Chapter 3
BARON
Baron had no business getting involved in this girl’s foolish journey across the country. Cora wasn’t looking to be saved, but she’d welcomed his help when he had offered it. Hell, she had two thousand more miles to cover. Then what? Not like crossing the border into California had ever made someone’s dreams come true. Who knew what troubles lay ahead for her.
And what was Baron doing but delaying the inevitable? He’d all but told her to get out of town the minute he saw her. Now, he was giving her reasons to stay. Making arrangements so that she could afford to.
After a quick exchange with Marty confirmed that he would indeed be short-staffed tomorrow, Baron texted the details to Cora and returned to the pile of work that was waiting for him at the office.
The next morning, he woke early with the sunrise. He didn’t need coffee to set his brain whirling through the events of the previous day and all he had in front of him. He was wired that way. Focused on the task at hand always, like too much idleness might break the spell of his success. Most of Baron’s life was about forward motion, creating momentum, and identifying the problems in a plan before they could compromise his work.
He stepped out onto the sand in front of his house and started on his morning run. The beach was empty save a couple locals who had the same early routine as he did. Baron should have been thinking about blueprints and meetings and choosing the best of three quotes for a new roof, but he kept drifting to Cora.
The two of them could not be more different. She was open and trusting—too trusting, in fact. He didn’t usually have that problem. Something about her goodness and inherent kindness fascinated him, though, until all he could think about was seeing her again at Marty’s tonight. He wanted to hear her sing again, and hell, if he wasn’t thinking about ways to help her stay longer.
Fried seafood baskets and beach gear stores wouldn’t be enough to make Cape Haven what he wanted it to be, ultimately. The town needed art and culture and more talented, free-spirited people like Cora to give it texture and soul. Maybe she could be a part of that and save herself weeks of tribulation getting to California, where too many dreams went to die.
He slowed his run at the beach access pier that led back to the main road. He took his shoes off to feel the sand and the too-cold waters of the Gulf lapping the shore. He wasn’t a spiritual person, but he subscribed to the grounding medicine of the ocean. This was usually the most peaceful part of his day, when he felt most like himself, and every morning was a reminder of why he’d chosen this place to be home.
After a few minutes, he scaled the wooden steps and was rinsing off the sand at the outdoor showers when he heard a beautiful sound—a woman singing. He knew that voice already like a song he’d committed to memory. It was Cora. Singing her heart out. In the pier bathroom at six o’clock in the morning.
Baron followed the sound to the entrance of the restrooms, catching his breath from the run and this new concerning discovery. Cora wound down her song and was humming when he called out her name.
There was a moment of silence before she peaked her head around the cinder block barrier to see him standing in the doorway.
“Baron?”
With wide eyes, he lifted his hands. “What are you doing here?”
Her expression froze, as if she’d been doing something she wasn’t supposed to. She’d had the same look on her face yesterday when he’d told her she was violating the town ordinances.
“I…um, I was just taking a shower.”
She walked closer, a faded beach towel wrapped around her body.
He shouldn’t have been thinking about how perfect she looked, with her bright-blue eyes and her dark-blond hair in wet streaks over her tanned shoulders. Or her thighs peeking out from under the towel that he suddenly wanted to rip away so he could take in all of her. Every sweet, delicious inch of her…
“Why…”
He cleared his throat and forced himself to a more decent line of thinking. “Where exactly are you staying, Cora?”
“Staying?”
Her voice was high, like a child caught in a lie.
“Where did you stay last night?”
He said each word slowly, quietly demanding that she offer up the truth. A truth he truly didn’t want to hear, because then he’d have to do something about it. And he would do something about it.
Cora nibbled at her lip and stared down at her bare feet. “I stay in my car sometimes, you know, when money’s tight. It’s no big deal.”
“Your car? It can get close to freezing around here this time of year.”
“I have a really good sleeping bag. Someone actually gave it to me?—”
“Not to mention you’re a target for people who may not have the best intentions. You have special victims unit written all over you.”
She winced. “I do?”
Baron sighed and sliced his fingers through his hair. “Can I offer an alternative, at least while you’re staying in town?”
Her lips parted, like she was afraid to take him up on his offer.
“I own a bunch of rentals here in town. Most of them are empty with it being off-season. I can set you up in one.”
Cora shook her head and wrapped her towel a little tighter. “I don’t usually say no to a helping hand, but you’ve already done too much, Mr. Porter.”
“Baron.”
“Baron… I… I’ll be fine in my car, I sw?—”
“Completely out of the question. Not to mention another violation of town ordinances. This one I’ll enforce.”
Cora’s face broke with a smile. “Mr. Rules is back, I see.”
Baron’s shoulders relaxed, maybe from the sight of her smiling and hopefully relenting. “Please accept, and we can end this conversation and have a coffee. I really need a coffee right now.”
Cora lifted a shoulder. “I guess so. Give me a few minutes to get ready.”
Ten minutes later, Cora emerged dressed and bundled in her puffy jacket. “My car is over there.”
She pointed twenty feet away to the sole car in the beach access lot, a patchy red Honda sedan. “But can I follow you?”
He could read the embarrassment in her eyes. Of course she didn’t want him to see inside her car, where she was storing everything to her name. “No need. The place is right down here. I was walking back that way anyway.”
CORA
“This is too much.”
Cora let her coat slip off her shoulders as she walked toward the wall of windows facing the sunrise stretching over the Gulf of Mexico. When Baron said he had rentals, she was imagining small apartments, maybe not that unlike the motel room she’d gotten used to staying in. Nothing in her imagination could have dreamed up the pristine beach house he insisted was hers to occupy for as long as she was in Cape Haven.
“It’s nothing. I’m not earning anything on this place right now anyway. I trust you’ll take care of it.”
“I will,”
Cora rushed to say. “I’ll clean up after myself before I go. You’ll never know I was here.”
He waved his hand. “Make yourself at home.”
She sighed with wonder, getting lost in the breathtaking views and the immaculate furnishings. “I’m not sure I’ll know how. This place is incredible.”
Baron came closer and held out the key. “I’m happy to help,”
he said, his voice thoughtful. “Really. And I’m looking forward to hearing you sing tonight, too. This town has no idea what’s about to hit it.”
Cora’s fingers brushed his as she took the key in her hand. The gift. A luxury she wasn’t sure she deserved. She looked into Baron’s eyes, compelled to thank him again, but when she saw the look he returned, the words died in her mouth. She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to this man. The energy radiating off him now told her he felt it too, even if he wasn’t acting on it.
He exhaled a shaky breath and stepped back. “I’ll let you get settled in, then. I’ll see you tonight.”
The distance between them suddenly felt wrong to Cora. She trusted that Baron wasn’t the type of guy who would push himself onto a woman or coax her into intimacy she didn’t want. And that made her feel even safer in his presence. After all, he’d seemed concerned about her safety from the start. Maybe rightly so. As independent as Cora tried to be, knowing he was looking out for her felt good. Really good. And it made her want to be even closer to him, wrapped in the heat of whatever fire was hiding behind his eyes.
Hours later, after a long soak in the tub and a nap in the rental’s fluffy king bed where she’d slept better than she had in weeks, Cora dressed for her shift at Marty’s. Not knowing the staff’s dress code, she went with black jeans and a tight white top. She tied her hair back into a loose braid and applied a little makeup, something she rarely did these days.
As she walked into town, any nervousness she may have had about waitressing at a place she’d never been faded. She was consumed with thoughts of Baron. He’d be there too. Maybe tonight, unlike this morning, he’d actually make a move. Maybe she’d never see him again after tonight, but that’s how life went sometimes. He’d be a memory, and maybe he’d remember her too.
The night sped by quickly. The event was surprisingly well-attended, and the crowd seemed lively for a Tuesday night. Marty was friendly and helped her out whenever she needed a hand. Bringing drinks to tables wasn’t too complicated, though, and most everyone she waited on was pleasant to talk to. Many asked about her, having identified her as someone new in a sea of locals.
When the emcee called her name, though, her heart sank. Because as the hours ticked by, the one person she really wanted to be there was missing. Baron was nowhere in sight. She shouldn’t care so much. Not after their brief interactions. He’d done enough for her after all—more than enough. She picked up her guitar from beside the little stage and tried to tamp down her disappointment.
He'd probably realized being in her life was a slippery slope. Despite his hard exterior, Baron was a generous soul, and Cora had a hard time saying no when she needed help. Maybe the attraction that hummed between them was a distraction he didn’t need right now. And maybe she didn’t need it either. She needed to focus on her dreams and where life would take her next.
With that thought center in her mind, she took the stage and adjusted the microphone to her height. She’d weighed the different songs she might sing tonight, but she always changed her mind depending on how she felt in the moment. Tonight, with a little sadness in her heart, she picked a song about hope. It was one that was born on the road. It was a little unpolished, like her, but maybe performing it in front of the crowd would make it shine.
She sang about the loneliness of the road that led her far from home, about the silver linings she’d found when she was down on her luck, and the dream that she still held fast to…a dream of sharing her songs with the world. And when the song was done, silence fell inside the little cafe bar. When she looked up, she almost didn’t notice the loud applause and shouts for more, because Baron was standing next to the bar, his body far but still squared to hers, his eyes dark with an emotion she couldn’t quite name.