Love Walks In (The 80s Mixtape)

Chapter 1

“ Q uick. Hide me!”

The tall, lanky eighteen-year-old young man had spent the better part of an hour spreading white tablecloths on the banquet tables only to have to remove them and put purple tablecloths the bride, and her mother had picked out on them instead. Meredith thought they were a garish purple, chosen to match the bridesmaids’ dresses, and it took Meredith forever to track them down through a party rental house. But the bride’s mother loved the color and convinced her daughter to choose it.

“Wait. You want me to what?”

Meredith Prichard clutched many of the crisp white tablecloths they’d removed from the banquet tables and held them tight in her arms, ignoring that they’d need to be laundered before being used again and causing more work for the staff. There were bigger issues at play here.

“You heard me!”

A bewildered David, who recently graduated from Crystal Cove High School, looked around and said, “Who am I hiding you from?”

“Edward.”

She stopped moving and listened. The sound of her boss calling her name from out in the hallway was faint. If she was quick enough, she could slip out the side door and lose him.

“You’re hiding from Mr. Mahoney? The hotel manager?”

“Yes, him. I don’t want to talk to him now. How many more tablecloths are left? Never mind. You collect the rest and send them to laundry services. I’ll bring these.”

“But Mr. Mahoney never comes down to the banquet room unless—”

“He’s looking for me. He’s been in a mood ever since he lost the bid for the Crystal Cove Class of 1989 High School Reunion as if that was a big deal for the hotel. He’s been following me around all day, nitpicking everything I do. I’ve been hiding from him ever since this morning.” She squeezed another tablecloth into her arms and then suddenly stopped moving to listen.

Seeing her standing there like a statue, David stopped pulling tablecloths from the table and looked around.

The faint call of, “Has anyone seen Meredith?” floated into the banquet hall.

“Crap.”

“I’ve got you. I’ll take the rest,” David said uncomfortably. Then he shrugged. “Sorry.”

Her cell phone rang as she turned to take this load to the laundry facility. She didn’t need to look at the caller ID to see that it was Edward, so she ignored it.

The tablecloths weren’t David’s fault. He worked in maintenance, not catering. But he heard Meredith’s shriek when she checked the banquet room and found the wrong tablecloths on the tables. The rest of the catering staff were busy with other tasks, on their phones, or somewhere else they weren’t supposed to be when she needed them. But David immediately stepped in to help.

“I owe you one, David.”

“It’s okay.”

She’d managed to get to the side door leading to the path that ran along the side of the building to the laundry room before she heard Edward yelling at her back.

“Damn,” she whispered. There was no way she could pretend she hadn’t heard him.

“Meredith,” he called out as he walked quickly toward her. “I’ve been calling you for an hour. Why aren’t you picking up the phone? ”

“Um, we had a last-minute glitch that needed fixing. My hands were full. It’s all good now.”

He glanced around the banquet hall, which was nearly ready for the wedding that was about to take place in a few hours and grimaced as David spread the purple tablecloth on a banquet table.

“Whose idea was that?”

“Bride’s choice.”

Edward rolled his eyes and quickly turned toward her. “They’re paying. They can have whatever damned color they want. Please tell me they were rented.”

“They are.”

“I have to talk with you about something.”

“I’m really busy. Can it wait?”

“You have a handful of dirty tablecloths in your hands. How busy can you be?”

Irritation made its way up her spine. “Not dirty. Just the wrong color.”

“I’m sure laundry can wait.”

“This is the last thing I must do for tonight’s wedding. It’s going to go off without a hitch, and then I can get out of here right after the function is over for my two-week vacation.”

“Yeah, about that. I’m going to need you to cancel your vacation and reschedule.”

Her stomach dropped. “Excuse me?”

He put a smile on his face that she’d seen dozens of times before and hated. It usually meant he was ready to drop one of his fabulous ideas, which were awful, on her.

“The Ocean Vista is now officially an overflow hotel for the Crystal Cove High School Class of 1989 Reunion. I need you on-call all weekend.”

“What is your obsession with this class reunion? And what exactly does this mean?”

Rocking back on his heels, he grinned. “When a big event happens, you must be part of it. We have a guest booked here for the reunion. That makes us overflow. ”

She held the tablecloths like they were her lifeline to sanity. He was actually serious. It was as if being the overflow for such a small local class reunion was a big deal. And maybe it was to Edward. He’d only been working as the manager of the Ocean Vista Hotel for a few months. To him, lining up the pencils face up in the Concierge desk box was a big deal.

“You want me to cancel my vacation for one guest?”

“People talk.”

“They sure do. Edward, this is a local high school reunion. You’re talking about one guest. It’s hardly something the local papers will write about.”

“Yours?”

“My what?”

“Your reunion. You grew up in Crystal Cove. I assume you graduated from Crystal Cove High School.”

“A lot of people who work here did. David just graduated. I graduated two years after the Class of ’89. Look, the Hawthorne House booked all the events for the reunion. The details are all set. Nothing is happening here. I should know. I book all events.”

“And yet we have a guest from out of town who chose this hotel to stay at while attending the reunion. Not the Hawthorne. I don’t want Hawthorne House to be the only venue handling this. I want to publicize that the Ocean Vista is a luxurious and competitive place to stay in Crystal Cove, so we get future contracts. Word travels. It’ll open the door for other bigger contracts.”

He was serious.

“Edward, I—”

“Violet Slyk will be filming a segment for the Chart Toppers in Music show on the beach in a few days for some guy named Sammy Fender who graduated with the class and is now a famous singer. I personally don’t know who he is, but apparently, he’s a big deal. Do you know him?”

“Um, yeah, Sean West. His stage name is Sammy Fender. I know you’re still fairly new at the Ocean Vista, but you should know that I never ask for time off. And I get one vacation a year that I usually spend close to home so I can put out fires here,” she said.

“So, you’re not leaving town?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“I will take that as a no since you said you stick close to home. You can take time off the following two weeks.”

“I chose this weekend to start my vacation.”

His brow furrowed. He didn’t know. He probably didn’t even look at the files. He relied on her too much, given that she’d been working at the Ocean Vista for the three years since she’d moved back to Crystal Cove and knew how the place ran. It wasn’t in her job description as an event planner. She wasn’t HR. She focused on weddings. She helped make memories for other people. She made their special events perfect. Or as perfect as she could make them despite the colors they chose.

And now she sounded like she was whining. A slow rise of irritation scraped its way up her spine as she realized how pathetic she sounded, even to her own ears. It shamed her that Edward was at least fifteen or twenty years younger than her, and she’d stooped this low just to make sure she wouldn’t be anywhere near the class reunion this weekend.

“You didn’t grow up here like I did, Edward. I didn’t graduate from this class, but I know just about everyone coming to this reunion. And I…”

“All the more reason you should be here to welcome anyone who attends. You must know our guest.”

Her stomach turned. “What is the person’s name?”

“I don’t remember. Someone from out of town.”

“Obviously.”

“I need a familiar face here, Meredith. I can’t spare you. Carol and Louise are still too inexperienced to handle such a big event.”

“What event? It’s one guest!”

He ignored her. “Anything can go wrong. An opportunity could arise. I need you on-call all weekend when you aren’t on a shift. My answer is no.” His eyes held no sympathy or judging. This was business.

He relied on her to ensure that any opportunity to capitalize on this class reunion would come to the Ocean Vista.

“I’m not going to the reunion, Edward. I don’t know what you expect of me.”

“Keep your eyes and ears on alert. That’s all.”

Stifling the sigh making its way up her chest, she nodded.

Maybe Griffin wasn’t coming to the reunion. He’d been career military for so long doing important work worldwide that maybe he didn’t care about something as simple as a thirty-fifth high school reunion.

What was he these days? A Major? Colonel? After two tours as an enlisted airman, Griffin had commissioned to be an Officer and made a career out of the military without her.

The familiar irritation that she’d been keeping tabs on such things crept back into her mind, leaving her stomach sour. He hadn’t returned to Crystal Cove in years, which strangely gave her a sense of comfort since she knew she wouldn’t run into him on the street or in the supermarket and be caught off guard.

“Meredith!”

She sucked in a quick breath, wishing she’d been able to make it out the door and avoid Edward. Snapping her gaze back to Edward, she caught his scowl that was so strong her shoulders actually drooped enough for her to worry about dropping the tablecloths in her arms.

“You can’t keep disappearing into the past like that. I need you to focus.”

“It’s a stupid high school reunion, Edward,” she blurted out. “No one likes them except the geeks who go.”

Ignoring her, he said, “I’m going to spread the word on social media that the Ocean Vista is an overflow hotel. Maybe we’ll be able to piggyback on some free publicity with that Sammy Fender concert. I don’t care about whatever high school tragedy has you on edge about this class reunion. And don’t say you’re not, because you’ve been jumping out of your skin for days.”

She was about to protest, but he held up his hand.

“I’m sure whatever it is, everyone has forgotten about it by now. I need you here.”

There weren’t enough years for her to forget about Griffin Cole, and there weren’t enough lifetimes. Maybe he’s not coming. Maybe he’s staying at the main hotel and will never show his face here. She could hope.

“That’s easy for you to say. Have you even gone to any of your class reunions yet?”

“No. My twentieth is in two years, and I’m not going. Full stop.”

It didn’t surprise her. Edward tried to hand her the schedule for the reunion weekend. She could see the red pen notes he’d made. She glanced at the tablecloths in her arms when she didn’t readily take it.

“I’ll leave this on your desk.”

She had a week to figure this out. Maybe she’d catch a forty-eight-hour flu and need to take some sick time. Edward would make her work, no doubt, but she’d threaten puking and any other nasties she could think of.

There were so many hotels and inns in Crystal Cove. What were the chances of Griffin Cole staying at her hotel if he came home for the reunion? There were rumors, and rumors had a way of growing legs. Maybe that’s all they were. She probably had nothing to worry about, but that didn’t squash the growing anxiety making its way up her throat.

A rush of warm air came racing into the automatic side door she’d just walked through, bathing her face and taking with it the anxiety that had her “on edge.” Instinctively, Meredith lifted her face and breathed deeply as if she were on the beach and could feel the sun. But as she walked the concrete path on the side of the building, she was shaded by overgrown palm trees and greenery kept immaculate by the lawn company the hotel hired.

She needed a walk on the beach, not a day in heels with problems. The ocean was calling for her. She could hear the surf pounding into the shore. It was probably high tide, which she loved. She loved low tide for a different reason and at a different time of day. But she loved the power of high tide and how it left her sane and made her feel small, washing away the little things she obsessed over.

She’d make sure she got that walk on the beach in today. She needed to clear her head and forget about the rumors about Griffin Cole returning to Crystal Cove. She’d been unable to sleep for the past few weeks since she’d heard that little tidbit casually mentioned on social media. No one confirmed it, and she didn’t want to ask. Talk about rumors. But if they were true, it would be a disaster.

“Well, this sucks.”

Griffin Cole took a deep breath as he climbed out of the cab he’d taken from the Orlando airport and looked at the Ocean Vista Hotel’s big letters outside the building above the revolving doors. Lucas actually managed to get him here.

He should have rented a car to make a quick getaway the moment he felt like…this. His stomach gurgled as whatever he’d munched on between the flight and the cab ride rolled around his stomach and protested. It was just nerves. The last time he’d stepped foot in Crystal Cove, he’d proposed to Meredith Prichard, the woman he’d fallen head over heels with in high school. She’d sent him a Dear John letter a year later, breaking his heart.

Somewhere in this building, Meredith was sitting at a desk, unaware that he was about to step back into her life.

“The Ocean Vista is a popular hotel. People who stay here like it,” the cab driver said, pulling his suitcase from the trunk of the cab.

Griffin handed the driver a tip and then grabbed the bag, dismissing the fact he’d heard the cab driver’s words. “Thanks for the ride.”

The cab driver smiled and nodded, pleased with the tip. “Any time. Call me if you need me.”

He wasn’t going to need him. When Griffin checked into the hotel, he would rent a car—no, a Jeep. Not a military-issue Jeep because he sat in those all the time. He’d get one with all the bells and whistles, a great stereo, and comfortable seats to drive along the coast and just chill. He had a lot of unwinding to do, and only music would get the job done.

His heart pounded as he stared at the circular drive and the bold letters on the hotel. The building was fairly new. It couldn’t be more than twenty years old. It wasn’t here when he’d lived in Crystal Cove.

He’d give anything to be back in Honolulu on his thirty-five-foot cruiser with Lucas just shooting the hay as they watched the sunset and talked about fishing. It had been Lucas’s idea for him to come back to Crystal Cove. Griffin was a decorated Colonel in the Air Force, and he still managed to be talked into coming to his thirty-fifth high school reunion despite not stepping near this place in nearly as many years.

Crystal Cove hadn’t been home for a very long time, as many places in the world had been over the years. But Hawaii was home now and probably would be until he died.

But at one time, Crystal Cove was his own slice of heaven, the only place that comforted him because Meredith Prichard lived here.

That is, until it didn’t.

Bending down, he grabbed the suitcase the cab driver left on the hot pavement. Taking a moment to collect himself before taking steps into a past he had fought long and hard to forget and forgive, he forced his legs to move forward. With any luck, Meredith wouldn’t even be here. He could be honest with Lucas and tell him he’d tried his best but failed. And then he would fly back to base and forget he ever agreed to confront Meredith Prichard.

Damn, when had he become such a wimp? And he was an Air Force Colonel, for God’s sake.

“Man up, Cole.”

The moment the air conditioning bathed his face as the revolving glass doors opened up into the lobby, he breathed a sigh of relief. A quick glance showed Meredith was nowhere to be found in the hotel lobby. His eyes grazed the open space beyond the lobby as he willed his heart to stop beating so fiercely. He didn’t see her face nor hear that musical laugh, the same one that had haunted his dreams for years while he sat somewhere in the desert overseas.

He should have just stayed in another hotel. The Hawthorne House would be crawling with his classmates, trying to catch up on news, but what would be the point? He was here for Meredith. Yeah, he was curious about friends he knew when he was young. But it was her. He was keeping a promise.

Whatever happened, he’d live through it and then go back to his base where life didn’t feel as surreal as it did right now in Crystal Cove, where the nerves flowing through his veins didn’t make him want to jump out of his skin.

Slowly making his way across the polished marble floor lobby, he glanced around. Who was he kidding? He didn’t care about the decor meant to be inviting to tourists and probably cost the owners a small fortune. He was searching for Meredith. For all he knew, she could be sitting in an occasion chair behind one of the many plants and palm trees they managed to squeeze into the lobby. She was probably holed up somewhere in the office where she ran, God knows what. He knew the military. He didn’t know hospitality.

As he walked, he imagined there was a giant neon sign hovering above his head, letting everyone know how terrified he was to see his high school sweetheart again. And why? It had been over thirty years. They’d lived more time without each other than they’d lived together. They were strangers, really. The things that had drawn them together in their youths could have changed drastically. He’d changed. He wasn’t the young man he used to be. It was only right that Meredith had changed, too.

If he kept telling himself that, maybe he’d actually believe it.

He reached the front desk, dropped his bag on the floor, and glanced at the young woman on the phone talking to a guest who was upset about the positioning of the beds and an extra cot from what he could make out quickly. As he waited for her to finish, he glanced around the lobby again. There was a seating area in the center with ample- sized upholstered chairs around a large round coffee table with an oversized centerpiece that made it impossible to comfortably see anyone who sat on the other side. Rather than ponder the purpose of it, he focused on a young couple who were being dragged through the lobby by their two school-aged children wearing bathing suits and floaties. He smiled as he realized they were probably headed for the beach or the hotel pool for some fun. The young couple wasn’t much older than he and Meredith were the last time he’d seen her.

Taking a deep breath of the cool air as he turned back toward the woman behind the counter, he waited, staring at the ring bell sign next to a bell so he wouldn’t stare at her as she tried her best to convince the guest on the phone that whatever was wrong in their room would be taken care of.

Maybe he still had enough time to make up a story about why he couldn’t stay in Crystal Cove. Surely, there was a flight headed to the West Coast every hour or so that he could catch. From there, he could book a flight to Hawaii.

No. He’d given Lucas his word, and they’d shook hands on it. He deserved to have Griffin see this through.

His thoughts were interrupted by the phone being dropped into the cradle and a small sigh from the woman. When he turned to look at her, she’d already pasted on a smile.

After the phone conversation, the young woman appeared only slightly frazzled. She said, “I apologize for the delay. Do you have a reservation?”

The young woman was in her early twenties or maybe even late teens. Her name tag said Darcy, and he wondered if that was her first or last name. She looked at him with wide eyes and was eager to help. She’d be good in the military. She was focused and took the job seriously.

“No problem. I wasn’t waiting long.”

She cocked her head to one side. “You’re being nice. I saw you while I was on the phone. I know you had to wait. ”

“Just a minute.”

She started tapping on the computer screen and appeared to get frustrated when it wasn’t working correctly. “It’s going to be a busy weekend. I want to make sure I do a good job.”

“Are you new here?”

She shook her head. “I just like to do the best I can. This computer is a bit…” Breathing a sigh of relief when it appeared her computer screen finally complied with her command, her shoulders eased, and she smiled. “Did you say you had a reservation?”

“Yes. Colonel Griffin Cole.”

“Oh,” she said with surprise after typing in his name. “You’re here for the class reunion.”

“Uh, yeah. How’d you know about that?”

“There is a annotation here in the computer.”

“I thought all the events were happening at the Hawthorne House?”

“They are. But Mr. Mahoney has been talking about the old people’s class reunion for days.”

“Old people class reunion? Yeah, that would be me.”

He stifled a chuckle that tickled his throat as her cheeks flamed with the realization of what she’d said aloud. She looked like a Darcy, if a name could fit a face, and she was mortified.

Punching a few more keys, her expression collapsed. She slowly lifted her gaze to him. “I’m so sorry. You’re here for the…um…I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have repeated…”

He leaned into the registration counter. “It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you. I’m really embarrassed.” She clicked a few keys as she continued the process of registering him for his suite and taking his credit card and license. She glanced quickly at the license. “Colonel? That’s like a big deal?”

He shrugged. “It’s a big job.”

“And you graduated from Crystal Cove High School? ”

“A long time ago.”

She reached for the printer, pulled out his receipt and then compiled his key and added a pamphlet with details about the resort. “I graduated from there, too. I haven’t even gone to my fifth reunion yet, not that I want to. I can’t imagine anyone I graduated with being a big shot.”

“Is that what I am?”

“You’re a Colonel. I’ve never met a Colonel before.”

“Nice to meet you, Darcy.”

She smiled and leaned closer to him with the counter between them, lowering her voice. “As soon as I have enough money saved, I’m out of here.”

“You don’t like Crystal Cove?”

She shrugged. “The beach. That’s nice. But…” Her words trailed off as if just realizing she was confiding in a stranger. “It’s nothing special.”

“I hear you. There is a whole big world out there. So much to see. But sometimes coming home is special.”

“Yeah. Okay.” She shrugged uncomfortably and handed him a folder with his key card and information about the hotel. “It may be easier to go to your room by walking outside and following the path to the elevators on the other side of the resort. If you take the elevator in the lobby, you will have to walk through a maze of hallways to get to your room. That and at this time of the day, the main elevator is really crammed with people wanting to go to the pool.”

“Thank you. And thanks for the tip.”

He nodded as he turned and grabbed his luggage. He was right about one thing. The world was big and, in some ways, scary. But he didn’t want to revisit memories of a time long past.

As he walked to the sliding doors he’d come through just a few minutes ago, he wondered when he’d gotten so jaded about home. Even though it seemed like a distant memory, Crystal Cove had been his home for many years. He had wonderful memories here. And one memory that pretty much rocked his world.

The familiar scent of the Atlantic Ocean filled his senses as he walked, giving Griffin a longing that brought to mind memories of high school and those years after when all that mattered to him was Meredith Prichard. Laughing and yelling from the beach and the pool area drowned out what he didn’t want to think about as he walked the path along the hotel until he caught sight of a hammock tucked under a group of crossed palm trees in a secluded area.

Despite wanting to walk right past it, he paused and gripped the handle of his leather luggage tighter. There were hammocks all over the beach, tucked in hideaway dunes like this one up and down the beaches of Crystal Cove. During a thunderstorm, he and Meredith had made love one night in a hammock. They’d been convinced they’d be heard by the guests in a nearby hotel and laughed about how the thunder they felt was stronger than the thunder rolling into shore. They were wild, totally unabashed about their love for each other, and never cared who saw it. They just loved each other like no one else existed or mattered.

Back then, no one did.

A guttural sound made its way up his throat, accompanied by the over-thirty-year-old memory of touching Meredith in the hammock. They didn’t have a blanket; they’d used whatever clothes they had to cover themselves when they’d bothered. It had been dark, and no one could see them tucked away under the palms. Yet, each lightning bolt illuminated her skin as it lit up the sky. Griffin felt himself growing hard just thinking of Meredith’s smooth, warm skin pressed against his.

“Holy crap! It’s you!”

And that voice only made his reaction worse as he turned and stood face to face with the woman and the memories he’d spent over thirty years trying to erase.

Griffin stared at the woman standing on the walkway holding a pile of white linens that looked like they were about to tumble from her arms. He’d chosen Ocean Vista because he’d discovered Meredith worked there. It would be easier to run into her here than at the class reunion hotel, where prying eyes were on them.

“You’re a housemaid?”

She scowled, then lifted her chin. Dead wrong words.

“After all these years, that is the first thing you want to say to me?”

“It’s better than ‘holy crap.’ Besides, you’re the one holding towels. What am I supposed to think?”

Meredith drew a deep breath and glanced away, then back at him. He wasn’t sure if it was because she was upset or just in a hurry and wanted to blow him off.

“Table linens,” she said. “The staff put out the wrong color on twenty tables. For some reason, the word purple escaped them. And what would it matter if I were a housemaid?”

“Purple tablecloths?”

“Don’t start. I’ve already been through this. It wasn’t my decision. I’m not the bride. And don’t ignore the question.”

He nodded, not missing the little wince from Meredith when she said bride . Were they talking about tablecloths, or was she thinking about their canceled wedding all those years ago? They hadn’t laid eyes on each other in over thirty years. He’d thought about her just about every day, even though he’d tried his best to move on. The slightest thing that wasn’t even remotely connected to her would somehow bring his mind back to Meredith.

They’d left so much unsaid. Since making the decision to come back to Crystal Cove, he’d rehearsed this moment a hundred times, but he was clueless about where to begin.

“I’m getting the feeling you’re not happy to see me, Meredith.”