The following day, Carter squinted across the expanse of the beach and wished he had a pair of binoculars to see whether or not the woman who'd caught his attention fifteen or twenty minutes ago was Eliza Bellefonte.
It looked like her, but from this distance, he just couldn't be sure.
"Daddy!"
Piper drew his attention, and he followed her pointing finger toward the dolphins breaking the surface of the Atlantic. "Cool. How many do you see?"
"Three!"
He chuckled at her excitement. "Are you sure you don't want a dolphin birthday party instead of mermaid?"
His adorable imp turned her back to the surf and placed both hands on her slim hips, lifting her chin high.
"I'm Ariel, Daddy. See?"
The last was said with a lift of her hands, palms to the sky, to indicate her blazing red hair, and there was so much attitude and sass in the statement that he couldn't help but chuckle. "So I see. Promise me something, kiddo."
"What, Daddy?"
"Promise me that when you're a teenager, you'll turn down the boys and still go on Daddy-daughter dates with me."
She grinned at him, flashing her dimples, and nodded. "Of course!"
Piper went back to building a mermaid army on the sand with a plastic mold, and Carter found himself glancing toward the hotel farther down the beach once more. "Hey, you about ready to go get some food?"
"Ice cream?"
"I never should've let you talk me into that," he said with a wry shake of his head.
"It's only on Daddy-daughter Day, Daddy."
True. Dessert first once a week wasn't that bad of a thing, was it? Especially when she ate well the rest of the time. "So what's the answer? You getting hungry?"
"Yeah."
"Let's get moving then."
"Okay." Piper scrambled to her feet, and he held out the easy-on sundress she wore as a cover. Once dressed, she wriggled her tiny, freckled toes into her flip-flops, and he smiled at the mix of sand and the blue nail polish the last babysitter had applied.
They left their chairs and lowered umbrella behind and headed in the direction of the hotel and the indoor-outdoor restaurant.
"Where are we going?"
"How does a big-girl restaurant sound for today?"
"Okay. But I get ice cream?"
"That's the deal." He squinted behind his dark sunglasses, but the woman had her back to them. If it was Eliza, she didn't look happy. She paced the beach in back of the hotel with a cell phone to her ear and some kind of notebook in hand.
He and Piper closed the distance, and confirmation that it was Eliza came as a kick to his gut, a fact that wasn't lost on him.
After walking her to her door last night, he'd spent the ride home and the rest of his waking hours pondering the beautiful mess that was Eliza Bellefonte.
From what he'd gleaned from Mac about her business partnership/personal relationship going bad, she'd been put through the wringer and was still recovering on a multitude of levels.
If he was smart, he'd leave things as they'd ended. Especially since she'd declared herself uninterested. But he remembered her humor and beauty and sweetness, and from thirty feet away, Carter shook his head at the man stupid enough to hurt her.
Hearts were fragile and not to be toyed with, and he had a daughter growing up in a world where people trashed other people without a care as to the consequences to their lives. He wasn't okay with that. And even if he and Eliza were never more than friends, he'd at least like her to see not all men were cheating losers.
He and Piper finally made it to the area behind the hotel and the woman occupying his thoughts. Eliza released a low sound of frustration and muttered to herself, a small foot stomping into the sand.
"Is there a problem?" he asked.
"Oh!"
Eliza swung to face them, looking casual yet professional in white knee-length shorts and a blue sleeveless blouse, dark sunglasses on her nose. Her bag and sandals were tossed aside nearby.
He took in Eliza's pinched features and the firm line of her mouth and still felt the same pull he had last night.
"Hi, I'm Piper," his daughter said. "What's your name?"
Eliza seemed to notice his daughter for the first time. She managed a smile.
"I'm Eliza. It's nice to meet you, Piper."
"What's going on?" he asked, eyeing the wood pieces scattered on the sand. Another glance revealed plastic standup signs stating that the area was closed for a private event.
"I'm having… setup issues."
"Meaning?"
"The man who is supposed to be here putting this together right now didn't show and isn't coming," she said, voice laden with frustration.
"Maybe I can help you out."
"Oh, I couldn't… I mean—"
The phone in her hand bleeped, and she glanced at the face only to exhale in a rush.
"Okay. Well. That was my backup plan saying they're out of town."
"Eliza? Let me help."
He watched as she took a deep breath and came to terms with the fact she was out of options and going to have to accept the offer.
"Okay. Yeah, I'd… appreciate it. If the bride looks over her balcony and finds the arbor in pieces, I'm likely to have an even bigger problem on my hands."
"Okay. Where's the schematic?"
"Here, but… are you sure?"
"Yes. But I have to take Piper to the snack bar first.”
“Oh. Of course. Unless…maybe I could do it? I’d be happy to, I mean.”
She probably offered so he would get started on the project, but in the scheme of things, it didn’t matter. Both had to be done. “Yeah, sure. Thanks. Piper, Eliza is going to take you to get your ice cream while I be a good friend and help her by building this, okay?" he asked.
"Ice cream for lunch?" Eliza asked, looking appropriately shocked.
"Only on Daddy-daughter dates," Piper said. "Dessert first is a rule. Then I have to eat my food."
Eliza stared at him, lowering her voice. "This is your Daddy-daughter date?"
He could feel Eliza about to protest his involvement and recant her acceptance and hurried to stop it. "Go get the ice cream while I get started. And don't worry, she's going through a growth spurt, so she's always hungry. She'll eat despite the treat."
Eliza looked like she wanted to argue but was feeling that spot between a rock and hard place. He pulled cash from his pocket.
"Oh, please. No. I'll get it," Eliza said. "It's the least I can do since I'm taking time from your date."
He hesitated but then accepted the offer with a nod. "Piper? Only one scoop. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Have fun, ladies. I'll get to work on this. Piper, behave and mind your manners with Ms. Eliza, okay?"
"Okay, Daddy."
Piper grasped Eliza's hand and tugged her toward the hotel, and Eliza glanced over her shoulder at him one last time before turning away.
Carter watched them go, enjoying the sway of Eliza's hips in her shorts before he finally forced himself to focus and got to work, glancing over the instructions quickly.
The arbor wouldn't take long to build, but getting it securely anchored in the sand so it wouldn't topple in the breeze during the ceremony would be the more difficult task. He wondered how she did this multiple times a week, but then remembered her help hadn't shown up.
Carter put together the long sides of the wooden structure before he worked on the more complicated top. Something made him glance up, and he spotted Piper a ways away, looking up at Eliza with a huge smile as they made their way toward him.
His heart tugged at the sight. His baby girl deserved to have a loving mother in her life, but the handful of women he'd dated since Piper's mother had split had been so self-involved they'd demanded they come first, something that didn't work for him as a single dad to an infant or toddler at the time.
He'd quickly learned few women were willing to take a backseat to a child even during the dating stage, and his relationships had never been more than casual since. His soon-to-be sister-in-law and niece would have to fill the void in Piper's life, at least for the time being, and instead of hiring a slew of babysitters, he'd decided to go ahead and promote someone within his business so that he could work after-school hours at home like Lincoln had when his first wife was killed. After all, it wasn't like he'd ever get these years with Piper back.
"Wow. You're moving right along," Eliza said once she was close enough for him to hear.
"Daddy, look. They had my favorite," Piper said.
"Thanks," he said to Eliza, lifting his chin toward his daughter.
"Of course."
He went back to work and noted the way Eliza immediately pitched in and acted as an assistant. Some people didn't work well enough together to build a cardboard puzzle, much less an arbor, but Eliza tried to stay a step ahead of him so that she was ready to hand him whatever the next piece or tool or fastener happened to be.
Nearby, Piper finished her ice cream and began making sand angels in the shade provided by the tall hotel.
"I hate that I've interrupted your day together," Eliza said. "But I'm so glad you were around to save the day. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."
"Dinner would be nice."
"Oh, of course. I'd be happy to pay for your Daddy-daughter dinner."
"Not what I had in mind," he said, fitting the top in place. "I mean dinner, just you and me."
"Oh. Um…"
"Come on, Eliza. Aren't you the tiniest bit curious about us?" He tightened the screw and noted the way she wouldn't look at him.
"Us? No."
"That was a little too quick, sweetheart. Makes me not believe you," he said, sliding her a look from behind his sunglasses. He sat kneeling on the sand in front of her and shoved his glasses atop his head so she could see his eyes, even if he couldn't see hers. "Give me a legitimate reason why you're so against a simple dinner."
"I'm… just not interested."
"Because of some loser who hurt you?"
"Because I don't have time to date."
"Eliza? Where do you want these?" a woman called, carrying a bucket of flowers.
Eliza looked toward the woman bearing a florist logo-ed T-shirt and waved a hand toward the right.
"There's fine. Thank you, Jess," Eliza said. "I have to go," she said to him. "I have a wedding to set up."
She'd shoved herself to her feet and had turned away when he said, "I'm not taking no for an answer."
Carter saw the other woman's eyebrows rise in curiosity as she glanced between the two of them, but Eliza didn't bother to look back.
"You're going to have to," she called over her shoulder.
He got to his feet, motioning toward one of the teenage boys who'd just lowered a bucket of flowers to the sand. "Hey, give me a hand here, would you? Grab that side."
"Dude, that was harsh," the kid said, laughing at Eliza's rejection as he joined Carter.
Carter never took his gaze off of Eliza and knew the moment she took a discreet glance his way. He winked at her and smiled when her lips parted in a visual gasp. "That it was," he said to the teenager.
But he still wasn't giving up.