All Along (Smuggler’s Hideaway #4)

Chapter 1

Maya – a shy woman who refuses to be pushed around by her best friends. Mostly.

Maya

“I ’m not doing it.”

I wish I could say I shouted those words or maybe stomped my foot to make my point, but I’m barely speaking above a whisper. Being shy sucks sometimes.

“Come on.” My friend, Chloe, elbows me. “It’ll be a blast.”

I hold my ground. “I’m not writing a love message in a bottle.”

Why did I let my friends drag me out to the Hearts Beneath the Waves Festival ? I should have known one of them – either Chloe, Sophia, Nova, or Paisley – would pull some kind of stunt.

During Valentine’s Day weekend, our hometown of Smuggler’s Rest along with the rest of the island of Smuggler’s Hideaway transforms into an underwater dreamscape. There are romantic mermaid statues, sea creatures holding hearts, and smuggling barrels turned into flower vases .

But it’s not a Smuggler’s Hideaway festival without quirky activities. The Hearts Beneath the Waves Festival includes a love parade, siren’s serenade singing contest, sweetheart race, and mermaid’s blessing ceremony. To top it all off, there’s a seafoam ball tonight. Which I will not be attending even if I have to pretend I got buried under all the romance books in my house.

“It’ll be fun,” Sophia claims.

I fail to understand what is ‘fun’ about writing an anonymous love note in a bottle for any festival-goer to read. Or act on? I shiver. I don’t want a date with some random tourist.

“Why would she write an anonymous love letter when the man she wants can’t read the letter?” Paisley asks.

Nova slaps her shoulder. “Leave Maya alone.”

Paisley blinks in confusion. It’s not an act. My big-brained friend doesn’t understand what the problem is.

She pushes her glasses up her nose. “I don’t understand. I’m defending Maya.”

Nova scowls at her. “You brought up Caleb. After we agreed not to bring him up anymore.”

“I didn’t say his name. You did.”

They begin to squabble and I tune them out. Caleb . The boy who helped me climb down the monkey bars when I was in second grade is now a soldier fighting our country’s enemies somewhere overseas. He’s also my pen pal. And the man I imagine every hero in every romance novel I read resembles.

But it’s not to be. Caleb isn’t for me. We’re friends. Nothing more. Nothing less. No matter how much I may wish otherwise .

“What if Caleb finds out she wrote someone else a love letter and gets all jealous and rushes back to Smuggler’s Hideaway to make it clear to all smugglers and mermaids alike that Maya belongs to him?” Sophia asks.

I bite my lip as I imagine Caleb arriving back on the island to stake his claim on me. My stomach warms and I nearly swoon. I’d star in my very own romance novel! He’d shove my suitor out of his way before claiming me with a searing kiss.

“If Maya isn’t going to write a love message, I will.” Chloe marches to the message in the bottle station. We hurry after her.

Sophia swipes the pen from her. “You can’t write an anonymous love message in a bottle. You’re married.”

Chloe waggles her eyebrows. “Imagine how mad my dear husband will be when he finds out.”

“I don’t understand.” Paisley purses her lips. “Do you want Lucas to be mad at you?”

Sophia giggles. “Oh, she wants Lucas to be mad at her all right.”

Because apparently, Lucas punishes Chloe in sexy ways. I don’t know exactly how, but their relationship reminds me of one of those BDSM books that were so popular a few years back. Those books? Phew. They made me all hot and bothered.

Nova moans and grabs her stomach. I rush to her. My pregnant friend is nearing her due date and probably shouldn’t be on her feet all day.

“Are you okay? Is Sprog okay? Do you need to sit down? ”

I don’t wait for her to answer before leading her to a table set out on the sidewalk in front of Smuggler’s Cove. The restaurant has placed a bunch of tables outside for people to watch the love parade.

“Stop fussing over me,” Nova says once she sits down. “Hudson fusses over me enough.”

Chloe plops down on a chair next to her. “Because he’s your baby daddy.”

“He’s, my partner. Baby daddy sounds like we had a one-night stand.”

I giggle. “Didn’t you get pregnant with Sprog after a one-night stand?”

Nova has been obsessed with Hudson since over a decade ago when he was on the football team in high school. She even tried out to be a cheerleader to impress him. She didn’t impress anyone during her try-out considering several cheerleaders ended up at the hospital. There was only one broken bone, though.

Sophia checks her watch. “We should probably head on over to the brewery and make sure things are running smoothly.”

The brewery is our brewery – Five Fathoms Brewing. We founded the brewery after we returned to the island after college and we now operate it together.

Chloe is the hospitality manager since she couldn’t sit behind a desk for eight hours if someone chained her to the chair. Sophia is the marketing manager. She used to work for some fancy schmancy marketing firm in Atlanta before coming home last year and promptly falling in love with her brother’s best friend.

Nova is the sales manager. She smiles at prospective clients and they fall at her feet. Paisley is the actual brewer. My nerdy friend is obsessed with trying out new flavors. Lucky for the brewery, her ideas are genius. Except for the time she decided to test the limits of how hoppy an IPA could get. Not her best idea.

And, finally, there’s me. I’m the financial manager for the brewery. What can I say? I love numbers as much as Paisley loves facts.

I stand. “I’ll go. You’re meeting Flynn here in a few minutes.”

Sophia sighs and the love she has for her fiancé is plain to see. I love it. I love how all of my friends are heroines in their very own romance novels.

Paisley joins me. “I’ll go with you.”

Paisley is the only other single person left in our group of friends.

“Can you check in on Addy?” Chloe asks as she waves goodbye to us. “It’s her first time being in charge for the day.”

I nod to Chloe before walking toward the brewery with Paisley. Five Fathoms Brewing is located in an old barn a few blocks from downtown. It’s not a long walk. Although, to be fair, nothing is far in Smuggler’s Rest.

The island isn’t very big either. There are three towns on the island – Smuggler’s Rest, Pirate’s Perch, and Rogue Landing – but all of the fun festivals happen in Smuggler’s Rest. It’s also where my friends and I grew up.

“Are you all right?” Paisley asks once we’re away from the crowds.

“All right? Why wouldn’t I be all right?”

“You always get sad when we mention Caleb.”

“I’m not sad,” I deny.

“I disagree. Your chin trembles and your eyes get dull whenever his name is spoken out loud.”

Leave it to my fact obsessed friend to come up with evidence.

I sigh. “I’m fine. Caleb is my friend.”

“But you want more.”

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter what I want.”

“Why not? Your needs and wants are valid. Why shouldn’t you get everything you want?”

She doesn’t get it. I can want Caleb all I want. It doesn’t change a thing. We’re friends.

“Caleb is half a world away,” I remind her.

“He can’t remain a soldier forever.”

He’s managed to remain a soldier for twelve years, which feels pretty darn close to forever.

I shrug. “He might not come home when he gets out of the Army.”

I’d be surprised if he did. He doesn’t return home for any of the holidays. And I know he gets thirty days of leave each year. He could easily come back to the island for at least a week a year. But he doesn’t. He hasn’t stepped foot on Smuggler’s Hideaway in over a decade.

Sometimes I get the feeling he’s avoiding me, which is silly. We’re merely friends. He doesn’t make decisions based on little old me.

We reach the brewery. The bar, restaurant, and our offices are in a barn we restored. The actual brewing happens in a warehouse on the opposite side of the parking lot.

“I need to check on the beer,” Paisley says and makes a beeline for the warehouse.

My phone beeps in my pocket. I pull it out and frown when I notice it’s a message from the postal service. A package I sent to Caleb has been returned with a ‘sender unknown’ stamp. What in the world? I used the same address as I always do.

Is something wrong? Did Caleb move without telling me? Is it even called moving when you’re in the military? Despite being pen pals for a decade, I still don’t understand all the Army lingo.

I pace the parking lot as I consider what to do. Caleb doesn’t like it when I phone without prior notice but I have no choice. I need to phone him. I need to know if he’s okay.

I dial his number but the call doesn’t connect. Strange. I try again. This time it rings. Phew.

“The number you have dialed is not in service, please check the number and dial again, or ask the operator for assistance.”

I gasp. Not in service? How can Caleb’s number not be in service? It’s the same number he’s used for a decade .

I shove down the panic. There’s nothing to panic about. If Caleb was hurt or injured, the smuggler grapevine would have let me know by now.

He’s probably fine. He’s probably on some super secret mission he couldn’t tell me about.

Yep. That must be it.