Second Chance Summer

by Jennifer Perkins

  Table of Contents

  A letter from Roxanne St. Claire

  Also available by Jennifer Perkins

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  A message from Jennifer Perkins

  ~ A letter from Roxanne St. Claire ~

  Text copyright ©2017 by the Author.

  This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Roxanne St. Claire. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Barefoot Bay remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Roxanne St. Claire, or their affiliates or licensors.

  For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds

  Second Chance Summer

  A Barefoot Bay Kindle World Romance

  by

  Jennifer Perkins

  Table of Contents

  A letter from Roxanne St. Claire

  Also available by Jennifer Perkins

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  A message from Jennifer Perkins

  ~ A letter from Roxanne St. Claire ~

  Welcome to Barefoot Bay Kindle World, a place for authors to write their own stories set in the tropical paradise that I created! For these books, I have only provided the setting of Mimosa Key and a cast of characters from my popular Barefoot Bay series. That’s it! I haven’t contributed to the plotting, writing, or editing of Second Chance Summer. This book is entirely the work of Jennifer Perkins, an author who is making her second trip back to Barefoot Bay.

  Jennifer has penned one of my favorite storylines—the “coming home” romance that forces the hero and heroine to face their past before they can have a future. Kick off your shoes and enjoy the ride while these two special characters take a second chance on love.

  Roxanne St. Claire

  PS. If you’re interested in the rest of the Barefoot Bay Kindle World novels, or would like to explore the possibility of writing your own book set in my world, visit www.roxannestclaire.com for details!

  Also available by Jennifer Perkins

  Forever Yours

  a Barefoot Bay kindle world romance

  Daring Return

  a Dare To Love kindle world romance

  About the Book

  Sometimes all love needs is a second chance.

  Mia Duncan

  As the benefactor of her aunt’s cottage, Mia Duncan returned to Mimosa Key to refurbish it and make it her home. The last person she expected to run into was her sexy ex-boyfriend Scott Chase. Seeing him brings back memories she’d rather forget. Does she dare open her heart again and take a chance that this time he won’t break it for good?

  Scott Chase

  Working for his father’s construction company, Scott was happy to have been hired to renovate a cottage on Pleasure Point Beach. When he finds out it’s the home of his former girlfriend, his hormones swim into overdrive. He works to keep his mind on the job and rekindle their relationship, until the reason Mia left the first time shows up a second time.

  Dedication

  To my husband, Dan, and my children, Jennifer and Michael. You’ve helped me make my dreams come true and your encouragement has helped me believe in the forever after’s of the world.

  Acknowledgements

  I wanted to take the time to thank everyone who encouraged and cheered me along this journey.

  I’m grateful for my husband Dan, my children, Jennifer and Michael, and my mom. You continue to believe in me and have supported me every step of the way.

  Can I fangirl for a moment here? Yes! I owe so much to author Roxanne St. Clair for allowing me to join her and letting me share my story in another launch of her Barefoot Bay world.

  To the team that helped make this happen, Editor Joanne LaRue Thompson, cover designer EarthlyCharms.com, and interior formatting by Amy Atwell of Author E.M.S.

  To my earliest readers, Jennifer Corcoran and Author Kerri Ford.

  And, as always—to my readers. I’m blessed you’ve chosen to join me on this wonderful adventure.

  XOX

  ONE

  “I thought stalking was against the law?”

  Perched in a chair on the second floor balcony of her beach house, Mia Duncan looked up from her binoculars toward her best friend, Krista Weber. “Technically, I’m not stalking, I’m enjoying the view.” Adjusting the lenses to focus on the male swimmers at another part of the rocky shoreline, Mia imagined which one she’d like to be rescued by if she were in the water. “Besides, aren’t you the one who suggested I get a hobby?”

  “Stalking isn’t a hobby,” Krista said. “I was thinking more like stamp collecting, or painting, or I don’t know, shopping!”

  “Shopping’s not a hobby.” Mia said. “It’s therapy.”

  “Well, I’ve seen you with the binoculars wrapped around your neck since I’ve been here, so I’m thinking you need a lot of therapy. Besides, you’re the one who called me to help you decorate the guest room.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I was…distracted.” With Krista following, Mia walked back into the second floor bedroom, leaving the slider to the deck open to welcome the warm breeze, placing the binoculars on the nightstand. Everyone knew that Mia needed to get away from life on Mimosa Key, where her last relationships ended in disaster, mostly due to her own fault. But after two years, she was ready to come back, ready for a new adventure, and maybe ready to try to find love again.

  After her parents’ ruinous divorce, where she’d been shuttled between homes too often to make genuine friendships, she’d started to blame everyone around her for her lack of trust. Her friend, Krista, another subject of an ugly family divorce, seemed to understand what she’d gone through.

  “Okay. So, how about this?” Krista leaned an orange and bright yellow surfboard against the wall. “My stepdad knows a carpenter who can reconfigure this board into a standing lamp, if you want to use it by the desk. Or, if you don’t like that idea, maybe he can transform it into, I don’t know, part of a headboard? What do you think?”

  “What? Oh, could you say that again?” Mia bit her lip and then smiled at Krista. “I really wasn’t listening.”

  “Okay. You know what? I’m done here.” Krista headed for the door. “I’ll come back some other time.”

  “No. Wait. What do you think about this?” Mia picked up two golf clubs and held them against the wall next to the sliders. “How about if I crisscross these and hang them here? It’ll give the room a country club look.”

  “Country club?” Krista stood with her arms crossed. “You said you wanted a beachy theme. Really. What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know.” Mia dropped the clubs and threw herself on the bed. She didn’t want to tell her best friend that this was the island where her last relationship ended. She didn’t want to admit she’d felt like a failure at relationships. Mia was embarrassed that she’d accused Scott, her ex-boyfriend, of cheating on her and didn’t give him a chance to explain. That was the reason for her two-year absence. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just missing something, maybe, unique for the house,” she said to get her mind off of her ex-boy
friend.

  “Maybe you’re just missing some fun in your life. How about we go to the beach? I’m sure the sea of hot guys can take your mind off the thing you’re missing.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Okay. How about we redecorate while you think about what you’re missing?”

  “Fine.” Mia sat up and looked around the room. The walls were a pale yellow with white trim, a medium grey area rug covered the wood floors, a white desk in one corner of the room, and several beach scenes were set aside against a wall. Flopping on her bed, “I can’t,” she moaned.

  “Now what?”

  “It’s just that this is—was, my aunt’s home. I feel like I’m imposing.”

  “But, didn’t you say you took over the mortgage payments?” Krista sat next to her on the bed. “You told me your brother, Jacob, didn’t want it. As I recall, he didn’t want to deal with a beach cottage that needed work, and your mom couldn’t really afford a second home.”

  “I know. I kinda feel funny redecorating it since my aunt moved into a nursing home after my mom went to live with Doug last year.” It’d been a year almost to the day when Mia’s mother vacationed in Las Vegas with her boyfriend and decided a quick wedding would be one of those fun impulse decisions. It turned out to be legal, but the impromptu wedding took a toll on the family, especially when Doug started to use her mother’s money to hire various handymen to work on the cottage. And it wasn’t even his.

  At her aunt’s suggestion, since Mia was single and didn’t have any other obligations, she should take over the mortgage payments on the beach home and update the house to make it her own. She jumped at the chance to own it since the beach house was full of some good memories, but she still felt as though it wasn’t truly hers. As the CEO of her own startup software company, and finally getting a handle on her debt load with the help of a bank loan, Mia still had self-doubt about being able to handle the home, and this left her feeling anxious.

  “I guess I was hoping my aunt would be able to come back and use it, so…” Mia said. She suddenly stood up. A hum vibrated near the open sliders. “Listen. Do you hear that noise? That low humming sound.”

  Krista nodded and quietly walked over and stood next to her. “You don’t have a nest of bees, do you?”

  “I don’t think bees make that sound.” Mia picked up the golf clubs and weighed them carefully in her hands. She chose the driver and held it tight against her chest.

  Maximum damage.

  She walked toward the sliders with Krista hovering behind her. “I think it’s coming from outside.”

  Standing beside the open doors, Mia saw the wind blow the light yellow and grey gauzy curtains aside almost showing an unobstructed view onto the deck. Any other time, she would welcome the open doors and the sun that lit up the room. Now, however, without knowing what they were hearing, it left her a little unnerved.

  “I don’t see anyone,” Mia said. “Maybe I should close the doors.”

  “I’m telling you, its bees. They’re swarming. And if they’re carpenter bees, you’ll have them burrowing in your walls.”

  Mia scrunched her nose at Krista before looking again past the curtains. “That’s not a sound bees make.”

  “Maybe you sprung a leak somewhere. Didn’t you tell me the plumbing was old and needed immediate attention? And what about the electricity? Didn’t you say it was—”

  “Okay, okay,” Mia interrupted. “So. The house needs a little work, but that sound isn’t a leak and it’s not bees. Besides, my dad hired a handyman to fix a few things before I got here so it would be safe.” The low hum became louder and sounded closer. Mia tightened her grip on the driver before peeking around the door. She jumped back having caught sight of a hovering grey object. “You have got to be kidding me!”

  “What? What do you see? Is it a swarm?”

  “It’s a drone.”

  “What? Are you sure?”

  With Krista looking out from the doorway, Mia stepped out onto the deck and, exhibiting the steady form of a professional athlete, she aimed the club and swung. Direct hit.

  Pieces of debris, plastic and metal, flew from the drone and were sprinkled around their feet. The machine itself sputtered and then spiraled down. They rushed to the handrail and looked below and saw a crumbled piece of plastic adorning a spot on the back lawn near the gravel driveway.

  “Wow. Nice birdie. Maybe you have a stalker,” Krista said. She helped Mia sweep up the pieces from the deck and placed them in the trash can. “Okay, I’m done here.”

  “What? Wait! Don’t you want to go with me to find out whose drone that belongs to? Aren’t you even curious?” Mia followed Krista down to the first floor.

  “Sure I’m curious. But it’s not my problem, and besides, if you do have a stalker, I don’t want to meet them,” Krista said before she walked out the front door.

  “I might not,” Mia said. Although, she knew her best friend was right. As though it were juicy gossip, she’d try to find out who owned the drone and find out why it flew over her house.

  “Let me know when you decide to really redecorate your house,” Krista called back. “I’ll help when you’re serious about it.”

  Raking a hand through her short, ginger-brown hair, Mia looked back at the living room. It was comfortable in style with its grey walls, beige carpeting, and a mix of rattan and upholstered furniture. Although it wasn’t the chic, contemporary flair of the Connecticut home in which she’d been raised, this cottage felt like her mother’s home. Comfortable and inviting, and with a lot of work to be done. Some other time. Right now, Mia was determined to find out where the drone came from and why it was flying over her deck.

  She closed the front door behind her and ran to greet the mailman who was headed her way. A regular carrier on Mimosa Key, he had grown up on the island and always greeted everyone with a smile. “Hey, Jim. Anything good for me today?”

  “Looks like bills and a grocery ad.”

  “I’ll keep the ad if you’ll keep the bills,” she laughed.

  “Maybe if I win the lottery.” He handed her the stack he had sorted, and smiled. “Have a good day, Mia.”

  She looked through her stack as he headed to the next house. Yup, bills and an ad. Well, the bank and utility companies didn’t waste any time letting her know who ruled her life. Fanning her face to get a little relief from the sun and the ninety degrees today would bring, she headed toward the back of the house.

  Where is it? Mia remembered seeing the drone land near the gravel section of her driveway, but it wasn’t there. She used the mail to shield her eyes from the sun and looked up to where she’d previously stood on the deck. Tracing the path with her eyes to where the drone should have landed, she didn’t see any indication that it had fallen in her yard. She scratched her head and then heard a familiar sound coming from the rocky beach.

  Mia walked to where her neighbor, Diana Tidlund, sat with her Pomeranian dog, Taco. “Hi Diana.”

  Taco jumped up to greet Mia. “Hey, boy, remember me?” It’d been a while since she’d seen Diana and she remembered that Diana liked to walk her dog this time every day.

  “Hi, Mia. It’s so nice to see you again. How’s your family? Did I hear that your mother’s remarried?”

  “Yes. She got married last year in Vegas. I was told it was a nice ceremony, and everyone’s doing fine, thanks.”

  “Please tell her we’re thinking about her. I was going to give her a call this week. Maybe she’ll be able to make it to the island in the near future.”

  “Thank you. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you and to tell you all about the ceremony.” Mia’s mother had only told close friends about her wedding, and that she’d let Mia take over the cottage, but no one knew any specific details and Mia knew it wasn’t her place to give out any information.

  “Taco and I thought we’d enjoy the sun and just watch some of the volleyball players at the shore.” Diana pointed to a group of people a little wa
ys down the rocky beach.

  “It looks like fun. Hey, I was wondering if you saw anyone flying a drone around here.”

  “A drone? No,” She said shaking her head. She then pointed toward a couple of kids flying a kite. “Maybe someone in that group has one.”

  Mia considered it, but the group seemed too far down the beach to have flown anything near her house. “I’m not sure they’d have enough time to fly a drone up here, just to run back down to the beach and fly a kite.”

  “If you want one, they’re all over. I’m sure you can find one on the internet.”

  “No. Someone flew one above my deck and it crashed, so I thought I’d bring it to the owner.” Mia wasn’t about to go into detail as to how it crashed. “But now I can’t seem to find it and I don’t know who would have taken it.”

  “Hmm. I haven’t seen anyone come by here. Are you sure it was a drone that you saw?”

  Thinking about the small parts that she and Krista swept into the trash can, Mia nodded. Then Taco started to bark and run back and forth from Diana to Mia, before barking at a couple of white ibis.

  “Okay, Taco.” Diana scratched Taco’s head and neck. “I know, I know. You want to chase those birds, don’t you?” She looked at her watch and then turned to Mia, “I’m going to walk Taco a bit more, if you wanted to go with us down the beach. We can stop and ask those kids, flying their kite, about the drone.”

  “No, thank you. I really don’t think it was them. I guess it’s possible it didn’t actually land in my yard.” Although, Mia doubted herself as soon as she said those words. She reached down to pet Taco one last time, and watched Diana walk him down the beach. Mia turned and headed toward her cottage, glancing at Diana’s house next door. The contrast was stunning. Both homes were built around the same time and yet Mia’s looked a lot older, since her aunt mistakenly decided long ago, that not updating it added to the charm.