“You’ve seen him already?”
“He came into the shop.” Her husband owned a sailboat shop. Rentals and purchases.
“Oh, is he in the sailboat market?”
“Maybe.” But the tone of her voice said Totally not.
“I’m not interested.”
“Come on, you—”
“I’m not interested, because I’m already seeing someone else.”
A deathly silence came through the line, and a sliver of satisfaction squirreled through Janey that she’d rendered her mouthiest sister quiet.
“I’m sorry,” Annabelle said in a freaky, calm voice. “I don’t think I heard you right.”
“I’m sure you did. In fact, he’s why I called.”
Another shriek came through the line, and Janey held the phone away from her ear while she collected another pretzel and it’s accompanying chocolate chips.
“Who is it?”
“Oh, I can’t say yet,” Janey said, a teasing quality in her voice.
“So I know him.”
“He’s a native of Hawthorne Harbor, so yep.” She could practically hear her sister’s wheels turning, and Janey wondered if she’d already said too much. “Anyway.” She cleared her throat. “This is okay, right? Me dating another man.”
“Oh, honey.” Annabelle’s voice turned compassionate. “Of course it’s okay. Matt’s been gone for a long time.”
Janey’s attention wandered to the picture of her and Matt sitting on her bedside table. It showed the two of them up at the lake at the lodge, the day he’d asked her to marry him. It was just a quick selfie, but it was a day Janey didn’t want to forget.
“I feel like I don’t know him anymore,” she said.
“You didn’t get enough time to really know him,” Annabelle said. “It’s normal and healthy for you to move forward. Find someone new to spend your life with.”
Janey snuggled deeper into her pillows, her reading device dormant beside the picture on the table. She’d stay up for another couple of hours after she finished with Annabelle, because reading in the middle of the night was the only time she truly felt free.
“So tell me about this mystery man. How many times have you gone out?”
“Just twice,” Janey said.
“So no kissing, I assume?”
“Too early for that,” Janey said, though she had thought about what it would be like to kiss Adam. It was kind of hard not to imagine it with the man’s arm around her shoulders and the bells vibrating in the wind and the beautiful Washington countryside sweeping out in front of her.
“But you like him?”
Janey took a deep breath and said, “Yeah, I like him,” as she pushed the air out of her lungs. It felt good to say it out loud to someone else.
“Well, I can’t wait to hear who it is.”
If Janey knew her older sister—and she did—she’d have already sent a text off to Lily Stoker, the owner of the bridal shop on Wedding Row. The dress shop was the hotbed of gossip in Hawthorne Harbor, as it had a constantly rotating door of women coming and going. Just because they were all engaged didn’t mean they didn’t know who was dating who.
Janey plugged in her phone and reached for her book, satisfied that she and Adam had kept their two dates as far from prying eyes as possible—and hoping they could continue to do so this weekend at the beach.
Chapter Ten
Adam ran down the beach on Friday morning, his feet matching the rhythm of his breathing as he kept his eye on Gypsy. She frolicked out in the surf, as usual, barking at an errant bird that hadn’t flown south yet.
The summer had clung to Hawthorne Harbor for a few extra weeks this year, something his step-father was thrilled about because it meant better lavender growth for next year. Adam didn’t mind it either, and he hoped the warmer weather would last through the weekend.
Ah, the weekend. He’d never spent a lot of time lying on the sand at the beach, but he’d looked through Gretchen’s itinerary, and there seemed like there’d be plenty of time for relaxing in the sun.
He’d texted Janey early, before he’d started his run, and said, Seems to be plenty of free time this weekend. Maybe we can sneak away for a stroll down the beach?
She hadn’t answered by the time he’d put his headphones in and started his morning ritual. The house where they were staying this weekend was located at Double Bluff Beach, one of the sandier beaches on Whidbey Island. He wasn’t sure what the running conditions would be like, as he didn’t take many beach vacations. But there was an exercise room in the clubhouse nearby, and Adam thought he might use that.
Or he might not run at all. But running provided such a great way for his mind to work through things that he couldn’t usually go too long without pounding the pavement.
Today, all he could think about was Janey, and while she’d haunted him for years, this was different. This was him holding her hand, and smelling her perfume, and having fantasies of more than that.
He’d never allowed himself to venture too far into those dangerous waters, because there was no point. Matt had claimed her on the very night Adam had wanted to make his move, and there was nothing he could do to change history. Sure, he’d dip a toe in when he took her presents, but he was always quick to remind himself that she wasn’t really available.
But his last date with her had said maybe she was. And it was that slippery maybe that he clung to, hoped in, ran for.
When he got back to his car, his phone flashed with a blue light. His heart kicked up a notch as if he was still running. “Could be anything,” he told himself as he reached for the sports drink in the console. Bypassing the phone beside the bottle, he pulled the drink out and guzzled it, silently hoping the blue light belonged to Janey.
Satiated and ready to shower, he sat behind the steering wheel and allowed himself to brighten the phone screen. Just to see who’d texted.
He had eight texts, one of which was from Janey.
We’ll see.
What a perfectly diplomatic answer. He sighed as he ignored the texts from Sarah, his secretary, and Trent, the officer assigned to the early morning shift that day. He wasn’t going in to work today, and their questions could wait until Monday. Or they could ask Milo, who should be walking in the door within the hour.
After showering, packing, and hunting around the shed for a football, Adam tossed his bag in the backseat and returned to the house to face the dogs. “All right, you two,” he said. “Come on.”
Gypsy almost trampled him in her enthusiasm to please him. “Sit down, sit down.”
She complied, her smile infectious. He grinned at her and said, “Come on, Fable.”
The husky approached more slowly, still licking his jaws as Adam had interrupted his breakfast. He stopped beside Gypsy, but Fable didn’t sit. He would—if Adam had a treat to give him. But otherwise? He could stand, thanks.
“Brenda is coming over after work,” he said. “You remember her, don’t you?”
Gypsy cocked her head as if truly trying to figure out if she could remember Brenda. Fable just stared at him.
“She’s taking you home with her while I’m gone. I don’t want any trouble.” He gave a stern glare to Fable. “All right?”
The husky yawned, extended his front paws out in front of him, and kept his hindquarters up in the air as he stretched.
“All right.” Adam gave them both a scrub along the ears, grabbed his wallet and keys, and left the house. He drove out of town and down around Discovery Bay, marveling at how much lighter he felt just being outside the Hawthorne Harbor city limits.
It was miraculous, really, that he could drive for a couple of hours and end up somewhere that felt completely different from Hawthorne Harbor. While he loved his job, he didn’t get outside the city limits much, and he rolled the windows down on the cruiser to let in the fresh air and the scent of freedom.
He took the ferry from Port Townsend, wondering how Janey was going to make it to Double B
luff Beach. The ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville was about a forty-five minute ride, and to his knowledge, Janey hadn’t been on a ferry since Matt’s death. She rarely left town at all. He stood at the railing, the sound of the seawater splashing the sides of the ferry filling his ears, as well as the scream that he probably kept too close of an eye on her if he knew such things about her.
His mind drifted from Janey to Matt, and he wondered what had gone wrong that day. The findings of the investigation had been inconclusive as to why the fire had started, only that it had begun in the engine room and moved rapidly to consume the whole boat.
Shaking his head to clear the memories of that horrible day, he gazed out across the Puget Sound, the water, wind, and waves creating one of the most beautiful scenes in the world.
By the time he navigated to the beach house his brother had rented for the weekend, his stomach reminded him that he was going to grab breakfast on the way out of town and hadn’t. Drew was always going on and on about the breakfast burritos at Duality. Adam was no stranger to the gas station-slash-eatery, and he stopped by the joint more often than he wanted to admit.
Drew opened the front door of the beach house as Adam straightened from the cruiser, a smile already on his face. “You made it.”
“Pretty drive,” Adam said. “Am I okay to park here?”
“Yeah, sure. Janey’s coming with Gretchen and Dixie. Mom and Joel won’t be here until later.”
“Oh?” Adam strode toward his brother. “She didn’t say they would be coming late.” He climbed the stairs and embraced Drew. “How are you doing? Ready to get married?”
Drew chuckled and pounded Adam on the back. “Just about.” They stepped back and Drew continued with, “Joel said he had to stay and take care of the animals this afternoon before they could leave. Then Dwayne Harper is going to come over on Saturday and Sunday.”
Dwayne owned a small apple orchard several miles down the road from Adam’s mother and step-father. They’d been helping each other for as long as Adam could remember. “So this is the place, huh?” He ducked through the doorway and looked around the bright, airy house. Light flowed from front to back and the entire wall before him faced the beach and was made of glass.
“Wow.” Adam moved toward it, the idea to move to Double Bluff Beach invading his mind. Surely the small towns around here needed police officers, right? A deck extended beyond the house, with steps that led right down to the sandy beach. The wind whipped the waves against the shore, and Adam admired the bay beyond that.
He’d walked through a spacious living room, with a dining area on his right and the kitchen on the left.
“Two bedrooms on the main level,” he said. “Four upstairs. You can have one to yourself.” Drew gestured for Adam to follow him. “Main bath here.” He pointed to the first door on his left. “I think this room for Mom and Joel.”
Adam peeked into the room, and it was well-furnished and seemed fresh and clean. “This is a nice place. Where did you find it?”
“Just on Your Home,” Drew said. “There’s a bedroom here with bunk beds. We’ll probably put the kids here.”
Drew took the tour upstairs, where he thought Adam and Janey, as well as he and Gretchen would each have their own room. One pair of bedrooms was hooked together by a Jack-and-Jill bathroom, and it had the largest counter.
“Women in there,” Adam said.
“Probably.” Drew stepped to the last door on the right side. “I was thinking this would be your room.”
It was square, a box, with a queen bed opposite of the window. He moved toward the glass and said, “Beach view. Sold.”
Drew laughed and said, “So you decided not to bring the dogs? You know this is a leash-free beach.”
“Did you bring yours?”
“Of course. You didn’t hear Blue whining when we passed my bedroom?” Drew stepped back out into the hall and opened the door next to Adam’s. Blue, his over-eager German shepherd burst from the room like a jack-in-the-box, his whole body wagging as he flew toward Adam.
Adam loved Drew’s dogs, and he crouched down to let Blue and then Chief lick his face, laughing as he scrubbed their necks and ears. “Did he trap you in that bedroom? Did he?”
“Should’ve brought Fable and Gypsy.”
“Oh, can you imagine?” Adam straightened and chuckled. “Four huge dogs up here. It would’ve been chaos.” He started for the steps. “I’m starving. Anything to eat here?”
Drew followed him back downstairs and into the kitchen. “Eggs and bread.”
“Done.” Adam set about cracking eggs to make a sandwich while Drew sat at the counter and cocked his head. He dropped two slices of bread into the toaster and set it. “What? You want one?”
“You seem...overly chipper.”
Adam turned his back on his brother and opened a cupboard to find a pan, trying to find the right thing to say. “I’m on vacation. I never go on vacation.”
“Yeah, that’s true...but that’s not it.”
Adam set the frying pan on the stove and opened the fridge, muttering, “Butter, butter.”
“In the door.”
He found the fat and worked to put a bit in the pan to melt.
“Have you got a new case at work?”
“What? N—Yes. New case at work.” If that would get Drew off this topic of conversation, Adam could stand to tell the little white lie. Besides, he thought about Janey a lot at work. Had solved a whole Rubix cube while his mind sorted through what to do about her, what to say to her, what move to make next.
He poured the eggs into the pan and they sizzled. Drew let him cook in peace, and Adam said, “How’s the lavender growing?” His brother had recently quit his job as a paramedic and renovated the house next door to their mom and step-dad.
“Growing great,” he said.
“Do you miss the bus?”
“Every day.”
Adam turned back to his brother, though he really shouldn’t take his eyes off the eggs for too long. “Yeah? And that’s okay?”
“It’s okay, yeah.” Drew shrugged and pointed to the pan. “Moving out there and taking over that farm was the right thing to do.”
Adam grunted and pushed his eggs into a square the size of a piece of bread. The toast popped up and he slathered butter on it, then slid the egg patty onto the bread. He ignored the begging German shepherds and sat down next to his brother with a sigh. “I love eggs.”
“That you do.” Drew nudged him with his elbow while he ate.
“When is Gretchen getting here?” Adam asked, careful not to say Janey’s name. He’d never told anyone—not even Drew—about his insane crush on Janey, but he didn’t trust himself not to say much about her now that they’d been out a few times.
It was easier before, when Adam knew he didn’t have a chance with her. But now that there was some hope, now that he’d held her hand, he couldn’t imagine being able to say her name without using a softer voice than he normally did.
“Should be soon.” Drew lifted his phone and looked at it. “They left two hours ago.”
Adam ate his sandwich and had just gotten up to put the plate in the dishwasher when a horn honked outside. Drew whooped and headed for the front door, but Adam couldn’t seem to make his feet move out of the kitchen.
He heard Gretchen squeal and giggle and a few moments later, she ushered her blonde daughter through the door, saying, “You two are sharing the room with the bunk beds. Go find it.”
Dixie skipped toward him, saying, “Hiya, Chief,” before turning and disappearing down the hall.
Jess came in wearing headphones and a backpack and a look that said he wasn’t ultra-pleased to be here without Thayne. He met Adam’s eye and pulled out one earbud. “Where are you sleeping?”
“Bedroom upstairs.”
The boy came closer, and it took all of Adam’s concentration to maintain eye contact with Jess instead of searching the doorway for his mom. “Don’t you think I’m a lit
tle old to be sharing a room with a girl?”
“I—I don’t—”
“We’re not cousins or anything.” Jess huffed and twisted back toward the front door, where Gretchen and Drew spoke to each other with stars in their eyes and whispers in their voices.
“You like Dixie.”
“I do not,” Jess said, spinning back to Adam, who definitely saw and heard something too vehement in the boy’s statement. He cocked his head, trying to figure out what he’d said wrong to elicit such a reaction from Jess.
“Maybe I can sleep with you.” Jess looked at him with hopeful eyes. “I’ll sleep on the floor or whatever.”
Adam had no idea what to say to him. And then Janey appeared in the doorway, and Adam forgot about Jess’s dilemma. He only had eyes for her, and everything inside him urged him to cross the room and take her in his arms the way a boyfriend would.
He held perfectly still instead. Her eyes met his too, and an zip of electricity shot between them. Surely everyone in the room had felt it, but Jess didn’t even turn toward his mom.
Gretchen, however, had noticed that both Janey and Adam had frozen and couldn’t seem to look away from each other. She nudged Drew, which set Adam into action.
“Come on,” he said to Jess. “Let’s go check out the bunk beds and see what the real deal is.” He put his arm around Jess’s shoulders and steered him down the hall, the energy between him and Janey still crackling like lightning.
Chapter Eleven
Janey refused to let herself clear her throat until she’d towed her suitcase upstairs and into the bedroom Drew had detailed. First door on the left. Once behind it, she pressed her back into the wood and exhaled.
It hadn’t even been forty-eight hours since she’d seen Adam, and still the sight of him had rendered her weak. Breathless.
“Brainless,” she muttered. “Pull yourself together.” She didn’t want to distract from Gretchen’s planning weekend. The woman had sent a five-page itinerary, for crying out loud. And Adam’s parents were here, and her son, and she couldn’t go freezing and staring like that again.
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