by Marie Carnay
“But everything’s fine here, right? No issues?”
“Everything’s good. Donny’s taken charge at Swallow Tail and he’s helping with the Inn. If it weren’t for him, there’s no way I could think of expanding so soon.”
“You ever think of moving there?”
“To Seattle?” Richard scratched his head. “Maybe. If we do, it’d be part time. I don’t think I’d ever be able to get Mandy out of Midnight Cove for good.”
Blake snorted. Summer’s best friend couldn’t bear to leave, but Summer had left and never looked back. Here Richard was, opening a brand-new restaurant in the hot spot of downtown, and his wife-to-be wanted to stay here.
It hardly seemed fair. After a moment, Blake stood up. “So we can change, right? I doubt Mandy wants us all dressed like this for the rehearsal.”
“Yeah, she said to change and leave the suits in the dressing room. They’ll all be pressed tomorrow and be here waiting.”
“Great.” Blake needed to get out of the dressing rooms and get some air. He nodded at Devin and gave Richard a quick pat on the back. “I’ll see you at the chapel.”
He pushed open the door, strode down the hall, and busted out into the cool, coastal breeze. First seeing Summer, then the fitting. All the things he’d wanted in his life and never had.
The woman who got away. A wedding. A future. He slipped off his jacket and exhaled. Maybe Devin was right. Maybe they could find a way to win Summer back.
* * *
SUMMER
“Take Richard’s hand, yes, like that. Then you’ll both turn to me, and we’ll start the meat of the ceremony.” The pastor smiled at Mandy and Richard and Summer’s stomach threatened to heave up Diet Coke and crackers.
It’d been difficult enough to stand there while Ingeborg poked and prodded and marked the blue silk bridesmaid’s gown. It was a million times worse to slip her arm into Devin’s and Blake’s and do a dry-run walk down the aisle.
But the thought of standing in front of an entire sea of people she hadn’t seen or talked to in four years? While the pastor droned on and on about love and marriage and the sanctity of the union? Torture. Pure and simple.
How could she stand there a few feet away from Blake and Devin and not steal a glance? Not catch their eyes while Mr. Holy Matrimony waxed poetic about the grand institution and the timelessness of love and all those other things?
It’d been four years of living in New York. Blind dates, random hook-ups, boyfriends for a month or two. No spark. No magic. No light you up and turn you molten the way Blake and Devin had done in one night.
She pulled her lower lip past her teeth and glanced at the hardwood floor. Three days. She could make it through three days.
“Ms. Crenshaw? It’s your turn.”
With a jump, Summer blinked away her tumbled thoughts. Shit. No spacing out now. “Sorry.” She gave the pastor a small smile and turned toward the pews. Blake slid up to one side and Devin stepped up to the other.
Both men held out their arms and she slipped her hands through. Again. It’s just a walk. You can handle a walk. She tried to ignore the heat from their bodies. The brush of bare forearms and rolled sleeves. The solid strike of foot to ground. The way one touch could send her soaring.
“Daydreaming?” Devin’s voice brought reality crashing back and Summer frowned.
“No. Just trying to remember everything I have to do at the party.”
“Damn. Here I was hoping you were coming up with reasons you couldn’t make it.”
“To the rehearsal dinner? Why?”
Devin nudged her shoulder. “So we could take you out. Give you a tour of all the old haunts.”
Summer swallowed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Blake’s voice was soft and timid. Was he nervous?
Summer stole a glance, but his stoic features gave nothing away. “Because Mandy’s counting on me. And like it or not, my mother’s going to be there.”
“Your mother?” Blake’s stride hitched as he glanced her way.
“She bought a condo here on top of the new hotel.”
“The five-star one up the coast?”
Summer nodded.
“Why? I thought she loved New York?”
Because I never shut up about this place. But Summer couldn’t tell them that. Not when the reason Midnight Cove was always in her thoughts and her art was them. She shrugged. “I guess she likes the view.”
They walked out the door of the chapel and Summer slipped her arms free. She ran her fingers up and down her skin, brushing off the ghost of their bodies against her.
“I take it you and your mom are still on the outs?”
Summer laughed, but it wasn’t funny. “I’m still the continual disappointment. Does that count?”
Blake’s brows furrowed. “I thought your mom was happy with your choices. New York. The art scene.”
If you only knew. “My mom will be happy when I become famous. When my paintings are in the top galleries in New York. Working there isn’t close to enough.”
“But you’ve done what she wanted. And something like that takes time. What about the meantime?”
“You mean since I graduated?” Summer snorted and mimicked her mother’s stern tone. “I’m not living up to my full potential.”
Blake reached out and gave her arm a squeeze, but she pulled away. She didn’t need his sympathy. A pity party wouldn’t change their situation. She’d left. A long time ago.
“There you all are!” Mandy bounded up in a frilly black and white polka-dot dress and sandals with curls up in a half-do and diamonds glittering in her ears. That perfect combination of pretty and sophisticated that Summer could never pull off. “We’re about to head over to the reception. We’ve got all sorts of hors d’oeuvres if you’re hungry. The kitchen’s gone overboard, I think.”
Devin spoke up. “Richard’s staff, go overboard at his own rehearsal dinner? I’m shocked. And starved. Lead the way.”
Mandy glanced at her best friend. “You coming, Summer?”
“Mm-hmm, I’ll be there in a minute.” She gave Devin and Mandy a smile and turned back toward the chapel. Weddings. Part happy and glorious and so much fun. Part melancholy. This one especially. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and walked down the cobbled path.
Past the little building with its blue and red stained glass and stone walls, past the hydrangeas tumbling over themselves with enormous bursts of pale green and pink blooms. Past the climbing roses spilling over the worn white fence.
Montgomery Inn was the perfect spot for a wedding. It’d been in Mandy’s family for years, but when her father retired, Ian didn’t want to run it alone. Cue Richard. Now Richard ran the day-to-day operations and Ian was a silent partner, focusing on his other business.
She breathed in the bursts of sweetness from the flowers all around her and swallowed down a sob. Once upon a time, she thought she’d be married there too. She’d had a plan—graduate college, come back with Mandy, set up shop in a tiny storefront.
Paint scenic vistas on the edge of the cliff, sell them to tourists in town. Marry some handsome man and live in Midnight Cove. Raise some kids. Live the life.
Then it all changed.
Summer made her way down the stone steps to a rocky outcrop overlooking the ocean. No matter how much she wanted to go back and do it all over, she couldn’t. Midnight Cove would never be the same. All she’d ever see was Blake and Devin and what she couldn’t have.
“Is there room for one more on that ledge? Or is this a one-person event?”
* * *
BLAKE
Summer turned and her dark brown hair blew across her face. So fucking beautiful.
“There’s room. Hi, Blake.”
“Hi, Summer.” Blake made his way down the steps and eased himself next to her on the ledge. The fabric of her party dress fluttered out and battered his calves. God, to be that close to her.
He shove
d his hands in his pockets and looked out at the ocean. “It’s been a long time.”
She stared straight ahead and nodded. He could tell from the way she held herself together, coming back had taken a toll. “How are you, honestly?”
She smiled and glanced down at the rocky shore. “Happy. Sad. Confused. I’m all messed up.” She glanced up and Blake’s heart stumbled out of rhythm.
Green eyes to match her dress. Lips lush and full and about to quiver. Cheeks flushed from the wind and the ocean air. How did he ever think he and Devin would be enough for her? “I know what you mean.”
“Do you?” Her eyebrows knitted. “Do you really?”
He shrugged. “I’d like to.”
“I wish it were that easy.”
“It can be, if you let it.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Summer turned back to the ocean and her hair whipped behind her, blowing like an unfurled sail. “You’ve never had the same kind of pressure. Expectations. Your parents would be happy with anything you did.”
“And yours?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”
“I haven’t. I just hoped she’d changed.” Blake thought back to the handful of times Summer had talked about her mother. To the conversations he’d overheard when she’d called.
“She hasn’t. If anything, she’s worse. ‘Contact this gallery, Summer. Paint something more…mindful, Summer. If you want to be a success, you need to try harder, dear.’”
Ouch. He knew Jane could be harsh. But criticizing her only daughter? That was downright mean. It had to be rough being the only child of a wealthy widow. “I’m sorry, Summer. Is that…why you’ve stayed away?”
She squeezed her arms until the skin around her fingers turned white. “No. Not entirely.”
“It is because of us?”
Summer glanced back and the pain and longing etched into the lines of her face tugged at Blake somewhere deep. He hated to see her that way.
“You’re not to blame for any of my choices.”
“It’s okay to admit it. I know that night—what we all shared—it freaked you out. It freaked all of us out. But it’s been years. You can admit it now. It’s okay.”
She pulled her lower lip into her mouth and nibbled and Blake clenched his hand into a fist. Even sad and hurting, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever kissed. Ever wanted. The way his whole body hummed when she stood next to him. The way his heart beat a bass drum when she took his arm.
There had to be a way.
“It’s not your fault, Blake. It’s mine. I’m the one who left. I’m the one who moved on.”
A gust of wind blew her hair in front of her face. Without thinking, Blake reached out and tucked it behind her ear. His fingers brushed against her earlobe and he lingered, holding the side of her face as her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
“Have you, Summer? Have you actually moved on?” Before she could answer, he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.
The sweet softness had him cursing in his head. Damn. Fuck. Hell. He’d pined after her for years. Every woman. Every one night stand. Never her. Never Summer.
Blake flicked his tongue against her lips and Summer gasped. Any resolve—any chastity he’d held on to—she crushed it with one tiny sound. Surging forward, he wrapped one arm around her waist and kissed her harder. Deeper.
Oh, hell. Her body fit him like a damn glove and he remembered. The little cries she made when he kissed behind her ear. The rise of her chest when he trailed fingers up her thigh.
He eased his tongue inside her mouth, swiping against her teeth and lips until she kissed him back. Grabbing onto his shirt sleeves, Summer opened for him, letting him in, swirling her tongue around his until Blake didn’t know who was leading whom.
She still wanted him. There was no doubt. He ran his hands down her back, ruching the silk party dress as he slid lower to stroke her ass. Round and full and so fucking sexy. He wanted her on top of him, legs straddling his hips as she sunk down to take him all. Ass rolling up and down as she rocked the bed and his whole world.
This was more than a one night stand. More than best friends making a mistake. Blake squeezed and she moaned into his lips. That’s it. Show me you want me. He thought of Devin and how the three of them fit together so well.
Damn. Blake’s fingers tore up her sides, about to stroke her breasts, when a car alarm sounded in the distance. Honk-honk-honk-honk.
Summer staggered back and all too soon Blake’s arms were empty. “Oh my God. Blake, we can’t—I can’t—I’ve got to go.”
As he stood on the edge of the cliff—body reeling and ocean waves crashing—Summer ran.
CHAPTER THREE
SUMMER
HEELS ON WORN cobbles. Tears streaking mascara and ruining foundation. Summer tore into the back of the Inn and rushed into the bridal suite. Damn Blake Turner. Damn his sexy voice and soft lips. His eyes full of concern and longing.
She wanted to punch it all out of him. Why couldn’t he be an asshole? Just once? Summer leaned over the dressing table and gripped the edge until her knuckles matched the whitewashed wood. I have to get it together.
Tonight wasn’t about Blake or Devin or the hangups she should have been over years ago. It was about Mandy and her wedding. The rehearsal dinner and last minute arrangements. Good food and better wine.
With a sniff, she looked up. Face puffy and ragged. Eyes swollen. Makeup a mess. I can fix this. Clean the canvas, slap on a new base layer. Bury her emotions beneath some primer and pink lipstick.
Think about Mandy. Your mother. Anyone but Blake and Devin. Summer inhaled, squared her shoulders, and set to work.
A few minutes later, she zipped up her makeup case, walked out the door, and beelined it to the dinner and the biggest glass of champagne she could find.
* * *
“Remind me why she’s here again?” Summer watched as her mother entered the room. Graceful and poised and razor-thin. The complete opposite of her daughter. She’d pinned her long gray hair back into a chignon and the pearls around her neck stood out against her black dress. So proper. Respectable.
Mandy popped a bacon-wrapped shrimp into her mouth and leaned over. “She invited herself. I was in Hillary’s for a cake tasting and she walked in. One minute I was saying hello and eating a bite of chocolate fudge cake with buttercream frosting, and the next I was inviting her to the wedding and rehearsal dinner.”
“It’s like she has super powers.” Summer picked up a cube of cheese. “Extra-strength disappointment and expectation that can flatten even the most confident hero.”
Mandy snorted next to her and grabbed two champagne cocktails from a server’s tray as he walked by. “You have to admit it’s a serious skill.”
“One I will never wield, thank God.” Summer took the drink and clinked her glass against Mandy’s. “To your wedding.”
Her best friend smiled. “Thanks.” She took a sip and gave Summer a nudge with her elbow. “You seem down. Anything you want to talk about?”
Summer’s gaze flitted away from her mother. “No. It’s your party. Don’t worry about me.”
“Pfft. It’s just the rehearsal. You’re my best friend. Spill.”
Summer took another sip of her drink. The champagne bubbled on her tongue and loosened her lips. “I kissed Blake.”
“What!?!” It came out in a muffled shriek and half the room turned toward Mandy and Summer.
“Shh! I don’t need the whole town to know I picked up right where I left off.” She smiled blandly and politely at the onlookers until everyone turned back around. “It was a moment of weakness. I never should have talked to him.”
“Wow. Good for you.”
Summer dropped her head and covered her eyes with her hand. “I’m so predictable.”
“Stop it. That is beyond ridiculous.” Mandy tugged Summer’s hand away and waited until she glanced up.
Her eyes sparkled. “How was it? Like you remember?”
Summer’s cheeks heated. “Better.”
Mandy grinned and waggled her blonde eyebrows. “What about Devin?”
“I haven’t really talked to him yet.”
“You mean apart from when you ogled his sexy, half-naked body in the dressing room.”
Summer rolled her eyes. Her best friend was incorrigible.
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Ignore it, probably.”
“You will not.” Mandy smacked her on the arm and the remnants of the cocktail sloshed.
“Hey! What’s that for?”
“For four years I’ve watched you try to ignore the pair of them. Don’t you think it’s time to give them another chance?”
Summer frowned. When she’d first left Midnight Cove, she’d been upset. At herself. At both men. She’d even pushed Mandy away. But her best friend had pushed back. She’d shown up at college ready to snap Summer out of it—dragging her to shows and shopping. She’d pulled her out of her funk one painted nail at a time.
She glanced up at Devin as he chatted with Richard across the room. Maybe she had whined a bit over the years about him and Blake and how no man measured up. But it wasn’t like she’d pined after them. She’d gone out on plenty of dates and didn’t own a single cat.
“I live all the way across the country, Mandy. Even if we went down that road again, it’d be just like before. I’d leave and it’d be over.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. You could stay.”
What? Mandy picked up another hors d’oeuvre as Summer looked around the room. Oversized windows captured the setting sun over the ocean and little candles were casting a small glow on each sill. The grassy expanse in front of the Inn was lit up with carriage lights and all the flowers and trees and lushness of nature twisted Summer’s insides.
Midnight Cove was like walking into a Thomas Kincaid. Too beautiful. Too real. She’d been painting it ever since that summer. Slashes across the canvas of ocean water. Splashes of green and ochre for the trees. Even her abstracts were reminiscent. All derivative of this place and the wildness and the emotion it dredged up from deep inside her.