35. Aurora
35
AURORA
700 SENSES OF SUMMER
“I see the attachment now. I’ll look at it and then send it to Lucia ,” I told my mom over the phone as I scanned the PDF she had emailed me.
“Okay, honey.” She sighed. “ Who knew there was so much paperwork to publish a book that’s already written?”
I laughed. “ It’s pretty normal, actually. Lucia’s great, though. She’s really on top of things.”
“I never realized how much went on behind the scenes. I just thought that you . . . you know . . .”
“Just wrote a book?”
“Something like that,” she said sheepishly.
“If all I had to do was write the books, life would be easy breezy."
“I like seeing your world. You’re good at this. I don’t know how you balance the art and the business. I don’t think I could.”
Pride spread across my chest like creeping vines. Over the last few weeks, my mom and I had talked more than we ever had, even when we lived close to each other. Having something to work on together was a bonding experience like no other.
. . . Especially when it had to do with legal drivel—her favorite thing—and books, which were mine.
It forced us to slow down and see where the other person thrived and what made them light up.
In a month, she was planning on taking some vacation time and renting a box truck to drive the rest of my belongings out here since I was officially moving in with Jack .
Life was . . . not bad. Which was to say, it was pretty damn good, even if I was still broke as hell.
Which, hopefully, wouldn’t be for much longer.
I had been picking up shifts here and there at the Fish ‘n Fuel . Honest to God , I loved it. Working the breakfast rush was my favorite. I wasn’t a morning person by nature, but that’s when the fishermen came in. They were master storytellers and happily told me every tale of the sea.
Apart from what I made in tips and the measly hourly wage, there was an email I was waiting for with bated breath that would put a large dent in my debt and ease my living situation.
My inbox dinged with an incoming email from Lucia , and I squealed.
“Is everything okay, dear?” Mom asked.
“Lucia sent me the offer.”
“For your book?”
I was no stranger to offer emails, and I knew how long the road would be after I said yes. Still , each time always made me feel like I was the main character in one of those viral college acceptance videos.
“Yeah.”
I heard her sharp breath of anticipation as I opened the email and scanned the message to get to the good part. The zeros.
“Holy shit,” I muttered.
“Is it good? Tell me it’s good.” I had never heard my mom get this excited about anything related to my writing career.
“It’s really good,” I said as I quickly typed out a response to Lucia .
Her squeal matched my own. “ Oh , good! We’ll have to celebrate when I come out there. Does Jack know yet?”
“About you coming or the offer?”
“The offer. Of course he knows I’m coming. We were texting yesterday while he was at work.”
There was one downside to having shared Jack’s phone for a week after the house burned down. He and my mom had bonded. She would text him for updates about me, and then the two of them would start talking.
The bonding was adorable. They had figured out that the two of them were fans of rival football teams, which led to daily trash-talking as the year moved into preseason.
“He doesn’t know about the offer yet. He and Drew had to go down the coast for some meeting to plan a first responders’ charity kickball tournament.”
"Well, that sounds fun. When is it?”
“Memorial Day next year. Apparently , it’s a big deal, so it takes a year to plan.”
“I’ll put it in my calendar.”
I paused. “ Really ?”
“Really. It’ll be a good time to visit.”
I smiled to myself. “ Okay .”
Mom and I said our goodbyes so we could get on with our workdays, but it was hard to focus with the excitement. Lucia confirmed that she had received my email accepting the offer and would get things in motion to get the final book in my series published.
The Aurora Archer novel we found in the safety deposit box was another story. We had worked through the legal mayhem of who had the rights to make decisions for the work since my aunt had passed. Since it was an untitled manuscript, Lucia and I had worked together to name it.
The book encapsulated everything my aunt loved to write: big, wild, reckless love, the magic and mystery of the coast, and how it consumed you.
700 Senses of Summer — the long-lost Aurora Archer novel—was going to fly off the shelves. Especially when we threw a bodice ripper cover on it. I loved those.
“Roar!” Jack shouted from outside. “ Can you open the door?”
Shit. I hadn’t even heard his truck pull up. I shut his laptop, hurried through the house, and opened the front door.
“This thing weighs a metric ton,” Drew wheezed.
I blinked as the sight before me registered in my brain. Jack and Drew were moving a massive clawfoot tub into the house.
“Where is that gonna go?” I asked in disbelief.
“Right now?” Drew choked out. “ On my foot if you don’t move.”
I darted out of the way as they duck-walked the tub into the house and set it down smack dab in the middle of the living room.
“Okay. Cool ,” I said as I followed them in and rested my hands on my hips. “ This will be great for . . . movie nights? I can stuff it with throw pillows and make a nest.”
Jack laughed as he lifted his shirt and wiped the sweat off his face. “ We’ll get it in the bathroom eventually.”
I hooked my thumb over my shoulder. “ That bathroom? The one with the walk-in shower? In what world can you fit a clawfoot tub the size of a small swimming pool in that bathroom?”
Jack grinned. “ The world in which we renovate the house and put on an addition. We were pretty good at it the first time.”
I laughed. “ I can sand cabinets and paint. I don’t knock out walls and put them in different places.”
“We’ll hire a contractor for that.”
“You better,” Drew said as he bent over and braced his hands on his knees. “ Because I’m done helping you move heavy ass shit. First it was that goddamn drafting desk, and now it’s the tub from hell.”
“Beer’s in the fridge,” Jack and I said in tandem.
“And then we’ve gotta move the dresser in,” Jack called as Drew headed to the kitchen.
Drew groaned as he yanked open the fridge door, making the glass bottles clink together.
“Dresser?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Jack kissed me. “ A dresser.” His hands were warm against my waist. “ I’m not giving you half of mine. You need your own.”
“Jack . . .” I sighed. “ That’s too much.”
“Got it at a thrift store, baby. Only set me back ten bucks. It doesn’t match the rest of the furniture, but it’ll get the job done.”
I loved that he was so intent on not just making space for me, but also on giving me my own.
Jack’s house was a fraction of the size of the Old Whitlock Place , but I liked that. The beach cottage was cozy—perfect for just the two of us.
“Babe, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but we don’t need an addition to the house.” I smoothed his hands down his chest. “ Everything is just fine as it is.”
While Drew relaxed with his beer in the kitchen, Jack dragged me into the bedroom and shut the door behind us. He yanked open the blackout curtains and let the daylight flood the room. “ This should be your office.”
I laughed. “ What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying, I have my guy working on a new drafting desk, and it belongs right there.” He pointed to the bay window that looked out over the ocean.”
I gave him an incredulous look. “ That’s the best view in the whole house. It should be your bedroom.”
Jack licked his lips as he settled his hands on his hips. “ Baby , I hate the fact that our room faces the sun in the morning. It makes it a pain in the ass to sleep when I get home from work. Besides , someday, we’ll need more bedrooms for when your mom comes to visit. My folks are talking about driving out here to meet you. We need the space.”
“I don’t want you to do all this because of me.”
Jack shook his head. “ I’m not doing it because of you. I’m doing it for you, because I love you.”
I chewed on my lip. “ Lucia sent over the offer for my book. I said yes.”
He was stunned, but only for a moment. Jack wrapped his thick arms around me right before he spun me around. “ Roar ! That’s amazing!” He dropped me down on my feet and kissed me. “ I’m so proud of you.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I didn’t do a damn thing. It was all you.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “ I wouldn’t have done it if not for you.”
Jack grabbed my ass and picked me up. I hooked my ankles behind his back as he turned to sit on the edge of the bed with me in his lap. “ What does this mean for us? What’s next?”
I let out a sharp breath as I combed my hands through his hair. “ It’s a slow process. Months of contract negotiations. Tons of edits. It’s about to get very boring.”
His fingers slipped beneath my tank top and stroked my hips. “ And then?”
I smiled. “ And then it gets exciting.”
“I think it all sounds exciting,” he said softly, his lips whispering against my mouth. “ I can’t wait to watch you kick ass.”
“You gonna come on the road with me if the publisher sends me on a book tour?”
“I don’t want to step into your spotlight, baby. I just want to stand in the shadows and watch you shine.”
Blush painted my cheeks. “ It’s not that glamorous.”
“It is to me, because it’s you. It’ll always be you, Aurora . You and me.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. I will always be in your corner, cheering you on. And when you need somewhere to hide, I’ll be here too. Because I know it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. I’ll be your crying shoulder. I’ll sit beside you when you’re lonely. I’ll cheer you on when you win and be there to tell you it’s bullshit when you don’t. Whatever you need me to be, I’ll be it.”
“Mine, Jack Wharton .” I kissed him. “ I need you to be mine. In every season. In every lifetime. I want you, I need you, and I will love you. Wild and recklessly like the ocean. Untamed and unending. You are my summer. You’re the magic that makes the mundane extraordinary.” I rested my forehead on his. “ So , thank you for loving me, and for letting me love you.”