Starlight Dunes (23 page)

That night, Logan
and Kinsey opened their home to the town in an open house type atmosphere for the guest of honor, Troy Dayton, who was now officially legal.

Troy had helped
the couple paint and remodel their two-thousand-square-foot house. So it seemed fitting to celebrate his twenty-first birthday surrounded by the bright colors he’d slapped on the walls, the modern appliances he’d helped install.

T
roy looked around at the stylish furniture, the former home of Aaron Hartley, and realized Logan and Kinsey had upgraded it to a warm, inviting place to raise children, something he knew they both were excited about. Tonight the Donnelly residence was jam-packed with wall-to-wall people from every corner of Pelican Pointe.

Troy
scanned the room again, this time inching toward the table where the fancy hors d'oeuvres had been set out. He perused the array of gooey finger sandwiches, the spicy empanadas, rolled up taquitos, an array of dips and chips and realized Jordan had, once again, gone to a great deal of trouble just for him. It reminded him of last summer the day he’d been released from county.

He
couldn’t believe the mayor had shown up. To think that Murphy, and his main squeeze, the county social worker, Carla Vargas, had taken the time to come to his party was only one indication his life had taken an upward turn since the day he’d gotten his freedom back.

For
a kid who had scrounged around for scraps to make ends meet—for someone who had once aspired to making jewelry boxes for a living in hopes of getting a business off the ground so he could pay the rent—Troy considered himself the luckiest guy in town.

He’d
been raised by a single mother who’d died of breast cancer when he was fourteen, leaving him without a place to live. If not for his uncle, Derek Stovall, he would’ve been scuttled off to a foster home. 

But now Troy
had put his false arrest for murder solidly behind him. He worked full-time for Logan as his construction foreman and rented the little studio apartment over the Harris’s garage at Promise Cove. He had a place to call his own with a gorgeous view of the ocean that didn’t cost a fortune and a job he loved.

While his life had taken a definite
turn for the better, his uncle hadn’t been as fortunate. Derek had spent the last few months sitting in jail charged with the sexual assault of Abby Bonner, if found guilty, the man faced a ten-year prison term.

Murphy came over, handed him a beer.

“I’m not much of a drinker.”

“And that’s an admirable
quality in any man. But there are times a taste of Guinness helps a deep thinker sort out his thoughts.”

About that time
Troy spotted the gorgeous redhead, Bree Dennison, standing by the front door. They’d gone to high school together. He hadn’t seen her since her own twenty-first birthday party Labor Day weekend. He couldn’t believe she was headed straight for him.

“Hi Troy.
Happy birthday!” Bree leaned in, kissed his cheek and put her arms around him for a hug. “Good to see you.”

“Hi Bree.
What are you doing here?”

Bree sent him a puzzled look.
“Silly. I was invited just like everyone else. It happens to be my night off too which means I’m letting my hair down a little bit tonight because I have schoolwork to do when I get back home.”

He’d forgotten she was in her
second year at the community college. “How’s school going?”

“It’s tough to go to class and hold down a job.
I’m lucky to have found work. So I’d say all and all it’s going pretty good. I keep my grades up and that’s what matters most. I heard about you and Mona. Sorry it didn’t work out.”

“Ah well,
as it turns out, I don’t think we suited one another.”

“
Sometimes it’s like that. I got you a present,” Bree stated, reaching into the oversized bag that draped from her shoulder. She pulled out a ten-inch box, smartly gift wrapped in their high school colors.

“What is this?”
Troy asked, setting down the beer so he could take the package. He tested the weight. It was heavy, weighing at least a pound.

“Open it and see for yourself.
I hope you like it. It’s not new or anything. I actually found it at a little used shop in San Sebastian in between my classes.”

Troy didn’t need a lot of encouragement.
The idea that she’d taken the time to buy him anything at all had him ripping off the pretty blue and orange paper. When he got down to the cardboard he eagerly tore into the tape. “It’s an engraver tool.”

“I saw it and thought you could use it to decorate your jewelry boxes.
Abby Bonner showed me the one you made for her. It’s a beautiful design, both top and sides.”

He didn’t want to tell her he’d given up the silly notion
of making them. Instead he draped an arm around her shoulder. “This is the nicest present anyone’s ever given me. Thank you,” he managed to fluster out.

“I doubt that. But I wanted to get you something you could use in your work. I knew you already had your own tools and what you didn’t
have, you’d surely have access to while working for Logan.”

“This is awesome
. I don’t have one. But you know what? I’ll make you a jewelry box first chance I get, put something special on the lid, too. You always did like red flowers, California poppies, as I recall.”

Bree blushed.
“That would be great. You remembered that?”

He smiled.
“Of course. You used to wear a white dress with them all over it.”

Her mouth dropped open. “I did. I wore that to school a lot.”

“It set off your hair.”

“
You always did say sweet things like that. I had a crush on you in junior high.”

Before Troy could pursue that,
his boss walked up, slapped him on the back.

“It’s the birthday boy. You should see the cake J
ordan baked. It’s a work of art,” Logan stated, clearly oblivious to the fact he’d interrupted something.

“One of these days I’m going to have enough money to treat myself to a couple of nights at the B & B
and have Jordan cook for me,” Bree tossed out with a sigh. “That may sound silly but—”

“No, it doesn’t,” Troy said.
“Not at all. You deserve a day off, a weekend would be better. You work too much.”

“Not much else I can do about that,” Bree said. “Dad left us that old house and it needs fixing up. Zach and I keep meaning to paint the thing but neither one of us have the time. Zach spends his days looking for work.
That reminds me, I see Brent’s here. I need to thank him for throwing some work Zach’s way while those archaeologists are in town.”

“
If all goes as planned, tell Zach to come see me about more permanent work at the school project we’re planning,” Logan reiterated. “You heard about bringing the school back to life, right?”

“I did. It’s exciting.”

“We can use all the local hands we can get,” Troy added. “It’ll be a huge undertaking. But we’re up for it. Zach would be an asset to the crew.”

Bree grabbed Troy’s arm in delight. “That’s wonderful. Save a spot for him, w
ill you? I can’t wait to tell him. Oh look, here’s Brent now. I have to run, Troy. Now that you’re legal, you stop by McCready’s and I’ll buy you a beer.”

After s
he’d gone over to Brent, Logan turned to Troy. “That woman is interested in you.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. If I were you I wouldn’t waste a minute heading into McCready’s first chance I got. You’re crazy if you don’t ask her out. Take her somewhere nice, like Perry’s place maybe.”

“You know I can’t afford that.”

“Okay. How about this? You make the date and bring her to your place for a nice candlelit dinner, dinner you’ve fixed yourself. Women love a man who cooks. Works every time. I’ll be damned if I know why. Your studio is the perfect little garret with a cozy atmosphere. It has a stove that works and a great view from the bluffs. What more could a single guy want?”

“When did you get to be such a romantic?”
Troy wondered.

“
Since I met and fell in love with the right woman. You fall in love with the right woman you’ll want nothing but the best for her. Trust me on that.”

Brent’s eyes drifted
from the conversation with Bree Dennison to River’s arrival at the front door. Since the last time he’d seen her that afternoon she’d taken the time to go back to the B & B to French-braid her long mane. The stylish knot gave her a sophisticated air. She’d changed into a simple black skater dress. The full swingy skirt flared out whenever she moved and the wrap slung over her shoulders hung in a soft creamy shimmer for contrast.

The outfit
had him wanting to take her back to his place to get her naked—the sooner the better. Good thing he’d gotten Paul Bonner to replace him at the dig site and no longer had to bother with the swing shift.

River
spotted Brent from across the room and sent him a wave. There was something about the pair of dress pants and button-down shirt he wore that had her juices revving.

Over the din and the loud music River
sidled up to him and asked, “Read any good books lately?”

Brent started laughing.
“Just the one about archaeologists. But it never mentioned they were so hot.”

“Aww, aren’t you sweet.
” She linked her arm through his, ran a finger down his cheek, whispered in his ear, “Maybe we should pay our respects to the birthday boy, give him his present and start a few fireworks of our own. I can get a lot hotter.”

“I
’m already picturing that in my head. That can definitely be arranged. But first I promised Troy a twenty-first birthday party he wouldn’t forget.” He took her hand, led her over to where Bree had gone back to talk to Troy.

“Then let’s not disappoint him. Where
’s the present you and the town got him?”

“Around the corner.
The trick is getting him outside for the big reveal.”

“Hmm. Leave
that to me. He’ll never see it coming if it comes from a virtual stranger.” River shifted gears and focused her attention on Troy, holding out her hand. “Hi Troy, I’m River Amandez, the archaeologist over at the dig. Brent tells me you’re an excellent carpenter. I was wondering what you’d charge to build us a scaffold, you know, across the street at the dig site.”

“You need a scaffold?
Built on the beach? What for?” Troy asked with a curious look on his face.

“We need a sort of platform for…
”River started forming a shape with her hands, a little perplexed at how to continue. But she quickly recovered to go on with the diversion. “We need it built up to fully excavate the side of the cliff.” She actually managed to keep a straight face. “How about looking at the site now and telling me how long it would take to construct it sturdy enough on the soft ground?”

“But it’s dark
outside,” Troy pointed out. And he’d have to leave his party.

“It is,” River said
with a sly grin. “But we need to move on this ASAP while the weather holds. It’s kind of an emergency and you’d really be helping us out if you could give us your expertise along with an estimate.”

“Sure.
I guess so,” Troy said in final agreement not wanting to be rude but clearly not happy about it.

River
led Troy out the door and down the steps onto the sidewalk. She saw Logan pull up between two cars driving a gleaming white GMC Canyon pickup right on schedule.  From behind her, she realized the party crowd had moved outside with them to the curb to take in Troy’s reaction.

They didn’t have to wait
long. Brent put a hand on Troy’s shoulder and held up a key ring with a spare set of keys dangling from it.

At that moment the partygoers
all yelled out in unison, “Surprise! Happy twenty-first birthday, Troy!”

Troy’s mouth fell open.
“What’s going on?”