by Addison Cole
She pressed a kiss to Rick’s lips, acknowledging her biggest worry of all. How could she ever go back to being the person she had been, when he’d become such a big part of who she was now?
Cosmos creeped along the bed on Rick’s other side and smothered his chin in kisses. Rick’s lips curved up, and he tugged Desiree against him. Cosmos hopped off the bed with a whimper. The pup should be used to them by now. They could hardly keep their hands off each other, and still, every time they reached for each other in the morning, Cosmos whimpered. She wondered if her mother would notice or care if she took Cosmos back to Virginia with her.
The thought of leaving brought a pang of longing.
Rick rolled over, trapping her beneath him. “Morning, gorgeous.”
He lowered his mouth to her neck and began killing her brain cells one kiss at a time. This was so much better than yoga and lesson plans.
“In a world with billions of people, how did I get lucky enough to find you?”
She struggled to hold on to her ability to speak as he kissed her neck, the crest of her shoulder, then worked his way up toward her ear. “You…stalked me.”
His laughter vibrated through his mouth, and he kissed a path south.
“And I’d do it again,” he said. “Tell me you’ll still see me when we leave here.”
She closed her eyes, going for humor instead of reality. “All the way to the front door, until you leave for your morning run.”
He sank his teeth into her flesh.
“Ouch!” He hadn’t bitten hard, but he’d surprised her.
He crawled up her body, pinning her beneath him again, his eyes dark and serious. “When you go back to Virginia, and I’m in DC.”
“Oh,” she said innocently. “I don’t want to think about that right now.”
“Aren’t you the one who likes schedules and plans?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Tell me you’ll still be mine.”
Her insides melted at the passion in his voice. “I want to see you, but can we not talk about it? It makes me sad to think about being apart. I know you work all the time when you’re in DC, and you won’t have much time for me, so I’d rather not talk about it right now.”
Sadness replaced the determination in his gaze. “Sweetheart, I looked at a map and Oak Falls is just under two hours from DC. We’ll make it work.”
He’d looked at a map? He’d thought that far ahead?
He kissed her then, a long, languid kiss that turned her worries to dust. And then he loved her from the inside out, so completely there was no room for doubt.
An hour later, showered and dressed, Desiree and Rick took Cosmos for a walk. When they got back to the house, Zander and Zeke were upstairs painting the hallway on the second floor. Desiree had been enjoying making elaborate breakfasts for Rick and Violet, and the last few mornings, she’d made enough for Zeke and Zander, too. Rob was in and out, but he’d made it over for eggs Benedict two days ago.
She pulled out the ingredients for Belgian waffles with blueberries and cream, while Rick did his best to distract her. He was dressed for his run, which meant he was gloriously naked, save for a pair of shorts and running shoes. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, nibbling on her neck and rubbing his body against her.
“Drake will kill you if you’re late again.” She leaned her head to the side, allowing him better access to devour her.
“Like I care?” He turned her in his arms and brushed her hair from her shoulder, placing several openmouthed kisses there.
She hooked her finger into the waist of his shorts. “All it takes is a few kisses and I’m hot and bothered again. I think you’ve turned me into a nymphomaniac.”
“That makes two of us.” He buried his hand in her hair, his eyes smoldering. “I’ve never felt like this before, and I can’t get enough of you. After my run, I’m coming back with Dean to install the flower boxes around your fence. And after that…” He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her until her legs turned to jelly. “Maybe we can sneak away alone for a little bit?”
“Good morning, sex maniacs.”
Desiree started, pushing away from Rick as Violet snickered, but Rick tightened his grasp. He never let anything come between them, and it was just one of the things she adored about him.
“Geez, Vi. Think you could give us some warning?”
Violet snagged a blueberry from the counter and popped it into her mouth. “Gee, Des. I don’t know. Think you can give me some warning before the nightly headboard banging begins?”
“Geez,” Rick uttered.
“Aw, look how cute Mr. Massive is when he blushes.” Violet grabbed another handful of blueberries.
“Violet!” Headboard banging? She hadn’t even noticed. Then again, when she and Rick were close, the rest of the world failed to exist.
“Hey, if I were you, I’d be proud,” Violet said. “But since I’m me, I’m moving into one of the empty cottages.”
“I’ve got to take off, but I’m sorry, Vi.” Rick looked at Desiree without a shred of regret in his liquid-fire eyes. “We can stay at my place so she doesn’t have to move out.”
“Don’t sweat it,” Violet said. “Zander and Zeke are going to help me move when they’re done working for the day.” She winked, and grabbed a few more blueberries.
I don’t want to know what that wink was for.
“But don’t worry. I’ll still be here for your delicious, happy-humper, post-coital breakfasts every morning.”
“Ohmygosh.” Desiree buried her face in Rick’s chest.
Rick tipped her face up, a wide grin lighting up his handsome face. “I guess we can never stop, or everyone will starve.”
NO ONE STARVED over the next week and a half. In fact, everyone around Desiree and Rick probably gained ten pounds. Their ravenous appetites for each other carried over into even more elaborate breakfasts. Violet had let that slip at a bonfire last week, and Drake and the others had begun finding reasons to drop by at breakfast time. Even Mira and Hagen had joined them. Hagen had helped Desiree cook French toast, reminding her of how far her mind had strayed from her life back home. She hadn’t thought about school or teaching at all, although she missed Emery even though they’d been keeping in touch with texts and phone calls. She loved every minute of having so many people to cook for. A room full of people who felt like family made the house feel alive. She’d even begun looking up recipes again. She knew this summer was like playing house, but she couldn’t help wishing it never had to end.
It was Saturday evening, and she and Rick planned to go out for another surprise date. She was used to being the planner, but she realized that as much as she loved schedules and plans, she’d been running pretty loosey-goosey all summer, taking up the slack when Violet got caught up in doing pottery or exploring the area and stealing time for moonlit walks and stargazing in the widow’s walk with Rick. They’d even gone into town and listened to a band play by the beach. She wasn’t a vagabond like her mother, but it felt good to let herself ride the wind a little bit.
She walked along the driveway picking flowers from the newly manicured gardens, dwindling away the time as she waited for Rick and marveling at how the yard and house were coming together. It had taken months for the gardens to become tangles of vines and weeds that had nearly suffocated all the flowers. But it had taken only a few days to make them beautiful again. It was funny how a little love could make everything better. The renovations to the house were nearly complete, and the flower boxes had kept Cosmos from climbing over the fence, although he had started digging under the fence despite the new plastic pool Rick had bought for him. What had started out as a disastrous turn of events had turned into a life-changing summer.
She carried the flowers to Violet’s cottage, remembering how, when she was a little girl, she’d dreamed about living in one, with Violet next door and her mother in the big house. Little-girl-lost dreams. In a sense, this summer had made that dream come true.
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br /> Desiree peered through Violet’s screen door. Her sister stood by the back window, reading. She wore a black miniskirt and a tank top. Her finger trailed along the page as she read. She looked content. Sweet even. Cosmos was asleep on the living room couch. How could she leave them at the end of the summer?
“Hey,” Desiree said.
Violet glanced up, smiling as she closed the book.
“I brought you some flowers. Can I come in?”
“Sure.” She held the book against her chest.
“I can’t believe I haven’t been in any of the cottages before this.” Desiree stepped inside, taking in the artsy batik wall hangings and the pictures Violet must have taken from their mother’s studio covering bright white walls. Tie-dyed throws covered the arms and back of the white sofa and wicker chair. The setup hadn’t changed from when she was a little girl. A bar still separated the living room from the kitchen, and a small eating area led to French doors, which opened to a small deck in the backyard.
“Let me get a vase.” Violet grabbed a pretty, colorful glass vase from a cabinet. “The other two cottages are in good shape. Thanks for the flowers. They’re beautiful.”
“Did you make all these batiks and throws? They’re really pretty. I’d love to buy one from you.” Violet had started working with fabrics with Lizza when she was around twelve. Desiree was glad she was still making them.
“I made them, and I’ll make you one, but you’re not buying it.”
“Thanks.” Desiree walked across the room to look at pictures on the wall more closely. “You took some of Lizza’s pictures?”
“I’ll put them in the shop when we need more stock. But the white walls were killing me.” She put the flowers in the vase and set them on the table. “I thought you had a big date with Rick.”
“I do. He’s picking me up soon, but I was taking a walk and wanted to bring you the flowers.”
“You look hot,” Violet said.
“Thanks. I still have no idea where we’re going.” She’d worn the dress she was wearing the first night she and Rick had met. She caught sight of the first picture she’d painted, the one of Violet as a little girl, hanging in the dining room. “You took my painting?”
“I probably should have asked. Do you mind?” Violet crossed her arms over the book she was holding, a pensive expression on her face.
“No. I’m flattered, but I thought you hated that dress.”
Violet shrugged. “I did. But you painted it.” She busied herself putting the book she was reading on top of a stack of others by the couch and straightening them. “That made it special.”
Desiree felt like she was going to cry, but as she and Violet grew closer, and she made new friends, and the renovations came to fruition—with a new kitchen, baths, and paint colors she and Violet had chosen together—and Rick’s return to DC neared, everything made her feel that way.
“What were you reading?” Desiree asked, to try to force her weepiness away.
She held out the book, and Desiree scanned the title. Running a Bed-and-Breakfast for Dummies. “Are you thinking of staying after Lizza comes back?”
“Don’t you mean if she comes back?” Violet plopped onto the couch.
“You have a point. I hadn’t really thought about that, although I should have, given her history.”
“Ya think?” Violet scoffed. “You could stay with me.”
“Stay? I can’t stay. I have a job—”
“Run the inn with me. Get a job here and teach in the off season.”
“Vi, it’s not our inn to run.” As she said it, she couldn’t deny that she’d had a fantasy or two about doing just that. But her fantasy included Rick staying, too, not returning to DC. “Wait. Why aren’t you going stir crazy? I thought you had a hard time staying put, like Lizza.”
Violet leaned forward, elbows on knees, eyes trained on the floor. “I did, but only because I never felt like I belonged anywhere.”
Desiree sank down beside her. “That’s how I felt around you and Lizza when you’d visit when we were little.”
“She loves you, you know. She talked about you all the time. About how much you’d like this or that.”
“Right. You don’t have to try to make me feel better, Vi. I accepted a long time ago that she left and never looked back.” Desiree pushed to her feet, her heart racing.
“She left, but she looked back, Des. You got more headspace than I did.”
“I don’t understand how that can be, given how little attention she’s paid me over the years.”
“Don’t you get her yet?” Violet sprang to her feet, her voice escalating. “She doesn’t think we need her time or attention to know she loves us. Cosmos? The universe? We’re supposed to soak it all in.”
“Yeah? Well, I guess this sponge never got the memo, because I’ve felt a big black hole inside me for a long time. If not for my father and Emery, I would have gone bonkers. She has always been my Achilles’ heel.”
Violet held her steady gaze. “And you’ve always been mine.”
Desiree’s jaw dropped open, stunned by Violet’s confession. “Me?”
“Don’t make a big thing out of it.” Violet stalked into the kitchen. “This summer has been the only time I’ve felt like I belonged somewhere. You have the biggest fricking heart of anyone I’ve ever known. And even though you have that look on your face like”—her voice rose an octave—“do you have to be crude?” In her regular voice, she said, “For some strange reason, you love me anyway, and you’re good to me. And you accept me even with my faults, and it’s fricking fabulous.”
Tears welled in Desiree’s eyes. “You are fricking fabulous.” She pulled Violet into a hug, ignoring how Violet’s arms hung stiffly by her sides.
“Are you done yet?” Vi said flatly.
Desiree shook her head. “Not even close.” She guided Violet’s arms around her waist and refused to let go. “I’ll take you on my date with me if you don’t hug me back.”
With a sigh, Violet relented. “You’re so annoying.”
“So are you.”
“You said my careful F-word.”
“Hey, Vi?” Des sniffled through happy tears.
“Yeah?”
“Shut the frick up and hug me.”
Chapter Fifteen
“JUST A FEW more steps.” Rick’s heart beat wildly as he led Desiree down the dock, her eyes closed. Could she sense the anticipation of an evening sail in the wind? Recognize the feel of the dock beneath her feet? Did she hear the sea calling them, the way he did?
“I forgot what this was like.” The words came without thought, but he had forgotten. He’d been so mired down with seeing and hearing his father, fearing his father’s memories would slay him, that he’d lost touch with the reasons why his father loved sailing so much. The reasons he loved it.
“Surprising me? I feel like you surprise me all the time. It’s wonderful.” She flashed the sweet smile that melted his heart and reached for him, touching his chest with both hands. “Your heart is going crazy. Can I open my eyes?”
“Not yet.” Committing this moment to memory, he reveled in the feel of her hands, the way her anticipation settled the remaining discomfort stirring inside him. He touched his lips to hers, feeling proud, and anxious, and happy all at once. “Okay, sweetheart. Open your eyes.”
Her beautiful, meadow-green eyes swept over his face, and in the next breath, they glided over the boat. Her fingers curled into his shirt, and worry lines wrinkled her forehead. “Rick…”
He touched his lips to hers again. “It’s okay.”
“But your father, and—”
“I know. I’m okay.” He told her about going on the boat with Drake when it was docked the other night, and how they’d talked about their father for two solid hours. They’d laughed and they’d cried, and by the time he’d gone to see Desiree that night, he’d known what he needed—and more importantly, what he wanted.
“I never had a reason t
o stop running and face what’s kept me from doing the one thing my father loved most. Until you.”
She opened her mouth, but as had happened so often with them, no words were necessary.
“Come on, baby.” He helped her onto the boat. “Let’s make your dream come true.”
Half an hour later they were moving swiftly through the water, the land fading into the distance. Rick waited for the awful feelings to drag him under, but all that came was the soothing sounds of the sea washing against the boat, the rustling, slow swish of the sails, and his father’s voice in the wind.
Hear that, Ricky? That’s pure bliss, right there.
The sun kissed the horizon, and dozens of shades of orange, yellow, and red bloomed over the dark water. Rick gathered Desiree close, filled with a sense of peace and belonging that had been missing in his life for a very long time. He gazed into her eyes. He couldn’t imagine going a day without her, much less a week at a time once they left the Cape.
“I know how hard it was for you to even talk about what happened to your father. I can’t believe you actually did this for me,” she said.
“You did this for me, babe. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. With you, on the water. All of this.”
A while later they anchored the boat and ate dinner by moonlight. Rick pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures. She was covering her face in the first one and beaming like a princess in the next. He took a selfie of the two of them, and then another, stealing a kiss as he took it. They laughed and kissed, and he told her some of the stories his father used to make up about being a deep-sea diver and discovering treasures in far-off lands. Stories that were so outlandish, even now, as he relayed them to her, they still made him shake his head.