Book 7 Longing for Love #6
Laura buys a gift for Sarah’s birthday at Tiffany’s store.
As they talk about Blaine, she realizes he may be reticent with words, but he more than makes up for it with actions.
Francine finally comes in to see the store and is very complimentary of what Tiffany has created.
She tells her she heard Royal Atkinson, town councilman, is determined to address the issue of the store at the next meeting.
Tiffany is disappointed to hear that Verna didn’t get that taken care of for her.
Bobby comes into the store, wanting to see Tiffany.
Francine tells him to get lost and smacks him across the face.
Ned comes in and says someone should’ve smacked him a long time ago. He tells him to get lost.
“Who are you to tell me what I’m gonna do?” Bobby asks.
“I’m the man who loves Francine and her girls as if they’s my own, and I’ve had just about enough of yer happy horseshit.”
Listening to Ned tell off her father, Tiffany realizes two very important things: She loves the man who loves her mother, and she loves Blaine—with her whole heart.
As soon as she gets the chance, she’ll tell him so.
Her mother is right—if she lets fear drive her away from Blaine, Jim wins.
She can’t let that happen. After Bobby leaves, Tiffany tells Ned they love him, too.
Tiffany and Patty don sexy sailor outfits in honor of Race Week and go outside to drum up business.
Blaine has the dreadful job of notifying Grace, Linda and Maddie about the accident.
He finds Linda at the Curl Up & Dye Salon, where owner Chloe Dennis is doing Linda’s hair.
Linda pulls the foils out of her hair and leaves to be with her husband.
Chloe will drive her. Blaine walks the two blocks to Tiffany’s store and finds her parading around outside in the sailor suits with Patty.
Infuriated, Blaine cites her for public indecency.
Tiffany tears up the citation right in front of him.
Mac and his brothers are missing. That’s what he came to tell her.
She lets him drive her to Maddie’s as long as he’s not going to tell her how to run her business. They’ll talk about that later.
Everyone gathers at the marina awaiting word of the missing men during an endless day.
Big Mac and Linda call Adam in New York to tell him his three brothers are missing.
While they wait for news, Blaine takes advantage of the opportunity to ask Royal why he’s hassling Tiffany when they have so many bigger problems to contend with on the island.
He tempts Royal with talk of the store being a tax-generating gold mine.
They can’t take the matter off the agenda because it’s already been advertised to the public. Blaine was afraid of that.
Ashleigh asks Blaine if he likes her mommy, and he says he does. He’s smitten with both of them, but he has to do something about Tiffany strutting around town half-naked.
Mac calls Maddie to tell her he’s okay, and so is Evan.
The captain, Steve, was killed on impact, and they’re still looking for Grant and Dan.
All Kara can think about is what an awful bitch she was to Dan that morning.
He freaks her out with his intense interest in her.
Blaine offers to drive Tiffany and Ashleigh home, and they run into Jim, who’s not happy to see Blaine carrying Ashleigh.
Tiffany taunts him and makes sure Jim knows they’re together.
He says Blaine can’t leave with his family.
“They’re not your family anymore,” Blaine reminds him. “You saw to that.”
Grant and Dan are found, hypothermic and injured but alive.
Blaine shares the news with the euphoric family waiting at the marina and rounds up EMS support to meet the injured men when they’re brought in.
As he drops off Tiffany at home, he tells her he needs a minute to think about things.
She’s devastated that he might be changing his mind about them.
He tells her she has to stop prancing around in skimpy outfits in public if she wants Royal’s support at the meeting.
She thinks Blaine is the one who wants her to stop.
Blaine gets a call from the fire chief, Mason Johns. He has to go.
Blaine works all night dealing with the aftermath of the accident.
David asks if he knows Kara Ballard. Dan Torrington is asking for her.
Blaine goes to the barn near the marina, where Kara lives, and offers to drive her to the clinic to see Dan.
Kara can’t believe he’s really asking for her.
After he drops her at the clinic, Blaine heads home to get some sleep and figure out what he’s going to do about Tiffany.
At the clinic, Kara hugs Stephanie, who’s tending to Grant.
Dan is pale and bruised, but alive. Dan is in a lot of pain from broken ribs and Grant saved his life about fifty times when they were in the water.
She apologizes for treating him badly the previous morning.
He knows it was because she was freaking out about having sex for the first time since her epic breakup.
Thinking about her and their night together got him through the rough day.
She’ll be there to care for him while he recovers.
Days pass without a word from Blaine while Tiffany helps out with Maddie’s kids and helps with Mac, who’s a horrible patient.
Tiffany talks to Mac about Blaine. She’s surprised to hear he drove Mac crazy, asking when her divorce would be final.
Mac tells her about the women he was involved with, one of whom was dealing drugs while he was on night duty as a police officer.
By the time he could prove he wasn’t involved, his reputation was ruined, and he lost his job.
The Gansett council knew about that and made him serve a probationary period before they gave him a long-term contract.
That’s why he can’t have another girlfriend ruin things for him, she realizes.
When he comes into Mac’s house looking tired and stressed, Tiffany realizes she’ll never love anyone the way she loves him.
She talks to Maddie about how she can’t be a supporting character in another relationship.
She won’t let him tell her what to do. They need to compromise, Maddie advises.
Maddie and all their friends will fight the council’s interference in Tiffany’s business.
Mac helps Blaine see that he’s in love with Tiffany. He knows what he has to do.
Tiffany arrives at the council meeting wearing her most demure dress.
She’s stunned and overwhelmed when Maddie, Mac and all their friends show up to support her.
Dan is out of bed and limps in to be there to help her if she needs it.
Jim glares at her, as if he can’t wait to defeat her.
When the council questions her, she defends her store and has decided to change her advertising strategies.
People speak for and against her. while Blaine bides his time in the back.
Linda McCarthy speaks in favor of the store.
“I wanted to raise my daughter here because of the values this town has always had,” Jim says. “Lately, however, I have to question whether this is the best place for her to live.” He glowers at Tiffany. “She’s just doing this to spite me for leaving her—”
That’s it, Blaine decides. I’ve heard more than enough. He plucks the microphone from its stand.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jim asks indignantly. “It’s my turn.”
Into the microphone, Blaine says, “It was your turn. Now it’s mine. You want to talk about values, Sturgil? What kind of man lets his wife work two jobs to put him through law school and then leaves her when the money starts rolling in?”
Jim’s eyes bug out of his head, and for a moment, Blaine wonders if Jim might be stupid enough to hit him. He really, really wishes he would.
“What kind of man asks his very nice wife for a divorce, moves out of the house and takes all the furniture, leaving the wife who put him through law school and his young child in an empty house?”
Jim’s fist rolls into a ball, and Blaine gives him a challenging look that dares him to go for it. Assaulting a police officer could get him disbarred, which Jim well knows.
“Sit down, Sturgil,” the mayor orders.
“You heard the mayor,” Blaine says. “We’ve all heard enough out of you.”
Everyone sitting behind Tiffany whoops and claps.
Blaine doesn’t dare look at her, or he might lose his nerve.
To the council, he says, “This whole thing is ridiculous. For better or worse, the town approved Ms. Sturgil’s application, and now you’ve got to live with it.
She has the same right to make a living here that all of you do.
She’s an accomplished businesswoman who has run two successful businesses on this island for years.
She pays her taxes just like everyone else.
This is a witch hunt because you’re all afraid of something different.
To you, this is about sex toys and sexy nighties.
To her, it’s about food on the table and a roof over her child’s head. ”
“She’s caused at least one accident on Ocean Road,” one of the councilmen reminds him.
“How was that her fault? Was she driving the car? Did she take her eyes off the road and run into another car? We cited the driver who caused the accident, not her.”
“She caused a distraction.”
“And she’s said she won’t do that anymore.”
“I’m ready for a vote,” the mayor says.
Blaine glances toward the back of the room, pleased to see that everyone is in place.
“Before the council votes, I’d like to remind you that you represent the citizens of this town.
It might be helpful to gauge where the citizens stand on this matter.
With the election coming up in November, I’d think you’d want to be sure you’re following their wishes. ”
After some whispered discussion among the council members, the mayor says, “I’ll allow that. With a show of hands, how many are opposed to the Naughty & Nice shop remaining open?”
Quite a few hands are raised, including Jim’s and Blaine’s mother’s in the back of the room.
“And how many are in favor of the shop remaining open?”
All the hands on the side of the room where Tiffany is sitting go up, along with the hands of every police officer, firefighter, first responder, paramedic, ambulance driver and the guys Blaine works out with at the gym.
He even got Linc and some of the officers from the coast guard station to come into town for the meeting.
Blaine finally allows himself to look over at Tiffany and catches the exact moment when she realizes what he’s done. Her eyes widen when she sees the men and women in uniform lining the back wall, casting their votes for her.
With their help, she has more than enough votes to sway the council.
“Motion to table the matter of the Naughty & Nice store indefinitely,” Royal says.
“Second,” one of the others says.
“All those in favor?” the mayor asked.
All seven members vote “aye.”
After they celebrate the big win, Blaine and Tiffany share a nice moment with Blaine’s mother, who invites Tiffany and Ashleigh to dinner.
Tiffany tells Blaine to leave his door unlocked, and she sneaks in late at night to handcuff him to the bed, the way she tried to do with Jim.
This time, she’s sure of how she’ll be received.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “Thank you so much for risking your job and your career and your reputation and your mother’s wrath to stand up for me. No one has ever done anything like that for me before.”
“No one has ever loved you as much as I do.”
She didn’t see that coming and stares at him, almost waiting for him to take it back. “You do?”
Nodding, he says, “For a very long time now, I suspect.”
“I love you, too. For probably just as long.”
“Now that you have me,” he says, smiling suggestively and tugging on the cuffs, “whatever will you do with me?”
She makes him promise he’ll never leave her and never use his badge to bully her, and he agrees. He wants everything with her, and she wants the same thing.