by Jana DeLeon
“Perhaps, but what does she have to feel bad about? She didn’t know what that man was up to. No one did. Not his parents, his employees, or his lifelong friends. Alayna only knew him for eight months. From what she told me they were still in that party and fancy-dinner stage. How was she supposed to figure out what all those people who’d known him his entire life never saw?”
“I know that, and you know that, but you also know that as women, we’re always harder on ourselves than everyone else is. I’m sure she blames herself for getting tied up with such a questionable sort, even if there was no way she could have been aware just what kind of person he was.”
Bea nodded. “It’s been brutal. Every day when I woke up for the past five months, the first thing on my mind was what I could do to help her. And every day, I came up with nothing.”
Nelly reached over and squeezed her hand. “You’re doing it. You’ve been doing it. You’re here for her. She’s got a place to come home to, surrounded by people who care about her. And now that she’s going to be in your sight, you’ll be able to see better what else she needs.”
“I hope so, because God knows, she won’t ask.”
“She was always independent.”
“You say independent. I say stubborn.”
Nelly smiled. “Well, she came by it honest.”
“What the hell are you talking about, you old coot? I’m the easiest person in the world.”
Nelly snorted and started looking around behind the counter. “We got any rubber boots in here? Because shit’s getting deep.”
“If you’re so worried about it, then grab the stepladder and put those new displays on top of the bookcases.”
Nelly gave Bea a quick hug. “She’s going to be fine. You’re going to make sure of that. And I’m going to be right here to help you. Anything you need. You just ask.”
“Thanks, Nelly. I can always count on you. Even though you ruined my plans for us growing disgracefully into our sunset years by marrying Harold.”
Nelly waved a hand in dismissal. “You know he’ll die before me. We’ll have plenty of time to embarrass those who love us.”
Bea grinned at Nelly, but the grin faded as her friend walked off with the stepladder. She didn’t want to admit just how worried about Alayna she was. The last time her niece had closed up this tight was when she was fifteen and her parents were killed in a car accident. It had taken a lot of time for Bea to earn Alayna’s trust and tear down the wall she’d erected around herself. This time was different in that Bea already had Alayna’s trust.
But she’d bet that wall was ten times taller and thicker.
Chapter Six
Luke grabbed a towel and headed outside with a paddleboard he’d found in the storage closet. His doctor had specifically forbidden him to surf, but he hadn’t said anything about paddleboarding. Not that Luke had mentioned that particular activity. He supposed it probably fell under the general umbrella of avoiding things that might twist his knee in a harsh manner, but the Gulf was calm and as long as he didn’t fall, there was no twisting involved.
At least, that’s what he told himself to dash away that tiny bit of guilt he felt.
He glanced back at Bea’s cottage next door and shook his head. His morning had definitely started differently than he’d expected. It had been years since he’d been on the receiving end of a butt-chewing by a good-looking woman. And the worst part wasn’t even that he’d probably startled a young woman out of ten years of life or that he’d done so in his underwear. The worst part was that it was the most excitement he’d had since his injury, and there was a part of him that had not only enjoyed it but had also derived a certain level of satisfaction from it.
Great. If he couldn’t figure out a spot in the military that interested him, he always had a bright future scaring women in their storage sheds. The pay was lousy and the threat of lawsuits was high, but the thrill was there. He let out a sigh as he took his first step into the Gulf. It was as calm as the Sound today, not even a trickle of air to cause a ripple on the water’s smooth surface.
Just what the doctor ordered. Calm. Relaxing.
Boring.
“Ryan?” A man’s voice sounded off to his left. He looked over to see an old Navy buddy strolling toward him, a black Lab walking contentedly at his side.
Luke smiled and moved forward to clutch Pete McCord’s outstretched hand, then leaned over to pet the dog.
“Man, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Pete said. “I figured you’d be under the surface somewhere, saving the world.”
“Yeah. Long classified story. This is the short version.” He pointed at his knee, the scars even more visible since he’d refused to stay out of the sun. “I’m renting that yellow house back there for a while.”
Pete’s expression immediately shifted from happiness to concern, and Luke knew that as a military doctor, Pete not only recognized the cause of the injury, but knew exactly what it meant for Luke’s career.
“Oh, wow,” Pete said finally. “I’m so sorry. I hadn’t heard.”
“I asked everyone to keep it quiet until I knew for sure how things would shake out. My team doesn’t even know yet. I mean, they know about the injury. They were there…”
“But they don’t know that it was your resignation letter.”
Luke shook his head. “That’s my fault. I keep delaying…hoping it will change.”
“That’s understandable. Did they offer you an instructor’s position here?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking it over.”
Pete gave him an empathetic look. “I know it’s not what you want, but if it matters, I can’t think of anyone better to prepare those guys for what they’ll face than you. You’ve got a way with people—the men respect you.”
Luke nodded. That was true enough, and it had set him up as the natural leader for the team. But he just didn’t see how yelling at men from the side of a boat could ever equal the exhilaration of completing a mission. Granted, being a SEAL instructor was much more than that, but once you’d been the real thing, training other men to do the job you wanted to do seemed almost insulting. He knew he shouldn’t feel that way. His loyalty should be to the program and in making sure the best men were 100 percent ready for anything they might encounter. But he couldn’t shake that lingering selfishness—that desire to do, not watch.
“What about you?” Luke asked, changing the subject. “Are you stationed here? I didn’t realize.”
Pete grinned. “I got lucky. One of the old base doctors retired and since I’d spent so much time patching up you guys, they thought it might be good to have me on a training base. Which makes me wonder—why haven’t I seen you? Professionally, I mean?”
“I was more or less released by my doctor in Virginia.”
“Uh-huh. More or less.”
“Fine. So I should have checked in a week ago. I guess I just didn’t see the point. I’m still on leave and rehabbing the knee, but we all know the score.”
“And you thought paddleboarding would be a good rehab choice?”
Luke sighed. “Are you going to be my buddy Pete or Pete the doctor?”
Pete threw up his hands. “I can take a hint. At least the surf’s calm enough today. Just promise me that if you lose your balance, you won’t try to save it. Twisting that knee is not your friend. Give yourself permission to fall. You’ll be happier tonight if you do.”
“That was the plan.”
“Well, if you run into any problems, just give me a shout. I’m renting a house for the week just down the beach a bit toward town—bright blue with pink shutters. You can’t miss it. Had some vacation time and figured there wasn’t a better place to go than a short drive away to paradise. It’s amazing that a completely boring mainland has this stretch of perfection sitting right in front of it.”
“You live on base?”
“For now. I just transferred here a couple months ago. I suppose it makes more sense for me to stay there—single, no kids
, free rent. But I think I’ve found my permanent place even after I leave the service. I’ve been considering buying a house on the island. Something small. I don’t think I’ll be able to swing beachfront, but there are some great cottages around downtown. Only a block or two and I’m on sand.”
“That would be a good fit.”
Pete was a doctor, but he was also a Florida native and his first love was the water. He spent all of his time off in it, on it, or around it. They had that in common.
Luke leaned down to stroke the Labrador’s head. “Who’s this guy?”
“This is Gus. He belonged to a vet who passed away a couple months ago. He didn’t have any family who could take him, and I didn’t want to see him go to a shelter. I’d been thinking about getting a dog anyway since I got into a permanent situation, so I figured Gus and me could make it work. He gets a good home in a place he knows, and I get a dog who’s already trained.”
Luke smiled. “That sounds like a good deal for everyone.”
Pete nodded, but his head was turned away from Luke and up the beach. Luke looked over to see what had caught his friend’s attention and saw Alayna taking a seat in a lawn chair, a bottle of water and a book on a table next to her. She was still sporting the shorts and tank and now that he wasn’t trying to take aim, Luke couldn’t help but notice that her legs seemed to go on forever and even though she was thin, she was curvy in all the right places.
“Wow. Your neighbor is seriously hot,” Pete said. “Have you been over to introduce yourself?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Uh-oh. I know that tone. I take it the meet and greet didn’t go smoothly?”
“Well, considering I thought she was stealing from the woman who owns the house and had my nine on her when I confronted her, I’m going to go with definitely not smoothly.”
Pete stared at him a couple seconds, clearly wondering if Luke was joking with him. Finally, he must have decided it was all the gospel because he started laughing.
“Man, I don’t mean to laugh,” Pete said. “But that’s got to be one of the worst ways ever to move in on a girl. You’re lucky you didn’t give her a heart attack.”
“I’m lucky she didn’t have a weapon. I got the impression she would have used it even though the odds were against her.”
“Sounds like my kind of woman.”
“Go for it,” Luke said. “You’re armed with a cute dog. I have a feeling you’ll do a lot better than me.”
Pete grinned. “I’m going to take a pass. Being back stateside, I’ve finally gotten my life shifted from chaos to uncomplicated. And women are the definition of complicated.”
“It’s just as well. According to her aunt, who owns that house as well as the one I’m renting, the frightened blonde owns a restaurant in Manhattan. Probably just here for a visit.”
Pete glanced over at Alayna again and pursed his lips. “If she’s leaving soon, that might change things. A vacation fling can be fun. You should try talking to her without your gun.”
“Me? No way. I’ve already got enough on my plate. I don’t need to add to the pile.”
Pete shrugged. “Whatever you say, but there’s more than one way to rehab a knee.”
“You’re awful.”
“What? I was talking about dancing.”
Luke grinned. “Sure you were. Hey, do you have your phone on you? I want to give you my number.”
Pete pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Luke, who put in his number and handed it back. “Let’s get together one night this week,” Luke said. “I bought a couple steaks yesterday. And I keep plenty of beer. We could throw them on the grill, kick back, listen to the surf.”
“Steak? Seriously? Man, I wish I didn’t have plans tonight.” He grimaced. “One of those family things I couldn’t get out of.”
“You’ve got family here?”
“An old uncle. My mother’s brother. She hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years, but he got wind that I transferred here and thinks that means he should get free medical advice.”
“Was he military?”
“Please. He’s barely held a job. He mostly holds the bottle.”
Luke nodded. “Which is why your mother doesn’t speak to him.”
Luke had met Pete’s mother once and she was an old-school proper lady. He couldn’t imagine her tolerating poor behavior.
“Exactly,” Pete said. “She told me to ignore him, but you know me. I’ll make the trip over there and see for myself. If everything is exactly as my mother expects, I’ll give him some rehab information. My guess is he won’t call again.”
“Probably just wants a prescription for pain meds.”
Pete sighed. “Yeah, that’s my guess. Well, he’s not getting it from me.”
“I never thought he would. Sorry you have to deal with that, man.”
“No worries. It will probably only be the one time. Anyway, I’ve got that tonight and dinner with a visiting surgeon tomorrow night. What about the night after?”
“Works for me. Come by around six.”
“Great! Can I bring Gus?”
“You’re not welcome without him.”
Pete nodded. “Then we’ll see you at six with our appetites. You want me to pick up anything?”
“Nope. I have it all covered.”
“Sounds good. Enjoy your boarding. And take it easy. I’ll be taking a closer look at that knee when I come for dinner.”
Luke gave his buddy a wave as he walked off. Pete couldn’t help handing out medical advice. It was just part of his makeup. He was one of the smartest people Luke had ever met, which made him a brilliant doctor. But more importantly, Pete cared about people and wanted them to be healthy. Which was exactly why Luke didn’t get annoyed with Pete’s advice. He knew Pete meant it for Luke’s own good.
Luke grabbed his board and headed for the water, sending one glance back at Alayna, who had turned her chair to face the sun and was wearing a floppy hat and sunglasses, holding the book in front of her. He felt a twinge that had nothing to do with his knee and snapped his head around. Pete might joke about a vacation fling, but Luke already had enough things to work out. And since he was already in the doghouse, any attempt at even the most casual of relationships with his sexy neighbor had him starting in the negative.
It wasn’t worth it. He needed to be figuring out what to do about his sudden career loss and how to get on with the rest of his life. A fling was a distraction he couldn’t afford, and a fling with Alayna would be way more effort than he was willing to expend given how things had started. He needed to spend all that energy on figuring out his next move.
Alayna drove into the quaint downtown area of Tempest Island and smiled as she looked at the brick paver streets and the weathered old buildings that made up the town center. The whole business area stretched along both sides of Main Street. The storefronts were mostly glass and many had awnings in bright shades of blue, pink, and yellow that contrasted against the brick frames. Giant planters with tropical flowers were placed along both sides of the street and the blooms were another burst of color against the faded paint of the storefronts.
Behind Main Street on the north side were two blocks of homes, mostly cottages that looked as though they’d been plucked out of a Disney story and placed on the island. More bright colors abounded there, in both the color of the homes’ siding and the gardens that were so well manicured that they looked painted rather than real. The residents of Tempest Island took pride in their town, and it showed with the way they maintained their property. Even the rentals were indistinguishable from the homes occupied by residents.
That half-mile stretch of businesses was it—the entirety of downtown shopping and eating. The neighborhood behind downtown stretched further out along the Sound on the east side of the island another couple miles. In both directions, the road continued along the shoreline with oceanfront homes dotted along the way until you reached protected seascape on both ends. Bea’s cot
tages were on the west end of the island, where houses occupied the Gulf side but not the Sound side, which provided more privacy for the owners.
Due to a very protective city council, Tempest Island had managed to avoid miles of concrete and instead, enjoyed that untouched look for much of its shoreline, which set it apart from other places along the coast. One small two-story motel existed downtown, but the building blended right in with the other shops. There were no high-rise hotels or luxury condo developments. No chain restaurants or retail stores.
It was absolutely perfect.
She found an open spot to park in front of Island Books and smiled when she saw that the Old Time Ice Cream Shop next door was still open and appeared to be doing a good business even though the tourist season hadn’t started yet. She made a mental note to stop for a treat before she left, not that she really needed a reminder. The smell of waffle cones wafting around her was enough to tempt anyone.
She opened the door to the bookstore and stepped inside, drawing in a deep breath. She’d always loved her aunt’s store. Bea had acquired the old town hall when they’d needed more space and constructed a new building farther down the street. The outside was two stories of weathered red brick that sat on the corner with steps on the back that led to offices upstairs that she rented out. Large glass windows spanned the front of the first and second floors. The inside was even better. A wall of floor-to-ceiling bookcases in the lobby had been part of the town hall design, and Bea had left them intact and found a carpenter who could match them throughout the store. The store always smelled of wood oil, leather, and vanilla.
It smelled like home.
Bea wasn’t at the front counter, so Alayna wandered through the store and finally found her in the back unloading a carton of books. The bookstore’s cat, a big gray Maine coon named Shakespeare, was sprawled on top of one of the boxes and gave her a sleepy look as she approached. She reached to scratch his head between the ears, and Bea looked back, her face lighting up with a smile when she caught sight of Alayna. She dropped the book she was holding and hurried over to gather Alayna in a tight hug.