by V. K. Sykes
Lily almost choked on a rush of emotion. “No, never,” she said, squeezing his hand back.
“I told him that I was going to do everything I could to help him. That I’d make sure he got a good price for his land, and that I’d be here to help him with anything he’d need from now on.”
Her pace faltered. “You’ll be here? In Seashell Bay?”
He’d told her he was retiring, and she’d hoped that meant he might come back here for good. Maybe that’s what he’d been trying to tell her while they were waiting for the vote count. But now that the moment of truth was here, she was almost afraid to ask.
Aiden stopped under a street lamp on a quiet corner, took her by the shoulders, and turned her toward him. He leaned in to plant a swift, soft kiss on her mouth. “I’ll be in Seashell Bay for as long as you are, Lily.”
She gaped up at him as her brain went sort of fuzzy. A guy like Aiden wouldn’t give up on a career—and vow to stay on the island—unless he loved her, right? That’s what it had to mean.
Only one way to find out.
Saying a quick prayer for courage, she let out the words she’d held behind a self-imposed wall for fourteen long years. “I love you, Aiden. And just to be clear, that means I’m in love with you. Totally and completely.”
Aiden pulled her close, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I hear you loud and clear, Lily-girl. And I love you that much too. I’ll never leave you again, not for anything. I promise.”
When he tipped her face up to claim her mouth in a deep and passionate kiss, Lily’s legs went wobbly. But the joyful energy that surged through her at that moment blasted away her fatigue and worry, leaving in their wake a profound sense of wonder and gratitude that she and Aiden had finally found their way to each other. It had to count as a miracle, as far as she was concerned.
All too soon, he broke away and held her at arm’s length. “You know, I think we can make the ecoresort work, and I’ve even got a plan for getting Bram involved so he doesn’t spend his life just sitting around drinking and gambling.”
“Bram was amazing tonight,” Lily said, resting her palms on his chest. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack when you dived in, but you both were heroes.”
Aiden shook his head, as if he still couldn’t believe it. “When he came down and grabbed Dad, I felt like I… like I truly had my brother back.”
“So what have you got in mind for him to do?”
“Well, if we get the resort off the ground, I’m hoping he might be willing to take over the tour operations. Do the excursion planning and act as guide on some trips. Bram knows these islands better than anybody, and nobody’s more comfortable on the water than he is. Colton Booth told me he could help train him on the organizational stuff.”
“I think that’s a fantastic idea,” Lily said. If Sean could somehow get himself together, and if Bram discovered a new purpose in his life, the chances of Aiden finding lasting happiness in Seashell Bay would be so much better.
She snuggled against him, sinking into his heat and strength.
Aiden’s arms locked around her. “I’ve been saving one last piece of good news till the end.”
She looked up and gave him a puzzled smile. “Holding out on me again, are you?”
“I’m retiring, and I’m not leaving Seashell Bay, so let’s be clear on both those things.” He moved a hand up to rest on the back of her neck. “But I’m not leaving baseball either.”
That gave her a bit of a jolt. “You’re not?”
“No. I’m not going to be playing, but baseball is still going to be my job. I’ve been offered an assistant coaching position here at USM, Lily, and I’m taking it.”
Lily stared at him, her mouth dropping open. She didn’t know much about college baseball, but she did know that Aiden could easily commute to the Portland campus every day. “Holy crap. I mean, that’s… wonderful, but… but are you sure that’s what you want?” She swallowed, nervous all over again, but she had to say it. “Are you sure you won’t regret passing on the opportunity in Oakland?”
Aiden frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I would follow you, you know,” she blurted out. “I know you thought I’d never leave the island, but I would if I had to, Aiden. For you. I know I should have told you that before. I’m so sorry I chickened out this morning, but the day just seemed to get away from me.”
“Now you tell me.” But then he grinned, and Lily knew everything was going to be all right.
“I’m glad you told me that, but it doesn’t matter,” he added. “I’m sure this is the right decision for me. For us. You’d be miserable if you left Seashell Bay, and I’d be miserable if I left without you. So let’s not get into any second-guessing or regrets. It’s all good. In fact, it’s perfect. I love you, and we’re going to be happy together, right on our goofy, little island.” He shook his head. “God help me, I never thought I’d say that.” Then he laughed again.
Grinning like an idiot, Lily gave him a poke in the ribs. “For that cheap shot, Aiden Flynn, I’m going to make you haul a hundred extra traps tomorrow.”
Aiden leaned down and kissed her. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
Epilogue
Lily hadn’t set foot inside the Flynns’ old wraparound Victorian for many years—not since Sean had stopped lobster fishing. Before that, Miss Annie would sometimes take her along when they surreptitiously visited Rebecca Flynn while Sean was out on his boat. It had been a gorgeous house back then, and its bones were still good, but on a November afternoon it looked pretty gloomy.
“The place needs a lot of work,” Aiden said.
They surveyed the spacious living room with its bow window and soot-crusted original hearth. Chunks of plaster had flaked off the walls and ceiling, the chandelier tilted from its loose base, and one of the windows had a crack running diagonally across it. But at least the place was spotless. Aiden had hired Peggy Fogg’s daughter to do a deep cleaning during the two months his father had spent in a rehab program in Portland, and now Mary stopped in every week to keep it tidy. That wasn’t a big deal, given that Sean had been staying with Miss Annie and Roy since his recent return to Seashell Bay.
“Brendan Porter will help out,” Lily said. “He’s a great carpenter, and he can fill in when you don’t have time to work on the house yourself. And I’ve got some time on my hands now too.”
Lily had just pulled her lobstering gear for the season. She’d had a very good three months on the water and had made enough money to put herself on a much sounder footing. Aiden had continued to work sternman for her until he started at the university. After that, Lily had stopped fishing for a week. But then she had been able to hire Erica Easton after her captain, Forrest Coolidge, was hospitalized with a stroke. It looked as if Erica would be available next season too, since the stroke had left poor Forrest facing a very long rehabilitation.
Aiden took her gently by the lapels of her barn coat and tugged her up for a quick kiss. “Yes, but we agreed that you’d focus on the resort during the initial planning stages, since you’re the one with all the good ideas. You and Bram. I’m better off spending my spare time with a hammer and a paintbrush.”
She smiled at him, still not quite believing how everything had come together so quickly. Aiden had already lined up much of the project financing and ensured that the long process of legal and regulatory approvals was underway.
Bram’s role in the project so far had been a revelation. Like his dad, he’d also completed an alcohol rehab program. He and Sean were now seeing the same Portland psychologist—insisted on and paid for by Aiden—and he’d given up online gambling. In fact, he’d gone so far as to turn over his computer to Aiden to lock away. The difference Lily had seen in Bram since August was more than encouraging.
She batted her eyes in mock flirtation. “Oh, I can think of better ways to spend your spare time, big guy.”
Aiden laughed. “You’re insatiable, woman. It’s shocking.”
“Yes, but I know how much you love it.”
He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against him. “We’ve still got a long way to go to make up for fourteen lost years.”
She pushed open his leather jacket and nuzzled into the solid warmth of his chest. “Then we’ll just have to work even harder.”
He hugged her for a few moments and then pulled her to sit beside him on the ratty, old couch in the bay window. “I haven’t told you yet what Dad said last night.”
Aiden had spent the evening with his father, Miss Annie, and Roy Mayo while Lily met Morgan in the city for dinner and a concert. But Aiden had been waiting for her at the ferry dock when she got off the boat, and they’d focused on other, more interesting things than talking as soon as he got her back to her cottage.
“He told me he wants to stay with Miss Annie and Roy a little longer,” Aiden said. “You know they’ve invited him to stay with them as long as he wants, and he says he’s happy there. Says those two old coots—his words, not mine—are good at keeping an eye on him so he doesn’t drink.”
Miss Annie had stepped up to the plate when Sean got out of rehab, insisting that Aiden remain with Lily at her cottage instead of babysitting his father, as she called it.
“God bless Granny and Roy,” Lily said, “but that setup obviously can’t last forever.”
“Dad realizes that. He just wants to stay there for a few more months—basically until he’s sure he can live alone again without falling off the wagon.” Aiden gave her a wry smile. “I actually believe him, Lily. You’ve seen how much he’s changed.”
Lily hadn’t had a civil conversation with Sean Flynn for ten years before the night he ended up at Maine Medical Center. Now he’d started to treat her like a human being and not a scum-of-the-earth Doyle. They still had a ways to go, but the progress was undeniable. Sean had even managed to talk to her father for a few minutes last week without getting into a fight.
Maybe, just maybe, the decades-old family feud was finally coming to an overdue end.
“That’s good.” She nodded. “So we’ve got a few months to fix up the place and get it ready for him.”
“Not exactly,” Aiden said. “Dad and I talked about doing another swap.”
“Swap?”
“I’ve agreed to build him a house a quarter mile down the road—he wants something small and easy to deal with—and in exchange, he’s going to give me the family home.”
Lily stared at him. They hadn’t talked much about the future, but she’d assumed—hoped, anyway—that he’d keep living with her until they could someday build their own house on the land he’d already swapped with his father. “Uh, it’s a wonderful old house, but I thought it might have too many… bad memories for you.”
Aiden gave his head a little shake. “I can get past that. This was my mom’s house too, and I like remembering her here. Besides, we’ll create our own memories. Great ones.”
Lily’s throat got tight so she just gave him a big smile.
He rose and pulled her up from the couch. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
She followed him up the staircase to a small, second-floor room in back that offered a panoramic view of the ocean. “I remember this. It’s the room your mom used for reading and sewing.”
The pale yellow room looked almost exactly the same now as in her memory. A cushioned rocking chair in one corner, a love seat opposite, bookshelves on two walls, and a braided area rug that covered much of the floor. A pair of lopsided clay vases that Aiden and Bram had made one summer at the Rec Center stood on a small table, the colorful dried flowers inside them perpetually cheery. Lily had taken the same workshop, and her mother still had her tragic effort at a vase on display too.
“Mom called this room her hideaway. We’d spend hours in here—she’d be sewing or knitting while I had my nose in a book.” Aiden gave a little chuckle. “She would make me read a chapter and then tell her what happened in it before I was allowed to go outside and hit baseballs or play catch with Bram or my friends.”
Lily smiled. “Smart lady. I’m going to keep that strategy in mind for the future.”
Our future and our children.
“I know Mom would be happy to see us take over her family home and restore it,” Aiden said. “And I think she’d love to have her favorite room get a different kind of use.”
“Like?” Her breath had caught, but she tried to sound casual.
Aiden’s lips curved into a broad smile. “I was thinking along the lines of a nursery.”
Lily flashed him an answering smile, feeling a little too choked up to answer.
Aiden reached into his jacket and pulled out a small blue box—the kind you got at a good jewelry store—and her heart rate went into triple digits. He eased it open to reveal a stunning emerald ring.
“I love you, Lily Doyle,” he said in a serious voice. “Marry me and we’ll renovate a house, build a resort, raise some kids, take care of our parents, and catch a million lobsters, right here in Seashell Bay. Oh, and maybe we’ll win a few conference baseball championships too.”
She held out a trembling hand to let Aiden slip the ring onto her finger. Then she threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself up on tiptoe to kiss him. “That sounds like a plan, Aiden Flynn. The best plan ever.”
With his arms wrapped tightly around her, Lily knew the man she’d always loved had finally come home for good.
Ryan Butler returns to Seashell Bay a decorated Marine. His military career may be over, but his life with bed-and-breakfast owner Morgan Merrifield may be just beginning.
A preview of
Summer at the Shore
follows.
Chapter 1
Ryan Butler dumped his army-issue duffel bag onto the deck and grabbed a bench seat beside the ferry’s port rail. As usual, he’d kept his gear to a minimum for a visit home. And it struck him as weird that he still thought of Seashell Bay Island as home, despite his determined escape years ago. Most summers, he’d spend only three or four days with his folks, but this vacation could last a lot longer. He had plans, of course, but his years in the army had taught him the necessity of keeping them flexible. If the island started to close in on him, he’d jump on a ferry and head somewhere else. He had some money, some time, and no responsibilities, so he could pretty much do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Ryan called that freedom, and he needed a good dose of it right now.
After his latest grueling contract with Double Shield Corporation, Ryan had made clear to his controller that he needed a serious break. For ten months, he’d been babysitting diplomats in Baghdad. For six more after that, his job had been protecting a Fortune 500 CEO and his team as they bounced their way across a string of countries that varied from half-assed safe to outright deadly. Those jobs paid great but left him with an even bigger dose of uncertainty about his future than when he’d left the military. A little of the hired gunslinger’s life went a long way, and he sure as hell couldn’t see doing it in the long term.
As for the alternatives? At this point he hadn’t a clue.
A year and a half ago, simmering frustration with his army career and the lure of good money had prompted him to leave Special Operations and hook up with Double Shield, a private military contractor. But it hadn’t taken long to realize that money wasn’t enough. In fact, his restlessness had only increased after he’d taken the corporate gig. At least in the army, Ryan had felt as if he had roots that kept him grounded. Now he was drifting. His bank account was getting fatter, but that was about the only good thing he had to show for his life over the last eighteen months.
He twisted in his seat to take another look over Casco Bay, breathing in the tangy scents of the sea air and the fishing boats. He must have taken one of these ferries between Portland and the island hundreds if not thousands of times, including every day of his four years at Peninsula High. The ride could be a boring pain in the ass, but it was relaxing. Forty minutes to an ho
ur of pure peace. Put the earbuds in and zone out.
Except for the occasional mad morning rush to finish up homework before the boat docked in Portland. Okay, maybe more than occasional.
A cheerful serenity cloaked the harbor scene even though tourists and locals alike rushed to make boats to the various islands, towing children and dogs, as well as groceries in carts and battered canvas bags. Coming home had never particularly thrilled him, and yet Ryan had spent enough time eating dust and dodging bullets and IEDs to regard the good old USA, and coastal Maine in particular, as probably the closest thing to peace he’d ever find. Yeah, it was caught in a retro time warp that certainly wasn’t for an adrenaline junkie like him, but he did appreciate the laid-back beauty of the place that remained unchanged from one year to the next.
The ferry horn sounded one blast to signal the boat’s imminent departure. A couple of tanned and fit young deckhands—probably college students—finished securing the cargo while two others pulled the metal gangway onto the boat. Like them, Ryan had spent the summer after his high school graduation crewing on the island ferries. It had been hard, hot work, but something about that final summer, working and partying with his high school friends, had been almost idyllic.
And then he’d left for the military and soon enough to Afghanistan, Iraq, and then Afghanistan again. In the process, he’d lost too many army buddies and seen enough ugliness to last several lifetimes.
“Hold up!” a voice cried from down the pier. “Please, guys, I really need to make this boat.”
Ryan recognized that feminine voice even before he saw Morgan Merrifield running full tilt boogie down the concrete platform of the ferry terminal. Her pretty face flushed and her blond hair flopping forward into her eyes, she lugged an overstuffed L.L.Bean bag in her right hand and pulled a wheeled cart with her left. Instinct made him jump up and rush down to the boat’s lower deck to help her.