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I could tell her I was a stupid idiot for letting her go that day.
“I’m not looking for that with you, Harlee.”
Her shoulders dropped some, and I could see her entire body deflate. “Okay. Well…that’s good then.”
“Harlee—I meant I don’t want you as a fuck buddy. I want—”
The doorbell rang, and she jumped up. “That’s the pizza.”
She rushed to the door. I sliced my hand through my hair as I mumbled a few curse words.
“I’ll go grab us a few paper plates,” she said after she got back. “Do you need another beer?” And in a blink of an eye, she was back to acting like nothing had happened between us.
“Do you regret it?” I asked as she set the pizza down on the end table.
“Regret last night? No, I don’t regret it.”
“Not last night. Our first time together.”
Her eyes softened, and she smiled at me. “Not at all. Do you?”
I shook my head. “The only thing I’ve ever regretted was hurting you like I did.”
She chewed on her lip, and I thought she was going to say something else, but then she exhaled and said, “It’s in the past. Let’s leave it there. And last night…was a moment we shared, nothing more.”
“A moment we shared?”
Nodding, she turned and walked to the kitchen. I hadn’t been prepared for her to brush off last night like that.
“Okay, so back to the board,” she said. “Let me tell you why I think Kelsey is Ms. Seaside.”
Everything Harlee said for the rest of the evening was a blur. I nodded, spoke when I needed to speak, and agreed when I needed to agree. When it came time for me to leave, we said our goodbyes…and that was that.
As I made my way to the truck, I realized that this whole plan of mine wasn’t working out how I’d hoped it would. Hell, I wasn’t even sure anymore what I’d wanted by starting this. All I knew was that it was time to change the rules, even if Harlee wasn’t aware there were any.
Thomas walked into the warehouse and placed a copy of the paper next to my coffee. “What in the hell did you do to piss off Ms. Seaside?”
“What do you mean?” I looked down at him from the deck of the boat I was working on. It was one of the boats I’d bought early on, when I’d first started the fishing charter, and I was replacing the rod holders.
“I take it you haven’t read today’s article then.”
I wiped my hands on a cloth and stepped off the boat. “Not all of us run to read that damn article first thing every week.”
Thomas wore a shit-eating grin. “Well, I think your reply might have made her a tad bit…angry.”
Returning his smile with one of my own, I calmly picked up the paper. I had to admit, my fingers had been itching to read it all morning, but I’d kept putting it off.
Grabbing my coffee, I sat down in the metal chair behind my desk. The warehouse I’d purchased not long after starting Bradley Charters was right down on the bay. I had socked a bit of money into it over the years, including putting in two offices—one for me and one for Melissa, who was my business manager, accountant, receptionist, and all-around person who kept me in business. There were two bathrooms, two large bays for working on the boats, and a private area that had a small, combined kitchen, living, and bedroom space. I’d crashed there several times over the years and was glad my father had talked me into adding it. The entire warehouse was heated in the winter, but only the living area and the two offices had AC.
I took a sip of coffee and started to read.
* * *
THE SEASIDE CHRONICLES
February 23, 2023
‘
THIS WEEK’S CATCH
Seasiders,
For clam’s sake, the talk around town about our very own Catch of the Season responding to one of my little articles has been something even the seagulls are surprised by. What Mr. Bradley doesn’t realize is that it’s going to take a lot more than his attempts to find out my identity to pull me away from his…well…let’s not say interesting life—that would be going a little far. How about we go with colorful life? Yes, it will take a lot more than some snooping and a reply to my article to scare me away.
Search on, Mr. Bradley. May the best shark win.
Meanwhile, news on the docks is about—you guessed it—our Catch of the Season. Word is, Brandi Larson is back in Seaside. If my memory is correct, Braxton and Brandi were quite the couple back in high school. We won’t talk about the time they got caught behind the football bleachers in a rather…compromising position, and Brandi’s father nearly broke Braxton’s nose. What we will talk about, my fishes, is how Brandi and Braxton were spotted together on Lighthouse Island. Not to mention, he was seen leaving Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast the next day.
