by Giselle Fox
“I didn’t realize-”
“Keira waltzed in with her money and changed everything. Barely ever saw my nephew.”
“Was that Keira’s fault?”
Kirby sighed. “No. Sydney didn’t want me around.” He looked up at the cabin again. “Doesn’t matter now. Brocks have always been fuck-ups. My dad, his dad. His before. One goddamn mistake after another. Finally thought I had something here. But…” He stood up and flipped his cap back on. “I’ll take you back to Campbell River now, if you want. Otherwise, I’ll come get you in the morning.”
Daisy thought for a moment as he stood waiting for an answer. “Have you talked to your brother?”
“After I talked to yours. Why?”
Then, Daisy had a brilliant idea.
It was after ten when she heard Keira’s boat round the point. She pushed open her screen door and ran down the steps to greet her. She stood there as Keira pulled in to her dock. “You were gone so long.”
Keira didn’t reply. She didn’t even look at her.
“I was worried. But Kirby told me you knew your way around here as well as any islander.”
“What do you want, Daisy?”
“We need to talk.”
“No, actually, we don’t.” She cinched the ties on her boat tight and stepped out of it.
Daisy moved in front of her path. “Where did you go?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Of course, it matters. It’s late. It’s dark. It’s, I don’t know… scary out there alone.”
“This is even lower than I expected you people to go.”
“I can explain.”
“I can explain,” Keira repeated. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve written those words? You can’t explain lying, Daisy. Just leave me alone.” She stepped around her and continued walking back along the dock, shaking her head in disgust.
“Keira, please.”
But Keira kept going. Daisy had to run to catch up with her. “Listen, just for a second, please.”
Keira whirled around. “Why should I?”
Daisy took a deep breath. “You have every right to be mad. I lied to you. I fabricated a story about being a lawyer—though, for the record, I did go to law school. I did it so I could be here without you suspecting who I really was. But then-”
Keira took a step closer. “So you’re real name is Daisy Hunter.”
Daisy was shocked. “Yes, it is. How did you know?”
“I called Jane. She told me she’d seen an ad in a magazine at the Vancouver airport that had your face all over it.”
That was even more shocking. Jane had left the day before. That left ample time to tell Keira about it. “She didn’t tell you?”
“No, she didn’t,” Keira said bitterly. “Yet another fucking monumental disappointment I’m dealing with right now.”
That meant Jane was on her side. It gave Daisy hope.
“So, your plan was to get close to me, find out my secrets. Now what? Are you going to blackmail me? Is that next?”
Daisy felt like crying. “No. I would never do that-”
“But you would lie, right? Sleep with me? Let me believe you were someone I could-”
“Keira, please.”
Keira raked her hands through her hair. “I liked you. I actually really liked you. I can’t believe I fell for it.” She stormed up the path again.
“Noah is coming back,” Daisy said before Keira disappeared for good.
Keira stopped where she was and turned slowly. “What did you say?”
“Sydney is bringing Noah back to Read Island for a week. It’s all been arranged.”
Keira swallowed. “When are they coming?”
“The week before Easter. You’re going to see him again.”
She took a few steps closer. “Sydney told you this? She actually said those words?”
Daisy nodded. “She did.”
Keira looked stunned. “How… did this happen?”
A lot had happened in the last few hours. “Well, because I talked to Kirby, and he talked to Colton. They both talked to Sydney. She thought you went back to New York.”
Keira looked puzzled. “Why did she think that?”
“I don’t know—probably because none of them ever talk about what really happened.” She looked into Keira’s eyes. “I lied to you when I got here because I didn’t know who you were or that…” she took a deep breath, “that I would fall for you the way I have.” There, she’d said it.
Keira’s eyes showed her pain. “You’re lying again.”
Daisy closed the gap between them and reached for her hand. “No, I’m telling you the truth. I told Kirby I would buy his property if he could convince Sydney to ask Noah if he wanted to come back here to see you. She didn’t even have to ask him. He hasn’t been himself since he left the island. She knew it was time.”
“She did?”
Daisy nodded. “I think they were going to come, anyway.”
“Wait a minute, hold on,” Keira said, her hands out in disbelief. “You’re buying Kirby’s cabin?”
“That’s what it looks like,” Daisy said, looking back in the direction of the dilapidated structure. “This is not the way it was supposed to go. I was going to come here for a few days, see if you were interested in selling your land. See if there was a way to convince you. And then…” She shook her head and sighed. “I’ve brokered much, much bigger projects, you know… complexes, shopping malls, conference centers, hotels—a stadium, for God’s sake. You want to know how many people didn’t want that to happen? But I convinced them. Go to Read Island, my brother said. I need your help.” She looked back at Keira. “Then I met you.” She plunked herself down on a mossy wet boulder and hung her head in her hands. “What am I going to do with it? I don’t know a thing about plumbing and fixing wells. I have to buy a boat and I’ve never driven one.”
“Maybe Kirby will sell you his.”
Daisy looked up to find Keira smiling. “No way. I’m giving Kirby enough money already.”
Keira stepped closer and put her hand on her shoulder. “I could maybe… teach you how to drive a boat.”
Daisy felt hopeful. “You would do that?”
Keira shrugged. “Sure. And, you know, the well is finicky but… it works. Most of the time.”
Daisy stood and faced her. “I honestly never planned for it to go like this, but I’m not sorry it did. If I’d told you sooner, we would have never become… friends.” She looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Keira. Please, forgive me.”
Keira took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, I forgive you.”
That was all Daisy needed to hear. Forgiveness was something she could work with. The rest—whatever the rest was meant to be—would come with time. But then Keira wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close.
“Thank you,” she whispered against her lips and then kissed her.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Three months later…
“Do you need me to move?” Daisy called out.
Kirby gave her the thumbs up from inside the cockpit of his tug. A barge with the large yellow demolition excavator slid into the cove behind it.
Keira smiled down at Noah. “There it is. What do you think?”
“Can I drive it?” Noah asked.
Daisy looked over at Keira. “Um, no. But maybe you can help me move my boat.”
“Okay,” Noah said and ran ahead.
She smiled at Keira again. “Wanna come?”
“Sure.”
They headed down the path to her new floating dock. It wasn’t half as big as Keira’s… yet. But, once the demolition was out of the way, she had big plans for the waterfront.
The demolition of the old Brock cabin was the must-see event of the summer. At least ten more boats bobbed out in the cove. Keira and Daisy had invited most of the island over to watch Kirby do the honors of tearing it down, and with Noah on summer break, the timing couldn�
��t have been better.
“Hi, uncle Kirby,” Noah shouted, waving to him.
“Hey, bud. You gonna drive?”
“Daisy said I could.”
“Go easy on her. Don’t scare her.”
“I won’t.”
“Life jackets,” Keira said. Daisy slipped hers on. Though they were only going as far as the neighboring dock, she had to model safe behavior for the little daredevil. She waited until Keira zipped him up before starting the engine.
“You have an audience,” Keira said, grinning at her.
Daisy grinned back. “Good. We’ll show them how it’s done.” She let Noah take the wheel as she guided her shiny new Bayliner away from the dock, swung it around and headed back to shore. A few minutes later, they were gliding slowly alongside Keira’s dock as though she’d been parking boats all her life.
Keira gave her a little round of applause from the back seat. “Good job, you two!” Noah grinned back at her and gave Daisy a hug. “Maybe you could teach me how to drive.”
“Hey, wait a sec’,” Keira said, feigning indignation. “I thought I was going to teach you.”
“Daisy can, too,” he said.
Kirby maneuvered his tug behind the barge and pushed it up against the rocks. They watched him and his helpers tie it off with cables to the surrounding trees. “You got everything you want out of there?” He called.
“Yep,” Daisy yelled back. In truth, she’d taken nothing since nothing was worth keeping. “Run away now, little mice.”
Kirby climbed up onto the excavator and started it up. With a well-aimed jab at the leaning deck of doom, it peeled away in a tumble of splinters and moss. A whoop went up from the crowd behind them. Noah’s eyes went wide with excitement.
“Popcorn?” Keira asked, pulling the massive bag she’d made from her pack. They all sat together in a row on the back seat with Noah in the middle.
Daisy would have been happy enough with a video on her phone until Keira had ordered in two GoPros to capture the event. Ryan had dropped them off with his usual weekly delivery and they’d spent the day before setting them up in good spots along the shore. Her phone rang. It was her brother on video call.
“Did I miss anything?”
“Not much. Kirby just started.” Daisy aimed her lens at the cabin in time for Colin to see the roof collapse. More cheers and honks sounded from the boats behind them.
The demolition went fast. The only thing left was cleanup before the site would get leveled, retained, and a new set of supports poured for the new and improved cabin. Keira was smiling at her. “It’s going to look amazing.”
Daisy sighed. “I know. I can’t wait.” It was the first time she’d been so excited about a development in years; probably because it was the first house she had ever built for herself. She’d contracted the same architect that Keira had used since they’d done such an incredible job. Now they had a healthy competition running over who would end up with the nicer home.
Daisy didn’t have anywhere near as much property to work with, but she planned to make the most of what was there. The ridge was the golden nugget, and she knew Keira secretly coveted it. She couldn’t wait to lie in her new bedroom and look up at the stars. That was at least a year down the road, but she could wait. Spending her weekends on Hummingbird Cove had made her a lot less anxious about time.
She slid her arm behind Noah and around Keira’s shoulder and settled back against the red vinyl seat of her sexy new speedboat. Life hadn’t ever felt as sweet or as relaxed. Whenever she looked over and Keira happened to be looking back, she had a deep feeling of knowing. Things had developed between them; things that were worth building on.
She loved seeing Keira so happy to have Noah back for the summer. Sharing her with the little boy, witnessing the delight of their reunion, had done something special to her heart. She felt full and surrounded by love and joy. She felt blessed, grateful, and lucky. And whenever Keira looked back at her with her loving brown eyes, she knew she was exactly where she belonged.
~~~
Keira quietly pulled Noah’s bedroom door closed and turned out the hall light. He was fast asleep, tucked tight under his hockey blanket. The old metal box Kirby had pretended to find in the rubble of the cabin sat on the table beside his bed. Inside, were the first clues of the treasure hunt that would last the rest of the summer.
She found Daisy in the cushion pit, fast asleep. The excitement of the day, the teardown, the community barbecue they’d hosted after on her dock, then the treasure hunt through the woods behind her house, had left them all feeling happy and tired. She stepped down onto the cushions and laid her body next to Daisy’s.
“Mmm,” Daisy murmured, lifting one sleepy eyelid just enough to reveal a circle of blue-green before it settled closed again. “Is it late?”
“Nine-thirty when I last checked,” Keira whispered. She kissed her way up Daisy’s warm cheek and then over to her ear. “The hot tub is ready.”
Daisy grinned, though her eyes stayed closed. “Carry me.”
Keira chuckled. “I could try, but I don’t think we’d get very far.”
“One kiss, then I’ll get up.”
“That I can do,” Keira said, happily complying. The offer of Daisy’s lips was welcome any time, day or night. “Did the new chapters put you to sleep?”
“No, I finished them.”
“That was fast.”
Daisy sat up and blinked her eyes. “I have questions.”
Keira grinned. “Why is she still named Callie?”
Daisy smiled back at her. “That’s one. I wrote down the rest.” She pointed to her notebook, tucked under the cushion above her head.
“You’re my most favorite beta reader. Thank you,” Keira said and gave her another kiss. “Want to help me work out a hot tub scene?”
Daisy’s smile widened. “There’s a hot tub scene?”
Keira shrugged. “There might be.” She pulled the buttons of Daisy’s shirt open and kissed her chest.
Daisy rolled onto her back and smiled up at her. “Is this for Kay Ember or K.D. Maitland?”
“Well, Callie’s on a flight to Moscow right now. Unless I send her to a banya, there are no hot tubs in her future.”
Daisy smiled. “You’re still working on our book.”
“I am.”
“Do you know how it’s going to end yet?”
Keira lifted her hand and kissed the tips of each one of her fingers. “Let’s see… the beautiful developer will finish building her dream home and then maybe decide to work remotely for part of the year.”
“That’s a big move for her.”
“It is, but she’s ready for a change, and her brother likes working from the Yaletown office better, anyway.”
Daisy grinned. “It’s true, he does. So what happens to the writer?”
“Well, now that she’s madly in love with a BC girl, she’s definitely keeping Hummingbird Cove, but she’ll be going back and forth between the island, Vancouver, and Kelowna a lot.”
“Is she writing again?”
Keira smiled. “More than she has in years.”
Daisy smiled back at her. “I love you, K. D. Maitland. Thank you for giving me a peek into such a beautiful future.” She planted tiny kisses around Keira’s cheeks.
Keira sighed happily. “I mean, you know, I still may change it a little.”
Daisy laughed. “Maybe we should have an adventure now and then?”
Keira smiled back at her, knowing their future would be so much more than Daisy had ever imagined.
Thanks for reading!
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Standalone Novels:
Falling for Lucky
Rock Candy
Rare and Beautiful Things
Slow Burn in Tuscany
Novellas:
&nb
sp; Year of the Kiss
The Sun Catcher Trilogy:
Sun Catcher Book One
Sun Catcher Book Two
Sun Catcher Book Three
Claire and the Lady Billionaire:
An ongoing series of steamy contemporary lesbian romance.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine
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