Scarlett felt the comforting invisible walls slide into place. Not as colorful as the seashell fort in her garden bed, but the principle was the same. She adjusted her glasses, a nervous habit she’d never quite kicked. “Not this year. There’s too much going on.” She forced herself to slow down when she wanted toramble on indefinitely with excuses. “Thanks for thinking of me. Between mid-year audits at the school and Cora’s spring soccer team, I’ll barely have time to tune my strings, let alone rehearse for a public performance.”
She helped Willow carry out a carafe of coffee to the table, unaware of the gentle ambush awaiting her. Once Cora was cozied up and involved with her book and the initial conversation had ebbed, Scarlett opened her latest read.
She’d barely turned a page before Grace leaned close. “You should do it.” Her gaze lifted from the historical romance to Scarlett’s face. “All of us can pitch in. With everything but the mid-year audits, anyway. You’re so talented. You should share that with more than the folks at the Pelican Pub.”
Scarlett felt the heat flaring in her cheeks. She did share her musical talent—with her students. The only reason she participated in open mic night at the Pelican was to be an example for those kids who looked up to her.
“She’s right,” Hazel piped up. “Take the spotlight for once. Unless you’re in witness protection or something.”
“What’s that mean?” Cora asked.
Scarlett caught her daughter’s curious gaze. “A witness is someone who sees something.”
“I see something all the time.”
“A specific action in the way Auntie Hazel used the word,” Scarlett continued with far more patience than she felt. “An action that helps the good guys take care of the bad guys. Keep reading now and we can talk about it more at home if you want.”
“Okay.” Cora shrugged her slender shoulders.
But the reprieve didn’t last long. As their silent reading time wound down, Holly slid one of the festival flyers into Scarlett’s book. “Y’all are incorrigible.”
“We know talent when we see it and hear it.” Camille staked her claim on what Scarlett considered the opposing team. “Maybe choose a student and do a set together?”
“We’ll see.” Scarlett forced a laugh. “It’s not about hiding.” Her friends should know that by now. “It’s just a matter of preference.”
“You prefer your porch to a formal stage?” Charity queried.
“Got it in one.” She caught Cora’s gaze. “Time for us to head home, sweetheart.” She waited for her daughter to say goodbye to the women she considered honorary aunts, grateful when they were finally alone in the car.
In the back seat, Cora dozed, leaving Scarlett with zero distractions to battle her racing thoughts. She enjoyed her music and didn’t mind keeping it mostly to herself. Her world had walls designed to protect everyone within. Brick by brick, day by day, she’d turned a summer of secret passion and unexpected consequences into a life she could be proud of. A stable life to raise her daughter into a strong woman.
Yes, she had secrets she preferred to keep. For now. Hopefully forever. Because if the truth of that summer seven years ago got out, it wouldn’t just upend her life and change how people looked at her, it would quite likely redefine Cora’s entire world.
CHAPTER 2
Cooper Moss stood on the corner of Central Avenue, feeling like a ghost in a pair of expensive leather loafers. The wrong shoes, too formal and pristine for the sandy sidewalks of Brookwell Island on this sunny afternoon. He knew better and still hadn’t paused to change into his sneakers or flip-flops. He’d been too intent on getting to the beach. To the familiar caress of the Atlantic Ocean, so different from the Pacific coast where he’d spent the past seven years.
Where he’d expected to spend another three to five years, according to his carefully planned career schedule.
But here he was, forty years old, trying to distract himself from the unexpected disaster of losing his job.
Not through any fault of his own. Academia was as precarious as anything else these days. The college had closed. Gone bankrupt. Overnight, the beautiful campus perched on the edge of the California coast was shut down, leaving students, professors, and staff scrambling to figure out a new way to reach their goals. Sure, the generous severance package eased the sting, but it couldn’t erase the profound, hollow sense of displacement.
The majority of his peers were hyper-focused on applying for any open teaching opportunities. And that was the logical move. A professor was meant to teach, after all. Cooper loved being in the lecture hall as much as he enjoyed small group independent studies. He found his greatest reward in thosea-hamoments when things clicked for a student.
Surely, there would be more in his future?
But he hadn’t thrown himself into the job search. No, Cooper had thrown his most treasured possessions into storage, listed his house with a property management agency, and embarked on a road trip across the country to the one place that he’d missed: South Carolina. Specifically, Charleston and the local island beaches.
As he noted the signs for the beach access, he laughed at his foolishness. After moving from a summer post to his dream job, he’d learned the oceans were not interchangeable. Neither were the people.
One woman, in particular, still haunted his thoughts, though it was silly to think she’d still be around. Scarlett Evans had been destined for great things and he’d kept watching for her name to crop up in the expected places in academia or academic research.
It never had.
Maybe that was why he’d been drawn back to the area. To learn what he could about where she’d gone. Although big things were going on within, Charleston and the surrounding communities retained that small-town vibe. It was tempting to give in to the feeling and ask about her, but the statistician in his head wouldn’t let him.
The numbers didn’t support such a foolish notion.
