“Okay, boss man,” Todd said with another mock salute. He turned on a heel and headed down the street.
Chase wanted to be pissed. He wanted to yell at Todd and call him back to reprimand him. Instead, he smiled. He had a lunch date. With Emma, the girl with the turquoise eyes who’d haunted his dreams last night. And damned if they weren’t some of the nicest dreams he’d had in years.
The corners of his smile drooped. He’d kind of forgotten all about that other guy, the boyfriend with the impeccable dress shirt despite the summer heat, and the grating New York accent. Was she serious about him? “He’s not her type,” he decided. Just how he knew that wasn’t clear, but he was certain it was true.
And what about the odd conversation he’d stumbled into, when that shopkeeper warned her not to mess with the mafia.
What was that all about?
He checked his watch. No time to overthink. He could figure out the details later.
If there was a later.
First he needed to get through lunch without making a fool of himself.
Chapter Five
People meandered along the sidewalk. Where was she? Chase had been sitting at the café table for more than an hour. Alone.
On the one hand, he was glad he still routinely wore his waterproof watch with its thick, sturdy band and luminescent face. Most people he knew gave up watches in favor of checking their ever-present smart phones. He’d tried that. After losing two phones to water damage while aboard research vessels, Christine had gifted him with the watch. “Practically indestructible,” she’d joked. “Although I’m sure you’ll eventually find a way to break it.”
On the other hand, he’d checked the watch compulsively every other minute for the last hour. The girl was late. Granted, he’d been a few minutes early. But she was decidedly late.
Two menus lay flat on the table, untouched, waiting where the harried waitress dropped them. The busy hostess flicked her eyes toward him yet again, reminding him he occupied a coveted sidewalk spot and had yet to order a single thing. Not only a sidewalk spot, but a table sporting an umbrella. He figured if Emma were bringing a canine in tow, the dog would definitely need some shade. The hostess redoubled her glare. Chase sucked in a long breath and exhaled, concentrating on slowing the increased beat of his pulse.
A steady stream of people flowed by the café, strolling down the narrow one-way street. Bicycles wove paths through the crowds, but Chase hadn’t seen a car pass since he’d sat down. Banners, pennants, and flags of every color hung across the street and from the sides of the colorful storefronts, ruffling in the light breeze. The shop windows boasted eclectic displays of everything from T-shirts to home décor to sex toys. Chase figured a little of everything could be purchased right here on this street. Everything except perhaps patience, and his was wearing thin.
“Hey there, stranger!”
Never had a female voice sounded more welcome. He looked up to see Emma coming up the sidewalk toward the café entrance, another short flirty skirt showing off her long legs. His pulse quickened once again, this time in welcome relief. He realized his agitation had been nerves, afraid she’d stand him up even though it wasn’t really a date-date. Just lunch.
“I thought you weren’t going to show.” He pushed the chair back with his calves and stood, swiping his damp palms down the front of his thighs.
“Of course I came.” The dog at the end of the leash panted heavily, swiveling his head back and forth. Chase could’ve sworn the lab smiled when it spotted the shady spot under the table and immediately flopped down.
“So what took you so long?” He lowered himself into the chair as she sat opposite to him.
The sunny smile on her face dipped at the corners for the barest of seconds. “We ran into a few of my mom’s friends who needed to ask a zillion questions about my brother’s health. Crazy how quickly word spreads with stuff like this. Sorry we’re a teensy bit late.”
Teensy
? He suppressed a frown. Her sense of time was warped, to say the least. But how could anyone stay angry around such a happy, carefree person? She radiated sunshine with her friendly smile. Even the scowling hostess brightened at Emma’s appearance. Or maybe that was simply because now he’d order something and prove worthy of hoarding such coveted outdoor seating space. Wait a minute, she was still talking and he’d missed her last few sentences.
“Sorry, what was that last bit?”
“I said, I put your phone in a baggie taking care not to lose any of the bits of broken screen.” She rummaged in her voluminous shoulder bag, a whimsical thing that looked pieced together from old silk ties. “I know it’s in here somewhere because you called me a few minutes ago.”
“A few minutes?” Chase shook his head.
She’s downright delusional
. “You mean when I called to invite you to lunch? That was over an hour ago.”
She looked up from her bag, jaw hanging slack. “Are you serious? Oh, I’m so sorry! Have you been waiting here this whole time?”
Before he could figure out how to answer the question, a perky voice interrupted. “So are you guys ready to order something to drink?” He turned to find the waitress with the sharp, dark eyes standing at his shoulder, smiling.
“Kallie?”
The waitress looked at the blonde for the first time. “Emma? Oh my god, girl! I didn’t know you were in town!” She bent to give her a quick squeeze around the shoulders, chattering away the whole time. “How’re things in the Big Apple and who’s the hunka cheesecake I saw you out with the other night? Are you staying with your folks? How’s Sean these days? Is he still seeing Patty?”
The questions spewed rapid-fire. Chase leaned back in his chair, afraid to be caught in the bombardment. He wanted to hear Emma’s responses—especially about the
hunka cheesecake
. So the guy she was with yesterday
was
more than a friend.
“I’m good, things in the City are good, but Sean and Patty broke it off a while ago. How did you miss that juicy tidbit?”
“Oh my gawd! For real? What happened?”
Chase tuned out the gossiping girls, focusing on the menu. He’d already been sitting for an hour, while other people ate lunch. The smell of fried seafood permeated the air, and his growling stomach reminded him it was high time to order. “Excuse me.” He tapped on the plastic menu. “What’s the soup special today?”
Both women frowned at his interruption, the waitress glaring daggers at him. “Her brother is dying and all you can think about is your stomach?”
Emma waved a hand, her smile returning. “Don’t mind him, he’s having a bad day. I’ll take a large iced coffee, whatever the sandwich special is, and he wants the fish and chips. Oh, and two glasses of water please, Kallie.”
Chase caught himself staring. “Umm, actually, yeah. Fish and chips sounds great. And make that two iced coffees.”
Kallie jotted it on her pad, and gave Emma a quick nod. “You’ll be in town for a few days, yeah? We’ll have a chance to catch up this time?”
“I’m here to help out until Sean gets better.”
The waitress nodded again and left, but not before giving Chase one last scowl. He turned to Emma. “What was
that
look for? Did I offend her?”
She laughed, patting his arm. “Kallie’s had a crush on my big brother since seventh grade. We were never BFFs or anything, except for the Sean thing. She got a little carried away when she heard about his hospitalization.”
Chase’s eyebrows shot up. “Hospital? What happened?”
“Were you not sitting right here?”
“For the last hour,” he reminded.
She winced, looking thoroughly chastised. “Sorry. It’s been a long week already.” She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes.
He noticed how tired she looked, remembering she’d driven from New York City back to Cape Cod this morning. She opened her eyes and focused that brilliant blue gaze on his face, sending a jolt straight to his groin. That same raw desire he’d felt when he first saw her yesterday returned, only to be snuffed out by her next words telling about her brother’s troubles.
“It burst? That can be serious. How old’s your brother?”
“Turned twenty-seven this spring, but he’s a big baby. Mom didn’t listen when he complained about not feeling well. She figured it was that summer flu going around. Apparently, he walked around for a week after it ruptured.”
She sounded apprehensive, her smile missing for the first time, which Chase could understand. From what little he knew of appendicitis, he understood the deadly nature of her brother’s predicament. He reached across the table and rested his hand on top of hers, feeling the urge to comfort her. He wanted to scoop her up with a hug, making all her stress melt away, but that was crazy. He barely knew her. “He’ll be okay. Boston has some of the finest hospitals in the world.”
“He’s my big brother—my only brother. You know? I’ve got plenty of cousins, but only one Sean. It’s awful to think about losing him.”
The concern etched on her face tugged at his heart. “I take it you two are close?”
She let out a heavy sigh, looking even more ragged. “We used to be. For the last few years, it’s been hard to get time off from work and home seemed so far away. Or maybe that’s an excuse, since it was easy enough to jump in a rental car this morning and get here before lunch.” She shook her head. “It’s weird coming home, like falling backwards in time. And I have no idea why I’m saying all these silly things to you, but you’re a really good listener.”
The waitress appeared at their table with a tray full of drinks. Emma tore her gaze from his and slid her hand free, reaching for the offered pint glass, the sunny smile once again lighting her face. “Thanks, Kallie. I’ve been dreaming of iced coffee for hours now.”
The waitress plunked glasses of water and coffee onto the table, sharp lines creasing her forehead. “I told the guys in the kitchen about Sean. I know you don’t want to hear this, but Brad says people die from a burst appendix. Something about the body filling with poison?”
“Sean will be fine.” Emma sounded confident once again.
Kallie retreated back inside the restaurant, no doubt taking that
tidbit
straight back to
the guys in the kitchen
. Who all probably knew Emma’s brother from high school. Or kindergarten. Chase rolled his eyes, trying to wrap his head around the unexpected small-town nature of this seemingly cosmopolitan seaside resort.
He grew up in New York City, a far cry from Small Town, U.S.A. Shipped to boarding school at a young age he’d never experienced the feeling of being surrounded by family and neighbors. Finishing both his bachelor and master’s degrees before the age of nineteen, he’d also missed out on the normal college bonding experiences, always so much younger than his classmates.
Amidst the flamboyant tourist crowd on the streets the night before, he never even considered the folks who lived here year-round, playing host when the summer circus rolled into town. He’d read somewhere online that for the three months of summer, the population swelled from 3,000 to 60,000. That probably helped solidify the community feeling of the year-round people who truly called Provincetown home.
He knew nothing about this girl or her world. How did he let Todd talk him into asking her out? Especially when there was a
hunka cheesecake
already in the picture. He cleared his throat. “You know, if you have things you need to do, or somewhere else you need to be…” He let his words trail off and dangle between them, an open invitation for her to duck out.
“No, this is good. I haven’t eaten solid food since yesterday’s lunch. And I needed to return your phone, of course.” She rummaged in her bag and withdrew the cell, encased in a plastic sandwich baggie. “It still seems to work okay, except for the screen being broken. The local shop doesn’t do that kind of repair, but you can send it away to get fixed. Or wait until you leave P-town.” She handed the baggie across the table.
He shook his head. “Christine told me to turn it in at any phone store and get a brand new one. That’s what full coverage is all about.”
She smiled, her blue eyes sparkling with teasing merriment. “I forgot about your ever efficient Christine. How did she take the news of your phone’s demise?”
“In stride. Actually, when I told her the phone was indisposed, she wondered how I’d kept the same one for this long.”
“Indisposed?” Her face went still. “Is your name…Doctor Anderson?”
“You didn’t know my name?”
“I kept forgetting to ask.” The corners of her mouth dipped further. “But really. Are you the same guy who cursed me out this morning about Dad cancelling your fishing trip?”
Confusion clouded his thoughts. “What fishing trip? Your father—is he Captain Scott? You said your last name’s Maguire.”
“Scott is my dad’s first name.” Emma leaned back from the table and crossed her arms over her chest, looking upset. “I was a little taken aback by your, um…passion for fishing.”
“Fishing? Who said anything about fishing?”
She shook her head, eyebrows furrowing. “I assumed. Most guys charter Dad’s boat to get out to Georges Bank. Although most don’t bring along personal assistants. I thought your
assistant
was named Christine.”
Chase tried to follow her train of thought. “She’s the department secretary, like I said.”
“So who’s the guy referring to my father as the
lazy ass captain
?”
He winced. “Todd’s my intern. I apologize for his language.”
“Right. And what about the choice words coming from your mouth?”
He scrubbed a hand across his face. “I already said I was sorry about that. I was frustrated. I had no idea your brother was so sick. No one called to let us know. We were standing there like idiots for the second morning in a row, waiting for a boat that never showed up, getting funny looks from the regular fishermen.”
A sheepish look passed over her face. “I guess part of that is my fault, since I had your phone. Dad tried to call you to explain…”
“It wasn’t a fishing trip, you know.”
A dark blush emblazoned her cheeks. She ran her finger down the side of the sweating pint glass, gathering the moisture on the napkin beneath. “I’m putting two and two together.”