His phone sang out a cheerful jingle. Wasn’tthere an I-don’t-give-a-shit ringtone? Not that he had evenchecked; it was still the default.
Sara had bought him the phone to helpre-introduce him into civilian life; knowing her, she’d probablypicked the most obnoxious ringtone she could find, just to make himlaugh. Next to the fancy smartphone that she’d tucked in thebackpack-of-basics she’d filled for him, she had given him a dropphone for emergencies. She didn’t say it, but it was clearly foremergencies, in particular, in case Connor Young found him.
“Hey, Mom.” His mom had programmed as manynumbers as she could into the smartphone when she’d stopped by afew days ago. He didn’t even know half the people he now had onspeed dial.
“Hello, honey. I hope you don’t mind, but…I’m sure you’re getting restless, cooped up all the time. So, Ifound you a job. Nothing permanent or too taxing, just some goodold-fashioned manual labor to get you out of the house.” Uh-oh,pep-talk coming. His mother was the queen of those.
“Sure, Mom.”
She nearly stammered at his easy response.“Well, that’s great. Payson, a good friend of mine, needs helparound her antique shop.”
He grunted an affirmative. This soundedterrible already.
“She recently lost her assistant, so sheneeds someone to fill in for a while. Honestly, I think she mostlyneeds someone to take charge and fix up her storeroom. It’s adisaster zone back there. I told her you were handy with a hammerand nails, and she’s thrilled. Dear woman is so tidy and organized,that storeroom must drive her crazy. She’ll also need some helpwith deliveries, and other odds and ends.”
Great. Maybe he should have listened beforehe agreed. Spending his days organizing some old lady’s mustyantique shop. He’d be spending his retirement folding lace doilies.He grunted his final acceptance.
“I’m so excited for tonight. See you in a fewhours.” He could practically see her humming with joy. Helping afriend, keeping her son out of trouble, and showing off all threeof her children to Seaview’s elite. She’d made out like a bandittoday.
“See you in a few hours.” Hanging up thephone, he looked over at the pristine penguin suit hanging on thecloset door. Shit. Made him feel like such a cliché. Not thatanyone but him saw it that way.
5
Full dark sure came early in the winter around here.The air was just below freezing, but at least the sky was clear.Payson grabbed a warm wool coat and scarf before heading out thedoor for the gallery opening. She was thrilled that the gallery wasre-opening, confident that it would be a major tourist draw,bringing more art-lovers to Seaview.
However, now Natalie was either making art orselling it full time, abandoning Payson. She’d run Flotsam Antiquesalone for only a short time before she’d hired Natalie on part-timefor deliveries and extra help, and she wouldn’t be easy toreplace.
Laura had called her about an hour before theevent tonight, proudly announcing that she’d found some temporaryhelp for her. A big strong man who would be able to help her withdeliveries and reorganize the back room, which she’d been puttingoff for… well, since she opened.
Her son, Ronan, had returned from Europe aweek or two ago. Apparently, he was a busy computer programmer thattravelled all over the world. After a recent train wreck in Germanyand getting laid off from his job, he was forced to move home.
Laura wasn’t specific, but it sounded like hewas having a hard time adjusting. So, Laura was hoping that workingfor Payson would give him something to do other than wallow inself-pity. Poor guy, losing his livelihood like that had to berough.
Payson was happy to have the help around theshop; her backroom really needed an upgrade. It was getting morethan a little embarrassing. Some folks appreciated goodpresentation, and she was one of them. But… the backroom wasn’tseen by anyone but her, so she’d let it go… for way too longnow.
If Ronan was half as handy with tools as therest of his family, he’d have the room spiffed up in no time.Besides, she’d do about anything for the McAllisters. The wholefamily had taken her in as one of their own since she’d moved totown. Aiden, Maddy, now Chase, were her closest friends. SinceLaura’s retirement from her seat as a county judge, she was fastbecoming a good friend as well.
The McAllisters were like that; bringing instrays and making them feel included and loved. They had taken inChase when he was an angsty youth. Then, when he returned lastsummer, Frank had hired Chase as his right-hand man at McAllisterFisheries. Almost immediately, he and Maddy had fallenhead-over-heels in love. The kind of love that always made Paysonsigh wistfully.
Checking her appearance one last time beforecovering the gorgeous dress with her heavy peacoat, Payson admiredher latest find. For the occasion, she and Maddy and Laura had madea girl’s trip into Portland to go dress shopping.
She’d picked out a long black satin dresswith spaghetti straps and a deep cowl neck that showed a hint ofcleavage. The back was way more risqué than she’d ever been daringenough to wear before, with a very low cowl showing off most of herback. Laura had insisted, telling her she looked like a model inthe gown. It didn’t take much arm twisting for her to cave and buythe stunning thing.
Initially, she’d freaked at the idea of notbeing able to wear a regular bra, but it was surprisinglycomfortable. Growing up, she’d envied her mother and sisters withtheir curvy figures, but as a late bloomer, she finally developed adecent rack. Not much to brag about in the hips still, so sheflaunted the assets she had.
For the occasion, she’d worn jet blackeyeliner with smoky eye shadow and mascara to accent her greeneyes. She had pulled her auburn hair into a messy bun with plentyof wispies to frame her face so she could show off her back. Havingstarted teaching a local self-defense class, Maddy had decided sheand Payson should be work-out buddies. She had been dragging herout running and had them on a weight-lifting program.
Grueling as it was, Payson appreciated theresults and was pleased to show off some of her hard-earned muscle.And good cardiovascular health, of course. Satisfied, she headedout the door.
The fresh air felt great, and the icy breezeonly added to the messy bun look. Grateful the new gallery locationwas only two blocks down from her own shop, she walked despite herdelicate lace-up heels. A little chill and some great shoeswouldn’t slow her down.
Wow, they sure had decked the place out.Greeters dressed in formalwear took her ticket and directed her tothe bar. Servers dressed in black pants and white jackets carriedappetizer trays around to the guests.
Great turnout. The place was huge, and itlooked like half of the permanent residents of Seaview were here,plus a hundred more from out of town. The local shop-owners had allbeen invited as they’d be key to promoting each other, butotherwise the event was primarily a fundraiser for budding localartists, including programs for kids.
Scanning the crowd, she wasn’t seeing any ofher favorite people. She made polite conversation with those sheknew as she perused: the mayor and his wife, some fellow shopowners, a few of the single guys in town that she’d dated. Onemight think it would be awkward, but she tried to always remainfriends. Which had been part of the problem; she was quiteproficient at making casual friendships. It was the meaningfulrelationships that were harder to come by.
Natalie was standing by a collection of highcontrast black and white photographs of lighthouses that she hadclearly taken, beaming as guests asked her about her work. Althoughshe was incredibly shy, she was in her element tonight. Paysonsnuck up and pinched her friend lightly on the arm and gave her athumbs up, before giving her space to show off.