Page 8 of Sweet Passions at Bayside
“I know your dating history, remember? I’m not checking your text.”
She came outside and grabbed her phone. “I love that whole disappearing-wall thing you have going on.” She read the text from Desiree.Where are you? Did you find a new BFF?“Des wants to know if I have a new BFF.” She read her response aloud as she typed it. “I’m with my number two BFF. You might know him. Big, bearded badboy with mad cooking skills.”
She smiled at Dean and said, “We should get everyone together and go to that bar in Truro we went to at Christmastime. Do you think the traffic is gone yet? Can you give me directions to Desiree’s?”
“Undercover? Sounds good, and yeah, the traffic is probably gone. I’ll write down directions.”
Her phone vibrated with Desiree’s response, and she read it to Dean. “Tell the bearded cooker he’ll never take my number one spot. Come over so I can see you!”
“Tell her the competition is on,” Dean teased.
She smiled, imagining Dean trying to beat out Desiree as her very best bestie. How could he top more than twenty years of friendship? She sent a quick response to Desiree.Okay. Be there soon. We’re going to Undercover tonight. Can you and Rick come and bring Vi, Serena, and Drake?She was glad she already had a small group of friends here. Back home, if she’d asked friends to meet her at a bar, at least thirty people she’d known her whole life would show up. And, she realized, not one of those people knew her as well as Desiree and Dean did.
“I’d better get going if I want to shower before we go out.” She began clearing the table, wondering if people who lived at the beach just threw on a tank top over their bathing suits and headed out for the night? She waved at her bathing suit and asked, “I can’t go like this. Can I?”
“Not with yourplayful girlson display, you can’t.”
She smirked. “Maybe I should. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find a hot date that way.”
He scowled and carried his dishes inside. He scribbled down directions to Desiree’s, mumbling something about getting herself into trouble, and Emery went to get her belongings from the table by the garden. She slipped her dress over her head, admiring their planting job. Three of her footprints were evident through the middle of the garden. Remembering how quickly and easily Dean had intercepted her holy-garden terror, she got down on her hands and knees and filled the holes in with dirt. She grabbed her keys, bangle, and one of her other bracelets, searching high and low for the third bracelet. She finally gave up and headed back to the house.
“I lost one of my bracelets,” she said as she joined Dean on the patio. “It’s silver and says, ‘Blame it on my gypsy soul,’ I think. It might say, ‘I solemnly swear I’m up to no good,’ and it might actually be gold not silver. I can’t remember which one I wore, but if you find it, can you hang on to it for me?”
“Are you sure you had it on when you got here?”
“Mm-hm. Pretty sure, anyway. It’s not that big a deal if you can’t find it. I have a ton of them.”
He handed her the directions and walked her out front.
“Don’t you want help cleaning up?”
“After seeing how you helped with the garden?” He cracked a smile, and he must have seen the guilt she felt written all over her face, because he touched her back and said, “I’m kidding, doll. The garden actually looks better now.”
“You’re the greatest for lying to me.” She set her things on the passenger seat of her Jetta. “Thanks for letting me hang here for the day.”
“Anytime, doll.”
She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Mm. You smell good after a hard day of lounging around with me.” She climbed into the car and started it up. “See you at Undercover.”
“Looking forward to it.”
As she drove away, she felt like she’d been visiting Dean for a week, not just a handful of hours. Things were like that between them. When they talked on the phone hours would pass feeling like minutes. She was glad it was no different in person.
The roads were clear, and it took her less than ten minutes to get to the inn. This weekend traffic flow would take some getting used to. In Oak Falls heavy traffic meant it took seven minutes instead of five to get to work, and that was a rarity.
She parked beside Violet’s motorcycle, taking in the gorgeous gardens, which she knew Dean had helped with in the spring, the cute cottages lining the right side of the property, and the magnificent Victorian overlooking Cape Cod Bay. Desiree and Rick lived in the main house, and they rented out the other rooms, as well as two of the four cottages. They used one of the cottages as Devi’s Discoveries, the art gallery (with a lingerie and adult-pleasureshop in the back, which they called anadult-explorationshop) their flighty, vagabond mother, Lizza Vancroft, had left for them to run when she’d taken off for some sort of overseas meditation mission.
Emery climbed from the car feeling a thousand times calmer than she had when she’d left Virginia. Spending the day with Dean had centered her and eased her anxieties. Looking forward to her new adventure, she drew in a deep breath and grabbed a few of her bags from the trunk.
Desiree burst out of Violet’s cottage. Her wavy blond hair was secured at the base of her neck, and her floral sundress swung around her thighs as she ran toward Emery. Emery squealed, dropped her bags, and plowed into her open arms, hugging, laughing, and talking at once as Violet sauntered out of the cottage and joined them.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Desiree said.
Emery’s cheeks hurt from grinning so hard. “Me either!”
“We’re going to have so much fun!” Desiree stepped back, holding Emery’s hands. “I’ve missed yousomuch.”
“Me too. We need to have a slumber party and stay up all night catching up.”
