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“I also wanted to stop by and give an update about the televising of the parade,” he said.
Carly frowned at the tone.
“Sorry to say that the network had a scheduling conflict—the reporter who was scheduled to come out and report live won’t be able to after all,” he said, sounding disappointed.
“Overpromised and underdelivered,” Oliver muttered under his breath.
Carly shot him a look. She was disappointed too, but she knew some things just didn’t work out. “It’s okay,” she said to Sebastian. Though she wondered if maybe he never had this nailed down the way he’d originally claimed or if he’d been talking big to impress her. Either way, it wasn’t happening now and that was fine. Then her eyes widened. “Oh, but what about all the prizes and stuff offered to the parade participants?” The whole town had been putting in extra effort.
“Don’t worry about that—we’re still going to honor that commitment,” he said, and she nodded in relief.
“Great. Well, we are just about finished, but we could use all the hands we can get to position Sealena onto the float.” The eight-foot statue was huge and very heavy. They’d constructed it on the floor, but now they needed to secure her in place.
Sebastian smiled, rolling the sleeves of an expensive-looking dress shirt. “Put me to work,” he said as they headed toward the float. “Oh, and if you’re not busy one day this week, I was hoping we could get together to go over another proposal I hope to submit to the board.”
Carly nodded. “Of course,” she said, but there was something in his tone that made her feel slightly uneasy. And when she caught Oliver eyeing Sebastian with a hard look, her uneasiness grew.
Was it just the idea of her spending time, working with Sebastian that had Oliver still on edge—or was there more to it?
WITHTHESEALENAfigure in place, standing fierce and proud, the focal point of the display, the extravagant float was done, and to her credit, Carly had really pulled off the impossible.
Not that it surprised him. Carly was amazing and she always put her heart and soul into everything she did. It was one of the things he’d always loved and respected about her. Oliver glanced at her now, wide smile on her tired face as she stood back to admire the group’s work. She clapped her hands and shook her head as though she was amazed they’d actually pulled it off.
“It looks amazing. Thank you so much, everyone,” she said, scanning the group, who all looked impressed by their handiwork.
Including Sebastian, who really couldn’t take much credit, as he’d bailed on most of the work. Showing up on the last day with coffee and doughnuts with the disappointing news that the parade wouldn’t be televised didn’t exactly give him the hero status he’d clearly wanted. But if Carly was disappointed about the news, she didn’t show it.
She had acted a little strange when Sebastian had asked for a meeting with her that week and Oliver hoped it hadn’t had anything to do with him. He trusted her completely, and while he wasn’t a fan of Sebastian, he knew he had nothing to worry about with the two of them working together.
What bothered Oliver was this new proposal the man had mentioned. He hadn’t heard any more about the B and B idea since the real-estate developer had visited the week before and he’d been foolishly hoping Sebastian had abandoned the idea completely, or had proposed it and been rejected...
Next to him, Tess tugged at his sleeve. “We should thank everyone for their help by hosting a cookout in the yard,” she said.
Oliver nodded. “Sounds good to me.” He’d already stocked the freezer with meats and hot dogs for the summer. During those warmer months with longer sunlight hours, he and Tess grilled every meal. “Everyone is welcome to stay for food and drinks,” he told them all. He glanced at Sebastian and gave an odd little nod that meant,yeah, even you.
Carly beamed at him and he suddenly wished he could retract the offer and have Carly alone. All to himself.
“That sounds fun, but unfortunately, we can’t stay,” Skylar said on behalf of her and Dex. The coast guard captain had blue streaks of paint on her forehead as she removed the painting smock he’d loaned her and hung it on a hook on the shed wall. “We have a dinner with Dex’s family tonight at the Sealena Hotel for his mother’s birthday.”
“Think we can show up like this?” Dex asked, teasingly. The man had more gold glitter on him than the float. He’d been in charge of holding the crown as they’d lifted the figure onto the float base.
Oliver laughed as Skylar shook her head. “Only if you want to lose your trust fund,” she teased back.
“Well, we will get together for drinks some night soon. My treat as a thank-you,” Carly told her cousin and her fiancé.
Skylar eyed her. “That’s generous of you.”
Carly looked away as she shrugged.
“Deal,” Dex said, checking his watch. “Shit, we’re going to need to shower together if we don’t want to be late.”
Skylar raised an eyebrow. “If we shower together, we will for sure be late.”
Jealousy coursed through Oliver. He’d like to be taking a nice, long hot shower with Carly right about now. Lather up her entire body with soap and wash every drip of paint and glitter from every crevice...
When her gaze met his, he knew she was thinking the same thing.
He cleared his throat as he turned to Rachel, Callan and Sebastian. “What about you three?”
