He caught the low sound of someone talking on the far and of the porch and steeled himself for the inevitable confrontation. But when he rounded the corner of the house to the south porch, it was Yvonne sitting at the breakfast table with a cup of coffee, a plate of toast, and her cell phone pressed to her ear.
“Just put the contracts in the online drop-box and I’ll take a look at them,” she said in her strictest business voice to whoever she was talking to. “Yes, both of them. I want to look at the offers you’re making side-by-side. Simon will sign if Spence does, but Spence won’t sign anything until I’ve gone over it with a fine-tooth comb.”
Yvonne glanced up and winked at Spence. On any other day he would have winked back, but Yvonne was not Tasha, and that was all that mattered. Yvonne held up one finger, telling him to wait, but Spence ignored her and marched back into the house.
He checked through the living room and dining room. The puzzle of the lighthouse that he and Tasha had worked on for the past several weeks was still on display. Who would have thought that doing a simple puzzle would have made him so happy? It didn’t matter what he was doing, as long as he was doing it with Tasha. That’s what love was. He couldn’t lose that.
As he headed back into the hall and up the stairs, he broke down and called out, “Tasha?” Maybe she hadn’t gotten up yet. He knocked on her door, then opened it a crack. “Tasha?”
The room was empty. The bed was perfectly made, and nothing had been left out, not a flip-flop or a pair of sunglasses.
Panic pushed in on Spence. He hurried back into the hall and down the stairs, leaving the door to Tasha’s room open. She wouldn’t. She wouldn’t just walk out on him, not after he’d put his heart on the line and proposed. She couldn’t just leave him without giving him an explanation.
At the bottom of the stairs, he headed into the kitchen, dodging around the trash can, and searching as if she would appear out of thin air. She couldn’t be gone. Not without saying goodbye.
A flash of pink out the window caught his eye. He rushed to the counter, only to see Tasha’s back disappear around the bend in the driveway where the sea rose bushes were planted. She carried something large and bulky. A suitcase?
“No,” he puffed out. No, she couldn’t walk out on him like that.
He pushed away from the counter and rushed through the hall to the front door. As soon as he threw open the front screen door, he crossed the porch and took the steps two at a time. By the time he reached the bend in the driveway, Tasha was on her way back up from the street, brushing her hands.
“Tasha,” he called out her name as if calling for a life-preserver, and slowed his sprint. He breathed as heavily as if he had run all the way to the pier and back. “Don’t leave.”
Tasha stopped, startled. She blinked several times and raked a windblown piece of hair off of her face. “Spence, I’m not—”
“No,” he cut her off, feeling as though his heart might burst out of his chest. “No, just hear me out.”
He closed the gap between them, reaching for her as though is life depended on it, caressing her shoulders and holding her by her arms.
“I love you, Tasha,” he burst out from the bottom of his soul. “I love you so much that I don’t know what I would do if you left. I know that my world, my job, is something foreign to you and that maybe it scares you a little. It scares me too, all the time. It’s a strange, cruel world, and I can’t say that I belong there, only that I need to be there to do what I love. But the whole reason I came here for the summer was to take a break from that, to discover what I really want.”
Her expression pinched with emotion that he couldn’t read. “Spence—”
“No, please,” he rushed on, desperate to say everything he had to say. “What I really want is you. That’s what this summer has taught me. It’s taught me that the jobs we love and the things we’re good at are only as satisfying as the people we have with us.
“I know you don’t think that you would fit in with the crowd that you think I run with,” he went on, “but I say to hell with them. I say that we should make our own world. Let’s make a world where a teacher can be as celebrated as an actor, even more so. Let’s show the world that love is the only thing that matters, and that people who care for others and spend their lives helping them are just as important as those who spent their lives entertaining them. If you don’t think you belong in my world, then help me to make another, better world.”
“Do you think we even can?” she asked, a deep flush coming to her cheeks.
Hope. That had to be the light of hope in her eyes and not the fire of desperation.
“If anyone can, it’s us,” he said. “It’s you. Just don’t leave me without an explanation, without anything.”
Her mouth relaxed open. Her sun-pink lips begged him to kiss them, but he couldn’t. Not yet. Not until he knew that she wouldn’t walk away.
“I thought you might leave,” she said at last, quiet and almost embarrassed.
“I would never leave you, Tasha. I could never look myself in the mirror if I did.” He shifted his hands to her waist, tempted to pull her into an embrace, but too afraid to take his eyes off hers. “But right now, I’m terrified that you’re leaving me.”
“What are you talking about?” She put her hands on his chest. His heart responded by pounding up a fury.
“Right now,” he said. “I couldn’t find you anywhere. I saw you walking away with a suitcase just now. I thought—”
Her sudden, snorting laugh stopped him short. The sun couldn’t have shined as brightly as the light that lit her face.
“Spence.” She shook her head. “I was taking out the trash. It’s trash day. You know? One of those things that happens in the real world?”
Razor-sharp prickles of relief and embarrassment flooded him. He was a total ass, but it didn’t matter. He could feel as stupid as he wanted, because Tasha hadn’t tried to walk out on him.
He let out a breath. It turned into a puff of laughter, then into a full peel. His body went weak with relief. “Taking out the trash?”
“Yes?” she told him, rolling her eyes with a smile.
“Not leaving?”
“No.”
Something new came over her. The laughter in her eyes coalesced into determination. She took his hand and walked with him back to the porch. Once they were standing in the shade, she turned to face him, but it took several moments of stillness and biting her beautiful lip before she said anything.
“I’m sorry I handled things badly last night,” she began, looking at his chest, where her fingers picked at a piece of lint. She peeked up at him. “You took me by surprise.”
“I know.” He shook his head, clasping his hands over hers, over his heart. “It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I guess it wasn’t.”
She hummed and tilted her head to the side. “I wouldn’t say that, exactly.” Her smile grew dreamy. “It was beautiful, that’s for sure.”
Inch by inch, his shoulders and back began to unclench. “It wasn’t just a Hollywood stunt. You might be surprised how many of the locals wanted to be involved when I asked if I could use the pier. I think they’d have done it for anyone crazy enough to come up with the idea.”
A mischievous glint touched her eyes. “I saw some of them peeking out through windows and around corners.” The glint faded and she glanced down at his chest. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”
“I’m more afraid that I embarrassed you,” he corrected her. He slipped a finger under her chin and tilted it up so that she looked at him. “I’m sorry I didn’t think things through before springing that on you, but I was desperate.”
“A desperate proposal?”
He couldn’t tell if she was teasing or scolding.
“You had so many reasons why you think the two of us shouldn’t be together,” he said, heart pounding as if he was in danger once more. “So many good reasons. And I only have one reason why we should be togeth
er. Because I love you, and you love me. Because we were meant to be together. Because, in spite of all the forces of real life and imaginary worlds, we make each other’s lives better. I want to build our futures together, Tasha. I love you.”
He dipped to kiss her, too filled with emotion to do anything but cover her mouth with his. His heart exploded into light and song when she kissed him back, softening her lips and letting him taste her, devour her. He hadn’t intended to do more than end his speech from the heart, but the heat between them built so fast, that before he knew it, they were wrapped in each other’s arms, drinking as deeply from each other as they could. He’d never kissed a woman like that before, and he never wanted to kiss anyone but Tasha like that from now on.
“Say you’ll marry me, Tasha,” he whispered. “Say you’ll fight the odds with me.”
“Fight.” She drew in a breath. It transformed into a smile as she looked up into his eyes. “I’m a fighter. I am. I forgot that, but you helped me to see it again. I haven’t been able to think of anything else since last night, since talking to Yvonne.”
“Yvonne?” He tensed.
She squeezed her arms tighter around him. “She’s not so bad,” Tasha said. “She chewed me out a little when I got back here last night, but I think I needed it.”
“Yvonne?” he asked, more incredulous than before.
“Yes.” Tasha laughed. “She reminded me of who I am, before it was too late for me to do anything about it.”
“And who are you?” he asked, his soul starting to settle.
“I’m a fighter,” she said. “I’m Miss Pike, the teacher who no one kicks around. I’m a woman who goes after what she wants and gets it, no matter who tries to hold her down. Even if that person is me. I’m someone who chases dreams and catches them. And I’m engaged to marry Spencer Ellis, the most wonderful man I know.”
Joy burst through him. It flashed through his heart to his gut and lower. Relief pulsed through him with it, and pure, heady love. He let out a breath and held Tasha tighter, lifting her off her toes to kiss her.
“God, I love you, Tasha,” he groaned, letting all of his emotion show in his words, his body, his lips as he kissed her again.
“And I love you, Spence. I love you, and I’ll fight for you.”
“And we’ll win,” he said.
She hugged him, giving as much of herself as he was as their lips caressed. Their bodies pressed together, knowing they’d found a home in the other. He could never get enough of kissing her, of the heat and the joy and the promise of everything good. He loved her, and she loved him, and nothing else mattered.
Epilogue
Riding in a limo was the best way to navigate New York City, as far as Tasha was concerned. Even getting stuck in traffic felt glamorous when you could stretch out and sip wine.
“Does it usually take this long to drive up to a theater?” she asked Spence, setting her glass in the console in front of her.
Spence shrugged. He was remarkably relaxed for a man about to step out onto a red carpet on opening night. Tasha was a thousand times more jittery than he was.
“It takes a while to get in line and to let everyone else get out and have their moment in the spotlight,” he said.
“Hmm,” she replied, betraying her nerves. “I’m not sure if I’m okay with it taking all day or if I just want to get it over with.”
Spence laughed. He reached for her hand, squeezing it, then leaned over and kissed her. “You’re going to do fine,” he told her. “More than fine. You’re going to dazzle everyone. This is your premier as much as mine.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. God only knew how true his words were. The news had leaked to the press that Spencer Ellis was engaged, but except for the covertly snapped picture of the two of them playing in the waves, the world had yet to see who the mystery fiancé was. Yvonne had been the one to come up with the idea of introducing Tasha to the public at the premier of University City in New York.
“It’s on a Saturday,” she’d argued, “so you won’t miss a day of school or anything.”
That was something, at least, although she had missed one day to fly down to New York with Spence and to be fitted in a couture gown. She brushed her hand across the skirt now, sleek and sewn with a pattern of glittering sand dollars. Spence had picked it out himself. With her hair and make-up done by a professional, Tasha almost felt like she belonged.
Almost.
The limo rolled to a stop. Outside, Tasha could hear the excited hum of people buzzing and calling out for Spence.
“Ready?” he asked her, face lit with excitement.
“No,” she answered with a laugh.
“You’re going to nail this,” he reassured her. “You’re gorgeous, your sexy, and all you need to do is smile and the world will fall in love with you.”
“Are you sure?” she teased him.
“I’m positive.”
He lifted her hand to kiss it. The engagement ring he’d tried to give her on the pier at Summerbury Beach graced her ring finger. It may have been simple, and Spence had promised he would buy her a much bigger one, but Tasha insisted on keeping it. Everything about that ring seemed right.
The limo door cracked open, and the sound of the waiting crowd swelled.
“Are you ready, Mr. Ellis?” the driver asked.
Spence looked to Tasha. “Are you ready to knock the world dead, future Mrs. Ellis?” he asked her.
Tasha took a deep breath. A thousand butterflies swirled in her stomach. She was as nervous as a kindergartener on the first day of school, but just as determined.
“I’m ready,” she answered.
Spence leaned closer and gave her another kiss. “Right. I’ll get out of the car first, then I’ll help you out. All we have to do is walk into the theater, smiling and waving. You don’t have to answer any questions.”
“Got it.”
He winked and squeezed her hand. “Here we go.”
The driver opened the door and Spence stepped out to a swell of squeals and excitement. Tasha swallowed, pressed a hand over her stomach, and scooted to the edge of the limo’s seat. This was it. This was the moment that boring, loser Tasha reared her ugly head, or when she was banished forever. Spence reached out for her. She took his hand and felt herself lifted out of the car.
There really was a red carpet. Flashes glittered around her like starlight. Tasha’s butterflies fluttered so hard she thought they might lift her off her feet. Panic squeezed in at the corners of her mind. And then she saw Spence.
He smiled at her with more love than she had ever seen. Whatever the people around her might be tempted to think, he thought she was beautiful, fascinating, perfect. And no matter what the world said, she thought he was better than any man had a right to be. He loved her. That thought alone filled her with warmth and confidence, and she smiled. It didn’t matter who took her picture or what they would say about her, Spence loved her, and that was all she cared about.
“You look amazing,” he whispered to her as he took her hand and led her along the red carpet toward the theater door.
She felt amazing. She felt special and loved. The cameras flashed and fans called out her name and Spence’s, and Tasha smiled. Come what may, she could do this. She waved as floodlights and flashes bathed her. With Spence at her side, she would show the world that you didn’t have to be famous to shine, you only needed to be loved.
* * *
Now, if you’ve come this far and found yourself dying to know if Jenny and Simon ever meet again, if Simon gets what’s coming to him for running out on her, and what the consequences of that one night were, stay tuned this summer for One Night With A Star! And if you’d like to be notified when Jenny and Simon’s story, as well as other stories from the cast and set of the TV series “Second Chances,” are out, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX
About the Author
I hope you have enjoyed Summer with a Star. If you’d like to
be the first to learn about when the next books in the series come out and more, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX And remember, Read it, Review it, Share it!
Merry Farmer is an award-winning novelist who lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn't have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Her books have topped the Amazon and iBooks charts and finalled in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.
You can email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @merryfarmer20.
Merry also has a blog, http://merryfarmer.net,
and a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/merryfarmerauthor
Acknowledgements
I would never be able to do what I do without the help of some fabulous people. I’d like to thank my amazing beta-readers, Cheryl Kidron, Keira Montclair, Nicole Pettigrew, Sara Archibald, Leeanne Keane, Mia Sosa, and Tracy Vincent for their amazing suggestions and advice. This story was way, way outside of my comfort zone, and these ladies helped me not to make a total fool of myself. And finally, where would I be without the Mistress of Badass herself, my publicist Anne Chaconas, and the whole Badass Marketing team.
Other Works by Merry Farmer
The Noble Hearts Trilogy
The Loyal Heart
The Faithful Heart
Summer with a Star (Second Chances Book 1) Page 26