Summer on Lovers' Island

by Donna Alward

  He cleared his throat. “The thing is, my cousin Tom was sweet on Erin first, and I stepped in and stole her away. I was in med school and her dad is a doctor. They approved of me whereas Tom … not so much. I had prospects and he had a tool belt. And it wasn’t that I didn’t love her. I did. But I knew she didn’t love me the way she loved Tom. And I married her anyway.”

  Lizzie let out a big breath. “Holy crap. And you and Tom still get along?”

  Josh made a choked sound that she figured was half laugh, half “are you kidding?”

  “Last year I moved back home. At my homecoming party, I coldcocked him. I was a pretty big jerk. We’ve made peace since then. Tom fell in love with Abby, and I stopped blaming him.” Josh paused and stared out over the bay. “It wasn’t like he ever made any trouble for us. He didn’t have to. Erin’s feelings for Tom were more than enough to stand in the way of our being happy. Anyway…” He put his hands on his knees and pushed so he was sitting up straight. “What I said before was me letting a little bitterness back in. I try not to. Sometimes I just get caught up in looking back and wish I could have changed things.”

  “She broke your heart.”

  “She did. And did a good number on my ego, too. Everyone seems to think I should get back out there again. Get married and have kids and act like my life before didn’t happen. I just wish they’d let me do it on my own time.”

  “I get that.”

  “You do?”

  “Yep.” Her insides were trembling a bit. Josh had been really open with her. A lot of disclosure, and she felt a little obligated to share in return. But there was more than obligation, too. She was starting to like him. Sure, she’d been surprised by his casual dress and manner at the office, but she’d also come to see that he set exactly the right tone for the clinic. He built relationships and trust with his patients, patients he would see year after year, unlike doctors who worked behind the revolving door of an emergency room.

  She didn’t have to worry about ongoing cases or seeing people more than once. Emergency medicine was like that. You triaged and assessed and moved them on … and then you moved on.

  At least that was how it was supposed to work. But the Miller case was not something she was going to talk to Josh about.

  “Liz?”

  She looked over to find his eyes watching her closely. Goodness, he looked like he cared. Like he was really listening. She swallowed. No wonder he was a good doctor. If this was his bedside manner …

  “In my case, the people pushing me to move on is actually, uh, me,” she admitted. “Hanging with Charlie again has been good for me. She made me see that I was pushing myself too hard to avoid dealing with my own pain.”

  “From your dad’s death.”

  Her stomach twisted. “Yes.” It was partially the truth, anyway. Everything that had happened since then was a result of her not dealing with her grief. A result of her own denial.

  “And what about your mom? Is she still in Springfield, too?”

  Lizzie nodded, the sense of sadness and futility seeping into her again. “Yes, but she’s in full-time care. She has Alzheimer’s. My dad was having a hard time caring for her at home. He cut back his hours, but there came a point where she required more than he could provide, even if I tried to fill in the gaps.”

  “So you’ve lost two parents, not one.”

  “Essentially, yeah.”

  The first firework of the night popped and then exploded with a bang. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their faces to the sky, waiting for the next sparkly shower.

  “I’m really sorry, Liz. That’s a lot to deal with.”

  “I haven’t done that great of a job. I kind of burned myself out.”

  Another pop, pop and “ooohs” from the partygoers.

  “Know what? Take it from one who’s been there. This place can be really great for finding your feet again. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but me, too.”

  The fireworks really hit their stride and Josh and Lizzie fell quiet, simply enjoying the colorful display. When it was over, the music started up again, the smaller children started to snuggle in mothers’ arms, and the older ones went on the hunt for leftover cake.

  “You want a lift home?”

  Josh’s voice was close to her ear, the warmth of his breath sending delicious shivers down her spine. “I came with Charlie and Dave.…”

  “And Charlie just went inside to look at the nursery. They’re going to be talking babies for a while.”

  She looked at him, wondering what he was asking, whether it was simply a courtesy and friendly gesture or if …

  But no. They’d both been clear that romance was not even on their radars these days. “That’d be nice. It’s been a long day.”

  “You want to tell Dave? I’ll go fire up the Beast.”

  “Okay.”

  A minute later and she was at the gate to Rick’s yard, looking out at Josh sitting in the cab of his truck.

  Why did she feel like a teenager sneaking out to meet the town bad boy?

  CHAPTER 6

  The interior of Josh’s truck was clean, but the vinyl trim was worn and there was a rip in one of the seats. Lizzie smiled to herself at the imperfection. From everything she’d seen at the office, Josh was a very conscientious doctor. He didn’t brush people off but instead listened carefully to what they said—and didn’t say. He had a penchant for cleanliness, which was a definite plus in her book, and also for punctuality.

  But she could see a laid-back side to him, too, like the casual dress, the hair that was a smidge too long, the easy way he talked to people. She liked both sides, really. He was easier to be with than she expected, with none of the awkwardness she’d anticipated feeling away from the office. And now he was driving her home. He smiled at her from the driver’s seat as he put the truck in gear, and a warning slid through her head. It would be okay for them to be coworkers, even friendly. But anything more would be a mistake. After the disaster of her relationship with Ian, she wasn’t about to travel that road again. Might as well cut that idea right off at the knees.

  “Thanks for the drive home,” she said, trying to set the proper tone. “I didn’t want to cut Charlie and Dave’s time short. She’s really enjoying becoming part of the community.”

  He pulled away from the curb and turned left at the stop sign. “And that’s not you?”

  She shrugged. “Not like I’m going to be here long enough anyway.”

  “Oh, you never know.” There was a smile in his voice. “Abby said that, and she ended up staying. So did Dave.”

  “Well, I’m pretty sure that there’s not room for three doctors in Jewell Cove,” Lizzie rationalized. “Besides, I’m an ER doctor. And those departments are generally found in the city.”

  “Hey, there are departments in Rockport and Brunswick and lots of other places.”

  She looked over at him and gave him a look that said, Real emergency departments.

  He chuckled. “You like the fast pace.”

  “I do. And the unpredictability. I’m afraid small town just doesn’t do it for me. I mean, Springfield is about as small as I go. I’m more of a big-city girl.”

  Josh tapped the wheel with his fingers, along with the beat to the song on the radio.

  They turned off the main road, heading up a hill that was not part of the route home. “Hey,” she said, suddenly feeling awkward and a bit uncomfortable. “Where are we going?”

  If he was going to attempt to take her parking, this was going to be really, really humiliating. Off to her left she saw a stately house, complete with white pillars that stood out in the moonlight, giving it a grand yet ghostly air. “What’s that place?”

  “That’s Tom and Abby’s. Her great-aunt left it to her and Tom renovated it. You should see it inside.” But he drove past the lane, farther up the hill, until they encountered a gate. Josh put the truck in park, got out, and opene
d the gate, then hopped back in and kept going.

  “Uh, Josh, I’m not sure if I gave you the wrong impression or what, but … I think I’d rather just go straight home.”

  He laughed. “Lizzie, we’re adults. If I wanted to proposition you, don’t you think I’d just offer a ‘my place or yours’?”

  She hoped her hot cheeks weren’t noticeable in the darkness of the truck cab.

  He crested the last steep curve of the hill, turned to the right, and then backed up so that the back end of the truck was facing the view below. “Come on,” he urged, opening his door. “There’s something I want to show you.”

  Reluctant but undeniably curious, Lizzie got out of the truck and went around to the back, where Josh was letting down the tailgate. Without offering, he simply put his hands on her waist and boosted her up while her lips dropped open in surprise. She couldn’t deny it was a little exciting.

  Josh hopped up beside her and let out a long, satisfied breath. “Welcome to Blackberry Hill,” he said softly. “You can see Tom and Abby’s house from here, see?” He pointed down the hill, where the shape of the house was visible, surrounded by the darker, well-defined perimeter of their lawns and gardens, illuminated by moonlight. “And beyond that is the cove. The town is that way”—he pointed a bit to the left—“and your cottage is over that way, just past Fiddler’s Beach.” He pointed a little to the right this time. “And straight out, you see that dark lump way out in the water?”

  “Is it an island?” she asked, intrigued despite herself.

  “Yes. You can see it from up here, but not from the harbor. The natives call it ‘Aquteg,’ meaning ‘hidden.’ Which is pretty fitting considering rumor has it that during the Civil War a privateer buried treasure on that island. A privateer with the last name of Arseneault.”

  “As in Tom’s family?”

  He nodded. “The very same. Arseneault was good friends with two other names you might recognize. Jedediah Foster and Edward Jewell.”

  Lizzie crossed her legs and rested her elbows on her knees. “Okay, is this just some nautical fairy tale that you guys tell all the newcomers to add mystery to your town?” She laughed lightly, though the story had caught her interest more than she cared to admit.

  “Not at all,” he assured her. “Arseneault was a Southern privateer who fell in love with a local woman—an abolitionist. The story goes that he buried some sort of treasure out there before reforming his wicked ways and joining her as part of the Underground Railroad.” He grinned. “Which is why the locals now call it ‘Lovers’ Island.’”

  “That is a romantic story,” she admitted, staring out at the faraway lump of rock in the middle of the shifting sea. Stupid thing was, she could see it all in her head. The risk of sailing on the seas in wartime, the sails billowing in the wind, women waiting on the shore in dresses with enormous skirts, a rake tamed by an honest woman—

  Damn. It was like something out of one of those historical romance novels that she devoured, a secret little pleasure that felt indulgent and frivolous. She just bet everyone expected that she read dry medical journals in her spare time. Pirates and damsels and treasure? That was right up her alley, though she doubted Josh knew it.

  “There must be some truth to the tale,” he continued. “A few jewels have shown up over the years. Abby’s engagement ring is an Arseneault family heirloom. And Rick ended up with a necklace that was traced back to Jed Foster.” He paused, looked over at her, and grinned. “A bunch of us used to go out there and search for buried chests and the like.”

  “Did you ever find anything?”

  “We thought we did.” He laughed, a soft, alluring sound in the dark. “We made up all kinds of things that we imagined were clues and trails. Mostly, though, we packed peanut butter sandwiches and cookies and explored.”

  “Sounds like a fun childhood,” she remarked, trying to picture him as a boy.

  “It was. Once we rigged up some sort of metal detector and headed out for the day and put a hole in Tom’s dad’s dory and sank it. He was not happy about that at all. I don’t know what bothered us most, the way he yelled at us or losing that metal detector.”

  She smiled, picturing it. “I never had any brothers or sisters, so I never got up to stuff like that. The way you tell it, I kind of wish I had, though.”

  “I guess what I’m saying is Jewell Cove isn’t a bad place to be. Especially when you’re trying to sort yourself out.”

  She’d been super relaxed up to that point, but his slight insinuation raised her guard. “And you think I have something to sort out?”

  “Don’t you?” he asked. The evening was so quiet that the only thing they could hear up here at the top of the hill was the breeze in the leaves of the trees. “I was kind of waiting for you to bring it up. I know about what happened in Springfield, Lizzie. It’s on record. I didn’t just take Charlie’s word for it about you, you know. I did my due diligence. This is my medical practice.”

  She wasn’t sure if she was angry, embarrassed, or hurt at the reminder of why she’d been asked to take a leave of absence.

  “I screwed up. But I’m not supposed to say that to the lawyers.”

  He sighed. “Because they’ll settle, right?”

  “That’s right. Too bad the settlement doesn’t make me feel any better about my mistake.” Just talking about it made her sick to her stomach.

  “What happened?”

  She swallowed, a bitter taste in her mouth as she recalled that day for what seemed the millionth time. “Group B strep. During a normal pregnancy, the screening would have already been done. But they’d been in an accident and the baby was coming early and fast. I never even thought about a test—mom was bleeding a lot from her injuries and the baby was crowning.” That one day seemed to change everything Lizzie believed about herself as a doctor.

  She’d been up all night on shift, and she’d been dog tired. She’d been solely focused on triaging and treating and packing mom and baby off to the proper departments.

  She’d peeled off her gloves and scrubs and called it a day. But the mom had insisted something wasn’t right and Lizzie had blown her off as distressed by her injuries and the chaotic events leading to the delivery. She and the baby had been moved to the neonatal ward and Lizzie had gone home, never giving them a second thought.

  “The baby got sick.” It was a statement, rather than a question. He knew all this already, didn’t he? But he was asking for her side … and she found herself sharing it even though talking about it was the one thing she hadn’t done in weeks.

  “And I missed it. Two days later the baby contracted pneumonia and it was too late. All because I was in a rush and I was tired and I wasn’t thorough.”

  Her throat tightened. It hadn’t been her job to tell the father and mother that their baby was dead. She was just the ER physician who happened to be on duty that first morning. But she’d seen the couple leaving the hospital. She’d never forget it. The mother, her belly still soft from pregnancy, weeping quietly, and the father with red-rimmed eyes, holding his wife as they walked to the exit without their newborn son.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Not as sorry as I am.” She knew her voice had hardened, but she couldn’t help it. It had been months now and she still couldn’t escape the guilt. “I get that we all make mistakes. I’ve made mistakes, but none this disastrous, and I’ve always known in my heart that I did all I could. Every other time, I’ve been there in the room making all the calls. But this time I was tired, distracted, and careless. That’s what I can’t seem to move past.”

  “Your boss said you are the finest ER doctor he’s ever seen and that he hates that this has happened to you.”

  Ian had said that? For a flash she was pleased and flattered at the praise. But it was quickly erased as she recalled seeing his too-handsome face the day he’d called her into his office. There’d been pity, but there’d been distance, too. Ian had to cover his butt. Besides, civil suits happened
all the time. Her leave of absence was far more a reflection of his opinion of her abilities rather than on the case itself.

  “He only said that because we were in a relationship until the end of April.”

  That must have surprised him, because Josh didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Instead he lay back on the bed of the truck and stared up at the stars. “Well,” he drawled, “that does complicate things a little, doesn’t it?”

  “It’s definitely a mistake I won’t repeat,” she said acidly. “I should’ve known better than to get involved with the boss.”

  Josh chuckled. “I guess that tells me where I stand, doesn’t it?”

  Once more her cheeks heated. She looked down at him and couldn’t help but admire his flat stomach, the curve of his muscles in his T-shirt as he put his arms behind his head. “You’re joking, right?” She sincerely hoped so. It would really suck if things got awkward on the job a mere week after she started.

  “Yes, I’m joking. I’m not looking, Lizzie. Though my family thinks I should be.”

  “Hence the Summer what’s-her-name comments.”

  “Exactly.” He sighed. “When the time is right, I’ll know. Maybe it’ll never be right. For now I like running the practice, hanging with my family, going out on the water in my new boat. Keeping it simple.”

  Keeping it simple sounded wonderful, actually. And there was no reason why she shouldn’t treat this summer like a lovely seaside vacation in a rented cottage. So what if she had to work a few days each week? It kept her from being bored. And how many people could say they were spending the summer only footsteps from the beach, anyway?

  Encouraged, she flopped down beside him and looked up at the stars. “Gosh, does this mean we’re becoming friends?”

  She wasn’t looking at him, but she got the sense he smiled. “Maybe. Maybe I just wanted you to be a little more comfortable around here, so things aren’t so tense at the office, you know?”

  She stared at the stars. “Have I been uptight?”

  “A little. Listen, I have no complaints about your work, other than you can relax a little. Time moves a bit slower around here. Stop and smell the roses.” He paused. “Or look at the stars.”