Chapter Sixteen Dominic
Chapter Sixteen
Dominic
T he fact that Balls Deep , the golf-themed pontoon boat, won the Boat Parade was beyond ridiculous, but Dominic was trying to be understanding that he was new to this town and didn’t understand the dynamics of Heart Lake yet. Clearly, people loved their golf games and sexual innuendos here. Though he hadn’t once seen a golf course when driving through town, so he couldn’t exactly make sense of that.
“You’ll get it next year,” Dominic said to Jack, giving him a reassuring pat on the back. “This was the spookiest, most suspenseful boat I’ve ever seen. Hell, you should sell tickets to come on board around Halloween time. You’d make a fortune.”
Jack laughed and shook his head. “That sounds like a young man’s game, but if you’re volunteering to run it, I’ll be happy to collect the profits.”
“I didn’t say that,” he countered with a laugh, even though he wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea. “But we can talk about it.”
If he was still here around Halloween. That was the part he didn’t say out loud, but his interview was coming up fast, and every conversation he’d had with Eric about it made it all feel more and more promising and probable.
“I’ll see you Monday?” Jack asked as he dropped his jacket over his shoulders and pulled his car keys out of his pocket. He fumbled with them, and his hands shook as he shuffled through the ring to find the car key.
Dominic wasn’t sure he should still be driving, but he didn’t say anything. “Yeah, I’ll see you at eight.”
“Good man,” Jack said, giving him that fatherly nod of approval he remembered from his grandfather many years ago. “You’re not going to regret it.”
That part Dominic wasn’t so sure about. Taking on a temporary part-time job in retail and sales at a hardware store three days a week so that Jack could take some time off seemed like an easy thing to commit to. Now that they weren’t working on the dock together anymore, he wanted to be able to keep Jack in his life still. Helping at the store seemed like a way to do that. That didn’t mean he knew a damn thing about tools or hardware to help any customers who came in, but Jack assured him that everyone in town already knew more than him anyway, and it would be fine.
“You guys should have won.” A man that Dominic didn’t recognize walked up to him just as Jack was stepping off the dock and heading to the parking lot. “Your boat is absolutely sick. That goblin looks realistic as hell.”
“Thanks, man,” Dominic replied, feeling a bit proud because the silicone goblin attached to the ship’s wheel—posed like it was the captain—had been his idea, and he’d painstakingly hand painted it with fake blood and a semisevered head. “We were ahead of our time.”
The man laughed. “Yeah, by like three months. Come October, this is going to be the place to be.”
“I was just telling the owner that,” Dominic agreed. He put his hand out toward the man. “I’m Dominic Gage.”
“Oh! The baseball player, right?” The man looked surprised but took his hand and gave it a shake. “I heard you’d moved to somewhere around here. Didn’t think I’d run into you so soon. Big fan, man.”
“Thanks.” Dominic shook his hand. “And you are?”
“Blake,” the man replied. “I was on Nola Nation . I work for Tanner at his business, but I told him also that Jack-O’-Lantern was much better than his football stadium.”
This was Blake? Dominic tried to keep his expression still, not wanting to give off the impression that he had already heard of him.
“I actually used to help run this event,” Blake continued, and Dominic felt his entire body freezing as he tried to keep his opinions to himself. “Founded it, really. Once I got it up off the ground and running, I decided to let other people take it over. I’d already done all the hard work, you know? All they have to do is maintain it now.”
They. Dominic knew he was referring to Amanda despite the fact that he was fronting like he knew shit about what was going on in the parade.
“I’d imagine maintaining an event this big would still require a lot of work,” he found himself saying defensively in reply. “Hell, maybe even more than that if they are down a man, now.”
Blake gave him a weird look, his brows slightly furrowed. “I mean, yeah. I guess.”
Dominic pressed a hand firmly against Blake’s upper arm. “I gotta go, man. It was great to meet you, though.”
The hell it was.
“You, too,” Blake agreed, smiling widely like he’d just been patted on the head and given a gold star.
Dominic walked away from him with no other words. He had one thing on his mind—find Amanda. And try not to punch Blake in the face.
Amanda wasn’t hard to pin down after a quick lap around the harbor, though. She was standing at the judges’ table being yelled at by the owner of the boat with the flower theme. Dominic assumed it must have been owned by a local florist, but from what he heard walking up to them, the owner was thoroughly upset that her begonias hadn’t been properly recognized in the parade.
“Ma’am, I’m so sorry. I’d love to buy a whole bouquet from you. I mean, they’re beautiful,” Amanda was saying as he came to a stop by her side. “You do incredible work. We absolutely value Pansies and Peonies and their contribution to not only this parade, but to all of Heart Lake. There’s nowhere else I would go for flowers. You and your team are it.”
The woman who’d been upset seemed to stand taller at that and wiggled her shoulders with the tiniest bit of pride. “Well, of course. We are the venue for flowers for every Heart Lake wedding. Every Heart Lake event, actually.”
Dominic stepped a bit closer and put on his most charming voice. “Wait, are you the owner of Pansies and Peonies?”
She preened at the recognition, seemingly forgetting her complaints for Amanda at that moment. “I am. And you are?”
“I’m looking for a florist for my upcoming party,” Dominic continued, completely making that up out of nowhere. “I’ve heard nothing but incredible things about your store. I would love to talk to you on Monday about a quote for my event.”
The woman produced a business card out of her pocket immediately. “We’d love to talk with you and help with any events you’re having.”
“Thanks,” he replied. “I actually heard about you first through Amanda here. She was telling me that she hoped your boat would win—the floral display was incredible.”
“It was , wasn’t it?” the woman agreed. She finally offered Amanda a smile. “I knew you’d understand that. Thanks for recognizing, even if the vote went to the golf boat.”
“Can you believe it?” Dominic feigned his most shocked tone. “ Balls Deep ? What a ploy to use a salacious name for vote grabbing.”
He didn’t actually believe that. It was a fucking great name, even if he still didn’t think it deserved to win, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud while this woman was just beginning to defuse.
She threw up her hands and gave them both an exasperated look. “Right? What an absolute con. No one even got to recognize my begonias.”
“Despicable,” Dominic agreed as she finally felt validated enough to walk away and leave him and Amanda alone.
Amanda waited until the florist was at least out of hearing distance. “Thanks for that,” she whispered. “I felt like a deer in the headlights.”
“I could tell,” he teased. “Not that you weren’t handling that beautifully.”
“I mean, I can hold my own,” Amanda said with a wry smile. “But I don’t know how the golf boat won, either. Who even plays golf?”
Dominic shrugged. “I’ve got plenty of free time now. I guess I could get started.”
“Don’t you dare,” Amanda joked, pointing her index finger at him. “You’re going to be pretty busy with the event you’re throwing.”
“What event?” he replied, taking a moment to remember the fake event he’d just told the florist about. “Oh, ha. That was made up.”
“I know,” Amanda said with a smile. “But people in Heart Lake don’t forget. You have to throw an event now. You promised her.”
He blinked slowly. “Wait, are you serious?”
“Yes!” Amanda laughed and shook her head. “Mrs. Goldfarb does not play. You told her you had an event for Pansies and Peonies. She’s going to follow up on that.”
“Shit. Well, what kind of event would I even throw?” Dominic wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea, but it’s not like he had any plans coming up that seemed florist worthy. “I mean… my birthday is later this month.”
He wasn’t exactly the type of person to celebrate birthdays, but it was all he could think up on the spot.
“Your birthday?” Amanda’s entire face lit up and she bounced up onto the tips of her toes. “Oh my gosh, we have to celebrate. We do birthdays big here.”
Dominic rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I don’t know… I’m turning thirty-nine. It’s my last year in my thirties, and I’m also retired. It feels like the end of an era.”
“All the more reason to celebrate!” Amanda said.
“Is it, though?” he countered with a sarcastic lilt to his tone. “Or is it just sad?”
Amanda looked downright offended at that. “It is definitely not sad. It’s incredible. We can do a combined thing—half birthday party, half retirement party. Oh, and half housewarming party!”
He grinned. “That math doesn’t math.”
But Amanda wasn’t listening, already planning out the entire thing in her mind. “Actually, Marvel would absolutely love this. We could put her in charge of catering, and Mrs. Goldfarb could do a baseball bouquet—shape the flowers to look like a baseball. We could invite your whole family and your team, plus everyone in town for you to meet. It could be like your Heart Lake coming out party!”
“Do I need a coming out party, though?” he countered. “Thirty-nine isn’t a milestone year. That sounds like more something for when I turn forty.”
Amanda waved her hand. “We can do it all again next year.”
“Uh…” He wasn’t about to say that the first thought on his mind was that he wasn’t sure he’d still be here next year. “This sounds like a lot of parties.”
“Actually, speaking of events… I have a proposal for you?” Amanda phrased it like a question, but it seemed more like a statement.
He really needed to work on saying no more at some point, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to say no to Amanda. He lifted one brow as he looked at her. “What’s the proposal?”
“Evan needs an assistant coach for Zander’s baseball team. It’s Little League, which I know is not exactly in your stratus…”
“Little League is very important,” Dominic countered, putting his index finger up like he was about to give a lecture. “That’s where I first developed my passion. Little League introduced me to teamwork and support and… family, really. It teaches discipline and sportsmanship. It can be a very foundational developmental path for a lot of young kids.”
“Really?” Amanda looked surprised, though he wasn’t sure why. “Sounds like it was formative for you. I never heard you describe baseball as family before.”
He shrugged, suddenly feeling slightly bashful. “I mean, the guys on the team were really there for me after my injury. They still check in on me even though I’m not part of the team anymore. Honestly, it’s… it’s like an extended family that I know I can call up anytime. Coming from a smaller immediate family like I did, that really meant a lot to me growing up and in adulthood. Sports became a surrogate for the family I didn’t have.”
“I’ve actually heard Evan talk that way about some of the kids on the team,” Amanda admitted. “Not all of them, but there are a few who come from homes where they don’t necessarily get the attention they need. Evan describes coaching as like being a surrogate father to an entire group of kids every Saturday morning.”
Dominic nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. Good on him for being involved in that. I would be happy to help out a bit.”
For some reason, she looked surprised. “You’d coach Little League?”
“I mean, yeah? Why not?” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. Because it wasn’t. But why was he feeling so challenged right now? It was like he felt the need to defend himself against a claim that she hadn’t even made. Something about her tone had brought out a defensiveness in him he hadn’t known was there. “I like kids.”
“Oh. I mean, of course.” Amanda began to backpedal what she was saying. “I didn’t mean that you don’t like kids. I just mean it’s a big commitment. It can be kind of long. A whole season at minimum, but most coaches stay on and keep going. I wasn’t sure if that was something you’d be interested in, being so new here and all that.”
“I could, well, I’m sure I could…” he stuttered out the words at the same time as his brain was digesting the scope of what she was saying. That he wasn’t even sure he would be here long-term if the interview went well next week. And he’d just spoken this big game, like of course he’d coach Little League, and backing out now would probably seem like he’d been full of shit from the beginning. “Well, like anything, I’d have to look at the contract and stipulations. I’d need to check the hours against my schedule and stuff.”
Jesus, even he didn’t believe himself right now.
“Oh, of course.” Amanda nodded like they were suddenly having an uber serious business conversation. “I’ll have Rosie and Evan send you the contract. It’s probably written on scratch paper in the back of a high school kid’s notebook, so as long as you’re fine with that.”
He grinned and tried to stifle his laugh—unsuccessfully. “Give Evan my number. I’d be happy to help, at least temporarily. Maybe I can fill in until he finds someone with a longer commitment.”
Amanda’s face fell at that response, but she wiped it away so quickly that he almost missed it. She turned around and grabbed a stack of papers off the judges’ table and acted like she was straightening it out. “Yeah. I’ll do that.”
“Great,” he said. “I’ll… I’ll look for his call. It should be fun.”
“Well, I have a lot of stuff I have to do to close up the parade,” Amanda said, now on her second stack of papers that supposedly needed straightening. “I’ll see you later.”
He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t done talking, that they hadn’t even discussed what happened between them the other night when they had kissed. When she had said it had been amazing and then pulled away like it had never happened in the first place. He wanted to ask her more about her date today and if she was going on any more dates with that guy or anyone else. He wanted to ask her to come over to his house tonight and let him cook her dinner and have a glass of wine together on the couch and just talk until it was tomorrow.
But none of that came out of his mouth.
Instead, he nodded and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “All right. I’ll see you.”
She didn’t even look at him when he walked away, and he felt like he’d just experienced emotional whiplash, which seemed to be becoming a pattern with her.