Chapter 6
Chapter Six
A nd now, she owed him.
The annoying fact of it only upped Lily’s speed as she headed south toward downtown from her parents’ house along Lake Shore Drive, her three-days-old stitches still pulling a bit in her knee.
A bike was out of the question for the next ten days, but Dr. Lake had said she could walk—and good thing, since Dani had requested her presence at tonight’s Jonathon Island Business Association mixer.
“Please. All he did was take you to the ER,” Sadie piped up in her earpiece, having just heard the entire wretched story.
She’d left out the strange look he’d given her Saturday night, with the moonlight in his eyes, as if…
No. No as ifs . “And did I mention he called me Lil? How dare he!”
“Oh my. Pistols at dawn.”
“The point is, he spent hours helping me, and now I feel like I can’t beat him fair and square.”
“Your logic escapes me.” Sadie’s wry voice felt eons away. Nine years since they’d been together, instead of nine days.
“It makes perfect sense.” Lily slowed her pace at a twinge in her knee.
Her eyes wandered across the lake, where the lowering sun cast a long ray of light across the water.
“I don’t want him holding this over me. And I know God doesn’t work this way, but what if God chooses sides and He blesses Declan for helping me? And wins?”
“Please. Didn’t you text me just yesterday that the man can’t even make fudge? He’s literally trying to run a fudge shop.”
“Is it terrible that I did a little happy dance when I peeked into the kitchen and saw the disaster he had on his hands yesterday? He overheated the fudge, so it got all separated and oily on top. And the look on his face…”
“His handsome face?”
A beat. “What—no. He’s…sure, he’s still hot. All that sweat turned his hair slightly curly, and—” She stopped. “I see what you did there.”
Sadie laughed. “Sorry. I was just wondering if being with him had stirred up any old feelings.”
“Not. A. Chance. He’s annoying and arrogant, and I did mention he’s trying to torpedo my entire future, right? And now he’s being nice. ”
“I know. What a jerk.”
“Exactly! And now I feel guilty that he had to spend hours helping me on Saturday night. Now we’ve got an unbalanced score. He’s one ahead of me. And believe me, I need all the advantages I can get.”
She sighed as she rounded the southern bend of the island, trees flanking her on one side, the water on the other. A bicyclist passed—Pastor Arnie, Tara’s husband, still dressed in slacks and a short-sleeved button-down. Maybe he was headed to visit a parishioner in her parents’ neighborhood.
“You have plenty of advantage—like a lifetime of experience.”
Lily waved and continued her jaunt. “I don’t know. Declan’s really good at business stuff. He’s got an MBA. He’s spent most of the last week tucked away in the fudge shop office, clacking away on his laptop. Whereas I…”
“Have been making fudge?”
“That is going to waste. I thought about opening shop today, but the day got away from me.”
“I’m sure it’ll fly off the shelves once you’re open.”
The Grand Hotel came into view. Just beyond it, nestled in a grove of trees, stood the island’s famous gazebo, originally built for a movie set. A group of thirty or more people gathered there, mingling—the business association.
Lily sighed. “Or I could fail at this, Sadie. Big fail. And then what?”
“Then you just come back to Florida. Find another dead-end job you hate without an ounce of creativity and see how it sucks away your soul little by little,” Sadie said, her tone full of sarcasm. “Oh wait, I’m talking to you, not me, huh?”
“Haha, I’m being serious here.”
“I kind of am too.” Sadie sighed. “Look, Lil, we talked about this. You need to ask those around you for help. In fact, what about asking Declan for advice on the business stuff? He’s certainly qualified.”
“Girl, have you heard nothing I’ve said about the scales of justice already being tilted in his favor?”
“It’s ridiculous to think you owe him anything for being a decent human being.”
Funny. Declan had said the same thing. Still. “I just don’t want to be in his debt.”
“Then do something for him. Show him how to make fudge.”
“And lose the only advantage I have over him?”
“I give up, Lily. You say you want to repay him for his kindness, but it doesn’t sound like he needs anything else from you.”
Ouch. “I guess that’s true.” As Lily approached the business owners’ gathering, soft classical music and chatter met her ears. A breeze lifted the ends of her skirt—the one she’d put on just for this occasion—and she inhaled a deep breath.
“Just because you show him the process doesn’t mean his fudge will beat yours. You’re a creative genius. You don’t have to share any of your secrets with him. Just the basics.” Her friend paused. “You can stick to just the basics, right?”
“Stop. Of course. But I’m not falling for him again. Ever.”
“And why not? I know he hurt you in the past, Lily, and it was absolutely wrong of him and his family to blame you for his grandfather’s death?—”
“It was wrong.” How was Lily supposed to have known that Barry Kelley—recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and asleep in his bed—would wander out alone that night? That he’d somehow find his way onto the ferry, cross to the mainland, and be involved in a fatal pedestrian hit-and-run?
Except it had been her fault that Declan had been with her when he was supposed to be watching Grandpa. “It was wrong of them to blame me, but I was wrong too.”
“You were young. And in love?—”
“Crush. I had a crush. Nothing more.”
Silence. “Never mind that you fled the island, your entire life and everything afterward?—”
“So did he.”
And she hadn’t really let that settle until now. That night had derailed both of them.
And now they were back.
“Listen, a whole decade has passed, and you’re a different person now.”
Was she, though? Yes. No.
She walked closer to the gazebo now. It was even more beautiful than Lily remembered, with softly lit bulbs wrapped around the posts and hanging from the ceiling.
A spread of drinks and appetizers topped two six-foot tables lining the edges of the brick pathway that led to the three steps of the octagonal structure.
Dani stood on the steps with Liam and another man whose back was to Lily. She glanced at her watch and placed her hand on Liam’s broad shoulder.
“I’ve gotta go,” Lily said. “The meeting is going to start soon.”
“Lil?”
“Yeah?”
“You can do this. I believe it. Your parents believe it. But all of that means nothing if you don’t believe it.”
Aw, Sadie. “Thanks,” she managed to eke out past her clogged throat. “Love you.”
“Love you back.”
Lily hung up and stuffed her phone into her cross-body purse.
Her eyes scanned the crowd, and wow. There were a lot of new faces.
A lot of serious faces, belonging to people who held drinks and clear plates with cute bite-sized appetizers.
A few wore fancy dresses, a couple men in suits. Clearly the newbies.
She did recognize several people, though.
Fifty-something widower Doug Manning—of Doug’s Market fame—adjusted his thick glasses and perused the veggie tray, maybe avoiding the dessert table to keep his athletic figure strong.
And she spotted Island House Inn owner Caleb Kennedy, who had been a few years ahead of Lily in school.
She spotted Mia and Cody holding hands, talking with someone she didn’t know, and then her gaze landed on…oh no. There, by the hors d’oeuvres, stood the Kelley clan. Jill and Patrick and Martha and Frank.
Somehow, Lily had managed to avoid them all since that first day in the fudge shop with Patrick. But right now, they were all—save Jill, whose eyes held some sort of pity—glaring at her. Especially Martha.
Lily’s stomach turned over on itself. If tonight’s gathering wasn’t a Main Street Festival information session in addition to a get-to-know-you and welcome for new business owners, she’d be fleeing to the shop kitchen about now to see if she could get Mom’s old ice cream maker working and whip up a pint of raspberry chip.
“Lily! Over here!” Dani, waving her over.
Lily’s gut loosened as she hurried toward her friend—but tightened again when the mystery man in front of Dani turned.
Declan.
He wore a suit, of course, unlike the other flannel-clad locals, and that only made him—shoot—stunningly handsome.
His dark suit cut perfectly across his shoulders, and the silvery-blue of his tie electrified his eyes.
He held some sort of sparkling drink in a flute, looking every bit like the fancy, la-de-da businessman from Chicago.
As if he owned the air on the entire island.
Run.
Lily pressed her hands against her many-colored skirt, the fabric of which was much more wrinkled than she’d remembered. That’s what happened when you grabbed something at the last minute from the back of the closet.
Dani took the steps down to hug Lily. “I’m so glad you made it. How’s your knee?”
“Doing fine.” Lily glanced around. “Um, I didn’t know it was going to be such a formal event tonight. I feel way underdressed.”
“Girl, look at me.” Waving her hands up and down her body—where she wore a red blouse and black slacks that looked more comfortable than stylish—Dani cocked an eyebrow. “I think these newbies don’t yet understand how casual we are here.”
Liam laughed. “You’ll whip them into shape soon enough, babe.” Indeed, Liam wore khakis, a golf shirt, and Dockers. So, still preppy, but he’d lost the New York vibe.
Dani grinned. “It worked on you.”
Somehow the four of them had ended up in a circle. Lily’s bare arm brushed against the soft fabric of Declan’s jacket, and of course, the man smelled good too. Cardamom, she thought, and, hmm. Cardamom. That would made a lovely addition to her holiday fudge menu.
What—no. She absolutely would not be adding anything to the menu inspired by Declan Kelley.