A Lot Like Love

by Jennifer Snow

  “What the hell would she do that for? That place is a lawsuit waiting to happen.”

  So much for family support. Though she couldn’t blame them. Her father was right—before the renovations, the B&B had been just that.

  But if they could see it now…

  “Shhhh,” her mother said. “Okay, I’m back, sweetheart. Your dad says hello.”

  Sarah rolled her eyes.

  “Though we are both worried about this decision. I thought once the will was read, you’d made up your mind to sell for whatever you could get for it. The place really was dangerous.”

  She couldn’t exactly argue when she’d fallen through the staircase, but that was before. “It will be fine, Mom,” she said, turning the journal over in her hands. “Wes and his crew have really made the place feel like new, and tell Dad not to worry; I have insurance.”

  “Oh, you heard him.”

  “Yeah.”

  “He just wants what’s best for you. We both do.”

  “I know.” She did know, but sometimes she wished her practical, down-to-earth parents would encourage her to take risks. She’d always played it safe, going into a career that was in her wheelhouse, doing what she was good at.

  But maybe getting out of her comfort zone and trying something new was a good thing. Being back there hadn’t been the headache she’d assumed it would be…at least not completely.

  “Well, just be sensible about this, and when it doesn’t work, let it go, move on. Don’t hold on to it too long just because you don’t want to admit failure.”

  Zero confidence in her abilities to pull this off.

  “Okay, Mom. I should go.” She wanted so badly to ask her mom about the journal and Jack, but something made her pause.

  “Oh, okay… Was there another reason you called?”

  She stared at the embossed cover, running a finger along the design. “Um…did Grandma ever mention a friend of hers—a Jack Harrison?” Just the simple question made her feel odd, like she was somehow betraying her grandmother’s trust.

  “Jack Harrison… No, I’ve never heard that name before. Why do you ask?”

  “No reason. He just passed along his condolences, that’s all.” Such an understatement. “Anyway, I should go. Just wanted to let you know my plans…for now.”

  “All right, darling. We trust you know what you’re doing.”

  “Bye, Mom.” Disconnecting the call, Sarah lay back on her bed, clutching the journal to her chest.

  If her grandmother had kept this secret so long, maybe it was better it stay that way. After all, it wasn’t Sarah’s secret to tell.

  …

  The renovations were done.

  Wes toured the B&B, a sense of pride and accomplishment washing over him. They’d pulled off a ridiculous amount of work in a short time, and the place looked better than ever. Dove’s Nest was once again a place tourists would be happy to visit.

  Unfortunately, the construction project being done meant he didn’t need to be at the B&B every day anymore, and it brought them one step closer to Sarah leaving town again.

  Maybe his team should have worked a little slower.

  Or maybe it was time to man up and ask Sarah out. Spend time with her in a different setting, with a different purpose. A sole purpose of exploring the connection between them and letting things sort themselves out whatever way they were meant to. He’d fought his attraction long enough, and he couldn’t keep fooling himself into believing the kiss had meant nothing.

  He scanned the dining room and kitchen for Sarah, then heard her voice coming from the den. He checked his reflection in the mirror in the hallway above the antique table, running a hand through his hair and wiping a speck of dirt from his forehead. Maybe he should wait until after he’d showered and changed…

  Nope. If he didn’t do this now, he might not ever.

  Before he could talk himself out of it, he headed into the den. “Hey…”

  “Wait! Don’t look!” Marissa said, turning her laptop away from him as he entered.

  Sarah quickly shut down her screen as well.

  His surprise. Marissa still hadn’t told him what it was. “Sorry to interrupt—I just wanted to let Sarah know that we’re done.”

  “Already?” she asked. “Like…everything?”

  Her surprised look held a tiny tinge of regret, which made his own hope rise. Was she as disappointed at the prospect of not seeing him around there every day as well? Or maybe she was disappointed that she wouldn’t have Marissa around anymore?

  “Yeah. The waste management bin just arrived, so my guys are cleaning up the debris outside, and then that’s it.”

  “We’re actually done with what we were working on as well,” Sarah said with a smile at Marissa.

  The little girl looked less pleased. “I guess that means I won’t need to come here every day anymore,” she said, her tone echoing how they all felt.

  Sarah’s gaze met his, and his palms started to sweat and his mouth ran dry. Now was his opportunity. Invite her to hang out with both of them…easier than asking her out on a date in front of his nine-year-old.

  This was perfect. Marissa had teed him up for the invite.

  But the words refused to surface as he continued to stare at her, drowning in his inability to vocalize how he was feeling. Damn, the silent pleading in those eyes was killing him…

  Sarah cleared her throat and looked at Marissa. “You can come visit anytime you want, and Lia invited you both to the reunion…so there’s that,” she said.

  Wes nodded his agreement.

  Come on, man, just ask her to dinner or something!

  Marissa’s eyes widened. “Hey, tonight is the annual firework competition on the boardwalk pier,” she said. “The fair is in town, too… We should all go.”

  Yes, they should. Thank God for his nine-year-old. Wes had zero game.

  Sarah looked at him again, and he nodded. “Yeah…I mean, that sounds like a good idea to me, if you’re not busy.”

  Marissa rolled her eyes. “What Dad is trying to say is that we’d really like you to come with us.”

  Sarah laughed. “Okay, yeah.” Her gaze met his again. “I’d like that.”

  She would? So it wasn’t just him struggling with these new feelings. Wes smiled like a child as he nodded again. “Great… We’ll pick you up around seven?”

  “Sure,” Sarah said as Lia entered the den with Popsicles for the three of them.

  “Where are we going at seven?” she asked.

  Wes’s heart raced, and Sarah’s eyes widened.

  Marissa smiled as she accepted a Popsicle. “The fair and the fireworks competition. We’re all going,” she said.

  “Awesome, I’m free,” Lia said, her lips turning purple from the grape-flavored ice treat.

  And just like that, his first “date” in five years turned into a group thing.

  Chapter Eighteen

  She’d forgotten how magical the pier fairgrounds could be at night. Bright fluorescent lights lit up the night, reflecting on the ocean below. The Ferris wheel’s silhouette against the cloudless sky and the loud music playing through the speakers brought Sarah back to summer nights spent at the pier with Jessica and Whitney when they were teenagers. Too much Cotton Candy and corn dogs and allowances spent on games of chance. Hours in line for their favorite rides.

  “I love this place,” Marissa said as the four of them climbed out of Wes’s truck later that evening and headed toward the entrance gate.

  “Definitely one way to get her outside,” Wes said, the three adults following the excited little girl as she skipped on ahead.

  “I remember coming here all the time as teens…” Lia said. “This place definitely evokes some pretty great memories.”

  Lia had always had some guy falling all over himsel
f to try to win her a big plush toy.

  “Hey, didn’t you come here with Ryan Fieldman in junior year?” Wes asked Sarah.

  How on earth did he remember that? She barely remembered that.

  Ryan had been her science lab partner. He’d clearly wanted more than just dissecting the same frog, but Sarah had never felt the connection to him. She’d agreed to the date because it was his birthday, but when he’d tried to kiss her with breath that smelled like chili cheese dog, she’d called it a night.

  “That was just as friends,” she said.

  “You didn’t date much in high school,” he said.

  Since when had he been paying so much attention? She hadn’t thought he’d known she’d existed beyond their tutoring sessions…like a teacher when you saw them in the outside world at the grocery store or at the movies and it felt surreal. “I was focused on my studies, that’s all.”

  And she’d only had eyes for him. She kept that to herself.

  They arrived at the ticket kiosk, and he bought a twenty pack and refused Sarah’s and Lia’s money when they offered to pay for theirs. “Please. Marissa dragged everyone here. It’s the least I can do,” he said.

  They’d barely dragged her. She’d wanted to go. Now that the renovations were done and Marissa was heading to Girl Guides camp in a few days, Sarah wasn’t sure how often she’d see them before she headed back to L.A.

  “I want to ride the Fireball first,” Marissa said once they had their hands stamped and were inside the gate. She ran off toward the terrifying-looking ride that raised carts into the air, then twisted them in all directions, including upside down.

  Oh, hell no.

  “One of my favorites,” Lia said, looking as excited as the nine-year-old.

  At least someone was.

  Wes looked apprehensive as well. He turned pale watching the riders being tossed around at lightning speed. “I might sit this one out,” he said.

  “Come on, Dad. Don’t be a wimp in front of Sarah,” Marissa said with a grin.

  Lia shot an intrigued look between them as though wondering what Marissa was implying. Sarah’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she avoided Lia’s questioning gaze and pretended not to read absolutely everything into Marissa’s comment.

  Wes sighed as he glanced at Sarah. “Apparently, I can’t be a wimp, but if you want to get us out of this…”

  She desperately did, but she didn’t want to look like a wimp, either, so she shook her head. “We’re here, right? May as well go for it.”

  Wes’s gaze lingered on hers a fraction too long, and her heart raced.

  What else should they go for?

  Right now, she’d like to go all in. There had been a moment in the den earlier that day when it felt like he was going to ask her out…before Marissa suggested the fairgrounds and Lia showed up, inviting herself along.

  Staring at him now, she knew she would have said yes. Give in and put herself out there one last time for him.

  Might be a risky move that would once again lead to heartache, but she’d never been successful repressing her feelings for him. And that night, he looked amazing in a pair of board shorts, sandals, and a shirt unbuttoned down his chest. His dirty jeans, bare chest, and work boots was still her favorite look, but this casual, relaxed air around him that evening reminded her of the guy she used to know in high school, and that familiarity combined with the new sexual attraction she was fighting made him impossibly tempting.

  “Okay, I guess we’re doing it,” Wes said, and they fell into step behind Lia and Marissa as they joined the long line waiting for the ride.

  Sarah stared up at it. From a distance, it hadn’t looked so bad. Up close, she could see how scary it was. The mechanics holding it together looked slightly rusted with peeling paint, and those grinding noises couldn’t be good. The riders’ reactions were a combination of screams and laughter. She knew which one she’d be.

  But there was a small kid on the ride, so it couldn’t be that bad, right? Though the little boy did look kinda green and petrified—the open-mouth, soundless expression plastered on his face each time his car passed them didn’t instill much confidence.

  “This is going to be so awesome,” Marissa said, dancing from one foot to the other excitedly as they waited, her strawberry-blond braid swinging back and forth.

  “Awesome” seemed like an overstatement, but Sarah refused to chicken out now. Being with Wes and Marissa was good for her soul. She liked spending time with them. The little girl was smart and funny and sweet, and Wes was an amazing dad. He obviously put Marissa’s needs first and was doing his best raising her on his own. Sure, they had their differences, which made it difficult to connect sometimes, but Wes clearly adored his daughter, and that made him even more irresistible.

  The ride stopped, and Sarah scanned the row of people in front of them. A quick math calculation had her pulse racing. Shit, they were on next. The exit gate opened, and she watched the slightly dizzy group of people leave the ride, swaying left and right as though trying to get their sea legs.

  “Well, they survived,” Wes said.

  “That’s debatable,” she said, nodding at the man running toward the nearest trash can.

  The line shuffled forward, and Wes tore four tickets off the set and handed them to the young kid operating the ride.

  “How many?” the kid asked.

  “Four!” Marissa said, jumping up and down.

  “Three adults? You’ll need two cars—two in each. Make sure the lightest is on the inside,” he said, reaching past them for the next riders.

  “I’m with Aunt Lia,” Marissa said, and Lia nodded.

  Wes looked slightly panicked. “You don’t want to ride with me?”

  “I can do that later. Have fun, you two!” she said, shooting them a grin as she and Lia ran off to get the light-blue car she’d been eyeing in line.

  “We’ll meet you at the ride exit…” Wes called after them before turning to Sarah. “So, it’s you and me?”

  Her heart was pounding out of her chest, and she hadn’t even gotten on the ride yet. “Or we could sneak out the exit. They’d never know.”

  The gate clicked, locking them in, and Wes looked terrified. “I don’t think that’s an option. That one is still empty,” he said, nodding to a green car behind her.

  Sarah followed him to the car, and he opened the small metal door for her to climb in first. “Lightest on the inside,” he said.

  She was very aware of his gaze on her ass as she climbed into the seat, and her pulse was racing as he climbed in next to her and his large thigh touched hers in the cramped space. He closed the door, secured the latch, and pulled the safety bar down over their laps. It clicked in place, and Sarah gripped it tight, her mouth going dry as she forced a calming breath.

  Across the way, Marissa leaned out of her car with Lia to wave at them. The smug little smile on her face suggested she’d planned this.

  Next to her, Wes cleared his throat. “Um…is it just me or do you get the feeling we were set up?”

  Oh, that little shit was totally playing matchmaker again.

  Sarah wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea of time alone with Wes, but since their kiss…she wasn’t sure where they stood, and she’d prefer to be alone with him in a situation where it wasn’t a possibility that she might throw up in his lap.

  “She may have had an agenda,” Sarah said awkwardly.

  “She really likes you,” he said quietly.

  Her heart was about to explode. “Marissa’s such a great kid.”

  “She’s going to miss seeing you every day at the B&B,” he said, staring at his hands on the bar.

  “It’s going to be weird for me, too. But I’m still there if she wants to visit when she gets back from camp,” she said. At least for a few extra days, until the reunion was over.

&
nbsp; He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure she will,” he said, his eyes meeting hers. “She’s gotten attached.”

  Her heart echoed in her ears, and her breath caught and held in her chest. He was staring at her lips as though he wanted to kiss her, and there was no denying the longing in his voice. She swallowed hard and moved a little closer, letting him know that she wouldn’t refuse if he wanted to go for it.

  A rough shake of the safety bar had her straightening as the kid glanced at them. “Thumbs-up?”

  “Thumbs-up,” Wes croaked as she half-heartedly gave the sign.

  “Fair warning. I may throw up,” Wes said as the kid went back to his post and gave the safety instructions.

  “I may beat you to it,” she said as the ride started rotating slowly. If it stayed at this speed, she’d be fine. But within seconds, the car was being flung from one side to the other, circling around the other cars, just narrowly missing them as they passed, the repetitive carnival ride jingle echoing in her rattled brain. Sarah struggled to remain on her side of the seat, but the force had her sliding into Wes.

  He didn’t seem to mind as he wrapped one arm around her.

  They started to lift off the ground, and Sarah thought she might have a heart attack. She clutched the safety bar and pressed her feet into the floor as the scenery whizzed past outside the ride—one big blur of bright lights and people.

  Wes’s hand covered hers, and she closed her eyes and buried her head into his shoulder as the ride continued to twist and turn and jut and twitch all around the platform. It was hard to appreciate the contact when she was so freaking terrified.

  “Don’t worry, I got you,” he whispered into her hair.

  The ride went higher and faster, and she let go of the bar, her hands tangling in his shirt instead. She moved as close to him as possible, and his arms went around her as he held tight. The force of the gravity made it difficult to hold her head up, so she buried it in his chest and forced several deep breaths as her stomach rippled.

  Oh my God, this was how she was going to die.

  But out of all the ways to go, this wouldn’t be the worst.

  A long, excruciatingly terrifying minute later, the ride started to lower back toward the ground and the speed started to slow. As the ride came to a stop, she reluctantly released Wes’s shirt and moved away.