Sugar Plum Serenade (Seawolf Beach #2)

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

On Wednesday morning Olive thought about a walk on the beach, but the wind had picked up and it was a little chilly. She decided to stay in and work on her new project before it was time to head to the boutique.

She’d dropped the Walmart bags on the couch last night, before she’d gone to bed exhausted but happy. She was happier than she’d been in years, and why not? Tuck. Baby Nathaniel. A sister who hadn’t yet forgiven her for sleeping with the man who’d delivered her baby, but would. It was the way of sisters.

Still in her pajamas, she dumped the contents of one bag onto the couch. The shoe ornament had called to her immediately, as she’d browsed the Christmas display. She did love a pretty shoe. The penguin was cute, and so was the snowman. She hung them, spaced appropriately, on her little tree.

She saved the ballerina for last. Her career hadn’t gone the way she’d planned, but that time in her life had been important. Fun? No, not really. She’d been too focused on succeeding to enjoy it the way she should’ve. The dance was the thing. She should’ve simply enjoyed instead of being so determined to succeed, to be perfect, that she didn’t see anything else .

She loved music. She loved to dance. So why didn’t she?

“Stupid,” she said as she hung the ballerina ornament front and center.

She leaned a little to the side to look at Tuck’s truck through the window. The Ford was parked in his driveway, as it was every morning. He was home. He was right there, so close…

Should she call or text? Of course not. He worked late nights. He had to be sleeping, and it would be rude to wake him. Definitely rude. He hadn’t responded to any of her texts yesterday, so maybe there was a crisis at work. Maybe he’d been busy and worked late and…

She didn’t want to imagine that he might be blowing her off now that he’d slept with her. He wasn’t one of those guys. Couldn’t be. There was more than that between them, in a way she’d never expected.

It was windy outside, but there shouldn’t be any wind in her living room! A faint breeze hit her square in the face. She’d think there was a draft, but this wind was warm. Not hot, not unpleasant. Warm , like a touch from another person.

Or a ghost.

“Okay, Giles, I get it,” she said. “To be honest no one has ever used the word ‘brave’ to describe Olive Carson. I’m careful. I plan for every possibility. I’m analytical.” Usually .

If she analyzed her relationship with Tuck, she’d have to admit that it was a temporary, fun escape from the holidays, from her carefully planned life. He was a vacation fling, a way to pass the time…

But that wasn’t true, not entirely. There was more. She felt it, even if it didn’t exactly make sense.

Olive looked down at the bags on her couch. She had a little more time before she needed to head to the boutique. Might as well be productive. She reached down and snagged the pre-made wreath with the slightly wonky red bow.

By the time he got out of bed, Olive was gone. Dawn’s Radiance would’ve been opened for a couple of hours by the time he woke. Her car wasn’t in the driveway. With today’s cooler than normal temps and that wind, it made sense that she’d drive.

He didn’t want to knock around the house with nothing to do, not when his mind was spinning. Might as well head to work. There was always something to do at The Magnolia.

Tuck headed for his pickup but was distracted by something on Olive’s front porch. He walked to the sidewalk to get a better look, stopped, and stared.

A wreath hung on her front door. Greenery, bells, a red ribbon at the bottom. Every time she opened her door, those bells would jingle. There was something in the window, too. He moved down the sidewalk to get a better look. Gnomes. A Christmas gnome in red and green had been placed in each of the front windows.

She’d come here hating Christmas, or at least merely tolerating it. Now she was taking the time to decorate a rental. Was it because of her family? Had her nieces given her more holiday gifts she felt obligated to put to use?

Was he having an effect on her holiday outlook? She’d sure as hell changed his.

He headed for his truck. Nah. Getting laid had put her in a good mood, that was all. Any man would’ve had the same effect. Woman were emotional; they always made more of sex than was necessary.

Did he like her? He did.

Would he change his life for her? No, he wasn’t changing for anyone.

Did he still want a dance for Christmas ?

Hell no. At this point a dance with Olive would be much too dangerous.

It was an oddly slow Wednesday, so Olive didn’t mind closing the boutique for a quick lunch break. The wind had died down, so she walked. Man, she was going to miss walking everywhere when she went home! Traffic on 280 was a nightmare most days, and she couldn’t go anywhere without getting on that busy road.

As she walked away from the boutique, she noticed a vacant space. Like the boutique it was in one of the strip centers rather than in an old house. A For Lease sign hung in the window. Olive stopped to look. She held her hands up to the glass to mute the glare from the sun so she could see inside. Nothing had been left behind from the previous tenant. Beyond the window was a simple, empty, square space, which reminded her of her first dance studio. It would also make a nice office, if she decided to expand her event planning business. There probably weren’t enough local events to keep her busy, but if she could draw in folks from Biloxi…

She jerked away from the window. What was she thinking? She had no intention of moving to Seawolf Beach. This was just a visit. A vacation. A temporary…

Temporary what? Escape. Adventure. Happiness.

Happiness shouldn’t be temporary.

She continued on, walking briskly. She wasn’t hungry, but coffee would be nice. Put enough sugar and creamer in it and a cup would qualify as a meal, right?

Hart’s Vinyl Depot sold excellent coffee.

There wasn’t much of a crowd in the depot, so maybe it was just a slow day all across town, not just in the boutique. Anna busied herself cleaning behind the coffee bar. Colt was nowhere to be seen, but he was probably around. Somewhere. Talking to Maude? Talking to another of the ghosts who inhabited this haunted depot?

She’d love to have a nice, long chat with him, but at the same time she wasn’t sure she wanted to know more than she already did. So many questions…

Anna smiled and offered a friendly hello. She was probably just happy to have a customer on this slow day.

Olive ordered coffee; Anna prepared it; Olive paid. So, now what?

Instead of walking out the door or moving to one of the benches near the coffee bar, Olive took a deep breath and looked into Anna’s eyes.

“You’re right. Tuck and I are… dating.”

“I knew it.” Anna grinned widely. “I’m glad. Tuck is a great guy, but he needs a good woman in his life.”

Olive wanted to ask… Why? Were there bad women in his past? Was there a deficit she needed to know about? What was wrong with him? In her opinion nothing, but she couldn’t say she knew him well.

For the past eight years she’d approached every man with that question, either in the back of her mind or on her lips. What was wrong with him? Something had to be. What was it?

“I’m not going to be around much longer,” Olive said. Anna’s smile faded. “But while I am here I want to help him, if I can. This thing with his grandmother…” She stopped speaking and swatted at the back of her neck. Were there mosquitos in the depot? Flies, maybe?

Anna held up her hands as if in surrender. “Maude, stop it. I know that’s you. Leave Olive alone!”

Olive backed up and spun around, but of course she saw nothing. She waited for another tickle on the back of her neck that never came.

Why was she tiptoeing around the issue? “I have a ghost in my house, my niece sees them, and Tuck is spun up about this grandmother issue. I can live with the first two, since I won’t be here much longer, but while I’m in Seawolf Beach I want to help him. Tell me more about these pearl earrings. Tell me everything.”

A good dumpster fire was just what Tuck needed to get his mind into a better place. A different place, anyway. The call had gone out and he’d gladly left Ginny behind the bar. In the back parking lot he’d pulled on the firefighter rig he always kept in the back of his truck, and then he’d joined the rest of the volunteer crew and the firetruck behind a new restaurant on the highway, not far from The Magnolia. For a while he focused on the job at hand.

Which sadly didn’t take long enough to provide much in the way of mental relief.

He invited the rest of the crew to The Magnolia for a round on the house. About half of them accepted. The rest, Mike included, declined. They wanted or needed to go home. Maybe they’d just eaten. Could be dinner was waiting for him. Wives, kids, parents waited for them.

No one waited for Tuck. He’d never minded that fact so much before Olive had come crashing into his life. No, she hadn’t crashed. She was more subtle than that. She’d slipped in, she’d snuck into his life when he hadn’t been looking. There was no way he could’ve been prepared for her.

She made him long for more, for family and dinner waiting for him at the end of the day, for a woman in his bed who wouldn’t be gone the next morning. These thoughts had crossed his mind in the past, of course they had, but he’d never felt them so deeply. Nate Tucker didn’t do deep feelings. He floated along through life on his own and content. He had a booming business, a great house, plenty of friends. He’d delivered not one but two babies.

He could do without that happening again, but he did love having a great story to tell. That’s all this Christmas thing with Olive was. A great story.

One he had no intention of ever telling anyone.

She made him want more.

She terrified him, because he’d never wanted more so much that it was painful.

How did she know he was thinking about her? The text came in as he walked into his office to grab a change of clothes. He smelled like smoke.

Busy?

A little. What’s up?

Thinking about you. When will you be home?

He could leave the bar in Ginny’s hands, go home, and ask Olive if she’d like to come over to his place and take a shower with him. She’d say yes, he knew it. He’d never get over her if he got in any deeper. Wanting more was a trap. Normally he’d be thrilled that there was no chance a former lover would be waiting around the next corner, or might come into the bar after whatever they had was over either with a new fella or to check on him. This would normally be the perfect situation for him. Love ’em and leave ’em. Always. Anything else was foolish.

Probably by three a.m.

Her response began with a laughing emoji. Too late for me, I’m afraid. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.

Maybe. Night, Olive.

Night .

That ended the text conversation.

He thought about starting it back up again with a quickly typed I’ll be right there .

But he didn’t. Olive could break his heart if he let it happen. Something about her… something he couldn’t grasp… made him want what he couldn’t have more intensely than ever.

He could love her. Love didn’t last.