“I wasn’t expecting you, mom,” I say, stuffing my hands into my pockets. “Everything alright?”
“Oh, I just came to see if you’d heard the news,” she says, giving me a sympathetic smile and lightly patting Bella’s head. “I figured you might need to... talk.”
See? All I had to do was spend half an hour sulking, and her psychic mom abilities kicked in.
“Yeah, I heard the news alright,” I huff, turning around and walking toward the house. I can hear mom set Bella down, the dogs’ collar jingling as they follow closely at my heels. “And I don’t want to talk about it.”
Mom and Bella follow me into the kitchen, where I pour myself a glass of water and chug it down in one go. I’m hoping she’ll get the message, but her obstinate stance and narrowed gaze tells me otherwise.
“You’re not really taking it how I thought you would,” my mom says, placing her hands on her hips.
How did she think I would take it? Should I be jumping up and down and throwing confetti? If anything, I’m amazed I grabbed a glass of water before the bourbon I keep stashed in my pantry.
“Well, I’m not sure how you think I should be reacting,” I say, filling up the water glass again and downing it. “It’s not like I didn’t see it coming.”
Mom’s eyebrows draw together, her face going from incredulous to downright confused. “What do you mean? You expected this?” she asks.
“Well it was only a matter of time before she sold the house. That was always the plan. And I’m sure as shit not happy about it, but what can I do?” I say, and I’m completely, totally surprised when my mom bursts out laughing.
“Sold the house?” she asks, in between giggles and laughter-induced hiccups. “Oh, Cameron.”
“What?” I ask, my annoyance growing by the second. “What is so damn funny?”
Mom walks up to me and puts a hand on my shoulder, her face softening. “She didn’t sell the house, sweetie. She took it off the market. She’s moving back.”
For a moment, the whole world goes fuzzy, fading to black as my brain digests the words I just heard. I blink a few times, the kitchen and my mom’s sympathetic face coming back in to focus, my hands gripping the counter behind me so that I don’t topple over. My mouth feels like sandpaper, even though I just chugged two full glasses of water. Did she say Lizzie is moving back?
“What are you talking about?” I ask, the words more of a croak than a full sentence.
“I heard Elizabeth sold her place in New York, quit her job, and is moving back to Rocky Point. Sally Rittenhouse, you know her and her husband own that little sandwich shop down by the marina? Well she was telling me that Trisha Dearing reached out to them, told them Lizzie Quinn is going to be working as an advertising consultant in town, and asked if they’d be interested in having her do all their ads. They’re really excited to hire her on,” mom explains. “And they aren’t the only ones. Apparently, she’s already got a ton of eager clients.”
I lean down and plant a kiss on my mom’s cheek, then bolt toward the front door. She runs after me, Bella growling and chasing behind her.
“Where are you going?” she calls after me, as I burst through the front door and onto the driveway.
“Eddie’s!” I yell back, climbing into the cab of my truck. Mom comes around to the drivers’ side and knocks on the window, which I impatiently roll down.
“Why are you going to Eddie’s?” she asks.
Because I need to talk to Trisha.
Because I need to figure out exactly when Lizzie is coming back to town.
Because somehow, by some miracle, I’m getting another chance. And this time, I’m not going to mess it up.
“I have something to take care of,” I say, and with that, I put the truck in reverse and gun it out of the driveway, leaving my mom standing there looking surprised, and Bella yapping at me as I tear off down the street.
Chapter Nineteen
Elizabeth
“JUST SAY YOU’RE COMING!” Trisha pleads, and I roll my eyes, sighing loudly enough that I hope she’ll hear me. I’ve only been back in Rocky Point for a few days, but I’ve been consumed with my new business, and sorting through all my stuff to figure out what needs unpacked, and what needs to be put into storage. Trisha’s been trying to help where she can, but she doesn’t have that much free time, what with working at the hardware store and all. Since coming back to town, interest in my new advertising consulting venture has doubled since Trisha initially provided me a list of leads. Apparently, business owners around town, and even some in neighboring towns, are extremely excited about the idea of not having to do their own advertising. Some are even willing to pay extra, if I’ll help them do a rebranding. All this work means I’ll be replacing my full-time income in no time, but at the same time, I’m going to be very busy. And in the midst of it all, Trisha wants me to meet her at the marina for dinner. “Pleeeeease!” she adds, using her best guilt-inducing voice.
”Trisha, I’m sorry, I’m really busy,” I say, guilty to disappoint her but knowing there’s no way I could possibly step out right now. “I want to hang with you, I do, but if I don’t get myself organized, I’ll be setting myself up for failure.”
“Come on, it’s just a few hours,” Trisha whines, a hint of her former drama-queen-self shining through. “I’ll come over first thing tomorrow morning to help out. Besides, I did help you land these gigs in the first place. Think of it as a ‘thank you’.”
Boy, she’s really laying it on thick. I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling my willpower crumble despite my efforts to remain on task. Would a few hours really kill me? Probably not. Besides, I’m bound to have a late night anyway, considering how nervous I am that none of this is actually going to work out. I didn’t sleep last night. Not sure what would make tonight any different. And on that note, I suppose I can spare a few hours to go to dinner with my friend who helped make my new job a reality in the first place.
“Okay,” I say, having to pull the phone away from my head at Trisha’s squeal of delight, or risk bursting my eardrum. When she settles down, I ask, “Where do you want me to meet you?”
“The marina,” she says, her voice suddenly conspiratorial. “Five o’clock sharp, got it?”
“Got it.”
Another squeal on the other end of the line reverberates my brain before the line goes silent, and a momentary wave of panic overtakes me. It’s the height of the summer season, which means the marina will be packed. I’m sure I’ll run into all kinds of people who will want to confirm the town gossip, ask me about Gran and my new business, and try to get the latest scoop. According to Trisha, my little fling with Cam was all anyone could talk about after I left, and I’m not sure I’m ready to face questions about that yet. Even worse, I’m not ready to face Cam yet. What if we run into him? I’m half tempted to call Trisha back and tell her to forget it, but I know she’ll be disappointed, and I can’t do that to her.
Hoping to distract myself, I decide the best thing to do for the next few hours is bury myself in my work, and not let thoughts of tonight, or of Cam, creep back into my mind.
Easier said than done.
THE EARLY SUMMER HEAT and gorgeous views always draw people to the shops and plentiful outdoor dining of the Rocky Point harbor, and when I arrive at five o’clock, the harbor is packed with people milling about. I’m met with nods and smiles as I make my way through to the marina, making me feel a little less on edge, considering I’ve been terrified of who I might run into all day. I find Trisha standing by docks, looking out over the water, her face lighting up when she sees me coming.
“You made it!” she exclaims, throwing her arms around me in a hug. Then, she grabs my hand and starts pulling me toward the docks. “Come on, we have to hurry.”
“I thought you said we were going to dinner,” I say, my suspicion growing as we head toward the neat lines of powerboats, fishing boats, and small yachts that take up residence on the marina docks. Trisha looks back over her
shoulder and winks, before yanking me along, and my stomach begins to twist into knots.
“Just follow me!” she insists, tightening her grip on my clammy, sweaty palm. I do as I’m told, the knot in my stomach growing larger and larger with every twist and turn we take until she stops abruptly in front of a familiar center console fishing boat, a devilish grin on her face.
“Trisha, what’s going on?” I ask, my heart rate speeding up, my heart thumping so hard I can feel it beating in my ears. Trisha finally releases my hand, her features softening as she looks toward the boat. “Trisha,” I demand, my breathing nervous and raggedy now. “Why in the world are we standing in front of...”
“Lizzie.”
He says my name softly, his voice tinged with a hint of surprise, as if he doesn’t fully expect me to be here. I turn toward the voice, my eyes taking in the sight of Cam on the deck of his boat, his eyes wide and full of determination as they rake over every inch of me. He looks good, like some damn modern-day pirate in his white button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up on his forearms and the first few buttons undone, the untucked fabric blowing in the light breeze off the water. I watch as he takes a deep, steadying breath, and realize all the air has gone from my lungs. I just stand there, surprise and disbelief holding me in place like an anchor, as he holds both his hands out in front of him. It takes me a moment, but I realize he’s holding something in either hand. What is he holding? What is going on?
I look back at Trisha, who has retreated a few steps and seems to be waiting with anticipation for what is about to happen next. I look back at Cam, whose eyes never left the spot where I’m standing.
“What... what is going on?” I ask, finally finding my voice. Cam gulps audibly, before raising his right hand, which I can now see is holding a lighter, and flicks the object with his thumb, eliciting a bright orange flame.
“This is the last item on board that bears the name Sid’s Sea Maiden,” he says, bringing the lighter over to the object in his other hand, a worn piece of paper, and setting it ablaze.
I gasp, taking a few steps back as the flame engulfs the thin piece of paper, still trying to understand what in the world is going on. In just a few short moments, the paper disappears in a small cloud of ash, carried away on the breeze.
“I don’t understand,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. Paying my confusion no mind, Cam clears his throat loudly and Eddie pops out from the console, and uncorks a bottle of champagne. The sound echoes throughout the marina, and I look around frantically, noticing that a few people have stopped what they’re doing and turned their attention toward Cam’s boat. I look from Eddie, to Cam, to Trisha, who just shrugs and grins mischievously. “Seriously, what is going on?” I ask, but Cam continues, undeterred.
He takes the bottle of champagne from Eddie, turns his head toward the sky, and begins to yell at the top of his lungs.
“Poseidon, great and mighty ruler of the seas and oceans! I beg you in your majesty to accept this worthy vessel, and grant her safe passage within your realm!”
My mouth drops open as Cam leans over the stern of the boat, and dumps some of the champagne out into the water. A crowd has begun to gather now, watching with interest and confusion at the commotion coming from Cam’s boat. After he’s poured a good amount of champagne into the water, he again addresses the sky, raising both of his arms into the air.
“Oh, mighty rulers of the winds! Grant this worth vessel the power and benefit of your bounty!” he yells, before dumping more champagne off of each side of the boat, and finally, it dawns on me what is happening.
Cam is renaming his boat. But why? And why bring me down here for all of this?
After he’s done pouring champagne to the North, South, East, and West, Cam hops down off the boat and strides toward me, the audience to the show he’s putting on apparently instilling a sense of confidence and determination in him. Eddie follows him off the boat. He stops a few inches from me, still holding the champagne in one hand, and taking my hand in the other.
“Cam, what is all this?” I ask, feeling my heart rate pick up as a sly, sexy smile spreads across his face.
“I’m renaming the boat,” he says, very matter-of-factly, as if that explains everything.
“I can see that,” I say, recalling our previous conversation about the superstition of renaming boats. He was adamantly against it, insisting that one wrong move could bring untold misfortune. I tilt my head up toward him, entranced by the magnetizing blue of his eyes. “I thought you didn’t want to tempt fate.”
Cam nods. “It’s a risk,” he says. “But I realized that some risks are worth taking, even if it means the future is uncertain.” He turns to Eddie and nods, who leans down to pull a strip of white covering off the back of the boat. I hadn’t even noticed when I first walked up, so distracted by what Cam was doing on the boat, that the previous name had been covered. As Eddie begins to peel off the white covering, Cam lifts the champagne in his hand toward the sky one last time, pulling me in close to him.
“With Poseidon’s favor, I hereby declare this boat renamed!”
At his words, Eddie tears off the white strip, and I look in awe at the boat’s new name, imprinted on the boat in swirly, glossy black lettering.
Second Chance Girl.
The crowd around us erupts in cheers and applause, and Cam takes one last swig of the champagne before turning back to face me. He sets the champagne bottle down and takes my other hand in his, his face suddenly very serious.
“I’m willing to risk whatever bad luck or misfortune might come from renaming the boat,” he says, his eyes bearing into mine, right into my very soul. “And I’m willing to risk whatever the future might hold for us, as long as it means I get to be with you. I love you, Lizzie. I always have, and I always will. Are you willing to take that risk with me?”
My heart fills with his words, warmth and happiness spreading like a flame through every inch of me as I take in the man in front of me. The man I’ve loved since I was a teenager. The man I love now. The man I honestly never stopped loving. Life might have taken us our separate ways for a time, but it brought us back together for a reason. I knew that the minute I saw him standing in Gran’s doorway, that first night back in town. I squeeze his hands tighter, smiling up at him with more love in my heart than I ever thought possible.
“Yes,” I say, tears filling my eyes as watch the happiness bloom behind Cam’s. “I love you too, Cam. I’m willing to risk it all.”
Around us, cheers and applause thunder throughout the marina as Cam wraps his arms around me and claims me with a kiss, letting everyone around us know I am finally, indisputably his.
Epilogue
Cameron
AUGUST, TWO MONTHS Later
“Let me see it! Let me see it!”
Trisha barrels through the small crowd of people in my kitchen, Eddie close at her heels, and grabs Lizzie’s hand. She inspects the ring on Lizzie’s finger and sighs, the large, princess-cut diamond set in a cushion of small pink diamonds sparkling as Lizzie waggles her finger proudly. Trisha turns to face me.
“You did great,” she says, holding up Lizzie’s hand to show Eddie. “Didn’t he do great?”
“He did indeed do great,” Eddie agrees, giving me a conspiratorial wink.
Within just a few weeks of Lizzie moving back, I had picked out an engagement ring and decided to pop the question one night while watching the sunset on the ocean, snuggled under a blanket on the boat. Our boat, now. I figured I’d waited long enough to make Lizzie mine, there was no sense in wasting any more time. Plus, while Helen is hanging in there, her health is still uncertain, and it’s important to Lizzie that her grandmother be there for our wedding. We decided a short engagement would be perfect, and we’d plan to get married in the late Fall. Since she doesn’t really have any family left besides her grandmother, Lizzie is planning to ask Helen to walk her down the aisle. I have a feeling Helen will be ecstatic.
“Thank you b
oth,” Lizzie says, beaming at Trisha and Eddie before turning her adoring gaze toward me. “For everything.” The way she looks at me, so full of love and wonder, well... it never gets old, that’s for sure.
My mom joins the group, Bella positioned against her chest and shoulder like a newborn, and wraps Lizzie into a hug. “This is a wonderful engagement party,” she says, “I’m so happy you’ll be a part of this family again. I always knew you and Cam were meant to be, even if he was too stubborn to acknowledge it sometimes.”
“Hey, this is supposed to be a celebration,” I say playfully, wrapping an arm around Lizzie and drawing her in closer to me. “No ragging on the future groom, okay?”
Mom winks at Lizzie. “He hasn’t seen anything yet. It’s been a while; I think it’s time we looked at his baby pictures again. See what a chubby little baby he was,” she says, squeezing my cheek. Lizzie just nods emphatically.
“Absolutely,” she agrees, blowing me a kiss.
“Traitor,” I mutter. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out, seeing Grayson’s name on the screen. He wasn’t able to make it out for the party, being as his life in L.A. is... well, let’s just say things aren’t going very well between him and his co-star-turned-ex-girlfriend. “Excuse me,” I say, breaking away from the group to answer the phone.
I find a quiet corner of the house, and hit the accept button on my screen “Gray, how’s it going?”
“Hey, Cam,” he says, forced cheerfulness in his voice. I can tell from his tone that something is wrong.
“What’s going on?” I ask, concern for my brother piercing through the excitement and happiness of the day. “Is everything okay?”
“Eh, it could be worse I guess,” he says, sighing loudly. “I’m sorry about missing the party.”
“Nah, don’t be,” I say. “As long as you’re home for the wedding, that’s all I care about.”
“Well, about that...”
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