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  Bella Cove

  A Second Chance Romance

  ROCHELLE KATZMAN

  Copyright © 2018 by Rochelle Katzman

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, titles, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  To my Nana, Grandmother, and Mom

  Chapter One

  Kayla had been staring at the contract before her for the last fifteen minutes.

  “Sweetie, just sign it. I promise there isn’t anything scary in it.” Melody smiled softly.

  Beside her, the lawyer who’d drawn up the papers glared.

  “I’ll sign it. I promised I would,” Kayla said as she read the same words over and over. She wasn’t hesitating because she didn’t want to take over the toy store for Melody…but a part of Kayla’s soul felt as if it was dying.

  She kept clicking the top of the pen until the sound started to annoy even her. So instead, she glanced outside at the quaint street lined by cobblestone sidewalks and at all the old but well-kept buildings. Bella Cove sure was pretty. Too bad her heart was only half here.

  Melody placed her hand on Kayla’s. “What is it, honey? Are you tired of selling toys, too?”

  “I like toys,” she answered honestly. And she did like them. But at twenty-nine years old, she still didn’t have any children of her own. Yet she sold toys. And with each one she sold, her heart died a little, especially when a mommy or daddy bought a doll for a little girl.

  Melody’s hand remained on Kayla’s. “Sweetie, I promise, you’ll be happy. I always was.”

  “I know,” Kayla said as she smiled warmly. She never spoke that much about it, but everyone knew she’d left graduate school two years ago to take care of her family. When her nana had passed, Kayla had been assigned the role of family matriarch. Kayla never referred to herself as such. The word “matriarch” seemed too archaic. But her family needed her. When her nana asked her to take care of the family before she died, Kayla never realized it would take this long. Yet here she was, two years later, and she was still taking care of them. She had been so close to getting her degree and having her freedom in California. Leaving the love of her life to come back to Bella Cove had been the hardest of all.

  Kayla sighed as she held the contract in her hands. Melody was right. Kayla had nothing to be afraid of; the terms were pretty straightforward. The contract said Melody Fischer was giving Magical Toys to Kayla Conway for the cost of one cup of coffee. It was a great opportunity, and her nana would have encouraged her to take it.

  So, with shaking hands and her soul screaming at her to run back to California, Kayla signed her name on the dotted line.

  “Oh, thank goodness. If you’d changed your mind, Harry would have been beside himself.” Melody grabbed Kayla’s face and kissed her on both cheeks.

  “Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.” Kayla stood, hoping Melody hadn’t left lipstick marks on her cheeks. When she put her chair back behind the register, she realized her palms were sweating like crazy, so she ran her hands down her yellow sundress. The last thing she needed was to shake that asshole attorney’s hand and have him discover how terrified she’d felt.

  Melody hitched her purse further up on her shoulder. Kayla hoped that meant her friend was leaving. She needed a few hours to cry and then get herself together before the celebratory dinner her mother was cooking tonight.

  “Sweetie, you’ve been my only employee for the last two years, but you’ve also been my friend. Of course I want you to have all of this. Besides, you’ll make this place even more of a success than I have. And Harry will be so relieved. Now we can finally use our lottery winnings to travel.”

  Melody’s husband had played the lotto every week for the last ten years. Finally, he had won, and he wanted to travel the world. They no longer needed the income from the shop. Even if he hadn’t won the lottery, he’d still pressure Melody to retire. Wanting to hand over the shop made sense, but at the same time, it affected Kayla’s life. She wished she had won the lottery. Not for money, as Nana and Pop had made sure their family had enough of that. Kayla wanted only to live the life of her dreams. But such lotteries didn’t exist.

  “Thank you for your confidence. I hope I do this place justice.” Kayla smiled, even though her heart was breaking.

  “Of course you will. You’re fabulous.”

  The rest of the meeting was a blur. Kayla shook the attorney’s hand as fast as she could. He didn’t like her for taking so much time to sign the contract, but he could go take a flying leap for all she cared. She turned and hugged Melody once more then walked them both to the entrance. When they left, Kayla shut the door behind them and flipped the old, white wooden open sign to closed. She desperately needed a moment to breathe. And this was her store now, so she could do whatever she wanted.

  Kayla walked over to the little girl’s section, where some sunglasses with mermaids on them were displayed. She picked up a pair and put them on, needing darkness. Then she walked into Melody’s office—my office, she corrected herself—and closed the door.

  Kayla sat and placed her hands and head on the empty desk. Finally, she allowed the tears to flow. With each day that passed, she was getting farther and farther away from Gabe. Her heart still craved him. Her body craved him, too. He was the last man who’d touched her and they’d had the most intense sex. God, she missed him.

  “Kayla, come on! Mom’s waiting for you.”

  Kayla jumped. She must have dozed off. Hadn’t she locked the front door?

  “Really? Your first afternoon as the owner and you’re sitting in your new office with sunglasses on, and the store is closed. Way to make money, Kayla!” Her brother Josh ran his hands through his blond hair as if she had offended him.

  It was a good thing she was wearing the sunglasses, so Josh couldn’t see her rolling her eyes.

  “Is there a reason you’re here? Did you get me a congratulations present?” Kayla asked sarcastically.

  Josh shifted his feet. At two months sober, he was a mess, but Kayla was the only one who realized that. Everyone else thought he was doing wonderfully. She knew better. The only reason he’d agreed to get sober was so their dad would buy him a new car. Josh had some grandiose plan that the moment he got the car, he would leave Bella Cove and never return. Kayla thought he would drive to the nearest bar and break his sobriety. He had put the family through hell, and he was part of the reason she had no choice but to stay.

  It was a miracle he wasn’t trying to get money from her, but he knew better. When she’d inherited Nana’s millions, Kayla had also received specific instructions on how to use the money.

  On her deathbed, Nana had made Kayla promise to keep the family together. Kayla didn’t want the responsibility and had told her grandmother so. But Nana said the family wasn’t stable. Kayla had to agree. She’d then confessed about fall
ing in love with Gabe and how badly she wanted to finish her graduate degree back in California. Nana had grabbed Kayla’s face and had kissed her, then said that one day, Kayla would have everything she wanted. Nana had said Gabe sounded wonderful, and if he truly loved Kayla, he’d wait until her family was back on its feet.

  That had been the first time Nana had been wrong.

  “Come on, Kayla. Mom’s going to freak if you’re late.”

  “Right.” Kayla slammed her hands on the desk and stood.

  She looked at the clock and saw it was already six. She had slept for two hours. Josh was right: She couldn’t be late for her own celebratory dinner. Mom’s one claim to fame was the meals she cooked for the family. Other than that, she was mostly anxious and scatterbrained, which was why the matriarch baton hadn’t been passed to her.

  Then there was Kayla’s older sister Lauren, who wanted to do nothing more than get married and shop. At thirty-one, she was still single and living at home. Kayla didn’t think that was such a big deal; Lauren just hadn’t met the love of her life yet. If she met him at thirty-five, forty, or fifty, it didn’t matter, as long as she found her true love. But Lauren disagreed. She worked in a real estate office, but only because she was trying to meet a rich man. She cried daily about being single. Nana hadn’t thought anyone in the family other than Kayla was mentally balanced and strong enough to keep the family intact. In a way, it was a compliment, but if Nana could have seen the turmoil going on inside Kayla, no doubt her grandmother would have thought differently.

  Kayla glanced at her brother. Josh seemed to be on edge. If he wasn’t drinking, then he needed to eat, which was probably why he had walked all the way there to get her. He also lived in the family house. In fact, all the siblings did except for her oldest brother, Matt. His wife, Jessica, would never have allowed that.

  Kayla took off the sunglasses, opened the bottom desk drawer, and grabbed her purse. She applied light-pink lip gloss and ran her hands through her long blonde hair. She glanced in the mirror behind her and thought she looked atrocious, but at least no one could tell she had bawled her eyes out two hours ago.

  “Okay, I’m ready,” she said.

  She zipped up her purse and walked toward the front door with Josh following. Letting Josh exit in front her, she glanced back at the store once more. This was all hers. She’d promised Melody that first thing tomorrow, she would call the building’s landlord and introduce herself. Melody had given her the toy store basically free of charge, but, unfortunately, she still needed to pay rent. Three days ago, Mr. Kleiner, the landlord, had passed away in his sleep and his grandson had inherited everything. So far, they hadn’t heard from the grandson, which was why Melody thought it would be smart if Kayla contacted him instead. She hoped he’d be nice. On top of everything else, a mean landlord was all she needed right now.

  “Kayla!” Josh yelled.

  Kayla sighed loudly. Her alcoholic, two-months-sober brother was getting on her nerves.

  She closed the front door behind her, making sure it was locked, and then threw her keys into her purse. Nana had been firm about the need for Kayla to look out for Josh, but she never told Kayla how to deal with him. Out of all Kayla’s siblings, he was the hardest to handle. She missed how he was when they were kids.

  Kayla sighed. It was smarter to numb out her feelings. She had learned the technique in one of her psychology classes in graduate school. If she allowed any emotion in, she would never be able to wake up in the mornings and be there for her family. She would also have to acknowledge how she really felt about leaving Gabe behind at school.

  “Of course. Let’s go before Mom calls one of us,” she said.

  In silence, they walked down Main Street. Kayla thought about being nice and asking Josh how his sobriety was going, but she wasn’t in the mood. He wouldn’t have told her the truth anyway. Instead of starting a useless conversation, she looked at all the pretty shops. The town had been founded in the late 1600s, and the stores had been built in the early 1700s. It was a beautiful place, like a picture postcard. Each store looked different but all of them had a New England feel. Magical Toys was a small, brick building with red shutters. The chocolate store next door had brown wood shingles with white shutters around the windows on the second floor. The knitting store, which they were passing now, was painted yellow and had flowerboxes filled with pink and yellow flowers below the windows. Most stores had white picket fences around them, and the streets were lit at night by tall lamps with flowerpots hanging from them in the summertime. She loved summer here. The few tourists who visited called the town “majestic and enchanting.” But here, as in every small town in America, everyone knew each other’s business, and few people had secrets.

  When the stores ended on Main Street, the bay came into view. At this time of year, it was especially beautiful. There were hundreds of boats on the water and even one or two yachts. Bella Cove was perfectly situated an hour and forty-five-minute drive from New York City. The town was so small, most people didn’t even know it existed, and even if they did know, it wasn’t the Hamptons. Most folks went to the Hamptons or the North Fork for the summer. When Kayla was growing up, the North Fork had the same boring reputation as Bella Cove, but since the Hamptons were overflowing, vacationers had now claimed the North Fork as their own. Bella Cove sat a couple of miles west, but so far, the rich snobs from Manhattan hadn’t claimed it. Part of her hoped things stayed that way. She enjoyed the peace and quiet—not that her family allowed her to have a lot of either. And part of her welcomed people from other areas. If tourism picked up a little, maybe the presence of more people would shake the stagnant feel that consumed this little bayside town.

  Kayla enjoyed walking around the bay. The water soothed her and made her feel whole again. Josh and she were still quiet, but she could tell he was thinking about something. Probably alcohol. Her family members were hopeful he would stick with sobriety this time, but Kayla knew the chances were slim.

  The path around the bay narrowed as they headed toward the community park. She had kissed a few boys in high school in the gazebo straight ahead, but those kisses had been nothing like Gabe’s. She gave herself a mental shake. She had to stop thinking that way. Gabe’s kisses made her think of sex. She craved having sex with him. But that was in the past now.

  Josh was walking abnormally slowly, but she still didn’t feel the need to talk. Unfortunately, he did.

  “How come you’re so quiet?”

  “How come you’re still sober?” she responded.

  “I deserved that,” he admitted.

  He didn’t look Kayla straight in the eye. Josh had a way of giving her the creeps, usually when he was up to something. However, she had so much on her mind, she wasn’t in the mood to ask. Too bad he was so good-looking—six foot one with blond hair and twinkling-blue eyes. He worked out daily, so he had great muscles. Unfortunately, being that adorable was how he got away with so much.

  Everyone in her family was good looking. They even all had naturally platinum-blond hair. Her ancestors on both her mom’s and dad’s side were from Sweden. She and her two sisters looked like girl-next-door types. She certainly did, with blonde hair, navy-blue eyes, ivory skin, and a height of five three. But Kayla never cared about her looks. She was always more concerned with how she felt on the inside. Her nana always said if you felt beautiful on the inside, it showed on your outside. These days, Kayla didn’t feel beautiful on the inside, especially with how she’d left things with Gabe. It might have been two years ago, but with all the family drama, it felt like two minutes.

  Once she and Josh made it through the park, they walked the final distance to her parents’ house up a hill. She liked this part. The higher the hill, the more beautiful the view. Nana and Pop had built this house. Her Pop had made furniture and sold the pieces throughout the country. He’d built interesting pieces, too, like couches that converted into beds, and coffee tables that doubled as wine racks. Each piece was unique.
Her favorite was the coffee table with carvings from local artists. Her dad and brothers still made furniture. Pop had made sure they knew exactly how to craft each detailed piece. He’d made a lot of money and then invested in the stock market. Not only had Pop made a good living, but through his investments, he’d made certain future generations would never have to worry about money, either. Too bad he’d passed away seven years ago. She missed him terribly.

  The furniture business was still going strong. The factory where the furniture was made was about five miles up the road. While the men in the family were building furniture, the women could do whatever they pleased. Kayla had always wanted to be a psychologist. Her mother was a stay-at-home mom, and her sister Lauren wanted to be a wife. The jury was still out on what Sarah wanted to be. Nana had taught Mom, Kayla, and her sisters how to cook and how to take care of a man. But most men weren’t interested in wives like that anymore. Today, women had to do it all. Men liked women who were lawyers and doctors. They no longer wanted the responsibility of being the sole breadwinner. Times had changed from Nana’s era. Yet, Kayla was a career woman, and the one man she wanted, she couldn’t have.

  The hill was an easy climb and not too steep. Large, postmodern homes came into view. Some overlooked the bay and some didn’t. In between was a narrow road, barely wide enough for one car to pass through. She and Josh walked by her favorite house, which was white with pink shutters around the windows. The owners had even painted their porch pink to match. Her sisters thought the house looked tacky, but Kayla thought it looked happy. Her family’s house was farthest up the hill. It was beautiful: a large yellow house with white trim, which would fit perfectly on the most expensive street in South or East Hampton. Her pop had built it for Nana because he loved her so much.

  Nana had found true love in Bella Cove. Maybe Kayla would find true love here, too, but she doubted it. She had believed Gabe was her soulmate. Was she allowed to find two soulmates? Was there some unwritten rule that you could only find it once? She hoped not, but she suspected there must be some kind of rule.