Seeing the players whizz back and forth scrambling for the puck, she lost track of time. This was so exciting, she thought, continuing to follow the moves of one teenage boy who was tall, thin and graceful like a dancer on the ice.
Emily took a moment to look around and sighed contentedly. The backdrop was beautiful with icicles hanging from the surrounding trees, and it reminded Emily of a crystal palace.
This was the same magical place where she and Aunt Trish had seen all the dragonflies this past summer, Emily finally realized as she sat watching the skaters.
And just like that it was over. There’d been a couple of breaks, and Emily had scrambled over to the bonfire both times and warmed herself up before returning to the stands to sit back down. The crowd had cheered and booed, and Emily had watched the entire event in amazement.
The home team of Crystal Rock had won, according to the man whose voice echoed from a makeshift loudspeaker set up near the top of the stands.
All of sudden when the lights went dim, Emily knew it had to be late. Her mother would kill her. She’d never gone off like this on her own before.
Oh, no, she thought suddenly, what if her mom blamed Aunt Trish for Emily’s disappearance too?
Apparently noticing her sitting alone in the stands, the same teenage boy Emily had been watching earlier broke away from his teammates and began to approach. His skates were slung over his left shoulder, along with his stick, and he was carrying a large duffel bag in his right hand.
“Hi. I noticed you were sitting here by yourself. Are your parents coming to pick you up? It’s nearly ten o’clock you know.”
Emily just sat there with her mouth gaped open. This was the first time she’d seen his face without his helmet. He was so cute! He had wavy brownish-blonde hair, and a perfect face with such pretty blue eyes.
He grinned when she didn’t answer right away. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she finally managed. “But then again, maybe not,” she muttered. “My mom’s probably ready to kill me. We’re staying with my aunt, and I went for a walk and I ended up here.”
“Ah. No worries, I can find a way get you back to your aunt’s pretty quickly. So, what’s your name?” he asked.
“Emily.”
“Well, Emily. I’m Tim. Are you carrying a phone?”
She grimaced. “No.”
“Do you know your aunt’s phone number?”
Emily nodded her head up and down.
He pulled out a cell phone from the side pocket of his bag. Opening it up, he plugged in the numbers as she recited them. When the call went through, he handed the phone over to Emily.
“Aunt Trish?” Emily responded to her aunt’s quick hello.
“Emily,” Aunt Trish answered, sounding greatly relieved “I’ve been so worried. We’ve been scouring the area and we were just about ready to call the police. Oh Sweetie, you can’t leave the house without letting me know. You’ve never done anything like this before.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” Emily answered.
Emily could hear her mother on the rampage in the background. Emily had screwed up royally this time. Now she probably wouldn’t be able to visit her aunt for a very long time.
“Um, here, Aunt Trish. This is Tim. He’s going to bring me home in a minute.” She handed the phone back to Tim.
“Hello, I’m Tim Atkinson. Emily’s here at Dragonfly Pointe. My dad will be here in a few minutes to pick me up from the hockey game and we can drop her off on our way home. Can I get your address?”
Emily tugged at Tim’s sleeve. “I can show you. She lives down in the subdivision at the other end of the point.”
He winked at Emily before continuing to talk with her aunt on the phone. “Okay. She’ll be home in about fifteen minutes.” Snapping shut the phone, he slipped it back into his bag.
“Ready?”
She nodded yes. “Can I help you with any of your stuff?”
He grinned, handing over his stick. “I’m always tripping over it, walking up the trail with my bag.”
Emily smiled shyly and began making her way along the path when he motioned for her to go first.
Sure enough, when they reached the roadway that led to the parking lot belonging to the beach, Tim’s dad was there waiting in a truck. A happy looking brown-colored dog was sitting in the front seat beside him, with his tongue hanging out.
Sighting Tim, the dog yipped, and jumped into the back seat.
Tim pulled open the door handle and the dog shot out, frantically licking Tim’s face.
“You Scamp,” Tim muttered. Giving the floppy eared dog a playful rub on top of his head, Tim threw his duffle bag onto the back seat.
“Well, who have we got here?” Tim’s dad asked, giving Emily an easygoing smile.
“This is Emily, Dad. She’s visiting her aunt, who lives down at the other end of the point in the Dragonfly Falls subdivision, not too far away from here. We need to drop her off there. She decided to go for a walk, and ended up at the ice rink and forgot to go home because she was so impressed with our moves.”
Jack snorted. “Okay, Son. Whatever you say.”
Tim chuckled glancing at Emily, who was grinning.
Apparently curious, Scamp jumped back into the front seat to greet Emily as Tim pulled open the passenger door.
“Well, get on in here Miss Emily, where it’s warm,” Tim’s father said. “You can sit with Scamp. It looks like he’s already taken a liking to you.” He grinned. “She loves kids.”
As she climbed into the front seat, Scamp started licking Emily’s face now instead of Tim’s.
Emily began to giggle. She’d never really been around many dogs before, and the ones she’d met had been trained not to do things like lick peoples’ faces.
Tim’s dad was such a nice man, Emily thought as they drove along the road toward the subdivision. He asked if she was getting anything special for Christmas. When she told him she wanted a new keyboard, he teased her a little by asking if she would consider giving Tim a few lessons. Apparently, Tim was taking piano lessons but wasn’t catching on very quickly.
Tim just laughed.
But then Mr. Atkinson studied her thoughtfully. “Wait a second. Are you Emily Richardson, the girl I read about in the paper?”
Emily turned solemn as she nodded yes.
“Ah.” He winked at her. “Don’t worry,” he reassured her, nodding back at Tim. “I can keep it quiet.”
Emily sighed heavily. “That’s okay.”
“What’s okay?” Tim asked from the backseat, looking at his dad.
“Don’t you remember me telling you about the famous singer, who was visiting Crystal Rock?”
“Yeah,” Tim answered, looking puzzled.
“This is her.”
Tim’s eyes met hers as she gazed at him over her shoulder.
“You’re the one who won The Next American Star?”
She grimaced as her head moved up and down.
“For some reason, I thought you’d be older.” Tim hesitated. “I do have one question, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Her eyes went wide as she answered. “No.”
Looking serious, Tim asked, “Why sing country music? I’m not a big fan. Have you thought about switching over to rock instead?”
Surprised at the question, she stared at Tim for a long moment before responding. “Yes. But my mom won’t let me!”
Tim’s dad barked out a laugh.
When Tim laughed along with his dad, Emily began to giggle.
Chapter One
Eight years later.
He still couldn’t believe it. This was really the end of it, Tim thought bleakly as he strolled along the beach at Dragonfly Pointe. Every dream, every thought about his future had apparently been based on unrealistic expectations, because Lucy Callahan was getting married tomorrow.
And not to him, but to someone else.
As Tim stopped and gazed across the lake toward the edge o
f the horizon, he didn’t see the beautiful fiery sunset, or the shimmering amber haze it cast upon the water.
Now he needed to seriously consider his life without Lucy in it. There was no way he wanted to stay in Crystal Rock where Lucy would be living with her new husband and stepdaughter.
Tim began to walk further along the beach and was ready to make his way up the trail leading back toward the Dragonfly Pointe Inn, when he heard a faint whimper from what sounded like a wounded animal, echoing from near the edge of the woods.
A moment later, dulcet soothing tones sung out from what was most definitely a feminine voice.
Looking ahead, Tim hesitated while searching the direction from where the singing was coming from.
Uh, oh. Someone was in trouble, he decided moving quickly along the path. He stepped off from the trail and made his way through the denseness of pines and birch, walking down towards the base of the cliff near the rocky edge of the beach.
Tim finally spotted a girl who seemed to be drenched, sitting beside the water on the pebbly sand. It looked like a puppy had been trapped within a plastic garbage bag and left to drown in the lake, and the girl had dragged the bag from the water and disentangled the pup from inside.
The scrawny little pup looked none the worse for wear as he sat in the girl’s lap, licking her face non-stop. The girl sputtered and spat, and finally quit singing to the dog because she didn’t seem to be able to quit giggling.
Tim grinned. The puppy was a mangy little thing with brown and cream colored markings. Tim couldn’t stand it when someone treated an animal this way. It was a good thing there was finally a no-kill animal shelter being established in the town of Crystal Rock, he couldn’t help thinking as he began walking towards the girl and the dog. Jake and Danielle Loughlin’s purchase and restoration of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn had brought along a lot of positive changes in the community these past ten years.
“Is everything okay?” Tim asked, approaching them.
The girl stilled at the sound of his voice.
When she finally turned and glanced at Tim, she seemed to be afraid.
In fact, she looked scared to death, Tim realized and frowned. What was that all about?
But she must have decided Tim wasn’t a threat, because she suddenly began to smile.
Wow, her smile sure lit up her face, Tim thought. Probably about fifteen, she was a pretty little thing with beautiful gray eyes.
And ash brown hair, he supposed. It was kind of hard tell since her hair was wet and plastered to the sides of her face and the top of her head.
She looked awfully familiar though. Had they met somewhere before?
Staring at Tim, she stood up with the pup still in her arms. “I found this guy in the water. Someone was trying to drown him. Why would anyone do something as awful as that?” she demanded to know. Water sprayed through the air when she kicked the garbage bag that the dog had been extracted from with her wet sneaker.
“I know exactly where you’re coming from,” Tim growled. “There’s a no-kill shelter here in town, so there’s no excuse as far as I’m concerned.
Nodding her head firmly in obvious agreement, she hesitated, looking at the pup.
“What?” Tim asked.
“I’m not sure what to do next. I hate walking through the lobby of the hotel like this.” Holding the puppy closer before staring down at her shapeless wet sweatshirt and jean shorts, she rolled her eyes upward. “I was only trying to take a quick jog along the beach before I heard this guy whining, and saw his head popping out from under the water. Luckily the bag wasn’t very well tied up, or he probably would’ve suffocated.”
Tim moved in a little closer. “Are you staying at the Dragonfly Pointe Inn, then?”
She nodded yes, biting down on her lip.
“How about I walk the two of you back? My car’s parked near there anyway. I also happen to know where there’s another entrance, so you’ll be able to sneak inside.” He grinned. “I’m Tim, by the way.”
Was it just his imagination, or did she seem startled when he mentioned his name?
“I’m, ah...Em,” she finally answered.
“Nice to meet you, Em.” Tim smiled. “So. What do you want to do with this guy?” he asked, reaching out and letting the pup sniff his fingers.
Em grimaced. “I’m not sure.” She was staring rather longingly at the mutt in her arms. “I’m only here for the weekend, for a wedding. Did you say there was a shelter where I might be able to take him?”
Tim nodded his head up and down slowly, scratching the scrawny pup behind the ears. The dog was becoming friskier, even though a glance as his ribcage was enough for Tim to recognize he’d most likely been neglected and mistreated and was probably starving. “I suppose I could bring him into the shelter for you. I know the people who run the place.”
Holding the puppy closer when he began to squirm, Em closed her eyes and sighed. “Okay,” she finally answered.
Tim looked upward at the sky. “We’d better get a move on. It’ll be dark soon. Ready?”
Em nodded slowly as she turned and began walking towards the Dragonfly Pointe Beach.
“Hold on,” Tim said, pointing at the shoreline. “We don’t need to backtrack towards Dragonfly Pointe. There’s a path I usually take that runs beside the lake. It’ll lead us directly to the inn. It’s kind of narrow and grown over, but it’ll be quicker.”
Turning back, she hesitated. “Alright,” she finally answered, and followed the trail behind Tim as he began making his way in the opposite direction.
Tim kept looking back over his shoulder, and when he noticed she was shivering, he stopped. Unzipping and pulling his arms out from his hooded sweatshirt, he wrapped it around her and the squirming dog.
She cleared her throat, looking into Tim’s eyes. “Uh, thank you.”
The last remains of the fiery sunset intensified, highlighting the stunning features of her beautiful face. Tim was a little taken aback staring into her eyes. They were such a unique shade of gray, nearly lavender, he realized. He wasn’t sure what to say for a moment, and he was never usually at a loss for words.
Strange, he thought shaking his head a little dazedly. Why would he have trouble talking to a teenage girl?
With a start, he finally answered, “Um, you’re welcome. You two looked cold,” he said, turning around and continuing to lead the way.
When they reached the landing at the end of the trail, there was a long row of steps running down to the boat dock along with another set of steps leading up towards the inn. Tim turned and wrapped an arm around Em’s shoulders, guiding her from the steep incline onto the staircase.
He heard her breathe in a sigh of relief. “I wouldn’t advise walking this way at night.” Tim motioned at a wider pebbled pathway higher above the bank. “The trail over there is well lit and has some pretty landscaping along with seating for you to view the lake. It’ll lead you to the beach too.”
She gave him a smile. “Thank you. Yeah—I have walked that way a time or two, but I’ve been hiking along the road since we arrived because there were so many people using the trail.”
Tim smiled back. “You’re welcome.” He looked down at the pup. “Are you ready to give him up yet?”
Em grimaced. “Nah, not really.”
“I promise he’ll be taken care of,” Tim reassured firmly, reaching for the dog.
Holding the puppy near her face, she nuzzled him gently and let him attack her face with his tongue one last time before she sighed, finally handing him over to Tim. “I’m counting on that,” she answered huskily.
Tim had a feeling that as soon as he and the pup were out of sight, Em was going to cry.
“We’re getting closer to the entrance I was talking about.” Pointing toward the opposite end of the inn, he reached for her hand. “C’mon.”
At that moment, Tim thought there was a certain familiarity about the situation that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
T
hat was it, he suddenly realized, turning and studying Em. It couldn’t be. Could it? This wasn’t the same girl who’d been wandering around Dragonfly Pointe at Christmas time about seven or eight years ago? Tim had been captain of the hockey team in junior high, and the games had always been played at the Dragonfly Pointe Bay outdoor rink.
One night, he’d been bundling up to go home after a game when he’d noticed a little girl sitting in the stands by herself. She’d been looking rather lost. Turns out she’d run away after having some kind of argument with her mother and had ended up at the hockey game.
Tim remembered that he and his dad had dropped her off at one of the nicer homes in the residential area, on the opposite end of Dragonfly Pointe. Her aunt had answered the door looking mightily relieved.
There’d been something unusual about that situation, come to the think of it. That’s right—the girl had been…
Suddenly disconcerted, Tim took a long hard look at the girl who was walking silently beside him. Wasn’t she too young to be her? Plus, right now, she resembled a wet mop rather than a famous country singer. Besides, if she was the same girl he’d met before, she’d be staying with her aunt instead of at the inn.
Wouldn’t she?
An Excerpt
That Unforgettable Kiss
Kissed By Fate 1
AMAZON
Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Award Winner
In New Adult Romance
2016 Ian Book Of The Year Finalist
THAT UNFORGETTABLE KISS
IS ALSO INCLUDED IN
A TOUCH OF PASSION
#1 INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER
TRR Readers’ Choice Anthology Award Winner
Romance by USA Today, New York Times
Multi-Award Winning, Bestselling Authors
One
fateful night, not so long ago...
The moon hung bright and full on the night of Christina Montgomery’s celebration of life at the beach on Dragonfly Pointe. Nearly every resident from the town of Crystal Rock had stopped by and visited with Christina, to wish her well, before her sleepover under the stars.
Two Hearts In Accord (Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Book 7) Page 17
