by Kaci Rose
"Can I just be a hermit until all this dies down?" I ask.
"I don't think it will calm down, and when this movie comes out, I think it will get" Jasper says and hands me a glass of Jack and Coke.
"Great," I say sarcastically and down the drink. He makes me another, and then they sit on the bed, one on either side of me, boxing me in like they are going to protect me from the outside world.
I rest my head on Brynn's shoulder. "How did the presentation go?" I ask.
"It went well. I told them you had something come up on the mainland to take care of. A few whispered that it was a secret meeting with Kade, which I shut down. Gave them the spiel, had them practice the spiel on each other, we ate, we went over the rules and things to do in town if guests ask, and then I left them to it. They were gone by nine, and Bertha is in there cleaning up now."
"Thank you," I tell her.
"Oh, anytime. Trust me, I know what it's like to have memories everywhere you turn. We have been there, and we got through it then, so we will get through it now. One day at a time is all we can do." She rests her head on mine.
"I don't think it will ever stop," I whisper.
"Sure, it will. The pain after losing Mom and Dad felt like it would never end, but eventually, it dulled, and we learned to put it behind us. We moved forward, and you will with this too," Brynn says.
"I'm still learning to do that with my dad," Jasper says and grabs my hand. "I can be your support buddy." He tries to lighten the mood.
The realization I tried to keep at bay on the drive home comes flying forward. No support buddy will help, and time may not ever heal.
"I love him," I whisper, not wanting to give the words life but needing to say them anyway.
"Oh, Lin." Brynn pulls away and wraps me in a huge hug. Jasper rubs my back, and we sit like that for a long time as I just cry. All the emotions I've been trying to keep inside comes out.
"Have you talked to him? Maybe you could just text him to test the waters," Brynn says.
"No, I knew the agreement from day one, and the way he left shows he wants to keep to the deal. I was the one who went and fell for him."
"Okay, more drinks. If we all don't have hangovers tomorrow, we didn't do this right. One night of drinking him away, then we pull together and push through the season. After the season, we will plan a trip anywhere you want," Brynn says, and Jasper gets up to refill everyone's drinks.
I doubt even time will dull this pain.
Chapter 34
Kade
Once I knew my goal, and I was heading back to Hummingbird Island, I decided to call the one person I knew could help me even though I knew getting her to agree wouldn't be easy.
"Hello?" Brynn answers.
"It's Kade. I need your help."
"Sorry, got an inn to run," she says.
"It's about Lin," I say and hold my breath.
"I'm listening," she says, but her voice is still cold.
"I never should have left the way I did."
"No, you shouldn't have. You should have stayed and given her closure instead of making her feel like every other cheap fuck you racked up on your bedpost," she bites out.
"I deserve that. I just thought it would be easier that way," I admit.
"Has it?" she asks.
"No."
"Well, I don't know what you want. You're in Hollywood, and we are here. Lin won't give up the inn, and I won't let her. She can't get away until after the season. So you are wasting your time."
I smile, then I laid out my plan. She listened and asked questions. We got off the phone, and she emailed me what I needed. When I wasn't afraid to use my name and some money, things moved fast.
Thank god they moved fast.
A week later and here I am, stepping off the plane in North Carolina. My rental car is waiting, the sun is out, and I start to feel hopeful this is all coming together. I take my time driving down the coast, enjoying the sea breeze with my car windows open.
As I near the bridge that will take me on to Hummingbird Island, my nerves kick into full gear. The sun is setting, and the sky fills with the beautiful colors I fell in love with. My plan could fail. Lin could tell me to take a hike, and she has every right to. I messed this all up. It took me losing her to realize what I had, and she deserves someone so much better than that. But I pray she will understand.
I pull into the inn, and the parking lot is packed. Such a contrast to what it was last time I was here. I park and pull out my phone and shoot Brynn a text that I'm here. She replies that Lin is working the desk at Sunrise, so I pull on my hat and shades, hoping to stay somewhat undercover as I make my way to the lobby.
I walk in, and there she is behind the check-in desk, just like that day I first saw her. Her head is down, and she doesn't see me. My heart races as I take her in, and just like I do when I'm about to do a stunt for a movie, I jump all in without thinking.
I walk up to the desk and clear my throat. When she looks up, I pull off the shades and the hat. When she realizes it's me, her mouth falls open, and she is silent. Neither of us speaks as we take each other in.
"I thought..." She clears her throat. "I thought you were filming."
"I was. Then I realized how much I hated LA. I hated the noise and the traffic. I hated being on set, and I hated that people still didn't believe I had changed. I hated the photo shoot. I hated coming home to an empty house, and I hated my house. This is all stuff I loved until I met you. I loved all the things in my life, then I met you, and you became my life. I fell in love with Sunrise, with the island, and the people who treated me like one of them. But mostly, I fell in love with you."
Her breathing picks up, but she doesn't say a word. At this point, there is a crowd in the lobby, and I can see a few with their phones up recording. If this fails, it will fail for the world to see, and I can't let that happen, so I just keep going.
"I was an idiot. It took me going back to Hollywood to realize what I had. I left all wrong, I hurt you, I hurt us, but I swear if you give me another chance, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you."
I walk around the desk so I'm standing beside her and hold my hand out to her.
"Take a walk with me?" I ask.
She nods and reaches for my hand. The moment her hand is back in mine, my world falls back into place. Everything is right. The warm glow that I love takes over my body as her skin touches mine.
I smile at her and turn to lead her out to the back porch. As I start making my way through the crowd, I see Brynn and Jasper by the door leading to Sunset, both with smiles on their faces. I wouldn't have been able to pull this off if it weren't for them.
The security guys I hired had been busy at work to secure the beach for us tonight, and everything works smoothly. I take a deep breath as I lead her outside, but when she sees the beach in front of us, she gasps.
From the walkway down to the beach, the path is lined with lanterns. My security team is surrounding the beach, so it's deserted. There is a wood canopy set up with flowy sheer drapes with a table set for dinner under it, courtesy of Jasper. The whole area is surrounded by more lanterns in the shape of a heart.
"You did this?"
"I had a little help," I tell her as I walk us down to the table and help her get seated.
"Jasper cooked. He said this is your favorite meal." I take the cover off our food and find the seafood pasta in a red vodka cream sauce Jasper mentioned.
"Oh, you are going to love this! This is a signature dish at the restaurant. They put their own twist on it."
We start eating, and I find myself staring at her more than eating. She looks at me now and then, and after a few bites, she pauses.
"Are you really here?" she asks.
"I really am, and I'm not going anywhere," I tell her.
With that, she rolls her eyes, and it's so damn sexy.
"Sure, you are only in the middle of filming a soon-to-be blockbuster movie," she says.
"No
t anymore. I realized I don't want to make movies anymore. After working side by side with you at the inn, and the time I spent here, I realized this is what I wanted to do. I want to be here with you, run the inn with you, have a family with you. All I ever wanted growing up was to have the love I've seen between my parents and raise a family. That never changed. It was just put on the back burner."
"There is no way you'd give up a life in Hollywood to be here in this small town." She shakes her head.
"I got home from shooting one day and realized the house may be mine, but nothing in it was. I didn't decorate it. With the exception of a few things in it, I didn't buy anything there; my designer did. What little I actually wanted to keep fit in a small moving truck that my PA is driving across the country as we speak. He texted me earlier and said he was stopping just outside Dallas, Texas, tonight."
"So, what you are moving out here?" She doesn't hide the shock on her face.
"Yep, Goldie, you will be stuck with me. I want to run the inn with you. With Brynn's help, I was able to use my name and connections and buy the land across the street. I was thinking we could expand the inn to include some private luxury beachfront villas. Otherwise, I invested my money well and never overindulged. I don't need to work at something I hate just to support that lifestyle. Besides, I don't want the lifestyle anymore. What I want is right here, and I am wherever you are. No matter if it's in the studio here at Sunrise or a house on the island. As long as it includes you, I'm in."
Her eyes search mine, wanting to believe me but needing confirmation.
I chuckle. "Do you need to see the deed?" I ask.
"No, it's just... I'm in shock, I guess. I was convinced what I felt was one-sided," she says.
At this, I get up and round the table until I am standing next to her. I drop down to my knees and take her hands in mine.
"I felt it too. I felt it so strong it scared me, and I didn't know how to say goodbye. That's why I left the way I did. But I'm here, and I need you to know, I love you, Lin. I love you, and I want to marry you. I want to spend my life with you here. I'm not leaving. Even if you tell me I messed up so bad I can't fix it, I'm staying, and I will spend every day until my last breath loving you and trying to prove how sorry I am."
"Kade. You want to marry me?" she whispers.
I smile and cup her cheek. "Yeah, I do."
I rub my thumb over her cheekbone, and a brilliant smile lights up her face as she throws her arms around my neck and kisses me. It's a short kiss because when she pulls back, she whispers on my lips.
"I love you too." Then she is right back to kissing me again. Her lips dancing across mine, bringing me back to life and making everything fall into place. I could kiss her forever, and my hard cock wants me to lay her down and make love to her right here in the sand, but I'm not done.
I pull back and rest my forehead on her hers as I gather my thoughts.
When I pull back, she smiles at me again, and I know my smile is just as wide.
"You love me?" I ask, needing to make sure I didn't imagine it.
"Yes, Kade." She laughs. "I love you, and I've been so miserable too. Everywhere I turned, there were memories of you, and then the one day I get off the island to get a break? I get recognized, and they, of course, have a million questions they want to know about you. I was actually training a girl at the front desk just so I didn't have to be there this summer and be hounded by your fans."
I cringe. "Yeah, I've seen the hashtag. I didn't think it would be that bad."
"Oh, that was Brynn's idea. She ran with it. She can tell you all about it."
I shake my head and just stare at her. She's here in front of me, and I still can't believe it. I look over at the security guy closest to us and nod. He walks over and hands me something, and it doesn't go unnoticed by Lin.
"What's that?" she asks.
"Brynn gave me this. I had a much harder time convincing her that I loved you, but I did." I open the small box that contains her parents' wedding rings. Brynn told me they both saved them, and Lin had always wanted to wear her mother's rings. I would have bought her any set she wanted, but I know this one will mean more than anything I could possibly buy her.
"Now that I convinced her, I need to know if I convinced you. Will you do me the incredible honor of becoming my wife? Allow me to live out this life I crave with you by my side?" I ask and hold my breath.
Just like earlier, she smiles and throws her arms around my neck again. "Of course, I will marry you!" she squeals, and this time, I pick her up and swing her in a circle as I kiss her.
Everything is perfect, and as Brynn and Jasper join us on the beach, I know there are plenty of good times ahead. If I'm right, I think we are about to watch another couple fall in love. This time for a second round.
Epilogue
Brynn
Sitting in the kitchen during dinnertime and watching the staff cook used to relax me. It used to be the favorite part of my day. Now as I sit here chewing on a breadstick, I find my place isn't so comforting anymore.
How the hell did I end up in this situation? Jasper cooking in my kitchen? My ex-boyfriend, who crushed me, stole my heart, and who I never really got over is cooking in my kitchen.
Oh, right. His mother had something to do with this. She is the sweetest lady, and even after the breakup and Jasper moving to New York City, we remained close.
After the death of my parents, she was there for both Lin and me, but especially for me. She is the closest thing I have to a mom now, and I'd move heaven or hell for that woman. So would Jasper, so here we are.
I glare at him when he looks up at me with a smirk. When he smiles, my irritation with him grows. What is he so happy about? He left me, and now he has the nerve to smirk in my kitchen.
Bastard.
Lin and Kade walk in laughing, but Lin's smile falters just a bit when she sees me. She looks back at Jasper, who is yelling orders to the guys on the line.
"Rough day?" she asks.
I just grunt. I am so happy to see them happy, and nothing has wiped the smile off both their faces since Kade proposed yesterday.
Jasper set up the dinner, and I was grateful for his help, but somehow, he seems to think that makes us friends. He couldn't be more wrong. But he did help Lin, so for that, I give him a fraction of a brownie point.
"So, Miss PR genius, we need your help to announce the engagement and the news of Kade moving here in a way that won't piss off his fans since he won't be doing movies again, at least not anytime soon," Lin says.
"Fine, let's get out of here," I say and stand and head out the back door. I can feel Jasper's eyes on me, but I don't look at him once as I walk through the kitchen and out the door to the fresh early summer beach air.
I never planned to do PR for mega movie star Kade Markson, but when his PR rep was screwing him over, I jumped in. I've been doing the PR for the inns for years, and I actually like it.
I'd never give up running the inn, but maybe in another life, I'd have been a PR agent. I really enjoy it, so I will settle for doing PR work on the side.