A Bluewater Bay Collection

by Witt, L. A.

  I’d never thought I’d have Levi Pritchard and company lounging in my living room—or that I’d be lounging in his living room with his cat on my lap—shit-talking and laughing over cards or controllers, but such was my life these days. Carter, Jesse, and Hunter had even gotten me into Space Villager. Despite some grumbling about trendy shit and time vampires, Levi and Kevin had grudgingly given it a try too . . . and promptly gotten hooked.

  Somehow, in the course of a year, this had become my world. A group of friends who’d welcomed me into their fold. Having my high school best friend nearby. Falling in love. A new town. A new job. It was my new normal, and I loved it. All of it.

  I’d expected to tend bar for a few months until I figured out what I wanted to do long-term, but I was still working at the Alehouse. I liked it. The job was fun. The people were generally nice. The hours weren’t bad. Maybe I’d still be doing it in a year, maybe I wouldn’t, but I wasn’t in a big hurry to find something else.

  Sometimes I had that itch to go back to the more analytical work of accounting, but I scratched that by offering to handle taxes for my friends. Word of that offer had apparently gotten around, and it sounded like I was going to be doing tax returns for half of the Wolf’s Landing cast and crew this year. There’d even been some noise about a full-time accounting gig with the studio, but I’d wait to see something in writing before I got excited about it.

  So yeah. Life was good.

  It wasn’t all smooth sailing, of course. There were still days when Sean’s absence cut to the quick. The grief could hit me out of nowhere and pull me back to that dark place.

  Through it all, Jesse was a saint. He somehow seemed to know when I needed space and when I needed a shoulder, and he always gave it to me. I’d apologized a million times for letting my grief interfere with our relationship, but he’d insisted it wasn’t interference.

  “You were a package deal when I met you,” he’d told me hundreds of times. “I don’t want you to pretend Sean didn’t exist or that it doesn’t still hurt that he’s gone.”

  He meant it too. When I was on a more even keel, sometimes he’d ask about Sean. About when we were dating. Our wedding. Trips we’d taken together.

  One day, I’d caught him gazing at the small framed wedding photo I kept on my dresser, and I’d thought he’d been upset that it was still there. But when I’d asked, he’d just offered a sad smile and said, “With everything you’ve told me about him, I just wish I could’ve known him.”

  Just thinking about it now made my eyes sting.

  “Hey.” Jesse nudged me with his elbow. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” I made the most casual gesture I could about wiping away the tears before he saw them.

  He laughed and kissed my cheek. “You’re not supposed to cry until the ceremony starts.”

  “Shut up.” I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He leaned against me, and . . . God, this was perfect. We fit so well together in every way. I tried not to think about how easily this could have slipped through our fingers, and I just focused on how grateful I was that it hadn’t.

  A few minutes later, the ceremony started. Scott and Jeremy stood at the front in matching black tuxes. As they joined hands, they both smiled, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen Scott looking this happy. He’d been through hell and back. He’d suffered a loss most people couldn’t fathom. But here he was—gazing at the man he loved, saying the words he’d never thought he’d say to anyone else.

  I swallowed hard as I listened to their vows. Was that in my future with Jesse? The thought of marrying him didn’t feel like a betrayal to Sean, but it wasn’t something we needed to do yet. Yet. The more I watched the happy grooms, though, the more I wondered if this was something we should start talking about. We’d moved in together, and we’d made noise about buying a place in the next year or so, but what about this?

  I clasped our fingers together. We’d talk about it. And . . . maybe . . .

  This was so surreal too. A year ago, I couldn’t have begun to imagine this. Just the thought of coming to Scott’s wedding had filled me with dread because I hadn’t been sure I could cope. Being here with a new love? Considering the idea of standing up there and reciting those vows myself? Unthinkable.

  But here we were.

  Life had, despite my fears, gone on. There’d be ups and downs in our future, and there were no guarantees, but I was okay with that. A chapter had ended, leaving me aimless and hurting and certain there wasn’t life after the man I’d loved, but as cruel as the world could be, it wasn’t that cruel. There was more. When one chapter ended, there was heartache and emptiness, but it wasn’t the end of happiness either.

  I would always love Sean, and I’d miss him for the rest of my life. But I loved Jesse too, and I was excited about where life would take us. Nervous and scared for a lot of reasons, but excited too.

  My world would never be the same. Bluewater Bay was my home now. So was Jesse. Though a piece of me would always be missing, I wasn’t in pieces anymore.

  I clasped Jesse’s hand tighter, and we exchanged smiles before shifting our gazes back to the ceremony. I kept smiling as I held his hand and watched my best friend get married.

  I promised I’d be okay, Sean.

  And I am.

  Acknowledgments

  Hat tip to Annabeth Albert for the Space Villager Easter egg, and also helping me figure out a title for the book!

  About the Author

  L.A. Witt and her husband have been exiled from Spain and sent to live in Maine because rhymes are fun. She now divides her time between writing, assuring people she is aware that Maine is cold, wondering where to put her next tattoo, and trying to reason with a surly Maine coon. Rumor has it her arch nemesis, Lauren Gallagher, is also somewhere in the wilds of New England, which is why L.A. is also spending a portion of her time training a team of spec ops lobsters. Authors Ann Gallagher and Lori A. Witt have been asked to assist in lobster training, but they "have books to write" and "need to focus on our careers" and "don't you think this rivalry has gotten a little out of hand?" They're probably just helping Lauren raise her army of squirrels trained to ride moose into battle.

  Website: www.gallagherwitt.com

  Email: gallagherwitt@gmail.com

  Twitter: @GallagherWitt