by Elena Aitken
Tears streamed down his little sister’s cheeks. Her arms were wrapped around her body so tight, it looked as if she was trying to literally hold herself together. He abandoned his tray and moved toward her. His first response was to console her, but they’d never really touched, so his arm extended and then fell in front of him, limp. “Chelsea, I…” Her sobs intensified. With a sigh, he tried again. He reached out and this time patted her shoulder. “I’m sorry if I was rude,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I was just—”
“It wasn’t you!” She pulled away and glared at him. “Men suck.”
It was said with such conviction, Ian wasn’t sure there was room for debate on the subject. He simply shrugged and nodded. “Sometimes they can.”
She glared at him again and choked back a sob, but something told him she wasn’t talking about him. He risked another step forward. “Anything or anyone in particular?” When she didn’t respond, he added, “Is there anything I can do?”
With a wail, Chelsea threw up her arms and plowed into him. She clung to him in a crazy half hug, half combative pose and cried. Hard. He looked forlornly at the tray of breakfast he was waiting to take to Gwen and sighed. There was no help for it. He put his arms gingerly around her and patted her back. “I’m sure whatever it is, it will be okay.”
“It won’t be okay.”
“It will.” He patted a little more and added, “I promise.”
She was silent for a while but finally, in a much calmer voice, she said, “Men suck.”
“Not all men.”
Ian looked up, and Chelsea even pulled away to look at where the voice had come from. He didn’t even bother trying to hide his smile at the sight of Gwen, standing in his button-up shirt, her hair still tousled from their night together, looking sexier than any woman he’d ever seen.
“It’s true, Chelsea.” Gwen walked a little closer and his sister moved away from him to lean against the counter. “Not all men suck. Your brother is one of the good ones.”
“Are you sure about that?” She wiped at her nose with the sleeve of her sweater.
Ian swung around and stared at Chelsea, hardly believing what she’d just said.
“After all,” she continued. “He is our father’s son.”
“Chelsea—”
“He’s one of the good ones.” Gwen cut him off smoothly. “I know it. Not all men are like your father.”
Listening to her, easily handling his practically hysterical sister, Ian wanted more than anything to go put his arm around Gwen and maybe even kiss her senseless right there in the kitchen. But one look at Chelsea told him that would be a bad idea. A very bad idea.
“I don’t know why you’re so upset, Chelsea, but I can guess it has something to do with some loser who didn’t see your worth. And let me tell you, I know from experience that some men just aren’t worth your time.”
Chelsea nodded.
“I also know,” Gwen continued, “that some men really are worth your time, and you’ll know those men right away. They’re special.” She looked right at him when she spoke and once again, Ian was filled with a feeling he couldn’t even put into words. There were times when Gwen spoke that she just seemed so much wiser than her years. It was as if she was speaking directly to his soul. That had only happened with one other woman in his life and he’d been so young, he couldn’t even remember whether it was the same thing or not. There was that girl he’d chatted with a few times that last summer he spent in Cedar Springs, who reminded him so much of Gwen. But yet, she was so different, too. Maybe that’s why he was falling for her so fast.
The thought stopped him. But only for a moment, because there was no point in fighting it. He was absolutely falling for Gwen. That is, if the night before hadn’t totally sealed the deal.
Ian forced himself to focus on the conversation that was happening without him. He’d missed something, but Gwen had somehow gotten Chelsea to open up and tell him about the boy who’d broken up with her before coming to Cedar Springs who’d called her last night in the middle of her shift at the Paw and told her about the new girl he was seeing. Something about the new girl being more fun because she wasn’t gone for the summer.
“Gwen’s right,” Ian interjected into the conversation. “He’s a loser. Anyone who would break up with you just because you’re gone for the summer isn’t worth your time at all. Not even five minutes. And to call you and rub your face in it? That’s not a man. A real man would never do that.” He crossed the kitchen and put his hand on her shoulder, this time with a little squeeze. “And I really need you to know something, Chelsea. I am not like Dad. Not even a little bit. He has definitely not set many examples for me as far as the type of man I want to be, but I’ll say this…he’s certainly shown me who I don’t want to be. And I’m really glad you’re here with me for the summer.” As he said the words, he found that he actually believed them. “But not because I think you need me to show you direction. But because I think you need me to show you the kind of man you deserve to be with.”
She wiped at her eyes and threw herself once more into his arms. This time he wrapped his arms around her tightly and squeezed. They still had a long way to go as far as building their relationship, but something told Ian they were definitely on the right track.
*
Dear Reader,
I know you’re all waiting to hear about what’s new with Mr. Summer. And I want to tell you, but…
*
Dear Reader,
I’m getting a lot of emails about how my date went with Mr. Summer. Well, let me tell you…
*
Gwen slammed the lid of her laptop and resisted the urge to bang her head on the table in front of her. Instead, she picked up her cup of coffee and wrapped her hands around it. She’d been trying to write a blog post for at least thirty minutes but she’d deleted more than she’d actually written. The problem was, she didn’t know what to write. It wasn’t a lie; she was getting a ton of emails about how things had gone with “Mr. Summer.” She knew her readership was dying for details about her date. And Jade had been emailing and texting her a few times a day. And judging by the voicemails building up on her phone, had started calling her, too.
But she couldn’t email her back. And Gwen certainly wasn’t going to answer her calls. She knew what Jade wanted. She wanted the “sex post.” She wanted what all Gwen’s readers wanted. The tell-all post about how she got the boy who’d shunned her to want her and make love to her.
But she couldn’t write it.
Being with Ian for one night changed everything. Everything.
Every time she opened her laptop and got ready to write the post that she knew her readers were waiting for, she froze. She couldn’t do it. It felt wrong to even write about their night together in any capacity. And then the next night and the one after that. In fact, since their date, Gwen had spent every night since at Ian’s house. They’d fallen easily into what could only be described as a relationship. It was the craziest thing, but being with Ian, and not just in bed, felt right. As if they should have always been together. And maybe they should have. But she wasn’t going to dwell on the past. The present was awesome enough.
For the last few weeks, Gwen had done her best to avoid Deanna, which for the most part had been pretty easy because she wasn’t even staying at Deanna’s house, but only stopping in for clothes and supplies. She managed to time her visits when she knew her friend would be at the clinic seeing patients. No doubt Deanna was dying to know details, and judging by the increasing number of text messages she’d been sending Gwen, she wasn’t going to give up too easily.
She couldn’t keep avoiding everyone forever. But maybe just for a few more days. It was nice having a few little secrets for herself. It was nice having Ian to herself.
“Can I get you some more coffee, dear?” Suzy, the owner of Dream Puffs, smiled sweetly at her and held up a coffee pot.
The last thing Gwen needed was more caffeine,
but she’d already decided she couldn’t leave Dream Puffs until she’d written and published a post.
“Thank you.” She nodded. “I think I could really use it.”
The older woman topped up her mug. “I think you could use a little sweet treat, too. I just pulled some cinnamon buns out of the oven. They’re a favorite around here.”
Gwen remembered the cinnamon buns well. She’d made eating them a full event when she was a kid visiting her grandma. She shook her head. “No, thank you. I promised myself I’d get some work done and I think your baking just might distract me.”
Suzy winked at her and moved away to chat with the other customers. With a sigh, Gwen lifted the lid of her laptop again and the screen came to life. She had to write something. She’d never had so many comments, page views, and search hits on her website as she’d had in the last month. Her advertising revenue was soaring and she was set to have some of the best financial months she’d ever had since starting her Gwen’s Great Growth. All because of Mr. Summer. All because of Ian.
She’d never gone so long without posting a blog before. She needed to give her readers something.
Something. Give them something.
Right. She didn’t have to write about Ian. She just needed to write. And it had been a long time since she’d written about health and fitness, which was exactly how her site had started. And that was the whole point of coming to the lake for the summer: to give her new material for the site. New material in the way of health and fitness. Not necessarily about men.
She looked over to the bakery counter and the plate full of fresh cinnamon buns. Her mouth watered at the sight of them. She ran her hands through her hair and started to type.
Dear Reader,
Temptation.
We’ve all experienced it. But for some reason, temptation is never so present as it is on vacation. When you find yourself out of your usual routine, it’s always so much harder to stay on track with your diet and fitness goals. Vacation is the worst.
*
Gwen went on to write five hundred more words about how to avoid temptation and stay on track with healthy eating while being on vacation. It was exactly the type of post she’d planned to write while she was on holiday at Cedar Springs. It was a great post. It was probably one of her best.
Except she knew it wouldn’t be enough. It might tide her readers over for a day or two, but that was it. She wasn’t about to delude herself that they would give up on wanting details about her relationship with Mr. Summer. But it would have to do for now.
She hit Post, and published it to her site. Satisfied, she closed her laptop and took another sip of coffee. Even if it was a cop-out, it was something and she could go back to thinking about Ian. In fact, she was supposed to meet him at the marina in just over an hour to go over some of the tracking she’d put in place for the boat rentals.
None of the systems she’d created for him were complicated, but there would be more than enough to track his business at the Dockside and he was more than grateful for the help. There wasn’t much more she could do for him as far as prepping the marina for opening. He’d need a regular employee soon, because even though she’d offered, he’d rejected the offer. Not because he didn’t want her there, he said, but because he didn’t want to keep mixing business and pleasure.
Which, as far as Gwen was concerned, meant he wanted to keep going with the pleasure part of their relationship. Just thinking about Ian and the pleasure they had together caused a reaction in her body. Heat flooded through her, and it wasn’t from the hot coffee.
“You look like you’re deep in thought about something serious.” The voice caught her off guard. “Or maybe it’s someone.”
Startled from her thoughts, Gwen jerked her head up to see Carmen, the woman from the Springs resort, standing in front of her, a toddler on her hip.
“Sorry if I scared you,” she said. “I hate to interrupt people when they’re daydreaming, but I wanted to say hi and ask you what you thought of the pools the other day. I didn’t see you before you left.”
“Oh, no.” Gwen waved to the seat across from her. “It’s fine. You didn’t scare me,” she lied. “And I loved the pools. They were absolutely amazing. Thank you so much.”
Carmen waved her thanks away. “It was no problem. I just love it when someone enjoys the springs as much as I do. Please tell me you’ll come back.”
“I’d love to. I’d forgotten how much I love swimming. It’s such great exercise and when you can soak in those waters after…” Gwen tipped her head back, remembering the pleasure of the hot water. “It was pure heaven. My muscles loved it.”
Carmen smiled, and it was one of the most genuine smiles Gwen had ever seen. “Anytime you want to come back,” she said, “I can get you a punch card, so you get a locals deal.”
“But I’m not really—”
“It will be our little secret.” She made the motion to lock the secret on her lips and Gwen laughed.
“Sounds good.” She gestured to her empty seat. “Do you want to sit down?”
“I’d love to, but I have to get this one home in time for a nap and then get back up to work. Another time?”
“Absolutely,” Gwen said, and meant it. Carmen was lovely and she could tell she’d like her even more if they got to know each other better.
“Maybe we’ll see you at the festival,” Carmen said before she left. “I think it’s going to be great. Slade promised to play again and he’s a huge crowd favorite, as you can imagine.”
“Slade Black?”
Carmen nodded. “Of course. He’s a great guy and you must have heard the rumors that he just married one of our very own? Have you had a chance to meet Beth Martin? Or I guess I should say, Beth Black.”
The name sounded vaguely familiar from when she was a kid, but Gwen was still trying to keep that under wraps. She shook her head. “No. I don’t think I have.”
“Beth is a sweetheart,” Carmen said. “It’s no surprise that she grabbed Slade’s heart. Their wedding was beautiful.”
Gwen nodded and smiled. “That’s fantastic. I think I did read something about Slade Black being off the market. It’s so cool that he’s with a local.”
“It really is.” Carmen bounced her little boy, who was starting to pull his mom’s hair. “It couldn’t happen to nicer people. Anyway, I really should go. We’ll see you at the festival, right?”
Gwen hadn’t really given the festival much thought. But it was only a little over a week away. The last time she’d thought about it, it was to create some sort of plan for redemption when it came to Ian. But that was before. She didn’t want redemption from Ian. She wanted Ian. She forced a smile. “I’m sure I’ll be there.”
“Awesome. I’ll make sure to see you then. If not before. Remember, come up for a swim anytime.”
Gwen nodded and Carmen hurried away to place her order at the counter.
The festival. The Summer Equinox Festival. Full circle. Everything had come full circle, just the way she’d wanted it to when she started this little thing, or whatever it was with Ian. But that was before. Things were different now. Maybe she could forget all that and finally go to the festival with Ian as a date. Maybe she could finally get what she’d always wanted.
Wasn’t it time?
Chapter Twelve
“So, do you think you can come?” Ian paced the docks with his cell phone to his ear. “I mean, it’s not like you’re busy doing anything this summer, right?” Ian had spent the night racking his brain for a solution to his employment problem, when it had hit him in the middle of the night. Mitch. His brother, who was closest to him in age, was also closest to him when they were growing up. They’d bonded over a lot of things. Not the least of which was their hatred for the sisters they’d never met. Although their younger brothers ended up going to school with the girls and making friends with them, Ian and Mitch were older and united in their dislike for them.
When Ian had decided to cal
l Mitch and ask him to come out for the summer, he hadn’t considered the fact that Chelsea was there. And it was entirely likely that Mitch didn’t know that yet. Unless, of course, he’d talked to Mom. Ian crossed his fingers that he hadn’t. He’d get him out to the lake first and deal with the whole twisted family dynamics later.
“I don’t really have plans, no,” Mitch said through the phone. “The last day of class is on Friday.”
“Then you’re free?”
Mitch was a grade-six teacher and although he loved his job, and was damn good at it, Ian knew how much he looked forward to the summer and he was counting on Mitch wanting to relive some of their childhood memories.
“Free for the lake?”
“If you like,” Ian said. “I could really use the help, and I know how much you used to love it here.”
“Used to.”
“It’s exactly the same, brother.” A vision of Gwen flashed in his mind. “Better.” As if he’d conjured her, he caught a glimpse of Gwen walking down Main Street toward the dock. “It’s way better.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“There’s nothing to think about, Mitch. You have the summer off and I need some help. Get out here and have some summer fun with me.”
“Fun, huh?”
Ian waved at Gwen, who looked smokin’ hot in her shorts and oversized t-shirt. Even from a distance he could see that the shirt had slipped off one shoulder, leaving it exposed and very kissable. His dick twitched in his pants at the memory of waking up next to her. Waking up early had never felt so good as it did with Gwen.
“Oh, it’s definitely fun here,” he said almost absentmindedly. “I’ll expect you Monday. And the festival is coming up. You don’t want to miss that, Mitch.”
“I don’t know. There’s so many—”
“Seriously. You clearly need to loosen up and have a little fun. And even if you can’t look at it that way, can you just come help me out? I don’t want to hire a summer kid. Not yet. Not until things are established and going, and I really could use someone I can trust. Someone like my brother.” Ian knew it was playing dirty, but he didn’t care. He wanted Mitch there with him. No, he needed Mitch there. Something about getting settled again in Cedar Springs, even being with Gwen…he wanted someone to share in it with him. He wanted his best friend.
