State of Grace: A Moonflower Cove Romance Page 2

  She’d been working at Straight to Ale since the day she turned eighteen and loved everything about it. She loved the bar; loved the atmosphere Isla, the owner, had created. It was a funky little hole-in-the-wall joint that everyone in Moonflower Cove loved. Each night had a different theme, including trivia and karaoke, and it made for a diverse group of regulars.

  Ever since her daughter Harper had been born five years prior, Isla had been more than accommodating to Alexis with the scheduling. When Alexis found out she was pregnant, Isla made sure not to schedule her on days she had doctor’s appointments, and if Alexis’s morning sickness became too much, Isla would sit with her in her office until it passed. As Alexis neared her due date, Isla had been right there beside her, hovering over her like a hawk. She’d let her work up until her water broke in the bathroom, and for that, Alexis had been thankful. Isla made sure she wasn’t always on the closing shift so she could be home to tuck Harper in at night. She has been a blessing to Alexis, and Alexis saw her as more of a mother than her actual mother.

  Of course, her relationship with her mother had always been a strained one. Moira Holland wasn’t the type of mother who didn’t have favorite children. No, that title went to Alexis’s older siblings, Cole, Grace, and Dylan. They were the perfect ones, the ones her parents doted over in every conversation. Alexis tried not to let it bother her as she had fantastic mentors in her life, but constantly feeling she wasn’t good enough for her mother left a hole in her heart especially after becoming a mother herself.

  The microwave dinged, pulling her out of her thoughts. She took the pepperoni pizza Hot Pocket out of the microwave and quickly transferred it into a paper towel. Alexis usually didn’t allow herself such unhealthy foods, but she was in a hurry and didn’t have time to prepare anything before work. She’d have the kitchen staff whip up something for her on her break, but she needed something to tide her over until then.

  “Harper, let’s go,” Alexis called out as she heard quick footsteps coming toward the kitchen. Her five-year-old slid across the kitchen floor and crashed into her as her arms wrapped around her waist. Harper had done it since she could walk, but the older she got, the more force there was behind the crash. Alexis bent down and picked her up as the two rubbed noses with each other. Alexis had never pictured herself having kids, but that all changed the moment Harper entered her life.

  “Hey, Harp.” Alexis kissed her nose before sitting her back down on the floor. “Are you ready to go to Nonna’s?”

  “Yep!” Harper jumped up and down a few times in excitement. Her Nonna was Alexis’s best friend and next-door neighbor, Sophia Beauchamp. Sophia had been a godsend to Alexis over the last six years, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn’t be where she was today if it wasn’t for Sophia. Alexis thanked her lucky stars every day for her best friend.

  “Where are your shoes?” She nodded toward Harper’s sock-covered feet. Harper’s brown eyes went wide for a moment as she held up a finger.

  “In my room.” She paused. “I think.”

  “Go get them so we can go.”

  Harper hurried off to her bedroom as Alexis took a bite out of the still very warm Hot Pocket. She picked up Harper’s Winnie the Pooh backpack and made sure she had her coloring book and crayons and the current book Alexis and Sophia had been reading to her. Even though Sophia’s apartment was across the hall from Alexis’s and neither of them ever locked the front door, Alexis always made sure Harper had the things she thought she’d need before taking her to Sophia’s.

  “Got ‘em!” Harper held her Minnie Mouse sneakers up high over her head as Alexis nodded toward the entryway bench where they always put their shoes on. She got down on her knees and patted the seat.

  “Come here, and let’s put your shoes on.”

  “I can do it.” Harper pushed her away in an attempt to gain more independence. Alexis watched as her daughter focused intently on lining up the Velcro straps on each shoe while keeping her eye on the clock at the same time. She loved that Harper was becoming so independent, but she would be late if they didn’t leave soon. “I got it!”

  “Good job, baby!” Alexis held up her hand as Harper gave her a high five. She picked up the backpack and handed it to Harper as she grabbed the Hot Pocket and headed out the door. “Now, let’s get you to Nonna’s so Mommy can get to work.”

  The two of them walked across the hall to Sophia’s apartment as Alexis let herself in without a knock. They lived above an art gallery and were the only two apartments there. Sophia had installed a crazy security system complete with cameras and alarms, making Alexis feel safer than she’d ever felt before. Both Alexis and Sophia’s girlfriend Emily Crawford had been through hell and back in their lives and appreciated that Sophia cared so deeply about them.

  “There’s my baby girl.” Sophia breezed into the living room from her office. She was sure she’d never laid eyes on a more elegant woman than Sophia. Tortoiseshell reading glasses were tucked into her chestnut hair, and the white blouse she was wearing was tucked perfectly into her black slacks. Harper ran over to her and jumped in her arms as Sophia twirled her around. Their giggles mingled together to become one of the sweetest sounds Alexis had ever heard.

  “I packed some things in her backpack, but if you need anything else, you know where we live.” Alexis sat the bag down on the couch. “And don’t forget, her bedtime is nine, not nine-thirty or ten.”

  “Yes, Lex, I know.” Sophia put Harper on her hip as she kissed her cheek. “We only had to stay up late last night to finish watching Frozen, didn’t we, ma petite?”

  “Yep! Frozen is mon préféré.” Harper looked to Sophia for validation on her French, and Sophia nodded and winked at her.

  “Votre français est très bon, ma petite.”

  “Ok, well, I’ll let you all carry on with your French because Mommy has to go to work or Aunt Isla is going to yell at me for being late. Kisses.” Alexis kissed Harper on the cheek as Harper did the same to her.

  “Love you, Mommy!”

  “Love you more, baby girl.” Alexis turned to leave and looked over her shoulder at Sophia. “Love you too, Soph.”

  “Je t'aime, Lex.”

  Usually, Alexis would have walked the few blocks to the bar, but since she was mere moments away from being late, she hopped into her Honda Civic. She parked in the back parking lot and ran inside through the kitchen. Pushing open the kitchen door with her hip, Alexis gasped at the sight before her. Straight to Ale was bursting at the seams by the time she arrived. There were several patrons still waiting for a seat as Alexis scanned the packed dining room. The crowds were nothing unusual for a weekend, but the fact it was a Thursday afternoon was throwing Alexis for a loop.

  “Holy shit, are we offering some special that I don’t know about?”

  “You’re doing too good of a job as marketing manager.” Emily was mixing a drink as Alexis checked the computer to see the still unfulfilled orders. She was wearing the typical Straight to Ale attire of jeans, sneakers, and a logoed T-shirt. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail that flipped from one side of her head to the other as she worked. A necklace Sophia had given her last year for Christmas hung around her neck that matched the one Alexis also wore. The only difference was the birthstone on the necklace was different for each of them.

  “That’s why Isla pays me the big bucks.” Alexis winked at her as she mixed drinks for a table of men in business suits. She’d accepted the job offer from Isla to be the marketing manager a few weeks ago and had been loving it. Of course, it was more of a social media manager than anything, but Alexis thrived on the added responsibility, and the few extra bucks each week didn’t hurt either.

  “Hey, table twelve needs more ranch, and fourteen needs napkins,” Isla called out as she rounded the bar and disappeared into the kitchen with her nose in her order pad. Alexis nodded as she finished mixing the drinks, loaded them up on a tray along with napkins and a side of ranch
, and headed out to make her deliveries to the various tables. Her whole shift flew by so quickly that by the time the last customer had vacated their table, Alexis felt she’d only been at work for a few moments.

  “Another great night.” Isla smiled happily as she joined Alexis and Emily near the bar. The kitchen staff had already cleaned up and gone home, and the hostess by the front door was talking to the last customer. Otherwise, the place was empty. “Thank you for your hard work, ladies. It’s always appreciated.”

  “You’re welcome, Isla.” Alexis grabbed her water bottle from the fridge under the bar and twisted the cap open. She’d made it a habit to keep it on hand as she often needed to refuel during a shift.

  “I’m going to head home.” Emily yawned. “You leaving now, Lex?”

  “Yeah, let’s go.”

  As Alexis rounded the bar, she heard the chime above the front door as they all three turned to look at it. She’d assumed it would be the customer that had overstayed the closing time, but instead, Alexis’s jaw nearly hit the floor at the sight of Blake freakin’ Calloway standing by the hostess stand. Alexis resisted the urge to run across the room and fangirl over Blake, but her feet were concrete bricks.

  Alexis had watched Blake’s hit sci-fi show The Things We Left Behind since the first episode and had fangirled over the show ever since. Every week she, Emily, Sophia, and their friend Maddie watched the show together; Alexis had even named Harper after a character on the show. She’d developed quite the following online for her Across the Great Expanse fanfic that shipped Blake’s character with Harper, the blonde whom Avery had more chemistry with than the obligatory man they’d hooked her up with in order to keep the peace with the network.

  But Blake Calloway wasn’t just the star of Alexis’s favorite TV show.

  No, she was also Isla’s daughter.

  It wasn’t a fact that Isla hid; there were pictures of Blake at various award shows and screenshots from the show on the bar's walls and her house. But it also wasn’t something Isla openly talked about with just anyone. When Blake was barely five, her father took her from Isla. His deep pockets made it easy for him to gain full custody of Blake during a sham of a court case. Her father took her to LA, and the rest was history.

  The hostess stared in awe as Blake strolled toward the bar, toward Isla. She was wearing tight jeans and a black leather jacket with a Beatles-themed graphic tee underneath. Her Doc Martens finished off the look along with a grey baseball cap that did little to disguise who she was underneath. Her ice-blue eyes locked with Alexis’s for a moment as a smile tugged at her lips. At her side was a large suitcase with a backpack haphazardly wrapped around the handle.

  “Blake,” Isla’s voice was so quiet that Alexis wasn’t sure she’d even heard it. She slowly walked around the bar as Blake stopped in her tracks. Alexis watched as mother and daughter stood five feet away from each other for the first time in over twenty-five years. Beside her, Emily rapidly hit her hip with her hand in an undeniable show of excitement. She grabbed Emily’s hand and squeezed it as she turned to face her while her eyes stayed locked on Blake.

  “We should go.”

  “I’m not going until we meet Blake Calloway!” Emily’s excitement was palpable, and, like Harper did when she was excited, Emily bounced up and down. “You can’t tell me that you don’t want to meet her.”

  “I do, but now’s not the time.” Alexis’s eyes moved from Blake to Isla then back to Blake. Neither of them had moved; neither daring to take a step closer as if they were both worried the person standing in front of them was simply a mirage of their imagination. “They need some time alone right now.” She nodded toward the kitchen. “Come on.”

  “Isla, we’re leaving.” Both Isla and Blake turned toward them, and it was then Alexis could see the tears in Isla’s eyes. She nodded at them as Alexis pulled Emily back through the kitchen doors. As the door shut behind them, Emily playfully smacked Alexis on the arm. “Blake fuckin’ Calloway is in the bar!”

  “I saw.”

  “How are you not freaking out right now?” Emily excitedly grabbed their bags from Isla’s office. She handed Alexis her purse as she walked out the backdoor. “I mean, you named your daughter after a character on her show.”

  “I know.”

  “And you write one of the most popular fanfics of the show.”

  “Emily.” Sighing heavily, Alexis stopped walking as Emily did the same. “I know all of this, but first and foremost, that is Isla’s daughter, whom she hasn’t seen in like twenty-something years. That has come before everything else.”

  “Ugh. Fine.” Emily jutted her chin toward Alexis’s car. “Can I get a ride?”

  “Only if you promise not to ask Isla if you can meet Blake.”

  “Fun sucker.” Rolling her eyes, Emily got into the passenger side as Alexis looked back at the door to the bar. She offered up a quick prayer to whatever god was on call that what was happening on the other side of the door would benefit both Isla and Blake. Alexis made a mental note to text Isla later.

  After all, it was the least she could do.

  Chapter 3

  No amount of time could have prepared Blake for what it would feel like to stand so close to her mother for the first time in over two decades. Her heart was torn between running to her and crying on her shoulder like she did when she fell off her bicycle, or running the other way and throwing up. From the mere two minutes she’d been in her presence, she knew from the look in Isla’s eyes that she loved her. All the love Blake had missed because of her father felt like an enormous hole in her heart.

  “I…I can’t believe you’re here. In my bar.” Isla’s voice seemed to catch in her throat as she covered her mouth with her hand. She could see a few tears escape her brown eyes. Her mother looked more like her than Blake remembered. Or, well, Blake looked more like her mother. They had the same intense jawline, crooked smile, and long, wavy dark brown hair. Their eyes were two different colors, but even they looked the same.

  “I hope it’s ok that I’m here. I’m sorry.” Nervously scratching the back of her neck, Blake dropped her eyes from Isla’s loving gaze and looked at the floor. “Should I have called? I should have called.”

  “No, Blake,” Isla took a step toward her with an outstretched hand but stopped short of touching Blake. Her hand retreated quickly toward her body, then she clasped it over her heart. “I’m so happy you are here. I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

  “I’m surprised I’m here too.” With a sarcastic laugh, Blake sat at the bar as Isla did the same. Blake noted she left one seat between them. They each put an elbow on the bar and rested their heads in their hands. The similarity in their movements didn’t go unnoticed by either, but neither changed their positions. “I was cleaning out the condo – I’m sure you know my dad passed away.”

  “I did, and I’m so sorry.” Placing a hesitant hand on Blake’s knee, Isla’s eyes became sympathetic. Blake couldn’t fathom why her mother would feel any sadness about her ex-husband’s death when he had taken her daughter away from her. “We saw the news, and I wished I could have been there for you.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled sadly. “I wish you could have been there, too.”

  A silence filled the space between them for a few moments as both contemplated what to say next. There were many things Blake wanted to know about her mother and her life in Moonflower Cove, but her brain was only capable of processing how much she’d missed her mom.

  “And, I’m sorry about the show.” Isla grimaced as if she knew she shouldn’t bring it up but had decided to do so anyway. “It was such a great show, although I may be biased since I gave birth to one of the main stars.” She winked.

  “Thank you. I loved working on it.”

  “It’s a great show; any network would be lucky to pick it up.”

  “My agent, Salem, and a lot of people from the crew are trying to get the show picked up on another network, but I don’t know.” She halfheartedly
shrugged. “Even the writers think there’s still only a season or two for the main characters’ storylines.”

  Deep down, Blake knew the show was over, and she’d have to eventually move on from the character she’d played for the last seven years. She’d poured her heart and soul into portraying Avery Romano. Often, the lines between Blake’s personality and Avery’s were so muddled even Blake didn’t know where one stopped and the other began. Avery Romano had been an extension of Blake and knowing she might never portray her again was downright depressing.

  “Anyway,” she shook her head to clear her mind, “as I said, I was cleaning out the condo, and I found that old chest that you made me, and it was full of letters and my baby blanket.” Beside her, Isla gasped as she clutched her chest. “I had no idea the letters existed, and Dad told me he forgot the chest in the move. I don’t know why he hid those from me.”

  “I should have known.” Shaking her head, Isla pushed her tongue into her cheek as she looked away from Blake. “I should have known Ben would do this. He was always so dead set on the fact he knew what was better for you than I ever could.”

  “I read them all.” Blake moved to the barstool between them and tenderly reached out her hand. She rested it on Isla’s knee; Isla covered it with her hand. “Every single letter from you and Vera, and the next thing I know, I’m on a plane headed to Maine to see my mom.”

  Saying the word ‘mom’ out loud made Blake’s heart swell.

  “May I hug you?” Her voice cracked as Blake nodded. The two embraced tightly, holding on to each other as if they were never going to let go again. After a few moments, Blake pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes as Isla did the same. “So, do you have a place to stay?”