“Well, enjoy this beautiful day,” Stella said, moving toward her car. She didn’t want to drag out a conversation with Tucker. He always had a way of throwing a curveball into any interaction they had with each other. Before she knew it Stella would be asked on yet another date that she wasn’t at all interested in going on.
“I have to admit, I didn’t believe you the other day,” Tucker called after her.
She turned back toward him. Something about his tone didn’t sit well with her. “Excuse me?”
Tucker was placing his groceries in the back of his car. When he slammed the trunk shut, he glanced over at her. “When you said you were seeing someone. I thought you were playing hard to get or just plain lying,” Tucker said, twisting his mouth. “But everyone is talking about you and that military dude, so I guess it’s true.”
“Luke. His name is Luke,” she snapped. She didn’t know why she felt defensive about Luke, but it was wrong of Tucker to reduce him to his profession. He’d sounded dismissive. As she was finding out, there was so much more to Luke than met the eye. His bravery as a Navy SEAL hadn’t been without consequences. Or emotional pain.
“Yeah. Luke Keegan, Nick’s brother.” He paused a beat, staring her down. “Just so you know, when it goes south between the two of you, I may not be around to help you pick up the pieces. You probably don’t know how much of a player those SEALs can be,” Tucker scoffed. “He probably has a girl in every state. It’s not too late to change your mind. I’d consider giving you another chance.”
Stella let out a shocked sound. “Are you being serious right now? Get over yourself, Tucker. I never once said I wanted a relationship with you. Not once. Mighty big of you to make such a generous offer, but the day I take you up on it will be when lobsters fly in Mistletoe Harbor.”
Tucker held up his hands and backed away from her. “No need to go off on me like that. Or to be so sassy and rude.”
Humph! He thoughtthiswas sassy? Tucker hadn’t even scratched the surface. The women in her family were proud and well mannered, but if you pushed the wrong buttons, fireworks went off. It was maddening how Tucker couldn’t see how condescending he was being. Maybe it was time she set him straight once and for all. She’d been way too considerate of his feelings ever since he began pursuing her, at the expense of her own state of mind. That ended now.
“No, Tucker, rude is the multiple times you blindsided me at places where I truly wanted to be in my own space, like that time you showed up at the hair salon when I just wanted a wash and set. Or that afternoon you just happened to be at the library when I was meeting up with Lucy. Oh, and who can forget the day you stood outside my classroom and peered through the window. That wasn’t creepy or anything, was it? You frightened second graders.”
Tucker’s cheeks were redder than a Maine lobster. “I was trying to be spontaneous and show you that I was interested.”
“In what? A restraining order?” she fired back.
At this point steam appeared to be coming out of Tucker’s ears. “Don’t worry, Stella Marshall. You don’t have to worry about me any longer. I’m moving on. Onward and upward.”
“Good. Because I already have.” Right before she turned away, Stella saw his jaw go slack. Something told her that Tucker thought she was a pushover—the type of woman who never went against the grain. She’d taught him how to treat her by being way too accommodating, and he’d gone a bit over the line. Lesson to Stella—speak up for yourself. She didn’t owe anyone her time and attention. Tucker was a jerk, but she had allowed the situation to go on for far too long due to her unwillingness to be direct with him. Somewhere deep inside of her Stella knew this was a pattern for her and one she’d played out with Rafe. Today wasn’t the day to dig up those skeletons, but soon she would begin to unearth them. Her relationship with her ex-fiancé had been far from perfect. And she’d ignored way too many red flags in their relationship that had risen up to bite her in the butt.
Chapter Twelve
Stella felt liberated as she wound her way down the stunning coastal road leading toward home. Telling off Tucker made her feel as if she had wings and could take flight right there and then. The people pleaser part of her felt slightly uncomfortable about it, but she knew he’d had it coming. Once she made it to her lot, Stella walked across her pebbled driveway and glanced over at the huge expanse of beach and ocean stretched out before her. It was so inviting. Maybe she would take a swim in a little bit and work out the little kinks in her shoulder.
The bouquet sitting at her front door caught her eye. She couldn’t take her eye off the beautiful assortment. Yellow, pink, and white roses were interlaced with baby’s breath. It wasn’t even close to her birthday, so she had no idea why someone had sent her these magnificent flowers. She opened her front door, then juggled her groceries and the floral bouquet to her kitchen counter. Stella reached for the tiny envelope and opened it up with her fingernail.
Stella. Thanks for the rescue. You totally saved my bacon. We’ve got to stop meeting like this.
Luke
Stella felt a rush reading Luke’s note, and a smile tugged at her lips. The flowers were stunning, and their heavenly aroma quickly spread through the kitchen. Luke’s sweet gesture was a nice surprise. It told her a lot about the man. He was strong and loyal with a big heart. From the little she knew about what it took to become a member of the elite SEAL teams, he had to be pretty badass. No wonder Miles thought he was a superhero. Luke was an incredible man who always seemed to think of others before himself. She felt pretty lucky to be in his orbit.
A loud knock on her front door jolted her out of her thoughts about Luke and the beautiful bouquet of flowers. She wasn’t expecting anybody, so perhaps it was another delivery. As she drew closer to the front door, she spotted Carolina through the panes of glass, standing on her doorstep. She had her arms folded around her chest and an impatient expression on her face.
Stella pulled open the door. “Hey, girl. I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”
Rather than waiting to be invited in, Carolina brushed by Stella without even a greeting. “Alrighty then. Hello to you too. It seems someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”
Carolina turned around to face her. “I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me like this about tall, dark, and handsome,” Carolina complained. “I thought we had a pact. Don’t you remember our motto? Sisters before misters?”
“That was all yours, Carolina,” Stella said, holding up her hands in protest. Carolina had a very colorful way of rewriting history. Oftentimes her friend tried to tag Stella with things she herself had done. In this instance, Carolina had come up with the sisters before misters rallying cry all on her own. There had been no pact. Not ever. It was classic Carolina. She was always adding extra sauce to situations.
“So what’s up with all the intrigue? If I was carrying on with eye candy like Luke Keegan, I’d be shouting it from the rooftops.” She cut her eyes at Stella. “And I’d definitely tell my bestie before she had to hear it from a ten-year-old.”
“Tess?” Stella really didn’t even need to ask the question. Of course it had been her sister telling her business all over Mistletoe. Honestly, she didn’t understand what got into her baby sister and why she was constantly flapping her lips all over town. Her parents seriously needed to get her in check as soon as possible before she got herself into trouble. It wasn’t cute at all.
Due to her mother’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis and subsequent illness, Tess had been pushed a bit to the background. At that time Lucy had stepped in to provide Tess with an extra dose of TLC and attention until Leslie’s illness stabilized. But her condition had improved since then. So why was Tess still being a gossip hound?
“None other than Tess,” Carolina answered with a slight smile. “I ran into her and your mom in town and she couldn’t wait to tell me. But that’s beside the point.” Carolina perched her hand on her hip. “Why was I the last to know? Did you think I’d be upset about you landing the hottest man to ever hit Mistletoe? Other than Dante of course,” she quickly added. “That’s pretty much a dead even tie.”
She took Carolina’s hand and lightly tugged on it. “Carolina, let’s go sit down and talk in the kitchen. I was about to heat up some of my mac ’n’ cheese for lunch. Care to join me?”
