His Kind of Wonderful (Sugar Bay #2) Read online

  His Kind of Wonderful

  A Sugar Bay Novel #2

  By Kinsley Gibb

  HIS KIND OF WONDERFUL Copyright 2014 Kinsley Gibb

  KINDLE EDITION

  All Rights Reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this book. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. For information contact address www.kinsleygibb.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  To my kids because everyday is an adventure.

  I’m blessed to share it with my darling monkeys.

  xoxoxo

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Other books by Kinsley Gibb

  Contact Kinsley

  Excerpt for His Kind of Perfect

  Chapter One

  Music pulsed from Thelma’s speakers and Dani tapped along to the catchy beat. Esme, Dani’s niece, loved the hippo song, adored it, and ranked it right up there with Minnie Mouse and all things sparkly.

  Lucky for Dani, she got to listen to the track over and over whenever Esme was in the car. Dani was near the breaking point and considered begging Esme to pick another song.

  They stopped at a red light and Dani leaned out the window since Thelma’s air conditioning had stopped working last week. No a/c in Florida was a distinctly unpleasant experience but she hoped her mechanic friend would be able to fix it over the weekend. Then, maybe, life would be good again.

  It was April so it wasn’t too hot and Dani was thankful it hadn't happened in the middle of summer. That would have been beyond brutal. After living in Florida for the past two years she now understood the statistical correlation between Florida’s population boom with that of the advent of electrical air conditioning.

  “Sing with me, Aunt Dani!”

  The light turned green and they cruised along belting out the lyrics. The wind blew Dani’s dark hair across her face and made the strands stick to her new berry lip-gloss. They were on their way to the farmhouse she lived in with her sister and her nieces. She peeked at Esme in the rearview mirror and grinned. With her sparkly tiara, hot pink tutu and Dorothy-like red glittering shoes she was eye catching. But the gusto with which she sang made Dani smile. Esme wasn’t timid or inhibited. She was the antithesis of Dani, who’d been a mouse as a child, hating undue attention. Her brother, Derek, had once remarked that Dani sang like a bullfrog in peak mating season and warned her she’d find herself surrounded with frogs as boyfriends if she didn’t stop singing.

  Years had passed before she’d realized he’d been joking. The jerk. But still, she only felt comfortable singing alone or with her youngest niece because Esme was unfortunately blessed with the same deep voice as Dani’s. The difference was Esme had an aunt who wouldn’t allow anyone to tease the little girl. So with Dani around, Esme could channel her inner Beyonce without fear.

  She tapped to the beat on the wheel of her classic Jeep Wagoneer, which she’d nicknamed Thelma. Her baby was an indulgence. Derek called it a cash cow, naming it thusly because it ate cash for breakfast, lunch and dinner but she didn’t care. For as long as she could remember, the Wagoneer had been her dream car. While other girls dreamt of pink Barbie cars or a cute Volkswagon Bug or a zippy Jetta, Dani had dreamed of classic chrome and faux wood siding.

  She rubbed a palm over the smooth dash, loving her baby. Over the years, she’d saved money from her odd jobs and stalked classic car websites. The prices had been astronomical and since she was a career student, she hadn’t thought her dream was feasible, but it had been fun to dream. Fate had stepped in via one of her favorite professors who needed to sell her Wagoneer before leaving on an extended sabbatical. Score. Derek had shaken his head as only an older brother could but she’d been ecstatic.

  Thelma was a good girl. Sure, she was prone to guzzling gas like a starving teenager, but she was reliable, except for lately. First the automatic windows had stopped working, then the tires had to be replaced and now the air conditioning was broken.

  She hadn’t yet told Derek the latest. She’d rather eat dirt.

  They stopped at another red light and the track started again.

  "You okay back there, baby girl?"

  "Yep! Sing with me, Aunt Dani!"

  Together niece and aunt rocked it out with their matching frog like voices until a jeep rolled up beside them mid chorus. Dani glanced over and did a hard double take, almost hurting herself in the process.

  Shit.

  She shrunk in her seat as low as she could and prayed for a quick light change. Maybe he hadn’t seen her and please God, maybe he hadn’t heard her either. She turned down the volume, hoping to avoid detection. She peeked but he hadn't seemed to notice them. Maybe he’d forgotten what kind of car she drove.

  “Aunt Dani! You’re messing up my jam! Pump it up!”

  Dani felt the heat of a sudden stare. She turned her head slightly and sighed when she caught her reflection in the aviator sunglasses of one Joseph James.

  Double shit.

  Joe, as he preferred to be called and never JJ unless you had a death wish, was Derek’s best friend and completely off limits. He nodded, all cool alpha male and she reciprocated in kind. She could be cool too, not often, but she had her moments.

  His eyes were hidden behind his reflective lenses but she knew those tiger-eyes of his were laughing at her. He’d file away the details of everything he heard and saw, and then later, he and Derek would take turns giving her crap.

  When she wasn’t lusting after Joe, she hated him. At least she hated the way he took on the mantle of big brother when he wasn’t. She already had an older brother who felt the need to get in her business at every opportunity. She didn’t need another.

  Dani glared, as if daring him to say anything about her unfortunate singing voice. He had a way of making her feel defensive. Whenever he was around, she existed in a constant state of awareness. Like two tigers, they circled, each waiting to see who could draw first blood. Whether regarding her choice of dates or the way she ate her ice cream, the man had opinions.

  Derek and Joe bonded over their ability to drive her crazy. They would shake their heads in wonder and act like they were the sole holders of knowledge while she was the resident idiot who needed to be taken by the hand. They were overprotective and she hated it.

  She’d caught sight of one or the other while she’d been out on a date. One brother was enough. Two…was enough to drive a girl batty. In the beginning she’d found Joe sexy as hell, but now instead of fighting the urge to jump him, she fought the urge to kill him.

  It was strange because every once in a while she’d catch him staring at her with hungry eyes, but then he’d blink and the stare would go back to annoying provocation. She’d attested her de
lusion as the downfall of having an overactive imagination, but at night, those hungry eyes fueled many fantasies.

  His sensuous lips gave her no clue of amusement or disgust so maybe her worry was unwarranted because he hadn’t heard her. Since her move to Sugar Bay, she’d been very careful not to sing in his presence. To her knowledge, he was oblivious of her lack of skills, unless her punk big brother blabbered about it.

  At last the light turned green and he took off, his ancient jeep Wrangler roaring ahead and she relaxed, then followed at a slower pace.

  Safe.

  Dani turned up the volume and the hippo song started again. They passed antique shops, art galleries, and little mom and pop restaurants that drew people from around the state and made Sugar Bay a haven for foodies. Between the local college, international prep school outside of town and the beaches, Sugar Bay was on the proverbial map. Travel shows and food networks went as far as hailing Sugar Bay as “the Quirkiest Little Town in Florida”. It had a little bit of everything yet, somehow, retained its small town charm.

  Dani turned onto the dirt drive a little outside of town and Thelma bumped along under thick oak trees draped in Spanish moss. The low hanging angiosperm brushed Thelma’s top, or so Dani imagined. It had taken a while after her arrival to Sugar Bay before she’d been able to control the reflex since Seattle lacked the thick humidity prevalent in Florida that the exotic specimen required.

  “Are you coming inside, Aunt Dani?”

  “No, sweetie. I’ve got to go back and help Uncle Derek.”

  “Okay. Thanks for picking me up.”

  “No problem, kiddo. But let’s make sure your mom is back before I take off though. Her meeting ran later than expected when she texted that you needed to be picked up from Pre-K.”

  “We were supposed to go to Twistee Treat for a date before the big girls got back from school.” Esme’s lower lip extended in a pout.

  “Sometimes grown up things take longer than we plan. Besides, it was fun being picked up by Aunt Dani, right?”

  “Yeah. You let me listen to my jam without rolling your eyes or tease me like the big girls do.”

  Dani winced. She’d talk to Alex and Janie later. Growing up as the youngest, Dani had a lot of empathy for Esme and knew the power behind a roll eye from a beloved sibling. Thankfully Dylan hadn’t done that to Dani too often as a kid and they remained close despite the age gap.

  She maneuvered around a large rut in the drive and stopped at the walkway. Pink crepe myrtles lined the front while tall palms stood like sentries guarding the occupants of the old farmhouse. Pink, orange and magenta colored impatiens spilled from pots on the deeply shaded front porch.

  A work in progress, the farmhouse was the little family’s refuge since Dylan became a widow two years ago. The eight-paneled front door opened and her sister walked out. Esme slammed out of the car. Seconds later a sparkling pink torpedo tackled Dylan.

  “Hey, sweet girl!” Dylan hugged her youngest and straightened the skewed tiara. “Have fun?”

  “The best. We sang the hippo song all the way home!”

  Dylan looked at Dani in sympathy over Esme’s head and winked. “Sounds like a blast.” She turned to her youngest and cupped her cheek. “Hungry?”

  “Starvin’ Marvin.”

  “Well come on. There are chocolate chip cookies and milk with your name on them in the kitchen.”

  In a flash, Esme was off.

  “Thanks for helping, Dani.”

  “No problem. The bonus in working for our brother, he doesn’t mind when I take off for emergency pick ups.”

  Dylan grinned. “Take some cookies back with you.”

  Dani pushed her slipping eyeglasses up her nose, rubbed her palms and followed her sister into the house.

  ***

  What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.

  Dani lifted the yellowed cardstock left on her keyboard, the fifth note she’d received this month. She pushed her glasses up her nose and sat in her chair. Like the others, the letter ‘a’ dropped a half space as if the typewriter it had been written on was very old. She turned the card over in her hand. Just like the others, it had an embossed floral design in the corner.

  She was pretty sure they were from Tyler Cunningham, the delivery kid from the Pickled Onion, the deli they usually ordered from. Tall, super skinny high school kid with carrot red hair, he was sweet and blushed whenever she spoke to him. Oftentimes his blush overtook his body and looked so painful, she’d stopped trying to engage him in conversation.

  Poor kid. He’d get over his crush soon enough when he started college in the fall. She’d be long forgotten when he was surrounded by nubile, young women his age. And when he grew into his lanky frame, tamed his hair and gained some confidence, a lucky young woman would be the benefit of his romantic, old school gestures. But for now, it seemed more kind to pretend ignorance than to confront him. She didn’t want to destroy his young ego with a flat rejection. Besides, she was well aware of the pain involved in an unrequited crush, which brought her back to today’s sighting.

  She shook her head and sighed.

  The notes were sweet and made her smile. She wasn’t worried Tyler would turn psychotic. She tucked the latest note inside her journal with the others. Sometimes when the occasional writer’s block would hit her, she pulled out them out. They made her feel less alone because someone believed in her.

  She made a mental note to ask Charlie if she knew of a sweet girl Tyler’s age that would be perfect for the shy boy. Playing matchmaker was the least she could do for the sweet encouragement he provided. Besides, Charlie swore she was a matchmaking genius and took complete credit for Derek and Anabelle getting together.

  Dani sat at her desk and pulled up the invoices she wanted to finish before the end of the day.

  “Hey. Esme okay?” Derek stood in the doorway. The bonus in working for your brother—you could take off in the middle of the workday for babysitting emergencies. The bad part in working for your brother—he could easily track your comings and goings.

  “Yep. Came back to finish the invoices. Dylan sent cookies by the way. Help yourself.”

  There was a slight pause as he studied the nearly empty plate. She focused on the computer screen and avoided eye contact.

  “There’s only one left—along with a bunch of crumbs.”

  She shot him a crooked smile and shrugged. “Sorry. I missed lunch and got hungry.”

  “You’re lucky you have a fast metabolism, kid.”

  She wondered if he would still call her kid when she was eighty-nine and he was ninety-one. At twenty-nine she wasn’t exactly in elementary school.

  “Want to come for dinner tonight?”

  Her fingers paused mid-stroke. “Sushi night?”

  “Yep.”

  Her inner foodie squealed. She loved eating but wasn’t adept at the cooking aspect of it. “Should I bring anything?”

  “I’m not sure, but text Anabelle, just in case she needs any last minute items.”

  “What time should I be there?”

  “Come around six.”

  “Did you happen to order from The Pickled Onion?” She wanted to confirm her hunch.

  “I did and I ordered an extra chicken salad sandwich too. But since you ate my cookies, I’m not sure I want to share.”

  She shot him a beady-eyed glare and he grinned.

  “It’s in the frig, you cookie monster. You’re lucky I’m such a nice brother.”

  He walked away and the little sister in her wanted to stick out her tongue but she refrained because it was mostly true. He was a good brother—when he wasn’t a know-it-all, over-protective, stick-his-nose-in-her-business, pain-in-the-ass alpha male.

  She hadn’t mentioned the notes Tyler had left. Derek would get into protective mode and set up reconnaissance for confirmation. He’d probably scare the crap out of the poor kid.

  Nah.


  There was no need to tell Derek anything.

  ***

  The smell of shrimp and vegetable tempura greeted her arrival at the loft Derek shared with Anabelle. There was something about vegetables dipped in batter and fried to crunchy goodness that made vegetables magically more appealing. Kind of like what marshmallows did for cereal. Of course it negated any benefit in eating her veggies but God had given her a healthy metabolism for a reason. So on behalf of the millions of girls who complained about their slow metabolisms, she happily ate deep fried goodness.

  “Hey Dani. You look tired. Everything ok?”

  She hugged Anabelle. “Fine. Working hard, that’s all.”

  She followed her sister-in-law to the gourmet kitchen Derek had designed and built. In truth, she was on a deadline. Her research was done, she’d completed the outline and crosschecked historical facts. The only thing left was the writing.

  The doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it.” Derek yelled from the living room.

  “Who else is coming?”

  “Derek invited Joe.”

  Dani bit back a groan. A replay of today’s singing debacle ran through her mind.

  “What? I thought you liked Joe? I thought all that bickering hid an undercurrent of sexual tension.” Anabelle wagged her eyebrows.

  “Please.”

  Anabelle chuckled, the sound low and husky. “Who doesn’t like Joe?”

  True. Everyone loved Joe. He was a favorite around town, particularly with the female population yet Dani was the one female spared from Joe’s considerable charm.

  “Hi Anabelle.” Joe hugged Anabelle briefly before he turned towards Dani. “Hey, it’s the brainiac.” He went to ruffle her hair but she ducked before he could make contact.

  “Hands off the hair.”

  “Hot date tonight?”

  “Maybe.” She shot back, feeling the need to pretend she had a life.

  “Who is it?” He demanded and suddenly twin towers of disapproval stood in front of her.