“It happens all along the California coast, but rarely ever in the same place at the same time. But for some reason, it occurs every summer in Starcross Cove. Legend has it, hundreds of years ago, two shooting stars crossed paths in the night sky, collided, and crashed into the sea, dispersing their light below the surface of the water… and their magic.”
“Magic?” She tilted her chin to gaze up him, and for a moment, his heart stopped at the look of wonder in her luminous eyes.
“According to the legend,”—he continued, a smile on his lips—“on nights you can see the blue glow, two star-crossed lovers will be brought together.”
“That’s beautiful,” she whispered, leaning her head back against his chest.
“The beaches are usually filled with tourists every summer, but this cove is secluded. Technically, it’s shared between Starcross and its sister city, Green Castle Bay.”
Penny stiffened.
Searching her expression in the firelight, his heartbeat faltered at the look of shock and distress blazed across her features. “What is it?” he asked, instantly on high alert.
“What did you say the other town was called?”
“Green Castle Bay. Why?”
She closed her eyes, pain evident in the deepened creases etched into her brow.
He shifted to get a better glimpse of her face. “Pen, you’re starting to worry me. What’s wrong?”
“It’s…” She trailed off, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Finally, she whispered, “That’s where my father died.”
Time seemed to slow down as Colt struggled to grasp her words. “I don’t understand. He died in Green Castle Bay?”
She sat up and brought her knees to her chest, staring blankly into the flickering flames. “Nine years ago, when I was away at college, I got a phone call from a complete stranger. A detective named Harold Nelson Shaw, a name I’ll never forget.” Her voice broke, and Colt leaned forward, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “They’d found my father… alone in a motel room. He’d died in his sleep. A brain aneurysm, according to the autopsy.”
A single tear rolled down her cheek, and she didn’t bother wiping it away. “I told them they had to be mistaken. My father never left Poppy Creek. It didn’t make sense he would be so far from home. But they’d found a ticket to an antiques show in his wallet.”
“Pen, I’m so sorry. Did you—”
“Have to identify the body?” She shook her head, drawing her knees in closer. “It’s not like it is in movies. They used his ID and fingerprints. And he’d stipulated in his will that his viable organs would be donated, while the rest would be given to medical research.”
Colt blinked, still wrapping his head around her story. “I’m sorry, Pen. I still don’t fully understand. Why all the different stories about how he died?” He didn’t mention what he’d learned from Beverly, deciding to be patient and hear the rest of her explanation.
More tears followed the first, and for a moment, she buried her face in her hands, unable to speak.
His gut wrenching, he gently caressed her back, giving her the time she needed.
Sniffling, she stretched out her legs and turned to face him. “I know it sounds awful, but…” She hesitated, her breath faltering.
He reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze.
Inhaling deeply, she dried her eyes with the tip of her finger. “I couldn’t bear to have his life end like that, for that to be the last thing people remembered about him… the last thingIremembered.” Her lower lip trembled as she pressed on, fighting back tears. “It wasn’t a secret that people thought my father was odd. A timid, reclusive man who owned the strange store in town and rarely ventured beyond his front door. But that’s not how I saw him. My dad was the most adventurous man alive, with a vibrant, colorful imagination and a heart as brave and bold as the sea. I know it sounds foolish, but I suppose I wanted everyone to remember him the way I did. Not as a sad, fearful man who died alone in a motel room.”
The last word escaped on a sob, and as her shoulders shook, Colt wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him. He stroked her hair as she cried softly.
“I planned to tell the truth eventually, I just… I couldn’t,” she confessed in a hoarse whisper. “But I shouldn’t have lied to everyone.”
“How about we call it a legend instead?”
“A legend?” she echoed, a subtle shift in her breathing—steadier than before. “I like that.”
Curling into him, she gazed out at the incandescent waves. After a long pause, she murmured, “You know, some legends are actually true.”
“Any one in particular come to mind?” His heartbeat raced with unrestrained hope.
“Take Starcross Cove for example.” She shifted position in order to face him, a bewitching glimmer in her eyes. “And us. Do you know any two people less likely to fall in love than you and me?”
