After their parents died, everything changed. They moved to Manhattan to live with their grandparents, enrolled at a different school, and tried to make sense of their lives without the two most important people in the world.
They’d gone back to the island a couple of times with their grandparents, but it was never the same.
Noah leaned against the window frame. “Have you ever thought of going back to Shelter Island?”
“Sometimes. I can’t believe Mom and Dad have been gone for twenty-five years.”
Neither could Noah. “Do you want to spend Christmas at their cottage?”
“Are you joking? Since when have you ever taken time off at Christmas.”
“I’m not that bad,” he muttered.
“Yes, you are. Last year you were in Los Angeles signing a contract with a new supplier. The year before you were somewhere in Europe and the year before that—”
“Okay. I get the idea.” Maybe Jack was right. He had spent a lot of time away from home, but what did his brother expect would happen? He was building his company into a formidable retail experience. Working when most people were spending time with their families came with the job. “Do you want to go to the cottage for Christmas or not?”
“I’ll go, but be warned. I’m not that great with a hammer.”
“We shouldn’t need to do anything. We’ve been paying someone to look after the property.”
Jack groaned. “The cottage was built fifty years ago and none of the interior has been touched. But don’t worry about that now. You’re on vacation. Just promise me you won’t do any work while you’re in Sapphire Bay.”
Hell would have to freeze over before Noah cut himself off from his job. “I can’t do that, but I will call you as soon as I find the mysterious C.J. Davis.”
Jack sighed. “One day, you’ll realize what you’ve been missing. But until then, enjoy your time in Sapphire Bay.”
After Noah said goodbye to his brother, he stayed where he was, looking across the lake. He’d always been quieter than Jack, less able to show anyone his true feelings. He shook his head. Some days he wondered if he had any feelings left to share.
The one relationship he thought would last forever had dive-bombed into a major disaster. Since then, he’d been too busy working to worry about personal relationships. As far as he was concerned, they were messy, complicated, and took him away from what he was born to do.
His life revolved around Wilson Enterprises. And right now, his goal was to find C.J. Davis and bring her back to Manhattan for the award ceremony.
Chapter 3
The next morning, Cassie started her day with a smile. For the first time in months, she wasn’t working on a Saturday morning. It was her birthday and, this year, she was going to pack a picnic and head into the mountains for a six-hour hike.
Just thinking about taking time off work seemed incredibly decadent. But she’d given her customers plenty of warning and left a closed sign on the front door. Since she’d moved her jewelry store to Main Street, the number of people coming through her door had tripled. It was great for business but didn’t give her a lot of spare time.
She opened the kitchen window and smelled the calming scent of pine. Usually, she was so busy that she didn’t get to appreciate what was around her. But not today. Today was all about celebrating the last twelve months and looking forward to the next.
A lot of her customers dreaded getting older. They used Botox, liposuction, breast implants, and anything else that camouflaged the aging process. For Cassie, getting older was a privilege. Besides, she was only thirty-one. There was plenty of time to worry about creaky joints and swollen feet when she was ninety.
Her cell phone rang and she looked at the caller display. “Hi, Dad.”
“Happy birthday!”
The excitement in her dad’s voice made Cassie laugh. “Anyone would think I’ve won the lottery.”
“You’ve done so much more,” Tony Harper said proudly. “Look at what you’ve achieved. When I held you in my arms when you were a baby, I never thought my little girl would follow in her daddy’s footsteps.”
“Between you and Mom, I didn’t stand a chance of being anything other than a painter or a jeweler.” Cassie had spent many wonderful hours sitting in her parents’ studio, watching them create some of the most beautiful pieces of art she’d ever seen. As her mom added layers of paint to her latest canvas, her dad had woven fine strands of gold and silver into intricate pendants or bracelets. Even now, when she was creating her own jewelry, she could sometimes smell the faint aroma of her mom’s oils.
“It wouldn’t have mattered what you did,” her dad said. “Your mom and I would have been proud of you.”
Cassie’s smile disappeared. Her mom had died three and a half years ago. It had been a terrible time, not only because of her death but because of the accusations against her dad. Stealing another jeweler’s designs was one of the worst things you could do. The media had turned the trial into a reality TV show, making a mockery of being innocent unless proven guilty.
Her mom had never believed the lies. But it still hurt knowing she couldn’t spend the last few months of her life peacefully at home.
