Chapter Twenty
Bryce
She was the most complicated woman.
As he worked together with Emma in the quiet space while rain pattered outside, Bryce felt an inexorable pull toward her,
the same one he had been fighting since they were kids.
Emma had always been so pretty and together when they were kids. Her hair had always been curled, her clothes neat and clean,
her locker and backpack organized, without a paper out of place.
He remembered sitting near her in the lunchroom a few times and marveling that her packed lunches always seemed crammed with
healthy, delicious food. Fresh apples, cut into slices that somehow magically never browned. Sandwiches on whole wheat bread,
with the crusts cut off. Sometimes even vegetable soup on rainy cold days.
Bryce had free school lunch, of course. His mom always made him turn in the paperwork the first day of school. He wore clothes
picked up at yard sales or Goodwill and his mom always cut his hair.
He considered himself fortunate if she decided to do it on a good day, when her hands were steady.
His life had always seemed far different from Emma’s and he had envied her as much as he yearned for her, even before he knew
what yearning meant.
While she had invariably been kind to him, she hadn’t paid him any more or less attention than anyone else at school.
He could still remember when he learned about her accident, the fear when he found out she had been injured and the sadness when he found out her father had died. He had taken her flowers in the hospital but had left them at the nurses’ station without leaving a note.
She had missed two or three weeks of school. When she returned, she had seemed a pale, subdued version of herself for the
rest of the school year.
By the time summer ended and the new school year started a few months later, she seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.
She was hard, angry, sporting several new piercings, a tattoo and an attitude to go with them.
Her friends seemed to have changed, too. She hung out with the hard-drinking party crowd and he heard through the grapevine
she was dating a much older guy.
As he worked off a particularly stubborn section of drywall, he frowned at the memory of her odd reaction to Pam earlier.
The air in the bookstore had been as cold as trying to surf the Pacific in January.
Emma definitely didn’t like the Lucas Construction office manager. What was that all about? Why would she have so much animosity
toward Pam?
He was friendly with Pam. They had worked together for years and he considered her hardworking and dependable. When he needed
any kind of paperwork for a job, she was always quick to prepare it for him. He knew Rosie relied on her extensively.
Still, he had to admit Pam was not his favorite coworker. He had seen her be vindictive to subcontractors who encountered
unavoidable difficulties and she liked to carry tales to Rosie that showed other coworkers in unflattering light.
He had also wondered at times whether she might not be too close with a few of their competitors.
He had seen her around town several times having lunch with Vic Blackwood, who had once been the acting head of Lucas Construction after Gary Lucas died, but who had left the company under a cloud a few years later.
Rosie didn’t talk about it, but he suspected Vic had run Lucas Construction into the ground. Around the time he left, Rosie
sold Stormhaven and turned the running of the bookstore to her mother so that she could take the helm of the construction
company.
Now, several years later, Blackwood seemed to be thriving. Vic’s company often competed with Lucas on bids and frequently
undercut them, turning in completely unreasonable bids that resulted in substantial overruns. To see Pam around town being
so friendly with the man seemed disloyal somehow.
Regardless of his concerns, he had avoided bringing them up to Rosie. How could he complain about Pam telling tales on coworkers
when he was tempted to do the same thing?
Why didn’t Emma like Pam?
He couldn’t figure out any good way to ask her as they continued to work, mostly in a comfortable silence interspersed occasionally
with questions about the renovation.
They had nearly finished the wall when he noticed Emma stretching her back and shaking out her arm muscles.
“We’ve made good progress tonight. More than I expected on my own. I’m good with what we’ve done.”
“We only need another hour before we finish, don’t we? Let’s keep going.”
He frowned. “You can’t work at the bookstore all day and then stay until midnight helping me.”
“I told you I didn’t come in until four. You’ve worked a longer day than I have. I know you’ve been putting in a full day at other jobs before coming here.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
He tried to think of an answer. “Because I’m used to it.”
“This is my project,” she said. “I’m invested in the renovation and I want to be part of every step. Or at least as much as
I can.”
He had to admire her grit. He expected that grit had carried her through some pretty dark times.
Together they worked to clean up the construction mess they had made, carrying the debris out to the large dumpster he had
placed in the rear parking lot.
The rain had stopped for now and a few stars peeked out from behind the clouds. The air was cool, fresh, smelling of the sea
and the night.
“Guess who came into the store yesterday?” she asked when they returned to the bookstore for one more load.
“Who?”
“Bailey Hunter. She looks exactly the same as she did in school.”
Bailey had been their class valedictorian, crazy smart but never annoying about it. She was now an attorney in town, one he
would definitely use if he were ever in trouble.
“Except she’s now Bailey Lattimore,” he said. “She married Jamie Lattimore a few years ago.”
“Did she? I had no idea. She didn’t mention it.” She paused. “Are you and I the only two unattached people left in our graduating
class?”
“Not even close. There are plenty of us. It only seems like it sometimes. I think those who stuck around town seemed to have
paired up and settled down at a higher rate than those who left.”
“You stuck around. Why haven’t you settled down yet?”
He didn’t have a good answer for her. Not really. He had dated a bit and even had a couple of serious relationships, but nothing
ever quite felt right. Beyond that, his mom and her health issues sometimes seemed all-consuming. Between work and dealing
with her on his own, he didn’t have a lot of emotional bandwidth left to pour into a relationship.
He decided to give her the simplest explanation. “The usual reasons, I guess. I’ve never found the right person.”
“Maybe because you work eighteen hours every day? Where would you fit in a relationship?”
“I don’t keep that schedule all the time. Only when I’m in the middle of a project.”
“Which I suspect is all the time.”
She was not precisely wrong. He worked too hard, probably because he was always aware of a compelling need to prove himself.
He never felt quite good enough, which he didn’t doubt he could trace back to school years, when he had struggled so hard
academically.
“What about you? If Olive’s father hasn’t been in the picture since before she was born, surely you must have dated during
the intervening years.”
“Not really. Nothing serious, anyway. I was too busy going to school, working and caring for her.”
“I’m in awe you were able to juggle all of that. You’re amazing, Emma. I’ve always known it.”
She gazed at him, eyes filled with an expression he couldn’t read. “I wish that were true. All I can see are my mistakes.
All the chances I wasted.”
“Your mistakes don’t define you. They’re part of your journey. Every challenge you have overcome, every struggle you have faced. They’ve all shaped you into the incredible woman you are today. Your strength, your resilience, your compassion. Those are what truly matter.”
As he spoke, something shifted in the air between them. Emma’s gaze softened, a mix of vulnerability in her eyes . . . and
something else. Something that made his heart race. Before he could second-guess himself, question what the hell he was doing,
he leaned in, unable to resist for another instant this woman who had fascinated him since he was a punk kid.
Their lips met, and it was everything he had dreamed of for years. She was soft and yielding against him, her lips tasting
faintly of cherry lip balm. He felt her tremble slightly in his arms, and he pulled her closer, wanting to protect and cherish
her always.
The world around them seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of them in this perfect moment he had longed for as long as
he could remember.
At first, the kiss was gentle. He cupped her face with one hand, his thumb caressing her cheek as he savored the feeling of
finally, finally being able to taste her, touch her. When she didn’t pull away, he deepened the kiss, pouring years of longing into their
embrace.
He felt her tremble slightly in his arms, and he pulled her closer, wanting to protect and cherish her always. Her hands came
up to rest on his chest, and he could feel the warmth of her touch through his shirt. It sent a shiver down his spine, igniting
a fire within him that threatened to consume them both.
As the kiss continued, he marveled at how perfectly they fit together.
It was as if all the years between them had been leading to this.
The taste of her, the familiar vanilla scent of her shampoo, the softness of her skin beneath his fingertips.
Every sensation was seared into his memory, a treasure he would hold on to forever.
Just when he thought the sheer wonder might overwhelm him, Emma broke the kiss, gasping for air.
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa!”
He would have stopped at the first whoa. He eased away, his heart pounding, hoping desperately that he hadn’t ruined this tentative friendship they had been building
since she returned. Or any chance he had of something more.