Confessions of a Girl-Next-Door

by Jackie Braun

  “Hey, Nate. Gorgeous day, huh?”

  A grumble served as his reply.

  Hank turned to Holly and asked, “All set, pretty lady?”

  “Not hardly,” she surprised them all by saying. “I wish I could stay … indefinitely.” Her gaze was on Nate.

  “We both knew you would have to leave.” It killed him to say so.

  “I’ll try to come back soon.”

  He nodded. They both knew it was a lie. This was it. The end of an otherwise perfect love affair.

  Hank went to fetch Holly’s bags from the deck, leaving the pair of them to say their goodbyes. Not that they hadn’t done so already. Hell, the entire morning had been one long and painful farewell.

  “I’ll call when I get home.”

  “Do that,” Nate said.

  But he knew a moment of doubt. Would she? Once she’d settled into the routine of her other life, would Holly remember to call or even email Nate? Or would her time on Heart Island be filed away as a beautiful memory? Yes, as she’d said, she could be herself here. But the rest of the world expected her to be a princess.

  “I’ve got all your bags stowed,” Hank said as he loaded the last of them into the seaplane. “I’ll be ready to take off when you are.”

  “Thank you, Hank.”

  “I guess this is it,” Nate said.

  “You make it sound very final,” Holly objected.

  He exhaled slowly. “It is what it is.”

  “You don’t think I’ll be back?”

  “I hope you will, but our lives are going to pull us in two different directions,” Nate said practically. He wasn’t trying to hurt her. Quite the opposite. He wanted to be sure she knew he understood.

  “That doesn’t mean we have to go in those directions,” Holly said. “You’re the one who once told me I wasn’t without choices and that I needed to make time for the things I felt were important.”

  Indeed, he had. Yet, he wasn’t sure how to respond to her words now.

  “Would you come to Morenci if I asked you to?” she said softly.

  “I … Would I …?” She’d caught him off guard. “The resort …”

  “For a visit, Nate.”

  He felt foolish. “Sure. I mean, I could swing a week or two, especially in the off-season.”

  “You love it here,” Holly said quietly.

  “I love you.”

  The words were out before he could stop them. He wondered if he would have tried to if given the chance.

  Her eyes grew moist. A tear slipped down her cheek. “I love you, too, Nate.”

  The kiss they shared wasn’t as passionate as some of the others had been. No desperate urgency now. But the emotions behind it would stay with Nate a lifetime. He’d thought he knew what heartbreak felt like. This was total annihilation.

  The pressure only grew worse as he helped her board the plane. The door slammed shut as his own eyes watered and her image grew blurry. He pushed the plane away from the dock. The prop revved to life, the sound intensifying long before the plane actually moved. He stepped back and waited where he was as it glided over the calm water of the bay, picking up speed as it left Nate and the shore behind.

  He raised a hand and waved just as the floats left the water’s smooth surface. Holly’s plane had lifted off safely. Meanwhile, Nate’s heart had crashed and burned.

  “This weekend is the annual Royal Gala,” her mother was saying. “You’re cutting it close with your late arrival. Luckily, Anna is standing by,” Olivia said of the royal seamstress. “You’ll need a final fitting on your gown.”

  “Yes.”

  Olivia plucked at Holly’s sun-bleached curls. “And you probably should have your hair treated. A good deep conditioning is in order. It looks dry.”

  “Yes.”

  Her agreement did little to assuage Olivia.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “What could be wrong? I’m back where I belong, doing what needs to be done,” Holly reminded her.

  “Yes, but you’re … so unhappy.”

  “I’ve been unhappy, Mother.”

  “But not like this,” Olivia replied. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

  Which made sense, since Holly had never felt like this. It had been all well and good to tell Nate that they would live in the moment while they were living in the moment. Now that the moment was over, the pain was almost too much to bear.

  “Mother, did Gran ever try to talk you out of marrying my father?”

  Olivia blinked in surprise at the question. “Talk me out of it? No. But she was clear on what it would entail. She made sure I went into it with my eyes wide open and then backed me all the way as I fought like a tiger cat to fit in and be accepted, especially once you were on the way.”

  “That must have been hard for you.”

  “At first.” Olivia sucked in a breath. “It was one thing for them not to accept me. I wouldn’t allow them to turn their backs on you. You’re the throne’s rightful heir, after all.”

  “And if I don’t want it?”

  Olivia’s footsteps echoed to a halt in the long corridor. She snagged Holly’s arm, forcing her to stop as well. “My God! You’re in love with that boy.”

  “He’s a man now. But yes. I love Nate Matthews. I loved him when I was a girl and I love him now.”

  “But … you can’t mean you want to turn your back on everything I’ve worked so hard to ensure you had. You’re accepted here, Hollyn. No one dares question your right to ascend the throne, not like they did with me.”

  “That was important to you.”

  “Very,” Olivia replied. “That’s why I’ve done all that I have.”

  She hugged her mother. “Thank you for that, Mother. Truly, thank you. But I’m happiest being … ordinary.”

  Olivia hugged her back fiercely before pulling away. Holding Holly at arm’s length, she said, “But you’re not ordinary.”

  Holly closed her eyes in defeat. As soon as she did, she felt her mother’s lips press to her cheek. “When a woman is in love, she’s … extraordinary,” Olivia whispered.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “HOW are the day’s receipts looking?” Nate asked Mick as he came in the marina.

  “Better than you do,” the older man remarked.

  And wasn’t that the truth.

  Holly had been gone two days. It might as well have been ten years. God, Nate missed her. He ached with it. He’d slept with the phone by his side the first night, eager for her call. It hadn’t come.

  “One of the Burns boys took a phone message about an hour ago,” Mick was saying. Nate’s heart soared until the older man added, “I spilled my coffee on it, but it looks to be an invite to meet for drinks at the Fishing Hole when you get out of work.”

  Probably one of his poker buddies. They usually called him up when they were running low on funds and hoping for someone to buy a round. Well, he had no plans to indulge them.

  He put in a couple more hours before calling it a day. And what a day it had been. Though it wasn’t exactly in his job description, he’d helped change the prop on a slip owner’s fishing boat. He’d also spent a couple of hours teaching some of the resort’s youngest guests the finer points of baiting a hook. Despite a good scrubbing, he still smelled a little bit like diesel fuel and the water in the big filtered tank where they stored the minnows.

  He started for home, but pointed the truck in the direction of town instead. The invitation from friends beckoned. There was nothing waiting for him at home. And no one. He’d wind up staring at the phone again, willing the damned thing to ring. The pub, on the other hand, would be full of friendly and familiar faces, cold beer and banal conversation. That’s what he needed.

  He got a whole lot more the moment he stepped through the pub’s door. He spotted Holly.

  She was impossible to miss. And not because she was the only woman in the place wearing a skirt and looking like she could grace the pages of a fashion magazine. No,
she was standing atop the pool table and, from what he could gather, leading the crowd of locals in a line dance to an Alan Jackson song. It was a bit of the traditional boot-scooting he’d taught her way back when with what appeared to be some Celtic footwork thrown in.

  Lord of the Dance at a hoedown?

  Damned diesel fumes. They had him seeing things. He rubbed his eyes. But the image didn’t go away, and he wasn’t sure he wanted it to. He became mesmerized watching the hem of Holly’s skirt as it flitted back and forth just above her knees with each shake of her hips and flick of her feet. Then her gaze found his and her footsteps faltered before she stumbled to a stop. Her already flushed cheeks turned all but crimson.

  “That’s all I know,” she shouted apologetically when the crowd of mostly locals started to grumble.

  Melinda from the grocery store was among them and the first to offer Holly a hand down from the table.

  Since Holly had already seen him, it was only polite to go over and say hello. Under other circumstances, he might have offered to buy her a drink, but he had a feeling she’d already had one too many. Oddly enough, when he reached the table where she sat, Holly was sipping from a glass of plain old cola. The remnants of what appeared to be the pub’s famous bacon and cheddar-loaded potato skins were on a platter in front of her.

  “Hello, Nate.” Holly pushed out the extra chair with her foot as an invitation for him to join them. “I was wondering if you got my message.”

  “I … Mick spilled coffee on it. I wasn’t sure who it was from,” Nate admitted.

  “Hmm.” She frowned. “But you came anyway.”

  “I wanted a beer.”

  She smiled around her straw. “And now? Is that all you want?”

  “I …” Hold on to some pride, he ordered himself. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, I was dancing.” Holly set her beverage aside. “For the record, I was dared.”

  As much as Nate wanted answers, he laughed. At the absurdity of the statement as much as the ridiculous amount of dignity she managed to muster in uttering it. “Gee, it makes perfect sense now why I should find you on a pool table in a pub doing a tush-push when I thought you were back in Morenci.”

  In a way, it did make sense. Holly never could turn down a dare. She reminded him of that now.

  “You know I’ve come to hate being predictable. It’s nice to shake things up a little every now and then. I believe that’s the expression.”

  “Uh-huh.” But Nate was sure of little else at the moment.

  Holly went on. “The man standing next to the jukebox was a little surly with me at first.” She pointed to the big hulking man most locals left alone. “He told me they don’t play any opera in here. I think he was just having a little fun with me.”

  Nate glanced over to where she pointed. Actually, Zeb Barlow probably hadn’t been teasing. The island’s only mechanic had a bad attitude when it came to tourists, especially those who looked the part, which Holly definitely did wearing a skirt, sexy sandals and a pearl necklace. She might as well have had on a tiara. Jeans and sneakers were dress code here—or, in Zeb’s case, stained brown coveralls and steel-toed boots.

  “I told him I wasn’t interested in a night at the opera. I was looking for some proper dance music,” Holly said.

  Despite the fact he was dying for an explanation, Nate’s lips twitched at her proper tone. “I bet that went over well.”

  “He dared me to show him my best moves. So, I was. It was the bartender’s idea that I get up on the pool table to do it. And then people just started joining in and asking me to show them more. I threw in a toe kick I learned in the Celtic step class Mother insisted I take, and the next thing I knew I was leading a line dance.”

  She sounded amazed. And a little proud.

  “You’re here,” he said. He stroked her arm, just to be sure she wasn’t a figment of his imagination. Soft skin warmed his fingers.

  “I’m here.” Her smile wobbled.

  He cleared his throat and pulled his hand back. “For, um, how long this time?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” she admitted.

  His bruised heart took a tumble.

  The waitress came by and cleared away the empty potato skins tray, as well as a couple of empty drink glasses.

  “Can I get you anything, Nate?” she asked.

  “Whatever you’ve got on tap is fine, and another drink for the lady.”

  “Nothing for me,” Holly corrected.

  “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

  “I should think that would be obvious.”

  Under normal circumstances and with another woman, perhaps, it might have been. Tonight, here, with Holly, Nate’s brain felt fuzzy and too slow to comprehend. And his heart was just a little too battered to hope.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he said. “It’s too loud to talk.”

  But she shook her head. “In a minute. I have one more dance. Maybe you’ll join me for this one.”

  She marched to the jukebox and inserted a dollar bill before pressing some buttons. God only knew what line dance she would be leading the pub patrons in next. He had no plans to join her.

  Zeb strolled over and commented, “She’s a pretty little thing.”

  “She’s mine,” Nate shot back. And dammit if he wasn’t going to make sure she knew it. Whatever the obstacles, they’d figure them out. They’d make this work, because nothing in his life worked without her.

  He pushed to his feet as the first strains of music filled the bar. No country twang or do-si-do beat. Rather, Van Halen’s power ballad “When It’s Love.”

  Nate grinned as he recognized the tune. That last morning, he’d been humming it in the shower while he’d washed her back … and then her front.

  “I’ll make a hard rock fan of you yet,” he’d teased.

  Apparently, he had.

  The crowd around him melted into an indistinguishable kaleidoscope of colors and shapes as he made his way to Holly. She was smiling.

  “It’s kind of catchy,” she said when he reached her. “Although not the easiest to dance to.”

  “Maybe I’ll just stand here and hold you in my arms then.”

  “Suits me,” she replied as he slipped his left arm around her waist and scooped up her right hand in his.

  Holly settled her cheek against his and sighed.

  “About the length of your visit this time,” he began. He wasn’t going to take a week or ten days or so for an answer. It turned out he didn’t need to.

  “I was thinking I’d stay … forever.”

  He stopped moving and pulled back so he could see her face. “Holly?”

  “I love you, Nate.”

  “And I love you. But—”

  She put her fingers over his mouth. “No buts. That’s where it ends.”

  “You’re wrong.” He kissed the hand he planned to put a wedding ring on as soon as he could manage it. “This is where it begins.”

  EPILOGUE

  HOLLYN Elise Phillipa Saldani had been born a princess. Three years after her return to Heart, she was a bona fide islander with a new name. The locals not only had accepted Holly Matthews as Nate’s bride, but they also fiercely protected her from the prying eyes of outsiders, whether they be paparrazi, traditional journalists or merely nosy tourists.

  For the most part, Holly found that while people—including guests at the resort—were often curious about her, they mostly left her alone. Especially now that the uproar over her decision to abdicate her claim on Morenci’s throne had died down.

  Her cousin Amelia had been only too happy to take Holly’s place. As much as Holly had chafed under the public spotlight, Amelia seemed to enjoy it. And while Holly’s parents weren’t exactly thrilled with her decision, they respected it.

  And they had accepted Nate.

  Three years married to a man she loved so deeply had confirmed one thing: her mother was right. No woman in love was ordinary.

/>   Nor was a woman expecting her first child. Holly touched her stomach in wonder. She still couldn’t believe it. She was nearly three months along.

  Nate jogged out to where she stood on the marina dock. Worry creased his forehead. She hadn’t been feeling well lately, which was why he’d insisted she go see the doctor.

  “Mick said you needed to see me right away. Everything go okay at your appointment?”

  “Better than okay.” She handed him the grainy black-and-white ultrasound photo. “They said it’s still too early to tell if it’s a girl or a boy.”

  “A b-baby?” Nate eyed her blankly for a moment before his disbelief finally ebbed. Then he scooped her up in his arms on a whoop of joy. “We’re going to have a baby!” he shouted to no one in particular.

  He tripped on one of the mooring lines. Just as he had that day three years ago when he’d tried to carry her to shore, he lost his footing. They both wound up going off the side of the dock into the water.

  They came up laughing, wrapped together.

  “Looks like we’re in over our heads,” Nate said on a grin.

  Holly grinned back. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

  All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.