Chapter Two
Tom
I pull into Jake’s driveway and shift into park when Maverick, Jake’s Great Dane, comes barreling toward me like a freight train on legs. He’s a few years old and the size of a small horse, but his mannerisms resemble a puppy. He’s energetic and will do just about anything for treats.
I scratch his ears as his tail whips furiously when the sight of movement distracts me. It’s not the picturesque blue of the lake or the rustic charm of the lake houses, but the speck of red bobbing in the driver’s seat of the black SUV that’s coming down the street. The beautiful Caroline Tate.
When I saw her briefly in Driftwood Diner this morning, she was in and out so quickly I didn’t get to say anything.
But when she left her purse on the barstool, I knew that was my chance.
Since Thanksgiving, I’ve been eagerly waiting to see her in person again.
I’ve survived on texts and video calls that made me laugh until my sides hurt.
But nothing compares to being in her presence.
The way the sunlight catches on her fiery hair, how her green eyes sparkle with mischief, and her bright laugh.
Oh, that laugh. I’m already plotting how to coax it out of her.
As she parks in Maggie’s driveway, right next door, I stride toward her car.
She steps out wearing a vibrant floral dress that hugs her curves, accompanied by gold bangles on her wrist and emerald earrings that catch the afternoon light.
She shrugs her emerald-green coat on and wraps a matching scarf around her neck.
She’s unafraid of being noticed, and boy, do I notice her.
She pops the trunk and stacks boxes labeled “WEDDING” in her arms. Her copper hair falls across her face as she leans forward, and she blows it away with a frustrated puff. I’m certain there’s nothing more beautiful than a determined Caroline.
“Let me give you a hand with that.” I reach out, my fingers brushing the cardboard boxes.
She pulls back. “I’ve got it, thanks.”
The way she shifts her weight to balance three heavy-looking boxes tells a different story.
“C’mon, Red,” I drawl. “Don’t be stubborn.”
She rolls her eyes but doesn’t refuse when I relieve her of the boxes.
“Better get used to it while you’re here. Small-town charm and all.” I teasingly grin at her as I head into Maggie’s house.
I set the boxes down in the neatly curated living room and hurry back outside, only to find Caroline already balancing the remaining boxes in her arms.
“Whoa there, don’t hurt yourself.” I rush to her and gently pry two boxes from her grip.
She scowls, crossing her arms. “I am perfectly capable of handling this myself.”
“I’m not saying you can’t. I’m just saying you shouldn’t have to.” I nudge her shoulder playfully with my own. Is that flicker in her eyes annoyance or amusement? Maybe a mix of both.
I nod for her to go in front of me. She marches ahead of me, her heels clicking across the porch. The moment she crosses the threshold, the atmosphere transforms. Squeals erupt as she enters the house. Maggie and Caroline jump around, hugging each other in the entryway.
“You’re here!” Maggie exclaims.
“I’ve missed you!” Then she lowers her voice to a whisper. “As a city girl, I never thought I’d say this, but I missed this small town of yours, too.”
“You’re about to get your small-town fill with all this wedding prep,” Maggie says nervously, twisting her engagement ring around her finger.
Caroline pulls Maggie into a tight embrace. “No stressing. It’s going to be perfect! And I’m here to help you now.”
Maggie’s gaze drifts over Caroline’s shoulder to where I’m standing with my arms full of boxes, and her eyes widen comically.
“Oh, Tom! I didn’t even notice you were still hauling things in. You should’ve called Jake to help.”
Caroline glances over her shoulder at me, a teasing smile on her pink lips. “He insisted.”
Maggie pulls Caroline toward her so I can walk by them and set these boxes with the rest of them.
“Tom, ever the gentleman,” Maggie smirks, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Can’t let our esteemed event planner overwork herself on the first day, can I?”
Caroline rolls her eyes, but I notice her lips twitch like she’s suppressing a grin. I wonder how many times she’ll roll her eyes at me today. I’ll start keeping a mental checklist. Two down, a million to go.
“Isn’t there a cat stuck in a tree somewhere that needs attention?” she quips, one hand on her hip.
This woman. She’s fiery just like her hair. But I don’t mind one bit. Red is my favorite color after all. My truck is red, the fire engine is red, the flames I battle are red, and the woman I want to call mine is Red.
“Alright, you two,” Maggie chides. “Enough of your bickering. We have a wedding to prepare for, after all. And you two,” she points a finger at Caroline and then at me, “are my right-hand people.”
Jake appears in the doorway, freezing midstep, looking bewildered at the piles of wedding magazines splayed on the floor and boxes now taking over Maggie’s living room. My buddy Jake, the same guy who voluntarily runs into fires, now looks terrified of wedding material.
He shoots me a desperate look that says, “Get me out of here,” but I shake my head, enjoying his discomfort a little too much.
“Did you bring an entire store with you, Caroline?” he asks, rubbing the back of his neck.
Caroline’s laugh fills the room. “Just the essentials, Jake.”
“If anyone can pull off this wedding, it’s Caroline,” Maggie says.
“Trust me, man, you’re in good hands.” I clap Jake’s shoulder.
She looks at me then with her bright green eyes as a smile spreads across her face. A genuine one that lights up her whole face. I’m drawn in by her radiance like a moth to a flame, and heat prickles at the back of my neck, spreading down my spine.
Maggie and her start looking through a magazine and talking about wedding details when Jake nudges me with his elbow hard enough to nearly knock me off balance.
“You’ve got it bad,” he whispers.
I straighten my shoulder, playing it cool—or at least trying to. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure, you don’t, Rivera.” Jake slaps my back, quietly laughing before making his exit toward the kitchen.
I try to ignore the pang of jealousy that twists in my gut.
Jake has it good right now. He’s planning his wedding with the woman he loves.
And truly, I’m happy for him; he deserves it.
He has his girl, while I…don’t. I have my career, which I love and wouldn’t change, but my house still echoes just one set of footsteps.
I’m just the unlucky-in-love best friend.
The one whose high school girlfriend dumped him for the quarterback.
The one whose college girlfriend said was “too much like a brother.” Gosh, what a terrible line that was to hear, especially with the taste of her mint gum still lingering on my lips.
Would you kiss a brother like that? I don’t think so.
And too many terrible dates and girlfriends since—coffee-shop disasters, movie-night mishaps, dinner dates where I wore my lucky blue button-down for nothing.
I think it’s as lucky as I am in love, so I gave that away a long time ago.
I glance at Caroline, who’s engrossed with Maggie in a discussion over floral arrangements.
I wish I could figure her out. We’ve been talking for months, and things have been great.
Or at least, I thought they were. Our conversations have become more than surface-level topics, confiding in one another.
We’ve laughed until our sides hurt and stayed up talking the night away. She’s fun, flirty, playful.
I’ve been anxiously waiting for her to come back to town, counting down days on my calendar like a kid before Christmas.
But one minute, she’s soft-spoken, her gaze lingering on me, like I mean more than “just friends,” and the next, she’s shooting sharp remarks and crossing her arms in a way that feels like she’s building walls.
Like she’s battling something inside her.
Is she being playful, or is she creating distance?
Mixed signals leave me more confused than a rookie at his first five-alarm.
Aurora saunters over to me and circles at my feet. I crouch down to pet her, and she immediately melts to my touch, rolling onto her back to expose her belly. At least I know one of the Tates likes me, even if it’s just the dog.