The Summer Reunion (The Small Town Seaside Romance #6)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Nova

“Say you love me. Say you will marry me. I know it's stupid, coming from me of all people. I don’t know what’s gotten over me.

I don’t want to lose you. I realized it earlier, realized if you left and I didn’t tell you how much I loved you, I’d never get that chance again.

I’ve always loved you, all those years ago, but fear stopped me.

I never wanted marriage, that cage, a bond like that.

But with you, somehow I don’t feel it would be a cage, say you love me. ”

Nova swallowed the lump in her throat, the tears, the pain, the past, the Inn, Delaney, all forgotten. The only thing that mattered was this moment with him, now. Her heart ached, melted hearing him say the words she’d longed to hear.

She’d not known it until he spoke his truth, and yet, something inside her gave reason to pause as her fingers brushed the hardness of the velvet-boxed ring. It sparkled bright, the twinkle of light against it, light against the dark black contrast.

“Maveryk, I…” She lifted her eyes to his, reached for him, wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close so their foreheads touched. “I love you too, Maveryk. I think I’ve always loved you, that’s why we struggle so, that undeniable bond we share.”

“Why do I feel like I hear a but in there?”

Nova kissed his chin, turned her head to the crashing waves, and thought.

“Because you do. We’re not young anymore, Maveryk.

Not that it has anything to do with it, but maybe it does.

I love you, and you love me, but what does that leave?

Where does that leave us? Neither one of us has ever had great relationships; you’ve scarcely had anything serious.

I don’t want to say yes even if that’s what my heart wants, and one day have you break my heart.

I don’t think I can take that, not now, not from you. ”

She felt him move, his one arm still around her, the other, box in hand, placed it back in the pocket where he’d had it. “So the answer is no?”

“Just not right now. I need time. I need time to think, and you should too. I am buying that place, the Inn, and it's going to keep me in town one way or another. I’d hoped with Delaney beside me, but maybe not.”

Sudden thoughts flooded her mind as the confusion she’d felt so many times settled a lump in her chest. Staring up into the face she’d never forgotten, Nova knew this wasn’t how love was to be.

“Hold on, Maveryk. I thought, I don’t know what I thought, but I guess I was worried you might have feelings for Delaney. I saw you both talking a few times. This isn’t some kind of desperate move on your part to win me because I’m a challenge, is it?”

His eyes turned cold, his hands falling from her back, he moved back a few steps, hands in pockets. Face turned to the sky above, he sighed heavily. Nova hadn’t meant it to come out that way, how her mind viewed it and him, but it did, and she couldn’t take it back.

When he looked at her again, Maveryk’s face was void of emotion; the love he’d felt but moments ago, she’d seen shining in his eyes was gone.

“If that’s what you think of this and me, it's a good thing you said no. I’d not want something like that hanging in the air between us.

Just so you know, I didn’t keep chasing you because you're a challenge. Every night I can’t sleep because I want to be with you.

Every morning, you're the first person I think about. During the day, I wonder what you're doing. For me, that’s saying a lot. I don’t feel things like this easily, and admitting that to you, let alone myself, wasn’t easy. Buying this wasn't easy. Excuse me.”

Maveryk backed up, turned away, returning to the Brew House. Nova felt a chill she’d never felt so deep in her bones; they ached. Standing alone, her world tilted on its side, the man she loved with all her heart was gone.

Shivering with it, fingers pressed to her cold lips, she swiped away tears that burned her eyes. “I chased him away. The one man I loved, I chased him away, forever. What am I going to do?”

She couldn’t go back to the cottage, too exhausted and pained to face Delaney after the way she’d acted. Her one true friend, the woman she’d wanted by her side for a new adventure, was going home, leaving town, and she’d somehow messed that up, too.

Feeling a failure, she walked on the sand, far enough away that she could sit in misery alone, without the fear of being watched. Arms curled around her legs, she pulled into herself and thought, wondering how life had turned out so miserable.

“It was a vacation, supposed to be fun, the start of the next chapter in my life. What a mess.”

Milo

Milo spotted her in the sand. After having a long conversation with Delaney, her returning to the cottage, he too had much to think about. Maveryk had come to him, spilling his guts, telling the details of what should have been a happy moment, but wasn’t.

Seeing her sitting alone, Milo could almost pity her, if it weren’t for the pity he felt deeply for himself. Silently, he slid up behind her, not wanting to scare her. “Nova, you okay?”

Fear burned in her eyes as Nova turned to face him, hand to her chest. “Goodness, Milo, you scared the dickens out of me.”

“Sorry. Can I pull up some sand?”

“If you promise to keep your thoughts to yourself. I know you mean well, but I’m already feeling the strain of so much I might throw myself into the ocean.”

“Fair enough.”

Milo sat, cradled a ball of sand in his hands, and watched it fall back to its home quietly beneath his fingers.

“Maveryk is pretty messed up. I gotta tell you, he’s surprised me with this one.

I’m sure you know he’s not the kind of man to ask any random woman to marry him. I thought he had feelings for Delaney.”

“Me too. I know that Milo. It's like a bomb was dropped on me, and I’m numb, not even sure how to react. He wanted answers, an answer, and I couldn’t give an honest one from my heart.

First, Delaney is leaving town tomorrow, and he tells me he loves me and wants to marry me. How was I supposed to react?”

Milo smiled, knowing he’d have probably had the same off-the-cuff response. “Couldn’t tell you. I don’t think you did anything wrong, not against yourself. I think maybe he thinks you don’t love him as much as he feels about you. Do you love him?”

It needed to be said, he needed to know, out of a deep bond of love and respect for his brother. Before he had a meeting of the minds, offering his heartfelt advice on the matter, he needed to know if she had any feelings for him.

Nova’s eyes had yet to move from the crashing waves; he could sense she was troubled more than anyone cared to notice. Her sigh was heavy, laden with the weight of much emotion, thought, and confusion.

“Yes, I love him, but believe this, it takes me by as much surprise as it probably does you or anyone else. I never thought the banter we’ve got going on would turn to this. I don’t even know, not sure how it happened.”

Milo smiled, wrapped his arm around her shoulder for support, and pulled her close to kiss her temple.

“Sister, you're going to one day be my sister.

I can feel it. He loves you, you love him, it's always been meant to be, it's just a matter of time. When you two figure it out, it will all be amazing, that's all I’m going to say.”

Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled. “Thanks. I’ve always wanted a brother, but I’m not so sure about that. He proposed to Milo. He didn’t just tell me he loves me; he asked me to marry him. As in I do, forever.”

“That’s the general idea, and yes, I know this. It's what he feels, and you can bet if he’s sharing it, he doesn’t feel it lightly. In his eyes, you're it, forever. He’s had many women come and go in his life, temporary, not right for him, but you, you’ve always been right.”

Milo wasn’t about to get himself embroiled in their heated affair; he had his own feelings to sort out for Delaney.

Tossing more sand around, he studied the water beyond his view.

“I’m losing her, too. She’s going home tomorrow, and I won’t ever see her again.

Sure, she might come and visit you, but this was my one chance to be strong, tell her how much I’ve always loved and wanted her. ”

“I feel like you should be the one proposing marriage with the ring, not Maveryk. You, you, and she, you’ve always been perfect together, like two peas in a pod. I know she was married, but you’ve been given another chance, too. I wonder what you’re going to do about it?”

Milo swallowed the lump in his throat. “I don’t know. Walking over here, I thought about crawling to her on my knees and begging her to stay. If I could catch the moon and stars in my hands and give them to her to make her see, I would.”

“Seems to me you need something dramatic, drastic, and undeniably crazy to get her attention. I know she loves you, even if she doesn’t admit it.

I figure there is only one way to find out.

Look at it this way… if Maveryk is willing to jump into the ice-cold water and do what he did, you should be too.

I’m staying in town, she’s not. You’ve only got a few hours to make her see. ”

Milo knew she spoke the truth; her heart beat a tiny bit faster with the thought of losing her, again.

“I know. This is going to sound funny coming from me, but what if she doesn’t love me as much as I love her?

I mean, she was married. What if she still harbors feelings for her deceased husband? I can never compete with that.”

Thoughts spoken aloud settled low in his belly, a reminder that time was ticking and there was much he had to figure out before dawn.

Concerned for her, he stood up and held out his hand to her.

“Come on, let's both get some sleep. Sitting out her freezing, watching the waves crash isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

Together, they walked back to the Brew House. Milo had much on his mind, knew he’d not sleep well this night, knowing she was going home. He walked Nova to the cottage, hanging back a few yards so as not to confront Delaney.

In a whisper, he raised his hand. “Good night, try to get some sleep, and don’t worry about my brother. If he truly loves you like he says, which I know he does, he won’t give up that easily. He’s a fighter and admitting that to you, asking you to marry him, he’s not going to quit.”

Milo saw the worry and pain in her eyes and wished he could make it go away. He knew there were only two people who could make that worry fade away, his brother and Nova herself, admitting the truth of her heart.

“Thank you. Good night.”

Delaney

Delaney had heard and seen them coming after peeking out the window. Unable to sleep after the incident with Nova, her heart ached to take back those words. So confused was she that nothing made sense anymore.

Her heart ached, all but begged her to stay, but she’d not be a burden. She also wasn’t about to be pushed into something she wasn’t certain of just because her best friend needed an answer.

One thing remained clear in her mind… Milo, she loved him, and leaving him, going home, and not having him in her life every day was going to hurt. Leaving them all behind, her best friend Nova, the man she loved, Milo, and Maveryk, her good friend, were going to be deeply hurt.

Curled up in the bed blanket she’d collected on her way to the window, she made haste, hurrying back to the bed at their approach to jump in and close her eyes.

Her heart wanted so much more: to stay, to love, to feel, and just be; her mind, the ruler of her life since her husband's passing, taught her much in the area of patience and logic. “One doesn’t just jump off a bridge and leap into nothingness without knowing what’s at the bottom of the bridge.”

Words that made sense to her reasonable mind, she longed for the days gone by when her heart won out. Hearing her friends' quick goodbyes, she closed her eyes and feigned sleep as the door crept open.

“Oh, she’s asleep.”

Nova’s voice whispered in the darkness; there was so much she wanted to say to her friend. She’d hurt her, seen it in her eyes, but she’d needed time, more time than Nova was capable of giving her, to think, to process, and decide.

Delaney bit her lip, listened to her friend sniffle and groan as she prepared for bed. She knew Nova had been crying, seeing it on her face as she and Milo approached, the pain of her words, a decision her heart wanted to take back.

Closing her eyes, she had no escape and waited in the stillness of the night beside her friend until night and sleep claimed her.

The bright morning sunshine shone through the window down upon her. Opening her eyes, Delaney blinked and found herself alone. She listened and when she knew it was all clear, sat up to stretch her aching arms and yawn.

Much to be done, she’d asked Milo last night if she could borrow some money to get herself home. Once there, she could wire his money back to him and figure out what was next in life for her.

Very much she wanted to come back; her heart longed to join forces with Nova, but she needed to do it on her own terms.

With the rise of morning and the clarity of sleep, she no longer felt that way. Her soul more invested than she’d previously thought, Delaney sat, staring at the empty bed beside her, wishing she could go back in time to last night.

The hair tie sitting on the nightstand, a clear reminder of Nova, she smiled, stood up, and got ready for her day.