The Beachside Rental (The Adams Family of Bluestar Island #2)

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Time for work.

Jenna Adams had the afternoon shift at the Island Market.

Normally, she was early to work. Today was different, as she’d gotten distracted when her sister Lily stopped by to borrow a pair of heels for her business trip to New York City.

Speaking of shoes, Lily had left the unwanted pair out on the porch.

Dressed for work, Jenna grabbed her purse and phone.

Before she could reach the door, her phone rang.

A glance at the screen let her know it was her sister Myra.

It didn’t take long to figure out the call wasn’t anything important.

Myra had the day off and just wanted to gab.

Jenna regretfully had to rush off the phone or she would be late for work. And that couldn’t happen.

Her oldest brother, Neil, was the store manager. If she was late, he would notice. Since their father passed, Neil felt like it was his job to boss her and her siblings around like he was some sort of surrogate father. Ugh!

She rushed to the front door of the duplex. When she looked out through the screen door, she came to a halt. She was shocked to see a mountain of moving boxes.

Her new neighbor certainly owned a lot of stuff, and it was encroaching on her half of the porch. She wished they would have built a wall, separating the porches, like they’d done for the back deck.

She couldn’t even open the screen door the whole way. She turned sideways and squeezed out onto the porch. A frown pulled at her lips. The new neighbor was nowhere in sight. Figures.

She would deal with him later. Right now, she had to find the shoes. A quick glance revealed only one of the heels. How was that possible? She remembered putting down both of the shoes in order to give her sister a hug goodbye. So, where was the other one?

She walked around the porch, peering here and there. There was no sign of it. She didn’t understand it. It wasn’t like Lily changed her mind and came back for the shoes but decided to take only one shoe. Definitely not.

Once more, she turned in a circle. The shoe was nowhere to be found. And there was no more time to look for it. She tossed the one heel into the house and closed the door. She would search for the other one later.

She rushed down the porch steps while her hand fumbled through her oversized purse for her keys. Where are they?

Her foot touched the sidewalk at the same time as she ran into what felt like an immovable force. It was as though a wall had suddenly dropped in front of her. She stumbled backward. Her foot hit the step. She lost her balance. Her body started to fall backward.

And then two strong arms reached out to her.

Hands grasped her shoulders and pulled her forward.

When she regained her balance, she looked up and found herself staring into a broad chest wearing a dark blue T-shirt that read: You had me at woof!

Next to the saying was a picture of a cute little puppy.

She hadn’t expected to find such a cute T-shirt on a man who had bulging biceps. But good for him. Everyone should love a puppy. They were awesome—even if she didn’t have one herself.

When her gaze rose to the man’s face, she found his eyes hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. And he wore a ball cap that was pulled low, as though he didn’t want people to see him.

Still, the man stuck his hand out to her. “I guess we should get introduced. I’m—”

“Late for work.” She rushed past him. “I’m so sorry. Gotta go. Talk later.” As she rushed down the sidewalk, she called back, “It was nice to meet you.”

It wasn’t the best way to meet her new neighbor, but then again, he wasn’t making a great impression with the way his belongings were strewn across the porch. Still, she hated to be rude to anyone, including a neighbor without a sense of space. She would deal with it later.

Well, that certainly didn’t go well.

Simon Bennett watched as the whirlwind of a woman drove away in her golf cart. His mind replayed their run-in. She had dark curls that were pulled back in a ponytail. Her light brown complexion looked as though it had been kissed by the sun.

Her big brown eyes had appeared as if they had flecks of gold in them. A pert little nose led to berry-red lips—that looked just right for plucking a kiss—perhaps under much different circumstances.

The top of her head hadn’t quite reached his shoulder. And he’d noticed a trace of strawberries. At least, he thought that was what the scent was, but the moment had ended as abruptly as it had started, so he wasn’t sure.

She certainly was in a hurry. He wondered if it was just him or if she was normally unsociable? He supposed he’d find out soon enough now that they were neighbors.

If the papers weren’t signed and money exchanged, he might have changed his mind about moving to Bluestar. At first, he thought it was charming that they didn’t allow vehicles on the island. But trying to move his stuff with just a golf cart was a lot of work.

Even though he’d already made numerous trips across the island, he still had boxes waiting for him at the office at Starfish Harbor.

He’d been transporting them as fast as he possibly could and stacking them on the porch.

He was afraid if he didn’t move fast, his belongings would be stolen because they weren’t secured at the harbor.

In fact, they were sitting in the corner of the lobby.

His move from Tennessee had been a bit drastic, but under the unusual circumstances, it was the only way of finding his inner peace. He needed that tranquility if he was going to hear his creative voice. But right now, nothing felt peaceful about this move.

A voice inside his head assured him that once he got settled, the tranquility of the ocean breeze would work its magic. He’d be able to write the first book in a new series—a book that was now three months past its due date.

As he placed the last box on the porch, he could hear scratching and whining coming from his place. It wasn’t often that he left his golden retriever at home alone. Usually his buddy was right next to him.

But he was trying to hurry and get this stuff moved as fast as he could.

There was only one more load to pick up so he decided to take Gus with him.

When he opened the door, Gus rushed onto the porch with his tail wagging back and forth at a rapid pace.

Gus jumped up. When his big paws landed on Simon’s chest, it knocked the air from his lungs.

Gus didn’t seem to notice as he licked Simon’s cheek.

After fussing over the dog, Simon asked, “Do you want to go with me?”

Woof-woof.

Simon smiled as he had already known the answer. “Okay. Sit.”

And just like that, Gus sat down. The two-year-old dog had a mind of his own. Sometimes, he listened to Simon. Sometimes, he couldn’t hear a word Simon said.

He’d adopted Gus not quite a year ago when his previous owner had surrendered him to an animal shelter. Gus had picked him out, not the other way around.

Gus was unique. That much was certain. He was a wanderer but always returned home where he would stretch out on the couch for a long nap—even though he wasn’t supposed to be on the furniture.

But right now, it looked like Gus was ready for an adventure. And just so things didn’t go off the rails, Simon grabbed a leash. When he approached Gus with the bright red leash in hand, he could practically see the frown on the dog’s face as he scurried back.

When Simon attempted to hook the leash to Gus’s collar, the dog once more backed up just out of his reach. “Come on, Gus. It’s not that bad.”

Thinking of his belongings sitting unattended at Starfish Harbor, he lowered his voice. “Gus, sit.” Out of patience and anxious to pick up the last load of boxes, he said in a firm voice, “Stay.”

The dog didn’t move at all while Simon hooked the leash to the D-ring on his collar. And then they climbed into the golf cart that Simon had rented. He adjusted his ball cap low on his forehead. Then he started the cart before pressing the accelerator.

Gus sat on the seat next to him, quietly checking out all of the people they passed.

There were quite a few tourists for such a small island.

And the crowd was really slowing him down because they were not only on the sidewalks but also walking in the street.

He had to stop numerous times and wait until the pedestrians decided to move off to the side of the road and let traffic through.

Finally, they reached the harbor, and he rushed up to the office. He was just about to the door when Gus let out a loud bark. Simon turned his head and noticed a seagull sitting on a post, staring directly at Gus. Seriously?

“Not now, Gus.” He might as well have been talking to himself for all of the good it did him. Gus continued to sit there, staring at the bird while the bird stared back at him. Just what Simon needed, a staring contest.

“He’s a beautiful dog.” The female voice came from behind him.

Simon turned around to find an older woman with snow-white hair pulled up in some sort of bun. She was short—at least compared to him. She peered at him through wire-rimmed glasses.

“Thanks. His name is Gus, and usually he’s a little better behaved than this.”

“Maybe he isn’t used to seagulls.”

Simon sighed. “He isn’t. And he’s very curious about everything.”

“Sounds like you have your hands full with him.”

“I do.” And right now, he just wanted to grab the rest of his things and be on his way.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you...” She looked at him expectantly, and it took him a second to realize what she wanted.

“My name’s Simon.” He purposely left off his last name. He didn’t want anyone to know he was on the island. “And it’s nice to meet you too.”

“My name’s Birdie. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other again. Have a good day.” When Gus stepped in front of her, she leaned down to pet him. “And you have a good day too.”

The woman turned and sauntered off, as though she didn’t have a care in the world. He couldn’t remember what that felt like. Right now, he had a deadline pressing down on him to the point that he had insomnia, which was destroying his creativity.

But he didn’t want to think about any of that at the moment. He glanced over at Gus, who looked back at him. “Come on, boy. We have more work to do.”

When they stepped inside the office, Simon was relieved to see the remaining boxes sitting in the corner, right where he’d left them. The problem was trying to get them loaded into his cart while holding onto Gus, who wanted to wander around.

At that moment, the harbor was a busy place. He might even say it was busier than Main Street. He could only presume the ferry had docked with more visitors. He found that fascinating. Until his agent had mentioned Bluestar Island, Simon had never heard of the place. He’d had to look it up online.

He went to pick up a box just as Gus pulled on the leash. The dog pulled so hard Simon lost his balance. A bit of fast footwork had him regaining his balance.

When he straightened, he found that Gus had made a new friend. Simon was not the least bit surprised. Gus was a social butterfly. He would make friends with just about anyone.

This time it was a man about his own age. The man was petting Gus and talking to him about being a good boy, and Gus was eating it up. His tail was swishing side to side.

Just then the man looked up with a friendly smile. “Hi. I’m Nathan Porter.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Simon, and this is Gus.”

Nathan looked down at Gus. “It’s nice to meet you too.” When the guy’s gaze moved from the dog to the stack of boxes, he said, “Are you new to the island?”

Simon nodded. “We are just getting moved in.”

“In that case, welcome. Bluestar is a great place to live.”

“That’s what I’ve heard. I take it you live here.”

The man nodded. “I live just out of town to the north. My family has been here for generations. How long are you planning to stay?”

It was on the tip of Simon’s tongue to tell him he was staying until he completed his next book, but he refrained.

With his novels in print and on the big screen, as well as all of the merchandising, he couldn’t take the chance that the man had heard of him or his work.

And the whole reason he was on the island was for anonymity.

“I don’t know for sure. I have a six-month lease so at least that long.”

Nathan nodded. His gaze moved to the stack of boxes. “Are all of those yours?”

“Yes. I was just about to load them, but Gus is not cooperating.”

“Let me give you a hand.”

Together, the two of them loaded the remaining boxes into the golf cart while Gus made a point of supervising. He liked to do a lot of that.

Simon turned to his second friend on the island. His thoughts briefly conjured up his beautiful neighbor, but he would not classify her as a friend. In fact, he was pretty certain that if looks could kill, he’d be nothing more than a burn mark on the porch of his rental unit.

Pushing thoughts of the woman aside, he held his hand out to Nathan. “Well, it’s been good meeting you. And I appreciate the help.”

Nathan had a firm grip, as though he did a lot of manual labor. “Good to meet you too.” Once he pulled away, he went on to pet Gus...again. “It was good to meet you too.”

“You’re our first friend on the island,” Simon said.

The man reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He retrieved a business card and handed it to him. “That has my number. Give me a call sometime. I can show you around the island, or we can just hang out.”

“Thanks. I’ll do that. We should get going.

I have a bunch of boxes stacked on the porch, and I need to move them before my neighbor gets home.

” When Nathan arched a brow, Simon went on to say.

“I’m in a duplex, and we share a porch. She wasn’t happy that some of my boxes were slightly over the imaginary line on the porch. ”

Nathan let out a little laugh. “I understand. Well, good luck with the neighbor.”

“Thanks. I’m going to need it.” He got Gus into the cart, and then he sat down.

Once Nathan walked away, Simon took a moment to glance at the business card. It read: Bluestar Christmas Tree Farm.

Interesting.

“Well, Gus, it looks like we just made a couple of friends on the island.” Simon started the cart and turned for home.

He reminded himself that he wasn’t there to make friends. He was on Bluestar Island to get his work done. If only the words would come to him.

He’d spent the past five months staring at a blank page. That was when his agent suggested a change of scenery—someplace Simon had never been before—someplace away from the unwanted memories.