I looked back through the window in the door and saw Mason walking back over, this time, carrying a small chair meant for a student. He plunked it down and took a seat, checking his watch before meeting his gaze with mine.
Mason certainly was persistent. I wasn’t sure what he was doing at the school, but I was definitely enjoying the view. He was going to come over to the house this afternoon before my dinner with Bethany to go over everything since that never happened last night. Maybe he was worried I’d hurt myself on the way back to the house and wanted to escort me there. I tried to hide my smile, but it was pretty much impossible knowing he was on the other side of the door.
The air in the classroom had quickly become stifling since I’d shut the door. The students’ topics were quickly going astray, which was what happened after any length of time on one assignment. I walked over to the stainless steel cabinet and entered in the combination on the lock. We had several iPads ready and waiting. I grabbed one for each group and locked the cabinet back up.
“Okay, it’s a beautiful day out there. Let’s get ourselves outside and finish the assignment in the rare Washington sunshine. Collect your items now so you don’t have to come back in.”
The class’s gleeful eruption of cheers made my heart fill with joy. At least by the end of summer I’d feel happy about where I’d spent my time. The students congregated by the door, and I snaked my way through the crowd with my purse and iPads in hand. I opened the door and made no eye contact with Mason as I led the class into the hall.
“Hey, Mason. What are you doing hanging out in the hall?” Jared asked. He was another one of my students, and he was getting a definite “A” today.
I walked right by Mason and tried not to laugh as another one of my students pointed out the obvious.
“Hey, it’s Mason. Are we on for basketball on Friday?” Brendan asked. “Why are you sitting in a chair in the middle of the hall?”
“I wasn’t expecting anyone to walk by,” Mason grumbled, and I enjoyed every second of his awkward predicament. “And that’s Mr. Rhodes to you.”
“Since when?”
“Since you’re in summer school,” Mason replied.
“Okay. So why are you hanging out in a chair that’s too small in the middle of the hallway, Mr. Rhodes?” Brendan tried again.
God, I loved my students.
“No reason, really,” Mason replied.
“That’s kind of weird,” Brendan laughed.
“Yes, it is,” I called behind me as we made our way to the exit.
I pushed open the doors and the heat from outside washed over me, and I knew I’d made the right decision to get the kids outdoors.
“Okay, let’s go sit on the lawn under the hemlock tree. Should be a good amount of shade.” I walked the class over, and they all began to spread out as I quickly counted the students to make sure no one had slipped out the back entrance, and my heart quickened when I came up short by one. Just as I was about to doubt my judgment on leaving the classroom, the double doors swung open quickly, and Mason walked out with Scott, the missing student, next to him.
Mason was grinning and Scott was scowling as they traipsed down the stairs.
“There you are again,” Brendan teased Mason before eyeing me and then Mason again. “Aww. I see what’s going on.”
“Absolutely nothing,” Mason said, pointing for Scott to take a seat next to Brendan.
“Thank you for that,” I said, handing out the iPads.
“So let’s start with Scott’s group since he seemed the least impressed with this assignment. His three teammates glared at him while he looked at them for help, which they weren’t going to give.
While Scott struggled with the assignment he obviously hadn’t participated in with the rest of the group, I noticed Delilah scoot a little closer to Brendan and he was completely oblivious. I hoped this wouldn’t be the summer of crushed dreams and broken hearts.
“Scott, I don’t like to call students out when it isn’t necessary. It’s not my style and makes me about as uncomfortable as you are right now. So let’s make a pact that as long as you can muster twenty percent more than you’re giving now, I won’t call you out. But if you to try to sneak off again, I’ll write you and anyone else up only because I don’t want one student to ruin it for all of us being able to go off campus for our class. Got it?”
“Got it,” Scott mumbled.
“Great. Okay. Can someone who actually did the work in Scott’s group tell me what you came up with, and we’ll all use our iPads to look up anything we can find surrounding the First Amendment and that band.”
I felt Mason’s gaze on me and it was intense. Really intense, but what struck me more was that he was the only man in my life who took the time to see what it was that made me happy. He was watching me in my element, and for the first time ever, I felt more connected with this stranger than I ever had with my ex-fiancé. And that was a problem. I promised myself that I wouldn’t get involved with any man until I checked some items off my bucket list and that would take years on a teacher’s salary.
As one of the students began listing some of the bands they were interested in, I looked up and my eyes connected with Mason’s, and I knew coming back to the island was either going to be one of the biggest mistakes of my life or one of the best happenstances to fall into my lap in a very long time. But either way, I wasn’t sure I was up for the challenge. In fact, I knew I wasn’t.
Growing up, I never worried about who I’d come to love because above all else in my world, I was in love with my family. I never fantasized about Prince Charming because I assumed—incorrectly—that he’d just appear. So my real love was our family and being with them had made my life complete. I’d never been boy crazy as a teen. I had a crush here or there, but nothing more than a fleeting relationship. I was easily distracted. Maybe it would’ve been better if I had. But regardless, my mother and father’s affection for one another was apparent to me even at a young age. One of my first memories was of our father cradling my mother in his arms, kissing her passionately as the evening sun dipped deep into the sea. I can still hear their friends cheering wildly as my sister and I looked on with a mixture of confusion and admiration.
The party had been a housewarming for this very home, and yet it felt as if it were a celebration of my parents falling in love for the very first time, and they’d already been together for a decade. But that was how they lived their life.
Together.
Full of Bliss.
And deeply, wildly in love.
My sister and I were only four or five, but I remembered it like it was yesterday. Above all, I remembered the sensation of pure love touching every single soul that night. That evening held a feeling I’d never come close to experiencing since.
By the time I’d graduated high school, I’d buried those joyous memories about as deep into my mind as possible. I piled them high with unwanted mistakes and disappointments so I wouldn’t forget what the reality of life was rather than the fantasy of what life would never be. It wasn’t until I sat here in the overgrown garden overlooking the windswept cliff that those memories of my parents came barreling to mind.
And of my sister.
The trace of sorrow filled my lungs as the dull ache of melancholy quickly turned to a sharp pain of longing and grief. It was as if my emotions were invading my body like the tangled morning glories that destroyed my father’s gardens, and here I sat suffocating in the middle of it all. I felt unable to escape, but part of me almost didn’t want to.
This was why I needed to sell this house as quickly as I could. Ever since I got the bid from Mason, I’d been going back and forth over what all I might manage to do on my own to save money and avoid him, but the longer I sat embedded in the weeds of this place, I knew I needed to pay whatever it cost to get out of here once and for all. It was going to be difficult to be distracted by Mason’s good looks and charm, but it was the only way I’d survive the summer. I di
dn’t have enough energy left to be hurt again, especially not now.
It had been over a week since Mason came over and walked through the house and yard with me. When he emailed the estimate, I saw charges for only supplies. There was no labor cost on any one line item he sent over. I thought it was a mistake, but he assured me it was intentional.
In the days since then, I managed to tackle nothing on the list, and now I was sitting on my knees in the middle of the garden with dirt under my nails and the overwhelming feeling of defeat. The house would be fine. It would sell. But I wasn’t sure I’d survive the process and the longer I went without contacting Mason, the worse I felt about even considering taking advantage of his kindness. I was a conflicted mess of emotion and that was a state of mind I’d fought against for years. It was why I left long ago.
I let out a sigh as my fingers slid along the morning glory vine that had strangled the lilies underneath, and I gave it a hard tug, dislodging it from the rocky soil. A piece of root shot into my eye, and I dropped the vine as I attempted to blink out the debris with the flood of tears that came next.
I wiped my hands on my shorts, stood up and inhaled a sniffle before turning around to see Mason’s truck coming down the drive.
Great! I looked like crap and felt dead inside. I was sure I’d be a welcoming hostess.
Without thinking, I rubbed the tears from my eyes, leaving in their place a nasty trail of grime from my fingers. Now my eyes were on fire as they clenched shut in an attempt to dispel the sharp bits of grit. Unable to open my eyes, I began walking in the direction of the house with my arms outstretched until my hands felt the splintered siding.
I was sure I looked like an uncoordinated zombie as I felt my way along the house, trying not to tumble over one of the iron garden markers.
My eyes were tearing nonstop as I used the siding as a guide and attempted to make my way to the front of the house and get inside before he parked and figured out I was a walking disaster.
The truck engine turned off and the door slammed. Since I was blind as a bat, every sound was amplified so when his feet hit the gravel and he started jogging over the rocks, I wasn’t surprised, and I knew there was no hiding the mess I’d become.
“What happened?” Mason asked, the tall grass slapping against his legs as he worked his way over to me.
I stopped walking and was pointed in the direction of his voice.
His really inappropriately sexy voice.
“I’m not exactly sure. I started working in the garden and the next thing I knew, a morning glory attacked me.”
“Sounds serious. Judging by the looks of it, I’d say the morning glory won.”
“The war has only just begun,” I said, trying to open one eye, but the attempt quickly failed once the air hit the eyeball and the lid flapped shut again.
I didn’t even want to imagine what this looked like. At one point today, I had applied mascara and I’d bet it was now streaming down my face too.
“Here, let me help you to the house. You shouldn’t be trying to climb the steps when they’re in such bad condition.”
“Probably still in better condition than me,” I laughed.
“I wasn’t going to come out and say it but yeah… Judging by the looks of things, you could have a point.”
I attempted a playful swing at him and missed, my fist connecting with the house instead. I literally felt the skin peel off my knuckles, and my only reaction was hysterical laughter.
“My God. I think you just sealed your fate.” He didn’t laugh.
“And what is my fate?”
“Me. I’m your fate,” he replied, taking my elbow and leading me through the yard.
“I don’t think that’s how it works.”
“How what works?”
“You can’t claim fate as your own. Fate isn’t a someone, it’s a something, a force that can’t be reckoned with.”
“I’m definitely a force that can’t be reckoned with, baby,” Mason replied.
I couldn’t help but laugh, and I could hear the smile in his voice, the very smile that made me absolutely gaga for him. I tried again to open my eyes to see those lips, but the sting was too intense and the lids clenched right back down again.
Working with him to get the house finished was going to be an excruciating experience.
“Wait until we get inside and rinse your eyes out before you try opening them up again. You might continue to scratch them otherwise...” He stopped walking, which I think meant we were by the steps to the front door.
I heard him test a few steps and slide his shoe along the wood.
“The only dry rot I see is the spot you found last week. Normally, I’d wait ‘til our big day to do this, but judging by the last few minutes, I’m gonna just get you inside safe and sound.”
Before I had a chance to protest, his arms were around me as he effortlessly lifted me and carried me up the steps and over the threshold. I’d long since stopped being embarrassed and was more taken aback by how much I enjoyed being in his embrace.
But that wasn’t what this summer was about.
He set me down in the kitchen and I immediately missed his touch.
Man, I was in rough shape!
He turned on the faucet and gave me some quick instructions about how to angle my eyes under the stream, and I followed his directions. The trickle of water made my eyes feel immensely better as the liquid ran under my lids, washing the dirt away.
“So you haven’t responded to my emails, and I know no other contractors would be able to beat my prices so what’s the real reason for ignoring me?”
I wasn’t prepared for his question and hugging the kitchen counter with my head under the faucet wasn’t really a prime condition for thinking fast on my feet.
“I wasn’t ready to commit,” I mumbled, the water gliding more down my cheek than my eyes.
“Fair enough. But I thought you wanted to get this property on the market? You don’t want to miss the summer selling season on the island…unless you’ve changed your mind.”
“No. No. Definitely have not changed my mind. I’ve tried to weigh the pros and cons. I mean, I could just put it on the market as is.” I spit out the water in the sink that fell into my mouth and cringed at how that must have looked.
But at this point, I doubted it mattered.
“Eyes better?” he asked, handing me a kitchen towel.
I nodded. They felt extremely better. They actually felt like eyes again and not sandpaper. I grabbed the towel and dabbed my face.
“Thanks for your help, again.” I smiled. “I’m going to owe you so much by the time summer is over.”
He shook his head and dropped his gaze. “You won’t owe me a thing.”
“Everything has a price,” I said, without even realizing what actually came out.
“Wow. That’s a jaded way of looking at things.” He waited a few beats before continuing. “But it’s probably pretty accurate.”
His eyes connected with mine, and I felt the same spark I’d felt the first day I met him. The playfulness left his eyes, but I couldn’t tell what had replaced it.
“Anyway, I’m not here to pressure you. I actually wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Okay? Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
The sting from where I’d scraped my knuckles reminded me of what he might have meant and I smiled.
“I don’t know. I get the feeling being back here isn’t easy for you.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked, turning my back to him to avoid looking in his eyes. Flipping on the faucet again, I ran the water over my raw knuckles.
“I honestly don’t know.”
I sucked in a breath as I debated what to say. I didn’t know him enough to confide in him. It wouldn’t be fair to burden someone like that.
“Well, let’s say that while I was weeding the garden, it became apparent that the sooner I can get this place on the market, the better. I was actually going to
give you a call.”
“Before the morning glory attacked?” he teased.
I heard the kindness in his voice and wondered if I could afford the price to be paid to stay the summer on an island I tried so desperately to forget.
“You know, I haven’t ever seen you like this,” Bethany said, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Like what?” I asked, not having a clue what she was referring to.
We were sitting on the deck of Mudflat Tavern. It was a Saturday and the place was packed. Tessa was meeting us for lunch, but Bethany and I secured a table before the boat traffic hit the marina. Like clockwork, people from Seattle always ran their yachts up to the islands on the weekends.
It was just before noon and the sun’s rays were washing over my skin. I’d applied plenty of sunscreen before I’d left the house, but I wasn’t sure it would help avoid the inevitable. With that last thought, I slid the lightweight cardigan back over my shoulders. I didn’t feel like nursing a burn for the next week, and I needed to be in top shape for this afternoon when Mason and I started working on the house. It had been several days since the morning glory attack, and the supplies he’d ordered finally arrived.
Bethany wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes as she examined me. She shook her finger at me and a grin replaced her puzzled expression.
“It’s that guy. The contractor dude.” She nodded her head in a victorious motion, which I immediately had to shoot down.
“There is no dude. Absolutely not. I barely know the guy. And you know the rules I set for myself. I need to get at least twenty percent of my bucket list items checked off before I even look in a man’s direction.”
“From what I remember you telling me, you already had looked in his direction and liked what you saw. So yeah, but how long ago did you make that bucket list of yours and why at your age do you have one? Aren’t we supposed to wait until we hit middle age before we start dreaming that stuff up.”
“I have fifty things on it,” I confessed. “And no. Anyone and everyone should have one so they don’t forget what it is they think they want to do in life.”
Finding Love in Forgotten Cove (Island County Series Book 1) Page 4
