by Olivia Miles
There was a line of patrons waiting for a table, but the waiter saw Robbie motion to him and gave a nod. A perk of being the son of the owners. Robbie had grown up in the carriage house just behind the inn. This pub was an extension of their home, and for Sunday suppers growing up, it had been the family dining room, where the boys all sat at one end, and Matt’s dad and Robbie’s father at the other, mostly talking about two things: sports and business. Or fishing, if the season was right. And then there was his mother, and Robbie’s mother, who would laugh all night long. They’d been the best of friends, until that had all changed, when they’d left.
His mother had never found another friend like Bonnie, Matt thought with regret. And she’d lost touch with her over the years, too. Claimed it was too hard to stay close long-distance. But Matt knew what she meant. It was too hard—but in the way that mattered. The way that cut right through to your heart.
The five of them were seated quickly, with Matt at one end of the table and Maddie and Amelia on either side of him. Wine was ordered (Conway, of course), and delivered, and menus were examined, even though they all had them memorized from years of patronage. Matt used the time to glance over at Amelia. Still pretty as ever, with her long, strawberry blonde hair that was loose around her shoulders tonight, instead of pulled back in a knot like she’d worn it at the café last night.
He was surprised she was able to get a night off, especially on a Friday. The café had been packed when he was there last night, and not for lack of effort, he knew. Back when his parents ran their shop, one of them was always working, especially on weekends, and even when they were home, they were usually fretting over a stack of bills and paperwork spread all over the dining room table.
He supposed it was late and Amelia was already finished for the day. Still, he decided to use the topic to lighten the tension between them.
“Playing hooky?” he leaned over and whispered, and Amelia paused for a moment before releasing a hoot of laughter. “For a second there I thought you’d forgotten.”
“How could I ever forget that?” Her blue eyes shone as she looked at him. “It was probably the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Skipping gym class to swim in the lake on a hot June day was the worst thing you’ve ever done?”
She shrugged. “Should I assume you’ve gotten into further trouble since you moved away?”
He considered telling her that yes, in fact, he had. That he’d skipped as many classes as he could senior year in Minneapolis, dodged lunch, and dropped off the lacrosse team—even though he’d been team captain here in Blue Harbor. But no good would come from that. She’d see him in a different light; not as the boy she remembered. And besides, that was ancient history. A rough patch in his life he didn’t like to think about but never forgot, either. It had driven him, all through college, where he’d studied long into the night and upheld the highest GPA possible. Since he’d graduated, he’d done nothing but work, dated a bit, and mostly focused on making his way up the corporate ladder, eager to impress the big boss, hoping to ensure the job stability that his father had never been able to find.
“I’m afraid to disappoint you, but my life has actually been quite boring since you last saw me. Minneapolis may be a city, but it’s not exactly New York.”
“You could never disappoint me,” Amelia said with a little smile, and something inside him pulled. “Except maybe…” She shook her head. “No. You’re all good.”
There had been something she’d wanted to say, he knew, but he didn’t press. “Maybe you could try telling my boss that,” he joked, even though he was an exemplary employee. He’d made sure of that.
Her cheeks flushed and she reached for her wine glass, diverting eye contact. “Besides,” she said airily. “Your life can’t be all that boring. Most places have a little more going on than Blue Harbor.”
That was true, and it was another focus of his mission. The town was hopping with tourists from spring through early fall, but the winter was slow. Slow enough that he’d had to work long and hard to convince the power players at his company that a four-star resort could turn a profit in Blue Harbor. And he still had some convincing to do. But he was almost there. And once he was…the promotion that he’d been working toward for the better part of his twenties was finally going to be his.
And he’d finally leave this town as a success. Not as a failure.
“Blue Harbor is a special place,” he said, giving her a long look. Full of special people. People he’d been forced to leave behind.
“You didn’t need to stay away so long,” Maddie cut in, and from the way the table top suddenly jerked and the yelp that Maddie barely suppressed, Matt could only assume that Amelia had kicked her under the table.
“I didn’t,” he agreed. He gave Amelia a look of apology, even though he knew it was almost half a lifetime ago. He’d moved away with his family, and they were still just kids, really. They’d said a tearful good-bye. Matt knew that he would probably apply to colleges near his new home now rather than ones near Blue Harbor that he and Amelia had originally applied to, together. There hadn’t been an official ending to their relationship, just an understanding that nothing would ever be the same again.
But he could have called. Visited. His aunt and uncle would have gladly welcomed him each summer, and his cousins too. It just wasn’t that simple for him.
“Life gets busy,” Amelia said matter-of-factly. She gave her sister a look of warning and then turned her attention back to him. “So, Robbie mentioned that you’re an architect now. It was what you always wanted to do.”
“It was,” he mused. Ever since he was a kid, he’d longed to create something and see it brought to life. So far, he had only assisted on projects that did little to inspire him, like office buildings, and a few retail shops, but the opportunity to pitch something personal was a long time coming, and he wasn’t sure he’d get another chance anytime soon.
The Harborside Resort was something he had been working on for nearly two years now, waiting for the right time to approach the project development team. The research department had done their due diligence, and as he’d expected, Blue Harbor showed promise in being the next location for a luxury resort—there was never a shortage of demands for hotel rooms and this concept was different than all the other small inns that lined the town. He had two weeks to compile his report and make his final pitch to the development team before they made a decision on moving forward.
“I suppose you’ll have to get back to the office soon then,” Amelia said, and if Matt didn’t know better, he might say that there was an air disappointment in her tone.
He grinned, imagining the building that he had memorized hugging Lake Huron, revitalizing the small town, and making Blue Harbor everything it could finally be.
“If all goes to plan, I might be staying in town for quite some time, actually,” he said.
And from the little smile that Amelia gave him, he suddenly hoped more than ever that this was exactly what would happen.
3
Saturday mornings at the café were always the busiest of the week, and not just because Maddie took the day off to bake pies for the orchard’s market every Sunday. The tourists seemed to double on Friday afternoons when the weekenders came in, and even the counter service that Amelia offered during the breakfast and lunch hours couldn’t keep a line from trailing out the open door.
This morning, things didn’t settle down until close to ten thirty, and Amelia untied her apron strings in the hopes of taking advantage of the lull before the lunch rush, knowing that her staff could cover things for a bit. Tomorrow would be her first time assisting at the orchard since the annual Cherry Festival, where she usually offered fresh hot pretzels, or this year, now that Britt had taken over the running of the place from their father, a full spread of sandwiches and sides that had kept the guests well fed and lingering long into the evening.
As part of her initiat
ive to increase profits at the family business, Britt had come up with the idea of hosting wine tasting parties for small groups, and Amelia was asked to pair each wine course with a small dish. Of course she had been all too happy when she’d agreed, during a rainy week last month when business was slow because tourists had cancelled their plans, and the seasonal folks and locals opted to stay dry inside their homes rather than venture into town.
Now, she looked at her notebook of ideas based on the wines Britt had selected and groaned. There were six people coming to tomorrow’s event as part of a bachelorette party, and in addition to providing them with everything from a cheese through dessert course, she’d also gotten roped into a cooking demonstration for a summer pasta that would go with the orchard’s latest wine—The Keira—named after Robbie’s daughter, and fitting with the tradition that their own father had come up with years back to name all of his blends after his daughters. Her Uncle Steve had done the same with his three girls.
Right. Her cousin Gabby was in charge of the centerpieces for the event, and Amelia decided to stop by the flower shop for a few minutes before getting back to the kitchen. Maybe the brisk walk would drum up more energy. A coffee would probably help, too.
She grabbed her thermos and refilled it to the rim, telling herself that she really needed to cut back once things slowed down in the autumn.
“I won’t be long,” she told Rachel, as she cut through the dining room, knowing that Rachel would want to take a break soon, too. It was a hot day for August, but the breeze from the lake made it pleasant, and she decided to take the waterfront path rather than cut up to Main Street just yet.
Sailboats bobbed on the water, and farther down near the designated public beach, people were set up on towels and chairs, watching children who splashed in the water. It would be a busy night, she knew, and she’d have an even busier day tomorrow. She was tired just thinking about it, but she wouldn’t complain. Running that café was everything she had ever wanted. And she’d be staffed up for the rest of the month, too.
She was just turning up the gravel path that would lead her up to Main Street, and only a few storefronts down from where Gabby’s flower shop was located across from Bella’s Books, when she heard her name being called. She turned, not recognizing the voice, and grinned when she saw Matt walking toward her, waving.
Her stomach rolled with anticipation and nerves. She’d been happy to see him again, but she also wanted to temper any expectation. Matt had disappointed her once before. She couldn’t completely let her guard down.
Still, she held up a hand, allowing herself to be irresponsible for a change. Allowing herself to dare to hope that this time around, things might be different.
She supposed the café could wait for her for a little while longer. Her staff was quite competent both at the counter and in the kitchen—something she’d seen to herself with careful training—and the lunch crowd wouldn’t really hit for about an hour.
“Nice day,” she said, when he caught up to her.
Nicer by the minute, she thought, meeting his eyes and struggling to look away. He was still handsome, with that boyish grin, and his navy polo brought out the color of deep-set eyes. His shoulders had broadened with age, and he’d filled out all over from the teenage kid that she remembered, not that she was complaining. Her heart beat a slow and steady drum in her chest and she took a steadying breath.
“Are you off today?” he asked, and with regret, she shook her head, wondering what he might have suggested if she had answered differently.
She told herself not to go there. The café was her life, and her top priority. It was her pride. Her dream come true. The one constant in a world that was otherwise so unpredictable.
She roamed her gaze over him again. Very unpredictable.
“Saturdays are pretty busy, as you can imagine.” She smoothed down her ponytail, hoping that she didn’t look as harried as she felt.
“Business pretty steady?” he asked, and she wondered if she detected a note of more than conversational interest.
“Steady enough.” She shrugged. “Of course it slows down in January through April, but we’ve seen more and more tourists coming through during the holidays. The Winter Carnival has grown into quite an event.”
She hesitated, wondering if she should have brought that up, knowing how hard it had been when his parents had lost their business and then—almost worse—their house. The whole town had known about it, and some of the kids at school had been cruel, offering to buy Matt lunch, asking if he was going to be homeless now that the bank was foreclosing on his house.
He’d never opened up to her about how that felt, just clenched his jaw and briskly moved away from the punks who had long since left Blue Harbor, as many classmates had. It was true that Blue Harbor depended on tourists. It was a remote area—not quite as remote as Evening Island off in the water’s distance, but enough so that you were bound to hit a few rough years, and you learned to make the most of things when you could.
“Christmas in Blue Harbor is pretty special.” Matt grinned, and Amelia relaxed her shoulders, happy to see that she hadn’t hit upon a nerve. But then, all that had happened so long ago. He’d moved on by now.
Moved on from her too, most likely.
No call. No postcard. No email. Really, she wasn’t so sure why her stomach was fluttering like this. The man had forgotten her along with this town.
“I love the winters here, especially Christmas.” The holiday had been her mother’s favorite and the house still contained all the memories of those happy days, even if some of them were painful to think back on at times. Still, she had to look back. Had to hold on. It was all she had left of her mother now. Memories. “It’s one of the reasons I could probably never leave this place,” she said, thinking of the way the snow fell in November and stayed there for the better part of the winter, covering the quaint town in a quiet hush. Most of the inns that stretched Main Street went all out with decorations, and all of the shops, including her own café, participated in the various festivities that the town was known for throughout the Great Lakes region.
“Did you ever consider it?” Matt asked. “Leaving town? Going to a bigger city where there are more opportunities?”
He’d caught her by surprise, and she hesitated, continued along the path around the waterfront rather than up toward town, well past the flower shop now.
The truth was that she had thought of it, after Matt had left and after she’d finished her senior year of high school. But then Britt had already gone to Chicago and her father was still recovering from their mother’s death only two years earlier. Maddie was getting older, and she needed a mother figure, and Cora was too young to fill that role, being not much older than Maddie herself.
And so, as much as she’d thought about applying to college in a town near Matt, and picking up where they’d left off, she’d gone to school close by as planned instead, and eventually, put any thoughts of a reunion with him out of her head. Over the years, Jackson would mention something about his life, and she gleaned that he was doing well, settled, and that the chances of him coming back to Blue Harbor were more and more remote.
When Robbie moved back to town last year, she’d learned more. That Matt was an architect. That he’d done everything he’d set out to do. And she’d found it in her heart to be happy for him. Told herself that everything had worked out the way it should—for the both of them.
Only, in her heart of hearts, she knew that there was something missing from her life. The one thing that she’d never been able to find in Blue Harbor again. The one thing that Matt alone could offer. What her sister had found. True love with her first love.
Really, Amelia thought, her only love.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Not in all seriousness, at least. I imagined going away, of course, but my family is here, and, well, they needed me. And when I took over the café, I knew that I had made the right decision.”
“You
always loved that place,” Matt said with a smile. They’d spent many afternoons studying together over hot chocolates—or at least, pretending to study.
Amelia thought back to those stolen moments, to the simple thrill of reaching across the table to hold his hand, and the way his smile could turn her entire day around.
She swallowed hard, banishing the memory into the place she’d stored it all these years.
“I did. I still do. It’s where I’m meant to be,” she said firmly, giving him a long look. It would be so easy to be pulled into the past, but everything she’d done all these years had been in an attempt to move forward. Her life was full. The café gave her purpose. “And I should probably get back soon.”
Regret pulled at her chest, but she knew that she was just being responsible. She didn’t need her seasonal staff getting overwhelmed with a sudden rush and messing up orders that would result in bad internet reviews, or worse—one of them quitting.
“I was on my way to see Gabby to discuss an event we’re both a part of tomorrow,” she explained, checking her watch and realizing how quickly the lunch hour was approaching. She turned and worked her way up the path toward Main Street. “She owns a flower shop now.”
“So I heard. What event?” Matt asked, tipping his head as he followed alongside her. “Are there new festivals in town since I’ve been gone?”
She laughed and thought about that for a moment, knowing from his tone that he was being facetious. Blue Harbor was known for its festivities, and people looked forward to all of them—the tourists as well as the locals.
“Actually, no. It’s all the same, not that I’m complaining. I think it’s what brings people back here year after year. The inns have been around for generations, and the restaurants stay current and fresh, but there’s little turnover. When someone retires, instead of having to go out of business, someone like me comes along and takes things over where they left off.”
Most of the time, she thought, thinking of the empty storefront beside her. The location off the main strip gave a full view of the water but wasn’t ideal for most business looking for easy visibility. She knew the few other small shops in the little buildings down her path saw few customers, and only the bike shop had as much traffic as she did.