Chapter 2
Chapter Two
ELENA
I couldn't believe Hudson Kingston. Of course, he didn't remember me. He'd never acknowledged me in school, even though we were in some of the same classes.
I'd admired him because he wasn't like the other jocks. He was athletic and smart and didn't seem that interested in girls. Until Sasha Owens declared him to be hers.
His brothers were notorious flirts. All the girls crushed on the Kingston brothers, but I only had eyes for the one who didn't see me.
I left the island after college, but I'd recently returned home to keep an eye on my grandmother. My parents were worried about her living alone on the island, and I didn't want her to go to one of those assisted-living places. She loved the beach, and I wanted her to live in her home as long as she was able.
I walked into her small cottage. "Grams?"
"In here, dear." She was seated in one of the overstuffed armchairs in front of the TV, which was blaring because her hearing wasn't the best. I turned it down and kissed her cheek.
"How was work?"
"I'm supposed to be shadowing one of the Kingston brothers for the most eligible bachelor feature," I said knowing she'd find it interesting.
Her eyes gleamed. "Oh, those boys are lookers."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Grams, seriously?"
"I'm hard of hearing, not blind. Now tell me which one is it? Or is it all of them?" she asked excitedly.
"His dad wants me to spend time with the oldest brother, Hudson. My boss, Valerie, wants me to talk to all the brothers because she claims islanders have always been enamored with them. I'm still trying to figure out what the story should be." According to Valerie, the brothers were a bit of a legend around town. The locals and tourists crushed on them, but no one had snagged one for her very own yet.
I bet it was because they weren't interested in settling down. Valerie wanted me to get the details on the brothers, find out what made them so attractive, and why no one could tie them down.
This was a far cry from the journalism work I did in Boston, but it was a job that allowed me to be near my grandmother, and that was all that mattered.
"Hudson. Is he the one who would have been in your class?" Grams asked.
I nodded. "That's right."
"Didn't you have a crush on him? I seem to remember you doodling his name in your notebook."
I flushed, not believing she'd remembered something like that. "That was a long time ago. I was silly."
"Did anything ever happen between you two?" Grams wanted a story, one she could relay to her friends at the senior center.
"He doesn't even remember me."
Grams winced. "I'm sure he will soon enough. You're beautiful, smart, and kind."
"Thanks, Grams. But you have to say that. You're related to me." I always teased her about her praise, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Grams swiped a hand in the air. "You know it's true. Any man would be lucky to be with you."
"You're too sweet." So far, I hadn't found a man who was interested in me long-term. Most of them went for the lawyers or the doctors, not the journalist in a dying career. I'd lost track of the number of men who'd told me I should go back to school to earn a more lucrative degree.
I enjoyed hearing other people's stories and bringing them to life with my words. I wanted to make a difference, publish something that could help someone. But this piece was pure fluff. My grandmother and her friends would get a kick out of it, but it probably wouldn't do anything for my career.
I'd do it so I could stay here with Grams.
"Will you take me for a walk on the beach?" Grams stood, making her way to the back porch, which had seen better days. I was worried that the decking would give out one day when I wasn't here.
"Of course." I kicked off my shoes on the porch, opening the screen door for her to walk through.
We walked the narrow path through the mangroves until it opened up to the beach. I breathed in the salty air, knowing I'd never get tired of the smell. I enjoyed the cold weather and snow in Boston, but I'd always be an island girl at heart.
We walked along the shoreline, keeping our eyes peeled for the perfect seashell. Mornings were better than evenings for the best finds, but this was something we'd done when I was a little girl.
"Are you going out with your friends tonight?" Grams said as we paused to study a cluster of shells.
"I think so." They wanted to know how my meeting with Hudson went. The brothers were a bit of a mystery, even if they'd lived here their whole lives.
"You should go out and have fun. Not spend all your time with your grandmother."
I gave her a look. "Grams. I moved home to spend time with you."
"Phooey. I don't need a babysitter." She paused to check out a cluster of shells the tide had left on the sand.
I looked out over the water. "I always planned to come home. I love the island. The beach."
"It's in your blood."
"I think so." Living in Boston felt like playing at another life. One that was infinitely more polished and regimented. Here, my days were defined by walks on the beach, seashell finds, and reconnecting with my friends from childhood. It was good to come home.
My parents had moved after I graduated, so it was just Grams on the island now. None of us liked her living by herself, especially if there was a hurricane evacuation warning. Who would help her?
Grams looked up at the setting sun and the colors reflecting in the waves. "I could never live anywhere else." Then she sighed. "I want you to have the cottage after I'm gone."
"Grams, don't talk like that. You're going to live forever." I wished I could will that belief into reality.
Grams met my gaze. "No one lives forever. You have to live every day to the fullest."
I smiled. "That's what I intend to do now that I'm home."
"I know you think this most eligible bachelor story isn't something that would be good for your career, but I have a good feeling about it."
"Grams, no matchmaking. I don't want any gossip going around the island either. This is purely a work assignment."
"You never know when the right young man is going to come along."
I snorted. "Hudson Kingston doesn't even remember who I am. We went to school together since kindergarten. I clearly haven't made an impression on him."
Grams looped her arm through mine as we continued our stroll. "I have a feeling he won't be able to ignore you."
I wasn’t looking for a man. Not when my life was up in the air. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my life. I wasn't even positive that I could have a sustainable career here. It was the reason why so many of my island classmates went to college and never returned.
I was lucky to get a job related to my career even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do with my life. But I still had to prove myself, and I wouldn't let Hudson Kingston ruin my chances of staying.
* * *
I walked into the bar on the beach where the locals hung out. We met here because we could dig our toes in the sand while we chatted. Most evenings, there was a live band playing too.
I grabbed a drink at the bar and made my way to my friends seated at a picnic table in the sand. A candle flickered in a clear jar with the writing: You're exactly where you're supposed to be. I wondered if that was a message for me.
Tonight, only a few friends were able to get together. Kinsley worked at Kingston Construction as an office administrator, Ivy was a Realtor, Hazel was a librarian, Daria owned a seashell store, and Nora was a teacher at the elementary school on the island. One of our other friends, Penny, recently moved to Colorado for a change of pace and fell in love with a local doctor.
"You made it!" Kinsley exclaimed when I sat down next to her.
"I went for a walk with Grams first." I cherished those walks with her. They reminded me of my childhood when I’d stay with her overnight. I loved it because of the time I got with her, but also because she lived on the beach. My parents had lived in a newer development away from the sand and waves.
"How's she doing?" Kinsley asked me.
"She's great. She's probably on the phone now talking to her friends about my feature with the Kingston boys."
Kinsley raised a brow. "How did your meeting go with Hudson? He didn't look happy.”
Ivy leaned closer. "Oh, I'm dying to hear about this."
I shook my head. "He wants nothing to do with me or the story."
"He's the oldest one?" Hazel asked me.
I nodded, moving my straw in my colorful drink. "That's right."
"Hudson seems like the most responsible. So it makes sense that Jonathan picked him."
I nodded. "I remember that from school."
Ivy leaned in close. "No one even knows if he's dated because he's so quiet about everything. He seems to focus on work, and that's it."
Ivy tended to hear the gossip before most people because of her job as a Realtor.
"Well, I'm going to find out because I have to shadow him." I checked my email, finally seeing his response to mine. "He just sent me his itinerary for tomorrow. I have to be at this house at seven a.m."
Daria whistled. "Early morning for you."
"I want him to take me seriously, and I can't pass up this opportunity."
"Why wouldn't he want to be featured in a magazine? I'm sure it will do wonders for his business," Nora asked.
"I don't think he's interested in attention," I said, remembering how angry he was about the story. "He doesn't want me following him around either." I had a feeling that might be partly about my safety, but I wouldn't let him push me out over some misguided sense of chivalry.
"You should talk to their sister, Luna, too. I went to school with her. She lives part-time here and in Maryland."
"What's she been up to?" I asked Kinsley, knowing she took over Luna's position at the Kingston Construction office.
"She's flipping houses."
"Wow. Why wouldn't she just work with the family?"
"Apparently, Jonathan didn't feel like they had room for her in the business. He wanted her at the front desk," Kinsley said. "So she went out on her own."
"Good for her," Hazel said.
"Jonathan has a lot of guilt about it. But Luna's doing great, and she's happy. That's all that matters," Kinsley added.
"It doesn't really matter why he doesn't want me there. I just need to get to know him. I hope he doesn't make that impossible." So far, he'd been grumpy and growly, wanting nothing to do with me. Would it be more of the same tomorrow?
"I know a lot of women who'd love to be in your position. How much shadowing are you going to do? Will you be hanging out with him after work, at the bars?" Ivy asked.
Kinsley frowned. "I never hear him saying he's going out after work. He always works late, then either goes home or to his parents for dinner."
There was something about him going home to his parents for dinner that had me feeling warm inside. It was sweet and was similar to how I felt about my grandmother.
I'd heard the Kingston brothers worked hard and played harder. Was Hudson the exception? Was he a family man?
"I've seen the rest of them out at one time or another," Ivy said.
"Yeah, they talk about meeting up at various bars, but they also like hanging out at their houses. I think one of them has an impressive game room with a pool table and arcade games. They're always talking about it."
"I'm hoping to get more insight into the entire family. Valerie really wants to know more about all of them, but Jonathan seemed to want me to just talk to Hudson. I wonder why."
"Because he's the mature one. He's not going to take you out to a bar while he picks up a woman."
I'd had a crush on him back in the day, and I was fairly sure I was over that now. But he was even more attractive than when we were in high school. He'd filled out, probably from his time on the job, and there was something about his growly tone that shook me to my core. "I don't want to hang out with him while he's picking up women."
"It might be fun," Nora said with a shrug.
"I don't know what my days are going to look like, if I'll be able to go out for a while," I said.
Ivy lifted her glass. "I hope you are having fun with the Kingston boys, and you snag one for yourself."
"Not happening. This is a job, and I'm a professional." There were few jobs for me on the island, unless I snagged a coveted work-from-home gig, which was doubtful.
Kinsley bumped shoulders with me. "Live a little. Have some fun. You deserve it."
"Is there anything else I should know about them?"
"I just started working there, so I don't know much. It seems to me that Hudson is the one most likely to take over the business. The middle ones are the troublemakers—at least, in the family's eyes—and the youngest are a little more easygoing. They don’t bear the responsibility of the business, if you know what I mean. And Marshall is in the military; I haven't seen him come home yet."
"That's one Kingston brother I don't have to worry about."
"I think you'll have your hands full with the rest of them," Nora said with a smile.
"For now, I'm focusing on one." Hudson Kingston, the one I had a crush on when I was in high school. But I was so far beyond that now. I wouldn't let a pretty face and a grouchy tone reel me in. I couldn't forget that I'd never made an impression on him, and I was unlikely to do so now. He didn't want anything to do with me. He'd made that clear.