Stay Until Sunrise (Sunrise Bay #1)

Chapter One

Beth

It’s Valentine’s Day, and the early evening sunlight has painted the white walls of Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary a light coral, while the windows look like beaten gold. It’s been a gorgeous, hot summer day, and even though it’s getting late, it’s only just starting to cool down.

The Ark is holding a Valentine’s Day fundraising event, and it’s going great. Flags of colorful bunting strung across the Quad flutter in the breeze, and cooked food and the chatter and laughter of the few hundred guests fill the air.

Grazing tables hold mainly vegetarian nibbles and a variety of homemade cakes, while a local band plays in the background. Donation stations scattered around the site are already three-quarters full, and we haven’t even had the silent auction yet.

Noah King has given a talk about the Ark and how thankful we are for every dollar that’s being donated. Now, a few of the guys are giving short training demonstrations with dogs, some of whom are more trained than others, provoking much laughter from the watching crowd.

I’m over by the paddock, leaning on the fence and watching Hector the horse at the gate to my right taking mints from a child, encouraged by his parents.

On my left is my friend Isla. It’s the first chance we’ve had to chat today.

She’s spent the day at the large farmhouse they’re converting into offices for the new PAWS Animal-Assisted Therapy Center, and she’s been explaining how the work’s been going.

As she talked about working with Archer Cole, though, my spirits dropped even lower than they were already, and I’m struggling to lift my mood.

“You okay?” she asks. “You don’t seem… happy.” She drops the word into the conversation like a stone into a barrel of treacle and waits for it to sink in.

I clear my throat. “I don’t know. Happiness is an abstract noun. It’s hard to grasp the concept.”

I’m being deliberately obtuse. Isla is happy. It’s written all over her face. Since she started seeing Cullen six weeks ago, she’s positively glowed.

I’m pleased for her. I really am. And I’m not jealous. Jude and I were happy in the beginning—all couples are. It’s the honeymoon period, right? Even though we’re not married. And unlikely ever to be at this rate.

I look down at the fencepost and kick it with the toe of my shoe. “Don’t mind me. I had a row with Jude earlier, and it’s soured my mood.”

Her brows draw together. “Oh… not again. What about this time?”

I shrug. “Same old, same old.”

“He’s still refusing to commit? Oh Beth… how long have you been seeing him now? Two years?”

“Two and a half.”

“I don’t understand what his problem is. He’s never going to meet a girl as wonderful as you. He should be throwing you over his shoulder and running down to the church.”

“I understand why he’s reluctant.”

“Don’t be nice. He doesn’t deserve it.”

“No, really, I do. His parents getting divorced, then both his brothers… I completely get why he has a tainted view of marriage. Of course he would have. It doesn’t bother me that much. It’s just…” I hesitate, trying to put it into words. “He never says he loves me.”

She frowns. “I’m so sorry.”

“He hasn’t done for a while. And I think it’s partly to do with Kim.”

To my right, a baby’s cry cuts through the air, and the mother of the family at the gate bends and lifts it out of its pram into her arms. It’s wearing a mint-green all-in-one and a pretty white jacket, and it has a thatch of dark hair that’s sticking straight up.

As we watch, a soother falls from it onto the grass.

I run over and pick it up for the mother. “She’s beautiful,” I say, giving it back to her.

“Thank you.” She smiles, pockets it, and then starts leading the family back to the Ark. I return to Isla.

Isla’s eyes meet mine. “Makes your ovaries ache, doesn’t it?”

I laugh. “Yeah.”

“Me too.”

“Aw.” I smile. “Do you think you and Cullen…”

“Oh, far too early for anything like that. But… yeah. Maybe.” She wrinkles her nose. “Poor Kim. Are they going to give it another round?”

“I think so. I don’t know how she keeps going.”

My oldest sister has just had her fifth round of IVF—and it failed. Her excitement and hope have turned into a fixated obsession. Her husband is exhausted, and their marriage is becoming increasingly fragile. I’ve tried to talk to her about it, but she doesn’t want to listen.

“I know your Mum had IVF for each pregnancy as well,” Isla says. “How many rounds did she need?”

“Three with Kim. Just one with Donna, and one with me.”

“Donna didn’t need IVF though, did she?” My middle sister recently had a baby, falling just months after they started trying.

“No, but her endo is mild. Mum’s is moderate. Kim’s is classed as severe.”

“And yours?”

“Mild to moderate.”

“So you could be like Donna and not need it?”

“Yes. We’d have to try for a year, probably, before going for IVF.

I have time. I’m not even thirty yet. It’s just…

I’ve seen what Kim’s been through, and I really want kids, and I have this horrible feeling I’m going to be like her, and wait too long, and end up over thirty-five and still childless. ”

Isla sighs. I think most women can sympathize with the problem, even if they haven’t had trouble conceiving.

“So what does Jude say when you try to talk about it?” she asks.

“I don’t anymore. Nowadays I only have to mention Kim’s name and he bristles.”

“That’s not fair. She’s your sister, and you’re worried about her. You should be able to talk about her to your partner.”

“I know. You’re preaching to the converted. But it’s as if he sees me mentioning her each time as an accusation, as me raising the subject of us having kids.” A sudden, overwhelming tiredness sweeps over me. “He’s so… prickly. I feel as if I’m walking on eggshells all the time.”

“That’s horrible. Rob was like that.” She’s talking about her ex-husband. “There’s nothing worse than feeling as if you’re walking through a minefield, and one wrong step is going to set off a bomb.”

“Yes, that’s exactly how it feels.” It’s a relief to talk to someone who understands.

A man’s voice cuts across the Quad. “Hello? Oh! It is on. Wow, sorry guys, that was louder than I expected.”

We both turn at the sound of the voice coming through the speakers on either side. A ripple of laughter follows his words. The music has been turned down, and Archer Cole has stepped up onto a box with a microphone and is addressing the crowd.

“I won’t keep you long,” he says, jamming his free hand into the pocket of his jeans.

His shoulders are a little stiff. He’s used to working one-on-one as a therapist, but I suspect he’s a little nervous using a mic.

However, he speaks clearly and doesn’t mumble.

“Noah’s already mentioned the Ark and how important the donations are that you’ve given so generously.

I just wanted to tell you briefly about the new PAWS Therapy Center and explain how your money is helping us get on our feet. ”

He starts talking about how helpful animals can be in therapy and explaining how PAWS is going to help local people both in the center and via its outreach program, with the Healing PAWS bus that will be traveling to remote villages, schools, and retirement homes to take therapy to those who need it most.

He might not be a natural public speaker, but he keeps the attention of everyone in the Quad. Part of it is his looks—he’s tall, broad-shouldered, and gorgeous, in a guy-next-door sort of way, with his ruffled dark-brown hair and neat beard, and his piercing blue eyes. But mostly it’s his manner.

Jude’s known him since his school days, and he loves him like a brother, but once, when he was drunk, he did call Archer boring.

From his point of view, I understand why, because Jude is impulsive, and Archer likes to think things through before taking action.

But I thought it was unfair then, and I still do.

I like Archer’s calmness and thoughtfulness.

I relax instinctively when he’s around and never feel as if I have to be on my guard.

In the middle of the night, when I’m lying awake looking up at the ceiling in the dark, I sometimes wonder what life might have been like if I’d met Archer first. But I don’t know if he finds me attractive in that way.

Then I think about the party at Noah’s house on New Year’s Eve, and the moment when, as I was dancing with Jude, I looked across the room and saw Archer watching us.

Our eyes met, and he held my gaze for about ten seconds before he finally looked away.

But in those ten seconds, his eyes said everything.

He does have feelings for me. But I know he would never make a move on me while I’m with Jude, just as I would never cheat on Jude with his best friend.

I want to make it work with Jude. But it’s hard when sometimes I feel as if I’m not the one he really wants.

Oh… why do things have to be so complicated?

“He’s such a nice guy,” Isla says beside me, as Archer brings his speech to an end by telling a joke that makes everyone laugh again. “I love his passion for helping people.”

“Yeah.”

She glances at me. “He’s pretty gorgeous, too.”

“I suppose.”

“He likes you.”

I look at her then. We study each other for a long moment, and my face gradually fills with heat.

I wait for her to laugh or tease me, but she does neither. Instead, she lifts a hand and rubs my arm, and says, “I thought so.”

I’m saved from replying by the sight of Jude himself heading along the path toward the paddock.

He’s six foot, slender, dark-haired, clean-shaven, and pop-star good looking.

As he passes a group of teenage girls, I’m not surprised when they nudge each other and giggle.

I still can’t believe that he asked me out.

I’m no model, and he could have any woman he wanted.

“I’m going to find Cullen,” Isla murmurs, “catch you later.” Before I can reply, she heads off to the Quad, saying hi to Jude as she passes him.