In her brand-new series, Brenda Jackson welcomes you to Catalina Cove, where even the biggest heartbreaks can be healed...

In the wake of a devastating teen pregnancy that left her childless and heartbroken, Vashti Alcindor left Catalina Cove, Louisiana, with no plans to return. Now, over a decade later, Vashti reluctantly finds herself back in her hometown after inheriting her aunt’s B and B. Her homecoming gets off to a rocky start when the new sheriff, Sawyer Grisham, pulls her over for speeding, and things go downhill from there.

The B and B, a place she’d always found refuge in when it seemed like the whole world was against her, has fallen into disrepair. When a surprising benefactor encourages Vashti to reopen the B and B, Vashti embraces a fresh start, and soon old hurts begin to fade as she makes new memories with the town—and its handsome sheriff...

But some pasts are too big to escape, and when a bombshell of a secret changes everything she thought was true, Vashti is left reeling. With Sawyer and his teenage daughter determined to see her through the storm, though, she’s learning family isn’t always a matter of blood—sometimes it’s a matter of heart.

Also By Brenda Jackson

The Protectors

FORGED IN DESIRE

SEIZED BY SEDUCTION

LOCKED IN TEMPTATION

The Grangers

A BROTHER’S HONOR

A MAN’S PROMISE

A LOVER’S VOW

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Love in Catalina Cove

Brenda Jackson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09541-9

LOVE IN CATALINA COVE

© 2018 Brenda Streater Jackson

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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Praise for

New York Times bestselling author

Brenda Jackson

“The only flaw of this first-rate, satisfyingly sexy tale is that it ends.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review,

on Forged in Desire

“[Jackson’s] signature is to create full-sensory romances that deliver on the heat, and she duly delivers.... Sure to make any reader swoon.”

—RT Book Reviews on Forged in Desire

“Leave it to Jackson to take sizzle and honor, wrap it

in romance and come up with a first-rate tale.”

—RT Book Reviews on Temptation

“Brenda Jackson is the queen of newly discovered love... If there’s one thing Jackson knows how to do, it’s how to pluck those heartstrings and stir up some seriously saucy drama.”

—BookPage on Inseparable

“This deliciously sensual romance ramps up the emotional stakes and the action.... Sexy and sizzling.”

—Library Journal on Intimate Seduction

“Jackson does not disappoint... First-class page-turner.”

—RT Book Reviews on A Silken Thread, 4½ stars,

Top Pick!

“Jackson is a master at writing.”

—Publishers Weekly on Sensual Confessions

To the man who will always and forever be the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr.

To my readers who are cruising with me to Aruba in 2019, this story is for you.

To my sons, Gerald Jr. and Brandon. You guys are the greatest and continue to make me and your dad proud.

To Brenda Woodbury and Connie Moore. Thanks for all the things that you do in keeping my readers informed.

Happy 65th birthday, Jackie Johnson! You are more sister than cousin, and I appreciate having you in my life.

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”

—Luke 8:17

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Praise

Dedication

Part 1

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Part 2

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

CHAPTER FORTY

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

Part 1

“Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.”

—Oliver Goldsmith

CHAPTER ONE

New York City

VASHTI ALCINDOR SHOULD be celebrating. After all, the official letter she’d just read declared her divorce final, which meant her three-year marriage to Scott Zimmons was over. Definitely done with. As far as she was concerned the marriage had lasted two years too long. She wouldn’t count that first year since she’d been too in love to dwell on Scott’s imperfections. Truth be told there were many that she’d deliberately overlooked. She’d been so determined to have that happily-ever-after that she honestly believed she could put up with anything.

But reality soon crept into the world of make-believe, and she discovered she truly couldn’t. Her husband was a compulsive liar who could look you right in the eyes and lie with a straight face. She didn’t want to count the number of times she’d caught him in the act. When she couldn’t take the deceptions any longer she had packed her things and left. When her Aunt Shelby died five months later, Scott felt entitled to half of the inheritance Vashti received in the will.

It was then that Vashti had hired one of the best divorce attorneys in New York, and within six weeks his private investigator had uncovered Scott’s scandalous activities. Namely, his past and present affair with his boss’s wife. Vashti hadn’t wasted any time making Scott aware that she was not only privy to this information, but had photographs and videos to prove it.

Knowing she wouldn’t hesitate to expose him as the lowlife that he was, Scott had agreed to an uncontested divorce and walked away with nothing. The letter she’d just read was documented proof that he would do just about anything to hold on to his cushy Wall Street job.

Her cell phone ringing snagged her attention, the ringtone belonging to her childhood friend and present Realtor, Bryce Witherspoon. Vashti clicked on her phone as she sat down at her kitchen table with her evening cup of tea. “Hey, girl, I hope you’re calling with good news.”

Bryce chuckled. “I am. Someone from the Barnes Group from California was here today and—”

“California?”

“Yes. They’re a group of developers that’s been trying to acquire land in the cove for years. They made you an unbelievably fantastic offer for Shelby by the Sea.”

Vashti let out a loud shout of joy. She couldn’t believe she’d been lucky enough to get rid of both her ex-husband and her aunt’s property in the same day.

“Don’t get excited yet. We might have problems,” Bryce said.

Vashti frowned. “What kind of problems?”

“The developers want to tear down your aunt’s bed-and-breakfast and—”

“Tear it down?” Vashti felt a soft kick in her stomach. Selling her aunt’s bed-and-breakfast was one thing, having it demolished was another. “Why would they want to tear it down?”

“They aren’t interested in the building, Vash. They want the eighty-five acres it sits on. Who wouldn’t with the Gulf of Mexico in its backyard? I told you it would be a quick sale.”

Vashti had known someone would find Shelby by the Sea a lucrative investment but she’d hoped somehow the inn would survive. With repairs it could be good as new. “What do they want to build there instead?”

“A luxury tennis resort.”

Vashti nodded. “How much are they offering?” she asked, taking a sip of her tea.

“Ten million.”

Vashti nearly choked. “Ten million dollars? That’s nearly double what I was asking for.”

“Yes, but the developers are eyeing the land next to it as well. I think they’re hoping that one day Reid Lacroix will cave and sell his property. When he does, the developers will pounce on the opportunity to get their hands on it and build that golf resort they’ve been trying to put there for years. Getting your land will put their foot in the door so to speak.”

Vashti took another sip of her tea. “What other problems are there?”

“This one is big. Mayor Proctor got wind of their offer and figured you might sell. He’s calling a meeting.”

“A meeting?”

“Yes, of the Catalina Cove Zoning Board. Although they can’t stop you from selling the inn, they plan to block the buyer from bringing a tennis resort in here. The city ordinance calls for the zoning board to approve all new construction. This won’t be the first time developers wanted to come into the cove and build something the city planners reject. Remember years ago when that developer wanted to buy land on the east end to build that huge shopping mall? The zoning board stopped it. They’re determined that nothing in Catalina Cove changes.”

“Well, it should change.” As far as Vashti was concerned it was time for Mayor Procter to get voted out. He had been mayor for over thirty years. When Vashti had left Catalina Cove for college fourteen years ago, developers had been trying to buy up the land for a number of progressive projects. The people of Catalina Cove were the least open-minded group she knew.

Vashti loved living in New York City where things were constantly changing, and people embraced those changes. At eighteen she had arrived in the city to attend New York University and remained after getting a job with a major hotel chain. She had worked her way up to her six-figure salary as a hotel executive. At thirty-two she considered it her dream job. That wasn’t bad for someone who started out working the concierge desk.

“Unless the Barnes Group can build whatever they want without any restrictions, there won’t be a deal for us.”

Vashti didn’t like the sound of that. Ten million was ten million no matter how you looked at it. “Although I wouldn’t want them to tear down Shelby, I think my aunt would understand my decision to do what’s best for me.” And the way Vashti saw it, ten million dollars was definitely what would be best for her.

“Do you really think she would want you to tear down the inn? She loved that place.”

Vashti knew more than anyone how much Shelby by the Sea had meant to her aunt. It had become her life. “Aunt Shelby knew there was no way I would ever move back to Catalina Cove after what happened. Mom and Dad even moved away. There’s no connection for me to Catalina Cove.”

“Hey, wait a minute, Vash. I’m still here.”

Vashti smiled, remembering how her childhood friend had stuck with her through thick and thin. “Yes, you’re still there, which makes me think you need your head examined for not moving away when you could have.”

“I love Catalina Cove. It’s my home and need I remind you that for eighteen years it was yours, too.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Look, I know why you feel that way, Vash, but are you going to let that one incident make you have ill feelings about the town forever?”

“It was more than an incident, Bryce, and you know it.” For Vashti having a baby out of wedlock at sixteen had been a lot more than an incident. For her it had been a life changer. She had discovered who her real friends were during that time. Even now she would occasionally wonder how different things might have been had her child lived instead of died at birth.

“Sorry, bad choice of words,” Bryce said, with regret in her voice.

“No worries. That was sixteen years ago.” No need to tell Bryce that on occasion she allowed her mind to wander to that period of her life and often grieved for the child she’d lost. She had wanted children and Scott had promised they would start a family one day. That had been another lie.

“Tell me what I need to do to beat the zoning board on this, Bryce,” Vashti said, her mind made up.

“Unfortunately, to have any substantial input, you need to meet with the board in person. I think it will be beneficial if the developers make an appearance as well. According to their representative, they’re willing to throw in a few perks that the cove might find advantageous.”

“What kind of perks?”

“Free membership to the resort’s clubhouse for the first year, as well as free tennis lessons for the kids for a limited time. It will also bring a new employer to town, which means new jobs. Maybe if they were to get support from the townsfolk, the board would be more willing to listen.”

“What do you think are our chances?”

“To be honest, even with all that, it’s a long shot. Reid Lacroix is on the board and he still detests change. He’s still the wealthiest person in town, too, and has a lot of clout.”

“Then why waste my and the potential buyer’s time?”

“There’s a slim chance time won’t be wasted. K-Gee is on the zoning board and he always liked you in school. He’s one of the few progressive members on the board and the youngest. Maybe he’ll help sway the others.”

Vashti smiled. Yes, K-Gee had liked her but he’d liked Bryce even more and they both knew it. His real name was Kaegan Chambray. He was part of the Pointe-au-Chien Native American tribe and his family’s ties to the cove and surrounding bayou went back generations, even before the first American settlers.

Although K-Gee was two years older than Vashti and Bryce, they’d hung out together while growing up. When Vashti had returned to town after losing her baby, K-Gee would walk Vashti and Bryce home from school every day. Even though Bryce never said, Vashti suspected something had happened between Bryce and K-Gee during the time Vashti was away at that unwed home in Arkansas.

“When did K-Gee move back to Catalina Cove, Bryce?”

“Almost two years ago to help out his mom and to take over his family’s seafood supply business when his father died. His mother passed away last year. And before you ask why I didn’t tell you, Vash, you know why. You never wanted to hear any news regarding what was happening in Catalina Cove.”

No, she hadn’t, but anything having to do with K-Gee wasn’t just town news. Bryce should have known that. “I’m sorry to hear about his parents. I really am. I’m surprised he’s on the zoning board.”

For years the townsfolk of the cove had never recognized members of the Pointe-au-Chien Native American tribe who lived on the east side of the bayou. Except for when it was time to pay city taxes. With K-Gee on the zoning board that meant change was possible in Catalina Cove after all.

“I need to know what you want to do, Vash,” Bryce said, interrupting her thoughts. “The Barnes Group is giving us twenty days to finalize the deal or they will withdraw their offer.”

Vashti stood up to cross the kitchen floor and put her teacup in the kitchen sink. “Okay, I’ll think about what you said. Ten million dollars is a lot of money.”

“Yes, and just think what you could do with it.”

Vashti was thinking and she loved all the possibilities. Although she loved her job, she could stop working and spend the rest of her life traveling to all those places her aunt always wanted to visit but hadn’t, because of putting Shelby by the Sea first. Vashti wouldn’t make the same mistake.

* * *

THE NEXT MORNING, for the first time in two years, Vashti woke up feeling like she was in control of her life and could finally see a light—a bright one at that—at the end of the road. Scott was out of her life, she had a great job, but more importantly, some developer group was interested in her inn.

Her inn.

It seemed odd to think of Shelby by the Sea as hers when it had belonged to her aunt for as long as she could remember. Definitely long before Vashti was born. Her parents’ home had been a mile away, and growing up she had spent a lot of her time at Shelby, especially during her teen years when she worked as her aunt’s personal assistant. That’s when she’d fallen in love with the inn and had thought it was the best place in the world.

Until...

Vashti pushed the “until” from her mind, refusing to go there and hoping Bryce was wrong about her having to return to Catalina Cove to face off with the zoning board. There had to be another way and she intended to find it. Barely eighteen, she had needed to escape the town that had always been her safe haven because it had become a living hell for her.

An hour later Vashti had showered, dressed and was walking out her door ready to start her day at the Grand Nunes Luxury Hotel in Manhattan. But not before stopping at her favorite café on the corner to grab a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee. Catalina Cove was considered the blueberry capital in the country, and even she couldn’t resist this small indulgence from her hometown. She would be the first to admit that although this blueberry muffin was delicious, it was not as good as the ones Bryce’s mother made and sold at their family’s restaurant.

With the bag containing her muffin in one hand and her cup of coffee in the other, Vashti caught the elevator up to the hotel’s executive floor. She couldn’t wait to get to work.

She’d heard that the big man himself, Gideon Nunes, was in town and would be meeting with several top members of the managerial and executive team, which would include her.

It was a half hour before lunch when she received a call to come to Mr. Nunes’s office. Ten minutes later she walked out of the CEO’s office stunned, in a state of shock. According to Mr. Nunes, his five hotels in the States had been sold, including this one. He’d further stated that the new owner was bringing in his own people, which meant her services were no longer needed.

In other words, she’d been fired.

CHAPTER TWO

A week later

VASHTI GLANCED AROUND the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Although she’d never returned to Catalina Cove, she’d flown into this airport many times to attend a hotel conference or convention, or just to get away. Even though Catalina Cove was only an hour’s drive away, she’d never been tempted to take the road trip to revisit the parish where she’d been born.

Today she took the time to recall the day she’d left fourteen years ago for college. Since this was the closest airport to Catalina Cove, her flight had left from here. Her parents and Aunt Shelby had been there to see her off and the parting had been bittersweet.

To this day she often wondered if her parents had forgiven her for the embarrassment she’d caused them when she’d gotten pregnant. They had thought sending her to that home for unwed mothers would have her coming around to their way of thinking, until she’d informed them she had no intentions of giving her baby up for adoption. That had caused a huge discord in the family. It seemed the only person who’d been in her corner had been Aunt Shelby. Vashti hadn’t caved in to her parents’ demand to know the father of her child. To this day, they still didn’t know. The only person who knew her secret was Bryce, and she knew her friend would carry the information to the grave with her.

“Welcome to Nawlins. Need help with your luggage, ma’am?”

Vashti smiled at the baggage handler. “No, I’m fine. I didn’t check in any luggage.” She just had her carry-on since she intended only to stay a couple of days.

As she headed toward the car rental counter she thought how different her life had become in a week. She was still absorbing the shock of having been fired from her job. Fired. There had been five of them in all—all part of the executive team—that had been given their pink slips.

There hadn’t been any warning, not a single word around the office that Mr. Nunes had had plans to sell off any of his hotels. No one had suspected a thing. The new owner hadn’t even let them linger. They’d been escorted out the door in the time it had taken to clear her desk and grab her purse. The only good thing, if you wanted to call it a good thing, was that Mr. Nunes had been awful generous with their severance and had even offered some jobs at his other hotels if you were inclined to move out of the country. Some had jumped at the offer. She had not. So here she was, in New Orleans and about to rent a car to drive to the town she thought never to see again.

With no job and more time on her hands than she really needed or wanted, in addition to the fact that there was ten million dollars dangling in front of her face, she had returned to Catalina Cove to attend the zoning board meeting and plead her case, although the thought of doing so was a bitter pill to swallow. When she’d left the cove she’d felt she didn’t owe the town or its judgmental people anything and likewise, they didn’t owe her a thing. Now fourteen years later she was back and to her way of thinking Catalina Cove did owe her something. The right to sell her land to whomever she wanted and for them to build whatever they wanted on the land.

“Welcome to New Orleans. What kind of car would you like to rent today?”

Vashti smiled at the young college-aged woman behind the counter. “Umm, what do you have?”

“A couple of sedans, some midsize vehicles and a couple of SUVs. And if you feel like being daring, we even have a two-seater sports car.”

“A sports car?”

“Yes, a candy apple red Corvette. It was ordered for one of the NFL players who had to cancel his flight.”

“A Corvette...” That was her dream car. She didn’t need a car to get around in New York since she lived in the city and the subway worked just fine for her. But she would love getting behind the wheel of a ’vette. “And it’s red?”

The young woman smiled. “Yes, and a convertible. It’s a beautiful March day to have the top down while cruising. I give you fair warning. My father is a police officer and he said red cars, especially convertibles, stick out like a sore thumb. You’re liable to get a speeding ticket if you even go one mile per hour over the speed limit.”

Vashti chuckled. “Thanks for the warning but I have no intention of speeding.”

* * *

“PLEASE, DAD...”

Sawyer Grisham drew in a deep breath, wondering at what point he would be able to give his daughter a firm no and truly mean it. She had the ability to wrap him around her finger and he had a feeling she knew it. With this particular request of hers he knew that he needed to turn her down, but...

“I’ll think about it, Jadelyn.” She knew whenever he called her by her full name that meant there wouldn’t be any more discussion on the subject until he decided to have it.

“Thanks, Dad. You’re the greatest. Love you.”

He shook his head, grinning when he clicked off the phone. Of course she would have to end the call like that. Like he’d already given his permission for her to get a job this summer. She could spend her summer doing volunteer work at either the hospital or animal shelter, but as far as he was concerned she didn’t need a job. He gave her a weekly allowance and a pretty darn generous one. All she needed to do was continue to make good grades in school. She would have plenty of time for employment later in life.

Sighing deeply, he pushed back the seat in his patrol car and stretched his legs out. This was the part of his job that he didn’t mind doing since it got him away from behind his desk and out of the office. He loved this expanse of highway that connected New Orleans to Catalina Cove. The picturesque scenery made the drive one of the most pleasant he’d ever known. Giant oak trees lined both sides of the highway and through the low hanging branches you could see the sea marshes.

The closer you got to Catalina Cove, the highway merged from four lanes to two and even more tall oaks were perfectly strung along the roadway, providing a countryside effect. In this particular area that he loved, a cluster of the huge tree limbs joined to form a canopy. This was the spot where he would park under the shade of huge trees, hidden from sight off the highway to clock speeders. On occasion he would steal away here just to clear his mind, think about important matters and to put a number of things in perspective. Right now the main thing on his mind was that his daughter would probably start dating soon. So far she hadn’t mentioned anything about it and he definitely was not going to put any ideas in her head.

He needed to call his office to remind Trudy Caldwell, his office manager, to make sure the Miller file was on his desk when he got back, which wouldn’t be too long. So far he’d issued six speeding tickets and had been here only a few hours. Didn’t anyone feel compelled to abide by the speed limit anymore? And some of the excuses they made while trying to talk their way out of a ticket were just downright ridiculous. As sheriff he expected people to operate within the confines of the law and not the other way around.

It was hard to believe he’d been sheriff in Catalina Cove for four years already. When he’d accepted the job and relocated here, Jade had been twelve. Not once had she complained about moving from their home in Nevada to Louisiana, although she’d left her friends behind. They’d decided to look at the move as an adventure. Thankfully, because of Jade’s outgoing and bubbly nature, she’d quickly made new friends.

Leaving Reno was necessary in order to move on with their lives after losing Johanna. Cancer had claimed her exactly three months to the day she’d noticed the discoloration of a mole on her thigh. He would never forget the day he’d gotten that call at the FBI headquarters where he worked as an agent. In a teary voice Johanna had told him the results of the biopsy. It had come back as cancer, already at stage four. It seemed once the diagnosis was made the condition worsened, and he had buried his wife on the day that would have been her thirtieth birthday.

He pushed from his mind thoughts of Johanna. Even after over four years they were too painful to dwell on. He was about to reach for his phone to call Trudy when a car sped by. The driver was clocked doing sixty in a fifty-five-miles-an-hour zone.

Pulling his patrol car onto the highway, he flipped on his flashing red-and-blue lights and siren as he took off behind the speeding red Corvette convertible.

* * *

VASHTI HAD THE radio on full blast while singing along with Beyoncé, belting out her newest hit. This was a perfect day to drive with the top down. March was about to roll into April with spring-like days. The midday sun wasn’t too hot and the breeze was just right. She loved the feel of her hair blowing in the wind, and wished somehow her problems could be blown away as easily. If she had to return to Catalina Cove she might as well make the drive fun. She would admit this car had a lot of power. Already she’d made it to the outskirts of town and should be reaching her destination soon.

She glanced in her rearview mirror and saw the flashing red-and-blue lights and immediately turned down the volume on the radio. That’s when she heard the siren. Where had the police officer come from and how long had they been following her? She pulled to the shoulder of the road and he pulled off the road behind her.

Vashti wondered why she’d gotten stopped. Annoyed, she tapped her hand on the steering wheel and when the police officer reached her car, she looked at him. OMG. She was convinced she was staring up into the most handsome face she’d seen in a long time. And on top of that, a snap of sexual awareness she hadn’t felt in years rocked her to the bone.

He was so tall and she thought there was something magnetic about those dark brown eyes that were staring back at her. It took her a minute to notice his lips were moving, which meant he’d been talking. What on earth had he said? She’d been too busy concentrating on the shape of his lips.

“Excuse me, Officer. Could you repeat that?”

He gave her an irritated look. “I asked why you didn’t stop when you heard my siren?”

“I didn’t hear your siren probably because I had the radio on full blast. Sorry about that.”

“Your license please.”

“Sure.” She then went into her purse and pulled out her driver’s license, wondering who had ruined his day. It was obvious he was in a bad mood. She handed him her driver’s license. “And why was I stopped?” And why was she noticing how the shirt of his officer’s uniform seemed to stretch across a broad chest and over muscular shoulders?

He didn’t answer her. Instead he returned to his patrol car. She was tempted to hang out the window and check out his rear end but quickly talked herself out of doing so. Mr. Not-So-Nice-Cop had one redeeming quality. He was definitely a hottie. But regardless of his sexy attributes, he could have answered her question before walking off.

A good ten minutes had passed before he returned and handed her license back to her. “And why was I stopped?” she asked him again.

“You were speeding.”

“Speeding?”

“Yes. You were going sixty in a fifty-five-miles-an-hour zone.”

Had she? She knew that was a possibility. More than once she’d had to ease her foot off the pedal when she’d discovered she’d been going faster than she intended. He handed her a ticket to sign and she felt a tingling sensation in her stomach when their hands brushed in the process. She looked up at him. “Is this a real one?”

He lifted a brow. “A real what?”

“Ticket.”

“What other kind is there?”

She frowned. “A warning ticket.”

“I don’t give out warning tickets.”

She looked at the ticket and then back at him. “Two hundred dollars!”

“Yes. That’s forty dollars for ever mile you were going over. Forty times five would be two hundred dollars.”

“That’s a bit much.”

He lifted his brow again and she wished he wouldn’t do that. Each time he did she was captivated by the beauty of his eyes. “You think so?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t. You broke the law.”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“If you say so. Here’s your driver’s license back.” Again their fingers brushed and Vashti felt that tingling sensation.

“I take it you’re headed to Catalina Cove,” he said, pushing his hat back from his face to reveal even more of his features.

“Yes, why do you ask?” she asked, noticing that besides being handsome, the man was broad-shouldered and fit.

“No reason. Just make sure you drive within the speed limits while you’re there. Looks like this little toy you’re driving might get you in trouble.”

She looked at her ticket before looking back up at him. “Looks like it already has.”

His mouth formed a smile and she felt a fluttering in her stomach at the sensual curve of his mouth. No man should have the ability to have such an effect on a woman...especially when he’d just made her two hundred dollars poorer.

“Do you have family in town or are you just here to enjoy all Catalina Cove has to offer?” he asked her.

No need to tell him why she was there. It really wasn’t any of his business. “I’m here to enjoy all Catalina Cove has to offer.”

He nodded. “Well then, enjoy your stay. Good day.”

Watching in her side-view mirror as he walked back to his patrol car, she also thought he looked good from the waist down and appreciated the way his slacks fit a pair of masculine thighs and long legs. And his backside was pretty darn nice, too. It was only after he’d gotten in his vehicle did she allow herself to breathe again. As far as she was concerned, he’d provided her with the best view she’d seen since arriving back in Louisiana.

Starting her car, she pulled back onto the highway.

* * *

SAWYER WATCHED UNTIL the little red Corvette was no longer in sight. What the hell had happened when their hands had accidentally touched? Hell, even now he could feel a burning sensation. It had taken all the control he could muster to maintain his professionalism and give her that ticket. He had not been that attracted to a woman since Johanna.

According to her driver’s license her name was Vashti Alcindor and she lived in New York City. Since she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring he assumed she was single. The car was a rental and he wondered what had brought her to the cove. He’d tried asking her in a roundabout way, but she hadn’t told him anything. That was okay. Everybody had the right to keep their business to themselves. He of all people understood the need for seclusion and privacy at times. Well, unfortunately because of her inability to drive within the speed limits, this trip just became two hundred dollars costlier for her.

“You there, Sheriff?”

Trudy’s voice intruded through the car’s intercom. “Yes, I’m here.”

“I put that Miller file on your desk.”

“Thanks, and I’m on my way back to the office.”

“Okay.”

He started the ignition in the patrol car, and as he pulled onto the highway he couldn’t help wondering if his path would be crossing with Ms. Vashti Alcindor’s again.

* * *

A FEELING SHE hadn’t anticipated washed over Vashti when she entered the city limits of Catalina Cove. It wasn’t the resentment she’d expected but a sudden sense of coming home. Of belonging. How was that possible when she’d left here fourteen years ago without looking back, thinking this town would never be her home again? She could only assume because there was a time she thought she had belonged. After all, she’d been born here, in that house on Higgins Lane. It had been the only home she knew...except for those months her parents had sent her away to Arkansas to have her baby. She had felt all alone then, housed with other girls in the same predicament and whose families were determined to take control of their lives.

She had refused to let her parents take control of hers. She’d made plans. She would keep her baby, quit school, attend classes at night for her GED. In her mind, that was better than nothing, and her aunt had said she would watch the baby at night while she was at school.

Returning to Catalina Cove without her baby had been hard. Get over it because things happen for a reason. Consider losing the baby a blessing. It would have ruined your life. Her mother’s words had cut to the core. There had been no compassion and no regret with either of her parents.

Vashti had finished her last year of school and had been accepted to NYU to start during the summer semester instead of waiting for the fall. She had caught a plane to New York a week after high school graduation. Other than Aunt Shelby and Bryce there hadn’t been anyone left in the cove that she truly cared about...at least not anymore.

Well, there had been K-Gee but he’d left town two years before she had, the night he’d graduated from high school in fact. And besides Bryce’s parents, there had been Ms. Gertie. Gertrude Landers was a midwife who’d probably delivered every baby that had been born in the cove over the past fifty years. Ms. Gertie had always been a loving soul and one of the kindest people Vashti knew while growing up in Catalina Cove. She’d always had a kind word to say about everybody and had been one of her aunt’s dearest friends. And like her aunt, she’d stuck by her when Vashti had gotten pregnant. To this day Vashti thought of Ms. Gertie as the grandmother she never had.

It had been Vashti’s desire for Ms. Gertie to deliver her baby since she’d taken care of her during the first months of her pregnancy instead of the doctor in town. But when Vashti began showing, her parents decided to send her away to have her baby. Those months had been the loneliest of her life.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Vashti drove through the historic part of the city and was reminded how the town got its origin. It was required history in the Catalina Cove school system.

Vashti knew that the parcel of land the cove sat on had been a gift to the notorious pirate Jean LaFitte, from the newly formed United States of America for his role in helping the thirteen colonies fight for their independence from the British during the American Revolution. There were some who actually believed he wasn’t buried at sea in the Gulf of Honduras like history claimed but was buried somewhere in the waters surrounding Catalina Cove.

For years because of LaFitte, the cove had been a shipping town. It still was, which was evident by the number of fishing vessels she could see lining the piers as she drove through the shipping district. The Moulden River was full of trout, whiting, shrimp and oysters. Tourists would come from miles around to sample the town’s seafood, especially the oysters. The cove’s lighthouse-turned-restaurant was the place to dine and you had to make reservations weeks in advance to get a table.

She came to a stop at a red light at the intersection of Adrienne and Sophie, the streets reputedly named for two of LaFitte’s mistresses. The entire downtown area was a close replicate of New Orleans’s French Quarter, a deliberate move on LaFitte’s part. The cove was where the pirate would return to when he and his team of smugglers needed some down time with their women. And if the naming of the streets was to be believed, he’d had several of them, she thought, making a turn on Margaux Lane.

Her thoughts shifted from Jean LaFitte to the man who had pulled her over earlier. That was something that had definitely changed in the cove. It appeared police officers were no longer middle-aged, potbellied men who looked like they’d eaten one blueberry muffin too many. The man who’d given her a ticket was so fit one would suspect he spent a lot of his time at the gym. He was definitely pleasing on the eyes. She hadn’t felt this much interest in a man since finding out what a scumbag Scott was. It was then she’d sworn off men. Nothing had changed, although she had gotten a jolt between the thighs, a sort of reminder of what she hadn’t had in over two years now. At some point she and Scott had begun engaging in what she called courtesy sex and then months later she’d decided not to bother at all. It hadn’t been worth the effort. It hadn’t seemed to bother him any, and now she knew why. His boss’s wife had been his sidepiece.

Reaching Adele Street meant she was entering the historical residential district. Stately older homes, most of them of the French Creole style, lined the streets with pristine manicured lawns. She’d always liked this style of house and recalled that a number of the same style were scattered around New Orleans. That was another deliberate duplication the pirate had taken from there.

It was a known fact that New Orleans had the largest French Creole population in the country. Catalina Cove was next. What a lot of people failed to realize was that being a Creole had nothing to do with your race. It didn’t matter what your skin color was. It had everything to do with your cultural heritage. Her father, a Creole born in Catalina Cove, had met her mother at Grambling University. They had returned here to live after they got married. As a child, Vashti remembered her paternal grandparents, and how her grandmother had told her about the rich Creole history and culture. To this day Vashti was proud of her Creole heritage.

She came to a stop in front of one of the stately looking houses. Bryce had purchased her house three years ago and this would be Vashti’s first visit. Her best friend had visited her many times in New York and Bryce had also joined her in New Orleans whenever Vashti happened to go there on business.

Vashti sat there a minute after turning off the ignition. It was a nice home, and she thought the two-story structure was perfect for her best friend. The previous owners had approached Bryce about being their Realtor and she’d ended up buying it herself.

The minute she got out the car, the front door opened and a smiling Bryce stepped out in the sunlight. Vashti felt her smile grow wide in return.

“Where did you get that thing?” Bryce asked, coming down the steps to meet her and giving more than an admiring glance to the Corvette convertible.

“A rental. It was ordered for an NFL player who had to cancel his trip at the last minute so I thought I’d take it.”

Bryce gave her a hug and she gave her one back. “Glad you got here in one piece.”

“Me, too, but not without a little bit of drama,” she said, opening the passenger door to retrieve her carry-on.

Bryce raised a brow. “Drama? What kind of drama?”

Vashti looped her arm through Bryce’s. “Come on, let’s go inside and I’ll tell you about it. And I’m dying to see your home.”

CHAPTER THREE

SAWYER CLOSED THE file he’d been reading and leaned back in his chair. For some reason he couldn’t get the woman driving that red Corvette out of his mind. When he’d returned to town he took the route he usually traveled as a shortcut to get back to his office. That’s when he saw that same vehicle parked in front of the house where Bryce Witherspoon lived. The woman had definitely been a looker, even with all that wind-blown hair from driving with the top down. And there had been something about those soft brown eyes of hers and well-defined lips that enhanced her honey-brown skin. He figured her age to be in her late twenties, and evidently, she had a flare for flashy stuff, that rental Corvette convertible being one of them. But then she was a New Yorker. He’d dated a woman from New York once while stationed in New Jersey and the one thing he remembered about her was that she’d been a party girl who never took anything seriously. It was all fun and games. He wondered if Vashti Alcindor was the same way.

He looked up when he heard the knock on the door. “Come in.”

Trudy came in with purse in hand, which meant it was time for her to leave. Was it five o’clock already? It was a wonder Jade hadn’t called. She’d decided to try her hand at learning to cook and since he hadn’t gotten a call yet from the fire department he could only hope she hadn’t burned up the place.

“I’m calling it a day, Sheriff.”

He smiled. She always did at exactly five every day. Trudy, who liked to claim she was only fifty-five, was probably a good ten years older than that and should have retired years ago. But she was good at what she did and he was convinced she could work better and faster than a woman half her age. He hoped she wouldn’t bring up the issue of retiring anytime soon. Having worked for the previous sheriff, she was someone Sawyer had come to depend on. She was efficient and well liked by all.

“Okay, Trudy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t work too late. Jade is making beef strudel tonight.”

He lifted a brow. “And how do you know that?”

Trudy smiled. “Because she called for my recipe. There’s nothing like a teenager who prefers going home from school to cook instead of hanging out at the Livewire.”

Sawyer nodded. The Livewire was a hangout spot for the teens in town. It was a decent place that provided a safe environment for them to play arcade games and fill up on hamburgers, fries and milkshakes. There was even a quiet corner in the back for those who wanted to get an early start on their homework. Jade went there some days but she mostly preferred going on home, especially since she was trying her hand at cooking now.

“I can’t wait to try it out.” Okay he was lying. He could wait. The last recipe she’d gotten from Trudy was for a lemon cake, and she hadn’t thought the recipe called for enough lemon flavor so she added more. A lot more. He was certain he’d walked around with puckered lips for a week.

“Oh, by the way, Sheriff. I was logging in the speeding tickets you issued today and noticed you gave one to a Vashti Alcindor. I didn’t know she was back in town.”

Back in town? “She’s been here before?”

Trudy grinned. “Heck yes. Vashti used to live here. Born and raised.”

Sawyer frowned. “I asked if she had family here and she said no.”

“She doesn’t anymore. Her parents moved away years ago, and her aunt Shelby Riggs passed away a few months ago.”

Sawyer sat up straight in his chair. “Ms. Shelby was her aunt?”

“Yes, her mother’s sister.”

Sawyer nodded. He’d liked Ms. Shelby. When he first moved to Catalina Cove she had been one of the first to welcome him and Jade to town. He’d even stayed at her inn overnight when he’d arrived in town to interview for the sheriff position.

“I guess she’s here to finalize the sale of Shelby by the Sea. I’d heard her aunt left it to her and there’s a buyer already. While growing up here Vashti loved that inn as much as Shelby did. I hate that she’s decided to sell it. I was hoping the inn would get her to move back. But in a way, I can’t too much blame her, what with the way some of the townspeople treated her.”

Sawyer had never been one for town gossip, but for some reason anything dealing with Vashti Alcindor interested him. “Why?”

“Teenage pregnancy at sixteen.”

He lifted a brow. “Are you saying people in this town stopped being nice to her because of that?”

“Pretty much. Before that she’d been a popular girl at school, straight-A student, head majorette of the school’s marching band and had won a lot of awards while a member of the school’s swim team. But I honestly think the reason some of the townsfolk turned on her had more to do with her refusal to reveal the identity of the guy who fathered her child.”

“It wasn’t their business.” That was the one thing he disliked about living in a small town. There was always a group of people who felt it was their God-given right to know everything about you. What time you woke up in the morning. The kind of toothpaste you used. If you wore underwear or not, and who you were having sex with or if you weren’t getting any at all.

“No, it wasn’t their business,” Trudy agreed. “But they felt it was. She didn’t even tell her parents. No one knew Vashti even had a boyfriend. Rumors began flying as to whose child it might be. It had gotten so bad it was probably unbearable for that young girl here.”

Sawyer shook his head. “Why didn’t the guy who got her pregnant step forward and claim the baby as his?” He would never forget when Johanna told him she was pregnant with his child. He hadn’t wasted any time marrying her. And to this day he never regretted doing so. Johanna had been a good wife and a wonderful mother to Jade. They had made their marriage work. Listening to Jade’s heartbeat for the first time was something he would never forget.

“I don’t know why he didn’t come forward,” Trudy intruded into his thoughts by saying. “I think he should have. That led people to speculate the guy wasn’t anyone from here but was probably some teenager in a family passing through who’d stayed at the inn one summer. Vashti hung out at the inn a lot helping her aunt. That would make perfect sense. Young love happens quite a bit at sixteen.”

As the father of a sixteen-year-old, he hoped it didn’t happen to Jade, he thought, tossing a paper clip on his desk. Luckily, Johanna had had the period talk with Jade before she’d died. But they’d had some crucial father to daughter talks, too, and she had listened attentively and asked questions and he’d found himself having a more in-depth conversation with her than he’d intended. The birds and the bees had become the roses and thorns. That open and frank discussion had established their future father and daughter talks, and she felt comfortable enough to ask or tell him anything. He was proud of their good relationship and he hoped it stayed that way. He had made sure that she understood he was not her friend but her father and there was a difference.

He glanced up at Trudy. “So what happened?” he asked.

“When she began showing, her parents sent her to one of those homes for unwed mothers. It was out of state. They wanted her to put the child up for adoption but those close to Vashti said she intended to keep the baby. I heard her parents threatened to disown her if she did, but she intended to defy them and keep it anyway. Her parents might have disowned her but she knew her aunt Shelby never would.”

“So in the end did she keep the baby or did she give it up for adoption?”

“Neither. Although the baby was born alive, it later died of complications.”

A part of Sawyer went still. “God, that’s awful.”

“It was and what was even sadder was that when she returned to town to pick up her life, there were some who made it hard for her. They were still upset about her not revealing the identity of the baby’s father. Her only true friends in town were Bryce Witherspoon and K-Gee Chambray. Somehow Vashti weathered the vindictiveness and when she left for college she swore she would never come back and she kept her word.”

He nodded. “I didn’t see her at Ms. Shelby’s memorial services.”

“No, but I imagine she attended the funeral services held for her in Connecticut where Ms. Shelby was from. Shelby always said she wanted to be returned there for burial when the time came.” Trudy sighed as she glanced at her watch. “I’m leaving. Let me know how dinner turns out.”

“Trust me I will.” Sawyer glanced at his own watch. His deputies for the evening shift had arrived and he could leave knowing things were in their capable hands. Anderson and Minor knew how to reach him if anything crazy went down. Things never did in Catalina Cove. He would admit it was a nice town and the perfect place to raise a family. He was glad of his decision to accept a job and move here.

His thoughts shifted back to what Trudy had told him about Vashti Alcindor. He hoped the townspeople now saw the error of their ways and would make her homecoming a lot different than when she’d left.

* * *

“YOU REALLY GOT a ticket for speeding?” Bryce asked as they sat in her kitchen enjoying blueberry muffins and iced tea.

Vashti shrugged. “Hey, I wasn’t speeding intentionally. In fact, I honestly hadn’t realized I was doing so,” she said in her defense. “That Corvette has more power than I realized. Besides, it was only five miles over the speed limit.”

“And you couldn’t talk your way out of it? Or get the patrolman to go easy on you with just a warning ticket? You used to be good at doing that when you first started driving.”

Vashti remembered those days. Back then she’d been deliberately speeding. All the teenagers in town considered that stretch of road as the Indianapolis 500. “No, this cop wasn’t friendly. In fact, he seemed like he wasn’t in a good mood, and when I asked him about a warning ticket he got all huffy and said he didn’t give warnings.” She took a sip of her tea. “The only good thing in his favor was his looks. Definitely eye candy.”

“Did you get his name?”

“Yes. His name tag said S. Grisham.”

“I figured you were talking about Sawyer, and he’s not a patrolman. He’s our sheriff.”

“Whatever happened to Sheriff Phillips?”

“He finally retired, and after his son was killed while hunting, there wasn’t another Phillips to pass the badge to, thus ending the dynasty.”

There had been a Phillips enforcing the law in Catalina Cove since the beginning of time. It had become a foregone conclusion that if a Phillips ran for sheriff he would win. “When did sheriffs begin staking out speeders? I’ve never known Sheriff Phillips to come out of his office to do anything, other than to show up at your parents’ restaurant every day around three for his blueberry muffin and cup of coffee. His deputies did all the work.”

Bryce chuckled. “You remember those days, do you?”

“Can’t forget them.”

“Well, Sheriff Grisham is nothing like Sheriff Phillips. He’s a hands-on sort of sheriff. He gets out of his office a lot and will do anything he’d ask of his deputies, which includes setting speed traps. He’s strict when it comes to enforcing the law but is very approachable. He doesn’t act like he made the law the way Sheriff Phillips used to do. Like he thought he was King Phillips or something.”

She and Bryce spent the next hour sitting at the kitchen table, eating blueberry muffins and drinking tea while reliving the past; at least the fun days when she’d thought the cove was the best place in the world to live and she would never leave. Life was good. The people were great. The natives stuck together and it took a while for any outsiders to be accepted.

“So, what’s the story with Sheriff Grisham?” Vashti finally asked. During her and Bryce’s stroll down memory lane, she’d kept pushing thoughts of him to the back of her mind. For some reason she couldn’t forget the moment she looked up into his face. She’d been mesmerized.

“He’s ex-military and ex-FBI. Moved here from Reno, Nevada, four years ago after being offered the job. It’s just him and his daughter, Jade.”

Vashti nodded. “No wife?”

“He’s a widower. His wife died of cancer around five years ago. I heard they buried her on her thirtieth birthday.”

“How awful.”

“I don’t remember her, but she was the Smithfields’ granddaughter who’d lived in Texas.”

“I remember her. She spent a few summers here visiting them,” Vashti said. Herb Smithfield had been a federal judge, and he and his wife, Lora, had been members of her church while growing up. She remembered them as a nice older couple.

“Well, she grew up and married Sawyer Grisham. When the Smithfields passed away they left their house to her, but she never moved here to live in it. Instead she had it rented out as one of those Airbnb places and was making pretty good money off it since it was always occupied by honeymooners. I guess Sawyer Grisham decided to put it to good use when the sheriff position came open.”

Vashti remembered the Smithfields’ house at the end of Meadowbrook Lane. It sat on three acres of land with a small portion of the cove in the back, and she could see how it would be a perfect honeymoon getaway.

“With Sawyer Grisham looking so good and all, I bet most of the single women in town are clamoring for his attention,” Vashti said.

“You wouldn’t believe how ridiculous they are,” Bryce said, grinning. “Although he’s friendly enough, he’s a private person and pretty much stays to himself. He and K-Gee are good friends, though. I guess their friendship became close since they’re both ex-marines who’d spent a lot of time in Afghanistan.”

“Does he date much?” She could see women standing in line to go out with him.

“So far he hasn’t dated any woman in town, and it hasn’t been for lack of trying on any of their parts, trust me. Like I said, things got downright ridiculous. You wouldn’t believe all the blueberry pies left at the police station for him and the mass of dinner invitations I heard he got. Even Rachel Libby tried catching his eyes.”

“Rachel Libby? You’ve got to be kidding me? Isn’t she a lot older than him? I would put his age to be at thirty-four or thirty-five.”

“He’s thirty-six and she is older, about ten years older to be exact. But she’s been acting the part of a cougar lately. An aggressive one at that. She began acting all crazy and wild ever since Mr. Libby died a few years back.”

“So he hasn’t dated anyone in town since moving here?”

“No, not a single feminine soul. Rumor has it that he’s involved with some woman living in New Orleans. I don’t know if that’s even true and if it is, I don’t know how serious it might be since he’s never brought her to town to attend any of the local events. All we know is that he is a good sheriff and a great father to Jade.”

Vashti took a drink of her tea. “How old is his daughter?”

“Jade turned sixteen earlier this month and is a real cutie and extremely friendly. She’s popular in town and well liked by all.”

So had she been at sixteen, Vashti thought. Until she’d gotten pregnant. Then all the townsfolk hadn’t wasted any time kicking her off that pedestal they’d placed her on. Being popular and well liked by all in Catalina Cove wasn’t all it was made out to be as far as she was concerned.

Not wanting to seem too interested in the sheriff, Vashti asked, “So why didn’t you mention K-Gee had moved back to town? And don’t hand me that BS about me not wanting to know what was going on in this town. Any news about K-Gee would have been an exception to the rule and you knew that.”

She watched Bryce stiffen and knew this was one subject she didn’t want to talk about, so Vashti asked, “Why, Bryce?”

Bryce set her glass of iced tea down and looked at her. “Because eventually that topic of conversation would have led to others about K-Gee that I wasn’t ready to talk about. I’m still not, Vashti.” She paused a moment and then said, “You’re not stupid. I’m sure you’ve figured out something happened between us during that time you were away in Arkansas. And it continued even after he left town. And by the way, he prefers going by Kaegan now. No nickname for him anymore.”

Vashti nodded. “Okay, I got that and I understand. A grown man still being called K-Gee is a bit much. So, what questions would I have asked that you didn’t want to answer? And you’re right, I’ve always suspected something went on between you two, but you didn’t talk about it and I didn’t push it. I had my own problems to deal with, but I hope you know I would have been there for you. You’re my best friend. So tell me, are the two of you seeing each other now?”

Bryce got up from the table and poured more iced tea into their glasses. “No. K-Gee hasn’t talked to me much since returning.”

“Why?”

Bryce sat back down in her chair and took a drink of her iced tea before saying, “Long story. And please don’t say that you have time to hear it because I don’t have time to tell it. Not only is it long, but it’s also draining and I don’t need to deal with that today.”

Vashti knew her friend well enough to know when to back off. Whatever the issue was, Bryce wasn’t ready to let her in on it...like before.

“Well, whatever the problem, I hope the two of you work it out. I love you both. It’s been years and there are some things that happen in the past, that are best left there. In the past.”

“You’re a fine one to talk. You haven’t left the things that happened here behind you, Vashti. Look how long you’ve been gone. The only reason you’re here is to sever one more tie by selling your aunt’s property.”

Vashti couldn’t dispute what Bryce had just said. That meant she was a fine one to think she could give anyone advice about letting go and moving on. “You’re right. Today is not a good time to talk about anything. I want to shower and take a nap. Then what can I do to talk you into preparing some of your crab bisque?”

Bryce smiled. “Consider it done.”

“Thanks. Since the zoning board meeting isn’t meeting until tomorrow evening, I think I’m going to get up in the morning and go visit Ms. Gertie. Then I’m going to Shelby by the Sea and check out the place.”

“Get prepared, Vash. Ms. Gertie has dementia pretty bad. Her family put her in that nursing home on Silas Lane after she kept wandering off. Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t recognize you or if she thinks you’re somebody else.”

Vashti didn’t want to see Ms. Gertie in that condition, but she had to see her before she left town. “Getting old sucks.”

“Yes, it does. By the way, I took the time off to spend tomorrow with you. We’ll take my car and I’ll do the driving.”

Vashti raised a brow. “Why?”

Bryce grinned over at her. “I’m trying to save you from getting another ticket while you’re here.”

* * *

“SO, DAD, WHAT do you think?”

Sawyer wondered if his child really wanted to know. He placed his fork beside his plate and glanced at her. Her smiling face showed she was in good spirits and he knew his words could be a setback and wipe that happy look right off her face. She was expecting positive feedback and this was where his “truth-time” habit had to be done in a way that wouldn’t hurt her feelings...at least he hoped not.

“It tastes different than the one Trudy makes.” It tastes a lot different.

“I know,” she said, smiling. “I changed the recipe.”

You most certainly did, he thought. “May I ask you why?” he asked standing to take his plate to the kitchen.

She followed him. “I thought it needed more than what was on the recipe.”

After placing his plate in the sink he turned and leaned against the counter. “Then why bother following a recipe? It’s no different than following a road map. If you want to get to New Orleans and I gave you directions as to how to get there, but you choose to change those directions, you might end up anywhere.”

Her smile faded. “Are you saying I should have followed the recipe?”

“I think when Trudy gave it to you she expected that you would and not experiment. How do you think she’s going to feel tomorrow when she asks me how the beef strudel turned out and I tell her you changed the recipe? She’ll think you thought the original recipe wasn’t good enough for you.”

“It was good, but...”

“But what, Jade?”

“I thought I could make it better.”

Evidently. “Well, I’m going to be honest with you, Jade. You didn’t. I’m not saying some good things can’t be improved on because they can, but it often takes a lot of work and trial and error.”

“I guess I blew it tonight, huh, Dad?”

He reached out to tweak her nose. Lord, how he loved this kid. Whenever he looked at her he was amazed that this incredible child was made by him and Johanna. “No, you didn’t blow it, but can I make a suggestion?”

“Yes.”

“Follow any recipe you get the way you should. Then if you think it can and should be improved try it, but know why you’re doing it. Ask yourself what’s your goal and what you’re trying to achieve.”

He knew that look. She was thinking and that was good. “Take the beef strudel recipe for instance,” he said. “You got carried away with certain ingredients so it didn’t taste so hot. If you’re really serious about learning to cook, how about taking a cooking class? I understand there’re several good ones in New Orleans. If you’d like, I’ll see if they offer Saturday classes.”

Her smile came back and it brightened her entire face. “You would do that for me, Dad?”

He smiled at her. “Don’t you know that I would do just about anything for you, Jade?”

She nodded and then flung herself into his arms and hugged him. “Yes, I’d like that and you are the best dad ever.”

And you, he thought, are my pride and joy.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE NEXT MORNING after breakfast, Vashti and Bryce went to Berkshire Nursing Home to visit Ms. Gertie who didn’t recognize either of them. Bryce had tried preparing Vashti, but seeing the older woman in such a state tore at her. She tried engaging in conversation with Ms. Gertie but the older woman became annoyed and told them she didn’t appreciate being interrupted while watching CNN.

According to Bryce, Ms. Gertie’s son, daughter-in-law and grandson didn’t visit her often because it bothered them when she didn’t recognize them. Vashti thought that was a poor excuse. Whether Ms. Gertie recognized them shouldn’t matter. The important thing was that she wasn’t left alone, and that they recognized her and remembered her importance in their lives.

“When you visit her tomorrow it might be a different story,” Bryce said as they left the nursing home. “She might remember you.”

“Unfortunately, I’m leaving first thing in the morning.” And what she didn’t have to tell Bryce was that she didn’t plan to come back.

Bryce gave her a look that told her exactly what she thought of that, but let it be. “We’ll stop by the folks’ place before driving out to Shelby by the Sea. Mom and Dad would love to see you.”

“Alright.” Vashti wanted to see them as well. Vashti would admit to being surprised at how friendly two of her former classmates had been when she ran into them at the nursing home, almost as if they were glad to see her. She had once considered Charlette Hansberry and Mavis Green to be her good friends, until she’d gotten pregnant and they’d become scarce. Their mothers had probably ordered them to stay away from her, but still it hurt. She’d needed more of her friends during that time, not less of them.

It turned out Charlette owned the nursing home, having taken over for her parents when they decided to retire and move to California to be close to their only son and grandkids. Charlette was divorced with a six-year-old son. Mavis was the head nurse on staff. She had married her childhood sweetheart, Hugh Green. Like a number of men in town, Hugh worked at the blueberry factory and the couple had two kids.

“I was surprised Charlette and Mavis gave me the time of day,” Vashti said, getting into Bryce’s car and buckling the seat belt.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Bryce asked glancing over at her before starting the car.

“Do I need to remind you of how things were for me here, back then?”

“No, but that was back then, Vash. Years ago. People change and ideas they might have had change, too. I’m sure they look back at that time with regret about how they treated you. If I remember correctly, it was their parents forbidding them to have a friendship with you and not them doing it on their own.”

“Your parents didn’t forbid you to hang out with me,” Vashti reminded her. Once she’d gotten pregnant, the parents of some of her friends acted like pregnancy was catching. However, she knew what they were really worried about was that since she’d been sexually active that made her a loose girl and they didn’t want their daughters around anyone they thought lacked morals.

“My parents weren’t your typical parents,” Bryce said.

“Yes, that’s true.” It had been rumored that back in the day when he’d graduated from high school here, Chester Witherspoon had fled to Canada to avoid fighting in the Vietnam war. It wasn’t that he’d been a coward; he just didn’t feel the country needed to go to war. At least he hadn’t at first. A year later he returned with a wife and baby in tow. It was then that he’d decided to do his patriotic duty and enlist, leaving Bryce’s mom and three-month-old brother in the care of his parents.

After returning home from the war, Bryce’s parents had another son before Bryce, their only daughter, was born. Although Bryce never said and Vashti never asked, if you did the math of the date the Witherspoons celebrated their anniversary and the close proximity to Bryce’s oldest brother’s age, her mother was pregnant before her parents had married. Both of Bryce’s brothers, Ryan and Duke, lived in Catalina Cove and were partners with their parents in the family-owned café.

“I honestly think Mavis and Charlette were glad to see you again,” Bryce was saying, interrupting Vashti’s thoughts. “If you give Catalina Cove a chance, I think you’d find people aren’t the same.”

Vashti chuckled. “Oh, they feel they can change but they want the town to stay the same?”

“Pretty much. I don’t have a problem with some change here but I don’t want too many developers coming in here and changing things. You recall what I told you about Allen Heart.”

Yes, she remembered. Bryce had family who’d lived in Allen Heart, South Carolina, years ago when it had just been a small town with no name recognition. A mass of developers came in and all but ran the locals out when property taxes soared. Most of the residents had been forced to sell homes and land that had been in their family for years when they couldn’t pay escalated taxes.

Vashti glanced over at Bryce. “Are you saying you don’t want the Barnes Group to buy Shelby by the Sea? Do I need to remind you how much commission you’d make with the sale?”

“No, you don’t need to remind me. I was thinking about what I would do with all that money. It would be nice but it won’t buy me happiness, Vash.”

Vashti thought about that then asked, “And what would make you happy, Bryce?”

They had stopped the car at a traffic light and Bryce glanced over at her. “I’m thirty-two and have never been married so to start off, a husband would be nice.”

“Don’t wish for things you’re better off not having, Bryce.”

“And please don’t think every man is a loser like Scott,” Bryce begged. “I want to believe my soul mate is still out there.”

“Still reading those romance novels, are you?” That had been Bryce’s favorite pastime. She had been reading them long before her mother discovered she’d been doing so.

Bryce chuckled as she moved the car forward. “And what if I am?”

Vashti shook her head. “Because they are filled with unrealistic expectations and are a real disservice to women.”

“I beg to differ. They provide some of us with hope.”

Vashti decided not to counter. If that’s what Bryce believed then she wouldn’t try bursting her bubble, but personally, she knew better. There was no such thing as that much passion and desire. And most of the time it was the woman who worked at the romance part. A man was out for what he could get. He had needs.

But then so did women.

She hadn’t thought much about those needs until yesterday when she’d been pulled over by the town’s sexy hot sheriff. She would admit that for the first time in years...possibly ever, she’d felt attracted to a man. Really attracted to one. At least the encounter had let her know her libido was still alive after being dormant for a couple of years. She had Scott to thank for that and since she now knew about his sidepiece, she wouldn’t complain, although she would admit it bothered her to know he’d been getting some when she hadn’t. Lust, she thought, was a bitch. But yesterday she’d concluded that for a short while, lust had been given a name. Sawyer Grisham.

She doubted she would ever see the man again. At least she hoped not. One ticket was enough.

“And you’re sure I can’t convince you to hang around a few days?”

She glanced over at Bryce when they’d come to another traffic light. “I am positive. If it wasn’t for my needing to go before the zoning board I wouldn’t be here now. New York is my home and it’s where I belong.”

“Is it? Do you? You don’t have a job there anymore.”

No, she didn’t and although she’d submitted her résumé to several places, nobody had called. But then, she couldn’t lose sight of that. If she could sell Shelby she wouldn’t have to worry about a job or anything else for years or ever. She could travel the world. Heck, she could even buy her own hotel or maybe buy into a franchise.

“That’s why I need to sell Shelby, and you never did answer my question. Do you not want the Barnes Group to buy Shelby by the Sea?”

“You want my honesty?”

“Of course.”

“Then no. Even with all the money I could make off the sale.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you back here running your aunt’s inn, Vash.”

Vashti shook her head. “It’s not happening.”

“Will you ever forgive this town?”

She frowned over at Bryce. “It’s not a matter of forgiveness, Bryce. It’s a matter of what makes me happy. Honestly, I don’t even think about Catalina Cove until you call. Then I remember my connection and after that the memories come, which aren’t flattering. I’m no longer a small-town girl. I love big-city New York. The bright lights. Broadway. The subway. The Hudson River. I tried to get you to come live with me for a while to experience it for yourself but you weren’t interested.”

“I like it here.”

“Because you haven’t seen what other places have to offer. I have.”

“I still think you belong here.”

After all this time Vashti wondered why Bryce would think so. She decided not to ask her now as they pulled up in front of the Witherspoon Café. But she would ask her later.

* * *

SAWYER PRESSED THE button on the intercom. “Yes, Trudy?”

“K-Gee is on the line.”

He smiled. “You mean Kaegan, don’t you?” He was well aware Kaegan Chambray had instructed the townspeople to drop the nickname K-Gee and call him by his birth name when he’d returned a couple of years ago after having been gone for close to fourteen years. Most of the people in town had followed his directive...except for Trudy.

“I mean K-Gee.”

“Okay put him through.” When he heard the click signaling the connection, he said, “What’s up, Kaegan?”

Even Sawyer had been surprised at how easily he and Kaegan had struck up a friendship. Other than his marine buddies, he’d never had time to develop other friendships. Sawyer had been sheriff two years when Kaegan had returned to town and they’d bonded quickly because they’d had a lot in common. They’d both been marines who’d served multiple tour duties in Afghanistan. Although their paths never crossed they’d figured out they’d been in the same area about the same time. They’d enjoyed sharing war stories over beer at Collins Bar and Grill.

“Just a reminder that the zoning board has a meeting today at five.”

Sawyer released a deep sigh. He’d forgotten about that. “Thanks for reminding me.” He glanced at the calendar on his desk. Although he’d forgotten to write it down he recalled Kaegan telling him about the meeting a couple of weeks ago. He often wondered why he’d let Kaegan talk him into being Henry Smith’s replacement while the old-timer was out recuperating from hip surgery. “I’ll be there.”

“Okay, see you later.”

After Sawyer clicked off the phone and while it was fresh on his mind, he texted his daughter letting her know he would be home late. She was at school and wouldn’t see the message until the end of the day since the school’s policy was to have all phones turned off during the day.

Glancing at his watch he saw it was close to noon. Usually he worked through lunch, but since he would be eating dinner late he might as well go out and grab something to eat. As usual he’d gotten up at six and cooked dinner. By the time he’d taken a jog around the neighborhood, showered and dressed the food was ready to slide into the refrigerator. On those days when he was detained, Jade could eat without him. He tried making it home at a reasonable time so they could eat dinner together but being sheriff meant things didn’t always work out that way. On those days he did arrive home on time he looked forward to sharing meals with his daughter. It was important for him that they use that time to talk. He was always interested in knowing how her day went and how things were going at school.

Since joining the zoning committee he’d discovered you never knew what to expect until you got to the meetings. To him the Catalina Cove Zoning Board was nothing more than an overgrown version of a homeowners’ association. The residents of the cove had to get practically everything approved before any exterior changes were made to the structure or look of any home or building. That included painting, replacing windows or doors, removing trees from your yard, adding a fence or something as simple as switching out a mailbox.

Walking out of his office, he glanced over at Trudy. “I’m leaving for lunch and will be back in an hour.”

“Okay. And I meant to ask how the beef strudel turned out?”

“She altered the recipe,” he said, grabbing his hat off the rack on his way out. He knew he didn’t need to say more than that. It hadn’t been the first time Jade had murdered a recipe Trudy had given her.

“I offered to send her to cooking classes,” he said as he headed for the door.

“Not a bad idea. Especially if she seems interested in learning.”

Sawyer thought his daughter seemed more inclined to experiment with recipes. Hopefully cooking classes would offer directions. When he walked out the door he glanced up at the sun that was shining bright in the sky. Hard to believe it was spring already. In a couple of months school would be out and he would have to deal with kids getting bored during the summer months and getting into unnecessary trouble.

He hadn’t decided what he planned to do over the summer this year. Usually he would take two weeks off in June and take Jade somewhere. Last year they had spent a week in Orlando visiting all the theme parks there. Then they’d spent a week in Miami South Beach. Usually for spring break every year and the week after school ended he would put her on a plane to visit her godmother in Waco, Texas. Erin Daniels had been Johanna’s best friend since high school.

But this year Jade wanted a summer job. She wanted a car and felt she should contribute toward the down payment. A part of him felt he should appreciate her wanting to do that, but he still wasn’t gung ho on her working.

A short while later he was getting out of the patrol car to go into Witherspoon Café, one of his favorite eating places. They served the best omelets for breakfast and the soup and sandwiches on their lunch menu were tasty as well. Every once in a while he would dine here for dinner on those days when Jade had to stay after school or was involved with something at church.

He entered the café. Lunchtime was less formal, and just like a fast-food place you ordered your food before sitting down. For the dinner crowd there was someone who waited on your table. “Afternoon, Sheriff, what can I get for you?”

The man behind the lunch counter was Chester Witherspoon. He was a robust man, probably in his middle sixties with bushy brows over a pair of dark eyes, and a bald head. Sawyer had never known a time when the man hadn’t had a friendly smile. Walking up to the counter, he said, “I think I’m going to have one of your juicy hamburgers and a large order of fries today, Chester.” Since he wasn’t sure how long the zoning board would be meeting he might as well make sure his stomach was full.

“And what would you like to drink?”

“Iced tea is fine,” he said, putting a few bills on the counter. “And grab me a few of Deb’s blueberry muffins to take home to Jade.” His daughter loved them and Deb’s were the best.

“How’s Jade? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

That’s the one thing he had to get used to in a small town. Practically everybody knew each other. “She’s fine. Finishing up her sophomore year of high school and already looking forward to the fall when she’ll be a junior.”

“Boy. I remember when the two of you first moved to town. Hard to believe she’ll be leaving in a couple of years for college.”

He didn’t like to be reminded of that, especially since he knew Jade planned to attend school in Reno. That was the deal they’d made when they’d moved here. When it was time for college she could return to Nevada.

A few minutes later he sat down with his food in hand. By habit he rarely sat with his back to any door and selected a table that faced the entrance. He figured it was the former FBI agent in him. This particular table suited him just fine because he had the ability to see whoever entered long before they noticed him.

A short while later he stopped eating when Bryce Witherspoon walked in with the driver of that little red Corvette, Vashti Alcindor. He had a feeling Kaegan and Bryce had history. He’d derived that assumption from their body language whenever they were within a few feet of each other. Kaegan never said and he’d never asked.

He took in both women but his full concentration quickly moved to Vashti Alcindor as his gaze swept over her from head to toe. In the very spot where she was standing, while the brilliance of sunlight shined directly on her, she looked simply gorgeous. It had been a long time since he’d bestowed such a description on any woman but he would in this case. She deserved it.

While she was sitting in that car yesterday he’d only seen so much of her. Now he was seeing it all and he liked what he saw. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. So he didn’t, although maybe he should. No woman since Johanna had held his attention like Vashti was doing now.

Both women were wearing shorts and tops, and his gaze sharpened as it roamed over her legs. They were a long and sleek pair that was perfect with her curvaceous hips and thighs. She was well toned and he knew a body as shapely as hers was the benefit of an active physical regime. More than likely she had a membership in one of those fitness centers in New York. You didn’t get a figure like hers just eating and sleeping.

Unlike yesterday when her hair had been down and flying in the wind, today it was pulled back in a ponytail and the style made her look younger. She could easily pass for a college coed instead of the thirty-two-year-old that he knew that she was.

His gaze went back to her face, an image he’d thought about after he’d gone to bed. A first for him there as well. He had been married to Johanna for twelve years and during that entire time hadn’t looked twice at another woman. Why was he trying to make up for lost time and why with this woman?

He watched her smile as she hurried across the floor when Chester came from behind the counter to engulf her in a huge bear hug. Even from where he sat Sawyer could see tears forming in her eyes and had to momentarily look away from such an emotional reunion. If what Trudy had said was true, and he had no reason to believe it wasn’t, this was Ms. Alcindor’s first time back to the cove in fourteen years. That was a long time not to come back home. Hell, at least she had a hometown to return to if she’d chosen to do so. He didn’t.

He drew in a deep breath, not wanting to think about his childhood. His birth certificate claimed he’d been born in Dallas but he had been sent to live in a foster home with a family residing in Waco before his first birthday when his unwed mother had given him up for adoption. He recalled being sent from one foster home to another, even crossing state lines to do so. At sixteen he’d been taken in by a good Christian couple. John and Edith Fairchild had been too old to even think about raising a teenager. But they had and he would always appreciate their good deeds. To repay them for their kindness he got good grades in school and worked hard to stay out of trouble.

He had gone straight from high school to the military. He hadn’t been enlisted a year when he’d received word that Mrs. Edith had passed away in her sleep. He had returned home for the funeral only to have Mr. John die the following year from pneumonia.

When he’d come home for Mr. John’s funeral, he’d had to deal with the man’s long-lost brother who’d shown up to claim everything, and make sure Sawyer didn’t get anything. He’d gone to a bar the night of the funeral to drown his sorrows and he’d met Johanna.

Laughter made him look back to see Ms. Debbie and her two sons rush from the back to give Ms. Alcindor huge hugs as well. It was obvious everyone was glad to see her, which meant not everyone in town had thought ill of her. Hearing her story had made him think of his biological mother. He’d heard she’d also had him at a young age and had given him up for adoption. Only thing, the adoption never happened. He’d been born with a severe breathing disorder and had to spend a lot of time in the hospital before finally outgrowing it. No one had wanted what they thought to be a sickly baby.

He wasn’t sure why Vashti Alcindor chose that moment to glance over in his direction. When their gazes connected a sudden jolt of heat vibrated between them. He felt it and knew she had to feel it as well. The surprised expression on her face indicated as much. It also revealed she was just as stunned by it as he was.

He wanted to break eye contact with her but for some reason he couldn’t. Not when a ripple of desire rushed through him, making him glad he was sitting down. Had he been standing he would have felt weak in the knees. What he was feeling was another first. He’d never felt an intense longing for a woman just from looking at her. As if breaking from the spell surrounding them, she returned her attention to the people around her. Shaking off whatever had passed between them, he drew in a deep breath trying to get his mind back on track. He fought the temptation to steal a look at her as he finished eating.

A short while later, temptation that had been gnawing at his insides made him glance across the room to see she was sitting at a booth with Bryce. Standing, he cleared the trash off the table while thinking he didn’t like being attracted to her. He didn’t like it one damn bit.

He tossed the trash away before strolling to the door. Without his consent, his eyes looked to Vashti Alcindor again and the moment his gaze connected with hers, he couldn’t stop the half smile that curved his lips when he tipped his hat at her before walking out of the café.

CHAPTER FIVE

VASHTI SLOWLY DREW in a deep breath while trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach as she continued to stare at the door Sheriff Sawyer Grisham had walked out of. If a half smile from him could cause her body to react the way it had, she didn’t want to think what a full smile would do.

Damn it. Why did he have to look so good even with a gun and holster around his hips and a badge of the law on his chest? Just knowing he’d given her a speeding ticket yesterday should have made him a total turnoff, but instead she’d found him a total turn-on.

And hadn’t Bryce said the hot sheriff was already involved with someone? A woman living in New Orleans? On top of that, she would be leaving Catalina Cove in another day. She would be leaving tomorrow if Bryce hadn’t made her feel guilty and talked her into staying another night. She had changed her flight to Friday to accommodate her best friend’s plea.

“I guess now that Sheriff Grisham has left, I can claim all of your attention,” Bryce said, as a corner of her mouth teased into a smile. “I need a fan to cool things off.”

Vashti had to laugh since she knew exactly what Bryce was referring to. That hot stare he’d given her had certainly heated things up.

“Sorry about that,” she said, taking a sip of her iced tea.

“No need to apologize. Sheriff Grisham is the hottest thing in town and has been for the four years he’s been here. But I am surprised he was checking you out as much as you were him. I saw that look the two of you gave each other before we sat down.”

“Surprised?”

“Yes, like I told you, he’s never shown any interest in a woman living here before.”

“I don’t live here and he really didn’t show interest. He was probably trying to figure out where he remembered me from.”

Now it was Bryce who laughed. “You don’t believe that any more than I do. You are a woman no man could easily forget, Vash. There’s no reason for me not to believe the sheriff doesn’t have a good memory. Besides, that look was a man-interested-in-a-woman look.”

Was that true? As if Bryce had read her thoughts, she said, “Sometimes I wonder about you, Vash.”

Vashti lifted a brow. “Wonder about me how?”

“When will you accept the fact that the two men who let you down didn’t deserve you and that you can do better? I believe one day you will do better.”

Vashti didn’t say anything as she ate her sandwich. She knew what two men Bryce was talking about. The only two men she’d ever loved. The guy who’d fathered her baby and Scott. Her baby’s daddy had let her down when he hadn’t stood by her when she’d needed him the most. And Scott, well, she was convinced he truly never intended to do right by her.

She glanced up to find Bryce staring at her and knew she had to address what her best friend had said if they intended to finish lunch. “It doesn’t matter with me anymore, Bryce. I’ve given up on men completely. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good-looking man when I see one. It means I don’t plan to become involved with one anytime soon.”

“Why deny yourself happiness?”

“I’m not denying myself happiness. I’m assuring myself happiness. I’ve discovered men have a way of bringing you down instead of lifting you up. I couldn’t handle another heartbreak.”

Vashti hoped she hadn’t said anything to ruin Bryce’s belief of one day finding someone for herself. To make sure she hadn’t, she said, “I guess you can say I’ve had bad luck when it comes to men, Bryce. But that doesn’t mean things will be that way for you. In fact, I’m sure they won’t.”

Bryce was about to say something when her phone rang. She quickly pulled it from her purse. “Excuse me, Vash. This is a call I’ve been hoping to get,” she said, sliding off the seat with her phone in hand.

“No problem,” Vashti said as Bryce hurried to the back where it was less noisy. She took that time to pull out her own phone to check her messages. So far she hadn’t gotten any feedback on the résumés she’d submitted to a number of job opportunity sites. She wouldn’t have to worry about a job if she could convince the zoning board to let that developer do what they wanted on that land. She could certainly understand the developers not wanting to go through with the sale if there were restrictions.

She glanced at the door and her thoughts shifted to the man who’d walked out of it earlier. Sheriff Sawyer Grisham was a good-looking man. No doubt about it. She could see why the women in town were vying for his attention. He’d been smart not to become involved with anyone locally and if he was seeing someone living in New Orleans, that was a good move on his part. She of all people knew how some of the people in the cove felt it was their God-given right to know every blasted detail of your personal business.

She could still feel the look he’d given her before leaving. His eyes had shone with male interest and when he’d shot her that half smile, a small dimple had appeared in one of his cheeks. She felt a stirring in the pit of her stomach whenever he looked at her.

“I have some good news and I have some bad news,” Bryce said, returning to the table and interrupting her thoughts.

“I prefer hearing the good news first,” Vashti said, taking a sip of her tea.

A huge smile touched Bryce’s lips. “The good news is that I have a buyer for a house I’ve been trying to sell for almost a year.”

Vashti returned her smile. “Bryce, that’s great. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“So what’s the bad news?” Vashti then asked.

“The buyer wants to close the deal right away. Today if possible. He’s leaving town later today for an extended trip out of the country, and I need to get back to my office to get the papers processed. That means I won’t be able to go with you to Shelby by the Sea.”

Vashti shrugged, smiled. “No worries. I know how to get there on my own. Just drop me off at your place to get my car and I’ll be fine.”

Bryce seemed to mull that over for a moment and then said, “I was hoping to go there with you.”

Although Vashti had said no worries, she knew Bryce would worry. She and Bryce had talked about it last night. This would be Vashti’s first time back to Shelby since leaving town fourteen years ago. The hardest part was knowing that her aunt wouldn’t be opening that door with a welcoming and understanding smile and giving her a huge hug. Her aunt had always been there for her. She had understood her even when her parents hadn’t. Vashti had made sure her aunt left the inn at least a few times each year by bringing her to New York to visit or by going on cruises together.

“I know, Bryce, but I can handle it. I’m a big girl.”

Bryce nodded. “And what about that little red toy car? You won’t get another ticket, will you?”

Vashti chuckled. “No, I won’t get another ticket.” She wouldn’t dare admit that the thought of getting pulled over again by Sheriff Grisham wasn’t so bad. “I won’t be at Shelby’s for long. I plan to be at the zoning board meeting on time and need to shower and change clothes first.”

She stood. “Come on,” she said to Bryce. “You have things to do and so do I.”

* * *

“HOW WAS LUNCH, SHERIFF?” Trudy asked when he passed her desk.

“Delicious as usual,” was his reply as he made his way to his office. The food had been delicious but he had concentrated on other things while eating it. Namely, another person.

Before returning to the office he had driven around town to give himself time to get his thoughts back on track and to ponder what there was about Vashti Alcindor that captivated him. She was a good-looking woman, but he’d been in the presence of good-looking women before and none had ever gotten a reaction from him like she had.

The story Trudy had told him about how the townsfolk had mistreated her just for getting pregnant had pulled at him because he knew how it felt to have people you cared about let you down. Like the Connors who’d taken him in at twelve, only to return him to social services a year later. He had liked them and their two children. He’d thought he had finally found a home. But then when money started missing from Mrs. Connor’s purse he had immediately become the guilty person. No one thought to question their oldest teenage son who Sawyer had known had a drug problem. But then he knew that episode with the Connors wasn’t why he was attracted to Vashti Alcindor. The attraction began before he’d heard the story. He clearly remembered picking up on it when he’d issued her that ticket yesterday.

He was sitting at his desk and grabbing a stack of papers to go through when his cell phone rang. He recognized the number and smiled. Leesa was calling. Leesa Reddick was an old friend from the days they’d served in the Marines together. She hadn’t reenlisted after she got married and he and Leesa had lost touch. They had reconnected when he’d discovered through mutual military friends that she was living in New Orleans with her thirteen-year-old son. She had relocated there from Cincinnati after her husband, Todd, had gotten killed in a car accident three years earlier.

Leesa was a wonderful person and someone he called a good friend...as well as an occasional lover for the past year. Leesa was the first and only woman he’d slept with since losing Johanna and he’d been her first after Todd’s death. They had a lot in common. Both ex-marines. He was a widower and she a widow. More importantly, neither of them planned to ever fall in love again and marry. What they shared was nothing more than what they referred to as RS, recreational sex. They were good friends who were convenient lovers for each other whenever the need for sexual fulfilment became overpowering for either of them.

They had their own private getaway, a beautiful hotel in the New Orleans French Quarter. He’d never invited her to his home in the cove and she’d never invited him to hers. They preferred things that way. And because they both had kids, they’d never spent the night away from home. A few hours together during daytime were all they wanted and they didn’t feel the need to become enmeshed in each other’s lives. He liked the arrangement and so did she, with the understanding that in the interim if either of them met someone, they could end things with no hard feelings.

He clicked on his cell phone. “How are you doing, Leesa?”

“I’ll be better once I see you. We’re still on for Friday?”

“We sure are.” They preferred meeting when their kids were in school. Stealing away during the summer months would be difficult.

“Just name the time,” he said, forcing an image of Vashti Alcindor to the back of his mind.

“How about noon? We can order room service.”

He nodded. “I like that idea.”

“Great! I’ll see you then.”

After clicking off the phone he smiled thinking how his relationship with Leesa, although mostly sexual in nature, had helped him through those teenage woes with his daughter. Whenever he and Jade had a major disagreement it was Leesa who would help guide him through how the young female mind worked.

Likewise, Leesa claimed he helped her as well. When her son, Nelson, had been going through what seemed to be the beginning of the unmanageable teen years, Sawyer had been there to offer her advice on how to not only cope but to rein him in so he wouldn’t be lost to her forever.

He glanced at his watch. He had a few hours before leaving for the zoning board meeting and there were a lot of items he needed to clear off his desk before then. Rolling up his sleeves he began working.

* * *

VASHTI TURNED THE little red Corvette onto Buccaneer Lane, the tree-lined street that led to Shelby by the Sea. Moments later she pulled into the long driveway of the large historic mansion with the well-manicured lawn that sat on the gulf. Years ago, as a registered nurse, her aunt Shelby had been the caretaker of the mansion’s owner, Hawthorn Barlowe.

Vashti didn’t remember Mr. Barlowe but others in the community did. She recalled the stories of everyone saying he was a mean, crabby and wealthy old man who didn’t get along with anyone. Especially his neighbors who bordered his property, the Lacroixes. Evidently her aunt was able to break through the old man’s meanness because when he died with no living relatives, he had bequeathed the mansion and all the land surrounding it to Aunt Shelby.

Her aunt decided to make the twenty-guestroom mansion, built in 1905, into a bed-and-breakfast and named it Shelby by the Sea. Vashti was told that within a year the inn had become so popular, newlyweds would come from all over the country to spend their honeymoon there and married couples checked in to reignite the flame in their marriage. Vashti brought the car to a stop and as she stared at the huge structure she swallowed her misgivings and was surprised she had any at all. But then how could she not? She had considered this place more her home than her parents’ house.

Vashti had talked to her aunt often and hadn’t known how run-down Shelby by the Sea had gotten until Bryce had told her. The inn had been close to shutting down and her aunt had only a bare-bones staff with few reservations. Whenever she asked, her aunt would tell her all was going well, but after Aunt Shelby’s sudden death of a heart attack and Vashti’d gotten Bryce to put the inn up for sale had she only found out the truth.

Shelby by the Sea, which had once been one of the premier places in the cove, had fallen in more despair than Vashti had known. After Bryce checked the books it was discovered over the past couple of years there had been fewer and fewer reservations. Why? How? And why hadn’t her aunt told her?

Vashti had used her aunt’s life insurance money to give the few employees left, some of whom had been with her aunt for years, a severance package. She’d felt it had been the decent thing to do. According to Bryce, the majority of the people had found other employment elsewhere in town.

In the past her aunt had depended on word of mouth advertising of the inn’s reputation to build and retain business. She had a feeling her aunt had never embraced the social media age or the idea of brand ambassadors with the use of a marketing firm.

Even with the obvious needed repairs, the inn was more impressive than she remembered. It was massive, stately and beautiful. It held so much of Catalina Cove’s history since it had been in the Barlowe family for generations. Some claimed Mr. Barlowe’s great-great-grandfather had been one of Jean LaFitte’s right-hand men and LaFitte had awarded the man the land the mansion sat on for his loyalty.

Vashti couldn’t imagine anyone tearing it down to build anything else here and in a way she understood the town for trying to block it from happening. A part of her knew her aunt would probably not want it to happen either.

She quickly pushed that thought from her mind. The structure no longer belonged to her aunt. It was hers to do whatever she wanted with and she wanted to sell it. Even if she entertained the thought of keeping it, she didn’t have the money it would take to bring the inn back to the grandiose place it had once been. Besides, her life was in New York now. Convincing the zoning board to remove their restrictions was her top priority and what the buyer decided to do with it was no concern of hers. But still...

She remembered the good times she used to have here. Shelby by the Sea had once been her lifeline. When she and her parents hadn’t seen eye to eye during her pregnancy, it had been her home. Aunt Shelby had always been her champion. Someone who’d understood her when her parents had not. And this inn had given her an escape when she had needed it most.

And she’d never forget that the property adjacent to the inn was where her child had been conceived. At sixteen she was convinced she was in love and the thought of sneaking around behind her parents’ backs seemed like no big deal at the time. It had been first love. Innocent love. Until one day during a picnic in the marshes by the sea, at what they thought of as their private place, things had gotten out of hand, passion had overtaken good sense and neither of them had been prepared for it. Nor had they been prepared for how their lives had changed afterward.

Pushing those memories to the back of her mind, she opened the door to get out of the car. Even with the For Sale sign posted near the street, it was hard to tell the inn was vacant. It had that open-for-business look. Vashti glanced at the huge wooden front door, expecting it to swing open and for her aunt to step out, directly into the sunlight with a huge smile on her face and a welcoming glint in her eyes. But she knew that wouldn’t happen. Shelby Riggs was no longer here.

She glanced down at the ground a moment, feeling her aunt’s absence more deeply now than when she’d gotten the call from her parents that her aunt had died. It had been a shock since Vashti had just spoken with her the night before. It was their usual routine to talk to each other every Saturday night and the topics of conversation were to be anything other than the cove. That was why Vashti hadn’t known about the town’s new sheriff or that Kaegan had returned home. So they discussed other things like fashion, her work, the inn, movies and when they would take their next trip together.

Vashti missed those calls. Now more than ever she appreciated the times she and her aunt had managed to spend together over the years. It was sad that she and her mother had never developed that same closeness. It was as if after getting pregnant her mother couldn’t stand being around her at times. She knew she had let her parents down, had caused them embarrassment in town, but she hadn’t expected them to blame her for everything. Her father had wanted the name of the boy who had gotten her pregnant, and when she’d refused to give it to him all hell had broken loose in the Alcindor household. That’s when they began making plans for her, although she hadn’t agreed with any of them. Nothing she said would change their minds. Even Aunt Shelby tried reasoning with them and offered to take care of the baby while she finished school. But her parents didn’t want to hear anything. She had agreed to go to the unwed home, but she never signed any papers to give her child up for adoption. Her baby had been born a few weeks early and due to complications at birth, her son hadn’t lived.

Lifting her head up, Vashti looked into the sky as the sound of the gulf filled her ears. The sky was a beautiful blue and the few clouds she could see appeared a snowy white. A part of her believed at that moment her aunt was looking down at her smiling. Or was she? Did Aunt Shelby have anything to smile about knowing Vashti had decided to let someone destroy the home that had meant so much to her?

Vashti bristled at the thought, reminding herself that at no time had her aunt asked her to not sell the place. But still, there was that niggling thought that wouldn’t let her be now that she was here. Was it something her aunt just assumed she wouldn’t do?

She rubbed a hand down her face, hating she’d begun second-guessing her decision. Especially when ten million dollars were at stake. That was the only reason she had returned to the cove and no matter what, she must not forget it. Nothing else would have brought her back here.

Turning, she moved toward the steps, taking them two at a time like she’d always done. Bryce had given her the code to the Realtor lockbox and within seconds she was opening the door to go inside. Although the house had been closed up for a while, the scent of gardenias was in the air. It was a good smell and one she remembered. It came from all the gardenia bushes planted around the side of the house. Magnolias were another of her aunt’s favorite flowering trees and you would catch their scent when you walked in the backyard toward the gazebo.

Vashti stepped from the foyer into the living room parlor and glanced around. All the furniture was covered. Now that she knew if the Barnes Group did buy the inn they would tear it down, she hoped they planned to sell all the furnishings. Most of it was costly and were original pieces.

“Stay focused,” she told herself after seeing how run-down the place looked. Paint was peeling off the walls and there were brown stains on the ceiling that indicated some type of water damage. The inn had been vacant for about six months. At least it hadn’t been vandalized or anything and she was grateful for that. She headed for the stairs, deciding to check out the kitchen and dining room later. “Whatever the developer decides to do is not your business. Remain detached from this place,” she muttered to herself.

When she reached the landing to the second floor everything looked the same. Like downstairs, paint was peeling off the walls and she noticed a number of items needed to be placed on a “to be repaired” list. In addition to the bedrooms downstairs, there were ten bedrooms on the second floor, five on the third floor, and two huge studio-sized bedrooms on the fourth. The majority of the bedrooms faced the cove and provided a panoramic view of the gulf. From there you could see the boardwalk that led to the beach. She recalled when that boardwalk had been constructed with steps that led down the marshy path to the cove. In the evening lanterns were timed to come on at dusk to light the path. Vashti remembered how she would sit on those boardwalk steps for hours to stare out at the gulf.

She took the stairs down to the living room. Too many feelings were crushing down on her, but she refused to give in to emotions she wasn’t ready to deal with.

Squaring her shoulders, instead of moving toward the front door, she turned toward her aunt’s bedroom. She stopped in the doorway and drew in a deep breath. The room didn’t smell of gardenias but of vanilla, her aunt’s favorite scent. Vashti was convinced the aroma had seeped through the floors and walls. Inhaling it now reminded her so much of her aunt and so many cherished memories.

She’d always loved her aunt’s bedroom with the massive bed and complementing furnishing. The triple windows provided a beautiful view of a number of oak trees covered in Spanish moss. There was also the gazebo where many weddings had been held over the years. With the gulf as a backdrop, it was the perfect place for such celebrations. Leaving her aunt’s room she saw the guestroom that had been Vashti’s. Same furnishings, same decor and noted repairs needed.

She glanced at the trophy rack her aunt had bought to hold all the trophies Vashti had received in baton twirling. There were a number of them for all the years she’d aced the competitions and had once even gone on to win the national championship before finishing high school. Funny, she hadn’t twirled a baton in years. She knew somewhere in this room she would find her baton.

Vashti smiled when she saw it hanging on a rack on the wall. She was not surprised her aunt had kept it and her trophies. When the inn was officially sold, she wasn’t sure what she would do with them. She could donate the trophies to her high school since she’d represented them at all the competitions. The baton was hers. It had been a gift from her aunt on her tenth birthday along with six months of baton-twirling lessons. Her instructor had convinced her parents she was a natural and should continue the lessons and so they had.

Leaving the bedrooms, she crossed the living room and entered the section of the inn where the dining hall and kitchen were located. The inn was always filled to capacity on any day of the week. Some reservations were made a year in advance, especially from those planning their weddings and wanting to come here for their honeymoon.

There were visible scratches on several tables in the dining hall and several chair backs needed repair. The floor could also use a good polishing. There were ten tables neatly arranged. Each was covered in a white netted tablecloth. A set of double French doors opened to a beautiful rose garden. It was obvious her aunt’s prized roses hadn’t been tended to in quite a while. That made her wonder if perhaps her aunt hadn’t been feeling well lately but hadn’t mentioned it to anyone.

She had asked her mother if she’d suspected anything wrong with Aunt Shelby’s heath in case Vashti had missed something during her and Aunt Shelby’s weekly talks. Her mother said she hadn’t suspected a thing, but then her mother and Aunt Shelby didn’t talk often. Vashti had a feeling the sisters had had a disagreement about something and when she broached the subject with either of them they’d said she was imagining things. Vashti wasn’t so sure about that and knew for a fact they weren’t as close as they used to be.

Leaving the dining room, she entered the kitchen. This was where she had spent a lot of her days helping her aunt assist Daisy, her aunt’s prized cook, while preparing meals for all the guests. That was another plus in booking a room at Shelby by the Sea. You got to eat Daisy Blanchard’s delicious food. Everybody living in the cove and beyond knew Daisy had been the best cook anywhere.

A stroke last year had left Daisy paralyzed on one side and her children had moved her to live with them in Baton Rouge. Her aunt hadn’t truly been satisfied with the cooks after Daisy.

It was obvious to Vashti that all the appliances—all industrial-size—needed replacing. She wondered why she was thinking about that. She had told Bryce to sell the inn as is. The buyer, she’d assume, would make any necessary repairs, changes or updates. Now if she were able to sell it to the Barnes Group, appliances or anything else wouldn’t matter since they planned to tear it down.

Dear heaven, why was the thought of that suddenly troubling her? Why was she letting it? She wanted to cut this last tie to Catalina Cove, but she had a feeling that coming here and seeing the place for what would be the last time had not been a good idea. Deciding to leave well enough alone, she turned and left the house. After relocking the front door, she got into her car and drove off and refused to look back.

CHAPTER SIX

SAWYER ENTERED THE meeting room and glanced around. It was full. Evidently there was something on the agenda that piqued a number of people’s interest. Trudy had printed the agenda for him before he’d left the office, but he hadn’t had a chance to look at it.

“Evening, Sheriff.”

He looked at Reid Lacroix, the man who owned the Lacroix Blueberry Plant and who was the largest employer in town. “Evening, Reid,” Sawyer said, moving toward the vacant chair at the head table beside Kaegan.

“What’s going on? Is someone giving away free lottery tickets?” he asked Kaegan when he took his seat.

Kaegan grinned over at him. “I take it you didn’t look at your agenda.”

“Nope, didn’t have time.”

Kaegan nodded. “The Baxters want us to reconsider letting them put up that privacy fence on the back of their property. I think he and Josh Guyton finally reached an agreement about it and just need our approval. However, I figure most of the people are here because of the developer who wants to build that tennis resort.”

Sawyer lifted a brow. “Some developer wants to build a tennis resort in the cove?”

“Yes, and I heard they’re willing to offer the locals free membership at their facilities for the first year and free tennis lessons for the kids.”

“You think the town is going to let them come in and build?”

“I doubt it. Reid Lacroix is totally against it and most people follow his lead. He hates change, although not all change is bad. Membership in that resort will give our young people something to do after school and over the summer months. For all we know there might be another Serena or Venus Williams living in the cove. Besides, work at the resort will bring new jobs.”

“And where do the developers want to build this resort?” Sawyer asked.

“At the site of what is now Shelby by the Sea. It’s been up for sale since Ms. Shelby passed and I knew it was just a matter of time before some developer showed an interest in it, especially since it’s right there on the gulf. However, I think a lot of the townspeople were hoping Ms. Shelby’s niece would move back and reopen the inn.”

“Vashti Alcindor?”

Kaegan raised a brow. “You know Vashti?”

“Not personally. I pulled her over two days ago on Highway 63 and gave her a ticket for speeding.”

Kaegan grinned. “She couldn’t talk you out of it?”

“She didn’t even try, although I think she expected to be given a warning ticket instead of an actual ticket.”

“I can understand that. Back in the day, unless the locals were speeding excessively, tickets were rarely given out.”

“I discovered that fact when I became sheriff. I told Ms. Alcindor that I don’t give warning tickets.”

“Well, I’m glad she’s back in town, even if it’s just for a little while. It will be good to see her again today.”

There it was, that odd sensual pull at his gut when Kaegan mentioned Vashti. “She will be at the meeting today?” he asked to make sure. He hadn’t expected to see her twice in the same day.

“Yes. I understand that Vashti and the developer will try to convince the board to lift zoning restrictions. Otherwise, the sale will fall through. I heard she’s been offered a lot of money for the place.”

Sawyer looked at his watch. “The meeting is about to begin, and I hope we’re not here too late this evening.” He liked being home to help Jade with any homework she might need his help with.

More people filed in and Sawyer finally got a chance to read the meeting’s agenda. There was Vashti’s name and the name of the developer, both slated to speak, no doubt to sway the board their way. Good luck on that. Just like Kaegan said, Reid Lacroix carried a lot of weight in this town and if he didn’t want anything to come to the town, it didn’t come. After living in the cove for four years, Sawyer had learned that about him. He liked the man. He had no reason not to as long as Lacroix operated within the confines of the law. But he knew the man was a staunch conservative who didn’t believe in change.

Sawyer agreed with what Kaegan said about some change being good. He would admit one of the things that had drawn him to Catalina Cove, other than the fact he’d inherited the house Johanna owned here, was the small-town atmosphere. He liked it. After living in large metropolitan cities, the small-town environment was what he felt he needed to raise his daughter. He had no complaints. Today, he would keep an open mind and vote accordingly.

“Hello, Sawyer.”

He glanced over at the woman who’d taken the seat next to him. He inwardly cringed. There was only so much he could take of Rachel Libby. The woman had done whatever she could to garner his attention. She couldn’t get the fact that he just wasn’t interested. It had nothing to do with her being ten years older than him since she did look good for her age. It had everything to do with her assumption that just because she was interested in him he should fall in line. Someone failed to tell her that the laws of sexual chemistry didn’t work that way.

“Hello, Rachel.”

She leaned in a little too close and he thought whatever perfume she was wearing was almost stifling. “Would you like to come to my house for dinner later?”

“No, thanks. I’ve cooked already. Besides, I have a daughter waiting at home for me.”

“She’s a big girl. I’m sure she can take care of herself.”

He almost told her the worst thing any woman could tell him was her thoughts of his daughter. “Maybe. But then that’s why I’m her father. I decide when she can take care of herself, as well as what’s best for my daughter. I don’t need anyone else suggesting otherwise.”

Evidently she had picked up on the annoyance in his voice that he wasn’t trying to hide. “Sorry, Sawyer. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

He fought back the urge to tell her she was of no significance to upset him. Instead he said, “You didn’t.”

He went back to reading the agenda, letting her know as far as he was concerned, their conversation was over. He was glad she had the good sense to take the hint as she eased away from him to sit up straight in her chair and look over her own copy of the agenda.

Moments before the meeting was to start Vashti walked through the door. Sawyer felt a tightening in his groin as he looked at her and noticed several people had turned to peer in her direction as well. Some were smiling and there were several others who were whispering. Her return to the cove certainly was arousing interest with folks.

As she crossed the floor to take a seat, he couldn’t help checking her out. She had changed out of her shorts and tank top and was wearing a black pencil skirt and white blouse. He thought the skirt did a lot to emphasize her shapely figure and long gorgeous legs.

Her hair was not in the ponytail she’d worn when he’d seen her at the café, but was flowing down her shoulders in what appeared to be a bevy of soft curls. She was wearing makeup, but not enough to make her look made-up. It looked more natural on her and he thought it enhanced her radiant beauty.

Several older people approached her, and all but pulled her from the chair to give her hugs. He could tell by her expression she was surprised by the interchange. That made him wonder if perhaps she thought that even after fourteen years people would still concern themselves with the identity of her baby’s father. There was no doubt in his mind that there were some who might, but he would think most people would have the sense to move on and accept that although they had acted like asses before, they wouldn’t now.

He discovered how wrong he was in his assumption when Rachel leaned over to him and said, “If you’re wondering who she is, her name is Vashti Alcindor. Poor thing, she left the town in shame years ago when she got pregnant. She kept the baby’s father’s identity a secret, and of course, that made a lot of tongues wag.”

He had a feeling hers was one of those tongues. He glanced over at her. “Really? I never knew keeping your business to yourself was a crime. Besides, I’m sure she wasn’t the only person in this town keeping secrets.” There was no need to tell her that he’d been enlightened about a few of hers.

Again, she had the good sense to ease away from him. It was then the chairman of the board called the meeting to order.

* * *

VASHTI LEANED CLOSE to Bryce, who’d made it to the meeting just before the doors closed. “Why didn’t you tell me Sheriff Grisham was on the zoning board?”

“It’s just temporary while Henry Smith recuperates from hip surgery. Besides, I didn’t think it mattered.”

Vashti wanted to think it didn’t but each time she looked at the head table where he sat it seemed his gaze was on her. Or was she imagining it? No, she was certain she wasn’t. It might seem to others like he was looking out over the crowd, but she was convinced he was not. What other reason could there be for the way she felt like she was on fire, burning from the inside out? Or the way every single hormone in her body seemed to sizzle? More than once she tried breaking eye contact with him but as if with a mind of its own, her gaze unerringly went back to him.

“You and the developer are up next,” Bryce leaned over and whispered. “Good luck.”

Vashti felt she would need it, although she’d been surprised at the number of people who’d come up to her before the start of the meeting, saying how glad they were to see her and to welcome her back home. Evidently the reason she’d left meant nothing to them anymore. In truth, she’d left to go off to school. The reason she’d never come back was another matter, one they seemed eager to forget.

“Next on the agenda is Vashti Alcindor and a representative from the Barnes Group,” Larry Stillwell, chairman of the zoning board, who owned the only drugstore in town, said, his voice sounding loud through the microphone.

Drawing in a deep breath, Vashti stood and strolled toward the front of the room where she was joined by the man she’d met when she arrived, Palmer O’Connell of the Barnes Group. The entire room was quiet. Typically, Vashti wouldn’t be nervous speaking before a crowd of any size since she was used to doing so as part of her profession. However, knowing that some of these townspeople would be looking at her with a critical eye was somewhat unnerving.

She tried convincing herself whatever they thought about her back then didn’t matter and what they thought of her now didn’t matter either. She had property she wanted to sell, and she preferred they not get in the way of her doing so. But then, what unnerved her more than anything was that even if she’d imagined Sawyer Grisham’s gaze on her before, it was definitely on her now.

She was handed the microphone and was about to speak when Reid Lacroix stood. “I have something to say.”

Vashti’s heart began pounding. She wondered what was going on. Reid Lacroix’s opinion about anything still carried a lot of weight in this town since his blueberry plant employed a number of people living in the cove. He was not someone you wanted as your enemy. She also knew Mr. Lacroix was completely against change of any kind and over the years he’d been instrumental in keeping developers out of the cove. There was no reason for her to think this time would be any different. By him wanting to have his say now might mean there would not be a need for any vote later, so she and the developer would be wasting their time.

As far as she was concerned, his request was out of order; however, she knew that there was no one here who would tell him that. Instead the chairman of the board took the microphone from her and passed it to him with a huge smile. “Yes, by all means, Mr. Lacroix.”

She met the older man’s gaze, expecting the worst. “I heard you’d returned to town, Ms. Alcindor, and I want to join in with the others and say, welcome home. We’re glad to see you back, regardless of whether it’s permanent or temporary. It always does our heart good whenever one of our own returns.”

Vashti stared at the man, stunned. That was definitely not what she had expected him to say. As she looked into the depths of his dark eyes, she saw a sincerity in them that surprised her. In a public place he had welcomed her back. His opinion mattered and he’d effectively made it clear to everyone that she was welcomed back and if anyone felt otherwise they would be going against him. Why? Was he letting her know that he knew the truth about who fathered her child?

“Now, Ms. Alcindor, you may continue.” Mr. Lacroix, smiling, passed the mike to her.

“Thank you, Mr. Lacroix. I truly appreciate that,” she said. And she truly meant it.

* * *

“VASHTI DEANNA ALCINDOR. It’s been a while.”

Vashti smiled at the man who engulfed her in a huge bear hug. She needed it as the prospect of getting ten million dollars from the sale of Shelby by the Sea was gone. She had said her piece, asking the zoning board to consider the advantages that bringing a tennis resort could bring to the cove, before introducing the developer. He’d done a great job explaining to everyone how the proposed tennis resort could benefit the town and the boost it would give to the local economy.

Everyone seemed to show interest and had even asked questions—more positive than negative. However, in the end, no matter how excited the residents of the town seemed, the decision belonged to the zoning board. In the end there were eight board members voting against the resort and only two for it: Kaegan and Sheriff Grisham.

“Kaegan, it’s so good to see you,” she said, when he finally released her. She stared into his face. He looked the same, just older. More mature. Still handsome as ever, even more so. And he still had more hair on his head than she did. “I understand you took over your family’s business. I was sorry to hear about your parents.”

“Thanks.”

“And you’re on the zoning board. I think that’s great and thanks for the yes vote.”

“For all it’s worth, I agree with that developer. A tennis resort coming here would boost the economy. But I don’t have to tell you some people are satisfied to let things stay as they are. Then they wonder why their kids grow up and move away. Only a few return.”

Vashti nodded again as she glanced around. “I was going to thank Sheriff Grisham. I’m surprised he voted yes.”

“I’m not,” Kaegan said. “Sawyer moved here from a progressive city. Besides, he has a teenage daughter and that resort’s perks, especially the free tennis lessons, were great. I just hate you’re losing the deal. I heard they had offered you a lot of money for the place.”

“They did. More than I had dreamed of getting, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

She glanced around again. “I don’t see Sheriff Grisham.”

“He left as soon as the meeting was over.”

“Oh, I see,” she said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She had really wanted to thank him, like she’d thanked Kaegan. She was glad they had voted their conscience and not the way Reid Lacroix had wanted them to.

“Mr. Lacroix didn’t seem upset that you and the sheriff didn’t vote with him.”

Kaegan shrugged dismissively. “Lacroix is used to it. He knows both Sawyer and I will speak our minds and not sugarcoat anything either. I honestly believe he respects us for it.” Kaegan didn’t say anything for a moment and then he said, “To be fair to Reid Lacroix, he’s the one who encouraged me to join the board.”

“He did?”

“Yes. He’s changed, Vashti. For the better. I heard he hasn’t been the same since his wife and son passed away within six months of each other.”

Vashti looked away when memories she’d put to rest years ago suddenly surfaced. At that moment she felt pain. Real pain. And it was pain she didn’t want to feel.

“He sure did take a stand tonight where you were concerned.”

Vashti glanced back at Kaegan. “What do you mean?”

“That speech he gave to welcome you back to town. It will put an end to any negativity toward you while you’re here. Heck, you saw the crowd surrounding you after the meeting, following his lead and welcoming you back like the Great Oz had not only spoken, but had given his blessings on your return. I wonder why he did it.”

Vashti refused to look away again. Instead she looked at Kaegan and shrugged. “I have no idea. I guess he was being nice. And it really wasn’t necessary since I’m leaving town on Friday.”

“You just got here.”

“Yes, but I’ve stayed longer than I intended to do.”

He nodded. “Did you go by Shelby’s?”

“Yes. It brought back a lot of good memories.”

“Yet you were okay with that developer tearing the place down.”

It wasn’t a question but a statement and she heard the censure in his voice. “Yes, I need closure, Kaegan.”

He looked at her for a long moment before asking, “What are your plans for tomorrow night?”

“As far as I know I don’t have any. Why?”

“Tomorrow will mark the second anniversary of my return to the cove. I’ve invited a few friends over for beer, fried fish, crabs, oysters and shrimp. Sort of an old-fashioned seafood roast. How about dropping by my place around eight? I’m still at my parents’ home but building my own place next door. I’d love to show you what I’ve done so far.”

“And I’d love to see it.”

“So will you come?”

She looked down at the floor and then she looked back at him. “That invitation extends to Bryce, right?”

She watched his chin tighten. “Sure. Why not?”

“You tell me, Kaegan.”

“Why don’t you ask her?” he said gruffly.

“I did, but she won’t tell me anything.”

He chuckled derisively. “Funny. I remember a time when she would tell you everything. I learned that people have a tendency to change on you, in a blink of an eye.”

Vashti bristled at his words. If he was insinuating something against Bryce, then she would take offense to it. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing. So, will you come?”

“Only if Bryce agrees to come with me.”

He seemed to weigh her ultimatum, then said, “Fair enough. Now let me walk you to your car. I heard you got a ticket the other day.”

She started to say something flippant like was it possible for anyone to have any secrets in this town, but immediately she knew the answer. Yes, it was possible. Hadn’t she been harboring her one and only secret for years?

CHAPTER SEVEN

USING THE SPARE key Bryce had given her, Vashti entered Bryce’s home to find her sitting at the kitchen table drinking a glass of wine. “I can’t believe you left, Bryce.”

Bryce, who’d changed into a comfortable-looking sleeveless flowing caftan, shrugged, causing one to notice how the material rested perfectly against her to-die-for breasts. Vashti remembered how she and Bryce were ecstatic at the prospect of having breasts when they were preteens. They would often stand in front of a mirror to see whose were growing faster than the other. Bryce was always the winner. Even before their thirteenth birthdays it had become obvious that Bryce would have a perfect pair. It had taken Vashti’s pregnancy to show what she called major improvement to her breasts, which ended when her pregnancy did. Her girls were alright, and Scott had never complained, but she always thought compared to Bryce’s she was underdeveloped.

“You had your own transportation and I knew you were okay. Besides, after the meeting a crowd descended on you like the prodigal daughter, thanks to Reid Lacroix. What do you think that was about?”

Now it was Vashti who shrugged. “I don’t know but if you’re wondering about it, others will do the same.”

“They might, but even if they are, they won’t whisper those thoughts out loud for fear it will get back to Mr. Lacroix. For some reason you’re on his good side, even though you were trying to bring a developer into town. That alone should have placed you at the top of his shit list.”

Vashti nibbled on her bottom lip. “Do you think perhaps he found out?”

Bryce took another sip of her wine. “I honestly don’t know, Vash. If he did I would think his attitude toward you would be just the opposite and your name would not only head his shit list but would end it as well. But then I’d be the first to admit his attitude changed in a lot of ways after Julius and Mrs. Lacroix died.”

Vashti nodded. “That’s what Kaegan said.” She noticed Bryce’s reaction when she’d said K-Gee’s name.

“So he did manage to find his way over to you, did he?”

Vashti frowned. “Is there a reason Kaegan should not have?”

“No, I guess not.”

“Bryce, I wish you would tell me what’s really going on with you two.”

Bryce shook her head and Vashti saw a tear fall from Bryce’s eyes. She quickly moved toward Bryce and captured her hand in hers. “What is it?”

Bryce shook her head as more tears flowed. “I’m just not ready. I want to enjoy this time while you’re here. Can we please do that? I promise, someday I’ll share, but not today.” Bryce’s eyes implored her to let it go, and Vashti didn’t want to cause her friend any pain and Bryce was asking her only to respect her wishes, like Vashti had done fourteen years ago when she had left town and mandated that she hadn’t wanted to know anything about the happenings in the cove. She’d preferred not knowing.

Bryce had broken that rule only once. That had been seven years ago when she’d called to tell her about Julius’s death. Vashti had mourned the loss of the guy who’d fathered her child and the first and only man she’d loved. For years she had hated him for not accepting his part in her pregnancy and when he’d died she had let go of her dream that one day he would show up in New York for her. Or to at least explain why he’d done what he had when she had truly believed he’d loved her. That just goes to show that you couldn’t trust your heart.

“Okay,” Vashti said softly. “When you’re ready to tell me, you will.”

Bryce sighed with relief. “Let’s talk about something else. Like how you managed to get on Sheriff Grisham’s good side and he voted in your favor? And don’t think I didn’t notice how he was looking at you.”

So she hadn’t imagined it. “I’m sure the only reason he cast his vote my way was because he has a teenage daughter who could benefit from the perks the resort was offering.”

“Well, I guess we can kiss the ten million goodbye,” Bryce said, taking another sip of her wine. “Even after giving that heartwarming speech welcoming you back to Catalina Cove, Mr. Lacroix still voted against those developers.”

“Did you think he would do otherwise? He might have changed in some ways but when it comes to Catalina Cove, it’s not in his makeup to change. Besides, if he had sided with me on the issue, it would have really given the townspeople something to gossip about.”

“I guess you’re right about that.”

Vashti released Bryce’s hand. “I’m going to change. And then we’re going to open another bottle of wine.” She smiled at her friend, her heart aching for the remnants of pain she saw in Bryce’s eyes from just the mention of Kaegan. She wasn’t sure what was going on between them but believed when Bryce was ready to tell her, she would.

* * *

“I CAN’T BELIEVE you let the old people in this town have their way to do whatever they want to do. It should be against the law.”

“Voting your conscience is not against the law, Jade.”

“It may not be against the law but it isn’t fair to the young people in this town. Don’t we get a voice, Dad?”

Jade had lit into him the moment he walked through the door. A door she’d opened the moment she’d heard his footsteps on the porch. He’d known from the look on her face that she was fired up. He had left the zoning board meeting to come straight home. News certainly traveled fast.

“First of all, I didn’t let them do anything. I’m not the only member of the board and everyone has the right to cast their vote as they see fit. There were more members against that tennis resort coming here than for it. And as far as your having a voice, no, you don’t have one yet. You’re not old enough to vote. Even if you were, your vote would not have counted. Only members of the board could vote.”

“Well, every member of the zoning board should be fired...except for you and Mr. Kaegan,” she said, following behind him as he headed for his bedroom to lock his gun, holster and badge in the safe and take a shower. “I heard the two of you were the only ones with the good sense to do the right thing.”

He thought she’d heard a lot and didn’t mind voicing her opinion on the matter. “The others felt they were doing the right thing as well. The right thing to preserve the integrity of this town,” he said. In all honesty, he thought the perks would have been good for the city, not to mention a boost to the economy with new jobs. That’s why he’d voted for it.

“That resort would have done a lot for this town and those eight people should not have voted against it. That’s why I love you so much, Dad. You’re the best. You’re your own man. You think for yourself. One day I intend to be the mayor of this town and when I do I’m going to bring as many resorts here as I can.”

Mayor? That was a new one on him. He hadn’t heard of that aspiration before. “Mayor?”

“Yes, mayor. And besides the resorts I plan to bring in a Walmart, a McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. It’s a shame we have to go to New Orleans for fast food.”

Before opening the door to his bedroom he looked over his shoulder to find her right there on his heels. “If I recall, you plan to return to Reno and go to the university there. Stats have shown most kids who go away to school rarely return to the town they grew up in.”

“Well, I’m coming back and I’m—”

“Going to be mayor and bring in Walmart, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut,” he said, interrupting her. “I got it. Now be a good kid and warm up my food while I’m in the shower.” He entered his room and closed the door.

Of course that didn’t stop her from continuing the conversation. The sound of her voice carried through the wooden door. “I really feel bad for the lady who wanted to sell that land. I heard she could have made ten million dollars off it.”

Sawyer reopened the door. “Who told you that?”

“Mitzi Perry’s mother.”

Sawyer had heard that as well and didn’t have to wonder how Ms. Perry got wind of it. The gossip train was at work. “Things don’t always work out the way we want them to, hon,” he said.

“I heard she was pretty.”

He lifted a brow. “Who?”

“The lady who can’t sell her land. I heard she also drives a real sporty car. A red convertible.”

He wondered where she’d heard that from and decided not to ask. But however she came about her information it was the truth. As far as he was concerned Vashti Alcindor was more than just pretty. She was gorgeous. If he wasn’t sure of it before he was definitely certain of it now. “I’m going to take a shower, Jade.”

“I was hoping to work at the resort one day, Dad. It was going to be my summer job. And I was going to take advantage of those free lessons and the spa and all the cute tennis players that would have come to town to stay there.”

She’d had him feeling a little sorry for her until she mentioned the cute tennis players. This was the first time she’d hinted at being interested in boys. Big boys. Tennis-playing boys. Older and conceited athletes who wouldn’t waste any time seducing an innocent sixteen-year-old. “Don’t forget to warm up my food,” he said, then closed the door again.

“That Mr. Lacroix thinks he owns this town. People always go along with what he wants. That’s going to change when I become mayor.” Her voice was coming in loud and clear through the door.

“I hear you,” he said, yelling loud enough to make sure she knew he had responded but not giving the impression he was agreeing with what she said, although she was partly right about some of the townspeople going along with whatever Reid Lacroix said.

Like tonight for instance. He didn’t know the man’s motive, but for Lacroix to officially welcome Ms. Alcindor to town in front of everyone assured that the people in town would welcome her as well. If anyone still had an issue about her before, they wouldn’t now.

All was quiet, which meant Jade had moved away from the door. Finally. Good. She’d been on a roll. Not that he thought it was over but for now she’d run out of steam. Tomorrow when she got home from school she would be refueled again after discussing it with her friends. And now she was thinking about returning to the cove after college in Nevada. Imagine that.

He knew not to count on it because his daughter was just in the moment. After college she would go wherever opportunities knocked. That would be the smart thing to do and he wasn’t raising a dummy. She wanted to be a doctor so he couldn’t see her coming back here working at the cove’s small hospital while alternating at the mayor gig. He smiled at the thought of that.

As he stepped into the shower beneath the spray of water he thought about Vashti Alcindor and what his daughter had said about her. Tonight he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her and more than once she’d caught him staring and stared back. If eyes could talk he wondered what theirs would have said.

Lathering his hair, he knew it was crazy. He was still attracted to the woman. How could he think of her in a sexual way when day after tomorrow he would be spending the afternoon in bed with Leesa. He’d never left her arms disappointed and doubted he would. But...

He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower stall and as he dried himself off, it wasn’t Leesa’s features he was seeing in his mind but those of Vashti Alcindor. Tonight while sitting there he had studied them, every single detail. He’d been in Catalina Cove long enough to know all about the Creoles in the area, specifically in the cove. They made up over ninety percent of the town’s population. He had to admit that the cove was the most diverse group of people he’d ever known.

Before taking the job he had read everything he could about the Louisiana Creoles. He knew how both white refugees and free people of color found sanctuary in the bayous. Some lived peacefully among the Native Americans. A mixture of French, Spanish and African heritages. They had come together, united to create their own culture: the Louisiana Creole. They still considered themselves as one cultural unit, although their legacies were different. It was obvious Reid Lacroix had French ancestry while Trudy liked to boast of her Spanish birthright. He would bet Vashti Alcindor was a mixture of all three—French, Spanish and African. He would even throw part Native American into the mix.

She had soft brown eyes, long eyelashes, high cheekbones, shoulder-length dark brown hair and skin the color of rich mocha. Her full lips were a total turn-on and he thought her nose was the perfect shape and size for her face.

He’d noticed all that the day he’d given her a ticket, so why had he concentrated on them at the meeting and why was he thinking about her features now? He could be having an attack of lust, but surely he was too old for such ailments. He’d gone three years without a woman after Johanna, and probably would have gone longer had he not hooked up with Leesa. Sex was never something that had driven him even during his bachelor days when he’d dated his fair share of women. He’d been more into a career in the military than anything else. After marrying Johanna they had enjoyed a good sex life because more than anything they were always making up for lost time. He was convinced returning-home-from-deployment sex was the best kind.

During the first six years of their marriage he was active-duty military. The hardest thing was being shipped off for a year and leaving Johanna in her fourth month of pregnancy. When complications arose and Johanna was ordered bed rest until after the baby was born, he appreciated her best friend, Erin, staying with her during that time. He had returned home to a very healthy six-month-old daughter.

Sawyer had fallen in love with Jade the moment he’d seen her, and he’d known what total happiness was. He, who never had a family to call his own, had finally gotten one. On that day while holding his daughter for the first time, he had promised Johanna that he would be the best father any child could ever have.

That’s why I love you so much, Dad. You’re the best.

As he got dressed he took comfort in the words Jade had spoken tonight, knowing he was keeping his promise to Johanna. He was taking care of their little girl and trying to be the best father she could ever have.

* * *

REID LACROIX DIDN’T know the words to the song playing on the stereo system. The only thing he knew was that it had been one of Roberta’s favorites and she played it often. He recalled the song had been playing somewhere in the house the night she’d died. He was sure of it. After Julius’s death she had tried stopping her chemo treatment but he wouldn’t let her. He’d convinced her to finish all her sessions by saying that’s what Julius would have wanted. But he hadn’t been able to coax his wife into fighting for her life. The chemo really hadn’t done her any good because she’d given up the fight.

It was times like these when he sat alone in the living room parlor with the music playing that he wished he could turn back the hands of time. He wished that he could have gotten wind of what his life would be like now. Then he would have asked to be taken first. Being last and left all alone in a house too massive for one was a torture he endured nearly every night of his life now.

Working late at the office didn’t help because he had to come home eventually. He’d figured by the time he reached sixty Julius would be married with kids. But things didn’t work out that way. At twenty-five Julius died in a car accident while driving under the influence of alcohol.

Reid had not known what had changed his son. Why had he begun drinking and become a man who couldn’t stand anyone...not even himself? He and Roberta had reached out to their only child, had tried to get him help, counseling, but none of it did any good. There were demons he fought and they were winning.

When he’d gotten word Julius had been taken by life-flight to a hospital in Baton Rouge, Reid was grateful that for once he hadn’t been away on a business trip. He had arrived at the hospital moments before his son had taken his last breath. In that final moment, his son asked him to make a death-bed promise after a startling confession that explained so many of the changes in him.

Now after all these years she was back. Vashti Alcindor had returned and she had no idea that he knew her secret. Julius had told him everything. And every day following that, Reid had to accept his part in what had happened, why his son felt the need not to stand up and be a man but rather let a young woman face a difficult time alone. His son had never gotten over that period of weakness. When he should have stood by the woman he’d loved, he hadn’t. He hadn’t enough spine to do so for fear of what Reid and Roberta would say.

Since Roberta was having chemo treatment that day she hadn’t been at the hospital. In fact she hadn’t known Julius had died until he’d returned home from the hospital and told her. She hadn’t been the same after. There hadn’t been anything he could do for the two people who’d meant the most to him.

But there was something he could do for the woman who’d meant everything to his son. The woman Julius had died believing he’d let down. Instead of going to her and expressing both his love and guilt, he’d nearly drunk himself to death instead.

He recalled his son’s words like it was yesterday... Please, Dad, promise me that you will let her know I did love her, so much, and that I wanted to stand by her. Let her know how ashamed I was for not doing so and I will never forgive myself for being so weak that I turned my back on her when she needed me. And if she ever needs you, be there for her...something I didn’t do.

Reid knew how it felt to be consumed with guilt about something. Maybe more than most, because like his son he’d once fallen in love and married a woman who over the years he’d neglected. A woman he hadn’t known just how important she was to him until it was too late. Roberta would have given him the world, she had tried, but in the end building the company into something his father and grandfather were proud of had become more important to him.

Now he was alone. No one would know how he felt when Julius had confessed to getting Vashti Alcindor pregnant and to being afraid to come forward because of the scandal it would cause the family’s name. A name Reid had constantly reminded him to uphold and protect. To never do anything to bring shame to the family.

He mourned the grandchild he hadn’t known the woman had been carrying. Legitimate or illegitimate, that child would have been his grandchild. Reid vaguely recalled the scandal involving Vashti Alcindor’s pregnancy. He hadn’t paid much attention to it because at the time he felt it hadn’t concerned him. Years later on his death bed, his son had enlightened him as to how much it had concerned him. Anything involving the Lacroix family concerned him.

And the death-bed promise he’d made to his son still concerned him, all these years later. He had promised if Vashti ever returned to Catalina Cove that he would do right by her, and Reid intended to keep that promise.

* * *

“KAEGAN IS HAVING a seafood roast at his place to celebrate taking over his family’s business and having a successful harvesting season. We were invited,” Vashti said as they sat in Bryce’s kitchen while drinking glasses of wine.

Bryce rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you were invited, not me.”

“We’re both going and he knows it and is fine with it.”

“Only because you probably talked him into letting me come. No, thanks.”

“If you don’t go then I won’t either.”

“You have to go, Vash. If you don’t, he’ll think it’s because of me.”

Vashti laughed. “It will be because of you.”

“It shouldn’t.”

“But it will since I have no idea what’s going on between you two. But like I told you, I’m here when you’re ready to talk about it. Besides, you have to go.”

“Why?”

“I’ve forgotten how to get on that side of the bayou.” Vashti hadn’t really, but if that little lie would get Bryce to come with her, then so be it. And because she knew how Bryce’s mind worked, she quickly said, “And no, you won’t be giving me directions. I don’t do well with directions and you wouldn’t want me to get lost, would you?”

Bryce rolled her eyes. “You won’t get lost, Vash.”

“I won’t take any chances, Bryce. You will be going with me.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Sacramento, California

KIA HARRIS ROLLED her eyes as she clicked on the phone. “Mom, I’m leaving school now. I’ll be home in a little bit.”

“Just be careful driving, hon. You’re a relatively new driver and the roads are slick from the rain earlier.”

Kia waved at the new guy at school as she walked out the doors to the parking lot. He returned the wave and smiled. She smiled back while thinking that he was kind of cute. His name was Trace Nichols. A senior who had moved from somewhere in Florida. He was tall and built like the athlete he was. She’d heard he was a member of the football team. That meant she would get to see a lot of him since she was now a majorette.

“Kia, are you still there?”

For a moment she’d forgotten her mother was on the phone. “Yes, Mom, I’m still here.”

“Remember, no texting while driving.”

How could she forget when her mother drilled that into her every time she left the house? The car had been a gift for her sixteenth birthday from her parents and she was elated to have gotten it but could honestly do without the phone calls from her mother before every time she got behind the wheel. “Okay, Mom, no texting while driving. Got it.”

Changing the subject she asked, “When is Dad coming home?” Her father was a chemical engineer who worked for Anderson Pharmaceutical Company. Her mother had been a chemical engineer as well at the same company, but a few years ago had decided to go back to school and get her PhD. Now she was teaching engineering at California State University. Her father had been in Boston all week attending a seminar.

“He’s flying back tonight. Why?”

She shifted her book bag to her other arm. “I miss him.”

“Me, too, kiddo. I’m picking him up from the airport around eight. You can go with me if you’d like.”

She knew at sixteen she should probably dis the idea of fawning over her parents. Some of her friends would think it was so uncool. But she didn’t care. She knew she had wonderful parents. They were the best. Even if her mom did call her more than she needed to and reminded her of stuff she didn’t need to be reminded of.

“Great. I should be finished with my homework by then.”

“Good. And Nana has prepared you something special for dinner.”

A smile touched Kia’s face followed by sadness when she recalled why her grandmother was visiting. Her grandfather had passed away two years ago suddenly of a heart attack and none of them had quite gotten over it...especially Nana. The two of them had been married over thirty years.

“I can’t wait, Mom. Tell Nana I love her.”

“I will.”

“I got to go, Mom. I’ve made it to my car and I remember. No texting while driving. Love you, bye.” Then she clicked off the phone.

Throwing her book bag on the back seat, Kia got into the car and automatically buckled up. Before turning the ignition to her car, she inhaled. Her car still smelled new. How many sixteen-year-olds can boast of getting a brand-new car for their birthday? It wasn’t the two-seater Tesla she dreamed of owning one day, but it was hers. Given with love from her parents and Nana.

As she left the parking lot she couldn’t stop thinking how grateful she was for her family. Her parents had met and fallen in love while attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They’d gotten married after college. They weren’t in a hurry to have kids and instead concentrated on their careers. When they did try to have a baby, it turned out they couldn’t.

Kia knew she’d been adopted. She would never forget the day her parents told her. It was after coming home from school in the sixth grade and crying her eyes out because she couldn’t understand how two people with such a high proficiency in math and science could have a daughter who detested both subjects.

That’s when they had told her the truth. She had been adopted at birth. That revelation had been a shocker and then it explained a lot. Things she had wondered about but had dismissed from her mind. Like how her chocolate-skin-tone parents could have such a daughter with caramel-colored skin. But as she got older she figured nothing was strange about it after all since she and Nana were of the same complexion and Gramps had been even darker than both her parents.

And then both her parents were left-handed and so was Nana. But she’d dismissed that as well since Gramps had used his right hand like she did. They had thought she would be upset about it, but she wasn’t. For a minute, though, she had been disappointed to learn she’d been born to a parent who hadn’t wanted her.

Her parents hadn’t been able to tell her much about her birth mother other than she knew she couldn’t take care of a child properly and had given her up for adoption, where she’d felt her baby could have a better life.

Kia didn’t know what type of life her birth mother had lived, but she would admit for her, being adopted by Percelli and Alma Harris had been for the best. She knew her parents had provided a good home for her and there was never a time she doubted their love.

She recalled her mother asking her if she thought when she got older she would want to find her birth mother and her response had been a resounding no. She had no reason to ever want to meet the woman who’d given her away, no matter the circumstances.

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