by Bella Andre
But he already knew it wouldn’t be the same as just being able to spontaneously drop by her cottage in the morning to watch the sunrise together, or to be able to make love to her every night after it had set.
Quinn’s phone vibrated with a text from Rich as the elevator doors to his grandfather’s suite opened. Just got confirmation about Joseph. It’s no longer a rumor. Our competition is definitely pursuing him. Big-time.
Great. Just what he needed right now on top of everything else, to worry about losing one of their best executives to their biggest competitor.
He texted Rich back before heading toward his grandfather’s office. Find out the stakes. We’ll match/beat. Whatever we have to do. Off to talk to Chandler.
Rich texted right back. Put your balls in a paper bag and hand them to him—it’s quicker.
Rich was right. Chandler Rockwell had them all in a very precarious position. One Quinn never imagined he’d be in.
Shelley hadn’t offered him any advice on the situation. She’d simply been there to listen this morning, which he’d really appreciated. But he knew she would never put up with a situation like this. No, she’d simply change it into a situation she did want.
He was still floored at the idea that in just a few days she’d pretty much decided to rent a cottage and move her business. It took huge guts to risk everything by picking up and moving your company and your life. I’ve never been afraid of failure. I don’t entertain the idea of failure, either. I’d much rather focus on being hopeful and having fun making sure things work out the way I want them to. Clearly, he could learn a thing or two from her playbook. Seeing his siblings hovering outside Chandler’s door, Quinn knew all of them could.
He was about to speak when Sierra put a finger to her lips and pointed to Chandler’s office. “Dad’s in there giving him hell,” she whispered.
“Dad?” His father didn’t need to fight their battles. “We told him we’ve got this covered.”
“He’s been our buffer for this long,” Derek reminded him in a low voice. “Did you really think he’d kowtow to Grandfather’s demands now?”
Ethan stuck his head in the group, his expression fierce. People often thought that just because Ethan wasn’t always shooting off his mouth like the rest of them, he was a pushover. But that was just plain wrong. In many ways, Quinn often thought that Ethan was the strongest one of them all.
“I say we barrel in and put a stop to this here and now,” Ethan said, his normally relaxed voice hard and unwavering. “It’s our terms or the deal is off.”
“Agreed,” Sierra said, already heading for the door.
As the five of them made their way into the room, they heard their father saying, “Your grandchildren are twice as capable as either you or me.” Griffin was clearly furious as he leaned over Chandler’s desk. “You’re belittling their hard-earned successes by using the island residents as collateral for your warped need for control.”
“It looks as though those capable adults are here to speak for themselves.” Chandler’s face was stoic as he watched Quinn and his siblings storm into the room.
Didi stood behind Chandler’s wheelchair. Her lips curved up as she watched them take their places behind Griffin.
Griffin turned, catching the eye of each of them, before moving between Trent and Quinn. Trent and Quinn exchanged a knowing glance. Quinn leaned forward and eyed Derek and Ethan, who, without uttering a word, understood and nodded their approval. Sierra’s wide grin confirmed that she was all in as well.
“We’d like to amend our previous offer.” Trent spoke in his most professional tone. “Our offer now includes the six of us taking over the resort. Our other stipulations remain the same. All or nothing.”
In all his years of building his shipping empire, Quinn had never felt as proud as he did right then, standing alongside his family with their shoulders squared and their chins held high. The fact that their grandfather almost looked impressed didn’t escape him, and suddenly he wondered again if there actually had been something to the conversation he’d overheard between Chandler and Didi.
Still, Chandler sat behind his enormous desk like a king on his throne. As he’d previously done, he didn’t acknowledge Didi, standing dutifully behind him. He didn’t show any signs of emotion, either, beyond the hint of what Quinn had thought might be a smile, and even that was now gone. He simply folded his hands in his lap and nodded.
“Your terms are accepted. I have other things to take care of now, and I would appreciate it if you would all leave me to them.”
Without another word, the six of them walked out of the room and down the wide hallway to the elevators. Once out of earshot, Quinn draped an arm around his father’s shoulder.
“Way to listen to your kids, old man. We had it covered, you know.”
His father’s broad shoulders rose with his laugh. “You guys had it covered before you even stepped foot on this island.” He embraced Quinn, and as they stepped into the elevator, he said, “I’m so damn proud of all of you.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Trent blew out a breath. “Now all we’ve got to do is divvy up the work and figure out how to run this place.”
“I’ve got to get out on the boat and catch some fish,” Ethan said. “But I’ll check back later.”
“Sounds good.” As the tension from Chandler’s office began to funnel out of all of them, Trent elbowed Quinn. “Where were you this morning? I saw you leave before sunrise.”
“I skipped my run to watch the sunrise from the beach with Shelley.”
“Watching the sunrise from the sand?” Derek reached his hand under Quinn’s collar.
Quinn swatted him. “What the hell?”
“Just looking for the leash, that’s all.” Derek let out a deep laugh as he dodged another, much harder, swat from Quinn.
“Did you bring your laptop so you could multitask while you watched it?” Sierra teased him.
“No. Jesus, you guys.” He followed Sierra out of the elevator with his brothers in tow. “I am allowed to have a life, you know.”
“Sure you are, but you’ve never wanted one before, that’s all.” Sierra looked beyond pleased. “I knew Shelley was special.”
“Special?” Derek asked. “Wait, you mean you’re not just going for the old island fling?”
Quinn slid Derek a narrow-eyed stare and growled, “Watch it.” He didn’t like his brother—or anyone—talking about Shelley like that.
Everyone looked surprised by his reaction, but fortunately Sierra stepped in by saying, “I’ve got to get back to the restaurant. When do you guys want to meet again to go over the resort stuff?”
“The fireworks show is tonight, and your mother won’t allow me to miss that,” his father said.
Derek mimed holding a leash this time so that no one would swat him. Everyone laughed, even though they knew it only encouraged him.
“I’ve got a ton of work to do, too.” Quinn thought of Shelley and wrestled again with the idea of putting off work to spend the day with her. But any way he turned it, he was already way too far behind to take off for more than a few hours at the fireworks tonight.
“I know all of us are loaded down by our current schedules, but we’ve committed, so we need to make it happen.” Trent consulted his watch. “How’s five this afternoon at Sierra’s?”
“Fine. Text me if anything changes.” Ethan took off through the lobby.
“I’ll be there at five,” Derek said. “But then I’ve got to leave the island as soon as we have this all settled.”
“You can’t leave until we come up with a schedule that will appease Chandler,” Trent reminded him. “We have some leeway with the ninety-five percent rule, but it’s not like you can just disappear.”
“One year, Trent,” Derek said, his voice grim. “That’s my commitment. I’ll figure out the rest.”
“Trent,” Quinn said, “I hate to break this to you, but I’m also out of here soon.” It was going to be like walki
ng a tightrope between spending time on the island to appease his grandfather and running his own business. Just another heavy rock to add to the pile he was already carrying on his shoulders. And that was without even trying to factor in all the time he wanted to spend with Shelley.
“What the hell did you two think?” Trent shot at them. “That you could commit and then leave it to the rest of us to run? Hell, I have a ton of work to take care of with my law practice, but I’m not dashing out of here as soon as I can.”
“Maybe you should be,” Quinn shot back. “How are you going to manage that while you’re here for a year? Or”—he couldn’t help but add in the heat of the moment—“are you just planning to stick around the island, hoping that Reese will take you back?”
“This has nothing to do with Reese.” Trent planted his legs and crossed his arms, challenging him, but Quinn had seen something flicker behind his brother’s eyes when he’d said his ex-wife’s name. “This is about family. Standing behind our commitments.”
“We’re all as loyal to the family as you are,” Derek said. “So don’t go there. I’ve got to get some work done. We’ll talk more about the schedule at five.”
“I’m standing behind my commitment,” Quinn told his clearly frustrated older brother. “But I’m also overloaded at the moment with a merger to tend to and an employee who’s being sweet-talked away from my business as we speak.”
“A year’s a long time, Quinn, so you’d better figure out how to deal with that stuff pretty darn quick.”
“Boys, come on. This isn’t going to solve a thing.” Griff set a hand on each of his son’s shoulders. “Your grandfather has a way of getting everyone up in arms. We’re in this together, and no one expects you to give up your businesses. Like everything else, we’ll figure this out. Together.”
Knowing his father was right—just like always—Quinn blew out the breath it felt like he’d been holding for the past half hour. “Sorry, Trent. You’re right. I’d never leave the family hanging. I’m just stressed. I’ll see you both again at five.”
With a nod to his father, Quinn headed back into the elevator. It was time to go back to his suite and finally get some work off his plate. But even as he left, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy to hold his focus on reading through contracts when where he really wanted to be wasn’t hunkered down over paperwork and in meetings, but getting to know the woman who was stealing his heart even better. He had visions of spending time on the beach with Shelley, showing her all the places on the island he’d loved when he was growing up. He wanted to share stories of their pasts while getting to know more about her hopes and dreams for her future.
He shut the door of his suite and forced himself to sit down at the desk, but even as he worked to focus his attention on the contract in front of him, he knew damn well that working around thoughts of Shelley would be like trying to avoid a tidal wave.
Chapter Sixteen
SHELLEY SPENT THE morning walking through the streets of town, watching families as they took in the sights. She noticed that Annabelle came outside when her shop was slow, and the shop owner next door stepped out to chat with her. Even when there was a steady flow of customers, the two women greeted a few of them at the door. Back home, the customers talked with Shelley, but when she had downtime and went out front, passersby were usually in too much of a hurry to stop and chat. It was lovely to see the difference between living in a suburban area and a more laid-back resort town.
After wandering through a few of the commercial streets and shops she’d missed the other day, Shelley took a walk through the residential neighborhoods. She stopped to talk to a woman who was tending to her garden and struck up a conversation with a group of teenagers heading down to the beach, who told her all about how cool the upcoming fireworks display would be.
Shelley didn’t know how anyone could feel like Rockwell Island wasn’t the best place on earth.
When she first set out to explore this morning, she’d wanted to see if what she was falling in love with had more to do with a certain tall, dark, and super sexy man—or the island itself. Taryn had always been great at playing devil’s advocate, and when Shelley had called her this morning after having breakfast with Quinn, her cousin had suggested that she be sure of her motivations before she rented the cottage.
Now Shelley felt completely certain about what was truly drawing her to Rockwell Island: how warm and welcoming everyone was, along with the stunning location. Quinn was a nice bonus, but he’d been clear about going back to Maryland, and Shelley still wanted to be on the island.
She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as it finally hit her in a big way. I’m moving to Rockwell Island! She couldn’t stop smiling about her big life-changing decision.
And now that she’d made her decision, one hundred percent, she needed to know the name of the bakery where Quinn had bought the delicious croissants they’d had that morning, so that she could talk to the owner about possibly providing baked goods for the café when she moved there.
Realizing she was around the corner from Sierra’s restaurant, she headed inside to see if she was there. Shelley spotted Sierra talking to two guys at the bar. They turned as she approached and she recognized them as Quinn’s father and one of his brothers, although she couldn’t remember which one.
“Hey, Shelley.” Sierra pointed to a stool next to her father. “Have a seat. Quinn swept you away the other day before you had a chance to meet my father, Griffin, and my oldest brother, Trent. This is Shelley Walters, Quinn’s friend.”
“Hi.” Shelley couldn’t get over how attractive Quinn’s entire family was, like they’d walked out of a Beautiful Human factory.
Griffin shook her hand, his smile warm and welcoming. “Hello, Shelley. So nice to meet you.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”
Trent’s handshake was strong and just as warm. “Great to meet you, Shelley. Sierra was just telling us that you’re thinking about bringing your coffee business to the island.”
“I might have gotten a little excited about the idea,” Sierra said with a grin. “I didn’t say you were definitely doing it, though, just thinking about it.”
“Actually,” Shelley said, “I’m really excited about it, too. In fact, I wanted to ask if you might know where Quinn bought me the most delicious chocolate croissants. I’d like to talk to them about possibly providing baked goods for my café here on the island.”
“Wait... Does this mean you’re really doing it?” Sierra’s eyes widened.
“Yes!” Shelley knew she must be beaming, but she couldn’t help it. She was overjoyed with her decision, and Sierra’s excitement made it that much better. “I am.”
“Wow, you have guts. But, of course, I totally get why you’ve fallen in love with this place. I left the island for college, and I couldn’t wait to get back here full-time. I honestly can’t imagine ever living anywhere else.” Sierra touched her father’s hand. “Right, Dad?”
“You are my island girl.” Griffin smiled at his daughter, then turned his attention back to Shelley. “My wife, Abby, mentioned that she’d met you and that she thought you’d looked familiar. Is your given name Rochelle, by any chance?”
Shelley felt her smile fade and her stomach lurch. She didn’t use the name Rochelle except around her parents, who flatly refused to call her Shelley. Just hearing the name made her skin feel like it fit too tightly.
“Yes, it is,” she admitted hesitantly.
She didn’t want to be judged by her family’s wealth—in a good way or a bad way. As an adult, Shelley had made her life what she wanted it to be. She didn’t want to defend it, and she certainly didn’t want to discuss her parents’ diamond business.
Griffin glanced at Trent and Sierra. “Your mother has quite a memory.” He turned back to Shelley. “Abby knew your aunt who lived in Eastham. I’m afraid I don’t recall her name…”
“Marla. Aunt Marla.” She felt the tension ease from her s
houlders and hoped that if the Rockwells were going to judge her at all, they’d do it by her aunt and not her parents.
“Yes, that was it. Abby knew her years ago, and she said she remembered you visiting one summer when she and Marla were taking part in a charity auction together. She said it took her a few hours to put your face and name together with the feisty young girl she remembered.”
“I’m sure I was a handful.”
“Aren’t all kids?” Griffin said. “Oh, and that bakery is called Savory Delights. It’s located one block south from the town center and run by Brandi Marshall. Tell her I said hello.”
“I can walk you over if you’d like,” Trent offered.
Quinn’s family was so kind. Had her parents been interrupted during a family discussion or asked about the name of something as small potatoes as a bakery in town, they would have snubbed their noses in the air and directed her to see their driver for directions. Griffin and Abby had obviously raised their children well, but she didn’t want to drag Trent away from his family.
“Thank you, but I don’t want to pull you away from everyone. I’m sure I’ll be able to find it with no problem.”
A few days ago she was setting out on a solo honeymoon just for the heck of it and now she was ready to change her life, and yet none of the Rockwells seemed to blink an eye at her spontaneity. They truly were a wonderful family.
Sierra came around the bar and hugged her. “I’m so happy that you’re really doing this. If you need help with anything, just let me know. If I don’t know the answer, I’m sure my father or brothers will.”
“Thanks so much, Sierra. It was a pleasure meeting you both,” she said to Trent and Griffin. “Please tell Abby I said hello.”
As she left the restaurant and headed up the road toward the town center, she saw Eleanor standing outside the tourist information building talking with a woman around Shelley’s age.
“Shelley, how’s your vacation going?”
“Just lovely, thank you.” She couldn’t believe Eleanor remembered her name.
