Serena's Choice - Coastal Romance Series (16 page)

“
Are you two planning to get
married?” Serena asked.

“
Yes. We want to get married.
We’re living together right now, but our parents really want us to
get married. They don’t understand living together.”

“
I guess it’s not how they
grew up,” Serena said.

“
I guess not. But we are going
to get married. In fact, we just decided when last night.” She
looked away at the water, then turned back to Serena.

“
It’s still a secret right
now, but last night we decided to get married next month!” Maria
burst out laughing in happiness.

Serena laughed with her. She
stood up and hugged Maria. “Congratulations,” she said. “I’m
happy for you both.”

“
Thanks. We’re going to call
our parents later on and tell them. You’re the first to know.”

“
I feel honored,” Serena
said.

Steven and Carlos fished for a
couple of hours, but threw back everything they caught. Serena was
relieved when it was time to leave. She had already decided that she
wouldn’t say anything to Steven about Carlos and Maria. She just
wanted to go home. She needed to see Nonna.

They said goodbye to Carlos and
Maria and headed back to Steven’s house.

“
How was that?” Steven asked
in the car.

“
It was good. I really enjoyed
talking to Maria.” She left it at that.

When they got back to Steven’s,
Serena said she needed to get home. She had a lot of things to do
before the work week started. She gathered her things and then kissed
Steven goodbye at his door. She brushed him off when he tried to walk
her to her car.

“
No need,” she said, walking
down the stairs and getting into her car. She rolled down the window
and waved at Steven as she backed up and pulled away. Standing at the
top of the stairs, he waved back.

Chapter
Eleven

Monday night, Serena left after
dinner and didn’t stay to have a drink at the bar. Nonna was
surprised to see her when she walked in the door of the cottage.
Serena sat on the couch to watch
You’ve Got Mail
with Nonna.
Her phone buzzed on the table beside the couch, but she didn’t
answer it.

“
Your phone is jumping around,”
Nonna said.

“
It’s okay,” Serena said.
“I don’t want to talk to anybody right now.”

Serena went to the kitchen and
poured glasses of wine for herself and Nonna. They finished the
movie, and then Nonna said she needed to get to bed. “I’ll be
right up,” Serena said as Nonna climbed the stairs.

She got her phone and went
outside to the deck. Steven had left a voice mail. “Where are you?
I’m at Rossetti’s thinking you’d be here.”

Then another message. “I’m
leaving Rossetti’s now. Guess you aren’t coming. Call me. I love
you.”

Serena sat her phone on the table
and walked out on the pier. She couldn’t call Steven back right
now. She didn’t know what was going on, but things did not seem
right. Eventually, she would have to talk to him, but not that night.
She went to bed instead, pulling the covers up to her neck. She heard
her text signal, but she didn’t pick up her phone to see who it
was. Steven, probably.

The next night, Serena did stay
at the bar. If Steven came in, she was prepared to talk to him. Jeff
brought her a Cosmopolitan, but didn’t stick around to talk. Angela
was keeping her eye on him.

Steven did come in around ten and
sat down beside her at the bar. Jeff brought him a draft. He looked
at Serena for a second, before walking away to the other end of the
bar where Angela waited.

“
I’ve been trying to call
you,” he said. “Why haven’t you called me back?

Serena was ready. She had been
thinking about it all night.

“
Carlos and Maria didn’t seem
like a couple in trouble to me,” she said. “They seemed very
happy and untroubled. Maria told me they’re getting married.”

Steven looked at her without
saying anything. He took a drink from his mug of beer.

“
So you think they’re the
happy couple?” he asked, incredulously.

“
They seem to be. I don’t
understand why Carlos would be calling you all the time. I don’t
get that Maria walked out on him the very night they decided to get
married.”

“
What do you think, Serena?”
Steven asked. “That I’m lying about Carlos and his problems? You
think that just because you met them one time that what I’ve been
saying isn’t true?”

He slammed his mug down on the
bar and beer sloshed out of it. Jeff looked over and started walking
that way. Serena looked at him, a look that told him to stay away.

“
I’m not saying that,” she
said. “It just seemed strange that they seemed so happy and
effortless together. Usually you can tell if a couple has problems.”

“
I don’t know about that,”
Steven said. “But why would I make something like that up? What
could I possibly have to gain by making it up?” he asked.

Serena thought about it. She had
been thinking about it and she didn’t have an answer.

“
I also mentioned the oil spill
to Maria. She just talked about the BP spill. She didn’t seem to
know anything about a recent spill,” she said bravely, determined
to have every question answered.

“
What did she say?” Steven
asked.

“
She said that Carlos had been
involved with the BP spill. She didn’t mention the recent one where
you left.”

“
That’s because Carlos didn’t
go with me on that,” Steven said. “The last and only oil spill
he’s been involved with personally was the BP spill. He stayed
behind on the last one to check things off the Florida coast. He
didn’t go.”

Serena was starting to feel very
foolish, like a suspicious woman accusing her man of lying.

“
What’s going on, Serena?”
Steven asked. “Why are you suddenly so suspicious?”

“
I don’t know,” she said.
“I guess it’s because you’ve been gone and . . . . I don’t
know.”

Steven took her hands. “I love
you, Serena. Don’t you believe in that?”

She looked into his eyes. They
looked sad and she felt responsible for that. Steven had been working
hard and Serena was giving him a hard time, for no good reason. She
loved Steven.

“
Yes,” she said. “I believe
in that. I love you, too.”

“
Let’s get out of here,”
Steven said.

Serena picked up her purse and
slid off of the barstool to follow Steven out the door. She turned
and waved goodbye to Jeff. He waved at her, but he didn’t look
happy.

She followed Steven to his house
and they fell into bed as soon as they could get there. Steven
ravished her and she wanted to be ravished. It was the most exciting
lovemaking she had ever experienced. Afterward, they lay back on
their pillows.

“
Serena, I love you,” Steven
said into the dark room. “I want to be with you all the time. It
makes me feel bad that you don’t seem to trust me.”

Serena reached over and rubbed
his arm. “I’m sorry, Steven,” she said. “I do trust you. It’s
just that things seemed weird while you were gone. And then with
Carlos and Maria. But I understand everything now.”

“
I wish you’d come over here
more than you do. I want you to come over every night.”

“
I wish that too,” she said.
“I just feel like I need to be with Nonna sometimes. She’s all
alone. But I can come over more. I want to come over more. But I’ll
need to leave most nights.”

He sighed. “I understand,” he
said. “I’ll just have to live with it.”

She kissed him then and told him
she loved him. Then she got dressed to go back home. Steven walked
her down the steps to her car and kissed her goodbye.

Over the next couple of weeks,
Serena went to Steven’s almost every night, but she left before
midnight, except on Saturdays, when she stayed all night. Nonna was
familiar with her routine and accepted it without question. “It’s
amore,” she heard Nonna saying in her head. All for love.

********************

At the paint store in Fort
Walton, Serena chose pale and neutral colors for the walls. “I
think we should paint the upstairs parlor in this antique white with
white trim and the rest of the rooms in this golden ecru with white
trim,” she said to Jeff.

“
Whatever you say,” he said.
They bought several gallons of paint and rollers, paint brushes, and
a container to put paint in for the roller. Jeff loaded everything
into his car and they made their way back to Luna Bay.

“
So, how’s everything going?”
Jeff asked her on the drive.

“
Everything’s going fine,”
she said looking out the window at the scenery. “Just fine.”

“
You don’t look like
everything’s fine,” he said.

That made her very angry. How
dare he comment on her life, especially when he was totally wrong.
She was very happy. She was in love. Why couldn’t he see that?

“
I don’t know what you’re
talking about,” she said. “And besides, my happiness or
unhappiness is none of your business.”

“
That’s true,” he said. “I
only say that as someone who knows you. Someone who’s your friend.”

“
You don’t know me at all,”
she said. Tears were welling in her eyes and she’d be damned if
she’d let them fall. “You don’t know me,” she repeated. She
turned her head all the way away from him and reached up her hand to
wipe the tears that were falling from her eyes whether she wanted
them to or not.

They drove on in silence. “I’m
sorry, Serena,” he said. “I don’t mean to interfere.”

“
There’s nothing to interfere
in!” she said angrily. “There’s nothing going on, so I don’t
know what you keep going on and on about.” She turned her head back
to stare at the scenery with unseeing eyes. Jeff didn’t say
anything else.

When they got back to the diner,
Jeff unloaded the paint and supplies and carried them upstairs.
Serena didn’t help him. She wanted to get away from him. When he
came down for the last load, she said, “We’ve got a ladder out in
the storeroom.” She pointed in the direction of the storeroom
beyond the garden. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

Jeff walked over to her and put
the paint cans down. He reached for her, but she pulled away.

“
I’m here if you ever need to
talk,” he said. He picked up the paint cans and walked up the
stairs. Serena stood there looking at the stairs long after he was
gone. Her tears fell easily then, when there was no one to see them.
Damn Jeff! Damn him.

Jeff borrowed the vacuum cleaner
from the diner and took it upstairs for two days. When he brought it
back down before lunch one day, he said, “Those wood floors are in
fantastic shape. I think a coat of varnish would do the trick.”

Nonna looked at Jeff. “I want
to see,” she said. Her eyes twinkled and she giggled. Nonna seemed
almost childlike in her delight.

Jeff took Nonna’s arm and led
her to the staircase. He turned and looked at Serena. “You coming?”
he said. Serena put down the head of lettuce she was washing and
followed them up the stairs. They walked into the parlor, and it was
magnificent. The dingy walls had been painted in the antique white
and all of the woodwork gleamed with new white paint. Nonna turned
around and around looking at everything.

“
This looks great,” she said
to Jeff, giving him a hug. “It reminds me of what it was like when
I was little.” Jeff hugged Nonna back.

“
Look at the floors,” he said
pointing down. “I’ve cleaned off all of the dust and mopped them.
I think there’s hope.”

Serena and Nonna looked down at
the floors, then walked around the parlor and into the hallway. The
floors were richly colored oak planks in remarkable shape.

“
I think a coat of varnish is
all they need,” Jeff said.

Nonna looked at him. “You’re
right, Jeff. I think that’s all they need.” She was so happy she
was beaming.

“
I’ll do that,” Jeff said.
“I might have to get out of here for a few days while the varnish
dries.”

“
You can stay with us!” Nonna
said excitedly. “You haven’t stayed with us for a long time. We’d
love to have you.”

Jeff looked over at Serena, who
kept her face completely blank. She wasn’t sure how she felt about
Jeff staying with them. She wasn’t sure at all.

“
I think that’s a plan,” he
said to Nonna.

********************

A few days later, Serena was in
the kitchen working with Jimmy and Olive on the evening’s menu when
Jeff came in the back door. He had a thin black and white kitten that
looked to be about six months old in his arms and a pleading look on
his face.

“
Can we keep her?” he said to
Serena when she walked over. She reached her hand out and rubbed the
cat on its head and behind its ears. When she was growing up, she had
always had a cat. Kitty, named so by Nonna, was a tabby who had a
litter of three kittens before they got her fixed. Adrianna had
insisted on keeping all of the kittens and Nonna gave in. “But only
if we get them fixed,” she said. So they got them all fixed, and
for a while, they had four cats. Serena had loved them all, but one
by one, they met their fate. When Serena left for culinary school,
there was one cat remaining, Boxer. He had white paws that looked
like boxing gloves. He was pretty old when Serena left.