California Dreaming: Four Contemporary Romances Read online

  You’ve got enough problems, Johnson. Don’t be adding to your troubles with a woman. Isn’t buying a bookstore and finding a house at thirty-nine enough of a challenge for you?

  One of the tattooed, pierced, and purple-haired denizens of Santa Cruz approached him.

  “Where are your vampire books?”

  He led her to the right section and pointed out a few new releases. On his way back to the front of the store, he spotted a boy with mousy brown hair slumped in one of the green wingback chairs scattered around the bookstore. The kid looked like he was about 12 and bored as hell. John squatted down beside him.

  The boy glanced at him and then went back to picking at his nails.

  “Your mom around?” John asked.

  “Uh-huh.” The boy gestured in the direction of the mysteries.

  “You look pretty bored. What’s your name?”

  “Ted.”

  “Don’t like to read?”

  “S’okay.”

  “A man of few words. I like that. Got a minute? I’d like to show you something.”

  Ted shrugged again, but when John stood up, he stood too.

  John strode in the direction of the children’s books.

  The boy stopped. “I’m not going there … that’s lame.”

  “We’re not going there … we’re going past there.”

  John stopped in front of a cardboard display of books. He plucked one out and handed it to Ted. “This,” he said, “is one of the greatest adventure stories of all times.”

  The boy looked at it, frowning. “There’s a mouse on the cover. I told you, kids’ books are lame.” He held it out to John.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. Adults read these books all the time. I’ve read these books and I love them. Redwall is the story of someone trying to save his home from evil. There are lots of battle scenes and mysteries and adventure. Have you heard of Lord of the Rings?”

  “Yeah. Everyone’s heard of that. I saw the movie.”

  “Did you like it?”

  “Yeah. It was great.” Ted grinned, his eyes opening wide with excitement.

  John nodded. “Then you’ll like this book. Tell you what. I’ll give you a discount — half-off. But … ” He raised his index finger. “You have to come back and tell me how you like it.” He took a piece of paper from his pocket, scribbled a note and handed it to the boy. “Have your mom give this to the cashier on the way out.”

  Ted eagerly took the paper. “Thanks!” he said.

  That’s why I’m a bookseller. If I can keep this old store financially alive, I can get more Teds excited about reading.

  He headed up the stairs to the office. It was one of the things that had attracted him to the store in the first place — this aerie where he could survey his domain. He sat in his chair, scanned the view below, and smiled with satisfaction. People dotted the sections, perusing the shelves. Some paused before the displays he’d painstakingly created; several people stood by the list of upcoming author visits.

  I wonder if Annie ever attends those.

  He could feel his smile broaden.

  She’d obviously been interested in him and she’d awakened feelings in him he thought were dead, or at least in a deep freeze somewhere. His one attempt at dating after Jessica’s death had been a disaster. Maybe it was time to try again.

  The moment he’d seen Annie staring at him, he wanted to pull off the knit cap she wore and release the blond curls peeking out from the edges, surrounding her face with their halo. She’d run off like a startled deer to the magazine section. John grinned again at the memory. He hadn’t had that effect on a woman in a long time.

  Close up, she’d been even more enticing than he’d thought. Her pixie face was fresh and natural. Brown-flecked green eyes had peered out from under thick, dark lashes. Dark pink lips, with a little bit of a pout. What would it be like to touch her, feel those lips against his? He’d wanted to shut down the register, whisk her away to a dark corner and find out.

  He shook the fantasy from his head. It would have to wait. First, he had to make this business viable. Second, find a house to live in. Once he’d accomplished those two tasks, he could discover what kissing her would be like. He turned on his computer.

  An hour later, he called downstairs on the interoffice phone. “Can I have the invoices from last month?”

  “What’s up, John?” Sunshine asked when she sauntered into the office. “You’ve got this silly smile on your face.”

  He frowned at the soft face of the older woman, pretending he was giving her a stern lecture. “Ah, Santa Cruz. The place where employees have permission to tell the boss whatever’s on their minds.” With her graying hair in a long braid and feathered earrings, she was living proof that the 1960s counter-culture was alive and well on the Central Coast of California.

  Sunshine shrugged. “We were raised to ‘Question Authority.’ You’re authority and I’m questioning. Is there a problem?”

  He laughed. His bookstore manager was incorrigible.

  She laid a folder of invoices on his desk. “What’s her name?” she said over her shoulder before she clattered down the stairs to the main floor.

  “Bring me the sales report from last month too, please,” he called after her.

  “Yes, boss.” The answer floated up the stairs.

  He thumbed through the invoices. If sales didn’t improve soon, he’d have to cut back on book orders. He tapped his pen on the desk. Cutting back on books meant cutting down on service and he didn’t want to do that. Maybe he should rethink his marketing budget instead. He leaned back in his chair and laced his hands behind his head.

  “You must be thinking about her again,” Sunshine said, back in his office with another folder. “Here’s the sales report you wanted.” She put the papers on his desk and eyed him. “Or maybe you’re trying to pretend it’s not as bad as I know it is.”

  He looked up at her. “Sometimes you’re too smart.”

  “Don’t get concerned. The store always hits a slump at this time of year. Students study for exams and the tourists haven’t arrived. We’ll be okay.” She patted his shoulder. “We’ve got loyal customers.”

  “Umm, do we have a list of our loyal customers?”

  “Sure do, boss. I’ll be happy to get you one if you promise to tell me her name.”

  “Not on your life.”

  “Gotcha!” She whistled and headed down the stairs.

  John shook his head. He’d have to work to keep his private life safe from Sunshine.

  Chapter 2

  “You’re late, Mom.” David folded his five-foot-nine frame into the Prius.

  “‘Hi, Mom. Love you, Mom. How was your day, Mom?’” Annie grinned as she chided her son. She ruffled his rain-drenched hair and started up the car. “I’m sorry I was late. Things came up. How was practice?”

  David peeled off his soaking sweatshirt, grunted, and tossed it with his shin-guards into the back seat. He leaned down to unlace his shoes.

  Anticipating the smell of teenage male feet, Annie said, “Don’t. This is a small car.”

  David rolled his eyes. “Mom, it’s not that bad. My feet are all hot and sweaty.”

  “Exactly.”

  Her son sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Practice was okay. Coach is working us hard for the tournament. He thinks we have a real chance of placing.”

  “Good!”

  “He taught me a new trick to get some spin on the ball when I kick it out of the goal. I think I can make starting goalie for the high school team next year, even though I’ll only be a junior. ” David continued to rattle on about saves and plays as Annie drove through the pounding rain. Her heart ached as she listened. How could she tell David he wasn’t going to get a chance to try out for h
is high school team next year, much less be starting goalie?

  Sheets of rainwater splashed against the car wheels when she pulled into her driveway. With David on her heels, she dashed to the door.

  Cold water from the eaves dripped on her head as she unlocked her bright yellow door. She climbed upstairs to the kitchen of her reverse floor plan beach cottage, while David thudded to his room downstairs. Mindy and Max, the two “used” cats from the shelter, greeted her with protests about the lack of kitty chow.

  Annie dumped her computer bag and bookstore purchases on the dining room table and knelt down to hug her cats. She buried her nose in Mindy’s soft fur. “How would you like to move to New Jersey?” she whispered. Max bumped her hand, demanding his share of loving.

  She stood and looked around her home, missing it already. The brightly hued kitchen, dining nook and living room were small, but they were hers. Because the main living area was on the top floor of her home, it was light and airy. She didn’t have an ocean view, but large windows on the wall facing west always made her feel as if she did. Her house was only a few blocks from the Monterey Bay shoreline so it was an easy illusion to maintain.

  Droplets from her raincoat fell on the kitchen floor while she started the water to boil for pasta and put spaghetti sauce in a pan to heat. The tart odor steaming from the pot made her stomach rumble.

  David clomped up the stairs. He had stripped to his soccer shorts and filthy socks.

  Annie groaned when he opened the refrigerator door. Why was it teenagers had to stand in front of an open refrigerator door, letting all the cold out? It was obvious they didn’t pay the electric bills. “Pick what you want and shut the door,” Annie began. “And don’t forget — ”

  “That we’re eating dinner, soon. I know, Mom, but I’m hungry now.” He grabbed the half-gallon of milk and headed for the cereal cabinet.

  “Tournament’s on Saturday, right?” Annie asked. She plucked a glass from the cabinet and filled it with tap water. She sat down at the tiny kitchen table, draping her raincoat on the chair next to her. It was good to be home. She loved these times with David, the casual conversation that made up their lives together.

  “Yeah — Morgan Hill.” David placed a bowl of Cheerios on the table and slouched in the chair behind it. “You taking me or is Dad?”

  “I am. Dad will meet you there. Are you the starting goalie? Dad will want to know.”

  “Mmmm,” came the response from David’s Cheerios-filled mouth.

  Annie studied her only child. He’d gotten his father’s dark brown hair and eyes, but the smile was all hers. He’s turning out okay. She said a little prayer for continued grace.

  How was she going to tell him? How would it affect him? Right now, he had good grades, solid soccer skills, and his head wasn’t turned by girls. Would a dramatic move turn that all upside down?

  David set his bowl in the sink. “Do I have time for a shower before dinner?”

  Annie listened for the hiss of the spaghetti water. “It’s got a while before it boils. Make it quick, though.”

  David leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. “Love you, Mom,” he said. “You’re the best.”

  Her eyes misted. Will he still think I’m the best when I tell him he’s moving?

  After dinner, she went to her home office to check her e-mail. While the machine booted up, she contemplated her garden sanctuary through the office window. The rain had stopped, leaving behind red-orange clouds in the fading light. Her bright pink azalea glittered with raindrops next to a silent water fountain. With the help of her friend Elizabeth and a feng shui gardening book, she’d picked each plant carefully for maximum benefit and minimum weeding. The little patch of green was as close to a “room of her own” as she’d ever had. She loved to spend time there, sometimes dreaming of the future, sometimes simply being still, and connecting with the presence of something bigger than she was.

  Maybe she’d allow herself some time in her nook this weekend. She could even indulge in a fantasy or two about the new owner of Ocean Reads.

  “Don’t go there!” she said to herself. You don’t have time to lust after a cowboy from Montana. Besides, men never turned out to be who you thought they were when you started.

  Still … a quiet voice from her chorus hinted. It’s been a long time. Maybe men from Montana were different. And dating would be nice.

  It would be more than nice.

  Annie sighed and dragged her attention back to the e-mail.

  Later, snug in her pajamas, she settled in her overstuffed armchair, mug of chamomile tea on the end table, Mountain Maverick in her hand. Mindy leapt into her lap while Max took up his perch behind her head. Soon she was caught up in the lives of two people in a small Wyoming town: a new schoolteacher and ranch-owner in the foothills of the Rockies. As she read, she pretended she was the heroine destined for a new life, meeting the man of her dreams who looked an awful lot like the new owner of Ocean Reads.

  She wrapped her hands around her mug, sipping the sweet-smelling tea. Why was she so attracted to a man she’d barely met? The twinkle in his eyes and the twitch of his lips had made her feel playful and sexy. She wanted to rub her hands over his back, caressing the rippling muscles she’d seen while he’d been lugging books. She shook her head. Maybe she was reading too many romance novels.

  What would it be like to go out with him?

  She wouldn’t get the chance.

  She set down her mug, picked up Mountain Maverick and again began to read.

  • • •

  The drive to the office the next morning was a nightmare. Slick roads from the rain caused a spinout ahead of her, tying up traffic on the twisting mountain highway. It gave Annie too much time to think about what she was going to do all day. Ending a project was dull and took too long. She’d rather be starting a project … or a new relationship.

  Even if she wasn’t leaving, would she have the courage to go out with the bookstore owner? Would he even want to go out with her? It had been a long time since she’d been on a date. She hadn’t had time to get involved in a long-term relationship while she was raising David. At least that’s what she told herself. But the truth was she was afraid she’d get involved with another alcoholic like David’s father Fred. Or worse, an abuser.

  Once she reached her office, she yanked the envelope Randy had given her from her briefcase. Six months of benefits, a nice settlement that would last her about three months, help looking for a new job — all were standard in her company’s “termination package.” Piles of papers in triplicate, badge, key, and laptop turn-in forms. She shoved them back in the envelope and tossed it onto a corner of her desk. She wouldn’t need it if the job from New Jersey came through. There was no reason why it shouldn’t. She took out a pad of lined paper and began to make a list.

  Tell David

  Tell Fred (ugh)

  Find out details from Randy

  Connect with new boss in New Jersey

  Start transfer process

  Call realtor

  Contact corporate housing for help in finding an apartment in New Jersey

  Hold a garage sale

  Pack

  Move

  There. A nice ten-point list. Things were under control.

  The rest of the day passed quickly. Annie pretended the layoff hadn’t happened and everything was normal. No one asked about her situation and she didn’t volunteer the information. Still, it was a relief to have the day end. Sometimes not talking about the elephant in the room took more energy than kicking the damn beast.

  The commute home was far easier than it had been in the morning. The rain had ended during the day and the roads were dry. It was spring, she thought, time for a change in the weather. After months of gray skies, she was ready for the warmth of the sun.

&nb
sp; She turned off the highway at the Costanoa exit and drove the few miles to the tiny seaside village for her weekly dinner with Elizabeth. Wednesdays, along with alternate weekends, were Fred’s time with David. For Annie, the evenings had evolved into a girls’ night out with her friend. A single mom like herself, they’d met when Annie hired Sarah, Elizabeth’s daughter, to babysit David.

  Annie drove past Crystal Visions, with its tinsel wind sculptures dancing in the breeze and a sign in the window announcing the arrival of Patricia, a new psychic. Should she get a reading some night? No. She didn’t want any more bad news and she certainly didn’t need a tall, dark stranger.

  She continued past the Thomas Kinkade Gallery and the local wine bar and grabbed a parking spot by the breakwater. Dutifully, she emptied her coin purse into the meter. The Costanoa parking police were unrelenting and she didn’t need a ticket on top of everything else.

  The swoosh of incoming waves was a counterpoint to the clack of her heels on the cement sidewalk. Across the beach, artists had created massive driftwood sculptures that gleamed in the fading sun. Gusts of ocean breezes ruffled her coat and hurried her down the alley.

  When Annie got to Beauty by the Bay, Elizabeth was waiting on an older woman. Annie’s friend mouthed, “Five minutes,” without missing a beat with her customer.

  Annie watched her in admiration, wishing she could pull herself together as well as her friend did. Elizabeth’s five-foot-two stature was augmented by three-inch open-toed stiletto heels. With dark brown hair piled artfully on her head, antique teardrop earrings dangling from her ears, and luminescent red lipstick, she could have stepped from a Lancôme advertisement.

  While she waited, Annie wandered around the shop, sniffing new perfumes and smoothing rich cream on her skin from the sample bottles, loving the sensuousness of the scents and textures. Should she pay more attention to her looks? Even if her fantasy cowboy were unavailable, there’d be men in New Jersey. David only had two years of school left. It was time to start thinking of her own future.

  But where to begin with her makeover? Small pots of lotions competed for her attention. Special selections of nail colors nestled next to lengths of beaded necklaces and exotic earrings. She grabbed one of the silken scarves from its rack and draped it over her arm.