Rose (Beach Brides Book 9) Read online

  “There are a few elk herds that live in the area. Typically, they stay in the mountains in the summer, so I’m surprised to see them out here today.” She waited another minute while Tanner watched the elk before pulling back onto the road.

  “I’ve never seen them run along a beach like that.” He turned back to her with an amazed look on his face. “That was awesome.”

  She tilted her head toward him. “They’ve practically taken over one of the golf courses. The people who used to play there all the time think they are nothing but a nuisance.”

  He chuckled and they continued traveling south. An hour later, Rose turned and pulled into a parking spot at an expansive creamery.

  Tanner offered her a surprised look as he jumped out of the car and hurried around to open her door. “I had no idea Tillamook Cheese was based in Oregon.”

  Rose accepted the hand he held out to her and gracefully stepped out of the car. “You really should read the labels on your food more carefully.”

  He laughed and placed a hand at the small of her back after she removed her scarf. “Do we get a tour? And ice cream?”

  She laughed. “Only if you are a very good boy.”

  He leaned close to her, bending slightly so his lips hovered near her ear. “I’m always a good boy, Miss Lawson. Extremely good.”

  Deliberately ignoring the shiver his words and proximity caused, she walked inside the busy creamery and spent the next hour wandering through it with Tanner. They took the self-guided tour and watched workers through the big glass observation windows. Impressed by the huge blocks of cheese that were cut into smaller blocks and packaged, Tanner pointed to the various pieces of equipment and read all the placards describing the process. Eventually, they strolled downstairs and stood in line to order ice cream.

  Two adorable girls were in front of them in line, clutching money in their little fists as they waited their turn to order. Rose could see their mother keeping a watchful eye on them from a nearby table where she fed a bottle to a baby.

  The older of the girls turned around and looked at Rose, eyes wide. She whispered something to her sister then they both stared at Rose before looking at Tanner. The smaller girl yanked on the hem of his shorts to make sure she had his attention.

  “Hi, there,” he said, smiling down at the child.

  “Is she a movie star?” the little girl asked, pointing at Rose.

  Tanner grinned. “No, but she sure looks like one, doesn’t she?”

  Both girls nodded, continuing to stare at Rose.

  She bent down so she was on eye level with the children and offered them a friendly smile. “I like your dresses. Did your mom make them?”

  The older girl shook her head. “No. My grammy did. She’s good at stuff like that. Mom’s too busy. Grammy says that just means Mom doesn’t want to do it.”

  Rose held back a laugh. Tanner hid a chuckle behind a cough as the girls continued to study them both.

  “Are you married?” the younger one inquired, staring at Tanner.

  “No. Do you think I should be?” he asked somberly.

  The child bobbed her head up and down.

  Tanner held a finger to his chin, pretending to be deep in thought then looked to the little girl. “Who do you think should be my wife? You?”

  The little girl shook her head and giggled. “No! Not me!”

  “Hmm. Your sister?”

  Another head shake and more giggles. “No. Not Bethany.”

  Tanner placed his hands on his thighs and bent forward. “Well, gosh. Who is it then? The Tooth Fairy? The Swan Princess?”

  Both girls shook their heads, continuing to giggle. “No, silly!” The younger sister pointed to Rose. “Her! You should marry her. She’s pretty and smells nice, and has bee-you-tee-full clothes.”

  “That is all very true.” Tanner grinned, continuing to tease the two girls. “But I don’t know…. the Tooth Fairy has magic dust and a never ending supply of quarters.”

  Rose laughed and rolled her eyes. “You are ridiculous.”

  “Entirely,” Tanner agreed and waggled his fingers at the little girls as they stepped up to the counter and ordered their ice cream.

  Tanner and Rose studied selections in the freezer case. “I had no idea there were that many flavors of ice cream. Ever. Anywhere,” he said under his breath for her ears only.

  She turned to him with a grin. “Dare you to try them all.”

  “No way, beautiful. I wouldn’t make it through a tenth of them before I was sick.” He pointed to a tub of rocky road ice cream. “Is that the kind you’ll order?”

  “No. I’ve already got my eye on what I want,” she said, stepping up to place her order for a scoop of mint chocolate topped with a scoop that blended silky milk chocolate and white chocolate with chocolate flakes.

  “That doesn’t surprise me in the least,” he said, nudging her in the side as he looked over his options one last time. He ended up ordering a scoop of marionberry pie, one of caramel toffee, and finished it off with a scoop of banana split ice cream.

  “Eww. Who combines all those flavors?” Rose asked as she hastily handed money to the cashier for both cones.

  Tanner scowled at her as she led the way to a table by the window and sat down. “I would have paid.”

  She shrugged. “I know you would have, but today is my treat. You’ve paid for every meal we’ve eaten out. The least I can do is purchase an ice cream cone. Even if you ruin it by mixing all those flavors together.”

  “I’m not ruining anything.” Tanner licked the top off his cone. “The key is to eat through each layer before it has a chance to melt into the next one.”

  “So gluttony is your answer.” Her eyes sparkled with mirth and affection while she smiled at him indulgently.

  “If the glutton fits, I guess I have to wear it,” he said stoically.

  Rose laughed and they ate their ice cream, watching people come and go. When the two adorable sisters were ready to leave, they both waved at them.

  “Those little girls were quite taken with you,” Rose observed, wiping her fingers on her napkin.

  “Kids and I get along,” he said, as though that should explain everything.

  “I noticed.” For the most part, she and Tanner had kept their conversations on even footing, avoiding any serious topics, like what would happen when he left and if they had any hope of a future together. She didn’t even know if he wanted to get married, have kids, and raise a family. The assumption was there, based on how much he seemed to like children, but she didn’t know anything for a fact.

  “Do you want kids?” she blurted, nervously twisting her napkin between her fingers. The stunned look on his face made her wish she’d kept her mouth shut.

  “You mean, like right now? Or someday in the future?” He shot her a devilish grin. “Because if you’re thinking right now, we could go out to your car. Those leather seats of yours would be…”

  Rose placed a hand over his mouth to silence his joking and expelled an exasperated sigh. “Never mind. Just forget I asked.”

  Tanner took her hand and kissed the back of her fingers, then held her palm pressed against his. “I’m sorry, Rose. You’re just so fun to tease. The answer to your question is someday. I’m not in a rush, but I do hope to have a family of my own. I think two or three kids would be just about right. Oh, and a wife. I suppose I’ll need one of those, as those two little girls just pointed out. I’d really prefer a wife I adore. One I can’t live without.”

  The smoldering look he gave her made Rose feel as though her bones might liquefy. He kissed her hand again and grinned. “What about you? Do you have plans for a husband and kids in your future?”

  “I used to dream of settling down, raising a family. The jerk I dated destroyed most of the grand delusions I had of living in domestic bliss. I came home to Seaside, determined to become that crazy old spinster lady who owns twenty cats and ends up on an episode of Hoarders.”

  Tanner laugh
ed and squeezed her hand. “You don’t have it in you to be the crazy cat lady or a hoarder in need of an intervention. Just not happening, sweetheart.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled, uncertain if she should continue, but feeling oddly compelled to do so. “After my tender little heart was broken, I set aside my dreams and plans, content to run the antique shop and live a simple life.”

  He leaned forward. “I hear a ‘but’ in there.”

  “Well, my crazy friends forced me to write an entirely ludicrous letter that miraculously brought a wonderful, handsome man into my life. It just so happens that I’m quite smitten with him. All of a sudden, those old dreams and wishes don’t seem so far out of reach, so silly anymore.”

  He stood and pulled her up beside him, kissing her cheek. “That guy you mentioned… have I met him?”

  Rose nodded her head and gave him a playful swat on his arm as they headed out to her car. “He’s kind of a goofball, and rarely serious. In fact, it’s hard to know what he’s…” A group of Japanese tourist smiled at them, pointing to Rose and then her car, wanting to take her photo.

  Embarrassed, she only agreed because Tanner smirked and positioned her in front of the car, taking her purse from her hands and setting it on the passenger seat.

  “Give them a Hollywood starlet smile,” he encouraged as he joined the group in taking photos. He wasn’t sure anyone would believe him if he tried to described how glamorous and fabulous Rose looked. Most of his friends would think he was kidding about a woman who always looked so polished, put together, and sweet.

  She appeared nervous and stiff until he caught her eye and winked. A happy smile wreathed her face and she tipped her head slightly to the right in a perfect pose from a bygone era.

  Tanner handed his phone to the leader of the group and asked them to take his photo with Rose, which they did. The man laughed and smiled as he handed back Tanner’s phone before herding the group inside the creamery.

  “That was fun,” Tanner said, holding open Rose’s car door as she slid behind the wheel.

  “It was fun.” She slipped on her sunglasses and tied the scarf over her hair.

  “Honestly, Rose, you look like you belong on the silver screen. Whether you know it or not, you are a beautiful, glamorous woman.”

  She blushed so deeply, her cheeks felt like they were on fire, but Tanner’s compliment was the nicest thing she’d heard in a long, long time. “Thank you, kind sir.”

  “Nothing kind about it when it’s the truth.” He leaned back and watched the scenery whizzing by as they headed north toward Seaside.

  “Tanner?” she asked, hesitant to bring up the conversation they’d begun, but needing to finish it.

  “Yeah?” he tilted his head toward her, offering her a smile that made her insides feel like they were floating.

  “What we were talking about earlier… did you mean what you said about getting married and raising a family? Is that something you really hope to do?”

  “Sure. I want a wife and kids. Someday.” He patted her hand and gave her another flirty grin. “But I’m footloose and fancy free right now. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.” He turned his face away from her and focused on something in the distance.

  Disappointment settled over Rose. She wasn’t sure she was ready to dive into a committed relationship with anyone, no matter how much she wanted to be with Tanner. To make a long distance relationship work, they’d need a whole lot more than a bad case of infatuation or a budding romance.

  Wishing she’d kept her mouth shut, she drove home in silence.

  ****

  Tanner didn’t want to admit it, but Rose scared him. The moment she’d mentioned babies and marriage, he’d morphed into a full-fledged panic. He wasn’t ready to settle down. Was he?

  He hadn’t come to Seaside hoping to meet his future wife. The exact reasons why he set his life on hold for a month and traveled to the coastal town still eluded him. All he knew was that he had to meet Rose. He never would have found any peace otherwise.

  In the time since he’d met her, he’d come to feel any number of things for her: admiration, respect, friendship, genuine affection, and love. Tanner was smart enough to realize Rose had captured his heart, even before he left Colorado. Somewhere between unearthing her letter from the back of his storage closet and buying a plane ticket, he’d fallen for her, for the simplistic, yet indescribably complex woman.

  He’d never spent time with a woman he felt so relaxed around, like it was perfectly okay to be himself. But she also made him nervous. Then again, maybe it wasn’t Rose that made him nervous, but the protective, powerful emotions she stirred in him that did.

  Rose was smart, clever, talented, sweet, generous, kind, and so very lovely. He still couldn’t get over how girlish and feminine she was. Yet there was a strength in her he’d rarely seen in others. She made him think, challenged his mind, but he felt peaceful around her, too.

  Confused and uncertain, the last thing he wanted was to hurt her, but he honestly couldn’t tell her what he wanted right now. He didn’t think he was ready for a committed relationship. However, the thought of never seeing her again made his chest ache so badly, he could barely breathe past the pain.

  It was crazy to even consider marrying a woman he’d only recently met. Granted, they’d spent almost every day of the last few weeks together, even if it was only for a quick lunch or dinner.

  Graciously, Rose had carved out as much time from her full schedule as she could to spend with him. He hadn’t given a thought to her having obligations or a busy business to run when he impulsively flew half way across the country to meet her. He’d only thought about how desperately he wanted to see her face, hear her voice.

  One of the things he admired most about her was her humbleness. She had no idea how beautiful she was; how others saw her. To him, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and that beauty went far beyond the surface down to the depths of her soul.

  The first time their hands touched, Tanner had felt a spark, something electric and jolting. The physical attraction he experienced was only part of that wild current. It encompassed something else. Something deep and unsettling, and more than a little scary for a man who had no intention of losing his heart to a stranger.

  But he had. He loved Rose. Loved her completely. Regardless, reality hadn’t changed. In a few days, he’d head back to Colorado, to his life there, while she remained here in Seaside.

  She had a thriving business in a town she loved with people who cared about her. He couldn’t ask her to leave that all behind.

  And he couldn’t leave the life he’d built for himself. He loved his job and liked the people he worked with. His parents were close by, at least they were when they weren’t off on an adventure.

  He hadn’t even gotten around to telling Rose the truth about his family. All he’d said about his parents was that they’d recently retired and were enjoying time to travel. That was all true, but he conveniently left out the part about him being the sole heir to a billion dollar company that was currently under the management of a board of directors. He didn’t tell her he had a few million of his own, inherited from his grandparents when they both passed away.

  Tanner didn’t have to work at the historical park. He wanted to.

  The last thing he wanted was someone marrying him because of the money in his bank accounts. One more reason he loved Rose was due to her sincere affection for him. She liked him for who she thought he was, not his money, connections, or any other reason.

  One thing was clear, though. Tanner needed to decide what he wanted to do about his future and if Rose had a place in it before he left town.

  Chapter Eight

  “You might be a wimpy sailor, but you cook a great piece of fish,” Rose teased as she sat in an Adirondack chair outside the yurt and smiled at Tanner.

  He slid another piece of fish onto her plate and returned to his spot at the gas grill. “I told you whoever caught the
fewest had to cook tonight.”

  She giggled. “You lost because you were too busy feeding the fish to catch them.”

  He turned and scowled at her as he took the last piece of sea bass off the grill. “That’s enough out of you. You could have warned me the water would be so choppy.”

  “Seriously, Tanner? You surf, you kayak, you are like the poster boy for athletes anonymous. How was I to know a little charter fishing boat would make you seasick?” She shot him another playful grin. “Come on. That’s just pathetic.”

  “Can we talk about something else, please? I think we’ve thoroughly exhausted this particular topic.” Tanner had been mortified when he’d gotten sick on the boat. It was the last day he and Rose would spend together and he’d wanted it to be fun and memorable.

  When she suggested going fishing, he readily agreed. But that was before the waves did a number on him. The morning was spent with him hanging over the side of the boat, casting up his accounts. He had the afternoon to recover and now felt fine. The incident on the boat certainly wasn’t how he envisioned spending his last day with her.

  They should have gone for a drive, or another picnic. Since it was Monday, she didn’t have to worry about her shop, but he wouldn’t have minded just hanging out there. He’d learned to appreciate the beauty of the vintage treasures she collected and shared with others.

  Now, as she sat with her feet propped on a chunk of firewood so the fire warmed her toes, he wasn’t sure he had the strength required to leave her behind when he went home tomorrow.

  A frown creased her brow as she looked up at him. “What’s wrong?” She moved her feet to the ground and sat up, offering him a look of concern. “I know my teasing wasn’t bothering you. What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing, beautiful.” He forced a smile and cupped her cheek as he took a seat beside her. He needed to change the subject before he blurted out something he shouldn’t, something that would change everything between them. “Do Zetta and Lucille plan to come to the class you’re teaching this week?”