“That guy that was just here.”
Mikayla blinked at her then burst out laughing. “Rafe? God, no. He’s my best mate but boyfriend, hell no!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Leah said, a faint blush staining her cheeks. “It’s just that you seemed so…” She trailed off as Mikayla snorted.
“I’ve known him since we were seven years old. I love him to pieces but he’s like a brother to me.” She bit into a carrot stick. “So, now that we’ve got that straightened out, it’s you and me, girl, on the prowl.”
Leah laughed. “I’m not really in the market but I’ll lend you moral support.”
Mikayla sighed, ready to push the point but there was something in Leah’s eyes that gave her pause. There was a flash of pain that immediately piqued Mikayla’s protective instinct. She looked from Juniper to Leah and back again. She sure had her work cut out for her between these two women.
CHAPTER 4
William
William stood at the sliding door of the little cottage next to the lighthouse. The work was coming along nicely. The kitchenette had been installed, the plumbing in the bathroom was almost done, there was a bit of plastering left to do, then the floors could be sanded and polished. It wasn’t that far off from being very comfortable and perfectly livable. His parents thought he was a bit mad, staying at the cottage while all the work was being done rather than a hotel in town. But he loved it up at the lighthouse. It had a feeling of serenity, unlike anything he’d ever experienced, even with all the construction work going on. At night, when all the tradespeople had finished up for the day, it was just him, the rolling ocean and the night sky.
But today he didn’t feel very peaceful. He felt confused, which was a very unusual and uncomfortable feeling for him. He’d never met anyone quite like Juniper before. If he showed an interest in a particular woman, he was used to it being enthusiastically reciprocated. That wasn’t to say he was a player, far from it, but he liked women, liked dating, liked sex. He was also pretty good atrecognizing when someone was interested in him. He thought he’d seen that interest in Juniper until she’d scurried away when he’d been on the brink of asking her out. Her obvious gorgeousness aside, there was just something about her that pulled at him, got inside his head, under his skin. If it hadn’t been for Mikayla’s enthusiastic suggestion about the music festival, he would have done his best to push it aside. So here he was, a little bewildered, a little deflated, getting ready to wander around a festival with hundreds of people, hoping to bump into a woman, that as far as he could tell, didn’t want a bar of him. But that wasn’t entirely true, was it? There’d been some interest there, hadn’t there? He heaved a sigh and pushed his fingers through his hair in frustration before grabbing his keys and heading out the door.
After driving around for ten minutes, he finally found a car park right at the top of Main Street and even then, that was only because someone walking down from their house had invited him to use their driveway. The sky was dotted with little puffs of white clouds, the temperature hovered around a comfortable eighty degrees and a light breeze wafted in off the sea.
He walked into town and saw straight away that the little town of Blessed Inlet sure knew how to throw a music festival. All the retail shops were closed, but the cafes and ice cream shops were doing a roaring trade. As the main road was closed to vehicle traffic, hundreds of people were milling about, chatting, laughing, eating. He walked past Juniper’s shop, noting it was shut up tight. He stopped at a café and grabbed a takeaway coffee before continuing his stroll down the street. A string quartet set up in the middle of the road got his attention. He leaned against a light pole to listen, recognizing one of his father’s favorites, Clair de Lune. When the tune had finished, he moved on to where a troupe of belly dancers was gyrating, hips swinging and brightly colored scarves flying. After that came a group of Irish dancers. All kids, by the looks, skipping and jumping as the violins played. It was a crazy combination,all the different types of music, all the dancers, but it somehow worked. He moved on to where Main Street ended at a t-intersection with Beach Road. This was also shut to vehicle traffic, except for the food trucks. They lined the length of the road and seemed to provide any variety of food that could be imagined – pizza, Lebanese kebabs, Thai noodles. The scents were as eclectic as the sounds coming from Main Street. At that moment, a sound caught his attention, and he turned his head. A singer was sitting on a hay bale, leaning against the brick wall of the last shop on the strip. She was dressed in a long, flowing dress, crimson and gold, with a matching scarf tied around her head. Standing next to her was a man in worn jeans and a dark yellow shirt, strumming softly on a guitar. The lady was singing Ave Maria, her eyes closed, her voice soaring above the commotion. He moved closer, joining the small crowd gathered around her. As he listened, he looked down at his coffee cup, swirling the contents around, when a little blonde mop caught his eye. It was Billy, standing directly in front of the singer, his hands in the pockets of his navy-blue shorts, staring at her intently. William glanced around, looking for Juniper, but she wasn’t nearby. The next best bet would be Mikayla or Rafe but he couldn’t see them either. He moved forward, crouching down to Billy’s level.
“Billy, what are you doing? Where’s your Mum?” He whispered, but Billy just kept staring, seemingly mesmerized by the singer. William touched his shoulder and said the boy’s name again, this time trying to put a bit more authority into the whisper. It worked. The spell was broken as Billy turned to look at him. The glaze in his eyes cleared and he grinned at William.
“Hi!”
“Hi yourself.” He took Billy’s hand and led him away from the crowd. “Where’s your Mum?”
“That lady’s colors were so white!” He exclaimed loudly.
“Were they?” William asked, despite having no idea what he was talking about.
“Yeah, it was very pretty.”
“Mate, where’s your Mum?” William crouched down, turning the boy to look at him, as he kept straining to watch the singer. The urgency in William’s voice must have finally grabbed at Billy’s awareness as he looked around.
“Don’t know.” His little face crumpled as he realized he couldn’t see his mother anywhere. “I want my Mummy.” He was on the verge of tears.
“It’s okay, we’ll find her.”
“I want my Mummy!” Billy’s big blue eyes welled with tears, and he threw himself at William, wrapping his arms around his neck. William picked him up and looked up and down the street. There were just so many people, the road was crowded, all the food trucks had lines ten people deep. Then he saw her, well, just the top of her head, blonde curls bobbing madly as she looked from side to side, pushing through the crowd.
“There she is!” With too many people between them and Juniper, William threw Billy up on his shoulder and pointed in Juniper’s general direction. “Call out to her.”
“Mummy! Mummy, over here!”
William saw her pause, looking around. “Again, buddy.”
“Mummy!” Billy’s whole body shook as he waved frantically. It worked, Juniper finally turning in their direction. Pushing through the crowd, she was there in no time, her face flushed, her eyes panicked, her hands full of drink bottles and curly potato on a stick. She practically threw everything at William as she reached up to Billy, pulling him off his shoulder, into her arms.With her son’s arms around her neck, she buried her face in his hair, squeezing tight.
“Billy, you scared the life out of me! I didn’t know where you were!”
Billy pulled back and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m sorry, Mummy. I wanted to see the lady singing.”
“Well, don’t do that again!” She took a deep, calming breath and turned to William. A radiant smile lit up her face, kicking him full in the guts. “Don’t you just have a habit of turning up exactly when I need you.”
He laughed, ignoring his heart, thudding hard against his ribcage. “So it seems.” Then they just stood there, for the longest moment, smiling at each other.
