Chapter 6
Chapter Six
E stelle’s jaw barely began to drop before she snapped it shut again. “Come again?” she croaked.
Crew grinned and leaned over so they were closer together, making their conversation feel more intimate than before. “I want to help you make it.”
She blinked to try to quell the rising anticipation in her stomach. “Isn’t the point of hiring a professional so that you don’t have to do it yourself?”
Crew straightened and shrugged, his smile never budging. “I want to get Layla something special, but I also want to be part of it. Paying for gifts isn’t quite the same as making them, is it?”
“I suppose not,” Etselle agreed, her eyes dropping to the ground. It was already a stretch to feel like she could take on the project at all. He hadn’t given her much warning, and Estelle was juggling so much she was barely keeping her head above water.
But she couldn’t blame Crew for his question either. Gifts really did mean more when the giver did more than pull out their credit card. The short notice was even understandable, since he’d only gotten into town a few days ago .
But could she do it? Could she take the time away from her family and spend it with Crew? Something about the situation made Estelle feel out of control. To be perfectly honest with herself, she knew she was attracted to Crew. She had been since the wedding. But her life couldn’t handle her falling in love, which would be very easy to do with the handsome, easy-going dentist. Either she would neglect her family and disaster would strike, or she would lose Crew because she couldn’t give their relationship the time and attention it would deserve.
Either way, she was doomed.
Which is exactly why you shouldn’t work with him. It can only end in pain.
Estelle squeezed her eyes shut.
But what about Layla? How can I let her down? And with Harper expecting? I have to do it.
“Hey.” Crew’s warm fingers landed on her chin, shocking Estelle out of her conflicting thoughts as he pulled her face up to look him in the eye. “This isn’t a death sentence,” he teased, his thumb caressing her jawline.
The electric heat from his touch was running down her neck and had Estelle frozen in his gentle grasp.
Crew’s smile was small but inviting. “I was in that shop. I know you’re amazing at what you do. But I’m not asking you to do this alone. Let me help. Let me make it easier.”
The sting of tears hit the back of her eyes, waking Estelle from the spell she was under. Pulling back, she cleared her throat and tried to smile, doing her best to mask how much those words meant to her. Unfortunately, he didn’t mean them the way she wanted them.
Someone to make life easier? Wouldn’t that be heaven? But time with Crew could only make life more difficult. His presence, his smile, his touch…it was already clear that if she went down this path, she’d be lost. Until I can’t give him what he wants, and it’s all over.
“Think about it,” he said, once again breaking into her thoughts. “You don’t have to decide right now.” Crew faced forward, looking for all the world as if they’d been having a pleasant conversation, rather than Estelle freaking out about things no one else understood. “I know it’s a big ask, what with the party being so close and all, so take a few minutes and weigh the pros and cons.” He glanced down at her. “After all, working with me might not be such a picnic, you know?”
Estelle grabbed the olive branch he was offering like a lifeline and held on with both hands, allowing a small laugh to break free. Facing forward herself, she tucked some hair behind her ear, only now realizing that Crew was still holding one of her hands. How was it so comfortable to be around him when they’d spent so little time with each other? Estelle could count on one hand how many men she’d held hands with, and it had been a long, long time since the last one. “Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll let you know soon.”
Crew nodded. “Deal. Now…we’re almost to the front. Are you going with the classic fish and chips? Or are we going crazy and trying the calamari?”
Etselle scrunched her nose. “Uh, fish and chips, please.”
Crew laughed. “Not a squid fan?”
“Not out of the water.”
His chuckle grew. “I’ve had a few decent ceviches in my time, so I can’t say I don’t like it, but I will say that I haven’t liked it every time I’ve had it.”
“Raw fish,” Estelle groaned. “How can you do it? It’s supposed to be cooked before it goes in your stomach.”
“What? You don’t like sushi either?” Crew put his free hand to his chest. “Estelle, you’re killing me here!”
She gave him a teasing eyebrow. “I was about to say your California is showing.”
Crew’s shoulders shook silently, and he gave her hand a squeeze. “I guess if we like different things, it just makes it easier to not fight over food.” He winked. “I’ll take the raw stuff, you can have the rest. Then we’re both winners.”
Before Estelle could give him a response, they were at the front where Crew ordered them two plates of fish and chips. When he dropped her hand to pay, she felt as if something vital had been taken away from her.
Stepping away a few inches, Estelle forced herself to suck in a series of deep breaths. She wasn’t the type to fall head over heels for a guy she’d just met. She was the type to take control, to put duty first, to delay her gratification so long that sometimes she never actually got what she wanted at all. It had been that way her whole life, and she couldn’t let this fleeting moment change it, especially with how much was at stake.
“Over here.” Crew took her hand again, completely oblivious to Estelle’s emotional fight. He led her to an empty bench and helped her sit before he joined her, just shy of invading her space. With the slightest movement, his knee would bump hers, and the anticipation was almost worse than if he’d simply pressed them together in the first place. “Ahh…” Crew leaned back, staring out at the dunes that were blocking their view of the beach. “Sometimes this place reminds me of California.” He grinned and glanced at Estelle. “But then I see people walking with socks on with their sandals, and the illusion bursts into a thousand tiny pieces.”
Laughter burst out of Estelle that shocked her, but she didn’t try to contain it. Things had been so tense during the last couple minutes, and the humor felt freeing. Laughing wouldn’t fix her situation, but it gave her a momentary reprieve and she was going to enjoy it. “We do have an odd sense of fashion here,” she admitted. “But our weather is much closer to northern California than mid or southern.”
“True that,” Crew agreed. His eyes narrowed, and Estelle could practically see the wheels turning in his head.
She braced herself for a question, more than likely one she didn’t want to answer, but what he said shocked her instead.
“Your laugh is beautiful,” he said softly. “You should do it more often.”
Estelle had no words, and before she could unscramble the mess that was her brain, Crew looked over his shoulder .
“Sounds like our food is ready. Be right back.”
Estelle watched him go, her heart breaking even as it soared. Why did he have to come back now? Why had so many years passed before he touched base again? Why did she have to be the only one capable of taking care of her family? And why did he have to say such sweet things that had Estelle longing for things that couldn’t be hers.
She’d never truly thought of fate as cruel, but in that moment, she felt as if the very universe was conspiring against her, and it would be a miracle if she survived.
She was scared. Crew knew it like he knew how many teeth were in a kid’s mouth. He thought of everything that Harper had told him about her life, and he couldn’t help the swell of empathy that rose in his chest.
What she was so frightened of, however, he couldn’t quite figure out. Her dad was sick. Okay, Crew understood that. Her brother was wounded and struggling in his recovery. Crew understood that as well.
But why was she scared ? That part puzzled him.
Crew’s family wasn’t exactly typical. He and Mason weren’t on speaking terms with their parents, but their relationship as siblings was strong, so Crew understood what it was to want to help and to hurt for those a person loved, but the only time he’d truly been afraid was when his sister was missing and when they thought Mason was going to lose custody of Layla to their parents. Which left him in the dark as to what was bothering Estelle, and Crew didn’t feel like he was in a position to push yet.
So instead of trying to weasel his way into her life, he’d backed off, though it had hurt to do so. He’d laid out his offer, and he had plans to use it as a way to help her and also to get to know her.
Estelle Harrison was more than intriguing, she was the kind of girl a guy took home to his parents. Crew snorted. If they’re the type of guys who get along with their parents, he thought sarcastically.
When her dark head came into view again, he pushed his curious thoughts away. Right now, he simply needed to feed her and make her feel comfortable. Estelle would give him a chance, if and only if, she felt safe around him, which made that Crew’s top priority.
“Here you are,” he said, handing her the small paper boat. “Hot and steaming and ready for eating.”
She laughed, the sound bubbling through his chest like a carbonated soda and ten times more addicting. “Thank you,” she said, taking it from him. When her stomach rumbled, she gave him a sheepish look. “I guess I was hungrier than I thought.”
He opened his palm, offering her a prepackaged tartar sauce, which she took as well. “Nothing like a beautiful day on the beach to work up an appetite,” he said, leaning back in contentment.
Normally, that comment would have been referring to his Californian beach, but with Estelle at his side, the ocean just over the rise, and good smelling food in his lap, here might even be better.
“You mentioned living with your parents,” Crew said carefully, watching Estelle from his peripheral vision. “I take it that means you’re on good terms with them?”
She hesitated only slightly before nodding. Using a napkin to wipe at her mouth, she swallowed before answering. “Yeah. My parents are great. The cafe we own was once my dad’s.” She huffed a short laugh. “He was actually a pretty famous chocolate sculptor a few years back.”
“Yeah? What was his name?”
“Anthony Harrison,” Estelle answered before blowing on a steaming bite of fish. “He won several national awards and had a good online following.” She grinned. “In fact, that’s how he met my mom.”
Crew raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to share the story that she obviously loved .
“My dad was new in town, and his mom, my grandmother, was staying at a place called The Gingerbread Inn.”
Crew frowned. “I’ve seen that place. It’s the old-fashioned-looking mansion up that hill, right?” He pointed toward the south side of town.
Estelle nodded. “Right. My aunt, or really she’s my mom’s cousin, but we call her aunt, she still runs it.” Another bite went down. “But one year, my great grandmother had hip surgery right before Christmas, and The Gingerbread Inn always held a gingerbread competition. So to keep it from going under, my mom and two of her cousins came to stay with grandma to help run the inn.”
“Let me guess,” Crew said wryly. “They never left.”
Estelle laughed softly, scraping the bottom of her tartar sauce container. “You hit it on the nose. Mom and Dad, who were both professionally trained bakers, entered the competition, while my aunts fell in love with the inn’s handyman and a detective from a small city just south of us, respectively.”
Crew’s eyebrows were high as he nodded slowly. “That’s quite the family legacy.”
“It is,” she agreed, wiping her hands on her napkin.
“And have you all continued to stay here? No one ever ventures out into the big, bad world?”
She shot him a playful glare. “Not yet, at least, not really. I’ve got a couple of cousins at college, so who knows what they’ll do. But Michael and Jayden are both married and live in town, and you know my sisters do as well.”
“And you?” Crew asked, his curiosity overcoming his good sense. “Do you want to stay here after you marry?”
Estelle shrugged. “If I ever reach that point in life, then I guess we’ll see what my life is like at the time.” She picked at a few small pieces of fries, obviously uncomfortable with the shift toward herself.
But Crew wasn’t quite done yet. “If?” he asked. “Why do you say that?”
Estelle sighed and gave him a considering look. “Well, I’m not married, I’m not dating anyone, and there aren’t that many single men left in town, so I think ‘if’ is an appropriate term.”
A slow smile spread across his face. He’d pushed her buttons alright, and her response had been just short of snippy, which he probably deserved for asking such a personal question. Nodding, he conceded the point. “Do you like living with your parents?”
She gave him a look. “I’m not sure how to answer that without either saying something bad about my parents or myself.”
He chuckled and rested his arm on the back of the bench behind Estelle’s back. If she got brave enough to lean back, Crew could wrap his arm around her. He left the invitation there. “I wasn’t trying to make you criticize anyone. I’m sure you know that Mason and I aren’t exactly on good terms with our parents, so I was just curious about your relationship. From the way you talk about their love story, I can tell you care for them deeply.”
Estelle ducked her head slightly, and Crew had the fleeting thought that if she didn’t have such tanned skin, she’d be blushing. “I do care for them,” she said. “My family’s great.” She paused, her face falling before looking back at him. “I’m sorry about your parents. I wasn’t involved in the details, but Harper’s told me a bit about the court stuff.”
Crew shrugged. “It’s fine. They’ve always been that way. I’m used to it.”
“Doesn’t make it right.” She reached out, her delicate fingers landing on his knee.
Crew was careful not to make a big deal out of it. His leg warmed immediately at her touch and it was the first time she’d initiated contact, but he didn’t want to scare her away so he kept a casual smile on his face. “I think my initial impression of you is correct.”
Estelle’s smile remained, but her brows pulled together as if she couldn’t figure out if she could be worried or not. “Yeah? And what’s that?”
Crew leaned in, invading her space just enough so she knew he meant business. “That you’re an angel come to Earth.”