Clallam Bay (A Fresh Start #2) Page 3

  “Good. I’m glad you liked it.”

  “Yeah. Been forever since I had a home-cooked meal. Really hit the spot.” Rubbing his stomach, he held out his hand as if he’d just remembered his manners. “I’m Coll. Sorry. Probably should have led with that instead of …” He nodded down at my hand.

  “No, it’s okay. Thanks to your fast thinking I still have my finger.”

  “How else would you have cooked for me again if I hadn’t saved it?”

  “Right. Exactly.”

  The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened with his smile, and I noticed the color for the first time. Brown as his hair but with gold specs. Same as mine.

  As the sound of the waves hitting the cliff replaced our chatter, he shoved his hands in his pockets and started to back away. “Well, I gotta get going. But it was good to finally meet you, Hailey.”

  “Yeah. You, too.”

  “Just wanted to stop by and drop that off.” He tipped his head toward the plate. “Let you know it was the best chicken I ever had, warm or not. And you can cook it for me anytime.” He winked, and I flushed for the hundredth time since the start of our conversation.

  “Yeah. Sure. Anytime.”

  With a nod, he took off for his truck. I watched after him until he hopped in the cab. Once he was out of sight, I picked up the plate and headed into the house. Already planning my next meal and unable to wipe the smile from my face.

  Chapter Four

  “Hold up. He did what with your finger?” Alyssa asked. Putting a hold on painting her nails, she absentmindedly blew on them.

  “Put it in his mouth.”

  “He put your finger in his mouth,” Alyssa repeated.

  Sonia rolled her eyes. “That’s what she just said. Or weren’t you listening?”

  Holding up her open palm toward Sonia’s face, Alyssa shushed her with her fingers. “So now, you were saying, your finger …”

  “Yep.”

  “Was in his mouth.”

  “Yes. But it was nothing. It was just so he could suck out the splinter. That’s all.”

  “But your finger was in his mouth though.”

  While Alyssa sat back and dreamily pondered that fact, Sonia and I continued folding paper cranes for the reception tables. I was on my one hundred ninety-fifth and my fingers were killing me. The wounded one, especially.

  “I just can’t believe he stuck your finger in his mouth. I can’t get over it.”

  Sonia sighed loudly. “Obviously.” Giving up on her crane, she turned to me. “So, are you planning on sleeping with him?”

  Both Alyssa and my mouths dropped as we looked up at Sonia.

  “What? I’m not the only one thinking it,” she said, and a blank expression crossed Alyssa’s face before she turned to face me as well.

  “Well, are you?”

  Narrowing my eyes, I chucked one of the cranes at Alyssa’s head. “That’s none of your business.”

  “It is if we’re your true friends,” Alyssa argued, encouraging Sonia to join in.

  “Yeah. What she said.”

  I looked from one to the other in disbelief because of all things, knowing the details of my sex life was what they chose to agree on.

  “First of all, knowing who I choose to invite into my bedroom does not a true friend make.”

  Alyssa huffed, mumbling down at her nails. “Okay, Yoda.”

  Sonia fell back in her chair, giving up on yet another crane. I was beginning to think I’d end up doing all one thousand of them all by myself.

  “Look. I’m only asking because—”

  “She’s a nosy bitch,” Alyssa interrupted, and Sonia gave her a death glare.

  “No. I’m asking because I’ve seen how it works. You sleep with him, he breaks your heart and—”

  “You pack up your bags and leave, taking the rent with you.”

  “Shut up, Alyssa. That’s not what I’m saying.”

  “Well, if you’re so worried why did you offer to have Jason talk to him for me?” I asked. “Why would you encourage it? Why not warn me off then?”

  “Because then, I didn’t think you were interested. I just wanted to make sure you got along and were used to each other by the wedding.”

  “Why do we need to get used to each other by the wedding?”

  “Because he’s Jason’s best man, and I didn’t want it to be all awkward while you two were walking down the aisle.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. So, see, if you sleep with him and it doesn’t work out …” Sonia shrugged.

  “So you’re just being selfish then,” Alyssa chimed in, waving her wet nails in the air.

  Sonia scowled at her. “And just how is that selfish?”

  “You’re willing to sacrifice a possible lifetime of your friend’s happiness for just a day of your own.”

  “I would hardly consider a lifetime of casual sex happiness.”

  “Then you’d be doing it wrong.”

  Sonia disengaged with an eye-roll and picked up a piece of paper to attempt another crane. She threw it back down halfway through. “Are you gonna help or what?” she asked Alyssa.

  “What,” Alyssa said.

  Sonia raised her voice. “I said, are you going to help or what?”

  “And I said, what. Besides, my nails are still wet.” Alyssa attempted to blow Sonia off along with the wet paint on her nails. But Sonia wasn’t having it.

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Moral support for Hailey, bridezilla. Why else?”

  “I’m hardly that bad.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  “How so?”

  Mindful of her nails, Alyssa picked up one of the cranes. “A thousand paper cranes, Sonia,” she said then dropped it back down onto the table. “One thousand paper cranes.”

  While the two bickered back and forth, I reached for another piece of paper, but Sonia was quicker. When she yanked it off the pile, it sliced me right below the site of the splinter, and I yelped.

  “Oh, shit. Sorry, Hailey.”

  “Quick! Somebody call Coll!” Alyssa yelled and then laughed. “Call Coll. Get it? ‘Cause she hurt her finger.”

  Sonia fought a smile, claiming Alyssa sounded like an idiot bird squawking, which only made Alyssa laugh harder.

  Chuckling myself, I noticed something moving in my periphery and glanced out the window to find a leggy blonde entering my neighbor’s house.

  An unexpected heat flashed through my body, and I turned back to the table to resume folding my one hundred ninety-sixth crane as if nothing was wrong.

  Because nothing was.

  *

  Over the next couple days, I did the very best I could to steer clear of my smooth-talking neighbor. Sonia was right. He was a casual kind of guy, and I just wasn’t that kind of girl. And I didn’t trust myself enough not to try and talk myself out of that fact. He was too good at what he did. Made me feel too much for him to expect so little. Though really, what he was expecting wasn’t little at all. While I wasn’t a virgin, I wasn’t necessarily an experienced lover. To me, sex was more than just sex for the sake of sex. To me, sex meant something. It was meant to be special.

  So far so good, though. Mission avoidance was working out pretty well. Until it wasn’t anymore.

  “Hey, there. Need any help?”

  Ass up in the air, I briefly closed my eyes, mentally preparing over the bags of groceries in the backseat. I really didn’t need any help, but I also didn’t want to be rude. It was my curse.

  “Uh, yeah. Sure.” Crawling out of the car, I handed Coll three of the five sacks. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  He followed me inside and into the kitchen, where I had him put the bags on the counter. I did my best to avoid touching, looking at, or even talking to him while I put away the groceries. But I could still feel his eyes on me pretty much the whole time. He made it really hard to ignore him.

  “Your students draw these?”

>   I looked over my shoulder at the pictures hanging on my fridge. “Uh, yeah. How’d you know I was a teacher?”

  “I have great deducting skills.” He pointed to where one of the kids wrote “To Miss Wells. The best teacher in Clam.” “I also saw you on that field trip with your class. Remember?”

  “Oh, right. How could I forget? Kaylee sure hasn’t.” I gave him a smile, and he returned it just the same.

  “Yeah, she seems like a sweet one.”

  “She is.”

  He nodded. “So you like being a teacher?”

  “Yeah, I love it,” I somewhat fibbed.

  “And you knew you always wanted to be one?”

  I shrugged. “For the most part. What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “Did you always know you wanted to be a fisherman?” I asked.

  He smiled. “Nobody wants to be a fisherman. It’s just something you end up doing.”

  “Like you’re born into it? Kind of like a birthright?”

  “You could say that.”

  “So you don’t like it?”

  “Hell, no.”

  “Then why do it?”

  His smile looked more like a grimace this time. “Like I said. It’s just something a guy like me ends up doing.”

  A guy like him? What the hell was that supposed to mean? I wanted to ask but didn’t since he seemed a bit agitated by the subject. Turning my back instead, I gave him some privacy while I put the boxed mac ‘n cheese away. By the time I remembered my manners it was too late. When I turned to offer him a drink he cut me off.

  “Did I do something?”

  I gave him a look. “Do something?”

  “Yeah. To piss you off?”

  “No. Why?” I asked. The picture of calm but with my heart in my throat. I had no reason to be pissed at him, which he knew. Truth be told, I wasn’t pissed. Just disappointed. Mostly in myself.

  Leaning back against the counter, he pressed his palms into the tile. “No real reason, I guess.” He shrugged. “It’s just …” He paused. “Ya know, just forget I said anything.”

  “Okay.”

  Nodding at the ground, he sniffed before pushing off the counter. “Well, if you’re all set here …” He gestured around the kitchen.

  “Yeah, I’m good. And thanks again. I—”

  “Anytime.” He cut me off again, heading for the door, and I did nothing to stop him. There was nothing to stop him for.

  But as the hours passed, I felt more and more guilty for the way I’d handled things. It wasn’t his fault he was so smooth and therefore completely irresistible. It wasn’t his fault I felt the way I did. He was just being friendly. Flirty in a way he probably was with all the girls. It was obvious he didn’t need another one hanging around, fawning over his every word. No. What he needed was a friend. A friend who fed him food, not flattering lines of bullshit.

  Headlights shining through my window caught my attention. He was leaving, and who knew when he was coming back. If he was even coming back at all.

  Swallowing my pride, I got up and took the leftovers out of the fridge, piled them onto a microwaveable plate, then covered it with Saran Wrap for the short trek over to his house. Without bothering to knock, I left the plate on his porch in hopes of patching up what damage I had done and picking back up where we left off before. As friends.

  *

  “So, he said he just wanted to be friends? Those exact words came out of his mouth?” Alyssa asked.

  I sighed, having to go over this for the millionth time today. “No. He didn’t say that. He didn’t really say anything. He didn’t have to. I just know. It’s best we stay friends.”

  “Is this because of the blonde? Because she could have been anybody. A sister. A cousin. Just a friend.” Alyssa eyed me. “Besides, you said yourself you haven’t seen her since. In fact, you haven’t seen anyone of the female persuasion since, so what’s the issue?”

  “The issue is I highly doubt he’s looking for a real relationship.”

  “And you are?”

  “Well, given the alternative.”

  “Exactly.” Dropping her sandwich, Alyssa pointed at me. “You think you’re ready to get raw and real with this guy, Hailey. But you’re not. Not really.” Gesturing widely with her hands, she sounded exasperated. “What we’re talking about is fun. You’re holding out for his issues. And let me tell you, Hailey, he’s got issues. A lifetime subscription full of ‘em. They all do.”

  “Who’s they? Fishermen?”

  “Fishermen. Men in general. You name it. Pretty much everybody on God’s green Earth does. Everybody but you.”

  What was that supposed to mean? Did she seriously think I didn’t have issues? “Oh, I have issues.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like, it’s impossible for me to have a one-night stand.”

  “That’s not an issue, Hailey. It’s a mindset. Try again.”

  “Okay. Well, I woke up one morning to find my cat had been run over. She was flat as a pancake. My dad had to scrape her off the street.”

  “And you watched?” Alyssa asked in disgust.

  “Well, yeah.”

  “Then I take it back,” she said, picking up her sandwich. She waved it at me before biting off a mouthful. “You just might have more issues than all of us.”

  I was in a funk all the rest of the afternoon. Alyssa had dragged up some less than stellar memories, and I couldn’t seem to shake them or this foul mood.

  Along with my poor cat Buttons, her calling my inability to do casual sex a mindset was on my mind the rest of the day. Maybe she was right. Maybe I could sleep with my neighbor as if it were nothing.

  My stomach was in a series of knots that rolled up into one big ball when I saw him sitting on my front porch swing, clean, empty plate in hand. My decision that I could casually sleep with him regressed back to the beginning stages of deliberation. Could I do that? Did I want to do that? Did he? Of course he did. He was a guy and this was sex we were talking about.

  Parking the car, I waved once I got out. “I see you found the plate.”

  “Was it supposed to be hidden?”

  Shaking my head, I climbed the steps. I stood back as far as I could, leaning against the porch rail. “You really think I’d hide anything from you?”

  The look he gave me told me he knew I would and did.

  “So, was it as good as the chicken?”

  “Better, actually.”

  “Really?”

  “No, not really. But it was just as good. I bet all of it is.” He looked me up and down once then smiled. “Your cooking, I mean.”

  Setting the plate down on the swing, he leaned forward, clasping his hands together and resting his forearms on his legs. He looked out over the bay as he rocked back and forth. “Anyway, I just came by to drop that off. Tell you thank you for my last meal.”

  “Last meal?”

  He nodded. “Last good one, at least. I’m headed back out tonight. Gonna be gone for a while.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah.”

  Our silence danced with the wind while he rocked back and forth on my creaky porch swing. I followed his gaze out over the bay, looking back at him when the creaking stopped and he stood. “Well, I better get going. Gotta get some sleep before I head out.”

  As he walked past, I grabbed him by the wrist, letting go when he looked down at my hand. “Just be careful out there, okay? I bought a lot of extra food and I’d rather not watch it all go to waste.”

  With a sad sort of smile, he nodded, taking off down the steps and disappearing into his house.

  It was later that night when the wind picked up, pelting little raindrops against my window, that his screen door squeaked. With the moon high in the sky, I watched as he threw a bag in the cab of his truck then climbed in after it just short of a colossal downpour. I prayed the brunt of it stayed on land this time and he’d come home safe because we were friends. And what else were frien
ds for?

  Chapter Five

  “Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, or haven’t you heard?” Sitting on the edge of my desk, Alyssa picked up my ship in a bottle, pretending it was rocking on imaginary waves. “The boats are coming in today.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Looking back down at the papers I was grading, I rested my chin in my palm. Of course I knew the boats were coming in today. I knew the estimated time of arrival the day after Coll left. There was a monthly schedule posted in the Harbor Master’s office. But no way was I owning up to knowing that. Or to how I found out about it.

  “Uh, yeah. Why aren’t you more excited?”

  I looked past her to check on the kids. I found them all still feverishly coloring and envied them more in that moment than I ever had before. All they had to worry about was staying inside the lines while I had grown-up problems to deal with. Grown-up problems that were giving me stress ulcers only soothed by sugar and salt. Bills and boys were a drain on energy. All they did was make you broke and cause damage to your waistline. I really needed to start running again.

  Setting the ship back down on my desk, Alyssa started playing with the paper clips. I eyed her hands as she idly linked them together.

  “Isn’t your friend from home flying in tomorrow?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I can’t wait to meet her. If she’s anything like you described, we’ll get along just fine.”

  I nodded because I was sure they would get along just fine. Both were incredibly fun and funny and had really, really, big, loud mouths.

  “We can go shopping. Maybe spend a day on the beach. Should be a lot of fun.”

  “Yeah, definitely.”

  I marked out yet another misspelling of the word shirt and gummed my lips. This was going to make for some interesting conversation at the upcoming parent/teacher conferences.

  Alyssa huffed then threw down the chain of paper clips. When I didn’t take the bait, she took my red pen away.

  “Hey!”

  “You’ll get it back when I get some answers. Now what’s up with you?” I reached out for the pen, but she was quicker. “I tell you your boy toy’s cruising in on the love boat tonight, and nothing. I mention your best friend from home is flying in from thousands of miles away just to see you, and nothing. What gives? Why aren’t you more excited?” Alyssa growled through her clenched teeth as she shook me by my shoulder.