Chapter 13
Ella wiped down a table that was recently vacated and shoved the decent tip into the front pocket of her red apron. It was moving closer to tourist season and a few had already started their descent into their small town. Before she knew it, the town would be overrun with faces she didn’t know and voices she’d never heard before.
She loved that her town was a place for people to get away, experience a little piece of what the beautiful coast of Maine had to offer, but a part of her also hated sharing her special place on the beach. In the next few weeks, her private oasis would be filled with overzealous children and neurotic mothers who were afraid of letting their kids get too close to the water.
The sweet serenity would be lost, and Ella would have nowhere to go to get away from the chaos. She loved her family more than life itself, but sometimes they were a little overbearing and she needed to slip away.
A loud clatter drew Ella’s attention toward the kitchen. She heard her grandfather yelling, and she raced back to see what the problem was. Inside the kitchen pots, and pans were knocked over, Chris, the cook, was standing with his arms crossed while Vinny waved a spatula out the door, a string of curses in Italian flowing from his mouth.
“Let me guess,” Ella said, turning to Chris. “Diavolo struck again.”
Chris uncrossed his arms and began picking up pans. He looked at Ella and smirked. “Can’t you tell?”
“That damn seagull!” Vinny yelled as he turned back into the kitchen, and Ella covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
Once the warm weather returned and the kitchen door was left open to cool the kitchen with the ocean breeze the seagull, rightfully named Diavolo, made it a habit to steal whatever he could latch onto before someone chased him out.
For Ella, it was the first signs of the season. She helped Chris pick up the rest of the mess and brought them over to the sink to give a quick wash.
“That seagull has a death wish,” Vinny said, holding his fist up like Diavolo could see him or even understand him.
“Come on, Grandpa, let me pour you a little limoncello.” Ella guided Vinny away from the kitchen and toward the tiny bar they had. He slid onto one of the stools and she grabbed a rock glass, pouring a healthy amount of the alcohol into it and sliding it across the outdated wood top.
She really wished he would let her redecorate the small space, but every time she brought it up, he shot it down. Eventually she just gave up asking, but it didn’t stop her from imagining everything that she could do to transform the dated interior.
Vinny took a sip of the limoncello and smiled. The tension that had been visible in the creases around his eyes eased.
“Better?” she asked.
“Much.”
“Good. Now you stay here and finish that, and I’m going to take this over to Wilson’s house. Fran is having a bad day, and I don’t want him to have to cook for himself,” Ella said. She had seen Wilson at the grocery store earlier, standing in the meat aisle and looking lost.
Both Wilson and Fran were part of her extended family and though she couldn’t cure Fran, though she wished she could, she wanted to help in any way possible. Helping with the little things like dinner might not have been much but at least Fran could focus on healing while Wilson had a good meal without the added stress.
Vinny took her hand and hugged it to his chest. “You have a beautiful soul, cuore mio.”
“It runs in the family,” she said, chucking his chin.
“Tell Wilson if he needs anything to call me.” He jammed his finger into the bar to get his point across.
Her grandfather would drop everything for the ones he loved they just had to say the word.
“I will,” Ella said. She grabbed the to-go bag off the counter and headed outside to her bike.
She passed Martha who was dressed in a beautiful aquamarine tunic that flowed behind her and danced with the breeze. Ella gave her a wave.
“Hi sweetie,” Martha said, waving back, her bracelets clacking together with the movement. Ella always loved Martha. She was the definition of a flower child and definitely danced to her own beat, but that’s what made her so special.
“Stop by later. I just got a new shipment of that goatmilk lip balm you like.”
“I definitely will,” Ella said.
“Good. I’ll put one aside for you then.”
“That’d be great. Thanks.”
Ella got on her bike and got about halfway down the street when she heard her name. She turned and spotted Lucas, poking out of the alleyway. He looked devilishly handsome, lurking in the dark corner. She got off her bike, glanced around to make sure she was in the clear, and headed into the alley.
She leaned her bike against the back of The Local Bean and quietly called Lucas’ name. It was as if she’d imagined him. “Lucas, where are you?” she called out when a hand wrapped around her waist and spun her around.
A laugh startled out of her as he backed her up against the wall. His lips came down on hers, and she surrendered to his knee weakening kiss, praying no one would stumble upon them, but at the same time not caring at all. His lips felt too good, her body too consumed with the sensations coursing through it and sparking new life into her.
“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” he said against her lips.
“Is that so?”
“Uh huh,” he said, dipping his head and capturing her lips again. His hand slipped beneath her shirt, pressing against bare skin. Heat shot to her core and desire mixed with need. She thrust her fingers into his hair, pulling him closer.
His hand ran down her backside, over the curve to her thigh. She lifted her leg, wrapping it around him, and urging him even closer still. His hard bulge pressed against her center, and she moaned at the contact.
“I have a delivery. I don’t want the food to get cold,” she said, not wanting to pull away.
“Joe’s going away for the night. Meeting some friends to gamble at the casino. They comp’d him a room and he doesn’t want to pass it up.”
Ella smiled. “He’s leaving you unsupervised?”
Lucas nodded, bending down and nipping at her ear. “He’ll be gone by five. Come over tonight. I’ll cook you dinner.”
“On one condition,” she said.
“And what’s that?”
“You don’t make lobster.”
He laughed. “You got yourself a deal.”
“I really have to go.” She kissed him, trying to physically make herself walk away, but unable to find the strength to sever their tie completely. He moved with her, lips locked, backing her toward her bike.
She reached her bike and kissed him one last time. “Bye,” she said and rode away before she lost the will to leave him.
***
Lucas walked away from the alleyway, his pants a little tighter and a smile on his face. He had no idea what he did in life to give him a chance with Ella, but he was sure as hell glad about whatever it was. He headed back to the restaurant, taking in the fresh salt air. The colorful shops and cobblestone streets weren’t something he was accustomed to, but he was beginning to fall in love with them. There was something about the small-town that he didn’t get from downtown Los Angeles.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. His body tensed slightly as he realized the call wasn’t from Ella, Leo or Brian but from his mother.
While he had completely cut his dad out of his life, he still stayed in touch with his mom. It wasn’t her fault she was married to a manipulative asshole who wanted to control the people in his life. She wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy, but he wondered how much his dad had to do with that.
He answered the phone before it could go to voicemail. “Lucas,” his mother said. “Your office said you were on vacation.”
He didn’t know if he’d call it a vacation exactly, and he honestly wasn’t planning on telling his mother about his trip, but he was sick of the lies. “I am. I’m actually in Willow Cove.”
The line went silent, and he sat down on one of the benches in front of Mind, Body, and Soul.
“Oh,” she finally said. “That’s…interesting.”
“I thought it was time I met the man Dad made me believe was dead. It’s been pretty eye opening actually. Learned a few things about my family history. About Dad.”
“That place is cursed.”
“Is that what you honestly believe? Is that why you kept me away my whole life? Made me believe I didn’t have grandparents?”
“It wasn’t my life to talk about.”
“No, but I’m your son, and I deserved to know I had family in the world who wanted me a part of their life.”
“Your father left Willow Cove for a reason. Nothing good came out of that place. Nothing but heartache and tragedy, and his father was no help in the matter. He was forcing your father to be someone he wasn’t.”
Lucas laughed at the irony. “Like Dad did to me?”
“That was different.”
“Do you hear yourself?” Lucas demanded. “How is that different?”
“Your father wanted what was best for you. To be successful… not stuck in some joke of a town, slopping seafood on a bun for tourists.”
“And what gave him the right to make that decision for me? To force onto me the life he envisioned for me and not the life I actually wanted? He didn’t want to get stuck in Willow Cove, but that didn’t give him the right to keep me away.”
“Well, you’re there now so it’s water under the bridge.”
It was typical of his mother to try and gloss over a situation and act as if the ramifications weren’t nearly as bad as they truly were.
“You might want it to be, but it’s not,” he said.
“Don’t you think this little charade of yours has gone on long enough?” she asked, and Lucas could feel the tension spread through him like wildfire. The flames of fury sparking in succession until the collar of his shirt felt too tight and the air too thick.
He was done letting his mother make him feel bad for his actions. Making him feel like he was the one at fault when his father was the one who lied. If she wanted this so-called charade of his to be over then his father needed to step up to the plate and apologize.
But Lucas wasn’t naïve enough to think that would ever happen. It would be a cold day in hell if that day ever came.
She let out a perturbed breath on the other end. “It’s time to stop playing the martyr and make this right.”
“As always, Mother, it’s been a pleasure, but I have to go.”
“When will you be back in California?”
“I don’t know.”
“Surely you have a return flight. What day?”
“It’s not set in stone yet,” he said.
“What are you saying?” she asked. “You have a business to run. And heaven knows those friends of yours can’t do it alone.”
She never did like Leo and Brian, not like she really knew them to even be able to pass such judgement. She resented them though and turned her nose up at them at any given opportunity. Most likely because they had been more like family to him in the past few years than she had been in a very long time. He stopped going home for the holidays, choosing to spend time with their families instead, and when he went into business with them, he would have thought he physically hurt her with how she went on and on about it.
“Don’t do something stupid,” she continued.
“Thanks for your confidence in me. It’s always appreciated.”
“I just don’t want you to—”
“I got to go.” He hung up before she could say anything else. The last thing he wanted was to explain himself to his mother. There was no point. Her mind was unchangeable, and no matter what he said she wouldn’t care unless he was back on a plane in California, living a life she could brag to her friends about.
He stood up, shoving his phone in his pocket and taking a breath. He closed his eyes for a moment, Ella’s face popping into his mind and completely calming him down.
He didn’t have time to stress over his mom; he had a dinner to plan.