Chapter 10
The glowing screen of Veronica’s laptop felt like a portal for trouble. Doing the right thing when Celeste and Natalie would be furious was harder than she’d thought. But they needed their dad’s guidance.
As soon as they reached the house, she’d thrown herself into more research. Environmental protections for that forest would hold up if Indigo Reef tried anything. But the threat of steep fines wouldn’t be enough to stop them from doing something stupid and damaging first.
And how long would it take the government agencies to respond anyway?
No, they needed to stop this now. Before the construction crew simply cut a swath through the trees closer to the dunes or came over and paved a section of the Hideaway property to ensure their beach access.
The state and local laws gave her even less reason to hope.
The town council could only make decisions based on the evidence presented.
They’d approved the development for the Indigo Reef condos.
With tourism rising, they’d seen it as a benefit to overall revenue.
Without the original, the new plat map would be honored and the beach access easement likely granted.
How could this happen when everyone knew it was wrong?
They’d been residents for nearly two decades. Upstanding members who cared about this community. Good grief, they’d had food for weeks after their mom died with folks constantly coming by, offering sympathy and casseroles.
Popularity and community respect wasn’t going to keep Indigo Reef on their side of that forest.
She closed her eyes, willing her sisters to understand her decision.
Someday. To her sisters, their father was little more than an unexpected villain these days.
She didn’t blame them. His abandonment stung her too.
Losing Mom had been horrible. None of them expected their dad to hand them what felt like another death before they’d had a chance to mourn their mom.
But he was still the man who’d built her first beach fort.
He’d gone out early with her to train for her races.
He’d baked cookies with Celeste, built sand castles on this very beach with Natalie.
His laughter had once been the soundtrack of their lives and his affection for all of them had been a treasure, a foundation to rely on.
Until.
Death changed everyone and everything eventually.
Roni hoped her sisters would forgive her more quickly if their dad replied with the information they needed. Taking her time, she drafted an email and then read it one last time, her pulse thundering in her ears.
Hey Dad,
I know you don’t always check your email, so I’m sending you texts and leaving voice mails too.
I respect your request for space. But we’re up against it here on Brookwell.
The Hideaway is under attack. A developer named Indigo Reef has bought lots next door and they are trying to push us out.
Somehow, they’ve produced a new county plat map that shifts our boundary line thirty feet west, claiming the maritime forest as theirs along with half of our beach.
I remember you talking about “in perpetuity” as part of the deal when you bought this land and the original house. You said it was on the deed and you told us it meant the beach was ours forever, to use and enjoy, but also to take care of.
Dad, I’m trying to do exactly that. We’re all trying to take care of not just our business, but the land we care about.
When I was a kid, I watched you at the roll-top desk in the library, sliding a faded red ribbon around a big yellowed piece of rolled up paper.
You said it was the original historic survey.
Do you still have it? I’ve looked all through the house here and I can’t find it.
And do you have the original architectural stamps from the rebuild?
If those historical “in perpetuity” beach access documents exist, they would trump the fake report the developer intends to use against us.
Please, Dad. For Mom’s memory. For all of the memories we shared here, help us out.
Love you, Roni.
Yeah. That was solid.
She clicked Send and hoped like crazy he’d come through for them.
The tension in her shoulders didn’t let up, but as she closed her laptop, she felt a quiet spark of determination. She’d made her best play. She had to believe he would respond, that he’d come through for them before Indigo Reef did something stupid-aggressive and potentially irreversible.
“Roni!” Brayden called to her from the kitchen. “Did you see the weather alert?”
“One second.” She pulled up the report on her phone, trying to read it while she changed out of her work clothes in favor of her cutoff shorts and a tank top. Apparently, what she’d expected to be a typical summer thunderstorm had gained steam.
“We need to get the outdoor cushions in,” she said as she dashed into the kitchen.
“Already done.” Brayden turned from the glass slider where he’d been watching the storm roiling on the horizon. His broad shoulders were silhouetted against a sky growing darker by the second.
“All the lightweight stuff is stashed under the deck.”
“Well, aren’t you the best ever?”
She meant it. He’d always come through for her, rain or shine.
Even when he couldn’t be close in person, he’d never let them lose contact.
His return to the island had felt like a reunion with a brand-new uncomfortable attraction mixed in.
But the fact was, he’d been her rock, her anchor, for over half her life.
The awareness stole her breath. She simultaneously wanted to throw herself at him and run away. A not-so-small part of her heart was ready to tell him she loved him too. She just hadn’t known it. Or been brave enough to face it.
“I am,” he agreed with a sharp, sexy grin. “You saw the upgraded storm warning?”
She nodded, not quite capable of speech yet. Part of her was too consumed with him and the way her feelings were shifting. Fast. Not unlike the storm coming ashore.
Brayden pointed toward the tablet, where the radar was showing the storm’s progress. “They’re calling for gusts over sixty miles per hour and a potential for flash floods. What about the chairs by the fire pit?”
His question yanked her out of her reverie and back into the urgency of the moment. “We stash them in the shed.” Lightning streaked through the clouds, thunder booming almost immediately. She grabbed the keys and shoved her feet into her sneakers. “Let’s go.”
They hurried outside. The leading edge of the rain wasn’t gentle, not in this wind. She would’ve sworn she felt the sting of each drop against her skin. She was soaked in seconds, but they wouldn’t be out here for long. And a hot shower and dry clothes were waiting inside.
“The ocean is in a mood,” she observed. While Brayden locked the shed, she watched the churning, white-capped sea.
With everything stirred up, the water looked like boiling metal.
The wind was already howling through the oaks while the pine trees swayed and wisps of Spanish moss drifted through the air.
“An understatement.” Brayden looped an arm over her shoulders as they made a dash for the house, going in through the kitchen slider.
Toeing off her soaked shoes, Roni went to the closet and pulled out beach towels for them to dry off. “I really hope this doesn’t wreck our plans for the dance club. Natalie sent me a text that a bunch of folks were excited to come, not to mention Abigail and her family. It would be good for her.”
Brayden frowned at her. “You think the storm will hang around that long?” He blotted his hair with the towel, then peeled off his shirt.
“No, of course not.” She really hoped she wasn’t drooling. But seriously, the man’s chest was a work of art. And he loved her. Had kissed her. He didn’t pressure her for more, leaving it up to her how much she reciprocated and how fast things moved. If they moved at all.
How much time did she need?
It felt as if she’d already lost so much time to her assumption that being more than friends was too much of a leap. Too much risk. Yet here he was, seemingly okay with all of it, exercising incredible patience while she decided how she felt.
“Roni?”
She’d just stopped, sort of frozen in place as her world shifted on its axis. Again. Seriously, how many upheavals did one woman need? She clutched the towel in her hands without using it while her hair and clothing dripped on the floor.
“Hey.” He stepped closer, bringing all that masculine temptation with him. “You okay?”
“Oh, sure.” She thought her face might crack with her sudden smile.
“Of course. I… I was thinking about cleanup and contingency plans.” Liar.
“Fast, strong storms can leave debris everywhere.” She didn’t mention her concerns about microbursts.
Those intense weather pockets could create excessive damage.
With trembling hands, now that the air conditioning had chilled her skin, she dried her hair.
No point in focusing on yet another potentially negative outcome.
They weren’t planning on hosting inside the house tomorrow.
Everything had been slated for an outdoor event.
She could shift things around if necessary, but the whole point was to have fun out on the private beach, to remind people that it was there and protected for a reason.
“You’re shaking.” Brayden took the towel and bundled it around her. His fingers brushed her skin and she shivered more. “You’re freezing.”
“Rain and AC will do that.” He was already nudging her along toward the suite. “Why aren’t you affected?”
“Who says I’m not?” His voice had dropped to a low grumble and chased the chill away with a zing of anticipation. He stopped at the bathroom door and gave her a nudge. “Go on and get warmed up.”
“And you?” Should she just invite him to share the hot water? That would be one way to leap over the friendship hurdle and straight into lovers’ territory. Maybe that was exactly what she needed to do. “Bray—”
Suddenly the lights flashed, dimmed, and went out completely. She wasn’t sure what to make of that as a sign for or against her idea to charge headlong into a new phase of being with Brayden.
Silence descended over the entire house. All the usual ambient noises were quiet. The only sounds were the howling wind and rain pelting against the house.
“I’ll go turn on the generator,” Brayden said. “Stay here.” Using the flashlight on his phone, he went for a clean, dry shirt.
“I won’t.” If he could strip, so could she.
“You start the generator, I’ll pull the shutter over the slider.
” She wiggled out of her tank top and tossed it toward the bathroom.
His phone gave off enough light for her to find a warmer t-shirt.
And her jacket this time. Not much point in changing her shorts until they were back inside.
When she looked up from zipping her jacket, he was staring at her. Hard. As if seeing her for the first time. Surely, she’d changed shirts in front of him before. Never without a sports bra, though. Was that the issue?
Lightning flashed, followed by a bellow of thunder that shook the windows. They both flinched. “Come on.” She held out her hand. When he took it, she knew the next time they touched, she’d be ready for more. “Let’s do this.”
A slow smile lifted Brayden’s mouth and she followed her intuition. Kissing him, fast and quick, before they stepped into the storm again.
She was wrestling with the latch for the protective door when a deafening, explosive crack rent the air. Lightning strike in the trees. Way too close. Ozone stung the air and she sneezed.
“Brayden!” She spun around, searching through the darkness for a broken tree limb or flames, grateful she didn’t see anything near the house.
A heartbeat later came the crash and shudder of a limb hitting the ground. But it wasn’t as simple as that. There were more sounds in the mix. And a flash of orange sparks arcing up from the construction site.
But it wasn’t the falling limb that made her heart stop.
It was the scream.