Welcome to Serenity Harbor

by Multiple Authors

  “A sheep?” Erin, the town's newspaper editor said to Belle, a local writer. “Do you notice they all have a sheep in them?”

  “I did notice that. I wonder if it’s meant to be the artist’s signature or if it’s a statement?”

  “It is her signature,” Pierce said, joining the conversation. “The artist uses the sheep in place of their name. Lauralee tells me she cannot reveal the artist’s identity due to a confidentially agreement.” He smiled at the two ladies. “But I am dying to know. Are you enjoying the party?”

  Belle laughed, touching his arm. “What a question to ask, Pierce. You always throw the best gatherings.”

  “Must be in the New York upbringing,” Erin added. She gave him a piercing look. “Who have you been watching for?”

  Startled, Pierce gazed down at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Erin gave a soft snort then looked over his shoulder. She nodded towards the far side of the room. “If you are waiting for someone, I think they may be on their way.”

  He looked away from her knowing grin to the gathering forming at the large bay windows overlooking the front of his house.

  He excused himself and approached the group, catching an odd phrase here and there.

  “Is that?”

  “It can’t be.”

  “She doesn’t look like that!”

  “But she’s with Nina! It has to be her.”

  “It can’t be. She doesn’t have a chest like that.”

  He peered over their heads and saw who was causing all the commotion.

  He did a double-take and involuntarily stepped back. He couldn’t breathe. He watched Millicent walk across his yard. She wore a deep blue wrap dress. It accented every curve on her body. Her hair was down and so long. It reached her hips and swayed with every step. He knew she was beautiful. He had seen her fully but he never saw her like this.

  Before he realized what he was doing, his feet carried him out his door and across the yard.

  He stopped right in front of her, taking in all of her. She even had makeup on. Not much but enough to accent her delicate bone structure and bring out the blue of her eyes. The deepness of the color of her dress made her eyes appear darker, enchanting. “Millicent.”

  “Pierce.”

  “You look-”

  “Pretty? Beautiful? A knockout?”

  “Hi Pierce,” Nina interjected.

  He ignored her.

  “You have always been all the other three but right now you are stunning.”

  “Don’t try to charm me, Pierce.” She gave him a tentative smile. Neither noticed when Nina shook her head at them and kept walking to the house. “I’ve come today for two reasons. I want to see your artwork, and I wanted to apologize for my behavior the other day.”

  He reached out to her but stopped short. “Millicent, there is no reason for you to apologize.” He stared intently into her eyes. “I was praying you would come today so I could apologize to you. I can’t expect you to feel the same as I do. I fell in love with you a long time ago. You’ve only just discovered I haven’t been trying to sabotage you and drive you off your land.” He brought his hand up and touched her face. “Millicent, if I had known you thought all the notes I’ve sent you were bids for your property, I would have gone down to cleared that up years ago.”

  “Pierce,” her voice was soft, “you talk too much. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking in these last few days. I think my attraction to you might have fueled my dislike. I have never needed a man in my life but from the first I was drawn to you. I didn’t want to like you so I changed it. I chose to dislike you. I gave myself reasons why I couldn’t like you and when you asked to buy my land, it worked. I didn’t want to give you a chance. I didn’t want to like you. I didn’t want you but I did. I do. I wanted you so much, so bad. I dreamt about you too.”

  “Will you give me a second chance?” His thumb caressed her cheek. She placed her hand over his.

  “No.”

  Her rejection stung. He tried to pull his hand away from her but she held on.

  “Pierce, I can’t give you a second chance.” She smiled up at him. “I never gave you a first chance.” She placed her free hand over his heart. “If you would like, I’d be willing to give you that first chance. But I expect to be wooed.”

  He felt his face light up. His grin was so big it hurt. He drew her into his arms. “Of course, I’ll give you all the wooing I can. I love you, Millicent.”

  He lowered his face to kiss her when he heard, “I think I may love you too, Pier-“

  His kiss cut off her last words.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  The Eve of the Blackstone/Montgomery Wedding

  Millie pulled the cloth off of her latest piece. She looked at it. It was beautiful. She had painted the house where they had first made love with two rocking chairs on the wide front porch. On one side of the wide front of the porch, she had written the date they connected for the first time. One the other side was tomorrow’s date, their wedding date.

  Pierce would love it.

  She took the canvas down and smiled thinking of his shock when he found out she was the artist he loved. She managed to keep it a secret from him.

  She wrapped it up and left the studio, making her way up to his house where she lived now. Happiness filled her. What she had always thought of as a distant dream was coming true and not just because she was six months pregnant. With so much happening in such a short space of time, she had forgotten they hadn’t used protection. She felt a little kick.

  Pierce came running out of the house, meeting her almost halfway. He snatched the painting from her hands.

  “Millicent! What the hell are you doing?” he chastised. “You are not supposed to carry anything heavier than a basketball.”

  “Hush, honey,” she said and took his arm and they continued to the house. “I wanted to give you a gift before our rehearsal this evening.”

  “You should have told me and I would have gotten it for you.” He leaned down and placed a kiss against her head.

  She gazed up at him. Love completely filled her for this man, the father of her unborn baby. “I wanted to surprise you.”

  She held the door open then followed him into the living room.

  “Can I open it?”

  “After you kiss me,” she grinned at him.

  He quickly slapped a kiss against her lips then gently tore off the wrapping. “Oh, Millicent. How? Did you acquire it from Lauralee? She said the artist would be out of commission for the time being. How did you get this?”

  “Look at it,” Millicent prodded, her grin about to split her face.

  He propped it up against the couch. “Mil, it has the dates of our wedding and the day of the storm.”

  Millie pressed against his side, wrapping an arm around his. “And the signature?”

  He looked in the spot where normally a sheep was. “Oh My God, it says Millicent Montgomery-Blackstone.” He turned towards her, his eyes incredulous. “You painted this?”

  She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him gently before replying, “I’ve painted most of the art you own. Now you know my secret. I am the artist with the sheep signature.”

  “I love you, Millicent.”

  “I love you too, Pierce Albert Blackstone. Will you marry me?”

  He laughed, pulling her tight against him. “I kind of have to since we’ve already made the arrangements.”

  “Good. Lauralee has the frame for it. I want it hung over the fireplace in here.”

  “Your wish is my command, my love.”

  “As it should be,” Millie tried to say but broke out in giggles.

  Pierce stopped them with a deep kiss, proving his love with his lips.

  The End

  About Rose Morris

  Rose was born in the wonderful island of Oahu before her Navy family proceeded to move all over. She is a true Navy Brat along with her siblings. She
has settled in the beautiful state of Maine and has been trying to escape ever since. She has loved writing romance since the early 2000’s, and despite her day job, continues to do so. This story is her first novella. She also enjoys spoiling her nieces and nephew while teaching them to be as mouthy as the rest of the family.

  OCTOBER

  Only This Kiss

  Meg Kassel

  Senior year is a miserable time to switch schools, but Ashley Whittaker-Sloane is determined to make the best of her abrupt move to Serenity Harbor. She wants only to finish school and attend college to pursue fashion design, but when gorgeous musician, Tyler Fitzsimmons, comes to her aid in a hallway altercation, Ashley finds herself crushing on the hunky rocker. Tyler can barely keep his eyes off Ashley, but what could the poor, son-of-the-town-drunk possibly offer a rich girl from an oceanfront mansion? He fears Ashley would be disgusted to learn the truth he goes to lengths to keep hidden. When Tyler is forced to confront his demons, and secrets are exposed on both sides, Ashley and Tyler will either trust themselves and each other, or return separately to their different worlds.

  Chapter 1

  Ashley

  Ashley Whittaker-Sloan thought she’d been prepared for the general chaos of public school. She was not.

  Gone was the exclusive, all-girls academy with the hushed, orderly halls and tidy uniforms. Serenity Harbor’s Cooper Memorial High was nothing like The Aster-Whitman Preparatory School she’d attended in Boston. Here, she was surrounded by laughter, shouting, shoving. Voices vibrated through the concrete corridors, echoing off bright metal lockers. There was tremendous preoccupation with the school football team, in which she couldn’t even feign interest.

  One bright spot––no uniforms. Ashley loved dressing herself and making her own clothes. So far, it was the only thing she liked about this school, but her unique sense of style was likely one of the causes for her solitary state. That, and senior year was a tough time to integrate in a new student body, especially for someone who had never switched schools before. Ashley wasn’t used to going out and making friends. Her girlfriends had been in place since her first day in kindergarten. This school was so different, a little scary, but returning to her mother’s home in Boston was not an option.

  Ashley ducked as a boy hurled a backpack over her head to another, who caught it deftly, then presented his middle finger to the thrower with a wide smile. More laughter. And no one seemed phased by this. So weird. School with boys was the most bizarre thing. A little nerve-wracking. Somewhat entertaining.

  It was October. She’d arrived in Serenity Harbor in mid-August, still in tourist season. She’d been confused, angry and determined to hate it here. Determined to hate her dad, although that hadn’t worked out. She adored him, even if she still couldn’t tell him why she called him out of the blue, asking to move in with him for her senior year. He hadn’t pressed. He’d just said yes and drove from Downeast Maine the next day to pick her up. The “why” was a dark little thing she’d locked up tight and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to talk about it. To anyone. Ever.

  She clutched the strap of her handmade messenger bag, when she heard a text message chime. Her friends from Boston texted less and less, so each time she heard an incoming text, she dove for the thing in a pathetic swell of hope. Ashley’s gaze was on her screen when she walked straight into someone’s back. Someone holding an open bottle of orange soda.

  “Hey!” Kaylee Fisher glared at Ashley as juice dripped down the front of her tight, white shirt.

  “On no!” Ashley said, holding out a hand. Panic! Kaylee was awful. You were either her friend or you steered clear of her entirely. Unfortunately, Ashley had steered into her, checking for a text message that wasn’t there, anyway.

  “I’m so sorry.” Ashley dug into her bag for something-to-wipe-with and came up with a crumpled Starbucks napkin.

  Kaylee slapped Ashley’s napkin away. “You ruined my shirt!”

  Ashley’s stomach clenched. Why, oh why, had she run into this girl? Anyone else would have been less…awful. “Not ruined. It’s only a little orange soda, and that’s what…a polyester blend?” Ashley knew her fabrics. The girl blinked at her. “It’ll come right out if you rinse it before it sets.”

  Kaylee, flanked by four other girls, scanned Ashley from head to toe with narrowed eyes. Ashley endured the scrutiny with raised eyebrows. It was orange soda and this was a lot of drama over a cheap T-shirt that would only survive a few washings, anyhow.

  Kaylee eyed Ashley’s gray, oversized tunic and wrinkled her nose. “Great. Then you can wear it for the rest of the day.” Kaylee grabbed Ashley’s upper arm and tugged her toward the girl’s room.

  Ashley didn’t budge. “What are you doing?”

  “We’re trading shirts. If a big orange splatter is no big deal, you can wear it.”

  Ashley eyed Kaylee’s five-foot-nothing form and locked her legs. The girl was maybe six inches shorter than Ashley and all around more petite. That shirt was tiny. On Ashley, it would look like shrink wrap. “No way.” She wrenched her arm free and backed up. Ashley’s shirt was one she’d made herself, by hand. “Look, I’m sure the school will let you get another shirt from home, or wear your gym shirt or something.”

  Ashley edged from the circle of hostile girls. At her old school, she’d been friendly with everybody. She’d never been intimidated in the hallway. This was as weird as it was scary.

  Kaylee blocked her way. “You made the mess, now you’re going to wear it.” Kaylee’s candy-pink lips pinched in a mean smile. “Are you worried it will be too tight? Too bad. It’s not my fault you’re fat.”

  “Fat?” Ashley laughed. She wasn’t built like a supermodel, but she wasn’t fat. “Look, it was an accident. If you go rinse that shirt out, it will be dry by second period.”

  It was the wrong thing to say. Kaylee’s smile turned lethal. “Let me tell you how things work up here, sweetie––”

  “Hey, Kaylee,” a male voice cut in from behind. “Don’t go pulling your crazy shit on the new girl.”

  Ashley turned to see what saint had interrupted this delightful conversation and nearly dropped her jaw. Before her stood the tall, blue-eyed hottie from her physics and English classes––Tyler Fitzsimmons. Ashley wasn’t boy-crazy, but she’d noticed this guy. He was hard to miss. Yup, he looked as good up close as he did from across a classroom. He was quiet in class, but always got it right when called on to answer a question. Smart and hot. Muscular arms crossed over his chest, where a band’s name she’d never heard of stretched across a snug T-Shirt. Chuck Taylors with mileage peeked out below worn jeans, frayed at the bottoms and white at the knees. It worked on him like a dream. A hot, hormonal dream.

  “Shove it, Tyler,” Kaylee snapped, cheeks reddening further. “She just hit me.”

  Ashley recovered enough to roll her eyes. “Oh, please. I did not.” She waved her phone. “I was a distracted driver. It was an accident.”

  That blue gaze swung to her. His lips turned up in amusement. Just a little. Not enough for a smile. “I believe Patches, here.”

  Patches? Ashley looked down at herself and felt her own face go hot. Oh hell, he’d noticed the patchwork messenger bag, made of different materials stitched together. For the first time since making it, she felt a pinch of embarrassment. “Um. My name is Ashley.”

  “Okay.” He looked back to Kaylee, pointed a finger at her little, upturned nose. “Fight your true nature. Try be a decent person.”

  Kaylee’s face screwed up in a glorious sneer. She squeaked out a string of curses, then swept off, girl-minions in tow.

  Ashley let out a breath. “Wow.”

  “Yeah.” The boy––Tyler––watched Kaylee’s departure with bored eyes. “Give that one space. Those claws don’t retract.”

  “Thanks for the tip.”

  He unwound his arms and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “No problem. See ya.” He started down the hall.

  “Wait!”


  Tyler turned, one brow raised.

  “Ah.” Crap! What was she thinking? She had nothing to say. Nothing coherent, anyway. “I wanted to thank you for um…”

  “I know. Forget it.” He pushed back dark hair that hadn’t seen scissors in a while.

  “Hey there, Ty.” A girl walked up, waving a hand at him. “I just passed Kaylee. She’s calling you some terrific names.”

  Ashley watched with a twist of regret as Ella Larkin, a girl she knew a little from art class, slung an arm over his shoulders and affectionately tugged his hair. He swatted her hand away, but with a grin. Of course, a guy like this would have a girlfriend like that. Ella and Tyler were a perfect match. Ashley had seen them together in the hall. They sat together at lunch. Ella had an arty, edgy sort of way, and always seemed way more zen about everything than anyone in high school had a right to. Of course, she was super nice, too. Ashley shared a few classes with her, and they’d talked a little in art. Ashley felt the opposite of zen right now.

  “Not surprising.” Tyler dropped a light kiss on the top of the girl’s head. “It was a standard rescue effort.”

  Ashley pushed off a pinch of disappointment. She wasn’t here to meet a guy––just get through senior year.

  Ella asked, “What happened?”

  “The usual,” Tyler replied. “Exaggerated reaction to a slight infraction, followed by intimidation, threats, toxins released in the air.”

  Ashley chuckled. He had a wicked sense of humor. “I bumped into her, making her spill a little soda on her shirt,” she said. “She demanded we switch shirts.”

  Ella’s eyes went wide. “You would have busted out of that little thing.”

  Ashley’s face warmed. “Yeah. Well, if Tyler hadn’t come along, I would have… Well, I’d rather not start the year with a suspension.”