From the moment the auto repair shop door swung closed behind him, Axel Martinez knew he’d made a mistake coming back to Sea Glass Bay Automotive. Not one to back down from the hard stuff, he planted his steel-toed work boots on the concrete of the closed shop and looked around.
Standing tool boxes and electric diagnostic equipment lined the side and back walls. An old Ford sedan occupied a far bay, hood up. Car lifts sat empty in two of the three other bays. To his right, a small waiting room and office had been made with plate glass running waist high to the ceiling.
Sea Glass Bay Automotive was a mechanic’s dream. Well-cared for and large enough to make a good living. Axel wanted to buy it. He’d scheduled a meeting here with the owner, Dennis Hammond, and his real estate agent, Sam Bell.
But he’d been stood up.
Axel stuffed his hands in his grease-stained coverall pockets. “I was supposed to meet Mr. Bell and Mr. Hammond?” He hadn’t meant that to come out as a question. There was no question about whether he had an appointment. The question was why hadn’t the men honored it.
Axel glanced toward the exits. First, the small door behind him, and then the rear exit behind Penny Bell Carlson, his high school crush and Mr. Bell’s daughter.
“Dad had something come up. He sent me instead.” Penny’s cheeks flamed red.
If history was any indicator, her blush was deeper when she lied than when she was embarrassed, which meant—
History?
Axel hated the past. He tried to find something positive here, in the present. All he found was Penny.
She looked better than what he remembered from a decade ago. She still had her All-American, girl next-door looks. Blonde, blue-eyed, trim body, classy clothes. He hadn’t taken in more than a glimpse of her in what seemed like forever. Penny stayed in her circle of friends and family in Sea Glass Bay, and he stayed in his.
Axel kept his oil-stained hands in his coverall pockets, glancing over his shoulder at the exit once more. Girls like Penny weren’t supposed to give guys from the wrong side of the tracks a second look.
Except she had. That one time.
The fall-out hadn’t been pretty. Axel worked his jaw at the memory.
Forget the past!
A sound from the auto shop’s office door drew Axel’s attention.
A little blond boy of about three pressed his body against the glass door, flattening his palms near his face, smushing his nose and open mouth against the glass in what seemed like a silent plea for help. A large blue sippy cup hung neglected from his hand, then dropped to roll around at his feet.
“Oh, no,” Penny said in a panicked voice. She ran between the service bays to the office, her black high heels tapping on concrete with the same urgency Axel’s blood was tapping at his temples. “Trey woke up. I’m coming, sweetie.”
“Trey?” Axel glanced around the shop, imprinting the image of the place he’d once worked into his memory, storing it along with the other things he’d been unable to have in his lifetime because of what his mother was and the chip he’d carried on his shoulder as a result of it. “What kind of name is Trey?”
“We’re judging names now?” Penny opened the door for the boy and swung him into her arms. “That’s rich coming from you, Alexander.” She smoothed the boy’s haystack hair away from his face with all the love Axel had longed for as a child. “His name is Brett John Carlson the Third. Trey.”
“Named him after Brett, did you?” Her ex-husband. Axel generally kept to himself, but even he’d heard about Penny’s messy divorce brought upon by Brett’s two-timing. Just the thought of the high school golden boy and bully gave rise to angry bitterness. “Let’s hope this little guy makes a better go of things than his father.”
Shut up-shut up-shut up!
Penny frowned at him.
“Sorry.” Axel removed his hands from his pockets, curled his fingers, crossed his arms, and tucked his fists into his armpits, trying to lock himself and his emotions up tight. Penny was the last person in the world he wanted to pick a fight with. She’d been nice to him in school—not that he’d always deserved it. And she’d been nice to him today by showing up and telling him in person that Sea Glass Bay Automotive was out of his reach, like that Ferrari he dreamed of owning someday. She hadn’t said as much, but Axel could read the writing on the wall.
Penny was still frowning at him, Trey’s head tucked under her chin. The toddler stared at Axel, too, but without the frown.
Axel tried to charm the little guy with a smile, all without loosening the arms over his chest. “I’m generally a background player, kid. I don’t speak until I’m spoken to.”
“That’s new,” Penny murmured.
Axel supposed he was different than when they’d been in school. Back then, he’d popped off on the regular. Arms still tightly crossed, Axel bent at the knees to look Trey in his big blue eyes. “Sometimes the pendulum swings, kiddo. Smart-mouthed teens can learn to think before getting into trouble.”
“Smart-mouthed teens aren’t always looking for trouble, but they always seem to find it.” Penny’s frown seemed to be giving way at the corners.
“I’ve stayed out of trouble since graduation.” Alex straightened, giving the kid another smile. “Hard lessons learned. I’m a good guy now. No trouble at all.” He straightened, glanced around the shop, and sighed. “Not that everyone seems to believe it.”
“This has nothing to do with who you are, Axel,” Penny said gently. But her cheeks were pinkening again.
“I won’t kid myself. I’m not stupid.”
“I know that.” Penny’s voice was still soft. She was being nice to him again.
He had a weak spot for people who were nice to him.
“I just thought …” Axel’s arms loosened. His fists unfurled. His hands dropped to his sides. “I thought that the past was in the past. I thought people had forgotten that I’m the son of the town drug addict. Or that I was the motorhead delinquent who liked taking fast cars for joy rides.” He made a silent apology to Dennis Hammond and Sam Bell, both of whom had great taste in cars. No wonder they didn’t want to take his interest in buying the place seriously.
Penny’s little boy stared at Axel with big, blue, puppy dog eyes.
“Axel …” Penny’s gaze softened to something resembling pity.
Geez-o-Pete. I have to get out of here.
But the lock was off his emotions, and they tumbled out, falling between them with a thud. “I’m not the guy who lets anger run his mouth anymore. I’m not the guy who lets frustration guide his fists anymore. I’m not even the guy who kisses the first girl to be nice to him. But what Sea Glass Bay sees …” He sighed. “What this town sees is apparently something different than who I am today. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
“Hang on.” Penny scoffed, cheeks a soft pink. “I wasn’t the first girl to be nice to you. Or the first girl you kissed, if memory serves.”
“But you were the only one …”
Who meant something to me.
Copyright © 2024 by Melinda Curtis
For the four Hollister brothers, Sea Glass Bay means home, family, and, most recently, heartbreak.
Taken in as foster kids by Clay and Leda Hollister, their rocky starts in life were turned around thanks to stability and unconditional love. Despite their successes as adults, Leda's death two years ago shook the brothers to their core, but not nearly as hard as Clay's recent announcement he's getting married again--to his late wife's best friend! It's not something the brothers want to hear, nor easily accept, but family is family no matter what.
It's time for the Hollister brothers to unite in Sea Glass Bay and heal those family wounds once and for all. What none of brothers expect is to find love themselves along the picturesque beaches known for their ocean-tumbled glass pebbles.
Romance [CAEZIK Romance, On Sale: July 23, 2024, Trade Paperback, ISBN: 9781647100612 / ]
Although Melinda has lived in Georgia and Texas, she's a California girl at heart. Her earliest memories are of life on an isolated 50-acre sheep ranch in rural Sonoma County, California. Picture rolling hills covered in brown grass, a eucalyptus forest, a long gravel driveway lined with plump sheep and no sidewalks. It was a big deal to drive into town on a one-lane road in a ramshackle, bubble-fendered pickup for an ice cream.
Flash forward to this century. Melinda lives in California's hot central valley with her husband - her basketball playing college sweetheart. With three kids the couple has done the soccer thing, the karate thing, the dance thing, the Little League thing and, of course, the basketball thing.
Melinda writes sweet to medium heat contemporary romances as Melinda Curtis and red hot reads as Mel Curtis. She loves writing romances about women who don't realize how strong they are until a hero comes along to show them, while capturing the wry humorous power struggle of falling in love - because, really, who lets the man have the last word?
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