by Meredith, MK
But the more time he’d spent with Larkin, the more important it became that he did right by the property. Even if it wouldn’t be his home anymore.
Anymore.
Was it ever, really?
His grandmother kissed his cheek, the scent of her perfume wrapping around his head, making him think of cookies and scavenger hunts. She’d always made him laugh, made every moment with her special.
She smoothed down her royal blue silk shirt, silver bracelets dangling from her wrists. “What’s going on? Teddy told me you hadn’t put your crew to work yet.”
He loved the way her silver hair caught the sun. It shone every bit as much as her jewelry.
“Grandmother, why didn’t you and Grandfather leave me the Cape?”
Her smile faltered a bit as she took his hand. They walked along the south shore, where a piece of land spread into a small sandbar, then along the sharp rocks jutting out to the sea.
“Where’s this coming from?” she asked.
“When James was out here, he said something about if I was so special, so worthy, why didn’t Grandfather leave me the Cape? Why’d I have to buy it? And to be clear, I don’t mind a single cent I spent. I’m just trying to figure some shit out.”
She sighed. “I’ve tried to protect you, though most of the time, I’ve felt completely helpless.”
“I know. But I couldn’t tell the police. I didn’t trust James not to carry out his threats, and if he’d have ever hurt you, I’d have killed him.”
She reached out and cupped his face. “But it was my job to protect you.”
“You did. As much as I’d let you.”
The waves in the South Cove were choppy, their little white caps riding each wave as it crashed into the rocks below them. Maxine focused on them a moment, then held his gaze once again.
“Well, one way I was able to protect you was by keeping your parents from using you as an adult. Your dad gambled and lost big, then your mother was asking for your contact information in New York, but I’d heard from my girlfriend Marge down in Florida that your mother was looking to buy a house. I couldn’t stand the thought of her asking you for anything. I didn’t want any of it to touch you. So I used what was left of my inheritance from my parents and refinanced the estate and sent her the money.”
The world seemed to tilt then right itself.
“I know the Cape brings terrible memories for you, sweetheart, but it brings a lifetime of beautiful ones to me, and the most precious was the day you were brought home from the hospital. I just knew you’d be my little shadow from day one. Your big brown eyes locked on mine like we’d already met.”
Tears welled above her lower lashes but she blinked them back. “You were always supposed to get the Cape. It was always for you. Grandfather wanted it more than anything, but we no longer owned it outright and I had to sell it in order to move.”
She stepped in front of him and he stopped walking. “You are our pride, our love, our joy. You’ve always been enough. Been worthy. You have to stop letting your father’s hurtful words affect you. He’s damaged and can’t seem to stop himself from trying to destroy the only good thing he’s done in his life.”
She grabbed his hand and held it to her heart. “But it’s time for you to move on, my sweet. Your father may not have appreciated you, but you mean the absolute world to me and to your grandfather. And this land—” She waved her arm out, rings sparkling in the afternoon sun “—is where we made our very best memories with you. The lighthouse, the bees, our scavenger hunts, and you always sneaking around when I had the Mavens over for our late-night moonshine.”
He chuckled. “You knew?”
“I did.” She nodded. “But I knew we made you feel safe.”
He dipped his chin. “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, Grandmother.” Fool didn’t even begin to explain how he felt. He was three times the woman’s size but when he was with her it was as if he was the scared little boy or the angry teenager.
“You love her. I knew you would.” She placed her hand over his heart.
He frowned. “I ruined everything. But even if I hadn’t, she’s stuck in her past. I understand it but I can never compete with it. Besides, it’s not like I’ve got my shit together either. I don’t want to hurt her any more than I already have.”
Maxine put her hands on her hips. “Bullshit.”
He raised a brow with a chuckle. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. When are all the excuses going to stop? She may be living in her past, but you’re running from yours. When both of you should wake the hell up and see the beautiful gift that is right in front of you…right now.”
But the truth was, as much as he didn’t want to hurt Larkin, he didn’t want to be hurt. He was tired of running from his pain only to find more. When she told him there was nothing left for her on the Cape, it was if she’d sliced him in half. He wasn’t enough to make her stay.
Walking alongside his grandmother, he imagined his community thriving. Children running between houses, cars in the driveways, maybe couples fishing along the north shore. But something kept snagging.
It would be too crowded. You’d never really see the children running or anyone fishing because the rows of houses would block the view. As it was, his plan required thinning of the trees and relocation of the beehives.
They rounded the rubble of the well and Maxine averted her gaze.
“I never meant for that to happen.”
She grabbed his hand and patted it. “I know you didn’t. Listen, I’m meeting Teddy at Van Buren Boat Club to take the boat out. Thank you for the work you did. Grandfather’s boat is gleaming.”
He dipped his chin. “Happy to help.”
“I’m glad you’re home, however long that may be.”
He stood staring down the drive long after her car disappeared into the trees. He struggled with the peace that filled his chest at her words. But there was still a hole burning in his gut.
No, that wasn’t right, not still, but rather a new one. Left by a certain green-eyed temptress with her honey locks and silky skin.
He kicked a piece of brick, and it skipped along the top of the pile, rolling to a stop next to the sections of Archer’s handprints. He stared at the indention hard as he rounded the pile.
Life was a puzzle. He finally found the woman who made him feel whole and good and worthy, but he’d wanted her to leave her past and join him in the future, not appreciating how excruciating the journey could be. How could he expect her to relinquish all her pain and move on with him when he had such difficulty doing the same?
What he did know was that he could no longer imagine moving forward without her.
Squatting next to the brick, he carefully moved the pieces around until he’d collected all of Archer’s hand prints.
An idea flickered and grew bright like the glow from Cape Van Buren’s lighthouse.
The answer to life’s puzzle was simple.
Now he just had to hope Larkin could see it.
Chapter 18
A few days had floated by, leaving Larkin with a bit of clarity and a lot of resolve. She had to apologize to Ryker and let go of the Cape once and for all. It had been all she could hold on to until she was ready to hold on to herself.
She was finally ready.
Time to reboot and make plans with Claire and Blayne for the outreach. But first, she’d apologize and drop off her freshly baked blueberry pie. She lifted her chin a notch as she drove over the bridge, then turned onto North Cove Ave. toward town. There would always be reminders of Archer all around Cape Van Buren that were both good and bad. Being able to handle each one was part of moving forward, and it was time she upheld her promise to her little boy. It was time to start living again.
As she approached the entrance gate to the Cape, she slowed down for the turn and braced herself. Facing the man she loved and letting him go wasn’t any easier than releasing the Cape itself. Not seeing his intense dark gaze or feeli
ng the strength of his broad hands would be torture. One she’d have to work on being able to endure.
She glanced up at the sign, ready to see the familiar letters that spelled out Cape Van Buren est. 1879, and hit the brakes. Dirt and gravel flew up around the front of her car, leaving a cloud of dust floating toward the sun.
She stared at the words, a wash of emotion overwhelming her breath. Her heart slammed hard and fast against her ribs as she pushed open the car door and slid from the seat. Her mind couldn’t make sense of what she was reading.
The Archer Conservation Park of Cape Van Buren
~ the answer to life’s puzzle is love ~
Her heart squeezed and her fingers flew to her locket as she tried to reconcile the sign with the reality of the week. Then she looked closer. Below the words were hand prints. Ryker’s prints were the base, with her prints within his, and then…tears welled, spilling onto her cheeks, and she pulled in a shaky breath.
Inside her prints were Archer’s, pieced together like the puzzles he loved so much.
She covered her mouth with a shaky hand and tried to swallow.
Beneath the sign, the gate opened slow and steady with its accompanying squeak and groan, revealing Ryker, Blayne, Claire, Maxine, Mitch, and her parents.
“Daddy?” she called out, confused. He waved, sporting the steady grin she grew up counting on.
They all walked toward her, love shining from their eyes, and something else.
Something that looked a lot like hope.
“I don’t understand,” she said shaking her head and pointing at her son’s name in the large sign.
Ryker stood before her, his dark eyes holding hers with determination. Her heart soared at the sight of him, as if it was finally able to pump again. He looked bigger, broader, and more ruggedly handsome than ever. She blinked to clear her head and steady her resolve.
“I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for her then letting his hand drop to his side.
“No. I am. I was coming to apologize. I brought you pie.” She finished weakly.
His lips pulled up at the corners, shifting the scruff that covered his jaw. She wanted to run her fingers over it to feel the stubble against her skin. She wanted him to hold her and make all the pain go away.
“You and your gifts.” He studied her. “This time you’re delivering it instead of your signature drop and dash?”
Heat rose in her cheeks. She’d been hiding from herself, from life for so long; she hadn’t noticed just how much she’d been avoiding real moments.
He cleared his throat and it sounded like gravel falling over itself. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. I was stubborn and closed-minded and in the end, reckless. I never meant for the well to be damaged. I was so blinded by my own baggage that I couldn’t see beyond it. I couldn’t see you. Not the way I can now.”
She swallowed hard past all the words that came rushing out. “I was no better. I pushed and pushed for you to see things my way to save the memories of my little boy.” Looking around at her family and friends, she closed her eyes then found his again. “When you were trying to heal the memories of the little boy you used to be.” She smiled with a small shake of her head. “I didn’t see you either.”
He clasped her hands and she stared at how easily hers disappeared. Her heart settled in her chest. She was home.
This was living.
Ryker, her friends, her family. She didn’t need the Cape, she just needed them. Archer was reflected in each and every one of their gazes.
She swallowed hard, afraid to look away, afraid to breathe.
“I’m so sorry for the awful things I said to you. They were unforgivable and unkind,” she said brokenly.
He slid his hands up her arms, pulling her closer to him. “As hard as it was to hear, I needed to hear it. A wake-up call to quit living in the past. I wish it wouldn’t have taken the destruction of the well to make me listen. No apology can fix that but I want to try.”
She sunk into his chest, taking comfort in his masculine scent. “So you forgive me then?”
A soft chuckle rumbled against her cheek. “I think we’ve easily established that it’s you who I hope will forgive me.”
All their pain and fears and worries seemed to float about them, waiting to be empowered or rendered useless through a sweeping release.
It was time to let go.
Time to move ahead.
And time to forgive.
“I do.”
Every muscle in his body tensed against her and he leaned back to look into her eyes. “You do?” Yearning shone from his like a wavering olive branch.
She nodded not trusting herself to speak.
“You and I make a great team. Over these past few weeks we’ve proven that time and again.” With a gentle finger, he lifted her chin. “I’m not developing the Cape, cupcake.”
She froze, hope and disbelief constricting her throat.
“What do you mean?” she whispered. “What about the community? Your plans?”
“I found a better one. Someone once told me that this land held a multitude of rare animals and plants. Then Claire and Blayne filled me in on your plans for the outreach community center. I figured my best investment would be in us. You and me. The Cape. This town.”
He turned her to face the sign. “I’m taking advantage of a conservation easement.”
Her heart fluttered in her chest like a butterfly with new wings.
“I can live on the estate while preserving the plants and wildlife.”
She ran her gaze over his face. His eyes were intense with possibility, his brows furrowed with intent.
He reached for her. “We can work out a business plan for the community center, something that really reflects all the lessons Archer taught us.”
Her lips trembled on a smile and she took his hand
“Remember I told you my grandfather used to tell me to be silent to hear true wisdom? I finally listened. The true value of my future isn’t the money I make or destroying my memories, but having you by my side. We haven’t known each other long. But I know you’re mine, cupcake. And I’m yours. We can take as long as you need, but tell me you’ll stay,” he demanded. Then cleared his throat. “Please.”
She looked at the hopeful faces of her parents, Maxine, and the girls. Even Mitch was hanging on every word, which made her smile. “You all knew about this?”
She couldn’t believe any of this was happening. All morning she’d prepared herself to let go and now he was asking her to grab on. The difference was what she’d be holding on to.
Blayne stepped forward. “I had to tell him your plan. Give him a chance not to be an ass.” She blew Ryker a kiss.
Then Claire joined her. “You got me bought into this plan. I wasn’t about to let it all go to the wayside because the two of you were too stubborn to see you’re made for each other. This is your second chance, Larkin. Don’t pass it up. They don’t always come.” She grabbed Larkin’s hand and squeezed. “By the way, you still owe me a bottle of moonshine.”
Larkin bit her lip, sending a wary look toward Maxine’s smiling face.
A breeze whispered through the trees and in the distance the melody of the Cape’s wind chimes sang as familiar as Archer’s laughter. A great rush of love and hope and happiness filled her chest and she threw herself into Ryker’s arms.
“I never thought I’d love again or feel the lightness that comes with being happy. But with you I feel lighter, like anything is possible.”
He buried his face in her neck. “No one understands that better than I do, cupcake. I figured I was too broken to be loved, but with you I feel like it just might be possible. You give me a peace I’ve never known before.”
He gently fisted his hand in her hair and held her gaze. “I love you, Larkin. And that is the answer to everything.
Happiness bubbled through her chest. “I love you, too.”
He froze at her words then without warning swept her up in
his arms and captured her mouth in a hot, searing kiss full of moonlit promises and early morning secrets. Life with this man would never be dull.
“I’ve been dying without you. I can’t wait to feel you, to taste you,” he growled for her ears only.
Her heart skipped a beat as her body warmed to the idea immediately. She loved the heat of his touch, the sound of his voice, the way he hid a heart of gold behind his grumpy scowl. But even more, she loved being truly and deeply loved.
She’d been afraid to open up, afraid to move ahead as if it would be moving away from Archer, when all along, moving ahead honored her little boy’s memory and kept him alive with every breath she took, every smile she gave, every day she lived.
She and Ryker could use their past to enrich their future.
She’d found an extraordinary peace in her puzzle.
Love fit perfectly…every time…on the Cape.
Epilogue
Six months later…
Larkin looked out over the crowd at Cape Van Buren Square with her heart so close to bursting she could barely breathe. It was time for the annual Fountain of Youth Festival, its amazing food and extraordinary live music marking the one hundred and thirty-eighth year since the healing waters had been discovered. She’d organized the event, and if her eyes didn’t lie, the whole town had shown up.
Grateful was an understatement compared to what she was feeling, especially since it would be the last event she’d be in charge of for a while.
Ryker’s warm hand slid under the open flap of her long puff coat and rubbed the steadily growing mound of her belly.
“How’s our mini-cupcake?” His whisper in her ear sent a thrill down her spine. Would she ever get used to the rush of sensations and emotions the man evoked in her?
She sure as hell hoped not.
“I haven’t thrown up for a whole fifteen minutes,” she returned with a haughty raise of her brow.
He chuckled, his dark eyes dancing with a lightness that was new. “That’s progress then.”
