Whispers at Seaside

by Addison Cole

  She settled into the chair, telling herself to stop being silly about Matt. They were adults, and people expected them to have sex. Maybe not frantic, rush-to-beat-the-clock sex, but still…

  “Was Hagen excited about his camping trip?” Neil asked.

  He was always asking after Hagen, who had left earlier in the afternoon with her brothers. “Yes. He’s excited to use his new equipment. Drake called when they picked him up from camp, and Hagen told him that they should call day camp, ‘play time,’ because they don’t do any real camping.”

  “He’s a smart cookie.”

  “He is.” Talking about her son eased her nerves. “Matt said you were okay with us checking into the co-op idea?”

  His smile widened so unexpectedly, she didn’t know what to make of it. “Did he?”

  “Um…” Didn’t he? “Yes?”

  Neil laughed. “My son doesn’t waste any time, does he?”

  Oh gosh! You could tell we had sex yesterday!

  When she didn’t respond right away—because she couldn’t get past that thought—he said, “Out of all my children, he comes across as the most patient, doesn’t he?”

  Now she was thoroughly confused. What exactly were they talking about?

  “He’s very patient,” she agreed, growing increasingly more nervous.

  “Usually. But once he makes his mind up about something, patience isn’t his strong suit. I suppose that’s how Bea and I raised our children—to follow their hearts and their heads and not to let anything stand in their way. Matty’s finally figured it out.”

  “I’m sorry, but are we still talking about the co-op?”

  The slow shake of his head made hers spin. “The co-op. The book deal he’s taken on. Coming home. You and Hagen. Isn’t it all part of the same picture?”

  The book deal? She and Hagen were part of the book deal picture? No, the book deal was Matt’s fallback position. He really wanted the position of dean, and when he’d realized he couldn’t have it, he’d decided to take door number two.

  I’m door number two.

  That went down hard, battling with Matt’s confession. I’ve waited so long to be with you. I’d have waited forever. Could he have meant waited for sex with her? Just sex? That didn’t sit right in her mind or her heart.

  “I don’t know about all that,” she finally managed. “But I know he wants to help with the co-op, to try to save the business you’ve worked so hard to build.”

  “Yes. Yes, he suddenly does, doesn’t he?” Neil said with a sagacious smile.

  Suddenly? She was reading too much into all of this, she was sure of it. But Neil hadn’t been inclined to even talk about this topic before, and now he was, which made her wonder if he was…matchmaking? Rooting for them as a couple? No, surely not. He must have simply come to his senses after talking to Matt and realized how much was at stake if he left the business as it currently stood.

  “So, you’ve changed your mind, then?” she asked cautiously.

  “I think it’s worth exploring. We can figure out how far to take it as things progress.”

  Yesterday’s mind-blowing sex had definitely rattled her brain, because she was interpreting every word out of his mouth as having to do with her and Matt. The bell on the door jingled, and Mira was thankful for the distraction.

  “Thanks, Neil. I’m excited to see where we end up.” She pushed from the chair and she was so flummoxed that in her head what she’d said also sounded like she was talking about her and Matt. “With the co-op, I mean,” she clarified.

  She turned to leave and smacked into Matt’s chest.

  “Hey there,” Matt said, wrapping his arm around her waist.

  “Sorry,” she said quickly. Her insides were melting and trying to flee at once. She never got flustered, but between the thoughts about being door number two, the weird conversation with his father, and the feel and now-familiar scent of Matt waking up all of her hormones, she was a hot mess.

  Matt gave her a quick kiss and said, “Don’t be.”

  His father smiled as her skin burned off her bones. She was sure it would slough off her body any second.

  “We were just talking about the co-op,” his father said as he patted Matt on the back.

  “It’s a great idea,” Matt said. “Isn’t it?”

  “The best one I’ve heard in years,” Neil said as he headed into the store.

  Mira realized Neil hadn’t asked her any questions, like how the co-op might work, or what companies she was thinking of looking into as potential business partners. Maybe he’d been talking about her and Matt after all.

  MATT HAD THOUGHT long and hard over where to take Mira for the weekend before finally settling on his cottage in Nantucket. He’d thought about taking her to Boston, but he knew Hagen wanted to see a library there, and he wouldn’t feel right going without him. He also didn’t want to go too far in case Hagen needed them to return at the spur of the moment, but he wanted to take her someplace special and memorable. He hadn’t spent much time at his cottage, and he’d never been with a woman on Nantucket, making it the perfect weekend getaway to begin building memories with Mira.

  The ferry ride was fun, and passed too quickly. When they arrived at his quaint water-view cottage, Matt paid the driver and hitched the bags over his shoulder. The look of sheer bliss and appreciation on Mira’s face as she took in the quaint cottage told him he’d made the right decision. An abundance of pink and white roses climbed over the white picket fence, up the sides of the house, and along an arbor surrounding the front porch. Splashes of weathered cedar shingles and white trim peeked through the mass of pretty blooms and lush greenery.

  “This is gorgeous,” Mira said as they followed the seashell walkway up to the front door. “How did you manage to rent this on such short notice? I would think the entire island would be booked all summer long.”

  He draped an arm over her shoulder as they walked to the side of the house and took in the view of the water. A sandy path cut through a deep expanse of dune grass separating the cottage from the private beach. Just beyond, the water glistened like glass. Boats decorated the water, and for the first time since Matt had bought the cottage, he wondered what it might be like to spend more time here. They were walking distance from town, but Matt had phoned ahead and purchased two bikes, which he’d had delivered and stored in his shed in case Mira wanted to explore the outer reaches of the island.

  “The owner doesn’t rent it out.”

  She squinted up at him. The setting sun reflected in her eyes, bringing out vibrant specks of green and gold around her pupils. “Then how’d you manage to get it?”

  “It’s mine, sunshine.”

  Surprise registered in her expression.

  “I bought it as an investment, but never got around to renting it out.”

  “You own this?” She glanced around the property with awe as he unlocked and opened the door. “Why are you renting a cottage at Seaside if you have all this at your disposal?”

  He smiled at the wonder in her eyes and set the bags inside, then joined her in the yard and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Don’t you know? Haven’t I been clear?”

  Confusion riddled her brow.

  “It’s okay. I didn’t really know either. Not until Friday night.”

  “What…?”

  “I thought I came back to the Cape to reconnect with my family and to see what might come of us, but I was wrong.” He pressed a hand to her cheek and kissed her softly. “Friday night I realized that I came back to the Cape to see what would come of us. Connecting with my family was a bonus.”

  “But we’re door number two,” Mira said absently.

  “Door number two? Baby, what are you talking about?”

  “You said you realized you wouldn’t ever get the job you wanted, so you chose door number two.”

  “Oh no, baby. That was about work, not about you. You’re not door number anything.”

  She hooked a finger into the w
aistband of his slacks. “So, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that I’ve spent almost a year falling for you from miles away and trying to stay on the friendly side of our texts because I couldn’t take the chance of messing up your life. But I know now, without a doubt, that the main reason I came back to the Cape was to see if we could make things work. Everything else was secondary.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  MIRA KEPT WAITING to be plucked from the romantic rabbit hole she’d fallen down. She and Matt enjoyed a scrumptious dinner at a lovely French restaurant in the center of town and made their way outside, where bulbous streetlights cast halos of gold over brick-paved sidewalks. Couples walked hand in hand, children devoured ice-cream cones, and dogs trotted happily beside their owners. Bicycles lined the empty cobblestone streets, and the din of carefree summer nights filled the air. Nantucket wasn’t so different from the small towns on the Cape, with old-fashioned-looking storefronts, wide sidewalks, and a nautical theme. But somehow, being here alone with Matt made it seem like they were a lifetime away. It felt magical.

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t call and check on Hagen?” Matt asked for the third time since they’d arrived on the island.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” she said, missing her little man. “If he needs me, my brothers will call. When he was younger I’d call and check on him when he stayed overnight with them or with Serena, and it made him remember that he missed me. It’s like he gets so caught up in having fun he forgets I exist for a while.”

  “And that doesn’t bother you?”

  “It did,” she answered softly. “But then my mother reminded me that this was what being a parent was all about, raising our children to be independent. Selfishly, I’d like to hear his voice, but that’s for me, not him. He’s out having a blast, doing boy things.”

  “Guy things,” he said with a coy smile. “You’re a wonderful mother, sunshine. I can’t imagine it’s easy.”

  Matt tucked her snugly against his side as they walked toward the water, talking about intimate topics they hadn’t ventured into before crossing the friends-to-lovers line.

  “Nothing’s easy, but with parenthood there are more wonderful times than hard times. I wouldn’t change my decision for anything.”

  She told him about the many sleepless nights and zombielike days she’d endured when Hagen was a baby and how she’d napped when he did. They talked about how her mother had stayed with her for the first week after Hagen was born, and how much her brothers and Serena helped her since.

  “Do you want more children?” he asked.

  “Yes, someday,” she answered honestly. “You?”

  He nodded. “Definitely.”

  She wasn’t a woman with a checklist, like some single women out there. But if she were, being with a man who wanted a family would be on the top of the list, alongside reliable, loyal, loving, and trustworthy.

  Mira learned about how Matt’s father used to take him on weekly trips to the library and they’d hunt down book sales all summer long.

  “Hagen would love that,” she said.

  “Then let’s make a point of doing it. There’s no reason he should miss out on the things he would love.” He stopped walking and tipped her chin up with his finger, bringing her mouth in line with his.

  Standing beneath the black velvet sky, Mira smiled up at the man she was falling harder for every minute they spent together.

  “Come to Boston with me next weekend. I have to do some research, and Hagen would love spending hours in the library. It’s on your road-trip list.”

  “Both of us?” Her heartbeat quickened at the prospect.

  “Of course. We’ll rent a two-bedroom suite. You and Hagen can stay in one room and I’ll stay in the other. It’ll be our next adventure.”

  “You wouldn’t mind staying in a separate bedroom?” In the dating realm, she had baggage, a term she hated when used in reference to her son, but a term that was tossed around like a volleyball just the same. During all of his visits, Matt had never tried to push Hagen out of the picture. He never made her feel like her son was an inconvenience, just as he wasn’t now.

  Our next adventure.

  She’d spent so long trying not to think about Matt as a prospective boyfriend that she was still getting used to the idea that they had become a couple. A couple that might have a next adventure.

  He pressed his lips to hers. With a thoughtful, loving—yes, loving—gaze that made her heart soar, he said, “I will do whatever it takes to be with you and Hagen. I’d get my own hotel room, but selfishly, I’d like to be more involved with bedtime, morning…family time. That’s why I suggested a suite.”

  The dreamy sigh that escaped her lips came straight from her ovaries. Family time. Surely he was just using it as a loose term for daily activities that seemed typical for couples with children, but it tweaked all of her heartstrings. She knew she needed to be careful with Hagen’s heart—and her own—since Matt was supposed to return to Princeton, but she didn’t want to be careful. Especially not when her heart was pushing careful as far away as possible. Serena was right. Even if they went back to seeing each other every few weeks, what were she and Hagen losing out on? This time together was too good to pass up.

  “Okay,” she answered. “We’d love to.”

  They walked toward the water, talking about the trip and how excited Hagen would be. A quartet was playing by the wharf, and Matt swept Mira into his arms and began dancing.

  “I never knew you liked to dance so much,” she said, laughing as he twirled her around.

  “I don’t, but I’ll take any excuse to have you in my arms.” He kissed her then, long and slow, and oh so sensually, tightening his grip when her knees weakened.

  “You make me want so many things,” he whispered in her ear as they swayed to the romantic melody. “You, Hagen, time with both of you. This. You make me want to stay.”

  Oh, how she wanted to believe him, to take those words and make them come true, but she knew better. “You can’t say things like that to me,” she said softly, holding him a little tighter.

  “But it’s true, baby. Why wouldn’t I want you to know how I feel?” He spoke directly into her ear, holding her securely against him, as if he never wanted to let go.

  “Because it makes me want what can’t be, and I have to be careful, for Hagen’s sake.”

  “You have to be careful for your sake too, sunshine.” He pressed his lips to her cheek. They were warm, soft, and reassuring. “But it’s true,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s true and I want you to hear it. You have me, Mira. Even if I go back to New Jersey, there’ll only be you. We’ll figure it out. But for now, for these next several weeks, be with me. Please, let go of your fears and be with me.”

  Questions raced through her mind about how they might figure it out. The thought of a long-distance relationship was too painful to linger on, and the idea of moving away from her family and friends after she and Hagen had finally gotten on stable ground was unsettling. But she would never in a million years ask Matt to give up the very things he’d worked his whole life to achieve. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to soak in his impossible hopes, and pretend, just for a few moments, that they could one day come true.

  He gazed into her eyes and said, “Be with me, Mira.”

  The worries lingering in her mind were no match for her heart, which was so full of Matt, she didn’t know how to be any other way.

  “I already am.”

  BY THE TIME they headed back to the cottage, the streets were nearly empty, and the closer they got to Matt’s private stretch of beach, the more it felt like they had the whole island to themselves. They’d talked about so many things—Mira’s plan to address the co-op, Hagen’s comment about being a nerd, her brothers, his family, his writing. When they reached his cottage, he knew her even more intimately than he had only hours earlier, and it wasn’t nearly intimately enough. They grabbed blankets and pillows and spread them out on
the beach, stretching out beside each other.

  Mira’s hair tumbled over her chest in luxurious soft waves. She wore the pretty pink dress she’d worn the day he’d met her at Grayson’s engagement party. It gathered over the tops of her thighs. His heart swelled with memories of that afternoon. He’d felt the world shift around him then, but he never could have anticipated how deeply she’d affect him in the coming months.

  “Aren’t you worried about your pillows getting all sandy?”

  He tucked her hair behind her ear so he could see her face more clearly. “Not at all. You live within the confines of mommyhood every day, and until recently I’ve lived within my academic walls. This weekend we have no rules, no walls. Only each other. This is a private beach, and I intend to take full advantage of our privacy. Sandy pillows and all.”

  “Where did you come from? I’ve never met a man like you.”

  He kissed her tenderly. “I’ve never been this man until now. Until you.”

  She laughed softly, and the sweet sound floated around them. “I feel like we’ve been dating for months.”

  “We kind of have, sunshine. When I think about how many things led to my decision to take this sabbatical, it seems like most led back to you. All those times you sent me texts telling me that you’d had fun at a bonfire or barbecue with your family or our friends, or sharing something Hagen did or said. Or those torturous texts that said, ‘Wish you could have been there.’ I realize now that each and every text fed into my decision to finally take the sabbatical and give this—us—a real shot.”

  He’d been back for only a week, and he was already wondering how he’d ever return to teaching full-time and living hours away from Mira and Hagen—and his family. Morning coffee with Pete had become a habit that he looked forward to, and this week he’d see Grayson and Hunter and their fiancées, Parker and Jana. Time was slipping away too quickly, and he wished he had three more days for every one that passed.

  “I wonder if you’d have taken time off sooner if I’d sent you the texts I really wanted to send.” She turned a sultry gaze on him.