Heather knocked on the door to Jesse’s cottage on Friday evening, then ran her hands nervously down her hips. The yellow sundress fluttered around her knees in the gentle breeze. Maybe she should have worn the light teal blue one… And maybe she should have driven over because she was a bit warm from the walk. The heat of her cheeks made her worry she’d look flushed. She was sure the heat on her cheeks was just from the walk. Nothing to do with being nervous. Why should she be nervous?
The door swung open and Jesse stood there in shorts and a t-shirt. Barefoot. With a kitchen towel thrown over his shoulder. His warm smile welcomed her. “Hey there. I was just finishing up in the kitchen. Come in.” He stepped aside.
She slid past him, grateful for the air-conditioning. She kicked off her shoes by his door and padded after him.
“I’ve got a salad made in the fridge. I’m going to grill us some grouper. Oh, and I picked up dessert from Evelyn. Peach pie.”
“That all sounds wonderful. And I love Evelyn’s peach pie. She uses an old family recipe. Grace’s.”
“It’s one of my favorite things she bakes at the cafe. Though, to be honest, I haven’t really had anything there that I didn’t love.” He reached into the fridge. “Beer?”
“Perfect.” An ice-cold beer should cool her off. Maybe. Because even here in the air conditioning she felt flushed—nervous—which she was just barely able to admit. What was there to be nervous about? She was just having a nice meal with Jesse. She’d had hundreds of meals with him.
“Why don’t you head on out to the deck? I’ll be there in a minute.”
She walked out and sat on the glider, glad for the breeze. She slowly drew in a deep breath.
Settle down. It’s okay. Everything is okay.
Jesse came out and set the fish down by the grill. “Coals should be hot enough soon.” He walked over and leaned against the railing across from her, sipping on his beer.
She sat there silently, uncertain. And yes, nervous.
Jesse grinned at her. “So… are you as nervous as I am? Which is silly, but it is what it is.”
“I so am.” She nodded vigorously, glad she wasn’t alone in her unease.
He reached out and pulled her to her feet. “So, how about we break the ice?”
“Sure, anything.”
He pulled her closer. His hand grazed her chin, tilting her face, his lips meeting hers.
She sank into his kiss, holding onto his arm with her free hand, wishing she’d set her drink down so she could wind her arms around him.
It didn’t even surprise her when he took her beer from her and set it on the railing. He always knew what she wanted. Needed. He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her deeply, then a low growly sigh escaped his lips. “I’ve been wanting to do that for the longest time. I’ve missed those lips. I’ve missed holding you.”
“Then kiss me again.” She grinned up at him. “No use wasting our time now.”
He threw back his head and laughed, then kissed her again. Then once more. He finally pulled away. “I really have to put the fish on the grill or we won’t have dinner tonight.”
Was that really such a bad thing? Dinner was overrated. As far as she was concerned they could just stand here all night kissing.
“Mom, here’s more of the dishes.” Emily walked in from the lanai with a tray of plates and glasses. “Thanks for letting us barbecue here tonight.”
“Thanks. I’ll get the rest. You and Blake go head out to the bonfire.” Her mom took the tray from her.
Blake came up beside her, his hands full of empty soda cans. “Are you sure? There’s still more to clean up.”
“I’m sure. You two run along. The back-to-school bonfire is a town tradition. I even went to it when I was in high school. You can’t miss it,” her mom insisted.
“Thanks, Mom.” Emily kissed her cheek. “You’re the best.”
“Have fun.”
Emily tugged on Blake’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go. We don’t want to miss when they light it.”
They hurried down the sidewalk, and she showed him a shortcut to the beach.
“I feel like I’m never going to learn my way around town. I would have headed over to the harbor and walked along the harbor walk.” Blake shook his head, and a sheepish grin overtook his features.
“Nah, this cuts off a lot. But the view is prettier that way. I do like this street, though. All the huge Victorian houses with their big front porches. Looks like a historical novel or something.”
“They sure are some big homes.”
“It’s one of the first streets that was built in Moonbeam. Before all the canals were dredged to make all the waterfront property. And these houses have really been kept up well, haven’t they?” She laughed. “Hope I’m not boring you with Moonbeam history.”
He shook his head. “Not at all. If I’m going to live here, I want to know all about it. I mean, you’ve lived here your whole life. You know everything about the town. I’m still the new kid.”
“I’m doing my best to make sure you know everybody, too.”
“No kidding. I think I’ve met like a million people.”
She laughed. “We don’t even have a million people here. We’re just a small town.”
“Seems like you have a lot of people to me.”
They reached the edge of the beach, and she tugged on his arm. “Come on. Look, they’ve got the bonfire all built, but it isn’t lit yet.” They hurried over to the group of high schoolers hanging out on the beach.
Jeanie Francis sauntered up to them. “Hi, Blake. My dad dropped off coolers of sodas. Do you want one?” She gave Blake a dazzling smile.
“Uh, sure.”
Not that Jeanie offered her a soda. She rolled her eyes. Couldn’t she see that Blake wasn’t interested in her? They walked over to the cooler and Jeanie dug into the ice and pulled out a can for Blake.
She rolled her eyes again and sank her hand into the icy depths and pulled one out for herself. They headed over to the bonfire.
“We’re just getting ready to light it,” Jeanie said as she stood as close to Blake as possible without actually being on top of him.
Blake took a step away, and Emily smothered a grin.
The class president did the honors of lighting the bonfire, and they all broke into cheers and applause. She loved this tradition. Loved feeling so connected to the town. She glanced over at Blake. Hopefully she could get him to feel like he belonged, too. Because he was family. And their family stuck together.
She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Jeanie. “I want to introduce you to some more kids that didn’t make it to the barbecue. When I’m done, you’re going to know the whole school.” Jeanie glared at her, but Emily sent her an innocent smile.
She whispered to Blake as they walked away. “Jeanie’s got her eyes set on you.”
“I guess.”
She stopped and looked closely at him. “But you’re not interested in her, are you?”
“Not especially. She’s… loud. And pushy. And she said she hates school. I have to do really well in school. I’m going to try for scholarships to college. I can’t get sidetracked.”
“Good. Because she’s not for you. There are plenty of other less—” She bit back the less charitable words that came to mind. “Less annoying people you could date.”
Blake took it all in stride, meeting so many kids. She was certain he wouldn’t remember all their names tomorrow. Jeanie was a pest and kept popping up beside him throughout the evening. Again and again.
Finally, toward the end of the night, Jeanie came up to them yet again—could she not get a clue?
“Blake, would you walk me home?” Jeanie put her hand on Blake’s arm. “Please?”
Blake shot Emily a panicked look.
Emily plastered on an expression that she hoped said she was sorry—though she wasn’t. “Oh, he can’t. He promised he’d walk me home and make sure I got back okay. You know. Family obligations.”
Jeanie scowled. “You surely can walk yourself home.”
“No, I’m going to walk her home,” Blake insisted.
“Fine.” Jeanie sent her a glare and stalked off.
“I think I made her mad.” Blake watched as Jeanie went over to another group of kids.
“Maybe. She’ll get over it. All the guys at school that she was interested in have either dated her and got dumped or have no desire to date her. She’s just looking for a fresh conquest.”
“Well, it’s not going to be me.”
“Come on.” She grinned at him. “Now you have to walk me home after making such a big deal out of it.” She hip-checked him and started racing down the sidewalk. Blake sprinted to catch up, and she slowed down as he reached her. “You know, for a cousin, you aren’t half bad.”
“Same to you,” Blake gasped out as he bent over, catching his breath.
“But I can beat you in a race.”
“Competitive much?” He stood up. “Besides, you cheated and took off running before I knew we were racing.”
“Gotta stay on your toes, buddy.” She toyed with taking off running again but didn’t really have the energy. “Hey, I’ve got the keys to Parker’s. Wanna get some ice cream before we go home?”
“We can do that?” His eyes widened.
“Of course. I just have to make sure we lock back up. Come on.” They turned down a side street and headed to Parker’s.
Jesse and Heather sat outside, sipping wine and talking. It was a perfect evening as far as she was concerned. She hadn’t felt this close and connected to Jesse in… well, in a really, really long time.
He kept an arm draped casually around her shoulder and she felt right at home being tucked up against his side.
“So, what do you say, Heather Parker? You think we weathered the storm?”
“I hope so. I hope you’ve really forgiven me for not telling you about Blake.” She sighed. “I wish I could go back and do it all over. But I can’t change the past.”
“You did what you thought you had to do. I realize that now. I wish we could have a do-over with Blake, too.” A sadness clung to Jesse’s eyes, but then they brightened. “But we have him in our lives now. We’re very lucky.”
“We are lucky.” She was lucky. Lucky to have this second chance with Blake and with Jesse.
“I want to spend more time with you, Heather. The two of us. It’s just hard with Blake and The Destiny and all the legal stuff going on.”
“I’d like that, too. I’d also like to spend more time with the three of us.”
Jesse pulled her close. “I’d like that. And, after the fact, I realized I should have asked you to go back-to-school shopping with us. I don’t want you to miss anything going on in his life now.”
“I admit, I was jealous you got to take him.”
“I’ll do better. Hey, you want to come over Monday morning to see him off for his first day of school?”
“I absolutely do. I’ll bring breakfast from the cafe.”
“Perfect. I’m a bit nervous sending him off to a new school. I hope he likes it and fits in.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure that Emily has decided he’ll fit in. And what Emily decides, usually happens.” She laughed. “But I’m nervous about him heading to school, too.”
“Most parents have this when they send their kid to kindergarten, not high school.” Jesse gave her a wry grin.
“But we missed that,” she said softly as she rested her head against his shoulder.
“Hey, you need to stop beating yourself up. We missed a lot, but we’ll just have to make up for it as best we can now.” He kissed her forehead.
His words and acceptance comforted her. If only she could actually forgive herself someday. She wasn’t sure that was possible.
“I could take your mind off your worries.”
She looked up at him and he gave her a mischievous smile.“How’s that?”
“I could kiss you some more.”
“I think that’s an excellent plan. Practical even.” She struggled to keep a serious expression on her face. She lost as a smile crept across her lips.
He leaned over and kissed her gently, sweeping her hair away from her face, cupping her chin in his hand. “Ah, Heather.” He sighed as he leaned in to kiss her again.
She wanted to stay like this forever. In his arms. Kissing him.
A noise at the door to the deck drew her attention away from his kisses. “Oh.” She jerked back away from Jesse.
Blake stood in the doorway, grinning broadly. “This is the best thing I’ve seen in forever.” He laughed. “Don’t mind me. I’m just going to go back to my room.”
“Uh, hi, Blake,” Jesse stammered.
“No, stay.” The heat of a blush flushed her cheeks at being caught kissing.
“Nah, I’m tired. Had a great time at the bonfire though. Night, Heather. Night, Jesse.” He turned to head inside, then looked back. “I’m really happy you two are working things out.”
Jesse shook his head after Blake left. “Well, that was awkward. I feel like a schoolboy getting caught necking under the bleachers or something.” Then he grinned wickedly at her. “But since he went inside, you wanna kiss some more?”
“I think I do.” She nodded soberly, struggling once again to hide her smile and once again failing.
“Perfect.” He leaned over and covered her lips once more.