Sugar Plum Serenade (Seawolf Beach #2)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

Old folks’ homes were creepy, in Olive’s opinion. Not that anyone here called this place or others like it an old folks’ home. They were retirement villages, or senior apartments, or something along those lines.

She steeled her spine and walked into the dining room, which was filled with, well, old folks.

When she’d texted Tuck last night, he’d blown her off. She could do the same here; she could refuse to do what Anna and Colt had asked her to do and move on with her life.

If she’d refused, Anna probably would’ve given it a shot. Anna, or Colt, or both. But they had to live here, after the deed was done. Their involvement, the questions they would ask, might stir up too many questions. Since Olive wouldn’t be here long, since she and Tuck were dating, or something like that, they thought her involvement was more logical. Maybe it was. Maybe they were cowards.

She’d be in town for another week, maybe a day or two longer. She didn’t need a man; she wasn’t looking for romance. Her sister would help her pass the time. Nieces and a new nephew needed to be cuddled. Her parents would be here in two days. She could easily get lost in what remained of the holiday season and forget what had happened with Tuck.

He’d been a bump in the road, not much more than a one-night stand.

But she liked him, he’d helped her find a way to enjoy Christmas again, and whether or not she ever saw him again… this was important. At least, Colt seemed to think so. No, Maude seemed to think so.

Once she took care of this, she’d have an excuse to call Tuck or stop by his house. If she got anywhere with this chore. If Maude was right.

Holy cow, she’d been sent on an errand by a ghost.

The dining room was small, which made sense. Seawolf Beach wasn’t a big town; they didn’t need a huge retirement home. Olive moved to the center of the room and raised her voice to ask, “Is Betty here?”

Two women looked her way. She didn’t have a last name, and she hadn’t expected there to be more than one Betty. “I’m looking for the Betty who was friends with Maude Reeves. Wait, Reeves was her maiden name, not her married name, if that helps.”

One Betty returned to her meal; the other stood. “Maude and I were great friends.”

“I hate to disturb your lunch,” Olive said as she walked toward the woman, “but I only have a little bit of time before I have to get back to work.” She didn’t like taking a long break when the boutique was so busy, but this had to be done.

It had taken her hours to come up with an excuse other than a ghost sent me … “A letter was recently found in Maude’s belongings.”

“Did her son find it? The eldest, I expect. He certainly took his time going through her things.” She gave a huff of disapproval .

“Yes, her son,” Olive said. It was simpler to just agree and move on. “There was a mention of pearl earrings Maude wanted to go to… her grandson. She seemed to think you might have them.”

Betty visibly paled. Her eyes darted to the side and one hand trembled. “I’m finished with my lunch. Walk to my room with me.”

She nodded to her companions and stepped away from the table. Olive wanted to run but she had to let Betty, who did not run, set the pace as they walked into the lobby and to the elevator. The woman didn’t say a word until they were in the elevator with the door closed.

“I borrowed the earrings just a week or so before Maude passed. I had a date with Joseph, and I didn’t think Maude would miss the earrings so quickly. Naturally she missed them right away. I didn’t realize she held those pearls in her hands every night before she went to bed, that she cherished them so much. She was so upset, I was afraid to tell her I’d borrowed them. I did plan to return them, when an opportunity arose, but then she was gone.”

The slow elevator took them to the second floor. Betty walked to the second door on the right and opened it wide.

“I’m sure she’d understand,” Olive said. Her palms were sweating, she was so nervous. And, well, the apartment felt like the heat was set to eighty degrees.

Betty laughed. “I loved Maude, I did, but she wasn’t always understanding. I couldn’t tell her the truth, and I was afraid to tell anyone what I’d done after she was gone because I was afraid they’d blame me. Did I bring on Maude’s heart attack because I upset her?”

“Oh no. I’m sure that’s not the case.” She wasn’t sure , but it seemed like the thing to say.

The apartment was simply laid out. A main room with a couch and television; a kitchenette which looked to be rarely used; a bathroom and bedroom. Betty walked into the bedroom and to her dresser. She opened a small jewelry box and there they were, the infamous earrings that kept a ghost earthbound, if Colt was to be believed. The pearl earrings were simple, small, and were what her own grandmother had always called ear clips. When these had been made, pierced ears weren’t at all common so when worn they were attacked to the earlobes with sturdy clips. Betty removed the earrings from the box and placed them in Olive’s hands.

“These are your responsibility now. My heart feels lighter already. I’ve worried about these so, but I was also afraid to say anything. Afraid her family would brand me a thief, or worse, accuse me of killing Maude, of bringing on her heart attack. I don’t want to be kicked out of my home.” She looked Olive in the eye. “Did you know about Phillip? I admit, I wondered if her family even knew about these earrings.”

Phillip. Tuck’s grandfather. Maude’s secret love, all these years. “I know a little. Did Maude talk about him?”

“Not often, but on Taco Tuesday, when they served margaritas, she opened up quite a bit.” Betty laughed at the memory. “Maude had a family who loved her, she had a great life, but she always carried Phillip and their daughter in her heart.”

Olive grasped the earrings in one hand, placing the other hand on Betty’s arm. “These earrings will go to that daughter’s son.”

Tears bloomed in Betty’s eyes. “Oh, I’m so glad. It’s right, isn’t it?”

“Yes it is.” Now she just had to find a way to tell Tuck…

Every time he looked at Olive’s house, he noticed another Christmas doodad she’d added to the front porch. He wouldn’t be surprised to find an inflatable Santa in her yard early one morning when he pulled into his driveway.

This morning there were lights. Tiny, colorful lights were strung across the banister. Tuck stopped beside his truck to study her work. To be honest it looked like a trained monkey, more likely an untrained one, had strung those lights. They were bunched in one place, hanging crookedly in another, and instead of going up and over to the other side of the porch, they ran across the top step.

Was this a test? Did she know he’d be compelled to fix the messy lights?

After two in the morning she’d be sound asleep. He was still wound up from a busy night at The Magnolia so sleep wasn’t in his immediate future. There were plenty of nights he didn’t get to sleep until sunrise, and with Olive on his mind this was bound to be one of those nights.

Tuck crossed into Olive’s yard without making a sound. If the lights had been on the edge of the roof he’d never be able to fix the mess without making a lot of racket. He was glad to know she hadn’t gotten on a ladder to decorate, and just as glad to be able to fix this sad attempt.

As if he’d ever cared about Christmas decorations before. Olive cared, and that was all that mattered.

He worked slowly, quietly, starting at one end and working his way across. Untangling, reattaching the cord to the banister, lifting it off the step and up. She’d done it all wrong, but mentally picturing Olive taking on this job made him smile. She’d definitely done it on her own. If she’d asked for her brother-in-law’s help, Mike would’ve done a decent job.

He was almost finished when he heard a creak. The front door opened a crack. Just a crack, no more. On the other side of the narrow space one eye watched him. One deep brown, inquisitive eye.

“Don’t you know better than to open the door in the middle of the night?” he asked.

“I knew it was you,” she whispered.

“How did you know?”

“Who else would fix my decorating disaster at three a.m.?” The door opened a little wider. “Besides, I looked out the window to be sure. Want a cup of coffee or something?”

“No thanks. You should get back to bed.”

“I should,” she said. “So should you.”

He’d been avoiding her for days because he knew he couldn’t resist that kind of invitation…

Tuck walked toward the door. She opened it wide. Olive Carson stood there in rumpled Christmas pajamas that did not scream seduction. Her dark hair was messy; her feet were bare.

He’d never seen anything sexier.

“If I come in there will be no coffee. You know that.”

“I do.” She stepped back, asking him in.

“I’m trying to quit you,” he admitted as he approached her.

“I kinda figured that might be the case. Care to tell me why?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

She backed up; he went inside and closed the door behind him. The light from the hallway was dim, but he could see enough to note the changes. “It looks like Santa threw up in your living room.”

She laughed a little, moved toward and into him, and draped her arms around his neck. “I’ve missed you.”

That was all it took. She squealed when he picked her up and carried her toward the back of the house and her bedroom. Her bed. His surrender.

“I lured you in,” Olive said as Tuck dropped her onto the bed. She’d heard movement on the front porch and had suspected it might be him. No, she’d known it was him. “Stringing Christmas lights is harder than it looks.”

“You could’ve asked for help.”

“You weren’t here, and Mike has his hands full. Who else am I going to ask? Besides…” Might as well confess. “I knew you’d be compelled to fix it for me, that my sad attempt would lure you to my front door.”

“You’re a wily woman,” he said as he started to undress.

“No one has ever called me wily before.” She stretched out across the bed, waiting for him, waiting for this man who’d come roaring into her life to turn it upside down.

She didn’t want to think about ghosts, grandmothers, or where she’d be two weeks from now. No one had ever accused Olive of being a live-in-the-moment person, but right now that’s all she wanted. To live in the moment. To enjoy whatever this was while it lasted.

Whatever this was. Love? Lust for sure, but was it more? Was this hormones or heart? “Stop thinking,” she whispered. “Just feel.”

“What?” Tuck said as he joined her on the bed and began to undress her. He spent a lovely moment caressing her breasts as he removed the pajama top.

“I said I should be wily more often.”

He made quick work of her pajama bottoms, and then he was there. Touching her everywhere, making her forget everything. Everything but this. Touch, a driving need, a closeness that went beyond the physical, Tuck’s warmth, her racing heartbeat. The world spun just for them.

When she couldn’t stand to wait another second, he was there. Inside her. A part of her. There was truly nothing and no one else in the world but the two of them and the release they offered one another.

His skin against hers was heavenly. Their bodies joined and moved and danced, yes danced , until the sensation they created went beyond anything she’d ever known or expected.

She shattered; he came with her.

Everything slowed. Their bodies; her mind and heart.

When he kissed her it was slow, easy, as natural as breathing. Was it foolish to think this was love when she was still reeling from sex? She’d ask herself that question again in the morning.

When they’d been kissing on the couch and there hadn’t been a condom handy, she’d been able to control herself. She’d convinced herself that she possessed self-control where Nate Tucker was concerned. That was, apparently, no longer the case.

She hadn’t given the earrings that sat in her dresser drawer a thought as he’d come inside her house, as he’d come into her bed. This wasn’t a night for ghosts, family secrets, or confessions. The night was just for them.

“That was… unexpected,” Tuck said as he moved away.

“Was it?”

“For me, yes. For you? I’m shocked. You seduced me, Olive Carson.”

“With badly hung Christmas lights and holiday pajamas.”

He didn’t respond right away.

“I’ve never seduced anyone before,” she whispered.

“Why not?”

“I never wanted any man as much as I want you.”

After a long moment he muttered something. She must’ve misheard. It sounded like he said, “You terrify me.”