Finding Love in Forgotten Cove (Island County Series Book 1)

by Karice Bolton

  Wait a second…

  I quickly texted Mason back.

  At the Thomas Marina with Delilah. Her mom’ll be here in a few minutes to pick her up.

  His text was almost immediate.

  Great. I’ll be there in ten.

  I’d managed to call my uncle before class had started and had spoken with him about the new developments. He was as surprised as I was, but he also verified that my dad hadn’t ever mentioned any money issues, which was comforting and matched what I saw after my dad’s passing. There weren’t any outstanding utility bills, medical bills, nothing that I could find. I also quickly went through my dad’s deposit statements using my iPhone, and I didn’t see any deposits that matched the amounts my aunt claimed to have given.

  I glanced up to see Delilah walking over slowly in an almost euphoric state, and I knew my mission had been accomplished. Brendan would no longer have that twisted hold over her.

  “You won’t believe it,” Delilah whispered.

  “What?” I asked, feeling her excitement level raising to the clouds at an unstoppable rate.

  “His dad is a history professor at the University of Washington.”

  “You don’t say.” I squeezed her shoulder.

  She nodded, “And he asked me out. I’m waiting for my mom to text me an answer.”

  I laughed. “You waste no time.”

  “Time should never be wasted, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.” Her eyes widened as she looked over my shoulder.

  How in the world could a high schooler know these things?

  She didn’t take her eyes off of whatever was behind me so I turned around and sure enough, Mason was walking toward us. He looked as sensational as he had this morning, and I wanted to consume every part of him, but I was a responsible adult and would maintain control until all young people were out of sight.

  Young people!?! I really was getting old.

  Mason strode up next to me and smiled. “Impromptu field trip?”

  “For one student, yes.”

  Mason’s eyes focused on the group of guys covering the boat and he chuckled. “I see.”

  Delilah’s face reddened as her phone buzzed. “My mom said probably, but she’d have to meet him first and it could only be in the daylight.”

  I laughed and nodded. “Seems reasonable. Did you tell her he was the grandson of Mr. Thomas?”

  Mr. Thomas was a fixture around town. His family was the first to build a marina in the 1800s and bring much needed commerce to the area.

  Delilah shook her head. “I’ll tell her that right now.”

  “Are you up for the museum tour?” I asked her.

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to blow it and my mom will be here soon. I don’t think there’s enough time.”

  I slid my hands into my back pockets and watched the guys working away on the boat. Each of them had an area they were focusing on and held to it. I saw Josh sanding the deck, but he stopped suddenly and stood up, stretching. Mason followed my gaze and we both started silently laughing as Josh stripped off his shirt and tossed it to the deck, hoping to catch Delilah’s attention.

  “You won’t blow it,” Mason assured her.

  “How do you know?” Delilah asked.

  “He’s interested.”

  “That’s a change,” she muttered under her breath.

  Marcy hollered a faint hello from behind us, and I glanced over my shoulder and did a quick wave before returning my attention to the workers in front of us.

  “Mom,” Delilah called, waving frantically.

  Josh must’ve caught her shout because he began quickly pulling his shirt back over his head while the other guys gave him a hard time. To be in high school again...

  Nah. Who was I kidding?

  “I remember those days,” Mason nudged my side and I laughed. “Trying to impress a girl, showing off…”

  “Wasn’t it only yesterday you were showing off?” I teased.

  “Try this morning. Blueberry muffins, remember?”

  Mason wrapped his arm around my waist, and I felt a flurry of bliss run through me.

  “How about you go on a date with me tonight, and I’ll fill you in on what my mom dug up…that way it’ll be a working date and you can’t imply that I’m getting too serious.”

  “You’re a real trickster,” I muttered, right before Marcy arrived. “But yes, since it’s work related, I think that’s a great idea.”

  Marcy looked relieved the moment she saw her daughter’s expression. The carefree Delilah was staring back at her, no longer caught up in boy drama.

  “Josh is the one in the red shirt,” I told Marcy.

  She glanced his way, and he was staring at us all, holding a towel. He said something to the rest of the guys and hopped off the deck, making his way over to Delilah and Marcy.

  “My work here is done,” I laughed.

  “Yes. Thank you,” Marcy said, winking. Followed by her lips moving to the words “No. More. Brendan.”

  I smiled and nodded as Mason and I walked toward a different pier.

  “So how about it? A dinner date tonight, only casual…work related.”

  I nodded and looked out over the marina. The sailboats bobbed slowly up and down as I wondered if I’d truly be able to pull this casual thing off with Mason. I didn’t want to fool myself about the feelings that were already rearing their annoying head. Couldn’t I be one of those people who had a summer fling?

  Yes. Of course, I could.

  But as Mason circled his arms around my waist and pulled me into him, I knew my plight was going to be a difficult one, especially when his lips touched down on mine.

  “I would love a cup of clam chowder—actually make it a bowl—and the seafood salad,” I said, glancing at the server. He was an attractive guy around my age, but there was, also, something familiar about him.

  “Tori?” he asked.

  Yeah?” I looked over at Mason, who looked amused as I floundered and brought my attention back to the server. We were sitting in one of my favorite island restaurants, The Thistle. The food was delicious and the view even better.

  “It’s Colin. We went to junior high together.”

  I racked my brain as my mind rewound all those years, and I didn’t remember a Colin.

  “I used to have long hair…”

  Oh yeah! Of course! It was halfway down his back. Total surfer.

  “Oh my gosh. I didn’t even recognize you.”

  “Amazing what ten or fifteen years will do… actually, it’s more than that now, isn’t it? Where does the time go?” His mouth spread into a half-smile, and he eyed Mason before bringing his gaze back to mine.

  That’s right—show him I was a catch.

  “Didn’t you move away after eighth grade?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yeah, but there’s something about this place. If a person’s listening, it calls you back.”

  I nodded, starting to understand that call.

  “It’s nice seeing you tonight, and maybe I’ll see you around. I work Tuesday through Saturday, and of course, I’ll be here for your entertainment the rest of the night.” He flashed a cute smile, and I noticed Mason glance at us both, completely bemused.

  “Awesome. Appreciate it.”

  And off went Colin to put in our orders.

  “Miss Popularity, huh. Once you start going out on the town…”

  “The town consisting of all two-thousand citizens,” I piped up.

  “The island’s bigger than that,” he laughed.

  “But the town isn’t.”

  “So how does it feel?”

  “What part?”

  “You know, running into old acquaintances. You’ve been pretty much hiding at your dad’s place.”

  “I have not.”

  “Bet me?” His brow arched.

  “Well, no. But it feels kind of nice to be out. Kind of.”

  “So in other news, are you ready for the Rhodes barbeque?”<
br />
  “I don’t know if I am. Something tells me it will be a lot to handle.”

  “Anytime you get a bunch of Rhodes together, it can be dicey, but I promise to protect and serve.”

  “Serve, huh?”

  Colin brought over my clam chowder and Mason’s cioppino.

  They both smelled delicious.

  Mason placed his napkin on his lap and nodded. “Absolutely. Your wish will be my command. That’s how grateful I am you’re coming.”

  I took a bite of the chowder and savored the flavor, nothing like chowder from this place. It was nice to be back, but it would be nice to go back home to Skaneateles. Autumn was always beautiful in New England and my students needed me or at least that was what I told myself.

  “So when the girls were over, they mentioned your brother and his unquenchable desire to get the crap beat out of him in some underground fighting ring. Is that for real?”

  Mason’s blue eyes darkened and his jaw tensed as he swallowed his bite of soup.

  “He’s actually on the giving end, not the receiving end, but yeah, he’s involved pretty heavily in underground fighting.” He didn’t continue on, and I knew there was more that he debated about telling me. Unfortunately, he chose wrong and didn’t say anything else.

  “How did he get into it?” I asked.

  Mason shrugged. “Some college antics.” His demeanor changed and he completely walled me off. I was at a loss. I didn’t think the subject was that big of a deal, but I obviously misjudged.

  “Only it stuck?” I asked. We’d all been out of college for quite a while.

  “You could say that.”

  Colin returned to take away our empty bowls. “Would you like a refill on the bread?”

  “I’d love that. Thank you.”

  “Yeah, sounds good,” Mason agreed, and Colin walked away.

  “You know what else sounds good?” I asked Mason.

  “I can think of a couple things.” His eyes glinted with mischief.

  “Me too and one of them starts with you telling me what’s up with your brother. The moment I brought it up, things got weird.”

  “No, they didn’t.”

  “Yeah, they did.”

  “No, they didn’t.”

  “Yeah, they did,” I laughed. “What I say goes if you want me to show up at the Rhodes barbeque not under duress.”

  Mason chuckled and wiped his mouth to buy time. It was a practice I recognized and had waiting in my arsenal for moments such as these.

  “I’ve told you things that I haven’t told anyone else,” I said quietly, our eyes connecting. “I kind of hoped it was a two-way thing.”

  Mason chewed his lip as our bread was delivered.

  “The reason I don’t like talking about my brother and his fighting is that, frankly, it puts me in a bad light. “

  “How so?”

  “I’m the one that got him into it.”

  “That doesn’t sound so horrible. You can’t help that he’s passionate about something that’s dangerous. Who knew what you introduced to him would become a passion. I could think of worse things.”

  His eyes narrowed and he watched me carefully before speaking.

  “Like what?”

  “For one, jumping out of a plane, which is on my bucket list, in case you’re wondering.”

  “Isn’t it on everyone’s? And I’m glad to hear you took my advice on a bucket list.”

  “Seems like it, but back to business. Besides the obvious danger factor, why does it bother you so much that your brother fights?” I didn’t feel like stopping the conversation to let him know I already had a bucket list before he suggested it. I was getting too close to finding out about Mason and his brother.

  Mason took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “It’s not so much the fighting. It’s the reason he stepped in the ring in the first place.”

  I didn’t say anything this time.

  “I take total responsibility. I’m not blaming anyone but myself.”

  “For what?” Unsure that I wanted to hear his answer.

  “I started gambling. It started with blackjack and then I moved onto poker.”

  “Underground, I assume?”

  “They’re the only ones that’ll keep a running tab, so yeah. It’s one of the lowest points in my life, and if it weren’t for my brother bailing me out, I don’t know if I’d be here.”

  My mouth fell open but no words came out so I shut it.

  “I made the wrong people angry and I owed them lots of money. My brother offered to step into the underground fighting circuit. He’d been a fan for a long time and had always trained. He’d just never actually stepped in a ring for money. The next thing we knew, we were arranging our own fights and it took on a life of its own. We paid the debt, but the money that comes in is pretty hard to resist. Not to mention, my father made me a partner at the construction firm so things have really turned around. I’ve been trying to give back in any way I can to the community. I was so lucky to have things turn around for me. Not everyone lucks out. But that’s what I was talking about as far as karma that one day.”

  I nodded, trying to swallow inconspicuously. “And guilt, I’d assume. So you don’t gamble any longer?”

  “No. I stay far away from all gambling.”

  “Isn’t that kind of what this is, though?” I asked.

  He twisted his lips into a thoughtful expression and nodded. “Yeah, it is. But I guess the difference is we’re generally collecting other people’s money. And no, I don’t think that’s any better. I’ve tried to get my brother to stop, but I think he’s addicted to the rush of winning. He certainly doesn’t do it for the money. His energy drink company is doing quite well.”

  “He’s never lost a fight?” I asked.

  “Never. Not even close, but I know that will change someday. There’s always someone faster, stronger, luckier, and I want him out before he meets him.”

  “I understand that one.”

  “I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to think less of me,” his voice was low and his eyes piercing.

  “It would take a lot more than that,” I whispered, reaching out across the table. “We’ve all done things we’re not proud of in life. It’s how we pick ourselves up after we fall that matters.”

  I held his hand and warmth totally filled me.

  He nodded slowly, his gaze still on mine. I felt the familiar electricity flood my mind and body the longer he looked at me, and I wasn’t sure how I’d make it through dinner. He was too damn hot to resist. I broke my gaze from his and watched Colin balance my salad and Mason’s salmon entrée as he walked over.

  He set the salad in front of me and placed the salmon in front of Mason. Offering us cracked pepper or grated cheese for my salad, I could barely pay him attention so I nodded for both. All I could concentrate on was Mason’s gaze on me. I didn’t have to look up to know he was watching me, and for some reason, that was sexier than if I’d caught him in the act. It was like one non-stop dose of dopamine running through my brain when Mason was around. It made me question my decision-making abilities, especially when they had to do with coming or going.

  “This is delicious,” I said, in between bites of my seafood salad.

  “Salmon is too.”

  I took another bite and watched Mason carefully. I appreciated his honesty and didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable after admitting something so personal.

  “You know, I’m glad you’re not still down and dirty with the bad guys, but it’s kind of hot that the guy I’m into was a rebel.”

  Mason smiled and said, “So you admit that you’re into me.”

  My head swung back in a fit of giggles. “In a completely casual way.”

  “Uh-huh. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  “You’re seeing it,” I assured him.

  “So you took my advice about the bucket list?” he asked, bringing the conversation back to my earlier admi
ssion about my bucket list.

  “Believe it or not, I already had one.”

  “You did?”

  I nodded. “And all my friends think I’ve somehow managed to fast forward right into old age with it.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Mason countered. “Everyone has a bucket list. Even dogs have bucket lists and those break my heart.”

  “I know. I saw one online where the owner was doing a cross-country trip with his pooch. It killed me.”

  “Me too,” Mason agreed. “But everyone’s doing it.”

  “Mine had a little caveat,” I added.

  “What was that?”

  “I couldn’t date anyone serious unless I completed most of the things on my list.”

  Mason’s brow furrowed. “I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work.”

  “Says who?”

  “The bucket list rule-makers. Everyone knows bucket lists can be more fun with company.”

  “The operative phrase can be. It’s not a given.”

  “It’s a given if you’d let me help. Come on, spill it. Give me a couple.”

  “There’s some easy ones on it, simple ones.”

  “Like?”

  “Swing on a rope over a lake.”

  “I can make that happen.”

  “How?”

  “We have a lake cabin and there just so happens to be trees and one of those trees does, indeed, have a rope attached.”

  “Suspicious.”

  “Only if you’re paranoid.” He grinned.

  “I’d like to see a solar eclipse.”

  “Takes some planning, but doable.”

  “Slow dance in the rain.”

  “Won’t be hard in Washington.”

  “You know how to slow dance?”

  “Of course. Now give me some of the biggies.”

  “I’d like to try a fried Twinkie.”

  “Seriously? That’s your biggie? A fried Twinkie?”

  “No way, I only wanted to see if you’d fall for it and you did.”