Chapter 25 #2
“Our family business acquires land, buildings, homes, and pretty much any other type of property we find valuable, and we develop it. I came here to make offers on prime real estate so we could bundle it into a pretty package and make a fortune off of it. That is what I do, or what I did,” Cavin explained.
“I was working on proposals to buy the parking lot we are standing in, your building, the one beside it, and possibly others.”
This news came as a shock to Noel, and she suddenly wished she’d previously asked Cavin more questions about his family business and his purpose in Beaufort.
“Is that why you took me out that first Saturday night to work your magic by getting to know me so you could woo me with some proposal?” Noel questioned. “Was our date really just a business meeting after all?”
“No,” Cavin replied. “I took you out because I liked you. You are the one who called our date a business meeting, not me,” he reminded her.
“And if you choose not to believe me, you are welcome to turn around and walk away or punch me in the other eye or do whatever you would like. Either way, I am leaving Beaufort, and I am not calling the police, so take your shot if you would like.”
Noel felt all kinds of emotions coursing through her body from her head to her stomach to her heart, and she decided to listen to the one she felt in her gut, the one Fletcher always told her to trust. Without saying a word, she stepped toward Cavin, raised both of her arms, wrapped them around his shoulders, and kissed him as passionately as she’d ever kissed anyone.
At first Cavin thought Noel intended to choke him, but then when her face moved toward his and their lips touched, he realized what was actually happening.
It took him a moment to return her kiss, but it felt right even though part of him still wanted to pull away and drive off as planned.
After a moment his shoulders relaxed, and he stretched his arms around her letting his fingers clasp together while he held her at the small of her back as if they were slow dancing.
Cavin wasn’t sure if Noel tasted sweet and salty because she tried all the candy she made today, and they were outdoors not far from the beach where salt air made its way onto and into everything, or if it was only in his mind. Regardless, he liked it, and he couldn’t stop kissing her.
Cavin’s and Noel’s lips moved in unison as their bodies flushed together while her hands traveled into his hair. Her nose then poked his black eye, and he pulled back and said, “Ouch.”
“I am so sorry,” Noel apologized.
It hurt, but Cavin couldn’t help but snicker about it. “It is okay,” he promised. “I am okay.”
Noel’s arms remained wrapped around Cavin. “You quit your job because you didn’t want to take my family’s candy shop?”
Cavin considered the wording. “Getting to know you, Mrs. Madelyn, Jack, Levi, Laney, and Rudy really woke me up,” Cavin admitted.
“Who’s Rudy?” Noel asked with quizzical eyes.
“He is the man who looks like Santa Claus and owns that giant yacht behind me.”
Noel glanced over Cavin’s shoulder. “Oh. Rudy owns the mega yacht?”
“Yes, do you know him?” Cavin asked.
“Rudy—Santa Claus’s twin—has come into the shop a handful of times,” Noel explained. “He’s a sweet man. He told me we make the best chocolate he ever tasted.”
“Rudolph Emerson told you that you make the best chocolate he ever tasted?”
“I only know him as Rudy, but yeah, if that’s his full name.”
“I guess you do not know who Rudolph Emerson is?” Cavin queried.
“Should I?”
“He is one of the world’s most well-known candy makers,” Cavin shared, then mentioned instantly recognizable brand names to further explain.
“You have to be kidding me,” Noel replied.
“It is the truth, and Rudy is the one who encouraged me to speak the truth to you, my dad, and everyone else, no matter what it cost me. He said the temporary inconvenience would be well worth the outcome.”
“Are you saying you’re glad I came running out here and gave you a chance to tell me the truth?”
“I kissed you back, didn’t I?” Cavin asked.
“You sure did,” Noel remarked, kissing him again. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
“I will stay in Beaufort a while longer if you call off your dogs,” Cavin offered, “and if you help me find a job.”
“If you tell me who my dogs are, I will call them off,” Noel promised, wondering if it was Keaton or Rainey who did this to Cavin. “And yes, I will help you find a job.”
“Your brother was at my house when I got home from Rudy’s last night, and he punched me in the face,” Cavin professed.
“Cavin, I am so sorry. I talked to Keaton about what happened at church, but I asked him to let me handle it on my own. I never thought he would show up at your house and hit you.”
Cavin looked at Noel like she was crazy.
“Everyone in Beaufort knows that you were mad at me and thinks that I was leading both you and Georgia on; and your brother told me last Saturday before I showed up at the candy shop, that I better not hurt you. So, it did not come as a surprise when he showed up on my doorstep and punched me in the face.”
“I will talk to him,” Noel guaranteed. “All three of us can talk if you like.”
“Okay,” Cavin agreed.
“You said dogs, is there someone else?” Noel checked.
“Rainey knocked on my front door about an hour after Keaton punched me,” Cavin proclaimed.
“Why?” Noel asked hesitantly although relieved to know that Cavin didn’t have two black eyes.
“At first I thought Keaton showed up for more, but I turned the porch light on and hollered, ‘I am calling the police’ through the door, and then Rainey responded, ‘I am the police.’ When I verified who was on the other side, he took one look at my eye and said he came to ask me to leave you alone and leave Beaufort, but then he said that Keaton must have found me first.”
“Do you think Rainey planned on hitting you, too?” Noel asked, but before letting Cavin answer, she went on to tell him about her phone conversation with Chelsea and Rainey. “I promise I told him not to get involved.”
“Rainey seemed calm. I do not think he came for a fight. However, you have some pretty intimidating people on your side.”
“They know what I’ve been through, Cavin, and they don’t want to see me get hurt.”
“I understand.”
“I will talk to Rainey as well. He’s a good guy. Keaton is, too, he’s just battling a lot of demons right now.”
“Thanks, and if you will talk to them sooner rather than later, it might save me another black eye,” Cavin requested. “How about that job?” he added.
“Have you ever made candy?” Noel teased but only half-heartedly.
Cavin chuckled. “Only for fun.”
“Mrs. Madelyn says she needs to cut back her hours, so while we look for something else more lucrative for you, you could help me out. I know I can’t pay you a fraction of what you make, but it might be fun, and I can introduce you to a lot of people in town,” she offered.
“Wait, you are a social butterfly; you already know nearly everyone,” Noel laughed.
Cavin raised his eyebrows. “I am not sure if any of them like me anymore.”
“If they see you working at the candy shop with me, they will,” Noel reckoned. “And see us celebrating all the Beaufort Christmas traditions together, and walking the streets holding hands, and kissing,” she added, kissing him another time.
“You really want to be seen in public with me after I seemingly humiliated you at church?”
Noel kissed him tenderly and then pulled back. “I’ve kissed you numerous times now in the busiest stretch of the waterfront district; I think everyone is going to know that we are an item.”
“As long as you do not tell them we are business partners,” Cavin teased.
Noel shrugged her shoulders. “Perhaps we will be both.”
“Have you not heard the saying, ‘don’t mix business with pleasure?’” Cavin asked, grinning.
“When your business is your passion, it’s always a pleasure,” Noel proclaimed.
“Then maybe you will help me find my passion.”
“Maybe you have already found it, and you just don’t realize it yet,” Noel suggested.