Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
S erenity’s hands were shaking as she brought another tray of cookies in from the kitchen to her family room and planted it on the coffee table. There was almost no chair space left, and she wasn’t sure what they were going to do if more people showed up.
It was nice to see such support, but it was also beyond intimidating to be the one in charge.
“You ready?” Shiloh asked in an aside as she carried in a bundle of plastic cups to put by the water pitchers.
“Nope,” Serenity replied.
Shiloh smiled and nudged her friend’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine. People are only here if they want to be, so that should make it easier to be in front.”
Serenity wrung her hands. “Maybe we should have you speak. You’re good at talking to crowds. I think I missed the charisma genetics.”
Shiloh scoffed. “This is your baby, Ser. You’ll be great.” Shiloh smiled. “Just be upfront about it all and what you hope to accomplish. We already know that Ivory and Blaire think it’s great. I’m positive the response is going to be wonderful.”
Serenity nodded, but the nerves dancing in her stomach wouldn’t quit.
“You ready?”
Luca’s deep voice was usually soothing, but the unexpectedness of it had Serenity jumping and holding back a squeal. “Don’t do that,” she hissed, smacking the back of her hand against his chest.
Ouch…when did he get that strong? He looked strong. It was easy to see he was bigger than when they were younger, but up until now, Serenity hadn’t actually felt his muscles, with the exception of being carried when she was almost unconscious.
She kind of wanted to touch him again.
If only she didn’t have an audience.
Luca chuckled. This time, the low rumble of it did help the butterflies zinging through her belly. “Sorry. I didn’t realize I was being sneaky.”
“Yeah, well, apparently my ears take a holiday when I’m nervous.”
“Why are you nervous?” he asked, his brows furrowing in what appeared to be honest confusion.
“Are you kidding me?” Serenity asked. She waved at the room. “There’s a ton of people here, and I have to stand in front of them and talk.”
Luca studied the room. “It looks like they’re mostly women,” he observed. “You were right. A lot of the shop owners on Main are your age and female. That should make it easier.”
Serenity turned to the chatting group and took a good look, one beyond the fact that there were so many of them. “I guess you’re right. Most of the shop owners who came are in that demographic.”
“Which means you already know a few,” Luca pointed out.
Serenity’s nerves calmed a little more, and she looked up at him. “You’re pretty smart, McCoy.”
Luca grinned and winked. “I did pass the intelligence test to get into the military.”
Serenity laughed softly. “Yes you did.”
“Okay, everyone!” Shiloh’s voice carried through the room.
“Shoot,” Serenity whispered, then continued when Luca gave her a questioning look. “Shiloh must have decided I was taking too long. Her starting things means she’s going to force my hand, and if I don’t step in early enough, she’ll make a big dramatic presentation of it.”
Luca’s lips twitched, like he was holding back a smile. “Then I suggest you get up there and cut her off.”
“Wish me luck,” Serenity muttered and began to walk away, but she paused when Luca whispered.
“You don’t need it.”
She hesitated momentarily, fighting the desire to turn and smile at him. For a man who wanted to save the world, he had a wonderful ability to make a person feel individually supported. It was just one of the things Serenity had loved and missed about her ex.
Having the support back felt indescribable, and with each comment and physical act of labor by him on her behalf, she found herself wondering more and more how she’d ever lived without it.
Everyone needed a Luca McCoy in their life.
But who would get the real Luca McCoy?
Pushing the question and its complicated answer aside, Serenity thrust back her shoulders and walked forward.
“Hey, Serenity,” Shiloh said with a wide smile. “I was just about to introduce you.”
Serenity felt every eye in the house land on her. “I appreciate it,” she said, “But I’ll take it from here, if you don’t mind.”
Shiloh raised a challenging eyebrow, but nodded. “I don’t mind at all.” Facing the group again, she waved. “I’m happy to chat later! Remember me for all your real estate needs!”
A low laugh ran through the group, along with a few awkward twitters, and Serenity had a stark revelation that she wasn’t the only one who was nervous.
Clapping her hands in front of her, she put on her best smile. “Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for coming tonight. As was just mentioned, I’m Serenity Michaels. I own and operate Lighthouse Bay Gifts and Collectibles.” She made a face. “I know, I know. It’s an extremely creative name. Blaire would be so proud.”
Blaire laughed and shook her head from the middle of the sofa. “I’ll offer some suggestions later!”
More laughter continued to bring the tension in the room down to more manageable levels, and slowly, Serenity relaxed as she spoke.
“So…I know you have an idea of why we’re here,” she continued. “But just to recap for people, I was broken into a few days ago. I’ve recently had a flood, and my store was shut down from the front. I don’t know if that’s what made me a target, but when I came in in the morning to open things for my construction worker, I discovered the door was unlocked and was attacked from behind.”
She took a deep breath, swallowing the memory of the moment she was referring to. She didn’t need to relive it, she’d done that enough, but her heart sped up and her breathing grew ragged, and the calm that Serenity had managed in the last couple of minutes went up in a puff of smoke.
Serenity closed her eyes and tried to focus on breathing. She could hear the room grow restless and bits of soft chatter tried to break her concentration, but she squeezed her fists and tried again. She couldn’t fall apart now. Not now. Not when she was supposed to be the one in charge. How would anyone be willing to join her group if she couldn’t keep her emotions under control?
A large, warm hand landed on the low part of her back, but instead of jumping in shock, Serenity leaned into Luca’s touch. She could feel him next to her, his massive presence was strong and stable and was exactly what she needed to pull her head out of the whirlwind it was struggling against.
“Thank you,” she whispered, taking a deep, calming breath. Opening her eyes, Serenity looked up at Luca. “This is Luca McCoy,” she announced to the group, then followed her words with her gaze. “He’s the one who saved m,e and he’s also fixing my store.” Serenity grinned. “And no…he’s not available to be a personal bodyguard.”
Luca’s ears were burning again, especially when Blaire let out a whistle that nearly took off the roof. Nodding a little, he tried to step back, his mission to help Serenity accomplished, but Serenity grabbed his arm, holding him in place.
“Luca and his brothers”—she indicated the twins standing in the kitchen door—“don’t have a shop on Main, but they came tonight to support this group and I just wanted to point them out. The twins run McCoy Construction, and that’s who I called for the renovation after my flood.”
There was a smattering of polite applause and Luca once again tried to back out of the spotlight, but Serenity’s hold on his arm was iron tight.
“And we have one more non-shop owner.” Serenity nodded her head toward the police officer just behind the twins. “Officer Montoya?”
The man nodded with a smile.
“He’s here to help give us pointers about creating a neighborhood watch program.” Serenity squeezed Luca’s arm. “In fact, why don’t we have everyone introduce themselves, and then we’ll let Officer Montoya take over after that.”
Shiloh raised her voice. “I’ll start since I’m kind of at the end of the line here. Shiloh Baxter. I run Lighthouse Bay Real Estate.”
The names began, and Luca almost blew out a breath when Serenity finally let them step back and away from center stage.
“Thank you,” she whispered to him again as people continued to introduce themselves.
“Blaire,” Blaire said proudly, waving around the room. “I run the Scream for Ice Cream truck in the hardware store parking lot.”
“You were doing great,” Luca whispered, keeping his eye on the crowd.
“I was crumbling,” Serenity whispered back. She sighed and laid her head against his shoulder.
Luca froze, praying that he wouldn’t do anything to risk her moving. Serenity’s head hadn’t been on his shoulder for years, and he wanted to savor this moment in case it never happened again.
“Lilyana,” another woman said with a soft smile. She tucked her blond hair behind her ear. “I run Sweets and Things.” Her blue eyes flashed to the twins, then down to her lap.
“She’s the one who makes the taffy,” Luca murmured.
“Good memory,” Serenity responded, lifting her head.
Luca could have cursed himself. Why did he open his big mouth?
“I’m Dalton,” a man said from the arm of the couch. “This is my sister Anneliese.”
The woman huffed and folded her arms over her chest.
“We run Ocean Adventures and Sailing.”
“Ah, the outdoor adventure company,” Serenity mused. “I sort of remember them from high school, but we didn’t cross paths all that often. I should put their pamphlets in my store.”
Luca nodded. There were a lot of people here who appeared to be in their upper twenties to low thirties, and he was mildly surprised. A lot had changed since he’d left, and it appeared that a new generation of shopkeepers were pushing Lighthouse Bay into the next generation.
It was kind of inspiring.
“I’m Ivory! I run Whimsical Wonderland,” Ivory said with a smile.
The next woman waved. “Gemma,” she supplied, then looked at the person next to her.
“And I’m Harmony,” a very well dressed woman announced. “I work at the Lighthouse Bay art gallery.” She nudged Gemma. “And Gemma runs Gemma’s Gems, if you didn’t already guess that.”
Gemma shrugged. “I’m sure everyone figured that out.”
Luca huffed.
“It’s a jewelry store,” Serenity said, grinning. “Do you think her parents knew what she’d grow up to be? Or just a lucky guess?”
Luca chuckled. “Or did she change her name to make it work?”
Serenity jolted. “What? Why would someone do that?”
He shrugged. “Weirder things have happened.”
She ticked her head back and forth. “I suppose they have.” She laughed quietly. “Now I’m curious.”
“I can’t believe how many of the owners grew up here.”
“Why?”
Luca glanced down and shrugged. “Just surprising, I guess. Lots of people from smaller towns grow up and leave.”
“And just as many stay.” Serenity raised an eyebrow. “Like me.”
He clamped his jaw shut. The barb hit home. Serenity had stayed, Luca had left, and look where that had gotten him.
“Officer Montoya,” the officer said, walking toward the front. “Thank you, Ms. Michaels for the invitation.” He turned his white smile on Serenity, and Luca clenched his fists.
Turning back to the crowd, the dark-headed policeman began a rehearsed talk about crime rates and neighbors watching out for each other.
Luca wanted to focus, but he couldn’t seem to draw his attention away from Serenity’s grip on his arm. Her head was upright now, but she still stood close, almost leaning into him, and Luca was so distracted that Office Montoya could have been talking about using magic wands and Luca wouldn’t have batted an eye.
He liked this a little too much. Serenity at his side, them whispering in the background, her turning to him for support and help. It was familiar and yet new. Supporting her on a high school test or before a volleyball match was nothing compared to supporting her as a business owner or as she built a group of entrepreneurs and business owners into a neighborhood watch and collaboration of sharing their businesses.
Both of them had changed, and though Luca deeply regretted having left for so long, he couldn’t find it within himself to be upset that they were both a little more experienced in life.
Serenity had matured into the very woman he knew she could be, and Luca was in awe every time he saw her. She was stunning and desirable physically, but she was also good. Good to her core. She was kind. She had grit. She wanted to help and save others from heartache.
As someone who had seen the most ugly sides of the world and knew the great capacity humans had for evil, finding someone so pure only added to Luca’s feeling of unworthiness.
“So…” Ivory threw out, drawing Luca’s attention from his melancholy thoughts. “If we make this formation official, do we all get to carry mace with us?” She grinned when a few people chuckled. “Or how about guns?” Ivory leaned forward. “Are you going to give us lessons in shooting, Officer Montoya?”
Luca couldn’t help but chuckle when, despite his deep brown skin, Officer Montoya blushed and rubbed at the back of his neck.
“I don’t think that’s how it works, ma’am.” His dark eyes darted around the room, holding for a moment in one corner before moving on.
Ivory tsked her tongue. “Well, that’s too bad. I think you could convince most of us women to be very interested in firearms.”
“Oh, for goodness sake, Ives,” Shiloh groaned. “Leave the man alone. He’s new to town.”
Luca’s grin grew when Ivory spread her hands to each side. “Welcome to Lighthouse Bay, Officer Montoya. I’m sure you can see we’re glad to have you.”