Page 49 of Sweet Summertide

With a step stool, he reached up and unhooked the hangers from the pegs he had already installed, leaving them empty.

“Maybe you should roll them,” Holly’s sweet voice said from behind his back and caused his heart to jump.

He hadn’t so much as waved at Holly since she accused him of being capable of starting a fire. The only fire he wished to stoke was the one in her soul, but he didn’t know if he could forgive her until she apologized. He had a split second to decide how to handle her. He could say something snarky and send her away—which he didn’t really want to do—or he could say nothing and see what she wanted. He turned around and had to bite his lip at how good she looked.

It wasn’t fair for a person to be as pleasing to gaze upon. Her hair was pinned up in a swirled bun on top of her head with little pieces falling out and framing her rosy cheekbones. He wasn’t sure if her blush came from seeing him or if the color was the remnants of the sunburn, though he hoped for her sake that the burn had subsided by now and she was happy to see him.

“May I?” she asked and walked to him. Taking one of the shirts to a small dining table, Holly laid it out and folded the arms in. She flipped it over, performed some kind of magic spell, and presented a rolled shirt with his logo perfectly positioned and visible at the center. She handed it back to him and took the other shirts, repeating her magic. When she was finished, he possessed a stack of rolls that fit nicely inside the confines of one shelf.

“How do you know how to do that?” he asked.

“I worked in the college bookstore,” she said and handed him the last item. “Teddy …”

His hand brushed hers in the transfer and his eyes wasted no time to lock onto her glossy lips. “Why are you here?”

“For the obvious reason. I owe you an explanation,” she said and backed away. “An apology.”

Theodor froze while he waited for her to continue. He watched as she tucked a tendril behind her ear, and he wished he were those fingers so he could touch her face. She straightened the straps of her overalls. Underneath, she wore a tiny floral crop top that exposed the silky flesh around her waist, which he was not ashamed of having committed to his memory.

“Teddy, I’m really sorry for thinking you could have done something so … ugh. I hate that I haven’t seen you in days. Do you know how many times I wished for you to just lurk in the shadows if it meant I could see you.” She turned and walked towards the door. She chuckled at herself. “This is so embarrassing.”

Theodor’s body ached to be near her and told him he was willing to forgive her, but it wasn’t just that she had doubted him, and she knew it. “You wounded me.”

“I know I did. And I know it’s so much more than one misplaced thought. I’ve spent more time than I’m proud of trying to win the grant money at any cost, including destroying you in the process. I guess the joke is on me.” She chuckled again but it was pinched in her throat as though she was on the verge of crying. If there was one thing Theodor wasn’t strong enough to deal with was her tears. “I got what was coming to me.”

“From here, it looks like this little setback hasn’t pained you too much. You’ve had about a dozen trades coming and going?—”

“You have no idea what I’ve been dealing with.” She turned and he could see the moisture welling up in her eyes. “The fire wasn’t that bad. I could have handled it, but the water did almostas much damage. I had to order all new windows at a rush, there was asbestos everywhere upstairs, and all the electrical had to be upgraded. And if by some miracle I get everything done in time, I have no way to pay for anything else. I’ll be lucky if I even have enough ice cream to make it a week.”

He swallowed hard. Here he was thinking it was a simple case of replacing a few timbers and drywall while it had been a near complete overhaul. “I didn’t know.”

“How could you have? You never even came to check in on me. I know you would have given the same courtesy to any other shop owner on this street, but not me.” She plopped down at the rustic table at the front window.

Filtered sunlight illuminated her blonde hair like a golden halo. He fought the urge to argue with her, mostly because she was on target. He would have done as she said for others, but he hadn’t checked on her, not even once. “You know why I couldn’t.”

“I get it. You told me you were waiting for me to have a better answer about why I thought you might have something to do with the fire. And I’m sorry I didn’t reach out to you sooner.”

“I just don’t know if I can trust you, Holly. You haven’t exactly been?—”

“Truthful? Nice? I know,” she said and paced in front of the windows. “Believe it or not, you’ve torn down more of my defenses than I thought was possible. It’s almost as though the harder I tried to close off from you, the harder I was falling …” She wiped a tear off her upper cheek, and he hesitated to hold her. “And I was falling for you, Theodor Black.”

He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

She searched his face for a hint of what he was thinking about, but she didn’t know that he was picturing scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder like a neanderthal, taking her back to his cave, and demonstrating to her just how much heloved her. But his doubt froze his feet in place and stitched his mouth shut.

She stood, crossing her arms under her chest. When he stayed mute, she dropped her arms to her side. “I came to apologize, and I have, but I’d like a chance to build some of our trust back. Tonight, eight thirty at the dock?”

He didn’t respond, not because he didn’t want to, but because he was running every future scenario through his mind. There were a thousand ways he could see them going from rival shop owners to lovers, but so many things could go wrong.

With no answer, she shrugged with a smile and walked out his front door.

He wanted to pull his hair out.

Time was short to get everything prepared for the opening, and now all he could think about was seeing her later. Looking at his shelf, pleased with what she had accomplished, he knew the shop was nearly ready. He still had to fill all the display cases with chocolates and finish setting up the rear patio. It had been a last-minute decision to makeover the modest space, but he thought it would be a great addition to impress the Chamber of Commerce with. It had cost him nothing but sweat. A side benefit was that he could rent out the patio for private tastings, and maybe a couples’ chocolate class similar to the one he had set up on the tasting day outside.

If and when he completed the last items on his to-do list, he would then decide whether to meet her at the dock later.

He looked across the street at a gorgeous Roadster that had just pulled up. An older man with salt and pepper hair, styled back behind his ears and wearing a navy-blue suit coat and khaki pants, got out and buttoned his top blazer button. Holly flew through her front doors, past a man carrying some large stainless-steel bowls, and landed in the man’s arms. He could hear her call the man ‘Daddy’.

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