Sugar Plum Serenade (Seawolf Beach #2)

Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

The day should’ve gone by quickly, but it didn’t. The minutes seemed to drag. Dawn’s Radiance stayed busy with shoppers looking for Christmas presents or special outfits for parties and family gatherings. Olive did her best to help them all, but her mind wandered.

Boy, did it wander. Tonight was going to be epic. Wasn’t it?

Until today, Olive had never left Dawn’s Radiance for lunch or any other reason. The Christmas crowd kept her busy enough, and she didn’t want to miss a sale. For Dawn’s sake. Kids were expensive, and Dawn was about to have three of them.

She hung a sign on the door and locked it behind her. Lunch was not on her mind.

Normally she’d duck and cover, put her head down and explain away everything that had happened to her since coming to Seawolf Beach. Tuck. Ava and her invisible friends. A freakin’ ghost in her house! Tuck .

Brave wasn’t a term anyone would choose to describe her, but she could try. Would Tuck think the dress she’d bought for tonight was sexy? That’s what he’d asked for, sexy. Sexy wasn’t Olive’s style, never had been. When she’d been on stage she wanted people looking at her, but off the stage? In real life? She was happy to melt into the background and let someone else stand out. Her new outfit was definitely a step up. Was it brave or foolish?

There were a couple of blocks between Dawn’s Radiance and Hart’s Vinyl Depot, an easy walk on a mild December day. Olive had never been inside the depot. Not only had she not had time to shop since arriving in Seawolf Beach, she didn’t own a record player.

Thank goodness there was a coffee bar. She could use that as an excuse for her stop.

Anna manned the coffee bar. Did she know her guy saw ghosts? How could she not?

“Small coffee, please,” Olive said as she approached the counter. “Cream and sugar.” While Anna made the coffee, Olive turned and looked around the place. The public area was massive, with rows of bins in the center, boxes of sale records against one wall, the coffee bar, and a little bit of seating. The bench near the front window looked ancient but solid. There were a couple of employees, several customers browsing, but no Colt.

Maybe that was just as well. How did one ask if the place they’d rented was haunted?

“How are you liking the house? Everything okay?” Anna asked.

“It’s great. I love it.” Olive placed cash on the counter, started to take a sip and decided the coffee was still too hot, and backed up a step. Again, she looked around the depot. “I don’t see Colt. Is he here?”

“He’s in the back, cleaning some old records that just came in. Is there a problem? If there is, I can handle it for you.”

Was a pirate ghost a problem she could share with Anna? Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea, coming here with a half- baked plan. “No, like I said, I love the house. It’s great.” She could, probably should, offer Anna a polite goodbye, then turn around and walk out, coffee in hand. No one had to know that she’d come in here with impossible questions dancing through her brain. Brave .

“My neighbor Tuck has become kind of a friend since I came here.” She hated that her voice shuddered when she said friend, but she ignored the telling tremble and barreled forward.

“I know,” Anna said. She smiled, a little. “A friend or more than a friend?”

“Just a friend.” For now . “We were talking.” There was that shudder again.

The expression on Anna’s face changed subtly. Her smile faded as she whispered, “Did he tell you?”

Olive didn’t play coy and ask what . The look on her face probably told it all.

“He did, didn’t he?” Anna rounded the counter. When she was close to Olive, she whispered, “Tuck was shaken, and I get it, I do. That kind of news is bound to be upsetting. If Colt was up front about what he can do, what he sees, maybe people wouldn’t be so shocked when he knows things he shouldn’t. He really doesn’t want everyone to know. I don’t know why, but I do my best to respect his wishes. If it was me I’d tell everyone. I mean, it’s pretty amazing, right?”

She knew . Anna knew everything .

Olive could understand why Colt would want to keep his ability a secret. She would, if she was in his shoes. “I don’t know what this has to do with Tuck, but…”

Anna backed up a step. “I thought you said he told you.”

“He asked if I believe in ghosts, and we started talking, and…”

“You’re not here about Tuck’s grandmother.”

Grandmother? “No, I’m sorry.” Was that why he’d been so upset when she’d gone to deliver the scarves? Some kind of unwanted news from his dead grandmother?

“Colt is going to kill me,” Anna said under her breath.

“I don’t plan to tell anyone anything, but I… I have a couple of questions.” More now that Tuck had become a part of the conversation.

“I can imagine.”

First things first. “Is there a pirate ghost living in my house?”

Anna’s back straightened. “You saw…”

“Not me. My niece, Ava.”

“Come on.” Anna indicated with a wave of her hand that Olive was to join her.

What she really wanted to do was finish her coffee, get back to work, then maybe ask if it was too late to stay with Dawn and her family. What difference would that make? Ava had other “invisible friends,” like Rosaline. Were they everywhere? Olive stayed rooted to the spot. What had she been thinking to come here? Why ask questions she didn’t really want answered?

When Anna was halfway across the room, she turned and motioned again, since Olive hadn’t moved. “Since I spilled the beans, might as well make the best of it. Colt could use your help.”

Reluctantly, Olive headed in Anna’s direction. She stopped to take a sip of coffee. For courage? Maybe. She walked slowly, uncertainly. When she reached Anna she asked in a lowered voice, “How can I possibly help?”

Together they walked toward the back of the depot. “I’m not sure, but Maude is driving Colt nuts. Until this thing with Tuck is resolved she won’t move on and she won’t give Colt a moment’s peace.”

Maude must be Tuck’s grandmother. This was more than Olive had bargained for, more than she was willing to take on. Sleeping with Tuck was one thing. Running interference between him, a man who saw ghosts, and a dead grandmother was a different story.

The back room was bigger than she’d expected, dimmer, not as colorful as the public space. It really did look like a place ghosts would haunt, if they could. If they did. As they approached a small room near the back, they heard Colt talking. She couldn’t make out the words, but he was definitely talking to someone. Living or dead? When they could see through the open doorway, it appeared Colt was alone. So, dead . If not for Ava and her pirate friend, Olive would think he was off his rocker.

Anna called out, a simple, “Hey,” which was both a greeting and a warning to let him know he was no longer alone. The conversation stopped.

“Sorry, I was just talking to myself,” he said.

Anna walked into the small room, gave Colt a quick kiss, and then said, “She knows.”

He didn’t look happy to hear that news.

“Her niece saw the pirate in the Jasmine Street house. Also, she and Tuck are friends or dating or something and the subject of ghosts came up. I’m afraid I told her about Maude before I found out she didn’t already know. Sorry.”

We’re not actually dating , Olive started to say, but… in a way they were. Or something was more accurate. Even if dinner a couple of days ago hadn’t been an actual date, tonight’s dinner would be. What was she to Tuck? What was he to her?

“How old is your niece?” Colt asked.

“Four.”

Colt nodded, then tossed aside the microfiber towel he’d been using. “If she holds to form, she’ll stop seeing them in a year or so.”

“ Them being ghosts,” Olive clarified.

“Yes. ”

She had a million questions; she didn’t know where to start. So she took another sip of coffee while she tried to decide what to ask first.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Colt said after a pause of his own. “Maude thinks you can help.”

She’d come here to ask about Giles, but she’d stumbled into something entirely new, and complicated. Would it be cowardly to turn and run?

It would. “I don’t know what I can possibly do, but… I’m listening.”

Olive walked home briskly, with a spring in her step in spite of everything Colt had told her. She didn’t want to think about it, didn’t believe there was any way she could help. Best, for now, to focus on the evening ahead.

She’d have plenty of time to get ready, since she’d told Tuck to pick her up at seven instead of his suggested six. Six would’ve been better. She could’ve rushed! Now she’d be ready early and she’d sit, twiddling her thumbs, waiting for him to arrive. A shower, some makeup, a bit of time on her hair and then she could slip into the new red dress and those shoes.

She didn’t want to think about ghosts, not Giles and not Maude. For a few hours maybe she could make herself focus only on the living.

As she approached her house she couldn’t help but notice the changes to Tuck’s place. When she’d first arrived at her rental, she’d appreciated that he hadn’t decorated for the holiday. While she’d been at work today, that had changed. There was a wreath on the front door. A Christmas tree in the window, colorful lights sparkling. There was even greenery on the porch banister .

“Traitor,” she whispered as she walked by, but then she smiled a little. Maybe going overboard for Christmas wasn’t such a bad thing, after all. She was beginning to enjoy the lights, at least.

She couldn’t run from The Nutcracker incident forever. No one could hide from the holidays year after year after year, though she’d tried. The memory of that night and what she’d lost in one bad instant had gone on too long. The fall, the drop , had robbed her of so much.

Tuck’s truck wasn’t in the driveway, so it was safe to assume he wasn’t in his house, watching her. She stopped on the sidewalk and turned to admire the decorations for a moment. That was all the time she had. A moment. Getting ready for tonight was going to take some time, even if she was overly anxious and questioning her suggested delay in the date start time.

Thinking about Tuck was enough to make her forget, for a moment, that there was a ghost in her house.

Ghosts! Everywhere, apparently. She thought again about Colt’s request. Did she want to help? Tuck wouldn’t listen to her just because they were testing the boundaries, trying to figure out what they were, if they were anything at all. And the other thing… talk about stepping out of her comfort zone! Why couldn’t Anna handle it? Or Colt himself? She’d left the depot this afternoon with a noncommittal, I’ll think about it . What else could she say?

All she needed to think about right now was tonight. Would the night go where she expected it to? Of course it would. What could stop them?

Nothing that she could think of.

She unlocked her front door, walked inside, and dropped her bags on the couch. Next the lights on her own tree were switched on. Maybe she’d turned her back on all things Christmas for a few years, but the lights were pretty. Why should she deny herself that small enjoyment?

As she walked toward the bathroom with a shower in mind, she called out in a voice that, surprisingly, revealed no trepidation. “No peeking, Giles!”

Tuck knocked on Olive’s door precisely at seven o’clock. Given everything that had happened lately he shouldn’t be so damn happy, but he was. Olive helped him forget it all for a while, just by being.

He was never at a loss for words, but when she opened the door he couldn’t speak. She was always beautiful. In sweatpants and a ridiculously oversized T-shirt she was gorgeous. But now, in this moment…

“Wow.” Lady in red… The dress wasn’t super short or super tight, but it showed off Olive’s impressive curves and killer legs. Maybe she didn’t dance anymore, but she still had a dancer’s legs. How could a woman look so damn sexy with that shy, uncertain expression on her face? Olive wasn’t bold; the dress was.

She stepped outside and turned to lock the door behind her. The rear view was just as impressive as the front. They might not make it to dinner…

He offered his arm, and she took it as she walked gingerly down the steps in those high heels that made her legs look even more fantastic. Before the night was over, he’d have those dancer’s legs wrapped around him.

“So, where are we going?” she asked as they hit the sidewalk.

“Not far. We can walk.”

Her headed jerked up; she glared at him. “Walk? In these heels? ”

“Trust me.” When they turned from the sidewalk onto the walkway to his front porch, she relaxed. “I decided I didn’t want to share you tonight.”

She might’ve been insulted, but she wasn’t. At least, she didn’t appear to be, and he thought he had a pretty good read on her. “So this dress and these heels are just for you?”

“They are. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” She stopped at the bottom of the steps. “You decorated your house for Christmas.” It was a simple statement with no element of shock or judgment. She would’ve seen the new decorations on her way home, so there was no need for surprise.

“Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

She continued to study the changes he’d made. Well, changes Ginny and Jodie had made on his behalf. “You know, the first thing I really liked about you was that your house wasn’t decorated.”

“I’ll tear it all down right now.”

She laughed. “No, I like it. It seems right. Maybe this trip is helping me to shed my curmudgeon-like attitude toward Christmas. It’s silly, really, that I’ve let one bad holiday ruin every December for years.” They climbed the steps, and she asked, “Did you cook?”

“Oh no. I wanted you to enjoy the evening, not run screaming back to your house for another omelet.”

“I like omelets.”

What did it take to rattle her? More than a bar brawl, more than having her December turned upside down to help her sister, more than a whirlwind romance with a brand-new neighbor. Did Olive ever get rattled?

He opened the front door to a small entryway. Beyond was the living room, which now boasted a tall, lavishly decorated and brightly lit tree. No tasteful white lights for him, no, he wanted every color in the rainbow on his Christmas tree. Olive might think it was tacky.

She released his arm and walked over to the tree to study it more closely. She looked up, down, around, even checked out the backside that faced the front window, then declared, “It’s beautiful.”

Olive in red, standing by the first Christmas tree he’d ever owned as an adult, that was true beauty.

“Dinner is getting cold,” he said. Olive left the tree behind to rejoin him. She took his arm again and they walked down the hallway, through the kitchen, then onto the large screened porch that looked out over his wooded backyard.

“Wow, this is surprising. Gorgeous, but I wouldn’t expect a volunteer fireman to leave this many candles burning.”

“There’s a fire blanket on standby and a small fire extinguisher in that corner.” He pointed. “It wouldn’t have the same effect if I had to come out here and light all the candles while you waited in the kitchen. You’d get bored, and hungry.”

Olive looked up at him with those deep brown eyes, her lush lips slightly parted, her breath short. “Nate Tucker, you are many things, but in my experience you are never boring.”

The scene before her was like something out of a movie or a dream. A small round table was set with china, crystal, and silver. A warming tray sat in the middle, and prepared salads had been placed to the side. A bottle of wine — no cans for them tonight — was on ice. Candles burned there, on other tables scattered about, even on the floor. It was the most romantic fire hazard she’d ever seen.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” she said. “Not in real life. In the movies, maybe, but… Did you do all this? ”

“I can’t take credit. I picked up dinner from Maggie’s. They even provided the dishes and silverware. I’m more of a paper plate kind of guy.”

“Shrimp and grits?” she asked, her eye on the covered silver tray.

“You seemed to like that the other day, so it seemed a safe choice.”

“It was.”

She knew where this night was heading, wanted it, needed it even. But before she sat down at this lovely table with a man she was becoming more and more attached to, she had to tell him what was going on. He’d had enough surprises in his life lately. She wouldn’t add to the stress he was under. She wouldn’t lie to him.

“We need to talk,” she said.

“Oh shit,” he muttered. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really,” she said quickly. “I just don’t want any secrets between us, not tonight.” Not ever .

His expression changed; he looked like he expected the worst.

“I went to the depot today, to talk to Colt.”

“About me?” he asked.

“Not really. At least, that wasn’t the reason I went to the depot. I wanted to know if ghosts were real, and to ask him if there was a pirate ghost in my house. There is, by the way. Ava saw him Saturday. She said his name is Giles.”

“You can always stay here if you’re afraid of Giles,” he said in his usual lighthearted tone of voice, though she detected a hint of new stress.

Olive managed a small smile. She wasn’t anywhere near done. “While I was there, Colt asked me to… help.”

“With my supposed grandmother? I guess that’s where this is headed, right? ”

“Yes. I don’t believe he would’ve mentioned it, he didn’t intend to break a confidence, but for some reason Anna thought you’d told me and that’s why I was there, and she said… too much.” This was getting so far out of her comfort zone… “Colt really wants you to call him, to talk this over. Sounds like the ghost is hounding him night and day.”

“Not my problem.”

She kept going. They needed to get past this so they could move on. Move forward. “Maude is insisting that Colt retrieve the pearl earrings she believes were taken by a woman at the retirement home.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Tuck snapped.

She should’ve waited until after. Until tomorrow. Until… No. Now or never. “Your grandfather gave them to her, and she wants you to have them. She said one day you could give them to… someone you care about.” She hesitated to tell Tuck word for word what she’d been told. One day he can give them to a woman he loves as much as Phillip loved Maude .

Yeah, she should’ve waited to tell him about the request. This was ruining the mood. But waiting, telling him after the fact, would’ve been wrong.

“I don’t want the old woman’s damn earrings,” he said with finality.

“That’s fine. I just… I don’t want us to start whatever this is with a lie, even a lie of omission, between us.”

The tension in his shoulders eased; his eyes softened as he relaxed. “I know very well what this is.”

“Me, too,” she whispered.

“And… thank you for telling me. Maybe I don’t want to hear about it, but you were honest. There aren’t enough honest people in the world.”

Olive dropped her small handbag onto a chair at the nicely laid table. The evening purse was sparkly and looked great with her dress, but was barely big enough to hold her cell phone and the key to the front door. She should’ve left the cell at home; there was nothing that couldn’t wait. With both hands free she walked to Tuck, stood before him, and took his face in her hands. It was a good face. More than handsome — though his face was quite handsome — it was pleasant, expressive, and becoming so familiar the mere sight touched her.

She kissed him. She’d been craving a kiss all day, had thought about it while she worked, while she showered, while she dressed up. For him. The kiss was like taking a sip of cool water when she was parched. Like sitting down after a long day on her feet. More than a relief, it was pure pleasure.

He kissed her as if he felt the same way. Forget ghosts, retail, any person that wasn’t in this room right now. That’s what she did as she fell into him. Forget everything but this.

“I’m not all that hungry,” she said as she pulled away. “Do you have a microwave?”

“Oh, I do,” Tuck said. He pulled her in and kissed her again, deeper, more passionately. He pulled away reluctantly, then set to blowing out all the candles. The fireman in him couldn’t leave them burning, she supposed. In order to speed things along, she helped. In a couple of minutes the screened-in porch was dark, lit only by light streaming in through the kitchen door and one window.

Tuck took her hand. “Tonight I’m prepared,” he said as he led her through the kitchen, down another hallway, and up the stairs to the master bedroom. For a second she wondered if his room was always this neat. Bed made. No dust to be seen. No socks on the floor. Like any of that would’ve made a difference.

“Good.” She was prepared herself, mentally and physically. How could she not be when she’d been thinking about this all day?

He kissed her again, as they stood beside the bed. His hands skimmed her body, learning her curves, arousing her with that touch until everything but this, everything but him , faded away.

She ended the kiss, spun around, and lifted her hair. “Unzip me.” She’d managed getting the zipper up on her own, but it hadn’t been easy.

The zipper was lowered slowly. His fingers brushed her back, down and down and down. When she shrugged off the dress she’d stand before Tuck in nothing but the super sexy black underwear she’d bought just for this occasion.

It was an occasion, but she hesitated before shrugging off the dress.

“Damn, Olive Carson. I never saw you coming.”

“I didn’t expect you, either.”

He unbuttoned his shirt, slipped it off, and tossed it onto the floor. She rotated one shoulder, in preparation. In a second, maybe two, the red dress would be on the floor.

In the distance, she heard her cell ring, the sound faint, muted. Tuck heard it, too. His head swiveled toward the door.

“They can leave a message,” Olive said. Worst case Dawn might’ve gone into labor a little bit early. If that had happened Mike would take her to the hospital, his parents would watch the girls, and she’d join them later. They didn’t need her, not for this.

Olive kicked off her heels and Tuck toed off his boots. In a couple of minutes, maybe less, they’d both be naked. She wanted that, she did, but she also wanted to savor every second. The night could be over too quickly if she wasn’t careful.

It was in her nature to be careful, but maybe she didn’t have to be tonight. She couldn’t put Tuck and caution in the same sentence. He was wild where she was not. But again, not tonight. She reached out and slipped her hands into the waistband of his unzipped jeans.

His phone, which was still in his back pocket, started to ring .

First her phone and now his. This couldn’t be good.

He snagged the phone and answered with a sharp, frustrated, “What!”

The muted, frantic voice she heard on the other end of the call sounded like Mike. Olive couldn’t make out many actual words, but she watched as Tuck’s expression changed. She made out one word very clearly.

“Help.”