Return to Me (Blue Harbor Book 5)

by Olivia Miles

  “But that’s all in the past,” Gabby insisted. Ever the romantic. “The future is wide open.”

  Was it? Once, Brooke had felt that way, when she and Kyle were dreaming of their life together. But those dreams were separate, and ultimately, it was those dreams that drove them apart.

  “It doesn’t have to be all or nothing anymore, does it?” Gabby scooted forward. “I get it. I do. You wanted to go to the city, Kyle wanted to stay here. But now you don’t have to make that choice.”

  Brooke thought of the loan and her plans for the shop. Of Kyle’s plans for the pub.

  “I’m not sure it’s that simple,” she said sadly, because oh, how she wished it was.

  “If love was simple, I’d be married by now,” Gabby joked, lightening the mood. “It wasn’t all bad, Brooke.”

  Brooke gave a little smile. “No. It wasn’t. I guess my memory was tainted by…everything.” She took the album back and carefully set it in the trunk.

  “It was a beautiful wedding. The flowers weren’t too shabby either,” Gabby remarked with a grin. They were part of her early efforts, with shades of apricot and cream that had been the perfect complement to the navy bridesmaid dresses.

  “They were perfect,” Brooke said quietly.

  “But you know what really sticks out to me?” Gabby continued, even though Brooke was standing up now, wanting to end this conversation, wishing that she’d never come up here at all and had instead made do with the furniture she had or ordered something online.

  “What’s that?” she said flatly, shifting aside Jenna’s old clarinet case. Piano had definitely been her calling.

  “How happy you looked,” Gabby said.

  Brooke didn’t want to mention that she noticed it too.

  “You know, you’re pretty lucky, Brooke,” Gabby said.

  Brooke frowned at her. “Let me remind you that my marriage ended, rather quickly, too.”

  “But you were happy, even if it was short-lived,” Gabby said. “You were in love, truly, deeply in love, and you were loved back. And that’s not something everyone can say.”

  Brooke knew that Gabby was referring to herself. She also knew that her sister had a point.

  “Candy was in my shop this week,” Gabby said.

  Brooke hoped they were shifting the conversation back to Candy’s endless indecision, but Gabby gave her a knowing look and said, “She told me about you and Kyle having dinner at the café.”

  Brooke brushed a hand through the air, even though her cheeks were hot. “It was just two old friends catching up.”

  “Is that all you want to be? Friends?”

  Brooke thought about that for a moment. Until recently, she wouldn’t have even thought they could be that much to each other anymore, but her anger had faded, landing somewhere been acceptance and resignation.

  “Maybe it’s all we can be.” She’d moved on. And now, she realized, thinking of the plans that Kyle had made, he had too.

  15

  Kyle had managed to avoid Ryan for days thanks to an uptick in customers mostly due to the tourists filling the more desirable spots in the town. By midweek, though, he knew there was no sense in pushing things off any longer.

  He finished washing down the bar and turning over the chairs, then went back to the small office that his father used to sit in, right off the kitchen, which had been dark for hours since they stopped serving food by nine.

  “Ready to talk?” he asked, coming to drop onto the spare chair in the corner, next to the filing cabinet that bore years of receipts and tax information, in case they were ever audited. He’d always told himself he’d go through it sometime, clear out the unnecessary paperwork, and get rid of the clutter. Instead, he’d managed to toss a dried-out houseplant. For the most part, he’d stayed clear of this room. There was too much history here, even for him.

  Ryan looked up in surprise and closed his laptop, showing that he was giving Kyle his full attention.

  Kyle pushed out a breath. It was time to get this off his chest. This time, with no regrets.

  “I’m not selling the house.” There. It was out.

  Ryan nodded thoughtfully, not revealing any emotion. Still, Kyle felt the need to explain.

  “I’ve put my entire adult life into this pub. I’ve given up a lot for it. And I tried my best to keep it running, the only way I knew how. The way I thought that Dad would have wanted it done.” He chewed the inside of his mouth. This wasn’t easy, but then, nothing about any of this had ever been easy. “It’s still hard not to feel like I’ve let Dad down in a way. He loved this place.”

  He looked around, at the stacks of paperwork, the odd coffee mug resting on the file cabinet. Another on the desk.

  Ryan gave him a small smile. “You did more for this pub than I ever did. More for Dad too. I never said it before, but I owe you an apology, Kyle. It was because of you that I was able to keep my job, keep my relationship for a while at least, and still know that when I came home everything would be exactly as it was when I left.”

  “Right down to the limited customers and the stale menu and the dark ambiance?” Kyle said wryly.

  “I never said it when Dad died, but it would have killed me to lose this place, too. It was never my thing because it was always Dad’s thing…with you.”

  Now it was Kyle’s turn to look surprised. “I don’t follow.”

  “Dad was always a dreamer. Yeah, he probably didn’t have the best business sense, and this place was in trouble long before you took over. It made me crazy, really. Made me want to go into business, work with numbers, and facts. But you…you’re a lot like Dad. Dad followed his heart, and you did too.”

  Kyle swallowed hard. His heart was with Brooke. And he hadn’t followed her anywhere.

  “I don’t want to lose this place,” he said gruffly. “I never did.”

  “Then let me have a stab at it. I’d like to have a chance to make Dad proud too. In…my own way.”

  Kyle pulled back. “You mean that?”

  “I owe him that,” Ryan said. “And…I owe it to you, too.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Kyle said. He felt suddenly lost, as directionless as he ever had in his life. For as long as he could remember, there had been a plan, first with Brooke, and then, when his Dad died, to keep this place going. It was all right there in front of him.

  Now he was free. To do as he wanted. To carve his own path. And he wasn’t even sure where to begin. Or if it was too late.

  “You don’t need to say anything,” Ryan said. “Honestly, it’s what is best for both of us at this point. And I think it might be the only chance this pub has, too. I’ll put the loan in my name, but you know this place is still always going to be yours and Dad’s.”

  “It was always all of ours. This was always for the family.” Kyle stood up and walked to the doorway, looking out into the darkened front room. “I had a good run with this place. But I think you’ll do better with it.”

  Ryan gave him a sad smile. “Dad was always proud of your woodworking. Always said you’d make a real success of it someday.”

  Kyle hadn’t ever heard his father say that, and he stared at his brother in wonder. “Really?”

  Ryan nodded. “He was proud of you, Kyle. He still is. And to be honest, I always felt like I let him down, never showing much enthusiasm for the pub, not pitching in after he was gone. Now, it might be a chance to redeem that.”

  “Just don’t go changing it too much,” Kyle warned, laughing.

  “Only for the better,” Ryan promised. “There’s too much history here to throw away.”

  Kyle nodded and slowly walked out of the building onto the dark and empty street, possibly for the last time, or at least a long time. There was another part of his history he needed to honor, too. If he could just figure out how to best do that.

  *

  Brooke hadn’t considered how exhausting a busy day in the shop could be. Between the Pine Falls client, two more custom orders
, and what was starting to feel like a four-hour meeting with Candy, she couldn’t wait to turn the sign on the door and crawl into bed.

  Unfortunately, if she did that, she’d never find the time to actually make any of the gowns for the orders that had been placed.

  She’d need help, and soon. Designing dresses was where her heart was, not in just selling them.

  Candy sat on the small sofa next to her, sipping her tea and staring at the designs Brooke had sketched. “I can’t decide,” she finally said.

  Yes, Brooke had gathered that much, about three cups of tea ago.

  “I’ve waited so long for this day,” Candy explained, her big eyes pleading. “I want it to be perfect.”

  Maybe it wasn’t the best sales line, and maybe Brooke was out of patience, but she decided to speak the honest truth. “There’s no such thing as perfect, Candy.”

  Candy frowned a little but didn’t protest.

  “I once thought I had the perfect wedding,” Brooke said plainly, “and then my marriage fell apart. I didn’t look back on my wedding day often, didn’t stare at any photos, either. I started thinking of it as a day where everything had gone wrong and could have been better. But recently I’ve realized that wasn’t the case. I did have a beautiful wedding. Sometimes emotions can taint our memory in different directions.” She sighed and looked at her hands. “I think what I’m saying is that so long as you and Uncle Dennis are happy together, then nothing can ruin your wedding day. It will always be a day that you remember as the happiest, most beautiful day of your life, one that you wouldn’t have wanted to change, at all.”

  Candy wiped a tear from her eye. “You certainly know a lot about love. And here I thought I was the expert.”

  Brooke shook her head sadly. “I know nothing about love, I’m afraid.”

  Candy set her tea down and handed over the papers with a huff. “I think you do. More than you realize, or maybe more than you want to admit. So I’m going to trust you, and not just because every design you have shown me has been gorgeous. Which one do you think is best for me?”

  “Oh, no. This is your day. Your dress. You have to follow your heart. It will never let you down.”

  Candy squeezed her hand. “In that case, I need the ballgown. The train. Twenty-five feet.”

  Brooke laughed. “It’s exactly what I would have chosen for you.”

  Candy stood. “I should let you go. It’s late and I’ve already kept you too long.”

  “Not at all,” Brooke said. “There’s always time for family.”

  Candy beamed. “Family. I like the sound of that.”

  Brooke’s heart still felt heavy as she turned the sign on the door and watched Candy leave. Family. She liked the sound of it too.

  Still, there was a part of her past that she hadn’t found again when she’d moved back to Blue Harbor, one she hadn’t even thought she wanted at the time. One perfect day that she would try to hold onto, not forget.

  She walked to the back room, where the wedding dress she’d brought from her parents’ attic hung on the door, airing out from years in the trunk. She ran her fingers over the skirt and along the back row of buttons, remembering how her mother had carefully fastened each one and then squeezed her shoulders, staring at their reflection in the mirror.

  It had been such a happy day.

  Without thinking about it, Brooke slipped out of the dress she was wearing and carefully maneuvered the gown off its hanger, half-surprised to find that it still fit. She walked into the dressing room, her breath catching as she approached the three-way mirror, and she closed her eyes against the image, allowing herself to remember the feel of this gown, the walk down the aisle, the image of Kyle waiting for her, grinning that boyish smile of his. She’d suddenly felt so shy.

  But oh, she’d never been more certain.

  In the storefront, the door jangled and her eyes sprung open. Candy, probably, back for her sketches, reconsidering the train length, no doubt. Twenty-five feet was…cumbersome. To put it lightly.

  The skirt of the gown swished as she turned, and her mouth fell when she saw Kyle standing in the opening to the dressing rooms, staring at her with the same sense of wonder in his eyes he’d had all those years back when she’d first worn it.

  “Kyle.” She swallowed hard, feeling the need to explain, but not sure what to even say. She owned a wedding dress shop. She could claim this was research. But they both knew that wasn’t the case. He knew her too well.

  Then. And now.

  “The door was unlocked,” he said. He shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. “That dress…”

  She couldn’t believe he remembered it. But then, he remembered everything, didn’t he?

  Her heart felt heavy when she thought of the dates, the thought he’d put into them, the way she’d kept her guard up. Maybe rightfully so.

  “You altered it yourself,” he said. “You even thought about making your own, but you weren’t sure you’d be able to do it.”

  “Really?” She’d forgotten the doubt. She’d forgotten a lot.

  He nodded. “It’s funny how that worked out full circle. Now here you are.”

  She nodded, trying to swallow back the lump in her throat. “Now here I am. Back in Blue Harbor. Giving other people their perfect day. It’s hard not to feel like I’ve given up a lot, and not just my dreams of making it big in New York.”

  She gave him a pleading look, one that was part apology, part desperation, because what was done was done, there was no going back now. They’d made their choices, years ago, and here they stood, as two separate people, who used to mean everything to each other.

  “Sometimes our dreams take a different shape.” He gave her a sad smile. “Besides, you didn’t give up on yours; you just altered it a bit. Whereas I…” He pulled in a big breath. “I gave up on my dream a long time ago, managed to forget about it, really, but you…you helped me remember what I once wanted.”

  She stared at him, a smile creeping at the corners of her mouth. “You’re going to start designing furniture again.”

  He nodded. “But that’s not all, Brooke. That’s not enough. It was never enough. And it never could be. That dream…it only really mattered because you were a part of it. We imagined that life together.”

  “Kyle, I—” She didn’t need the loan, not really. She could close the shop on more days, use them to sew. She could compromise. She could give up her dream so he could have his.

  So they could be together.

  But he held up a hand, stopping her. “Please. There’s something I need to say. Something you need to know.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked her in the eye. “I’m not selling the house.”

  She blinked, unsure of what to say to that. “Okay.”

  “The bar was all I had left of my father, Brooke. But that house…it was all I had left of you.”

  Tears stung her eyes as he stepped toward her. “I didn’t support your dreams before, you were right.”

  “No, Kyle,” she said sadly. “We didn’t support each other. We couldn’t. We wanted two different things.”

  “All I ever wanted was you,” he said quietly. “I lost you once, Brooke. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  “What are you saying?” she whispered.

  “I’m saying that I love you, Brooke. I never stopped. And I don’t think that I ever will. You were my past. My present. And I never stopped wishing or hoping that somehow, you’d be my future.”

  A tear rolled down her cheek and she brushed it away, even though she was smiling now, straight from the heart. “We lost a lot of time, Kyle.”

  “What’s six years when we could have sixty more?” He grinned. “You never did give me that sixth date. And I have a pretty good idea for it.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Flowers,” he said, stepping toward her. “Music. Dancing. Yes, again,” he added before she could stop him. “You. Me. All of our nearest and dearest.”

  She
blinked at him, wondering if he was actually saying what she thought he was saying.

  “Kyle.” The words choked out of her, but she wasn’t going to try to stop him.

  She stared at him as he dropped to one knee and opened his palm to reveal a small circle of grapevines. It was dried out, brittle even, but it was the first ring he’d given her. The first promise he’d made.

  One that he intended to keep.

  “Brooke Conway, will you do me the honor of staying my wife?”

  She laughed because if she didn’t laugh, she would cry. Only it was no use because she was already crying. Only these weren’t the tears of hurt and sadness that she had shed in the weeks and months after she’d left for New York. These were the best kind of tears. The happy tears. Because she was happy. Right here, in Blue Harbor, with Kyle Harrison. Forever.

  Epilogue

  Technically, it was their sixth wedding anniversary, but today it was the first day of the rest of their lives together. Here in Blue Harbor, where they could have everything they had ever wanted.

  “I can’t believe you’re getting married. Again.” Gabby set her hands on her hips, but there was a shine in her eyes that gave away her happiness.

  “It’s a vow renewal ceremony,” Brooke reminded her sister. It hadn’t been easy telling their family that they had never officially ended their marriage, but rather than be upset, everyone had been thrilled at the news.

  “Well, whatever you’re calling it, I’m happy for you.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  Brooke turned to see her mother standing in the doorway of her childhood bedroom. Her eyes were a little more wrinkled at the corners and her hair was a bit greyer at the temple than it had been six years ago, but her smile was still as bright.

  “Oh, Brooke. That dress.”

  Brooke caught her reflection and smiled at what she saw. It was her own dress. Her own creation. A dress to build a dream on.

  “Is everyone here?” Brooke didn’t dare look out the window for fear of jinxing anything, because even though she said she didn’t believe in fate, she did believe in superstition.