Chapter Twenty

Nate

As November bleeds into December, and the lobster fishing season is about to come to an end, we all gather around the tables at the Shore Club for their world-famous lobster supper—a good place for us all to be hanging with the B&B’s first viewing.

I glance around the room, and a sign on the wall informs me that the club has been open for eighty-two years now, the last of the greatest dance halls and home to the original lobster supper. It’s tradition toward the end of the season for all those who work at Hooked to get together. Management, fishermen, men and women from the processing plant, as well as their families, have all gathered. Conversations range from the weather, to the successful season, to what comes next.

What comes next for me is to get the owner to finally sell the cottage. Oliver said the place had recently changed hands, and he was able to track down the new owner through her application to the Heritage Society, which met for their December meeting yesterday. He’s sent an email with a huge offer, one, he said, there is no way she’ll refuse. My father will likely lose his mind that I’d gone so high, but I know what I’m doing. Everyone has a price, and we just have to find hers.

Kira takes a sip of her wine and leans toward me. “Did you know that Mariah Carey and Mira Sorvino ate here when they were in Nova Scotia filming the movie Wisegirls. And in 1983, Prince Charles and Lady Diana dined here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, long before my time, but Gram has the plastic lobster bib that Diana wore. I haven’t come across it yet at the B&B, might even be in her safety deposit box, but I think it would be a great keepsake.”

Just then, the server comes by with plastic bibs for us all and ties them around our neck.

“Selfie,” Kira says, and pulls out her phone. She takes one of us, and the waitress approaches.

“I can get a group shot if you’d like.”

“Thanks.” Kira hands over her phone, and the server snaps a few pictures of the crew at our table—Izzy, Jason, Sam, Cody, Albert, Faith, Amber, and Julie, one of Amber’s friends, Jenny from the Grand Banker, and her husband Jeremy, who works with Albert and went as a lobster to the Halloween party. Then she takes a few more of the other tables in the room. Sam, of course, had put two fingers over Izzy’s head when the camera pointed his way. When Izzy sees that she’s going to put her foot so far up his ass, he’ll be tasting her steel-toed boot for a month.

The server hands the phone back, and a wistful look comes over Kira’s face as she slides her finger across the screen to view the photos.

“Refill on wine?” I ask and reach for the carafe in the center of the table.

“Yes, thanks,” she says quietly. “I wonder how the viewing is going?”

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.” She nods and looks off into the distance. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

She turns back to me and blinks. “What?”

I look around, take in the happy crowd. “This…”

She follows my gaze and swallows. I get the sense that she’s fighting her emotions again.

“Nate,” she begins quietly. “I’ve never really experienced anything like this. These people, the comraderies…they’re all like one big happy family. I see what Gram has always seen in this town. I get it now.”

My heart pinches as I take in the longing in her eyes. “You’re going to miss this place, aren’t you?”

She nods.

“You don’t have to go, you know.” I work to keep my voice steady. Only last week, she reminded me of our timeline, reminded me that it was just sex between us. Damned if that wasn’t a hard kick to the balls. But I can’t fight the things that are happening to me.

Over the last month, my goals have shifted, and while building the processing plant is important to me, there’s no doubt I’ve realigned my priorities. It’s crucial that I move on to the next processing plant, bring it into the twenty-first century for the company’s and the workers’ sake, but maybe I could make a home here and travel. Or maybe I can get the project started and hand it over to someone else to complete.

Then again, if Kira has no interest in staying, building on what’s between us, then…shit, I don’t even want to let my thoughts go there. She makes me want to be a better man than those in my family. I never thought I had it in me until I met her. I have to find a way to convince her that we’re right together.

“I know you already talked to the mayor about donating the money to the town, but twenty grand will make a nice down payment, and if you ran the B&B properly, it could pay the mortgage,” I say.

She looks down at her drink, but not before I catch the sadness in her eyes. “I can’t manage a B&B with my work schedule. That, and my life and my family… Well, they’re on the other side of the country.”

Her voice falls off, and my gut clenches as she tells me the reasons that she doesn’t belong here, but fuck me, she does. So do I. She once said to me that we can’t pick our families, but she was wrong. We can choose our families, and I choose this one right here. I want to be a better man than my father, my brothers. I want to be a man who puts the community ahead of the bottom line. I want to stay here with these kind and caring people. I want Albert to call me son. I rack my brain, try to figure out how to convince her she belongs here, as the servers come with our huge two-pound lobsters.

“Oh my, that’s big,” she says.

I lean into her and whisper, “Thankfully, Sam is out of earshot, or he would have blurted out, that’s what she said.”

She laughs at that, and her mood lightens. It’s all I can do to stop myself from pulling her in for a hug. From my pocket, my phone buzzes, but I ignore it. The only people I want to speak to are here. Yet, the damn thing won’t stop.

“Your pants are lighting up,” she teases.

“I guess I’d better get it.” I excuse myself from the table and slide my finger across the screen and step into the bathroom for privacy. “Dad,” I say when I answer.

“I take it you have good news for me?” His gruff voice booms through the phone.

“Yeah, we tracked down the owner, and an offer is in place. Looks like everything is a go. We can break ground in the spring.”

“I wanted that done by now, Nathan. Time is money.”

“It was out of my hands,” I say, understanding it was supposed to be well underway by now, and I was supposed to move on to the next venture once construction started. Now, I’m not in such a hurry to do that. “We’ve done everything we could.”

“Maybe I should fly there myself to make sure this gets done.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. The last thing I need is my father here undermining my decisions. “No need. It’s all under control.”

“Don’t disappoint me,” he says, and the line goes dead. I exhale loudly and turn on the water. I splash it on my face and work to pull myself together. Talking to my father always leaves me angry. But I do have this under control. He just has to trust me.

My phone buzzes again. “What now?” I pick it up and read the text from Oliver, and the world goes a little fuzzy around me as I sag against the sink. She refused the offer, is all the message said.

Goddammit. I text back: We need this. She’s playing hardball. Up the offer. She’ll give in when we get the right amount.

I shove the phone into my pocket, run my hands through my hair, and take a deep, fueling breath. Laughter swirls around me as I exit the men’s room, and the second I sit next to Kira, who is tucking her phone away, it lightens my mood.

“Everything okay?” she asks.

“My father.” She nods. “Now, let’s eat these bad boys,” I say and dig into the lobster. Juice squirts from the claw and gets me in the face. “Dammit,” I say, and Kira laughs.

She uses her napkin to wipe my face, and I don’t miss the way Izzy is watching us. I’ve given up trying to hide what I feel for Kira. This has grown into so much more than a hookup. I listen in as Albert tells a tale about his younger days fishing, elaborating on everything, and making those around the table laugh. We enjoy our lobster and finish our wine, and once the shells and dishes have been cleared, the lights dim for the Saturday night dance.

I check my phone a few more times, as it keeps lighting up in my pants. Caller display informs me it’s my three brothers who keep calling, and I don’t answer.

“I need to go wash up,” Kira says, and I note the way she’s looking at her phone again, a frown on her face, as she enters the women’s room.

When she comes back, it’s my turn to ask if she’s okay. She nods, but her body language says otherwise. Whatever she has on her mind, she’s keeping to herself. Who am I to talk? I’m doing the same thing, but I don’t want to ruin this night with my troubles. Maybe she’s feeling the same way. Hopefully we can talk later because I want to be there for her if she has something weighing on her.

The music starts, and Sam grabs Kira and takes her to the dance floor. It’s easy to tell how much they like each other, but I no longer feel the jealousy because Sam is one of the good guys and would protect his sister with his life.

Izzy grabs my hand. “Come on, boss,” she says, and I groan.

“Don’t make me.”

“Well, I’m not going to let you sit here and mope because Kira is in Sam’s arms and not yours.”

I follow her to the dance floor and step in beside Sam and Kira, who are laughing and having a great time. My heart swells to see her happy. I want to make her this happy every fucking day if only she’d let me.

The song changes to a slow one, and Izzy pulls me to her. We sway on the dance floor, and she says, “You like her?”

I pause for a long while. “Yeah, I do,” I say.

“Guys in your position rarely stay here long. Always making changes that affect us workers, not always in a good way, and then moving on to bigger and better.”

“I know,” I say, and I do know. The bottom dollar has come first over the people, but the new processing plant will actually help them, create more jobs, but I can’t tell her any of that just yet. Past experiences have jaded these guys, and they probably wouldn’t believe me, anyway, until they see the new hires, the influx of people and money into the town.

“Then you better get your shit together and figure out what comes next,” she warns in a soft but serious voice.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t hurt her, Nate. She’s a good girl.”

“I’d never do anything to hurt her.”

“I like you, Nate, but if you do break her heart, you’ll have her three brothers and sister to deal with, and probably half the town.”

It’s a threat, but it brings a smile to my face. “I like that you guys are protective of her. She needs that in her life. Gram would be so happy.”

She pokes my chest. “Just don’t make us need to protect her from you, okay?”

“Okay,” I say. “Thanks, Izzy.”

The song ends, and I turn and pull my girl away from Sam.

My girl.

Yeah, that’s exactly what she is.

“Having fun?” I ask.

“I am. You?”

“Most fun I’ve had in a while,” I say but also the most frightened I’ve ever been in my life. Tonight I plan to tell her how I feel, and I pray to fucking God she feels the same.

We dance the night away, and when the hall shuts down, we give hugs to all our friends, who are headed to the Anchor, and we make our way to my truck to go back to the B&B. Kira is a little quiet on the drive, and I leave her to her thoughts as my heart crashes against my ribs. I can’t believe how this woman has worked her way into my closed-off heart without even trying.

When we get to the house, Bridgette is waiting for me. We both chuckle.

“I’ll meet you inside,” I say to Kira and give her a kiss full of promise as I walk the cow home. Once I get her settled into the barn, I hurry my steps, desperate to hold Kira in my arms, make love to her.

The house is quiet, and I take off my boots and head upstairs, to find her in bed waiting for me, looking so warm, beautiful, and cozy, I want to crawl in there beside her and stay forever.

“Alone at last,” I say, and she pats the mattress.

“What took you so long?” she asks and stifles a yawn. With trying to sell, yet save the B&B, and distributing Gram’s paintings, she’s been riding so many emotional highs and lows lately, it’s exhausted her.

“You’re not the only girl that needs my love tonight,” I say.

Love.

Yeah, fuck, man, I love this woman

I strip off in record time and climb over her. Our lips touch, and she widens her legs for me, wraps them around my back. Her hands move over my body, like this could be our very last time together, and I lose myself in her silky softness. I inch back, brush her hair from her face, take in the warmth in her eyes. I need to tell her how I feel, and I need to do it right now.

“Kira—” My words are cut off by the loud snap of the mousetrap.

“Oh God,” Kira says and wiggles out from beneath me. Looking horrified, she hugs the blankets and scoots up against the headboard, pointing to the bathroom. “Was that…?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Ewww,” she whispers and closes her eyes. “I can’t look.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you.”

I tug on my pants, head to the bathroom, and check the trap. I’m glad I was here when this happened. “Keep your eyes closed,” I say.

I tug on my coat, carry the trap from the house, and dispose of it in the trash outside. I double-check the foundation and grab the foam from inside to touch up a spot where the mouse could have been coming and going.

Back inside, I push open the door about to blurt out how I feel but shut my mouth when I find her fast asleep. As much as I want to snuggle in next to her, I close her door, leave her alone so she can get a good night’s sleep for a change. I guess my declaration of love will have to wait.