Read Online Sweet Waters by Julie Carobini - Free Book Online

often we’ve run into each other in the past week. He caught my attention that first time at the diner—who wouldn’t notice him with his effortless leap over the counter to rescue Peg? Not to mention that tangle of golden hair and rugged day-old beard. That day he eyed me with a mixture of curiosity and what might have been suspicion. After he showed up at the beach and doled out all that unasked-for advice, I started to wonder if any suspicion might be better aimed at him. But now he’s here today, doing another good deed, and causing me to think about things I never thought I’d be considering any time soon.
    Dreamy thoughts.
    Romantic notions.
    Unrealistic expectations.
    Trent is the only man I’ve loved for five years. Even when he criticized me for my less-than-sophisticated looks—my lack of makeup and fine jewelry and haute couture—eventually he’d scoop me into his arms and profess his forever love for plain old me.
    Sometimes I still can’t believe he walked away. After all the promises, and the talks about our future, everything I’d made myself believe—that even ugly ducklings could live happily ever after—turned out to be an aberration in the end.
    Yet something about that fireman in room 4 has revived a spark of hope among the ashes. The thought so catches me that I don’t notice Nigel shuffling into the lobby until he stands directly in front of his own counter.
    â€œI see you have made yourself quite comfortable, and this is how it should be.”
    â€œNigel! Hello—I’m so glad to see you! I called your room but missed you.” I fill him in on all that’s transpired since I arrived, and he just smiles as if this were any other day.
    â€œThank you for a job well done, Tara. Somehow I knew that you could handle whatever might come your way. However, since you have no hotel experience per se, allow me to join you behind the desk where I will teach you our system.”
    Relief fills my chest, and I let out a held breath. “I’m so glad you’re here, Nigel.”
    He nods then, his beret staying securely on his head. Nigel’s eyes are some of the kindest I’ve ever looked into, and a pang of sadness fills me as I realize how often I thought the same of my father’s.
    Our first guest of the afternoon arrives windblown, with lines etching the skin around her eyes. And yet she wears a telltale peaceful expression, the same kind I felt spread across my own face when I drove into Otter Bay for the first time in many years. The dramatic coastline and soft dunes will do that for a person. Of course, for me there’s something more.
    She takes the key to her room from me. “I just left the job from you-know-where, and boy, this feels like paradise. I may never want to leave!”
    Who could know how she feels better than I?
    After Nigel and I work side by side for over an hour, I notice him leaning more than ever on his cane. I smile at him. “Phew. Nothing like learning on your feet. Why don’t you take a rest now. You’ve taught me enough that I think I can handle things for a little while.”
    â€œYou can handle more than you know.” So saying, he hobbles toward one of the floral couches in the lobby. He’s barely had time to rest, when in walks trouble.
    â€œNigel Thornton! How could you let Holly desecrate my restaurant in this way!”
    Holly’s Aunt Peg may have been out of commission for a week, but if it’s true what they say—that body parts strengthen after being broken and healed—she’s become one powerful lady. Her nostrils flare as air flows in and out of them, and she stands over poor Nigel, wagging a rigid finger at him. If it weren’t so demeaning, I’d drop to my knees and pretend to look for a lost contact lens.
    Unfortunately, in my haste my toes kick up against the trash bin. Distracted by the noise, Peg looks upward and sniffs the