Three months. Ninety-one days exact to figure out what the hell I needed, and the clock was ticking.
Time wasn’t a disposable luxury anymore, and putting my high-rise city life on hold to escape to my childhood beach home in the small-town of Cheshire Bay was the only thing I had control over. For the time being.
It was time to clear away the cobwebs, both figurative and literal.
It was high time I found myself.
Back in my wild teenage years, Cheshire Bay had given me the best summers of my life. Endless beach parties. Zero boundaries. No parental involvement. I had even been the reigning Miss Cheshire Bay my last summer here, some twelve years ago.
Until…
That horrible incident everyone blamed me for.
Had they forgotten? Oh, who am I kidding? Small towns talk and they never forget. Never. But what choice did I have in coming back?
In three months, I was going to have a serious cash flow problem. The quickest way to solve that problem was to update and sell the beach home, long neglected since Mom’s death. My sister wanted nothing to do with it, and Dad had willed it to me to do with it as I pleased. Money trumped roots, and besides, I needed the cash.
As the sun dipped into the Pacific Ocean, the air around me cooled enough to warrant needing a light sweater. Wiping away the small stream of tears, I rose from the postcard perfect beach and dusted off my butt and legs, ambling up to the weathered porch stretching across the back of the house, and into a kitchen barely big enough for a family.
After slipping my oversized Under Armour hoodie on, I grabbed a mug of steaming apple cider tea and pulled myself up onto the wide ledge running along the deck. Leaning against one of the posts, vacantly staring out into the twilight, I was ready to find the first star of the night. A cool evening breeze circled the coastline, and the occasional shudder ruffled my wisps of hair.
The lights in the house next door flickered on and an unfamiliar shape walked through the kitchen. It was lit up enough inside to see the walls were a muted shade of mint and the cabinetry was as white as snow. The man inside walked back and forth, and finally emerged onto his deck with a long neck bottle of beer, sitting in the darkened shadows.
Years ago, back when I was a crazy, stupid teenager, that house used to occupy the Morris family; a typical mom-dad-two-kids deal. Like us, and just about everyone on this strip, they were summer families – arriving right after school finished and leaving September long weekend. I never knew where they went after closing up, and never cared to ask, they were just other kids to play with when we were here. Until I became too cool to hang out with dorks and preferred the company of bad boys. Or bad men as it sometimes came to be.
The memories flittered away as I gazed intently upon my neighbour. He most definitely wasn’t Mr. Morris, who last time I saw was an older father and certainly would not be moving with such speed. And based on the outline, it wasn’t either of the two boys who were gangly, paper thin, and maybe weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet. Perhaps, when the economy took its nasty turn, the Morris family sold, and a new occupant moved in. It had happened before. Not all on this section of the beach were lifetime owners anymore. Just me and a few of the others. At least, last I’d heard.
Oh well.
Tomorrow in the fresh light, after ensuring I was presentable, I’d go over and introduce myself. If I was going to be here a while, may as well be the neighbourly one. Besides my house had been unoccupied for so long, seeing life within it may set off alarm bells.
I listened to the waves caressing the shoreline as I inhaled nice deep breaths of air hinted with the apple cinnamon scent from my tea. Every breath I took, my shoulders fell, and I melted into the pillar. It was too easy to give into it all.
The deep staccato beats from Darth Vader’s theme blared out of my phone, echoing off the wood, and I jumped, tossing my hands out to the side. In a rush to rebalance, I knocked my mug clear off the edge where it landed with a crashing crack and the sound of liquid spraying about.
“Damn it, Parker.”
Why was my ex-boyfriend calling? What the hell did he need? Didn’t he get everything he wanted when he walked out on me?
The spicy scent drifted in the air. The shards of ceramic. Tea everywhere. Shit.
My feet were naked, and I wasn’t about to step anywhere until I could see properly, so I rolled off the ledge and jumped into the sand six feet below. Butterflies swirled in my gut.
“Who’s there?” The gruff voice called over the darkness.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” I swore under my breath. Not the perfect way to introduce myself to the neighbour. “Sorry. I live here and when my phone rang, I knocked my tea off. Give me a sec.”
I walked up the stairs and stayed as far away as possible from where I predicted the mug had shattered, and stretching out my step, I used my toes to grip the edge of the doorframe. Once inside, I slipped into my shoes and flicked on the porch light, pinching my eyes closed to the brightness.
After a second or two when I was no longer blind, I grabbed for the broom and greeted the lack of a mess I was expecting.
“Everything okay?” The male voice called out with concern lacing his words.
I bent down, back to my neighbour, and picked up the mug, spying a hairline crack but nothing more. “Yeah. Amazingly enough, it’s all good.”
In the house, I trashed the old cup, while also turning on the under the cabinets lights to give a muted glow to the area and switched off the harsh deck light outside – it was bright enough to act like a lighthouse beacon.
I headed over to the far end of the patio, closest to my neighbour’s. “I was going to wait until tomorrow to introduce myself, but since I’ve ruined the quiet vibe of the evening, may as well do it now.”
“I think Darth Vader can take the rap.”
A slight chuckle rolled out of me, pleased he knew the familiarity of the musical clip. “Yeah, we can totally blame him. I’m Lily, by the way.”
“Lily, as in Lily Baker?”
My jaw dropped. Baker was a name I hadn’t used in years. At least not professionally. That name belonged to a wild child, and clearly, this person remembered the rebellious teenager who believed she was invincible. The weakest response rolled out. “None other.”
“Wow. You sure grew up.”
Wish I could say the same about him as neither his voice nor his shape was at all familiar. I took a chance. “Mr. Morris?” But it couldn’t be. This voice was younger, with a sexy undercurrent to it.
A deep laugh filled the air. “Only at doctor’s appointments.” His feet shuffled across his wooden deck. “Don’t you recognize me?” The patter of feet faded into the sand, and his shadow made his way in my direction, into the edge of the light. “You still don’t know who I am, do you?”
I stared, shaking with disbelief. “How can I? You’re still in the shadows.”
The man before me was fully filled out and quite tall, something neither of the Morris boys had ever been. As he fully entered the light, I gasped as the boy had become a man. And damn, a good-looking one at that too. Long gone was the baby-faced, pimple-filled, gangly teenaged boy.
Having a 50/50 shot between the brothers, I took a gamble. “Landon?” He was the baby, a year younger than me, and the one I’d often thought was less geeky.
“No,” his voice fell in disappointment, something I related to when people found out it was me and not my goody-two-shoes sister. “Just Eric.”
Ohmygod. Just Eric was a full-fledged hottie. A caterpillar who’d burst out of his cocoon into a handsome, buff butterfly. Enough to cause my own in the pit of my stomach to swirl in excitement over seeing him after all these years.
“Mona here too?”
“No, she couldn’t make it.” Couldn’t be bothered was more like it, even if she wouldn’t let the place go. But it wasn’t up to her to decide anymore.
“Cool. Can I come up? It’d be great to catch up with you.”
“Sure, I’d like that.”
He stepped onto my deck and the sight of him up close made my jaw fall and my heart responded with an uptick in speed. Just Eric had sprouted a good twelve inches since the last time I’d seen him and easily stood over six feet tall. “So… who’s the Star Wars fan?”
“Me. Totally me.” Assigning a fitting John Williams score to my top ten callers was fun. Giving Parker the Sith Lord theme was even better, especially since he was a slave to his own uncontrollable emotions.
“Who’s the Darth Vader for?”
“No one important.” Because he made it that way. Ended our relationship without warning because the terms and conditions had changed, and he wasn’t onboard with any of it.
Eric seemed to have sensed my tone and eased away from the inquiry. He leaned on the edge of the deck, his leg muscles tight beneath his shorts. “You back for a couple of weeks?”
“Actually, just like the good ole days, I’ll be here all summer. I think.” Hadn’t worked through all the details completely, but it sounded good to say it regardless, and I hoped the mock confidence rolled out.
A little flutter took flight in my gut as a wanderlust expression filled his handsome face. It was still hard to believe a gawky teenager like he’d been, was now a stunningly gorgeous guy.
“You here for the summer too?”
“Nah, I live here year-round.”
“Wow, really?” I couldn’t imagine the seaside summer village being very busy during the cool, winter months.
“I work at the airport.”
“You’re a pilot?” I tried to hide the pitch at the end of my question but was sure I failed miserably.
“Charter flights, mostly around the island.” There was a twinkle in his voice along with a hint of pride. “A life-long dream. Sort of. I’m not flying the big jumbo jets, but I’m still taking to the skies.”
Not only had he sprouted, but he’d figuratively earned his wings. Impressive.
“Well, there’s lots to see and do on the island. I’m sure the tourists love it.” At least I hoped the list of things to do had expanded. All I ever did as a teenager was drink and smoke too much weed on the beaches while giving into my carnal desires.
“Fair bit. I do the occasional run to YVR.” Airport code for Vancouver. “So, if you ever need anything from your place while you’re here, gimme a holler. I can fly you over. Less than an hour gate to gate.”
That would be a first - being shuttled around by a kid who was uber annoying and a giant pain in the ass. Whenever we were on the beach, him and Landon would follow my friends and me around like pathetic pitiful puppies. If I knew then he’d turn out to be a nice guy, maybe I would’ve been nicer to him.
Darth Vader’s march sounded out again, and I quickly yanked my phone off the ledge, silencing it and flipping it face down. Parker could wait–forever–for all I cared. That ship had sailed.
“Tomorrow night, would you be interested in having supper? We can catch up.” He kicked at the weathered floor of my deck and checked out the time on his watch. “I’d invite you out tonight, but I’m going to a friend’s and…”
“No, no, that’s okay, honestly. Tomorrow works or even the next day too. I’m kind of exhausted anyway and need to catch up on my sleep.” I hadn’t had a full night’s rest in a month, and especially not over the last week.
“Perfect, tomorrow it’s a date, and I’ll come pick you up.” With a quick wave, he walked across the beach between us and disappeared into his home.
A date? I laughed. As if. I wasn’t back in Cheshire Bay to relive my glory days; I was here to figure out my life.
I had three months to get my affairs in order - clean up the beach house, ready it for sale, and prepare for a new me and a new life. Dates with the cute guy next door were not on the agenda and would never be.
I gave my belly a rub, and a gentle kick greeted my hand.
Three months to go.