Clutching the check, she got out of the car and walked the few steps to the empty storefront with the For Lease sign in the window. She squinted against the noon sun and paused to take in the view. Across the street a row of tall palms swayed in the breeze, marking the transition from sidewalk to sand. Beyond, the Pacific glittered in all its cool, blue Montenido glory. When she pictured the ocean, she always pictured this.
Home.
And the perfect spot for the new improved Babycakes Bakery. Time to do her part to make it happen. She smoothed her white blouse and red pencil skirt—the outfit she’d packed in deference to Valentine’s Day—and realized she’d chosen the exact same outfit she’d worn on her infamous final day at Las Ventanas. Nice job, Chelsea. When it comes to repeating past mistakes, you get all the details right.
Too many memories threatened. She turned quickly and headed for the door, but it swung open before she reached it. Laurie burst out onto the sidewalk and enveloped Chelsea in a tight hug. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.”
Chelsea wrapped her arms around her best friend and returned the hug, blinking quickly when her eyelids started to prickle. “It’s good to see you too.”
Laurie eased away and gave her a stern look. “Don’t cry on me. If you start, I’ll start, and I’m almost as ugly a crier as you.”
“I won’t.” She forced her lips into a smile. “No crying. Not when we have something important to celebrate.” She held up the bonus check and danced it in front of Laurie’s face. “A Valentine’s Day surprise for you. I hear there’s a great opportunity to invest in a local business. I want in.”
“Oh my God, you did it!” Blond curls bounced as Laurie jumped up and down, and then hugged her again. Just as suddenly, she stopped and pinned Chelsea with a serious look. “This is a lot of money, and I know how hard you worked to earn it. You sure you want to risk it on me?”
“I want to invest it in you,” she corrected. “I don’t see a lot of risk. Babycakes thrived right up until the day it burned down. You know what you’re doing. You’ll have it thriving again in no time.”
“We’ll have it thriving again. You pay in, I insist on making you a partner.” She held out her hand. “Deal?”
Chelsea shook on it. “Deal.” A small, humor-challenged laugh escaped her. “Good timing for me considering I’m soon to be unemployed
again.”
“Unemployed? I thought you were winging off to Tahiti next.”
“I thought so too, but when I met with the Templetons this morning, and they started discussing the new resort, I just…” She trailed off and stared at the ocean. “I couldn’t go through with it. I don’t want to move to Tahiti. I don’t want to stay in Maui. I miss Montenido. All I really want to do is come home.” She exhaled the confession, faced her friend, and prepared for one more. “When it comes to fresh starts, I fail.”
“How can you say that? If you don’t want to move to Tahiti, don’t move to Tahiti, but I count at least fifty thousand reasons you’re not a failure.” Hazel eyes flashed, but then clouded as they slowly assessed her. “Come on.” Laurie took her arm, pulled her into the empty store, and gave her the patented Laurie Peterson take-no-bullshit stare. “Okay, tell me what’s really going on, partner.”
“I figured on being a silent partner.”
“Nice try, but no. Not when you’re standing there like the answer to my prayers and calling yourself a failure. How have you failed?”
Sunbeams streamed through the twin front windows, revealing the weathered wood walls and floor of what Chelsea remembered as an art gallery. Dust floated in the columns of light, weightless and careless, and in stark contrast to her heavy thoughts. “I knew the rules. I told myself I wanted nothing from Rafe except fun, attraction, and great sex, and then I went and fell in love with him. I didn’t guard my heart.”
“Oh, honey.” Laurie squeezed her arms. “Maybe he won it, fair and square?”
“No. He wasn’t even trying for it.” She sank her fingers into her hair and pulled it back from her face, letting the slight tug in her scalp offset the pain in her chest. “That’s the most pathetic part. Rafe never led me down a false path. He was very upfront about what he wanted, and what he had to offer. He didn’t promise more.”
“Have you asked for more?”
“I don’t need to ask. I got a very clear answer last night when he proposed we take up where we left off whenever he’s in Maui.”
“That’s not good-bye.”
Chelsea resumed staring out the window. “It’s not a commitment either, and I can’t settle for less and still respect myself. It’s not Rafe’s fault. He’s not a bad person, and he’s not trying to hurt me, and he didn’t ask me to fall in love with him. I did that all on my own.” She kicked the toe of her red sling-back against the scarred wood baseboard. “That’s why I say my fresh start is a failure. You told me to guard my heart, but I’m too much of a lost cause to follow good advice.”
She heard Laurie approach, and then felt the weight of her friend’s arm around her shoulders. “We’re quite a pair, you know?”
Chelsea leaned her head against Laurie’s shoulder. “How do you figure?”
“You can’t guard your heart, and I can’t stop guarding mine.”
She raised her head and looked at her friend. “I’d rather be like you. It’s less painful.”
“No.” Laurie sighed. “I’m beginning to think it’s just a chicken-shit way of not getting hurt, but here’s the really bad news. It doesn’t work.”
A surprising admission, considering Laurie rarely acknowledged anyone had the power to hurt her.