Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
QUINN
I am completely out of my element right now.
I love babies, but as someone who hasn’t spent much time around them, holy cannoli, they cry a lot. At night, too. All the time, really, especially when they are six months old. Babies are a lot of work.
And the best part about my situation is that my brother and his wife have two of them.
Twins.
Ha.
“I’m so happy to have you home for the summer, dear,” Grandma Betty whispers as she pats my knee.
We are sitting in my brother's living room with no music, no TV, and all phones on silent. Natalie, my sister-in-law, just went up to get some sleep, and my brother Tobias is quietly trying to clean so that Natalie doesn’t think about the dishes or any other mess when she wakes up.
If you ask me, he needs sleep, too, but that man would stay awake for days if it meant he could do something, anything, for his wife .
They are increasingly disgustingly in love each day, and I envy every single moment of it.
“Me too,” I whisper back and then lean into my grandmother.
I flew in from London a few days ago, and even though I love returning to Lovers over the summer, I’m not sure I can stay here much longer. In this house, to be more specific.
Yes, I could suck it up for the babies, but for three days, I’ve asked to help make things easier for them, but Natalie and Tobias keep telling me no thanks. At this point, I feel like I’m just in the way. And for someone who was already starting to feel a little like she doesn’t really have a purpose in life anymore, that feeling of not being needed sucks.
I could stay with Grandma Betty. At least there I know I wouldn’t be in the way, and she would gladly let me do simple housework, but she and Mike just bought a little one-bedroom house together, and their teenage behavior tells me that sleeping on their couch for the next two months is not even an option.
Again, I’m happy for them, but no thank you.
“Are you coming over for dinner tonight?” she asks.
“Yes. I will be there.”
She hugs me tighter.
“I love it when you are home.”
Home.
She speaks the word so freely, but it feels foreign to me.
I know what it means, but I can’t say that I agree with her.
Lovers is her home. It’s been home for Tobias and Natalie for more than a year now, but I don’t have a home. I travel so much that I don’t see the point in setting roots down anywhere. I’m very aware that owning a house and calling a place home isn’t exactly the same thing, but if I owned a house, I wouldn’t be there enough to take care of it, and as far as the place I feel most at home … I’m not sure where that is .
I’m just … I’m looking for something, but I have no idea what it is.
I hug Grandma Betty and then follow her to the kitchen. She hugs Tobias and quietly slips out the back door.
“Can I get you anything?” I ask my brother.
He shakes his head. “No. I just need to finish the dishes, and then I’m going to walk into town to get Natalie some of those lemon bars she loves from B’s Bakery and maybe even a coffee. One of those white mocha drinks, I think.”
“I’ll do it,” I say with more eagerness than I expected.
“No, I can?—”
“I’ll do it.” I glare at him. “It’s just a treat and coffee. I won’t mess it up, Tobias.”
He takes a breath and nods.
I swear, even though I’m a grown woman, my brother looks at me as if I’m the six-year-old little girl carrying his full glass of milk to the kitchen table and then spilling all over his grilled cheese.
“Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure.” I grab my purse from their little entrance table and dart out the door.
Finally, I feel like I’m doing something. Like I said, it’s just treats and coffee, but it’s something .
Grandma Betty has lived in Lovers long enough now that I know this town like the back of my hand.
I take my time walking so that I can enjoy how green this place gets during the summer months. I love the big trees that line the streets and tower over the houses and the fact that planting flowers in the front yard is basically a requirement. This place could be the backdrop for a Christmas movie in the winter and a great romantic comedy in the summer.
I pass Mrs. Whitaker’s house on the corner of my brother’s street and shake my head at her flower beds and white picket fence. She’s outside sweeping the sidewalk to her house. She spots me and waves, so I wave back but don’t stop. I might want to take my time to enjoy this place, but I also know that those babies won’t let Natalie nap for long.
I cross the street and slow my steps as I near Restore and Repair, Miles Asher’s mechanic shop.
He’s a local local. Some people have moved here and never left, but he’s part of one of the families where he was born and raised here and never left.
I know that he worked for the previous owner of the shop before he bought it and renamed it. I know that he’s a twin. I know he’s about six years older than me. I know his older brother used to play professional hockey. I know he’s like a walking piece of art. I swear I’ve never seen someone more beautiful than Miles. He’s very gifted at his craft, loves his family, and I know that he does not like me—not one single bit.
Something I didn’t know was that his house is finally done. Last summer, he was still putting finishing touches to it, but wow. That wraparound porch is just screaming at me to grab a book and a tea and relax.
Oh my gosh, and look at the porch swing.
I pull my phone from my purse to take a picture, but then I pause.
Another fact I know about Miles Asher is that, despite me knowing all these things about him, his life is very private, completely the opposite of mine.
I don’t know if it’s a Miles thing or a small-town thing, but I’m not lying when I say that being back in Lovers over the summer is a breath of fresh air. I don’t have to post as much, and I don’t question whether every move I make needs to be online for this brand or that one. In fact, in every contract I’ve signed, I add in a clause that gives me June and July free from work. It’s my only guaranteed vacation.
I put my phone back and settle for the mental image of his picture-perfect house instead.
I continue to the bakery, thinking about how my life is so different from those who live here.
When I was in junior high, my parents decided I was old enough to travel with them. That’s been their passion since they were young, and they stopped so that they could have kids, but they couldn’t shake the itch. So, it was time to get back to it.
Tobias stayed with Grandma to finish school with his friends, but I went with our parents. By the time I could drive, I’d been to more countries than I could count. Once, Mom and Dad were telling someone about our time in Italy, and I’d forgotten about the little town we went to. I forgot. That’s how many places I’ve been.
Traveling so much also meant that I didn’t have many friends, so I started a social media page to document my travels and stay connected to all the people I’d met. Now, I have more than a million followers, so snapping pictures and sharing my day-to-day activities feels natural to me.
Don’t ask me who my best friend is, though. I’d have to say my brother, Natalie, or my grandmother. I love them, but sometimes you need a friend who isn’t blood, and I don’t have that. Yeah, I have friends who invite me to travel places with them, but none of them reach out randomly to talk or ask about my day or about my family. Honestly, half of them probably don’t even know I have a brother.
I could make up an entire life and no one would know if I was lying.
Which I did once.
I laugh as I remember that day on the beach last summer and then I laugh harder at the idea of me and Miles Asher dating .
I reach the bakery and can basically drool on command at how amazing it smells when I walk inside.
“Quinn!” Sadie Collins calls out after I walk in. “I heard you were back, but I hadn’t seen you yet.”
She rushes over to give me a hug. Brooke is right behind her.
“I can’t believe it’s already been a year.”
“I was at the signing the other day with my brother and Simon,” I tell her. “I wasn’t there long, though. Jet leg always gets me, but I agree. The fact that it’s been an entire year blows me away.”
No matter how long or short my visits are, Brooke and Sadie always make me feel as though we have been friends since the day we were born.
Aside from my family, these two would actually be my next choice for a bestie.
I think that’s one of the top things I love about small towns. Well, this one in particular. The people, even though they might not love having tourists all year round, will always treat you like family.
Unless, of course, your name happens to be Miles Asher.
“What brings you into the bakery this afternoon? Normally, I see you only in the mornings.” Brooke cocks her hip to the counter and crosses her arms as she waits for my answer.
I let out a long breath.
“Turns out babies know how to party harder than a group of twenty-somethings on vacation in Prague. Those two can pull an all-nighter like it’s nobody's business.”
Both women chuckle.
“Are you staying with your brother all summer?”
I nod.
“Yep, I’m here for a solid eight weeks this time around.”
Grandma Betty loves it, not to mention the little ceremony she and Mike are having now that they are engaged. They want to keep it small, and I’m thrilled to be here for it.
“Can you go back and forth between their place and your grandmother’s?” Sadie asks.
I scrunch my face. “That’s not an option.”
“Why not?” Brooke asks.
“Because she is my grandmother and I’d like to forever only see her that way. Call me childish; I don’t even care. Plus, she and Mike are in a special time of their lives—they don’t need some twenty-five-year-old crashing on their couch.”
Brooke hands me a coffee, and I hold up two more fingers. “I’m getting drinks and snacks for Tobias and Natalie, too. I also need a half dozen lemon bars.”
“You got it,” she says, and she starts to box them up, but I do catch the glance she sends Sadie.
Sadie smiles. “I might know of a room you could stay in for the summer if you’re interested.”
“I’m interested,” I say quickly. “Grandma Betty is in love, and Tobias and Natalie are starting to get into a routine, and I’m in the way.”
“All right, but you might change your mind once I tell you where the space is.”
“Does it have a room?”
Sadie nods.
“A shower?”
She nods again.
“A kitchen and space for me to read?”
She keeps nodding, but now it’s her turn to scrunch up her nose.
“I don’t see the problem then. I’ll take it.”
“Well,” Sadie draws out as I hand over my credit card to Brooke. “Miles would be your landlord.”
Shit .
“Sadie, if you knew that detail, why would you even bring it up?” Brooke asks.
I glance between the two best friends. They are both aware that Miles doesn’t care for me, but just like me, they also have no idea why.
Sadie shrugs. “Because Quinn isn’t going anywhere, and he needs to suck it up, so I don’t think it can hurt to ask him about it. But I also wanted her to be ready just in case he tells her no when she asks about it.”
“Thank you for the recommendation, but I have a higher chance of the twins magically sleeping through the night and waking up with no tears.”
Brooke snorts.
“Well, it’s something to consider if you change your mind.”
“Thank you,” I tell her and promise to see them later this week.
The walk back to my brother’s house is a lot quicker than it was to the bakery. Probably because I want to be sure that I get back before Natalie wakes up.
But I hear crying as I walk up to the front door. I did not make it in time.
Tobias is running around the house like a madman. I take the treats and coffee into the kitchen.
“I’ll just put them on a plate for you,” I say, but he grabs the box.
“Not needed. Thank you. I’m sorry, I wish I could hang out with you, but why don’t you go out and do something? We will see you at dinner, if we make it.” He moves around the kitchen quickly, grabbing paper towels and bottles and a few other random things. Then he’s headed up the stairs.
I stand here, feeling like I’m in the way again, and not sure what to do next.
I absolutely hate this feeling .
With my purse still slung across my body, I head for the front door.
I want to be one less thing for my brother to worry about, so it looks like I’m going to suck it up and find Miles Asher.
Wish me luck.