A Funny Thing About Love

by Karice Bolton

  She still remembered the taste of Josh’s lips on hers—the minty sweetness—and the gentle ways he touched her as if memorizing everything about the curves and folds of her body. She’d never think of California the same again.

  Or the beach.

  Because they’d managed to sneak out and make love next to the crashing waves once the sun had set the second night they stayed in Laguna. It was an experience like no other, and she didn’t even care that she was still finding sand in places it shouldn’t be.

  It was kind of like a sexual bucket list, and she could check that one off her catalog of must-tries.

  She and Josh had talked on the phone a few times, and he apologized for not being able to come back to Silver Ridge quite as soon as he had hoped, but he had a bit of fire he had to put out.

  And Emilia totally understood.

  Unfortunately, it also highlighted a bit of a problem. She lived in Washington, and he lived in New York.

  The last couple of days, she’d felt oddly at home. It was a feeling that she hadn’t experienced for over eighteen years.

  If even then.

  So she didn’t want to suddenly uproot and move to New York for a relationship that might not even last.

  After all, all the baggage she carried with her didn’t suddenly unpack itself and organize neatly in her mind. She was still messed up from a decision she’d made eighteen years ago that had cost her everything.

  And now the people at the root of her problem were back in her life, needier than ever.

  But it did make her wonder where this thing with Josh could really go.

  She was too damaged to commit to anything long-term, which on the surface of it seemed like a good thing because they had the long distance between them.

  With a groan, she clutched her mug and took another sip of coffee.

  She refused to turn into that girl, the one who waited breathlessly by the phone, and if they had a long-distance relationship, that was precisely who she’d turn into.

  Not to mention, she had to take care of her parents because they apparently weren’t capable of taking care of themselves.

  She’s reached out to several rehab places, and they all told her the same thing. If her parents weren’t going to commit to getting sober themselves, the chances of their actually sticking to any program were minuscule at best. They couldn’t be forced and could leave any time.

  But she held out hope. The one thing she’d never gotten the chance to do was an intervention, and maybe that was precisely what they needed. It would give them a chance to finally hear what Emilia needed to tell them both. So she’d made an appointment with a therapist and had an intervention planned at her grandparents’ home. The thought of her parents setting foot into the place she considered sacred was hard to get over, but if she had the meeting anywhere else, they’d suspect something was up.

  Her stomach roiled at the thought, and she quickly put her coffee down. She wasn’t sure she could actually go through with it.

  She glanced at the clock and wondered if Dakota remembered that Emilia was going to drop by later this afternoon. She had a three-hour trip to get there when the ferry ride was accounted for, so she needed to get on her way.

  It would be a good distraction from the family drama to see what Dakota did and where she lived.

  She quickly texted Dakota, who immediately replied that she was looking forward to Emilia’s visit, so she decided to head out to Fireweed Island.

  By the time she boarded the ferry for the island, she’d spun herself into a tangled mess of questions.

  It didn’t help that Josh had texted that he probably wouldn’t be coming out to Silver Ridge for a few more weeks, and she didn’t understand why that bothered her.

  She’d been the one who’d been gone for eighteen years. She certainly didn’t expect Josh to drop everything and come rushing to her side because they’d slept together.

  Yet maybe that was precisely it.

  They’d only slept together. It wasn’t like they were in a relationship or anything. They were just two adults having a bit of fun.

  By the time she arrived at Dakota’s, she was all worked up and had decided that whatever this was between her and Dakota’s brother, it had to be put on a low simmer. That way, no feelings would be hurt no matter the outcome.

  Besides, as often as she’d moved in Oregon, she doubted she’d be able to stay put all that long in Silver Ridge.

  Emilia parked her car in front of Dakota’s cottage and couldn’t believe how cute it was. Unlike Silver Ridge, there wasn’t a drop of snow. The fog had broken on her ferry ride over, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

  The front door of the house opened, and Dakota stepped outside, waving as Emilia climbed out of the car.

  “Find the place okay?” Dakota asked.

  “Yes. You gave awesome directions, and I’m glad you did because Siri had me driving off a cliff a couple of miles back.”

  Dakota laughed and made her way over to Emilia, giving her a quick hug.

  “This is place is so amazing.” Emilia smiled, noticing how relaxed her friend seemed.

  “It works for me.” Dakota motioned for her to follow her inside.

  The little house was a perfect square and somehow managed to fit a living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedroom all inside without halls. There wasn’t an inch of unused space, and everything about it screamed Dakota. There was even beautiful stained glass in the bathroom.

  After Dakota gave her the tour of her cottage and studio, they both sat down on her back patio.

  Emilia smiled. “We’d freeze to death if we tried this up in the mountains.”

  “I know. It’s definitely one of the perks of living at sea level.” Dakota grinned, taking a sip of tea.

  “This tea is so good,” Emilia told her friend. “Is it local?”

  “Yup. From a shop in town. The woman who owns it is amazing. She’s so kind, and her husband is so hot. They divide their time between here and Hound Island.”

  “Hound Island?” Emilia asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”

  Dakota laughed. “I know. Isn’t it incredible how many small islands Washington has?”

  “It really is.” Emilia nodded, taking another sip of tea.

  She wondered how long, if ever, it would take before she and her friend could talk like they used to where no topic was off-limits and they could spend their nights laughing the entire time.

  “Do you like being back in Silver Ridge?” Dakota asked.

  Emilia nodded. “I love it. A few weeks, a month ago, I wasn’t sure about my decision, but right now, it seems to fit perfectly.”

  “Is that because of my brother?” Dakota’s question completely surprised Emilia, and she quickly put her tea down.

  “I don’t think so. I mean, he hasn’t actually left New York for quite some time.”

  Dakota didn’t look like she believed Emilia.

  “But I am glad I got to reconnect with him.”

  “I’m sure.” Dakota took a deep breath in. “I’m just going to be straight with you. When you left, I bounced back. He didn’t. He’s been hung up on you since you left, and it’s not fair to him, Emilia.”

  Dakota’s words stung, but she was absolutely right.

  “I know, and I take full accountability for my actions. They were thoughtless and—”

  Dakota shook her head. “I don’t want you to feel like you need to keep apologizing or groveling every single time you’re with us. I just want you to know how much he cares for you.”

  “And I care for him.”

  “My brother mentioned you’d connected with your parents.”

  Emilia nodded. She wasn’t offended that Josh had revealed that to his sister or Emilia would have asked him not to mention it. There was nothing to hide about the situation. The Turners knew more than most about her family dynamics, and there was no reason to change that now.

  “Yeah, and I’m not sure it was the best ide
a I’ve had.” Emilia took another sip of tea. “I actually have an intervention planned.”

  Dakota’s jaw fell open. “You’re kidding.”

  Emilia shook her head. “Nope. I kind of wish I were. It’s going to be at Mama Cam and Papa Jack’s home.”

  “Your home now,” Dakota corrected, and Emilia nodded, appreciating the correction.

  “I haven’t told Josh yet. I’m not sure how he’ll react. I’m sure he’ll be as supportive as ever.”

  Dakota bit her lip. “I’m not so sure about that. He blames them for your leaving.”

  Emilia let out a silent sigh. If only he knew how true that statement was.

  “Well, it’s scheduled for two weeks from now. I decided to see the therapist a few times myself before the big event. It seems it’s not that normal to completely ditch one’s identity and create a new one.”

  “You don’t say.” Dakota raised her hand to her mouth in pretend surprise. “When I heard what you did for a living and saw the massive following you had, I wondered if you’d be the same Hailee I remembered.”

  “And?”

  “Yup. Still as sweet and nervous as ever.”

  “I’m not nervous.”

  “You fainted at your own welcome party.”

  Emilia chuckled.

  “At least you never forgot where you came from.” Dakota smiled.

  “Even if I wanted to, I can’t seem to do it,” Emilia joked.

  Dakota studied her once-upon-a-time best friend and tilted her head slightly. “What is it that haunts you so much, Emilia?”

  Emilia shook her head. “I don’t even want to go there.”

  “But that’s just it. You’re always there. Wherever there is, it seems to plague you. Don’t you see? Even leaving town and changing your name still keeps you close to that dark place because you keep it harbored deep inside. You don’t share it. You don’t let it go.”

  Dakota’s words knocked the wind right out of Emilia, and she didn’t know what to say other than to shake her head.

  “I know, but I can’t just step away from what I’ve done.” Emilia shook her head in frustration. “I can’t expect Josh to continue anything with me either. I know I’m not cut out for a relationship. He deserves better, and I know that even now. I just can’t go back to that place mentally.”

  “That’s just it, Hailee.” Dakota threw her arms up to the sky in frustration. “You never ended it with Josh. Because you’re busy not dealing with your own demons, you’re beating down the people who care about you. If you honestly can’t give Josh what he needs, end it.”

  Dakota’s words were harsh, but she understood where she was coming from. After eighteen years away, Emilia still couldn’t tell a soul why she’d left town and the people she’d loved.

  “You’re right.”

  Dakota sucked on her bottom lip as she debated whether to continue. “You didn’t give him a fair chance at all. Josh actually believed you’d come back. He waited around for a couple of years, refusing to set foot out of Silver Ridge. If my mom and dad hadn’t finally put their foot down, he wouldn’t have gone to college.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Why would you?” Dakota’s expression softened. “I loved you like a sister, and on some level, I always will, but do the right thing, Emilia. Don’t break his heart again.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Thanks a lot, Dakota.” To say Josh was angry with his sister was putting it lightly. “I had just gotten through to Hailee that I’d be there for her, and you basically went and told her to end it with me and never look back.”

  “That’s not what I said, Josh.”

  “That’s what she apparently heard.” The fury he was feeling thrummed through his veins. He knew his sister was trying to protect him, but he didn’t need protection. He was a grown man who’d navigated through life just fine.

  “I’m sorry.” Dakota didn’t sound very sorry.

  “What else aren’t you telling me?” Josh asked.

  “Nothing. I told you everything.”

  “I can tell you’re hiding something, Dakota. I’m sure it can’t get much worse.”

  “Josh, I told you I feel horrible about what I said to her. Don’t make it worse.”

  “How do you think I feel?”

  Panic was rising by the second as he thought about not getting to set things right with Hailee.

  Dakota let out a deep breath over the phone.

  “Spill it,” Josh said. He was in no mood for this back-and-forth game.

  “Hailee and her therapist have arranged an intervention for her parents.”

  “Since when did she get a therapist?” Josh asked more to himself than his sister.

  “When she decided she wanted to do an intervention, Hailee came up with the thought that she should also talk to the therapist as well.”

  Josh had never met Hailee’s parents, but he already disliked them. Anyone who would abandon their little girl was trash in his eyes, and he couldn’t believe how many times Hailee was willing to forgive them.

  He had a pretty good idea the only reason they were reaching out to her recently was that they’d found out she was quite successful with her blog. It was no coincidence they came back in her life with their hands out.

  Josh knew Hailee recognized it too, but she didn’t want to face the facts.

  Instead, she wanted to believe she could fix them, and while Josh thought that the issue they had could be entirely resolved in a lot of cases, he didn’t particularly believe that Hailee’s parents wanted help.

  The people who overcame those kinds of challenges wanted help. They sought the treatment necessary to better themselves, their lives, and the lives of their loved ones. Hailee’s parents didn’t strike Josh as such people. They seemed to specialize more in self-serving rather than worrying about others.

  “That’s probably a good idea about the therapy, but she’ll probably just get destroyed again when her parents don’t do what they say they’ll do.” Josh let out a frustrated grunt.

  He hated being all the way in New York, but before his sister opened her big mouth to Hailee, he’d been working behind the scenes on a special surprise that Hailee might never see now.

  “So, when’s this intervention?” Josh asked, afraid to hear the answer.

  “Tomorrow morning.” Dakota fell silent, and Josh knew there was more.

  His heart rate quickened at the thought. With all his heart, he hoped the meeting was going to take place at a hotel or a clinic’s office. Anywhere but at her grandparents’ home. She didn’t need her one sanctuary tainted with something that could go so disastrously wrong.

  “Where?” he snapped.

  “You could be a little nicer,” Dakota reminded her brother.

  “Sorry, but I’m not exactly thrilled with this sudden fountain of information I’m getting from this call.” He waited a few seconds. “So, where?”

  “Her house.”

  “Shit,” he grumbled and glanced at the clock on his wall.

  If he left New York now on a redeye, he could get to Silver Ridge in time. He might look like hell by the time he showed up, but at least he’d be there.

  “Okay. I’ll talk to you soon.” He swallowed down his anger. It wouldn’t do anyone any good.

  “At least you’re still talking to me,” she half teased.

  “Don’t get your hopes up. We’ll have to see how this shakes out.”

  “How what shakes out?” his sister asked.

  “I’m headed out there tonight. She doesn’t need to do this alone.” And he hung up the phone.

  Josh scrolled through the texts he’d received from Hailee and everything suddenly made sense.

  At first, she’d started responding slower to his texts, and then she started returning fewer of his texts and then his calls. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach when she started to pull back, but she didn’t give any reason for it.

  He only surmised the timing was b
etween her visit with Dakota and Hailee’s sudden disinterest in pursuing a relationship with him any longer.

  Josh quickly threw a fresh change of clothes in a bag in case he couldn’t swing by his house in Silver Ridge first. He knew he only had limited time, and he certainly didn’t want Hailee to face what she was about to do alone.

  By the time he’d boarded the plane, he had texted Hailee one last message.

  I spoke to my sister, and while I love her a lot, she’s really misguided. I know what I want in life. I want you, Hailee.

  He turned off his phone as the flight attendants instructed and slid back into the First-Class seat as the engines roared to life and carried him to where he needed to be.

  Hours felt like minutes as he woke up to the announcements coming over the plane intercom. It was close to five in the morning, which gave him a very narrow window to make it to Hailee’s house in time.

  He caught the shuttle to where he kept his car stored and hit the highway that just might not get him to Hailee’s house in time.

  While Josh was usually a law-abiding citizen, he didn’t have any issues going well over the speed limit on the way up the mountain to Silver Ridge. The image of Hailee’s face filled with disappointment nearly killed him. He couldn’t imagine what it was going to be like in person.

  By the time he flew into town, he had minutes to spare and pulled right up along the road leading to her house. He only saw one car in the driveway that wasn’t hers, and the rest of the street was empty.

  Josh gripped the steering wheel and peered at Hailee’s house.

  She didn’t expect him, but he didn’t fly all this way to stay in the car and watch from the outside looking in. He wanted to prove to her that he could handle whatever demons had kept her away from Silver Ridge for so long.

  All Josh wanted was to be let in, and he didn’t know if Hailee was even capable of allowing that to happen.

  He drew in a deep breath and climbed out of the car and made his way up to the front door when he heard yelling followed by something that just broke his heart.