Heather Graham
Presents
A Stranger in the Hamptons
LOVE OBSESSION SERIES:
PART 1
A STRANGER IN THE HAMPTONS
Love OBSESSION SERIES:
PART 1
© 2017
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All characters portrayed in this story are 18 years of age or older. This eBook is a work of fiction, any resemblance to real life names or events are pure coincidence.
This is a work of fiction.
A STRANGER IN THE HAMPTONS
A Stranger in the Hamptons is an epic struggle for the heart of one woman. When a burned-out writer took refuge in the community of Hamptons, NY, he expected to spend a few weeks in total relaxation as he rediscovered his talent for his craft. However, a feisty local librarian threatened that serenity when she proved to be bold enough to touch his jaded heart. Things get complicated when a jealous local decided that instead, he was in charge of who won the heart of Julianne Crawford.
PART 1
Traffic was bumper to bumper, horns were blaring, barely muted by the walls of the café. As long as the coffee was fresh and hot, he didn’t really care. Daniel, his publishing agent, was late as usual but the warmth of the fat cup in his hands more than made up for it. The gawky interior design of the café was almost distracting enough to help him pass the time.
As the front door opened into the cramped space, a tall, lanky, man who looked to be just past puberty, breezed in with a styrofoam cup in his hand.
“Daniel!” Heath said, waving him over in the correct direction, through and around all of the shabbily dressed people huddled over their newspapers and crossword puzzles.
“Heath!” He said, laughing, “I thought I would never get here. The subway was horrendous. What is it with big, hefty women with little Chihuahuas in their purses and large, buck teeth in this town?”
“Come on over. Can I get you a coffee or a pastry?” Heath replied.
Manhattan took some getting used to since most of his work took place in Los Angeles he rarely needed to experience the gritty madness which was this city full of maniacs.
“I’m good. I just wanted to get back to you on that proposal. The movie rights to your book are being fought over by various studios in Hollywood. Looks like we are getting into another bidding war!” Daniel announced grinning like an idiot.
He had a way of announcing good news at the top of his lungs which stopped the whole room, and everyone began to gossip and titter behind their newspapers. Heath knew that they had already talked about this possibility, so the announcement was not for him. Daniel just wanted the attention of sitting with a famous author in order to soak in some of his celebrity.
“That’s great. I am just not sure about the direction to go with the next book. I can’t think here. I came here for the anonymity, but being constantly bumped and pushed in this city is turning me into a hermit,” Heath replied to Daniel’s unstated question.
“Well, you should spend some time in the Hamptons. There would be the perfect place to rediscover yourself as a writer. I know this realtor who has a cabin there,” Daniel replied, keeping his voice down in a conspiratorial tone.
“I don’t know if a change of scenery is enough. I feel like I am a writer who has lost his way, sold his creativity, lost his craft to commercialism. “How can I capture the audience I am appealing to?” Heath asked, genuinely trying to struggle with this conundrum.
“Just think of it as camping, but with better neighbors. The people living in the Hamptons are the elite of America, what better place to draw inspiration from,” Daniel replied draining the last drop of his drink and crumpling the cup without any semblance of manners.
“Well, I am certainly not getting anything done here,” Heath said truthfully, with exasperation, looking around at the eclectic masses surrounding him.
Heath felt restless, unable to settle his mind. He didn’t want to admit it to his agent, but he didn’t have a quality word on the page for his new novel. Everyone assumed he was half way done, but what he had written was bunk. Every time he wrote a little more to add to the bunk, but he was stalling anyone to read it because he wanted to throw the whole thing away and start fresh. He felt ashamed that he had spent the past six months writing a novel which would never see the light of day.
They got up, cleared their table, putting the cups through the hole in the stuffed trash bin and looked at each other expectantly.
“Well, I will schedule it and get it set up. You just get yourself to the Hamptons, and I’ll do the rest,” Daniel said clapping Heath on the back in a manly way, to give him reassurance.
Heath felt anything but reassured. If Daniel only knew how bad this novel actually was, he would run for the hills. Heath did not say anything but dutifully went along with this new plan.
Sooner than he would have thought this plan could come together, Heath Forbes was loading his luggage onto a ferry that would take him from Manhattan to the Hamptons toward a cabin that he was renting near the harbor. After settling into his cabin, Heath spent a few days living a relatively normal life. Normal for him, that is. The town was small, and everyone recognized Heath right away.
Quite often Presidents and business moguls are commonly sighted in the Hamptons, so the town’s people left him alone for the most part, to avoid appearing gauche.
A little bit of ‘cabin fever’ had set in for Heath, so he decided to walk down to the local café for breakfast. This was the first time that he had been outside without briskly walking somewhere, which did not invite conversation. His maiden voyage to the café was uneventful, so he jauntily climbed the stairs of the colonial-style wrap-around porch with its cheery, pale-yellow paint and burgundy trim.
He looked around for a seat, whereas the restaurant was half filled with many of the same people which he had encountered in the streets or stores. All of their heads turned when he sauntered into the room. He was pointed to a table near the entrance and reluctantly sat down. He would have rather had a table in the back, where no one had to walk past him, but they were all occupied.
The overweight waitress with her white nurse’s shoes asked him too many inane questions, all tumbling out in her nervousness. He smiled knowing that she was a bit star struck. He sighed because he really didn’t need this kind of benign distraction. He was wondering if he could get the next course to go when the mayor, a portly ruddy-faced guy, joined him for lunch then talked his ear off about historic restoration projects and then smoothly left him with the cost of the meal.
Heath grinned knowingly after the mayor left the table. As they said, ‘don’t anger a writer, for he will write you into his novel and then kill you off.’ He gathered his things, slinging his PowerBook satchel over his shoulder and made his way toward the library, which was apparently the best place to use the internet in this little town.
Heath walked into the open floor plan, noting the bank of computers along the pale jade and forest green accented wall to the left. He sat down and wiggled the mouse in order to email his editor. He gulped back his fear and nervousness as the screen slowly loaded, the Windows 95 logo was brought up, and then the screen cleared to reveal the icons he was familiar with. He was finally going to fess up that the novel was not going as planned and that it shoul
d be scrapped completely when a lovely young woman popped her head into his vision between himself and the monitor, her long black hair swished over his knuckles as they were perched over the keyboard.
She tried to strike up a conversation with Heath, but he was diligently focused on his email. Undeterred, she disappeared into the lines of bookshelves and came back with his second book, Mysterious Doubts, the one he had written before he began selling movie options to Hollywood.
“So, do you happen to have anything that would be good for me to read? I have been craving this type of writing from you for a long while,” Julianne asked, her sideways grin tipping up on one side.
Heath looked down, slightly embarrassed, not wanting her to see what he was typing onto the computer screen, and said, “I am working on it.” Trying to return his focus back to the screen, he was unable to type the words onto the screen. He eventually gave up the struggle, giving himself the excuse that he didn’t want to send something over a public connection which could start a wildfire of scandal and mixed interpretations in the tabloid magazines.
Over the next week or two, Julianne and Heath saw each other several times as he used the Internet connection at the library. He felt a tingling go down his back as soon as she stepped near him. Heath finally began talking to her and found out that Julianne did not care about his money or his eclectic and exotic travel. He found it interesting that Julianne was born and raised in the Hamptons; this closed, sheltered town was the only life that she had ever known.
“I couldn’t imagine living just one place. I am more restless than that. My work requires me to describe situations, settings, and people so I have to go out and experience a part of that to bring that to life in my novels,” Heath said.
“I really like it that you make a living doing what you want to do instead of what you need to do,” Julianne said, looking around as if to compare her work to his, “Or, at least you used to,” she said bluntly.
Heath was getting irritated at her because she seemed to say, with an offhand and cavalier attitude, the things which he was internally struggling with and trying to hide. Just as Heath was about to raise his voice to reprimand her for insulting him, the bell rang at the door.
A man in his mid-thirties, with nervously finger-combed messy hair, came through the door toward them. His intense eyes burn a space between Heath and Julianne as he approached them to return a book.
Heath’s irritation toward Julianne cooled abruptly as this odd feeling rushed over him in response to the unkempt man. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but every instinct in Heath’s body was on alert. He watched Julianne’s face light up as she looked toward the man. Heath reached out to grab her arm to keep her from approaching him, but he didn’t want to appear like a fool. His fingers curled uselessly at his side into a perfect fist as he watched them interact.
“Ace! Wonderful to see you so soon, did you like the book I suggested a couple days ago?” Julianne asked, moving away from Heath and approaching Ace near the counter. Her voice perked up with an openness and friendliness that she had not shown toward Heath. Heath listened without seeming as if he were listening to their pseudo-intimate conversation.
“Sure, I have already finished it. So, I am back for more,” Ace replied, his insolence faded somewhat when he spoke to her. He donned both the irate tone and the facial expression like a cloak when he looked across the room toward Heath.
Julianne suggested a new book in the genre of what Heath wrote, but not his book which was still sitting beside him. She strode over to the book stacks to retrieve the book she had in mind. Ace accepted the book from her and then glanced in Heath’s direction. Julianne was compelled by propriety to introduce the two men, but no one was very happy about it. Ace walked toward Heath then he shook his hand, but his eyes were furious and hostile.
Heath asked Julianne about Ace, but she dismissed his question with a shrug, redirecting his question to another question, “Everyone in town is expecting you to appear at tonight’s community dance. It is a monthly tradition which goes back to the early 1800s when the town was founded. It was supposed to keep the community strong. People like Ace are always excused, but no one would forgive you for not coming,” She said looking at him with a half-challenge in her eyes.
When he had agreed to attend, her eyes sparkled with glee, and her face lit up with triumph. She supplied him with the pertinent information on the community dance at the American Legion Hall so that he would be sure to meet her there. When Heath entered the community center, he swam through the crowd at the door. The paper announcements of events going on were haphazardly posted on the walls.
He scanned the room for a glimpse of Julianne. He found her engaged in conversation with two men, her thickly strapped red dress was falling partially off her collarbone on one side. There were women who wore the clothes and then there were clothes which were worn by the women. She was one of the latter, adding to the clothing instead of the clothing adding to her.
The live band was already playing a variety of music, whatever was requested, but mostly cover songs from the previous year. He hesitated through “The Sign” by Ace of Base and made his way toward her when "Whoomp! (There It Is)" began. Heath knew that this song would not require any dance skills, but would allow him to get as close to her as he would like. He politely dragged her away from her companions toward the dance floor just as the song melded into "Endless Love" with Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey. He pulled Julianne against his chest and took a huge breath before placing his face near her ear.
“So, you got me here, now what are you going to do with me?” Heath said, his warm breath prickling her and drawing her attention as the song drew to a slow close, and the couples were disengaging.
Julianne looped her arm through his in answer to his question and introduced Heath to various townspeople, dragging him by the arm.
When everyone went back to their own activities and partners, Julianne confessed to Heath that the festival was usually unbearable. His attendance made it worth it for her this year. Though she is very proud of her upbringing, Julianne felt restless being around all the same people she had seen all her life.
She silently longed for something more than the day-to-day grind of a small town, closed community living. After a while, she confessed that this festival represented the repetition of the past and he understood why the festival was so awful to her. He nodded in understanding, not judging her or trying to persuade her to appreciate this quaint little celebration which was completely new to him.
Julianne feels validated by his acceptance and gets excited to show something to him. She drags him by the elbow out of the American Legion Hall through the streets and down an alley. It took him a moment to realize where they were going, but he soon recognized where they were as they passed to the side of the library. Julianne guides him to the house behind the library to a small dilapidated shed off to the side where she kept her four-wheeler. Heath does not trust the machine, but Julianne insists that he climb behind her and wrap his arms around her. That in itself was enticement enough. As he settled his hips behind hers, the four-wheeled vehicle became two as she popped up the front a few inches as the clutch caught and the engine revved.
Julianne expertly navigated through the wilderness, with the benefit of the large round headlamp until the trees broke away at the cliff. She glanced over her shoulder to watch his face go from clearly uncomfortable to a mask of wonder as he saw before them was an abandoned lighthouse. Excitedly Julianne broke through the panels and took them to the top of the tower as the worried expression on Heath’s face melted into wonder once again as the light green amorphous shape of the Northern Lights spread in front of them across the ocean.
Julianne’s face lit up with happiness as his jaw dropped as the scene before them slowly changed, morphing into one beauty after another like a show set to the soundtrack of crashing waves.
Trying to break the tension, she said, “I wonder if
the dolphins and animals in the ocean enjoy this view…” Her musings were cut short as he leaned forward capturing the back of her head in his hand and pressing his body against hers.
Heath looked down into Julianne’s trusting brown eyes as his mouth took hers in a passionate kiss, filled with the searing longing, the breathless desire, and the tentative promise of their future. He holds her in a warm embrace as they enjoy the cool breeze from the dark blue waves which are sparkling below them. They do not speak the words, but they hang like a banner over their breathless companionship.
As Julianne and Heath returned to their routines, their new relationship was all anyone wanted to speak of. The community rallies behind Julianne as they wish her happiness, but their wary support spreads the gossip far and wide. The news even reaches Ace, who lives about an hour outside of town. So, in silent protest, Ace stopped coming to the library.
In a rare night by herself, Julianne sat down for dinner alone at the diner. She could tell that multiple people were keeping their distance but watching her and hoping to overhear any of her conversations. She felt self-conscious because she had been quite naïve when it came to offering her trust to other people. The community had supported her through a couple of emotionally devastating relationships which she shouldn’t have gotten so involved with.
As Julianne was biting into her lobster roll, savoring the chunks of lobster meat served cold tossed in creamy mayonnaise on the warmed hot-dog bun the heavy-set waitress went around her to comment.
“I know you young people like to throw caution to the wind, but Heath is an outsider. He will not stay in the Hamptons. All of us are afraid that he will break your heart like your father broke your late mother’s, heart. The entire town vowed to look after you when your only remaining family member died, and now they are uneasy with your new relationship,” Betty said, releasing her fearful diatribe near Julianne’s head but speaking a little louder so that neighboring tables could still hear.
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