Crazy Love (Amethyst Bay #1)

Chapter 1

One

Reegan

I stared toward the quickly descending darkness and sighed at the view.

After driving through the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York from the Saint Lawrence River to the eastern edge of the state, I didn’t expect to be wowed by the views when I arrived in my bestie’s small town, but it was stunning.

The glittering water of Lake Champlain stretched out ahead of me, drawing me closer and closer to my destination. The sun was setting behind me, casting long shadows in my rearview mirror but leaving the lake sparkling in the last minutes of daylight.

Ashlyn had lived in her house for a few years, but mostly when my bestie and I got together, we left the state, choosing a vacation for both of us. I should have visited her more often.

In my nonexistent free time.

I sighed as I pulled into Ashlyn’s driveway, the robotic voice of my navigator telling me I’d arrived at my destination.

Her house was adorable. A small, cabin-like house with a yard that sloped sharply toward the bay that gave the town its name.

A flat area behind Ashlyn’s house had a fire pit and a ring of chairs.

At the bottom of the hill, a dock reached out into the water with a small boat tied to it.

There were houses visible on both sides of Ashlyn’s.

Most of the houses had a dock with a boat bobbing in the water.

Fading rays of sunlight danced over the occasional ripple in the water.

The longest day of the year was in four days, and the sunlight was holding on, a real benefit for me as I drove.

I got out of my car, thankful I’d raised the top on my convertible before I left since the trees through the mountains weren’t shy about dropping leaves and petals onto my ride. I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat and slammed the door, locking my car with a soft beep.

Before I made it to the front door, it opened, and Ashlyn rushed out.

“You’re here!” She threw her arms around me, then burst into tears.

“Usually only my ex-boyfriends cry when they see me.” I went for light-hearted, but when she was crying over her ex-boyfriend, it was a poor joke. I winced as my words hit. “Sorry.”

Ashlyn pulled back and wiped her eyes. “I can’t believe you dropped everything and came to see me.”

“You’re my favorite person, Ash. Of course I’d drop everything and come see you. It’s what you did when things ended with Landon.”

Ashlyn smiled. “Yeah, well, you couldn’t take off work, so I had to come to you. And I had to know why you were staying in your little town instead of moving to mine.”

I chuckled. “You know why.” Misguided hope and a reluctance to admit my mistakes were the primary reasons. Not that I told anyone that besides my best friend.

“I know.” Ashlyn shook her head. “Enough talking about the exes. Let’s go inside. Do you need to get anything else?”

I shook my head and patted my bag.

“Seriously? I don’t know how you function with just one bag for the entire summer.”

“My wardrobe isn’t nearly as complicated as yours. I can make a month’s worth of outfits from what I have in this bag. As long as I can wash my clothes.”

Ashlyn snickered. “Yes, please wash your clothes.” She held the door for me to follow her inside. “Welcome to my little piece of heaven.”

I looked around Ashlyn’s home and gasped, forgetting about the house when I saw the view from inside.

Windows looked onto the patio I spied from the driveway and showcased Amethyst Bay down the slope.

The water in the bay sparkled as if it were stuffed with amethysts, looking majestic and stunning.

Houses lined the land around the bay, most small with one large home on the tip of the peninsula. “Wow.”

“Right? When it popped up, I had to have it. I didn’t even let it sit on the market for an hour before I was making an offer.” Ashlyn rubbed her hands together with glee.

“Perks of the job,” I teased her. Ashlyn managed vacation rentals for owners who didn’t want to deal with it themselves, but she had her real estate license. Seeing properties as they were listed was a huge bonus to her job, especially when it meant she scored such a spectacular home.

“Right? It’s so awesome.”

I snorted. “My only perks are free hugs and colds every winter.”

Ashlyn wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, but you love teaching.”

I sighed, my smile automatic when I thought about my students. “Yeah, I do. I can’t complain.”

“Let me show you around.” Ashlyn turned me away from the view to see the rest of the house. “Obviously, this is the living room and kitchen.”

Her living room furniture was sleek but cozy.

She valued comfort but was not afraid to spend money on nice things that were comfortable.

I had no doubt the couch would be soft and perfect.

The kitchen cabinets were a light wood color with black metal hardware that perfectly accented the almost-white wood.

An island on wheels added storage to the small space and held a cake that made my stomach rumble.

“It’s red velvet with cream cheese icing. I also made brownies.”

“You are my bestest friend ever.” I hugged her tightly, making her laugh.

“I know.” She turned us toward her office. “This is technically a dining room, but I use it as my office since I sit on the couch when I eat.” She pointed to the hallway on the other side of the room. “That hallway leads to the bedrooms and bathroom. Sorry, only one bathroom.”

I chuckled, remembering the fights we had last time we shared a bathroom. “We will make it work.”

Ashlyn laughed with me. “Do you want food?”

“Cake is food,” I answered.

“Yes, it is. And I have a fire pit just off the patio. It’s ready to be lit.”

“Let me use the bathroom and toss my bag in the room, then we’ll burn Rob’s shit and eat my birthday cake.”

“Works for me.”

When I came back out into the living room, the house was empty. I saw the soft flicker of a fire outside and noticed that the cake was missing. I followed the glow, surprised how dark it had gotten in the few minutes since I’d arrived.

“I have a blanket for you,” Ashlyn called when I stepped outside. “It gets cold in a hurry.”

“And dark.”

“True. I guess I’m used to it. All the trees end up blocking the light earlier than the sun sets. I’ve heard sunrises are nice, but I wouldn’t know.”

I snorted. Ashlyn was not a morning person. Unlike me. I loved the quiet of the morning, the start of a new day. It was like New Year’s Day every morning, when the quiet of the world let me think instead of being so damn loud I had no idea what I wanted.

I took a seat next to Ashlyn on the Adirondack double chair with a small table built into the armrests.

It was cool on my legs when I sat. I stood and wrapped the blanket around my back so the fire could warm the front of me.

The fire popped and snapped as I dug into the cake on the table between us.

“Damn, this is good,” I moaned with my first bite. “Better than any store-bought cake would have been. Thanks for making it for me.”

“You’re welcome.” She sounded a little in her feelings again.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head, then shrugged. “It won’t change anything.”

“No, but sometimes it’s good to say it out loud.”

“That I wasted too much time with someone who never treated me right?”

“You love him. I think you’re too good for him, but you have to decide for yourself what’s right.”

“You said he’s an asshole.”

“Anyone who is going to tell the person they’ve been dating for a year that they don’t think they ever loved them is an asshole. You don’t do that to someone, not ever.” I would die on that hill.

Ashlyn sniffed, her shoulders jumping with the move. “I really thought all the times he left… I thought it would work out.”

“I know, hon. I wish it had.”

Ashlyn rested her head against mine. We stared at the fire and stuffed our faces with red velvet birthday cake. All of a sudden, Ashlyn jerked upright. “I forgot the wine!”

I chuckled. “You’re a mess.”

“Yes, which is why we need wine. That and it’s your birthday. I’ll be right back.”

She raced inside, leaving her blanket on the chair.

I leaned back in my chair and listened to the sounds of the bay. Water lapped gently against the dock and the shoreline, the boats knocking against the docks. Crickets and other critters chirped their songs to each other. A dog barked somewhere in the distance. The fire popped more.

“You’re already asleep?” Ashlyn snapped, laughing as she reclaimed her seat next to me.

I sat up in a hurry and cleared my throat. “I wasn’t sleeping. I’m good.”

Ashlyn twisted the top off the bottle of wine with a snap as the seal broke. She took a swig and handed the bottle to me. “You were snoring.”

“I was not,” I said, knowing it was a lie, and brought the bottle to my lips. The wine was sweet and crisp and chilled. The bubbles tickled my nose, and it went down smooth. Too smooth. I could drink the entire bottle.

“Tell me about Landon and the pregnant wife,” Ashlyn said, taking the bottle back.

I sighed and took another bite of cake before I answered her. “They’re perfect together. He looks at her in a way he never looked at me. She wanted another kid, I guess. It’s everything he’s ever wanted.”

“But it’s not what you wanted,” Ashlyn said gently.

“I know. And I don’t wish things were different. I loved Landon, but we held on too long. I kept hoping I’d change my mind and want kids. I should have ended things a long time before he did.”

“I know the feeling.”

I wasn’t in the mood to talk more about my ex.

We’d been over for years. There was nothing left.

I wanted him to be happy, and he was. I was jealous of it, not because I wanted him back, but because I wanted someone who was as perfect for me as Casey was for him.

He was the one who was brave enough to end our relationship, and he was rewarded with a new one that was just right for him.