Sweet Beginnings

by Melissa McClone

  Her eyes clouded. “Josh…”

  “You don’t have to decide right now.” Even though he wished she would. “My family will be honest with you about my flaws, and my flying abilities if you want to ask them.”

  As her gaze narrowed, she studied him without any judgment. “Doing something for me is important to you?”

  He nodded, trying not to show how much he needed to do… this.

  Jenny bit her lip. “I was planning to ship items for the wedding, but would you be willing to fly them to South Carolina for me in June?”

  Josh straightened. “Yes. Tell me when. I’m on a leave of absence from work. My schedule is completely flexible.”

  “The wedding is on the second Friday in June. A few days before would be ideal.” She smiled. “I need my dress there ahead of time to have it steamed.”

  “Happy to help.” Relief brought a smile to his face. “Where in South Carolina?”

  “Indigo Bay. It’s a small beach town.”

  He’d never heard of the place. “Is that where your fiancé is from?”

  “No, Dare’s from New Hampshire but stationed in Georgia. We thought the East Coast was the best place to get married since it’s only Missy and me here.” As Jenny spoke to Josh like he was a friend, warmth flowed through him. “Dare’s staff sergeant recommended Indigo Bay after spending Christmas there with his wife.”

  “I’ll fly whatever you need there. Whenever.” His gaze locked on Jenny. He hoped his gratitude shone through. “This will take a leap of faith on your part, but I won’t let you down. I promise.”

  She squeezed his arm. “I trust you, Josh.”

  “Thanks.” He only wished he trusted himself.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Natural light flooded Hope Ryan’s studio, aka the converted guest bedroom in her twin brother’s beach house. The sunshine was typical for late May in Indigo Bay, but special UV coating on the studio’s windows and French doors kept the sunrays from damaging her art.

  Art.

  Yeah, right.

  Stifling a yawn, Hope picked up the ornament to examine the miniature seascape. This was number twenty-seven of the thirty she was making to go into tin wedding favor buckets she’d decorated.

  She tilted the wood piece to the right. Looked good. She angled the heart-shaped ornament to the left. The way the light hit made the Atlantic Ocean too blue and the grass on the beach too yellow. Her shoulders sagged.

  With a sigh, she tossed the piece into the garbage can. The wood clattered against the metal. She grabbed another whitewashed wooden heart, and then sketched the shoreline onto the front.

  After doing so many this week, the drawing took shape quickly, but she was dragging. Her heavy eyelids kept wanting to close. Hope knew the reason—not enough sleep.

  Last night, she’d worked late at an anniversary party, but woken at her usual time this morning. Balancing her art with her new part-time job working events at the Indigo Bay Cottages Resort wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be.

  The door to the studio opened. Less than five seconds later, the scents of burgers and fries filled the room. Her stomach grumbled.

  She smiled at her twin. Von’s sandy-blond hair, the same color as hers, fell to his shoulders in loose waves. He wore jeans and a T-shirt. Both were clean, which suggested he hadn’t been working on the houses he flipped for a living. Lately, he’d been spending more time in Charleston. She missed having him around.

  Hope eyed the two bags he carried. “Please tell me there’s a cheeseburger for me.”

  He grinned, a twinkle in his eyes. “I got you two.”

  “Exactly what I need.” Von wasn’t only her brother, but also her roommate and white knight.

  “There’s seasoned fries, too.” Heavy footsteps—the steel-toed work boots he wore on jobsites—sounded against the tile floor he’d installed to make cleanup easier. “Figured you skipped breakfast and lunch.”

  “I did.” Hope set the ornament on the workbench Von had made her. She didn’t need to worry about much thanks to her brother. “I’m trying to get a project finished this week.”

  “What are you making?” he asked.

  She hadn’t told him about her latest commission yet. “Wedding favors.”

  As his jaw jutted forward, his shoulders and neck tensed.

  Uh-oh. She knew what was coming, and tried to prepare herself.

  His green eyes resembled the sea during a storm: dark and murky. “You should paint on a canvas instead of a small heart.”

  This was why she hadn’t told him. She hated disappointing Von, but that was all she seemed to do with her art. Or what was left of it.

  She raised her chin. “This is what I do now.”

  “That’s because you gave up.”

  Hope flinched at his unexpected and hurtful words, but her brother had never been one to hold back. He’d told her not to marry Adam Darby too soon, but she hadn’t listened. Oh, how she wished she had, then maybe she wouldn’t have had to leave her dreams behind in New York. “You, of all people, know I had no choice.”

  Her muse, creativity, whatever one called the spark that ignited her passion, had deserted her—as had the players in the art world who’d once sung her praise. Sides had been picked, and she’d come out the loser over her ex-husband, whose lies had been believed over the truth.

  “I don’t know why you’re bringing this up now,” she added.

  “Because you’re wasting your talent. You should be creating art that’s on display in galleries. Not stuck to the front of refrigerators or hanging on Christmas tree branches.”

  He’d said the words before, but they were never easy to hear. Von meant well. He supported her as no one else had, but she wished he’d let go of her old career and what she used to paint.

  She had.

  “I make decent money off the magnets and ornaments,” she explained for what felt like the hundredth time. “Few artists living in a small town like Indigo Bay can say that.”

  Granted, she didn’t pay much to live in his house. Well, one of them. Her brother also owned a townhome near Charleston where he stayed when he had a project there, several vacation rentals along the coast, and whatever investment properties he was working on. With real estate and contractor’s licenses, he’d opened his own property investment company. At twenty-eight, his long hours and hard work were starting to pay off.

  Von reached into the garbage can, pulled out the heart ornament, and shook his head. “You’re better than this, Hope.”

  Once upon a time, she had been.

  Now, not so much.

  She understood her brother’s mix of concern and disappointment, but… “I like what I do.”

  “You used to love it.”

  True. Too bad she wasn’t strong enough to try again. She doubted she ever would be after failing in her previous attempts.

  At Christmastime, she’d spent a day at the local gallery on Main Street, painting ornaments and personalizing them for customers. Doing that had been a huge, anxiety-ridden step for her. She hadn’t wanted to book another time slot even though the gallery wanted her back.

  “I am working on something new. Look what Zoe hired me to make.” Hope motioned to the far wall. “I have a couple more to go, but I think they’re looking good.”

  Von inhaled sharply before approaching the vertical fabric panels hung up to dry. Each contained a large seascape done using acrylic paint, not the oils she used to prefer. She had painted nothing near this scale in two years. Two long years of thinking she’d never create substantial work again. Not that these were art, per se, but…

  “These are incredible, sis.” Awe filled Von’s voice. The tension seeped from his shoulders. He reached out, but then pulled his arm to his side as if remembering the panels were wet. “What are they for?”

  “A wedding reception at the resort in June.” She thought he’d like the romantic, beach-inspired panels. “They’ll hang on the walls in the multi-purpose room. Tu
lle, seashells, and white fairy lights will go around them.”

  “Impressive.”

  Not compared to what she’d painted in the past, but working on the panels fed her soul in a way nothing else had since she’d left New York in disgrace. Hope had dreamed of being an artist with shows in popular galleries and write-ups in the paper. She’d succeeded for a few years until returning to Indigo Bay a total failure—her reputation ruined, her heart broken, and her trust in anyone but her family gone.

  “If Zoe likes the panels, I’m hoping she’ll hire me to paint seasonal ones.”

  “She’d be crazy not to love these.”

  “You’re my brother. You have to like them.”

  Still, a smile tugged at Hope’s lips. Von had found her the job with Zoe Ward, who worked in guest services and did event planning for the resort because he thought Hope needed to get out of the house more. When he worked in Charleston, days went by without her seeing another person unless her friend and next-door neighbor, Paula O’Neill, dropped by. Not only was Hope around more people now, but she’d also been hired to make favors and decorations for events. A win-win.

  “Others will, too.” Von glanced over his shoulder at her. His smile lit up his face. “You should do more things like this.”

  Hope wanted to, but she shrugged. “I might if the gallery thinks they’ll sell.”

  “Go there this afternoon. Show them photos of these. See what they say.”

  He hated her tourist tchotchkes, as he called them, but she didn’t know why he was pushing her lately. Okay, it had been two years since she returned to Indigo Bay. Maybe that was the reason.

  “First…” he continued. “You need to eat before you pass out from lack of food.”

  “I’m not starving,” she teased.

  “I hear your stomach growling from here.” Von shot her a how-hard-is-it-to-remember-to-eat look. “Go wash up.”

  Von was two minutes and forty-two seconds older. He was her brother and her best friend. It was just the two of them in Indigo Bay since their parents had moved to Arizona. Mom and Dad spent their summers living in their RV and being hosts at a national park somewhere. A good retirement for them, but they never had time to visit, not even in the wintertime. Hope didn’t know what she’d have done if Von hadn’t taken her in.

  Hope washed her hands before joining him in the kitchen. Their lunches were on plates at the breakfast bar with napkins and large glasses of sweet tea she’d made yesterday beside them.

  “Thanks.” Hope hopped onto a stool, shoving a French fry into her mouth at the same time.

  “You need to eat more.” He’d eaten half his burger already. Guess he was hungry, too.

  “I eat.” She grabbed two more fries.

  “Not when you get wrapped up in a project.” The concern in his voice was typical Von.

  “You’re the same way.” She bit into the cheeseburger. So tasty.

  “I remember to feed myself.” He sipped his tea. “I’m not always going to be around to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

  “That sounds ominous,” she joked.

  Von didn’t look at her. Instead, he sighed.

  Wait a minute. Her brother didn’t sigh. “What’s going on?”

  His lips parted, but then he pressed them together.

  Her chest tightened. “Von…”

  “I met someone on a project last month. Her name’s Marley. She’s an architect. Smart. Beautiful. Everything I didn’t know I needed in my life.” The words flew from his mouth in a rush, one on top of the other. “I’m falling for her. Hard. I think I love her.”

  “Wow.” Hope stared at her brother. A part of her knew this would happen someday, but another had hoped it would be later rather than sooner. “You mentioned going out with someone in Charleston, but I had no idea things were moving so fast.”

  He half-laughed. “Neither did I, but Marley makes me so… so happy. Are you okay with me having a girlfriend? A serious one?”

  Hope hated the guilt in his voice. “Okay that the person I love most in the world is happy and in love? I’m thrilled.”

  Yes, she was surprised. To be honest, she might need time to come to terms with how this would change things between her and Von, but other than that…

  “You deserve this.” Her brother did. Von hadn’t had much luck with relationships in the past due to picking the wrong women. Just as she’d picked the wrong men.

  A twin thing?

  She hoped Marley would be not only good for Von, but also good to him. “I guess this is why you’ve been spending more time in Charleston.”

  A sheepish smile crossed his face. “I have two projects going on there, but yeah. Marley is a Charleston native. Her entire family lives nearby.”

  Hope’s breath hitched. She fought a rising panic. “Are you moving there?”

  “No.” He rubbed his lips together. “Maybe eventually, if things go further…”

  “It’s okay.” The words rushed out. She didn’t want Von to think she didn’t support him one hundred percent.

  His relieved gaze met hers. “Really?”

  “I don’t expect you to remain single and keep me company until we’re old and gray.”

  Hope kept her voice lighthearted. She might have imagined that scenario once or twice, but that would never be enough for Von, even if she never wanted to date again. Forget marriage. Once was enough.

  He hugged her. “You’ll always have a place here. No matter where I end up living.”

  “Thanks.” She soaked up her brother’s warmth and strength before letting go of him. “When do I get to meet Marley?”

  “Soon.” His gaze softened, suggesting he was thinking about his girlfriend. “I hated keeping this from you, but I wanted to make sure there was something real between Marley and me.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.” Hope’s family saw her as a fragile artist, inflexible and easily broken. Maybe she’d been that way when she’d returned from New York, but no one would break her again. “I’m not jealous of those with successful relationships. Especially you.”

  “After Adam…”

  She didn’t want to talk about her ex-husband. “I’m happy for you and Marley. There’s no need to go into overprotective-brother mode and worry about my feelings.”

  Von tapped his finger against the tip of her nose. “Overprotective older brother.”

  That made her laugh. “But please promise you’ll listen to your friends or me if there are concerns or doubts about your new girlfriend.”

  Hope hadn’t done that with Adam. She’d ignored the warnings, wanting to listen to her heart instead of the people who knew her best.

  “Now who’s being overprotective?” Von nudged her with his shoulder. “Don’t worry. Your jerk of an ex taught us both hard lessons. I’m not about to forget them.”

  “Neither will I.”

  Hope couldn’t. Her love for Adam Darby had given him the power to destroy everything that mattered to her. She wouldn’t let that happen. Not ever again.

  CHAPTER THREE

  On the second Tuesday in June, Josh parked his rental car next to the Indigo Bay Cottages guest services building. Sitting behind the steering wheel, he replied to texts from his family and his sponsor, who’d called after he arrived in Charleston and wanted to know when he reached Indigo Bay.

  His family could track him with their cell phones, but they preferred him checking in via text or phone. Given all they’d done and were doing for him, he didn’t mind too much. This time was all about accountability to them and himself.

  After he’d finished replying to everyone, Josh slid out of the rental car. He’d stopped for fuel and food along the way, but getting into a car after flying cross country made his bad leg ache more than normal. Taking a minute to stretch, he hoped to loosen up the tightness and work out the kinks. Better.

  Waves crashed to shore to his left, but no pleasant sea breeze blew off the Atlantic. The humidity and heat made his c
lothes stick to him. All he wanted was a shower. First, though, he needed to check in and drop off the thank-you presents from Jenny. After he did that, he would have nothing left to do during his stay except play tourist, attend the wedding, and keep out of trouble—aka staying sober.

  With two gift bags in hand, he made his way inside. The cool air refreshed him.

  “Welcome to the Indigo Bay Cottages.” A woman in her late thirties or early forties greeted him from her desk situated between two pillars and potted plants. As she stood, she smiled politely. She had dark hair and brown eyes and wore light blue shorts and a floral-print blouse. The ensemble was more business casual than beach attire. “I’m Zoe Ward. May I help you?”

  Recognizing the woman’s name, he appreciated her warm welcome. One of the gift bags he carried was for her. “I’m here for the Hanford-O’Rourke wedding. I have a reservation. Josh Cooper. Though it may be under my brother’s name, Sam.”

  Zoe typed at her computer before grabbing a folder and a set of keys. “It’s under both your names. Jenny told me you’d be arriving today with her gown.”

  Josh nodded, impressed Zoe remembered the wedding details. “I dropped it off at the dry cleaner on my way over.”

  The less time the gown was in his possession, the less chance he’d have of screwing it up and disappointing Jenny.

  “Great,” Zoe said brightly. “The bride won’t have to worry about that when she arrives, then.”

  Speaking of the bride…

  “This is for you from Jenny.” Josh handed Zoe the gift bag with her name on it. The weight and shape told him a hardcover book was likely inside, but pink tissue paper kept the contents hidden. “She appreciates the planning you’ve done for her and Dare’s wedding.”

  Zoe’s eyes widened. “We aim to please at Indigo Bay, but Jenny didn’t have—”

  “She wanted to,” he interrupted, not understanding why people couldn’t simply accept a gift or a favor. Few seemed to get that the person doing the giving was receiving something, too. That was how he’d felt making amends.