Summer Island Book Club

by Ciara Knight

  She only hoped her book had a second happily ever after.

  Chapter Five

  The surf pounded onto the shore at a steady beat that calmed Trevor’s soul. He enjoyed the sounds of nature in this small corner of the Sunshine State. Waking in the morning to the seagulls’ song and falling asleep to the beat of the surf had agreed with him.

  Trevor dug a ditch beyond the reach of the surge, and Dustin dropped driftwood into it. The night sea air was pleasant and invigorating, making Trevor feel alive and free, like he could take on anything, even a broken-down boat. Well, after Dustin paid to have the motor fixed.

  “Don’t even think about ditching me to go be alone with your newest crush,” Trevor warned.

  “Relax, we’re just a couple of friends having dinner under the stars. You brought the wine, right?”

  “Yes. Beer and soda, too.” Trevor shifted the cooler so it would be out of the way.

  Once the fire grew to hearty flames, they pulled two old logs onto the beach to sit on and spread out a blanket for the food. He eyed his watch, realizing it was five-thirty-five. He didn’t really care if they ditched them, except that he was hungry and didn’t want to wait any longer to eat. At least, that’s what he told himself. “If they don’t show in a few, we could go hit that little place on Main.”

  “Already trying to run away?” Wind, the vivacious woman with painted lips and nails, trudged onto the beach and straight for Dustin. Trevor thought to warn his friend that he was wrong, sharks could walk on land and one was circling him now, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

  Julie, the woman who’d been wearing baggy clothes and a hat earlier, sauntered from the road to his side wearing a sundress that was formfitting on top and flowed from her hips around her legs. The shock at her transformation stole his speech.

  She stopped a few paces from him and held up a box. “Food?”

  “Right. Sorry. I, um, didn’t recognize you.” Trevor stumbled over his words and the log, nearly face planting into the fire.

  “Smooth,” Dustin said under his breath.

  Trevor shook off his surprise at the frumpy woman turned beach goddess in a matter of hours and focused on the food. He rummaged through, expecting frou-frou afternoon tea–style sandwiches and scones but found hotdogs and chips. Before he even opened up the package of hotdogs, Dustin was off for a walk with Wind, leaving him alone with Julie. No surprise there.

  Before he had a chance to settle into awkward silence, she knelt on the blanket and pulled the skewers from the box. “We can get them ready for when they return. Don’t worry, she’s harmless. Promise. She won’t be too much for your friend Dustin. The girl’s all show with no pause button, but she’s harmless.”

  “Too much for Dustin? Ha. More like the other way around.” He shoved a hot dog onto the skewer and held it over the fire. “I’m starved. Dustin can make his own when he gets back.”

  She followed his lead and slid a hotdog of her own onto a skewer and held it over the fire. “Now that you mention it, I’m famished. Wind is on her own, too.”

  “You’re not worried about her walking the beach with a strange man?” Trevor studied the flames licking at the sides of his dinner, plumping it up. His mouth watered at the aroma of hearty meat over an open flame.

  “Nope. She’s excellent with the mace that’s probably tucked in her bra. Trust me. That’s a fact little Mikey Moltan will never forget.”

  Trevor turned the skewer over to cook the other side. “He attacked your friend?” If there was one thing in the world he couldn’t tolerate, it was aggression against women. Something his three older sisters pounded into him at an early age.

  “No. Never had the chance.” Julie laughed, a light, sweet sound that carried away on the breeze. Nothing like the way Marsha used to cackle for attention. “Poor Mikey. He invited her over for a party, but she didn’t want to go alone, so I went with her. We got to the house, and it was only him and another friend. Mikey said there were more people out back so she should follow him while I spoke to his friend. I knew the guy from my math class, so we chatted, but within a minute or so she ran back into the room, rubbing her eyes. Mikey hollered and howled like a wounded puppy running around the room. They both coughed and sniffled and cried out. Apparently, when they had reached the back door, Wind could see that there was no one else outside, so she pulled out the pepper spray to tell him what would happen if he tried to put the moves on her, and it accidentally went off.”

  “That’s awful. I can say that I’ve never been pepper-sprayed, but I can imagine it’s uncomfortable.”

  “It is. Even from the other room, my eyes watered. So you better warn your friend not to put the moves on her.”

  He smiled, relaxing into their mutual understanding of their friends. “Nah, I’ll let him figure that one out on his own. He deserves a good pepper spray. Women are always throwing themselves at him, and he thinks he’s something special. All I ask is that you make sure she sprays him where I have a front-row seat. Well, maybe a fourth row. I don’t want to be that close to the action.”

  “Sorry, you probably won’t get a chance to see it before the police swoop in. See that house there?” She pointed to a cottage to their right. “I guarantee Old Mr. Mannie is at the window with his binoculars and the telephone by his side with the police on speed dial.”

  “Small-town life, I guess.” Trevor eyed the fading light and wished he could see the sunset, but that was on the West Coast. It didn’t matter. He would get up for sunrise tomorrow. It was his favorite time of day.

  “Yep, we heard about you two on the SISB line within ten minutes of your arrival.”

  They settled against the log, side-by-side but with a good distance between them.

  “SISB line?”

  “Summer Island Salty Breeze line.”

  “Oh, gotcha.”

  Despite wearing a pretty dress, she didn’t fuss over sitting in the sand or her hair being messed up by the elements. He rested his skewer on the box and tugged the cooler over. “Chardonnay? We weren’t sure what we were eating and what you ladies liked, so I have some beer and a bottle of wine and some soda.”

  “I’m thinking beer with the dogs.” She took his hotdog, put it on a bun for him, and then set it down on the side of the box to fix her own. He couldn’t believe the woman was actually going to eat something processed and drink beer out of a can while sitting on sand. He wasn’t in the big city with a model on his arm anymore. And God help him, he liked it.

  He opened a beer and handed it to her. “You’re different than I expected.”

  She took a sip of beer and twisted the bottom into the sand so it stayed upright. “You thought I was some desperate single woman looking for a man to save her from her horribly lonely life?”

  “No. Okay, maybe a little. But in all fairness, I only met you hours ago. And that was because your trained pet ferret stole an engine part to get me to your shop.” He smiled to show he meant it as friendly humor, but based on her pressed lips and averted gaze, he assumed he looked more like the Joker than Mr. Rogers.

  She squirted ketchup down her hotdog. She didn’t look upset or offended, but there was something in her expression he couldn’t decipher. “You’re safe. I’m not interested. This is all Wind’s doing.”

  He didn’t like the way her rejection bothered him. Was it a defense mechanism? Dustin would tell him she was playing hard to get, but he didn’t think that was the case.

  Dustin and Wind headed back their way but then continued past, walking in the other direction. Stars began to twinkle in the fading light. A romantic scene for a non-romantic outing. “Can we start again? I mean, without the ferret and awkward pushing together and abandonment of our friends?”

  “Sure.” She wiped her hands on a paper towel that had been lodged under the food in the box and offered her hand. “Hi, I’m Julie Boone.”

  He took her hand. It was soft but strong. “I’m Trevor Ashford. Nice to meet you.”


  “Nice to meet you. What brings you to our quiet little town of Summer Island?”

  “I’m here to start over. Call it a midlife crisis or post-divorce-finding-myself mission, but I quit my corporate job, left all my material possessions with my ex, split half our assets since I wasn’t smart enough to require a prenup, and escaped the big city noise for the soft sounds of nature.” He’d blurted out his entire situation in seconds. What the heck? He didn’t even like talking to Dustin about it. He felt like such a girl dumping on her bestie. It was for the best, though. Now she knew his sordid past that left him broken and not the right sort to find a relationship of more than friends.

  He took a breath and readied for the onslaught of questions about his former life.

  She didn’t ask him anything, though. Instead, she watched the couple walking side-by-side toward them once again. “How long do you think until they hook up then break up?”

  He blinked at her, watching her expression to make sure she’d heard his confession. He’d never met a woman who didn’t want to talk about it or interrogate him about his state of mind and feelings. He shivered at the thought and decided to embrace her lack of interest as a good thing. “Don’t know, but I’m thinking Dustin and Wind are perfect for each other for a few days, which works for me since I need him to stick around a little longer to help get my business up and running. Too much work for one person. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve worked hard before as a chief executive officer, but this is the first company where I’ll get to be hands-on instead of in meetings and glued to my computer all the time. If I’m being honest, I’m excited about this new venture.”

  “I see,” she said in a tone that suggested she lacked confidence in him.

  “I’m going to make this work. I’ll start off small, but then I’ll work up to several boats and be running a real charter business by next year.”

  “That’s great.”

  He didn’t know Julie well, but that was doubtful sounding in any tone. “But?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe it’s not the right business for Summer Island.”

  “Why do you say that?” he asked, worried he didn’t know something about the area.

  She shrugged and took a bite from her hot dog as if to stall long enough to think of an answer.

  He waited, giving her time to chew and then take a sip of her beverage. “Summer Island is a quiet, family-style town. Tourism isn’t booming. It’s more for quiet types and repeat customers year after year. Maybe you should go to Cocoa Beach or Merritt Island or Daytona.”

  “Not an option. I bought this property for a steal. I couldn’t afford what I purchased in those areas. Not on the beach, and not with enough left over to remain afloat for a year while I build. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not destitute, it’s just that what money I didn’t spend on the divorce is tied up in long-term investments and I’d pay heavy penalties to access the money.” He eyed his hot dog, thinking about shoving it into his mouth to stop himself from being so honest with this woman. “Actually, I was in such a hurry to get away from my former life, I left my house and all that was in it to Marsha, my ex, and got out of town.”

  “How long were you married?” she asked, her attention shifting from her food to him.

  “Seven years.”

  “Kids?”

  “No.” He heard the relief in his tone and felt led to say something other than the fact he most likely couldn’t have children. That was too personal. “Not that I didn’t want them. I’m just glad I’m not putting them through a divorce and all the drama that goes with it.”

  “I can understand that.” She opened the bag of chips and offered him one. “Do you miss her? I mean, are you still struggling with the separation? It sounds recent.”

  Ah, he’d known it was coming. She just took longer than other women to begin the inquisition of his emotional availability. “No.” He chuckled and took a handful of chips, then eyed the ocean. Darkness spread across the sky. “You? Do you miss…”

  “Joe. Yes. Not as much as three years ago, but I still do.” She took a few chips from the bag and nibbled on them. “Tell me, how big do you want to grow your company? Three or four boats?”

  “In the beginning, but I hope to have a fleet by the time I’m done. I’ll run the biggest charter business in Florida.”

  “In Summer Island?” She shook her head. “I told you that this is a small coastal town where families come. You won’t get that much business.”

  “I plan on bringing business to this sleepy paradise. You know, mix things up a little bit.”

  She stiffened, and her hand hung in the air with a chip near her lips, but she didn’t eat it. “Maybe we don’t want things mixed up around here. The residents might like it the way it is, the way it’s been for years.”

  “Change can be a good thing.” He watched her squirm at his comment. This woman didn’t want anything to change. Perhaps after her divorce, she didn’t want to move on the way he had. “You’ve been through too much change already. Is that it?” Trevor understood that. He’d gone from big city to little town, married to divorced, big business to little dump all in a matter of months. But he would never let life pass him by without a fight.

  “When it’s good change, I’m happy to accept it. I’m not sure that bringing in a bunch of spring breakers from high schools and colleges is a good change. Summer Island is all about community, family, and that special small beach town feel. I don’t want it to go commercial.”

  “You own a souvenir shop. You should want more business.”

  “It’s complicated.” She turned her attention to the beer at her side as if contemplating where the invention of a can came from.

  “If you say so, but maybe if you gave it a chance you’d find that the extra business would be a good thing. You should want customers year-round instead of seasonally.”

  “Now you sound like a man telling me how to run my business.” She shifted, an air of agitation showing in the way her lips tightened. It reminded him of Marsha before she lit into him about how he should be more giving like his secretary.

  “Don’t compare me to your ex-husband. Not all men are the same, you know. You divorced, and now you need to move on.”

  “Deceased.”

  “What?” he asked, feeling shame seeping in around him.

  “Deceased. My husband is dead. I’m not divorced. I’m a widow.”

  Chapter Six

  The morning sun wasn’t up yet, but after a night of tossing and turning, Julie couldn’t remain in bed any longer. She slipped out of bed, leaving Houdini to stretch himself awake, and then tip-toed downstairs and made some coffee, careful not to wake her daughter or Wind. Last night’s interrogation about what happened with Trevor and why things seemed tense when Wind and Dustin returned to the fire had been bad enough. She didn’t need a repeat before her caffeine fix. She was second-guessing her invitation to Wind to crash at her place last night before Wind headed to her sister’s.

  The rich aroma of her special Jamaican Blue Mountain blend she had saved for the mornings she needed an extra pick-me-up filled the kitchen with the promise of a brighter day. The last gurgles announced the end of brewing, so she doctored it with only a splash of cream and headed to the back porch to enjoy some peace.

  Seagulls sang and swooped around on the nearby shore, feasting. Julie took a sip and savored the rich, fresh-roasted taste and closed her eyes. Tranquility. That was Summer Island. The thought of tourists invading from all areas of the world, causing noise pollution and trash and graffiti, chipped away at her peace.

  The glass sliding door behind her opened, so Julie braced for Wind to blow away her morning peace. “Is this section reserved for moping and complaining, or can anyone join?” Her daughter’s voice soothed her mood, but her words irked her.

  “It’s a free porch. Anyone is welcome.”

  “Even Wind?”

  “There might be certain hours reserved for quiet time.” Julie sipped her coffee once more,
savoring the calmness the warmth brought with each swallow. “But I’m not in a mood.”

  “Really?” Bri paused. “Houdini, you stay inside.” The glass sliding door closed, and Bri sat by her side with her own mug in hand. “It’s Jamaican Blue Mountain. I know what that means.” She took a sip and then held the mug between her hands and looked out between the buildings toward the distorted beach view between the other homes and shops. “Don’t worry about it. If you didn’t like the guy, it’s no big deal. The point was to get you out of the house.”

  “I don’t dislike Trevor. He’s nice enough.”

  “Nice enough, huh?” Bri shifted to face Julie. “What happened last night? Did he make you feel uncomfortable?”

  “No. He was a perfect gentleman.”

  Bri relaxed back into her seat. “Is he obnoxious, rude, self-absorbed?”

  “No.”

  “Well, you can’t deny he’s handsome.”

  She shrugged and hid her expression behind her mug. Her daughter would know with one glance that Julie couldn’t deny the man could stir up feelings she’d hoped were long dead inside. Especially for another man besides her husband.

  “Then what is it? You feel like you’re cheating on Dad? ’Cause Mom, you shouldn’t feel that way. Dad wouldn’t want you to stay hidden in this place away from the world.”

  “I’m not hiding. Why does everyone think I don’t want anything to change? It’s not that.” Her hackles rose, but she didn’t like getting short with her daughter, so she forced a calmness she didn’t feel about life.

  “Ah, I see.” Bri sounded smug, all-knowing.

  “See what?”

  “Trevor is offering change. Change is something Julie Boone has never done well with in her life.”