If only it were that easy. He knew Abby needed time with Cait and Deirdra to figure out their new normal. He didn’t envy her position, and he had the strongest desire to help her weed through the mess her mother had left behind. But he wasn’t there to take over and lead her down wiser paths, which left him sitting on a beach with a book in hand, anxiously passing the hours until tomorrow morning, when he could see her again.
He tried again to focus on the horror novel Abby had recommended, wondering if she’d read it. He’d pegged her as more of a chick lit reader. He read a few pages, then gazed out at the water thinking about Abby’s smile and how much he’d enjoyed getting to know her and helping her in the Bistro. He looked down at the book again and couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat on a beach and read.
“Waiting for a boat to come in?” Abby asked as she walked up behind him.
He set down his book, a surge of adrenaline pushing him to his feet. “Abs,” he said with surprise. Her hair was a little frizzy and tousled, and her white sweatshirt was smudged with dirt, but her smile was as fresh as a new day, and she looked even more gorgeous than she had that morning. “What are you doing here?”
Her eyes drifted over the kite. “By the looks of it, I’m rescuing that kite from ending up in the trash.”
“The last time I flew a kite was with Remi when she was a kid. Now I remember why. It’s definitely a two-person job. How did things go with Cait?”
“Good, thanks. I like her. A lot actually. As you probably noticed, she’s quiet and a little skeptical of people, but she warmed up quickly. She’s sweet and funny, and she worked her butt off. We didn’t talk about anything too important yet. But I’m sure we will tonight. She’s going to stay at the house with us. Deirdra showed up to help right after you left, which totally shocked me. I guess today is full of surprises.”
“Sweet and funny must be a family trait.” He reached for her hand without thinking too hard about why he felt the need to be closer to her and brushed his thumb over her knuckles, enjoying the way her breathing quickened with his touch. “And you’re here, which is the best surprise of all. But shouldn’t you be with them?”
“They’re tired and wanted to relax. I . . .” Pink stained her cheeks. “I thought I’d see if you needed help with the kite.”
“The kite, huh?” He arched a brow.
“Well, yeah. I said I’d help you with your list, and you said you were going to struggle—”
“Wrestle,” he corrected her, enjoying her adorable rambling.
“Wrestle, right. I pictured you out here tangled up in string, and I didn’t want a good kite to go to waste.”
“Well, we can’t have that, now, can we?” He stepped closer, and she lifted her eyes, full of wonder and want, confirming that he hadn’t imagined the heat between them earlier. It took all of his control not to lower his lips to hers and taste what he was sure would be the sweetest kiss of all. But he’d been with enough women to recognize how different he felt around Abby, and he didn’t want to fuck up whatever this was between them, so he said, “I’m jealous of that kite right now.”
“Yeah?” she asked breathily.
“Oh yeah. Knowing you want to get your hands on my kite does all sorts of interesting things to me.” He was walking a dangerous line. If he didn’t step away, he was going to haul her into his arms and kiss her, and he might not be willing to stop. He reluctantly let go of her hand and tore his eyes away, looking at the kite. “Think it’s salvageable?”
She picked up the kite and cocked her head at the knotted string. “How did you even do this?”
“The thing is possessed. All I did was try to hold up the kite and run, but it kept twisting and falling and . . .” He shrugged. “That happened.”
“Stupid kite,” she commiserated, and plunked herself down in the sand beside his chair. “I’ll teach it a lesson.” She began working out the knots.
“You can sit in the chair.”
She looked up at him, the late-afternoon sun reflecting in her eyes, and said, “I’m an island girl. Sand is my go-to comfy place.”
“In that case.” He sat beside her in the sand, pulled one knee up, and leaned his arm on it, watching her unravel the knots like a pro. “You’re good with your hands.”
She pressed her lips together, as if she didn’t want him to realize she’d taken his words another way. Little did she know, Aiden hadn’t flirted like this since he was in college.
“Deirdra was good at getting things tangled up when we were kids. Someone had to be good at untangling them.” She tugged at a knot, eyeing his shoes, and said, “Do you always wear loafers and nice clothes?”
“Not all the time. I sleep naked.”
Laughter tumbled from her lips. “Don’t tell me that.”
“You asked.” He chuckled and picked up the book she’d recommended. “Have you read this?”
“Yes, and I’m so glad you got it. Isn’t it good?”
“I’m only about a third of the way through, but yes. It’s very well written. I didn’t peg you as a horror reader.”
“I read everything, but I grew up with the author, Jack Steele. I had to read it. He goes by the nickname Jock now. He and his twin brother, Archer, used to scare everyone all the time just for fun. That’s how you knew they liked you. Jock recently moved back to the island and got married at his family’s winery. I can introduce you at some point if you’d like.” She untangled another knot, and a spark of excitement shone in her eyes. “Hey, isn’t the winery on your list?”
“If it’s not, we’ll add it. I want to see all the sights that make your eyes light up like that.”
She looked up from the string and said, “Your lines are better than any I’ve ever heard.”
“Because they’re not lines, Abs. I’m being honest.”
“Whatever.” She shook her head and said, “The winery is a must see. It’s got the best views on the island. Archer runs it with their parents, Steve and Shelley, and Jock’s wife, Daphne. Daphne handles their events, and Shelley runs the tours. Shelley’s like a second mother to me and Deirdra. She’s the one who told us about Cait.” She stretched the string and wound it around the spool, looking like she wanted to say more about that, but then she said, “There we go. Good as new. You’re lucky it’s not tourist season yet. The beaches get packed. You wouldn’t have room to run with your kite. Why did you choose this time of year to go on vacation, and why here instead of someplace warmer?”
“It was a good time to take off work, and as I said yesterday, I’m not fond of crowds. I let Remi pick the location, so here I am.”
“Well, I think you brought this unseasonably warm weather with you. Ready to fly this baby?”
“Absolutely.” He stood up and helped her to her feet.
“Thanks.” She held up the shocking-pink kite and said, “Interesting color choice.”
“I was on FaceTime with Patrice when I was shopping, so I let her pick it out. Pink is her favorite color.”
“That was sweet of you.”
“My brother-in-law says I’m niece whipped. They blink those innocent eyes at me, and I can’t say no. I think they learned it from Remi.”
“Well, let’s make them proud and get this kite up in the air.” She held the kite and handed him the spool. “You have to be the one to fly it since it’s on your list, so I’ll be the runner.”
“That’s fitting, Runner Girl.”
They made a quick assessment of the wind direction, and Aiden let out some string as he walked down the beach. When he looked back, Abby stood with her head slightly tilted, one hand shading her eyes. The breeze swept her hair away from her face, and the bright pink kite was blowing against her bare legs. She looked utterly gorgeous. He pulled his phone from his pocket and took a picture.
“Hey!” She put a hand on her hip. “You need proof that you flew the kite, not me.”
“That one was for me!” he shouted.
“Fair’s fair!” She
whipped out her phone and took a picture of him.
Damn, he liked her style. “Ready?”
She nodded, and he jogged forward, watching over his shoulder as the kite left her fingers and sailed into the air. She squealed, jumping up and down, and ran toward him, yelling, “Keep going!” Just as she reached him, the kite nose-dived. “Nooo!”
They both laughed, and then they tried again and again, until finally the kite sailed high into the sky, swooping and flapping with the wind. Abby cheered. “Yay! We did it!” She whipped out her phone and took pictures of him flying the kite. “Wave to Remi!”
Her enthusiasm was contagious. He couldn’t remember when he’d had so much fun. “We’re a team! Get over here and get in the picture, Abs.”
She ran over, her thick mane lifting off her shoulders. He pulled her in front of him, wrapping his free hand around her waist, holding the spool with his other hand as he peered over her shoulder at her phone. Their smiling faces filled the screen.
“Gorgeous,” he said, drinking in her summery scent. “Take the picture.”
“We need to get the kite in the picture.”
“Take this one first. I like it.” As she took the picture, the screen reflected her widening smile, showing him how much she liked it, too.
“Are you always such a picture hoarder?” she asked.
He squeezed her tighter, loving the feel of her curves against him, and said, “Only with my nieces.”
“Then I consider myself lucky.”
“Did you say you want to get lucky? I’ll add that to our list.”
“Aiden,” she said breathily. She angled the phone so their faces fit on the screen with the kite high in the sky behind them and took the picture. “I got it!”
She turned, and her hand landed on his chest, her eyes twinkling up at him. Heat flared beneath her touch. Could she feel it, too? Her eyes held his, and he knew he should step back, take things slow, but for the first time in forever he felt joyful and lustful at once, and he wanted to hold on to that feeling, to etch it into his memory bank. Her lips parted, her breathing shallowed, and everything else faded away. Without thinking, he put his other arm around her, the kite string sliced between them as the kite spiraled into the waves.
Abby gasped, her fingers pressing into his chest as she spun out of his grip and ran toward the water. “No! Your kite! It’s soaking wet.”
The hell with the kite. He wanted to get her wet.
“It’s okay. We already flew it.” He wound the string around the spool as a crashing wave carried the kite up the shore.
“But we were doing so well,” she said as he pulled the drenched kite from the water. “I still have some time before I have to meet my sisters. We could do something else that’s on your list.”
He pulled out his phone and couldn’t resist saying, “Give me a sec to add get lucky to it first.”
A pretty flush raced up her cheeks, and she swatted his side, reaching for the phone. But he threw his arm up over his head and said, “First you want to get your hot little hands on my kite. Now you want to get them on my list? What’s next? My book? My chair?”
“Your ass if you’re not careful,” she said.
“That’s even better.”
She tried to give him a disbelieving look, but while her pursed lips valiantly attempted to stifle her unstoppable smile, the heat in her eyes gave the truth away. She planted her hand on her hip, a mannerism he was beginning to anticipate, and definitely enjoyed, and said, “I was thinking we could tackle the sundae.”
“Good idea. You need to cool off before you get all gropy with me.” He hooked an arm around her neck, chuckling as he tugged her against his side, and they made their way up the beach.
They left the kite by his chair and walked the few blocks to the ice cream store, passing beautiful pristine cottages with manicured gardens and picket fences.
“What was it like growing up here? Beach parties all summer long?”
“For some people. My memories are split into before and after my father died. I was too young for beach parties when he passed away and our lives were upended. But before that, my parents were usually at the restaurant, and Deirdra and I were free to ride our bikes all over Silver Haven, which is this part of the island. But even as a kid I loved cooking, and from the time I could reach the stove, my father taught me to cook in the restaurant. So most of the time I’d play with friends after school for a while, then go to the restaurant and do my homework at breakneck speed so I could spend the rest of the time cooking with my dad.”
“That sounds like a great childhood.”
“It was. But after my father died, my mom got lost.” When they reached the corner, she pointed to the left and they walked that way. “I think my father was like the blood that fed her heart. We found out yesterday that she’d had Cait as a teenager and left home after her parents forced her to give her up for adoption. My mom was only eighteen when she came to the island and started working as a waitress in my dad’s restaurant. He was twenty-nine, and the way they told it, it was love at first sight, with fireworks and full-body tingles. But they waited a year before they finally acted on their feelings, and they were married a year later. He adored her, and he became her entire world. He was her true love, her friend, and to some extent her father figure, because he was always watching out for her.”
“That’s quite an age difference.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. “But who’s to say what’s right or wrong when it comes to love?”
“Certainly not me. But at eighteen or nineteen there’s no way I could have known what I wanted for the rest of my life. How old are you, Abs?”
“Twenty-eight. You?” she asked as they crossed the street.
“I’m thirty-eight. Our age difference isn’t much different from your parents’. But somehow it feels different when you’re older.”
“I understand what you’re saying. We learn and change so much between our teens and midtwenties. I can’t believe I’m nearing thirty.”
“And I’m closing in on forty. I have no idea how it happened so fast. I look in the mirror and see my father’s face. Aging doesn’t bother me, and it feels good seeing some of my father in me. But I’ve sidetracked your story. I’m sorry. You said your mother got lost after your father died. What did you mean by that?”
They came to a main drag, which was lined with cute shops with colorful awnings.
“The ice cream shop is at the end of this street with the red-and-white-striped awning.” As they headed in that direction, she said, “What I meant about my mother getting lost was that she started drinking and never stopped. She could function well enough most of the time, but nights were hard. I think she must have missed my father so much she needed to escape the pain of it. Needless to say, mine and Deirdra’s lives changed dramatically. By the time we were teenagers, while our friends were at those beach parties you asked about, or surfing, or out buying fancy prom dresses, doing all the normal teenager things, Deirdra and I were helping at the restaurant, making sure the bills were paid, and putting our mother to bed at night.”
“Oh, Abs.” He slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close. “That’s awful. I’m sorry you went through that. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been. It’s no wonder Deirdra is resentful, and shocking that you’re not. That’s a lot for two little girls to take on. You were younger than Olive. I can’t imagine her having to take on that kind of responsibility.”
“It’s funny, when we were in the thick of it, we just fell into step, you know? Our mom needed us, and we didn’t think too much about it at first. We figured out what needed to be done and we did it. Deirdra is two years older than me, and I remember her complaining all the time about how unfair it was and how disappointed and angry she was at our mom. She couldn’t wait to leave the island. She got scholarships, and when she left to attend Boyer University in Upstate New York, she tried to get me to go with her and finish high school near there.
But I couldn’t leave my mom.”
“That’s a real testament to who you are, Abs.”
“I guess. Shelley tried to help as much as she could, sending her kids over to bus and wait tables and ordering food from the restaurant to keep money coming in. But by the time Deirdra left for college, business had dwindled and my mom wasn’t doing anything to help herself. She’d promise to stop drinking, then sneak alcohol. After going through that a few times, I learned to stop having expectations—about her or anyone else in my life. Without expectations, I can’t be let down.”
“What about Deirdra?”
“Are you kidding? Her schedule is insane. She cancels plans all the time. It’s not her fault, and I know she feels guilty when she cancels.” She sighed and said, “Anyway, about my mom. I don’t know if she loved my father so much that she was truly lost without him, or if he was her guiding light in more ways than I knew. But I know that I never want to be in a position where I rely so much on a man that I can’t stand on my own two feet without him.”
He understood why she tried not to have expectations, though it made him sad to think she didn’t have anyone in her life she could rely on in that way. “Well, you’ve certainly set yourself up for independence.”
“Yes, I have, and it works for me.” She stopped at the ice cream shop and said, “Scoops used to be my favorite ice cream shop. It was sold a few years ago, but I’ve heard the ice cream is still homemade. Let’s get that sundae before I bore you to tears.”
“I’m not bored in the least. I like learning about you and what’s made you into the woman you are, and I’d like to hear the rest of the story after we order the biggest sundae they’ve got.”
“You must be hungry.”
“The bigger the sundae, the more time I get to spend with you.” He pulled open the door and followed her in.
They ordered a five-scoop sundae—three of Abby’s favorite flavors: strawberry, chocolate chip cookie dough, and pistachio, and two of Aiden’s: chocolate-cherry swirl and vanilla crunch—with hot fudge and caramel toppings, whipped cream, nuts, chocolate jimmies, and two cherries. They took the sundae outside and sat beside each other at a table in front of the ice cream store.
Maybe We Will (Silver Harbor) Page 7