW Contemporary Romances by Bestselling Authors to Benefit Diabetes Research plus BONUS Novel) (127 page)

“Okay, honey. I’ve got dinner in the slow cooker, so whenever you’re back, it’ll be ready.”

“Thanks.” Elli grabbed her windbreaker and headed outside. The afternoon sun was warm, but depending on how long she was gone, the walk back later could be cooler. That was the only problem with this time of the year. The temperatures still bobbled around a lot so you got used to just preparing for anybody’s guess.

“See you later.” Walking down the stairs, she could see how it would be hard for someone Nana’s age to navigate them. It was a little tricky for her now that she was out of practice.

The sand was smooth from last night’s heavy winds. Her footsteps were the only disturbance. She navigated the weathered boards that terraced their way across the steep dune. At the top, she stopped to look out to the water’s edge.

It was almost eleven and the tide was all the way out. She loved low tide the best. It was when the beach was the widest and the sand bar made itself visible. She used to pretend it was her own private island.

Truth be told, the beach wasn’t nearly as wide as it had been twenty years ago. Erosion was nipping away at the property. In fact, some of the folks up the beach had property lines that were now in the ocean.

But that was nature, and with time all things changed. The shift of the beach was just its way of aging, maturing into what nature had in store for it next.

Elli took in a deep breath of fresh air and closed her eyes. The tiniest inkling of spray from the ocean wafted through the air. She always felt so small compared with the strength of the ocean, but at the same time it empowered her too. Like that spray was some kind of fairy dust that made all things good.

Invigorated, she jogged down the dune to where the sand was firm. After pulling off her shoes, she laid them on top of her windbreaker to keep a breeze from whisking it away, then she rolled up her jeans and headed to the water.

The familiar texture of the sand felt good on her feet. Along the water’s edge she dug her toes into the sand. The water was still icy cold from the long winter, but there was something soothing about the tide sucking at her feet, as the waves rolled in and then swept back out with just as much force, that it was worth the chill.

She kicked through the water, feeling at one with the beach again. Nana had always sworn Elli had ocean water in her veins. She tended to believe that, because she felt so alive when she was near it.

Walking back up along the line where the water met the dry sand, expired sand dollars lay among the debris and shells. She collected a stack of the sand dollars for Nana then grabbed her shoes and coat and headed on up the beach toward the pier.

Moments spent here on the beach tickled her brain. Happy times from days gone by. Some magical, and some she wished she could forget, like the year she broke her arm skimboarding. That summer with Holden too. At least the way it had ended.

The pier seemed to look worse each time she saw it. Several of the piles that had been broken off were now wedged up under the pier, making it look messy and neglected.

A few guys with four-wheelers and some ropes could haul those out and clean it up before summer came. They’d done it before.

She ducked under the yellow caution tape and made her way up the pier to where the storefronts were. At least this part of the pier was still intact, even though the entire middle section was gone.

The decades-old wood shimmered a silvery hue in the sun. The wood was so worn that it was nearly cotton smooth. The old pier had weathered years of the powerful surge of the tides here off the Carolina coast, but today the whole pier seemed to shift, feeling unsteady.

It was eerie for the pier to be empty. Even this time of year there’d normally be some guys braving the cooler temps to catch some red drum, since they usually started running pretty strong off the pier about now. Last year, someone reeled in one weighing close to ninety pounds. Sadly, it missed beating the record by only four pounds, but it was still worth some heavy-duty bragging rights.

She stood in the doorway of Ever-SOL-Pops. She’d opened that shop when she was in high school. Most people didn’t even realize that the Pops in the company name was a play on her nickname for her grandfather, since he’d funded the whole start-up business. They just assumed it was for the product; the scrumptious ice pop recipes she’d perfected over two summers without ever realizing she was building something that would go on to last for years.

She and Pops together had built the sign that still hung above the door too. She’d drawn up the design to look like it was made from giant Popsicle sticks. He sawed and planed and mitered boards to look just right and then used a router with expert precision to cut out the letters just as she’d drawn them. She remembered standing at his side as the wail of that router screamed against the wood, leaving the perfect image behind. It had been such an exciting time. She and Nana had painted the sign using colors as vivid as the sweet treats she’d be selling. Each year at the end of the summer, they applied a new coat of clear to protect it. She still had that task on the season-shutdown checklist for the kids who were awarded the use of the popsicle stand to earn money for school. It still looked bright and cheerful.

The sign over Nana’s shop, however, had broken free from its spot. The huge turquoise sign lay on the dock like it had passed out from too much to drink last night.

She lifted the edge of it with her foot then picked it up and leaned it gently against the side of the building. A part of the roof had peeled back over SandD’s Gift Shop. Too bad it hadn’t been the other way around. If the roof had been damaged over Ever-SOL-Pops, there wouldn’t have been any problem. The only things in there were two freezers, and those were kept unplugged and covered up during the offseason.

Mother Nature rarely played fair though.

Nana and Pops had met on this pier. Love at first sight. This old pier was as much a part of her family tree as her cousins were.

She went inside the gift shop, but Nana seemed to have already cleared out most of the ruined inventory. Her hopes for a bounty of goodies to fill a few shelves were dashed pretty quickly. She walked back outside and held what was left of the sign against her, hugging it like an old boyfriend. The old weatherworn teal plank had seen dozens of hurricanes and winter storms, even that fire back in 1979.

Her heart felt as dark as a cloudy night sky. She might have spoken out of turn when she touted that the shops on the pier would be repaired and reopened this season. From the looks of things, she had a much bigger job in front of her than she’d thought.

She carried the sign back toward the beach. Ducking under the caution tape, she slid the sign under and pulled it behind her, with it
thump thumping thumping
with every bounce against the uneven decking boards.

Once on the sand, it was easier to drag, but she was worried about the pier. Losing it would be like losing an old friend.

It seemed like everything she knew about Sand Dollar Cove had somehow changed. Some for the better, like Pam’s spa, but mostly not, and that was making her feel incredibly down. She really hadn’t expected to feel this way, but then she hadn’t expected to be faced with so much change either.

She dragged the sign behind her, like so many memories that she couldn’t bear to leave behind. For a moment she thought about all those years ago when she’d lain on the beach for hours a day just waiting while Holden surfed every wave.

The sound of someone jogging up behind her made her turn to say hello, but it wasn’t a jogger after all. It was Holden, like just thinking about the man had made him appear. And it wasn’t like he was dressed for a jog.

Damning herself for thinking about him, she pushed her hair behind her ear and forced a smile. “Hi, Holden. What are you doing down here?”

“Thought I might catch up with you.”

“Really.”

He shrugged. “You mind?”

“No.” That’s what Nana would call an outright lie.

“Let me get that for you.” He grabbed the sign and hoisted it under his arm like a surfboard.

That only intensified the déjà vu. “Thanks.”

“Too bad about the pier.”

“I didn’t realize it had suffered that much damage. I’d seen the pictures on television. I thought it was mostly the decking that had gotten swept away, but even the piling and beams are a mangled mess.”

He nodded slowly. “It’s substantial.”

“I started a Buy A Board campaign way back after the first storm of the season. I raised enough money to fix the damage to the stores and the railing at the ramp, but if the pier doesn’t reopen…what good will that do? It doesn’t look like they’ve made much progress.”

He seemed to be staring at her, like he hadn’t heard a word she’d just said, and that made her feel a little weird.

“It’s good to see you. You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Sure I have. That was a long time ago.”

“Not that long ago.”

She tried to play it off with a shrug and picked up her pace. But she’d be lying if she didn’t admit that she remembered everything like it was yesterday. Even the way his mouth had felt, tasted, when he’d kissed her the very first time under the moonlight near the second piling of the pier. She’d been nervous with her grandparents just above them in the shop. It had been like riding a wave on the morning of a hurricane. Risky, maybe even a little reckless, but exhilarating.

“You cut your hair. I like it.”

She touched her hair, remembering how he’d always run his fingers through it. “You always liked it long.”

“It suits you. So is your partner covering for you while you’re in town?”

How did he know she had a partner?

“People talk,” he said as if he could read her mind.

“He’ll cover me. I haven’t been down here in too long.”

“So, then you’re going to be sticking around for a couple weeks?”

“I think so. It’s time I helped Nana get moved into a smaller place that she can manage. The stairs are tough on her, and Lord knows there are way too many of them in that huge beach house.”

“Are you gonna sell the Sol~Mate?”

“We haven’t gotten that far. Could always rent it out, but then that old house is getting up in years too. Not going to be long before she starts requiring some significant updating.”

“True. Well, if you decide to sell we’ve been having pretty good luck moving properties lately. But I guess you know that. I heard you’re in real estate.”

“I am,” she nodded. “Still licensed here in this area too.”

“I’d love the chance to take you out to dinner.”

That seemed to have been lobbed from left field. She hesitated.

“We have an awesome new seafood joint just up the road now. I’m making a little more money nowadays than I was back before college.” He laughed. “I’ll take you for something better than a Tony’s Hot Dog.”

“I loved those hot dogs. He isn’t still open, is he?”

“Moved to the next town over to be closer to his mom, but hey, if it gets you to say yes, I’ll spring for the road trip for a hot dog instead the swanky restaurant.”

“I’ll take you up on the hot dog. Chili and cheese.”

“Just like old times.”

His perfect smile made her nervous. “I guess that means you’ll still be getting double onions.”

With a laugh he said, “You better believe it.”

Elli pointed to the old building on the cove that used to be her grandfather’s workshop. “Let’s put the sign over there.”

Holden followed her to the side door. “I remember an interesting evening or two here.”

She punched the code in the door, opened it and flashed him one of those watch-it-buster looks.

“What’s all this?”

“All the boards sponsored for the pier shop repairs. They just delivered them the other day. I told you I’d done pretty well with it. This is the haul. I’ve got someone here to start personalizing them with the names of the sponsors.” She walked over to the workbench. “This looks awesome.” She tilted the board up. “Look. This is going to be great.”

He set the sign down on top of one of the bundles of lumber then walked over to where she was standing. “How many of those do you have to personalize? Fifty? A hundred?”

She sputtered. “Try hundreds with an S. Nearly every one of these will be personalized.”

He blinked but didn’t say another word. Probably thankful she hadn’t asked him to help, and he sure didn’t look like he was getting ready to offer anyway.

“Thanks for carrying that.”

“My pleasure.” He followed her out, and she tested the door to be sure it had closed and locked then headed toward the beach.

“I forgot how great this part of the beach was.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and took a jump back as the tide licked up toward his shoes. “The cove was always the best part. Maybe because it was always shut down from the public.”

“To save the sand dollars.” She dug her toes in the sand, and no less than a half-dozen tiny young sand dollars surfaced. “Don’t need saving now. Look at ’em all.”

He stooped down and put one in the palm of his hand. “I bet most people don’t even know what a live sand dollar looks like. Heck, they might not know they were ever living creatures to begin with.”

She shrugged. “Possible, I guess.” She took the tiny creature from his hand and laid it back in the wet sand.

“I guess I’ll head back. It was really good seeing you.”

She watched him walk away. There were still a lot of emotions stacked up with that baggage.

CHAPTER FIVE

Elli had spent most of the morning working up the listing to put Sol~Mate on the market. The comps looked promising. At least that was going their way, only finding the perfect place wasn’t going to be easy. There weren’t that many places for sale in the cove. Especially not when you started trying to find something without a lot of stairs. But right now she and Nana were enjoying their time together as they sat side by side in massage chairs at the Carolina By The Sea Resort and Spa receiving pedicures.

“How’s that feel?” Pam stood in the doorway holding crystal flutes filled to the top with sparkling mimosas. “I brought y’all a little treat.”