Nantucket Romance 3-in-1 Bundle

by Denise Hunter

  Inside, she gestured him toward the sofa. She scanned the tiny, simple living room, seeing it through his eyes. It was a far cry from his contemporary city apartment. Bo appeared at his side, and Bryan inched away, but the dog only sniffed Bryan’s shoe before following Kate to the recliner across the room.

  “I’m sorry it got leaked.” Bryan planted his elbows on his knees. “I’m sorry about the interview on TV. It must’ve been very uncomfortable for you.”

  Uncomfortable is hardly the word. “Your girlfriend must be having a field day.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend. It was a big mistake. She was a big mistake.”

  Kate felt weary suddenly, like her bones might melt into the chair. “Let’s not go through this again, Bryan. What’s done is done. The main thing is that you can’t talk to the press. You haven’t, have you?”

  “Of course not. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

  He had some nerve acting as if he’d never hurt her. Kate stared him down until he looked away. “If anyone questions you, just say ‘No comment,’ okay?”

  “Of course. I’ll do whatever you want. I owe you that. I owe you so much more than that.” His baby blue eyes shone under the lamplight. She’d once thought them beautiful, too pretty to be wasted on a man. Now they were a thin, cool sheet of ice, ready to crack under pressure.

  “I know this is bad,” Bryan said, “Our personal business all over the news, your career—jeopardized. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Kate.”

  His apology was sincere, his regret legitimate. Unfortunately it changed nothing.

  But anger was futile. And even though he’d backed out of their wedding, it had been her decision to marry Lucas.

  “What are you going to do now?” Bryan asked. “Can I help in any way?”

  Kate shook her head. “I’m just going to hole up somewhere. My dad invited me to stay with him awhile, so I might do that. I need time for this to blow over, and time to rethink my career, if need be.”

  Two notches formed between Bryan’s brows, and he shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs. “But what about—”

  Kate realized her mistake too late. The public—and Bryan—didn’t know the particulars of her and Lucas’s arrangement. She’d never told Bryan the marriage wasn’t a real one.

  “Your marriage,” he said. “It was just temporary? You’re leaving him?” The hope in his voice was a warning siren.

  A sick feeling worked its way into her middle, churning her stomach the way the wind churned the waves outside. “I’m going to visit my dad for a while, that’s all.”

  His eyes narrowed. “It was temporary from the beginning, wasn’t it? You never had feelings for him, never planned to stay married. It was just . . . a way out of the mess I put you in.”

  There was a certainty in his tone, and Kate knew she wasn’t going to erase that. He won’t alert the media, so what harm is there if he knows?

  “Yes, it was temporary, all right?” she said. “But that’s between you and me, and if you say one word to the press—”

  Bryan extended his hands palm out. “I swear, I won’t.” He stood and crossed the rug, closing the space between them, dropping to his knees at her feet.

  “Kate, do you know what this means to me?” He took her hands, pressing them between his own. The coolness of his palms, the shape of his fingers felt foreign against hers.

  She pulled away. “It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t change anything.”

  “You need to get away. Come with me. We can stay at my place in Aspen. I’ll take a leave of absence. You can figure out where to go from there.”

  Kate pressed her back into the cushion. “No, Bryan. It’s over between us.” She knew as the words left her mouth that she meant them now as she never had. There was nothing left, no feelings for him.

  Because they’ve been replaced by feelings for Lucas. Kate shrugged the thought away.

  “You don’t mean that. Just think. We could move anywhere you want. You could open a counseling service like you did here. We could have a fresh start.”

  The thought of starting over was tempting compared to the months of uncertainty she faced, but she knew it was implausible. She was about to say so when the front door opened.

  Somehow she’d missed the rattle of Lucas’s truck arriving. He stopped on the threshold, his hand on the doorknob. His gaze darted between Kate and Bryan. She imagined the scene from Lucas’s perspective and cringed.

  Lucas’s heart stuttered at the sight of Kate and Bryan. He’d thought the unfamiliar car might belong to some nosy reporter and charged up the porch steps ready to confront the jerk who’d had the nerve to show up on their doorstep.

  But it wasn’t some reporter who knelt on the floor at his wife’s feet. It was her ex-fiancé. The look of shock on Kate’s face at his entry would have been comical if it weren’t plain hurtful.

  His hands balls into fists. “What are you doing here, Montgomery?”

  Bryan stood slowly, blocking Lucas’s view of Kate as if to guard her. What a joke. It was Bryan she needed protection from.

  “Knock off the doting husband charade. I know the truth.”

  Kate stood, and Lucas’s eyes went to hers. He saw guilt there. And something else, before her gaze dropped to the floor. It was enough to shake his confidence.

  Lucas took a step closer to Bryan, wanting to beat the smug expression off his face. “Get out of my house.”

  “Not without Kate.”

  “Stop it, Bryan,” Kate said. “You should go.” She grabbed his arm, but Bryan didn’t budge. Kate’s hand trembled.

  “You heard her,” Lucas said. “Get lost.”

  Bryan turned to Kate and touched her arm. Lucas wanted to grab him by the collar and haul him out the door. He ground his teeth together instead. Did Kate want to go with Bryan? Is that why she regretted the night before? She’d apparently told Bryan their marriage was a sham. Why would she have done that unless—

  “Come with me, Kate,” Bryan said. He added something else, too softly for Lucas to hear.

  Kate shook his hand loose. “No.”

  Bryan whispered something. He took Kate’s face in his hands.

  Something red and hot spread through Lucas. He surged forward. “Get your hands off my wife.” He grabbed Bryan’s fancy shirt and shoved him toward the door. Lucas had five inches and forty pounds on him, and Bryan knew it.

  Bryan caught his balance in front of the doorway, smoothing his sleeves, regaining his composure. He nailed Lucas with a glare. “She’s not your wife, friend. She’s just playing house with you.”

  Being alone is preferable to being in an

  unsuitable relationship. If you find your-

  self in the latter, it’s best to cut your

  losses’the sooner the better.

  —Excerpt from Finding

  Mr. Right-for-You

  by Dr. Kate

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  If Bryan hadn’t left on his own, Kate would have shoved him out the door after the way he’d spoken to Lucas. She wanted to soothe the hurt from Lucas’s face with a well-placed kiss, but the anger lining his stubborn jaw stopped the thought as it materialized.

  Lucas exited the room, leaving her to wonder what he was thinking. She heard him open a cabinet, remove something. The cabinet door slammed shut. Then she heard the pouring of coffee and the sound of the pot clanking back into its cubby.

  Kate didn’t know whether to follow him or not. Clearly they had a lot to discuss. He must be wondering what Bryan was doing there. He must be wondering what she was going to do.

  Kate checked her watch. They were due at his parents’ in an hour. How will I face them? How can I tell these people who’ve become my family that I’m leaving?

  How can I tell Lucas I’m leaving? But then, he must know there was nothing holding her here now.

  Except what had happened the night before.

  Kate peered out the living room window. The wind wrestled wit
h the leaves. They were already beginning to turn. Fall had arrived, and changes were in progress. The warm summer days were gone, and the cooler autumn days would usher in the frigid winter.

  She’d never enjoyed winter on the island. With the winds blowing in off the ocean, it was impossible to keep a warm house. She mentally put another check in the pro column for visiting her dad in Maryland. There were many checks in the column already. Increasingly, she felt the need to escape. And soon.

  Lucas’s sandals shuffled to a stop somewhere behind her. His presence pulled her shoulder muscles tight, pushed the air from her lungs.

  “Did you ask him to come?” Lucas said.

  Kate pivoted. “No.” She hated that he thought it. Did he think last night meant nothing? She wouldn’t have slept with him if she were in love with Bryan. Surely he knows that.

  Lucas took a sip of his coffee from the oversized Nantucket mug. It looked small in his hands.

  Kate had to tell him what she’d decided, but getting the words out was harder than she imagined. Strange, when I planned to leave him all along. When he’d planned for her to leave all along. It shouldn’t come as any surprise now that there was no point in her staying.

  Except for your feelings.

  She brushed the thought away, zooming in on the logical reasons that had added checks to her pro column.

  “We need to talk,” she said. It was a start. A slow one, maybe, but easing into it seemed kinder.

  “Go ahead.” He held the mug in front of him, a fragile barrier between them. His feet were braced as if for a blow.

  She hated that she would deliver it. “I’m leaving the island.” She measured his reaction and came away with nothing. “Now that the word is out about . . . our marriage, there’s no reason for me to stay.”

  Kate chest pounded with the force of her heartbeats, walloping her ribs like a prizefighter. She waited for his response—and got nothing but silence.

  “I need to get away.” She filled the gap. “I’m too accessible here, anyway, to the press. I think if I go away somewhere, this will die down more quickly.”

  It occurred to her that she was leaving Lucas to deal with the press, with all the locals and their questioning glances. She was sorry for that, but staying wouldn’t make it easier. People would talk even if she stayed.

  She wished she could interpret his expression, but the light from the kitchen silhouetted him. She kept talking. “If there’s nothing left of my career when this is over, maybe I can open another counseling service.” She tried to sound upbeat, but the words fell flat. She imagined driving away, leaving Lucas behind. Never seeing him again. Her throat closed off.

  “Are you going back to him?”

  It took Kate a moment to realize what Lucas was asking. “No.” She shook her head emphatically. “Bryan is—It’s over between us.” Hadn’t Lucas heard her telling Bryan to leave?

  “He doesn’t seem to think so.”

  “I don’t have feelings for him anymore. I wouldn’t have—” Slept with you if I did. If she finished the thought, it would raise the subject she wanted to avoid.

  “Wouldn’t have . . . ?”

  Her mind went back to the night before, returning like a de- hydrated woman to a spring of fresh water. Kate knew she’d never wipe the moments from the slate of her memory. She crossed her arms, hugging her waist.

  “I’m going to stay with my dad awhile,” she said, avoiding his question. “In Maryland. Hopefully the scandal will fade quickly.”

  He walked toward her, and she tensed with each step. But he stopped an arm’s length away. She could see his face now, lit by the light seeping through the window behind her.

  “You could stay here . . .”

  Did he know how tempting it was, with him looking at her that way? His eyes burning a path straight to her heart? It was the first time either of them had hinted at making the marriage permanent. It took courage for him to verbalize the idea that had floated between them for days. The night before, they’d silently brought the idea to life, but now that he said it aloud, it had a pull stronger than a riptide.

  Kate tore her eyes away. Be strong. Think with your head, not your heart. Think of your parents. Think of what you’ve learned from all your experience.

  “You know it wouldn’t work, Lucas,” She said. “And even if you don’t know it, I do.” She felt him watching her and wanted to run now, far away.

  “What was last night?”

  The edge of hurt in his voice broke her. No matter what, no matter that she was leaving, no matter that it was over, she wouldn’t leave him thinking it meant nothing. She wouldn’t cheapen something so special.

  She was touching his face before she knew what she was doing. “Oh, Lucas. Last night was—it meant so much.” The words jammed her throat. Her eyes burned.

  He turned away, leaving her hand to fall on empty space.

  Lucas walked away, putting space between them. Kate’s touch had too much power. He would be lost if she touched him again. How could she leave if she felt anywhere near what he did? The thought of being without her ripped him in half, worse in some ways than Emily’s death. That loss had been no one’s choice, something that just happened. If Kate left him, it would be of her own choosing.

  But maybe she didn’t feel the way he did. He knew she had feelings, but maybe the depth of his love was . . . unrequited. Such a proper term for such a painful feeling.

  “Lucas?” His name on her lips reminded him of the night before. She’d said his name over and over. Would he ever forget the sound of it? The heady way it made him feel to have her as his own?

  He needed to change her mind. If she would only give me a chance. He faced her again, and now that he saw her watery eyes, he wanted to be close to her again, holding her. But he couldn’t think with her in his arms.

  “Stay here, Kate. There’s something between us; won’t you stay long enough to figure out what it is?”

  She wet her lips and swallowed. “I told you about my parents—about their differences and how miserable they were. What I didn’t tell you was how it ripped my mom apart when they divorced.”

  She looked out the window, and the daylight lit half her face. “Even though it was her choice, she couldn’t be without him. She started drinking.” Kate gave a wry smile. “Of course, I didn’t understand it at the time. But I know now she was using the alcohol to escape reality. And the reality was, she couldn’t live with my dad and she couldn’t live without him. She was miserable either way. What kind of hope is there in that?”

  “We’re not your parents, Kate.”

  “We’re just like my parents. Opposites in every way. I don’t think I could’ve found someone less compatible. I should’ve followed my own advice and distanced myself before there were—feelings.”

  She made it sound so rational. Like you could tuck unwanted emotions in a box and toss them. “That’s crazy,” Lucas said. “Love isn’t some item on a checklist.”

  Her fingers clutched the curtain, and she wouldn’t look at him. He’d expected an argument. He’d expected her to rationalize why her way was best. He would find a counterargument to everything she said.

  “I’ll make reservations on the ferry as soon as I can,” she said. “Possibly today. I’ll have to send for my things.”

  Lucas felt like she’d punched him in the gut. She wasn’t going to defend her decision? Wasn’t going to give him a chance to convince her? He couldn’t believe it was happening so quickly. Not after the night before, when he’d felt like a surfer riding the crest of a dream wave. Now he’d crashed headfirst into the rocks.

  She checked her watch. “I want to talk to your family before I go. I owe them an apology.”

  It was his heart she’d broken, not his family’s. Say something. Say something to stop her before her plans set in her mind. “You’re in the middle of a crisis. Wait until things settle down. Don’t make a rash decision.” It was something she would say, something she could relate
to.

  Her eyes darkened with her frown. “It’s not rash, Lucas. I planned to leave from the beginning, remember?”

  Nobody said good-byes were easy.

  —Excerpt from

  Finding Mr. Right-for-You

  by Dr. Kate

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Kate knocked on the Wrights’ door, then clasped her shaking hands behind her back. Lucas had offered to accompany her, but she needed to face his family on her own. This was her fault, not his.

  The door opened, and Susan’s welcoming smile drooped. Kate watched the woman rise to her full height, watched her narrow chin notch upward. Regardless of how the woman responded, Kate was going to apologize to the family. Then she was going to have a heart-to-heart with Susan.

  “Kate.” Her name was a sour ball on the woman’s tongue. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to talk to your family. Can I come in?”

  Susan waffled in the doorway, clearly torn between opening the door wider and slamming it in Kate’s face. Finally, she stepped back.

  Kate followed Susan through the foyer and into the kitchen where Roy was putting a pan of dinner rolls into the oven. The smell of pot roast and garlic filled the air, and Kate’s stomach growled in response. Jamie was on a stool at the kitchen island, a book propped open on the Formica counter. They both turned at her entry.

  “Hi, Kate,” Jamie said, a genuine smile on her face, and maybe a touch of pity in her eyes.

  Roy shut the oven door and turned, offering her a nod and a reserved smile. Kate noticed his hands trembling for the first time and recognized it as a Parkinson’s symptom. Guilt pricked her hard. As if the Wrights didn’t have enough grief, she had made things worse.

  “Is Brody around?” Kate asked. He was back from college for the weekend, and she hoped he hadn’t left already.

  “He went for a walk,” Roy said. “Have a seat, Kate.”

  “No, thanks,” Kate said. “I won’t stay. I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am.”

  “I should think so,” Susan said.