Chapter Three
It shouldn’t have taken me an hour to finally land on the outfit I’d chosen for tonight, but it had. Lucky was no help as a personal stylist. Not to mention, I’d packed for a normal stint as a pet sitter where my outfits usually consisted of yoga pants, sweat pants, some jeans, sweatshirts and a few sweaters. I’d lucked out because I’d packed two sleeveless maxi dresses. Granted, they weren’t exactly fitting for the fall weather outside, but at least they weren’t jeans.
During all of the discussions this afternoon, it never once occurred to me to ask what the dress was for tonight so for all I knew, I was going to show up in a floral dress while everyone else was in cocktail dresses.
But that wouldn’t be too unusual for a day in the life of Tiffany Bailey. If there was a way I could make a wrong entrance or say the wrong thing at the wrong time that was what I excelled at.
I let out a groan and all the reasons why I loved my job came rushing back. I was meant to be a homebody travelling from one home to another all across the region.
“Lucky? Don’t you think you’ll miss me too much if I leave and I ought to just stay home?” I turned around to where he’d been when I’d started my outfit hunt, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Lucky? Don’t you miss me already?”
I heard an odd scratching sound from down the hall, and I found myself dashing out of the room to find Lucky in the powder room. The tiny room was covered in white tissue. Lucky turned around grinning at me with toilet paper snaked between his teeth, and he walked over to place the soggy pile in my palm. I knew I should scold him, but the look of pride in his eyes held me back.
“Oh, Lucky.” I scratched his head as he tried to get the wet toilet paper out of his mouth. “Did you do this when your parents were here?”
I swore a smile tugged at his droopy chops as he spit out the rest of the wet paper onto the tile floor.
“Such a glamorous life.” I scooped up the goop and tossed it into the bowl to flush. I wound up the rest of the dry paper and tossed it. “Is this your way of getting me to stay home?”
He slid his feet in front of him and sprawled out on the tile floor.
“Here, how about I get you all cozy in front of the television, and I promise when I get home we’ll share a bowl of pretzels. I might even bring back a doggy bag.”
Lucky sat up and cocked his head in agreement.
“Okay, deal.” I walked him into the living room and got him settled on the couch with blankets and pillows. I turned Animal Planet on the television and patted his head once more before I grabbed my purse, and a sweater, and headed out the door.
Tonight would be good for me.
I kept repeating the mantra as I slid the car into reverse and my telephone began dictating directions.
Within fifteen minutes I found myself pulling into a gravel parking lot that was already near capacity.
Hildie certainly knew how to throw a party.
I found one of the last remaining spots, turned off the car, and took a deep breath.
Tonight would be good for me.
I’d become somewhat of a hermit if you asked my sister, which I didn’t, but she somehow managed to tell me anyway, and it might be fun to just eat some good food and have some interesting conversation.
After that little pep talk, I slid my purse under the seat and sprang out of the car.
The grounds were covered in twinkle lights. Every branch of every tree had tiny white lights, and the bushes were plastered too. The pathway to the larger buildings was lit with white garden lanterns. Music and laughter wafted through the air and my stomach knotted.
Walking into a room full of people I didn’t know wasn’t exactly my idea of fun, but it was too late to turn back now.
Several cottages speckled the grounds as I wound along the path until I came to a large open space where a mammoth lodge had people spilling out of it onto the lawns.
I didn’t even know this many people lived on Hound Island.
“Tiffany,” a cheery woman’s voice called from across the lawn, and I immediately recognized Maddie, even in the dark.
She was standing with a group of women and waved me over. The tension immediately fell away as I walked to the group of women.
“I’m so glad you decided to come. I wasn’t sure if you would or not.” She gave me a quick hug. “These are some of my friends.”
“I’m Tori.” A redhead stuck out her hand. “I actually live on Fireweed Island.”
“Nice to meet you.” I shook her hand and another woman introduced herself as Brandy.
“I’m Brooke and this is Sophie.” A dark-haired woman took my hand next and I smiled. “But none of us expect you to remember our names beyond tomorrow.”
“I was hoping to get past the next fifteen minutes.” I laughed.
“I’m awful at that too.” Sophie smiled, and I felt like I recognized her from somewhere.
“Oh, and here comes my sister and Gina.” Maddie clapped her hands. “Better late than never.”
A blonde, who looked like Maddie, bounded toward the group with another woman right behind her.
“Holly, this is Tiffany. She’s pet sitting on the island for a few months,” Maddie informed her.
Holly smiled and gave me a quick hug. “You’ll have to come to Fireweed Island. It’s got a lot more to do than Hound.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say a lot.” Tori chuckled. “If you’re used to city living, it’s probably as slow as a turtle trying to cross an interstate.”
All heads turned toward Tori and they started laughing.
“Not sure where you came up with that one.” Holly chuckled.
I liked Tori immediately.
“So have you seen much of the islands?” Gina asked, her voice trailing to almost nothing on the last word.
“No. I’ve been to some of them but not Fireweed or Hound. Yesterday, I went to one of the parks and—”
“We heard.” Holly chuckled. “It sounds like you’ve got your hands full.”
I groaned and shook my head. “I really do. Before I came tonight, Lucky had taken a roll of toilet paper on a joy ride. I just felt so bad for the guy whose food truck we wrecked.”
“Oh, Billy?” Brooke waved her hand in my direction. “He’s harmless, and I wouldn’t give it a second thought.” A few seconds of silence went by. “Did he give you a free hot dog?”
I laughed but didn’t answer, which they of course picked up on.
“You know, I wonder if that trick ever works for him.” Tori grinned. “It’s not like I see a parade of women trouncing out of his house.”
“Well, how often do you visit Billy?” Maddie chuckled.
“True.” She nodded. “But regardless, he is an absolute sweetheart.”
“He is and half the females who meet him want to date him.” Tori smiled.
“What about the other half?” I asked.
“They probably want to kill him.” Maddie shook her head. “Kidding. There’s just something about him that makes people happy. I wish he’d settle down someday.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Brooke chipped in. “He loves being a bachelor.”
“I don’t think he loves it. I think he pretends he loves it,” Maddie countered. “But regardless, he loves giving away his hot dogs.”
“So he’s always that nice?” I asked.
“Pretty much.” Brooke tilted her head. “Unless you cross one of his friends and then it’s all over.”
“That’s right. What was that guy’s name he knocked out over you? Was it Brent or Roger or?” Maddie asked.
“It was Roger, and I’d never seen a man fall to the ground that quickly.”
My heart pounded at this revelation. Billy punched a guy? Now I was completely intrigued.
“What happened to make him knock a guy out?” I asked, trying not to sound too interested but secretly lapping up every detail.
“It’s a long story but in not so many words, Billy knocked out a guy I used to date who’d implied I was a prostitute.”
“Yikes. Well, I can see why he did it then.” I liked Billy even more.
“Exactly,” Maddie agreed. “Wasn’t Kyle about to throw a punch too?”
“Yup.” Brooke got a dreamy look in her eyes and smiled.
“And Kyle is?” I asked, trying to keep everyone straight.
“My fiancé. He’s here somewhere.”
“Do you live here?”
“We live on the mainland over near Silver Ridge. I used to live here while I worked for Aunt Hildie.”
“Wow. So Chance is your cousin? It’s like everyone knows everyone and everything about everyone.”
Brooke nodded.
“It does kind of seem that way around here.” Maddie nodded and rubbed her belly. “But I can’t imagine it any other way.”
“On that note, what is this event for?” I asked.
“Well, Billy just sold his first ten franchises and—”
“I think it’s more than ten now,” Brooke interrupted Maddie.
“Okay, so he sold more than ten franchises, and he wanted to celebrate so naturally Hildie took over and now the entire island is here.” Maddie laughed.
“Wow. That’s incredible. So is it the hot dog truck that he franchised?” I asked.
“The concept includes a café and then a catering food truck, but you can ask him all the details since he’s making his way over.” Maddie pointed into the darkness, and it took my eyes a few seconds to find him.
When my eyes focused on Billy, every single cell in my body lit up. My imagination hadn’t lied to me. He was as gorgeous as I remembered and then some. It didn’t hurt that he was wearing a very fitted pair of jeans and a dark tee that hugged his chest.
I turned my attention back to Maddie so it didn’t look like I was salivating over their friend.
“You know, you should come over to Fireweed tomorrow and stop by our tea shop,” Maddie suggested. “Gina and Holly are going to be there tomorrow around lunch.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. We can show you a bit of that island and your client is more than welcome to come too. It sounds like you might not want to leave him alone too long.”
“That’s really sweet of you. I’d love to come visit.” And I was surprised that I meant that, but there was something about this group of women that was so genuine and refreshing.
“If it isn’t the guest of honor finally making his way over to the little people of the world,” Maddie said, laughter tipping every word.
Billy’s return laughter filled the air and my entire body responded. His eyes sparkled as he shook his head, watching Maddie. “Will there ever be a day where you don’t flip me—”
Maddie gasped and held her hands over her belly. “Enough with the cursing. There are innocent ears lurking.”
Billy rolled his eyes. “By my estimation, there are absolutely no innocent women standing here.” His eyes roamed from Sophie to Brooke to Maddie until his gaze landed on me. “And this one right here definitely isn’t innocent.”
The way his eyes settled on me made the others vanish from my orbit. I suddenly didn’t care there were half a dozen women who I’d just met surrounding me. I could only focus on Billy.
“I am very innocent.” I smiled. “It’s just Lucky who’s a little on the edge.”
Billy smiled and the spark I’d felt yesterday came zinging back. I dropped my gaze to the ground to regroup.
“They say dogs take after their owners.”
“Well, I’m not Lucky’s owner so…” My eyes met his and my stomach fluttered.
“It’s quite a surprise to see you here.” He glanced at Maddie before returning his gaze to me. “A great surprise.”
“Hildie, Chance, and Maddie invited me,” I blurted out, noticing several of the women retreating. My heart rate sped up at the thought of being alone with him. “But I didn’t know the party was for you.”
“Would that have changed your mind about coming?” His brow arched, and I noticed how beautiful his green eyes looked when the twinkle lights bounced off them.
I shrugged and Maddie squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll see you in a bit. I’m starving and Chance has the power to get me food when and where I need it.”
“Okay.”
She walked away, and I turned my attention back to Billy.
“He’s the executive chef here,” Billy informed me. “So it’s perfect for a pregnant woman.”
“Lucky woman.”
“You think a man who knows how to cook is a plus?”
“It certainly doesn’t hurt.” I smiled.
“So I have a chance then?” His eyes pinned me in place as everyone else sprinkled away into the rest of the party.
“I didn’t say that,” I corrected.
He clutched his heart. “What if I gave you another hot dog?”
“Into buying love?” I teased.
“Whatever it takes.” His arms dropped to his side, and I noticed how beautifully intricate the ink on his arms was.
I felt my cheeks warm, but I kept my gaze steady on his. “Congrats on selling your first franchise licenses.”
“You heard about that?” he asked, rubbing his fingers along some stubble on his jaw.
“It was bound to come out with the party and all,” I teased.
“I suppose that’s true.”
“I figured out where your restaurant is. I drove by a guy wearing a hot dog costume and thought it might be you.”
He held up his hand and laughed. “Even I have my limits.”
“You’re saying you’re too good to dress up as a hot dog?”
“Not saying that at all, but I already put in my time.” His smile widened. “We all have to pay our dues, one time or another.” He glanced over my shoulder and waved. “So have you thought any more about having a little fun with me while you’re here on the island?”
“My sister’s coming out so I might not have much time…”
“She’ll be here for the three months then?” His lip curled slightly.
“I didn’t say that, but—”
“I just realized I never asked if you were dating someone. That’s the problem, isn’t it?”
I shook my head and laughed. “Nope. Not seeing anyone.”
“You certainly know how to keep a man humble.” His smile created a slow roll through my stomach.
I laughed, shaking my head. “That’s certainly not my intention.”
“Well, since you know where to find me…” A guy walked up next to Billy and gave him a great big bear hug.
“You’re totally ruining my street cred.” Billy laughed as the guy let go.
He looked eerily similar to Billy.
“Tiffany, this is my brother Stone.”
“Nice to meet you.” Stone ignored my hand and went in for a giant bear hug. “It’s nice to see my brother’s hot dog trick finally worked.” He let go and Billy let out a sigh.
“No such luck for your brother,” I teased. “But his hot dogs are sensational.”
“She’s merely a friend,” Billy corrected.
Stone patted his brother’s back and shook his head. “Don’t worry. Someday, there’ll be—”
“Okay, so hopefully we’ll catch each other again,” Billy cut off his brother, and I held in a chuckle as he began steering him into the crowd.
Watching Billy leave made my heart drop a bit. I liked being in his company, even if I had no plans to go out with him.
It wasn’t two seconds later that a woman dressed in a form-fitting red dress and six inch heels flung herself at Billy and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him no choice but to hug back.
Or that was what I told myself.
“I just had to tell you something,” she cooed close to his ear.
Billy untangled from her embrace and glanced at his brother, who looked as amused as the other men standing around him.
“It’s good to see you too.” Billy took a step back, but she closed the gap immediately.
“I’m so proud of you and your stinkin’ hot dog stand. I knew you had it in you to go big.”
“It was never a hot dog stand,” Stone corrected.
I noticed Billy’s eyes connect with mine right before the woman landed a hard kiss on him with no intention of letting go.