Chapter 6
“You haven’t begun to experience how stubborn I can be.” ~ Maya
Maya
“I need coffee,” Sophia moans as we enter the Pirates Pastries cafe .
“Lots and lots of coffee,” Chloe adds.
Nova groans. “You’re mean. You know I can’t have coffee.”
I guide her toward a table near the window. “You can have coffee in a month after your baby girl is born.”
She smiles as she rubs a hand over her large belly. “I can’t believe she’s almost here.”
“I can’t believe you bought five bags of clothes for a baby who is going to grow out of them after one wear,” Paisley says as she sits next to us.
“How could I resist? The ‘I believe in mermaids’ t-shirt was too cute to pass up.”
Paisley frowns. “Mermaids don’t exist.”
I wag a finger at her. “They do on Smuggler’s Hideaway. ”
“I can’t wait to tell my baby girl all about the mermaid legends.”
“You might want to refrain from discussing suicide with your child,” Paisley says.
“It’s not about the suicide. It’s about the love.” I sigh. “What’s more than romantic than knowing you can’t live without the man you love because he drowned in the ocean trying to be with you?”
Paisley wrinkles her nose. “Are you reading mermaid romances now?”
Sophia plops a tray of hot drinks on our table. “I thought you were obsessed with vampire romances.”
I roll my eyes. “I wouldn’t say obsessed.”
Chloe sits down next to me. “You dressed up as a woman with bite marks on her neck and blood dripping down her t-shirt for Halloween.”
“I did not,” I lie. “Besides, vampires don’t cause their mates to bleed.”
“You would know all about vampires and their lovers,” Parker says as she sets a plate of pastries on our table.
I jump up to hug her. “How are you?”
The owner of the bakery giggles. “You act as if you haven’t seen me for months.”
“It’s been at least a few weeks.” A few weeks feels like a long time when you live in a small town where it’s normal to bump into every inhabitant at least once a week .
She waggles her eyebrows. “Since you haven’t been around because you’ve been too busy with a certain military hero to stop by for a shipwreck cookie?”
I narrow my eyes on her. “What have you heard?”
She shrugs. “Nothing but you’d be silly to ignore Caleb. He’s nearly as hot as Poseidon.”
I’m not ignoring Caleb. It’s impossible. I swear the man has figured out how to create magnetism since I’m drawn to the cabin he’s staying in. It’s a force I can’t ignore.
“Finally!” Chloe shouts. “I thought we were going to talk about Nova’s baby and her baby clothes forever.”
Nova wags her finger at her. “You’re the one who bought the baby an ‘I stop for seals’ t-shirt.”
“It’s tradition. All smugglers should have an ‘I stop for seals’ t-shirt.”
I ignore their argument and nab a Blackbeard’s revenge cookie. I moan as the taste of chocolate and peanut butter hits my tongue. I probably shouldn’t be eating cookies. I’m curvy enough as it is but who can resist chocolate and peanut butter? Not I.
Chloe leans closer. “Is that how you moan when Caleb touches you?”
Caleb hasn’t touched me, but I might have imagined him touching my naked skin a time or two thousand. My cheeks heat, and I duck my chin.
Nova hits Chloe. “Leave Maya alone.”
Chloe sweeps a hand over the bakery. “There’s no reason to be shy. It’s just us in here. ”
I scan the room. It’s Saturday afternoon. Prime bakery goodie eating time but the place is empty except for us. The winter months when tourists don’t visit the island are slow but where are the locals?
“I need to get back to the kitchen,” Parker says and rushes off before I can ask her if she’s in trouble.
Sophia stares after her. “I’m worried about her business. Flynn helped her to renovate the apartment above the bakery for extra cashflow, but there aren’t any renters for the winter.”
“Maybe we could do some kind of fundraising activity. Smugglers do love their festivals,” I suggest.
“Are you going to be in charge?” Paisley asks.
Me? In charge? Of a festival? Talk to all kinds of people and order them around? I’d rather stick my hand in a bee’s nest while covered in honey. “I’ll handle the money.”
“Can we stop with all the delaying now?” Chloe asks. “I kept my mouth shut throughout our shopping trip.”
Sophia snorts. “You kept your mouth shut? You wouldn’t know how.”
“About the Caleb thing. I didn’t say a word.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You didn’t point to the camouflage onesie and ask me if it reminded me of anyone?”
“I didn’t say the name Caleb.”
She didn’t need to. “And you didn’t mention how cute ‘my little military’ baby would look in the onesie?”
“Again, I didn’t say the name Caleb.”
“Give the girl a cookie. She didn’t say Caleb’s name. ”
Chloe beams at me before snatching a cookie from the pile. “Thanks.”
“I was being sarcastic.”
She winks at me. “I know. Don’t care.”
“Can we please leave Maya alone now?” Nova asks and I smile at her.
Nova is the only one of my friends who doesn’t push me. Who respects my privacy. Although, privacy is a relative word when you live in a small town on a small island where everyone thinks it’s their business to be all up in your business.
“Sorry, Nova. Love you more than my sister, but it’s time,” Sophia says.
“You don’t have a sister,” Nova says.
“Thus, why I love you more than my sister.”
“Speaking of sisters.” Chloe leans closer to Nova. “Do you plan to give this baby girl a sister or a brother?”
“Are you planning to give Natalia a brother or a sister?” Nova fires back at her.
Chloe scowls. “No fair. You know I don’t want children.”
“And yet you’re married and have a step-daughter,” Nova says.
Happiness engulfs Chloe’s face. The love she has for the family she’s created radiates from her. I want that. I want what she has. I want it more than anything. A family. A man to love me. A child to raise.
And I want all of it with Caleb. Blond-haired little boys with blue eyes. They’d be the cutest kids on the island. I know because Caleb was the most adorable little boy on the island until he grew up to be the sexiest man in the world.
Sophia waves a hand in front of my face. “She’s dreaming about Caleb.”
“Of course, she is,” Paisley says as if my daydreaming about Caleb is a foregone conclusion. “She’s been dreaming about him since she saw him without a shirt on at the beach when we were teenagers.”
“Nope.” Nova spins her finger in a rewind motion. “Before then.”
“Was it when she let him cheat off her math homework?” Chloe asks.
“You shouldn’t let anyone cheat off of you,” Paisley says. “It’s wrong.”
“It was Caleb. She’d give him her last five dollars if he asked for it,” Chloe says before leaning in closer. “And? What have you given the military hero lately?” She wags her eyebrows. “A taste of you?”
I shove her away. “Stop. Caleb and I are just friends.”
“But everyone on Smuggler’s Hideaway knows you want more,” Sophia says.
I don’t lash out at her since she knows how it feels for the entire island to know who your crush is. And tease you about it. At least, none of the rumors about me ever claimed Caleb rejected me. I wouldn’t have handled it very well.
“Doesn’t matter,” I claim. “Caleb doesn’t want me. He doesn’t even want to see me. ”
“I admit he was a bit of a jerk at my baby shower,” Nova says. “But he was probably surprised to see you is all. Have you tried to visit him since then?”
“I dropped a basket of food off at his house. He wouldn’t even open the door.”
She rubs a hand over my back. “I’m sorry, Maya. It was shitty of him, but maybe he has his reasons.”
I narrow my eyes on her. “What do you know?”
She shrugs. “Nothing specific, but we all saw the way he was limping when you chased after him.”
Thanks for the reminder of how I humiliated myself by chasing after a man who clearly wants nothing to do with me.
“He’s obviously suffered a serious injury,” Paisley says.
I switch my attention to her. “How do you know?”
“You mentioned he has another two years on his current contract with the Army. He couldn’t be hiding away on Smuggler’s Hideaway unless he was injured.”
I frown. I know Caleb was injured since he was limping. But he was still moving faster than me. I assumed it wasn’t a serious injury.
But Paisley has a point. He wouldn’t be back home unless he’s seriously injured. He’s never spent any of his time off on the island before. Why start now?
Hang the mermaids. I’m a horrible person. All I’ve been thinking about is me and how I’m affected by Caleb’s situation when I should be worried about him.
No more mooning over the soldier I can’t have.
It’s time to be what he needs.
A friend.