Bella had made him take a good, hard look at himself and Jesse hadn’t liked what he’d seen. He’d wanted to go to her house that night. To face her down, admit that everything she’d said to him was right on the money. To even, as hard as it was to swallow, beg her to hear him out. But he’d known that she would still be way too furious to listen to anything he had to say. And who could blame her?
So he’d given it a couple of days. Time enough for that icy temper of hers to thaw a little. Time enough for him to come up with at least a half-baked plan he hoped would work to convince her to come back to him.
A cold sea wind was blasting in off the ocean when he left King Beach to walk the short block to Bella’s shop. Dark clouds studded the sky and seabirds were headed inland. A sure sign that the storm that had been building for days was finally coming in for a landing. Good, he thought. A storm would clear the air and maybe, he told himself, that’s just what he and Bella needed, too.
Taking a deep breath of the cold air, he headed for Bella’s, walked up to the front door and—it was locked. Scowling, he thought for a second that she’d gone to lunch or something. But it was three in the afternoon, so that wouldn’t wash. Cupping one hand over his eyes, he leaned in close to the window and peered inside.
The shop was empty.
Everything was gone. The swimsuit racks stood naked, the cash register was gone from the counter. The walls had been stripped of the swimsuits and posters Bella had had hanging there. Panic rose up in his chest. Not really believing what he was seeing, Jesse moved to another window, one that afforded a peek into the back of the shop, but he didn’t feel any better once he checked that one out, too.
Her supplies of fabric were gone. Her worktable was bare and the boxes of new inventory were missing. The entire shop was vacant and as he stood there, locked out on the sidewalk, Jesse felt as empty as the building in front of him.
But damn if he was going to stay that way.
He went back to King Beach, got his car and drove to her house. The tidy flowerbeds, the small patch of lawn, the bright red front door all called to him, made him remember days and nights with her. Memories he didn’t want to give up. Promises of a future he didn’t want to lose.
He stalked up the front walk, pounded on that red door and waited for a response that didn’t come. Looking into the windows, he sighed in relief when he noted that her things were still here, at least. She hadn’t skipped town on him. Not that that would have stopped him. It just would have taken him longer to find her.
“Bella!” he called, pounding on the door again. “Bella, open up and talk to me, dammit!”
He waited what seemed like several lifetimes, but she never came to the door. He glanced next door at her friend Kevin’s house, but the place was dark and there were no cars in the driveway, so she wasn’t hiding out with him. Where the hell was she? Sitting in the living room, listening to him make an ass of himself?
Desperation clawing at his insides, Jesse shouted, “Fine! I’ll just sit here on your porch until you come out!”
He spent the next few hours doing just that. He waved at the neighbors, ordered a pizza when he got hungry and he was still sitting there late that night when the brewing storm finally blew into Morgan Beach.
Eleven
T he following afternoon, Jesse went to Kevin’s shop, determined to get the man to tell him where Bella was. If anyone knew, her best friend would. He pushed the door open and stopped dead.
There was Kevin, with a tall, leggy blonde wrapped around him like shrink-wrap on a DVD. Their kiss was steamy enough to fog up the windows and only ended reluctantly when they heard Jesse’s entrance.
The blonde glanced at him, then tucked her face into Kevin’s chest on a laugh. “Oops.”
Kevin only grinned. “It’s okay, Trace. Jesse, this is my girlfriend, Traci Bennett. Traci, Jesse King.”
She looked at him and Jesse realized that he recognized her. Her face was in dozens of magazine ads. She was tall, beautiful and dressed in quiet elegance, and all he could think was that he wished he were looking at a short, badly dressed, curvy brunette.
“You’re the ex-surfer who’s been rebuilding around here,” Traci said. “Good job, by the way. Love what you’ve done to the place.”
“Thanks.” She liked it. Bella hated it.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “Um, sorry about your walking in on the kiss, but I’ve been gone four weeks, and I really missed Kevin.”
“No problem,” Jesse said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his slacks. If he could have had his way, he’d be with Bella right now, doing the same damn thing. “I just need to talk to him for a few minutes, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” She reached up, rubbed lipstick off Kevin’s smiling mouth with her thumb, then turned and picked up her purse off the counter. “I’ll let you guys talk. I’ll see you later at my place, honey?”
Kevin’s eyes gleamed. “Oh, yeah.”
She was gone a moment later, leaving a trail of expensive perfume behind her. Jesse looked at Kevin. “So, you really do have a girlfriend.”
“I really do. But is that what you came to talk to me about?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest and giving Jesse the kind of hard stare reserved for bad dogs and crazed children.
Apparently, Bella’d already talked over the situation with her friend and it was no surprise whose side Kevin was on. Fine. He could take whatever the guy had to say. Hell, he deserved it. But Jesse wasn’t leaving here without knowing how to find Bella.
“No, it’s not your girlfriend I’m worried about,” he admitted.
“What I thought.” Kevin nodded toward the front door. “Flip the closed sign then come to the back.”
Jesse did as Kevin asked, locked the front door, then followed Kevin into what looked like a miniwarehouse. The walls were crowded with shelves filled with boxes and gift wrap and ribbon and more jewelry than one person could use in several lifetimes.
There was also a small sink, a refrigerator, a tiny table and two chairs. Kevin pointed at the table, said, “Take a seat,” and turned for the fridge. “Beer?”
“Sure.”
Once they were both seated and Kevin had had a sip of his beer, he asked, “So, why are you looking for Bella?”
“Why?” Jesse just stared at him. “Because I have to talk to her.”
“Seems to me you guys said everything that needed saying.”