Unexpectedly You (16 page)

She nodded and drew in a long breath to try and calm her nerves. “I need to ask you something.”

“Of course.”

“Did you tell Mitch about my financial...issues?”

Tim pursed his lips. “Of course not. That would be unethical.”

“But how did he know that my home was in jeopardy of foreclosure?”

He wriggled in his seat but his face remained defiant. “No idea. We talked about investment options a few months back, but I’d never mention which property might be in trouble by name.”

“But you hinted.”

His face flushed. “He asked about local real estate, and I may have mentioned upcoming short sales but I didn’t give him any details. If he figured it out, it’s because the man is a shrewd businessman.”

“I see.”

“I don’t understand. Isn’t this a good thing for you? He obviously approached you with an offer to invest in your property and business—otherwise, why would he cough up the money to pay off your loan?”

She wanted to know the same thing, but Tim wasn’t the right person to tell her.

“Thanks for your time, Tim.” She stood, feeling like the weight of the world was off her shoulders.

“Sure, anytime. I’ll call you on Monday when I get the paperwork together.” Tim offered his hand.

“Thank you.” She hoped he didn’t notice how clammy her hands were.

Mitch had paid for her loan a few days ago. Before last night. Before she’d defended him in front of the neighbors. Regardless of what happened with the Planning Council meeting, he’d already paid for her loan. She wouldn’t lose her home. At least, not to Tim Brooks. Why would Mitch pay for her home without the certainty of his project moving forward?

A cold, damp cloud of fear and regret bloomed in her heart and she hurried her steps to get to the car, to Mitch, to the truth.

* * *

Emma woke and glanced at her watch. It was past midnight. She’d fallen asleep on the couch waiting for Mitch to get home. She exhaled a long, tired breath. He was obviously avoiding having to answer why he’d paid the loan without telling her.

It wasn’t like she wasn’t grateful. She had every intention of paying him back every cent with interest. She just needed him to tell her the terms.

But what if his plans weren’t approved on Monday? It was highly unlikely, yet it could happen. What would that imply? She shot up from the couch, her fingers clutching the throw pillow.

Oh God
,
please no.
By paying off my loan even before the Planning Council approves his plans
,
it looks like I stood to benefit either way.

Emma clenched her jaw from the stabbing pain the thought inflicted. He wouldn’t do that, would he?

She’d grudgingly accepted the fact that he’d only pretended to care about the future of Bella Del Mar. His plan B was proof of that. Not telling her about his backup plan meant he hadn’t wanted her to know how far he’d go if things didn’t work out according to his plans. To think she’d gone as far as to say in front of her neighbors about what an upstanding and trustworthy person he was. Going as far as saying she’d trust him with her life.

But now that he’d paid for her loan, regardless of the outcome of Monday’s decision, it would appear to her neighbors that she’d sold out to Mitch in exchange for him financing her home. Her neighbors would feel rightfully betrayed—as she did.

Emma pressed two fingers on her temple to try and stop the throbbing.

Where the hell was he? He couldn’t avoid her forever. She’d find him tomorrow at the Pirate Festival. She would make sure he knew paying off her loan didn’t buy her loyalty—or her love.

Chapter Eighteen

The overcast sky and the gusty winds added to the aura of bygone days and provided a perfect setting to the annual Pirate Fest.

“There it is,” Lorraine said, pointing to the white canvas tent with the Surf & Sand Tavern sign posted to it. “It’s nice you volunteered to help Jack out.”

Emma wrapped her jacket tighter around her body. “It’s only for a couple of hours. I owe him anyway.”

Inside, several patio heaters were strategically placed around. At least she’d be warm. It was still too early for the place to be open, but already Jack and his crew were busy setting up the makeshift bar with local microbrew pours, while some of the guys focused on getting the stage wired for the various bands lined up to play. Emma unbuttoned her coat and tossed it on a picnic table, one of many spread throughout the room.

Lorraine’s approval whistle pricked her eardrum.

Jack saw them and jogged over. He, too, whistled under his breath. “Was that Sammy’s outfit last year? Let me just say, it looks a hell of a lot better on you. I want you front and center. You’ll have the place brimming with pirates in no time.”

Dorinda had been right. Sammy’s barmaid outfit from last year looked festive and cute on her thin-as-a-rail daughter. But with Emma’s curves, the revealing, off-the-shoulder white blouse tucked into a black leather corset plus fishnet stockings and thigh-high boots resembled erotic lingerie.

“I’ll go save our spots at the log competition and if anyone gives me a hard time, I’ll punch them,” Lorraine said, winking at them both before running off.

Emma perused Jack’s balloon slacks, white frilly pirate shirt, black vest and red skull bandana. “Nice outfit.”

“It spoke to me,” he said.

She forced a laugh. “Let’s hope you don’t get a sword plunged through your black heart.”

He doubled over, holding his chest. “I believe that’s a threat. I’ll let it slide. Besides, I know for a fact there’s a blacker heart here today than mine.”

“Oh, who?”

“Mitch was in here earlier and let me tell you, he’s in one ugly-ass mood.”

A nervous tremor ran up her spine. “Well so am I, so we’re even.”

Jack frowned. “What’s going on?”

She shrugged. “Nothing.” The last thing she wanted to do was tell Jack that Mitch had lied to him too.

“Don’t even start. Just spill it,” Jack said.

Emma sighed. “Mitch lied to us. He lied to me.”

Jack lifted one bushy eyebrow. “About what?”

“He had a backup plan to sell Mrs. Madsen’s property to a national motel chain if his revised plans didn’t get approved. So all of his ‘I care about what happens to Bella Del Mar’ or ‘I want to keep Bella quaint’ were all lies to get us to believe in him.”

“Bullshit.”

Emma shook her head. “It’s true.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

“Why not?”

“Because just the other night at Surf, that asshole attorney Holmes sidled over and began smooth-talking Mitch on selling him the property, since it didn’t seem likely Mitch would get his plans approved. That guy was rappin’ about how he’d pay top dollar, blah blah blah...”

“What did Mitch say?”

Jack grinned. “He told him to shove it where the sun don’t shine.”

Emma frowned. “Maybe it’s because he already had plan B in the works, so he didn’t need Mr. Holmes to buy the property.”

“Are you not listening, sweetheart? Mitch told Holmes he had no intention of turning that piece of property into a motel chain. He said the heart of Bella is in that downtown area and even if he didn’t get his plans approved, he’d work out a deal with his investor to come up with another option. One that wouldn’t include a shitty motel on the property. So there.”

“But—”

“But nothing. Where did you even hear this crap?”

“The
Coastal News
had it on the front page.”

“Em, you know that Holmes and Jim are buds. Holmes has his grubby hands all over that rag. He probably paid that gerbil under the table to write up the article. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jim had been the one who’d posted those stupid mug shots of Mitch all over town.”

Emma’s stomach clenched from apprehension. She had no doubt Mr. Holmes still had designs on acquiring Mrs. Madsen’s property. He’d been livid when Mitch had won the bid.

What did I do?
She’d been so furious and had felt so betrayed that she hadn’t stopped to consider Mitch’s side of the argument. He said he’d drawn up his plan B last year but that he had no intention of going through with it now. She’d been so quick to not trust him. According to Jack, Mitch had flat-out refused to even consider a guaranteed way out of his financial predicament if his plans weren’t approved. If he wouldn’t sell to Mr. Holmes, who’d pay him top dollar, why would he sell to another investor? Unless what he’d said to her was true. That he cared about Bella Del Mar, and he had no intention of selling for a profit just so others can destroy it. She’d called him so many awful things. Her ugly words tore at her heart.

“You all right? You lost all your rosiness.”

Her shoulders sagged with the effort to keep her head up. She looked at Jack and shrugged. “I may have done something really stupid.”

He smiled. “I promise you, Em, that boy is smitten and you could feed him cottage cheese for a year and he’d still come back for more.”

Jack’s attempt to humor her didn’t help alleviate her guilt for mistrusting Mitch. Especially since he hadn’t done anything but be gallant and wonderful this past week, even though she’d tried to put him through small-town-goodness hell.

Heat trailed up her neck from Jack’s perception of Mitch’s feelings.
Please let Jack be right.
“I’m not so sure,” she said.

“I am. Now, why don’t you go and have fun serving my customers. Me? I’ve got take this friggin’ vest off before I implode.” Jack’s eyes crinkled at the corners and he reached out for her hands, which he clasped in his. “I haven’t seen you this alive in a while. It’s like you’re here with us again. I don’t know if it’s who I think it is who’d done that for you, but if it is, I owe the man free beers for the rest of his life.”

A tear spilled down her cheek, and Jack released her hands to reach out and swipe it dry. She sniffled and then covered it up in an awkward chuckle. Her heart hummed sweetly and she leaned in and gave him a kiss on his scratchy cheek.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Emma was busy lining up bar glassware when a gleeful screech behind her caused her to wheel around. “Mom?”

“Sammy!”

Her daughter rushed toward her.

Emma hugged her daughter tight against her, a huge grin on her face. “When did you get in? How was the trip? How did it go at the University?”

“Slow down, Mom, please. I’m still not recovered from looking at you. Oh, my God. Who are you and what have you done with my mother?” Sammy’s mouth hung open, her palms smacked against her cheeks. “You look amazing.”

The first inkling of how different she must look to her daughter sent a thrill inside her. “You kept saying I needed a change. I took you up on it.”

“Was that my costume from last year?” Sammy ran her fingers down the front of Emma’s low-cut blouse.

Emma felt a blush heat her skin. “I know. A bit daring, huh?”

“It looks so much better on you.”

The sadness around her daughter’s eyes worried her. “Is everything alright?” She could always tell when something was up with Sammy. Call it motherly intuition, but whenever her daughter was in trouble, she felt it deep in her bones. “Let’s talk back here.” She wanted to get away from the customers already filling up the place, especially the guy sitting in the bar with a full beard and wearing a fishing cap, who kept glancing over at her. He was making her feel self-conscious.

Once they were in the back area, away from the peering eyes of the man, Emma took Sammy’s hands in hers. “What’s wrong?”

Sammy’s chin quivered. “I looked in your room to find you. I saw Dad’s stuff was gone. All of it. And the answering machine...you changed the message.”

Emma swallowed a lump in her throat. “I know. I’m sorry, honey. It was time, right? I took Dad’s clothes to Goodwill finally. Now you don’t have to lie to your grandmother anymore.”

“I figured you took it in. It was just strange, that’s all. Are you okay with all of it?”

She squeezed her daughter’s hands. “I’m more than okay, really. It was time. I waited too long.”

Sammy’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears. “I was worried.”

“Don’t be. I’m fine. I can’t wait to hear about your trip.”

“I can’t wait to tell you. But I think I want to hear more about what’s going on with you.” With her brows knitted together, Sammy reached into her backpack. “This was left for you on the porch.”

Emma noticed the twinkle in her daughter’s eyes. She glanced down at the blueprint drawing. She recognized Mitch’s handwriting on the Post-it note, pointing to the area on the edge of the page.

Emma had been hoping Mitch would have stopped by Surf’s tent by now but when he hadn’t, she’d worried the words they’d exchanged were too awful to take back and that he didn’t want anything to do with her. She turned her attention back to the drawings while tiny butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She clutched the drawing to her chest and looked at her daughter, who was pretending to ignore her shocked expression. “Have you seen this?”

“What?” Sammy answered, her lips trembling to keep from grinning.

Emma blinked back her tears. Mitch had reallocated a long, narrow patch of grass on the side of the condo complex with direct access to the sandy beach as a dog park. Except it wasn’t a simple patch of grass with a fence. The new plans had benches, an obstacle course play area, a water fountain for dogs and what looked like fake fire hydrants. So even though he’d relocated the dog park to make room for the parking lot, the new site was a million times better. Emma’s throat felt thick and it was hard to swallow. She squeezed her forearm tight against her stomach. It would be just like him to drop these off instead of showing it to her himself. He wanted her to squirm, thinking about how he’d make her eat her words again. Her lips curled up at the corner and she bit her lip to stop them from trembling.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you
.

“I told you he was a great guy,” Sammy said.

Emma nodded and a tear spilled down her cheek. “I should have listened.”

Sammy gave her a hug. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too. Now, how about some lunch?”

* * *

It was a half hour later when Brandon Landis entered the tent, his arm around the receptionist from Tim’s office. Emma rolled her eyes and turned to Sammy, whose eyes narrowed to slits.
Okay.

Brandon saw them and said a few words to his date before heading over.

“Emma, you have a minute?” he asked and then turned to Sammy. “Hey, kiddo.”

“I’m seventeen. You can stop calling me kiddo now,” Sammy snapped.

“Whoa, sorry,” he said with a hint of a smile.

Emma watched the interaction between the two with growing interest. “What’s up, Brandon?”

He cleared his throat. “I’m assuming you saw the article on Mr. McKenna’s property?” When she nodded, he continued, “I thought you’d like to know that
Coastal News
is rescinding it. I heard it mentioned at the station that the reporter might have been given erroneous information by his source.”

“Does Mitch know?”

“I just told him about a half hour ago. He said I’d better high-tail it and let you know.”

“He did, did he?” A surge of hope filled Emma’s chest.

When Jack hollered for help with lifting some kegs, Brandon waved. “I’d better go help out. I’ll see you ladies later.”

Emma could only nod. A fury of emotion snarled in her chest. She turned to Sammy and stopped short. Her daughter’s forlorn expression tore at her heart. She draped her arms around Sammy’s slender shoulders. “Why haven’t you told me about your crush on Officer Landis?”

Sammy’s face flared a bright red. “Mom! How can you even say that? I don’t have a crush on Brandon. Please.”

Emma’s lips itched to grin but she held it in. “It’s a good thing because he’s much older than you, sweetie.”

“He’s only five years and six months older.”

She couldn’t help the smile that broke on her face. “Is that all?”

“Mom, quit it.”

Emma squeezed her daughter’s shoulders and tears sprang to her eyes. “We’ll catch up later. Go have fun. I’ll see you at the logging competition.”

* * *

Temporary bleachers were set up around the bay inlet for the logrolling competition. The competitors were paired up, and the crowd of spectators edged its way as close as possible to the floating tree trunks on the shallow bay.

Mitch loosened the black bandana covering his hair. The sun was beating down on him and sweat trickled down from his forehead. The pungent smell of the fish hatchery up the road filled his nose. He searched the faces around him for a pair of familiar green eyes. Those same eyes tortured his dreams when he’d finally fallen asleep after he’d scurried home close to dawn from driving down to see his brother in Bandon. Shane had colorful words to describe Mitch’s revised plan B, but Mitch had been adamant. He’d left without his brother’s agreement but Mitch was confident Shane would come around because he knew what was at stake. Yeah, love sucked when it didn’t work out, but when it did, it was heaven. Shane knew that better than anyone.

The crowd roared their approval when the emcee took the stage, which signaled the final round of the logrolling competition. Mitch looked out at the crowd for the woman who owned his heart. If he would stop being such a fucking coward, he’d admit she’d owned his heart ever since she showed him a glimmer of her true self at the bingo hall amid the fluorescent lighting. Emma was funny and brave, sexy and sweet, everything he’d ever dreamed of finding in a woman. She’d set him on fire the other night with her body, but it was her story of a teenage rocker whose dreams she’d snuffed to raise a family that captured his soul. He wanted to be the one to ignite her dreams, whatever they were, and to know intimately the siren within her.