One Look: A grumpy, single dad small town romance(26)

Surprisingly, Huck didn’t fire me.

Instead, he offered to let me stay on and do the work no one else liked to do—dishwashing, general cleanup, and organizing in the back. After years of temp work I could slide in to organize, clean, and thoughtfully do whatever tasks were handed to me, apart from waitressing, obviously.

As it turned out, Huck was a very messy baker, and he and Sylvie went round and round about the disasters he left in the back kitchen. The thought of returning to the Sugar Bowl for another humiliating day of Let’s See What Else Lark Is Bad At felt daunting, but Huck assured me that my tenacity for tackling his disastrous pantry was enough to keep me around.

I had spent the afternoon organizing every shelf and ingredient by expiration and how often it was used. I’d even started a spreadsheet to track what ingredients would need to be ordered. I had plans for labels. So many labels. By the time my shift ended, I was tired and covered in flour, not to mention that there was something sticky under my shoe.

As I crossed the street and headed to my car, I maneuvered past a set of very long legs, which a man had stretched from a bench onto the sidewalk.

As I wound around him, I heard him call out, “Staying a while, then?”

His words stopped me, and I looked up. A King.

I recognized the man from Bowlegs’s funeral—the intense one with all the tattoos. I looked around, making sure he was speaking with me, and when no one else seemed to pause at his words, I nodded.

Am I supposed to be talking to him? Is a Sullivan spy going to be around the corner and sic Ms. Tiny on me?

It was odd, feeling as though my loyalties were squarely in Sullivan territory, and talking on the open sidewalk with a King felt brazen, wrong almost. When I looked up, he was sitting just outside of a shop, King Tattoo. His tattoos covered both arms and trailed from his biceps down to the tops of his hands. His sharp features were fierce, and a shot of worry danced through me as my thoughts immediately flew to Wyatt.

“Um,” I attempted an answer with a smile pasted in place. “I’m new in town, I guess. Enjoying a coastal summer.”

His eyes roamed over me in a lazy, confident way. I was sure women fell hard for that all-encompassing, attentive stare.

“Friday nights are a good time ’round here. Maybe I’ll see you out and you can save me a dance.”

I laughed politely. “Yeah, maybe.” Maybe not.

I scooted around his legs and picked up my pace toward my car. Something in my gut told me that messing with a King, even for a newcomer, was a very bad idea.





“Hi, Ms. Lark!”

I squinted against the sun as I looked across the driveway at Wyatt’s farmhouse. Penny’s face was squished against the mesh on the screen door.

I called back to her from my open kitchen window. “Hey, Penny! What are you up to?”

“Dying of boredom.”

I chuckled at her sullen, squished-up face.

“Pickle, stop bothering the neighbor.” The deep rumble of Wyatt’s voice floated up to me.

With a smile, I left the apartment and took the stairs down. “It’s no bother,” I called out.

Penny burst through the door. “See! She’s not busy! Do you want to play? Dad told me you were busy, but you’re not.” She gestured toward me.

I laughed and spread my hands. “Nope. Not busy.”

“Perfect! We can do cartwheels or draw or go for a walk. We can’t watch a movie, because Dad has to look at boring football videos.”

“Pickle.” Wyatt pushed through the screen door and stepped onto the covered porch as I stifled a smile. “Leave her be.”

My tongue felt thick as I took in Wyatt, barefoot in jeans and a T-shirt.

Penny’s shoulders fell. “I thought you said we were going to have fun.”

My heart went out to her, and I scrunched my nose. “Football videos don’t sound like much fun.”

Wyatt’s lips pressed together in a firm line as he nodded in defeat. “It’s work.”

“How about a walk? I can take her around the trail and give you a little time to work. Would that be okay?”

Penny lit up at my suggestion as Wyatt looked me over. Under his assessing gaze, I held my chin high and hoped my smile didn’t falter. I loved kids, and Penny was hilarious.

“Please, Daddy! Please please please please.”

“You’re sure it’s not interrupting anything?”

Penny’s fist shot in the air when she knew she’d worn her poor dad down.

“I have all the time in the world. We’ll have a great time.” I held out my hand to Penny as she leaped off the porch stairs to stand at my side.

I had turned to walk away when Wyatt’s grumpy voice rang out. “Be back before dark.”

A shot of laughter erupted from me as I turned to salute him before leaning down and giggling with Penny. “Yes, boss.”





By Friday night, curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to explore the nightlife in Outtatowner. During my first few days, I’d managed to keep my head down at the bakery, stay in the back, and try not to break any more dishes.

I was mostly successful.

As the days lurched on, more and more tourists had filtered into town, and I could see the shift from lazy days to the controlled chaos of the full-blown tourist season.