Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
JULES
I swirled the red wine in my glass idly, my gaze fixed on some indistinct point beyond the droning television.
As I sat on the couch, my living room felt oddly claustrophobic tonight, the coastal-themed décor anything but relaxing.
I took another sip, hoping the earthy Cabernet might dull the riot of thoughts ricocheting through my mind.
No such luck.
The renovation meeting, Chase’s surprise partnership offer, that charming grin Eli had flashed my way—it was all tangled up. What had started as elation after the meeting had gradually transformed into a jumble of mixed emotions at home.
I grabbed the remote and flipped aimlessly through channels.
Nothing caught my attention. My finger paused over the button as a familiar face appeared on screen—a tanned, rugged diver exploring some impossibly gorgeous reef.
For a moment, all I could see was Eli, his eyes sparkling with the same infectious enthusiasm anytime he talked about the ocean.
“Nope. Absolutely not.”
I clicked off the TV with a huff and tossed the remote aside.
But in the sudden silence, the memories rushed in.
Shared laughter over his terrible puns. The warmth of his hand on the small of my back.
The way his eyes had locked with mine across the conference table, a flicker of emotion passing between us.
That humorous, casual conversation we’d had at the end of the meeting only cemented in my mind how much I missed him. Us.
The thought of working beside him day after day was almost too much to bear. And resenting Helen for her position was futile. She had her reasons, and I didn’t even disagree with them. I just wanted her to make an exception for us. But was that fair?
I stood abruptly, pacing the length of my living room as my analytical mind kicked into overdrive.
The resort’s future was looking up at last. I should have been thrilled.
Instead, I felt lost. All that time I’d spent working on how to fund the renovations, obsolete.
Of course I was thrilled with how it had all worked out… but what now?
“Okay, I need to approach this logically. Pro-con list. That always helps.”
I snatched a notepad from the coffee table, scribbling furiously as I spoke out loud to the empty room.
“Pro: The resort’s future is looking much rosier.
Con: My months of financial projections are basically useless now.
Pro: My job is secure. Con: Said job involves watching the man I lo—the man I used to—Eli, move on with his life. ”
I couldn’t write that last sentence down. I couldn’t even say it coherently! I stared at the list, willing it to make sense. But the neat columns of pros and cons couldn’t capture the ache in my chest or the way my stomach fluttered every time Eli’s name crossed my mind.
I had to find a way to move on. It was best for everyone, especially me.
When my gaze landed on my laptop on the couch, I marched over and sat to open the lid.
My fingers hesitated over the keys before typing accounting jobs Florida.
The search results populated, a sea of possibilities that felt more like a cage.
As I scrolled through job listings, each one felt like a step farther from everything I’d built here.
A corporate gig in Jacksonville. Non-profit work in Orlando.
All so sterile. No ocean breeze. No sand between my toes.
Or worse—exactly like what I already had, just… not here.
Not on Dove Key.
Not near him.
I slammed the laptop shut, my pragmatic facade crumbling with a long groan. “Who am I kidding? I can’t leave Dove Key. It’s home.”
A sharp knock at the door made me jump. I set my laptop aside and padded across the hardwood, curious. When I swung the door open, my heart studded to a halt.
Eli stood on my porch, eyes blazing with an intensity I’d never seen before. His usual easy grin was nowhere to be found. He wore a fitted polo shirt and dressy shorts, and he looked good enough to eat with a spoon.
“Eli?” I squeaked, acutely aware of my ratty sweatpants and messy bun. “What are you—”
“Can I come in?” he asked, already stepping over the threshold.
I gestured weakly. “Sure, make yourself at home.”
He paced my living room like a caged tiger while I poured him a glass of wine and refilled mine. When I offered him one, he waved it off, which was beyond weird. “No, thanks, I’m good.”
I set both glasses down, studying his flushed face. “You seem excited. Is this about the meeting?”
Eli ran a hand through his hair, messing it up in that endearing way that always made my heart clench. “Jules, I…” He stopped, seeming to struggle for words.
I waited, my heart in my throat. What could have him so worked up?
“Look,” he finally said, his gaze locking onto mine. “I know things have been complicated between us. But today I realized something important.”
I swallowed hard. “Oh?”
I watched Eli’s face transform as he spoke, a tableau of emotions playing across his features. Something raw and vulnerable had replaced his usual carefree demeanor. Something that made my heart gallop in my chest.
“You’re right about this having to do with the meeting. I was so… proud of how Mom jumped into the unknown and agreed to Chase’s partnership. And I thought, I hoped, maybe it meant she was coming around, you know? About us.”
My breath caught. I’d been trying so hard not to love him, but hearing him say us sent a thrill through me.
“What happened?” I asked softly, afraid of the answer.
Eli’s shoulders sagged. “I talked to her after the meeting. She’s still… she doesn’t want us together, Jules.”
The hope that had begun to bloom in my chest withered. “Oh.”
“But I don’t care,” Eli said fiercely, crossing the room to me in three quick strides. He took my hands in his, his touch sending sparks up my arms. “That was the realization. I love you. I’m not letting anyone come between us, not even my mother.”
My heart stopped, then started racing double time. “Eli, I—”
“I’ve found a solution,” he continued, his eyes boring into mine. “We can be together.”
The words I’d been holding back for so long came rushing out. “I love you too, Eli. God, I’ve been trying so hard not to, but I can’t help it.”
His face lit up with transcendent joy, and for a moment, everything else faded away.
“What’s your solution?” I asked. “How can we possibly make this work?”
Eli’s eyes were filled with determination, but there was a flicker of something else—uncertainty, maybe even fear. “Simple. I’m leaving Sunset Siesta. I’ve already reached out to other dive operations, including Calypso Key.”
I jerked my hands back as if I’d been scalded, my heart hammering against my chest. My skin broke out in goose bumps, and needing to be in motion, I started pacing. “What? This is too much. Too drastic.”
“No, it’s not.” His voice followed me as I moved. “You need to stay where you are, Jules. The resort needs your skills, especially now. But me? I’m just the guy who takes people diving.”
I whirled to face him, frustration rushing out. “Don’t you dare downplay your importance! The dive shop is integral to Sunset Siesta’s identity. And it’s your home, Eli. It’s who you are. I never asked you to give that up for me.”
A wry smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Home is where the heart is, right? And my heart’s with you.”
“Eli, Sunset Siesta is your home, your family’s legacy. You can’t walk away from that!”
Eli nodded. “But things change, don’t they? Look at Brenna—she’s made her own path with the bookshop. And Ben wants to be a paramedic, if he’d only admit it.”
I shook my head, struggling to process his words. “That’s different. This is… it’s too much.”
He rose and stepped closer, his eyes pleading. “Is it? If it means we can be together?”
My thoughts whirled, a massive knot I couldn’t begin to untangle.
How could I let him give up everything for me?
But how could I bear to lose him again? I stared at Eli, really looked at him.
The determination in those indigo eyes, the set of his jaw—it hit me like a tidal wave.
This wasn’t some impulsive, beach-bum decision.
He’d thought this through, weighed the consequences.
For me. For us.
“Eli,” I murmured, my voice cracking. “You can’t just throw everything away. Not for me.”
He cupped my face, his calloused hands surprisingly gentle. “Don’t you get it? You’re not just some number in my, uh, ledger. You’re the whole damn balance sheet.”
I couldn’t help but smile, even as tears pricked at my eyes. “Did you just use an accounting metaphor?”
“See? You’re rubbing off on me.” He grinned, but it faded quickly. “I mean it, though. I love you. And if leaving Sunset Siesta is what it takes—”
“No,” I cut him off, placing my hand over his. “God, Eli, I love you too. So much. But that’s exactly why I can’t let you do this.”
His brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
I took a deep breath, steeling myself as I took a step back. I fought back the tide of emotion swelling within me. I had no choice, even though my heart was rending itself half inside my chest. “If you give everything up, even for me, you’ll resent it. Resent me. And I couldn’t bear that.”
“Jules, I would never—”
“Maybe not at first,” I said, gently caressing his face. “But eventually? Sunset Siesta is literally in your blood. I can’t be the one to take you away from it.”
The pain on his face damn near killed me. “That’s not true.”
“It is.” I pressed my forehead to his cheek, breathing in the scent that clung to him. “I know you, remember? Better than you think.”
Eli’s hands settled on my waist. “Then you know I love you.”
“I do.” The words caught in my throat. My inhale was shaky, but I had to get through this. “Which is why I can’t let you make this sacrifice. You belong here. At the resort. With your family.”
He pulled back, searching my face. “And where do you belong?”
I blinked back tears as I forced a trembling smile. “I’m still figuring that out.” Straightening my shoulders, I steeled myself for what I was about to say. “Maybe, maybe I should be the one to leave.”
Eli’s eyes widened. “Jules, no—”
“Hear me out,” I said, holding up a hand. “I could look for a job in Miami. It’s not that far. We could make it work, see each other on weekends.”
He shook his head, his jaw clenched. “That’s not the answer.”
“Why not?” I challenged, even as my heart ached at the thought of leaving Dove Key. Of leaving him.
He paced my small living room. “Because Dove Key isn’t just my home anymore. It’s yours too. I know how much you love it here.”
I swallowed hard. He wasn’t wrong. “But if it means we can be together—”
“At what cost?” Eli turned to face me, frustration clear in the lines on his forehead.
“You’d be miserable in Miami, stuck in some corporate hellhole.
And I’d be miserable knowing you gave up everything for me.
It’s exactly the same thing you brought up about me leaving.
And I can’t stand the thought of you so far away. ”
“So what do we do?” I asked, my voice cracking.
Eli’s expression softened. He crossed the room to capture my face between his warm hands again. My breath caught as he leaned in. Then his lips were on mine, and the world fell away.
The kiss was deep, passionate, a promise sealed without words. My hands found their way to his sun-bleached hair, fingers gripping the soft strands as I pulled him closer. When we finally broke apart, both breathless, Eli rested his forehead against mine.
“I swear to you,” he murmured, his voice rough with emotion. “I’ll find a way for us to be together. Here, on Dove Key.”
I barked a shaky laugh. “And how exactly are you going to pull off that miracle?”
He lifted his head, a familiar glint of mischief in his eyes. “Hey, I once convinced a stuck-up accountant I was the best person to teach her how to dive. Anything’s possible.”
“I was not stuck-up,” I protested, unable to resist his humor even as my lips tingled from his kiss. “Just… professional.”
“Potato, po-tah-to.” His grin faded into something utterly and completely serious. “Have faith in me, Jules. In us. Right now. I don’t know how I’m going to make this happen, but I will.”
I hesitated, years of pragmatism warring with the wild hope—the desire to just believe—blooming in my chest. I studied his face.
The determination etched there, the unwavering belief that we could overcome this.
And looking at him, I understood something fundamental inside me had shifted.
It had shifted a while ago. I gripped his shoulders tighter.
“I’ve come to realize you’re capable of accomplishing whatever you set your mind to.
I do trust you. And for you, I’ll take a leap of faith. I believe you’ll find a way.”
A slow, brilliant smile spread across his face that filled my weary soul. He nodded once, firmly, then spun on his heel and strode out the door.