When Love Strikes (Love On The North Shore Book 6) Read online

  “Tell her I said thank you.” He put the container on top of the pizza boxes. “Make yourself at home.”

  And please sit down. Just looking at her standing there was making his feet hurt. In the few years he’d known Jessie, he’d never heard her complain, but the poor woman had to be incredibly uncomfortable. Sitting down might not make it any better for her, but at least he’d feel better.

  Not long after Jessie and Mack’s arrival, Tony and his wife walked in. Less than a minute later, Striker and his fiancée rang the doorbell. Of the three men, Dakota had spent the least amount of time with Striker. However, even Striker had helped a few times on the numerous projects the house had required.

  Tony’s wife, Cat, added a takeout container to the collection of food already on the extra folding table he’d set out. “Sorry, I didn’t have time to cook, so we grabbed some buffalo wings and tenders from Masterson’s on the way over.”

  It was an unspoken rule that everyone contributed to the food available at the monthly poker games. He’d expected Cat to bring the homemade guacamole and chips she usually brought and he always enjoyed. He wouldn’t complain about her offering though. While not the only restaurant in town, Masterson’s was the largest and perhaps the oldest in North Salem, and it served the best buffalo wings and tenders he’d ever eaten.

  “Kelsey sent me a message. She and Drew are running about thirty minutes late. She said to start without them,” Cat continued as she added two slices of pizza to her plate.

  After setting down his plate piled high with a little of everything, Dakota shuffled the cards while the rest of his guests took their seats around the table. Before he could deal a single card, the doorbell rang again. Other than Drew and Kelsey, the only other people who regularly joined their games were Sean and his wife. He wasn’t expecting them tonight. Sean hadn’t said it, but he didn’t expect to see them at a game again until maybe after Halloween. Since June, when their daughter was born, they’d made few outings, and neither wanted to leave their daughter with anyone, not even family members.

  “Mind if I join you?” Sean asked when Dakota answered the door.

  “Since it looks like you brought something from Peggy Sue’s, you can come in.” He stepped back so Sean could enter. “All alone tonight?”

  Sean nodded and made a pit stop to add the pastry box to the food spread. Then he grabbed a plate. “Mia’s at home with Natalie, waiting for Angie. Her plane landed about an hour ago.”

  An image of Mia’s younger sister popped up in his mind. She was almost identical to Sean’s wife, and Today Magazine had voted Angelina Troy the world’s sexiest woman earlier in the year—a title Mia herself had earned as well before meeting Sean and leaving Hollywood behind.

  Dakota retook his seat and picked up the deck of cards. “Is she alone, or is your mother-in-law with her?”

  It was no secret that Sean and his mother-in-law didn’t get along. Dakota had no idea of the relationship between Sean and his father-in-law, but he’d never heard Sean complain about the man.

  “Alone. The wicked witch isn’t supposed to be back until October.” Sean dropped into a seat between Tony and Striker. “Mia is trying to convince her to stay at the Victorian Rose when she comes instead of with us like she did on her last visit, so she’ll still be close. If Lynn has to visit, I’d rather she stays in Boston.”

  The Victorian Rose was the town’s only bed-and-breakfast and conveniently located next door to Sean and Mia.

  “So far she hasn’t had any luck. Lynn has a one-track mind and doesn’t like to listen to anyone’s suggestions,” Sean grumbled before sinking his teeth into a buffalo wing.

  Tony clapped Sean on the shoulder. “We’ve got a spare bedroom. It’s yours if you want it when your mother-in-law arrives.”

  “There’s a decent chance I’ll take you up on that offer, Tony.”

  Nine out of ten times, talk of his mother-in-law put Sean in a foul mood. Not that Dakota blamed the guy, considering the stories his friend had shared about the way she treated him. Picking up the cards again, he started to deal. “How long is your sister-in-law staying with you?”

  “She’s only staying with us tonight. Tomorrow she’s moving into her house.”

  Two weeks ago, they’d been installing the hardwood floor in one of the upstairs bedrooms when Sean mentioned his wife had acted on Angie’s behalf and signed the closing paperwork on the old Federalist-style home she’d purchased. At the time, he said she’d also hired some hotshot interior design firm out of Boston to come in and revamp the entire home, even though according to Sean it wasn’t necessary. Unless the team they’d brought in had worked around the clock, he didn’t think they could have finished by now.

  “Did she change her mind about the remodel?” Tony’s question echoed Dakota’s thoughts.

  Sean checked the cards in his hand. “No, but she decided to move in anyway. Mia thinks she’ll be staying in town for four or five months, but I disagree. I think she’ll get bored and head back to California before Halloween.”

  Some people might have made a similar prediction about Sean’s wife. Yet she’d been living in town for a few years and, despite her mom’s best efforts, showed no signs of leaving North Salem or her husband—two things Lynn Troy regularly suggested Mia do.

  “She might surprise you.” Jessie added her two cents to the conversation before reaching for the brownie on her plate.

  “As long as it doesn’t mean Lynn is around more, I hope she does stick around. Mia’s closer to Angie than to her older sister. And I know she misses her.”

  Living far apart from family could be tough. Dakota knew it firsthand. He hadn’t seen his older sister in over a year. It’d been even longer since he saw his older brother. He hadn’t even seen his parents in close to eight months. Phone calls and text messages were nice, but they were both poor substitutes for actual visits.

  ***

  Angie applied the brakes as she approached the stopped traffic. Until this moment, her day had proceeded like a perfectly executed movie scene. She’d made it through the airport and onto her flight out of LAX without a single person recognizing her. She’d thought the TSA agent might when she handed over her boarding pass and ID, but the man gave no indication he did. Perhaps he’d assumed if she was that Angelina Troy, she would fly on a private jet, something she sometimes wished she owned, instead of a commercial one along with everyone else. Whatever the reason, he’d handed her back the papers without even a smile and then called the next person in line forward. Even the flight from Los Angeles to Boston had been a pleasant one, free of any turbulence.

  Once she’d landed in Boston, she pulled her baseball hat back on and made it from the gate through the airport and out to her rental car with only a single minor incident. Unlike the TSA agent in California, after she handed over her driver’s license at the rental car agency, the thirtysomething woman working there did ask if she was the Angelia Troy who’d stared in Deceptive Desire, which had been released around Valentine’s Day. For a heartbeat or two, she’d toyed with the idea of lying and telling her that, no, she wasn’t the actress in question but merely shared a name with her. She hadn’t, though, and the woman had all but jumped over the counter with excitement. Thankfully the employee kept her voice low when she’d gone on to tell Angie how much she loved her in both Deceptive Desire and A Prince to Call Her Own, so no one else paid them any attention.

  She hadn’t expected her travel today to be so easy. For the past few years now, it seemed everywhere she went, people either recognized her or there were some paparazzi waiting in the shadows to catch a picture of her buying lunch. Then again, she rarely went out of her way to disguise herself when she went out. She loved fashion and never left her house dressed like she was today. And the only time she wore her hair pulled back in a ponytail and went makeup-free was when she either exercised or if a movie role called for it. This morning, though, she’d taken her sister Mia’s advice and dressed in a pair of
shorts and a blue-and-white-striped T-shirt. She’d skipped all makeup except for some mascara and tied her hair up in a simple ponytail.

  In the future, when Angie wanted to travel and keep a low profile, she’d be sure to duplicate today’s look. Although she didn’t plan on doing any travel again soon, no matter how much her mom and Avery, her eldest sister and personal assistant, pressured her to reconsider her decision.

  The line of traffic moved, and Angie pressed down on the accelerator. Up ahead she could see the North Salem exit, and she switched off the car’s GPS. She probably could’ve made it this far even without it, but she’d turned it on just to be on the safe side. Angie definitely wouldn’t need it in town. She’d driven through much of North Salem, looking at homes back in the spring with her sister as well as with the real estate agent, so she knew her way around almost as well as Mia, who’d been living there since before she married the previous year.

  Tapping her fingers against the steering wheel in rhythm with the song blasting from the speakers, Angie passed the town common. At present it was empty, but it wasn’t so dark yet that she couldn’t make out the playground located in one corner and the large bandstand at the opposite end. According to Mia and her husband, the town common was an active place. Regardless of the month, children enjoyed the playground, and when it snowed they liked to build snowmen. Once a month, starting in the late spring and ending in early August, the town held a block party on the common. As crazy as it might seem to some of her friends, she was eager to attend one before they ended for the year. From Mia’s descriptions, they sounded like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Thanks to her sister, she also knew it wasn’t uncommon for everyone, from the North Salem High School band to local country singers, to perform on the bandstand during the nicer months of the year.

  A giant raindrop hit the windshield. Dark clouds stopped her from putting down the convertible’s top before she left the rental car parking lot, but until now a single drop of water hadn’t fallen. She’d hoped to make it to Mia’s house before the rain started, but it looked like she’d used up all of her good luck today. On her twenty-first birthday, she’d hydroplaned and hit a stone wall on her way back to campus. Although she had suffered nothing worse than a concussion and a broken wrist, she’d hated driving in the rain ever since, regardless of whether it was nine in the morning or nine at night.

  Like all the other times she’d visited town, a No Vacancy sign hung outside the Victorian Rose, which was owned by Sean and his mom. Her sister had met her husband when she’d stayed there before starting work on what had turned out to be her final movie. While their mom continuously insisted Mia had made the biggest mistake of her life by giving up her career and marrying Sean, Mia appeared happy. In Angie’s opinion, her sister’s happiness was all that mattered. Of course, Mom disagreed, so she avoided discussing Mia’s life choices with her. Unfortunately, sometimes it was impossible.

  The motion sensor lights on the garage switched on as soon as Angie pulled into the driveway. Even before she made it up the walkway, the front door of the historic home opened. While Mia remained in the house and out of the rain, the family’s large Irish wolfhound, Max, bounded down the steps to greet her. She’d quickly learned the giant dog was a big softy, but anyone seeing him for the first time would probably take a step or two back.

  Max didn’t make a sound as he approached and stopped by her side. “Hey, Max.” Angie paused and scratched the dog near his ears. When she started walking again, Max fell into step alongside her and stayed there until they reached the door.

  Her sister barely let her enter the house before hugging her. “I expected you sooner. Did your plane arrive late?”

  “There was an accident on the highway.” Angie moved out of her sister’s embrace and listened for any sound. Considering Mia had a husband and a newborn in the house, it was quiet. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but where’s Natalie?”

  Born in June, Natalie was her only niece. She’d hoped to visit right after her birth, but work on her last film had made leaving Rome, where she’d been at the time, impossible until a week ago.

  “I put Natalie in her bassinet when I saw you pull in.” Mia closed the door and nodded toward the living room off the main foyer.

  “Let me guess, Sean is standing guard next to it.”

  When she’d first met her brother-in-law, she’d been more than a little surprised. She’d always assumed Mia would end up with someone like Brad St. Pierre, a fellow actor she’d dated on and off for years. After all, until Mia met Sean, she’d dated big-name actors and professional athletes. She’d even been with a musician for several months. Sean, on the other hand, was an extremely intelligent, no-nonsense kind of guy who put his family’s needs before his own wants and desires. Even though they’d seemed like a mismatched pair in the beginning, Sean adored her sister and made Mia happier than Angie remembered her being since they were kids and still living a few streets over from their grandparents. And Angie loved him for it, unlike Mom, who’d decided even before she met Sean to dislike him and had never changed her mind.

  Mia shook her head slightly. “He finally stopped doing that two weeks ago.”

  Truthfully, Angie wasn’t sure if Mia was joking or not. Mia had told her how protective he was of his much younger half sister, Taylor. She could only imagine how protective he’d be of his only daughter.

  “I can’t tell if you’re pulling my leg or not.”

  Angie followed Mia into the living room. Unlike the main living room she’d walked through in her house this morning before leaving for the airport, this one was warm and inviting. A few pictures from Sean and Mia’s wedding hung on the wall. There were also pictures of Mia and Sean’s nephew, Garrett, up there. A colorful area rug covered the floor, and a throw blanket hung over the back of the sofa.

  “He’s never stood guard, but I have caught him just watching her more times than I can count.”

  A pastel-colored bassinet was against the wall close to the window seat, and Angie made a beeline for it. She wasn’t the only one. Max walked past her and immediately stationed himself on the floor near it, as if to guard Natalie from any possible threats. She wondered how long it’d taken her brother-in-law to teach the dog to do that.

  “Where is Sean anyway?”

  “He isn’t here. I strongly suggested he go to the poker game tonight so we could have some time alone. I feel like I haven’t talked to you in years.”

  The most perfect baby girl looked back up at Angie from the bassinet, wearing a one-piece footed outfit with pink poodles on it. Natalie’s hair was a few shades lighter than Mia’s, and at least for the moment, her eyes were a unique bluish green. Since Mia’s eyes were more of a whiskey color, the same shade as hers, and Sean’s were green, what color Natalie’s would finally be was anyone’s guess.

  Her first instinct was to pick up her niece, but she held off. “Can I pick her up?”

  “Of course.”

  She didn’t need to hear anything else. Reaching down, Angie picked up Natalie while Max kept a watchful eye on her every move. “Never mind about Sean standing guard. Max seems to be doing a good job of it himself. How long did it take Sean to teach him to sit here like this?”

  “Sean didn’t teach him anything. Max has kept a close eye on Natalie since the day we brought her home from the hospital. Are you hungry?”

  Angie glanced briefly at her sister. “Starving.” Airplane food in first class might be better than the meals served in the coach section, but it still left a lot to be desired.

  “I made baked stuffed shrimp for dinner. If you want, I can heat you up some.”

  Her head flew up. “You made baked stuffed shrimp? As in you moved it from the freezer to the oven, or as in you bought the ingredients and followed a recipe?”

  Before Mia hit it big and their parents moved them to California, they’d both spent hours baking cookies with their grandmother. However, neither had ever cooked meals with her
or their mother for that matter. Once they relocated, staff working at the house had prepared all their meals, making cooking lessons with Mom impossible.

  “It’s homemade.” Mia started to walk away. “But if you’d rather have a sandwich, I can make you one.”

  Angie followed her sister out of the room and toward the kitchen. “I definitely want the shrimp. I knew you’d gotten the hang of the basics, but it seems like a big jump to go from making a meatloaf to baked stuffed shrimp.”

  “Maureen stepped up her cooking lessons around Valentine’s Day. Last week she showed me how to make homemade ravioli.”

  “Maybe I should ask your mother-in-law to give me a few lessons.”

  While living in North Salem, she’d need to eat. There were enough restaurants in town that she could pick up takeout occasionally, but doing so every night would get old fast. That left her with two options: cook her own meals or hire someone to come in and do it. She didn’t know everyone in town, but she doubted anyone had an individual come in to prepare their meals.

  Mia pulled a large covered container from the refrigerator and added a generous helping to a plate before popping it into the microwave. “Next time Maureen comes over, join us. She won’t mind an extra person in the kitchen.”

  “Maybe I will.” She pulled out a chair and sat. “Who hosted tonight’s game, anyway?”

  She’d never been around for any of them, but Angie knew the monthly event, which had started a couple of years ago, moved from house to house. Judging by the way Mia talked about it, the evening was less about playing cards and more about sitting down with good friends and enjoying each other’s company while eating a lot of food that wasn’t all that nutritious. Although she’d never played poker, not even a computer version on her cell phone, she planned to ask Mia and Sean if she could attend the next time it was their turn to host. Much like the block parties held in town, the monthly poker game was unlike anything she usually experienced, and for the past several months she’d grown bored—no, that wasn’t quite right. She’d grown weary of her present lifestyle. She needed a change. Moving to North Salem and closer to her sister and niece were the first steps to making that change. And, while here, she’d finally make up her mind about some of the other changes she was considering.