Page 37 of Sweet Summertide (Christmas Cove #4)

Holly looked back over her shoulder in time to see Teddy loosening his hair from the knot at the back of his head.

She liked his hair down and hanging around his facial hair, adding to the shadow on his jawline.

His easy-going style bled into his clothing choices too.

He exuded a whole good-boy on Sunday, bad-boy on a dirt bike vibe, and she was here for it.

He turned around, facing the sky, and flung his hands down by his side, while his mother walked away from him.

That was a short visit , Holly thought. She turned and looked at her mother as they continued moving further from Teddy.

She was on a mission, whatever it was, but Holly decided to go see what had caused such distress on Teddy’s face.

Holly tugged on her mother’s wrist. “Can this wait?” she asked her mother. “I need to go back to Teddy.”

Her mother came around and put a hand in the middle of Holly’s back, pushing her along. “In a minute. But first, and don’t get mad?—”

“What are you up to?” Holly rolled her eyes. “Anytime you tell me not to be mad, you know you’re about to irritate me, but you hope you lessen the degree by warning me first.”

“You don’t know everything, Blake. But, in this case, please be nice.”

“Who am I being nice to—” she didn’t have to finish the thought because Rinaldi stood from a small table at the restaurant by the plaza and put his hands up like he was surrendering. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Mom, no. I am not in the mood for this right?—”

“Just hear him out. Will you?”

Under no circumstance did Holly want to hear anything Rinaldi had to say to her. “Here I was thinking you came here to support me tonight, and instead, you’re scheming again.” The blood in her veins felt hot and it wasn’t from the outside temperature. She was mad.

Rinaldi closed the short distance between them. “Please, baby. Give me five minutes?”

She really didn’t want to, but like the day at the club, there were way too many people around and she did not want to make a scene.

It was obvious her mother was putting her thumb on the scales again.

Holly wondered, as her mother urged her forward with shifting eyes, if she would ever be free of her mother’s influence.

The band began to play an up-tempo song.

“You have until this song is over. No more.”

“That’s all I need,” the snake said.

She wanted to swipe the grin from his face. “Don’t push your luck.”

He took her right hand in his and trapped her waist with his other, leading her backwards onto the dance floor where several other couples were already dancing.

Millie and Alfonso, engaged in their own dance, passed by. Millie made eye contact. “What is he doing here?” she mouthed.

All Holly could do was shrug. “Time’s ticking,” she urged Rinaldi.

“You look wonderful, baby,” he started but her muscles were already cringing at him calling her baby and complimenting her. “I guess I’ll just come out and say it. I want you back, and I’ll do anything to win your trust. I know I was a total cad, the worst boyfriend ever.”

“I don’t want any excuses?—”

“I won’t patronize you with some half-hearted justification, but maybe the truth as I saw it.”

She didn’t interrupt and let him continue as he pushed her around the floor. This dance, unlike the intimate one she had shared with Teddy a little while earlier, was stiff and clumsy, but she did her best to follow his erratic lead.

“When we were in Split. I panicked. I had a plan to surprise you. To proclaim my devotion to you?—”

“Cheating on me is a funny way of showing devotion.”

“I was calming my nerves?—”

“With whisky?”

“Tequila, actually,” he shot back. “I was over-served. It wasn’t my fault?—”

“You accidentally fell in bed with another girl?”

“Will you stop interrupting me?” Rinaldi said, and Holly realized she really hated being told what to do “There’s more.

I won’t lie. Yes, I slept with that woman.

She was hot, okay? And I was so drunk I don’t even remember how she got to our place.

That’s beside the point. The reason I was so nervous was because … ”

She searched his tortured face for any clue as to what he was about to reveal.

Their breakup had had a clear impact on him, and he was more flustered than she had ever seen.

His dark eyes were not the carefree eyes of the man she had dated last year.

These orbs were full of regret and humanity.

She almost felt bad for him. “The song’s almost over. ”

Rinaldi let her go and took something out of his front pants pocket.

Before she could stop him, he was down on one knee in front of her presenting a sparkling princess cut diamond ring to her.

“Blake Hollis, I love you. Will you agree to be my wife, my partner, and the other half of my soul? Marry me.”

She knew her answer was a resounding no , but for some reason, with dozens of eyeballs boring holes into her, she froze.

This was not the proposal she had dreamed of recently.

Teddy , she thought, I want Teddy . She inspected the faces in the crowd where she had last seen him, but the dance had turned her around and he wasn’t anywhere in that direction.

Millie caught her eye and pointed. Holly spun around just in time to see Teddy marching across the dance floor towards them.

Teddy scooped her into his arms like a beast and pressed a possessive kiss on her lips.

She would never forget the way he let his whole heart pour into her in that moment.

She was full of the kind of love she deserved.

He broke the kiss, set her down and pulled Rinaldi to his feet. “You son of a bitch,” Teddy growled.

Seeing them standing toe-to-toe, it wasn’t even a contest. She’d take the saint any day. Millie came around to Holly’s side and put a protective arm around her shoulders as they watched the unfolding altercation between the man she loved and the boy she had left in her past where he belonged.

“Hey man. What the hell? Can’t you see I’m proposing to my girl?” Rinaldi attempted to push past Teddy.

In response, Teddy placed his palm on Rinaldi’s chest. “Her answer is no. Now get out of here.”

“Who the hell are you thinking you can speak for Blake,” Rinaldi said and leaned his head around Teddy’s broad body to see her face. “Does he chew your food too, baby?”

That was it! Holly marched right up to Rinaldi and slapped him across the face.

Her hand stung like it had been pricked by thousands of tiny pins and needles, and she shook the pain off.

“It’s none of your business if he does or doesn’t.

My answer is always going to be no. Now get out of here, you snake. ”

“You brat!” he lurched forward towards her, and she narrowly dodged his attempt to grab her arm.

Teddy shoved him backwards and Alfonso and Millie stood on either side of Teddy like a wall. Holly’s heart, though it was beating faster than she thought was possible, was full of gladness for the friend group she now had.

Millie stuck her pointer and middle finger in Rinaldi’s’ direction and taunted him to advance again. “Try it, and find out,” she said.

Rinaldi began to back off and Holly’s mother came through the crowd. Instead of checking on her own daughter, she took Rinaldi’s shoulders in her hands and asked if he was alright. He put his head on her shoulder, and she stroked the man’s hair.

A warm hand rested on Holly’s shoulder, and she turned to see who it might be. “Daddy,” she said and hugged her father. “Did you see what she did?”

“She’s gone too far this time,” he said and stood back.

“I can’t do this anymore with her. I’m tired of being under her thumb and this was the last straw.” She hugged her dad again.

“I didn’t realize,” her father said. “With all the traveling and … It’s no excuse. I’ll take care of it.”

For the first time, Holly felt like she wasn’t imagining her mother’s actions.

Everyone around the dance floor, including her father, saw it too.

A few weeks ago, Holly would have been way more bothered by her mother’s disloyalty, but now, as she smiled at her friends, and the man who had her heart, she didn’t even care.

Rinaldi and her mother exited the dance floor, the previous song having long ended.

The band started up another tune, an instrumental version of I Hope You Dance , one of Holly’s favorites. This time she wanted to take control. “Saint Teddy,” this time she called him that with no hint of sarcasm. “Will you do me the honor of dancing with me?”

He said no words. Just approached her and took her in his arms. Her feet didn’t hit the floor again for several breaths.

In his hold, he spun her around and took her mouth with his.

His facial hair rubbed against her lips and sent a thrill through her.

Not one of their other kisses had been so romantic.

If they weren’t in public, with practically the entire town staring at them, she might have let down her hair, but the reality was they had appearances to uphold as business owners.

She pulled away and he placed her down on her tip toes when the microphone screeched from the stage. They paused and stood side by side. Teddy threaded his fingers through hers and she squeezed tight. It was time for the announcement.

Up on the stage, a man, no more than forty tapped his fingers on the mic. The crowd quieted and some people pushed forward to be closer to the front. From their place at the center of the dance floor, Holly could see just fine, and hearing the overpowered mic was not a problem.

“Happy Independence Day, folks,” the man started. “For those of you who don’t know me. I’m Mayor Thorpe and if this isn’t the biggest Fourth of July festival we’ve ever had, call me a monkey’s uncle. Who here is having a good time? Let me hear you say ’fireworks’!”

The crowd responded with shouts and clapping, eliciting a giggle. There was far too much joy in the air to be mad about Rinaldi or her mother. She leaned into Teddy. “Whatever happens?”

“Whatever happens,” he repeated and nudged her with his shoulder.

Mayor Thorpe hushed the crowd with his hands. “Now, before we can get to the big show here in a little bit, I believe some of our business owners are waiting for an announcement.”

A woman who Holly had met briefly at the girls’ night came across the stage.

The older woman held a white envelope in her hand and tapped the end of the mic.

“Hello, Christmas Cove!” she shouted, and the crowd cheered.

“My name is Carol. Many of you know me and know that I’ve loved this town for a very long time.

A few months back, I married the love of my life, Pa, right here in town.

As it turns out, before my father passed away many years ago, he set up a trust that only paid out if I ever got married.

The thing is, I avoided marriage for so long because of him.

” Carol looked at an older man, Holly assumed was her husband, and he encouraged her to keep going with a smile.

Carol gave a nervous giggle in her throat.

“The irony. Anyway, I don’t need all that money, and thought, what better way to celebrate the town I love than to help get Main Street back up and kicking again.

” She put her hand out towards Pa, and he joined her on stage.

“We decided to award fifty-thousand dollars to a most deserving establishment.”

Pa stepped to the mic. “And to all the applicants, we are paying three months of your rent.”

This announcement alone created an uproarious applause. Holly grabbed Teddy’s arm. “Isn’t this great?”

He nodded as Pa began speaking again. “Okay, okay, folks. The winner of the fifty-thousand dollars is …” The band’s drummer started his sticks on the snare drum. “Cove Candles. Congratulations. Let’s give a round of applause to owner, Angela Catsberry.”

Shoot , Holly thought and looked up at Teddy’s face. His puckered lips and deep breath showed his disappointment, but she wasn’t sad.

“Are you upset?” he asked.

“No, because I think I already won,” she said and threw her arms around his shoulders. Teddy challenged her to be a better person. He was the man who would protect her, encourage her, and love her no matter what. “Teddy?—”

“I love you, too,” he said and crushed his lips against hers again.

His passion caused her to melt into him.

He was her puffin, viciously fighting for what was his.

She hoped she could earn his loyalty every day, and starting now, she would ensure she was worthy of his love.

The good thing is, neither of them were in a hurry to leave the Cove, to start over anywhere else or with anyone else.

They had time on their side and the support of their true friends.

She looked over and saw Millie and Alfonso going at it, lip to lip. “Look, look,” she said to Teddy, breaking their own connection.

“To be young and in love,” he said and winked. She intertwined her fingers with his and stood back. “Does this mean I’m your girlfriend now?”

“Oh, honey, you’re my everything. Now let’s enjoy this firework show.” He guided her to a stone bench surrounding the fountain.

They sat down, her head rested on his shoulder, and they watched the sparkling colors explode overhead just like the bangers lighting up in her heart. She might have taken the long and bumpy tracks to get there, but no other way would have been as exciting a ride. “I love you, Teddy Black.”